A Day at the Beach

There really is something about the beach. The sand and saltwater and time sitting with my girlfriends reading magazines and making fun of the passersbys. Just a relaxing and peaceful time that makes me yearn for the beach every summer. Paul is three years old and has yet to experience this giant sandbox and swimming pool that exist naturally on earth. So it seems only right that I should want to pack him up and get him there to spend a day. And who better to do this with than my girls whom I've known the better part of my life and their children? So, after packing toys and lathering children up with sunscreen and getting the cars loaded down, off we went. Let me state for the record that there was no relaxing or making fun of passersbys. However, I enjoyed the beach in a way I never have before. I got to sit back and watch these 5 children dig and play in the sand together. I sat with my two girlfriends and I watched our children play together. How amazing. At one point, Paul and Evan took off running in opposite directions. I chased these two toddlers up the beach and listened to Evan's delighted giggle. I watched Anna's girls jump waves. It truly was an experience. After a short hour and a half on the beach, the lightening and thunder rolled in and we packed it in. We probably could've headed back out on to the beach after getting everyone cleaned up and to the cars but decided to head home. Paul had a great time playing with his new friends. He was exhausted after his day, but it was well worth the trip. Next time, we will spend more time, but we had to get home to Eli, who is still recovering from his pneumonia.

Pneumonia 101

I really could offer a course in childhood pneumonia at this point. Paul had it at 9 months (with RSV) and again this past March. So, you would think after a three week cold that was not improving much, I would've noticed the signs in Eli. But he wasn't exhibiting the normal high fever that normally accompanies a good case of pneumonia. He wasn't lethargic and he had his healthy appetite. But you'd think I'd recognize that healthy hacking cough a mile away. So it was on this Wednesday night in June. I took Paul to swimming lessons at the Y. We get there, only to realize that the indoor swimming lessons were cancelled due to thunder and lightening. Talk about a disappointed little boy. So, I get home to a wheezing infant. He'd had one nebulizer treatment that didn't seem to help so I called the dr. We tried another nebulizer treatment with no luck. So, off to the hospital I went. Jason stayed home with Paul. I might just say at this point how very lucky I am to have a supportive family. I called Uncle Kevin who lives in Middletown who met me at Christiana Hospital, you know, just to offer some moral support. What a blessing. After taking oxygen levels (100%) and listening to his chest (sounds perfect, mom) - I thought we were on our way home. Surely, I had overreacted. But they would take a chest x-ray to be sure. 4 hours later (and lots of nice conversation with my brother, I might add), we were informed that there was the beginnings of a pneumonia forming. My poor guy. More antibiotic. More nebulizer treatments. But no hospital stay. I can live with that. Your smile is so sweet and you never complain. Surely, I would've failed this exam but you were sort of like a tricky professor! Hang in there my guy. You will get better soon.

Newark Nite

So it has become tradition for the Urbaniak family to attend "Newark Nite." Which makes sense. Considering I've lived in Newark for 30 of my 35 years. Yikes. So, I want my boys to share in this Newark pride. Or something like that. Anyhow, on this particular day in early June, it happened to be about 95 degrees and felt about 105 with the wonderful Delaware humidity. But, still, we packed up the boys and headed up to the center of town. It's sort of nice. They close Main Street off to traffic and all the vendors come out and they have lots of nice activities for all folks (young and old). We headed up to Aetna Firehall, as Paul loves the firetrucks and ambulances that are housed there. What a treat! We got our own special tour of the firehouse and Paul even got to sit on the back of the big fire truck. After our tour, they brought the truck out and put the ladder up. Paul was in heaven! It's not everyday a little guy gets to see something like that! By the end of the evening, everyone was exhausted and starved. We ate a huge dinner and slept like rocks!

Life of a working mom

I swore June was a great month to start Eli in daycare. Usually the warm months bring less illness and less stress. Apparently, I forgot to knock on wood. So far, we've been fighting a cold for over 3 weeks with Eli and Paul has had an infected pimple in his nose (ew) and now has the same cold Eli has been battling. Hello. Such is the life of a working mother. But the little guys remain ever so sweet. For all his coughing and sneezing and sliming us, Eli's smile and coo remains a constant. Paul continues to play at his feverish 3 year old pace even if he's not feeling himself. Do I still let the guilt of coming to work everyday eat at me? Of course. But the guys seem not to even notice.

We caught some great pictures of the two little guys on the couch together in their "Friday best" as their dad would say. Paul is really starting to warm up to Eli finally and on this day in particular he actually seemed to hold his brother's hand. How sweet!