Explosive. 8-26-12



Boop looking very tired and trying to amuse herself in the ER.

Friday evening at 8:30pm, I was debating. She was still fussy and pulling at her ear. I figured I’d take her to the walk-in clinic again on Saturday. Last weekend, when Mom was here, we took Boop, and they said her ears were fine. I was talking to my mom about a run down of the plan. About that time, I felt of Boop. She was pretty warm. I thought I’d try the ear thermometer. 98.6 degrees. Strange. She’s usually around 97. I tried again. 99.5. Wow! Again, 99.1. Hm. The ear thermometers tend to read low. The chart said 99.6 was a fever on this type of thermometer. The 99.5 was too close for comfort. Walk-ins at her pediatricians ended 1.5 hours ago, and Urgent Care closed a half hour ago.

I was thinking I had better go to the ER to be safe. As I was getting up, Boop vomited and vomited all over everything. I tried to get us in the shower to at least get the worst of it off. Boop was screaming, screaming, screaming! We checked into the ER a little after 9pm. 103 degrees when the nurse took her temp rectally! Yikes! We waited until 11:30pm to go back.

The resident was an ENT; so he was all over her ear. Right ear was fine, which I figured. He couldn’t see the left due to wax. So he spent a couple of hours trying to get a good visual. 

Finally, I had to ask for the attending, and the attending said it was a little red. He wanted to a chest x-ray for pneumonia, which I declined. I kept pressing for the urine culture. Yep, UTI. At 2am, the attending said he wanted to admit her to the peds unit, and at 4am, we were making our way upstairs. We got settled about 5am, and finally, we could get  some sleep! 

Taking Stock at Boop’s Week 32. 8-29-12

Here’s what’s happening at Boop’s week 32:

• The big news of the week is the ailment that landed Boop in the hospital. We still don’t know what it is. We’re waiting for peds to make their rounds to let us go. I may go ahead and order lunch, just to save time when we leave here.
• Poor Winnie! I know our rush out the door on Friday was scary. She has been staying with my helper. I saw Winnie for a couple of minutes on Sunday. She seemed to be doing well, but I’m betting she’s moping by now.
• Thank heavens for the people who have helped. G has been here almost every day. U and M did babysitting duty so I could take care of important things and get me out of here for a few minutes. My helper, B, has been on call to fill in the gaps.
• I can’t wait to get home, have a real shower, give Boop a real bath, use a better toothbrush, and sleep in a real bed. We had planned to go back to see family this weekend, but I don’t feel comfortable traveling, yet.

Glutton. 8-24-12

For punishment. I like to believe that I can do all of these things. It all looks so tasty to dig into that I can't help myself. I just picked up another class <gasp>. It's not nearly as intense as my other class, but it will be work, nonetheless. The topic is a good one for me; so not too painful. However, I have a feeling the students will struggle with it, which means they will be frequently at my door. Unfortunately, this is only a small part of my job.

So far, I've been pretty good about leaving work at work, but I don't think this can continue. This morning at 6am, while Boop was still asleep, I managed to get a little writing done. And I've been online a fair bit, trying to put out a few fires at work, with mixed success. Boop complained when I turned on the reading light this morning; so I resorted to the back light of the laptop, which is supposed to be a bad thing for your eyes. I'm also getting to that age where they eyes don't function as well as we would like. I wonder how long it will be until I need glasses.


Boop has been altogether a bit grouchy lately. I don't think it's anything I've done or my stress level. I wonder if she is having more ear problems. She has trouble nursing on her left side and pulls at it a lot. We were just at the pediatrician a week ago, and they said it was fine. I wonder if it is still okay.

It's a party. 8-23-12

We wound up going to a new local Mexican restaurant instead of swimming last week. I ran into a few people I knew while there. One of the folks was the friend from work who got Miss Boop the portable crib. She was there with her husband and little boy. I was thinking that I had met her husband before; I've seen him around work enough. But when he didn't recognize me, I realized I knew him better than he knew me. I waited a few minutes for her to come back, but I decided I would go on back to my table. She arrived a little later and invited Boop and I to her son's 1st birthday this weekend.

Her cheeks look like photos of my dad as a tot.

Instead of gifts, they requested school supplies for the local shelter. I know he's only 1, but it feels a little awkward getting shelter supplies in his name. I would like to do something special for the little fella for his first birthday, but I'm short on creativity (no sleep) and time. I still need to get out at some point to get those supplies. Maybe my helper will come on Saturday morning.  

