I think we have a swimmer on our hands!  I took Matthew to the pool for the first time today – and he loved it!  I wasn’t sure how he would take to it because he likes his baby pool I got for the yard, but he likes to be OUTSIDE it and leaning over the edge and splashing his toys around.  He loves his baths, so I was hopeful that with the pool being indoors, that it would be similar.

I went with a friend and she brought a floaty thing for him – and he liked that quite a bit.  But once he got comfortable, he wanted out of that thing and in the water!  My friend’s little girl will be 2 in August, so she’s a big kid compared to Matthew.  Everything she did – he wanted to do – including going down the slide.  I was very hesitant but my friend said that the gal who teaches the baby swimming class will put 6-month old babies down the slide – so we did it.  He loved it – but I didn’t like not having him in my arms so he only did it once  😉

We went to the deep end (of the kiddie pool – so my shoulders were still exposed) and he tried to get away from me several times.  He let me put him on his back, dunk him completely in the water (loved that!!!), put his face in so he could blow bubbles, splash him, and the big thing that he did was jump off the edge of the pool into my arms.  Holy smokes – everyone – this kid has nerves of steel!  I am not even elaborating here – my friend was shocked by his nerves.  He would stand there on the edge holding my hands, then put his hands above his head (“so big” style), and then grab my fingers and jump to me!  And if I put him on the wall seated, he would jump to me without holding onto my fingers.

It was a success!  There was not a single moment of tears, panic, etc.  When we started, he hung on pretty tight and nibbled my shoulder (I’m realizing that that’s his soothing mechanism which I should stop before it gets to be a problem – but it’s so darned cute!) but that was very short-lived.

We will do this weekly.  I had a ball!  We were in the water for an hour and a half.  And can I just say – I LOVED hanging out with my friend and her daughter!  They are going to join us each week which is very exciting for us.  I really needed the adult interaction!

We head up north in a couple days and they have an indoor pool, so I’m off to buy a new bathing suit on Friday.  The one I have is pinned up on the sides and the bottoms almost fall off when I get out of the water.  It does the job when we’re in the hot tub, but it’s not good for moving around in a real pool.  I HATE spending money on bathing suits (they are so expensive and I’m not secure in my shape and size) but I will do this for the boy.

The one problem we had was getting ready at the beginning and then redressing at the end.  There is no place to put your baby, so I had to literally put him in my duffel bag with stuff all around him to keep him in one spot while I changed.  We made it work, but it was concerning given that the entire dressing area was concrete.  After yesterday’s big event, I’m a little cautious.

Matthew had an unexpected play date then when he woke up from his afternoon nap.  His very first friend, Hailey, came over and they played like crazy!  They hugged, chased, and pummeled each other for well over an hour.  Matthew was exhausted after she left, and that was just an hour and a half after waking up from his nap.  Good times!

B asked if I took photos at the pool.  My response?  “Are you freaking crazy?!  There was no way I could take photos!”  He will get to see Matthew in his pool action come Sunday or Monday.  YAY!  He’s going to LOVE it!

I need to record this before I forget. Matthew finally let B in on the walking thing yesterday (Saturday) – just 13 days after I got to see him in action. He has not taken more than 2 steps at a time since I posted on the 13th, but he has progressively gotten more confident with his standing and will even bend down to get things without needing support now. He’ll throw his head back to drink from his sippy while standing unsupported, but he would not walk more than two steps – and he has not done it for B to see.

Until now!

Today he was standing at his truck, and B was sitting on the floor and called him. And he just walked on over! I got to see too and counted steps, of course, and there were 4 without a doubt!!!! And they were effortless. Quite the show for Daddy. 😉

I am SO glad B got to see this!

Matthew poo-ed in the tub tonight. I about died. All I knew to do was scream for B. I have bath toys to wash tomorrow… On Mother’s Day. Ha!!!!!!

To all of you who think your kid may be the ONE kid who will never do this. Um… Good luck with that! A dream was shattered tonight, Ladies! Ha! Ha! Ha!

It’s been a long time since I posted more than once in a day – but I have a milestone to record!

Matthew has been walking a lot this week just holding one of our hands.  He used to insist on holding both hands, but this all changed this past week.  I think he’s realized he can move faster if he holds just one hand.  At baby gym yesterday, he would stand unsupported on the mats for at least 5 seconds, over and over again (he does the same thing in the tub, surprisingly).  Everyone at baby gym insisted he’d be walking early.  I insisted that he’s way too cautious for that.

He made me eat my words today!

