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.

From the Mouths of Babes in July

Linus: "It's getting late.  Time to go to bed.  Need to clean up toys." Linus while taking a bath


Linus: "These are my friends, Brooklyn and Heather." My friend, Heather, and her daughter, stayed with us for two weeks and Linus liked introducing them, especially every night when Dave came home from work.


Linus tries to draw on Eileen with a pencil.
Heather: Linus, Eileen doesn't want you to touch her with a pencil.
Linus: I'm going to draw a shark on her face.
Heather: Eileen doesn't want a shark on her face.
Linus: I can hear her.  She does want a shark on her face.
Megan Raymond and Heather together: NO! Eileen doesn't want a shark on her face.


Linus: (Sadly) I lost all my friends in the big earth shake.  Pretending to be Ducky from the Land Before Time.


Linus: "I'm a scarecrow!"   on his appearance when wearing water wings


Linus:  (to Eileen) "I see you pretty girl."


Me: "Okay, you can go." talking to the car that was trying to decide whether to turn or not at the intersection
Linus:  "Mommy who you talking to?
Me: "Oh, just another car."
Linus: "Mommy you not talk to cars, you talk to people." 

Aloha! Dimocks on Vacation

We just got back from 8 days in Hawaii on Oahu.  Now that we are completely unpacked and the laundry is done, I feel like I can finally blog about the trip.

First, I would like to say how grateful I am for the inheritance check that paid for the bulk of the trip.  We try to take some sort of vacation every year.  We went to Hawaii for the first time two years ago to Maui.  Last year we spent three chilly, dreary days at Lake Chelan.  Needing sun desperately, I decided that another trip to Hawaii was in order.  We loved Maui, but felt we needed to experience the other islands.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  We lucked out and got a free room upgrade to one with an ocean view.  I liked that the Hilton was further away from the hubbub of Waikiki and that there were two Starbucks on site and lots to do, but it was just a little too big for my tastes.

We spent the first day and a half getting hopelessly lost trying to navigate Waikiki.  It was frustrating to say the least.  Streets are not labeled (even main intersections).  We gave up on paper maps and bus schedules and switched to Google maps.  Life got much simpler after that.

Linus' first order of business was to build Aunt Sally a sand castle.

Passed out after a long adventure to Haunama Bay Nature Preserve.  To our surprise, Linus frequently fell asleep on one of our shoulders as we walked from bus stops.

Trying to rock my post baby body.  The one thing I love most about Hawaii is that you basically just lounge around in a bathing suit all day.  It's not uncommon to see people just walking the streets in a bathing suit.  Some restaurants post signs reminding people to put on clothes before entering.

Trying the stand up paddle board.  It was a lagoon so it was much less scary that actually doing it in the ocean.

Busy cutting 4 teeth, Eileen constantly needed something to chew on.  In this case, it was the handle of a sand pail.

Linus exhibited no fear.

We rented a car one day and drove around the island.  First stop was the Dole Pineapple plantation.  In case you were wondering, Dole does not practice organic farming.  They actually use black plastic as mulch, and tell you so proudly.

Eileen loves ice cream and rolls her eyes back in pleasure with each bite.

Not happy when the pineapple ice cream is gone.

The North Shore is beautiful and a much simpler place than Waikiki.

We bought Linus water wings and after that, it was hard to get him out of the pool.  He LOVED swimming. I can't believe how quickly he progressed.

Orphan baby by the pool. 
Eileen liked the pool as well and provided hours of entertainment for the other guests with her constant bewilderment from splashing.

One pair of swim shorts was a little big.

Spending an early morning at the beach.

Eileen discovered a new mischievous passion for stealing sunglasses.

Ready to board a sailboat for a little snorkeling.

Practicing safety first.

Linus actually did go in the water for a moment before climbing back on deck.  I snorkeled for all of about 3 minutes before I got scared of fish and the possibility of sharks.  I am the biggest wimp.

Sea turtle off the side of the boat.

Dave and Linus went on an early morning run most mornings along the beach and were always kind enough to bring me back a latte.  One time they went shopping and Linus came back with a ukelele and a sea turtle bell.

Overall, it was a great trip.  We all came back tan.  I loved waking up every morning and looking out at the Pacific Ocean.  It has been great spending so much time with Dave.  We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on our last night in Hawaii.

The downside to the trip was dealing with the emotions and behavior of a toddler.  Linus spent a great deal of the trip in tears or whining.  He did not like listening and even took to hitting.  Needless to say, a lot of time was spent in time out.  It was maddening, and I have to admit that at times I was ready to just pack it in.

