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.