Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty

My Darling Boy had his shots yesterday. He zonked out right after the trauma of getting the shots. In the late afternoon, he woke up and was really upset and was crying and screaming in pain. Breastfeeding didn't comfort him, either. I desperately searched the web for tips for soothing his pain. One tip was to rub the injection site with Vicks Vap-O-Rub. I immediately did this and it did help. He didn't scream any more after that, but still cried and fussed and was very uncomfortable. I didn't think I should give him Baby Tylenol after reading about the children's cold medicine debate and the possible negative effects on children under 6. My friend Bridget asked her mom (a nurse) who recommended giving him the dosage for his weight, and Bridget said it had helped her niece and nephew when they had discomforts. So I sent Mama out to Walgreens to get some, and we gave him the lowest estimated dosage for his weight. And he was soothed. He then slept. Blessed relief. Today he slept a lot and was pretty happy when he was awake. He did scream and cry a few times when I accidentally bumped his thighs where the injections were given. A friend of mine told me about how his cousin's child got autism from vaccines. So I spent all day checking the Jamie still made eye contact and reading up on the whole autism vs. vaccines issue. From the studies I read I'm convinced that the appearance of a correlation to vaccines is a coincidence due to age of symptom onset (or when they first notice it and can't explain it away) and the frequency of vaccinations. One study in Japan showed that there was an increase in the incidence of autism even after discontinuing the vaccine in question (MMR). Also, with decreased vaccinations there has been an upswing in the cases of measles and mumps and polio, which have led to deaths of some infected children. Even after reading all of this and deciding that the connection did not seem scientifically reasonable, I still watched Jamie like a hawk and worried over every move he made. I logically believed that he was not in danger of contracting something debilitating. However, as a mother, my greatest fear is that I might do something that could harm my child. And so now I'm pretty stressed out. Jamie is fine. He's smiling and wide mouthed grinning at his Daddy's funny dancing. He's still a bit sore but he can be distracted from it and is interacting with us normally. I love that boy.

A Gratuitous Photo and Current Projects

Let us start this blog with a gratuitous photo of my darling boy. He's wearing his Winnie the Pooh jacket with the ears. He falls asleep in the carseat, but tends to wake up anytime the car stops, unless he's really tired. He's also wrapped in the blanket Mama knit him. It's one of our favorites and he uses it all the time.

After finishing Jamie's blanket, I had no problems finding a new project. I have some that are still unfinished, but after such a long time working on one project almost exclusively, I had to cast on for something new. That something was the reversible cable scarf in a purple variagated yarn Amanda gave to me years ago. I'd been looking for a pattern for this yarn, and finally found the perfect one and have been waiting to knit it up for almost a year. I didn't bring it with me to Livermore last summer because knitting wool in the summer in the deserts of California was just not an attractive idea. Then I had another project that took priority. :) It's not portable since I have to count rows and use a cable needle, but it's simple and easy and a snap for tv/breastfeeding knitting. The photo maybe a bit out of focus, but it shows off the pattern better than the other photos I took and is actually true to color.



I also found a yarn this week that is just gorgeous and so I cast on a scarf for my mom. She really liked the yarn and I couldn't think of what to make with it, and she needed a scarf. I made up a simple pattern, but I have to count rows, so it's not portable, but not mentally consuming either.



I also found an old project that I had started for a friend of mine when she was pregnant with her third and last child. I never finished it because after it got tedious I put it away and forgot about it. I later gave her a store bought gift she had been hinting about wanting. It's another baby afghan, this time crocheted, in greens and yellows. It's tedious because it's very simple and the yarn is very small and I'm using a small hook. It's going to take forever, but I really like the effect. The yarn is a very soft acrylic, so it'll be nice but probably not an heirloom. It's hard to see in this photo, but there are two greens. One is variagated green and the other is solid.



There's also a scarf I started while I was still pregnant in a bamboo yarn that is just lucious! It's a rich red color and there are creme beads. I started it for a friend for Christmas, but got derailed by the carpel tunnel. Now that my hands are mine again, it's become a nice project to work on while out and about. I put on the beads with a crochet hook as I go along, and you'd think it wasn't portable, but it is, and since I don't need to think about it as I go along, it's perfect for rides in the car.





Oh, and I'm making three quilts. And I'm preparing for my oral Candidacy Exam. And I'm raising an "active" son (a.k.a. pain in the butt precious darling who screams like a banshee when bored and will not sleep without someone else in the room).


PS:
This was posted on Feb. 24th, not Feb. 2nd. It took me that long to finish the post, and the photo of Jamie is from Feb 16th, the day before he was baptized "James Michael".