Dental Adventures, Part 2

Somehow, I neglected to mention that in the same week Edward had his big makeover, Ethan's looks underwent a major change. (This post might be long and boring for most of you, so if you just want to see the change, scroll to the video.)

After looking for a new dentist (for a second opinion and in-house anesthesia if necessary) and the interruption of job loss (meaning no dental insurance), we finally had Ethan's teeth evaluated again.

The new dentist spent an hour talking Ethan through the x-rays, but didn't manage a cleaning at his first visit. Looking at the x-rays showed that Ethan did need some of the work recommended by the first dentist. Two crowns in the back instead of multiple fillings (but not the root canals, thank goodness), several small fillings, and a problem with a front tooth that we had two options for. But because he was so resistant, our little Ethan would have to go under general anesthesia.

Because most of the work was on his molars, which he needs for the next ten years or so, we couldn't ignore it. So we scraped together the money and made the appointment.

The day of, before I would sign the final consent, I had two discussions. First with the pediatric anesthesiologist. I asked not only about Ethan's experience (what they'd do while he was still awake, how kids usually come out of this particular type of anesthesia, and how much he would remember) but also some medical questions. I liked this guy and wasn't worried about Ethan at all. It probably helped that his name was Dr. Heaton. (I would still have rather entrusted Spencer with this, but he lives to far away. Next time??)

The second discussion was with the dentist about that front tooth. Ethan had a cavity that ran the length of the tooth. He'd actually had it for several years, but every dentist before would treat it with fluoride and say not to worry about it. We really couldn't ignore this deep channel down his tooth anymore. The problem was that a traditional filling would fall right out. So our options were to cap it with a plastic crown or pull it. Initially we'd planned to go with the crown, but it's also likely to get knocked off multiple times before the tooth falls out on its own. And with Ethan, that would likely mean more anesthesia to replace it. I went with the obvious decision and had them pull it.

Now, even though it made sense (and was cheaper), I still felt bad about it for a few weeks. It was hideous. The tooth next to it stuck way out and there was a gaping hole. I'd go look at him in the middle of the night and cry about what I'd done to him. But now that the hole has healed up and the other tooth has shifted a little, he just looks like an older kid. Good thing too, because his teeth seem to be on a late schedule. He'll have that gap for the next 4 years or so.

Would you like to see it? Not a great video, but be grateful you can't see the hole very well. This was the day he had the work done.

Exciting Week

In the last week we've:

- Visited family in San Antonio
- Played lots with Grandma J
- Started swim lessons for Ethan
- Rearranged the ENTIRE house (The beds and most of the dressers are in the same places. Not much else.)
- Braved a fire-ant attack on Edward's feet that caused a major allergic reaction
- And added our first Epi-pen to the diaper bag for the next time the fire ants are too interesting to stay away from

Plus all the regular stuff. Thanks Grandma J for all the help!

Edward's 12 Month Checkup (at 13 Months)

I finally gave up on the first dr we tried here in TX and tried a new one. He came highly recommended, but we all know I can be a tad picky when it comes to doctors, so I didn't get my hopes up.

He was fabulous! Very knowledgeable AND good with kids. (You'd think most pediatricians would be good with kids, but I've found it to be a very rare thing.) He made Edward happy by climbing up on the exam table with him for the exam, and me happy by being incredibly thorough. Ethan will love the Spiderman pictures covering the walls in his exam room. I think we've found our new pediatrician!

Anyway. Enough about my doctor crush. You probably want to hear about Edward.

No shockers at this routine appointment. His weight gain has slowed down (surprise, surprise) but not drastically. At 22 lbs he's doing just fine. Time to cut out the bottles. He's walking right on schedule. Still sleeps like a champ. Talking WAY more than your average 13 month old. (We think he's up to 25 or 30 understandable words!!) Understands us incredibly well. (When I told him it was time to put his shirt back on, Edward leaned over, grabbed his shirt, and handed it to me.)

