Sick Baby

Micah was sick over the weekend. He had a fever of about 102 on Thursday and Friday. We called the doctor on Friday and they wanted to see him. So we took him in and she checked his throat and saw that it was red. She wanted to check him for strep, and when she took the swab, he threw up a little. The doc was surprised because usually there's a gag reflex, but nothing comes up. Hoping that this wouldn't trigger more vomit, she sent us on our way with a prescription to ward off Micah's "sinus infection". I should have asked what to do in the case that it DOES trigger more vomit, but would I think that far ahead? Of course not.

So, I had him in the car, waiting at the pharmacy while Dave ran in to get the prescription and I thought I would try to feed him a little. He took one bite, but could not stomach it. It came up with a bit more of his breakfast. So, I took him straight home, changed him and fed him a light lunch ... which he seemed to take just fine. But, when I was holding him and giving him some milk in a bottle, he was done. He emptied everything in his stomach all over himself, me, and one or two of the pillows on the couch. He started crying of course, because who likes to throw up? And I'm not too sure what to do first... I hold him and walk into the kitchen, but realize I can't really set him down on the floor, so I go back to the living room and see that I have dripped along the way. I lay him down on the carpet, peel off my wet clothes, and then peel off his wet clothes, run into the kitchen for a washcloth and paper towels and wipe him (and me) up. Then I realize I'm sitting in my underwear in front of the window to our front door, so I run upstairs to get some clothes on and grab some fresh, clean clothes for Micah. When I come back down, he's still crying a little, and standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me, wondering how I could possibly leave him like that.

On Sunday he didn't have much of a fever anymore, but he did get a weird red rash all over his torso and a bit on his face. We called the on-call doctor Sunday night and she said to stop giving him the medication (in case he's allergic) and to bring him in on Monday if he still has the rash. He still had the rash on Monday, so I took him in to the doctor, but he was feeling better. He was playing fine and she just thought the rash must be some kind of virus (not allergies) that he had gotten along with the fever. I'm not really sure why he was throwing up so much on Friday, though. But he's doing so much better now. The rest of the week he's been pretty much normal, except that he's been usually taking 2 naps a day. It's been great!

He was so sweet when he was sick last weekend. He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep most of the day. If I would set him on the ground to have him play a little, he would start crying unless I sat there with him and held him. He slept a lot in his crib and when he was done with that I would pick him up and hold him on the couch and he would just lay there with his head down on my shoulder. I love when he cuddles. But I much prefer him to be healthy and feeling well.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

We celebrated a week late, but it was fun and fairly stress-free. Unfortunately, we didn't have our huge crowd of 16 guests in for the feast, but it was cozy with two other couples and one single guy. Almost everyone has kids, though, and so they brought them, which made for a much rowdier Thanksgiving than we've had in the past, but still fun. Times are a-changin, so we're changin with them! Since there were just two other couples, the girls helped out with bringing the sweet potatoes and salad, but we made everything else.

We made our Thanksgiving celebration a day of Ina. Her cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa have been facetiously labeled "the Bible" in Dave's family because it is the only thing his sister cooks from and everything in it is absolutely delicious. The day before our celebration I was able to make a cranberry conserve, which was pretty good, but a lot of the people still opted for the jar of solid cranberry jelly. As Jesse put it, Ruffles have ridges and so does cranberry sauce. :) I also made the dessert the day before the festivities, which was pretty good... but I am used to apple crisps and pies made without orange or lemon zest, so I still like my mom's apple crisp recipe. However, this apple-pear-cranberry crisp was still delicious and fun to try for a change. (Note: the recipe online doesn't add dried cranberries like the recipe in the book does.) David was a saint and took care of preparing and roasting the turkey and another year went by where we didn't have to order pizza! I usually make a hassle-free crockpot stuffing, but this year, since I was going all Barefoot-Contessa, I made the stuffing out of baguettes and sauteed onion, celery and granny smith apples. Oh, and from my herbs in my little flower pots outside on my patio! I think it would have been much more moist if I had actually stuffed the turkey with it. Oh well, I cooked it on the side in the oven and it still tasted pretty good. Whew, what else? Oh, a green bean casserole, which is a tradition that Kimber usually brings and if she hadn't just have had a premature baby, she probably would have brought it. So I made it in her honor... plus, it's really good! Okay, last but not least, I made the gravy earlier in the day with a touch of Brandy and I made the mashed potatoes, using buttermilk. Simply divine!

By the way, the sweet potato recipe above is worth checking out. It's the only one the Wolfrom family will eat now at every Thanksgiving, thanks to Dave's brother-in-law, Mike, who brought it from his family in PA. However, for the health conscious, it is more like dessert than a vegetable dish. No wonder everyone loves it!

