Our Monday was a mixture of good, weird and rough. The day started well and kind of took some twists and turns from there.
When I published yesterday’s post, Finn was at preschool. After wrapping up that post and some work, I stopped into ALDI to get some groceries for the week before picking up Finn.
I’ll start with my ALDI haul, then fill you in on the rest of our day.
WHAT I BOUGHT AT ALDI
Produce and such…
- Grapes
- Organic spinach and arugula blend
- Medjool dates (this whole package was only $4.99)
- Organic bananas
- Avocados
- Mixed cherry tomatoes
- Baby bella mushrooms (I’m making spaghetti sauce later this week)
Refrigerated items:
- Organic chicken breasts
- Atlantic salmon (I used to be strictly wild-caught seafood only but I’ve been relaxing around that lately)
- Goat cheese ($1.99 for this log!)
- Organic string cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Roasted pine nut hummus
- Oven roasted turkey breast
- Spinach and artichoke tzatziki (never tried this before, caught my eye for a grain bowl topper)
- Organic colby-jack cheese slices
Frozen foods:
- F
- rozen sweet potato, broccoli and spinach and kale bites (Finn LOVES these. I’ve had many people tell me they are identical to the Dr. Praeger’s bites but much cheaper.)
- Frozen shrimp (Finn loves shrimp and it’s such an easy protein to have on hand to defrost and cook quickly)
- Frozen sea scallops (they are so, so good!)
Pantry and etc:
- Organic, fair-trade whole bean coffee (only $4.99 and tastes great)
- Freeze-dried mangos
- Duke’s mayonnaise (<– the BEST!)
- Kombucha
- Pesto
- Pumpkin pie perfect bar (only like $1.87 at ALDI)
- Coconut oil
- Bread and butter pickles
Bread and crackers:
- Honey wheat bread (my first time trying, was hoping it’d be similar to the Nature’s Own that I usually buy…it is)
- Thin wheat crackers
- Mixed cracker assortment (these kind of party/entertaining/cheese crackers are so affordable at ALDI)
- Organic chicken broth (should have stuck this in last photo)
And that does it!
OUR MONDAY AFTERNOON
I picked Finn up from preschool around 1p and had him home and down for a nap by 1:30. He still really needs to go down around 11:30-noon, and does most days that he’s not in school, but we make it work on preschool days. Unfortunately, he only slept for an hour and was up by 2:30. He doesn’t sleep as well when he’s overtired. I usually get a better nap out of him (1.5-3 hours) on non-preschool days. I hope as he gets a little older, this schedule will get easier because he really loves his toddler class.
Once he was up, I gave him a snack and then we took a wagon ride around the block. I needed to drop my rent check off with my landlord and he lives just right down the street.
While we were walking, I came across a little boy who asked for help getting to his school. Long story short, he had missed his bus and was trying to walk home but got lost. He also didn’t speak great English (he actually spoke French and was from ROC) and didn’t have a family phone number memorized. There was no way I was going to leave him wandering around so with lots of gestures and pointing, I got him to my house, in my car, to his school and finally home. (He was able to point me home once he knew where he was at school.) Ugh, my heart hurt for this little guy. His older brother was waiting at the bus stop when I got him home. I’m sure they were worried when he was late.
Back at home, we hung out, played and made dinner. Virginia dropped Stella off for doggy daycare yesterday so we enjoyed having her with us.
Finn had an early dinner and then we took a family walk before doing bed and bath time. Finn went down relatively easily around 7:20p and I followed shortly after around 9p. Well, just as I was getting sleepy while reading…Finn started wailing. It wasn’t letting up so I went into his room to check on him. He had his fingers in his mouth and was just inconsolable.
It ended up being a VERY long night of teething pain and trouble. Finn has been teething molars for what seems like a month now and they’ve caused everything from a runny nose to excessive drool to an ongoing upset stomach that resulted in his first ever diaper rash. Poor little dude. It was the hardest night we’ve had since he was a newborn. I ended up giving him Tylenol around midnight. I only slept from about 2a-5:50a. I was really hoping I could get him back down but he just wasn’t having it.
Praying tonight is a better night. I hate to do medicine but I think I’ll try Motrin before bed tonight.
Hoping the rest of this week is less eventful, and that Finn feels better soon.
Bought anything interesting at ALDI lately?
I’ll take all your teething wisdom!
Poor Fin & you! Those nights are no fun! I never liked giving my son medicine either but I do remember at that point in time I did have to give him Motrin quite often.
Hang in there!
Ooh that sounds like a rough night for you both! Hopefully those teeth pop through quickly! Always enjoy reading your blog <3
Have you ruled out an ear infection?
Our son struggled with his molars, too. And now he’s getting his 2-year molars (at 19 months). I can’t wait for him to have all his teeth. We don’t like using medicine either, but when he’s teething and it’s clear they are bothering him, we give him motrin before he goes to bed – if we can get him to swallow it! He hates medicine and usually spits it out. :/ This might be TMI/gross but he’s wake up with bloody drool on his crib sheet so I can’t imagine how painful it was for him. Those molars are HUGE. I hope he feels better soon.
My son was the same way about liquid medicine. It was impossible to get it down him. We started giving him chewable tablets, and it was a total game changer. I believe they have to be minimum of 24 pounds to take them.
Motrin before bed is our go to. Seems to make a big difference.
Tried it last night and helped for sure!!! We got a 6 hour stretch of sleep!
