I keep thinking about the last Valentine's Day and how long ago it seems. M was about three months old and Sacha had not only just gone back to work outside the house but had just started the Teaching Job From Hell with a group of 50 five year olds. She was having a really tough time and I was also adjusting to being home by myself with the little guy. I remember that we went out to her school to bring her lunch and a sweet treat, but things were so chaotic that we just inhaled our lunch and had to leave the treat for her to eat later. Of course, things went on to stabilize and we both got used to our new roles and schedules and such. But right then it felt like we had been abruptly tossed out of our cocoon and weren't quite sure what to do!
Then, of course, the Valentine's Day before that was the day we found out we were expecting Mateo!
Anyway, today was different from both of the two above and it was a good Valentine's Day in its own right. Mateo and I brought his Mommy breakfast in bed with some flowers this morning and then had breakfast at my grandmother's house with my mom and my grandmother's caregiver, Susan. Mateo showed off his new name for my mom - his version of Grammy, which sounds like "Brah!" He can't quite do the G sound yet, so he substitutes B, which is much easier. He also learned how to say Susan's (su-su) name and repeated it and his version of Grammy long after we had gotten home.
Sacha brought us home a delicious surprise lunch and we enjoyed it along with some cupcakes Mateo and I had made. That's when the day took a downturn. After lunch, Sacha started feeling yucky in the tummy. Soon after, Mateo showed us that the intestinal upset that we thought he had gotten over last night was not, in fact, gone. Shortly after that, probably just from being around two people who felt yucky, even I started feeling icky. They both went off to bed soon after dinner and hopefully will feel better in the morning...and I feel fine now, other than just being exhausted. I have to say though, before yesterday, I had never considered the effect that toddler diarrhea might have on my psyche.
A few other less disgusting things - Mateo had his 15-month check-up on Tuesday and seems to be doing great. He weighed (and measured) in at 31.5 inches and 21 pounds even. I'll spare you the percentiles and just say that he's a tall and slender guy and the doctor was happy with his growth. He smiled and giggled for her and generally had a fun time. She seemed duly impressed with all his words and commented on her way out the door that he was ridiculously cute. We agree, obviously, and loved hearing it!
After the exam, we took M down to the lab and got his blood drawn so his lead levels could be re-checked. Before we left, Sacha made the doctor promise to call her cell phone only with the results so that she wouldn't come home to find us at a hotel if the numbers were bad.
Last time it took at least a week to hear anything, but this time I think the doctor must have been sufficiently worried about my mental health to speed things up. She had the results expedited and called yesterday to tell us that his levels had gone down somewhat. We were thrilled to hear that, as we had both been worrying that they might have gone up. I have to say, though, that after all the painting and house cleaning I've done for the past three months, I was hoping for a bigger drop. I guess progress is progress and we just have to keep working on it.
One more thing to conclude this epic novel - today after Sacha got home, we were chatting in the bedroom while Mateo went next door to the bathroom and turned the hot water on and off while standing next to the bathtub, as is his wont. He ran off to do something else and left the hot water running, as he usually does. One of us was about to go turn it off, as we usually do, when I decided to try something different. I said "Mateo, will you go turn the water off?" He stared at me blankly for a second and then said "Ah dah?" (all done?) in this voice like, oh, well why didn't you say so? Then he turned, trotted into the bathroom and turned off the water as Sacha and I gaped at each other. I keep saying this, but it seems that he really does understand us!
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