The Zoo

With all the illnesses we've had going around lately, combined with Joel's work schedule and cold winter weather (okay not as cold as it is for some of y'all I admit) we haven't "done" much lately in terms of weekend activities. So today we decided to take the kids to the Riverbanks Zoo, in Columbia, SC. This is a 95 mile drive south of here. The forecast for Columbia for today was mostly sunny and in the upper 60s, so we bit the bullet and made the hour and a half drive each way. The kids are not really used to long car rides since we don't stray too far from home these days. But they both did pretty well. Becca snacked the whole way down and slept the whole way back, and Ben was hyper and antsy on the way down (as one might expect) and for the most part quiet on the ride back since he was pretty tired. He whined for the last ten minutes or so but that was it.

The zoo itself was fun - lots of animals to see, as well as a carousel, play area and some other kiddie activities. It was chilly when we got there but warmed up quickly. Becca was very interested in looking at all the animals; Ben was always thinking ahead to the next animal he wanted to see instead of enjoying the one he was currently looking at. The only meltdown of the day happened in the reptile house; Ben got scared of the crocodiles and Joel had to pick him up and carry him (kicking and screaming) past them so we could continue through to the other exhibits. Becca looked a little bit concerned when she saw the elephants; otherwise she was very interested in and unfazed by all of the animals we saw.

Below you will find a slew of pictures. Enjoy.

A Little Bit of Everything

We'll just call this post A Little Bit of Everything.

1. Our health insurance only covers 60 consecutive days of occupational therapy treatment per diagnosis per lifetime, so next week will be our last week of occupational therapy for Ben. His Thursday therapist, Michelle, had a physical therapist do a quick evaluation of him this morning to see if PT can pick him up and work with him for another 60 days. The physical therapist had him stand on one foot, catch a ball, walk up and down stairs, and jump off the stairs from varying heights, all of which he completed with flying colors. Then she asked, "Can he gallop?" "Yes," I said, "But he can't skip." "Oh", she said, "I wouldn't expect him to be able to skip until he's 5." "I CAN SKIP!" Ben yelled, and skipped perfectly down the hall. "Okay," I said, "I guess he can skip." The PT turned to the OT and said, "I think this is going to be a stretch."

2. Ben is my portable infomercial. On the drive from OT to preschool this morning he told me, "Do you know what you need? You need these bags that you put your stuff in and then you vacuum out the air and it makes it really flat and saves a lot of space. Do you know what else you need? If you have house plants, watering them is so much work. You need these packs that you fill with water and put them in the dirt with the plant and it waters the plant for you and gives you beautiful flowers! Do you know where I saw these things? I saw them on TV!" (Really? I couldn't've guessed.)

3. A uniformed police officer is now stationed in the lobby of Ben's preschool. We got a notice yesterday that they are increasing security because of the situation in Gaza and because the other Jewish preschool in Charlotte was vandalized the night before last. I suppose I should feel safe knowing that my son's preschool is probably the most secure preschool in Charlotte. When I took Ben in, his class was not in their room like they usually are at that time so I took him down to the office and got to watch the office staff check all the security cameras to see if his class was on the playground, communicate via walkie-talkie with the staff on the playground, and then finally confirm that his class was at the Judaic library which is in the next building over from the preschool. I could not just walk into the library from the outside, I had to be buzzed in after announcing myself and my business. Very secure indeed. But I still worry sometimes.

4. Our garage door motor broke. The repair man just finished fixing it, and now I am $145 poorer. But at least I can put my car in the garage again now...

Twice in One Day

Yesterday was a pretty tiring day. Joel had a colonoscopy scheduled for 7am, which required being at the hospital at 6am, which required getting up at 5am. (I told Joel that for future reference I don't get up at 5am unless there is a vacation involved). Joel's parents took the kids to their house for the night Monday so we didn't have to worry about them Tuesday morning. We were home by 9:30, and Joel went to sleep and I went to [my desk to] work, while drinking a large cup of coffee.