I now need another vacation. I have already started planning it.  Just Dave and me for a few days, on the Big Island, reading books by the pool while sipping lava flows.  Sounds like paradise.

Happy Valentine's Day (in July)

Last night Dave had to make a quick trip to the hardware store so he could repair our broken dryer vent.  Linus tagged along.  While at ACE Hardware, Linus grabbed some Elmer's glue.  At first Dave said no, but then asked why he wanted glue.  Linus replied simply, "To make Valentines."  How can you say no to something like that?  The store didn't have any glitter so they bought some foam stickers instead.

While Eileen went down for an early bedtime, Linus and Dave worked on making a valentine.  Linus was very excited and proud of his work.

"Dear Linus, Baby Eileen"

mugging for the camera

Eileen was delighted to receive a valentine (if you can't tell).

A Trip to the Movies

A few months ago I heard that there was going to be a new Winnie-the-Pooh movie, one more like the original.  I thought it would be a good first movie in the movie theater for Linus.  The movie premiere date kind of snuck up on me.  Last minute I asked my parents to come up to watch Eileen so Dave and I could have a date with Linus.  We invited our friends, Bryan and August along (it was August's first time at the movies too).

We met up with Bryan and August at Pacific Place in downtown Seattle for the Sunday matinee.

waiting for mommy to buy tickets

winnie-the-pooh!

engaging in a little friendly competition while waiting for the movie to start

bracing with excitement

I was really hopeful that with a running time of less than an hour and a half, we would be golden.  We came armed with candy--whoppers and mike and ikes.  With about 15 minutes left, the tickling started, followed by musical chairs, getting stuck in a chair, losing a shoe, rolling on the floor, and a little bit of screaming.  We were THOSE people.  

Afterwards, we went next door to grab a bite to eat at Johnny Rockets.

straws are fun

playing humpty dumpty

he had a great fall (he was fine)

 After a little confusion over who actually wanted a milkshake, we enjoyed a very "active" meal.  As we headed down the escalators, we stopped by the toy store to play.

A few tears later, we left the trucks at the store and drove home to reunite with Eileen.  Linus had a great time.  I am left to marvel at the amount of energy and silliness that can build between two little boys.

Real Moms Wear Vomit

Dave and I went on a date last night.  It was fun.  What happened at 1 am was not.  We were awakened by the wails of Linus crying for Mommy.  As I entered the room, the overwhelming smell foretold what I was about to encounter -- Linus, in bed, covered in puke.  I immediately called for backup assistance.  This isn't our first time dealing with child puke.  We were pros and had Linus settled and the laundry running in about 10 minutes.  Gross and inconvenient but no big deal. 

And then Linus proceeded to puke two more times by 3 am and then was up for the day at 5:30 am and seeming no worse for the wear.  Needless to say, Dave and I did not get much sleep.  Luckily, we had decided to have Eileen sleep upstairs in the pack n' play to make things easier for the babysitter.  Eileen slept the whole night blissfully unaware of the drama. 

Linus was in good spirits and played all morning.  After Eileen's morning nap, I decided to go ahead and meet a friend for coffee.  Mama needed some serious coffee today.  We traveled to Starbucks at U Village, excited for the sun that was slowly emerging.  As we enjoyed conversation, mini-scones, milk, and coffee, Linus suddenly got a little sad and wanted to sit in my lap.  All of the sudden Linus' body shook and vomit erupted from his body and spewed all over my shirt.  I calmly placed Linus on the ground, like this was an every day occurrence.  As his feet touched the ground, Linus began to projectile vomit all over my lap, feet, himself, and floor.  The only thing that was really shocking was the fact that no one else in Starbucks seemed to notice.  Still I seemed un-phased.  I quietly sat Linus in a chair and began using burp cloths to wipe the vomit from my clothes.  My friend watched all of this in shock and then got an employee to help clean up and offered to go rinse off my vomit covered flip flops.  I then proceeded to take a few more sips of my triple grande skinny vanilla latte while soothing Linus and waiting for my flip flops to return. 

After the majority of the puke was cleaned up, my clothes soaked with vomit and stuck tightly to my body, I swept Linus into my arms, apologized to the barista and the man sitting next to us, and walked to the car.  I'm sure I would have been a hot mess if Eileen had also been crying, but she just sat happily in the stroller, playing with her feet.  Despite being covered in puke, Linus was actually more upset that we had to leave U Village.

I am proud of myself for remaining so zen during the whole ordeal.  As I breathed in the fumes from our clothes as we drove home, I thought to myself, there is nothing like being drenched in vomit and reeking to high heaven to make you feel like a real mom.

Lucky for me, Linus had only consumed light colored foods this morning.

Linus passed out on the drive home.