Wichita - the good, the bad, the ugly

We have friends who live in Wichita currently, and we've been meaning to visit them for awhile now. One of their two kids is about to undergo surgery for a congenital heart defect, so we thought now would be a good time to show our support. We left Thursday morning, with a little trepidation regarding how Quinn was going to handle his first plane trip, including a change at one of the largest airports in the world at O'Hare.

Quinn was a star on the plane ride. We fed him one meal on the first leg and together with some nursing, his ears were fine and the time passed amicably. At O'Hare he was completely fascinated with all the goings on of a busy airport. All the planes, buses, trucks, baggage cars and people had him completely mesmerized and he spent the whole time pointing and grunting at things of interest.

Bec managed to find a little corridor to an emergency exit that was quiet enough to get him to sleep and he napped for much of the time. Which was good since our scheduled two hour layover was to become three and a half due to one of the infamous O'Hare delays. Fortunately though, we checked the board often, first to detect the delay and a gate change, then to detect reversion to the original schedule and yet another gate change. Eventually, we got on our plane, reasonably on time. Another feeding on the plane and suddenly we were there, and after the couple of minor hiccups really the whole thing went quite well. Once again, Quinn proves to be an able adventurer!

We mostly laid low the first day. Our hosts had a couple medical appointments in anticipation of the surgery, and we were able to look after their other daughter who is a really nice, sweet, good smart little girl. Quinn loved to follow her around, which I think got a little tiresome for her by the end of the trip, but not this day.

That night (Friday) I came down with the stomach flu. Really violently. Outside of one food poisoning, it's the sickest I can ever remember being. Every half hour, both ends, for 6 hours through the night. I was terrified I was going to give it to their daughter having the surgery, and I was terrified I wasn't going to be in shape to fly home. In part to quarantine myself and in part to try to speed my recovery, I stayed in bed the whole next day and into Sunday - not that that was difficult because all I wanted to do was sleep, which I did for 33 hours of a 40 hour period (including the time actually being sick).

On Sunday I finally emerged, shellshocked. My relationship with food was still somewhat adversarial, but at least I was recovering. We spent some time in the backyard, and Quinn loved the chance to play outside for the first time. Quinn walked a mile in their backyard.

That night Bec caught the flu. The hubbub eventually woke Quinn. And then just when he'd begin to settle she'd have to go again. Quinn, of course, was puzzled as to why mommy would have to bolt from the bed to the ensuite bathroom at intervals, followed by these inhuman sounds. He cried and cried. Showing him mommy helped some, but made it worse some too. Singing didn't calm him, which is somewhat unusual. Bec reciting stories helped, but I can't remember the words to anything and Bec was too incapacitated to do this for any lenght of time. I began reading a Dr Suess compendium. It includes a Bartholomew Cubbins story that's really well past Quinn's age level, plus not in the usual Suessian rhythm and rhyme, but he was totally galvanized by it. I read 243 pages of Dr Suess that night. Nobody got much sleep, but we got through the night.

At some point that night, Quinn also puked a big puddle in the bed. Uh oh we thought - here we go. But it was a one-off event and after a bed change that was the end of it for him. Unfortunately though, puking noises became apparent from elsewhere in the house during the night - two of our hosts had caught it, including their youngest who was due for surgery. I was mortified that we had some all this way to show our support and instead we got their daughter sick, but in the end it turned out to be no serious impact. At least none that they'd let on to - hopefully it's true.

Bec wasn't in shape to fly so we had to postpone our flight back a day. It turns out that due to some sort of error they had cancelled Bec's return ticket, but fortunately we were able to straighten that out. We spent an additional day recuperating. That last day, the other two of our four hosts caught the flu, meaning it went clear through all 7 of is in 5 days flat. Highly contagious would you say? The next day, Tuesday, our flight went completely smoothly, blessedly. I was sooooo glad to see home again - at times I had felt like I was on Apollo 13 on the other side of the moon, wondering whether I'd ever get back...

One of our primary motivations in going down was to show our support for our friends in their difficult time, and I suppose there was a little symbolism in getting through this flu menace together. Flying 2000 miles to get a close-up view of my friends' toilet for 6 days I'm afraid isn't going to rank up there in vacation memories for me, but there are more important things in life. We made it through together and we will continue to make it through whatever comes, together.

