less red, more itchy

The day after the redness showed up my parents provided caution as to what was to come and offered advice on combating itchiness of the receding hives.  Naturally, since the doctor did not recommend any sort of ointment to us, we assumed the itchy hives did not apply to modern US babies.  Later same night we were, once again, reminded that the basic design of a baby is the same, regardless of country of manufacture.  In other words, we were wrong, my parents were right.  And boy, were they...

All of Ben was itching.  Badly.  The night was basically a blur, with Benjamin sleeping in his bed (hardly), not sleeping in his bed, sleeping on top of Alla, not sleeping in bed with us (mostly).  Around 5 am Alla gave up and went downstairs with him.  Zev slept late and had to be woken up around 7 am.  Left to his own devices he would have slept more, making up for the crummy night his brother treated him to.

The next night Ben slept, but Zev woke up a quarter to 6.  My turn.  Another slightly zombified day, followed by another short-ish night.  Honestly, it blurs a bit at this point.  I do recall that Alla has taken the morning shift on at least two occasions, for which I am dramatically grateful.  Interestingly, once both boys are awake, things are better and even Ben is everyday slightly less red and slightly less itchy.  The itch returns  in the evening, promising adventures each night.  We continue to give Benjamin the aptly name Benya-dryl.  Ben, on the other hand, has just about had enough of pink substances administered via a plastic syringe.  This morning he, as usual, shook his had vigorously at the sight of the thing and cried when I got hold of his head. Alla took over and in one fluid motion squirted the entire dose (all of 3.75 ml) into Ben's mouth, resulting in a Benadryl geyser.  I refilled and went back to the "one drop at a time" approach.  I could have sword Ben saw me, stopped fighting, calmly let me drop some in his mouth and blew a raspberry.  Then again.  I gave up and went to work.

In the evening I knew we had no choice, so down the gullet the meds went.  At this point the kids are asleep, so is Alla (no idea how she lasted today - I know I struggled to 6 pm) and shall follow suite.

one... red... baby!

Benjamin is red.  There are no two ways about it.  He is red.  End I don't mean political views.  I mean color.  More intense and spotty yesterday, more subdued and even color today.  All that - compliments of an allergy to an antibiotic Benjamin was taking for his ear infection.

Now, you have to admire Benjamin's sense of timing.  For five days he was taking the meds just fine.  he waited until mom and dad were about 9 hours into their two-night getaway to the coast.  Then he developed the coloration an oophaga pumilio would envy (posting of a picture is currently vetoed by mom and is being negotiated).  Naturally, we got back by 10:45 the next morning and took Benjamin to see his doctor.  She immediately recognize the allergy for what it was and sent us home with Benadryl.  

This morning Benjamin continues to exhibit a red color, though it is not quite as intense.  He is still a touvh warm, but slept well and woke and good spirits and is eating well.  

In other news...  Zev is now up to three consecutive steps.  Zev also has the distinction of being the first of the brothers to draw some else's blood.  My own, in fact.  This morning, while playing with me, Zev decided to give me a hug, which resulted in a full-body headbutt to the lower lip.  Said lip was slightly busted, giving Zev the honor of first blood!

Antibiotics, day 6

We are currently in day six of the antibiotic course with Benjamin.  The meds seem to be working - Ben is consistently in a better mood and has been sleeping well (t'fu-t'fu).  He is pretty used to the routine by now, and takes his 5ml is five or 6 sips, with milk to wash them down in between.  Sometimes he obligingly lowers the bottle and opens his mouth to get the meds.

The interaction continues to improve.  In the mornings the boys are usually glad to see me and want to spend time in my lap.  This often leads to jockeying for the best position.  While reading, there is usually room enough for both, but when they decide to explore my head (beard and teeth are of interest presently), someone sooner or later ends up slapping me or his brother.  They get one warning and on second offense are summarily expelled from the lap.  For the most part, things work.

