My Morning with Buba
Last Saturday night, Tiny threw up big time after dinner. She’d been fine all day, and had no temperature when I checked after we’d clean up the yucky mess, so we really weren’t quite sure about what was going on. She slept through the night, and woke up Sunday morning hungry for breakfast. We figured it must have been that she ate something that didn’t agree with her (I’m thinking it was the beef jerky sample that she thought was bacon when we were shopping at BJ’s earlier.). She was feeling fine and acting just fine, but just to be safe, T and I decided that she should have a stay-at-home day to be sure there weren’t any more surprises to come.
There was no real need to keep Buba home, though, so I decided that we should have some Mommy and Buba time. The sad truth is that neither of my kids get much one-to-one time from T or me. And even sadder is that when we do have a chance to do one-to-one time, it often works out to be mother/daughter, father/son time. So, this time that I had to spend with just Buba was quite a treat.
I had some errands I needed to run, but I wanted to make things fun for him. So, after a quick trip to Carter’s, we popped into the L.L. Bean next door just to ride up and down the escalator. We also stopped to peek into their giant fish tank, and took ride in the elevator before heading off to do more errands.
Next up was a quick trip to Kohl’s. We were in and out in a flash, so we walked just a few doors down to the dollar store. Both Buba and Tiny have been heavily into jigsaw puzzles lately. They’ll sit with a puzzle for a good long time trying to figure it out, and more times than not, they are successful (up to 24 pieces). The puzzles have been great activities for quiet time, but they’ve done the ones we have so many times and have become hungry for some new ones. The dollar store seemed to be a good place to look. It didn’t take long at all before we found several Disney themed 24-piece puzzles. Buba chose a Winnie the Pooh puzzle and picked a nice Tinkerbell puzzle for Tiny. He also found new bouncy balls, Mickey and Disney princess number puzzles, Cars and Disney princess bath books, and wash cloths. At $1 a piece, it hardly seemed worth it to say no. And he was having such a great time picking out little treats to take home to Tiny. Fortunately it didn’t take long for him to want to leave with his goodies. We spent about 20 minutes and $16 before heading back towards home again.
I spend a lot of time with Buba practically every day, but nothing comes close to the way it feels to be with just him and do the kinds of things that make him happy. I know that life will only get busier with work and school and the kids’ activities, but I hope that we’ll always remember, every now and then, to stop and take the time to have these little dates with our kids. And I’m sure the busier we get, the more important they’ll be.
Stop Grapplin’ Me!
Buba is a kid who loves, loves, LOVES to talk a lot of nonsense. It’s been well over a year since the nonsense talk started, but it seems to be even more free flowing theses days. He drops a lot of nonsense words and phrases throughout the day, but my favorite of them all is “Stop grapplin’ me!” This seems to mean stop picking on me or stop bothering me or stop trying to make me do something I don’t want to do. Really, you have to hear it in context to know for sure which meaning is intended.
Sometimes I’ll hear Buba yell, “Stop grapplin’ me!” and I can’t help but laugh. Other times, he says it and I just want to scream out of frustration.
It’s most likely a phase- here today, gone tomorrow. But who knows, maybe it will catch on and will end up in the Urban Dictionary one of these days.
Yuckies
Buba is still sick. He has thrown up every day since Sunday*, and it’s just so heartbreaking to see how miserable he feels. I’m not quite sure how it came about, but our kids refer to vomit as yuckies. Tiny has been telling everyone that her brother is sick because yuckies keep coming up, and we have yucky bins (shallow plastic containers) that we use to attempt to catch the yuckies and save our rugs and furniture; although, unfortunately, our success rate isn’t all that great. As sick as he’s been, Buba really has been a trooper. He HATES when the yuckies come up (who doesn’t?), but he’s always calm and patient in the clean up process that follows (which usually requires a pajama change).
Last night was the first night that Buba had yuckies in the middle of the night. It was about 12:40 am when I heard him whimper. I jumped out of bed and went right in. Tiny, who was also awake and sitting up in her bed, immediately informed me that “Buba has yuckies coming up again.” Of course, that much was clear as soon as I peeked into his crib (yes, still in the crib, but that’s for another post). Buba looked up at me and very sweetly said, “Can you get a paper towel, please?” Bless his heart.
