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

We're Back! Happy Valentine's......

To my faithful tummy time readers and anyone who got the annual card, my apologies for leaving you hanging. This mommy has had a busy time of late. I finished my masters degree in the fall with an intensive semester of student teaching. In between grading and planning and writing papers and creating final projects and being evaluated on my ability to work with children, I found little time to document the progress of my own.

So I ditched the blog temporarily but I am back! As for where I was in January, I have no good answer. I was right here adjusting to my new part time schedule, I guess......

Anyway, here's a recent photo of our baby, who is no longer a baby! He puts on this over the head poncho towel after baths and just runs around looking like a tiny Jawa loose in our kitchen. As you can see, he has a mouth full of teeth! He walks! (as of November 17th!) He talks! He dances! He is full of surprises.


The current vocabulary includes: Mama, Daddy, no!no!no!, uh oh!, Hi, Bye bye, shoes, socks, BlaBla (his favorite snuggly toy),more, mas (he's bilingual), agua, and his favorite songs: "bicycle" and "Godfrey"

And there are more that I'm forgetting

He is a music student now! On Saturdays we all go to "Music together" and we sing and play instruments and dance. He loves to kick out the jams on his tambourine.

Theres more and more to say but I have to go and get ready for work.

More later!

Woodsy Good Times

Ahhh...pics from our wonderful vacation in the Adirondacks. What a perfect spot for watching the sun set through tall trees.

We enjoyed 5 restful days of lounging, swimming, reading, and playing with our sweet Charlie! Charlie had a great time in the sand, using his new digging toys from Momala. He also enjoyed mingling with beautiful baby Maeve, one month older. they shared some graham crackers, stared at each other on the swings, and traded babbles. Charlie showed off his military crawl while Maeve teetered about on 2 legs only.

All of us loved the cold lake and Rob and I even swam across to the island for some exercise. It was great to be with the whole family and bring to Charlie to this place we love so much. Also good to see old friends (my family has been coming here for 29 years!).

We miss it already!

I am back to work/school, student teaching with a wonderful group of fifth graders. Charlie is going to daycare 5 days a week and being a champ about it. Hopefully I won't be a stranger. More on the big 0-1 tomorrow.

Almost One Year!

Look at us! How did we get this far? As the summer comes to an end I am bittersweet about it. Just last year at this time I was packing my hospital bags and anxiously anticipating bringing home that sweet tiny baby. Now he's almost a year old! When did that happen?

I'm just amazed when I think about his first few days with us--he was so tiny and delicate. Rob and I would rock and sway and sing him to sleep and then swaddle him tightly without jostling him awake. We'd carefully lay him down in the bassinet and then slip ever so quietly under the covers, praying for him to stay asleep for the next hour or so. Sometimes he would sleep, and other times he'd slowly start to whimper, then the whimper would escalate into that full on "I'm awake" cry.

Now he gets into the crib , hugs "Bla Bla" really close and sticks three fingers into his mouth, curling into a fetal position. He inches back and forth along the mattress, flips a few times, sits up and looks around, makes a few noises, and then burrows back down into a cozy tripod and falls asleep for 11 hours.

He points to things he wants, says Mama to me, and Dada to Rob, and "Uh-oh" when he drops something. He wiggles over to the DVD player and tries to figure out how to undo the babyproofing on it. He smiles at us cause he knows its off limits to babies.

He giggles at the sight of dogs and cats.

He turns the pages of his favorite books: Pajama time, goodnight moon, and Brown Bear.

He stops to study pictures on the refridgerator. He presses his face against mine to kiss me and pats my head.

He goes underwater and comes back up without a tear!

He twirls spaghetti around his finger until it tears in two and must be eaten.

what a big boy.

August has just flown by. Momala and Grandpa came for a visit and we had great times. Some of the highlights: model trains at the Botanic Garden, alfresco dining at gullivers, and lunch at Madelynn and Dave's.

Tomorrow we leave for the Adirondacks and a relaxing vacation. We are looking forward to more time with Momala and Grandpa, Aunt Birgitta, Uncle Eddie, and uncle Brendo.

Lots to talk about when we get back!!