Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our loved ones!

We spent the holidays in Buffalo, New York, with Matthew's family.  We also enjoyed a couple day trips to Rochester to see friends and Malcolm's birth-family.  Today is our last day in NY, we'll be flying back tomorrow.  I'm feeling sad to see our vacation end, but also looking forward to getting back to our normal routine, and the start of my internship, as well.

It's been really nice being back.  So many wonderful, familiar places and people are here.  I really miss NY.  As most of you know, we don't really feel at "home" in Atlanta.  We have some friends there that we've connected with, and found a restaurant we like, and a few fun places to take Malcolm (when they're not overwhelmed with crowds) . . . but for the most part we are looking forward to leaving Atlanta permanently.  

Here's Malcolm with the Christmas tree!

Wanted: Advice, please!

Hello to all our Readers!

Warning:  today's post contains some frank talk about poop.  You've been warned.  Read on at your choice.

For all the parents, aunts, uncles, babysitters, and otherwise experienced persons out there -- how do you stop the blow out diapers?!?!?

What makes me ask?  Here's the whole scoop:

Problem One:  a couple months ago, Malcolm started putting his hand in the back of his diaper while he slept, and came out with handfuls of poop.  (Which he thought was lotion, so promptly rubbed it on his arms, legs, and hair.  Yuck!)

Solution:  We started putting onsie undershirts on him, under his clothes/jammies, that snapped at the crotch, so he couldn't get into his diaper.  Ta-Dah, perfect fix!

Problem Two:  A couple weeks ago, he learned to take his pants off, and go in the side of the onsie.  Mommy's little problem solver.

Solution:   Haven't really come up with one yet.  Advice, please?  

But, wait, there's more.

Problem Three:  He's now on the super-antibiotic for his ear infection, which means some rather loose-poop.  Yesterday morning, and this morning the diapers were big messy blowouts.  Yesterday was a mess, but all I needed was some extra wipes, and a run of laundry.  We even managed to make it to school on time.  Today, though . . . .  UGH!  It was everywhere!  He greeted me with "Mommy!  Play-doh!" and showed me two big fistfuls and how they squish.  By the time I got him cleaned up and ready for school (I had to change my clothes, too!) he was quite late.  Then I had to come back home (so much for my errands!) and get all the laundry started, and break out the clorox wipes to scrub all the crib bars, the wall, the floor . . . .

Solution:  I don't have one!  Advice, please!!!!  After I get this load of laundry finished, and deliver Malcolm's Elly Bean to school before nap time (she did not survive Poopapalooza), I'm going to go buy diapers one size bigger.  I'm thinking "more room, less 'xplode, right?)  Matthew thinks the onsies are causing it.  I think the antibiotics are partially at fault.

But, what do you think?  And how do I stop this from happening again?!?!?!

Ear Infection, Take Two

So . . . as it turns out, doing your full 10 days of antibiotics, never missing a dose, is sometimes not enough.  We had another night of screaming last night, so first thing this morning (a Sunday of course) we packed up and headed out to Urgent Care (which is half an hour drive away, of course.)  We sat in the waiting room for a bit over an hour, sharing germs with half of Atlanta's sick children (of course).

Round two of antibiotics began before nap today.  They've put us on the "tough stuff," which for the medically minded means that we're now on augmentin (sp?).  Round one was amoxicillan (sp?).  We also got prescription eardrops, which are a numbing agent.  This will be particularly helpful, as we'll be flying in less than a week.  Wish us luck!

A Weekend of Family!

It's been a while since I posted.  I finally caught the cold that's been plaguing the rest of the family.  Happily, the boys are better, so I can rest while they're at school/work.  (Though one of the kids in Malcolm's class brought in pink-eye!  So we'll see if Malcolm soon ends up back home with me through another course of antibiotics!)

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a weekend visit from my Dad, along with a synchronized surprise visit from my brother, Darin!  What an awesome weekend!!  Below are a few pictures from that wonderful visit!

