Travel, Dentist, Vomit and More Vomit

We are back home after a wonderful and extended trip to Washington to see my family and friends. Nate, Will & I flew alone for the first (& 2nd) time, and amazingly, all went fairly well. Other than a tremendous tantrum from Will before getting on the plane when leaving Orange County, the boys were remarkably well-behaved.

The tantrum was a doozy, and I believe it was large enough that it filled our travel quota for the trip. Twice Will kicked off both his shoes & socks (a first!) he was flailing so violently, throwing himself to the ground, melting out of my arms . . . he was sweating through his shirt, a snotty sheen covering his face and tears dripping off his chin. For the life of me, I could not find out what was wrong. Will's not the one who typically throws such a tantrum and this one was a spectacle. People literally gathered in a half circle around us (we were on the ground by the line at McDonald's in the terminal). A lady, probably close to 80 years old, gave us fries to try. Will is a renowned snacker, but the fries didn't even phase him. The fit lasted probably 20 minutes. I was trying to put on the loving, concerned, but not-too-much-of-a-push-over-mom-show. I'm sure there were people taking notes on my poor parenting and obnoxious child, but I hope, and believe, some moms were cheering me on and were impressed by my external calm and composure. I'm pretty sure people were paying the airline staff to not sit with us. Thankfully, the clouds parted and Will was flying high by the time the plane took off.

The trip was great and Will only got two ear infections, a green snotty nose & wheezing lungs. Nate chimed in with all of the above, except he only had one ear infection. We postponed our return flight by a couple days so the antibiotics could kick in, and thankfully, the boys didn't seem to be in pain on the plane.

Today, the boys, me, and our babysitter, Jordan (as a second helping hand), went to the dentist. Will's teething something awful, so they didn't bother examining him. However, they managed to find $750 worth of work on me (cheap compared to the $3000 we paid for my teeth a few months ago - ??? the hygienist said the pregnancies are to blame - I'd rather be paying $4000 on a perky pair of breasts and a tight little tummy). Nate said he wanted to have his teeth cleaned and he was excellent while the hygienist polished away on those pearly little things. Jordan took Will for a walk while I got my x-rays. Nate refused to go. I think he was afraid of what was going to happen to me. He told me "don't do it, Mommy", but I smiled away because aren't x-rays fun?! Eventually he relaxed and got a kick out of the pictures of my teeth.

You would think that, and then a wild lunch at Chuck-E-Cheese with our new friends Heidi and Dylan would have been enough for today. However, Will's little tummy had a different idea. He started holding his tummy and then getting diarrhea at C-E-C. He wouldn't even eat a piece of desert pizza (huh?). He woke not long after he went down for his nap and vomited his formula all over his bed and both pillows. Ever since, it's been a constant flow of watery goods out the back and yummy yums out the front. If something goes in, it immediately comes out. Today included more snuggling from Will than I've gotten out of him his entire life.

That reminds me of a funny moment, not long after his initial throw-up. I've had issues in the past with fainting and having seizures when I've randomly gotten hurt in the past years. It's called a Cardiogenic Syncope, yada yada. Anyway, after getting Will cleaned up and his sheets off his bed, I was carrying Will on my hip into the bathroom to get disinfecting wipes out from under the sink (they work great for cleaning off the plastic mattress protectors in times like these). I tried to use my foot to open the cupboard when somehow I slipped and scrapped up my chin on the corner of the cupboard door. Hard. I immediately started sweating and seeing spots, so I got down on the floor and lay on my back as quickly as I could. If I can get blood to my brain quickly, I can stop myself from fainting. Last thing I needed was to pass out while standing and holding a sick little Will. I cold-sweated for a while on the ground and forced happy talk out of myself to Nate, who was wondering why I was lying on the bathroom floor, and Will, who was cuddling fetal-style on my chest and stomach. I, as I often find myself, was again thinking "I can't believe this is happening to me". My life is filled with many strange and funny moments. I just cannot imagine these things happening to other people. I started to chuckle thinking about our situation. Then Will ripped a few "man" farts. The poor boy, his tummy was so upset, and I started belly-laughing. I felt bad for Will, who was serious and really not feeling well. What kind of mom laughs at her sick child's farts? Later, Nate was laughing at Will's farts and I told him, "Be nice to your brother. He's not feeling well and it's not funny."

On another note, I was mowing the lawn yesterday because it had grown quite long while we were on vacation. I was pushing the mower through a tight area and got stuck by a nasty spike on a palm tree/plant thing. The place were I was poked looked like a small volcano, minus lava. It still hurts like a son-of-a-gun. It's like a bad tetanus shot. Go figure. Oh, and I also forgot to mention I just sat back down after changing Will's clothes, fitted sheet, and crib pads that were covering his bed because the poor guy vomited all over them. He's already back to sleep. I just couldn't love that sick little baby more.