Double Trouble and a Dose of Good News

The long dreaded GI appointment was today. I've thought about canceling it. With adding a little food (yogurt, fruit) and supplementing 4-6 ounces of formula a day, she was gaining a bit of weight. At least curving at the third percentile.

I took her to the regular pedi yesterday for a weight check. She's definitely been gaining, so I wanted someone to say it was ok to skip the gi appointment, if I wanted to. Instead, Emma left with a script for augmenton and a double ear infection diagnosis. Seriously, we both were feeling a bit crummy last week, but nothing like last time. And, clear snot, people. And, this week no symptoms. Happy. Baby. Sigh.

I decided to keep the GI appointment today, and I am really glad I did. Dr. K was great and didn't run a single test. Phew! He aaked some questions and let me talk. He said he sees this all the time, and 90% of babies just need a little help.

I left with a supplement called Duocal. It's has no taste and no texture. Just calories. He told me to put one teaspoon in her food three times a day. (Insert note to self. Time to feed Emma three times a day.) A teaspoon has 14 calories, so the added calories will be like adding a couple ounces of formula. He was very pro breastfeeding which was nice, and he thought with a bit more food with added supplement, I could get her back up to average in a couple months. Wouldn't that be nice.

I'm so glad I kept the appointment.

Sick. Sick. Sick.

Poor baby Emma. Things just went downhill after Wednesday. Thursday morning she was dripping eyes, mouth, nose. She was hoarse and coughing and running fever. She looked and felt totally pitiful.

I called late afternoon to schedule her an appointment first thing in the morning. The night was terrible. Dean was OOT, and my thinking was to sit in the steamy bathroom to help loosen snot and mucus to help her breath. It backfired as the hot steam spiked her temp to 103. Ugh. I spent most of the night nursing her on and off in the big blue chair.

By morning, Emma and I had both seen better days. I think I'm finally learning how to say "uncle," because I called in the G family for reinforcements. They arrived in numbers with a "why didn't you call is sooner," and watched Noah while I took Emma to the doctor. The verdict. Ear infection. The first diagnosed in the C family. Doctor thought the cause ... RSV. We left with an antibiotic script. After much sleep over the weekend, she seems to be on the mend.

Boo for sick babies.

If It Wasn't So Terrible, It'd Be Funny

I hosted a baby shower at my house a couple of Saturdays ago. The Thursday before, Noah got the stomach bug... For real this time. He was pitiful. Rubbing his tummy and saying, "it hurts." The first time he vomited all over the kitchen. Did I mention my mom was visiting? Thank the Lord! She warned me it was coming. The voice of experience.  She could see it in his face. Thankfully, I was able to get Emma out the line of fire. He threw up the rest of the night, about every two hours. Dean took the night shift, and by 3:00 AM, it seemed the worst was over.  My little man did not feel like himself for about a week after that.  The only good thing to come out of it, is that he knows has a REALLY clear picture of what "sick" means.   

That bug was brutal, albeit 24 hours.  Need more evidence.  Catch the part about a baby shower the next Saturday?  Well, my sweet cleaning lady showed up on Friday, to make sure my house was super neat and clean.  And, the baby shower was beautiful.  Again, my mom was there with her baby shower experience to help.  Thanks Mom.  Here are a few pictures.  Thanks to Pinterest for the flower arrangement ideas. 

Well, the “if it wasn’t so terrible, it’d be funny” part of the story, is that five shower guests caught the stomach bug within 36 hours from being at my house.  I also checked with my cleaning lady, and she had it too.  After everyone finished passing it along to spouses and children, I think the grand total infection I perpetuated was 12.  Sorry friends.  It was really great shower, until it wasn't. 

3 is a Magic Number

The morning started out pretty good. Uncle D had stayed overnight. He put in some really good quality time with Noah before he headed west for hunting.


Sword fights with Momma's Christmas wrapping paper.

We left school with plenty of time to spare. Our usual 32 mile, 30 minute commute was taking us a bit longer today. At about an hour drive time, I found out the culprit when we finally got to our exit and there was a cop directing traffic and a pretty fancy vehicle stranded in the road. Just as I merged onto the freeway, I turned to check my blind spot when Noah started vomiting. Over and over and over and over. That's four overs if you're keeping count.

