Fever # 2

Julia had a fever again which happens so rarely so we're always concerned.
Usually is full of energy & happy, Julia is listless & cranky when she has a cold.
We are not quick to take medicine or call the doctor.
We're not likely to give Julia medicine without attempting other interventions.
Cool baths to decrease the fever is one method we use.
Lots of liquids, Julia's comfort foods like applesauce & toast, also rest & relaxation as much as possible to keep her comfortable, hydrated and rested.

Uncle Joel gave some suggestions that are more traditional than we like. They involved Children's Tylenol & calling her doctor. I know he doesn't understand us - thinks we stress ourselves out more with our "longer" health care solutions. I remember having a conversation with someone about the recent recall of Tylenol which I didn't know anything about. The person looked surprised & said "what do you do for a fever or cold?" I gave my homo pathetic answers.

Thankfully Julia's fever decreased as she rested that night & next day. Quickly her behavior & overall demeanor returned to happy, smiley, pleasant Julia!

Practice Makes Perfect

Julia usually takes an afternoon nap but sometimes we do quiet time in the morning...half-hour or so where she sits in her bed with a book, lays down, reads, talks whatever.

Over the past couple of days she's been a little sick and her schedule is a screwy. She's taken morning naps and quiet-time/nap in the afternoon. Today, I listened while she did her typical singing and humming and, of course, babbling and I heard her say "mommy", "daddy", "daddy", "mommy" over and over. She was practicing.

I've heard her repeat things but its usually while she is reading or talking near us or imitating us. This is the first time I have heard her do what sounds like practice repetition.

Kinda cool, huh?

Being a Toddler is for the Birds

I am in love with birds. They are the most fun animal to watch. I think that's because they are everywhere I go and they make all those fun tweets and chirps.

I remember a couple of weeks ago I surprised my dad. We were outside - the best place in the world - and I looked over his shoulder, pointed and said "bird!?". He didn't know what I was talking about because he didn't know I knew the word and he didn't see the bird I was pointing at for a few seconds.

**It is amazing how long it takes tall people to see or understand what I'm pointing at.***

Anyway, the other thing is that I've been sick more times since I started walking and talking than I was the whole year before and THAT is definitely for the birds!! A couple of weeks ago my stomach was bothering me soooo much. Everything I ate came out watery and a lot at once. It was gross. Mommy and Daddy held there nose a lot when they changed my diapers and we had to wash a lot of sheets and clothes. NOW, after all that I got a huge fever yesterday. Mommy and Daddy came into my room every couple of hours all night long. I got to eat a lot of mango popsicle and frozen banana and I took a bunch of cold baths. I feel better today but not great - of course, that doesn't stop me from wanting to go outside.

I'm not so hungry but I think I'll ask Daddy if I can go upstairs for a 2nd nap. Hopefully by the time Mommy comes home I will feel better she looked very worried about me.

It looks like we have a busy summer and I can't wait! World Cup!! Massachusetts!! Atlanta!! Swimming Pool!!

Always a Concerned Mother

Again I don't remember all my insightful words from weeks ago ... I think I realize that there is always something to be concerned about as a parent. Julia doesn't get sick often which is wonderful. She's rarely fussy, usually she's cranky when hungry or tired. Julia gets hurt most of the time when she's playing and running and bumping into things. But there's always concern about how's she's doing - physically, emotionally, mentally. How is she developing? How does she compare to other young children? I know she's an individual and will do it her way, that I definitely know! We know she's developing on pace, regardless of when she walks, talks, runs, stacks things, feeds herself, picks up her toys, not matter how she relates to other kids. Julia is happy - that is the most important quality. She is doing fine.

G.I. Julia

Once again I'm writing a post many weeks after I titled it so I wouldn't forget.
I think that the title will help me remember ... it does, but only so much information. All of the great words & thoughts I had at the time are GONE!

Anyway, what I remember is that Julia starting crawling again and it reminded me of the commando crawl she did early on. Since she's been walking for 7-8 months it seemed funny that she was crawling. I wondered if she would regress and stop walking. Now she runs all the time so that seems like a wonderful regression. : )

However, she continues to walk; occasionally she crawls, but usually it is when she's looking for toys that have gotten under the table or couch.

