Keeping our sanity

What do you do when your child has a highly contagious virus and is forbidden to be around other children?
Here are some things that have kept the Gaglios sane and entertained the last seven days of confinement:

• Car rides around town with the windows down. 

• Drive-thru coffee shops.

• Arts and crafts. We didn't have food coloring to make an edible fingerpaint recipe I found on Pinterest, so I mixed in fruits and veggies instead. The texture was really weird and it didn't really work as paint, but it at least provided a few minutes of goopy entertainment while providing an afternoon snack :)

• A visit from Grandma and Grandpa.

• Playing dress-up in Mommy & Daddy's clean laundry that no one wants to fold.

• Katie Herzig music videos. I don't know what it is about her music, but Adeleigh stops everything to either sit and stare or dance to Katie Herzig music. She's got good taste :) Here's one of our favorites to dance to -

Hey Na Na

• Walking around the lake and birdwatching. 

Last night on our walk, we ran into some old neighbors of ours. As they approached, the woman said, "Uh oh. Is someone getting over the chickenpox?" My response was, "No, she actually has Hand, Foot & Mouth disease." We'd never seen two people walk so fast in the other direction. Phaeton and I, still standing in their dust, turned to look at each other. I said, "I should've just said she has chickenpox." Phaeton's response, "I guess since that's more familiar, they probably would've stuck around." He waved a "Bye, guys!" wave but they didn't see. They were already in Denver.

• Indoor picnics.

• Ring Around the Rosie. Anyone have any advice on how not to get dizzy playing this one?

• Lots of tickling and Eskimo kisses.

• Car washes. We thought it'd be a fun activity to get us out of the house and let Adeleigh experience her very first car wash. When she started crying in fear, Daddy turned and said, in an attempt to calm her down, "Hey, Adeleigh, look! It's a giant Elmo!" She cried louder. I think she thought her giant friend was eating all of us. Oops.

When the Little One gets sick

When Adeleigh gets sick, she gets sick. None of this 24-hour bug stuff. We're talking 120- to 168-hour bugs that like to float around our home. I know how much you want to come meet them all :)
After the last few bouts of baby illnesses, the day that The Husband and I don't call out for work due to a sick child, is usually the day that one or both of us has just caught the latest nasty virus. We try to justify her exposure to germs as helping to build her immune system. I promise we wash her hands regularly. And we keep a clean house. But when she gets sick, I can't help but replay the previous few days and consider all of the things we should have done differently to prevent this from happening. But, too much of that just drives me crazy. And Phaeton always says "should" is a dirty word. Either you "did" or you "didn't". But none of this "should have" business. So, hopefully she can get all these viruses out of her system early on and be one of those immune phenomenons that never gets sick anymore. That would give me one less thing to stress out about. So, with every new illness, Phaeton and I are better prepared and equipped to combat it and help our little girl find relief.
Here are some things we've learned:

• Many liquid meds, like Benadryl and antibiotics, taste absolutely awful and don't stand a chance of staying down unless drizzled over strawberry icecream. Our favorite is Breyer's. Be sure to get yourself a bowl too (sans medicine). Because you deserve it.

• Sometimes allergies won't show up until a child's second round of taking a drug. We learned this with Amoxicillin. Last month, Adeleigh broke out into an allergy rash on top of a viral rash she had, her second time of taking the drug. On top of that med, she had to start a new med to treat an ear infection, plus take a few doses of Benadryl to calm the allergic reaction. That's a lot of meds to have to feed a sick baby.

• You are not a bad parent if you have to force-feed your child fluids or medicine. I have to keep reminding myself of this one. As brutal as it may be for everyone in the house, sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes, for us, the force-feed method isn't effective unless both parents are present though. When I try it on my own, both Adeleigh and I tend to end up both in tears, covered head-to-toe in thick, gooey medicine. So, we time our medicine feedings for when we'll have help. 

