Fevers and Vomit

We have survived Little E's first day of the flu.

It all started last night with the Super Bowl sized vomit, and carried on through today with a fever and a breakfast barf. Poor little girl.

It's amazing how memories of my mother's care resurface and I learn things that I thought I already knew now that my child is sick as opposed to myself.

For instance...

From the Pharmacist:
"A fever of 39.5 or 40 is cause for a visit to the doctor (38.2 is mild)
If she barfs food, don't feed her
Babies are resilient"

From my Mom (GG):
"Lots of liquids
Let's just try a little food to see if it stays down
BRAT is best (banana, rice, apple sauce, toast)"

Yes, but along with becoming a parent come feelings of concern, guilt, fear and the dreaded unknown.
Is she really ok? Did I feed her something toxic? Will she die??? Why didn't she let me know she couldn't eat breakfast?

I know that the fever is actually good. It's the body's way of fighting off the badies and it keeps us stationary and resting. So, I think next time I will do what I do for myself and try to hold off on the medication (I gave Little E baby Tylenol). It just made her think she was better and gave her some gusto to try her new standing trick. Since she just had a mild fever I could have monitored it and given her lots of liquid so that she had the chance to fight it herself.

Mind you, those pesky parental feelings may overtake my logic...we'll see.

Super Bowl Sunday

Baby’s first Super Bowl!

Neither Daddy C nor I are really football fans, but yeesh I’m competitive.

So, once I’ve decided whom I’m routing for (Packers) watch out (Steelers) cause I get loud. I think Little E is already used to my rising blood pressure and enthusiastic cheers (Go Packers!) cause she was in utero for the big hockey wins for Canada during the Olympics.

It’s 14 / 3 for the good guys right now, but these photos may change by the end of the game...

 

Winners!!!!! We won!!! Go Packers!!!! 

Oh yah! My competitive cat has been stroked. I have given a gentle metaphor because Little E had a violent vomit with 2 minutes left in the game that sent us both to the showers early…so I didn’t get to gloat in a hideously loud voice about the quality of my team pick.

More importantly my little baby is now clean, warm, hydrated and safe in her bed.

Go Packers!

Girls Night Out!

What a treat!
Out with the girls last night and wow did it feel great!

It was like I’d never dressed up and gone out before – I was giddy.  I am so lucky to have such a fabulous and diverse group of women in the same stage of mommy hood.  

Since I’m feeling a little frayed around the edges tonight I won’t make this too longwinded…I need to save my breath.

But, it’s amazing what a night on the town will do.

I couldn’t help feeling guilty the next morning though since I was not in my best perky mommy state. But I reckon a night here and there is good for my psyche and in turn keeps the mom/woman balance in check (even if my milk is slightly sour for a short time) I’m pretty sure Little E won’t be damaged, that will come later ;)

Food for thought

Food food food: a necessity, an obsession, a social opportunity, an erotic tool, a gift.

Now that I’m a mommy providing healthy food is at the top of my mind every day. What to feed Little E???

I need a variety of options since she is determined to feed herself, and having not yet mastered the spoon (or any other formal eating utensil) it needs to be finger friendly.

With the help and inspiration from many friends I will make Fridays Foodie…

Here is a recipe paying homage to the Lunar (Chinese) New Year thanks to Hannah!
We'll be eating this tomorrow night!
(I'll probably substitute the honey for Mirin - it's actually a Japanese sauce but it comes from rice/sake and it's sweet. Little E has had walnuts with no problems so I'm not worried about giving her some of the chicken and sauce over quinoa or noodles) 

Cashew Chicken
Serves 6

3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 green onions, cut-up
3 large carrots, cleaned and sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1/2 cup cashews

In a small bowl, combine juice, soy sauce, honey, cornstarch and seasonings. In a skillet or wok, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil until it almost begins to smoke. Stir-fry vegetables for several minutes until the onions become fragrant. Remove veggies from skillet and heat another tablespoon of oil until nearly smoking and stir-fry chicken strips until browned and tender. Add cooked vegetables, cashews and sauce mix. Continue cooking until sauce bubbles and thickens. Serve over hot rice.

Sh*t my kid would like to ruin

Now that I am actively seeking adventure in my everyday life, I feel like Little E is actively trying to set examples.   

  

She manages to find everything that I should have hidden from her little grip and party with it for the moments (seriously!) that I am out of sight: Ecxema cream bottle, plastic diaper bag, Jakes jowls (see yesterday), rug tassles, any little speck of nasty on the floor…how does she do it?

She doesn’t even officially crawl yet – unless you call the military crawl official and she's fast.

I saw a great segment on Rachael Ray the other day. She was speaking to a woman who founded a website and has now written a book describing different “adventures” that babies/kids had partaken in without parental supervision.  It’s called Sh*t My Kids Ruined

If you have any examples of this I would love to see them!!!

Here is a photo of Little E attacking a rib bone.

Seek ye adventure and ye shall find…

First of all, Daddy C assured me that this post was not inappropriate, so...

Little E’s heart beats like a frickin hummingbird (at least how I would imagine a hummingbird’s heart to beat – never actually felt the dear little pulse).

That would explain her incredible ability to circumnavigate the room while I work on my post porridge push. Thinking I have a good couple of minutes to extricate while Little E plays with her Fill and Spill (new fave toy), I emerge triumphant to find a Little hand in a big jowl.

Good thing Jake moves a little slower these days ;)

If you haven’t seen Babies yet, you will rest easy to know that in other cultures it is perfectly acceptable for babies to inspect the inside of a canine mouth. Daddy C calls our Little E the ear, nose and throat specialist.

Go girl!

Oh Deer Lake

What a beautiful day today!!!

I am so mad at myself for not taking photos! Yeesh! Blog lesson number one, photos from now on!
Little E and I joined 4 of our friends for a walk around Deer Lake in Burnaby today. If you haven’t been there you should check it out, it’s really pretty. There is a boardwalk around the swampy bits and the path wanders around some perfectly placed houses and heritage sites (really great location for an outdoor summer concert too!).

The only challenge is the size of the boardwalk when escorting a gaggle of babies and one big dog. It took our group a couple of turns to become familiar with the doggy dance.

We came across two rather ferocious husky types on one of the winding boardwalk corners. The owner geared up for the passing by dramatically winding the leashes around his arms and pulling them in close. I mustered as much courage as I could and marched past, luckily with no incident.
Someone should invent an app for that - maybe there is one...Ferocious Dogs Up Ahead App.

I would subscribe!