Ben: 18 months

Ben is 1 and a half already! 

Ben's newest words:
Blankie = "Geeky" :)
Where did it go? = "Go" with the palms of his hands facing up
Moo
Pig snorts
Water = "wawa"
ummmmm (when he's thinking)
please = "meeeee," in addition to the sign
help = "ow"
baby = "beebee"
mine
ni-night
No (sometimes it's a very adamant, shall I say...snotty?...tone)
out = "ow"
more = "mo"
cracker = "kaka"

He's shown a little bit of interest in potty training. For now, we occasionally ask him if he wants to sit on his frog potty. Sometimes he says no, but sometimes he says yes. He peed in it one time a couple of weeks ago. He hates getting his diaper changed, so I'm hoping he's willing to be potty trained early :) He definitely knows what the potty is for, so we'll see!

Ben loves going for walks and bike rides (he rides in the Burley). If we're going for a walk, he makes sure we don't forget Rocket! He likes going to the parks and going down slides and swinging and doing whatever Colin is doing.

He also loves to wrestle. If he's in the mood to roughhouse, he'll bring you into his room, point to the floor and say "down." At that time, you are to either lie on the floor, or sit on the floor and he'll push you over. Then he'll climb all over you and spit in your face and jump on you. Good times.

Unfortunately, he's battling an ear infection again. Summer is supposed to be sick-free! He's had quite a few ear infections (about 6) in the last year, so if he gets another I'll probably make an appointment with an ENT to discuss our options. I'm hoping to avoid tubes, although I hear they're wonderful.

His current favorite books are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Ten Little Ladybugs, and a touch-and-feel animal book. He still nurses before bed, but only for a few minutes. Then we read books, and Kevin reads books. Truthfully, he can be kind of a challenge when he nurses. He hits me, pokes me, sticks his finger in my mouth, frog kicks his legs against the arm of the chair, and talks to me instead of nurse, so his interest is waning. I still love the time with him, but many nights I've told him that I'm not going to give him milk anymore if he isn't nice to me. Ideally, I still want him to decide when he's done, so it'll be interesting to see when he'll quit. I can be gone at his bedtime and he'll go to sleep without me, and my body doesn't care either.

Knowing that Ben loves the water, hopefully we'll be able to go swimming a lot this summer and let him be a little fishy. He loves his baths, and even lays his head back and "floats" in the bathtub (with my hand under his head of course). He's so relaxed when he's floating, which I think is pretty cool.

Ben's 15 month check up

We had a pediatrician appointment on Friday.

Ben's stats:
Weight: 31 lbs, which I believe to be inaccurate. Just 4 days before that, he weighed 33 lbs. So we'll just say that he's holding steady at 32 lbs. He hasn't gained any weight for about 4 months but he's still way over the curve and still in the 100th percentile.
Height: 32 1/2 inches (87th percentile....slacker)

Ben had been to the doctor a few days prior and was diagnosed with an ear infection and bronchiolitis. His ear looked like it was getting better and Dr. C. didn't hear any wheezing indicating bronchiolitis. Ben got his 4th round of DTaP and Hib vaccines. He barely whimpered when he got poked, but his DTaP site was very red (softball size in diameter), warm, and hard over the weekend.

While we were there, I had Dr. C. look in Colin's ears and he had an ear infection too, but since it doesn't seem to bother him, we decided not to get antibiotics.

Nothing else to report. Next time we go in June it's a double appointment...Ben's 18 month and Colin's 4 year! Don't tell Colin that he's probably going to get shots. He plugs his ears when Ben gets his, and I'll put $100 on Colin crying more than Ben when he gets his shots.

Ben: 7 months

Ben's 7 monthday was marked by a diagnosis of a double ear infection. Poor little guy. The pediatrician who saw him was impressed that this is his first sickness though, being in daycare and all (although only for 3 months and now only a few times a week).

Ben is starting to be on the move! He rolls around to get to where he wants to go. Mostly he goes for Colin's toys and the wall. He can sit up like a pro, and is even stretching himself to try to get onto his belly from a sitting position. He can scoot backwards, spin in a circle on his belly, and I swear he moved from one spot to another while sitting yesterday. He wants to start pulling up now as well. He'll even try to pull up onto a wall which doesn't work so well :) We've been swimming quite a few times and he seems to really like being in the water.