 

Malcolm snuggling with his Grandad:

My Dad, and my brother, Darin.

Weeks later, Malcolm still talks about "Unca Darin!" nearly every day.

We took a family adventure to the kids museum, Imagine It!, and enjoyed their Bob the Builder exhibit.  Malcolm wasn't too much into Bob, but he sure loved the goggles, tools, building materials, and trucks!

Krispy Kreme Fundraiser

Hello Family & Friends!

Malcolm's school, which we love and adore, is having a fundraiser!  I'm relieved to say that I don't have to ask anyone to buy over-priced wrapping paper, or plastic-wrapped sausages.  Nope, we're selling doughnuts!  Best part -- we're selling redeemable certificates so that friends and family beyond Atlanta can participate!

The Details:

* Each certificate costs $6, and is redeemable at any Krispy Kreme fora dozen glazed doughnuts.

* If you'd like to help out, please mail me a check (made out to Teresa Schoell) for $6 per certificate you'd like to buy, and I'll mail you the certificates.

* If you want to help out but are on Atkins or dislike doughnuts, you can send money anyway, and I'll donate the certificates to the kids' program I volunteered at this summer (since they have practically no budget, I know this would be a big hit!)

DEADLINE:

* Checks must arrive to me by Wednesday December 10th!!!

* Certificates will arrive Monday December 15th, and I will mail them out right away.

Looking forward to any orders you'd like to place!  And thank you for taking the time to read about our fundraiser.

A Really Really Really Long Night, Part II

So he refused to nap yesterday, no surprise there.  Bedtime came early, at 6:30 pm.  He fussed and whimpered and cried his way to sleep by 7:00 pm.

And that was the last noise we heard from him until 8:00 am this morning!  One dose of antibiotics (half of which he tossed during a tantrum at bedtime) plus max-dosed pain meds, and he had enough relief to sleep through for 13 blissful, uninterrupted, restful, heavenly hours of sleep.

Thanks to everyone for the love, sympathy and encouragement!

A Really Really Really Long Night

So, last night, about 1:45 am Malcolm started crying.  And by crying, I mean screaming like six cats with their tails caught under the world's largest steam roller.  We went down the Parents' Check List -- is he cold? Hot? Hungry? Thirsty? In pain? Scared? Reflux? Etc.  We got nothing.  He knows enough words and signs to tell us all these things and more.  He told us "no" to all of them.  If I held him, he screamed for Matthew.  If Matthew held him, he screamed for me.  If we put him back in the crib he screamed.  After an hour, we gave him Children's Advil, even though he said nothing hurt.  We figured only pain would cause him to be this frantic and inconsolable.  We waited half an hour for the advil to kick in  . . . . and nothing.

4 am arrives, and he's still screaming his head off.  Now, if these 2 plus hours had passed with no calm moments whatsoever, we would have called the peds and headed for the emergency room.  That's how hard the crying was.  But . . . He would calm down if the lights were on, and we cuddled in the chair reading books.  After Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Personal Penguin, and Goodnight Moon, he was all smiles and cooing.  "Hi" and "Peek-A-Boo," and giggles.  Seriously, kid?  It's four in the freakin' morning, and the only one in the house enjoying the super warm down comforter on our bed is the dog.  We'd get him calm, happy, settled, but the moment he hit the crib again, it was Rage Time.  

By 4:45 am, Matthew had given up on the night entirely, and was on the computer, with trips into Malcolm's room every 20 minutes to try to calm him, and make sure he was still okay.  I still held onto a small shred of hope, so I was buried under the down comforter, trying desperately to build an aura of heat around me before the next 20 minute timer went off, and I had to get back up again.  

He finally fell asleep just past 6am.   . . . which left a little under an hour till our alarm clocks went off.  

Poop.