• Don't exhaust yourself looking up your child's symptoms on the internet. It's absolutely terrifying what you will find. Online, almost every symptom "may lead to death." Last month, when looking up Adeleigh's Adenovirus diagnosis online, almost every article I Google-searched called it "The Killer Cold." You can imagine the panic that started to creep in. Save yourself the heart palpitations and call the doctor, even if it's 2 a.m. And don't hesitate to ASK A TON OF QUESTIONS. 

• If it's been hours and you're still anxiously awaiting a call back from the doc, call a pharmacist. Depending on your question, they may be able to help. (Michael, the pharmacist for our local Walgreens, and I have become great friends! Well, at least on my end. I probably annoy the hell out of him. But hey, at least I'm at ease.)

• It's possible (in our house, probable) that with each new illness, comes a new round of sleep-training. When Adeleigh gets sick, we either bring her in our bed to snuggle or stay in her room all night. So when everyone is back to healthy, we usually have a few more nights of getting her used to sleeping by herself again. 

• Utilize your friends and family for advice and support as much as possible. Sometimes hearing other's experiences and advice helps to ease whatever stresses and worries you may have. Also, after a few days of having a quarantined sick baby, finding a gluten-free ButterCream cupcake on your doorstep might be just what you need to power through a few more days. (Thanks, Shay!)

• If you asked me, I'd say it's okay to let your sick child do things you wouldn't normally let her do - such as, watch PBS cartoons all day long, pull the cat's tail, or play with your keys until the Panic button goes off. If anything, you would have allowed for a few extra giggles on an otherwise mopey day.

• The #1 remedy for making a sick baby a little more comfortable is to snuggle. A lot. As heartbreaking and difficult as it is for everyone when she's unwell, snuggling always makes us slow down our busy lives and really focus on what's most important, which is a little reminder that all of us need from time to time.

