mathmom's blog

Luke woke up this morning very unhappy. First he was sad because Alex (?) had given him his dinosaur jammies and he didn't like them. Then he was sad because people kept telling him that he was going to be a daddy when he was grown up, but you change into a daddy as you are growing up. Then he was upset because the melty -bead circle he had made and left on the floor had lost a bead. Then he wanted to wear "firework pants" that don't actually exist. I looked at Michael. "I think he's sick." So I asked him if his throat hurt. He thought it did. Michael felt his lymph nodes. They were swollen. I gave him a motrin , and he's now playing happily and not complaining so much. I think there is another prescription for antibiotics in our future...

Luke is in general a very friendly boy. He'll tell anyone who will listen about the time he and Anakin killed Darth Vader (he doesn't have a full grip on the Star Wars story) or about the house he is building in New York City. He loves kids his own age, older kids, adults, grandparents, dogs, cats, fish... you name it. There is only one group right now that he is not friendly to, and that is babies. Perhaps we warned him to be careful of babies too often (don't let the baby grab your fork!) or perhaps he doesn't like how they get all the attention. I think he has also been the victim of some aggressive babies in the child care center at the gym who were trying to take his toys, or who hit him, or who the adults favored over him. Regardless, if you've got someone from newborn to about 3 years (pretty much anyone visibly younger than him is a baby) he's a bit wary. This comes up in strange ways as we look forward to the visit of his 18 month old cousin, A. ...

Our entire family has been feeling off and on sick over the past few weeks. Ella was laid out for 1-2 days, but then seemed to get over it. Unfortunately, after she got over it, Michael was hit over the head for a few days---flat on his back. He finally got over it enough to go get a strep test, it came back positive and we got him some antibiotics. The Monday after Michael started taking antibiotics, Ella was sick again---a stomach bug, it seemed, but she only seemed to be sick about 1/4 of the time. The rest of the time she was wrestling with her siblings and running through the sprinkler, and so on. Finally at the end of the day, Ella felt sick again and Michael made me promise to take her for a strep test, even though I was sure there was a more benign explanation. I called and made the appointment, thinking all the time that this was a waste of time and I had other things to do. Ella really seemed to be fine. I had some other questions for the doctor, so I made an appointm...

Last night I heard Luke crying, and I went in to see him. I was a bit slower than usual, having been pretty deeply asleep, and I got into his room just as he was stopping crying and getting back into bed. He looked up and told me, "It's alright. I don't need you anymore." I was a bit taken aback, but I tucked him in and he started whimpering again. I asked if he had had a bad dream and he told me it was a "SO bad dream. Actually it was a good dream. I dreamed I lost all my friends. But then I found Ribbity and Froggie on the floor," (and here he pointed to the floor) "and I found Hopper over here, so it was a good dream." I think that what happened was that he lost his friends, woke up when he couldn't find them in his sleep, and started crying. But being the problem solving boy that he is, he got up, found his friends, and got back into bed just as I arrived. Luke then complained that he was cold. I got his quilt and snuggled a littl...

Amanda and Luke have taken ancient cell phones (about 10 years old, I think) and are "playing" video games on them. Luke is playing "Star Wars," where he plays Luke Skywalker and fights hundreds of bad guys and kills them. Amanda is playing "Dragon World," where some mean dragons have stolen Toothless, and you play Hiccup trying to rescue them. Whenever you make progress, there is a short video you get to watch with Toothless doing funny things to the dragons who captured him. Can you please tell me where they get these ideas? As far as I know, Amanda's only contact with video games is 1) playing with the screen savers on my phone, 2) playing PBS kids games, and 3) watching one of her friends play for about 15 minutes every week while she's being carpooled. I'm not sure Luke has ever held a hand held video game aside from the screen savers we play on my phone. It sure makes me more resolved not to buy a DS or other game for them, though...