Olga Smith

Friday Five

Olga Smith — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:23:47 +0000

5. Been dealing with a nasty toothache situation. Root canal and all.
4. Been waking up to alarms Hudson randomly sets on our clock and his cell phone.
3. Been looking forward to some sunshine.
2. Been counting down the days until in-laws’ visit.
1. Been in denial about my big fat nasty ol’ birthday that’s coming right up.

Toothache

Olga Smith — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:20:59 +0000

*WARNING: This post is brought to you by a brain that has possibly been infected by a dying tooth, a.k.a. the alien creature that resides in my mouth and stinks like a garbage truck.*

I thought I knew what pain was. Having gone through migraines, pregnancy, and childbirth I was pretty sure pain and I were very well acquainted. Apparently, I was very, very wrong. For over one week now (seven days, twelve hours, and thirteen minutes) I have had a toothache that pretty much tops all other pain I’ve ever experienced. And I do mean ALL. Childbirth included.

At this point I really don’t care if this last statement offends anyone. I think the infection is now in my brain and is controlling my thought process. What started out as a very simple procedure – prep for a crown – has now turned into four office visits in five days. Two of those visits involved some very major work.

And before I say anything else, let me say this: my tooth has not bothered me in about ten years. I knew it had some issues and needed a crown, but I thought it was more of an eventual thing, not urgent. So, the tooth that has not bothered me in ten years has now caused the whole right side of my head and neck to burn in pain. Radiating, pulsating, wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night and kick-you-in-the-guts-until-you-puke kind of pain.

It’s fair to say that I have never known a toothache like is. Ever. And trust me, I have gone to the dentist pretty much since I got my first teeth. I’ve gone from a procedure to prepare my tooth for a crown, to begging my dentist to do a root canal. Begging. For a root canal. He said he knew I was in pain because no rational human being whose brain has not been taken over by their tooth infection would ever choose or beg for a root canal.

I was literally giddy when my doctor informed me that he took out the nerve and was cleaning out the pulp out of my root canals. And if you know nothing about what a root canal cleaning/filling is, you are a lucky bas****. You should do everything you can to keep it that way.

After the procedure (which, by the way, involved a mini torch with real FIRE! that melted the opening to my root canals shut) I was hopeful and optimistic. I thought I would finally get some sleep at night. So, imagine my surprise when I woke up at three-something am and couldn’t go back to sleep because I still had PAIN! LOTS OF PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!

Understandably, yours truly was the first patient in the dental office this morning. I am now taking antibiotics and really hoping this will help because a) I am not sure how much more of this kind of pain I can take, b) I am afraid to even think about what else needs to be done to fix this, c) I’ve just about exhausted the limit on how much my insurance will pay this year, d) I am really tired of going to the dentist every day of the week, and d) all of the above.

Wordless Wednesday

Olga Smith — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Life These Days

Olga Smith — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:04:21 +0000

Toddler-hood seems quite different from baby-hood. Even though we still consider Hudson a baby, he is proving to us every day that he is, indeed, a very independent toddler now, which is a totally different ballgame. I’m trying to get with the program here, but it seems rules are changing by the hour.

For example, last night we had what seemed like an ordinary evening routine — dinner, bath, bottle, cuddling, prayer, and sleep. Husband and I then had dinner ourselves and watched us some Office. This show makes my day and I am not sure why I never gave it chance. Dwight Schrute alone makes it all worth it.

Anyway, our baby toddler woke up crying a couple of hours after we put him to bed, so I did what I always do — fed him a bottle and put him back down. Problem solved. Back to Dwight Schrute who was pepper spraying people and euthanizing a cat in the freezer. Hudson seemed to have gone back to sleep and I thought nothing of it.

A couple of hours after we fed him his late night bottle, just as I was turning in for the night, he woke up again. Of course. He always has perfect timing like that. It’s like he has a radar that goes off every time I am ready to get any semblance of rest, be it a nap or what I hope to become an eight-hour-of-sleep kind of a night.

At this point I was sure his teeth were bothering him, so Tylenol was administered and another bottle generously offered. Nothing soothed him. And, by that I mean he wailed like an injured walrus, rocking back and forth, kicking his legs, flailing his arms, hitting his head violently on my shoulder.

I am certain that Hudson has always known what he wanted, but couldn’t tell us (I’m smart like that). Now that he is a toddler, not only does he know what he wants, he can somewhat communicate it. This is a new trick in his ever-expanding arsenal and I sometimes am not fond of it.

Back to the injured walrus. I knew with some amount of certainty that he did not want to stay in his room. Is he scared of the dark? Does he need his door left ajar? One of us in the room with him? The closer we got to the kitchen, the quieter he got. I should have known right then and there, but it’s a guessing game sometimes. Another bottle was offered and rejected. Songs were sung. A tiny little back was rubbed and attempts at rocking were made. Still wailing and flailing.