Walk-walk-walking!

I think we can declare that Quinn took his first official steps tonight! More specifically, he was walk-walk-walk-walking - it was four steps from the fridge to mommy, who was holding the highly motivating Red Serving Spoon. We think it is what he's been screaming for for three days whenever he's in the kitchen. Yes, anyway, 4 whole steps! A new World Record for Poopsie-Stepping! Pretty steady too.

I have to say, the whole transition to walking thing isn't as sharp a transition as I'd imagined. He's been standing steadily for small periods of time for quite awhile now. He's even taken a step or two on a number of occasions but it's not like he just got up and walked across the room one day. I don't know why I pictured it that way - it doesn't really make sense.

This will open up a whole new realm of things he's not supposed to get into, which will be quite exciting for Quinn. Like his father (in spite of best intentions), it seems he only focuses on the things he doesn't have rather than the things he does. I suppose our questing leads to new things even if it doesn't result in the sought thing. Sometimes this striving is hard to understand but it's amazing to watch the natural, innate striving and pride of learning as Quinn achieves new masteries.

Helicopter snuggling

Quinn had a mysterious fever for three days. He was miserable at times, but it seems to have subsided now. Oddly, there were no other symptoms. Now he has a red rash on his face, which could be related - Bec discovered some viral thing it might be, but it's nothing to worry about either.

During one of those miserable days, Quinn woke about 10pm absolutely shrieking. It might have been the wind - 60km/h gusting to 90 - or it might of been the illness, who knows. Whatever the case, he was inconsolable. After quite awhile of this I went in to see if I could help. Bec was cradling Quinn in her arms in the chair and it was having absolutely no effect. I remembered the skin-contact theory from his younger days, which had been effective then. Bec tried it and he began to settle some, but he was clearly still miserable and clingy. We decided to take him to bed with us.

All went pretty well for awhile. With some singing he got to sleep in his now-strange confines of our bed. He slept quite well for several hours. I did too, in spite of the fact that I remember him roaming around until he was pointed south on the bed, and he curled up so his head was resting on my stomach. I remember thinking that that should probably be uncomfortable, but then I apparently fell asleep again. A little later in the night he got quite restless and was roaming around, flailing his arms, and rotating, all while asleep. I think Bec took the brunt of it since I don't recall waking much.

Who knows what caused it? Maybe he sensed our consternation at Bec considering a job opportunity? Or maybe it was just The Crud. Whatever it was, I hope it's gone. Snuggling with Quinn is nice but I don't want to have to wear my hockey gear to bed.

Noseprints

The front bay window is covered with snotty noseprints from Quinn pressing his face to the glass. In spite of the grossness, I have to say it makes me smile. When I leave for work now, he stands on the windowsill of the bay window. He taps the window and I tap back from the outside. He waves and points. He waves again as I depart in the car.

When I get home, the process is often repeated. We also spend time standing in the window, looking out at the daycare traffic across the street, squirrels, cars and trucks, and whatever else is going on outside. I can forgive a dirty window for all the fun we have in the front windowsill.

Checking the telemetry

Quinn's room is equipped with the Latest Sensors and Equipment to Facilitate the Sleep Management Process. It starts with the Summer Audio and Colour Video Monitor with LED Night-Vision Technology. Follow that with the 280Mhz Indoor/Outdoor Wireless Thermometer with Remote Probe (we don't probe anything...) to track the temperature in his (unducted) room. Then there's the Rechargeable LED Plug-In / Battery Powered Night Light with Dual Light Settings. Oh, and the Bionaire Sleep Machine with 27 Sleep Inducing Sounds, Including Waterfall and Rushing River.

All the glossy brochures in the world and he still sleeps like crap. Hopefully the technology isn't part of the problem.

Cereal escapades

Last Saturday morning I got up with Quinn to give Bec a break, as I hadn't been contributing much due to the stress of my work instability (layoffs occurred Thursday and I wasn't one of them...let's hope they're over for awhile...). Bec had given me instructions some days previously regarding his breakfast cereal. In my (very early...) morning fog I began preparations.

