Like mother like son

Ben's had a good couple of days at day care, the teachers used a little cream on him today. I was upset the other day because I felt I was being told how to count my blessings. I absolutely know my blessings, and as itchy as Ben's skin gets, as cranky as he may become, I know I am blessed he is healthy.

Another little girl at Ben's daycare isn't so lucky in the health department. "Z" I'll call her, has Sickle Cell. She's probably only three or four months old. She's got to be in pain, but the lead teacher tells me she doesn't do too badly during the day, considering. The teacher also told me, Ben is the only baby that makes her smile. He'll crawl over to her, touch her, and they smile at each other. They seem to like one another. I think it's so cool that he's making her feel better. I, and now J.R. as well, am an active volunteer; raising money for the American Cancer Society, teaching bible lessons to the toddlers at church, making donations to shelters, and donating my time to various other causes and situations. I really would love for Ben to see the work I'm doing, and do it himself. I guess in his own little way, he already is.

Attitude - and not a good one

OK, so another day care issue...although comparatively, not as bad as other stories. First, some background. I think Ben has eczema. He's always had sensitive skin. Sometimes his skin is really dry, but lately it's red and splotchy and he's itchy. He's always scratched his head a lot, I put Aquafor on it if it looks really dry. I also have a prescription for 1% hydro cortisone cream that I was told to use twice a day for a week. Too much will thin out his skin. I used it for a week, but the "rash" flares up once in a while on different parts of his body so I use it when his skin looks bad. I lotion him twice a day. I left Aquafor at day care, since they've complained about him scratching before, but I refuse to give them the hydro cortisone.

So, I get a call yesterday from the secretary. With an attitude she tells me Ben is itchy and I either need to bring cream or come get him. Apparently the Aquafor I left for him is empty, so I bring some A&D which I read on the label, is not just for diaper rash but for chapped lips & dry skin. I figure it's OK because he also has a small diaper rash, so it'll be multi purpose. I walk into the nursery, and the lights are out because it's nap time, however, Ben is crying at the table, by himself, with no toys. Duh....he's bored! I pick him up to soothe him...who am I kidding, to soothe ME. I asked what he ate and it's a quick "what you served him. I didn't feed him". Whatever lady, I'm just asking. Guessing by the blanket imprint on his forehead, he slept for a short time but woke up. So, I nurse Ben a little to see if he'll take a nap - he's rubbing his eyes a ton so he's obviously sleepy (on the phone I was told his eye was almost swollen shut - in reality it was red and puffy from rubbing it). Then, the director gets an attitude because she is disappointed all I brought was A&D then she tells me that the owner says if Ben's itching doesn't stop I'll have to come pick him up. Yeah? Have the owner call me, I have a few words for her. Anyway, Ben doesn't sleep so I give him back. Both the director and lead teacher give me attitude for not taking him away and bringing him to the doctor. At this point, I break into tears, and tell them (for the second time this week) that he has a doctor's appointment in two weeks, I'll demand then that the doctor do something more for us, but it's going to have to wait until then because I don't have the money to do it sooner, because day care is killing me. They take pity on me because I'm crying, can't believe I have a copay for doctor's visits, and give me the phone number for CHIP. Then tell me that I'm lucky I have a husband because they raised their 2 and 7 kids by themselves. OK - first, I'm not crying because I'm broke (well, a little) but I'm crying because I'm frustrated with this daycare! Second, don't tell me how to count my blessings! I count my blessings every day. Ben may have itchy skin, but he was born with no defects, and he's healthy and I'm so thankful for that. Not only do I have a husband, but I have a wonderful husband. I don't take either for granted.

Sigh.....thanks for letting me vent.

Weekend at Grammie's

We thought a snowstorm would keep up from visiting Grammie on her 60th birthday, but no way! We left Saturday morning and arrived in time for dinner. We had a great night. Dinner was excellent and spending time with family was unforgettable. We celebrated with Lisa, Joe & Brooke, Nana, Memiere, Auntie Linda, Uncle George, Kelley & Cam, and of course Mom and Ronnie - aka Grammie and Pepere. I'm so glad we were able to make it. I made a fun video for my mom celebrating her life. It was a nice way to end the night. Ben did great in the car, sleeping for most of the 5 1/2 hour trip. Watching Baby Einstein on the portable DVD player helped too. We turned right around and came back home today. We had a nice breakfast with Grammie, Pepere, Auntie Lisa, Uncle Joe and Brooke before heading out. Again, Ben did fantastic in the car, sleeping for most of the 6 hour trip, along with watching a little Baby Bach. Happy Birthday Mom! It was great to spend time with you and we can't wait until Easter!

He's crawling

Yup! He's doing it! Still not perfect, but he's really moving. He's still getting a little frustrated, but it's really cute. Check it out for yourself!

