Just some quick updates and random shareworthy info...
A's temp went back up to 101.1 right before bedtime on Thursday night. Here we go again, I thought, but after a dose of Tylenol and an obscenely early bedtime, he slept it off and didn't wake up until 7:30am (with a temp of 98.8). I, of course, didn't sleep at all that night. Instead, I lay awake in bed fretting that Alex was going to wake me up. Yeah, I'm kind of neurotic like that. Anyway, except for a lingering cough and a negligible amount of vomit, he seems to be doing fine. I was really dreading the flu, but it looks like we may have sidestepped that land mine...
In other news, Alex has decided to join the circus sideshow, not as the Lizard Boy, but as a contortionist. He can fit his whole body into a coffee can. Seriously, it's amazing.
Besides convincing him to show me the coffee can trick, I discovered another way to keep him from getting into things around the house. Emily, you may want to invest in one of these. They really do the trick.
He really gets into character when he's in there. Here's his ferocious lion impression. Or maybe he's a monkey. I don't know, all of his impressions are kind of the same...
Thanks to Bella for loaning out her crate. We Bella-sat last night cuz the Primms were going to Branson. A loves Bella, especially since Bella lets him pet her, whereas Alex's own weenie dog won't come within ten feet of his outstretched arms.
When they came to pick Bella up, the Primms hung out and kept me company for a while. Not that Alex isn't good company. But it is nice to talk to someone in words comprised of more than one syllable. Oliver decided that Alex's lap looked comfy and had himself a seat. He promptly rethought that move when Alex started pinching his neckskin and tried to eat his shirt.
He also started a new face this week. I'm thinking it has something to do with the excess boogers rattling around in his head these days, and the fact that he hasn't figured out how to pick them yet.
And here are a couple more. I can't really remember what inspired these two...
That pretty much covers it as far as Alex updates go. Auntie L got into town tonight, so I'm sure there'll be plenty more blogworthy updates in the near future. The update on Alex's daddy is that he is a major stud who has been opening several cans of "you know what" in the Moot Court Competition. He and his partner have handily won their first two rounds and will compete again tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, and again tomorrow night if they continue to win. Not that we had any doubt, but we are very proud, nonetheless...
Kids have impeccable timing, don't they? For example, they do things like wake up with a 102 degree temperature at 1:30am the morning after their daddy boards a plane for New York, leaving mommy all alone to take them to the emergency room, in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold.
Ugh, seven and a half months of perfect health and Alex decides to wait for his daddy to leave to spring a high fever on me. He had been waking up and talking to himself all night, but when he cried at 1:30am, I checked on him and discovered that he was burning up. His temperature was 102, so I called the after hours clinic and left a message, then I called the nursery to see what I should do while I waited to hear from them. The nurse said that 102 was pretty high and that I should take him to the emergency room. For real? Do I have to? A was in high spirits and wasn't acting emergency room worthy, but I figured, better safe than sorry.
We got to the emergency room in about 5 minutes (there's not much traffic at 2am). I went up the counter to fill out some paperwork, then handed it to the woman sitting there, who asked what the issue was. Despite his high temperature, I had brought Alex into the building wrapped in a light baby blanket (it was 32 degrees out), which I removed from him the minute we entered the heated building and was currently holding in the hand of the arm that I was holding Alex with. Nonetheless, her first comment when I told her about his fever was, "Well, take that blanket off of him." My mind was racing with emotionally charged responses, such as, "Here's an idea. How 'bout I strip him naked and sit him outside on the concrete in the freezing cold for a few hours. That should take care of his fever, huh?! HUH?!!!" But, ever calm and collected in the face of an emergency, I calmly switched the blanket to the other hand and said, "It was really cold outside."
She told me the wait could be 4 and a half hours, and as I glanced around at the waiting room, empty with the exception of two ladies and a half naked baby (who probably also had a fever) and some woman with crutches, I again felt that urge to speak my mind. But again, I practiced restraint and asked her whether I needed to wait, whether a 102 fever was something to panic about, and whether teething might have anything to do with it. She said the fever was too high for teething and basically told me to go home, alternate Tylenol and Motrin, and keep an eye on him. Well shoot, lady, I didn't need to drive down here in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold, to have you tell me what I could've figured out on my own.
