The Evil Norovirus

Let me begin this post with an apology.

I am truly sorry that I haven't posted in weeks.  I hope you're all still out there and are anxiously awaiting my next post.  I'm also a little sad because this blog is a way for me to keep tabs on what happened in MiniM.E.'s life too.  I guess its like a journal or a diary.  Sort of.  Except that I'm putting it out there for everyone to read.  AND it's hardly about me at all.  I digress...

WARNING: the following paragraphs are a bit graphic.  If you're eating a snack right now, you should probably stop.  Or quickly scroll down to the part with the picture.

Two and a half weeks ago the norovirus hit our house.  HARD.  I'd heard stories of vomiting children and children with diarrhea and laughed along as fellow moms told horror stories of the puke they had to clean off the ceiling and the poop that seeped through two pairs of pants and a towel onto the couch, Fortunately (or unfortunately as I wasn't prepared for what happened) for me, MiniM.E. has never been a puker- maybe a couple spit-up episodes here and there.  She's had her share of poop-splosions, but I never expected what I encountered for a week after the virus hit.

MiniM.E. started with the virus by puking up all food and drink consumed over at least a 12 hour period onto my laminate kitchen floor from my arms resulting in an amazing splatter that reached the underside of the kitchen table, the stove, the fridge all cabinets and the better part of a wall.  She didn't keep anything down for 24 hours.  Though a lot of stuff came up.  On the couch, on me, on the crib, on the floor.  It was a little ridiculous.  The vomit was followed by a week of diarrhea to which I will only say that we went through more outfits than we would have in weeks, I did more laundry than I do in a month, there were several  bath-worthy occasions and in an undisclosed parking lot, there may still be a pile of poo.

In the middle of the second half of MiniM.E.'s virus I got it, then Bob got it.  Thankfully my mom came to take care of MiniM.E. while neither of us could get out of bed, but then SHE got it.  Finally we were all better enough to make a trip to NH, though it was a day later than we expected.

SO, that explains the first half of my blogging hiatus.

This is the only picture I have of MiniM.E. for at least a week.  And it's her in a pile of (clean) laundry.  Because that is all I did for what seemed like a week.

16 Months Old!

... and two stomach bugs!  MiniM.E. really hasn't been a sick baby with the exception of a few colds and an ear infection.  Then last week she got a stomach bug and just as she got over it, she woke up this morning with another one.  Poor MiniM.E. has been throwing up all morning.  Fortunately, she was able to fall asleep for a nap.  I'm hoping she feels better when she wakes up because there's only so much throw up I feel like cleaning up in one day.  I'm already up to one couch, one blanket, one carpet, three loads of laundry, and the entire kitchen floor.

Despite being sick, she's been in pretty good spirits.

Her favorite indoor activity is playing on the stairs.  With the amber necklace she no longer allows us to put on her.  And yes, I do realize that that is potentially dangerous.  But she LOVES it and it's the only activity that keeps her entertained for more than five minutes.

And on the plus side, she's getting really good at going down on her own (she mastered up a long time ago).

We've also been taking a lot of walks and getting outside as much as possible.  Even with a stomach bug!

taking a break

and another...

who wants to ride when you can push?

happy as long as I have my bunnies!

mittens on!

 The best part of our walks (if they're downtown) is always feeding the ducks.

When it's too cold to go out but we want to get out of the house, we usually go play at the mall.  Unfortunately, last weekend the playground was closed.  At least there were balloons...

And RVs.

MiniM.E. has also been pretty good at playing at home.  Probably because we keep so busy that we aren't there much and she doesn't have a lot of time to be bored.

who can be bored when you're not wearing pants?

figuring it out

peek-a-boo!

LOVE this expression

 The best part of the day is always bath time.  MiniM.E. would spend days in the bath if I let her.

It's always nice to have a little extra time when your sick baby takes a long nap.  Hope she feels better when she wakes up!

Some Catching Up... Or Catching Things...

