5/31/09

AHA! Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease...

Aha! So... it wasn't just a 24 hour flu bug that hit us last week!!

Matteo started his 24 hour fever on a Sunday, the next day Gabby got it. Then, a day later I noticed Rocco & Matteo had little red spots all over their feet. Matteo's were much worse looking... kind of like blisters. Rocco's looked more like bug bites.

I sat on it. I thought that maybe they had spent a lot of time walking around outside with their shoes off that day and they were having a strange reaction to the grass.

The next day, the spots on Matteo's feet look more like blisters. They looked sore! Rocco's weren't really blisters, but were big red spots. Then, Rocco also got a fever.

Finally, after waking up at 3:40am on Friday morning to hold Rocco so he could sleep, Dan made an appointment to bring the kids in to the doctor. Gabby BEGGED to go with... I guess she wanted a sucker. We let her go... we figured the doctor owes us a LOT of suckers by now!

Anyway, after Dan gave Dr. O the 411, he inspected the boys... and then asked to take a look inside Gabby's mouth. Apparently, she had some lesions in her mouth and he then declared "All 3 of your kids have had Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease… not to be confused with Hoof & Mouth Disease.”

Lovely.

Apparently, this fun little disease spreads like gangbusters in kids aged 6 months - 4 years. It is most recognizable by small blisters on the hands and/or feet and lesions in the mouth.

Thanks SF zoo… looks like we ended up going home with a few souvenirs after all!

5/29/09

First Sucker Experience!

Well... the boys have now had their first experience with suckers. Gabby was eating one on the sofa the other day... and the little guys just happened to be sitting next to her. Rocco took a try and decided he would be ALL OVER Gabby to get a few more tries. And, Matteo actually liked getting in on it too.


Ok... I know... really not a great idea to encourage them swapping spit. Especially with how my kids seem to share every illness under the moon. But... whatever... this was just so cute I couldn't pass up on recording it after it had started.... and encouraging the cuteness!

5/26/09

Matteo wiggles....

This is the cutest... Matteo has the cutest little wiggle that he does when he gets excited or happy. He wiggles when you play catch with him, and he wiggles when we turn "Go Diego Go!" on.

It's so cute I can't help but smile when I watch this. I only wish we would have gotten a close-up shot of his cute little cheekers when he did his wiggle tonight while we were playing outside.

SO CUTE!

24 Hour Flu Bug??

If there is a bug to be caught somewhere… one of my kids will catch it. Undoubtedly. Poor little Matt seemed to have caught a 24 hour fever. I’m guessing he picked it up at the zoo. He seemed a little off on Sunday… and then he had a 102 fever by Sunday evening. That night he was waking up constantly and fought his fever the entire night. Thankfully, I have an unbelievable husband who took on 100% of the night duty and then got up with sick/fussy Matt at 5:20am. Don’t worry… Mr. Martino was rewarded with a five hour nap on Monday morning. Yes F-I-V-E hours. No lie.

Since Matteo was still feeling yucky on Monday, he was having a difficult time trying to go down for his morning nap. So, I would rock him and he’d fall asleep. I’d put him down in his crib asleep… he’d wake up… I’d rub his back… he’d fall asleep… I’d try to sneak out… and he’d sit up and cry harder. Repeat x3. It was so sad… my poor little guy! All the while, Rocco was napping soundly in the same bedroom. Finally, Rocco was woken up by the drama. I tried to handoff Matteo to Dan, so Dan could nap with him. But, Matt was in full-on mommy-velcro-mode. And, it upset Matt so much that he was handed off to Dan that he decided to cry harder, which ended up making him throw up all over himself.

So, I bathed him… calmed him down… gave him water... rocked him. Somehow his lethargic little arm had serious lockdown on my arm, and he would not let go. I eventually got him to lie down in Gabby’s bed so I could lay with him. I was able to unlock my arm from his… I ran out of the room… grabbed Dan and had him run in there (Matt had already realized I was gone and started crying again).

But, the little guy… and big guy… finally napped. For FIVE LONG HOURS. I knew Matt needed rest to get better. And, if I wanted any good-wife points for the weekend, I knew Daddy had earned a nap too.

When they woke up at 2pm, Matt was acting so much more himself and by 4pm, his fever was gone. The bummer was that by 2pm, little Miss Gabby had also developed the fever.
Thankfully, Rocco was not hit by this little fever bug! YAY!

Trip to the Zoo!!

We decided to take the kids to the San Francisco zoo on Saturday. It was beautiful, sunny and warm where we live. And, it was like winter in San Francisco. Thankfully, we checked the weather first and packed winter coats and hats for all the kids.

I’m not a huge fan of the zoo. I always end up feeling bad for the animals. But, it was fun to do something adventurous as a family over the long weekend.


The kids had a great time. Gabby really wanted to see the new baby gorilla… but unfortunately, mommy gorilla still had a tight watch over the baby and kept her inside. But, the kids did get to see a few of the other gorilla’s being active and putting on a show… so that lifted her spirits a bit. They beat their chests, climbed trees, etc.


There were also a few good bear exhibits. The kids even got to stand next to a large glass wall/window and the grizzly bears came right up to them.


Gabby REALLY liked the polar bears and gorilla’s best. Ever since, she has taken her gigantic polar bear stuffed animal to bed with her the past few nights. It’s just as tall as her. Rocco & Matteo seemed to like the giraffes, gorillas and grizzly bears the best. They were really only interested in large animals that were moving around. Anything small or large and sleeping never captivated their interest.


