This is a panorama of the mouth of Rock Canyon. I debated whether or not to have a picture of the week this week. I don’t think this is a compelling enough picture but I figured you need your picture of the week regardless of its low awesomeness rating.
Last week I officially entered the ranks of being a mother of a toddler who drew all over the walls. I thought it was safe to leave Brooke unattended for two minutes while I went to the bathroom. I was wrong. I must never make that mistake again.
When leaving the bathroom I noticed a huge smudge on the wall. Upon closer inspection I saw it was art. I scolded Brooke and got a rag for her to help me clean it up. Brooke immediately went to ANOTHER wall and started scrubbing. That’s when I noticed THAT entire wall was covered with scribbles.
Today I was eating breakfast. Brooke came into the kitchen and said, “Trouble. I in trouble.”
I glanced her way thinking how cute she was. It was then that I registered what she was saying…and I noticed that her hand wielded a black crayon.
Brooke walked me into the bedroom and showed me the TV. The screen was covered in scribbles. Brooke looked from me to the TV, threw her arms out wide and said proudly, “Ta da!”
Thank goodness for Magic Erasers. If this keeps up, I’ll be buying stock.
You know how sometimes someone makes a joke at your expense or teases you about a quirk that you have but then adds, “Just kidding!” at the end of the comment? That way they clear themselves of potentially offending you, but it often leaves you a little nervous wondering exactly how much truth was actually in the statement?
Caroline has been mildly sick.
It all started with Brooke. Brooke got a little cold. No big deal really–just a bit of a runny nose.
A couple of days after Brooke’s runny nose started, Caroline got a stuffy nose and her eyes were really watery. She also ran a tiny bit of a fever. I gave her some Tylenol. I wasn’t worried.
Then I happened to mention to my Mom that Caroline was a bit sick and I gave her Tylenol. My Mom proceeded to freak out which in turn made me wonder if I should have been freaking out all this time. I had actually been priding myself for NOT getting overdramatic about this turn of events.
My Mom said that since Caroline was still under two months old and that since she had a fever I should call the doctor right away. I didn’t.
The next day Caroline seemed a lot better. However, at the end of the day she felt warm again. I took her temperature and it was slightly elevated. It was after the doctor’s office hours, but I phoned the on-call nurse.
I told her Caroline had a slight fever. My question was whether it was indeed okay to be giving her Tylenol since she was so young or if I was inadvertently killing her.
The nurse dismissed the fever. She said it could hardly even be considered a fever. They don’t get worried until it’s over 100.4. I knew this. Then I happened to mention that she also had watery eyes and some congestion. She immediately said, “What? She has other symptoms, too? Oh, the doctor will want to see her. How soon can you bring her in?”
Cue the panic.
It was a Friday night at about 7:30. Apparently this was serious enough that I had to bring her in after hours?!
We made the appointment for 8:00 that night. Dallas was at work, so I had to load up both girls and take them by myself.
Cue more panic.
One thing that still terrifies me about having two kids is taking them somewhere by myself. Brooke has a tendency to run as fast as she can in the opposite direction. It’s nearly impossible for me to keep up, especially when I am lugging a car seat as well.
We made it to the office without incident and got called in. They weighed Caroline. She is weighing in at a hefty 10 pounds 15 ounces. Where has my baby gone? They took her temperature. The doctor came in. He basically said the temperature wasn’t much cause for alarm, but they want to check her out anyways because in babies younger than three months, there’s a one in twenty chance that a baby with a temperature does have something that they need to treat, whereas in an older baby, it’s more like a one in a couple thousand chance.
He looked Caroline over. He noted the bleary eyes and stuffy nose. Then he listened to her breathe. He listened and he kept listening. Then he asked, “Was she okay for her two-week checkup?” I said yes. He said, “She didn’t have any problems?” I said no. Then he said, “Oh. Because I think I’m hearing a heart murmur.”
WHAT?!
I waited in deathly silence while he listened for several more minutes to Caroline breathing. Then he said, “Nope. She’s fine. Call us if any of her symptoms worsen.”
He in essence said, “Your daughter has a heart defect that could be very serious and may affect her for the rest of her life. JUST KIDDING!”
I’m left wondering if he did in fact momentarily hear something amiss. Well, her two-month checkup is next week. We’ll hope all is well.
Well, since Rebecca has again become rooted to the couch several times a day to take care of Caroline, this is the face I often see.
Isn’t our little girl a little angel? She is one of the sweetest children ever! Of course Brooke is sweet as well. Just look at our sweet younger daughter.
