Fun With Ear Infections! (Or was it Aliens?)

 
    Well, Jack and I started our new job today at The Rec Center. We are supervising the Tot room once a week or so. It's basically a room filled with all sorts of toys and jumping castles for toddlers to play with. We were trained in today and officially start on Friday. It's something we like to go to anyway so why not get paid for it as well, right? We were supposed to start last week but Jack got sick with an ear infection right on his second birthday. Of course we didn't know it then. We thought he just had the flu. After a week of intolerable grumpiness though we thought maybe there was something else going on. Or he had been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with an evil alien Jack. That was my conclusion but Karen argued and eventually I took him to a Minute Clinic. Sure enough, he had an ear infection. Pretty moderate but one all the same. He's doing better now. Although post nap, he's still a terror. I'm still not entirely convinced it wasn't aliens. If he starts backsliding I may have to contact The Men in Black.
 

A Terrible 2?

Jack has been 2 for two days now and it turns out that turning two can actually be kind of terrible.

Beginning your birthday with a barf-fest isn't anyone's idea of a good time--especially not if you are a toddler who isn't quite able to articulate why he has to lay his head down on the floor after he feebly opens his present from his parents. In fact, he wasn't able to clue his parents into what exactly was wrong until he took the more obvious approach of puking on his dad. "Aha!" (they exclaimed) "Your tummy hurts!"

"Duh!" said Jack.

Jack and his dad got to spend the next day snuggling and watching movies. Hmm...there is a chance that this was just a scheme dreamed up by Jack so he could watch "Madagascar" all day.

Honestly though, we were pretty concerned about him, as our normally happy Jack was listless for the last two days without cracking a single smile.

However, tonight when he turned to me and said; "I watch PBS?" and then switched on the tube, I decided he probably is going to pull through. (By the way, I had no idea he had such loyalties to a network yet!!)

 

Above: A happy birthday moment! Jack was impressed with his mommy's attempt at a Madagascar cake which incidentally, started a fire in the oven--perhaps our first sign that turning two could prove to be tricky. A tip for aspiring cake bakers; remember that cakes need space in the pan for rising! Below is a link to the zebra cake that was supposed to have been Jack's. Let us know if anyone attempts and succeeds! 

Zebra cake recipe

Nap time is OVER!

There is nothing cuter than watching a toddler pass out in his plate of lasagna. You have to envy his ability to fall asleep mid-chew. It's like driving a car that has ran out of gas. No matter what, that car has to stop.

On the flip side, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to get a toddler to nap when he has determined he no longer needs a nap. (Hey Jack, photos don't lie!) There has been a curious phenomena of late in which Jack just blatantly refuses to go down for a nap. Instead he just collapses around 5:00pm. This is no help to anybody. Now today after a long time I was able to get him down by leaving him in his crib while I stayed right outside his door listening and checking to make sure he didn't try to jump out. After half an hour to 45 minutes he finally sputtered out. It makes me nervous though. I'm scared that he's going to make his way out of there. However, he absolutely will not go to sleep if I'm in there. That definitely does not work.  I don't see what the big deal is. I'd love to take a nap! In fact, sometimes when I'm reading to him I come pretty close to putting myself to sleep. If only it worked on him. He won't even lay down with me in bed to read lately because he knows where it's going.
Well, we're in an E.C.F.E (Early childhood family education) class. Maybe they'll have some insight.