Ben is eating a bunch of solid table foods now. We're doing Baby Lead Weaning (aka Baby Self Feeding) so we skipped purees. He eats oatmeal, waffles, pancakes, avocados, bananas, peaches, pears, apples, carrots, peas, carrots, sweet potato fries, mango, spaghetti noodles, some hot dishes, chicken, puffs, yogurt, rice, and I'm sure there's more he's had that I just can't think of. He's using a sippy cup with a straw and loving it. For now he gets water in it and he not only loves to drink, he also likes to spit the water out and bang the cup on his high chair tray.

At his appointment for his ear infection on Tuesday, he weighed in at 28 lbs 11 oz. He's gaining a pound a month now instead of a pound a week! Reassuring. I did pack away all of the 12 month clothes recently. He's definitely in 18 months and moving quickly to 24 months (I refuse to get out the 2Ts. A 7 month old should not be wearing clothes that end with a T!).

Ben wakes up at night about 1-2 times. He usually goes to bed by 8:00, wakes up between 11-1 and then again at about 5 and goes back to sleep for another hour.

Ben communicates using a high-pitched screams. He makes other "talking" sounds too, of course, but no real "babbles" yet. And he blows raspberries like it's his job.

 

He's working on his front teeth (still). Some days he wears 3 different shirts because he gets them so sopping wet with drool.

I have a feeling this month we'll be seeing Benny become more mobile and then WATCH OUT, big bro! I can('t) wait. I'm not exaggerating when I say he's a little on the heavy side to carry around. ;) All the more of little Benny Boy to love.

Life Lately

I'm utterly exhausted.

We had Ben's baptism last weekend. It was good. I need to post pictures of it, but by the time I'm sitting on the couch, I have a baby on my lap along with my laptop. Like right now Ben's sleeping and my arms are reaching over him to type.

Work has been crazy. The kids are absolutely off the wall. Spring sprung early this year, so the unruly behaviors we usually see in May have already started in March and we still have more than 2 months to go. Ugh. Add to that high school drama with co-workers who whine and don't put on their big girl panties and do their job (that's all I'll say about that!), and it makes for some stress.

Colin has been sick the last few days and might have Whooping Cough. He's up to date on his vaccines, but one of the girls at daycare was just diagnosed with it. She went to the doctor on Tuesday and JUST got diagnosed with it today, four days later. She's been at daycare all along. And then Colin decides to put his mouth on the toys that the little baby also puts in her mouth, and germs are spread. I took Colin in for a Whooping Cough test to see if he has it, and got antibiotics as a precautionary. We won't know if it's positive until Tuesday. Last night, I "medicated" him all I could. I gave him honey cough syrup, wrestled him down and shot saline up his nose, rubbed Vicks BabyRub on his feet and chest, and plugged a Vicks vapor plug-in thing into the outlet in his room. He slept a lot better last night than he did the night before, so we'll do the same thing again tonight and hope it works. Now I can only hope that Ben doesn't get it. He has gotten one DTaP vaccination and is 100% breastfed, so I'm hoping that helps. It's hard to keep Colin away from him though.

Ben has slept through the night 3 nights in a row. I probably just jinxed it by writing it, but that's okay. I nurse him around 8:30 or so, and after he has a full belly, Kevin walks around with him and he dozes off and sleeps until we have to wake him up at 6:30. It's heavenly!

I'm going to win a half billion dollars later tonight, so if you don't hear from me for awhile, just assume I'm getting all my financial ducks in a row. I'll be back. Don't worry :)

Sick Pseudo Snow Day

If I were working, we'd have a snow day today. We had an ice storm last night. Our yard has about 3-4 inches of wet, heavy snow. Because it also rained, our snow is so wet there's actually actually yellow colored icy pools in the snow. A wet, sloppy, mess.

We've had quite the...to put it nicely...indecisive morning. I'm ready for it to be over, and I need to find the positive in my day today.

Good thing we're stuck inside with a sick little boy. Good thing we have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Curious George for entertainment. Good thing I stocked up on cold, soft snacks yesterday even though Colin isn't eating much yet. Good thing I got that dose of antiobiotics in him last night so we wouldn't have to pack up 2 kids for the long, treacherous drive {across the street} to the doctor for a shot of penicillin today as an alternative. Good thing I'm planning on Colin taking a nice, long nap in the near future. I need one too. Good thing I have wine in the fridge so I can indulge in a glass tonight.

