I love almond butter.

I do.

I became a huge fan a couple of months ago and I've never looked back. I never would've heard of it either if I hadn't worked ESY last summer.

It's a short post tonight, since I had class until 7 PM. I'm just taking a quick time out from dishes and cleanup before going to bed.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise - Lent Saves Me from Zero Sleep

The early bed time has been the best Lent decision I've made in my life.

Shane's developed a bad habit. He wants a bottle in the middle of the night most nights. The habit started when he was sick and couldn't breathe out of his nose for almost a week. He lost weight, because he couldn't/wouldn't eat or drink much. It was just too frustrating and drawn-out for him. Consequently, Carrie and I were worried and fed him whatever we could, whenever we could. I think that's where the middle-of-the-night bottle habit started.

Before Lent, a tired and half-asleep Dada would wake up, grab a bottle and stick it in my son's mouth. He'd drink happily and I would half fall asleep in the glider. The sooner Shane drank, the sooner I could go back to sleep.

During Lent, I've been able to get enough sleep in spite of these nightly excursions to the kitchen and my son's room. Shane's woken up before my alarm clock every morning save one, as well. Every little bit of extra sleep helps!

Last night, the boy woke up at 2:15 AM. I got up, around 2:20 AM (after I was sure he wasn't going back to sleep) and went downstairs to get a bottle ready. Shane was singing out instead of wailing, so I was in no particular hurry. Carrie and I had gone to bed extra early so I was more wakeful and alert than usual. I whipped out a baby book and looked up 'nighttime feedings' and did a little speed reading.

Plain as day, the book said "Stop putting up with this crap."

How's that Lent thing working out?

So far, the waking up early for Lent hasn't gone as planned. The idea was I would go to bed a little earlier and wake up before Shane. Instead, he woke up at 5:30, 6:15, and 5:50 the next three days. Shane's switched to one nap a day and it's causing him to go to bed closer to 8 PM.  I felt I was justified to hit the "snooze button" today since Shane woke up at 11:50 and 3:15 last night. Alas, he woke up for real by 6:14. I'll get my Bible study in somehow!

Instead of video games, I'm trying to read and post more. I found this today: http://www.cracked.com/article_19637_the-5-craziest-war-stories-all-happened-same-ship.html

Hilarious if I can verify it's all true! (It is the internet after all)

An Ode to Grandma

This is the earliest picture I have of Shane and his Grandma. She's been a huge help since Day 1.

Do you know what YOUR son did?

"Do you know what YOUR son did today?"

The inflection on the pronoun grabbed my attention right away. It's a line that I've heard on TV or in the movies my whole life. It's not a line that I'm accustomed to hearing in the really real world.

"Don't you mean OUR son?" I replied as casually as possible. I didn't want to break into a grin.

"No. I mean YOUR son." My wife was giving me the 'serious look.'

"No, I don't know." I knew it had to be something funny. I just couldn't laugh yet if I wanted to hear it.

"I was changing a poo diaper and your son reached down between his legs, grabbed his diaper, and YANKED it out from underneath his butt! He left poo smeared all across his stomach!"

I cracked up. I could envision the shock and horror on my wife's face as that diaper went flying and the poo went streaking. Shane must have started cackling while Carrie tried to pop her eyes back into her head and prevent the boy from rolling over and running off diaper in hand.

That's my boy!

An Ode to Nana

Shane loves visiting his Nana!

Lent

Today marks the beginning of Lent. I've decided to forgo on video games, set a 10:00 bedtime, and wake up 20 minutes earlier each day to read my Bible and get a jump start on the day.

There's a method to my madness.

Video games are a good way to relax, but they're also really easy to sink more time into than I want to.  This causes me to not accomplish things that I would also enjoy. When you only get a couple of hours of free time a night, you need to use it wisely! I want to finish a book my father-in-law loaned me, Killing Lincoln, and my brother, Patrick, wanted me to read Nuklear Age and Small Gods at some point. Then there's exercising, chores to make my mornings smoother, et cetera, et cetera. All things that staring at a loading screen won't get accomplished. Abandoning games should help me go to bed earlier, get plenty of sleep, and avoid being the zombie dad who stares at the baby monitor and tries to will my child back to sleep in the morning. That paves the way for a more awake Mike who can intelligibly read a few passages in the morning, and isn't that what Lent is supposed to be about?

This also brings up a nerdy question I need some help with.