I love fall and the cool crisp air, and the smell of apple cider and spice. I love snuggling up under a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book, and I absolutely love the autumn colors. I do miss the beautiful colors of fall that Ontario majestically boasts. I am jealous of my Ontario friends who get to bask in the warm "Indian Summer" that they've been enjoying for weeks now. I have been cowering away in my cozy little house while the winds and the rain have been pounding away outside. Okay, okay, it hasn't been THAT bad, but still... it IS the northwest and we DO get lots of rain. And there's supposed to be a wind storm tonight.

What do you love about fall? What are some of your favorite fall recipes?

Happy Birthday Micah!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

I realize that I am not much of a party planner. It doesn't come easily or naturally to me. But I have years and years of party planning ahead of me now that I am a mother! Still, we had a really good time at Micah's birthday party and it went off without a hitch. We had the party from 2-4 in the afternoon because when I sent out the invitations I was pretty sure we'd be having some family in for dinner and I wanted to have time to put dinner together after the guests left. I ended up making a lasagna the night before so I could just throw it in the oven after the party. But the family that was going to come for dinner didn't, so I had some other friends (who are pretty much family) stay afterward.

Micah has not had sugar before now, so he was pretty nonchalant about the whole birthday cake thing. That, and the fact that Daddy had fed him a whole bunch of grapes right before the cake. I had made a little banana cake for Micah, banana cake cupcakes for his friends, and a banana cake for everyone else. Micah ate some of his cake, but he wasn't putting his face into it or making a mess of it. It didn't make for a very good show, but at least I didn't have to throw him in the tub afterwards! Presents were next and he sat really well with me while I opened everything for him. He got lots of toys with balls and lots of trucks, which are two of his favorite things in the world right now. It was perfect. He has been having a lot of fun with the toys (and the party balloons) since the party.

Micah has learned so much over the last year. He's a really fun little guy. I love every single minute with him. When he was newborn I was sad to think that he's going to grow bigger because I loved him so tiny and cuddly, but every stage is more fun than the one before. Lately, he's been melting our hearts when we put him to bed because he lays down so easily and starts to giggle with his head on the mattress. We stand there for a minute and rub his back, and when we take our hand away, he immediately sits up and looks to see if we're still there. When he sees us, he lays his head back down and giggles some more. He is sad when we leave the room, but he goes to sleep right away. It's so nice to not have to listen to him crying himself to sleep anymore.

He is a precious boy and I am so thankful for the joy he brings to our lives. He has made this past year so much fun. It was a bit scary to think of what life would be like with a child to be responsible for, but now that he's here and that I've been a mother for a YEAR already, I can't remember what life was like without him, nor do I want to go back.

Birthday, Thanksgiving, and Quilting

Micah's birthday party is on Sunday and I'm trying not to stress about it. Today I have been frantically making lists of party foods to serve even though it's only for a couple hours in between meals and there IS going to be a cake (which is yet to be determined. My most recent decision has been banana cake cupcakes). But I think I should have some appetizer-type foods too, which will mostly be purchased at Costco. I have also been working hard on getting Micah's First Year calendar completed with pictures and comments on the calendar. It's the only baby book I've done for him and I think it would be fun to have it floating around for people at the party. And I've been trying to get my house clean, but I'm just more into doing other things like quilting, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the party on Sunday.

I'm sad that we have to put off Canadian Thanksgiving for another week, but at least we won't be skipping it altogether (like we did last year... since I conveniently went into labor the DAY we were going to have Thanksgiving. But the turkey was picked up by a friend and cooked at their house and the celebration went on without us, although not without a hitch since she cooked the turkey with the neck and heart and all that stuff in the plastic bag that's inside the turkey STILL INSIDE the turkey!) Ahem. End tangent. So, with Micah's birthday being on Canadian Thanksgiving, I think my friends will be glad it's still going to happen, but this will probably be the case every year. I had The. Hardest. Time. trying to figure out if I was going to have Thanksgiving AND Micah's birthday the same day, or if I might have a joint birthday party with two other little friends of Micah's who were born a couple days apart, or if I would just have a party for him and no one else. So instead of having 50 people to 3 one year old boys birthdays, we're just going to have some friends. And instead of cooking 3 20 pound turkeys for the 50 guests to a birthday party for boys who will not remember one single thing about the party, we're just going to have Thanksgiving the following weekend with maybe 4 or 5 other couples. Whew. Aren't you glad I didn't talk this through with all of you while I was deciding?

So, even though my house still needs to be cleaned and party supplies still need to be purchased and final details still need to be arranged (like what Micah will wear) at least I'm closer to finishing the quilt I have been working on!! And no, the quilt is not for Micah's birthday.