He's lying on the living room floor watching George with his pillow and blanket. This may just be one of the handful of times he falls asleep in the living room. It really only happens when he's sick.

Sleep, little boy. Sleeeeeep. Please.

2 goods, 1 bad

The good news:

1. Ben slept through the night last night from 9:15 pm-6:00 am! Of course I did not get 8+ hrs of uninterrupted sleep. Colin came into our room to sleep with me sometime after 1:00 am. I thought he'd sleep with us until Ben woke up, then I'd put him back in his bed. Since Ben slept all night, that didn't happen. So I "slept" (not really) until 4:00 when I just couldn't take the boob pressure anymore and got up to pump. When I looked back at the bed, Colin was spread out on my side, so I lay down in his bed and "slept" (again, not really) until 5:55 when he came looking for me. Time to get up. But YAY for Ben! Let's hope this is a consistent thing :)

2. Ben drank from a bottle! I had a meeting at work this afternoon. I didn't HAVE to go to it, but took the opportunity to take Ben to Sandy's house just for a few hours to get his (and my) feet wet with the whole Ben's-in-daycare thing. We've been struggling with Ben taking a bottle. He's taken one a few times from various people from various bottles, but hasn't been consistent with it. While Ben was with Sandy this afternoon, he drank a bottle without a problem! He was all smiles and coos while he was there. Oh, and also I didn't cry when I left him with her. It's so much different when you've developed a relationship with the daycare provider instead of dropping your child off with people you don't know. Hopefully I won't cry on Monday when I go back to work either.


The bad news:

1. Colin has strep. Again. He had it a month ago too. I pat myself on the back for tuning into his horrid smelling breath both times and taking him in. Last time he had Amoxicillin and he wouldn't take it straight up, so I had to make smoothies or mix it into pudding 2x a day for 10 days. This time we have Zithromax. Tonight, after mixing it with strawberry applesauce he didn't eat, I had to pin him down and kneel on his arms and force it in him. Good times. At least this one is only once a day for 5 days.


At least the good outweigh the bad, right?

Stomach virus. Oh joy.

You know that post I wrote on Saturday? Well, Colin was kind enough to share his stomach virus with me. So here I am at home taking it easy and hoping it doesn't last too long. I'm trying to keep fluids down (semi-successfully) and keeping an eye on Snowflake's movements.

When I said I didn't want to go into work today, this is not what I had in mind.

No news is...

boring, isn't it?

I'm in a lot of pain today. Hopefully that means that Snowflake is making steady progress downward. I went to Walmart and Kwik Trip for my Saturday supply/grocery run. I put my cankles in the air for awhile. We set up the Christmas tree.

I also made Colin's bed (this is hard to do when 39w2d pregnant) after his all night puke fest last night . He couldn't even keep a sip of water down. Kevin and I jumped out of bed at least a dozen times to catch puke in a bucket and clean up messes. We went through 2 sets of sheets and 2 pairs of pajamas. This afternoon he watched Rudolph 2.5 times, Frosty 1 time, and an episode of Curious George. It's 3:30 and he finally ate something today--a half of a banana. He's asking to go outside now, which is obviously a good sign. Too bad he can't go out though. Because the snow has just started to fall.

If snowflake were born on a snowy day, that'd be about perfect right?

Fast forward to 8 pm: I went back to Walmart tonight and walked the aisles for an hour. I had quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions and a few pains, but nothing major. I did get a few looks while doing laps though :)

4th of July weekend

Happy birthday, U.S.A.!