Today also I observed a brief instance of genuine play between Zev and Ben.  Zev was in my lap, Ben was just serving out his sentence behind my back for slapping his brother.  Ben crawled around me and peeked at Zev.  Zev moved is head and peeked back.  For the next 20-30 seconds the boys played peek-a-boo with each other, using me as an obstacle.

The other change is at night time.  The boys now consistently prefer to be in their beds while we sing to them.  As I have written above, being further away from our singing is motivation enough.  I imagine they will be applying to live-in day care by phone and mail any week now.  In the mean time, they may stand or sit while we sing.  When we finally go to give them a good night kiss, however, the boys immediately lie down flat.  We brush our teeth, I swear.  I personally brush mine at least once a week, whether I need to or not.  We think they may be afraid we will pick them up.  In the end, we sing, the boys are in their beds and lying down, we exit.  Good deal.

Lower fever, first step

An utterly miserable night was followed by a pretty decent one.  This morning Ben woke up reasonably early (6:05) but in a pretty good mood.  He is running a nominal fever (37.1 C), but other than that - he seems well; played very nicely with me and his brother.  Even offered a toy to Zev.  And then offered one to me.

What is clear is that Benjamin is not a fan of taking meds.  He will (sort of) tolerate taking Tylenol when he is not feeling well, but 5ml of antibiotic twice a day is not a hit.  Same bubble gum flavor and pink look fools Benjamin none at all - he rather hates it.  No negotiating on this one, however.  Down it goes.

In other news: yesterday Zev too his first, single, independent step, from support to support.  As befits a Jewish man of learning, his first step was taken towards a shelf of books.

one day at a time...

After two days and two nights of moderate fevers we took Ben to see the doctor, who promptly proclaimed "ear infection".  At present Ben is a little better, though still not comfortable.  Antibiotics, probiotics, Tylenol for the fever occasionally.  Sleep is somewhat better - for all of us.  Settling in for a hot day tomorrow.

July rolls on

Today Ben woke up at 5, clearly uncomfortable.  He half-cried in his sleep, yet did not wake up fully.  At around 6 am Zev finally gave up trying to sleep, and so did we.  I grabbed ever-happy Zev and headed downstairs, while Alla got Ben in her lap to get him to sleep a little more.  And possibly to sleep herself a bit. Some time later, while changing Ben, it became obvious what was bothering him.  Ben had a serious-looking rash on both of his legs.  Red, hot to the touch, with a few bumps.  We immediately called the answering service at out pediatrician's and the nice lady assured me that while she cannot schedule appointments, the staff will have my info the moment they get in at 8.

At 7:15 reinforcement arrived.  Alla had a important meeting and, with the rash actually subsiding with a change of clothing and some Tylenol, she headed to work.  I remained home to see how soon I can present Ben to the docs.  At 8:35 I decided that a half hour is more than generous to allow the staff to get in, get their coffee, and check their morning e-mail.  I called, left a message, and was called back in 10 minutes.  So much for the 24 hr answering service.  Our doctor was not available until 12.  Scheduling double-fail.  By 8:45 both of the boys were tired and more than ready for their milk and nap.

While changing Benjamin aunt Olga noticed that no rash remained whatsoever. Under aunt Olga's the expert guidance boys were put in their cribs and given bottles, which they held themselves.  They drank, and fell asleep without a peep.  Realizing I literally had nothing to show our pediatrician, I canceled the appointment. The going theory is an allergic reaction to a detergent brand (or the amount used this weekend by yours truly).  Armed with new detergent, a bit of wine, and a large supply of cool (ahem), we head into another night.

In other news...  Both boys are getting more chatty, even if we do not speak the language.  Sometimes they bring over a book they want us to read, and push away the ones they are bored with.  Unfortunately, they apply the same philosophy to food, which leads to a Sisyphean cleanup after each meal.
Zev is definitely getting ready to walk.  Even though Benjamin stands more confidently, Zev walks well holding on to a single finger. Ben is becoming rather adept at throwing the ball to a person, while Zev prefers to roll the ball, chase it down, repeat.  Just a bit more effort and they will roll the ball to each other and officially play together, right?  Yea, right.

