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Midweek Mommy Question - What do you know about hives?

The crab is still the working theory for Toby's first 'bout of hives. Yes, I said first bout.  That was the first week of July. On the last week of July, on Thursday afternoon I noticed more hive spots.  He had definitely not eaten anything unusual that day.  He did go outside right after I mowed the lawn, but I'm sure this has happened before. I didn't notice any bug bites.

Nope, not a lot of clues and the ones I have aren't adding up.

Thankfully it ended up being a much milder case. We didn't even go into the pediatrician this time, but I did give him Benadryl and called in and they recommended we keep an epi pen on hand. Nice in theory but when Kevin went to pick it up he discovered it cost $170 and expires in November. Not an option for us.

It ran it's course in three days (same as before, but not as ugly through the stages) and then he looked clear Sunday and Monday.  He did however develop a runny nose and high fever Saturday night/Sunday monring.  Hives related? I have no idea.

Then yesterday/Tuesday... Well, look above.  

Is this the same case that started last week and it never really went away?

Is this another new case because he's suddenly allergic to everything? 

Is there a mean nasty bug living in his room, hiding in his mattress that's causing this?

Anyone have any advice on starting an elimination diet?  I feel like I should do this and keep a food journal, but I kinda need a clean skin slate before I can start, right?

My other plan is to clean his room top to bottom and bug bomb it.

The good news is... no swelling with these last bouts.  

Also, it's not quite as bad as it looks in the picture - the warm tub water made it brighten.

No breathing problems. No scratching.  Just mysterious skin ugliness.

Oh and I've had people ask if I've changed his soap or anything and suggest I switch to fragrance free products. I already use fragrance free shampoos for the kids (I'm A Burt's Bees girl for their products.) and use fragrance free detergent and no drier sheets. But the bar soap in their bathroom is some random thing I bought and he was biting it on Thursday when it started.  

So Toby needs to stop eating crab and soap.

That's the best I got.

I welcome your theories...

Midweek Mommy Question - Learning to Swim

 

Here are the boys today at a friend's pool. No pics of Toby bobbing around in floaties or anything because he refuses to wear them for more than a minute, so when he's in the pool he's holding onto me or being held out and encouraged to swim by me, but somehow he is always attached to me. (Makes it hard to take a picture of him.)

Both Kaden and Blue wore floaties before they knew how to swim and both Kaden and Blue started swimming without floaties the summer they were 3. In Kaden's case, he just started swimming without them. With Blue, he did a week of lessons and then we told him he wasn't allowed to wear his floaties anymore. Swimming is still harder for Blue because he gets tired. His body type has to work harder to stay afloat. Kaden, on the other hand, is naturally buoyant.

Now here's Toby, newly two, but since he won't wear floaties, I'm already wishing he could swim!  If I knew by next summer he'll be swimming then I can accept this year as that-ONE-summer-we-had-to-always-hold-Toby-in-the-pool. My niece and nephew are one and they are already doing swim lessons. If Toby refuses flotation devices should we making a concerted effort to teach him to swim this summer?

I sent out an email to a Fragile X listserv I'm part of that simply asked if their FX kids could swim and if so, what age did they start?  Of the five or so responses I've gotten they range from kids being able to swim easily at two to a twenty year old who still doesn't swim. Which pretty much tells me, it's just like with "typical" kids - they're all different. 

How about you - how did you get your kids to start swimming? How old were they?

Oh, and here's a shot from today of Toby out of the water:

Midweek Mommy Question - The Most Important Toy?

Maybe the most important toy in your house is your kid's lovey and this question is just a redundancy from last week.

Not for us. 

For us, the most important toy is our indoor trampoline. It is most important because it greatly contributes to keeping me sane.  

"Blue, go jump."  
"Blue, too wild.  I'm setting the timer.  Jump for five."  
"BLUE. TRAMPOLINE. NOW."

Common sentences in our house.

The trampoline came to us via target.com (available only online) as the boys' main Christmas present of 2008.  This year, with Blue's new level of acting up, it's seen more action than ever before.  Until Saturday.  On Saturday tragedy struck:

The bungee chord snapped.  (No one was hurt.)

The boys went straight to their tools and gave fixing it a go:

Meanwhile Daddy got online and found the replacement chord and a new green mat. (We noticed that some of the holes on the mat were on the verge of ripping through.) Replacements total: $30, less than half the cost of new trampoline which, had their not been replacements available, we still would have bought.  We could have called it my Mother's Day present.

In the meantime, until the parts come and trampoline gets fixed, the new sentence is, "JUMPING JACKS. NOW."

Is there a most important toy in your house?

Midweek Mommy Question - Saying Goodbye to the Teddy Bear

Or another plush lovey for that matter.