We celebrated the holiday weekend with some family time. We went to Como Zoo on Saturday morning. Colin is really starting to appreciate the animals more now than when he has been to the zoo on previous visits. He roared at the lions and watched the wolf pace back and forth. He liked watching the monkeys, and was really interested in the baby animals.
He attentively watched the Sparky the Sea Lion show. Como Zoo is great because it's a very inexpensive outing, and it's small enough that you can see all the animals in a 2 hour time frame before all hell breaks loose because of a tired little boy.
After we got home from the zoo, I became increasingly worried about Colin's red, swollen, oozing ear (see the above picture. See how his ear is sticking out from his head?). I called my mom, and after putting a check mark after all three symptoms she asked me about (red? warm? oozing?), and after hearing that it could be cellulitis, I decided to take action. I went to both minute clinics in town and both were closed for the night. I asked the pharmacist at Walmart what she recommended I put on it or give him. She said she thought it was cellulitis and to try some Neosporin, but to also take him to the ER if it got worse. I talked to my mom again when we got home and she told me I should really set my alarm every two hours during the night to check on it. That didn't sound like fun. That sounded like a worrisome, sleepless night. I decided to play it safe and take him to the ER to just get the diagnosis over with. Sure enough, it was cellulitis. The doctor said it was most likely caused by eczema that Colin scratched and got infected. Colin was prescribed an antibiotic that tastes "ocky." It's a 2-man tag team medication administration twice daily, but his ear is so much better now. I'm glad we didn't wait to take him in.

On Monday, we went to Kevin's parents house and hung out and grilled some food. I made my 4th of July dessert (brownie with a whipped cream/white chocolate/cream cheese topping, and then strawberries and blueberries on top of that!), Colin did some work on his workbench,
enjoyed a Bomb Pop (which he ingeniously hung upside down between licks)
and four-wheeler rides.
When it got dark enough Kevin did his most favorite thing in the world--launch fireworks. Colin stayed up and watched all of them this year. I had to cover his ears because they were too loud for him, but when each set was done, he asked for more. We didn't get to bed until 11:00, and it was a rough night and an even rougher morning waking up. But isn't that the way the 4th is supposed to end?

As we were getting into bed, I reminded Kevin that next year we'll have a 3 year old and a 7 month old on the 4th of July. That's so hard to believe!

Life's Little Updates

(poop free)
Debt:
Well, we're not getting back as much money from taxes as we hoped. Still, it's enough to reduce our car debt by 25% so who am I to complain? I've also decided that all piano money from now until forever will go directly to the car payment. I'm teaching 5 weeks of summer school this summer. We were hoping that money could go to Family Means, but it looks like at least the first check, if not also the second, will be going towards the car. After the car is paid off, all extra money will go to Family Means and we can get the ball REALLY rolling.

Piano lessons:
I'm kind of sick and tired of teaching them, to be quite honest. Right now I have 2.5 students! The .5 student takes lessons every other week. What's the point? I mean, IF everyone shows up, that's $125 a month, which isn't a lot, but it goes a long way. However, a lesson or two get canceled every now and then and it's less than that. I wanted to teach until our debt was paid off, but now I'm not sure if I'll be teaching at all next year.

Running:
What running? Good God, the Triathlon is 2 and a half months away! Why would I bother to train for it? Oh yeah...because I'm sick and tired of running on the treadmill. I was thisclose to gearing up to try running outside, but I'm currently sickish AGAIN! I'm beginning to think it's allergy related since it happened in the spring and the fall. I lose my voice and everything. Going to bed by 9:00 is my treatment, and it may be working, because today I had more voice. In all honesty, I can run 2 miles straight off the bat, so that's a big start. I just have to pump up the tires on my bike and hit the pavement. With upper 40s in the forecast, I may be able to try soon.

School:
My classroom is infested with ringworm and lice. YAY! The worst part? The girl, E, who has ringworm has had it for a LONG time and we just found out about today! Her brother has had it for a month. Yesterday, we had spring pictures at school and E said her head itched. With the lice outbreak I'm also dealing with, I decided to lift her hair where she said it itched and noticed a BALD SPOT! I had no idea what it was, but thought maybe it was psoriasis or something. I never thought to think of freakin' ringworm! And I touched it! That stuff is contagious, and she was in school today!

The lice. Oh the lice. R has had lice 4 or 5 times this school year. Her mom is pretty diligent about treating it, but it seems to come back every few months or so. I've completely limited the use of my listening center. Then, yesterday while the students were lined up to get their pictures taken, one of my aides said that C told her her head itched. So I went and looked at the top of her head and I could see the nits. I gave her a VIP pass to get her picture taken first and I scooted her to the office. She went home yesterday and came back today. I sent her straight back to the office to get checked and sure enough, they were still there, so she went home again.