And of course, he got four shots. The regular two plus Hep A (required for preschools out here) and the flu shot I'd forgotten earlier. (Good thing the flu is just barely hitting TX. This weekend was the first batch of cases, in fact.)

So nothing surprising. A smart growing boy.

A gratuitous and fuzzy picture of our cute boy.
And yes, he does eat with a fork. Very successfully.

Dental Adventures, Part 1

Did you know that you don't have to wait until your kids need braces to spend thousands of dollars on their teeth? Ethan is teaching us new things every day!

Ethan had a cleaning today with his new dentist. He was a champ. The boy went in for the cleaning portion ALL BY HIMSELF! This office prefers it that way if the child is ready. I hadn't told about that part because I figured it would freak him out. (It probably would have.) But as soon as the hygenist saw his Cars T-shirt and told him that she had Lightning McQueen toothbrushes, he was off. Mom or no mom. I did poke my head in a few minutes later, but the boy was chatting away. He was just fine.

The x-rays didn't go quite as well, but they got two. That's two more than last time!

After a LONG wait for the dentist, he came in to check Ethan's teeth. As expected, the boy has cavities. Plural. We were very aware of one (that we couldn't get the previous dentist to treat! ARGH!) and expected one or two more. But the boys mouth needs some serious work.

I had to check the treatment work-up to make sure I had my numbers right. Ethan needs five fillings. Bad, but not horrible. He also needs two pulpotomies. To avoid medical jargon, lets think of them as partial root-canals. Yes, I just said root-canals. My four year old will have two crowns. CROWNS.

And how do you do a root canal on a four year old who won't even let you get an x-ray? That's right, sedation. Full-on general anesthesia. At the hospital. In a surgery suite.

I'm kind of freaking out over here. I can handle just about anything in the medical world, but I have this thing about general anesthesia. I'm afraid of it. And I'm really afraid of how Ethan will do coming out of it.

We've told Ethan that the yucky spot on his front tooth needs to be fixed before it hurts. So the dentist will fix it while he's sleeping and he'll wake up with a new tooth. He's actually excited for a new tooth.

We're aiming for the surgery date in mid-February. (The pedi-dentist only books the suite once a month or so.) We have to pre-pay, so we may not make it, but we're hoping.

Anyone else have to put their young kid through general anesthesia? How did it go?

PS - I think I should probably mention that we take very good care of Ethan's teeth. I discussed with the dr why his teeth have so many issues. First, genetics. I have incredibly soft enamel that decays when you look at it funny. Ethan inherited it. Second, spacing. Ethan also has my teeny tiny mouth. I'm missing two full sets of teeth and still barely have room in there. Ethan's teeth are packed so tightly together that brushing is not as effective as it should be. We need to floss morning and night. And third, the gain weight diet. Remember all that whole milk/cream stuff that Ethan used to drink? He had to drink so much of it that he took a cup to bed with him. We knew it risked damaging his teeth, but didn't expect the other problems to compound the issue. We stopped doing that more than a year ago. Plus we have always been cautious about sticky foods and don't allow juice. We've done just about everything right. But what was started before has only gotten worse. At least we have the option of sedation and don't have to traumatize him.

I think I'm going to be sick...

I went to the gym tonight. (Will someone please revive my parents? I'm sure they just fainted from shock.)

Anywho, the gym has a pool. And the membership is pretty cheap. AND they have free childcare. Can't wait to try that out next time.

I went to go swim some laps. It was pathetic. I was winded after the third lap or so. Total, I probably only swam for about 15 minutes. I can't believe how out of shape I am!! (Yes I can. I'm breathing hard after going up the stairs some days.)

On the way out, I had to keep telling myself not to throw up. My body really isn't used to exercise of any kind. Have you heard the term skinny-fat? It means you look skinny, but your muscles and heart are incredibly out of shape. That's me. Not that I'm skinny anymore. But I'm not overweight by any standard. I even got a few admiring looks as I walked by the weight machines. (Gotta remember to put my wedding ring back on next time.)

