Ty’s Weblog

If you are into Perl, and I certainly am, you’ll enjoy the Periodic Table of the Operators

At Xander’s request, I’ve started playing Kingdom Hearts again. Even after all this time, it’s still one of the best games I’ve ever played. It’s a wonderful combination of action RPG with the Disney and Square characters. The story is wonderful. Heck, I even own the soundtrack, which Xander and I enjoy listening to on the way to school.

I’m looking forward to Chain of Memories coming out for the GBA later this year, as well as KH2, hopefully early next year.

Xander’s got strep throat. He started running a fever of about 102° Saturday night. Kept it most of the day on Sunday also. Motrin kept things in check though. His only complaint was being tired, so we let him sleep as much as he wanted.

This morning he complained about “the back of his mouth” hurting, so I took him to the doctor. Two stoplights from the doctors office, he started throwing up. I think that’s the first time I’ve run a stop light on purpose.

I got him stripped down to his underwear once we got to the parking lot. Luckly I had a few towles in the car that I could use. I wrapped him in one of them and took him in.

You want to get seen by the doctor fast? Walk in with a mostly naked child wrapped in a towel because he just threw up.

They did a quick strep test, and it came back positive. Antibiotics are impending.

So we headed back home. I cleaned up the car seat as best as I could with the first towel, the one I’d cleaned him up with before. Then I put him back in the car seat in his underwear and gave him the clean towel to cover himself up with.

Just as we were getting home, he threw up again, but he really didn’t have anything in his stomach this time, so it was reallly rough on him. He had the towel this time, so it was a lot easier to clean him up.

Poor little guy. He’s up in his room watching Winnie the Pooh which he’s had on continuous play for most of the last two days, with a short break overnight for Blue’s Clues.

The doctor says he looks fine other than the strep, and that usually kids start feeling better very quickly once they are on the antibiotic, which Kate is out picking up at the moment.

So Xander’s school had an International Festival today. Each class represented a continent and had displays and activities. His glass had stuff for Australia. It was a parent invited event, so I took a half day off of work so the whole family could go.

Xander was not happy with the idea when we first got there. He often doesn’t deal well with his routine being disrupted, and this was a major disruption. We carried him to the first class other than his though, Asia I think it was, and after a bit of a rough start, he was doing a little better after we got out of that room. The craft in that room was to make a small construction paper kite, and he enjoyed cutting out the diamond shape with me.

Then we were off to Africa. There were some drums to beat on there, but he didn’t have much interest in that. He really didn’t have a whole lot of fun in that class, but I did work with him on a necklace made out of a paper plate, and he seemed to that that was at least a little fun.

After that we went to North America. It was decorated in a baseball theme. He enjoyed to popcorn that they had, but that room was so crowded that it kinda overwellmed him.

Then we went to Europe. The highlight there was a game that he played with some of the other children. There was a present wrapped up in several layers of paper. While the music played, the children would pass the present around the circle till the music stopped. Whoever had the present after that would take a layer of the paper off. Whoever had the present when the last layer came off got to keep it. Xander didn’t get to do any unwrapping, but he did have a great time.

One of the things I’m very proud of him for is that he enjoys playing games even if he doesn’t win. He does enjoy win, but he is also always happy for whoever else might win.

We also did a little finger painting in the Europe classroom.

After that we were off to South America. They had a ring toss game set up and we also got to make a butterfly from tissue paper and a clothespin.

After that we headed to the great room for lunch. The parents had been asked to bring foods from different places around the world. Kate made some blueberry scones for England which were quite good. There was a huge spread of food. I don’t think we even came close to trying everything that was there. There were lots of good things to eat there though.

That brings me to another thing I’m proud of Xander for. He does a great job trying new foods. When I was his age, I suspect there were about 5 things I’d be willing to eat on a regular basis. Today Xander tried at least that many things that he’d never had before.

After lunch was over, we went outside to play on the playground for a little while. This was the first time I’ve gotten to watch Xander play with all his friends at school. It was quite a thing to see.

After that we loaded the family into the van and headed home. Xander said that he’d had a lot of fun. I know that Kate and I did. Mira seemed to enjoy herself as well. We’d pushed her around everywhere in her stroller and she enjoyed just looking at what was going on and crunching on her fruit wheels.

The Futon Critic is reporting the official
renewal announcment of Tru in Fox’s Upfront presentation today.

It’s not official yet, but it’s being reported that Tru Calling has been picked up for next season.

It’s a great show and I was afraid that it wasn’t going to make it, given FOX’s record with good Sci-Fi lately. John Doe was another great show with so so ratings, and it got snipped after one season. Luckly, Tru is getting a chance again next season. I can hardly wait.

McPaper has an article on the Nintendo DS which includes the first picture of it that I’ve seen.

I’ve not mentioned it, but The O’s have been above .500 for most of the season so far. They’ve even spent time in first place.

As of now the standings for the AL East have the O’s just 1.5 games out of first.

It’s nice watching us win some for a change.

We’ve had a pretty good Mother’s Day today. It’s the first one in a while that I’ve not spent with my Mom due to one or another of my sisters graduations. I hadn’t really thought about it till Kate and I got talking about it today. I did call her and talk to her for a little while, but it’s not quite the same.

In any case, we’ve had a pretty good day here as well. I made Kate breakfast this morning and only burned myself twice. (Sadly, that’s not a joke.) We watched the race from last night. Xander gave her the card he’d made her at school. We’re ordering sushi in a little while for dinner as well.

I think it’s been a good day at least.

So I was home alone with the kids for a bit today while Kate went out and had some her time. Mira was in her room asleep and Xander was in his room playing quietly.

Mira woke up and I went up and got her and changed her diaper and brought her down stairs with me. I laid down on the couch with her and she snuggled up with me and put her head on my shoulder and slept for a little bit more. That lasted about 10 minutes and she started getting very upset. She didn’t want to be put down, she still wanted to lay her head on my shoulder, but she was sobbing and clearly not happy.

Kate happened to call on my cell about then, and I talked to her and we decided that Mira needed some Motrin for her teeth. About that time Xander called down asking if quiet time was over. It was about 3pm, so since he’d been good, I let him come down early.

The second that Mira saw her brother, her whole attitude changed. She started smilling and giggling and bouncing and waving her arms. It was like the last few minutes of crying hadn’t even happened. It was amazing the change that just seeing Xander made in her.

So, I don’t think there can really be any doubt about how much she loves her brother.