good oral hygiene.

this morning C was brushing his teeth and holding the babe at the same time. little c loves to be involved in the teeth brushing process. they use a sonicare.. 'nuf said. 

C seemed to be a bit on edge this morning (i think it was from the lack of sleep since the little man decided he'd wake up at midnight and be ready to party... all the way until 9 am--wowza!) and he seemed to be annoyed by the little guy grabbing at the toothbrush, yet wouldn't put him down. i asked the babe if he wanted to brush his teeth, as i was getting out his toothbrush to hand to him. C was elated, it distracted the little guy long enough so he could finish his oral care.

C finished up his business and then put little c down to return to his wandering. obviously little c isn't going to just stand in one place and gnaw on his toothbrush--much more fun to do while roaming your territory! C suddenly yells at me, "HEY!!! YOU CAN'T LET HIM WALK AROUND WITH THE TOOTHBRUSH IN HIS MOUTH!!!! HE COULD FALL AND CHOKE!!!" whoa, brah! simmer down! 

i turned to look at him and said, "um.. remember how you're the one who just put him down instead of finishing up the job..?"

he picked up the babe, finished brushing his teeth, and acted as tho nothing had happened. aye! some people!

strollin'

one day the little man and i were out on a walk. they have one of those fancy pants jogger strollers and he was cruising along in there. he ended up falling asleep and just looked so cute. i snapped a photo with my phone and sent it to M. 

a few minutes later, my phone rang. it was M. this is out our convo went..

M: hey, hi. i have a really random question for you..

me: hi. ok, go.

M: when you are on a walk, do you wear the leash around your wrist, the one that connects to the stroller?

me: ah.. no. not really that often. or ever. it just gets in the way.

M: really? you don't?

me: no, i don't. we go on leisurely walks. i don't think he's going to roll away from me..

M: well, whenever we walk with him in there, we're sure to wear the leash. it's there for safety reasons. 

me: alright, well, good to know.. i wasn't going to say 'well, in that case i guess i'll wear it all the time.'

we hung up and i started laughing. out loud. walking down the sidewalk. 

C got home before M that night. this is what he said to me. "so, M told me about the leash conversation earlier. while we do use the leash every time we use the stroller, i know it's not necessary. please don't feel obligated to do so." hey, thanks for your permission. i wasn't going to, anyway.. oops :)

on a side note.. i need to cut my finger nails. they're getting to be a little long. hopefully M doesn't notice and think i'm doing it just for her peace of mind. ha!

attack of the cat.

as previously mentioned, little C loves to love/terrorize the cats. what child doesn't want to attack a big fluffy wandering ball of fur, right?

one of the cats loves to sit on the arm of the sofa, the perfect eyesight/reach for the little man to attack. the cat wears a collar that has a bell on it; the perfect baby toy. little C loves to grab onto said collar and make the bell jingle. 

one afternoon, i was across the room and the little man approached the cat. he's not quite to the age where he understands when you warn him not to do something so i was walking over to him and i was literally about 4 steps away when the cat clawed the top of his (very bald) head. and hissed, loudly. he didn't pull/scratch. just 5 perfect puncture wounds where his claws hit. little C looked at me while gasping for breath and then screamed. naturally. 

he calmed down as soon as i got him. it didn't really bleed, just a tiny speck popped thru. i rinsed off the battle scars and applied some neosporin (the kind WITHOUT pain reliever because they've got both and i've been told, numerously over the past year [imagine that], that that kind is not intended for kids). he was fine and on his way. and, of course, walked right back to the cat with a huge grin on his face.

when M got home from work that evening she about shit her pants when she saw the 5 seriously tiny scabs atop the little man's head. i told her the story, and she reacted as tho i had drug the child across the pavement. why am i not surprised? when C got home a few minutes later, M quickly said to him, "look at his head..... apparently the cat scratched him." i looked at her and said, "the cat DID scratch him. you can tell those 5 dots are from the cat's claws."

the next morning when i got to work, C gave me a lecture about how if i'm not going to be in the same room as little C, then i need to lock the cats in the basement because they don't want him to get scratched again. or worse yet, to get his eyes clawed out. his words, not mine. those are some vicious cats, man! wow..

he has since been scratched twice more. one on my time, one on theirs. guess i'm not the only one who doesn't "pay attention" every second.. ;)

just in: downtown library deemed unsafe for story time.

as i mentioned before, little C and i regularly attend a story time group at the little neighborhood library branch. he really enjoys seeing his little friends, and his other favorite nanny as well :)

as summer was winding down and the weather was cooling off, i was trying to figure some other options of activities that we could do that fit our public transportation routes and/or neighborhood walk about area. i was browsing the library website and saw that the downtown central library building had a story time earlier in the week; the one we go to is on thursday. so i thought that'd be fun. we could ride the train downtown, enjoy some stories, get some coffee, and head back home for nap time.

M and i were talking about cold weather activities and i suggested downtown story time. she stopped dead in her tracks and said to me, "oh.. i don't think i want him going to that library. it's really gross how many homeless/drug addict people hang around in and outside there." somehow i knew she was going to say something to this extent. 

ok, while it is true that often times outside the downtown library there are a handful of homeless people hanging out. b.s.ing with one another, smoking cigarettes, just doing their thing. it's not a place where i've ever been hassled for money. they usually keep to themselves. yes, i have seen some of them sleeping upstairs in a corner before but there is constantly security in there to keep them out and make it a safe place. plus, the last place you'll find them is in the children's library, in the story room. somehow i'm just not convinced that the librarian is going to let them stick around for story time..

i have taken other kids to this exact same library. it's got the best selection of books, being the main library and not just some lowly branch. and.. prepare for this.. WE ALL CAME OUT ALIVE AND UNHARMED! 

it makes me think that M doesn't trust my judgement and that i might take little C to some place deemed unsafe. not only do i care about his life and well being, i happen to value my own. it's an amazing thing..