Looooong story short, Childrens Hospital called back and basically reiterated what I already knew. A has developed a pretty nasty cough, so I called our regular nurse this morning who said that a fever and a cough could lead to the flu, and suggested I just monitor him at home until his fever spikes or more symptoms appear.
This whole thing would've been somewhat nervewracking were it not for Alex's attitude. He is just as cheerful and animated as ever, so that really put me at ease. Here he is after we got back from the ER, sometime around 2:30am. I mean, seriously, does this look like the face of an ailing child?
He wasn't really interested in sleeping when we got back. I tried rocking him to sleep (he woke up less than an hour later), gave him a bottle, let him talk, let him whine, all to no avail. So basically the two of us pulled an all-nighter until he finally fell asleep around 5:15am. And here he is, up and at 'em at 8am.
As you can see, not even a fever, an all-nighter, and a hacking cough can get this kid down. He's just one tough little booger, I guess...
Normally the point of this blog is to brag on Alex, but I do have to take just a sec to brag on my godson Oliver cuz he is just so darn cute.
We went to the hospital to visit our CG friends, the Pointers, who just had a beautiful baby girl yesterday. I met up with the Primms so that we could watch the boys in shifts because, since I delivered Alex, the hospital has decided to up its security and is on complete lockdown mode. Kids aren't allowed in the post-partum rooms, and adults are only admitted after a thorough background check, a urine specimen, and a full body cavity search. So while Joy and I went to see the baby, Seth watched the boys, then I relieved Seth while he joined Joy in the p.p. room.
A just adores Oliver (and, on more than one occasion, tried to see what he tastes like), and it's no wonder. O is so sweet and adorable and will be the best big brother ever. He crawled around on the floor so Alex could follow him, and when I asked him to sit down to take a picture with Alex, the first thing he did was grab A by the shoulders and plant a big smooch right on his face. Yes, I know they will reel at the mention of such things when they're thirteen, but for now, it is the sweetest thing ever. I'm trying really hard not to think about how hard it will be to move away and compromise the awesome bond that those two could have if we lived closer while they were growing up. But that's life, and that's what road trips are for. (Joy, stop crying.)
A was a little crabby before we went to the hospital, but that visit with O must have been the boost he needed cuz from the time we got in the car to the time I put him to bed, his lips did not stop moving. He was all, "Goo goo goo ga ga ga da da da ba ba ba..." He was yakking away in the seconds before he barfed up three gallons of savory carrots, potatoes and beef, and the yakking resumed a split second after he finished emptying his guts onto his bib, his highchair, his shirt, and the floor. I got a few still shots pre-barf cuz seriously, he was pretty nasty-looking after that happened and I wouldn't want to cause any of my readers to recreate the aforementioned barfing scene. (p.s. I know A looks like he has been abused about the face, but he is so active and I can't seem to cut his nails short enough. Every morning I get him out of bed, it looks like he's been in a fist fight with Edward Scissorhands.)
Since I filmed this video last week, A has either gotten faster or the rest of us have gotten slower. We're in the "can't leave him alone for a second" phase because, wouldn't you know it, he's only interested in playing with things he's not supposed to. I spend most of my day wrangling him into the center of the living room, away from the DVD's, the electrical cords, Murph's dog food bowl, and the nasty corners of my kitchen floor. SIGH. I'm exhausted.
But despite the exhaustion, I appreciate that he's curious and full of energy, and it is such a pleasure to watch him exploring and discovering new things. LOVE it. LOVE him. The end.
Grandma and Grandpa B stopped by on their U.S. tour last night to visit with us before moving on to my grandparents' place in Arizona. When anyone comes to visit - including my parents - I tend to stress that Alex will have a bad day and won't be his usual, chipper self, and that I'll have to make up a million excuses as to why he's crabby, like "he must be hungry", "I think he's just tired", or "his rear end itches". And every time visitors leave, I realize that I am a neurotic mess, that I worry way too much about stupid, petty things, and that my concerns are completely unfounded because Alex has never disappointed so far - he is always an angel and a ham and everything else wonderful that I hope he will be. And not that anyone but me really cares. Actually, I think it's his fault for setting the bar too high. Maybe if he had a bad day now and then, I wouldn't be so on edge about when it's finally going to happen...Ooohhhh, I take it back!! I take it back!! Please keep being perfect!!
