Christmas in July

Robbie must be wishin' for Christmas in July... all he wants is his two front teeth.

Yup. We are teething again. I say "we" instead of "he" because it feels like a family event: when he's grumpy and uncomfortable, we all feel it; when he wakes up at 2Am and refuses to go back to sleep, we all get to be awake; when he is completely covered in drool... you guessed it.. we're all slimy. So, faithful readers, pray for my sweet baby and his swollen top gums.

On the bright side, we've been having some fun the last few days. I found these super cute iron-ons at Wal-Mart that I just couldn't pass up-- One for our little rock star, one for our little pirate.

Robbie's new thing is pointing at the camera any time he sees it. Here is a funny one while he is eating and another on from our independent family holiday "Dress Like Daddy Day."

We also went to the zoo for an hour or so last week. It wasn't so busy this time. Robbie again enjoyed the aquarium and the penguins more than anything else. Although the meerkats caused a great deal of pointing and "Ooooo Ooooo"-ing.

Robbie now has four "sign" in his repertoire-- "light" (which he does in the morning when you walk into his dark room), "eat" (which he does when you put him in his high chair or when he's hungry), "hi/bye" (the adorable baby wave), and "touchdown" (which of course is not very useful, but very high up on the cuteness scale). We're working on a few more and hopefully will have some success before he goes back to daycare in a few weeks.

School is approaching so quickly! I anticipate going back to work with mixed emotions. I'm always pumped and excited at the beginning of a new year, but the lazy person in me dreads having to wake up so stinkin' early every day. I'm also looking forward to spending time with adult people and having more adult conversations, but I will miss spending so much time with my little Robbie! I'm excited that I get to teach 3 sections of a G/T math course but am a bit bummed by the low enrollment in my Discrete Math course. So, we shall see!

Gotta Run! Nap time is almost up!

Childers Reunion and Rash Update

Rash Update-- Almost entirely gone except for on his little arms. Hopefully that will be gone by tomorrow! Poor baby!

Today was the annual Childers Reunion. When I was a kid, I remember going on the third Sunday of July to the Avoca Fish Hatchery for the reunion. As a kid, I remember it seemed like hundreds and hundreds of people were there (of course this is a bit fuzzy...) I remember lawn chairs and mom packing special "picnic utensils" and plates to eat with. I remember tables and tables of food. I remember walking the trails behind the fish hatchery and trying to find the old graveyard. I remember the outhouse that smelled like, well, an outhouse in July. I remember my Dad standing on a picnic table and making announcements about things and giving prizes for the youngest, the oldest, the farthest traveled, etc.

Over the years things have changed quite a bit, as things as naturally inclined to do. The Reunion was moved to Saturday to accommodate out of town travelers who didn't want to miss church. The location has changed several times over the past years trying to find a place that accommodates peoples need for shade and a/c and the need to find a place for kiddos to play. Today it was at the D&M shelter house next to PRD in Bedford. This year none of the oldest generation were present. My great grandpa and his brothers and sisters are gone. I honestly don't know if any of them are still living. My dad would know. It is remarkable to look at the family tree and see our family grow. I took a pencil and proudly wrote in Robert Mason Leahy 9/2/08 branching out from our line.

This year things were really different for me because Robbie and I (Sam was at work) were the ONLY ONES from my immediate family there. I really missed Dad & Mom, Nancy & her boys, and Jim with his family. I spent a lot of time making sure Robbie didn't eat gravel, but otherwise he did great with everybody. He spent time bebopping between family members and showing off his new skills at walking. He was in a really good mood, too, and chatted a lot. He won the "Youngest Childers" prize edging out the competition by about 17 days to win a fun toy that he went bonkers for. He played with it almost all night when we got home.

After the reunion, we went by Sam's parents house to say hi -- also so I could go to the bathroom as I was not about to try out the outhouse!

If Robbie Ain't Happy...

If Robbie Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy.

Robbie ran a bit of a fever on Friday, but we, being responsible parents and seeing nothing wrong besides a low fever went ahead and took him to Jack and Gwen's for the weekend. We figured it was teething or the start of a cold... and we both desperately needed a full night's sleep. When they brought him back on Sunday night they said he was fine all weekend-- Cool! However, I noticed he looked a little blotchy when I gave him his bath. Monday it looked a little worse... Tuesday it looked bad. Yuck. My baby is covered nearly head to toe in creepy red rash. He's also scratching at it and is not sleeping well. Which means we are not sleeping well. Which means the whole family is cranky.

Sigh.

Robbie frequently gets "contact dermatitis" which is a fancy way of saying he is uber sensitive to harsh detergents/soaps/etc. We have to double rise all his clothes, bedding, towels, etc and can only use fabric softener that is dye/scent free. We bathe him with Dove unscented sensitive bar soap and use Eucerin unscented sensitive lotion.

So I took him to Dr. Jason today to see what he thought. He said that it could be the contact derm. (like from the towels at J & G's house or from playing in the yard) or that it could be from a virus (which would explain the fever last week). Regardless, we are "wait and see"ing it for a week and hoping it clears up on its own. He gave us a prescription that we can give him at night to stop the itching.

Poor Baby!

In other news, I took Robbie to the Plainfield pool yesterday with some other moms. He did not like it. Not one little bit. The water was really cold and he was already cranky (see above.) Oh well. This picture is great because his face really shows how he feels. He's like "Mom-- Why are you doing this to me?" Maybe we'll try again on a warmer day!