My Life – Page 19 – a hippie with a minivan

A few Ramblings…..

Well… the holidays are officially over for us…

Sob…. Simon went back to work this morning… It felt really good having him here for almost two weeks…

The week before new years was taken to lounge around and be lazy all day for a few days which just made me relax and got a lot of stress out finally… Colin is growing up so fast and changing so much… over the holidays we have seen a remarkable change… he went from baby to toddler completely… We have almost no more need for the gate at the top of the stairs because he goes down them with no problem… Keeping the gate open also makes it great when we both (Simon and I) wan to do things on different floors…. now the kids can just freely go between us which also means that they play more knowing that they can get to us whenever they want to…. It feels now that the gate is shifting from being a safety device to a way to restrict movement which doesn’t feel right…. I just can’t believe that this time has come so fast….

Colin has also been eating everything lately and trying everything!! Recently we found out he LOVES black olives, escargots and Wakame (Seaweed Salad with spicy Chile-Sesame dressing)
Colin can also get on a chair and sit at the table with us which is another big change… hre are some pics of how big he is now…

Eating Wakame (note the green tinged tongue)

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New Years also brought old friends…

New years eve we made the gingerbread house that we had put off for a few weeks… Not that we didn’t have the time to do it but we didn’t take the time to do it… When we did got to it though we had a lot of fun and Xavier showed off his talents… It was great!

We had two friends come over for new years eve… Yan, a good friend of ours and who has taken a kind of “godfather” role for Xavier and Martine, a childhood friend of Simon’s that has become a good friend of mine… Martine has been in Equador for some time now for her thesis and found love there, so she is now just visiting to to turn in her thesis in and see family… She is one of those friends that you can’t not love… she is sweet, fun, honest and you just feel comfortable with her… one of those people that you don’t feel the need to entertain them all of the time… you can just be yourself…. So, it was great when we found out that the stay would be a bit longer then we expected… it will be sad for all of us to see her go tomorrow…

Here are some more pics…

Martine and Colin in the Ellaroo

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And well…. here are some more pics to share…. (I feel I have neglected Xavier in this post 😉 )

Xavier with the Hobberman ball….

And IN the Hobberman ball

and to finish….

a self portrait….

X-mas 2005

Well X-mas has come and gone and it was really not that bad… My mom and Alain arrived at about 6pm, my dad arrived at about 7:30, we all talked, laughed and there was no tension at all.. I think the situation was a bit awkward for Alain when my dad arrived but they hit it off pretty fast and the awkwardness left quickly… Xavier, before going to bed, wanted to leave cookies and milk out like in the Santa Story… so Simon helped him do that… The kids went to bed by about 8:30 and then our super started….
We had an entrée of cheese and freshly baked bread (I made 3 loaves of sourdough) , Lobster and escargots and then fondue with a side of my spinach salad with Maggi dressing (garlic, maggi, oil, vinegar, pepper) bean sprouts and cashews…
By the time that we were done we were too full for dessert… (I had made an Apple Crumble)
My dad went to bed first, then Simon and I, then my mom and Alain. Before going to bed Alain places the half eaten Cookies and empty glass of milk, left out by Xavier next to the tree so that he would see it in the morning.
In the morning, Colin woke first and we stayed in bed until Xavier woke up and came into the room… then we quickly headed out to see the presents under the tree…
One of the presents, the Thomas Train, was set up under the tree by Simon the night before, and that got Xavier’s attention more then the other presents. We all sat down, coffee in hand, to watch them open their presents and Xavier wasn’t even ready to start, happily playing with his Thomas Train. We asked him to look at the presents and to give them to the person to whom they belonged… It was very surprising when he got to a present that had my name on it… examined it a few seconds and then said…
“dats… um…dis is for mi-si-sa (Melissa)” and handed me the present… We all couldn’t believe it… he recognized my name!! He also recognized his name and Colin’s name… and the presents that didn’t have a name he knew were for Simon…
I love the way that my kids open presents… unlike other kids that I know that just rip into them, Xavier takes the time to open each present slowly and gently, plays a bit with the new toy and then goes to the next present. Sometimes, he didn’t even want to go to the next present to busy playing with the ones he opened previously.
The kids got tons of toys from us, clothes from my mom and grandma. Simon got cologne, a 1.2 Kilo container of Cashews, 2 DVD’s (that he bought as a present from me 😉 ), Chocolates, 2 shirts and a sweater. I bought my mom her Pajama (every year we buy each other Pajamas). I got my pajama, chocolates, a “Roll O Puzzle”and a Sony Flash 1GB MP3 player that Simon won at work…
X-mas day was a lazy day, my Dad left first, then my mom and Alain, needing to get ready for their trip to see his family in “Les Iles de la Madelaine”
We ate the leftover fondue from the night before like we do every year… the kids got to have fondue also which was a hit with Xavier for at least 20 minutes…
I made escargots for myself and Colin wanted some and loved them… so he ate at least 4 of them… Simon and Xavier wouldn’t even taste…
By 10pm we were ready to go to bed and decided to tape the 6 feet Under episode…
Well…here are some pics…