No more video games means I can squeeze in an episode a night of a series I need to finish. I'm in the middle of Star Trek Voyager, Babylon 5, and Stargate Atlantis. Which should I pick back up first? Carrie and I used to always watch an episode or two of a series before Shane, but it's largely lapsed since she tends to fall asleep on the couch while I'm putting Shane to bed. Carrie's a huge Voyager fan, but my friend Igor's already told me that his vote would be for Atlantis. Hmmm......Voyager is no DS9, but Atlantis is no SG-1 either...

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Expect me to be posting fairly regularly throughout Lent. The next several posts are going to be odes to people who have been helping raise Shane! Carrie and are I blessed that we're in a situation where we have not had to shell out hundreds or even a thousand dollars a month for child care. I work and tutor Monday through Friday, and then Carrie works Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and often trains horses on Sunday. Nana watches Shane Monday and Wednesday. I provide the weekend child care, but I sometime drop by Nana's after church for a break in the routine. Carrie's parents have driven 2.5 hours one way to cover some days when Carrie needs extra support or Nana isn't available. Then on Tuesdays, Carrie hired her friend Genevieve to trek up and help out, so she can run errands, install doors, and train the occasional horse.

It's been a huge help. They're all part of the Shane equation, and since this blog is now mainly about Shane I figure I should give them their due.

Shane's tantrums

I like to post funny stories if possible, but life isn't only roses. Shane's nearing the "Terrible Twos."  Whenever Shane doesn't get his way, he physically throws himself. It doesn't take much. Mainly, if you pull him away from a dangerous situation or block him from getting somewhere he wants to go, it's on like Donkey Kong. If I'm laying in front of the couch, he'll get pissy if I don't let him step on my head to hop up behind me.

What's a Shane tantrum look like? It starts loud grunt and then the boy arcs his back and snaps his head back. I'll normally grab an arm or something to prevent him from landing head first, because he really throws himself into it. The wailing starts around then and sometimes he'll bang his head on the ground. It's quite a little sight, but it's all part of parenting. He's mad he didn't get his way and letting it be known. In return, I make sure he doesn't really hurt himself and I ignore the behavior. Most of the time, he doesn't get it. He'll hop back up in after a tantrum and try to repeat the behavior I stopped. I stop him again, and then there's another tantrum.

It's just basic discipline. I have a little time-out for him upstairs, and i'll need to get something for him downstairs too. It'll have to be something he can't hurt himself on. He got frustrated once in front of the fireplace and started hammering his head against the board Carrie placed over it. This made him madder and he hit his head harder and started the "I'm hurt" cry instead of the typical tantrum "I'm pissed off" cry.

This is going to be an ongoing project for a while. From what I've read (and seen), tantrums just go along with growing up. It's unfortunate Shane's a headbanger, but he's still been a wonderful son. He's healthy, he's usually happy, and he's so Absolutely Damn Delightful he can quickly be distracted (most of the time).  Maybe this is just a sign he's going to be into rock and roll. That's way better than rap in my book! Ha ha!

This was just meant to be a 'reality log.' I think Shane's developing and growing well, and this is just one of those challenges most parents face. If I post this same log again ten years from now, we'll have a problem!  Until then, Shane's just going to have to learn smacking his head isn't going to get him any closer to what he wants.

Bed beckons!

Shane and the Measuring Tape (a lazy cop-out on my part)

My one year old is the size of a two year old and learning new things every day. In lieu of writing a long post, I have a long video.

Some highlights to look out for:

1. Shane's squealing! He's not talking talking much, but he likes to make a lot of noise. It's not new, but it's cute.

2. Shane's reasoning. My son's ability to reason and interact has definitely grown. In the video, he grabs my hand and turns it over before plopping the measuring tape into it. Shane knows what he wants and he takes steps to getting it.

3. Shane waves now. This is towards the end of the video. I realize most people aren't going to watch all 7.5 minutes so I'm pointing it out here. He won't do it on command, but he's learned that waving to Carrie or I will cause us to get all sorts of excited.

4. I look small in front of my son. He's a big boy for his age and growing all the time (well, except for the setback of being sick).

That's my quick post for the night! Enjoy the Shane-annigans.

Cat Door Shane-annigans

Shane is an explorer. Gates…, doors…, these types of barriers offend him at his very core.  This can be a problem sometimes. 

Brief Hiatus Expires

My brief hiatus from posting is now over. After a rough couple of weeks, I enjoyed vegging out in my free time for the past several day. I enjoy writing and posting, but it takes energy. Clicking around mindlessly on a computer?  That's a textbook example of an activity that requires no effort at all!

