Thursday, June 25, 2009

Camp Lake Louise

I finally got a chance to surf the Internet here at camp, and I wanted to blog! We're having a great time here. Jackson is in his element: he is in the middle of nature, has a huge audience of adoring fans, and both parents at the same time for an entire week! There are about 60 kids here, all in high school, and they are great. As the Camp Health Officer, or Nurse, or Doctor, or whatever you want to call me, I see the kids after breakfast and before dinner to give their meds or give them a bandaid or some cortisone cream or some tampons...and then anytime in between that they need me. We only had one major incident so far, a boy who was playing basketball in the wrong shoes and broke his foot. We had to send him to the hospital for xrays, which confirmed my suspicion that it was indeed broken and not a sprain. He's doing fine, now. Otherwise, it's been great spending time with baby boy and getting to know the kids. I don't really miss the phone or the computer much, but I do miss sleeping, as that is something I don't get a whole lot of. The kids have about 75 minutes a day after lunch to nap--"H Hour," or horizontal hour--but usually I'm playing with the little guy. JW is in his element--he gets to play guitar for the praise band, video, and put together slide shows and the DVD that the kids get to go home with. Everyone loves him, of course.

Jackson has been doing some cute things while we've been here. No new words, but last night, after finishing my second novel of the week, I decided to write him a list of the cute things he's been doing, with the ultimate intention of blogging it. Here goes:

--When the counsellors and campers were having their basketball game, I thought it would be a great idea to take you down to watch. You only wanted to get into the action, though, and would have been trampled underfoot if it weren't for my quick Mommy skills. We had to leave while you threw a tantrum because you really really wanted to play. The next day, when Daddy and I brought you down by ourselves to run all over the court, you didn't want any part of it. Instead, you proceeded to run thru the tall grass "Little House on the Prairie" style. Cute.
--You think that baths and showers are torture devices.
--You don't like the lake, but you will run full speed to the end of the dock and stop abruptly. You also love stepping on and off the sides of the dock into one inch of water. You like throwing your little fish toys into the water, but if they float too far away (past your knees deep) you just stand there and reach out for someone to get them for you.
--If you get dirt on your hands, you reach your hand out for me to brush it off.
--You like walking up to plants and pulling the leaves off.
--You love practicing stepping up and down. There is a rock on a platform in the center of the field here, and you like to step up, plaster yourself flat against the rock in stealth mode, look around to see who's watching you, and then step back down.
--You have really enjoyed expanding your dietary preferences to include Yoplait strawberry yogurt (but not the strawberry chunks), real bacon, macaroni salad, and pizza! You still won't eat grilled cheese.
--You don't like napping here, it's too exciting. But you will lay your head down on the yucky bug-gut-encrusted carpet when you get tired.
--You think that the Benadryl bottle is a morraca. (spelling?)
--You still like to point at my chest with one little finger when you want milk, and when I ask if that's what you want, you giggle mischievously.

Those are my thoughts for the day. I miss everyone, but I'm safe and having a good time with my family. Talk to you when I get home! Check out the camp's website at www.lakelouisecommunity.org.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Early Birds...


Jackson has been waking up at 5 a.m. all week. It's been pretty exhausting for JW and me. Today, I just couldn't take it anymore. When J woke up, I nursed him and brought him into the guest bed to see if he would doze a little more. He always gets too distracted in our bedroom because he wants to play with the fan, the nightlight, my glasses, my phone, my pager, and the various other niceties that a mommy and daddy keep by the bed. Yay, he slept with me until 7:45! So I had 15 minutes to get ready, but it was totally worth it. I don't think I could have made it thru this day of 23 patients otherwise. One more day of work before camp, I'm counting down. How bad will tomorrow be...

Babies Don't Keep...

I was chatting with Francis, my nurse, today, about house cleaning. I was saying that I used to think I had to do everything every week, but then I realized in the big scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if you dust a shelf that nobody really sees. I told her that when I feel that I should be doing something other than watching J play, I often bring to mine the lines of a poem that I remember Mom had hanging in our house when I was little. I remember that it was cross-stitched, and I remember that it was talking about how you should forget about doing all your housework, because it will always be there, but your baby will not always be a baby. So today, I googled the poem, and here it is. I never saw the poem in its entirety before, I thought it was very cute. So I wanted to post it on my blog. Also, I have another word to add:
13. Knee--he said it clear as day today, multiple times!

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep
.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Monday, June 15, 2009

Daily Amusings

I have another 2 words to add to Jackson's list:

11. Jesus (said while pointing to the picture of Jesus in his baby bible. I've also taught him that the picture of Mary, as in Mary and Martha, next to Jesus is actually "Mama." Oh well)
12. Bible (I know it seems wierd, but he says it as he's bringing me the bible, and it's definitely a different sound than "book" or "ball.")

Now, keep in mind that his words often are not reoccuring. They are pretty random at this point. But it's a start! Oh, he meowed yesterday too. He loves cats, not like me.

