Monday, December 18, 2006

A great start to the holidays??

Ah... the joys of children in daycare.

Saturday we had plans to go to bernkastel-Kues, a small German wine village about an hour away to see what we have heard is a beautiful Christmas market.

Unfortunately, just as we were about to get ready to go, Stu had the runs. Oh well, another time, these things happen. We stayed in all day, had lots of fun putting together some Lego that Stu got for his birthday and playing together.

By the end of the day, Stu was MUCH better. But Julia seemed to have a weird diaper rash... more molars coming in?

By late yesterday afternoon Joolsies, who hadn't wanted to eat all day and was a bit lethargic, had a lot more spots. LOTS more. We called the pediatric clinic - they said it was hard to say over the phone, but we could take her to the pediatrician in the morning (ie, we're a little busy).

By 7pm we were just not comfortable with her condition, and I took her to the clinic. 3.5 hours later we left the clinic - after we had seen the doctor, had a blood test, seen the head of neonatal (who just happened to be in) and were told it was viral - most likely (based on the spots on her palms, soles of her feet and inside her mouth) Hand/Foot/Mouth disease. No specific medication, just lots of rest and take her to our doctor if she still had spots after 48 hours.

Fingers crossed we didn't pick up anything else in the waiting room - seeing one little boy who insisted on playing near Julia went and threw up in the garbage can.

Poor Julia had a really rough night, up pretty much every 45 minutes (and she only went to bed at midnight). Not in great shape this morning. Stu woke up saying seeming fine, but the started sayinghe had a sore stomach, but otherwise seeming quite himself. Really... he seemed fine. We have this some mornings - especially if Julia has been sick. Marc took him to school and I tried to go back to bed, but Julia woke up at 9:00.

At 9:30 the phone rings... and it's Joffer Dani, Stu's teacher. Stuart has thrown up all over the desk at school. Ah - will be right there.... oh boy, who feels like a bad parent now??

So here we are, sitting on the couch watching Peppa Pig, hoping no one is going to throw up... or come out in more spots. Or catch any of this. And to add to the fun, they are doing construction in the house next door.... because we have a common wall it sounds like they are coming right through!

So, things can only look up right??

Hope you are all having a good time getting ready for the holidays!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

He's 5!!

How on earth did that happen? Stuart turned 5 last Monday.

It's not like I can't do the math, it's just that 5 is such a big number - the first of those 5 increments that seem to define so much of our life. As in what's your five year plan. I think if someone had asked me that 5 years ago I would never have come up with some of the wonderful (and awful) moments over the past 5 years.

We had a party yesterday to celebrate - 10 kids including my two. Last year was the first year that we had kids that were school friends - ie not kids of my friends. This year was the first time their mums left them here alone - with the exception of two of my girlfriends (thank goodness for Gill! Got to love a guest that helps her child tidy up before leaving) So in theory there were 5 adults (Marc, myself, my mum, Gill and Anneli) to 10 kids, and based on the fact that I can handle two or three at a time it should have been fine... ?

Actually it wasn't bad - I think a lot of it comes down to cultural things. So many of these kids come different cultural backgrounds. The main language was French, but there were Luxembourgish kids, an Italian/Belgian child, Swedish/American, Scottish, Yugoslavian/Portuguese - and one little boy who's father is (I think) Spanish and his mother from Cap Verde (I think - and it would appear they are divorced as he was dropped off with his babysitter - wait that makes it 6 adults - as you can tell she was a lot of use since I forgot about her). This is one of the first times they are all going to a party without their parents, they (with the exception of one little boy) had NO clue what pass the parcel was (that went off better than I thought). We just all have different traditions and it was interesting to see how they intermixed. Or didn't :-)

Anyhow, Stu, despite suffering from a reaction to a booster shot on Thursday, had a great time and was sad to see everyone go. So to make the special day last a little longer, we all went out for Indian food (my kids love Indian food?) and it was a perfect ending to a wonderful (HECTIC) day!