Speak Up!!

Laryngitis does not go well with being a mom of a young toddler and having a large dog. It is hard to not speak. Well, it is impossible. How can I say where we are going, what we are doing, tell him what to do and not to do etc? It is hard enough not to be able to read stories to him, not monologue to help his vocabulary when we do things and walk around the neighborhood, not sing bedtime lullabies, but it is rather impossible not to say "sit down in the bath" "no! don't touch that it's HOT!" etc etc.

And it is really hard to call a dog racing towards some poor tiny terrier on a leash on the sidewalk through the park when you can barely raise your voice above a whisper.

It is also really hard to make and return phone calls. Esp leaving messages on answering machines.

Three days now, and really, my throat feels worse tonight, ie sore and inflamed and scratchy, and full of stringy mucus, than it has for the past two days. Egads. I have been drinking cayenne pepper in hot water (spicy but great, and recommended for laryngitis) and last night even sucked back a whole box of lemon vicks instead of eating chocolate while I worked. But no difference.

But the Dao was really sweet. I said I couldn't read to him at the breakfast table today cuz my throat hurt, and I did a bit of rasping talk, and pointed to my throat. He looked appropriately sympathetic, said "ow! ow!", touched my throat, and then leaned over and gave me a big kiss on my throat. What a sweet kid.

Hey, I have my 6 month back from China homestudy update on Wednesday. So, the last homestudy, for the adoption, I cleaned and renovated (filling cracks, patching missing paint etc) for about a month ahead of time. So, do you think I should do any more than vacuum? Do I need to dust? Should I throw out the Christmas tree? (I bet that by March I have totally missed, by nearly two months, the city tree pickup. oops) Should I bake muffins so it smells homey? Or just forget about it all, and just be normal. Dang.

Well, I guess it will show that he is fat and happy. In general.

And I am so proud... the past few days he has told me at least three times that he needed to go potty, in time for me to get him there, AND get his pants off, in time to poop in the pot and NOT in his pants, on the floor or anywhere else. This is new... I always had to have his pants off after meals til he pooped... and then dress him, or he'd just go in the pants. So I'm quite happy about it.

But no scheduled meals should figure during the homestudy visit, so probably no shits either. LOL!!

I just hope that my voice returns by Wednesday. Or I'm screwed.

I wonder if the social worker understands baby signing. Perhaps I could use that with her instead of my voice?? ;D