Boyd Bear Tracks

If I thought I had learned the patience lesson, I guess I was wrong! This last week we decided to go to the grocery store. Just as we were leaving the house, the telephone company called and needed someone at the office so that they could set up the phone there. So, Jon went over to the office. Meanwhile, I was at the grocery store with the kids. Unfortunately, I was not prepared to go shopping alone (I thought Jon would be with me--but, of course, the installation took a while!). I had no money, no debit card, no minutes on my cell phone (to call Jon), a low battery (to receive calls), and it was now suppertime! By this time I had selected most of the groceries (just not perishable goods) so we went to the toy section where the kids could entertain themselves looking at the toys. Plus, I had some cereal in the diaper bag so Marcos wasn't "melting down" with hunger :-)! It all eventually worked out: they finished the installation, Jon met up with us, and we ate supper at the cafeteria in the grocery store--fried chicken and french fries (which were both very hot!!). Keep this in mind as you read the rest of the story. . .

The next day a huge blister started forming on Marcos' arm. We had no idea what it was. We thought maybe a sting or some reaction to something. Fortunately, the Carters have needed the services of a doctor here, so they had a contact. We didn't have to go to the hospital; the doctor came right to our house (I guess they do that if you are "particular"--not under their insurance programs). As soon as she saw the wound she said, "That's a burn!" We are still not sure where he got the burn. The only place it could have been was at the cafeteria eating the hot french fries. He must've dropped one on his arm even though he never cried!

The doctor taught me how to wash the wound and scrape off the dead skin (fortunately, she also prescribed a topical anesthetic!). And, she prescribed an antibiotic. There are two problems with the antibiotic: it tastes terrible, it must be given every eight hours. Marcos absolutely HATES it! I had to look up on the internet how to feed medicine to a baby because he just wants to spit it out. I have to hold him down, wait until he takes a breath, squirt it in, and then blow in his face (apparently they have a swallow reflex). Of course it's 5 ml. and I do one at a time; so, it takes a bit. Then, since it's every eight hours, I have to do it once in the middle of the night (2 a.m. to be exact!). Fortunately, after our battle to get the medicine down he goes right back to sleep! I am so glad that it is almost gone! His arm looks a lot better now too.

Eliana lost her second tooth. She wasn't quite as excited about this one. It was loose, but it was her brother throwing a toy that actually knocked the tooth out. I think that made it not so exciting :-(!

We have now passed the 120th day of school. It's a miracle that we've accomplished that many days after all the upheaval we've had this school year! We just continue to plow through! Ellie is working on a booklet with samples of the poems and stories she's written this year. It's hard work for her to copy down all the words that she dictated before. Her problem is that she's such a good story teller and her stories are long. It was fine when Mommy wrote them down, but now she has to copy it!

Lucas is really enjoying reading. He started a new book, Om-kas-toe, which is about an indian boy. He loves it! He doesn't want to stop with the reading for one day. He would like to just keep going! It's great to see him so interested in reading.