::heebie jeebies::

Other than that, and the political uncomfortableness, school is fine. We got a "contract" to sign today, but it's more like a "you-have-a-job-until-we-decide-you-DON'T-have-a-job" type of deal. We'll find out by June 1st if any lay-offs have to be made.

I hear the kindergarten class coming up to 1st grade next year is a trainwreck. So that will be fun!

Spring break is next week!!! YES! I have no plans. My previous plan (potty training) got canceled :D So my schedule is open to fun times with the little dude. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for us to be outside.

Obstacles

After I was over the flu, I got an awesome cough complete with phlegm balls. I've had it for a few weeks now, but today I thought I should get back on the treadmill and get back to training. Stephie and I are officially canoeing/biking/running the Root River Triathlon in May. With iPod in hand and Asics tied, I jumped up on the treadmill and boy did it feel good to be there! I was walking my warm up and started coughing to the point where I had to stop to get the phlegm ball loosened and out. I hopped up on the treadmill again, and within 30 seconds I felt a chunk in my throat. I ran to the bathroom and gagged.

Apparently I'm not ready to start running again. Frustrating.

Family Flu

This won't be long because my eyes are still not working quite right.

After Colin got the flu and stayed home on Wednesday, Kevin got it and stayed home Friday. I went about my weekend plans hanging out with my girlyfriends, figuring I'd be getting it on Sunday. I was right. I wasn't feeling too great on my drive home. As soon as I walked in the door, I was down for the count. I stayed home from work today because I was so dang tired from not getting any sleep last night.

Now let's hope this is the end of it and it doesn't start all over again.

I interrupt this running...

I haven't ran one little bit since I ran the 5k. But I've wanted to! I have been plagued with this annoying cough. I'm sick of it, Kevin's sick of it, and my students are sick of it. I'm trying to stay away from the running in order to kick the cough to the curb.

But this is the start of the 4th week. I've had it since the day after we left the hospital.

I've thought about going to the doctor, but for what answer? "Uh...yeah...seems you have a cough. Guess you'll just have to wait it out."

I took last Wednesday afternoon off of work to just catch up on sleep (as previously posted, conference week is tiring!). Thursday morning, I walked in to the office and my principal asked me how I was feeling and if I had gotten my pertussis (Whooping Cough) vaccine. Uh, no...I haven't.

Then I did some research on Whooping Cough. I could possibly have it. Cough drops don't work, cough medicine doesn't work, my inhaler doesn't work. All typical of the Whoop. And....how long does it last? Typically 7 weeks. Kidding, right, mayoclinic.com?

On the other had, soooo many adults that I work with also have this cough that just wont. go. away. So maybe it's just viral. Or maybe we all have the Whoop.

Regardless, the students have been vaccinated for it. Colin has been vaccinated. Kevin doesn't seem to be getting it. It's too late for me to get the vaccine now, and you typically only get Whooping Cough once (like Chicken Pox).

I'm just thankful I seem to be on the way down, because I can actually sleep lying down now. And I usually only wake up once to cough.

So, until this cough is gone...running is pushed to the wayside. And that makes me sad. I'm going to have to start with a shorter distance when I do start up again because I won't be able to consistently run the 3 miles. But that's okay.

Happy 17 monthday!

Here's where you were:
That's right. In a hospital with bacterial pneumonia and an ear infection on top if it. And don't forget the teething too. Needless to say, because of your need for comfort and not crying because that doesn't help your breathing, you asked for your nukkie and it was hard for us to say no.

Sandy called me at 2:40 saying you couldn't stop coughing and you were breathing hard. I got to her house at 3:30 and immediately knew I had to take you to see a doctor. I called the clinic as soon as we left Sandy's and we got an appointment. After a few nose swabs (for influenza and RSV--both came back negative), a chest x-ray (your lungs were a little "streaky") and a nebulizer treatment, the PA said that you should be admitted to the hospital to keep tabs on your breathing and oxygen levels. It was a long night filled with medicines and nebulizers and pulse-ox checks and respiratory checks and worries and snuggles. You didn't get to sleep until past 8:00, but you slept very well because you had an oxygen mask on to help you breathe and relax. I slept in bed with you because the "crib" they brought in your room was more like a circus animal cage.

The next morning, you were feeling a lot better and you soon became bored of being in the hospital. So we looked for ways to entertain you.