This past week I've been sick.  Arg.  I feel like I've been sick more this year than I have been in ages.  I wasn't even sick this much when I was teaching elementary art.  I'm talking kids wiping their noses then touching you, or putting something in their mouth and handing it to you, or worse, sneezing right in your face when you're talking to them.  It must be another fantastic perk of being a mom.  Awesome.

Anyway, it was struggle enough to pretend I was having a blast pulling MiniM.E. around in the laundry basket for hours on end while I was really ready to curl up in a ball and die.  Luckily, I pushed through it and am still alive.  I don't think MiniM.E. suffered too much.  Except for maybe the few hours that I totally curled up on the couch in a blanket and watched her watch the "tee" (TV).  Don't judge, it was Baby Songs, a totally ghetto DVD made from a 30 year old VHS tape that actually teaches things and is so slow moving that I don't have to worry about it affecting her attention span.  AND for the record, I can now take a shower without piercing screams echoing in the background.

Fortunately, aside from a hacking cough (which I am praying is not waking up my napping baby), I am better.

UNfortunately, while sick I not only neglected writing blog posts, I also neglected everything else I usually do around the house AND the baby shower I am co-planning and putting on THIS WEEKEND.  So this post will have to be short and sweet.  Starting now.  The beginning was totally procrastination.  But now, I really have to go do stuff.  Unless MiniM.E. wakes up.  Which she might.  If I sit here and keep writing and checking e-mail and shopping for Christmas presents long enough.  Then I won't have to do any of those things.  I'll have to play with a baby...

So, to recap the last week or so, MiniM.E. is super cute, as always

Walking everywhere

Loves to swing

especially the big kid swing

Is learning to help out and clean up

Is finding more and more things we need to baby proof

Is mastering new skills like jumping (almost)

And the magna doodle

Went in her first bounce house

Sat at the park at the grown up table

Likes to play in the dirt

Is having a blast in the big tub

Loves pretending to take naps

And still isn't a very good napper.  Though she definitely is cute when she's sleeping.

Aaannndd... She's up!  Mission avoid housework and baby shower planning: Accomplished.

A Busy Week

Once Stretchy and I were both feeling better, we ended up having a pretty busy week.  I think it was really good for us because we'd been stuck in the house like we were quarantined for almost two weeks and cabin fever was starting to drive me a little nuts (and I certainly cannot afford to be more crazy than I already am).

Wednesday my sister arrived to spend part of her vacation with us.  Its always nice to see her and we haven't been home in a while, so it had been too long since we'd seen her last.  Unfortunately, it took Stretchy a while to warm up to her, but soon she had a new favorite play-mate (and I got to take some breaks to finish recovering!)  My mom came too since she's always looking for excuses to come see her favorite person... and her daughter...

We did some shopping and ran some errands.

Are we getting in the car already?

We headed up to Lake George (which was kind of a bust since most things were still closed for the season) and strolled around downtown Saratoga.  And we played with the baby...

It was really nice to see my sister and have company for a while.

They left Friday after Stretchy's first swimming lesson and we had a quiet evening.

Saturday we went up to Lake George again- this time to the Recreation Center where we took a hike in the woods, had a picnic with some friends we met in Germany and their kids.  Bob and the other dad took their bikes out on the trails there while the other mom and I watched the kids on the playground.  Unfortunately, a six-month old can't really play on the playground, but she seemed to have a good time sitting on the picnic table and watching.

Family photo... no, it's not a skirt, the baby's legs were cold- it's a blanket!

Sunday we went to a baby shower and had a BBQ with one of our friends who just moved back from Belgium and will be starting work with Bob soon.

Hanging out with the big kids...

I have to say, after more than a week of doing nothing, we definitely made up for it with everything we did last week!  Today we'll take it easy and enjoy the nice weather!

Here's some cute pictures of Stretchy hanging out on the couch this morning:

Standing and reaching

After falling over

Almost in the crawling position!