Happy 1st Birthday!

For our daughter's first birthday, we went all out ... and by we, I mean me. My husband thought I had probably invited too many people, spent too much money, etc.  But it was our first kid's first birthday and I had a lot of people to thank for helping us survive the year.

Our daughter woke up that morning fussy and as hot as fire.  Knowing my husband would suggest postponing the party if I told him she had a fever, I elected not to take her temperature and we went on about our day of preparations.  She napped that afternoon before the party so I hoped she would wake up in a better mood.  No such luck.  She was still on fire and just as unhappy.  As guests started trickling in, she seemed more and more uneasy with the large crowd forming around her.  Finally, the time came for the party girl to smash cake in her face, just like every other 1 year old seems to do.  Well, my daughter wanted nothing to do with the cake or the crowd of folks staring at her.  She screamed bloody murder through the entire "Happy Birthday" song, all recorded on video.  

That night, I decided to check her temperature before putting her to bed.  It was 102.  A week later, at her 1 year doctor's appointment, the pediatrician told us it looked like she was just getting over an ear infection.

Mom of the year ...

Man-handling

As a Pediatric intensive care physician, I have learned a few skills that serve me well as a mother.  For example, when children come in and need IV's or lab draws, they often attempt to resist and require some physical restraint.  Because of this, I have become a very skilled "man-handler."  I am able to completely immobilize my child's arm while clipping their fingernails or restrain their head while brushing their teeth.
Last winter, my daughter went through a phase where she hated wearing tights.  This unwarranted disdain for tights caused strife in our house every Sunday morning.  I knew that any good mother would not let their toddler run around with a dress and bare legs in the middle of winter.  My husband never seemed to understand (a) why I cared so much about making her wear tights or (b) how I got them on her in the first place.  He walked upstairs one Sunday morning to find me straddling my daughter (she was lying on her back) with my back to her head and immobilizing her legs with my body while I pulled on her tights.  She was screaming.  He shook his head.
Mom of the year ...

Bait

There is a transition that each baby makes from immobility to mobility about which every new parent is warned.  When you're a first time mom, you are just excited to see your little one start to do something other than lie still, so you are less concerned with the warnings.  With our second child, however, I was less thrilled when he started rolling across the floor at 4 months and was fully crawling by 6 months. 
One day, postcall again (i.e. post 24 hour shift), I was without a babysitter and left in charge of our 8 month old son.  I was hoping for a relaxing morning, including a long morning nap, some Today show viewing, etc.  Unfortunately, my son was too preoccupied with his newfound joy of climbing our stairs.  Exhausted from chasing him all over the downstairs, I finally found a way to captivate him, allowing me to park my tired body in one place.  The following video shows him taking the "bait."
Mom of the year ...

Cold front

When I'm working in the PICU, I leave for work well before anyone in my house wakes up.  That leaves my husband in charge of getting both kids ready for "school" (aka daycare) on his own.  To help out, I always leave clothes out for them to wear that day (he has a hard time figuring out what goes together).  Today, I left out what I had been leaving out for the past few months - short sleeves and shorts.  My husband sent me an email this morning ...
"This morning I put on long sleeves because it was cold. Showed up to school and knew I was in trouble.  Every kid had on pants and jacket except mine that were in shorts and short sleeves." 
A few hours later I received a text from my own mother ...
"I hope u dressed the kids warmly today. It is cold!!!!" 
Oops.
Mom of the year ...

On your marks, get set ... (Running Part III)

Racing after being pregnant is an interesting experience.  To avoid embarassing myself with slower postpartum times, I have opted to push the jogging stroller for races until I feel fast enough to race again.  I decided to push my almost 2 year old daughter in a 5k for a race a few months after my son was born.  We arrived at the race in plenty of time to get ready (my husband was running as well while a friend watched our son).  My daughter insisted on me holding her prior to the race and was especially needy that morning.  We lined up at the start and when I went to put her in the jogger, she had a complete meltdown and refused to sit in the seat.  I was wrangling her arms while my husband attempted to strap her in when we heard the gun go off.  I snapped the final buckle and took off, my daughter screaming but trapped safely in the confines of the jogger.  Much to the dismay of everyone I passed (or who passed me), she screamed for at least the first mile.
Mom of the year ...

Running Part II

Just like any wonderful mother who wants to live vicariously through their children, I have high hopes for my own children becoming runners ... so much so that I have been caught going to extremes to encourage a love of running.  Many races in our area include a postrace "kids run" for children 2 years and older.  When my daughter was about 16 months old (and I was very pregnant with my son), I decided that the 4th of July kids race would be her big debut.  We lined up on the starting line - she had half a bagel in each hand and was much more interested in eating those than paying attention to what was going on around her.  As soon as the "race" started, she looked up at me and started crying.  All the other 2-3 year olds took off toward the finish line, only 50 yards away.  I tried slowly moving away from her to taunt her into following me. She just screamed.  She bent over holding both bagels on the ground and looked like she was practicing her track start.  But she remained stationary.  I finally picked her up from behind and carried her, waddling as quickly as I could, to the finish line.  She screamed the whole way but she got a ribbon.
Mom of the year ...

Running Part 1

I like to run ... actually, I love to run.  I also love my kids.  Sometimes the two loves come in conflict with each other.
One morning, I had planned to run with a friend pushing the double jogger with my (at the time) 4 month old and 2 year old.  The weather looked a bit questionable - cloudy, a little chilly, and a bit drizzly.  Of my two loves, the love for running won.  Along our run the drizzle picked up to a more steady light rain but both kids seemed unfazed so we pressed onward.  As we were running slowly up a hill, a complete stranger, who appeared to be a mother herself, pulled over and rolled down her window.  "Are you ok?" she asked with an appalled look on her face.  "Oh sure, we are great - this is the last hill!"
Mom of the year ...