Isaiah @ 21 Months

Isaiah is just a jabberbox these days. He's ALWAYS surprising us with new words and is getting better at pronouncing things he's been saying for a while that we just couldn't understand. I don't know HOW long he was saying "door" before I knew what he meant. "Window" is sometimes difficult too. For whatever reason there's a few things he says just SO strangely - the only one I can think of right now is hammer which he always says "ham-MEER". Strange, but it will work itself out. Biggest words right now? Dinosaur, monster, koala (not big, but definitely tricky). Hmmm...I KNOW there's bigger ones that I'm forgetting.

Along with the growing vocabulary is the lengthening of sentences. He's said some LONG ones (like he says some BIG words). The other day we were pushing a truck back and forth and when I'd push it to him, he'd say "Good job, Mommy". COMPLETELY unasked for...though I do tell him good job a lot. He also will say "Excuse me. ______" to whomever is in his way...even the dog!

I don't know if I mentioned he was sick. Monday night he came home from daycare and felt warm. Could NOT get the thermometer too give us the same temperature twice, but I knew he had a fever. Tuesday and Wednesday he stayed home from daycare (and I am SO glad Chemistry lab was cancelled for this week - that's usually on Wednesday and I didn't have to skip it). The fever is gone now but he's gotten a rash so we're thinking he probably has roseola. I mentioned it to my mom and she said chicken pox but I'm hoping that's not the case. None of us ever got roseola but we all had chicken pox so I'm assuming/hoping she's going with what she knows. I just hope she's WRONG!

He's almost completely weaned from the pacifier! He only really uses it at naptime (though he did get to use it whenever when he was sick). I'm so proud of him! We didn't really even set out to try to get him to stop using it, it's just kind of happened. We went to "only in bed" and then didn't give it to him a few nights at bedtime ("to see") and he never asked for it so we didn't get it. Voila! Down to just naptime. Still NOT going to sleep without it then, but I'm okay with that for the time being.

Still no improvements on the potty training front. I don't want him going too long in diapers but I refuse to push him and he sometimes gets SO upset when I mention the potty. Tempted to just put it away for a week or two and bring see if his attitude changes a bit later.

He is still nursing. 21 months, wow!! I didn't think we'd go this long but I really don't regret it after the fever earlier this week. It's the SECOND fever he's ever had (not counting warmness from teething) and the first one that's been so high. I attribute that to the help my milk gives his immune system. I am hoping he self-weans soon, though. I'm really starting to feel awkward about it. Maybe I shouldn't but I DO and that's probably a good sign we need to be wrapping it up.

He's gonna be a monkey for Halloween. It's ADORABLE! I don't know how much trick-or-treating we'll really do because he doesn't need all that candy so it'll be mostly for Jeremy and me :). Regardless, I want to let him get out and have the experience (at the mall plus my mom's) - and show off how freaking cute he his!

I love him so much!

The Pokeweed Incident

Isaiah and I were playing in the backyard this afternoon. Well, Isaiah was playing and I was sitting on the patio. Crazy boy thinks it's great fun to sit in the dirt and rub it on his legs and since he washes up nicely I usually let him just go for it. It was warm enough for shorts again so he was getting his legs and not his pants dirty. Great fun, kid...have at it!

I don't really remember what I was doing but I looked up and Isaiah was NOT playing in the dirt he was chewing on part of one of the random plants we have growing along our fence line! ACK!!!! NOT cool. I called poison control because I really wasn't sure what else to do. They couldn't even give me a website to help me identify the plant! I found a local nursery (45 minutes before they closed) and they told me they had people on staff that could identify plants if I wanted to bring it in. Snapped off a branch and we went on over.

BTW...for all you parents out there apparently milk is okay with any plant ingestion. So I was able to start him drinking that before we even left the house.

Got to the nursery. The guy (thankfully) knew what it was right away. It was Pokeweed. Yeah, a POISONOUS plant. Not badly poisonous, apparently...and he was eating the leftover berry stems which are about the least toxic part of the plant. I freaked out when the guy said it was poisonous...I think I said something like "so is this a rush-to-the-hospital-now thing?" I'm just glad I had the presence of mind to ask and not immediately freak the fuck out.

I talked to the guy at the nursery and called poison control back. Since I'm not sure if he swallowed any (and most likely it wasn't much) we just waited to see. It's mostly a GI irritant so the issue was more about him getting sick and then dehydrated than what the plant would directly do to him (doesn't affect the brain or anything). Symptoms generally start between 3 and 5 hours after exposure.

Also, I guess the most toxic part is the roots so we need to be careful when I go out there and rip that thing out of the ground. They also get more toxic with maturity so if it doesn't die off and regrow every year it could be even worse next year. It's gonna GO. I think my mom has one too and I'll get it as well.

Anyway. We're sitting at almost 6 hours now and he's fine. Thank goodness. I'm pretty proud of myself for not flipping too badly at any point...though I'm sure my eyes got huge when the guy said it was a toxic plant. I'm trying to decide if I'm okay enough to leave him in his bed or if I want to bring him in with me so I know if he starts puking. Even if we're past the window I'm still a little worried. He'll be in my bed by morning so I'm trying to be good with that. No reason to disturb him....right?

I just thank God that he's okay.