Allergies

Now that we've spent a couple of weeks chasing medication, it may be time for a blog update.  Almost 2 weeks ago, the Bub had his first major allergy attack during which his eyes swelled up like a tired frog's.

After the hospital told us it was seasonal allergies and gave him some Benadryl, he seemed better the next day.  With a $150 co-pay for an ER visit, that's got to be the most expensive teaspoon of Benadryl in the borough.

Then we traveled to Wisconsin where he played outside a lot and got miserable again with the itchy eyes.  (Grandma joined him for the itchy, stuffy, hand-me-a-tissue party.)  So we tried Zyrtec.  No effect.  Tried Claritin.  Moderate improvement.  It rained.  Further improvement.  Washed his eyes with saline.  Better.  He was back to normal by the time we traveled back home, but halfway through the plane ride he started tearing at his eyes and complaining about how they hurt.  Oy.  

By the next morning, his eyes were red and swollen and we took him to the doctor.  She sympathized with him and gave us medication to make him more comfortable.  Prescription-strength Benadryl, drops to soothe his itchy eyes, and antibiotic drops to rid him of infection that he probably got from rubbing his eyes with dirty hands.  Phew.

We sent him to school the next day, feeling like he was on the mend.  Three hours later, school called.  His eyes were swollen almost shut and he refused to eat.  (They asked him if he could see and he replied, "A little bit.")  I took him home to wash his eyes out again, but he rapidly deteriorated.  Itching everywhere, wheezing so loud you could hear it across the room.  Nerdy met us at Urgent Care.  On the way there, he and I took the subway.  Though he was in a stroller, I had him walk down the stairs because he's too heavy for me to lift.  By the time we got to the platform, he was coughing so hard I thought he was going to collapse from an asthma attack right there.

The doctor and nurse from the clinic both recognized that he was in "respiratory distress" and gave him a nebulizer treatment to calm his breathing.  He felt better almost immediately.  They were happy with his new upbeat personality, but his blood oxygen was still low.  So they prescribed an inhaler and told us to give it to him every 6 hours until we saw his regular doctor the next day.  What they failed to mention is that Albuterol makes you manic and hyperactive and basically completely insane if you're 3 years old and exhausted and sick and wired.  Considering he was treated at 8 pm, that made for a really long evening for everyone.

While we waited for the prescription to be filled, we ate at a nearby restaurant.  Not only did he not eat anything, but he decided that he was going to sit somewhere else.  Like at a different empty table.  Where he proceeded to pretend-order French toast (of course!) and who knows what else but he was there for a while.  Then made friends with another table of friendly young women and got excited when one of them said she would like to go see the Avengers movie with him.

The following day, we sent him to school again.  He wasn't great, but at least he was breathing all right by then.  (Yes, I was trying to get rid of my sick child.  I have work to do, people!)  As expected, school called again.  He was complaining that his throat hurt and his eyes were puffy again.  (They weren't, IMO, but maybe I've just become accustomed to my tired frog boy.)

We went straight from school to the doctor.  She said he was still wheezing a little and his nasal passages were outrageously swollen.  So she said ditch the inhaler and rent a nebulizer, it's the only thing that works for really small kids.  And, best of all, she prescribed a similar medicine that doesn't have the "tachycardia" effects.  In other words, it doesn't make him bounce off the walls.

So now, 24 hours later, we've reached some semblance of normal.  We're giving him medicine and moisture via the nebulizer and he loves it.  Because he feels better, but also I suspect because it means playing Angry Birds for 10-20 uninterrupted minutes.  Plus he like to turn the machine on and off himself.  Who wouldn't when it's a cute little penguin?

Trying to grab hold of the steam coming out of the mask.

All of the doctors we've visited said this is the worst allergy season they've seen.  He's been a trooper throughout it all but I'm hoping the worst is over. 

How to Eat Easter Candy

1. Spread candy on floor.*

2. Stick M&M between toes.

3. Extend leg toward mouth.

4. The left leg works equally well.

5. Suck between toes to get candy.

6. Smile at your success and general awesomeness.

*Yes, his eyes look terrible.  He had some severe allergy attack in his eyes the evening before and we had to take him to the ER.  He was OK, but his eyes are still red and swollen.

Passover 2012

Big grins for the holiday.

 

Mama and Nana.

With Victor, visiting from LA.

 

And Daisy, who "belongs to Victor."  Yeah, right.

Avery and her mom Jill.

And with her mom Stevie.
Don't let that cute gummy smile fool you; that girl can SCREAM.
Because the spoonfuls of yogurt are not coming fast enough.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Sasha picked up an entire sheet of matzoh, took a bite, and put it back on the plate.  Then picked up a second piece of matzoh to do the same until we explained that really wasn't polite.

The Seder table.

The Seder plate.

The results of Sasha's first use of a knife: he showed that gefilte fish who's boss.
And then refused to eat it, of course.

Playing with cousin David.

Making matzoh brei with Zayde on Saturday morning.

"OK, Nana, now put the Alien Guy in the tunnel."

Who is that masked man???
Dressed in his present from Nana.

Two-Headed Monster

Photo courtesy Eileen O'Brien.

O Sleep, How I Miss Thee

As some of you are already aware, Sasha has decided that he doesn't need to sleep.  He's been staying up late, late, even later than us.  Why?  Because he's not tired!  Never mind the dark circles under his eyes, the stuttering and aphasia, the grinding of teeth to keep himself awake.  Definitely not tired!