After about an hour of this I was ready to try anything. So I thought maybe we should offer this child some food. Like, real food. I couldn’t believe it myself. Here I was, half-awake, with a hysterical child on my shoulder, asking my husband to mix some cereal. I assure you that this has never happened before. Not at midnight anyway.

I put Hudson in his high chair and he proceeded to inhale two bowls of oatmeal cereal. At freaking midnight. Within minutes he went back to sleep and stayed asleep until 8 am this morning. Blew all my parenting theories right out the window. I do know this — he is teething and while that doesn’t give him diarrhea or a high fever, he definitely gets the munchies and can eat unimaginable quantities of food 24/7.

To add insult to injury, after all these midnight shenanigans, I was jarred awake by an alarm set on a cell phone at 7 am. At first I thought it was my husband’s, but after running around the house looking for said cell phone, I realized that our toddler set an alarm on a cell phone that we no longer use and that is his to play with. He’s thirteen months old for goodness sake. I didn’t own a cell phone, let alone know how to set an alarm on it until I was in my twenties.

It amazes me that a barely one-year-old is able to turn on blue tooth, take pictures, enter contacts, and set a FREAKING alarm on a cell phone that is out-of-service. What’s next? I’ll wake up and my car is missing because Hudson felt like pancakes for breakfast?

Month Thirteen

Olga Smith — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:57:01 +0000

Today Hudson turns thirteen months old. I didn’t think I would keep this going past twelve months, but so much is changing on a daily basis that it seems fitting to keep a diary of sorts so I can remember all the little things. By the way, this post is brought to you by a toddler, wailing wildly while clinging to my right leg. He can’t stand the fact that he is not allowed to play with my laptop. Sorry, pal. Soon enough.

This month I have been amazed, yet again, at how quickly he’s grown and how much he’s developed. Hudson is now walking, which means he is all over the place at all times. He’s even attempted to run on a few occasions (usually doesn’t end well). He can point, wave, kiss, and giggle like nobody’s business.

The biggest change this month has been the fact that our toddler can now let us know exactly what he wants when he wants it. For example, he will grab a formula bottle out of the cupboard and pretend to drink from it, then whine about it. Translation: woman, I am thirsty, gimme something to drink already! Sometimes he’ll grab an empty metal snack container (because we are lame like that and let him play with empty cartons) and will bang on it while whining. Translation: woman, I am hungry, fill my belly with delicious carrot/potato/chicken mush NOW!

He still loves dogs more than any other animal. Live dogs. Stuffed animal dogs. Picture book dogs. As soon as we say the word, his face lights up. He also has shown quite a stubborn propensity to wear hats indoors. Some babies hate hats and take them off almost as soon as you put them on. Not this one. He can sniff out a hat a mile away, grab it and then insist on wearing all day. Better yet, he’ll insist that one or both of us will also wear a hat. For some reason this fact delights me.

Hudson’s stranger anxiety has returned. He now wants his mama to be in his line of sight at all times. Heaven forbid I ever need some privacy in the bathroom. If you heard him crying about it, you’d think I cut off his legs. Needless to say, this has been somewhat of a challenge and we are working on that.

He has become more aware of his bodily functions and now hides when he poops. It’s kind of cute in a strange way. I hope this means that he’ll be ready to potty train in a few months (yeah, right!). He sometimes will hide in his room and will even go so far as to shut the door because he doesn’t want to be found and/or disturbed.

Another new trick is whistling. Since daddy whistles all the time, Hudson is now trying to whistle and it’s so unbelievably adorable. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, so anytime he manages to get a good whistle, he acts so surprised and very proud of himself. I guess I better get used to the sound of whistling.

This month it’s been fun to watch Hudson figure things out (i.e. turning on the radio, closing/opening doors, flushing toilets, kicking a ball, climbing on furniture, etc.) — he always looks so delighted, surprised, and so proud of himself. These little mundane things seem to bring him so much joy and I can’t help but feel excited as well. I mean, when was the last time you got giddy over being able to grab and pull toilet paper off a roll for miles? Toddler-hood is amazing.

Friday Five

Olga Smith — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:53:03 +0000

5. Loving the rain.
4. In need of a nap.
3. Looking forward to February travel/family visits.
2. Made egg noodles from scratch & they rocked my socks off.
1. Hudson turns 13 months old today!

Feeding the Ducks

Olga Smith — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:04:02 +0000

Belated Wordless Wednesday

Olga Smith — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:09:23 +0000

Friday Five

Olga Smith — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:26:54 +0000

5. Loved meeting with my life group ladies this week.
4. Adore this beautiful 70F weather.
3. Enjoying ROI for those Pedipeds I purchased.
2. Missing my family.
1. Loving the fact that Hudson can now walk.

Wordless Wednesday

Olga Smith — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:41:02 +0000