Kaden had a favorite Teddy Bear - Gunther.  (A German name because Gunther came from Germany.) On a trip after Kaden had just turned 6, Gunther got left behind.  Kaden wasn't particularly heart broken about it and that was the end of Gunther.

Blue's first teddy bear of great affection was Lucy.  Lucy was a white bear that Blue used to chew on and no matter how often I washed her she looked gray and disgusting.  It didn't take long before we announced that Lucy was gone but Charlie had come as her replacement. Blue, less than two years old at the time, accepted this.

Blue promptly began chewing on Charlie but, as a brown bear, he held up better.  We accepted that Charlie Bear had leprosy and that's been that.  But now Charlie Bear is blind in one eye.  As in, I'm pretty sure some day last week Blue chewed off and swallowed Charlie's eye.  I've told Blue that should Charlie lose his other eye, then we are saying goodbye to Charlie.  He's moving out.  Adios.

And because Blue knows that when I say something like that I absolutely mean it, I don't expect him to eat the other eye... But, this is Blue we're talking about.  He does what he wants, so if he really wanted to chew off that eye, consequences be damned. 

What if he have to get rid of Charlie soon?

Which got me thinking - have any of you retired a bear or a well-loved lovey? How'd that go?

Midweek Mommy Question - Does your kid have a song?

Let me explain.

I have a song because my name came from a song - Some Velvet Morning by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood.  It's this very trippy song in which Hazelwood sings in a gravely voice, "Some velvet morning when I'm straight / I'm gonna open up your gate / And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra / And how she gave me life / And how she made it in..." And then Sinatra sings a wispy melody about nature that ends with, "Phaedra is my name."

Wikipedia says this of the song, "As with many psychedelic songs, its overall meaning is somewhat obscure. The lyrics consist of the male part describing a mysterious, powerful woman named Phaedra, who educated the speaker in the ways of love. The male part alternates with the female part, who identifies herself as Phaedra and speaks over ethereal, twinkling music about beautiful nature imagery and about the secrets held by an unknown collective "us"."  

Um, yeah. Whatever.

If I'm remembering correctly, both my parents loved the song, both my parents loved the name, but my dad didn't like the Greek myth about Phaedra, so they changed the spelling. As for me, I was never into the song, but I did go through a phase where I read every version of the Phaedra myth I could get my hands on and for the longest time I swore that if I had a daughter she'd be named Ariadne who seemed the better of the two sisters. I even wrote a short story in grad school titled, Ariadne's Maze. Ok, enough of that digression.

For Toby's first birthday my brother got him an itunes gift card and I made him a play list that still gets played A LOT in our house.  On that play list is Beautiful Boy (the Ben Harper version).  There are lots of songs on that play list but that's the song that makes me think of Toby.  Hear song, think of Toby. Beautiful Boy is Toby's song.  Simple.

Then, a few weeks ago, I decided to make a play list for Blue.  I did this because Blue is always asking to hear "the pirate song" (something I found for his last birthday party) but this song is not on an album or a play list and it always took forever to get to via our remote control (my ipod is our stereo, connected to the tv and its speakers), so I hated putting on "the pirate song" for him. Then I figured I could make him a play list of music he liked.  But I can't make a play list of only kid's music because I listen to these things too and I don't want to end up killing myself over an annoying play list.  That would be silly.  So, for a theme for this play list I decided to go with... the word blue!  Shocking.  I know.  And thanks to some of my own digging and some suggestions from friends via facebook I have some incredible songs with the word blue including one titled, Eyes of Blue, by Paul Carrack which is about as perfect as it gets since Blue has the bluest eyes of anyone I know. This is Blue's song.

I'm gonna have to work on one for Kaden.  He really likes The Killers when I put them on.  Maybe I'll start by looking there...

Am I the only out there who has attached songs to my kids?  Maybe you've gone even further and written an original song for your kid?

Just curious.  Let me know.

Midweek Mommy Question - Best Places for Family Vacations?

Summer's around the corner.  I've already been busily calling about camps and fees, but as for trips, we're not planning any family vacations. Instead, Kevin and I we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in AUgust, so we're going on a Montana hiking trip with another couple.  But this doesn't mean I don't think about trips and places I eventually want to go with the kids. 

So when I saw the article, 15 Places Kids Should See by Age 15, I was interested and then surprised by how few of the places on the list are on mine. 

Their 15 places on the list are:

1. *Grand Canyon in Arizona.  This is a maybe.  But where I really want to take the kids when they are all old enough to hike is Bryce and Arches in *Utah.  Of all the National Parks I've visited these two may be tied for my favorite.  I want to go back with the whole family.

2. *Redwoods National Park California.  Ok, yes this park is incredible and do I hope my kids get to go in their lifetime?  Yes.  Do I feel the need to go as a family? No.