As the days turned into weeks, Nerdy and I reached our limits of tolerance.  We've desperately sought out advice from books, from Google, from Facebook pleas for an answer.  We've tried a number of them: cajoling, ignoring, threatening, playing good cop/bad cop, etc.  One strategy in particular was widely recommended and considered ultimately fail-proof.  Take the child back to his bed, no yelling, no talking, no interaction, just pick him up and put him back in bed every time he gets out.  Apparently most kids will hate this enough that getting up time after time eventually loses its luster.

Unless you're the Bub.  Then the kid will think it's a fun game of chase, with the added bonus that he gets tossed into bed like a bouncy house.  (Oh, wait, that wasn't part of the strategy.  Just me losing my patience.)

So we tried yet another tactic: the sticker chart.  We didn't have much hope because he's never been big on stickers or charts.  This sticker chart, however, is a detailed map to a large and coveted toy.  There is a toy he desperately wants and asks for whenever he thinks of it.  It's a spaceship with aliens and "alien's friends."  We told him that if he can fill out this chart every day for 7 days, he would get little surprises every morning and on the seventh morning, a big surprise: the luxury spaceship.

 

The catch is he has to do everything on the chart without fighting or arguing.  The first four items listed are really just a ruse to get to the last one.  He absolutely must stay in bed when we tuck him in for the night.  Even with a lamp on and the door open, he can only fight sleep for so long when confined to his bed.  He's been asleep by 8:30 every night so far and we're on Day 4.

[Side story. Check out the hearts on the chart in the picture.  As he put them on, he announced that he was putting on 2 hearts because he loves Mamu and Mama.  The next morning, he place the third heart there because Mama and Mamu love him.  Our little sweetheart.

Tonight, he was about to put a fourth heart on "because Grandma loves me."  But then he noticed a new silly monster sticker in the bowl and changed his mind.  "I'm going to put a silly monster on because Grandma loves silly monsters."  And after moment's thought, "Because Grandma is silly."]

We are thrilled with the apparent success of this method, and even though we think bribing children with toys is not the best long-term strategy, we're willing in this case to buy whatever is necessary to get some sleep.

Little Drummer Boy

Here's a video from last weekend's visit to DC, featuring a child in heaven.  It took me a week to post it because I was trying really hard to filter out the audio of Nerdy's complaining over the sound of the drum clicks.  Unfortunately, I couldn't.  (She's letting me post it anyway.)

SuperWeekend in DC

We visited Aunt Margot in DC this weekend!  Sasha had a blast.  Traveling by Amtrak, helping Aunt Margot take Sri the Dog for a walk or two, staying up after everyone else was sleeping, cheering on marathoners, playing outside with the neighbors and their toys, inventing Hulk Handshakes with Margot's friends, sleeping all the way through his "special night with Aunt Margot and Eileen," playing drums, making waffles, visiting Smithsonian museums, playing Two-Headed Monster, haggling for more ice cream, and about 20 other awesome fun things.  He told us on no uncertain terms that we were not going home because he wants to stay and play in DC.  When we got off the train in NY, he acted like we had tricked him into going home. "Yew Nork? No! I want to GO TO D.C.!!"

These are my yogurt raisins and if you touch them I'll mess you up, kid.

Cheering on the runners.

Pirate bandaid...

 

...on the mysteriously bloody elbow...

...ice cream sandwich still intact.

Playing a quiz game with Eileen and Mamu at the Museum of the American Indian.

The correct answer is... A, B, and C!

Hanging out in the teepee.

Even Higher

Ever since the new Vanderbilt Playground opened a year and a half ago in our nabe, Sasha has been fascinated with "da spidahweb,"the big rope-and-steel structure pictured below.  He wanted desperately to climb it but couldn't even get his feet off the ground.  After months of determined effort and observation, he was finally able get his feet up.  Then, eventually, onto the first real level.  Then, this week, a big milestone.  With patient instruction from his good friend Emilio, he climbed halfway up, higher than my head.  (Emilio is his mentor, a beloved big boy, his best friend from school.  Sasha's amused and flattered that Emilio calls him "my buddy.")  That's him in the green shirt.

 

The height of his new achievement Sasha calls The Bicycle.  We asked him why he calls it that and he said, like we're dummies, "Because it has a seat.  And the poles."  He sat in the position pictured below for at least 20 minutes, just looking around, enjoying the view-- and pride in his impressive new accomplishment.

When the playground first opened, this structure got the most attention from the parents, too, who were concerned that it was going to send children to the hospital on a painfully regular basis.  To the surprise of many, however, this appears to be the safest piece of equipment in the whole playground.  I've seen far more kids cry on the baby swings.  

The genius of it is that it's almost impossible to fall off.  Even if you slip or lose your grip, you can't fall more than a foot.  The ropes are threaded in such a way that there's never a direct route down.  Even if a kid was hell-bent on jumping off, the poles are angled sufficiently away from the edges of the orb that even tossing yourself off is nearly impossible.

The best part, in my opinion, is its old-school thrill.  Virtually every kid in the playground wants at least to try it.  And it requires such a range of abilities, that it will take literally years for a tot like Sasha to eventually make it to the top.  There's pride of accomplishment at each level, kids inspire and teach each other, and physically it's very difficult.  Great for physical and mental fitness.

Castle

A short tour of Sasha's Lego castle.