Well, at least he was sleeping.  We turned the alarms off, crawled under the comforter, and all slept a while.  I got up at 9am, to head to the hospital where I volunteer, while Matthew and Malcolm kept sleeping till 10am.  The hospital program ended up getting cancelled, as I was the only volunteer there, so I headed back home with Starbucks, in time to get Malcolm to the pediatrician appointment.

Our doctor wasn't in today, but we met another doc in the practice, who was absolutely fabulous with a very tired and cranky Malcolm (and Mommy and Dada.)  The verdict . . . . ear infection!  Poor Malcolm!  We felt pretty good as parents that one of our first guesses in the night (pain, and thus advil) was the right way to go.  And we felt miserable that the advil pretty much did nothing to help!

So, home we went, with a stop by the store to pick up Malcolm's very first antibiotic (as well as some yogurt and bananas, for the likely side effects.)  The pain must have spiked in the car ride home, as he completely lost his cool, throwing a tantrum so big that the cars next to us at the stoplight just sat and stared like we were some sort of circus attraction.  I especially "enjoyed" the car-full of ladies who tsked and shook their heads at our obviously criminally bad parenting.  I hope they were completely grossed out a moment later when the tantrum brought on the endless rounds of tantrum vomit.  He coated himself, the carseat, parts of the backseat. . . .

Great.  12:30 in the afternoon, and our really really really long night still wasn't over.  Matthew cleaned him up while I took apart the saturated carseat to wash all the parts.  It took half an hour to calm him down enough to get him to keep some pain meds down.  A little lunch, and then down for a nap -- one which we all desperately need.  Putting him in the crib brought on a fresh round of tantrum, but after I went back in once, he calmed down.

I'd like to think that he's asleep now, as I type.  At least he's not screaming.  But I do hear whines and whimpers.  What I wouldn't give for a magic wand to wave and make it all better.  I'd suffer it all, and then some, in his place if I could.  I'll have to content myself with knowing that this is his first ear infection, first antibiotic, and that soon he'll be feeling better.  Until then, we can at least offer the max amount of pain killers (alternating tylonel and advil every three hours) that our peds will allow.

So, dear readers, please send good thoughts our way.  If you like, you can click on "comments" just below this paragraph, to share some words of sympathy or encouragement (hint hint).

Please Call . . .

So, I get home this afternoon, and check the messages.  I have one voicemail (from the vet, reminding me of Nova's appointment) and 6 missed calls -- all from the vet's office.  Hmm.  Odd, right?  So I call them back to confirm the appointment, and the lady says "Oh!" with such delight in her voice.  "You're the lady with the answering machine!  After I called, I had to have everyone in the office call.  I told them to hurry and call before you got home and started answering!"  I laughed so hard!  I guess our new answering machine message was a big hit.  And that was with complete strangers!  

So, now you're wondering . . .  what's on our machine?  If you want to know, please call!  But don't call when we're home, or I'll answer the phone!  Good times to catch my machine are after 8:30 am (ET) on weekdays.  Enjoy!  (404) 343-1493.

Oh, and since any post without pictures earns me stern scoldings, here are the latest in Malcolm pics!

Officially Two!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Malcolm!

(okay, so I'm a few weeks late with these pictures, too.)

Just wanted to share a few quick snapshots from his 2nd birthday party.  Mostly, Cousin Liz took pictures with her camera, so I only have a few to share.  

More to come, once Liz gets a chance to share her pictures.  But she just started a new job, so you'll have to be patient -- just like me!

In these three pictures, you can see Malcolm playing with friends at his party (above), unwrapping presents (left) and enjoying new toys (below).

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween!  (Okay, so I'm a little late in posting pictures.  I know you'll still be happy to see them!)  Malcolm had two costumes this year (thank you "half price sale" at the thrift shop!)  In the morning, we dressed him up in a brown dog costume, complete with red bandana, so that he dressed as "Elly Bean."  For those who don't know her, Elly Bean is Malcolm's favorite "lovey," a stuffed dog from L.L. Bean (thus the name "Elly Bean") that my Dad got him for Christmas two years ago.  Elly Bean now goes every where with Malcolm, including to and from school each day.  If you look carefully, you can see her in many of the photos on this website!