Ooo Ooo. The best part. I weighed myself. Really, that was the best part. Even fully clothed and with my sneakers on, I've lost more than 15 pounds since having Edward! Pre-pregnancy weight is only 6 pounds away. Maybe I can make it before he turns one. I'd deserve a party for that. With cake. And ice cream.

Man I want some ice cream.

Vomit

Oh yes. Ethan has been a fountain today. I've cleaned up after him four times. We're on the second load of laundry. I've given up hope and left the mop out. And he's been awake less than two hours. Lots more to come, I'm sure!!

Maybe he'll take a long nap and I'll be able to do some of the packing. And I should be able to run the errands I need to tonight, as long as John gets home at a reasonable hour. My day is shaping up to be different than I'd planned!

Barely Concious

That's me. I probably shouldn't try to do anything like driving, or cooking, or child-care. Man. Life needs to stop for a while and let me get some sleep. Last night, I was up with Edward twelve times. TWELVE TIMES!!!

Edward has been slowly deteriorating. Each time we increased his dose of Zantac, the benefits faded more quickly. But because reflux is supposed to peak at 4 months old, I figured I could ride it out. (Someone hit me the next time I think something so stupid. Please?) Peaking means that it's at its worst and will then take several more months to improve. That means sleeping and eating issues for several more months.

Enough is enough. So we had a nice long chat with the dr today. Edward is still managing to grow and gain weight. But his weight gain is just on the edge of not enough. He also has every single one of the odd little reflux symptoms. Spitting up, not sleeping, constantly sucking on anything, back arching, a persistent head-tilt... (That last one is improving, but could mean physical therapy if he doesn't do it on his own.) There have also been a couple of signs that it all may be caused by a food allergy.

We're going to try quite a few things.

First, we're switching to Prevacid. More expensive and harder to give, but it shouldn't lose its efficacy like Zantac did.

Second, adding solids should help with the weight and the sleeping.

Third, I'm going to do some stool testing at work that could confirm an allergy. (If the dr sends it to his lab, we would have to pay for it. So we're taking advantage of my job. Plus it gives us an easy reminder to touch base when I call the dr with the results.)

Fourth, I'm going stop nursing on demand and put the boy on a schedule. This means he'll nurse MUCH less often. Seems backward, I know. But he's using it purely for comfort too often, and stimulating his stomach to make more acid.

And fifth, the biggest, a modified Ferberizing. I've been nursing him to sleep, so he doesn't know how to comfort himself when the pain wakes him up. So we are instituting a bedtime routine and putting him to bed awake. Normally, the Ferber method would have us leave him alone in the crib, but he's too young. So we'll stay next to the crib and sooth him however we can without picking him up. It'll be miserable. But hey. I was up twelve times last night. I know miserable.

Thats our little guy for now. John has been managing more sleep than me b/c he can't nurse Edward. But I'll be recruiting him for these new efforts so that he can share in my zombie-like ways. Hopefully things will improve soon.

Aren't Babies Supposed to Sleep?

Edward started out as a fabulous sleeper. He made babies seem so easy. Then, it started to change. Our first thoughts were that it was a gas issue. So I lived without vegetables and chocolate for nearly two months. No chocolate for two months!! But he was still getting worse.

So two weeks ago, I took Edward in to have his ears checked and to discuss formula options. After going over his symptoms, the dr asked a few questions and said he suspected that reflux was the problem, not gas. So we started the boy on Zantac.

Miracle of miracles, it worked! For about a week and a half. Suspecting a few other things that could be keeping him up (earache, hunger, etc...) I took him in again. After I made this appointment, the office called and changed the time b/c our dr was covering the nursery and there were more babies that needed extra attention than usual. The new time was decidedly less convenient. I grumbled. I considered canceling. I could have called and had his zantac dose raised without having to go in and pay the copay.

But I'm so glad I didn't! Not because something was horribly wrong. All we ended up deciding was that he needed a higher dose (surprise, surprise). BUT... because I was concerned that my milk supply has been decreasing already, and the boy will need one of those "special" formulas (read: expensive), the dr gave me some. No, not just some, a CASE! Six whole cans! The twenty dollars for the copay wouldn't buy one! Have I told you I love our pediatrician?