A quick thought dump before I start typing up a real Shane post:

-My boy is growing and growing! He's a handful, but he's also getting more and more fun as he grows and learns. I really wonder what he'll be like a year from now.
-No word back on my interview yet. I'm really really hoping that I get into the hiring pool. I'm a bit burned out on teaching at the moment. It'd be nice to have a job change and still get to work with kids and my school system.
-Word is there's going to be snow tonight! I sure hope so. Tomorrow is a holiday, so it won't effect my work schedule, but I love a good snow.
-My friend Dan confessed video game infidelity to me. I've been clamoring to play Portal 2 co-op with him, but he sold me out for someone with boobs. Actually, I don't mind. I'm still only playing single player/pause-able games since Shane always seems to interrupt.
-Carrie's finally feeling better. 8 days of low-grade fever and then I "blew her mind" and she ended up with quite the headache. The doctor proscribed 800 mg of ibuprofen and bed rest for Friday night.
-Carrie home made challah bread last night.  Hollah!  It's definitely a perk to marry into a cooking family.  I was raised on the Scottish restaurant (aka "McDonald's).

Posty Post Post

I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to do a quick status update before working on some work work.

-Shane is almost healthy again! He's back to eating solid food and will drink from a sippy cup again. There's still a lot of antibiotics left for his ear infection, but that's on the mend as well. It was pink when the doctor looked at it today.

-Carrie has had a low grade fever for 7 days running. It's been floating around 100 degrees. She's not been overly happy and the chemical cocktails she's been swilling haven't helped a ton. The doctors today said she's getting better and she'll just have to tough it out.

-Work is busy as ever. I was thrilled about getting a teacher's assistant to help out with my 14:1 self-contained special education class. Three days later, her schedule was changed.  I don't know if she requested a change or not, but I was sad to see her go. She was a natural and I had plans for certain kids that need more attention, but I've been unable to give it to them. It's a tough class to meet all the needs even though the kids aren't bad kids. They apparently had one of my subs last week yelling, though!

I'm just glad everything is on the mend. I'm really looking forward to hearing about my interview. I'd love to get a fresh start in a new position. It's fun to learn and try something new!

Anyway, back to work. Experimental Design Diagrams are calling.

And I'm Spent

The interview is done. The portfolio is submitted.

I am spent.

I worked on the portfolio last night and went to bed after 11 PM. Shane woke me up at 3, 3:30, and 6:30. I watched him for an hour to give my sick wife a little bit of rest before going into crunch mode to try and finish my portfolio. I was double checking links up until the moment I ran out the door to make it to my interview. I got there 5 minutes early, which is kind of late for an interview.

The actual interviews went well. I feel like I did a good job on all the technical aspects, but my portfolio is what has me worried. I could have made an amazing product if I had the time. As is, I made a nice and serviceable one, but with more time I could have done much much more.

Or maybe me standards are too high. The administrative assistant was surprised when she picked up my written component. I was the only person so far to notice that there was a blank second page on the template and not print it. Does that count for something? Or does it indicate that my competition may not be the most tech savvy? I really don't know. It'll be a couple of weeks before I hear anything or get any feedback on my portfolio.

Go me?

On the mend

Shane's dealing with bronchilitis and an ear infection. Carrie has bronchitis. I had something on Friday that cleared up on Monday, and ran off with my voice. Hopefully, my voice will decide to come home tomorrow for my interview. Several of my students thought my hoarse whisper sounded "creepy." I had to do some creative lesson planning to keep kids busy. Everyone with a fever has meds, though. We're over the hump and on the mend. Crappy Illness Parenting badge approved.

I'm sipping Mountain Dew and getting ready to do a night before last hurrah on my portfolio. I'm probably close to half done. There will be some time in the morning as well if I'm not doing Shane duty.

A Fond Farewell

Goodbye, Ranger.  You will be missed.

Ranger is going back to his original foster family tomorrow. Carrie sent me an email on Monday while I was at work. She'd written the people she'd adopted Ranger from looking for a possible new home. The woman called Carrie back in a flash. Her daughter had just given a report on their foster cats at school. The report went on and on about how much she missed a certain white and orange fuzzball that loved to cuddle. Carrie's mom was already planning on visiting us tomorrow and Ranger's old home is right off of her route home. The timing of everything seems perfect.

I wasn't happy when I'd heard that Carrie had already agreed to ship Ranger out, and I'm still not thrilled. I can't deny that everything about the situation seems to be falling into place as if it was meant to be, though.  Shane's got no sense and has almost the hurt the cat several times. The cat has no sense and lays there while a 27 lb baby steps on him or tries to gnaw on cat gut. It's a recipe for an injury. My wife worries about my allergies too, since Ranger is constantly trying to hop on me. I offered to ship out Max, but that didn't go over well!