So much to say!!

Oh gosh, it's been a while....so sorry. So, let's see....where to start. How 'bout a picture of my favorite Valentine?

Little cutie :)

Ok, to catch up....let's blog about fun visits first. A couple of weeks ago we met our friends Kelly, Bill, Molly and Ben at KOP mall. We haven't been together for awhile so it was great fun. We put Ben in his stroller without the car seat for the first time. He looked so cute sitting up in it. Here's a pic.

and another picture of Ben at the dinner table - we ate at Rock Bottom Brewery.

I just think this picture is cute :) Last weekend we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was nice. Ben did well during the car trips, and in his pack and play with the new mattress. He got to hang with Uncle Steve, Aunt Megan, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bob too. Ben was very entertaining at dinner at Aunt Sandy's. Friday night Ben was showing off his best millitary crawl. I thought he'd full on crawl by the end of the weekend, but even as of tonight, he's really not yet. He'll go one or two "steps" with his arms, then fall down.

Next, the daycare saga again. Last Thurs. and Fri. Ben vomitted at daycare and had to be picked up early. I received a note that said he couldn't come back until he had a doctor's note. So, I took Monday morning off from work to take him. I told the Dr. that a few babies went home and one had the GI thing going around, but she still said he was fine (I knew it!! especially considering he was fine the whole rest of the weekend), however, he does have a little ear infection. So I took him back to daycare Monday and I think the director was in shock that we were there. I told her we had a note from the Dr. saying he was fine, but did have a non contagious ear infection. Then she asked me to go home and get some tylenol, and after I brought that in she asked me to go fill his ear perscription and bring it in. When I returned for the third time, Ben was screaming. I think he was just really hungry, but before I left someone came to feed him - both of his stage 2 foods mixed together, which I don't ever feed him so much at once, but oh well. When I told them I don't feed him that much at once and maybe that was a reason why he throws up, I got a very nasty - "No, there was a virus going around". Whatever. So Wednesday I'm told through my daily note that not only did Ben cry all day, but he cried so much at nap time that he kept all the other babies up. So?? What do you want me to do about it?? Sooth him for goodness sake! I mean, I know you can't do it all the time, but if he's keeping everyone else up, either take him out of the room or actually pick him up and comfort him. When I got him home and unpacked his cooler bag, only one bottle was empty. Gee, think maybe he cried so much because he was hungry? So Thursday I called them (the director and other room teachers aren't there in the morning when I drop him off) and asked them about it. I also said, very nicely, that if he was eating enough cereal and solid food and didn't need the other bottles, I'm ok with that, but I was only given "Oh, he couldn't have had just one bottle, that's just not true". Well, I sent four full bottles, three full bottles came back and one empty bottle came back. You tell me what's true. Another teacher got on the phone and said he had one in the morning, and one at naptime. I told her (again) that only one empty came back. Here response was, and I'm quoting exact - "Another baby has bottles that look just like his"!!!! Ben is drinking someone else's milk (more likely formula)!!! I'm horrified!!! J.R. and I just don't know where to go with this. We are afraid to tell the owner because we don't want any backlash to Ben. I haven't seen the director since then, so maybe I'll just bring it up to her when I see her.

Well, J.R. says I'm a blogging machine, and he turned out the light and rolled over. I guess that's my cue to stop typing now. More tomorrow!

Oh - It's been two months today since I put Angel down. :(

King of the Crib

Oh boy - batten down the hatches! Ben's (almost) on the move! About a week ago Ben, from sitting position, pulled himself up in the crib! Yikes! This weekend, J.R. made sure to lower the crib mattress. When finished, we put Ben in the crib to make sure the mattress was low enough. This is a picture of our findings...

Pretty cute, hey? Look at his face... "I'm King of the crib!". Hehe. He stayed like that for quite a while too. I think we pulled him out of the crib so he didn't have a chance to realize that he didn't know how to get down. I had him standing on the floor in front of Chloe's couch, and he was standing by himself, but for grabbing onto Chloe's leg (Chloe was on her couch). That was all yesterday. Today, he made progress on crawling. He's getting a bit frustrated when on his hands and knees. He wants to move! He's moving his knees up, but doesn't move his hands so he's not going anywhere. Although, he did move backwards just a touch. I think he'll be crawling by the end of the week!!

Random pictures

It's been a quick week. Ben's had good/bad days at day care. I took him with me to a meeting on Wednesday night - he was great. He just sat in his car seat real quiet. I put him on my lap to feed him. Then I let him sit on the floor. He tried to crawl around a bit - he's almost ready. J.R. had school on Thursday. Just a week. Since I haven't posted anything all week, J.R. and I thought we'd take some random pictures of Ben while he was trying to crawl over mommy. Thus the photospread. Enjoy!