I lifted him out of his crib and quickly inspected him. Fortunately, he didn’t have any yuckies on himself, but his bedding was full of it. He stood quietly while I stripped the sheets and did my best to quickly remake the bed. As I struggled to secure the fitted sheet in only the dim glow of the nightlight, we had this quiet conversation:
Buba: You forgot to bring the yucky bucket.
Me: Do you need it right now?
Buba: No, you forgot to bring the yucky bucket when my yuckies was coming out.
Me: I’m sorry, Bub. But I didn’t know that your yuckies were coming out. I was asleep in my bed.
Buba: Go and get it.
Me: Do you need it?
Buba: No, but keep it up there (pointing to the play kitchen. we had placed the bin on top of it earlier in the day.) so it will be there if I need it.
I finished making the bed and put the yucky bin where Buba had instructed. Fortunately, we didn’t need it again last night. (Unfortunately, it was used several times first thing this morning.) I offered to sit with Buba on the couch for a bit, but he was ready to go back to his bed. So, I tucked him back in, gave kisses and I love yous to both kids, and then starting the clean up process with the bedding.
T slept through all of this. How is that possible?! I came back to bed and he was still sound asleep and snoring. Normally, I would just put in my earplugs, but not this time with Buba being sick and all. I didn’t fall back to sleep until after 2 am and ended up getting only about 5 hours of sleep, because I had an early tutee this morning. I was pretty tired all morning but managed to sneak in a 45 minute nap while the kids napped this afternoon. We’re all hoping for a better night tonight.
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*T took Buba to the pediatrician’s office Wednesday morning, where he was seen by a nurse practitioner. She did a pretty thorough exam and found nothing out of the ordinary. In previous situations, the kids have only had vomiting for a day or two, but she said it could last up to seven days depending on how log it takes the virus to run it’s course. And so we wait. Buba was completely exhausted today and slept quite a bit. We’re hoping we might finally be at the tail end of this thing. Fingers crossed…
Don’t Even Think It
It was just last week when a tiny, little thought popped up in my mind- Neither Tiny nor Buba had been sick in quite a while.
After last winter, where it seemed to be just one illness after another, we were fortunate to have months (months!) of good health in our house. Until last night. When Buba threw up during dinner. We hoped a good night’s sleep might end it all, but he’s had trouble keeping much of anything down all day. Poor kid.
Of course, I know it’s my fault. I should know better than to even think jinxy thoughts like that. From now on, I plan to be much more careful.
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And the winner of a copy of The Kissing Hand (selected by the random number generator at random.org) is Andrea of The Mays Twins! I hope you, Luke, and Molly will all enjoy this book as much as we do!
It Was Time
Before:
After:
I’ve been wanting to take Buba for his first haircut for many months now, but T kept saying that the long and shaggy look was back in. For a while, I conceded, but lately his hair has been just so out of control. It looks okay when it’s curly, but after coming out from under his winter hat, it’s all long and straight and flat or fly-away looking from all the static electricity. And the front was always in his eyes. Finally, T admitted that something had to be done.
I was worried that Buba might not be happy to have a stranger wet his hair and come at him with scissors, but he was completely fine and happy throughout the whole haircutting experience. Of course, we went to a kiddie place, and the woman cutting his hair was obviously a pro. She let me entertain him with bubbles while she snipped away. And at the end, he got a little toy rubber ducky for a prize (Tiny got one too just for being a good sport).
I do love his new haircut and how it makes him look even more like a big kid, but I’ve got to admit, I miss his old shaggy do more than I’d expected.
The Chicken Did Bite Me
If you ask Buba about his recent trip to a local farm in our town he will tell you this…
Buba: The chicken did bite me. But he did not mean to. I was feedin’ the lettuce. And the chicken did bit me. But he did not mean to.
It surprises me that this is the story he likes to tell most. I was particularly freaked out when one of the larger goats mistook his tasseled hat for some sort of goat food and I had to wrestle it out of his mouth. Fortunately, the hat was not ruined. It was, however covered in goat slobber.
We love to visit this farm and have had many, many positive experiences there. But next time, I suppose we’ll be a bit more careful when approaching the animals.
Boy Behaving Badly
During a recent shopping trip to BJ’s (wholesale store) Buba and Tiny witnessed a boy (I’d say about 4 years old) having a major meltdown as he and his family were on their way out of the store. That night at dinner, Buba had this say…
Buba: Boy was benin naughty. He was havin a fit like I do sometimes and Tiny do sometimes.
Me: Yes, he was definitely very unhappy.
