We Are In - Fluenza

So, you know those cute pics below of us at the Red Sox game at Camden Yards last Sunday? All looks well, right? Well, it wasn't. Connor had a positive strep test and had started antibiotics 24 hours before those pics were taken. He seemed fine--as the photos seem to show. But after the game he got tired and cranky again (as he had been on Saturday) and got a pretty high fever on Sunday night. So, Monday morning I took him into the pediatrician for a follow up. It didn't make any sense to me that he'd be on antibiotics for 48 hours and still be so sick. We saw a new doctor in the practice who has the personality of a toe-nail. He basically poo-pooed me and said that we just needed to stick with the Amoxicillin and hang in there. The rest of the day was awful. He was miserable, vomiting, coughing, fever. Then, Monday night again with the awful, drenching fevers. And this is WITH Tylenol. So, by Tuesday morning I was alarmed and actually toyed with taking him to he ER, but called the pediatrician's office instead. I talked to a great nurse who agreed with me that something didn't make sense. So, I brought him back into the office at lunchtime yesterday and we saw a different doctor, one that we love, Dr. Crowley. She actually listened to me and was concerned about the fever (it was almost 102 at that moment!) and Connor's complaint of leg pain on top of everything else. So, she did a rapid flu test.

Now, I should tell you that Connor has developed over the past few months, a deep fear of the flu. All of the news about H1N1 has not escaped his notice and we've had lots of discussions about the flu, how to avoid getting the flu, etc. So, you can imagine his reaction when the doctor walked in and said "Well, we've got a positive flu test." His face literally collapsed on itself, he started to scream and cry and said "Mama! I don't want to die!!!" Ugh. Poor thing. The doctor was so nice and really handled him well. Once I explained to her that Connor was very afraid of "the swine flu" we only conversed using the name H1N1. In the end, she said that she was basically 100% sure that he, in fact, has H1N1 because he was immunized for the regular flu and virtually ALL of the positive influenza A they are seeing this early in the season has been the H1N1 strain. Thank God he didn't understand that part of it. I'd have had to have him tranquilized.

Things really got fun when the doctor told him that she needed to give him a mask to wear out of the office and that he should not touch anything. She put the mask on his face (a rigid one--not one of those cloth surgical things) and it pinched his little red eyes into slits. Which made him cry again. And he was so sad that everyone would be afraid of him in the mask. Which they were. Clearly, word spread quickly in the office because EVERYONE who worked there moved aside as we exited. The girl at the checkout counter literally THREW his sticker at him so she wouldn't come close to him. It was pitiful.

So, he's on Tamiflu for the flu and antibiotics for the concurrent strep. I called his school nurse and she agreed that it is probably H1N1 and that there is at least one other case in his school right now, also with concurrent strep. He'll probably be out of school all week. And it will be a miracle if Bob and I don't get this, too. My only hope is that I have some immunity because my mom is pretty sure that I was immunized during the swine flu outbreak in the 1970s.

I got him a little stuffed green monster yesterday and told him it was the flu virus guy. He liked that. But I could tell that he was conflicted about whether he should snuggle him (he's cute) or beat the living daylights out of him. In the end, he snuggled him. After all, its not easy being feared and hated!

Go Sox Go!

Gotta make this super quick because its bedtime. Had a great day today at Camden Yards. Felt like we were at Fenway--3 out of 4 fans were Red Sox Nation. And it was easily one of the most perfect weather days of the year. Happy Birthay one more time to our Big Papi!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is my schoompie's birthday. We started the celebrations this past weekend with a nice dinner at McCormick and Schmick's and tonite he grilled some yummy ribeyes. This weekend we'll wrap up the festivities with a Red Sox game in Baltimore. An all around exciting birthday week for our number one guy. In defiance of aging, he's begun playing softball again after a roughly 7 year lay-off. Good for him. Not so good for his right hamstring. How's this look?




That was Week 1's injury. Week 2 was a jammed finger that swelled up like an eggplant on a stick and that required a splint. No worries. These are battle scars that are earned with pride.

In order to demonstrate my devotion, I embarked on a 3 night journey to concoct a Martha Stewart dessert from her current Halloween issue in lieu of the traditional birthday cake. Here's a shot of Martha's:

And here's a shot of mine:

It was so delicious. Good choice, honey. Despite the grease fire, two dozen eggs, 3 pounds of butter, and pile of pans. Happy Birthday. We love you.

Out The Door

A few pics from the morning as we headed out the door at 7:15am for the bus stop. He was pretty excited and sure of himself on the way over. Got on the bus right way and barely said goodbye. But, then, as the bus pulled away as I waved to him, he pressed his face to the glass and started to cry. He told me tonite that he stopped crying right away because he didn't want the other kids to see him but that he cried because "I knew I was going to miss you mama."

Number One

First grade. Shocking. Today was the Mill Run Elementary School's Open House where Connor got to meet his teacher, put away his supplies, get his lunch money card loaded, buy Mill Run Mountain Lion clothes. Nice. Its a really good school and I am confident he will do well.

Oh Canada!

We had a great end-of-summer vacation this year and visited our neighbors to the north. We started out by driving to Buffalo, NY on Saturday. Thanks to the Garmin, we had an enjoyable trip right up the middle of Pennsylvania where Connor got to see "the boondocks" first hand. We had planned to split it up and spend the night somewhere on the way, but made it almost all the way there and grabbed a cheap room for the night. On Sunday morning we headed over to Ontario and got checked in at the Sheraton On The Falls. And they're not kidding with that name. This is a shot from our room:


And here' s a shot of the falls at night under illumination. They also have really fantastic fireworks that go off right over the falls and which we were able to watch from our room.




We had a great few days in Niagara and did all the requisite tourist stuff. Along with the falls, there is a street called Clifton Hill that is basically a "boardwalk" with tons of arcades, rides, and honky-tonk museums like Guinness and Ripley's. Of course, that was a huge hit. There is also a SkyWheel that affords some fantastic views.

This is a shot on the Aero Car that crosses over from Canada to NY over the downriver whirlpool. Check out the color of the water. Beautiful. I will say, though, that the high wire cable car was a little freaky!

And here's a requisite shot of C and me with the Canadian falls in the background. For the first two days C told everyone he met on the street that he was "going over the falls". The reactions ran the gamut--some people just chuckled but a handful of them borderline freaked out. "Oh no, little boy. You would die." Duh.

And here we are in our Maid of The Mist gear. Nice. Can't beat the all around functionality of a translucent trash bag!

There's no pic here, but I would be remiss if I forgot to mention a little side trip we took for a day to Niagara-On-The-Lake. What a beautiful town. Kind of like Middleburg on steroids. There are 700 homes in the village, 400 of which are bed and breakfasts. Lovely shops. Restaurants and spas. Flowers--spectacular flowers--everywhere. We took a carriage ride/tour and really enjoyed it.

After Niagara we weren't really sure where we were headed, but decided to go to Toronto which is only about 90 minutes away. After all, who knew when we'd be in the area again? Its a city that we'd never visited and had heard fantastic things about. We scored a great room at the Westin Harbour Castle overlooking the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario (thanks Starwood Preferred Guest!)

Toronto has the largest population of native Chinese outside of China. There are SIX Chinatowns. So, call us lemming, we decided that some Dim Sum would be a requirement. I got some recommendations on-line and ran them past the concierge. We ended up at The Pearl on the harbour. I was pretty skeptical because when we got there it was basically in a shopping mall, but boy was I wrong. It was so good. Really. And to support that assertion I will share with you that we---the Tate family---were the only white folks in the joint. Everyone else was Chinese and no one was speaking any english. That's a rave.

Of course, we had to visit the CN Tower, which was the tallest structure in the world until a a year or so ago when it was surpassed by something in Dubai. The whole observation deck has a glass floor, but they had to cover most of it in carpeting because so many people were freaked out. There is a section where the glass is uncovered and people jump on it, lay down on it, dance on it, etc. It made me sick to my stomach. The boys had a great time trying to pull me out onto it but I got pretty pissed off. Finally, I stepped on board and this is the best shot I got where you can see to the Earth below. Sickening.

And here are the boys in a peaceful little garden. Its the only time they both held still.

Following Anthony Bourdain's advice that once you see a town's marketplace, you know the place better, on Thursday we went to the city's downtown market--the St.Lawrence. We had seen it briefly the day before on a city tour, but spent more time there checking it out. And, luckly we happened upon the city's annual Busker Fest which was right out front. We got to see some Russian gymnasts and a two man band from Australia with a didgeridoo. And boy did we see some food. The market's massive footprint and diverse offerings were mind boggling. The seafood, types of which I could not even identify, was crazy. They had ribeyes the likes of which I've never seen in the U.S. And the cheese. My God, the cheese. It was so crazy that we cancelled our lunch plans, bought cheese and figs, and had an impromptu picnic at the harbour instead. Three artisanal Quebecqouis cheeses and one fine, creamy French imported brie. Yum.

That afternoon we took a sail on board the Kajama and had a great time seeing the city from the lake. Bob and C hoisted sails and took the helm for awhile. What a beautiful day.

It was a great trip. Different, fun, educational, and relaxing. That's alot to accomplish in one trip. Viva La Canada! We'll be back soon.