The Scrambler. 8/21/12

There's nothing like the start of the new semester when you have to teach and don't have as much time as you would like to prepare. The syllabus is coming together much slower than I had hoped. It's also a bit tricky to figure out how to fill 3hrs of class at a shot. 

Unfortunately, we got the dregs of the class times because we had to wait until everything else was scheduled. So, I have to teach in the afternoon instead of the morning. It's later than I wanted, and somehow, I ended up with a really long day tomorrow. A meeting earlier than I normally come in, a Poverty Simulation that's really cool but just not great timing, and then class. 


I'm wondering how Boop will do with the long day. They can stay a max of 10 hrs at daycare, and she will be there more then 8 hrs. tomorrow, I think. It's the first class; so we usually end a little earlier than normal, thankfully. Also, I should have a little window of time that I can go to the daycare and nurse, which will help to break things up, I hope. There have been so many potential stressors for her with the start of school: the new babies and then I'm pulled in a million directions. I'm just trying to stay calm and keep to the routine as much as possible.

Taking Stock at Boop’s Week 31. 8-22-12

Here’s what’s happening at Boop’s week 31:

• Boop is still putting on weight at a pretty good clip. Her grandma is having a bit of trouble trying to lift her due to all of her back problems, even after the procedure. It’s been a bit more challenging to get her to sleep in her portable crib. She’s waking up easier, and it’s hard to get her settled back down. I can’t dance around with her as easy. She must be 20 lbs.
• She seems like she is having some ear problems. We’re keeping an eye on it. I think she was having trouble last week, but it wasn’t enough to make it obvious when the pediatrician checked. I guess we’ll just wait until it gets worse.  Fortunately, her constipation seems to be doing a little better. That will decrease her risk of an UTI. I guess she hasn’t had one for a while. Hopefully, she’s growing out of her reflux.
• I got something in the mail about scheduling an appointment for the orthopedist about her hips. I dread for Boop to have more radiation exposure. Unfortunately, it’s been hard to put her shoes on and keep them on, let alone to put them on the wrong feet. She is doing well with her right thumb, but she still keeps her left thumb tucked under a fair bit.

Left Behind. 8-20-12

It's the first day of classes. The cars on the roads are hardly moving. Not quite Chicago traffic, but bad nonetheless. The halls are full of the bustle of students. I'm frantically trying to plan for teaching in the coming semester. Fortunately, I have a few folks willing to entertain the troops to give me a little break and to make things a little less boring for the students.

Grandma brought more clothes...
I got the hat when I was pregnant.

My focus is off. I went to the daycare at lunch to nurse Boop as usual, and her room was like a hornets' nest. Four new babies all at once does not make for a happy room. The 3 newest were screaming, screaming, screaming. It made me a nervous wreck. I nursed Boop for about a half hour and took her back in. Still screaming. I stayed there a couple of minutes, and then I turned around and took Boop back out to nurse a bit longer. We went back after about 20 min. Still screaming. I had to get back to work. As I was walking away, I had second thoughts about leaving her. I debated about taking her back to work, but then, I thought that it was just over 3 hours. And I didn't have anything for her to eat. Maybe if things are bad tomorrow, I'll just take her with me instead of nursing... 

Stepping Out. 8-16-12

I've definitely been making the effort. I've been out a fair bit this week, mostly for student stuff. Tuesday there was a dinner at someone's house for the new students. I was a bit tentative about taking the baby, but she did as well as could be expected under the circumstances. First, she didn't get a good afternoon nap, which had me worried. The other obvious problem is that she hasn't had an opportunity to be around groups of people. Most of the folks at the dinner were virtually strangers for me, and having Boop there didn't make it so obvious. The student who was with me was having a hard time meeting the other students. It will take time. Boop got a bit fussy in the end; so after 2 hours, I felt comfortable leaving. She did fine while there, but the fun was just beginning. I think she cried for about 1.5 hrs. solid as I tried to get her ready for bed.

Nope, not an old photograph of me or something Photoshopped.
This is Boop

Last night was a back to school picnic at the park by my house. Unfortunately, several of the students were kept from going by a meeting; so our numbers were slim at the cook-out. This made it even harder for our new student to get the hang of things. Boop did well enough. We were able to walk over with her in her Baby Bjorn, and she sat on my leg at the picnic table. We were there about 1.5 hrs, then we headed back to the house. She did a lot better this time, with her eating at 7pm. She was conked out at 8pm, and I put her in her portable crib at that point. I may need to move her bedtime up to 8pm.