OH NO!

Noah does not get sick. I have been fortunate enough that he has remained unscathed by any stomach bug in the four years of his little life.

-- Brief pause while I knock on every piece of wood in my house. --

Ok. I'm back. This is only the third time Noah has ever thrown up, and the culprit is always car sickness. So, I pulled off at the first exit I came to, I pulled into the first parking lot I found, and I formulated my next move.

I'll give you the cliff notes version of the rest of the gory details, but I cleaned him with a half a bottle of water, Emma's quilt and about 5 wipes. Luckily, there was a change of clothes in his school bag. I wrapped his carseat in E's quilt, strapped him into the very back seat of the suburban, carefully drove the six miles to Dean's work, grabbed the back up carseat out of the back of Dean's truck, and finally headed home with Noah feeling back to normal. The whole adventure - two and a half hours.

It is worth noting that Little Em was a rock star! She was up the whole time, but did not say peep.

What a morning!

** Update: "Knock on wood."  You are dead to me.  It was a stomach bug.  And, although my son bounced back from it in about 15 minutes, it knocked me on my butt for 24 hours.  I am just now lifting from the fog.  Thanks to my super duper wonderful husband who took the day off yesterday, so I could sleep it off. 

Injury Time Out

Yesterday, Noah and I were rushing off to school.  Typical.  With me growing life and everything, I have been working on Noah trying to climb into his car seat without Mommy's help.  It involves a lot of "let's go, let's go, LET'S GO," and "get in your seat, get in your seat, GET IN YOUR SEAT."  So back to yesterday, Noah was climbing into his seat, and I was hurrying him along, when he started complaining about his knee.  He was climbing over quite a few things to get in, so I just pushed some stuff out of the way, and hoisted him up. 

After listening to the Philadelphia Chickens song about 10 times during our 30 minute drive, we finally arrive in carpool.  Noah's teacher comes to get him out the car, and they head into school.  Not 15 minutes later, my phone is ringing, and Noah's school shows up on caller ID.  What can possibly have happened this soon I wonder?  It's Noah's teacher.  She says that Noah is limping pretty badly.  He is not putting any weight on his right leg.  The motor skills teacher is noticing that he had tripped a few times, and he was just not acting like Noah.  I tell her I am coming to get him.  I can't help but think that I totally ignored my son's injury while getting into the car.  Great mothering right there. 

So, I pick him up, and he is definitely limping.  Favoring his right leg.  If I ask him if his knee hurts, he just says, "it's all better," which translates to, "it hurts."  My story gets a bit boring from here.  So, I'll be try to be brief.  I debate on whether to take him straight to the pedi or go see Daddy first, since we are only 5 minutes away.  I opt for Daddy, so in we go.  In the meantime, I make a call to the pedi who said that we should probably just go see an orthopedic since it's not like kiddos to usually limp.  So, I call the ortho, and they can't see him until Monday.  At this point, I convince Daddy to call up his peeps and have an x-ray done to make sure it's not broken.  All I can think is that it's broken, and I am going to have to limit this child's activity.  Is that even possible?  X-ray complete thanks to several handfuls of jellybeans.  It shows no broken bones.  Major relief.  Did I say I'd be brief?  You are going to feel so cheated when we get to the end of this post. 

So, I decide to take him to the pedi anyway just for her to check him out.  By the time we get to the waiting room, Noah has been sitting in his stroller, Daddy's lap, a chair or his car seat for about 3 hours.  He needed some movement, but his leg was still bothering him, so there was a lot of this going on. 

We saw the doctor who did a thorough exam.  Noah did so great at the doctor... again, the jellybeans helped.  Also, I may or may not have promised him ice cream after.  When the doctor, wanted to check his toes, Noah said, "no my knee."  She explained to him that she needed to check his whole leg, and he really listened and did so well.  I was so proud!  He didn't really complain of any pain, but just a couple times he said, "it's all better,"  translation, "it hurts."  The doctor basically said to pump him with ibuprofen and that if he was still limping by tomorrow afternoon, come in for blood work, and keep his ortho appointment on Monday.  I asked about limiting his activity, and she just said that kids listen to their bodies way more than adults, so it really wasn't necessary. 

