Sunday, November 25, 2007

A Whirlwind of a Week

I just checked and I guess it's been a week since we've posted. We've had a chance to see lots of friends and family while in the Chicago area and also in Des Moines, where we still are staying until tomorrow afternoon.

Stephen did absolutely wonderfully with my parents when we left him there in order to go to see Wicked in the city. The show was enjoyable, as was our dinner at Reza's. We stayed at a nice hotel in Burr Ridge - about halfway between the city and my parents' place. Stephen has only recently been sleeping through the night, and it was a relief that he slept all night - 11.5 hours - while we were gone. It made for a much happier little boy and some well-rested grandparents.

We went back to Champaign for Monday and Tuesday because Ryan needed to get a few hours of recording done. He also had a limo meeting on Tuesday evening that necessitated us staying in town until 9 p.m. We also had a friend who we wanted to see and he was only available for breakfast in Des Moines on Wednesday morning. We got into grandma and grandpa Leatherman's at 2:45 a.m. and were up again at 6 for breakfast. Thankfully, the grandparents were eager and able to take care of Stephen a little more so we could snooze some more.

We had a great Thanksgiving meal at Dan and Sheila's in Knoxville. Stephen got along just fine with our cousins Claire and Anna. He didn't like not being able to eat the pumpkin pie, but with his fussy eating habits of late, we really didn't have a choice.

Yesterday we left him with the grandparents and aunt Care for much of the day. Though he still doesn't appreciate me leaving, he did very well for all of them. Ryan and I got to enjoy a nice lunch with John and then saw some friends at Rock Bottom in the evening.

Today we've run around town to see more friends - even Stephen sure enjoyed Max, Ian, Joshua, Luke, Porter, Foster, Rede, and Laurie. :)

I really hope our return trip goes well. It's risky since Stephen will be awake for about 80% of it. I'm sure we can all tough it out but I sure appreciate it when he isn't crying a lot!

Friday, November 16, 2007

For the Non-Iowa Fans

I am taking a break, eating chips and my leftover Qdoba salsa, and decided to "fix" the photo of Stephen that I thought turned out really well. Some of our friends and family aren't University of Iowa fans (like my dad)!

Here are the two side by side.


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Oops! I'm 30!

The day was originally going to be pretty low-key. Then we decided to meet mom, dad, grandma, Evelyn, and Bridget for lunch in Bloomington. I'd been wanting to take Stephen to the Children's Museum there because I had heard good things about it, so we went to that in the morning. WOW! He loved it! He could have spent the entire time in 1/4 of the first floor. Ten minutes before we had to leave I picked him up and took him through the other floors so I could see what was there.

We enjoyed a nice lunch at Avanti's and walked around the mall for a little while. Then we went to a Thai restaurant to get takeout to eat with Ryan at his office at the music building. Stephen and Ryan's gift was tickets to see Wicked this weekend in Chicago. Stephen doesn't know it yet, but his part of the bargain is to give his mommy a break for a night by staying at grandma and grandpa's house. They'll all do just fine ...

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A Post of Photos, not in chronological order

Having a great time with grandma and grandpa. They were in town along with Aunt Carolyn and my parents to hear the C-U Symphony perform with Ryan's jazz band.
Self-explanatory.
With daddy ("da") and Aunt Care.
Family photo. Should have combed my hair :).
My friend Linda posts photos of food. So I figured I could, too. Here is my first and not-entirely-disastrous attempt at making Thai Spring Rolls.
When Stephen wasn't 100% better yet, I took advantage of his lack of cheesy camera grins to get some nice fall photos.

Take-out Chinese dinner before the concert on Saturday.
A friend of mine made this chocolate cake for my birthday and we celebrated with family this weekend. And, yes, it does taste as good as it looks!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Thanks, Stephen!

When Stephen knocked our alarm clock radio to the floor today, he managed to break the clock mechanism. The radio still works, though.

The funny part is that I am not upset about this in the least. I have had this alarm clock since I was in jr. high and have kept hoping it would stop working.

And we have Ryan's that we can use now. So no need to run out tomorrow for another.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Man does not live by bread alone ...

... but a toddler can survive on cheerios, applesauce, and breastmilk. (Warning: this post is not for the weak stomach.)

This last week has been rather eventful (or uneventful, depending on how you look at it) for the Leathermans. It started out on Monday night when I lost my dinner. Chalking it up to a nasty chicken salad sandwich, I thought that was the end of it and was glad to have it out of my system.

Then Stephen woke up around 11:30 with some strange-sounding coughing. Upon careful inspection of his bed, we found partially mushed up macaroni and cheese. Poor guy. He had never experienced throwing up before. As Ryan pointed out, now we know the answer to the question: "Does Stephen chew his macaroni before swallowing?"

My parents (lucky them!) happened to be in town that night on their way back from Virginia, and they came over Tuesday morning to take care of both me and Stephen so Ryan could go about his day at school. I was really thankful for the help. Even though my stomach had settled down, I had not the energy to do more than just sit around. Stephen ate some dinner and then lost it an hour later that evening.

Yesterday I was back to normal, but Stephen was still very listless. His temp was a degree or two above normal, and he slept much of the day. After I put him to sleep, I was praying that he would be better today; I really wanted to avoid a trip to the dr. and so far he had seemed to be fighting it fine on his own.

Then at ten till six this morning, Ryan got up. His turn. He's been in bed most of the day, but he did have to drag himself to campus to play a half hour gig over the noon hour. Stephen and I went to watch him perform with his quartet. He played fine, but he sure did look pale.

Good news, though, for Stephen. He woke up relatively happy. He's still not at 100% but he is playing with his toys, walking, eating cheerios and applesauce ... that's the little boy I'm used to hangin' out with!

As of 10:21 this evening, the only other person who has caught it is my mother. As Stephen's grandma, she just couldn't stay away from her sweet little grandson when he wanted to play.

Here are some things I am making a mental note of:
- There is a difference between lethargy and listlessness. Apparently, in medical terminology, listlessness is perfectly normal for a sick child. They want to cuddle all day, sleep more than normal, don't play or talk much. But they do make eye contact. They are physically able to sit up and make simple requests. A lethargic child just lies on the floor, totally unable to let their needs be known - and this is when they likely need more attention. They stare right past you when you try to talk to them. Since I never ended up calling a doctor, I didn't need to know this distinction this time. But for future reference ...
- I am SO SO SO glad that I haven't weaned Stephen yet. Nursing during the first trimester was difficult at times, since I was so tired already. I had cut back significantly on the amount of nursing I let him do, and we had night-weaned him. But with the stomach virus, he really needed hydration. He does drink water, but not very much at a time. We got some pedialyte, and he reacted with hives. Nursing was what kept him hydrated and I am so thankful for that!
- Even though his colds don't take the toll that they do on adults, the stomach virus took him longer to overcome than it took for me. A friend told me that her daughter was the same way! I was starting to worry yesterday when I was feeling better and he was still fighting it.
Tonight Ryan started to feel better and had a bowl of soup for dinner. He's planning to go to school tomorrow, but to take it easy. He also has a performance tomorrow night.

I have been wanting to make spring rolls (the kind you don't cook) for a long time. I also knew that they are pretty tricky to get the hang of. So tonight I took the plunge. Yes, they were messy, but they still tasted great! Maybe after a few more trials I'll be ready to serve them to company.