Of Olympic Proportions. 8-13-12

I wanted to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. I didn't think it would be a big deal for Boop. I've had to compromise about the TV for my sanity's sake. So, while I am turning off the TV from time to time, I am falling asleep with it on. The spartan/cold-turkey approach was just too much for me, especially with the Olympics on. 

American Gothic in pink?

So, I read most of Pantley's book on the No Cry Sleep Solution this weekend, and I had all of my charts ready on my computer. Boop fell asleep in my lap about 6:30pm but woke when I tried to move her. I put her back down at about 8pm, and I looked over to see her watching the closing ceremonies. Then, she saw me looking at her and just smiled and giggled. Rotten! 
She was singing her own little songs while the music from the Olympics was playing, until John Lennon started to sing Imagine. She was sincerely distressed! And she knew nothing about how Julian was treated... It took me a while to calm her down. 9:45pm I finally got her back to sleep, and I fell asleep about 10:30pm. At midnight, she awoke very upset. So I nursed her, and I nursed her. I walked around with her. I bounced her. I nursed her some more. Changed her diaper. Sang to her. Rocked her. She was rubbing her ear. I gave her some tylenol, nursed and walked and bounced and sang and nursed... Nothing worked. Finally, at 4am, she conked out. Winnie went out to potty, and I went to bed.

I finally got settled in and was asleep about 5am. At 7:30am, I got up and tried to get myself to work. I let her sleep until 8:30am. She was a little dazed when we got to the daycare, and there were several new tiny faces in her classroom. Hopefully, she'll have a better night tonight. My sleep log for Miss Boop for last night will be chaos. Of all nights to have trouble! We're on the look out for an ear infection. 

Taking Stock at Week 30. 8-15-12

Boop at daycare in her pink glittery shoes
from her grandma

Here's what's happening at Boop's Week 30:

• Boop will be 7 months old this weekend. I feel like we should do something special, as we didn't really do anything for her 6 month birthday. I guess all Boop really wants at this point is to be held and loved on, and there's really not much more of that I could possibly do. My mom will be here; so she will get the typical love and adoration she has grown to expect. So, I'll need to think a bit if there is something special to do.
• Boop hit a milestone. She rolled from her tummy to her back at daycare. They said when she finally did it, she burst out into tears and started to wail. I hope that she does it again soon!
• The weather has gotten colder here. My friend K has invited us over tomorrow to swim, but I think the water might be too cold. We've had a few days in the upper 70's, so I'm a bit concerned about it. I guess we'll give it a shot because we are running out of days. Each morning I wonder if her summer outfits will be too cold for little Boop to wear.
• I had a trip to the dermatologist yesterday. I'm always keeping an eye out. I had a few spots of psoriasis that I hadn't noticed, which is a good thing. If you have to have psoriasis, you know what I mean; the less it itches and such, the better. No suspicious looking moles. I have a few other MD visits at the end of the month.
• Sleep is still a work in progress. I'm functional, but I would like to be better than that. I'm not doing a great job of logging at night, as directed by Elizabeth Pantley's book. I'm just going to have to have a sheet of paper because it's too much to manage logging on the computer in the middle of the night (waiting for it to start, typing in my password, etc.). She is at least getting a couple of 3 hour stretches of sleep.

Sleeping in Earnest. 8-12-12

Safety Alert: Bumbos have been recalled!

Yesterday (Saturday), we got out about 9am to go to Wally World to pick up a few groceries before I met someone to sell Boop’s Moby. I decided to go ahead and get rid of it because we haven’t used it much lately. She doesn’t seem to like it as much as she used to, but I think that’s because she doesn’t have enough space to move. It was also a hassle for me. Plus, we have the Baby Bjorn now, and I bought a Kelty from my friend, M. Hopefully, we’ll get the Kelty this weekend so we can do a little hiking this fall.

Today, I thought we would piddle around the house and maybe have someone for the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics. Of course, I forgot milk and got the wrong juice for Boop yesterday; so I planned to go to the grocery today. That didn’t happen. And I only called one person to come over today, and she wasn’t feeling well. So, the day was kind of a bust. Since having the baby I really have more of a desire to spend time with grown-ups. I was feeling moody and decided I might feel better about things if I at least got dressed and took Winnie to the dog park.

Winnie was happy initially, but when I tried to quickly slip out to throw away her doggie bag, she was ready to go. So it was a lot of effort for very little dog park time. She wanted to go in with the big dogs, but I haven’t let her do that for a long time. When she goes in, the big dogs come after her, and she wants me to pick her up and get her out. Plus, I didn’t want the dogs to jump on the baby. We then headed back home.

