Have You Heard of Easter Bunny?

My Ladybug had her picture taken with Easter Bunny yesterday. Not because I am crazy about Easter, or because I adore Easter Bunny. We had a play date in the mall with one of my good friends whose son turned 5 months yesterday. It is our babies' first Easter, so as an activity we decided to have their pictures taken with Bunny. Ladybug almost missed out on the experience. She was asleep when we got to the mall, and she was still sleeping while we waited in line. However my Ladybug is a lot better with her time management than me (she was born on her due date!). Jessica and Josh were about to see the Bunny when Ladybug woke up. It took me about 2 minutes to change her from long-sleeve onesie, pants and socks into a spring dress with a hat and tights. As always when she just wakes up, she was all smiles, hugs and giggles when she sat on Bunny's laps. I snapped a few shots while the "professional" photographer took a couple of hers. Ladybug had a blast. She waved Bunny "Bye-bye!" and we went along with our play date.

When we got home, I started thinking about Easter, Bunny, and their relationships. I found it very strange that growing up in Russia and celebrating Orthodox Easter I have never heard of Easter Bunny. My grandmother always colored the eggs. My grandfather played an 'egg game' with me. But Easter Bunny never visited me. Neither he visited my friends. Did he just decide to skip Russia on his Eggs Delivering Route?

So why Bunny comes to kids on a religious holiday? I do not remember reading about him in the Bible. He is, after all, Easter Bunny.

Turned out that Bunny is an Easter symbol for the majority of Eastern European countries and (alas!) USA. Bunny comes from pagan believes celebrating Spring, Earth Awakening and Fertility. Easter Bunny first appeared in Germany and filled bird nests with brightly colored eggs for well-behaved children. Some children were leaving their hats for Bunny to put the eggs in. Easter basket as another holiday symbol came into the picture much later. Easter eggs were too beautiful, delicate, and precious to be laid by a hen (think Faberge eggs!). German immigrants brought this tradition to the USA in 18th century, and now every spring American kids are looking forward to getting their Easter baskets filled with bright chocolate eggs and other goodies Easter Bunny left for them. They go to the mall and have their pictures taken on Bunny's laps. Just like Christmas, another religious holiday became a victim of commerce and marketing. Bunny is cute. Chocolate is all time best seller. So why not overload our children on chocolate eggs?

Personally, I like the ancient myth about a bunny who is famous for being so reproductive that it was, at one point, banned in Australia. Bunny, a symbol of fertility, who follows Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. But Easter Bunny? For me, there will always be Easter when we are celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And there will be a bunny. There will be a basket full of brightly colored eggs. There will be a white lily on my dining room table filling the air with sweet tangy smell. I will celebrate Easter, and then I will celebrate spring awakening!

Toll on a Stroll

Bad weather and double ear infection took a toll on our stroll...

My little Ladybug got sick, and then even sicker. I took her to the pediatrician on Monday, March 28th with cough. She was coughing so hard she was waking herself up when asleep. Poor Ladybug even started throwing up her bottle - that's how hard her cough was. She was very congested, and I was very worried. So I took her to the doctor. Her lungs were clear (Yay!). Her congestion turned out to be a common cold (Come on, Doctor, don't you have a better answer?). Her cough - I had to deal with it and wait till it goes away which could have taken up to three weeks (Really, Doctor? What if it were your not-even-eight-month-old baby?) Then came the ears. Turned out she had an ear infection developing in her left ear. We got prescription for Amoxicillin (1 tsp twice a day for 10 days).

The following few days were rough... My poor sick Ladybug kept coughing, throwing up her food when coughing, crying, rubbing her eyes, pulling her ears, and looking very sad. I felt terrible I could not comfort her enough to make her feel better. Ladybug slept with us propped up on an adult pillow because we were afraid she would start choking on the mucus she was coughing out. A week passed. Her nose stopped running. Her cough eased up. She kept her food down (most of the time). She was still pulling on her ears though. On Wednesday morning, April 6th, we had the last dose of antibiotics. We went to see the pediatrician that day to either make sure the ear infection is gone, or to adjust her treatment to make it gone. Our pediatrician's office has 6 practicing doctors - 4 male & 2 female, but this is another story. So with my non-Irish luck we had the same Doctor who diagnosed Ladybug with an ear infection. He checked her ears and announced that the ear infection did not get any better (that explains her cries, crankiness and interrupted sleep). In addition, she now had a full grown infection in another ear (damn you, antibiotics, I thought you were suppose to take care of it!). Doctor gave us another prescription, this time for Amoxicillin mix (3/4 tsp twice a day for 10 days). Before he left the exam room, I asked him to listen to Ladybug's lungs because I was worried the congestion could have gone into her lungs (Hello, Doctor! The baby is still sick and you do not even listen to her after I tell you that her chest makes wheezing sounds when she is breathing?) Lungs were clear (Did he really listen or pretended to listen?).

Ladybug and I got home hoping for a better outcome with the new prescription. I was debating bringing her to my chiropractor to get adjusted to have her ears drain faster and speed up the healing process. I should have. But I didn't.

It's been 21 days since Ladybug got a cold. It's been 19 days since we started antibiotics to treat an ear infection. It's been 9 days since we tried new antibiotic treatment. Ladybug seems to be her smiling self. She now smiles, giggles, jumps, bubble-talks. And sleeps! Once again she sleeps in her crib from 9 pm through 7 am without waking up in the middle of the night crying from ear ache. We have maybe two more doses of antibiotics left. I will take my Ladybug to see a pediatrician on Monday to confirm the ear infection is gone for good. And it's better not be the same doctor!

Needless to say, the jogging stroller stayed parked inside. Our strolling adventure will re-launch after the false start as soon as the doctor announces that Ladybug's ears are infection-free. Stay tuned!

Welcome back, jogging stroller!

My little Ladybug and I went for a stroll today. For the first time since probably mid-February. I can blame it on the weather, but to be completely honest, sometimes I simply did not feel like going outside.

Today I took my baby girl out for a stroll. Only for 10 minutes around the neighborhood. She is still a little sick and I did not want her to be out for too long. I want her to grow heathly, happy, and strong. So I made a commitment - I will take her out for a stroll every day for the next 365 days. Rain or shine. Or snow (after all, we live in New Hampshire).