We were at my friend’s daughter’s soccer practice and Matthew was hanging onto my pant leg with one hand – and then he suddenly let go and took off.  He only took two steps – but he did it again and again!  I was told by the other mothers that this counts as his first steps (I still won’t say he’s walking, because he isn’t).  I cannot believe it.  Where did my cautious little boy go?

He won’t do it now that we’re home.  It took a puppy and a bunch of girls on a soccer field who he desperately wanted to play with to entice him to try.  We’ll take him to a busy park tomorrow (one with a dog park!) to see if he’ll do it for Daddy!  (B missed it – he’s out of town for the night for a much deserved beer-making class!)

Of course he did this just 3 hours after I bought him a little push toy so he can walk around the house without being limited to only places he can get to by cruising the furniture.  😉

Wow – it’s been 4 whole days since I’ve blogged.  We’ve been busy around here!

We have a new geothermal unit and I am relieved!  It’s so nice knowing that the water is no longer a threat to M, that we’ll have cool air when we need it (of course, our heat wave snapped the day after we got the new unit), and that if we need to turn the heat on again, that we will have that too.  It’s amazing how much stress can be relieved with one action.  Since buying this house almost two years ago, the geothermal has always been a problem so we would hold our breaths every time we’d switch from heat to cool, etc.  That anxiety is gone now, and I am just so happy about that!

M is feeling just fine – so fine that he got his first hair cut on Friday!  He handled it so well and actually enjoyed it.  He smiled and laughed through most of it, never cried, and made it really easy for all of us (hair stylist included)!  I had no idea how much work was going to go into his hair cut – she even pulled out the clippers!  It looks just great and I’m pleased that he still looks like my baby and not like a big boy just yet.  He got his first balloon too and that put the cherry on his sundae!

We had a nice little picnic with our friends on Sunday and it was 80 degrees out – almost too hot if you weren’t moving around.  I cannot believe this spring so far – it feels like summer and it makes me worry that the summer is going to be insanely hot like it was last year.  There’s nothing we can do about it, but I really am hoping for a nice break in the heat just to get things back to where they should be for the month of April.

I mowed the lawn yesterday – one of my favorite things to do in the summer months (truly!) – and that was so nice!  I didn’t want to come inside.  M was sleeping so it gave me time to really focus on what I was doing and I loved every minute of it.  The grass is perfectly green!  We did set M in the grass for a few pictures earlier last week but I took more yesterday after cutting the grass and they are really cute!  He loved playing with the grass and tried eating some of the clippings.  I really think he’s going to enjoy the summer!

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M and I met B for lunch today.  B was having lunch with his coworker and they informed me that they need to go to Chicago TOMORROW for an impromptu, but very important, meeting with a client.  I invited M and myself along because my sister lives just north of there and we were supposed to spend this past weekend with her but couldn’t due to wanting to be close to home in case M got sick again.  So we are taking a road trip in the morning!  It should be a lot of fun!  My sister is expecting her 3rd baby (but 4th child) any day now, and I asked today if I could be in the delivery room with her if she has the baby while we’re there.  She’s a good sport and said yes, so we’re all hoping that that happens this week.

I am just so excited to see my sister – she is my best friend. M is going to love seeing his cousins – he loves being a little brother.  B and I are excited to spend the final night of the trip together, with M, downtown for a little getaway.  I had no idea just yesterday that this week was going to be so exciting!

We went back to urgent care today.  We pulled into the parking lot for Matthew’s first haircut and as I was getting him out of his seat, he started vomiting all over.  We called the doctor and made an appointment and were told to go to urgent care if he kept throwing up.  He did.  Two hours later, we were on our way back home with a tired, but happy, baby.  They retested his liver enzymes today and they are going down, which is what we’re expecting and wanting to see.

We’ve been using bottled water for M but had to cool some heated bottled water because it was too hot – so we grabbed an ice cube out of the freezer.  We thought those cubes were made before our Freon leak.  This happened again with oatmeal so we thought maybe he’s allergic to the oatmeal, but the doctor says no and that he thinks it’s our water.

The geothermal unit is being replaced next week.

I am exhausted!  B is exhausted!  M is exhausted, but is sleeping peacefully right now!

The Fates decided to make today the opposite of yesterday.  Today was the scariest day for me as a mother.