Ranger, you were good for a cat. You loved people and attention. You never raised a paw in anger (to a human anyway). You had a slinky for a spine and liked to fall asleep on us in all sorts of odd positions. I'll even forgive your constant dragging paper and wrappers into your water bowl or Shane's play area; your running to poop whenever I tried to clean the litter bin; or even your flatulence that could clear a room. Ranger, you were a cat that actually liked people and that marked you as part dog in my book. It's a shame you won't grow up with Shane, because I could see you becoming his cat. You're going somewhere there's a little girl who won't try to maim you and will play with you the right way.

Godspeed, you little moron cat. Remember not to wipe your butt on the carpet.

What a wake up...

Last night ended around 11 for me. After putting Shane down, I worked on my portfolio some. Then this morning started around midnight. Carrie woke and shook me awake.  She told me she needed me to stay home from work tomorrow. She was sick, tired, hurt, and didn't think she could handle it. I murmured a "we'll talk about it in the morning" and went back to sleep.

This morning, we woke up at 6 AM. I took a quick shower and then went to feed an awakened baby. Both of Shane's nostrils were plugged shut with snot. I could not see into them. He attacked his bottle hungrily, but had to continuously stop sucking for breathing breaks. Carrie came in after her shower and took Shane's temperature.

Here's where things got a little out of hand.

Things are getting worse before they get better

They heard some rasping in Shane's lungs today at his appointment. We were given a nebulizer and he's got another appointment tomorrow. If he doesn't show signs of improvement, there's the worry of developing pneumonia. Poor kid.

Shane's having extreme trouble breathing out of his nose. When he tries to drink a bottle, he takes a few sips and then opens his mouth to breathe. The only thing preventing him from fighting the nebulizer in the picture is the hi-jinx of Lightning McQueen and Mater.

I haven't lost my optimism, yet. Yesterday I figured a bad cold for 7-12 days and wheezing for up to six weeks would really suck, but at least I didn't think my son was in any extreme danger.  Now, there's definitely a chance it could develop. Thank God for insurance. Financially, we can provide whatever Shane needs and the medical facilities in our area are top notch. Carrie's planning on taking care of Shane tomorrow and I'll take off Wednesday from work, so that she can go in. Hopefully, we'll see progress by then or the doctor said she may recommend moving Shane to a hospital.

Shane's sleeping now, and I pray he'll be feeling better on the morrow. Hopefully, Carrie and I will feel better as well. We've both caught some sort of throat bug ourselves. My temperature was in the 99s which is high for me even if it didn't break 100. Prayers are welcome!

So, Shane's Sick

My son is the fountain from which all snot flows forth. Bronchiolitis. That's what's infected my boy.

Since Friday night:
Puked on count: 4.
Baby pukes: 7
Baby Baths: 4

Do you notice a correlation be the number of baths and how many times I've been puked on?  That's because those are the times I'm quick enough to turn him towards me. I act as a puke towel so I don't have to clean up the carpet later. Some of the other pukes were minor urps that he managed to avoid drenching himself. By some miracle (or curse) I've managed to collect each of the epic yaks. My boy has managed to coat my jeans and soak through to my boxers.

Shane's felt like crap almost all day. He's been whiny, fussy, and clearly not himself.  He took a three hour nap this afternoon which helped me get some work done on my portfolio. I also talked to my friend Mandy for a little bit about what to expect on the interview (thanks Mandy!).

I've never seen such impressive drainage. We're in for at least a couple of weeks of this, but hopefully the worst will have passed by Wednesday. Then, we'll get our first major sickness parenting badge!  Well, it's not major major like something life-threatening, but 2+ weeks of sick baby seems like it counts as major to me.

Back to work and the super bowl!

Pukerrella and the Puked on Father

Shane's had a low grade fever most of today. He's definitely sounded congested and his coughs have that wet, phlegmy qaulity that everyone oh so loves to hear. Other than that he seems pretty happy. I think he's content to lick the snot from his constantly running nose and keep on playing. Carrie and I are so blessed that our boy has such a positive and happy attitude. I hope that prevails through the teen years.

Carrie's Mom drove up to spend some quality time here while I was at work. After I got home, I took over the boy duty and Carrie and Grandma went out to pick up a new humidifier, children's Tylenol and a few other essentials (including some Super Bowl beer for me. Thanks Grandma!). Shane and I spent most of the evening together, and I dragged his bleary-eyed butt up to bed at 8. Things were progressing well until the cat jumped onto the glider as Shane was chugging his bedtime meal.