If anyone has any advice to pass along, please share. I know we'll be crossing this bridge at least a few more times :)

~~~~~~~~

After nearly a week of resisting the temptation to go spread the love of Hand, Foot & Mouth disease around town, all of the Gaglios can't wait to get back to the outside world and go play with this guy -

Rosie

Just last week, we bought Adeleigh a stuffed kangaroo to honor her "Grandma Great" and her Aussie heritage. We named her Rosie. Adeleigh's been carrying Rosie everywhere, snuggling tight as she sleeps, getting splashed with milk as she drinks, holding Rosie while we walk Rico. She loves Rosie more than any other stuffed toy we've bought her. She must understand her special purpose.
Just this morning I'd been thinking of my Grandma and had decided that I would call her this evening to give her our love and let her hear Adeleigh's voice. And then an hour later, I found out she was gone.

We'd always wanted our Adeleigh Rose to meet the wonderful woman she was named after. And then I remembered this...

Our sweet baby girl is there, 3 months along in my belly. 

We love you, Grandma Rose. You are already missed.

Don't repeat Mommy

We knew it was coming. The day when one of us would slip an accidental swear word in Adeleigh's presence and she'd repeat it. Up until recently, when one of us 'black-box over the mouth'-ed, we'd just look at our sweet little girl and say, "Don't repeat me" and then smother her with kisses. Well, this morning, I was running late getting out the door. I hurried and walked Rico and I took a few things down to my car. We went back upstairs and I got Adeleigh's shoes and jacket on, grabbed my coffee and went to grab my keys by the door. But they weren't there. I combed through every step I'd taken since I last had them. Adeleigh was chillin' on my hip, telling me everything we passed while I looked. "Rrrock."
"Yes, there's your rock. Now where are Mommy's keys?"
"Shoe."
I grabbed the spare house key, locked the door behind me and just hoped that I wouldn't have to haul ourselves back up those 2 flights of stairs to rip the house apart. Maybe they'll be resting on the sidewalk, or sitting in the ignition, or on top of the car....Nope. I had retraced every step I'd taken that morning at least 3 times since losing my keys and they were nowhere to be seen. It just didn't make sense. And for me to not feel rushed and stay on schedule, we should have left the parking lot 10 minutes ago. I suddenly felt really overwhelmed and stressed. And under my breath, I cursed, "Well, Sh**." Then, my girl, with her perfect lips and with the cutest, sweetest voice ever, said it too. And I couldn't help but laugh. And, as strange as it seems, I suddenly felt really calm about the whole situation.
So, with Adeleigh in tow, we made our way back upstairs so I could contemplate our next exit strategy. I happened to reach down by my empty hip and there they were. My keys had been tucked inside the top of my work pants the entire time - of course! Where else would a set of keys go if you didn't have pockets in your pants and your hands are full? I breathed a sigh of relief and smothered Adeleigh in kisses as I tucked her into her carseat.

So, the moral of the story is, buy pants with pockets. And if you're running late because you can't find your keys, learn how to Tokyo Drift  [Fast & Furious reference] your way safely to daycare. Oh, and don't swear in front of your children. :)

Adeleigh Tokyo Drifting in her cool ride with the windows down and her head band on.

Happenings

Everyone in the Gaglio home is excited that summer is right around the corner. We've replenished our sunscreen supply. Our sweaters and boots are replaced with shorts and flip-flops. And we're committed to more hiking excursions and camping getaways in the coming months. It's been a busy and fun Springtime.

Here are some of our recent happenings:

I started a new job working for a bank. The most stressful thing I deal with is making sure the new plants get plenty of water. It's a breath of fresh air to have found this opportunity.

We decided to redecorate our condo and give it a more cozy feel, a.k.a got rid of the futon, since after weeks of crunching the numbers and weighing our options we decided that we're probably going to be here for longer than originally planned. It's undecided as to whether our neighbors are 1) excited to have a bubbly, little bounding toddler screaming down at them from our 3rd story window as they come home from work, or 2) completely bummed that their nights will continue to be interrupted by a pissed-off toddler's screams of "Hold me! Now!" while she jumps up and down in her crib and shoots tear rockets from her eyes.
We've always loved this place, no matter how much smaller it seems to be getting. So, we're making the most of it. We filled up our storage unit to make more play room in the condo. We rented and quickly filled up a second storage unit. We moved our bed into the living room so the Little One has her own space. The first night in separate rooms from Adeleigh was the first in a long time that all three of us actually slept all night. It was weird and beautiful - all at the same time. Now that it's getting warmer, we're making sure to burn some cabin-feverish energy chasing each other around outside daily.
