Great things about November......

Oh my gosh! Time flies when you are sort of unemployed.........Since I did not land my dream teaching job (or any teaching job) this fall, you would think I'd have at least a rough draft of my novel by now. But sadly, I can barely keep up with my blog. Well it has been an exciting month..........
Starting with.............Christmas morning, I mean, November 6th, 2008! The Victorson and Lentz gang huddled close for the early returns sporting our sweet t-shirts (see the tiniest of all on my indie rock baby here) and clapping a lot. After some CNN and an exhausting round of legos, Charlie went to bed and Rob and I broke out the beer and nachos to prepare for a long night. Except it wasn't a long night! One minute Warner Saunders and Alison Rosati are bantering back and forth on NBC 5, the next minute the camera cuts to Oprah and Jesse Jackson crying in Grant Park. Our hometown hero Barack is our senator no more....he is the next President!!! What a remarkable day.

And then there was the week off from CPS. (that stands for Chicago Public Schools, the giant school district for which I am a prolific substitute teacher) A painful dent in the family funds, but a week off nonetheless. We had some quality family time, including a big day at the Kohl children's museum, and Rob and I had a date! We took an afternoon off together to see "W". We also took the car in for repairs and an oil change. I know, very sexy. There was thai food afterwards.......

On Nov. 14th, after calling my mom18 times that day, I finally got the news that my sister gave birth to Magnus Victor! I hear he is just over 6 pounds. How unfair is is that everyone except me gets to hold him right now? I can't wait to love the tiny guy! Charlie will be bananas for him.

And this week I bask in the afterglow of my 37th birthday. Good grief that sounds old! Skipped the HIdden Cove karaoke bar this year (have I even set foot in there since 2004?) and went for princess treatment at home which was well worth it. Lots of phone calls from my peeps, dinner by Rob, and a "Happy Birthday Mommy" from my little man.

And little man just gets more and more amazing all the time. He loves to chase the EL train around the neighborhood and demands to see it when I pick him up at daycare. He frequently delights in legos and "playing puzzles!" He says "thank you" and gracias sometimes, without prompting, and always wants to go to church.

He can climb up to the first rung of his crib, sign "refidgerator" in ASL, and say the name of the current president elect.

Now off to Gran and Poppy's for sweet potatoes and green bean casserole, Nashville style. Wishin Y'all a Happy Thanksgiving.

September highlights

So September is almost gone but I wanted to share photos from Charlie's big birthday. Our little man is 2 years old!

As you can see, he adores Thomas the tank engine AND cake. And he's turning into a little social butterfly with lots of buddies. He loves to play with other kids although sometimes they don't know it cause at the playground he'll shout "Mine!" when another child follows him down the slide. I'm trying to stay cool about this and keep reminding him that the playground is for everybody. Rob says I need to relax and he's just 2 and he won't do this forever.

ANd he doesn't! He is still the sweetest lamb. He still cuddles up to Blah Blah at bedtime and likes to hear daddy sing Cattle Call.

ANd after 2 separate visits from grandparents, he really recognizes them and says their names when he looks at pictures. He adores his new Aunt Akiko and had a great time playing with her when she came to visit with Momala.

Sometimes he "calls" Momala on his toy phone and has a short conversation: "Hello? Yes! Okay, bye!"

He loves to sing the baby bumblebee song for grandpa on the phone. He also loves showing off his pediatric milestones for his Poppy. And he has mastered saying "Gran" which he says everytime he takes Gran's picture down from the fridge.

He's our sweet boy and we're crazy about him.

Things we love to say

Time is flying by and my boy is almost 2. Where did the past 2 years go? It seems just yesterday I was sitting around my house, topless, watching endless marathons of Design Star and Flavor of Love. My days spent trying to lull my tiny child into sleep in different places: the sling, the swing, the packnplay.

Back then he just cried and cooed and smiled. Today he is alternately hammy and coy. He has little opinions and makes them known: "cookie!" and "nonononono!" and "I want grapes." He uses his loud voice for angry emphasis, his tiny voice when he wants to be sweet. Here are just a few of our favorite phrases:

"I want grapes (cheese, leche, agua, etc.)"
"Mas swings!"
"I wan ged out!"
"I mus ged out!"
"Please daddy"
"Por favor" (sounds like "poppabow")
"Hi buddy. How are you?"
"I watch tv!"
"Wan watch thomas"
"Watch your head"
"Dis deyishus, yummy,yummy!"
"ooh, flowers, nice, nice."
"Yook at dis!"
"I wants Peder Yabbit"
"Where'd he go?"
"I don know."




And the new words keep coming and coming for our little mimic. Our new favorite, of course, is "Obama!" Pronounced clear as a bell, and often followed by claps.

Here are the pictures that go with the post!

Alright, here's a few. I will try to put up more later!

Some Perfect Days

Hope this works. I 'm writing from Rob's computer so I can't tell if my images made it or not. If they did, you can see that we had a big day yesterday--part of the Victorson and Lentz family staycation 2008. We drove out to Union, Illinois to the Ill. Railway museum to see Thomas the Tank Engine in person. Not only did we get to see him, but we met Sir Topham Hat, ate hotdogs, got temporary tatoos, operated hand cars on a tiny track, and RODE thomas around the museum. It was an awesome day for a little engineer.