7/23/12 Ben, finally behind the real wheel

July pics 1

7/1/12 Ben with Grandpa Michael at Sunriver, OR 

7/2/12 Zev and dad reading

7/3/12 Back in Portland, Zev enjoys a swim at the local fountain with mom

Ben's turn at the water

Zev being his chill self

7/6/12 Zev figuring out trains at the Children's Museum with Grandpa Michael

Got it now.

more June pics

6/9/12 Birthday bash.  Ben with mom and some goofball in the background

6/11/12 Zev looking rather serious

6/15/12 At Play Boutique, Ben on the car

Same day, Zev rides the orange one

6/18/12 At Gymboree

6/19/12 Awesome, yet slightly freaky picture of Benya

Zev enjoys sliding

6/24/12 Zev with Grandpa Tolya

same day, Ben with dad

Pictures from the actual birthday -- 100th post!

Ben reading 6/6/12

Zev looking good in stripes

Intense Ben

Zev' grinning

Boys with their two wonderful aunts, Olga and Shawna

Some of the birthday did not go exactly as planned...

At Gymboree things started looking up.

Some doubts lingered...

... but the wheels are a sure bet.

And we are off exploring

At the wheel together

Ben with his buddy Gymbo

Past one year

Been a long time since an update.  One year mark came and went.  The party was a smashing success.  Thank you all who helped plan and prepare, who came over to celebrate with us and brought so many wonderful gifts!

The boys continue to grow and develop, thank G-D.  Most recent nights (but not last night) they slept through.  Much more talkative now.  They have also learned to point at things they want.  For example, a few times Zev pointed to his bed during the nightly singing.  Either he was real tired or just wanted to get away from our singing - showing good musical taste already.  They point to body parts a little too.  In no small part due to Grandma Rita's efforts, Zev and Ben now sometimes point out ears and forehead.  In general, the boys are better at showing what they want and don't want, especially with books.
They also understand when we don't want them to do something.  The difference is: Zev actually listens sometimes and Ben just wants to do what he wants to do.  And if he does not get to impose his will - he gets noisily unhappy.  I foresee a lot of interesting interactions with parents in his future...
Other then that - still no walking, but standing, moving along furniture and rapid crawling.  Both of the boys can be a pain to get changed and dressed when they feel like resisting - which is quite often.

July also saw a first attempt at travel.  Along with the rest of the clan, including my parents, we migrated to Sunriver OR - a lovely resort city in the middle of a pine forest.  Bike paths, pines, tame deer, many playgrounds, huge water park - great place.  Let me tell you: the best part was driving in and driving out.  We drove after 7pm, while the kids slept.  Three to four hours each way, peace, quiet - now, that was awesome.  At Sunriver itself, actually, things were somewhat less peaceful.  Simply put, Alla and I did not plan well.  The kids had portable beds, much smaller then their cribs.  We had a great room in the house with the rest of the family (18 Jews under one roof, people).  Between the excitement, the attention, the noise, and the new place the boys had trouble falling asleep, woke up frequently and met each morning in the middle of our bed.  Between 5 and 7 I would hand them off, one at a time, to my parents who took care of them while Alla and I got actual sleep.  At 11 and change we would emerge and attempt to be decent.  Around 1pm we would take the boys so my parents would get a break.  After 3:30 it was time to eat, play a little, and start getting ready for putting the boys to sleep again.  Here comes another night.
After three nights, I simply threw our things in the van, shoved humans in after the things, and drove back.  I can't speak for others, but I won't be ready to try travel with the boys again for at least another year.

Back in Portland things were better. For instance, Zev and Ben went back to sleeping normally, in their beds, and not on top of mom (Ben) and under dad's armpit (Zev).  As a reward, they had their first trip to the zoo and children's museum.  Both were a bit too early, but did serve as proof of concept.  Large animals such as elephants, giraffes, and a nine foot polar bear left much less of an impression than I expected.  A penguin that swam inches in front of Zev's face, however, was noticed for sure.  The Children's Museum went over better, with lots of toys for boys to play with.


With that, back to the scheduled programming.