We bought our first real couch (more of a loveseat) where the three of us fit perfectly squished side by side. We decided to test new curtains and loved them so much they stayed. If you think I'm going to take them back down to actually iron them, you're wrong. There's no time for ironing. Not to mention, no room for an ironing board. The wrinkles will work themselves out eventually.
We bought a dining room table where, during our first ever family dinner sitting at a table that's not appropriate to put your feet on, Adeleigh said "Adeleigh" for the first time ever. Since then, she hasn't stopped chatting. She counts to ten. Then she skips a few and resumes at thirteen. She sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". "Up above the" is her favorite part. She tells you everything she's ever learned all at once. Don't even try to interrupt her. There's no guarantee you'll understand most of what she's saying. But it's pretty darn cute to hear her.
We discovered that she loves ice cream about as much as her Mommy does, but prefers to eat it with a fork like her Daddy.

She brings her artwork home from daycare now. What she doesn't proceed to shred to pieces or shove up her nose, gets displayed on her bedroom wall. She fist bumps. She says "No" - to everything. Especially everything Mommy and Daddy ask her. Black beans and stickers are pretty much the coolest things ever.

Her hair fits into pigtails now.

She has molars. Sometimes she lets us brush them. Sometimes she finds Rico's toothbrush and brushes them herself. She had her first dentist appointment where Dr. Joe said she's going to need braces someday. Seriously? She has a whopping mouthful of almost 12 still-budding baby teeth and we've already started saving for her eventual braces.
So, Neighbors! Hope you're comfortable having a toddler around. 'Cause it looks like we're here for awhile. At least until The Little One gets her braces off. :)

Happy Summer!

It's unnatural for a coffee table to eat things

While burning off some post-sick energy yesterday, Adeleigh started chasing Nubi around the house. When Adeleigh followed her under the coffee table to try and catch her, Nubi ran off, but Adeleigh got stuck behind. She started screaming and I told her that it was okay and that "Nubi might just need to be alone for a little bit. Let's play with something else." But Adeleigh didn't budge. She just screamed louder. I knelt down and saw that her chubby little legs were wedged in between the bottom rungs of the table. I worked for 10 minutes to try and wiggle them free. I started to panic. All I kept thinking was, Firemen will come out to free cats from trees and to free tongues from frozen flagpoles. Surely, they'd come out to free a toddler's legs from the wrath of the beastly coffee table. And then somehow, I managed to wiggle her free, leg by leg. It took 5 minutes to soothe my traumatized little girl.
I was so frustrated at the table for doing that to her, especially after she'd just had a brutal week of illness after illness, that I decided it was time we part ways with the table. It was taking up too much space in our condo anyway. I propped open the front door, and pulled the mega-ton table as hard as I could. Adeleigh could see the struggle in my face and came over to help push it all the way out. We high-fived as we walked back inside.
When Phaeton came home, he was sure to take it slow inside the front door, carefully evaluating what level of estrogen and girl power he was walking into. "Um, why is the coffee table on the porch?" I told him the traumatic event.
Phaeton - "Why don't we just take the rungs off the bottom of the table and call it good?"
Me - "Nope. Done."
Phaeton - "But that table and I have been through so much together."
Me - "Shhh." I put my finger up to his lips to shoosh him.
The evening carried on and I was loving the amount of floor space we now had in the living room. Adeleigh loved the extra football field of space to spread her toys around. Phaeton hated it. "I really miss being able to put my feet up on something while sitting on the couch." My response, "Hmm. That's too bad. You'll be fine, I'm sure."
When I went to tuck Adeleigh into bed and came back out of her room, I found that instead of him taking it down to the dumpster, Phaeton had carried the table back to its original resting place. I just shook my head slowly and he pretended not to see me. In fact, he distinctly turned his head the other direction in an effort that I might not see him. I think he learned that from Adeleigh. But I did see him! I slowly approached him, horns poking out of the top of head, put my face next to his and whispered, "You have until Monday."
Then today when I got home from work, Phaeton couldn't wait to show me what he'd done. He'd removed the bottom rungs off the table and wrapped a big pink bow around it, hoping that I couldn't resist and would let the coffee table stay. I wasn't convinced. Then he showed me something else, and I realized I was a little premature in my decision and could give the table another chance....

So, to the behemoth coffee table that almost ate my daughter: You have one more chance. If you screw it up, instead of throwing you in the dump, I will go Pinterest on you, wrestle you upside down and turn you pink.

Pinned by Six in the Suburbs

Lookin' out for Momma

There's something about my daughter that continually warms my soul. She always knows when I need a hug. And with each passing day, the more genuine the hug. I was the happy recipient of many Adeleigh snuggles this week. And for whatever reason, she seemed to know that this was the week I really needed them. So, to finish off the week and celebrate the start of a new one, Adeleigh and I had a ladie's night this evening.

