Gametes In Love

We’re taking G to meet my grandmother in Bulgaria this summer. And as luck would have it, Bulgaria is in the middle of a measles outbreak. Fun, right?

G hasn’t had his MMR vaccine yet. It’s on our schedule for when he turns 2 (Happy Birthday, baby!).Unfortunately, our trip is planned before the shot. However, in light of the recent outbreak, and the fact that 2’s only 4 months away, I called the pedi’s office to ask if we can give him the shot early.

I spoke with an on-call nurse (our pedi was on vacation), who said that Yes, we can give him the shot early, and Yes, as long as he gets it at least 2 weeks before the trip he should be “OK!”.

However, during our call she also said that G also needs his DTaP shot, and would I like to schedule both for when I came in? Say whaaaat? This sounded fishy to me. G is up to date on all of his shots, and I’ve been diligent to check our vaccination schedule before each visit so that I knew what he was supposed to be getting. I agreed to the MMR only and asked to consult with G’s pedi before we gave him any additional shots.

This is where things got strange.

The pedi called back and confirmed that G had his last DTaP in Dec (as part of his Pentacel combo), so he’s good and that this booster should be given 6 months apart at this point. This made me a little perturbed at the nurse, who was looking at G’s record while we were talking and should’ve just done her math.

However, the part that was strange is that even the pedi was only referring to G having 3 Pentacel administrations. I knew this was wrong! G’s been on track with all of his shots. So I came home today, and turned my filing cabinet upside down looking for proof. In the last print-out of his record, sure enough, it only reads 3 Pentacel doses. I compared the date of each vaccine to my notes. Everything matched… except for Feb 27th, when he had his 3rd Pentacel dose. I saw his Rototeq vaccine on the print-out from the office, but not his Pentacel.  The Rota is an oral vaccine. The Pentacel is a shot. I had even blogged that day about G being such an awesome kid and didn’t cry when he got his shot. That means he def. got his Pentacel. A few more papers later I found an older record print-out that lists BOTH the Pentacel and the Rota as administered on 2/27. Ha! My proof. I guess when he got his last Pentacel booster in Dec, the person who entered it in over-wrote the 3rd entry.

So, lessons learned:

1. Don’t let a medical provider talk me into doing something that feels wrong.

2. Go into each vaccination appointment knowing what’s supposed to happen and not agree to anything more without pediatrician consultation. If S (or anyone else) takes the kids to an apt they are to be armed with the schedule and not accept any immunization not on the lsit.

3. Keep a personal record of each shot.

4. Keep a copy of each vaccination print-out from the office after each visit. This helps catch record-keeping inconsistencies on their part.

I’m a little skeeved at the nurse, but I’m glad I know what’s going on and we can straighten this whole thing out. More than that G can thank me in that I spared him from another prick ;p

Since I whined about G’s latest sleep habits,  it’s only fair I follow-up with an update.

Overall? Things are good. Not 100% back to normal, but a lot better than the clingy, cry-ie mess we had on our hands.

The second night we had no tears. At all. He just stood up in his crib until story time was over. I kind of had to talk him into sitting down, and later lying down, but he got the program. It got progressively easier with each night since. We’re now down to 1 story, and 1 song. I sit in the glider until he snoozes, but I do so in silence. He occasionally pops up his head like a prairie dog to make sure I’m still there, but it’s working.

The next step is to put him down, read, sing and just get up and walk away while he falls asleep on his own. We’ll get there soon enough though.

Look! IKEA offers a hidden toddler option for their closet systems

Apparently G can stack blocks only a toddler high

Bert & Ernie…

… the bane to a G’s Saturday

Do you think the lions objected to the lion on G’s back?

Makin’ like a prairie dog in a tunnel

I gotta pump my own water? What kind of farm is this?

Hello Goat! Please, don’t munch my finger while I offer you some imaginary food!

Chucks! Chucks! Chucks! Over here, chucks!

Eeee — how!

Somewhere in the past few weeks while I’ve been licking my wounds in bed feeling icky, G in the room over decided to switch up his bed-time routine.

S loves to snuggle with G. Who can blame him? G is so great to hold. However, my easy-to-put-down child, has become a holy terror. What used to be a 15 minute bed-time at best, is now taking an hour an a half. Our routine was simple: teeth-brushing, diaper, jammies, medicine, book, song, crib WHILE AWAKE, and I walk out of the room. G stares up at the ceiling, talks to his lovey and crashes out.

NOW on the other hand? Teeth-brushing, diaper, jammies, medicine, book, book, sometimes ANOTHER book, song, rock and hold until he’s asleep to put down. And God have mercy on your soul if you try to put him down before he’s been asleep for at least 15 minutes, because then he wakes up and the screaming begins and you gotta start with the rocking and the holding all over again. Tiring? Yes! Irritating? Beyond belief.

Last week S and I had a heart-to-heart. I couldn’t do this new routine with G. I have patience, but not an hour and a half’s worth of bed-time patience. S has been great, and has done it, but it can’t go on. We decided to wait, since G was teething, and we wanted to make sure that he wasn’t so clingy because he wasn’t feeling great.

But the battle of wills began yesterday at nap-time. I put him down in his crib, layed down next to his crib on the floor and told him “Mommy is napping, and you nap too”. He proceeded to jump up and rock out the crib for about 30 minutes. Hi Go-Go-Gadget arms reached his (thankfully empty) humidifier and crashed it to the floor. I took all this in stride, ignored it all and pretended I kept on sleeping. After awhile of figuring out the party in his crib wasn’t going anywhere, he planted face first and crashed out. Ensue 2 hour nap.

Tonight, more or less same deal. G got dressed, I put him in his crib, I pulled a chair over and began reading. He quickly caught on that he wasn’t getting the treatment he had gotten used to and immediately began protesting. He was pointing to our glider, cried, and kept saying “Up!”. Meanwhile, I kept reading. When our 3 books were up, I rubbed his back and sang. Meanwhile G continued crying. It was rough, but I wasn’t going anywhere and neither was he. He quieted down after awhile, while I again told him I loved him, while rubbing his back, but I wasn’t going to pick him up. So he plopped down, snuggled with Moonka and stared up at the ceiling. I stayed by his crib, singing, and he fell asleep. Then I walked out.

Tomorrow we do the same thing with hopefully less of the crying. While not fun, tonight at least didn’t take an hour and a half.

Wish me well! I want my old routine back!

G is really liking his blocks these days. He’s managing to stack them up pretty darn high too. I love watching him finish what he set out to do. He applauds himself with pride. It’s pretty cute. What’s even cooler is how much he’s maturing. Three weeks ago if his top block tumbled he would crash the whole structure down. Now he’s more patient and tries again. The part that amazes me is how symmetrical he likes to keep things. Is it a little early to worry about OCD?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMojPt6R8cY]

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Thanx to Becoming-Mom we decided to introduce G to his first at-bat baseball experience. Honestly for S and I that’s like the blind leading the blind, since we both suck/know little of major sports, but G had a good time. Bat, wooden dowel? What’s the difference? Toilet paper holder vs. t-ball set? Eh, it works just as well. Plus G is cackling and having a jolly old time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwIWdk6NSBI]

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Mom and Dad might not be much in the way of exercise these days, but G’s making it up for the 2 of us. Here’s the little man doing leg lifts. He’s amazingly strong. Have I mentioned that before? Kid is gonna have a six-pack by the time he’s 7.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvP4UAUKgQc]