By  mid-afternoon after a dose of ibuprofen, he seemed to be doing much better.  And, this morning well, I didn't even notice a limp, so... we went to the bounce house.  I know... totally anti-climatic.

Lots Of Learning Going On

This past week, Noah had an appointment with his developmental pediatrician. I think it has almost been a year to the day since we last saw him. It seemed that the evaluation done on Noah was very similar to the test done the previous year. We spent about an hour and a half with the doctor, and the evaluation portion lasted about 45 minutes. Noah did so well. We had a reference point for today. Something to compare. And, the difference in one year is amazing.

Last year, he did not stack blocks for the evaluation. It wasn’t something that he couldn’t do at the time, he just wouldn’t do it for the evaluation. But, today it was the first thing the doctor had out. This year, he stacked blocks. He stacked 7-8 blocks.

Last year, when small container with tiny beads was placed in front of him, Noah did not put the beads in the container. This year, Noah placed the beads in the container which moved him ahead to the next section of the test. This year, he was asked to place a long bead into a cylinder shaped container with a pointed bottom. The difficulty was that the container did not stand up on the table and the bead was long so he had to hold it at a certain point to make it fit. He did it, and it took him a little while to figure it out. He tried several different ways. He turned to look at Dean and I, and said, “want help.” He realized he had to do it on his own. He didn’t get frustrated. He just figured it out. I could just see his little mind working, and it made me so proud.

Last year, the doctor showed Noah a series of pictures asking him to the point to a certain object. Last year, Noah did not process what the doctor was asking and instead pointed to and labeled every object on the page. This year, Noah correctly pointed to with a verbal “there it is” for almost all the requested objects. This year, Noah was able to demonstrate the things he knew because he understood what was being asked.

This year, Noah demonstrated his strong grasp of the concept of cause and effect. It didn’t take him long to realize that the doctor didn’t require a correct response to go to the next page and that the sooner he answered the question, the sooner the doctor would “turn the page.” This resulted in some missed questions towards the end of certain sections, and lots of rapid succession of “There it is. There it is. There it is.” Sigh. I wonder where he gets his listening skills.

Last year, when a baby doll and a cup and spoon was placed in front of him, Noah did not demonstrate strong symbolic play. This year he immediately tilted that cup to the baby dolls mouth for a drink and then put the spoon in the cup, gave it a stir, and fed the baby doll a bite.

Last year, Noah scored above average for his age on the numbers and letters portion of the test. This year, (although the test hasn’t been scored yet) Noah did equally if not better on the letters and numbers portion of the test. So much so, that one of his questions was “if you have nine apples and take away four how many apples do you have?” He didn’t get it right. Whew!

This year, during a slight lull in testing, Noah held up his pencil and asked the doctor, “what color is this?” I don’t think the doctor understood what he had said, but it sure got a chuckle out of Dean and me.

Dean and I walked out of the doctor’s appointment feeling so very proud of our little man and of all his hard work this past year. Way to go Noah!

Kinda Sorta Well Check-Up

With birthdays come doctor's visits... at least when you're a child, so Monday Noah was scheduled for his three-year well checkup.  On Sunday morning, I realized that the next day's checkup would not be so well since Noah was running fever.  How high?  I have no idea.  My son no longer wants to have his temperature taken, and although I am not opposed to holding him down when the instance warrants, he was not feeling great, and it was obvious he had a temp, so I figured I would cut him some slack.  On the same note, my son no longer wants to take medicine.  This blame I place squarely on the shoulders of McNeil who went and had all the Children's Tylenol and Motrin ripped off the shelves, so I am stuck buying generic brands that I am convinced do not taste the same or as well to Noah.  This just adds on to the unfun-ness of Noah being sick. 