M continues to say no, that she'd prefer us to not go downtown. something about the air quality not being as good since the traffic is heavier down there.. really, i just can't win. ;)

lead poisoning!

a few months ago i got to work and noticed that in sporadic spots across the front of their house the paint had been chipped away, and then covered up with white primer. their rental house color is a tannish, it was clearly noticeable.

i walked in and C said, "the outside of our house is painted with LEAD PAINT!" i didn't really know how to respond.. i think a lot of older houses are indeed painted with lead paint. and i'm sure that it being a rental, they had to sign something that acknowledged that.

i asked what made him decide to test it. he said that he was at the hardware store and saw a lead paint test kit and decided to try it. ok. fair enough. the inside paint, however, is not lead based.

then C and M both told me that they are terrified that little C has now got lead poisoning. really? i said that i don't think the little man has been eating paint chips. and there is no yard outside so we never spend any outside time there. i'm sure he's fine. 

C got on the phone right at 9, when their doctor's office opens, and made an appointment for the babe to go in THAT VERY DAY to have his blood checked. 

ok, so i'm sure that finding out your house has lead paint is probably a bit scary. but honestly, the child has not been eating/snorting/touching/licking the outside of the house. that's just gross and dirty. 

M told me that whenever the maintenance people come around to trim the bushes and tidy up the beauty bark, they also use a leaf blower to clean up their mess and that right there, that act that's done about twice a year, probably spreads around all the paint dust that would cause lead poisoning.

at this point i'm just trying not to laugh and tell them how completely ridiculous this all sounds.

she also went on to tell me that if/when the yard maintenance people DO come, i am to close up all the windows and doors and not go outside until well after they've left and the dust has settled. sweet! i love being on lockdown! 

little C has his blood tested that afternoon as planned. the results came back that his level was a 2.6 and they don't begin to be alarmed until it's a 10. but C and M were literally convinced that this child had lead poisoning. even tho he was showing no symptoms. they even tossed around the idea that if he did infact have lead poisoning, that was why he wasn't sleeping through the night.. seriously?

i was of course told daily for the rest of the summer that we are not to play outside there. only at the park or other safe places. gee, but i really love sitting on a slab of concrete in the direct sun with your infant child. damn. guess i can't do that anymore. as if did that regularly...?

merry christmas!

merry christmas everyone!

hope you all survive this crazy winter weather 

and have the greatest of times with your loved ones!

kissing is gross.

as i mentioned in another post, i'm told on a daily basis that we do NOT kiss little C on the mouth. C and M don't even do that. to their own kid. awkward..? 

the little man is really into cat toys at the current time. understandable, they've got all kinds of strings and bells and whistles. plus, he loves watching the cats react to them. it's pretty cute, i'll admit, and i'm not even into cats.

there is one cat toy in particular that he really enjoys. it's a long plastic wand-like thing that has a string attached to the end. attached to the string is some cuckoo feather contraption that the cats go crazy for. little C really enjoys putting the string in his mouth and pulling it back and forth. maybe it feels funny on his little tongue? not sure. so he'd been doing that rather a lot one day and i was finally like, "dude, we gotta stop. you've got red marks on the corners of your mouth." he was pissed, naturally, but he got over it.

the next morning i got to work and M is looking rather frantic/depressed/freaking out. i asked what was wrong and she picked up the babe and said, "look at his mouth. i think he's got a cold sore. a herpe! is that what it looks like to you?" i tried to look but seriously, what kid likes to be poked and prodded at? he wouldn't let me look closely but from what i could see, it didn't appear to be a cold sore to me. i've had plenty in my day. 

i asked if either of them had had one recently, that he could've contracted it from. M said she's never had one and C said he hasn't had one in years. they then looked to me and asked if i had one. i said no, that i hadn't had one in months. trust me, when i get one, you can probably see it from space it gets so big. true story. and obviously i'm aware of how contagious they are and wouldn't even think to get near his mouth when i had one. duh. i mentioned that to C and he told me that "the book" said they can be transfered even when not having an outbreak. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! this is not the genital herpes strain! they are different! and i said exactly that to him.

the whole morning while they were getting ready to leave, M just had that same look of devastation on her face. as though the world were ending if her son had a cold sore on his damn lip. 

she called me about two hours after she'd been gone to ask how the little guy was doing. was he running a fever? did he seem dazed? was he his normal self? i said, "M, he is fine. there is nothing wrong with him." she then said, "you know, he was playing with that cat toy last night and pulling the rope through his mouth. do you think it could just be raw from that?" meanwhile, i had totally spaced that whole scenario from the day before. oops!

a light went off in my head and i said, "omg. that's totally it! he was playing with that thing most of the day yesterday!" 

she laughed it off, like it was hilarious that she'd all but outright accused me of giving her son a cold sore and was thankful it was just a minor skin irritation. she reminded me to: wash my hands plenty today and keep the vaseline piled on it so it won't get dry and cracked. 

i love my job. i love my job. i love my job.