Broccoli truck returns

You know it's spring when the ice cream trucks return to South Jersey. Since before Nathaniel was born, however, Amanda and I have worked with the idea that we're going to tell him the truck is actually the broccoli truck. No idea if this will work in the long run. For now, he hasn't associated that jingle with ice cream.

Uh-oh!

Nathaniel still isn't very big on talking. I was hoping he would start talking within a week or two of getting all that fluid drained out of his ears ... but I guess since we haven't even had the follow-up visit yet, it hasn't been all that long.

One thing he does seem to get, though, is the "uh-oh" sound people make ... usually when a minor accident has occurred. "Uh-oh, I dropped my keys," for example.

Nathaniel has a different take on things, though. He'll regulary push his sippy cup off his high chair tray, then dramatically exclaim: "Uh-oh!" Or drop a toy over a divider gate we put up to keep him out of the kitchen, wait until someone looks at him, then say "uh-oh!" Even if you give the toy back to him, he'll drop it again and say "uh-oh" again.

I keep telling him that it doesn't count as an "uh-oh" unless it's an accident, but he doesn't seem to get it ...

dang kid.

Uh-oh!

Nathaniel still isn't very big on talking. I was hoping he would start talking within a week or two of getting all that fluid drained out of his ears ... but I guess since we haven't even had the follow-up visit yet, it hasn't been all that long.

One thing he does seem to get, though, is the "uh-oh" sound people make ... usually when a minor accident has occurred. "Uh-oh, I dropped my keys," for example.

Nathaniel has a different take on things, though. He'll regulary push his sippy cup off his high chair tray, then dramatically exclaim: "Uh-oh!" Or drop a toy over a divider gate we put up to keep him out of the kitchen, wait until someone looks at him, then say "uh-oh!" Even if you give the toy back to him, he'll drop it again and say "uh-oh" again.

I keep telling him that it doesn't count as an "uh-oh" unless it's an accident, but he doesn't seem to get it ...

darn kid.

Dang kids and their music at all hours!

Long ago, Amanda and I removed the mobile from Nathaniel's crib. (OK, he still wrestles with it on the ground once in a while, but only with close supervision so he doesn't get to tangled up in all the strings and such).

But the mobile came with a little crib attachment thing that (a) moved it to keep him interested and (b) played music. We left the attachment thing on and, every once in a while, Nathaniel will press a button and play some music (15 minutes each of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, or a 15 minute sampling of each, I think).

This morning, about 4 a.m., Nathaniel woke Amanda and me up playing his music. He wasn't making a sound ... not crying or upset or anything, there was just music playing. After a while, it stopped, and then he started it again!

He's sitting in the dark listening to classical music at 4 a.m.! I hope this isn't a sign of things to come, listening to music at all hours, keeping us awake.

(PS: This is my 200th post!)

A slick trick by Enfamil

So we're done with formula now ... just giving Nathaniel whole milk. But we had a little formula we were using up for the past month or so. We'd give Nathaniel milk three times a day and formula twice a day, which the doctor said was fine.

Anyway, our last cannister of formula was the Enfamil "Next Step" stuff they sent us as a sample. It's Enfamil's attempt to drag more money out of parents, even though milk is fine as kids get older. Enfamil sent us the Next Step cannister as a sample to keep us around.

But I was looking at the cannister next to a similar sample cannister of the regular Enfamil Lipil stuff we used for most of Nathaniel's early days, and I noticed something interesting:

While both cans were the same diameter, one can was slightly taller than the other. The interesting thing, though was the can that was slightly bigger had less powder in it. The smaller can was 12.9 oz., while the bigger can was just 12 oz.

How's that for trying to get parents to think they're getting more?

To make things worse, the bigger can (with less in it) also had a bigger scoop for the powder. I think we used the cannister in about half the time.

As if we needed more reason to dump Enfamil for whole milk. Thanks, Enfamil.

That was easy ...

Apparently, all it takes is writing a blog post about Nathaniel not being able to sleep and (ta-da) he sleeps through the night!

For the first time all week, Nathaniel slept like a baby last night. And Amanda and I feel much better because of it.

Let's hope for another all-nighter tonight.

Not sleeping well

Nathaniel had been sleeping through the night ... until he got his tubes. These past few nights, he hasn't made it through the night. Actually, he woke up more than once each night and it's taken some work to get him back to sleep.

So Amanda and I are a little exhausted of late.

Nathaniel seems fine, overall, except for the sleep. We're not sure if lack of sleep comes from him hearing better (slight noises now waking him up) or perhaps he's just not quite feeling himself because of the tube procedure.

Either way, we're hoping things get back to normal soon.

Maybe things will get quieter now ...

So Nathaniel got his tubes put in his ears today. It went smoothly and quickly ... without a hitch. Now he's home and has a bunch of what looks like crusty blood in his ears. It's likely it's actually a bunch of inner ear gunk stained dark by some iodine used to clean the area, but it looks pretty gross.

Nathaniel seems pretty good. He's a little cranky, and he likely will be for another day, but he's doing pretty good, all things considered. The docs said he did indeed have yet another ear infection going on when they went in to place the tubes. That would be at least his eighth (the other 7 known cases involved antibiotics).

The tubes were not just for the infections, but also because the doctors said it looked like he constantly had some fluid in his ears, and that was making it difficult for him to hear properly, which was making his speech development a little slow.

Now, without the fluid buildup, we're thinking he can hear more clearly. And I'm hoping that means he might not smack those two giant wooden "puzzle pieces" together quite so loud. He makes quite a racket sometimes, but maybe now that he can hear it clearly, he'll tone it down.

We can hope.

Scare tactics actually accurate

So I got the following email at work today ... it was tied to someone trying to get an interview for her client regarding a new book or something.

My first though was that it was some scare tactic ... but it's actually useful information for parents. We've given Nathaniel medicines a bunch of times (tied to serious pain from ear infections usually), and it's clear that parents should never give kids any dose of anything without talking to their doctor first.

In the end, the email is a little over the top (headline sounds like it's a common event, but it actually is 2-3 times per year). Still, if you're one of the 2-3, it's got to be the worst thing in the world.

Here's the beginning of the lengthy email:


Over-the-Counter Cold and Cough Medicines Can Kill Babies:

During this time of year when many children and adults are sick with colds and coughs, the CDC has come out with a startling report. More than 1,500 toddlers and babies wound up in emergency rooms over a two-year period and three died because of bad reactions to cold or cough medicine, federal health officials reported Thursday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned parents not to give common over-the-counter cold remedies to children under 2 years old without consulting a doctor.