They had a wagon there that you pushed around,
they gave you crayons and paper that entertained you for about 3 minutes,
you stood on the heat register to look out the windows at the construction going on,
you pulled a few Kleenex out of a box before I took it away from you,
you pushed wheelchairs,
you rode in wheelchairs,
Grandma F. came to visit, and Sandy brought you some blocks. We brought your truck from home, hoping that would keep you busy.
While you were napping on Saturday after zonking out after a neb treatment and I was sitting next to you in the bed, I thought of this picture from 17 months ago to the day:
So we took another one:
We mostly walked up and down the hallway. Actually, we walked. You wanted to be carried. At 7:00 on Saturday, we were finally told we could leave. We got home at 8:00 with a nebulizer, prednisone (a steroid for your lungs), and an antibiotic in hand.

You're feeling even better today. We have given you only 2 neb treatments today. You're not struggling to breathe any more, but it makes Mommy feel better hearing wet coughs over raspy ones.

On another note...thank GOD we only live 3 blocks away from the hospital. We were able to go home as often as we wanted to get or do something really quick. And also, I thank God for DQ too. Waaaay better than hospital food. Mostly, thank God we only had to spend one night, and while it was scary, we were taken good care of and Colin is back to his rambunctious self.

Exhausted.

Colin got to hang out with BOTH of his grandmas this week while his Hand Foot and Mouth blisters were healing. Most of the week, he was stuck inside because of the dreary, cold, and wet weather. He loves to be outside, so he was not digging being cooped up.

Yesterday, I took the day off to take my turn staying home. We went to the chiropractor in Menomonie. It had been 6 weeks since our last appointment, and I was feeling it. That morning, I just felt so icky. After my adjustment, I felt so much better instantly. Colin wasn't a walker yet the last time we were there, so Dr. S. adjusted his back by his tailbone. Colin still loves to be adjusted :) Then I was hungry and Colin needed a diaper change, so we stopped at Culvers and shared a butterburger. The best news is, we survived the hour long car ride both ways. He was a perfect rider, even though he didn't sleep in the car. I always get so nervous driving long distances when it's just the two of us. I think back to the infant days and how he'd scream in the backseat. I sometimes stopped the car to nurse him or burp him or do SOMETHING to make him feel better. And sometimes I just kept on driving just to get home, crying all the way there.

Today the sun and warm weather came out, and my mom came up on her day off to babysit. They played outside and went for 2 walks. He was only inside to eat and take a 3 hour nap. 3 HOURS! Tonight after bath time, he ditched his naked running time. I put his diaper on the floor and he sat down right next to it. He was ready for bed, and didn't put up the usual fight and wrestling match to get him to lie down to get dressed. He drank 8 oz of milk which is also unheard of, and fell asleep without a peep. Isn't it great what a little bit of fresh air and sushine can do?

Oh...and his blisters are pretty much gone.

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

So that fever Colin had on Friday...turns out it was most likely caused by a virus. Because now the dude has Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Not diagnosed by a doctor, but diagnosed courtesy of daycare's suggestion and the google images that resemble what Colin has on his feet and hands. And mayoclinic.com lists these symptoms:

• Fever? check (no fever anymore, but that's how it started).
• Sore throat? no, I guess.
• General feeling of malaise? hmmm...no.
• Painful, red blisters in mouth? no.
• Red, nonitchy, possibly blistery rash on palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and sometimes the buttocks? check.
• Irritability? check.
• Loss of appetite? depends on the day, but check.

I'm waiting to hear back from his pediatrician to tell me how I know when he's no longer contagious. Mayoclinic.com says to keep him out of daycare until the fever is gone and mouth sores have healed, which is interesting because he doesn't have any mouth sores.

The plan right now is to keep him out of daycare for at least two more days. Kevin stayed home with him this morning, I'm here this afternoon. Tomorrow who knows. Thursday it'll be my turn. Friday we'll play by ear and hopefully his blisters will be gone and he can go back to daycare.

The good thing is, like chicken pox, once one develops immunity, it's unlikely he'll get it again. And adults already have the immunity built up. So this should be the first and last bout of it.

Well hello there!

Whew! What a busy week it has been. It all boils down to this:
Thursday afternoon, I left work as soon as the kids were out of the building because I was not feeling well. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in bed...and running back and forth to/from the bathroom with the flu. By the time I was feeling somewhat functional around 11 pm, Kevin was down for the count, so I took the overnight baby shift.

