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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Flu Shot PSA

Zach, Will, and I got our flu shots last week. Will was very good. We explained the situation to him: we were going to go to Doctor Levin's office and we were all going to get a shot. It would hurt for a few minutes, but we had to get it to make sure we didn't get sick. Afterwards, he could have a sucker.


He seemed on board with this idea and repeated the plan back to us. However, as it got closer to time to get the shot, he changed his tune: "I no need flu shot. I otay." Needless to say, this didn't sway us, and we all went to get our shot anyway. I went first, and Will held my hand and told me to "be so brave". Then it was time for Will to get his. The nurse gave it to him quickly in his leg, and he immediately started screaming. I think it surprised and scared him more than it hurt, though, because he stopped crying after about four seconds and said, "I wipe off the tears. I eat my sucker!!" Then, while Zach got his shot, Will did a little dance and said, "I doing a shot dance!" He was happy as could be as we left the doctor and didn't seem to have any reaction from the shot. Both Zach and I had a sore arm for a couple of days (I guess we are bigger wimps than Will), but other than that, it was no big deal.


So, here's the PSA part of the post: GET A FLU SHOT! I know people have any number of excuses:
  • "I never get the flu." Well, this is faulty logic. Just because you have never gotten the flu in the past does not mean you won't get it this year. Protect yourself (and others)!
  • "My friend's cousin's sister-in-law had a bad reaction from the shot and was sick for four days!" Yes, this can happen, but it's unlikely. And, even if you have a reaction, it's much less severe than actually getting the flu.

  • "The shot doesn't protect you from all of the potential viruses." Again, this is true, but the vaccine is the best defense we have. Lots and lots of scientist people have worked to determine what viruses to vaccinate against each year. And again, if you do happen to get the flu, having had the shot will make your course a lot less severe.

The point is, there are groups of people who are not able to be vaccinated, including children younger than six months old (for example, JULIA). So, by not getting the flu shot yourself and risking getting the flu, you are potentially putting them at risk, too. So please, take ten minutes and get vaccinated. And now, I will get off my soapbox.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Well Okay Then

"Daddy, I eating my goldfish right now. Don't bother me."

They Have Broken Me

Two are much harder than one. And thus, I am tired. I am beaten down. I know it will only get easier, but right now, it's tough. With one, if the baby is sleeping, you can sleep. With two, someone always needs something. Zach and I joke that Will and Julia must have some sort of system worked out: "Okay Will, I'm going to sleep now. You should wake up and scream so that we can make sure Mom and Dad are always on the ball. We can't let them have a break!"

Luckily, Julia has been a pretty easy baby. But, even easy babies are exhausting in these first few months. God certainly knew what he was doing in giving me good babies, though. I think I would be in a mental institution if I had one who woke up every two hours, cried all the time, or had other special needs. I certainly am in awe and admiration of the parents who deal with things like that and somehow get through it. I am also amazed by big families. I am overwhelmed with TWO; how do people do it with four or seven or more?!

So, I will do the only thing I can do: I will just make it through each day and hope that things will slowly but surely improve. I hope that Julia will start sleeping for a little bit longer stretches each night. I hope Will will not be totally screwed up by Daylight Savings Time coming to an end or by the travel we have planned in a few weeks. I hope that Julia will stop spitting up eighteen times a day. Things will get better. We will obviously survive. Of course, then I'll have selective memory, look back fondly on these baby days, and think I need another one. Someone needs to make sure I resist that urge!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Stats

I have been meaning to post stats from Julia's one-month appointment and Will's two-year appointment (which was almost 6 weeks ago), so here they are.

At one month, Julia was 9 pounds, 14 ounces, which is a GREAT weight gain! I was thrilled she was doing so well. She had also grown TWO inches, up to 23.5. She is very long and still pretty skinny. Her head got bigger too, but I can't remember the exact numbers (which is funny because it's probably the most important measurement). She went through a growth spurt around 3 weeks and is now on a major one at almost 6 weeks. She is eating all the time and sleeping when she's not eating (all that growing is exhausting!). We will go back to the doctor around the first of November for her two-month appointment, so we'll have to see then if all the eating is paying off.

At two years, Will was 32 pounds and 36 inches tall. Zach and I had wanted him to get to 3 feet because we'd heard that you can double your height at two to tell what your adult height will be. However, Doctor Levin informed us that there is absolutely no medical truth to that. Oh well...we're obviously glad that he is growing well. Of course, it seems that he is growing taller every week, so I think he's up to at least 37 inches now. And, 32 pounds is VERY HEAVY to pick up, particularly when you've had abdominal surgery.

We are so thankful for these healthy children!

Friday, October 17, 2008

We Are Getting Quite the Reputation

When I picked up Will at school the other day, his teacher told me that during snack time, Will announced that he was drinking a beer. That's right...he told his entire class at the BAPTIST daycare he attends that he was drinking beer. Luckily, his teacher (at least one of them) thought it was funny, and I just had to laugh. Between that and his mistaking a bush baby for the baby Jesus, I'm sure the school is starting to wonder about us.

Monday, October 13, 2008

We May Need to Go to Church More Often

Will has this book, Tails, that used to be one of his favorites, but we haven't read it in a while. It talks about the tails of all of these different animals, including some that are not very common, like a pangolin or a boar. One of the animals in the book is a bush baby, which is a little wide-eyed creature that sort of resembles a squirrel. When we used to read the book more frequently, Will could identify and name the bush baby.

So, the other night, Will requested to read Tails, and as we were looking through it, I pointed to the bush baby and asked him, "What is that?"

He quickly replied: "Dat's a baby Jesus."

Hmm...clearly we need a little more religious training. I think he knew that the animal had the word "baby" as part of the name, and they have been talking about the baby Jesus a lot at school, so I believe that's where the confusion stems from. But still, we can't have him thinking that the baby Jesus is a rodent!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Dirty Rabbits

The other day, Molly and Parrish were at our house, and, while he was sweeping, Will took the opportunity to point out how dirty and dusty our house was.

"Look Molly! Look at the dirty rabbits on the floor!"

Dirty rabbits? Was our child hallucinating? I thought so until I remembered a conversation that he and Zach had had the previous day about...dust bunnies. :) I love how the mind works!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008