And yes. Edward is sleeping better already. We'll just need to up his dose of Zantac every so often to keep it that way.

Two at once

I'll jump back in with our visit to the dr yesterday for checkups. Wow, it takes a long time to do both kids! Between the weighing and measuring, the physical exams, and the discussions about development, I think we were in that room for over an hour!

Ethan first. (Because he insisted on going first yesterday.) His last weigh in was Halloween and he was up to a whopping 32.5lbs. Now, he is the exact same height and only 30lbs. This boy has gained (and kept on) only 10lbs since he was 5 months old!! Because his BMI is good and we've already proven that he can gain weight, we're going to leave it alone for now and just weigh him at Edward's checkups to make sure he doesn't lose more.

Otherwise, our boy is just fabulous. Gross motor skills are great as evidenced by his riding a big-kid scooter. Fine-motor are way above average as evidenced by his learning to write letters. (That one has also shown us that he learns by doing. Ethan had no real interest in learning his ABCs until he realized that he could make them. Now we introduce a new letter every few days.) Language skills are great. Social skills are great.

We were most proud of the dr's comments about Ethan's social skills. He said that you could tell our boy comes from a good home with good parents who don't fight b/c of the way he interacts with others. This seemed to stem particularly from the way Ethan would express his dislike of something, but then sit and listen while the dr explained what he was going to do, followed by agreement that it needed to be done. If only he'd do that at home!

The one suggestion that the dr had for us was to push him more. He's at an age where there are almost no limits to the amount he can learn. Our dr is chinese and is all about doing what you can to increase IQ and give your kid their best chance at success. He wants us to make sure he is exposed to lot of music, particularly making it. And he wants us to introduce new sports, like skiing, ice-skating, biking (on a two-wheeler!), gymnastics, etc. I think we're going to start with a tumbling class and maybe get some roller-skates in the spring. A bike can wait until we move.

On to Edward. He's up to 10lbs 15ozs and it shows. Not quite the porker his brother was, but the rolls of fat are coming along nicely. So nicely in fact that he's gained more than twice what they expect in the last two weeks. And we've had to move to size 2 diapers!

Last time we talked about the types of stimulation we should use to increase his IQ, so our only real discussion at this appt was about sleep. Now I know that most of you will want to hurt me when I say that he sleeps probably 17-18hrs a day. BUT, it's they way he does it thats the problem. Lately, he sleeps in short bursts, typically not longer than 2 hrs. Then when he's awake, he eats really often. And cries b/c he's tired and can't fall back to sleep.

The dr said his first instinct when he hears about sleeping like this is that the baby is hungry. But obviously Edward is getting plenty to eat. So we think that the real problem is gas bubbles formed by air swallowed when he cries. (I may have started the problem by eating a bunch of raw broccoli a while ago. Those painful bubbles caused the first bought of wails, resulting in more bubbles.) So it's possible that if we can get him through a day or so without much crying, the sleeping will get better. Plus we're only two weeks away from that magic 6 week mark where night sleeping improves. Can't wait for that.

So that's the general recap of Ethan at 3yrs old and Edward at 1 month old. Pictures to come tonight or tomorrow.

Fever

Edward had his 2 week checkup today. Of course, he's perfect in every way. He's even started smiling already!

Because Ethan has had a fever of 103 for the last 4 days, I took him with us to get checked out. I've been completely unable to identify anything wrong with him besides the fever (and the completely non-specific lethargy, loss of appetite, and pastey complexion.) After a through check, the dr found NOTHING! We even ran some blood work to see if he was fighting something bacterial and... it was normal. Meaning whatever Ethan has is viral. So we keep doing what we've been doing. Fluids, rest, and meds to keep the fever down.

We're hoping and praying that this resolves itself without becoming worse and especially that Edward doesn't catch it!