Buba: When he get home, he needa go in time out. His mommy or his daddy say, “Go in time out!”*
Me: Maybe.
Buba: And then they put the time on, and when it go ding, ding, ding, then he be all done time out.
Me: Maybe.
Buba: (thinks for a few seconds) Mabye… I don’t know what that boy donin…
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*For the record, we use parts of the 1-2-3 Magic approach. So, I don’t say “Go in time out.” I say, “That’s three. Take five.” But clearly Buba understands what sort of offenses are deserving of time out, and how the whole process works. Or, at least, how it works at our house.
Way Too Loud
It’s funny now, because for so long we worried about Buba and the fact that he didn’t start speaking as early and doesn’t talk as much as his peers seem to. Someone warned me that at some point, his talking would just take off, and we’d wish that he’d stop talking altogether. Well folks, that day has come.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m so proud of Buba and all that he accomplished while working with EI. But lately, it just feels like he’s talking all. the. time. Seriously, his chattering is endless and the volume is just way too loud. Even when he’s standing right next to me and has my full attention.
Most of his talking is commanding (Sit down and read the book! Watch me jump! Milk please!) or questioning (Are you going to work today? What are you making for me?). By far, we seem to hear “What’s that?” the most often, and most of the time, he already knows the answer to his question. For example, he’ll point to a picture of a monkey and say, “What’s that?” Are you kidding me?
Interestingly, Tiny has been a Miss Chatterbox for months, and is equally demanding and full of questions. But speaking at a volume that’s more appropriate for human ears, it just doesn’t seem as bad. If only there was a magical remote control that allowed parents to control the volume of their children’s voices. Oh, how wonderful that would be. I promise that I would never push the mute button. But I wouldn’t think twice about turning Buba’s voice down a few notches. Especially at 6:30am.
Sickness Strikes
Saturday morning, neither Buba nor Tiny was up when the moon changed into a sun (at 6:35am) on their Good Nite Lite. This is very, very unusual. Buba’s normal wake up time is between 6 and 6:30am. I think Tiny would sleep later, but once Buba is up she tends to wake up shortly after. T and I didn’t think much of the few extra minutes of sleep. Perhaps it was the beginning of a transition to sleeping later in the morning. One can only hope so, right?
By midmorning, I was beginning to see the sleeping in as a symptom that something unpleasant was headed our way. Buba was pretty lethargic as we attempted to run a few errands after breakfast, and even began to cry and request going home while we picked up new books at the library (something he loves to do!). Not good. He barely ate any lunch and fell right asleep when I put him down for a nap, without his usual routine of bouncing and singing in his crib. He cried a bit in the middle of his nap, but managed to fall back to sleep and got in the full two hours. But he was a complete grump when he woke up. Also not good. By that time, he felt warm to me, so I took his temperature- 102.6! I gave him a does of generic Tylenol and within an hour he seemed like his normal, happy self. I decided to give him another dose before bedtime, to make sure he’d be comfortable for sleeping, and hoped we were dealing with some sort of 24 hour bug.
Saturday morning, Buba was screaming for me at 5:45am. Very unusual. I went right in and he was hot. I gave him another dose of the medicine and asked him if he still wanted to rest since the sun was not glowing yet. He agreed to rest quietly (and did!), and I went back to bed. But Saturday wasn’t a great day either. Buba was cranky and still not eating much. At bedtime, I took his temperature again (he was due for another does of medicine), and it was a whopping 103.1! Not good at all. After taking the medicine, he slept from about 7:30 until 11:00 when he woke up crying for me. He still felt warm and it had been four hours, so I gave him another dose of the sweet smelling, purple stuff and hoped he’d make it until the morning.
Buba woke up at 5:20 this morning, and I went in immediately. He didn’t feel as warm, so I asked him to just rest until he saw the sunshine. I wanted to take his temperature before giving him any generic Tylenol, but knew that Tiny would stir if I took him out of his crib. He rested quietly (maybe even went back to sleep) and was up calling for me the second the Good Nite Lite changed. Finally some typical behavior was back. And he seemed to be in good spirits. I hoped that we were through with whatever bug he had caught. I checked his temp and it was down to 100.1. Not great, but better.