After hitting all the cool animals, we decided to feed the kids. AT THE ZOO. It has been months since we’ve taken all 3 kids to a restaurant. Seriously… MONTHS (since August 08). Gabby is an angel in restaurants and isn’t a concern. But – the boys. Yikes. They are little copy cats who pretty much need to be tied down to eat. The thought alone of taking them to a restaurant is overwhelming.


Anyway, the zoo’s cafeteria seemed manageable. I put table toppers in front of each child. We quickly dropped the boys in high chairs, threw food in front of them. And, for 3 minutes (maybe)… we all sat at the same table. Dan & I looked at each other with big smiles and we said “WOW! We’re DOING it! We’re feeding OUR THREE kids in public!” Then, Rocco decided it was time to scream, get out and begin wandering the entire cafeteria. So much to see & explore. Matteo then followed… if his brother was going to wander… he was as well. Gabby sat nicely and enjoyed her zoo lunch.


If we learned anything from the zoo cafeteria it was that we are definitely not taking the twins to a restaurant anytime soon. Well… a restaurant that we could possibly get kicked out of anyway. I’m sure any McDonalds with a play structure would work out just fine.


A day at the zoo = tired kids. Rocco passed out on the walk back to the car. Then, Gabby & Rocco both slept on the ride home. And about 5 minutes before getting to our house… Rocco woke up, started crying and fussing… and I KNEW he was about to get carsick. Sure enough. He puked up his lunch, all over himself, in his car seat. Poor kid.


I have to call our pediatrician and see what they recommend for carsickness because poor little Rocco seems to get carsick quite frequently. This is the 4th time the little guy has gotten carsick.
Oh well… even with the end drama, it was still worth it.
















Rocco's NEW Trick!

Check out Rocco’s new trick. This kid is AMAZING… such a strong little dare-devil!

A Happy Mother’s Day & Birthday


What was I most thankful for on Mother’s Day and my birthday this year? My family. I’ve got a lot to hug and kiss every day and I couldn’t be a happier momma!
Here is a photo of our little family… celebrating my birthday 3 days after the actual day… in the morning, before school and work. The kids got to eat chocolate cake for breakfast. Gabby was thrilled! I know.... I'm a GREAT mommy! =)
A corner of the cake was already eaten a day or two before this. But, that’s ok… that’s just the way life goes these days… and I’ll take a party when I can get one!
Dan gave me some beautiful flowers and we ended up going out on a date the following Friday night to get Indian food at one of our favorite restaurants.

5/14/09

Some recent CUTENESS!!

The kids are all SO MUCH fun when they are feeling good & healthy!

These are a few recent photos... well... ok... probably taken about two weeks ago on the tail end of the last round of sickness.














And, I just had to post this photo because when/if Gabby has to spend time in timeout... Rocco will often go and sit by her in timeout. Doesn't look like anyone is too upset here:

5/7/09

17 appointments in 11 days!

Ask Dan or I why we were a little physically and mentally exhausted over the past two weeks... and you'll hear a LOT about the fact that we just finished a record streak of 17 pediatric doctor appointments in 11 days. That meant sick kids... sleepless nights... juggling work schedules... and whiny kids who need extra love.

Seriously. 11 days of fun.

Again... who could make something like this up.

It all started with the well baby visits for Rocco and Matteo on Monday, 5/4, and went downhill from there. Granted... the boys picked up some bugs after hitting all our our Easter festivities. Three big and fun events in three days, going to bed later than normal, missing normal naptimes (therefore impacting length of naps), has proved to not be beneficial to the health of our little men. But, we sure did have a lot of fun regardless.

Both boys ended up getting ear infections... their first since having the tubes. Matteo didn't respond to the oral antibiotics so they ended up having him go in for 4 days of antibiotic shots to clear up his poor little ear. He was also on the tail end of battling bronchitis. Rocco was the second to get the ear infection, so they just put him on 3 days of shots instead of playing around with the oral stuff. I was thrilled. Seriously. Because I think the boys have both become pretty immune to the oral stuff. Because of Gabby's penicillin allergy... the little guys are never prescribed anything in the penicillin family. So perhaps their drugs are less potent? I don't know... but it seems that way.

In addition to the ear infections, Gabby got croup, Rocco battled with his bronchiolitis and he also got a case of the 24 hour stomach flu (just a high fever and threw up once). He was perfectly fine 24 hours later. Crazy!

And... we finished off the streak of appointments with the post-op audiology appointments for the boys. They did great - both passed. Both tested out to have perfectly normal hearing. Rocco was a bit harder to handle at the appointment... think lots of different things being stuck in an almost 16 month old's ears... and strange sound tests. He was not all too thrilled but apparently did much better than some 2 year olds. Matteo was really good. He looked at me a few times almost to say "Mom, what are they doing to me? Get me OUT of here!"... and he did manage to pull out the ear piece twice for the big test. But other than that, he was a star pupil.

Bottom line.... we spent $340.00 in 11 days. On DOCTOR appointments!! And we wonder where our money goes.... sheeeesh!!

Anyway... we're hoping to now start our HEALTHY streak!! We just have to bring the boys to see their ENT MD tomorrow, for their post-op appointment. Then, I think we're clear of MD appointments for a while. Fingers crossed!