On The Move!

Today, my baby boy is 8 months old. Yesterday, he finally figured out that if he moves his hands and shifts his weight a little, he can actual crawl forward! Yep, Gabe is on the move. *proud parent grin*

He's actually been rolling and shimmy-ing for the past few weeks now, but this is the first time he was able to see where he was going while in motion. While still a little hesitant about this newfound mobility option, I think he'll find plenty of motivation when trying to keep up with big brother Zeke.

The cool thing for me now is getting to watch Zeke take an interest in helping his little brother in various ways. This morning he tried to get Gabe to follow him out of their room while on his hands and knees, crawling along on the floor. Gabe thought about it and looked like he was about to follow, but he changed his mind at the last minute. So instead, Zeke just picked him up and toted him to the living room. He didn't want any help, but Gabe weighs almost half of what Zeke does, so I had my hands on him the whole time, too. I don't think Gabe would appreciate being dropped on the floor first thing in the morning!

In other news, Zeke's having his Valentine's Day party at the daycare today. Looking over the party menu, it appears they are going to be hopped up on plenty of sugar by late afternoon, so I'm going to have to come up with some kind of game plan to tame his already hyperactive self.

I say he's hyper, but he's not really that bad. Usually it hits when he's already tired and is finding a way to stay active so as not to go to sleep. That's one way of knowing he didn't spend ALL of his nap time actually sleeping!

I'm not sure how the babies are going to celebrate Valentine's Day. Maybe they could add a drop or two of red food coloring to their bottles of formula? *shrug* Maybe not. Zeke loves "pink milk" (that's strawberry milk to us old folk). That actually sounds pretty good right now. LOL

Anyway, I've got work to do and need to get away from my desk, where there is a very unwelcome and COLD draft coming in from somewhere. Evidently I'm not wearing enough layers today.

Again.

Grammatical Issues?

I'm going to keep this blog short. This morning I was browsing through some posts on Circle of Moms on Facebook, and I have to say I was absolutely APPALLED at the spelling and grammatical errors!

Look, ladies, I know we're just asking other mothers questions about kids and parenting, but at least look your question over before you post. PLEASE!

I know giving birth is no laughing matter, and we've all done it and lived to tell the tale. But does that mean our intelligence just flew out of the window the minute we heard that kid squall??

No, it doesn't.

And another thing is the blasphemous use (or lack of use) of punctuation. I mean really, it's there for a reason. If you're going to take the time to post something for the entire world to see (potentially), please look over what you've typed to see if it even made sense and that WHOLE WORDS haven't been omitted.

Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine, and I kid you not, but of the 5 or 6 posts I read, only 1 post was not grossly misspelled. If you have any doubts, hit Spell Check. That's what it's there for.

It's a shame we can't do better when it comes to showing off our intelligence because we ARE intelligent. Let's not fall back on text speak like we do with cell phones, ok? That's for the kids.

Really. :-\

Throwback to the '80s

Has anyone else noticed that the cartoons available for our kids today are nothing like the good, wholesome, slap-stick cartoons of yesteryear? Just the other day, Zeke asked me to put on some shows for him on tv. I went to the usual channels in our house: Noggin, Sprout, PBS. But every show I rattled off just didn't tickle his fancy.

"I want to watch a superhero show, Mom, not a little kid show."

I paused for thought. This coming from the kid who adores Handy Manny, Max and Ruby, and Lil' Bill?? He even turned down The Backyardigans!! *pause for effect* He NEVER turns down The Backyardigans! I thought about checking him for a fever; surely he wasn't feeling well.

Some time last year, Hubby and I were browsing on YouTube together and were looking at retro '80s tv commercials. We stumbled upon a video with a wonderful mosaic of intros to various cartoons from the '80s, like the original Transformers and X-Men before they were kitted out with new outfits and fancier super powers. We saw the Gummie Bears, the Smurfs (granted that's still on now), Inspector Gadget, Jem and the Misfits, just to mention a few.

Now we have cartoons about people blowing things up and trying to kill others. Where's the fun in that?

I will say that Zeke has an appreciation for some of the classics like Tom and Jerry and The Flintstones, two of my favorites from way back when. But I guess my little boy is growing up and ready to move onto bigger (though not necessarily better) things.

Here's to the '80s kid in a lot of us, those of us considered "Generation X."

And on that note, I'll just take my E.T. lunchbox, Alf cup, and My Little Pony backpack and head on over to the break room.

On the Road to Recovery

Over the past couple of weeks, Gabe has been trying to get over a rather nasty ear infection. It was one of those things that hit hard and fast, and nobody knew he even had a problem until I found some puss in his ear while cleaning with a Q-Tip one evening. The doc said it was a middle- and outer-ear infection (not sure how it was outer, but ok).

So we went through the round of antibiotics and ear drops, only then he developed this cough and a fever that peaked at 103.3 degrees! (That was measured at the doc's office.)

A few days later, after being on a nebulizer, oral steroids, oral antibiotics, ear drops, and fever reducers, we are seeing signs of improvement. Turns out the chest x-ray showed signs of pneumonia in the lower lobe of his right lung.

I think babies shouldn't have to go through that crap, but apparently Life doesn't work that way. :-\

Anyway, Gabe's on the mends and is acting more like himself now. He's even learned to click his tongue today and thought it was just too funny when I did it back to him. He's so easily amused. LOL

I'm now going to sign off and get some much needed shut eye. The past weekend was rough, and I need to catch up on some sleep.

Gotta love those childhood illnesses, huh?

Looking Forward to 2010

I just wanted to make a quick entry and reflect on the fact that we are at the end of another decade. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since Y2K! And in the last 10 years, I have graduated from college, gotten married, bought a home, and had two kids.

It's been a busy decade for me. LOL

We will probably have a quiet evening at home this New Year's Eve. We've been doing that for the last few years...kinda hard to go out and paint the town red with little ones at home. Besides, I'm not crazy about being out and about on a night when almost everyone gets their drink on.

So on that note, it's almost time for me to catch my bus and head on home for the last time in 2009. I hope 2010 sees many changes, for the economy, for healthcare, and for my post-baby waistline! *grin*

Happy New Year, y'all!