Update

So it turns out that Edward was measured wrong initially. He's really only 21 inches. Not quite as impressive. But he is sleeping well at night, so we are proud of that. It's one of the perks of having big babies.

Ethan struggled a little at first. He misses having his mom and dad all to himself, but is really stoic about it. We've been trying to spend extra time with him as much as possible. Also, potty training is practically out the window at the moment. Our big guy had it down for months, so we thought we'd be ok, but no such luck. We're not pushing him at the moment. He has alot to adjust to.

And, he's sick. We're not sure what with, but the high fever is a sure sign. If it's not gone by tomorrow (day 3), we'll be heading to the dr for sure.

So that's us at the moment. Bumming around our house, getting to know our newest addition, and helping our oldest get better.

The last few days

After finishing up with the Christmas party last weekend and delivering the Sub-for-Santa donations on monday, Ethan and I have had nothing to do. It's been a little weird after weeks of going non-stop. But we're LOVING it.

Ethan and I have been spending our time just hanging out with each other. I can't imagine a better way to spend our last week together. He's been so much fun. Playing with all his toys, coloring, pretending to be everything from superheroes to pirates, and lots of dancing. We really need to spend the occasional day doing nothing more often. He's just a different kid!

Also, my body is in better shape. The leg problems that were keeping me up half the night are only a minor annoyance now. It's been good to get a little rest before all the work of a newborn.

The big craziness going on right now is the snow that's coming. This afternoon is the first storm, promising at least half a foot in a matter of hours. (And of course I have a dr's appt just as it starts so I can't stay out of it.) Then, on Saturday night, there's a nor-easter coming with predictions anywhere from sheeting ice to more than a foot of snow. Just in time to cause problems with Grandma J flying in.

Our only hope is that the changes in barometric pressure don't push me into labor. (It's crazy how many babies are born early for this reason.) We feel like the scheduled date is just perfect for us, and we REALLY don't want to be driving to the hospital during the middle of a storm.

So that's us for now. I'll try to get a belly shot posted later today (if I can find the memory card.)

Sicko

That's me. Having a bad cold is always miserable, but it's so much worse with the added complications of pregnancy. Ethan gave me this cold and he didn't suffer nearly as badly. Lucky kid. Of course, this falls on a week when I have 50 million things to do, most of them not at home. (Thank goodness for the wonderful women who cleaned my house last week or it would be so much more. Thanks again ladies!)

So, as much as I want to spend my days resting on the couch and my nights sound asleep so that I can get better... we're running errands all morning, getting in a short nap, doing whatever I need to to get ready for evening plans, and finally crashing into bed for the night, where I'm up every hour and get almost no real sleep. You can imagine how great I'm feeling....

But Ethan's birthday, the last preschool lesson before we break for Christmas, the Ward Christmas party (I'm in charge), and so many other things just can't be ignored or put off. I'll have some time in about a week and a half to crash. I'll just have to wait to get better until then.

Bump on the head

It would have been less of a big deal if this was just a simple bump on the head from falling or banging his head on something. But no. Ethan has a bump on his temple that's been there for months. I'd noticed it, but had been holding out on doing anything until the doctor mentioned it at Ethan's visit in Sept. So after keeping a closer eye on it, I confirmed that it isn't going away. That meant we needed to go back to the doctor to have him look at this bump. Anyone who knew Ethan's friend Hyrum before they moved away, knows the importance of having these checked out. (A bump on the head was the only symptom of a widespread bone cancer. Miraculously, his body dealt with it on its own and he is doing great.)

Can you believe how weird and slightly embarrassing it is to schedule an appointment for a bump on the head? While we were there, one of the nurses stopped as he walked by to say hi to Ethan and ask what we were doing there. I told him, and then said "Really just to say hi!" That's what it felt like. (We did manage to sneak in a weight check and a flu shot while we were there, which was nice.) But the doctor agreed that the bump bothered him as well. We discussed how 99% of the time these bumps are nothing, but it's that 1% that keeps us on edge. So not only did he check it out, he called in another doc to get a second opinion before making a decision. The bump is hard and doesn't move, so it seems like bone.

