Little did we know

When I was Craig's age, my mom told me, I would throw up whenever I had fever. So far, that has been the case with Craig, too. (Should I be consoled by this fact that at least he does takes after me in some ways?!) After the last vaccination shot he had three months ago, he threw up in the middle of the night with a temperature. Then, over a month ago he barfed profusely at the onset of a viral fever. So, we were prepared this time when we took him in for his 15-month vaccination. At least we thought we were prepared.

As always, the little boy took the jab in stride and merely let out a brief cry. And as we were getting ready to leave, the doctor informed that he may experience some mild side effects in 5-10 days' time. "In 5-10 days' time???" I thought. But don't side effects manifest almost immediately? Apparently not this time. After some online research (which I really should have done before the doctor's visit) , I discovered that reaction to the Mumps-Measles-Rubella-Varicella (chicken pox) vaccination typically show up days later. Common reaction include fever (I read: Barf!) and rashes. And, some toddlers also experience intermittent fever over a period of two weeks.

This information does not bode well for me at all as I leave in a few days' for a week for work. Thankfully my mother will be arriving tomorrow and Brian will not have to handle the situation all by himself. Besides, the boy started having a temperature today (no vomit, yet - I'm keeping my fingers crossed). Hopefully after tomorrow the side effects would have run its course and C will be fine while I'm away.

Sicak! Caliente! Panas!

No matter how you say it, it's still hot, hot, hot! The weather here has been most unbearable - almost saturation-point humidity plus sweltering heat from the scorching sun. You would think the occasional precipitation would bring some relief to the soul but in reality, the rain actually worsens the humidity (imagine water landing on hot surfaces - yes, steam!) and leaves one feeling more clammy than before. And under such draining conditions, one hardly has the desire to do much - even on a weekend.

However, it would be heartless to cage up an active toddler at home. So we decided to brace the mugginess and go for ice-cream at The Daily Scoop (Click on name to their site) an ice-cream parlor that serves up the most delightful concoctions, and most wonderfully, very close to where we live. It was the right thing to do as after a few scoops of Utterly Avocado and Nutty Macadamia, the world was a better place for all three of us!

Craig helping himself to the cold treat:

Happy ending to weekend:

What do you see?

Imagine yourself lying comfortably on a couch. Now take a deep breath, relax and tell me what you see in the picture below:

Today Brian and I found ourselves being tested mentally but unlike the Rorschach test we were not being evaluated psychologically. It was merely a Craig Thomas test of his parents' patience and limits. This afternoon, the boy was playing in the den alone for a few minutes as we both had various chores in different rooms around the house. As our living space is small, we were always aware of where the little boy is and what he's doing. And when I finally was done with what I had to do, I found the toddler hard at work on a piece of, well, postmodern art. Up till a few days ago, he was barely interested in his Crayolas but today, he gave us quite a piece of work. So here it is - Craig's first piece of "artwork" - not quite Kandinsky's Composition series but it's a start.

Toddler angst feeding the creative soul:

Association

Craig turned 15-month-old yesterday. Many baby books cite this month as a month of milestones and we are excited as we anticipate the little boy's next developmental milestone - be it physical, mental, emotional or verbal. He continues to surprise us on a daily basis with how much he understands of what we say to him and also the words he attempts to say - he says at least one new word everyday!

Today he surprised us by his ability to associate a tune to a song to a word! I was playing with him and humming the tune of nursery rhyme, Sing A Song of Sixpence. He smiled and shouted, pie, pie! (For those of you who are not familiar, the word pie appears numerous times in the song). This was truly a major milestone for the boy and as his parents, we are SO proud of him!

Missing So. Cal.

Two days ago, though down with a running nose and a cough (we're very thankful that there's no fever!), we decided that Craig was feeling well enough to go on a small outing to the beach park nearby with another mom and her two little girls. While it was a beautiful park with sufficient amenities it falls short of the beautiful beaches Brian and I used to go to in Southern California. And I hope C will get to visit those beaches one day. Meanwhile, the beach parks that we have here will have to do.

Craig was so excited to see a dog and decided to run towards it:

Ahh... Southern Californian beaches: