Surprise!

Crys's grandma turned 80 last week and her aunt (Crys's aunt) decided to throw a surprise party for her on Sunday. It was a two hour drive (one way) we weren't going to make because the check engine light has been on in our car for a few weeks and it had started leaking a fluid. Saturday night I finally said, we have to go and we borrowed my parents' car for the trip.

It was fun. She was shocked. Over 100 people traveled in to wish her happy birthday. We didn't see much of her, in fact, I spent most of the day keeping Emmett occupied while Crys ran the video camera, greeted guests and helped her aunt. But it wasn't a day about quality time. It was about being there. And we were. And we were happy to be.

As I watched grandma look out at the guests singing happy birthday when she walked in the room, all I could think was that if I live to see 80, I hope to have a day like that. A day where I get to see the smiling faces of all the people I love.

Week in review

Thursday Emmett really wasn't eating much of anything so in the evening we called the on call doctor for our family practice and he said as long as Emmett finished 4 more ounces before 10pm, we didn't need to be immediately worried and to see how he did the next day. He did finish 4 more ounces and woke up at 11am for another eight. The doctor was pretty sure the new medication was upsetting his stomach so he's off meds again and has been for over 24 hours with no fever. We're hopefully this means the ear infection is gone.

To complicate things, Emmett's teething kicked into gear. Around Thanksgiving he cut his first two teeth on top. Which meant he had two on top and two on bottom. Now he's cutting four at the same time, possibly more but at least two on top and two on bottom. I'm fairly certain he's getting a couple more top ones too. But trying to get into his mouth usually gets us nothing but screaming and crying and carrying on like its the end of the world.

Until this week, teething was mostly a none issue. Every once in awhile he needed something to numb his gums so he could be distracted enough from the pain to do something else. But other than that, we didn't really notice the teething. Those days are gone now. We're holding the teething responsible for his increased congestion, which irritates his throat and probably contributes to a little extra ear pain. It's been a rough week for Emmett.

So, in the last week he's had a mild ear infection turned mild double ear infection (his ears were never more than a little red) after an allergic reaction to the medication. Then decreased appetite due to a reaction to the new medication. Ear infections seem to be gone just in time for Emmett to have teething issues. While the teething isn't affecting his appetite, its making it hard for him to eat solids so Emmett is upping his formula intake. Its been a long week for all of us. But when I think back at everything going on, I have to remember, none of this is serious. He was never seriously ill. Ear infections are a perfectly normal and expected part of childhood. His reactions to the medications were never life threatening. This all started with an ear infection.

Sadly, Emmett may be in for lots of ear infections. As a child, I had chronic strep throat that was always followed by an ear infection. My tonsils came out when I was eight (I haven't had strep or an ear infection since). Once I asked our doctor if Emmett's tonsils are a little larger than normal and he said they are. Mine always looked swollen even when they weren't. So its very likely he has lots of strep throat in his future. But, we'll cross that bridge when we need to. For now, we're going to deal with the teething.

This growing up business sure is rough.

Feeling better

Today was a full snow day for the university so we were all home, one big happy family. I was looking forward to a day stuck inside in our pajamas. But we wanted to take Emmett into the doctor. So we shoveled our way out of 8 inches of snow this morning. His rash was better but his fever was up and down all night. Our doctor decided to treat Emmett's rash like an allergy to the meds just to error on the side of caution. It's a popular medication so we'll probably go to an allergist when he's a little older. Just to get an official ruling on that. My parents did the same for me when I was younger and it turns out I didn't have an allergy. Still, not something I'm going to mess with until we get the results of a controlled test.

Anyway, Emmett is on a new medication to get his ear infection that, while more mild than it was on Friday, is now in both ears. He was feverish on and off all day again but its getting lower. My mom is going to stay home with him tomorrow and I may take Friday off just to give him an extra day.

Hopefully this is the end of medications and fevers for a few weeks.

Snow day fever

The university closed down at noon today because of the snow. We all came home together and Emmett napped on me while I read. If I had to pick one thing about having a baby to be my favorite, that's what I would pick. Unfortunately, Emmett started running a fever this afternoon. He is off the antibiotics because of a rash but hasn't been off them long enough for that to be the reason for his fever. Plus he's been running a low grade fever since last week. So tomorrow we'll probably be taking him back to the doctor.

Luckily Emmett stays pretty happy, even when he's sick. The only time Emmett has a hard time is when he his fever is up. So this afternoon he had a hard time but he's better now and enjoying some time causing trouble on the floor.

Speaking of causing trouble on the floor, I honestly think Emmett starting to crawl is a bigger change in our lives than bringing him home from the hospital. Or maybe we were just better prepared to bring him home. Whichever it is, life sure is different now that he's mobile!

Fever reducing measures...

Bad Blogger bullet updates

Sorry, I've been slacking on my blogging. I really don'g have a very good excuse, Emmett goes to be at 8:00, so I can't blame it on him. Anyway, here's whats going on in our house these days.

• Right before Thanksgiving Emmett went on antibiotics for a viral infection he couldn't shake.
• At the same time, Emmett started to army crawl but wouldn't do it very far.
• By Thanksgiving Emmett was army crawling like a pro. He acts like he wants to get up on his knees but can't quite make it. He has a lot of tummy to lift. He is also making moves towards pulling himself up on stationary furniture.
• Increased mobility means moms have to adjust how we watch Emmett when he plays. Our house is not very big so it doesn't take him long to get from the living room to the kitchen. Soon, he'll discover the pet water bowls and we'll have to figure out a different place for them.
• The pack n play is a new fixture in our living room and luckily, Emmett will play in there for short periods of time. Long enough for when we both need to do something that involves only occasional check ins with the boy.
• Feeding is going well. We're still working on the pincer grip at day care and home with the baby treats. We also give him real food from time to time. So far he is so/so with feeding himself. But he still thoroughly enjoys eating.
• A couple days after finishing his pre Thanksgiving antibiotics, Emmett was sent home from day care with a temperature of 103, he had an ear infection and is back on medication. We were asked to take him back to the doctor at the end of the month to make sure everything is okay. He's had a three infections back to back now. He spent Friday night in his pack n play in our room wearing nothing but a diaper because of his fever. Luckily it was gone by morning and he's been feeling better ever since.
• We're going in for professional family pictures today.

We're all looking forward to the University close down at the end of the month. We're going to do as little as possible!

Plenty Thankful

I'm thankful for Crys. I'm thankful for Emmett. I'm thankful for smiles that brighten my day and cuddling at night. I'm thankful shrieks of delight and army crawling. I'm thankful someone to help with the laundry and sympathize with over family drama. I'm thankful for our safe travels this past weekend. I'm thankful we both have jobs. Jobs we aren't likely to lose. I'm thankful for our house and our dogs and our cat.

I'm just thankful.

Pink Eye

Pink eye was going around day care this week and Emmett got to enjoy that experience. We took him in to the doctor while he was still in the early stages, meaning his eye was only slightly swollen and a little goopy in the mornings. The eye drops cleared it up right away and prevented the infection from moving to the other eye. He also got to spend half a day at home with each mom (I took the morning, Crys took the afternoon). So it wasn't too bad.


Other news around our house...

• Emmett's top two teeth are coming in nicely. They can't be seen very well, but they are there.
• Starting Emmett on meat didn't work quite like I wanted. Mainly because I never got around to baking chicken for puree. We decided to start grinding up our table food instead. So far so good, we've tried spaghetti, goulash and mac n cheese. We've been mixing the meals with a little rice cereal and formula to make it easier for him to eat but may stop doing that soon. We also add a veggie puree to help balance the meal. So far he only has one "table food" meal a day. Breakfast and lunch are still strictly fruit or veggie puree.
• He's starting to roll from his tummy to his back more often. But he hasn't quite figured out how to do it without hitting his head on the floor. We have a play mat out for him but it just doesn't cover his range of movement anymore so we need to get more pieces. This means when he rolls, he usually does it on the hard wood. Doesn't seem to bother him too much. He actually seems to like the hard wood floor better than his mat, it's easier to slide and move around on.
• Emmett sits like a pro and has figured out how to move from sitting to laying on his tummy. He isn't always graceful about it, but he can do it.
• Emmett has started reaching for me. We bonded in the doctor's office when he was being checked out for pink eye. I was thrilled the first time he did it.

This is about the time last year we found out Emmett was a boy. Its just crazy to look at him and think a year ago he was just a picture on a monitor. I couldn't even feel him yet then. He has certainly changed our lives and we couldn't be happier about it.