For his second costume, he dressed as The Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz.  Matthew dressed as the Scarecrow, myself as the Tin Man, and our cousin, Liz, here visiting from CA, dressed as Dorothy!  Too cute!  Check out the pictures below.  My favorite is the one in which Malcolm is "roaring" at the camera!  We took him trick-or-treating, where he dutifully whispered "tri-tree" to the nice folk with the candy, but then would gleefully ROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!

The not-so-cowardly lion, after all!

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

So a few weeks ago, we took Malcolm to the Botanical Gardens for the first time.  (This grand adventure we shared with our friends Nate & Ange, who'd probably tar and feather me if I put their pictures up here.)  The Gardens were amazing, and far more than anyone could see in a single trip (let alone with a toddler!), so we promptly upgraded our daily pass to a yearly membership.  Now we go back nearly every weekend!

Mostly, we spend our time in the Children's Garden, a huge area where kids can touch absolutely everything, including all the plants!  They even invite the kids to crush the herbs in their fingers to enjoy the scent.  Plus, there are slides (pictured above) and other fun things to climb and explore.  Below, you see Malcolm checking out the bridge over one of the streams in the giant greenhouse.  Not long after this picture was taken, Malcolm decided to send Elly Bean (the stuffed dog) through the peek hole, for a swim in the stream.  Some super fast parent-reflexes saved the dog a dunking!

While at the gardens, Malcolm learned the words "flower," "plant," "tree," "bridge," and "slide."  "Slide," by the way is pronounced "SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!" as you slide down the apparatus in question.

I know we'll be going back soon.  The only question is:  Will you come with us?

Yogurtpalooza

So, dear readers, it's been a while.  We've enjoyed a whirlwind three weeks past, starting with a visit from our dear friends, Angela & Nate, followed by a visit from our beloved cousin, Liz!  Halloween and Malcolm's 2nd birthday rounded out the adventures.  There will be lots of Halloween and Birthday pictures up soon, but I have to wait for the pictures from Liz's camera.  Meanwhile, here are pictures from Yogurtpalooza, the self-feeding party game.

Two-Year Check-Up with the pediatrician was yesterday.  He weighs 25 pounds, 12 ounces (25% for weight).  He's 34 inches tall (50% for height) and has a head circ. of 20 inches (90%!)  He's very healthy, the doc says.  We're switching to 2% milk, starting a vitamin, working on all the typical 2-year-old behavioral issues, and have been gently encouraged to start introducing Malcolm to the potty!  Yikes.  It feels early to me.

Sticker Fun

Hello Malcolm Fans!

Were you starting to think I'd never post again?  I've been AFK (away from my keyboard) for the last week or so, enjoying the company of our dear friends, Angela & Nate, who were so kind as to come visit us!

Now I'm catching up on a backlog of cute Malcolm photos.  Here is Malcolm exploring a new favorite toy -- stickers!  It turns out that paper was far to boring a medium for the new craft, and much like finger paint, was best applied directly to the skin.

His skin, my skin . . . the dogs bolted from the room.  Hmm, can't imagine why . . . .

I plan to take full advantage of this delightfully silent toy for our plane ride home to New York in December.  I think about 487 stickers should see us safely entertained for the duration of the flight!

I Got It!!!

It's official!  I got the internship!

In the generous words of my Uncle Lew:

SFX: [Loud applause, whistling, stomping of boots on floor.  Large display of fireworks.  Raucous cheering.  (Optional: skies open and chorus of angels appears.)]

To celebrate, Matthew fed me Mexican food, and taught Malcolm to say "Woo Hoo!"

