What a Day

Yesterday was supposed to be a normal Tuesday: out of the house by 8:45, drop Eddie at Cassie's, bike to school, pick Eddie up after his nap for our weekly afternoon together.We had an appointment at the Mazda dealer for Edwards car.

But Eddie's diaper rash was SO bad yesterday morning that we both cringed as I changed him. His diaper was FULL of corn and sharp, largely unchewed almonds. I mean FULL. There was blood, but I wasn't sure if it was internal or from the three big, open sores on his cheeks that had only gotten worse since the night before, despite gathering him with A & D ointment. Poor Wadamus. He was screaming and shaking by the time I was done.

I hugged him until he stopped crying and then told him we'd stay home from school so we could go to the doctor for some advice and maybe mediated ointment.

I called at 8:05 am for an appointment but the earliest I could get was 11:20. Sheesh. So we spent our morning taping and priming the office window frame (with me chanting "don't touch!" to Eddie because I didn't want him getting primer all over the house), adding irrigation lines to a garden bed, and trying to convince Eddie to be naked to let his rump air out. He would have NONE of that...which, if you know Eddie at all, is not only weird, but concerning. This kid LOVES being naked. But the sores hurt so much that he insisted on wearing a diaper. A good thing, too, since he passed 2 more loads of almond chunks before we left for the doctor.

The doctor said it looked like a yeast infection and prescribed an antifungal cream. Luckily it was the OTC type so I didn't need his insurance card. As I posted on Facebook, I realized on Monday morning that I left my wallet in the van...the van that Dave drove up to Gualala. So I don't have a license, credit cards, insurance cards, nothing. I DO have $14 I found in the house, though. I was going to buy yogurt and bananas but the ointment cost $11 with tax. Oh well, we'll survive until Friday.

Bless her soul, the doctor looked at the bloody poopy diaper I brought to her office and she said the blood is probably from colon irritation and not the rash. She looked concerned and asked me to avoid feeding Eddie pounds of almonds until he's old enough to understand chewing thoroughly. I don't think she believed me when I said that he normally DOESN'T gorge on them and DOES usually chew them. Sometimes kids do crazy things...especially at daycare when their friends are around.

He fell asleep in the car on the way to CVS. We had meatballs and olives for lunch because it was fast. While he napped I moved the baby chickens from the chicken tractor and into an old dog crate inside the chicken pen so all the birds can get acquainted. Then I positioned the chicken tractor over some weeds that popped up near the asparagus bed. Two big chickens spent the rest of the day in there...and they nibbled those weeds down to dust, just like I wanted! Good chickie-chickens!

I had to wake Eddie up early from his nap so we could leave for Elk Grove to get the Mazda worked on. Edward got a notice on the mail that the steering pump was recalled so he wanted that done, along with a few other things covered under the warranty.

The work took about 2 hours and we spent our time playing in the dealership's kid "area" and running around inside he show room. The kid area was a glass-walled room the size of a small walk-in closet. It was weird.

Eddie wasn't interested in watching Bob the Builder even though I was (Can we build it? Yes we can!). So he mostly ran around in circles, ate snacks, told me where to sit, opened and closed the kid room door, and flirted with all the ladies. He was not too loud for the most part, so no one seemed to mind him running free.

He did unload another pile of almonds, which leaked onto his shirt when I laid him down on the changing table...and of course, I'd forgotten to restock the clothes in his bag. It only took a trillion Costco wipes to get the shirt clean enough to get home.

Since I didn't have my wallet, the dealer guy had to call Edward to get his credit card number (I'm one of those lame people who doesn't have her card numbers memorized....and it is Edward's car so he should pay it anyway).

Our commute home was opposite to the traffic, thank goodness, but Eddie's poor face was in the sun the whole time. I should move one of those window shades into the Mazda. He'd eaten so many snacks at the dealership that he wasn't really hungry for dinner, but I served him a bowl of ramen noodles cooked with pesto, sesame oil, green garlic, tons of finely-chopped chard, and a egg for each of us. He happily slurped up the noodles and egg, but picked out all the chard leaves. Sigh...someday he'll enjoy slimy boiled greens as much as his parents do!

After that, I just dumped all the dishes into the sink so we could play together. I pulled the toy drawer out of the oak cabinet and we played for a while with his vehicles. He pulled every single wheeled toy out of the drawer, handed it to me, and instructed me to push it fast along the floor. It was fun, but he was frustrated that the backhoe and tractor would veer off into the carpet instead of going straight like the Hot Wheels cars. My friend, Tara, came by just before Eddie's bath so I could show her how to care for the dogs while we're out of town this coming weekend. She watched Eddie charging around, yelling, and running off to the park when we walked her out to her car...and she admitted that she'd never be able to keep up with him. You and me, BOTH, Tara! It is exhausting...but strangely, it is only exhausting when someone else makes me aware of it. Otherwise it is just my baseline.

Eddie's bath was shallow, cool, and quick because his tushie hurt so much. I have him a dose of Motrin, quickly brushed his teeth, read him a story, and put him to bed. Then I took a hot bath, chatted with Dave online, and fell asleep fast. Yesterday was exhausting...and all day I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how much grading I had left on my desk at school, how I needed to start organizing myself to study for my big exam, and how I needed to drill holes in my Mason jar lids for my compost incubation...which I had intended to put together this week. (Totally not going to happen unless I spend my non-Livermore hours in the lab this weekend...ug.)