My pretty date on her tippy-toes

We got tacos at Chipotle. We flirted with all the cute little boys in highchairs. We drove around and made animal sounds. We shared a free ice cream at Coldstone. We both cried when it was all gone. Then we shared our frustrations. She taught me some Chinese. I taught her how to say "Happy". We had a bubble bath and drew crayon on the walls. And we giggled. A lot of giggles.
After I tucked The Little One into bed, I made my way to the front door to let Rico out. I paused and had to fight to hold back the tears at what I found....

When we got home from our evening out, I asked her to put her shoes away. Then we came inside and continued our conversation. Instead of putting her shoes where they usually sit, she had placed them close to my boots and tucked her little baby socks into my boots.

She must've known that my feet would be cold without them.

She always seems to know just what I need. And she always seems to know how to make her Momma happy.

I could never survive in the wild

Our power went out last night. And it scared the daylights out of me. I was writing on the computer with the dimmer on overhead, night light on in the kitchen and it just went black. Everywhere. The whole complex lost power. It was like a scene from the scariest movie I'd ever seen. I couldn't see anything. Even as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the stars outside barely lit the cars below. I was afraid to move, so my instinct was to just start yelling. I obviously didn't consider the sleeping baby in the next room. It was all about finding Phaeton at that moment and making sure the guy with the knife and scary mask didn't find me first. I yelled louder for Phaeton until all of a sudden I heard him shooshing me from 3 feet away. "Seriously? I'm right here. You're going to wake up Adeleigh."
"I'm scared. The power's never gone out on me before."
"It's cool. It's like we're camping. Grab the flashlight."
"I'm too scared to move. You grab it."
(Sigh) He brought me the flashlight and I went and did the one thing you're not supposed to do in a power outage - I opened the fridge. I stood there with it wide open and asked, "What if all the food goes bad?"
"Well, it will if you do that. Shut the door. It'll stay cool enough inside for awhile if you just leave it shut."
"Oh, okay."
Then Phaeton reminded me about a solar flare that's affecting satellites and wondered if that might be what's causing the power outage. "Oh, and there's a New Moon tonight."
"Oh great. So you're saying this is the end of the world? Are we going to collide with the sun tonight?"
"No, that's supposed to happen in December. We'll be fine until then. This is something else."
Great.
I took the flashlight and went to go check on Adeleigh, who of course, was sound asleep. It was eerily silent in the bedroom with the humidifier and fan off, so I turned on the stuffed sheep noise-maker we have. I put it on the River setting. Now it really sounded like we were camping. I pulled the candles down from the closet just in case Phaeton would need them to get ready in the morning. We decided to try and go to sleep.
Just as we were starting to doze off, the smoke detector in the hallway started beeping. Not in a frightening, There's a fire! sort of way. But in an annoying, You're not getting any sleep tonight because I'm going to randomly freak out until the power comes back on, sort of way. Phaeton got up and shut the bedroom door to try and quiet the noise. Finally, we started to doze off again. Then we heard a loud bang on the bedroom door.
I clung onto Phaeton. "What was that?"
"I dunno. Maybe one of the pets."
I grabbed the flashlight and hesitantly opened the door. I found Rico cowering in the hallway. He must've tried to come in but couldn't see the door shut and slammed right into it. This whole power outage was throwing off everyone's mojo.
That reminded me of a time growing up in Colorado Springs. I was playing in the back yard and went to run inside. I saw the sliding glass door open but what I didn't notice was the screen door still shut. I kept running and barreled right into the screen. The force of the impact knocked the screen off its hinges and gave me a bloody nose. The screen door never worked the same for the remaining 12 years we lived in that house. And I never ran inside from the yard again.
Fortunately, Rico and the bedroom door were unscathed by the collision. I think it just shocked the poor dog. I let him in so he could join the rest of the family in the bedroom.
Just as I was contemplating what food I'd need to replace in the refrigerator, the power came back on. The fan, the night lights, the clocks. I think the power was off for an hour, at most. And we didn't collide with the sun. And we don't really think we will in December either. But for now, I'm just grateful that the TV is working so I can watch The Bachelor tonight.

The "Coming Home" outfit

I was reading an article today about a Mom who spent countless hours choosing what outfit her new baby will come home from the hospital in.
Some advice I would like to offer to new moms who are getting prepared for this exciting event as well -
One: Don't spend hours choosing an outfit to bring your baby home in. Use that time to sleep.
Two: If you do spend hours choosing the perfect outfit, might as well spend a few more hours choosing a second outfit, just in case your experience goes like ours did...