Charlie was quiet at first, just taking it all in. Then he couldn't stop talking and waving. He's really into pointing things out: "leaves!" "flowers!" "train--choo choo!", "ooh, flowers--nice, nice."


Today, we had to stop and watch the el go back and forth over Francisco street for a good half hour.


Sorry I 've been so slow to post--a wacky summer with an unsuccessful job search and bad headaches. Headaches are gone now, though, and I'm enjoying the success of Fake Lake, my latest theatre gig.

Thanks to all my readers.........mom, dad, and the Guzzino girls! I will try to stay on top of things more.
MK

Chest X-rays and stuff

On Sunday, Charlie was a little sickly. He had a fever on Monday so we kept him home. On Tuesday morning he was chipper and funny and his forehead felt normal so we sent him off to daycare. I enjoyed a carefree day of working out, lunch, browsing Lincoln avenue retail and shopping at Trader Joes.

And then I picked up Charlie from daycare to find that he had just thrown up. Holding him, I realized his skin felt as warm as the dishwasher during plate warmer cycle. He was crying and miserable. I had guilt for not calling mid-day......Well, I took him home to find he had a temp of 103. I called the doc and could not track him down so I called my father in law, retired ped. and expert on all things kids and health. Joe had some good advice on tylenol and asthma meds (cause the boy was lightly wheezing on top of all this) and I put little man to bed after he fell asleep at the nebulizer. I felt ready for a night of heavy baby sleep and I prepared to paint my toenails and fold some shirts.

Well, Charlie was up an hour later, crying, snotting, coughing and breathing super fast. What followed was a night of little sleep and lots of crying and genuine fear over the hard, fast breathing. I could see the clear demarcation in the little guy's chest/stomach line. I was terrified. He would breath hard while crying and then calm down, sleep a little, and wheez less. Then he would wake up and start again. Rob didn't get home until 1am (working on a project in the studio) and I went back and forth about whether to go to the hospital. When Rob got home, we decided against it. We had a long, long night, all of us.

In the morning, we kept Charlie home again and called the doc, securing an afternoon appt. Charlie was crabby most of the day and ate and drank very little. When we got to the doc's, the nurse said he would be out until Friday with a family emergency. If you don't want to wait until Friday, she said, and you want to rule out things like pneumonia (yikes!), then I would go to Children's. Well, shit. What was I supposed to do? I went.

Charlie and I spent 3 hours in the ER at Children's memorial where several nice medical professionals deduced that 1.)he does not have pneumonia or another life-threatening illness, 2) he isn't wheezing too much but probably was due to the cold/virus he caught 3)he probaby has asthma (well, duh.........). They did, in fact, find quite a bit of mucus in his chest, thanks to an X-ray, and now he is taking a heavy duty asthma med for the next 3 days

He should feel better soon. Tonight, he seemed back to his silly self, acting goofy at the dinner table and, thankfully, eating dinner.

Poor sweet boy. BEing wrapped and taped and hooked up to stuff at the hospital pretty much scared the fever right out of him. I can't wait til he feels better and we can climb jungle gyms and jump in pools.

I also cannot wait to end the non-stop Thomas the tank engine marathon happening on our television.

I do plan to spoil him with a reasonably priced toy from Target for being such a brave little boy, or, as Thomas would say, a brave little engine.

Where Have I Been?

So crazy that I have not blogged. The school year went by in a blur and this summer, well, I have no excuse for that. Summer has been nice and easy, save for the headaches--more on that stuff later.

Summer has meant more time with the growing Charlie! Little man is simply, no longer a baby! He will turn 2 on Sept. 13th and he just grows and grows and grows! He talks a lot, sings, dances, throws tantrums, gives hugs, blows kisses and likes to wear "zapatos." He is amazing and we treasure every moment with him. Even the tantrums.......

Here he is with his young friend Eddie (14 months, i think). Eddie is Julie's boy--look at them! Charlie had a good old time having a friend over and he thinks Eddie is cute and funny (which he is!). Though Charlie can get bossy and possessive with his toys (and the toys of others), he does well with kids one on one. He seems to be more talkative in the small groups, too. He just surprises us all the time.

He still goes to daycare at the same place and he is thriving there! He is learning Spanish and playing with the other kids and then talking about them when he gets home. He loves to dance, too! what a guy.

We enjoy tuesdays and thursdays together, going to the pool and the sprinkler, hitting the swings, pushing the stroller, and getting together with friends like Eddie, Izzy, and Claire. He even came to a meeting with me and Halena, director of the new show I'm choreographing.

Weekends are fun with all three of us. Lots of coffee time and more trips to the pool! It's been a wonderful summer.

things that have not been wonderful include headaches..........Basically I am having a cycle or cluster or whatever it is that causes me to have super painful, gut-wrenching (literally) headaches. After two horrible weeks, I am doing much better on a diet of Inderal once a day and weekly accupuncture. I also have some fast acting meds around for sudden attacks. So far, I haven't needed that stuff much. And, I've slept through the night several times this past week. things are looking up.

So, hopefully, back to blogging and documenting the baby, I mean, the almost 2 year old!!!!


MK