Anyway, Monday dawned and Noah seemed to be feeling a bit better.  According to the hand to the forehead test, no sign of fever.  So, after laying low most of the morning, we headed to his 3:15 PM doctor's appointment sans nap.  I had a feeling that Noah was not going to be too happy about going to the doctor, and I wasn't too far off base.  She was able to get his weight, but had to delay the height because Noah refused to stand against the wall to be measured and completely flipped out when I tried to lay him on the examining table.  The nurse decided to try again later.  She took his temperature while I held him down.  Not fun.  She looked at me and decided to forgo getting his blood pressure because it was obvious it would be high.  She did say that she would have to get a height, so I forced him down on the examine table, and she measured.  Then I mentioned that he had been sick.  She reviewed his chart and saw that he had just been seen for strep, so she wanted to recheck him... you see where this is going.  Good night... this was a painful office visit.  And, this was all before he even saw the doctor.  Who, when she finally came in, had to listen with her stethoscope and check his ears and throat.  He needs one more vaccine, but I figured I would go back to get it when he is feeling better.  Enough trauma in poor Noah's life for one day, and Momma's...  do you have any idea how difficult it is to hold down a 3 year old who weighs in the 98% and measures in the 95%.  Man, he's strong.  I do have to say that for all the kicking and thrashing and crying that he did for every little thing, as long as we weren't touching him, he was a perfect angel at the doctor.  Yay 3!

No... Not Doctor

Usually in the mornings, when I go to get Noah out of bed, I will tell him what we have planned for that day.  I'll say something like, "we have school today."

Noah will respond with something like, "noooo... not swim today."

You see swim and school are on opposite days, and being the smart little guy that he is, Noah knows that when he has school, he does not have swim. 

So, this morning, when I went in to get him out of bed, before I even finished my good morning, he looked at me and said, "nooo... not doctor today."

You see yesterday we went to the doctor.  But, only after we had swim, OT, lunch with friends, speech, a car nap, and a therapy evaluation.  Yes, we had an extremely busy day, and it wasn't until he woke up from his car nap and started acting so lethargic and not-Noah like at the therapy eval did I even realize that he didn't feel well.  Way to go Momma.  We headed straight from the eval (which did not go well) to the doctor for a 4:30 PM appointment.  Noah was the lucky winner of a positive strep test.  Sigh.  I should have known since I did get a report from school on Tuesday that he was exposed to strep.  The doctor asked if I would like her to prescribe a 10-day dose of oral antibiotics or would I like for Noah to have a shot.  Ummm... does anyone really choose the former?  So, Noah got a shot yesterday at the doctor.  And, he was not too happy about it, however, it did make him start to feel (act) better almost immediately.  Ahhhh... the wonders of modern medicine. 

So, today we've had nothing on our agenda...except, not going back to the doctor.  May has been a really busy month, and despite the reason, Noah and I have enjoyed staying in our pajamas all morning, actually making it upstairs to play with toys, and leisurely shopping at Target.  Too bad it takes a bacterial infection to make us slow down. 

Hustle and Bustle, Part Two

The Boys. My sister decided she didn't see enough of me on our Vegas vacation, so last weekend, she and the boys made the drive over for a quick getaway.  The boys had a blast in our new house, and Noah loved having them around.  By the second day, he was even trying to particpate in the all-boy roughhousing.  It was great!  We had lunch at Rainforest Cafe, spent lots of time at Bass Pro and did a little shopping.  On their way out of town, the boys insisted on the usual pitstop at Dave and Buster's.  Thanks for coming guys it was a really fun weekend!

Blake and Dean at Rainforest Cafe

 

Zack and Seth ready for the carousel.

The group at Dave and Busters

School Program. Tuesday, Noah has his Christmas program at his preschool. At the start, the head administrator got on the stage to welcome the parents. She shared rather bluntly her two rules. (1) No crying kids. Not on her stage, so if you see your child crying, please meet them on the side of the stage for pick up. (2) If you are a parent of a child under 2, please hide. If they see you, the might cry (see rule one) or they will want to leave the stage, and no pressure, but during rehearsal, all the kids stayed on stage.  No pressure or anything.  I have to say... pretty tough, but I like this lady. 

So, Noah came out at the end of the program carrying a yellow star with his name in glitter on it singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  He was with Mrs. Alyce, one of the administrators who has taken an interest in him.  Dean and I both noticed right off that Noah wasn't being himself, but he stayed on stage, and even did a little clapping.  Please excuse the picture quality.  My camera is still not working properly. 

Noah and Mrs. Alyce

Uh-Oh.  I think he spotted us.