I went to school on Friday, not feeling awesome, but needing to go because we had our first grade program. I muddled through the day, glad it was the end of the week.

On Saturday, the three of us checked out the daycare we *really* wanted. It's an in-home place, and Sandy was really nice. Two of my co-workers have used Sandy for their children, and loved her so much. We're so glad she has an opening in the fall for Colin (as long as unforeseen circumstances don't happen between then and now). She has a very structured day with plenty of outside time, activities, etc. She has a tiny toilet, low sinks, and a kitchenette right there in the basement.

My parents came up on Saturday, too, and hung out with us. I made some cinnamon swirl bread and some lactation cookies. My supply had dropped after being dehydrated from the flu and I was worried. I thought it was the end of breastfeeding because when I pumped, I was only producing 1 oz. at best.

On Sunday, my parents left in the afternoon and we continued to lay low. Kevin and I felt like we were hungover.

Back to work on Monday, and after downing some lactation cookies and drinking plenty of high-calorie Vitamin Water, and finally getting my appetite back (I woke up with a growling stomach!), I was so happy to find that my supply returned.

Colin's cutting the other bottom front tooth. If sleeping poorly means he wakes up every 2 hrs, and sleeping well means he wakes up every 4 hrs, he's sleeping semi-poorly. Last night, after being rocked, nursed, Tylenoled, and Orajeled, we started letting him cry it out again. It sucked. But then he slept for 4 hours. I hate letting him cry, but for the past few weeks, because of his teeth, we've been catering to him (as we should). But we're exhausted, and getting up every 2 hours isn't helping any of us.

It's another busy few weeks at school. The 100th day of school is tomorrow. I don't remember EVER celebrating it when I was in school, but it's a big deal now. Then the Science Museum of MN is coming to our school next week to talk to the kids about Antarctica, and we're going to see a small-town theater production play next Friday. The week after next is conferences. The only part I look forward to is having them done and not having to think about them again until next year :D

We found out last week that Kevin's grandma has a brain tumor. I'm not sure whether it's cancerous or not, but she does have to have it removed and she'll probably need chemo as well. Keep her in your thoughts if you get a chance.

Baby's first puke

Ok now, everyone together....Awwww!

Yeah, not so much. Dude went to bed as prescribed by our bedtime routine. Albeit with a painful diaper rash, but otherwise normal. 9:45 rolls around, Kevin and I are in bed ready for a good night's slumber. We hear a strange sound coming from Colin's room. Something we haven't heard before. Then he starts crying a little bit. Kevin gets up to give Colin his nukkey (pacifier), and ends up turning on the light. There's puke everywhere. On Colin's pajamas, the sheet, the crib...

We undress him, wipe him down, put new pajamas on, take the sheet and mattress pad out of the crib, throw all the pukey stuff in the laundry, put new sheets on. Then I sat with him in the chair for a little while and he seemed to be fine. So I lay him down and start sneaking out of the room while he finds a comfortable sleeping position. I don't even get across the hallway when I hear retching. I whisk him out of the crib and get at least to the hallway where the floors are wood and easily cleanable. We go to the bathroom in case more is on its way. Poor baby is quiet, snuggly. His face says "what the hell is happening to me?" The sheets and pajamas are puked on again. Undress the baby, wipe him down, change the sheet, throw it in the laundry, put a new sheet on. Snuggle with baby without his pajamas on for awhile. This would make for easier clean up if it happens again. It doesn't. So put the clean pajamas on the exhausted baby. Sit with him in the chair. Baby goes to sleep. Put baby in crib. It is 11:00.

3:00 rolls around, and Colin's fussing. Kevin goes in to see if the pacifier will do. It won't. Colin's hungry. I tell Kevin I'm scared to nurse him in case he pukes again. We sit down, I nurse him. Some time later, he stops nursing and everything he just drank comes back up. All over him, all over me, all over. I rush him to the bathroom sink. He becomes a pro at puking over the sink. He's better. New pajamas. Change my own pajamas (luckily by this time it was just breastmilk and no food was involved). I sit with him in the chair for a little while and offer him a little bit of water from a bottle. He drinks a little, and it stays down. I put him back to bed at about 4:00.

