Butterflies

I’ve always considered the flu to be a practical version of the butterfly effect. If you think about it, there are similarities.

Someone, WAY over THERE gets the bug from someone else even more WAY over THERE. A random dude doesn't wash their hands, the wind blows in a funny direction, a cricket chirps in a forest....

Then someone that is in my vicinity touches my door or sneezes or coughs or just breathes and there is the evil bug, just floating around.

So I walk through the cloud of ick and come into contact with the dreaded thing. Micro-particles just floating in seemingly harmless environments. And it sticks to me.

What do I then do? No amount of neurotic hand washing and sticking, burning sanitizer gel or even shots can save you if the F-L-U really wants to come in.

It came a knockin’.

Grace was sent home from daycare on Tuesday. I received two panicked phone calls in the span of 20 minutes. I guess you would be panicking too if you had to clean up the entire contents of a child’s stomach off the floor. Especially if it’s not your kid.

So we were banned. The rule is 3 runny poops or 2 yacks and your home for 24 hours.

I picked Gracie up mid-nap from daycare. She immediately fell asleep in the car. I woke her again to bring her inside the house when we got home and she immediately fell asleep in her bed again.

Hmmm. That’s not normal.

She took a conglomerate 4 hr nap. That is so not normal.

Two hours later she was ready for bed (an hour early) and preceded to sleep for 13 hours.

So, so, so not normal. Let’s call the Doc.

It’s confirmed. It’s the flu and only the flu, so your going to just have to wait it out. Umm, and as for your trip to Chicago Thursday morning, I wouldn’t plan on it. Not unless your all want to be miserable, infect everyone around you and pray that she doesn’t vomit or have explosive poop on the plane.

Good point Doc. Throw in the fact that my dad is immune depressed and Matt’s dad just got out of the hospital, let’s consider the visit cancelled.

Shortly after the doctor’s visit, we developed a one diaper an hour routine.

With another 13 hour bedtime, that was the making of quite the mess come morning. (1 diaper x 13 hours – actually changing the diaper in that 13 hours = EWW.) Throw in a little more yack just for good measure and that had been our last 3 days.

(I do have to admit though, I catagorized this as a milestone. Gracie's first flu. To celebrate lets all go wash our hands.)

How is your week going? Watch out for butterflies this time of year.

All About Poop

Nobody can ever really be prepared for baby poop. People can tell you about the metamorphosis of poop, but you never really know about it until it happens.

Just like parenting in general. EVERYBODY likes to give you their two cents about what the first few days, weeks, months and years are like as a new parent, but it is something not fully understood until experienced.

Well, we have been experiencing a new facet of babyhood/toddlerdom in poop lately. Over the last two weeks, Grace has been self feeding 80% of the time. This means real food. Solid food. Adult food. Hence the transition into adult poops.

It is soooo gross.

The manifestation of cheese, cheerios, chicken, peas and beans into a diaper makes my stomach turn.

This morning Grace woke up screaming at about 2 am. I ignored it, saying she would fall back to sleep soon. Matt could not. It turned out to be a good thing he got up, because she was indeed upset about something.

Apparently another downside of big girl poops is that it is much harder to sleep though the event and wait until the morning – which has always been the case thus far.

At 11 months old, is it too early to start thinking about potty training introductions?