The consensus was to get an x-ray. Our dr's office is in a building connected to the hospital, so they sent us right over. I was really impressed by the efficiency of the whole process. Ethan wasn't. Because I'm pregnant, I couldn't stay with him during the seven! skull x-rays. It was a little bit traumatic with lots of tears, but he did great. He held still when they asked him to, and even went back in for more without a huge fight when the radiologist asked for a different angle. He was a brave boy.

So we made it out in less that two and a half hours and went to get a special lunch because Ethan did such a great job. Then, a few hours later, our dr called with the results. They didn't see anything. So unless it changes, or either of our intuitions makes us nervous about it, we'll just keep an eye on it. The next step would be a CT scan (heavy radiation) or an MRI (requires that Ethan be put under anesthesia), neither of which we feel is warranted right now.

For any family that reads this, feel your temples. Because of where Ethan's bump is, it is possible that he just has a strangely large temple, maybe because his orbital ridge is a little higher than average. So let us know if you have prominent temples. It would help confirm that this bump is nothing at all.

Update: My dad has prominent temples. Not as large as Ethan's bump, but definitely more than normal. He also has the higher orbital ridge (where your eyebrows are), so it seems like Ethan's bump is probably just the way his head is made.

30 lbs!!!

He did it! Ethan finally broke the 30 lb mark! For our boy who hit 20 lbs at 4 months and was still off the charts at a year, then suddenly stopped gaining weight, we are so excited that he is finally gaining a little weight before he turns 3. (For anyone keeping track he gained a pound and 4 ounces in the last four weeks!) He had also managed to grow an inch in a month, so this is a real, legitimate weight gain. Yay!

This means we are off the hook for weight checks for a while. We are still going to keep him on a high fat, protein, and calorie diet, but as long as he continues his upturn, we will be able to cut back after his regular check-up in december. Even the doctor was excited. Such good news!

It's weird to look at pictures of Ethan as an infant compared to how he looks now. He was such a giant butterball. But after two years of using all that extra mass to fuel his height growth, he is a tall and lean boy. At least we are getting to a point where he isn't an unhealthy thin. (Ethan's uncle Ben should try this diet.)

Scrawny Boy

Ok. I am really getting sick of this.

We visited the dr today for what I had hoped was Ethan's last weight check. Although he is getting taller right on schedule, the boy has only managed to gain about an ounce a month, instead of the six he should be gaining. To give you some perspective on that, he gained about a third of a pound since his last weigh in, but should have gained three pounds. Arrgh! Back on the high calorie, high fat, high protein diet. They even want us to mix half whole milk and half cream in his cups for a few weeks.

Because I've been so annoyed that we've had to keep doing all this, I asked why this is such a problem. Especially because the dr agrees with me that he is just adjusting to be the tall, scrawny kid we expect him to be. I got a great explanation this time. At first, the problem was his drop in both height and weight on the growth charts. Then, his height leveled off at well above 50th percentile, but his weight kept dropping. Now that he's hovering barely above 25th in weight, they start worrying about his body getting (or not properly using) everything it needs. Particularly the fats he needs for neural development. (That would be for brain and nerve function for my husband who complains that I use big medical words.)

At this point, he is clearly still developing normally. He is ridiculously smart, so no problems there yet, and his physical development is right where it should be. But because we're back on the diet, we are also back to the monthly check-ups. (They want to make sure he gains, but doesn't get the chance to put on any unhealthy weight.)

At least this time I can join him in some of his yummy indulgences. Although there is clearly more of me (in more places than just my belly), my weight isn't going up either. Edward is following in his brother's footsteps at this point. Growing so fast, I can't manage to keep up with the both of us! Hopefully when he slows down in a few years, it's not as much as his older brother.