3. Monticello, Virginia.  Um, no way.  We have already taken our kids to the state of Virginia though.  Do we get any points for that?

4. The Freedom Trail - Massachusetts Hadn't thought about it before probably because the only history/educational type trip I'd planned on was...

5. & 6. Washington D.C. and Williamsburg, VA. - Yes.  My first trip to D.C. Was when I was a third grader (I think.) and then again with my school in 6th grade.  The times I've gone back in my "grown-up" life were more about seeing friends then sights.  I'm ready to go back with kiddoes in tow!

7. *Niagra Falls.  Again, no way.  I've seen the falls.  I've ridden the Maid of the Mist.  Incredible. But it's a single day's worth of entertainment and not one I'm planning a family trip around.

8. Walt Disney World, FL. Hey!  One we've already done with all three boys! And may do at least on alternating years between now and infinity. (Or, for as long as we continue to live just two hours away.)

9.Independence Hall - Pennsylvania  I guess I'm just not a history buff.  If I take 'em to D.C. and Williamsburg and that still feels like enough.

10. Alcatraz Island - California This would be cool and I'm still annoyed that when Kevin and I were in *San Francisco the Island was full or something like that and we couldn't go so I've only seen it from a distance.  Even so, going back isn't a priority.

11. Ellis Island - New York I have no desire to take kids to "the city".  That's all.

12. *Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming, Montana and Idaho  Maybe. But only if we get our Bryce/Arches trip out of the way and the kids survive that and wanted to go on another hiking/camping trip.  

13. Fenway Park - Massachusetts. Not gonna happen.

14. Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve - Idaho I'd never heard of this place until this list.  Sounds awesome but I still can't imagine planning a trip to.. Idaho?

15. San Diego Zoo - California  We live two hours away from the Miami Metro Zoo.  Do we really need to go across the country to see this one? 

*Places Kevin and I went on a 6-week road trip in summer of 2000.

So here are the places that I want to take my kids:
1. Utah - the aforementioned Bryce/Arches hiking/camping trip 
2. D.C. and Williamsburg - something from their list makes mine! 
3. The Florida Keys. Technically Kaden has already been because we took a boat from Ft Myers for a one-day trip to Key West once with my Dad, but I really want to go and spend a good week mostly just soakin' in the sun at Bahia Honda State Park because that is one incredible beach.
4. Germany. Specifically to the Spreewald region where my Grandparents once lived and where many cousins still live and then on further south to the castles in Bavaria
5. Russia. A tour that included Moscow/Volgograd/St. Petersburg (for Kaden)
6. Maine. I've never been to Maine. I want to go, so we may as well all go, right?  (Funnily enough I don't feel the same way about Costa Rice.  I've never been. I want to go.  But I don't really want to go with the kids!)  

Other travel Miscellany:
*And maybe I'll someday want to deal with the choas of traveling to a city hosting the Olympic Games? 
*We've already been to Tennessee, Nashville area a bunch visiting family, but when they're older I'd like to play tourist and go to a show at the Country Music Hall of Fame as a family.
*There is a once-a-month kid's breakfast at the Dali museum in St. Pete.  We are absolutely doing this soon.
*A mission trip with the whole family 
*I always said that if I have a daughter I'd want to do a trip with her to Prince Edward Island (think Anne of Green Gables), but it's kinda looking like that won't happen.

Those are my family travel dreams. Where do you dream of someday traveling with your whole family? Or where have you already traveled that I should add to my list? 

Midweek Mommy Question - Fun New Books?

We've been a lot better about getting books from the library lately.  It's hard to track down a book with Blue and Toby running around, so I have a new system where I just put everything I want on hold from my computer at home and then I wait for them to call me so all I'll have to do is run in and pick the books up. Love it.

Mostly I've been getting books for Kaden.  They have a "100 Book Challenge" they do at school and especially since baseball started, we've been bad about reading time.  Part of the problem is getting the right books at his reading level.  He's a good reader but he's got no love for it, so even though he's ready to read longer, better books we're in I Can Read! Level 2 and Level 3 books.  I've bought a ton of these, but it was time to go the cheaper, library route. The I Can Read! books have been fine, but two other books we found that we all really enjoyed were: Pigs, Pigs, Pigs! and Cats, Cats, Cats! both by Leslea Newman. 

Pigs, Pigs, Pigs!

I enjoyed the illustrations.  I love the food words and the whimsy of the whole thing.  Essentially a town is getting ready to host a whole buncha pigs who feast and then dance.  What's not to love about feasting and dancing?

And then Cats, Cats, Cats!

Also visually very fun.  The poor woman in this book loves her cats and cleans and takes care of them all day so that they can party and live it up all night.  

