Well, it was a dandy weekend!
Just the right length, just the right amount of fun, and just the right amount of work (very little!)
I’m going to start with Wednesday though, because a really good thing
and a really bad thing happened then. Somehow, Anna, Liam’s babysitter, realized
that if she put Liam upstairs in a playpen at naptime, he’d SLEEP! So, finally,
after months of trying to negotiate a way for him to get a nap, we’d found a solution.
He is just to distracted to sleep only a few feet from the other older kids.
So, THAT was a good thing.
We’d had a good time at bowling, and though we noticed Liam tugging
at his ears a little, we figured some Tylenol would get him through until Friday when I could get him to the doctor. Not so. Around 9:30, Liam woke up REALLY
fussy, and screaming. He didn’t stop for nearly 2 hours so I knew something was
wrong. He’d never cried for so long before.
So, not knowing quite what to do – and I think my brain shut down a little – I suggested to Russ that we head to the
ER. He agreed, and soon we were making the 20 minute trip – Liam crying the entire
way. We arrived, and by the time we were in the exam room, Liam was clearly exhausted,
and actually taking little naps. Once examined by the ER Doc, it was noted that
his right ear was “buldging” and his left was “really red.” Thus, the doc gave
us a strong script of Zithromax and we went home. This time, Liam slept and we
all fell into bed around 2:00am. We figure a tympanostomy (tubes) is in his near
future.
So, Thursday was not
a bad day, although, we were all tired. Fortunately, Liam was well enough to
go to daycare, and Russ and I went out to lunch together just to keep ourselves awake.
At home, my new cleaning lady was busy at work. I tried not to worry about
ay mishaps. After picking up Liam and heading home, I opened my front door to
a fresh scent, and a gleaming kitchen floor. From that point on, I found myself
circling around the house in awe. It was wonderful. This young gal accomplished
more in 5 hours than I could in 5 days! No dust, no grime, no dog hair, clean
toilets, clean cabinets, shiny mirrors, and even clean picture frames, just to name a few of the dozen tasks she did. Worth every penny!!! Speaking of pennies,
though, the poor gal accidentally broke the little adobe Piggy bank that Kathy had brought me from Columbia many years ago. Of course, the cleaning gal felt terrible about it, and offered over and over to pay
for it… but I couldn’t help but laugh. I told her that I’d been waiting nearly
30 years for someone to break that piggy bank just so I could see what I’d shoved in it!!
Aside from a few wheat pennies, the prize was rather disappointing. I
assured her, that I wasn’t the least bit angry, but told her to REALLY enjoy a couple of pieces of bacon!
Friday morning Liam and I had to get up early to go to his Pediatrician’s
appointment at 9:00. Unfortunately, Dr. Sheth couldn’t see into his ears much
because of a lot of icky drainage. So he prescribed some drops and told us to
come back in a week. We were back home by 9:30 and had a good time playing cars
and blocks on the floor. It was nice not feeling like I had to do any major cleaning. It really gave me more time just to be with Liam and Russ. After a bit of lunch, we drove North to Prince Frederick for my UltraSound.
Liam took a little nap on the way, which was a good thing. Once we were
in the exam room, he woke up in time to see the images of the baby on the screen. Like
previous times, he felt best when he was sitting right beside me. Yes,
we were lucky enough to find out the gender. If you’d like to know, click HERE! Everything looked good, and we got some nice pictures. It was a joyous time. To celebrate we headed over to the nearby
metropolis of Waldorf to do a little shopping at BabiesRUs. Then we wandered around Border’s Bookstore, and then went to the
Mall as Liam needed some new sneakers. The Motherhood store also had some sales, so I bought a pair of pants and a shirt that
Russ thought would look nice on me. Then, after a long and eventful day, we returned
home.
Saturday, we had a nice pancake breakfast, and I had a nice conversation
with Mom on the phone. Then I called my friend, Tammy, to close out the Natural
Family Boutiqe Party Orders that we’d been gathering together the previous week. After
a shower, I headed out to run a few errands before the storm was due to commence. I
returned, just as the RAIN began to fall. Liam helped me decorate some Valentine’s
for his daycare friends. By evening though, the rain did turn to big white flakes,
and we all awoke on Sunday to about 4 inches of white beauty.
Sunday, after a quick breakfast, the three of us headed out to the
front yard to build a snowman. It was a little embarrassing because neither Russ
nor I could quite remember just how to MAKE a snowman! After we got the initial
snowballs rolling to a decent size though, we were relieved to see body shapes forming.
Liam delighted in just trouncing around in it, and EATING it! I wish someone
smart would design some kids mittens though! I must have put his back on his
little hands a dozen times! Next time, I think I’m just going to use a pair of
Russ’s socks! He helped us pat the snowman together though, and then had a fun
time riding around on the snow shovel. After “Al,” the snowman was finished,
we went back inside to dry off and get some lunch.
After Liam’s nap we headed out again
to a nearby park (that had a hill or two) to have another round of sledding in the laundry basket! More snow began falling while we were there, and it truly was a magical time.
It
was a great weekend, but it’s always hard to put Liam to bed on Sunday nights after such a nice time. Monday morning brought us back to cold reality, but at least we made some good memories and took some nice
pictures and movies!