Although Noah did notice us in the crowd.  He did not cry (phew).  We headed back to his classroom for a snack and realized that our little guy was really not feeling good.  I decided to take him home for the rest of the day, and home is where we stayed until today.

Sick.  Nothing slows you down like a sick little one.  Noah came home from school running fever, and we stayed home for two days.  It was just as well, the weather has been awful here.  His fever lasted about 24 hours and didn't get above 100.7.  It turns out that a couple other little ones in my mom's group were suffering from hand foot and mouth disease.  Noah didn't see a doctor, but this morning I noticed a small rash on both feet, so I am thinking that this was his affliction as well.  He seems to be on the mend now, so we are hoping the holidays will be a healthy one.

Totally Unrelated

42 bites. I counted. Several times. During the multiple applications of hydro cortisone cream throughout the day yesterday. This morning he woke up still running a slight temperature. So, I placed another call into his pediatrician. The nurse suggested I bring him in because it "might be an indication he is coming down with something." Something? Something else? Meaning not related to the mosquito bites. Seriously, how can it be unrelated, he has 42 mosquito bites.

So, I brought him in this afternoon, and he has the croup. Totally unrelated to his 42 bites. And, I kid you not, 45 minutes before I walked into the pedi's office, he started making this wheezing sound, and my google search result ridden brain interpreted it as a symptom of West Nile virus, and when the doctor said it was the croup, I was so relieved. She started writing a prescription for steroids which I interrupted to ask if she could give him a shot instead. She said she could... finally, someone who will give a shot around here. So, now he is down for the night. Still sporting 42 bites, which surprisingly don't seem to bother him, which actually shouldn't be surprising since they didn't seem to bother him when he got them, and pumped up with steroids to treat his croup. Once again hoping he feels better tomorrow.

Big Bites and Big Feet

Yesterday morning, Noah and I met up with some friends at the splash park. Noah was having a blast as usual. We got run off just before lunchtime by a busload of summer camp 10-year-olds and a swarm of mosquitoes. It wasn't until this morning that I realized we hadn't heard the last of those pesky mosquitoes. Noah woke up running a temp of about 101.5 and covered in with 20+ red whelps on his neck, face, hands, and feet. A quick call to his pedi sent us off to the pharmacy for hydrocortisone cream, Benadryl and Cheese-Its because really doesn't a box of Cheese-Its make everything better. Noah is down for a nap, and hopefully, he will feel better this afternoon. Ouch!

Speaking of the pediatrician, I forgot to mention that Noah had his 2-year well baby check up last month. Noah measured in the 90th percentile for height and the 90th percentile for weight. And, if shoe size was something kept on medical record, I am pretty sure he'd be in the 90th percentile for that too. Last check, he was 9.5XW. Although it's been about a month since that measurement and all he wants to wear these days are crocs.

Yesterday, I decided it's time to toss the crocs and go cold turkey on some summer sandals. I am all about a clean break. Ripping off the band-aid. I headed to Stride Rite yesterday evening loaded down with Cheese-Its (seriously, he loves these things), fruit snacks and a sip of juice. I was ready to stick to my guns and get him some real shoes. It turns out the first pair I managed to get on him was a winner, and after realizing I was pushing my luck to get him to try on a second option, I committed to the purchase. He walked out of the store with the new shoes on his feet, and I promptly threw the crocs in the nearest trash can in the new shoe box. (I'm not crazy. I am expecting a daily fight on this.) We have only put the new shoes on once today to head over to the pharmacy, and after three fruit snacks, I was able to convince him to sit still. They went on with only minimal fuss and only a couple kicks. Hoping the crocs will be a thing of the past and who knows maybe by fall, he will be ok with a pair of sneakers.

Sick Day

I had a feeling yesterday. Noah didn't want to particpate in any of his therapy sessions. He kept climbing into my lap to snuggle turning his back to the therapist. He felt a little warm, but I thought he was on the mend. We've all been passing around a cold/sore throat/runny nose since early last week. I took Noah to the doctor last Wednesday. The doctor checked him and said he had a slight ear infection. She thought it would clear up on it's own. She gave me a prescription for some antibiotics but said to sit on it a couple days. I did and be seemed to be better... until yesterday.