Motrin. Do it. My kids (I have 3; they’re much older than Finn) all had a similarly hard time at night when they were teething, and it was the only thing that helped. Tylenol wore off too quickly. My Ped said Motrin too. I never was a big meds pusher otherwise, but I definitely used Motrin for teething.
i found the limited edition chocolate mint perfect bars at aldi – SUCH a good deal and SO GOOD!!!
ugh teething is the worst. my son is almost 15 months and has had awful sleep recently because of the 1 year old molars too. these are my go-tos (although usually will have to just resort to cry it out eventually): ice water, teething rings (he likes the one shaped like corn on the cob), Motrin, wet a washcloth then freeze it, warm bottle of milk, nurse him, rock/swing, let him get up and play for 5-10 minutes then start bedtime routine again. It’s so hard, but remember this too shall pass!
DO THE MOTRIN!!! Why wouldn’t you??
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I totally didn’t mean to write that in a way that inferred that I think medicine is “bad.”
I do prefer not to dole it out when not needed (like for low fevers if he’s pretty happy) but when my child is obviously in pain or suffering…I will 100% use it. I gave Finn Tylenol on the night I wrote about in the middle of the night, and Motrin last night before bed and Tylenol middle of night. I also give him Tylenol after vaccinations if he seems to be feeling bad.
I’m so sorry about the molars! That sounds so hard.
Can you tell me about the shrimp? DO you buy it raw or cooked? If raw, how do you cook it?
The only thing that worked for my kiddos is children’s (no infant’s) motrin. Your pediatrician can give you dosing info for it. Something about the formulation is different and it’s helped the most of any pain meds we have tried. Good luck!
We’ve did 2 nights in a row of Motrin for my 17m daughter this weekend- she was totally inconsolable the past few nights as her molars were coming in. It seems like once they broke through the skin her pain eased so we didn’t need Motrin anymore – Hopefully Finn’s will break through soon and he’ll be back to himself! good luck mama!
Ugh obviously that should read “We did” and that her molars broke through the gum line, not skin. It’s early 😉
Prayers mamma! We had a rough time with teething/molars as well, and it all happened with the transition to moving to a new state, switching to one nap a day. It was a mess for a while but always encouraging to know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel!
Hi! The teacher in me was just floored to read your message. Most school’s have a very strict policy on letting kids walk home from school alone. Ex: They must be of a certain age like 12-13 years old, must have a signed permission slip, and at my previous school a parent or older sibling had to do the walk with the child several times before they were allowed to walk alone. I teach in a CLT private school but have taught in public school’s and recall similar policies. I know that it’s not your job to do this but would you mind calling the child’s school to see how this happened? I’d hate to think about what could’ve happened if he didn’t run in to you.
I will call the school for sure. Thanks for letting me know that I should do this.
Your story about helping that little boy was incredible! Despite the oversight from school/parents/etc he is so lucky that he ran into you and you were able to get him home safely. That had to have been a great feeling to help!!
P.S. my parents rubbed bourbon on my gums to help with teething.
With those rough molars, meds seemed to be the only thing that worked. We would alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 4 hours. Sleep is just as important for their developing brains that I felt the medication for that short stint was worth it.
I agree with you. We did Motrin before bed and Tylenol in middle of night last night.
Medicine is really not a bad thing, and I wish you wouldn’t say things that suggest that it is. If you struggle with fear of medication, I’d encourage you to speak to your pediatrician and see if they can point you to some research that would help you understand that medicine isn’t something to avoid, particularly when your child is in pain.
On a totally different note – I’m somewhat horrified that a child was wandering around outside of a school without adult supervision! If you haven’t already, I would call and report that incident to the school. You absolutely did right by that child, but he never should have been allowed to wander around outside in the first place. It’s the school’s job to make sure that he gets on the bus safely or has another way home, particularly if he’s young.
I don’t think medicine is bad. I do prefer not to dole it out when not needed (like for low fevers if he’s pretty happy) but when my child is obviously in pain or suffering…I will 100% use it. I gave Finn Tylenol on the night I wrote about in the middle of the night, and Motrin last night before bed. I also give him Tylenol after vaccinations if he seems to be feeling bad. I am not anti-medicine whatsoever…but I do try not to give it unnecessarily.
And yes, I’ll let the school know. I’m glad you guys have brought this to my attention.
Love your grocery hauls. Aldis is my favorite place to shop! Good luck with teething, I hope he gets to feeling better soon!!
-Kate
https://daysofkate.com/
Hi- I’m with you in that I don’t like giving my two littles medicine when it’s not necessary and have found chamomile tablets to work well as an alternative. I hope Finn starts feeling better quickly!
Hi,
Molars are rough. I have 2 kiddos and the meds helped my 1st, but not my second. A frozen bagel piece was super helpful for baby #2. You’ll wanna wrap it in a cloth napkin so they can hold it if they are sensitive to cold. Bubble baths and baby massage also helped calm both of us down. I was also a big fan of getting a sitter for a few hours the day after a rough night. As they say, “you can’t pour from an empty cup”. Sometimes a nap and time to decompress from such a tough night can do wonders for your mood and help fill up that cup.
Motrin all the way!! I’ve been pretty liberal with it any time Reese is teething and we dose it right before bed. I’ve definitely found it to be more effective and lasts longer than Tylenol. I know my husband had one really rough night while I was at work at put a little bourbon on her gums and he said she slept like a champ through the night…haha, I know our parents did it, apparently it worked in a time of desperation. We’ve been in a rough stretch of sleep lately, she’s been waking up multiple times a night crying, most of the time falling back asleep but more times than we’d like needing to be rocked back to sleep. Not sure if this is an early sleep regression or the teething, but hoping it passes soon!
Molars are tough! (I mean all teething isn’t a piece of cake, but molars man. SO HARD! It’s never fun to see your kiddo in pain.) We found that motrin was so much more effective than tylenol for teething that we just quit doing the tylenol. Crossing my fingers for you and Finn that it resolves soon. xo