So big fat blogging fail.
It's been a month since I last posted anything.
Work has been super busy. I went to DC at the end of March for our annual lobbying trip, and let's just say the federal government budget is extremely important to my organization and our members. So I've been wtaching the excitement over the federal shutdown with a lot of anxiety. Crisis averted, thankfully, but we still don't know what has actually been cut from our budget.
Last week was our state day at the capitol and three straight days of meetings.
And now I'm at home with food poisoning or a virus. Not sure. Charlotte had two straight days of, ahem, extremely explosive diaper blowouts. Both of them happened during naptime, getting stuff everywhere. Yesterday was so bad, I had to wash her bumper, her stuffed animals, and put Charlotte straight in the bathtub. But what Charlotte has (had?) is nothing compared to what hit me at 10PM last night. Every hour to two hours through the night I was throwing up. And I'm still feeling horrible this morning. I also look disturbing, like some kind of zombie, because all of the blood vessels around my eyes and mouth have burst, so I have red blotchy spots all over my face.
I just called the Kaiser advice nurse, giving her my symptoms and mentioning that we're leaving for Costa Rica on Wednesday. She asked, did you call the travel clinic? Um no, I wasn't aware I was supposed to. So she just sent a message to them, and they'll go over CDC recommendations. As if I could drive anywhere right now. Uggh.
If I can just get to the point of keeping some food down, I might actually get some packing done. We fly first to San Diego to drop Charlotte off with my parents (who can't contain their excitement) and then fly out the next day to Costa Rica! We have a few things planned -- scuba diving, drinks with paper umbrellas, zip lining, checking out monkeys and sloths and all amazing creatures. I. Can't. Wait.
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Moving on to asking for your advice.
Charlotte has hit the terrible twos early. She has tantrums over such silly things. On Thursday, I couldn't pick her up because of meetings that went past 5 o'clock. I called Chris on the way home and asked what he wanted for dinner, and his tone was of sheer frustration. Apparently, Charlotte had been crying for the past hour because he made her leave her sippy cup at daycare. She calmed down once I got home, but then when I told her that it was bath night, she lost it again. (We've started Parent and Child swim classes and she loves them. I've told her that the pool is like a big bathtub). Needless to say, she was extremely disappointed that our bathtub was not the pool, and refused to go in. When I made her, she then threw a tantrum when I took her out of the tub. Oy!
This may come as a shock, but apparently you can't rationalize with an almost two year old!
Does anyone have any books or suggestions about how to help with these tantrums? Charlotte calms down as soon as we give her what she wants, but we can't just give her everything she wants, for obvious reasons.
Anyway, time to take a nap. I barely slept at all last night.
Will plan to post with a report on all the fun things Charlotte will be doing with her grandparents, and all the fun things we'll be doing!
Oh Stephanie... I'm sorry you feel so bad. I'm sending positive thoughts your way. Hoping it's just a quick flu! I was terribly ill two weeks ago with the worst stomach issues I've had in years...basically, I was attached to the toilet every half hour. When I called the advice nurse she said it could last a whole week and I was mortified. Luckily, it went away after a dose of Imodium, although I'd already dealt with it for three days. Anyways, just think about your awesome vacation! I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any advice from experience for Charlotte's behavioral issues. I read your description to Eric as an example of things-to-come. I think if it was us, we'd probably begin with warnings and perhaps a counting down system that would result in a time-out. You'll have to let us know what ends up working for you.
Oh my gosh. I don't think it is food poisoning because we have all had it too. Keith got it first. Then Colin and Ms. Krystal got it. We thought Colin was over it when we left for Florida but some of it was left over. Luckily he waited until we arrived at the condo to vomit. He had diarrhea for a couple more days after his last vomiting episode. Then I came down with it last Monday night and threw up so many times that I also burst blood vessels all over my face! Luckily they are already fading away. Mine only lasted about 24 hours. Imodium definitely helped. It was horrible to have this happen to us while on vacation. I hope you guys get over it soon and that Chris avoids it!
ReplyDeleteColin is also starting to throw tantrums already when he doesn't get what he wants. Distraction seems to work best. We try to make him laugh or get him interested in a toy or a book. We do time-outs when he disobeys. That involves me or Keith holding him still on our lap while he cries and squirms for about 30 seconds. We always sit on the same stool for the time out (like Super Nanny's "naughty" stool). We explain why he is in time out and end it with a hug and asking him to say I am sorry. It works fairly well. I think he gets it.
Have a great trip!