Sick Topher

Poor Topher he always gets the worst of everything.  I don't know if it is from being hospitalized at 2 months from RSV, or the throat condition he was born with (Laryngomalacia), or maybe some other condition we don't know about yet.  The pediatrician does think he may have reactive airway disease or possible exercise induced asthma.  I hope not if he is anything like his father he will love being in sports and  I pray nothing takes that away from him. 

Anyways the other day I posted about his cough.  It was so bad last night I called the family doctor and said I was bringing him in what time would be ok!  I was not accepting anything less.  He has an upper respiratory infection and bronchitis.  Poor kid.  The others don't seem as bad so they weren't seen.  I am keeping an eye on them, and giving them allergy medicine.  They seem to be responding well to it. 

 Before bed Tophers nose was so full of stuff I had to suction it out.  He's 3 and cannot blow his nose yet.  I'm not sure if that's normal or not, but I am not worried.  Since he is 3 I had to sit on him to hold him down.  This was not pleasant.  I felt like a monster. 

I don't use a bulb syringe thing for suction.  I bought a battery operated one from Wal-Mart.  It is the best 20.00 investment I have made.  I will buy one for every mom I know who has a baby!  They are awesome, and work so fast.  I tried it on myself.  I was worried cause the kids scream so much.  It doesn't hurt but feels so weird when it pulls snot out of your nose!  Esp if it grabs a lot.  His nose filled half the suction cup.  It was nasty.

Afterwards he was so upset, and mad at me.  I have always encouraged the kids to apologize for hurting each other. Its my attempt to raise adults who take responsibility and are not to proud to say sorry when they have made mistakes.  Anyways after I finished Topher came to me crying and said, "Say you're sorry to me!"  I asked if I had hurt him and he said "yes".  I told him I was sorry for hurting him, but I had to get the buggers out or they would hurt him to.  He didn't buy it, but my apology was sufficient.  He then added amongst tears "I still love you mommy!"

This broke my heart.  I held him till he stopped crying and told him I loved him.  I imagine he told me he still loves me because when they are naughty I always try to make sure they know I love them no matter what. 

Cloth diapers!

I desperately want to help out the environment. I am embarrassed by the amount of diapers that I am constantly adding to land fills. However, I have looked into cloth diapers and am at a loss. Some newer ones are super expensive, and the older ones are a joke. I don't want to invest a lot of money in something that won't work. I also don't have tons of money to throw around either!

The cheap ones at Wal-mart like stores look ridiculous. You fold them around your child like your kid is Square, and then you safety pin them on! I am not comfortable pinning anything on my babies. How did people survive before we had disposable diapers. I tried these cloth ones and my fingers are sore. Not only are my kids not square, but they also don't lay still long enough to pin anything on! And let me tell you what it only takes pinning yourself once or twice before you give this up!

I really want to do my part. I have two little ones in diapers and use up to 100 diapers a week! I buy 3 boxes of 92 diapers every 2 weeks. Sometimes we have some left over and some weeks we run out! If anyone out their has an ideas or tips I am all ears.

High Chair Disappointment!

I am so disappointed in the high chair that I simply loved (in the store). It matched everything, we had a pooh theme at first, and all it's features sounded perfect. However, what sounds good and what is actually practical are all to often separate things all together. My first disappointment came when we got the chair home and put together. Our dinning room is carpeted, and the wheels don't roll well on it. Well big deal you might say, or at least that is what I said.

The big problem came this evening after my daughter vomited all over while sitting in her high chair. I soon discovered that all the glorious features make it exceptionally difficult to clean. All the moving parts mean nooks and crannies for stuff to get lodged inside of, and stuck permanently. Yuck, old food and vomit! Not to mention all the harness straps were next to impossible to get off. I am praying I will be able to get them back on!!!!

It took me forever to get it clean, and made me realize how really dirty it was even before this happened. I had thought I was doing a good job keeping it clean until I was forced to move things and take some of it apart. Let me tell you, "GROSS" is an understatement. When it comes to your kids and where they eat clean is a MUST! Keep that in mind when you shop for a high chair.

I did some looking for a new chair and the only ones I could find with out all the problems I discovered were really expensive. One I loved (when I saw it online) was 300.00$. Yikes. My daughter is definitely queen in this castle, but no way! disinf