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BTW… this is a great article about Santa and how to keep the magic of Santa without Lying… and this is what we have decided to do…
However, as much as we talk about the story of Santa, Xavier is convinced that Santa exists… so I feel good that we are not lying to him and he is the one using his imagination…

The day of the eve…

Well… it’s the 24th today and we are having our traditional Fondue supper tonight. Simon’s Mom and Sister won’t be here for the first time in a few years because of work schedules but will be here new years day instead. So originally it would have been just my mom and her new boyfriend… however… this week my dad called me (biological dad) and asked what our plans were inquiring if we were going away or not… So I invited him too… I don’t think my mom was too happy but she didn’t say anything, she was about to but I interrupted her saying that I didn’t think she would mind especially since she had invited him in the past when we used to do this fondue supper at her house… I really don’t think that she as a problem with it herself but I think it will make her new boyfriend a bit uncomfortable. Honestly, I don’t care at all… and I think that she knows that that is not a valid excuse for me… especially since I rather that he not even be here (of course she doesn’t know that)…
It will be weird though having both my mom and dad here though… it is not often that I have seen them together, especially for more then just a few minutes.
But, with my Dad here I have some real help in the kitchen… My dad is a professional cook and makes the most amazing food… nothing fancy but very tasty… he has worked in lodges, restaurants, bars…doing short order stuff and more…
I used to think that my mom was the best cook and she is pretty good but everything that she makes has the same flavour… it’s not like it’s bland or anything… she has always been good on giving foods great taste and she makes the best Spaghetti sauce… but all of her other food is always “a la mexicaine” which is good for a few things but after a while you get tired of the same flavours and spices and her spices are also old and taste it… I mean I think that some of the spices in her kitchen are older then me!
Anyways…it’s been a while now that she doesn’t help at all when she comes over anyways… she will make drinks and she makes an amazing Caesar but she’d rather drink them and she does.. and wine and a few tokes and well just isn’t able to help anymore…
Anyway… we are broke this year but the kids are getting tons of presents… I went bargain shopping at a local thrift store… they get toy donations all year long but only take the toys out before x-mas so there are tons and they are really cheap…They put out new toys on Tuesdays and Fridays which happened to be the days that I brought Xavier to daycare..
Here are some things that picked up…

Puzzles: 25 cents each ,
Puzzle Book with 6 puzzles (block pieces) 1$
3 Playmobile construction trucks with people 3$,
Playmobil Pirate ship +all of the pieces +pieces for other sets (a BIG bag) 4$,
Cabbage Patch baby that goes in the Bath 2$,
Cloth Big top circus with wooden animals and pieces 75 cents
Two different themed (same company) Train sets with all of their pieces 2$ each
One Battery operated Thomas train set 3$ (had a pull back and go Thomas in the bag too)
A Rain stick .75 cents
A Vintage Fisher Price Circus Train 1$
Hot Wheels grand stand and track 1$
PlayDough Dentist set (you make the teeth and then be the dentist) 2$
Big Bag of Playdough Toys (Deserted Island theme) 3$
Fisher Price Plane 1$
Hobberan sphere 1$
Musical instruments (vintage Fisher price stuff) 2$
View Master with slides 1$
2 String Puppets 2$

And more!!!!

So, the boys are getting one “new’ gift each and the rest is all stuff that I got there, and there are even too many things that there are gifts for other occasions also…

Well… I need to get the house clean… Happy holidays for those who celebrate in the days to come… I’ll have pics tomorrow….

AAHHHHHHH!!!!

I just need to scream… wait I need to do it again… ARGHHHHHH!!!!!! Ok starting to feel better….

So yesterday we kept Colin temp under control and he actually was doing a lot better… In the morning I went to the pharmacy and stocked up on everything that I could imagine so that I will never see a seizure again… a new thermometer, tylenol and Motrin so that if one doesn’t work, I have the ther to alternate with.
I am am REALLY not a fan of giving medicine o even controlling a fever, but with Colin ad his history of fever spikes and having trouble controlling them I don’t ever want to take the chance again… I also picked up the prescription for antibiotics for his sinus infection… again another thing that I would have second guessed but with hi white blood cell count so low his body is just not strong enough to ward off such an infection without a big and long fight… so I welcome the help…
Anyways… he got a first doase at the hopital on sunday, we gave him three doses yesterday and yesterday he started throwing up and had diahrea… we wondered if it was just the virus progressing…
This morning when we got up he had hives and instanty realized that it was a reaction to the antibiotics (penicillin) so I brought Xavier to Daycare early, got them to give him breakfast and headed for the hospital. We waited about 5 minuted for Triage and were coded a priority 2, so we would go pretty fast…. (the waiting time for a priority 3 was about 18 hours!!!!)
About 40 minutes later we got in to see a doctor, got a new precription for a new antibiotic, codiene and benadryl to get the reaction under control and we were out the door…
I passed by a new clients home on the way to the pharmacy and she bought a wrap that I had in stock, answered a few questions about breastfeeding and headed to the pharmcy again….
Got the meds, came home, gave it Colin (2 of them have 10ml doses) ad then he threw it all back up a few seconds later… Arggh…. gave it to him again and he finally kept in down…..
And to top the day off… I started my Period… Like I really needed that today….
But, hey… it confirms my chart and when I think I ovulated….

