Happy Birthday Dave!

My husband, Dave, finally turned 30 today.  Yes. I dated down.  I like to remind him that if he had been born a day later (his bday, Aug.31st, is the school cutoff date) we never would have dated because at age 20, it is difficult for a girl to date two years younger.  Anyways, I felt like I wanted to make it a little extra special.  Thank goodness I had Linus to help.

This morning Linus excitedly told Dave, "We got you a present! It's called shoes!"  Needless, to say I let Dave open one of his presents this morning--a new pair of hiking shoes.

 Eileen is sick with roseola (notice the rashy, blotchy face) so she cheered us on from a distance.

 Linus was ready to bake.

While we waited for the cake to bake, Linus had big plans for the party.  Balloons, a crown.  I waited until naptime to frost the cake and put up the balloons.

By request, we had dinner at Wingdome. Birthday crown stayed at home.  I gotta say that Wingdome was a pretty good deal.  I got the bag o'burgers.  For $3 I got a brown sack with 3 sliders and a bunch of fries (just thrown in, no additional wrapping).  Linus hardly ate.  He had cake on the brain.

 Linus couldn't contain himself and decided to just go ahead and blow out the candles for Dave.

 Eileen was a big fan of cake.  Big fan.

 Until we made her wait in between bites.

Personally, I think the best part of this birthday is the main present.  This weekend the two of us are going away (no kids!) to Victoria B.C. and going ziplining!!  Romance and adventure.  After a month of sickness (did I mention that Linus started coughing today and I feel a sore throat coming on?), we deserve a break.

From the Mouths of Babes in August

Linus:  "Cheer up mommy.  You will be fine in Bug World. You will see. It's easy."  (during a recent trip to Woodland Park Zoo)

Linus: "I'm going to cut you up in pieces.  You are not going to be a big mommy.  You will be a little mommy."

Linus: "I don't want to go home! I want to stay here ever ever and not go home. Never."

Linus: "You will be angry with the police."  (he means that I will be in trouble with the police)

Summer Vacation?

The Dimocks apparently missed the memo about what summer vacation is supposed to be.  It has been no picnic (although there has been a lot of picnics).

1.  Lousy weather.  It isn't summer when it is a rare day that it gets above 70 degrees.

2.  My Hawaii "vacation" has been reclassified as a stressful trip during which I got a tan and went swimming.

3.  First Monday of August -- Linus gets diagnosed with ringworm. Yuck.  All trips to pools cancelled.

4.  Second Monday of August -- trip to Portland cut short when Linus diagnosed with hand foot and mouth disease.  Even worse, he gave it to his cousin and uncle.

5.  Third Monday of August -- nothing horrible happened!

6.  My sister and her family come to visit.  Ten minutes before they arrive, Linus pukes.  He then pukes another two times before the night is though.

7.  Fourth Monday of August -- after waking up not feeling great, Dave and I both came down with a nasty case of viral gastroenteritis.  I don't want to go into too many details, but you can look up the symptoms.  Needless to say, I lost 4 pounds in less than 24 hours.  Thank God for my friend, Colleen, who brought us Gatorade and saltines last night, and for my mom, who risked infection, to take care of us and the kids today.

8.  Today, Tuesday --While battling a fever, puking, and severe intestinal discomfort this morning,  Dave and I attempted to clean the house before the appraiser came over at 9 am to appraise the house for a refinance (the appraiser was scheduled yesterday before puking commenced).  She really liked the house so I can only hope that bodes well for us.

It's now Tuesday evening.  Dave and I can finally eat food and it feels glorious.  This has been a lousy "summer".  September can't come soon enough. 

9 Month Old Stats

Eileen turned 9 months old on Monday.  SAY WHAT!?!

I know, it's going WAAAY too fast.  Eileen is still my chunky monkey.  She isn't quite doing the army crawl so fat burning hasn't happened yet.  As a result, she still can't wear a lot of pants and shorts are simply scandalous due to her super chubby thighs.  Instead of crawling, she spins around on her stomach  repeatedly until she gets where she wants.  Not very efficient.

Eileen loves to eat, especially dairy and is a very social eater.  We are not allowed to eat in front of her without sharing unless we want screaming.  Her favorites are ice cream, whipped cream, and macaroni and cheese.  She has mastered self feeding of finger foods.

Eileen loves her brother and bursts into giggles when she simply catches a glimpse of him.  Linus loves this and makes sure to capitalize on her adoration.

She is finally growing some hair.  I love her "duck fuzz."

Official 9 month stats

Weight: 20 lbs 3 oz   75%  (Linus was a little over 19 lbs at 9 months)

Head Circumference: 18 inches    90%

Length: 27.75 inches   57%

Infected

The Dimock household is infected, more specifically Linus.  During the last days of our Hawaiian vacation I noticed a red spot on Linus' leg and it didn't go away or get smaller.  Last Monday I took him into the doctor and they confirmed my suspicion of ringworm. Yuck.  Given all the time we have spent swimming recently, it isn't too shocking.


Fast forward to the weekend.  After a wonderful hike with our PEPs group, Linus woke up from his afternoon nap with some red bumps around his mouth.  We thought they might be a result of irritation from his nasty, well-used binky.  We threw out the binky and hoped they would go away quickly.  They didn't.  Then we thought that perhaps they were cold sores.  Linus wasn't complaining, wasn't running a fever, and didn't seem to notice them at all.  When Monday arrived, I packed up the kids and headed to Portland to visit my older sister, Beth.  I briefly considered taking him to the doctor, but figured I was over-reacting.


The reunion between Linus and his cousin, Dylan, was something out of a 19th century romance novel.  Linus leapt from the car screaming "Dylan" and ran for the porch of their house.  Dylan came running out of the door, screaming "Linus."  There was an embrace.  Hearts melted just a little bit.


The visit was off to a good start and the kids napped.  We then headed for the playground. As Linus rode the merry-go-round I suddenly saw a blister on his hand. Uh-oh.  I consulted Beth and we decided to take Linus into an urgent care with the promise of ice cream afterwards.


Linus was an amazing and compliant patient.  I was mortified when the doctor took off his crocs to reveal blackened feet (in my defense we had just been at the playground). The doctor was lovely and then gave us the bad news.  Linus has a classic case of hand-foot-and-mouth disease.


AHHHHH!


Worse, he is highly contagious.  There is no treatment.  We just have to wait it out.  After a quick trip to Dairy Queen for blizzards, I made the decision to pack the kids back up and head home despite it already being 8:30 pm.  A trip through the McDonald's drive-thru provided me the worst latte I have ever had in my life, but the caffeine was necessary.


I have so far spent the day attempting to disinfect the house, wiping down toys, door knobs, surfaces.  The hardest part is trying to keep Linus away from the baby and anything she might want to play with.  I now have hand sanitizer at the ready.  I feel like I have OCD.  I am trying not to make a big deal, but it's really hard to contain my anxiety when Linus wants me to hold his blistered, diseased hand.  My skin is beginning to crawl.


The Dimocks are now in quarantine.  Last Monday it was ringworm.  This Monday it was hand-foot-and-mouth disease.  I can't wait to see what next Monday brings!!  Just call me Typhoid Mary.  When we are finally infection free, I need to go to a Korean spa and get scrubbed down if I ever want to ever be comfortable in my own skin again.  I need a night out.  And maybe a drink.