Guess what else isn't childproof!

John was the last to get the sickness that is still going around in our house. Noses still run and coughing still takes our breath away. However, John took it to a whole new level by adding a special dose of strep throat and ear infection to the yuckiness. Antibiotics were started today and the strep test results required medical phone call #2 of the day regarding William. Seeing as William can't tell me if his throat is hurting, I was worried he might also have strep. This possibility puts me in the running for the Worst Mother of the Year (WMOTY) Award as William was the first in our house to get sick at the end of last week. If he in fact did have strep throat, he would have had it untreated for close to a week. It is great to think about our son being in pain and us ignoring it for an entire week. Luckily, my award is already in the mail for what happened earlier today and I don't have to worry about any further events. A quick call to the pediatrician's office revealed that most kids under the age of 2 don't get strep throat even when they are directly exposed to it by family members in close proximity. The strep throat exposure isn't concerning to them. However, the news that William still has a runny nose/cough after 7 days was something the nurse was concerned about. I have instructions to call back for an appointment if he is any worse tomorrow or simply "not better" on Monday to rule out the possibility of a bacterial infection, ear infections or sinus infections. Now that I know I have the
WMOTY Award in the bag, I will go ahead and follow through with these instructions. How did I came to win such a prestigious award in the first place? Well, let me tell you...

As I've said before, we're changing the routine up here from two naps a day to one nap a day. The switcheroo is requiring a lot of little changes including the time of our lunch. Lunch is occurring earlier in order to get him down for a nap earlier to prevent the complete and total "Meltdown Mode". When all goes exactly according to plan, we are making it to the crib somewhat peacefully about 40% of the time. The rest of the time includes, but is not limited to all out sobbing, a limp torso and extreme flailing of limbs by all involved as well as a pounding headache by the time all is said and done. When we get a little behind schedule it doesn't go as smoothly and we are left with the above situation before lunch starts. This presents an interesting parenting dilemma: Feed the kid or pick up the pieces and put them all in the crib and try again later.

Today I was trying to prep lunch so I could put it on the table and feed him before the projected meltdown time. William was supposed to be occupying himself in the living room with his bucket of blocks, but instead followed me into the kitchen. Somehow in his freakish tallness, he was able to reach up and grab this off of the counter:

This is a bottle of infants vitamins with a child resistant cap. Ordinarily this is not something I would let William play with, but time was short and my hands were full. Not two full minutes later, I walked out of the kitchen to find he had outsmarted the child resistant cap and had the lid off. A small amount of the vitamin liquid was smeared on his face and a large amount spread across his brand new T Shirt (with a race car on the front). This is the moment I was awarded the WMOTY Award, I am fairly certain. I grabbed both lid and bottle from him and was relieved to find approximately the same amount of fluid inside the bottle as before. However, I couldn't be certain he hadn't swallowed some and he already had his Recommended Daily Amount of vitamins for the day. A phone call was made to Poison Control (FYI: Really nice people those Poison Control people. Very calm, even when talking to the WMOTY). The good news is that he could drink the entire bottle and not suffer from any type of permanent damage - which I have no intention of letting him do. They recommended giving him several ounces of milk along with some lunch and keeping an eye on him for the next hour. Believe me, I don't plan on taking either eye off of him for more than a second after today.

So, people who have medication in child resistant bottles at their houses within reach (which means it isn't under several heavy duty sets of locks on the very top shelf that cannot be reached without the use of a tall ladder), it may be time to childproof. I'm not asking you put away the knives. But the prescriptives: yes.

And just for fun: a riddle! What is more fun than potatoes? Potatoes in a bag in a box! HAHAH!

PS Video clips and audio clips will be coming shortly as well as pictures taken by other people!