If I’d Blogged This Week, You’d Know . . .

It was a good week for the boys.

On Saturday, Jack and Julie babysat while Mari and went on our first Chicago date since Emilio was born: a performance of A Child’s History of Bombing at the Neo-Futurarium (brief summary: bombing is bad). Earlier that day, Emilio and I went for a long walk (forty minutes round trip?) down to the Uptown Border’s, where I bought the latest editions of Harper’s and the New Yorker. It was cold (in the thirties?), but I don’t think Emilio took much note of it the temperature. He wore his snowsuit and slept the entire time. When we got back to the house, we ordered pizzas and Jack and Julie brought stories and gifts from their latest trip to the new Lincoln Museum in Springfield: A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln for Emilio's growing library; an antiqued copy of the Farewell Address Lincoln gave in Springfield in 1861; a Lincoln miniature—who has for the moment taken his place on the bookshelf beside a taller Anne Bonny; and a Che Guevara doll—recently featured on Mari’s blog—who is presently organizing the furry proletariate on top of Emilio’s dresser.

On Monday, Mari made her first appearance at Belmont-Cragin since last November and the next day she started punching the time clock . On Tuesday, Gladys came at noon for an orientation session before I had to leave for work at 1 p.m. When Mari came back home from work at 4:30, Gladys was somewhat rattled by Emilio’s crying, but as soon as Emilio saw his mother he broke out the smiles and giggles.

On Wednesday morning, I strapped Emilio into the Baby Bjorn again and we walked (thirty minutes) to the Ravenswood Medical Professional Building on Damen and Lawrence, where Emilio was scheduled to get treatment (silver nitrate) for his umbilical hernia, which, I am pleased to say, is getting much better (it is basically a big “outie” bellybutton that is now, slowly retreating inward; neither the hernia nor the treatment has ever caused Emilio any pain that we know of). After Emilio got measured (14 lbs. 8 ounces—or one pound, four ounces of weight gain in two weeks), Doctor Samayoa (subbing for Dr. Ochs) suggested that we might as well give Emilio his second round of immunizations—the four-month follow-up to the two-month first round. I was planning to get that done two weeks from now and while I didn’t look forward to the experience (two injections in one thigh and one shot in the other), it made sense to get it over with. Emilio cried, of course, which was particularly heartbreaking because he had been in such a good mood. Thankfully, though, the crying did not last long. The squirt of grape-flavored Tylenol probably helped. Doctor Samayoa, incidentally, is from Guatemala and my interactions with him and Gladys (who is from Colombia) were conducted entirely in Spanish.

After we left the doctor’s office, we walked a few blocks and then caught a bus back to the ‘hood. Emilio was sleeping soundly, and when I saw that Audrey was waitressing at the Corner Grille, I decided to stop there for a lunch (a hamburger) and to pick-up some take-out (Cajun Penne Pasta) for María José. Emilio, strapped into the Baby Bjorn, slept through the entire meal. When I paid for lunch, I realized that I had just enough for the bill and nothing for a tip (oops!). Audrey has an evil landlord and a slacker roommate, so after I got home and fed Emilio his bottle, we went back to the Corner Grille to take Audrey a tip. She and Joel were both happy to see Emilio awake this time and they took turns holding him (business was slow). Emilio and I then went to the supermarket to pick up a a couple of pummelos (a daily staple in the Foster Home these days) and prescription for a cream that is supposed to help get rid of his “cradle cap.” Mari met us on the walk home.

When we got home and Emilio woke up, he was not happy. His right thigh was red and swollen. The internet told us that he was having a mild reaction to the immunization, that this was common, and that we shouldn’t worry. We gave him another squirt of grape-flavored Tylenol and weathered the storm.

On Thursday morning, Emilio’s thigh was no longer inflamed and his mood was much better. When Gladys came, I showed her how to put on the Baby Bjorn. I told her how when I put Emilio in it, it always calms him down, and how I sometimes use it at home when I want to put him to sleep (carrying him around in my arms, for some reason, just doesn’t do the trick). When Mari got home, Gladys told her that she had not used it, but she had given a massage using a new technique she had learned from a friend of hers who does yoga, and that seemed to have calmed him down.

When Emilio wants a midnight snack (or a 1:45 a.m. snack) or when he wants an early breakfast (4:45 a.m. today), he cries loudly. Sometimes reinserting the pacifier does the trick, but sometimes it doesn’t and during the time it takes me to change his diaper and whip up a warm bottle of formula, he makes sure his mamá knows how he’s enjoying the wait. Mari has always had a hard time going back to sleep once she has awakened (her mind races), so she hasn’t gotten all the sleep she has needed this week (Emilio and I don’t have to get up to go to work at 6 a.m. and we can get catch naps after Emilio’s first and second breakfasts). A couple of weeks ago, Emilio was skipping that midnight snack, so we’re hoping he returns to that routine before too long!