I found the box of powdered cereal. I began to dump some in a dish. Tip, nothing. Tip, tap, tap, nothing. Tip, Whack WHOOSH, a whole bunch. Hmmm, looks like a week's worth. Oh well let's see what I can make of it. How much water should I add? Read box. Smiling baby, organic, friendly, we're so nice...no directions. How much water?? This is clearly not targetted at engineers. Read top of box, bottom, sides...nothing. Oh well, let's wing it. Run tap, pour water into dish WHOOSH instant soup about an inch deep. Hmmm, a do-over in order methinks.

A second attempt with wiser applications of tapping and pouring seemed to produce the right consistency. Now...she said something about prunes. No prune cereal boxes...check fridge, no none in there. Think. Baby food jars, that's it! Find stash, find prunes jar, open it. Now what? Stir it in? How much? With newly aquired wisdom from pouring escapades I spooned in a bit and stirred, then repeated. There, looks pretty much like when Bec makes it.

By the time I finally finished, I think Quinn was so hungry he would have eaten anything. As it was, he ate lots of the cereal and the mission was a success. Now if I can just get my prep time down under half an hour maybe he won't starve on my watch. Wish me luck - it's probably my turn again tomorrow.

Waving

Quinn has figured out the waving thing. Thing is, he hasn't quite mastered the when-to-wave part. He and I spent some time waving at one another in the bathtub tonight. It's all a bit confusing I suppose. We have hello sometimes, we wave goodbye, we wave goodnight. Seldom do we wave from the bathtub though - but it's early in the waving game and it was pretty cute, so I didn't want to discourage it.

He waved at me through the front window this morning while I was scraping ice off my car. When a school bus caught his eye, then I was chopped liver though. He's pretty cute standing up in the dining room front bay window well. He has gotten lots of waves from passersby, garbage truck drivers and occasionally people coming to the door, and that's with mommy or daddy helping him with the waving. Now that he can do it on his own I'm sure he'll be trying his new waving act out on birds, squirrels, parked cars and whatever else is within eyeshot.

Hockey stick

How has it taken us this long? Today Bec picked up a Quinn-sized hockey stick at the sports store. Quinn was quite taken with it. So much so, in fact, that the no-snowshovels-at-the-table rule had to be expanded to cover hockey sticks. When I got home from work I showed him some stickhandling with his blue ball and he giggled. He giggled even more when I shot the ball against the basement door. Not habits to encourage indoors in the long term I suppose, but the concepts of stickhandling and shooting are important to instill at a young age :)

He took a couple of unaided steps tonight. His hands were never far from safety, but he's making incremental progress at walking every day. He is a master of his dump truck now - he can push it around, turn it around obstacles, and walk to its other end to push it the other way when he hits a wall. He has even turned it around 180 degrees in tight quarters by himself. This makes for a great spectator sport for mommy and daddy ensconced on the couch.

Bec had him to the doctor again today. We're mildly worried that there's a medical reason for his night wakeups. The doctor observed that he hasn't gained weight again, which is not the first time. After a blazing growth rate in the early going he's really plateaued. It's probably nothing to be worried about, but we're going to see a pediatrician anyway. Perhaps he's merely destined to be a speedy centre rather than a power winger.

Our little nosepicker

Quinn has learned that most important of skills - how to pick his own nose. On the upside, it means mommy can probably ease up some on Booger Patrol, but the downside is the back of the couch will never be the same.

On a less gross note, he has also gotten quite adept at the "Where's your (insert toy name here)" game. He has picked out a half dozen toys on request the last few days. He has demonstrated understanding of many words in this way and others. He is standing unsupported for up to 10 seconds, and can walk short distances with minimal hand-holding. He is also beginning to get the idea of non-destructive play a little - while previously he would only destroy hapless towers and train track assemblies, now he will humour them for a little while; plus he has learned how to put things inside other things, like toys into buckets or cups.

First came the toy phase, then mobility in the form of crawling. Then came exploring. Now he seems to be in a big learning phase. Now we just need to teach him that ancient adage - you can pick your nose and you can pick your friends, but you can't wipe your friends on the back of the couch.