What Not to do in a Heat Wave

We've been wanting to get out and see some of the sights since we came all this way, so we decided that we were not going to let the staggering humidity stop us from riding the Metro to the zoo on Saturday. Little did we know, however, that this particular Saturday had been designated for doing track repairs and maintenance, so we could expect up to 60 minute delays. We spent a lot of time waiting to get on the train only to sit and wait for it to go. It was HOT. When we got to our final destination we took the strollers up the longest, scariest escalator I've ever seen and walked a few more blocks along the very balmy street and took a break at a Starbucks before we walked across the street to the entrance of the zoo. We made it about 20 yards inside then stopped for some gelato. After seeing (and smelling) the elephants we got some frozen lemonade. They also had little misting sprinklers set up all over so everyone congregated around those. Everyone looked red and sweaty and miserable. Was it worth it? I think so. Jayson always has a good time when sprinklers and/or animals are involved. Aidan slept through most of it, waking up only when we encountered air conditioned areas, like Starbucks and later the delicious Italian restaurant that we ate at (or maybe it was the food that woke him up?). Jay and I felt like we were doing what we ought to do: gettting out and seeing the sights of our new town. They did have one cool exhibit:the primates have a big system of poles with ropes that attach and they can go out of their fences and just walk along their rope system way up in the sky, like tight rope walkers. We were very entertained and hoped to see what we thought would be very funny: perhaps one might need to pee while overhead? But no such luck...they were very polite and made it safely across. So we headed to the nearest sprinkler. After lunch we went to museums downtown and saw some African art and a new exhibit of the work of Jim Hensen. Jayson was scared of the puppets at first...he didn't want to look at them, even Bert and Ernie! Funny! Jay kept trying to peel Jayson's hands away from his face to make him look. That usually doesn't work, and this was not an exception. We shared the Metro back with a big group of Future Farmers of America, which was hilarious. High schoolers are almost always an excellent source of comic relief (unless they're your own, I think). It was a full day and we decided that anymore adventure seeking will just have to wait until it's a bit cooler. Besides, Jay leaves tomorrow for LA and when he gets back he'll most likely leave right away for Southern Virginia. We may go with him, because I don't know how else I'll be able to keep up with my marathon training. That, by the way, is going very well in spite of the heat. I just have to get up really early. Which reminds me that I really need to get to bed!

More Jaysonisms

Today Jay told Jayson not to do something and Jayson looked at Jay and said, "Dad, who's the boss?" Jay said, "I am." and Jayson very seriously said, "no, Mom is the boss of us."

We were standing in line at a very busy grocery store and Jayson (who just happened to be wearing his wetsuit) mumbled something at my knees, since that's as tall as he is, and I bent down and asked him to repeat it. He said "I just love you so much Mom that I almost couldn't breath!" I asked Jay later if he told him to say that or something and I've been wracking my brain trying to think of a book we read or something! It's so sweet!

I was explaining to Jayson that at his swim lessons he'll be in the deep water, but that his teacher will help him. He told me that he only likes to swim outside of the pool the best.

Breaking my Promise

We drove to Chesapeake Beach last weekend and it was so great! I felt like an ad for MasterCard though, because we had to pay $7 a person just to get onto the beach, then another $10 to use a beach umbrella. We'd also stopped at Whole Foods (the world's most expensive grocery store) and gotten some healthy food for lunch. And an enormous chocolate chip muffin for Jayson so he wouldn't starve. I decided to just tell myself (and Jay) that we were creating lasting family memories...priceless. The water was so warm and the beach umbrella provided some nice shade, which I find essential, since I start to melt after 2 or so minutes in the sun (and Aidan!). Jayson has always loved the beach, it's his favorite place. He built sandcastles and played on a giant wooden boat/playground. Aidan loved splashing in the waves then he had a nice long nap while I carried him up and down the pier. (warning! Illness talk ahead!)Jay was still sick but he was a trooper! He went back to the doc this morning and found out that he has Strep and an infection in his Lymph Nodes. Yuck! As soon as he's better, I'm going to pump my family so full of antioxidants and vitamins...I dare them to get sick again.

A Health Journal No More

I realized after glancing back through our blog that I seem to spend a lot of time describing whatever aches and pains we've been experiencing. How dull! So no more, I promise! (even though Jay is definitely trying to be sick right now...he even managed to come down with a fever. But no more!) Just because I feel like my life as a mother has been wrought with runny noses and coughs lately doesn't mean that I can't think of more interesting things to write about. For instance, Jayson made a fishing pole with a stick and some yarn and has been throwing it over our balcony, catching "fish". There, that's much better. Also, I ran 10 miles this morning, Aidan is doing the most fabulous inchworm crawl, and Jay is taking me out tonight. These things are all very interesting! Another hillarious thing just happenned...I just asked if "everyone" (meaning Jay and Jayson, who follow me around all day long like one very large and one very small shadow) would please leave me alone while I type. Jay took Jayson out to the living room and said "let's play a game." Jayson asked, "Oh, you mean the leave me alone game?" Clever!

Our Crazy Week

We have had a crazy and sometimes scary week! On Sunday Crystal came over for dinner (this was not the scary part) and we had a great time. We practically forced her to stay all day and when she finally managed to escape (after a very long game of Rummy Cub) we begged her to come again soon. She offered to babysit and we shall be taking her up on her offer very soon...but not too soon because poor Aidy has been sick! On Sunday he woke up with a little bit of a cough and on Monday we took Jay to the Baltimore Airport (he was flying to Las Vegas) and Aidan was really sad in the car and fussy for the rest of the day. On Tuesday his cough was getting worse so I just thought I would call and see what the Pediatrician said and they said to come right in, after I told them with some amusement that when I took his thermometer orally it was normal. They kindly explained to me that a 7 month old doesn't take a very accurate temperature in their mouths and that I really should have done it a different way (I knew this and I did take an axillary temp too, but he was just so good holding it under his tongue! It was the same either way.) Anyway, the nurse decided not to trust my parenting skills after that and squeezed us in. They diagnosed him with Bronchialitis caused by a virus and sent us home with a nebulizer and some medicine to put in it to help him breath. They did it at the office to see if his oxygen saturation levels would go up if we used it and he cried the whole time. Screamed! Jayson was so good and read a book about how to manage anger. So we were off. Of course, as soon as I got in the car I called Jay and told him everything and that they were considering hospitalizing him to give him steroid treatments if it got any worse and that was all he needed to hear...he was home the next morning after catching the red eye from LV. Poor Aidan sounds awful but the doctor said that he's doing really well and that at the end of two weeks he'll just have common cold symptoms (after the fevers, vomiting, and racking cough die down.) Needless to say we decided not to go downtown and celebrate Independence Day at our nation's capital (next year!) but we did go to the ward breakfast and Jayson rode in the bike parade. He crashed and burned and had a good cry, but I have been desperate to make friends so I just held him while he cried and talked louder to girl I really like. Terrible parenting? Perhaps, but all was not in vain. She asked for my phone number and said that we should get together! Making new friends in a new area is very similar to dating, without all of the raging hormones. When Jayson noticed that we were just talking over him he really began to wail so we packed it up after one more not very triumphant turn around the parking lot on the bicycle. We cannot be quitters! We have had a quiet day at home, which is just what Aidan needed and Jayson doesn't know what he's missing. Besides, Sparklers are very scary to him and that's about all the fireworks he prefers anyway. Murphy is barking at every loud bang and Aidan has been sleeping through it for a couple of hours now and Jay and Jayson, like two peas in a pod, are sitting out on the balcony talking about...who knows? Boy stuff.