Rule #1: No cats are supposed to be locked into Shane's room. I don't want to scrape up cat poop after they realize there's no litter box around.

Rule #2: Don't distract the boy when he's drifting off to sleep.

Of course, cats have little use for rules they don't make up. I put the boy in his bed, and tried to shoe Max out from underneath the crib before Shane woke back up. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Shane stood up in his bed when he realized I hadn't left the room yet. He started to cry, so I picked him up and tried to let him drift off on my chest again. Carrie came up to see if I needed anything. That was Shane's cue. He puked the entire contents of his bottle all over me. It soaked through my clothes. Running through a sprinkler would not have drenched me as well as the boy did.

A bath and an hour later, he's in bed and there's no problems so far. He woke up a couple of times last night, but my fingers are crossed and my heart is praying that he'll sleep well tonight. Carrie is already up in bed herself. She was having stomach cramping and pain, and has been avoiding standing up straight ever since her mom left.  You'd think I'd be more stressed about everything, but it's amazing what parenting can do to accustom you to constant stress.

Return of the Ambulance

Shane gave us another scare today. 911 was called.

Shane took a long nap on Mama's chest. When I got home, I started doing dishes, bottles, and cleaning upstairs to be productive while he slept. One of Carrie's students called, and we decided that three hours was a long enough nap for the boy. He never sleeps that long.

I picked the boy up of Carrie and walked a few steps away and sat down with him. He started choking. His throat sounded really wet and congested, so I thought he may have swallowed wrong. He kept choking. Carrie and I start to get really worried after a few seconds.

I start patting the boy on the back. Shane is making a strangled, half-gasping cough when he tries to inhale. It sounds very strained and odd. He half cries on the exhale, so I know he can breathe at least a little. I lay him on me knee and keep patting. I'm trying to be gentle, but time is passing and he's not sounding better.

Shane scared me once when he had a strip of plastic wrap in his mouth. I start to look in Shane's mouth to see if he's choking on something. I don't know how he would've gotten it in there, but Shane is drooling all over the place. The same thing happened during the first choking scare. I start fishing around in his mouth, but I can't find anything. Carrie suggests maybe he swallowed it, or it's stuck in his throat.

Shane is still struggling to breathe and Carrie and I are starting to panic. She asks if we can make him throw it up. I stick my finger a little deeper down, searching for paper or plastic. Shane gags, but doesn't throw up. He's drooling bucket loads and his whole mouth forms a giant spit bubble at one point.

Back to Normal

Life is back to normal after Shane's accident. Carrie didn't "get over it" until Monday night. She then spent most of Tuesday switching our handles with door knobs and installing new baby gates.

My wife is pretty handy.

She's also getting quotes to install a half-door to block off the stairs going downstairs from the main level. Carrie does not trust any of the gates in the house anymore. We need to make sure the front door is always bolted shut now too, because Shane opens doors with handles readily. He used to love opening the doors to the bedrooms upstairs. He'd sprint back and forth between the doors opening each. I'd shut the doors and then Shane would race back to open it.

No more. Thankfully, the front door is still too heavy for him, but he works the mechanism without hesitation. Carpeted stairs were scary, but a concrete front porch....I don't want to think about that. I've tried to teach him to turn around and go down stairs on his hands and knees, but the little man is fearless. He'll learn with time and I'm sure there will be more falls, spills and scares on the way.

Ironically enough, I was going to write a post about "Where do all these bruises come from?" shortly before the fall. Shane had a spectacular spill Thursday morning at 5 AM last week. The little stink woke at 4 AM and refused to go back to sleep. I brought him downstairs and let him run around, but it was clear he was in a tired daze. Somehow, Shane managed to spin in place, fling his arms behind him, and kick his legs out one direction all the while his torso was turned another and he banged his head into a baby gate. My heart lurched. The boy howled. I thought Shane was going to greet his mom that morning with his very first baby shiner.

Nope! My son is built right. Rubber, muscle, a thick skull, and not enough brains to know when he's hurt. I couldn't be more proud.

Last week was a tough week with the stairs scare and Shane's sleep schedule going to hell. I woke up at 4 AM Thursday, 5 AM Friday, and then 5 AM on Saturday. This was the perfect week to start off with teacher workdays. Life feels basically back to normal now. Now, I just have to work on building my portfolio. I have an interview next Friday. I spent part of tonight trying to find old USB drives from my ALC days. I crafted some great presentations, but I can't find squat. There's no choice, but to start from scratch.  I've got to show off what I know.