~~~

In the moments leading up to our grand exodus out of the hospital, we spent 30 minutes getting Adeleigh dressed in the yellow onesie and bow that I had spent hours deciding upon and had especially picked out for her first introduction to the outside world.

There's a screaming baby under there.

Peace for now.

Our nurse wheeled me outside while Phaeton ran to get the car. Right when he pulled up, I felt something happening on my arm. Adeleigh had her first explosion right on me. She must've gotten so excited to see the sun for the first time that she wanted to share it with the world, or at least share it with my arm. I mean, I was excited to see the sun for the first time in days too, but I didn't need to announce it, at least not that way.
I asked our nurse what to do. She just laughed. I asked Phaeton what to do. He said, "I guess we just go home." Right. I asked our nurse to come with us and show us what to do once we got home. She just laughed again. I guess we had to figure this one out on our own.

~~~

Three: No matter how much you're paying for excellent post-baby nursing care, nurses can't come home with you, no matter how much you beg.

What makes me smile

When Adeleigh dances to the beat of the coffee grinder.

When I say, "Hold my hand." And she reaches her chubby little hand into mine.

Upon entering daycare, seeing my baby run over to the slide, climb up and ride down like one of the big kids. (This also makes me teary, realizing how big my baby is getting.)

When Phaeton reminds me, after watching the latest episode of New Girl, that he used to have, and really misses, his fur-lined driving moccasins and that he "bought them special."

The cereal trail that starts at Adeleigh's face and runs all over town.

When she sees us starting Yo, Gabba Gabba! on Netflix and she throws up her arms and cheers.

The Yo, Gabba Gabba! episode featuring Jack Black.

Finding a really good deal on diapers.

Accomplishing one of my New Year's resolutions 15 days into the New Year.

Adeleigh's impression of what a monkey says.

In her play garden, when Adeleigh peeks at me through the open mailbox.

In her play garden, when Adeleigh blows raspberries at me through the open mailbox and giggles at my reaction.

When Daddy is snoring on the couch, Adeleigh sneaking up and screaming in his face.

Helping my 1 1/2 year old walk up the 2 flights of stairs to our front door. (Even if it takes us 15 minutes.)

The look she makes when I've asked her not to do something.

Hearing Adeleigh babble on the baby monitor.

Every morning, waking up to her peeking up over her crib and pointing her finger my direction.

When I point my finger to touch hers, hearing her giggle.

Watching her try to hold 2 stuffed animals, her bedtime story, her bottle of milk, and her paci all at one time. Dropping them piece by piece and repeatedly picking them up, trying again and again until she & all her gear makes it over and onto my lap.

When Phaeton and I reminisce.
The other night he reminded me of a time when he was "courting" me (as he calls it). He was peacefully sitting on the futon in my old apartment watching a show. I came running from around the corner, intending to leap onto the futon and snuggle up beside him. As I was jumping, my foot got caught under the armrest. Mid-fall, I started screaming and I face-planted on the futon beside him. So, instead of leaping gracefully into my boyfriend's arms, I came at him, a screaming bat-out-of-hell, and scared the daylights out of him. I remember him yelling explitives and his look of horror as I landed. I remember me crying - One, because my cool trick didn't go as planned; Two, because my face hurt. We still snuggled, but with a frozen bag of peas between us.

Here's a picture from the earlier days in our relationship that makes me smile -

You know what else makes me smile? Thinking about where we've come.

....


We don't have a lot of money. We don't have a lot of things. There are days where we just don't have a clue. Yet, somehow, we make it work. It's the simple things in our days that get us by, and what mean the most. We try to make the most out of our experiences, no matter how trying, or frustrating, or tiring it might get sometimes. And we have fun. Lots of fun. And we never let a day go by without -

a smile.