That would have been the end of my story, except that around 2pm after Joel had woken and eaten finally (after having had to fast since Sunday night) he announced that he had a 102 fever. Unfortunately he didn't have any other symptoms like a sore throat or runny nose that might explain the fever. I say unfortunately because Joel has at least one known remaining kidney stone floating around somewhere, and with his recent fasting (and stomach virus) we were worried that dehydration might have pushed the stone into a bad spot and caused an infection, which would be bad.

So back to the hospital we went, this time to the ER, where bloodwork, urinalysis and CT scan confirmed that yes he did have stones, but they didn't look like they were in a bad spot, and the bloodwork and urinalysis showed no signs of infection. So we chalked the fever up to the flu, or remnants of the stomach virus, and got home around 7:15.

Joel's parents had picked up the kids for us and fed them dinner (honestly don't know what we'd do without them -- thanks again guys!!) and only Ben was still up when we got home. I took him up to bed and he talked my ear off nonstop even when I was trying to brush his teeth. I finally got him into bed and went to bed myself about an hour later...

Hoping today is a lot less eventful!

My Little Girl is All Grown Up

Okay not really.

But Rebecca did move from the infant room to the toddler room at her day care, as of today. She didn't have as much separation anxiety as I thought she might have, and the tears stopped as soon as she saw that the staff was getting ready to serve breakfast (cheerios and milk this morning). It was so cute to see her sitting like a big girl at the (really really short) table, waiting for her cheerios (while clutching her stuffed bunny to her chest).

The upside of the toddler room, of course, is that it is about $15 a week cheaper than the infant room... woo hoo... still costs a small fortune. In the fall, she will start at the school Ben goes to now. The advantages of that are better/bigger facilities, more experiences/well trained staff, and the cost will be a little bit cheaper than where she is now. The downside is that I'll have to pack her a vegetarian lunch like I do for Ben now (right now I don't have to pack her anything at all because her day care has a kitchen and provides breakfast, two snacks, and lunch every day, as well as milk and juice).

The other down side (potentially) is that she'll be in the one year old room even though she'll turn two a month after she starts. Blame it on the late September birthday -- she misses the cutoff to be in the two year old room by 26 days, just like she'll miss the cutoff for kindergarten by the same amount (she won't be able to go to kindergarten until she is almost 6). Hopefully she will not be the oldest by far in the one year old room... Poor family planning on my part I guess ;)

Breakfast

We did something this morning that we haven't done in a while; we went out to breakfast. We went to The Flying Biscuit, which is quite delicious for both breakfast and lunch, and has many healthy choices in addition to the not-so-healthy ones. I opted for not-so-healthy, and had some delicious french toast, and Joel had an omelet. Of course, we also had some of the signature biscuits with cranberry-apple butter.

Unfortunately, Joel seems to have finally succumbed to the stomach virus that has been making its way throughout the house the last couple of weeks, and he experienced his breakfast in reverse this afternoon -- not so delightful anymore. Poor Joel :(

Sick Again...

I guess it's just that time of year because Rebecca is sick AGAIN. She's had a really junky cough/runny nose for the last couple of days and last night she spiked a fever to 103. I took her to the doctor this morning and she has ear infections in both ears which hopefully explains the fever. I gave her the first dose of her antibiotic a few minutes ago. My kids have never met a medicine they didn't like, so as soon as she saw the medicine dropper, she squealed with delight and happily slurped it up along with some Motrin. Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.

I also got her some saline nose drops, which I am sure she will love (not) which I'll try before bedtime. This morning when she woke up her face was covered in dried snot. So lovely. We'll see if we can avoid that tomorrow morning.

Happy New Year... (Yawn!)

Joel and I rarely have gone out for New Year's and since the kids were born we've rarely (never?) even stayed up until midnight. So this year we decided to go out, with the help of Joel's parents who babysat the kids.

We started out here and then walked across the street and met friends for dinner here. Our dinner reservations were for 9pm so we had a leisurely dinner and then went upstairs to the bar area at about 20 minutes to midnight and watched the festivities in Times Square on TV.

It was a very fun evening but since I didn't get to bed until after 1, I am a little tired. Ben, thoughtful boy he is, is still sleeping right now. But Becca dear and her nasty cold (poor thing), was up coughing and fussing by around 7 or so. Joel and I agreed that I would get up with the kids and let him sleep in, and then later on when Becca goes down for her nap I will take a nap also.