A Moment of Grace

(So this evening's blog-entry has no pictures to go with it, but I hope you will take the time to read it, nonetheless, because it shares one of the sweetest moments in my life since Malcolm first slept in my arms.)

As many of you may know: tomorrow is a very big day for me.  I will have my final interview for the Child Life Internship position.  There were over 100 applicants for this session, and they usually take about 3 interns.  Yikes!  But I've made it to the final round, so tomorrow's interview will decide it.  Besides being a wonderful chance to learn hands on skills, this internship is a mandatory step to becoming certified, and being able to work in the field.

So, on to tonight's sweet moment.

Malcolm's bedtime routine is the same every night: we brush our teeth, put on our jammies, then we have 2 books, 2 songs, and a prayer.  We finish up with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Malcolm turns out the light, and we tuck him into his crib, where he drifts sweetly off to sleep.   We have a few prayers we choose from each night, and tend to go with whatever Malcolm's recent favorite has been.  For a long time, it was the drumming prayer, which Malcolm could drum out the rhythm for, much to all our delights.

For the last several nights, we've chosen one of our favorite Baha'i prayers.  Malcolm sits in my lap (or Daddy's) and I sing the prayer:

"O God, guide me, protect me,

make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star.

Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful."

Tonight, before I sang the prayer, I said to Malcolm, "Tomorrow is a very special day for Mommy.  When we say our prayer tonight, we can ask God to help me do well at my interview."  Then I began to sing.

And so did Malcolm.

His sweet voice joined with mine, perfectly in tune, though with only a few of the words.  I've never been very good at praying.  It's not a skill that comes to me naturally.  I struggle to feel that connection to the Divine that so many others seem to find so easily in prayer.  But tonight, as Malcolm raised his voice to pray with me, I felt it.  I also felt a sense of awe, humility, gratitude and joy.  My son, not quite yet two years old, is helping me learn to pray.  And that is an amazing thing.

Rock Band!

So, last year for Ayyam'i'Ha (a Baha'i Celebration) my brother, Darin, bought us a fabulously fun game, called Rock Band.  There's a guitar, microphone and full set of drums.  You use these instruments as your controllers to play the video game.

To the right, you'll see our band's new lead drummer - Big Mal!

Seen here, on lead guitar, is Daddy-O.  Wielding the camera (so not in the shot) is our lead vocalist, the T (that's me!)  Counting the two dogs on back up vocals, that is our complete band!

For this jam session, we were jamming out to "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi.

Rock on!

Yellow & Blue Make . . . . .

 . . . A really fun mess!

We tried finger painting for the first time a few months ago, but discovered that Malcolm mostly tried to eat the paints.  So we put such explorations on hold, until recently.

In an attempt to convince Malcolm that we did not put him the bath to torture him (an erroneous belief of which he was, until recently, entirely convinced!), we decided to put him in the empty tub with some finger paints.  

Yellow and blue, to be specific.  Well!  Turns out this is more fun then sneezing!  (Also a Malcolm favorite!)  As you can see by the picture, he quickly discovered that mixing them together would produce green.  And that green paint could go all sorts of fun places!

The best thing to do with green paint turned out to be smearing it thickly on his hands, then clapping in delight!  If you look carefully at the first picture, you'll see the excellent paint splatter all over his face (and mine, and Matthew's, and the bathroom floor, and walls, and ceiling . . . )

Well, when green turned out to be such fun, we had to add some more colors!  He mixed and explored to his heart's content. And our delight!

He decided that his hair could use a bit of conditioning, so gave himself a "purple rinse."  The best part of it - while he rubbed paint into his hair, he kept saying "Nice, Nice!"  He learned this phrase long ago.  After bathtime, we rub oil into his hair and scalp (more on Black hair care in a later post).  At first he would wiggle and struggle to get away, until we started letting him put the oil in his own hair, and wield the comb/brush himself.  He loved that!  He'd oil his hair, brush it, then pat it, saying "Nice, Nice!" We always tell him how handsome he is, and how nice his hair is.  I guess he latched onto the phrase! 