It was confirmed that Noah wasn't better last night when he woke up crying at about 4:30 AM. I knew immediately something was wrong since it's been about a year since he's woken up crying at night. He was burning up, and his temperature was around 102.5. Poor baby. After some milk and Tylenol, he went back down and slept in until 9:00 AM. It looks like we'll be staying in today, catching up on TIVOed episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and alternating Motrin and Tylenol to keep his fever down. We are heading to the doctor tomorrow morning. Dean spoke to her this morning, and there seems to be some viral infections going around. Let's hope this passes us by quickly.

Keep On Keepin' On

We are knee deep in therapy over here, and I finally have a good reason to put my IPhone calendar to use. Noah is doing well and aside from the days when therapy coincides with naptime, he is really enjoying it. What’s not to love… bubbles, coloring, play-doh, blocks, and a nice lady to meet his every need? I honestly think that Noah’s favorite part of going to sessions is playing in the school’s playground before and after. There is a huge sandbox with tons of toys, and you definitely know where this is going. I am having to be pretty diligent that he doesn’t take off with one of the rakes, and more than once, I have had a preschooler come up to me and say, “he’s not sharing,” only to look over and find Noah hoarding an assortment of about 5 rakes and shovels.

Last week, Noah had a hearing test to rule out any hearing loss as the cause of his speech delay. There was no loss, but the audiologist did find some fluid in his ears. We went to the pediatrician this morning to make sure that the fluid was from last week’s cold and not something that was still hanging around. His ears were clear, and it was nice to chat with the pedi about what is going on with Noah. She was really supportive of the speech therapy and told us that it can only help and to keep doing it.

Noah has definitely become more verbal and is babbling nonstop. He has also become more aware and his receptive language is definitely improving. I am not sure if it is a result of the therapy or just a part of him closing in on 2, but I’ll take it.

Here are a few things worth noting:

• Noah is cutting his first set of molars with one out. So, that’s nine teeth out, and how many more teeth to go?


• He loves to color and sat at the kitchen table today with crayons and coloring books. It was so precious.
  
  
• He is making some animal sounds. Tweet, tweet for bird, meow for cat, and doo-da, doo- da, doo-da, doo for penguin. OK… so penguins don’t really go doo-da, doo, but he mimics me, and it is adorable.


• He fills-in-the-blank to twinkle twinkle little star and sometimes to the EIEIO in Old McDonald.


• On the count of three, he calls for Daddy. It comes out soft and sweet like a “Da,” and I love it.

Waiting for the Explosion

We are still "under the weather" here... well, not exactly "under the weather," but definitely not well. Noah woke up yesterday with a slight temperature and runny nose. So, I figured it could be that he caught the cold that I have or it could be teething. It looks like he has two molars coming in. Either way, I am instituting a mandatory hand washing, no kissing rule in effect until all signs of illness goes away. We keep passing it around, and I have had enough.

Noah had his 18 month doctor's appointment yesterday. He weighed 27 pounds (75%) and measured 33.5 inches (90%). The first question the doctor asked is "any words?" No. No words. Lots of talking and babbling, but no consistent words. She gave me a speech referral, but said she was doing it more for peace of mind than because she thought something was wrong. She pointed out that he does speak with inflection, so even though I don't know what Noah is saying, apparently, he has some idea. She has a son who didn't start talking until he was two, and she said at two, he had a speech explosion. So, she thinks that will happen to Noah. It's amazing how less worried I am at 18 months than I was at 15 months. I guess I'm used to it now and I have stopped comparing him to other kids. I am pretty sure that there is bound to be an explosion at any time now.

I did get on the phone today and call a couple of speech therapists. I learned two things. One they are expensive, and two most don't take our insurance. I left a couple of messages and decided to talk it over with Dean tonight, if we really wanted to get him evaluated now.

I got a return call from one of the therapists tonight. She was really nice, although, she is expensive and doesn't take our insurance. She spent about 15 minutes on the phone with me, asking specific questions about Noah and what he does and doesn't do and say. It was nice to have her ear for a little while, and honestly tell her all the reasons I worry and all the reasons why I don't. The take home message I got was that he's a boy, he's active, and at 18 months, he's still in the normal range. She said that five years ago, she didn't get kids for speech delays until they were 4, but now it's all about catching it early. She told me that she didn't think he needed an evaluation now, but if in three more months, he still wasn't talking, then I could bring him in for one. So, there you go, I guess time will tell.