Anyway, you'd think I wouldn't have that many pictures to post since they were only here for a grand total of 12 hours, but my dad brought his fancy camera and Tim and I couldn't keep our grubby mitts off of it. So I'll try to keep narration to a minimum and let the pictures do (most of) the talking...
Grandma and Grandpa received the warmest reception ever, especially considering that Alex hasn't seen them since December. He acted like they've spent every day together and crawled right up to my dad to check out the present that he had brought in.
Grandma had also brought in some presents, so he made sure to thank her right away, too.
And just what are these presents that I write of? The first was a walker/ride-on toy that A can either sit on top of and scoot himself along with his feet or it can convert to a walker that he holds onto and walks along behind. The ironic thing about this gift was that the night before, Tim, Alex, and I stood in front of that exact toy in Walmart, and after considering it for several minutes, we decided to wait and get it another time. I couldn't believe when Mom and Dad showed up at the front door with it.
Anyway, A loves all the bells and whistles, and although he can sit on it and stand behind it, it is usually short-lived since he doesn't have the whole "balance" thing down quite yet and forgets that he needs to hang on to the thing so he doesn't fall over.
Here he is trying to look "bad" on his "hawg"...
...and here he is pretending to be sweet and innocent. You're not fooling anybody, mister!!
The second one was an adorable running suit in Illini blue and orange. I didn't take a picture of it, but you may catch a glimpse of it in the pictures below. The third gift was a book called "Good Night Chicago" which Grandma B got signed by the author. My family is, like, waaaaaaaay into books, so something like that is pretty exciting for us nerds. The concept of these books is really cool - all of the illustrations and stories refer to landmarks and traditions related to different areas of the U.S. so a kid can learn about different parts of the country. Grandma read some of it to A and he seemed to be impressed by the windy city. I guess we'll have to take him to visit Chi-town on our next visit home...
Alex was sure to perform all of his latest tricks for the G.B.'s, which now include: crawling, jabbering, high-fiving, pulling himself up, waving, sitting himself up, drinking from his sippy cup, eating crackers, and clapping (lots of clapping).
Oh yeah, and he demonstrated for Grandpa how he plans to set the Guinness World record for projectile vomiting. Um, ew.
Fun with G-ma...
Fun with G-pa...
And random pics of A posing for G-pa's fancy camera...
After all the fun and posing, it was time to get ready for bed, which just meant more fun, more posing, and more books.
Grandma and Grandpa had to hit the road this afternoon to try to make it to Albuquerque before...well, tomorrow. As usual, a good but short visit. Timothy will be leaving for NYC on Wednesday to (win) participate in a moot court competition, so Auntie L will be keeping us company over the weekend (barring any unforseen illnesses or garage sales).
In other news, Alex has decided to join the circus sideshow, not as the Lizard Boy, but as a contortionist. He can fit his whole body into a coffee can. Seriously, it's amazing.
Besides convincing him to show me the coffee can trick, I discovered another way to keep him from getting into things around the house. Emily, you may want to invest in one of these. They really do the trick. 
He really gets into character when he's in there. Here's his ferocious lion impression. Or maybe he's a monkey. I don't know, all of his impressions are kind of the same...
Thanks to Bella for loaning out her crate. We Bella-sat last night cuz the Primms were going to Branson. A loves Bella, especially since Bella lets him pet her, whereas Alex's own weenie dog won't come within ten feet of his outstretched arms.
When they came to pick Bella up, the Primms hung out and kept me company for a while. Not that Alex isn't good company. But it is nice to talk to someone in words comprised of more than one syllable. Oliver decided that Alex's lap looked comfy and had himself a seat. He promptly rethought that move when Alex started pinching his neckskin and tried to eat his shirt.
He also started a new face this week. I'm thinking it has something to do with the excess boogers rattling around in his head these days, and the fact that he hasn't figured out how to pick them yet.
And here are a couple more. I can't really remember what inspired these two...
That pretty much covers it as far as Alex updates go. Auntie L got into town tonight, so I'm sure there'll be plenty more blogworthy updates in the near future. The update on Alex's daddy is that he is a major stud who has been opening several cans of "you know what" in the Moot Court Competition. He and his partner have handily won their first two rounds and will compete again tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, and again tomorrow night if they continue to win. Not that we had any doubt, but we are very proud, nonetheless...
