whew. (warning - rant...)

z and i have been sick the past few weeks. i started feeling yucky the night before valentine's day, and then zane followed suit the next thursday. started with an awful awful headache & sore throat, that turned into a stuffy nose, and then lots and lots of coughing & nose blowing. i ended up having to go to the doctor. he prescribed antibiotics, which he seemed a bit reticent to give me, so i waited to take them, just to make sure it was necessary. but things kept getting worse, so the doctor ordered me to take the antibiotics, and i ended up needing codeine cough syrup, because i couldn't stop coughing at night. it got its worst 4 days before j had to leave for a week long business trip - not good timing. codeine makes me so nauseated, and luckily after one day of awful nausea, i remembered i had anti nausea medicine left from my c-section. the 2 together put me into the best drowsy state, but unfortunately one can't be so heavily dosed up when single parenting. i could've used two more drugged nights, but had to abstain while j was away. z didn't sleep well the whole week, and neither did i. it culminated in my losing it on thursday, so thankfully my mom stole z away for the night. i'm still coughing a bit, but i'm feeling much better, and j is home now, so i hope to catch up on sleep & life will get back to normal. i'm afraid to take z anywhere to play now because i don't think i can handle more sickness, and he seems to pick something up every time we go somewhere. i ended up taking HIM to the doctor because his breathing was really noisy & labored. they sent us home with a nebulizer & a prescription for albuterol treatments (the same thing his mommy uses). like mommy like son. he's a lot better now too. now i'm worried about his weight. he eats SO much! he's always asking for more of everything, so i'm trying to begin to say no, but i don't know if it's necessary or not. i want him to grow up with healthy eating habits. he usually eats oatmeal with applesauce + cheerios for breakfast. he loves applesauce, and would be happy just eating that, but i try to put other things in it. sometimes he eats bananas, but not much lately. sometimes apples, but not a whole one (although i don't peel them for him - it's healthier that way). he also likes kiwis & mangoes. usually for lunch & dinner we give him the high protein pasta with diced veggies & some sort of chopped meat & cheese. if he wants just applesauce, we hide the pasta & meat in it. every now & then he'll eat yogurt. he LOVES milk, but will only drink it in bottles, not sippy cups. he also LOVES granola bars, and has eaten 2.5 in one sitting (only because i was desperate & jogging with him at the time). he likes the pub cracker mix from costco (although currently only the rice crackers), and also loves graham crackers (but not peanut butter). of course he likes dessert type things, but we rarely ever give him those. same with potato chips. we're not big junk food eaters, but potato chips are one of the things that help settle my nausea, so if i HAVE to eat them in front of him, i have to share.

his talking is improving a bit, and he's definitely watching our mouths closer & is very interested when we say words he can't, but he's still behind all the other kids we know. he only says the beginning of words (ba instead of ball). not sure if he's just a little late on schedule or if he'll need speech therapy later on. he loves fans, especially ceiling fans. he has a favorite cd - wee sing variety- and we have to play it over & over all day. i try throwing in other things now & then, but he often gets grumpy & demands HIS cd. he signs lots of things & learns them quickly, so i need to learn more signs to teach him. i wanted to keep track of the words he says somewhere, so here's what i can recall... ba(ll), (per)sia (for both cats, even though he used to say v for vinny), mo(re), fa(n), (ba)nana, bo(ttle), wawa(ter), mama, dada, mo(on), mu(sic), f(ire), p(asta)... but he KNOWS what so many more things are. he just doesn't say them yet. i've been worrying about how the heck i could handle having one more kid, if z is already so much work. he's not the easiest kid, especially compared to the other kids in our play group. i do love him. i could just use about a week of sleep. sleep helps one's perspective immensely.