And then the storm hit…

Well…. The weekend was long and hard…
Like I said in my last post on Friday, Xavier was coughing and Colin was feverish.. Well…Colin was sitting next to me and was falling in and out of sleep according to the little “ticks” he was having (you know he ones…when you fall asleep too quickly and feel like your falling… However, at about 6:15 the jumps became methodical…. Three in a row.. quickly I turned him around and what I saw scared me to death… his eyes were rolled back, and his face looked like it was made of plastic and I instantly realized that he was having a seizure. I got up with him in my arms and called 911…
An ambulance was on the way but wouldn’t be at our home for another 20 minutes…While talking to the operator I laid him down and waited for him to stop seizing. It felt like an eternity but it really lasted about 4 minutes… he finally stopped, I placed him on his side and he just laid there, whining and in a trance…
Simon got home…
I told him what happened and he stayed next to Colin while I got dressed and ready and waited for the ambulance, they finally arrived and we took his temp under his arm and it was just under 106 (about 41 c)… we got to the hospital, he was given “Tempra” to get the fever down and a preventative amount of Ativan (so that he wouldn’t seize again)
Simon, of course stayed home with Xavier…
We were admitted to the hospital… IV, tests and all of the whole yucky part that goes with it…
Friday night I was alone in the room, the same bed that he was in over year ago, for 5 days, at just 2 weeks of age, also because of a high fever. I rocked and nursed him for a few hours but he wouldn’t even close his eyes… at about 2am a nurse told me to lay down with him… he fell asleep a few seconds later, nestled next to my breast.
He slept until about 8:30 which gave us 6 hours of very uncomfortable yet good sleep… Saturday was a rough day… he was feverish and lethargic, not eating and could barely keep his eyes open. His day was highlighted by a visit from daddy and big brother Xavier and I got some clean clothes, a few essentials and the laptop to keep me company.
He was going to stay another night for sure but he was trying to get around more and kept on getting tangled in the IV and he was nursing quite a bit so I asked for them to take the IV out, or at least unhook it so that he could have some freedom to move…
The doctor said no saying that because his fever was so high they were scared that he would dehydrate… especially because his fever was still above 40…
I compromised with him saying that I wanted it taken out if his fever went below 40, he said OK hesitantly… the next time his temp was taken he was a bit below 40, I had them call him… They waited a bit longer then I would have liked but after asking again if they had called a few times it was finally taken out.
Two other babies arrived in the room on Saturday.
It was actually really nice.
One, in the morning, was with an anemic, non-weight gaining, refluxy 2 month old that slept all of the time, they had been in the hospital for a few days, where at home for 24 hours and then was readmitted…the mom left a bit to get some rest and the grandmother stayed a few hours and rocked her the whole time and we talked quite a bit… The other, a 10 month old little girl in for observation after her Walker (illegal in Canada BTW) fell down the stairs with her inside, arrived at about 10 pm…
After the 3 kids were asleep we stayed up talking…
Because we knew we would be up at midnight anyways, and it was already late, it seemed to make sense…it almost felt like we were having a mini pajama party (in a very unusual circumstances)… just talking and gossiping…
Like I predicted, Colin was up about 10 minutes before midnight and I laid down with him to sleep… At about 1:30, his temp was taken and it was about 39 (102), they gave him Tempra, and an hour later I woke up with him boiling next to me… It had went up to 40.8 (106)… We tried giving him a bit of Advil but it wouldn’t go down…
I had him drink some water and walk in the hall a bit and About half hour later his energy spiked for the first time in almost 2 days…
At 3am he played in the playroom for about an hour, doing a puzzle, playing with a stacking toy and the kid computer terminal… I saw my little boy come back to his normal self…
At about 4 I decided to make him fall asleep again… It worked and he slept until 8:30… he would have slept more but they needed to take blood… he was soaked in the morning and almost cool to the touch… his temp had gone down to about 36.5 (97.7)… And until 2pm he had no fever, was back to his normal self, and we had gotten the OK to go home *IF* his fever stayed away… But at 2 pm his fever was again at 39.5 (103).. More tempra, a good nap and he was up again playing and in a great mood but still has a high fever…
I made my mind up though that we were going home… fever or not…
The Results of the test finally came in today also…
It is most likely a nasty Virus…
The virus attacked his white blood cells making them almost dangerously low (his body is not equipped to attack another virus or bacteria) which is why he is also starting a Sinus infection. So Antibiotics to help him get rid of the infection and blood tests next week to make sure that his counts are up…
I was told that his body seems to be very susceptible to having very high fevers and developing them very fast. (given that this is the second time that he has been hospitalized for high fevers that can’t be controlled well) and susceptible in the future febrile seizures…
Anyway… I left the hospital at 8:30 tonight and I am so happy to finally be back home….