Kaden enjoyed reading them both which isn't saying much because his only criteria for liking a book is that it isn't too long.  (Boo! What am I going to do with him?!) But, Blue and I were also entertained by these books so they come with our recommendation!

What children's books have you encountered recently that we should add to our library hold list?

Midweek Mommy Question - Nicknames?

Some of us spend forever figuring out what to name our kiddos and then go around calling them something else.

I call Toby, "Stinks," all the time.  It's not that he stinks.  It's just that it's something I'd say before a diaper change ("Come on, Stinks.") that has carried over into an all-the-time nickname.  He also gets called "Grumps" or "Grumpapotamous" because that boy can be difficult!

Here he is during one of Blue's teeball games.  Fine at first but for two Saturdays in a row by the time the game was over he was a Mr. Grumpapotamous for sure.

So the boy's name is Tobias but he gets called Toby, Tobes, Toby-Toes, Stinks, Grumps, and Grumpapotamous.  Whew!  

Blue started out as a nickname so there was really no reason to stray from it just because it became his legal name.  Ever so often though, I'll call him Blueza.  Back when Blue first came, Kaden's speech was still terrible and "Blue has" always came out "Blueza".  Since Kaden's first sibling arrived at an age where he could grab Kaden's toys right away we heard "Blueza" a lot.

I really thought we'd end up calling Kaden, "Dima," his Russian nickname, but it never stuck. He's Kaden or Bubba, that's it.

What are your kids' nicknames and how did they evolve?

How We Do Valentine's Day

I have always loved Valentine's Day.  Even as a single gal, I'd buy myself a nice present, enjoy the roses my grandparents always sent me and had fun celebrating with friends.  Flowers, candy, lots of pink - what's not to like?

Since Kevin entered the picture a few things have changed.  For one, I've banned flowers.  It's one thing when my grandparents dropped the cash on their only granddaughter, but no way am I allowing for the inflated Valentine's prices to come out of the family budget. Flowers for Anniversary.  Oh yes.  Flowers for a fun surprise?  Sure.  Flowers at Valentine's? Nope.  That's my policy. 

The other thing we do is eat this:
 

It's a shrimp pasta garnished with red apple slices and snap peas.  We've had this exact pasta dish with these exact garnishes for about a dozen years in a row now. Seriously.  Why the apples and peas? Because that's what the cook book said to do and back in my early stages of cooking I was more exact in my direction following.  Now it's tradition. 

And although it's not a tradition I also made these:

And again, not a tradition, but something we did this year:  I cut out five hearts (one for each of us).  On three of them I wrote, "What do you love about Kaden/Blue/Toby?" On the other two I wrote I John 4:7and Matthew 22:37.  Before dinner we took turns pulling a heart and reading/answering.  After dinner I had some Valentine madlibs for us to do which about had the boys rolling on the floor.  Nothing like teaching boys about adjectives and then suddenly they are thrilled that they can put "stinky" and "yucky" in front of everything. I so don't get boy humor.

I cook on Valentine's Day but we also have a date night nearish the holiday.  This year we went out Saturday without the boys.

Presents are optional, usually small.  This year Kevin went bigger than usual and kinda broke the "no flowers" rule.  He got me this:

I knew I was getting a potted plant because picking out the pot was part of our date Saturday.  And I knew that the only plant it made sense to get me was a lemon tree because I've been asking for a lemon tree for oh, about nine years now, but he has stubbornly refused.  I can't explain why I've wanted a lemon tree or why he refused to get me one, but seriously for years and years and I've been saying, "When are you going to plant my lemon tree?"  I even said it SATURDAY MORNING before I ever knew about the whole pot-picking-plan and I got my usual answer, "You're not getting a lemon tree."  Liar.  It had been hidden in the garage under a blanket for days. How did I not notice that?!

That was pretty much the while-kids-were-awake part of Valentine's in the Stratton household this year, but I'm always up for new ideas. If you did something especially fun and lovey dovey as a family, let me know. And it's Wednesday, so consider that the "Midweek Mommy Question."  How do you make Valentine's Day fun with kids?

Midweek Mommy Question - Keeping Their Art

Do you keep all your kid's art?  How?  Or how do you break it to 'em if you don't? 

I have a file where I keep a few (a very, very select few) of their pieces.  We have a rotation of what goes on the fridge and when it rotates off, it's trash which the kids know.  And for Kaden's monthly projects I've been taking a picture of him with the project and putting these pictures in our photo album.

As for Kaden's February project, it's a Valentine and a poem.  The poem reads, 

My Mom, My Valentine

I will cut out a red heart
to decorate my Valentine
It will be so pretty
because it is for my mom.
I want to make her happy.
She is my Valentine.