Since I haven't been blogging very much, I have a few cute things to add.

On Saturday, we took JW's mom to dinner at Apple Mountain Ski and Golf Resort, one of our new faves. It was the first meal out with Jackson that I actually enjoyed. He did so well! He ate almost the entire duration of the meal, allowing me to enjoy my meal too. It helped that I ordered a big salad with pineapple, mandarin oranges, strawberries, and turkey bites; ok, so I ended up eating mostly lettuce, but hey, it was worth it. :)

JW and J were playing in the yard, and JW had his golf club and ball out there. J was definitely playing with the ball, and when JW went to look for it, it was gone. The three of us searched the yard, the dirt, the plants, but still have yet to find it. It's a mystery... We did find a doggy toy that is a ball, which of course J loves to play with.

Jackson is back into the "tickle mitt," a mitten that allows your fingers to poke out and makes you look like a monster with which you tickle the baby. I taught him to put it on himself, and he looks so funny with his "monster" hand.

We're getting ready to go to Camp Lake Louise next week, so be prepared for another lull in blogging, but I'll try to keep track of all the funny things that happen and write when we get back. Oh, by the way, J is 15 months old!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Oopsie!


Today J and I went to Birch Run to get JW his Father's Day present. After a few stores, he was getting restless, so I sat down on one of the benches to nurse him. When we were done, I wondered why he wasn't sitting up. It turns out that his little finger was stuck in the holes in the bench--he couldn't get it out, but he kept pulling, as I was trying to get him to stop pulling. I finally just yanked it out, and I was so sad, he was crying. It was a little red and swollen, but he could move it fine, and it got better throughout the evening, so I think it's ok, but Dr. Mommy was scared. To make it up to him, I bought him some cute clothes at Carter's and a little puppy dog that barks when you pull the string. "Can't buy me love..."

Also, JW and I have been struggling to get J to eat more than cheese and fruit and cheerios. He won't touch bread, pancakes, waffles, mac and cheese, or banana muffins. Tonight for dinner I made an Indian chicken recipe with curry sauce and cauliflower, and he gobbled it up! Who knew? He's an international sort of dude. I'll take it.

Being Silly



I have to add to Jackson's Lexicon:


7. "Men!" for Amen after grace
8. Truck
9. Tiger (as in Woods); for real, he pointed at the TV screen during the golf tournament and said it!
10. Bear


Jackson has been so funny the last few days, I just have to share so that I don't forget:


  • He fell on the driveway and scraped his knee. It was a pretty good scrape. I was teaching him that it was a "boo-boo," and I would kiss it. Then I showed him Mommy's boo-boo from cutting herself with the knife (surprise, surprise), and he kissed it! So adorable!

  • I bought him Tadoodles, which are Crayola's brand of Toddler-shaped crayons. They look like eggs. J thought they were a toy and just wanted to bang them together. When JW left the room for a second, on returning, he saw the J had blue crayon all over his face--he had eaten the tip off the crayon! I guess he's not old enough to color...

  • I bought J a new book, Spot Goes to the Farm. There is one page that he keeps turning to, that of a duck in a pond. But for some reason, he's obsessed with the reeds (cattails) behind the pond, and he keeps incessantly pointing at them and talking about them. I'm not sure what he thinks they are, exactly, but he sounds really concerned about whatever it is. It's a mystery for now...


Thursday, June 4, 2009

First Lexicon

Someone recently told me that I should keep track of Jackson's first 50 words, for they are known as his "first lexicon." We're not at 50 yet, but it is certainly amazing to see every day how much he is trying to say and imitate. So far:

1. Dada (his all-time favorite chant, especially when I ask him to say "mama.")
2. Mama
3. Basketball (ba-ball)
4. Ball
5. Slide/'side (outside)
6. Bye-bye

I'll keep adding on. I just spent my first night in a long time away from my two men; JW had a golf outing yesterday and Aunt Jane watched Jackson. Because it started so early yesterday morning, the guys left the night before. Jackson had a rough time sleeping until JW lay down with him; I slept great! But I definitely missed the little guy--and my big guy too. Absence makes the heart grow fonder for sure. I had a great time playing with J when I got home yesterday--he was so funny! He likes to take Old MacDonald and his horsie and set them on the coffee table, then move them to his tractor, and back and forth they go. He was playing "catch" with me, but he has trouble throwing the ball forward; it always goes behind his head and he acts so surprised when it ends up across the room behind him.

Finally, I forgot to blog on Saturday when I had my first Pampered Chef party. I was so excited because I've never been able to go--well, it turned out that I didn't get to stay at my own, either, because I had to deliver a baby in the middle of it. I was super nervous because it was my first delivery here out of residency, but it worked out so perfectly. Mom and baby are doing fine, and my wonderful boss actually came to the hospital to be my moral support, which was such an answer to prayer. Oh well, I will have to go to someone else's party sometime. A baby was totally worth it.