Home Remedies for Earache

We have been battling earaches this week.

I noticed my poor boy would cup and pull on his ears while nursing.  He seemed fine the rest of the time so I just carefully watched him for a day or two.  We had an upcoming pediatrician appointment, anyway, so I asked her to check his ears. 

He had some wax buildup in the right and some redness and irritation in the left.  No signs of infection or swollen eardrums, thank goodness... and since antibiotics are rife with side effects and very likely not effective against mostly viral infections in the first place, they were not an option.

So our pediatrician recommended putting drops of warm Garlic Mullein oil in his ears a couple times a day.  She also said that for an earache I could boil slices of ginger and then make a warm compress with a washcloth.

We've been doing this for two days and have seen an improvement.  He's no longer out of sorts and doesn't tug on them as often.  But he still reaches up and touches his ears a couple times a day.  Hopefully a couple more days will solve the problem since he's too young for many other home remedies.

Settling In

Sorry we have been absent.  As you can see from the pictures, it has been a challenge settling in to our new townhouse.  I think I did pretty well considering I did most of it by myself with the baby.  Luckily, my sister came by and we spent an entire day knocking out boxes and hanging pictures.

So it is starting to feel more like a home!

I really like our new home.  It's clean and bright and cozy.  I wish with all my heart we could have found a house we could afford.  I dearly wanted the baby to have a yard.  But for now the townhouse is a good option... though the soundproofing leaves something to be desired.

I can hear everything that goes on - not only in my neighbors apartments, but outside my bedroom window (the rain in the gutter sounds like an extremely loud popcorn popper) and across the parking lot, as well.

The only other situation I'm really having a hard time with is our washing machine.  Energy efficient apparently means not efficient at all when it comes to cleaning.  It only hits lukewarm temperatures and only fills the basin 1/3 full for rinses.  So I have to use 4 wash cycles to get my cloth diapers clean!  Plus the agitator seems too strong and appears to be fraying the hems on my laundry.

But these are small things, over all, and I'm really trying to be positive and grateful for everything I have.  I'm so lucky to have this nice home.  I'm so very, very lucky to be able to stay home with the baby this year.  I think, because a few big things aren't right (like me being a single mom, for starters) that I tend to obsess when little imperfections crop up.  I'm working on that.

I am so very blessed.

Moving Day

The baby is missing a sock.

This is the least of my problems, you understand, because today is moving day.  Everything is a jumbled mess in the back of a U-Haul.  The trunk of my tiny Corolla is stuffed to the brim with things I refuse to allow to touch the dirty floor of the rental truck: baby clothes, toys, bouncy chairs, cloth diapers, etc.

My father and brother-in-law are huffing and puffing as they scurry to get everything loaded before my  nephew's eleven o'clock baseball game.  I'm grateful for their help but I grow more and more irritated with every piece of furniture they move.
You see, it all happened when I was six months pregnant.  I had gone from a happy young up-and-coming medical assistant about to go to nursing school to a soon-to-be single mom who was broke and could barely roll out of bed due to the constant vomiting.  So my older sister took pity on me and I moved in with her family for the remainder of the pregnancy and the first few months of the baby's life.

But now it's time to move and I'm realizing all the little ways living with other people makes having a baby easier.  Not that I ever really asked for help; I didn't.  But every once in a while it was easier to ask someone to hold the baby while I swapped out laundry than setting him down and letting him wail.  If I felt queasy or had a headache, I could put the baby in his swing and let my niece and nephew entertain him for fifteen minutes.  I could run ideas and concerns by my sister at any time: "Do you like this diaper?" or "Do you think the baby looks pale?"

I'm suddenly realizing how difficult single parenting is because, for the first time, I'm faced with the prospect of truly doing everything alone.  I will have no entertainers, no baby holders, no family to bounce ideas off.  There will be no sharing of cleaning or cooking responsibilities.  I will be in charge of everything and everything must get done, despite the baby crying, despite me not feeling well, despite everything.

And don't even get me started on unpacking! 

Of course it will all get done, eventually.  Things might not run smoothly, at least not at first, but things will run.  Women have been parenting by themselves in much harder times than this and under much more difficult circumstances.  I tell myself this but I'm not sure how much it helps.

It suddenly feels like I have no control over anything at all... certainly not over whether the carpet shampooers did a thorough job.  So I worry about the little things I can control.

Now where is that damn sock?

You Grow In Leaps

Deacon,

My darling boy, you amaze me.  Every day with you is so full of joy.  I never imagined life could be so poignant and worthwhile. 

My favorite thing in the world is watching how you grow.  You grow in leaps.  A single eye blink and you are suddenly different than you were.

You used to fit so snugly cradled in one arm.  Now you are a 16lb sack of potatos draped over my shoulder, snoring, drooling.

I used to ask myself, "Is it normal for him to sleep so much?" and now I consider it a huge success when I get you down for a nap.

You used to have a fuzzy duckling head, full of the softest whiteblond newborn fuzz.  Now you have silky yellow hair.

You used to watch the world with a serious look of consternation.  We were sure you disapproved of all of us.  Now you smile big toothless grins.  You coo and you laugh.  (I live to make you smile.)

You are still the warmest, softest hot water bottle in the world.

You used to nurse to sleep and snuggle against my breast.  Now we pace the floor for a half hour every night.

You still love lullabyes.

You used to be content to be carried snuggled up against mama.  Now you want to face out and observe the world.  You reach for my muffin and slap your hands on the desk.  You make squishy fists in your aunt's sweater.  You have staring contests with my water cup.  (The cup wins.)

You look so proud of yourself when you manage to sit up by holding onto my fingertips.  When you stand on your own wobbly legs with only my fingertips to assist you, it looks as though you conquered the world.

You still hate the carseat.

You play with toys now.  You chew on their ears and noses and squish them up against your body.  You clutch them posessively with both hands.  You burble in delight when they sing songs or twinkle lights.

You barely fit into your 6 month clothes anymore.  All your adorable footies are now in a box.

You still pat my boob or my face with a chubby, proprietary hand, as if saying, "mine."

You are still the most precious thing in my entire world.

I try not to blink.