4:30, he's crying again. Kevin's turn to sit with him.

Alarm clock goes off at 5:15. Today Kevin wanted to be out of the house at 6:00. Not happening! I pump, take a shower, and contemplate whether to keep sick dude home or send him to daycare. After Kevin takes a shower, I call my mom in a WWGD (what would grandma do?) moment. She says feed him some Puffs and give him some milk and see if it stays down. I do, and it does. To daycare we go.

We get there, and 2 of the "older" kids (they're still under 2 yrs, but they're in the same "class" and are usually on the "other" side of the "baby" room) are home sick with the pukes and the poops. And their parents are too. Hurray. Just what I need. This can NOT happen this week. While I'm there, a 3rd family calls in saying their munchkin won't be in. I fully expect a phone call later saying Colin has joined the ranks and needs to go home. In fact, I encouraged a phone call if anything was out of the ordinary. Grandma F is on stand by just in case.

I didn't get one. No pukes, no runny poops, no fever. He's a tired (read: crabby) man today, but other than that, he was fine.

I hope tonight is much more restful. And I'm glad we got pukey night #1 out of many out of the way. And even though he felt miserable and we were both exhausted, I loved the extra snuggliness of him, and I loved that he was playing with my hair while he was trying to get back to sleep.

Now everyone together....awwwww!

Well at least something good came out of it.

While Colin was busy having RSV (he's much better now), he was also busy cutting a tooth! The tooth cutting could be the reason for his ear infection, too. It's kind of nice that after a big ball of sickness, we get a little reward for it. And no "extra" fussiness, either :) I'll get a picture of the little chomper if little dude ever opens his mouth wide enough for us to see it. For now, we just have to stick our fingers in there for validation. The second tooth looks like it's close behind.

Can I also say I'm super excited to go to Target today to peruse the baby food aisle? Last weekend, I took a quick glance at the wonder of Target's selection, but didn't buy any of it. We're going back today and I'm super pumped to buy some mangoes and who knows what other kind of fruit/veggies Colin hasn't tried yet. Better yet, Target's Gerber baby food is cheaper than Wal-Mart's! I figure if he all of a sudden refuses to eat the purees, we can cook them into pancakes, waffles, etc.

And I'm also going to be making chili and goulash for freezer meals this afternoon, and possibly even some homemade applesauce.

I love Colin's long naps, and he needs them, but WAKE UP little man! Let's go shopping!

RSV (or, why I hate daycare centers)

Colin has been a sick little dude since the middle of last week. We kept him home from daycare on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week. I took him to the ER on Thursday night because I was worried about his breathing, and day care told me earlier that day that there had been cases of bronchiolitis (RSV), pneumonia, and ear infections there. We ruled out pneumonia with a chest x-ray, but he did get diagnosed with a double ear infection. We got some antibiotics and went home.

He seemed to be feeling better on Monday, so he went to daycare. Tuesday, too, except he got sent home because his temp was 100.5. To appease daycare, I canceled piano lessons and rescheduled his 9 month appointment to Tuesday night. Dr. R. tested him for RSV. It was positive. :( So we kept him home yesterday and today, but my mommy instinct is telling me he should be able to go back tomorrow, pending a restful night tonight. His cough is less frequent, his nose is less runny, his temperature has stayed 99* or less. His ear is still bothering him, so we started a new antibiotic tonight.

We got to try out our Dr. Mom otoscope (the tool doctors use to look in your ears) tonight. Dr. Dad confirmed Colin's ears are still a little red, and he also said one of mine looked red too. I'm going to choose to suffer through it though.

Hopefully we're on the mend now. I do have to give props to Kevin's mom for helping us out. There's no way either of us could've taken 5 days off of work to stay home (I took 1.5, Kevin took a few half days). So thanks Grandma F. for the babysitting help!! And thanks Grandma J. for the frequent check-ins and medical/been-there-done-that advice!

And the 9 month stats are as follows:
Weight: 20 lbs, 3 oz (50th %tile) Thanks for voting, 3 people! Your guesses were too high though :)
Height: 29 inches (75th %tile) *so if we had chosen to keep using the infant car seat, this is the point when we'd have to switch to the convertible. Sooo glad we switched earlier!
Head circumference: 17 3/4" (50th %tile)