Sick Leave

Wondering where we've been? We've been sick... all of us.

It started with Dean. The day after our return from Boston, he left work sick. For about 24 hours, he felt like he was going to die. Nausea and headache. Luckily, by mid-week he had made a full recovery.

For me, over the weekend, I felt the stirrings of a cold (sore throat, cough) Dean let me sleep in on Sunday, and I think the extra rest saved me from the worst. I am still fighting a cough, and I am a little hoarse, but feeling okay.

Then there's Noah. On Monday, he had cough and diarrhea. I called my doctor's office, and the nurse said to just monitor him and no dairy for 24 hours. No dairy or juice. What is he supposed to drink?

On Tuesday, fueled by Pedialyte and water, Noah had a cough, runny-nose and 100 degree fever. Again, I called my doctor's office, and the nurse said to just monitor him and call if the fever goes above 103.

On Wednesday, it was runny nose, cough, and refusal to eat. I called my doctor's office again, and the nurse said if he is refusing to eat, he may be getting sicker. So, she scheduled me an appointment.

So, this morning, we left the house for the first time this week and went to the doctor. A nurse took us back to an examine room. She weighed him fully-clothed with shoes. 27.5 pounds. She asked all the questions Dean said she would. What are his symptoms? What is his activity level? She jotted all my answers in his chart. The doctor came in and did a quick examine. He spent some time listening to his chest. He said he had an idea for some medicine and wanted to see how he would do with a with a nebulizer.

To put it mildly, not well. The nurse came in, supposedly to show me how to work the machine. What she really did was tell me to hold his arms down while she flipped the switch and put the plastic mask over his nose and month. To say that Noah went ballistic would be the understatement of the century. And, the nurse... she left. Oh she did say, "it's okay baby, just two minutes," as she walked out the door that she left wide open behind her. So, here I am trying to hold poor, sick Noah's arms down while he kicks and screams with tears streaming down his face. All the while, the door is wide open with people walking back and forth watching me struggle. Apparently, I was at nebulizer boot camp. Noah manages to thrash the nebulizer down to his chin forcing me to release one of his arms, so I can move it back, and well, that was end of the nebulizer. He pulls off the plastic part, so not only am I trying to hold his arms down and hold it to his nose, I am also trying to put it back together. Finally, the nurse comes back, and turns off the machine and takes the damn thing away. I told her that this wasn't going to work for us. And, she tells me that we are just going to have to do it.

Thankfully, she was not my doctor. He came back about 10 minutes later while Noah was still hyperventilating from the neublizer trauma. He took one look at Noah, and he said, I think I am going to provide oral medication. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We left the doctor with a diagnosis of bronchitis and two prescriptions. Noah seemed to perk up this afternoon, but he is struggling a bit tonight. He's already woken up twice crying, so I am not sure how things will go. Hopefully, a couple days of medicine, and he will be on the mend. It is no fun being sick.

I Love This Face

Noah was not in a good mood today. Yesterday was his 15 month well baby checkup. At what age to you stop calling them well baby checkups? Every day he is looking more and more like a toddler, especially with his new haircut, and he is leaving his baby days far behind. Anyway, yesterday was his well baby checkup, and he got shots... in his arm! I don't think I got shots in my arm until I was 18, but the doctor said that's where they go, so we listened to our doctor. Ouch. Poor Mister No.

I had been looking forward to this doctor's visit because it would be our first in Miami, and it would be a chance for me to voice my worries over the no talking. The nurse came in to take his stats, and he is a growing boy. No more worries about being too little. He weighed 25.5 lbs (50%). He measured 33 inches (90%)! And, his head circumference was 18 inches (holding steady in the tenth percentile).

I really liked our new doctor. It turns out she is childhood friends with one of the fellows with Dean. After we exchanged stories, she said, "OK. Let's talk about your son. Does he talk?"

Noah is walking around the exam room babbling away.

Doctor: "OK. He talks. Check."

Me: "Wait. Wait. Wait. He doesn't talk."

Doctor: "Sure he does. He's talking right now."