I asked Buba what he would like for breakfast and he requested raisins and a strawberry breakfast bar. He was standing at his high chair saying, “Eat! Eat!” so I put him right in and threw some raisin on the tray. Buba stuffed several into his mouth and then started to cry. One by one, he pulled them out and threw them on the floor. Not good. Tiny joined him, and I handed them both a plate containing a cereal bar, some yogurt, and some cut up frozen strawberries. Buba ate most of the cereal bar, a few bites of yogurt and all of his strawberries. Things were looking good. Until I went to brush his teeth.
I know Buba is getting at least one of his second molars, so I brushed very, very lightly, but he screamed and started swatting at the toothbrush. Never before has this happened. I removed the toothbrush, and found it lightly covered with blood. I didn’t waste anytime getting myself and the kids ready and out the door to our pediatrician’s office. Fortunately it was still early enough for us to be seen as a walk-in. We waited forever, but once he was seen, it didn’t talk long for the nurse practitioner to conclude that Buba has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (so far, with no rash). Very common for a kid his age, very painful, and no real treatment.
So now we just do what we can to help make him more comfortable. I’m alternating generic Tylenol and generic Motrin, but he’s still noticeably miserable at times and not sleeping well (which means I’m not sleeping well). He hates the Motrin and vomited the first dose I gave him, which is not good since that’s the one that will help with the pain. Thus far, Tiny is showing no symptoms, but it could be just a matter of time. And wouldn’t you know it- this is the one week of the summer that T is teaching an enrichment class for his school district.
I know we’ll get through this. We’re certainly not the first family to be hit with this nasty virus. Still if you’ve been through this already, any tips you have to offer or words of encouragement would be appreciated.
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I realize I’ve been quite wordy lately. Thanks for reading all the way to the end. 
Buba fine motor development gross motor development Language Development: Early Intervention
by reanbean
4 comments
One Year Later
In early June 2009, Buba was found eligible for Early Intervention (EI) services. We’d asked for him to be evaluated because our pediatrician noted that he had a slight speech and language delay. Since that type of delay runs in our family, T and I knew that we wanted to act on services as soon as possible, to hopefully avoid further trouble in that area down the road.
However, when the EI team evaluated Buba, they also found a significant fine motor delay. Buba was not yet clapping and almost never used his left hand. While I was aware of these things, the news that he would also need occupational therapy (OT) on top of speech and language services (SP/LA) caught me off guard, and it took some time for me to come to terms with it.
Buba started working with an EI educator (for SP/LA services) and an occupational therapist in July of 2009 after we’d returned from our family vacation. Within just a few weeks, his speech improved dramatically, but his motor skills were not improving as quickly, and it was really tough for me to take in all the information his therapist was giving me about his difficulties with balance, sensory integration, and motor planning. There were several times when I would break down into tears after his sessions, because I just felt that I wasn’t doing enough to help him practice in those areas when we were at home on our own. At the same time, I just couldn’t believe that he was as impaired in those areas as his therapist was saying. Yes, he had trouble getting clothing on and off, but He’s just a little boy! I would think to myself. It also bothered me that the therapist didn’t often acknowledge when he had made gains. And if she did, it was often followed by something new that she’d noticed he now needed to work on.
So, I was kind of excited when I found out that a completely new team of EI staff members would be taking on Buba’s one-year evaluation (which was yesterday). I just wanted to see how he would be viewed by different therapists who’d had no previous experiences with him. The way I see it, Buba has made huge gains in both SP/LA and OT, but I wondered how the evaluation team would seem him.
It turns out that they saw what I see. In fact, he did so well with all the tasks and activities used to assess his skills that they found him to be ineligible for EI services. He has 45 more days to be phased out of the program, and then that’s it. Needless to say, this news was quite exciting! I mean, what parent doesn’t want to hear that their child no longer has any significant developmental delays?
But the sad thing is that our playgroup is through EI, and that may have to come to an end as well. We’ll try working with EI to see if Buba and Tiny can remain in the group as community kids (kids without delays who attend playgroup- technically, Tiny already is one), but it all depends on the numbers, and I have a feeling that there are already quite a few community kids in the group. We’ll continue going at least through July (which is part of our 45 days) and then just see what happens from there.
All in all, I can’t say enough good things about EI. Even with my issues with Buba’s occupational therapist, I still felt like everyone who has worked with my kids has been excellent and has had my kids’ best interests in mind (Tiny worked briefly with an EI nutritionist last summer). And while I do think there were other factors involved, I don’t doubt that the EI staff has played a huge role in helping Buba to be the amazing kid that he is today.