The other day, I blogged about our geothermal unit needing to be replaced.  Last night, we noticed that we were no longer getting cold air, so I called Bob and he thinks that all of the Freon he pumped in yesterday has leaked out.  FOUR POUNDS OF FREON.  So where did it all go?  No one knows.  Neil (second opinion) told me yesterday that the leak could be in the coils, yadda, yadda, yadda.  I’m surprised I remembered the coils part.  I asked Bob today if he could give us more Freon and he said, “remember your question from the other day about a leak being a health hazard?  It’s become a health hazard.  I can’t put more Freon in for you because it’s not safe knowing that we lost 4 pounds in 36 hours.”  You’ve got to love Bob!  He is a straight shooter, and I love that about him.  So, my house is 80 degrees.  But that is the least of our problems.

I called B to update him and to ask how his call went with the folks who installed the geothermal unit originally (5 or so years ago).  B mentioned the water tasting funny and said that he’d read online that our unit has been found to leak Freon into the water tanks that the coils are submerged in.  RED FLAG, RED FLAG.  I asked, “you mean, the coils that Neil thought are the source of the leak?”  Yes.  OK, no biggie.  We’re not drinking that water, right?  Or are we?  This conversation was at 10:40 this morning.  M went down for a nap 50 minutes later.

M woke up at 12:06, which was a short nap for such a tired guy.  He fussed a bit, but I finished getting dressed.  When I went in to get him, he was soaked.  I figured he had been sweating because the house is hot, but then I noticed that he smelled like vomit.  His crib was soaked, he was soaked – so I figured I’d give him a bath.  As I got the water ready, he threw up on me twice.  I bathed him, he was getting more and more lethargic, so I called B to tell him to call the geothermal people to talk about the Freon leak and the potential to get to our water.  The reason I was concerned was because I’d made oatmeal for M just before his nap – and I made it with tap water prior to B telling me it tasted funny.

As I bathed M, I thought the water smelled different.  I did taste it, and it tasted fine.  But there was a smell to it.  After his bath, he threw up on me two more times (up to 5 times now).  My friend, Denise, was on her way over to bring me lunch so when she got here, I was in a panic and told her what was going on.  As I was telling her, he threw up again.  It wasn’t slowing down, and the volume was not decreasing.  Every time it happened, his eyes would roll to the back of his head, he’d lurch, gag, and then lay limp in my arms whimpering.  It was awful – and terrifying.  What was going on?

B was on the phone with poison control, the geothermal guys, and the ER.  Two different geothermal companies said that yes, even though highly unlikely, that Freon could have leaked into the water supply.  Poison control and the ER said to come in right away.  I waited for B to come home because I didn’t want M in the back seat, throwing up on the drive down, all by himself.  As we waited, M threw up again (7 times now).  I kept wondering if I was wasting precious time for M – was my waiting for B going to be the difference between a long healthy life, and a life of challenges due to poisoning?  B got home quickly, we headed down to the ER while M threw up again.  As we checked into the ER, he threw up down my back (a complete stranger came up trying to help clean me off.  People are so nice to mothers.  That was really thoughtful of her).  It was a sight – M was in nothing but a diaper and socks, wrapped in a blanket.  Brian was in his work clothes.  I was in a random T-shirt that I’d grabbed after I got drenched once before and a pair of running shorts that didn’t match.  We were a wreck.

And then it stopped.  As we waited (only a few minutes) to be called back, M perked up and even smiled and cooed.  What in the world was going on?  The triage nurse asked how many times he threw up.  I hadn’t counted, so I said 6 or 7.  In how much time?  An hour and 20 minutes.  “Whoa,” was the response from the nurse.  I asked if that was a lot.  The answer was yes – that frequency is abnormal even for the flu.  I sat there and counted up the times and came up with 9 times for sure, but I think there were 1 or 2 more.  We got back to see a doctor right away.

Blood was taken (twice, because the first draw was a bust), I had to step out because I couldn’t take it, we talked with the doctor, and waited.  We were allowed to feed M an hour after his last vomit, but he was barely interested.  He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.  The verdict?  We don’t have one.  He’s perfectly fine now – we were discharged and told to come back if it starts up again, and to definitely go back tomorrow for more blood work because his liver enzymes were just very slightly elevated.  There was nothing in his blood work to suggest poisoning.

M is perfectly fine now.  It was 2 hours from hell, and now it’s over.  He’s eaten well since being home (liquid diet only of mom’s milk), has played with all of us – kitties included, and was even standing himself up in his crib without help (a first this morning!).  You would never know he had the day he had.

We’re all sleeping in the basement tonight.  M is down there now, snoozing away.  The main floor is just too darned hot.  I think it will be fun to all sleep in the same room together, especially after the day we had!

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