Future Olympian? 8-10-12

I'll admit it. I did get a bit misty-eyed when I saw that P&G commercial the 1st time, with the harried moms taking their kids to practice at the crack of dawn, and the kids turned out to be future Olympians. I've never really known an Olympian. My mom asked, 'Why would you want to be in the Olympics if you knew you had no chance to get a medal?' That's really an understandable sentiment in the US. GBR, China, Russia for example, help to support Olympic hopefuls financially. The US does not. I read an article about an US Olympic hopeful who was a female weightlifter. She was really living hand-to-mouth, and the article notes how grateful she was when an unknown person brought her a $100 worth of groceries and toiletries and left it for her at the gym. Very sad. She finished 8th in the world. That's an accomplishment, but she won't be getting any big endorsement deals.

I don't know how I would react if Boop came up to me and said, 'Mommy, I want to compete in the <insert sport here> in the Olympics.' I guess it would depend on the event. I hope not gymnastics, judo, or some other injury-provoking sport. Maybe archery or skeet shooting; then she could really put the "eye" to the test. In spite of our other failings <and perhaps this can be seen as a failing to those who have to deal with us having to have everything just right>, we have an obsession with having to have things straight and level--and we can usually tell if something is level without having a level tool. This might bode well for little Boop in making the mark. Plus, it's not too taxing on the old joints--except the hands.

The hard part is knowing when to push them a little bit. At some point, she might be really good at something and then get bored or discouraged. How much do you push? It can be hard to change tracks mid-way. How do you explain to a 6 or 7 year old how much commitment and practice it takes? Well, I guess I have a few years to wait for such a discussion. She's not crawling, yet.  

Little Ones. 8-8-12

Sitting in the living room with her shoes on backwards...
Her head looks really big in this photo??

Darn! I forgot it again. It was Tuesday night, and Boop was completely out of antibiotic. I had to stretch her meds on Monday night, and I'm hoping I was able to finagle enough out of the bottle to give her 1.5 mL's. I go to an independent pharmacy here in town, and they don't have the best hours. They close earlier on Saturday and are completely closed on Sunday. So, with all of our running on Saturday, we forgot to call in the prescription. Sunday was out, and I remembered to call it in on Monday. I had every intention of picking it up on Monday AND on Tuesday, but it just didn't happen. The pharmacy is really close to my house and can be on my way to the daycare; so I really don't have a good excuse except being preoccupied. 

I had already changed into my pajamas, was eating dinner, and had pretty much settled in for the evening when I remembered. It was about 6pm, and I was hoping that they were open until 7pm. So, I threw on my clothes and got both of my girls in the car: "Yay! Winnie gets to GO, Winnie gets to GO!" And we made the voyage of approximately 6 blocks. 

Fortunately, they were still open, and Winnie was oh-so excited! She would have jumped into the pharmacy drive up window if I had given her enough slack. The baby was a bit fussy (I woke her when I picked her up at daycare), but she did fine. Then, the pharmacy person poked her head out of the window and said, "Would you like a treat for your little one?" My immediate thought: 'What kind of treat would you give a 6 month old baby?' But then it dawned on me what she meant. "Sure, that would be great," I responded, and she produced a dog biscuit. I'm guessing that she didn't see Boop in the back seat. Otherwise, she may just prefer dogs to people, which I certainly understand; although she's probably made the wrong career choice for that. Anyway, I had one very happy doggie, and later, one healthier Boop.

Dare. 7-29-12

Mommy's purse...Winnie is watching this unfold.

Dare I say it? We’ve had a good weekend, so far.  Yesterday, I was oh-so-careful to make sure Boop got her naps and food on our schedule: 1-2hr nap before lunch and 1-2 hr nap after lunch, a little doze or two in the evening, and start the bedtime ritual at about 7pm. She was fussy at nap time, but after dozing and fighting, she finally went down at about 10pm and slept until about 2pm.

I think the problem has been that Mom and I have been trying to do errands in the morning when she’s in the best mood. Unfortunately, if she doesn’t get a good first nap, she’s off all day. Anything that interrupts her sleep, like being sick, just makes her that much more unhappy.

Mom told me yesterday to knock on wood, and I did. 