Me: "But he doesn't say any words, and he doesn't point, and he doesn't mimic."

Doctor: "Look," she said. "He's only 15 months. He's a boy. He's active. He's interacting with his environment. He's made eye contact with me several times. If he turns 18 months, and he is not pointing or mimicking or saying any words then we can worry, but right now... I'm not worried."

Wow. That was exactly what I needed to hear. My take home point... stop comparing him to other kids. Every kid is different, which of course I know, but it sure helps when your doctor confirms it.

This is How I Roll

Wednesday was Noah's one year well-baby check up. He weighed 21 pounds, 10 ounces (25-50%) and measured 30 and a half inches (50-75%). Percentage wise, we got ranges this time. I like it. It takes the pressure off. He got his vaccines, which he handled like a champ. He didn't even cry for the finger prick. I like to think it was because his momma was holding him.

So, the most exciting news at the doctor's appointment was that Noah meets all criteria to graduate to a forward facing big boy carseat. One year old. Check. Over 21 pounds. Over 30 inches. Check. Check. So, without further ado, I present Mister No in his new LSU carseat.

I think he likes it. We are presently on our way to the river for a weekend getaway. We'll see if it passes the sleep test. So far, not so much. So, we are now watching Sesame Street. It's nice to know I can finally put this DVD player in my car to good use.

No Prize for the Biggest Head

What a miserable baby boy we've had on our hands the last couple days. He started running fever on Monday morning, and it was holding steady at about 102 for about 24 hours. Pitiful. We spent most of our time in the chair in his room... rocking. You know he didn't feel good if he let me rock him. Luckily, the chair in his room is the Best Chair. Seriously, it is. If you are in the market for a new chair... this chair is the best. Anyway, he woke up this morning, and thankfully no fever. Here is a picture from breakfast. So, nice to see a smile on my little boy's face.

I took him to the doctor anyway to rule out anything major. Ears were good. Throat was clear. Doctor seems to think it was/is an upper respiratory infection. While we were there, the doctor went ahead and did his 9 month checkup. It is hard to beleive he will be 9 months next week. He is steadily growing. He was in the 25th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height, and 5th percentile for head circumference. Before I could even comment on the head circumference, the doctor said, "remember, they don't give a prize for having the biggest head." So true.

Hush Little Baby

Don't you just love the picture? Sleeping baby. So sweet. This was so not the case on Thursday night. It turns out that grouchy Noah had a reason to be a not so happy baby. Runny nose. Cough. Yuck. Bad cold. Thursday night was very rough. I think lack of sleep made it difficult to make appropriate parenting decisions. Noah ended up sleeping, I mean, staying in our bed, and I believe he nursed about 80% of the night. Or tried to at least, since he had so much trouble breathing because of all the snot. And, when I say night... I mean from about 1:00 AM to 5:30 AM. The other 20% he cried. Lucky for Momma (and Daddy), Grammy was visiting and took over the morning shift. Thanks Grammy for the extra 2 hours of sleep Friday morning. It definitely brought me back to the land of the living. Friday night, I approached bed time refreshed and ready with a game plan that involved lots of TLC. Bath time included vapor bubbles. Aaahhh, relief. Then, saline and suction. AAAHHH, torture. I started running the cool mist humidifer in his room during bath time, so his bedroom was cool and moist. He went down pretty easily and only woke up once during the night. He seems to be feeling better today and is already down for the night. Hoping this is the start of us getting back to status quo sleep wise.

Do You See What I See?

Look very closely. Can you see it? It is tiny, but it is there. Peeking out. Causing grief. Did you find it? Don't feel bad. Daddy couldn't find it either, but I promise... it is there. A small speck of white peeking through his gums. Noah's first tooth. And, there is no way you are going to see it in this picture, so you can stop trying. Have you ever tried to get a 7 month old to open wide?

Since our recent trip to Louisiana, Noah has been fighting a cold. Runny nose. Cough. Unusually fussy. Lots of drool. Gnawing on everything in sight. Hmmm... dare I call these symptoms teething. I was hesitant, since I have been crying wolf on the teething since he was about 4 months old. But, I finally think his teeth... or should I say tooth is coming in.

Sniff sniff... next thing you know he'll be driving.