So, there he was, rubbing in the paint, "Nice, Nice!"

To finish off the grand adventure, we celebrated with a few High-Fives!

Hooray for our little Picasso!

Chattanooga Aquarium

A couple weeks ago, we enjoyed the wonderful opportunity to meet up with some friends at the Chattanooga Aquarium.

There, Malcolm explored many amazing things  . . . .  like flowers . . . . 

 . . .  and butterflies!

(but he showed no interest in the fish.  Go figure.)

We shared lots of giggles and hugs, and rediscovered the world around us through the wonderment in our child's eyes.

Want to know what the best part was?  So do I!  But Malcolm and Dada insist that it's a secret!

Matthew's Blog

Good Morning, All.

No pictures today, but more soon, I promise.  Just wanted to let all our readers know that Matthew has started a companion blog to this one.  (For those not blog-savvy, that means Matthew's made a webpage like this one!)  He loves to talk about all sorts of stuff from politics to gaming.  Check it out by visiting:  http://www.docmage.blogspot.com

First Day of School

School starts really early here, in Georgia.  The first day of school for most districts was August 11th!  Malcolm's new school, Scottdale Child Development Center, also started then.  In the month since, the whole family fell in love with our new school.  

As you can see from the pictures, his school includes uniforms!  Navy or khaki bottoms, and polo shirts in white, navy, or light blue.  In winter, he can wear turtlenecks in the same colors.  White socks, with black or brown shoes, complete the outfit.  Most schools down here have uniforms, at least through middle school, so all the stores carry uniform basics -- but not in itty-bitty Malcolm sizes!  We found shorts/pants for him, but ended up ordering shirts off the internet.

Malcolm has two main teachers, Miss Brown and Miss Malcolm, who take such loving care of him.  In addition to the important social skills (sharing toys, taking turns, playing with peers), and school readiness skills (following directions, sitting for circle time), he's also getting lots of daily practice with many skills -- eating with utensils, singing songs, the ABCs and counting.  They practice colors, shapes, puzzle . . .  I could go on and on.

His teachers even provide so many of the wonderful details that are usually so hard to come by in a school/daycare setting -- like having the kids wash hands before every meal, and after every diaper change.  They help Malcolm brush his teeth after lunch, and put on sunscreen and bug-spray everyday before playing outside.

Malcolm's not just learning, though  . . .   As most of our readers may know, we've been teaching Malcolm sign language (ASL) since birth.  He now uses about 150 signs (some more than others).  I recently heard from his teachers that he's teaching the other kids in his class to sign as well!  This week, he taught them the sign for "boy" (his current favorite sign).

Way to go, Professor Malcolm!

Mad Scientist Monday

As you may know, I spent the summer volunteering at a summer program for kids (age 6-12) down in College Park, GA.  This is one of the most under-served communities in all of Atlanta.  The kids are amazing, and I miss spending my days with them, now that they've started back to school.

A few weeks ago, just before the summer program ended, Matthew came to join us for the day, along with a bag full of science supplies (much thanks to Matthew's boss, Dr. Ford, for the generous supplies!)

The kids loved having "Dr. Matthew" visit, and share some fun science experiments.

We explored various sensory related experiments, measuring nerve cell density (shown here), light and color, and the mixing of various powders (flour, corn starch, baking soda, powdered sugar) with various liquids (water, mineral oil, and vinegar).

As I am sure you can imagine, mixing the vinegar and baking soda together quickly became everyone's favorite experiment.

Thank you, Dr. Matthew!

Yummy Yummy Yogurt

Learning to eat with a spoon or fork can prove quite challenging to the under-two crowd.

Some foods are far too yummy, and utensils must fall to the wayside in favor of more effective methods.

On the upside, however, Malcolm now sports a kickin' beard to match Daddy's.  (sort of)