This morning, I was a little nervous about her getting her naps as I had to go to Urgent Care and the grocery. I woke up yesterday morning with a bad rash on my back. Urgent Care also weren’t sure what it is, but they are sending out a sample to see if it’s viral or contagious. I definitely don’t want Boop to have this. They recommended Benadryl cream, but I can’t tell that it’s doing anything. At the moment, Boop’s in her portable crib napping, and doesn’t seem to mind that she was a little late going down for nap. We’ll see as the day goes on. 

Lipo. 8-7-12

Nursing and trying to lose pregnancy weight has been a challenge. It's no secret. I've mentioned it a few hundred times before. Same for many moms. That 50 lbs I gained during pregnancy was a surprise even to me. How does someone with hyperemesis gravidarum gain 50 lbs. during pregnancy? I was really disconcerted to still be so big after delivery. I thought Boop would account for more of that weight. All told, that must have been only about 10-15 lbs. At least I was relieved to lose 20-25 lbs that first month. I thought I should have lost more, though. I was overly optimistic about weight loss from breast feeding. And I've had med and food restrictions that have made me less mobile and less satisfied from eating. My doctor told me to give myself a year, to let my body work itself out. 

Boop has been bouncing along to this song about American tourists across the pond.

And then. And then I was happy to be within 10 lbs of my goal weight. A friend looked at me and spontaneously commented about how much weight I had lost. I was even able to get into an old swim suit, not my size 4/6 swimsuit (still a size 10), but I was feeling good about it. Mom came this weekend, after not seeing me for a few weeks. I asked if she could tell that I had lost weight. FOLKS: YOU KNOW THERE IS ONLY *ONE* ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION. She said, "Yeah, I can see it." Phew, good. Just stop there, Mom. But you know she didn't stop there. "You're going to have to have lipo to get rid of that gut, though." WHA-WHAT?!?! Okay, so #1 I guess my mom is honest about the state of my abdomen, brutally honest, to be sure. But #2, that I should go have liposuction? Here I've lost about 40 lbs. just through the courage of my own convictions, and now the only solution is lipo? She comes up with some of the craziest things some times! And they usually involve some sort of surgery. Hm. Mom, I think I'll just stick with exercise and give myself a little more time. It's not even been 7 months. It took me 9 months to get here. It will take at least 9 months to get back!

Taking Stock at Boop's Week 29. 8-8-12

Photo of Boop while waiting on the photographer.

Here's what's happening at Boop's week 29:

• She's been happier these past few weeks, thank goodness. But when she doesn't get her sleep, she's a bit of a bear. 
• She's still not crazy about belly time. Well, that's a bit of an understatement. Some other friends had noted that when their babies learned to roll over, they were much better about belly time. The pediatrician didn't seem so concerned. She told me to get a roller. Unfortunately, they didn't have one around here; so I had to order one from the Internet. The pediatrician said that she will be crawling in no time with it, that she just needs to strengthen her core muscles.
• Boop was over 6 months for her well-baby visit. She scored around the 75th percentile for everything. She's long and wide. And I think she has a lot of depth, too :) <I saw a tweet recently from Liam Finn about being called 1 dimensional. Ouch! That's even worse than being called two dimensional! Well, if you had to be 1 dimension, which would you be? Hint: Pick the 5th--Even if you go your separate ways, you still might have a chance to sing with the Solid Gold dancers! "There's a song that unreelin', to fit that way that I'm feelin'. My head keeps spinnin' to music, spinning to GOLD.">
• Sleep is variable, but we are starting to get into a night time routine. It's more likely now that I can get her to bed between 8-9pm, she'll sleep 3-4 hrs in her portable crib, wake for 1-2 hrs, go back down in her portable crib for 3-4 hrs. Then I usually bring her back to bed with me for an hour or two. I'm usually able to get about 5 hrs of sleep, which is an improvement. Baby steps.

Dock of the Bay. 8-6-12

Irrelevant photo of Boop in green shoes!

I was emphatic with Mom, 'whatever we do, we have to be sure that Boop gets her naps.' So, we waited until she got her morning nap to do anything. She got a late start on her morning nap; so we had to delay our lunch, and delay our lunch, and delay our lunch. She woke up at about 12:30pm and got ready ready by 1pm. We were going to get lunch first but decided it best to have her photos done first. Boop would surely get something on her pretty dress if we went to eat first. 

Someone else was finishing up when we went to get her photo; so we had to hang around about another half hour. Then, her photos. Such a lovely subject: how could there be a bad photo of our little Boop? Hard to choose, hard to choose. Collages? Yes, well, but we want this and this instead. And so it went. We were pretty hungry by the time we left there. The directions I had for the restaurant on the lake weren't great; so I got a little turned-around a few times. I was so used to driving there when it was all detours here and there. I made it harder to get there than it needed to be.