"G.I. Julia" seemed like a clever play on words since she looks like a solider doing the commando crawl. I think I'm so clever ! : )

Toddler Diarrhea

I'm not going to write much about this topic; it's not a pleasant subject.
Julia had this predicament from May 5-13 and thankfully it is over!

OMG!

It is the most foul, literally, experience of having a child. So disgusting!
Julia was not a happy camper either. We were constantly changing her diaper and she hated it, too. Her room smelled awful! We had the fan going, the windows open, using essential oils to disfuse the stench.

No one talks about it, for good reason I suppose.
We weren't sure what was going on initially.
Then we referred to the trusty Internet for information.
We relied on the BART (banana, applesauce, rice, toast) system to minimize any gastro-intestinal related issues to Julia's food. That really helped settle her stomach and also to make sure she was getting some nourishment.

We are so glad Julia feels better.

Risen Waters in Nashville

11-13-11
I found this old email to a friend & realized it might make an interesting post since it's taken me so long to complete what I started from 1 1/2 years ago!
 Sent: Saturday, May 8, 2010 10:46:01 AM
Subject: Flood Relief 

Dear 

How did the volunteer work go yesterday?

It’s strange how someone right near you could have damage and then the neighbor didn’t.

I’ve heard that about tornados and stuff, but nothing this close – since the tornado in ’98!

Some friends live near Sutton Hill Road, but I don’t think they had any damage.  Strange!

I am glad you & your dog are OK.  

Bonnie & Buddy are well too!  They didn’t have electricity on Sunday.

I got your voicemail message, but I was at work and we had stuff ALL day.

Schools were closed all week, not sure about next week.

I think it depends on when the 2^nd water plant gets restored.

They don’t want 76,000 students flushing the toilets! : )

Also we hear there is some damage to buildings as well as roads so not sure about bus routes, etc.

I haven’t heard from Mike & Chad. I heard Donelson was hit hard.

One of my co-workers who lives there relayed some scary stuff!

Luckily we’re OK, nothing major happened to us or our property.

Our basement flooded – about 8 inches deep – which is a pain for my brother.

He was in Atlanta for the weekend so I had to tell him over the phone. : (

However, the good thing is once the rain stopped, the water drained and all of it was gone the next day.

We’re glad for that as we anticipated emptying many buckets of water! : )

Some of our appliances are OK – the washer works, but not the dryer.

Good excuse for a clothesline! : )

We didn’t have hot water or heat/air for a few days because that stuff is in the basement.

We unplugged everything when we discovered the water.

With Joel in Atlanta and not going up & down to the basement, we didn’t think to check!

You know Jai likes AC so he was a little uncomfortable.

I went to the Y to take showers – Jai & Joel took cold showers!  : (

FUN! FUN!

Julia is a trooper – good spirits always – and her laughter makes up for everything.

I actually left to go to church on Sunday morning WITH Julia, turned around quickly & returned home.

I got so scared when I saw how high the water was on Gallatin Road, imagined the car floating & trying to get Julia out.

WHEW! Really scary! : (

We watched TV for hours on Sunday – thankfully we had electricity.

The scenes were frightening as I recognized SO many places around the city submerged in water!

We were definitely going stir crazy stuck in the house.

The weather was beautiful, sunny, blue skies on Monday – strange contrast to the constant rain for 2 days!

Johnders & I walked the neighborhood Monday morning to survey the situation.

Slow morning traffic, not much damage on these streets.

Take care.

Love, Tara, Jai, Julia, Johnders & Joel

Mother's Day 2010

I would like to wish my fabulous wife Tara a wonderful Mother's Day!

There are no amount of words I can use to express how impressed I am with you, how fortunate I am to know you, and how glad I am that YOU are the mother of our child. Julia and I are better people for know you.

Today is also Julia's 17 months birthday - she's almost 1 1/2 years old!

Said with nothing but love,
Jai