It's a..... oh, just look and see

This is a little hard to see small, so maybe click on the picture to see it bigger. It's a bum shot, with the legs disappearing to the left. (The round, hollow thing is a knee, so follow it back down to the bum.) In between you can see a distinct something...That's right! We're having another boy, and we are sure this time. This is a nice profile shot. For anyone who has a hard time seeing these, the white curve at the bottom left is the back of the head. So if you follow the curve over the top, you get to a nice profile. If you look at it close up the nose, lips, chin, and even cheekbones are visible. The squished oval to the right is the torso and the white streak coming up at the right is a leg bone.
Here is another profile. In this one you can see a little hand coming up to his mouth. You can even count all five fingers.
Right after the last one, the tech gave the baby a poke and he appeared to be laughing at her. (The cross-section is at a strange angle, so no, my baby isn't deformed.)
I know this doesn't look like much, but it's a foot with five toes. (The toes are at the upper right end of the foot.)

So it was a great ultrasound. He is healthy and clearly enjoying his ability to move around in there. It took quite a long time because he was playing around so much. Rolling around, waving his hands at us, and crossing his legs when she went for a bum shot. The tech commented that he was incredibly active, but was fun to chase around. She also mentioned how tall he seemed to be. All his measurements were right on, but they can't get a good length estimate once they are this big, so she was just guessing.

Well post something at soon about his name, because I'm sure you'll hear us using it. But I don't want to tell you yet until we can explain what it means to us. I may even have John write about it.

My Magic Pill

It's doxylamine, also known as Unisom. I know it sounds weird. But it's a part of the medication Bendectin that was used to treat nausea back in my mom's day. (The other part of Bendectin was B6 which I'm also taking.) You can still get it in nearly every country of the world, but because of a scare many, many years ago, it's not available in the US. It's since been proven to be one of the safest things a pregnant woman can take. And I sleep better too! For anyone with morning sickness, I whole heartedly recommend my magic pill.

Our new fight

Ethan doesn't really eat. I guess I've been trying to not notice, but while he was sick he really ate only a handful of bites a day. Now that he's improving, we decided to set some dinner time rules. First is one we've had all along. You don't have to like what's for dinner, but your only other option is PB&J. Second is the big one. Dinner time means you have to sit at the table. No playing with toys, no running around the house, no distractions. Ethan chose time-out rather than the table three times tonight. And didn't eat a single bite of dinner. I think I'm not going to give him his sippy cup tomorrow to make sure he can't fill up on milk. We're going to get this boy to eat if it kill us.

Sick again...

No, not me this time. Ethan had a fever of 102 on Friday night. He seemed fine (and we forgot about it!) the next morning so he went to a birthday party and came home exhausted. I know we're horrible parents. When I checked that afternoon, still 102. Sunday, 102 and finally showing some signs of being sick, Ethan stayed home from church and a call went into the Dr. Of course, the night/weekend nurse typically leans on the "if it's not life-threatening, deal with it" side of medicine, so with no real advice, we drugged our boy up. We'd already been doing the motrin, but we started alternating it with Tylenol and added a decongestant. I even picked up some children's Mucinex as his cold was threatening to move into his chest.

Monday, not really better. And b/c the decongestant isn't as yummy tasting as the motrin, Ethan started refusing his meds. (We fixed that by adding it to his milk. To him, milk is milk, even when it's pink and funny tasting.) To make John's day off even better, my stomach decided to have a bad day. We spent the entire day at home, pretty miserable. Happy Memorial Day!

Tues Ethan's fever finally broke. Just in time for us to avoid the Dr. Still really congested and coughing up a storm, but better. My stomach on the other hand... I started to worry that the new meds I'd added on Friday had lost their usefulness just like the last ones.

Finally, we come to Wed. Ethan is well into the upswing, though still coughing when he lays down. I've come down with this virus of his, but because I am willing to blow my nose, I'm doing better than the boy was. Also, I've decided that it must have been the beginning of the cold that set my stomach off. It seems to be back on an even keel. If it stays good for a few more days, I'll tell you about this magic pill I've discovered. It's actually kind of crazy!

So all in all, we are getting better. (Until John gets the cold!)