It was just a little mom-n-pop type place on the lake. They had a little boat dock there and plenty of birds hanging out. We enjoyed seeing the little duckies paddle around in the water. And Miss Boop did well through it all. Nary a cry; although she did make many grunts to make it clear that she wanted more! more! carrots and rice cereal. Unfortunately, this made her a bit late for her afternoon nap, but we managed.

De la Sierra Appalachia. 8-6-12

In my desperation to get Boop to settle down and/or sleep, as well as amuse myself, I make up all sorts of little songs. I frequently resort to Cielito Lindo, with a few lyrics I modify. For example, ojitos azules for Boop's blue eyes and Sierra Appalachia for the closest mountain range to us. However, there are some lyrics that still ring true: !Ahy-yahy-yahy-yahy, canta y no llores! !Porque cantando, se alegran! <that's the best I can do with exclamation points at the beginning. I love that Spanish has those punctuation marks at the beginning of sentences to tell you how to read a sentence>Which roughly translated means 'sing and don't cry! Because when you're singing, you're happy!' I have wanted Boop to be happier.

This photo screams for a bad pun about putting your foot in your mouth!

And before Boop started to daycare, I would catch her singing 'ahy-yahy-yahy-yahy'. Mom thought she heard it too. However, it seems like she may have lost it now. But, Mom still sings that part to her. Boop loves anything we sing to her. I bet she will pick it up again soon. And if she can learn some Spanish or French in route, all the better!  

What child is this? 8-4-12

I had been telling my mom, but I don’t think she realized the change until she saw it for herself. <Knock on wood.> Boop’s a different child. <Knock on wood.> She’s been in a fairly good mood. <Throwing salt over my shoulder.>  She hasn’t cried as much. <Avoiding cracks in the sidewalk.> I just hope it continues. It makes life easier when she’s feeling better.

She acts like she's ready to eat on her own, but I don't think I am!

I’ve made a lot of changes. I’ve given up caffeine. No sweet teas from McDonald’s. No chocolate. I’ve tried to avoid cruciferous veggies and onions. I’ve tried to boost my milk supply. I’ve tried her on different foods. I’ve continued to try to address her various ailments. And probably most importantly, I’ve been trying to make sure she gets those naps! She’s been doing better. Of course, she was a bit fussier today. We couldn’t get a good morning nap in, and we felt it. However, it hasn’t been near as bad as before.   

Repairman. 7-31-12

Last week the repairman came to look at my fridge. This is the fridge I have had for about 2 years, that I got new for my kitchen remodel. It’s been making a knocking noise that wakes me up. Anything that keeps me up, I am going out of my way to try to fix. It’s enough to have a 6 month old that won’t sleep!

He came about a week ago, couldn’t really figure out what was going on, but decided it was the fan. He ordered me another part. He also checked my filter. None of us could get it open (we were afraid of breaking it), and I couldn’t figure out why my water tasted so bad. The repairman had to use a putty knife to open it. Turns out, there was no filter in it, which would explain a lot, I guess. I ordered a new filter from amazon; the one he was going to order was over $80!

So, he put the new fan in. I ran the water through the filter to get the air out of the lines. I tasted the water. It tasted like nothing. That’s a good thing! It will be so nice to have ice that tastes like nothing, too. Great, I thought. Much better. Then, Knock Knock! Yep, so the fridge isn’t fixed. 

Taking Stock at Week 28. 8-1-12

Helping me do laundry, sort of
<if unfolding is helping>

Here's what's happening at Boop's week 28:

• Boop is very vocal. She's quite the singer and dancer. She's almost got the head bop and rock down--but the concept that she should be bopping along to music isn't quite there yet. 
• I still have my yucky rash, still waiting to hear back from the urgent care center about whether or not it is viral. All I know is that it itches like crazy, and I'm wanting to take some steroids.
• So far, Boop is eating peas, carrots, and green beans, along with her rice cereal. She LOVES it. There's no need to force her to eat. We'll probably try to add squash or sweet potatoes this week.
• She's started sitting up in the bath, and Boop would say that it was the funnest thing ever! Unfortunately, she can't kick her feet, but she can sure splash well with her hands.
• I can't completely blame Boop and Winnie for my lack of sleep these days. I'm watching the Olympics entirely too much and fall asleep with it on.