Enough Already

As I've already mentioned, Will had the stomach virus last week.  Five days of vomiting and diarrhea.  Then, on the first day that Will started to hold down some food, Liam got sick.  Today is Liam's fifth day and thankfully, he just (about a half-hour ago) kept down his first bottle since Friday evening of last week.  If you do the math, that's 10 consecutive days of blaaah.  The last few, especially, have been rough because Liam is not sleeping well at night.  Instead, he cat naps on-and-off, all day and all night.  Sleep, whine, cry, whine, sleep, whine, cry, whine, eat, vomit, whine, sleep, cry... 

This morning, I came downstairs with Liam at around 5 am.  He was fussy and couldn't sleep, so I made him a bottle of Pedialyte.  He calmed down a bit, but didn't fall back to sleep until around 6 am-- just in time for Will to come bounding down the stairs.  Will asked for fruit snacks and then television-- and I would've nodded my head 'yes' to just about anything to keep things quiet.  I kept motioning to Will to be quiet, pointing at Liam, who was lightly snoozing next to me.  "Mommy", Will whispered, "I want to sit there.  That's my spot."  (Of course, 'there' was where Liam lay sleeping.)  I tried to reason quietly with Will and felt my patience slipping away as he got louder and louder.  Finally, he jumped off the couch and flipped the television off as he loudly protested.  Liam's eyes bolted open as he gazed around the room.  I was so frustrated that, without saying a word, I tossed threw the remote to the floor.  The back of the remote flew off and the batteries scattered across the hardwood floor.  Liam started crying immediately and Will, watching from across the room, was the first to speak...

"GREAT!  Now look what you did-- you woke up Liam... and you're not supposed to throw things when you're angry."

You know you've had it when you look like the three-year-old and your three-year-old sounds like the adult.  I'm so ready for everyone to be healthy again and for a few good nights of sleep.  Hopefully, we're on the road to recovery.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and e-mails from the last few posts.  You guys are the best!

Ew, I know.

Yesterday morning, around 6 am, Liam was cooing and gargling in his crib.  As usual, he was giving me my 1-minute warning before screaming to be picked up.  As I entered the room, I instantly detected a gross yet familiar smell.  I looked into the crib to find him lying on his back and smiling as if nothing were wrong.  The sheet beneath him had a large, dry circular stain and when I picked him up, I found that his back and head were similarly covered.  He must have thrown up during the night and then fell back to sleep.  Ew, I know.

Strangely though, it was a happy sight for me.

If you've been reading, you know that Will had a stomach virus less than 2 months ago.  Last week, he got sick again-- same thing-- except the duration.  He wasn't able to keep anything (besides some dry Cheerios and Gatorade) down for five days and he was so lethargic.  Each day, he spent the entire morning on the couch, dozing on and off, and then at around 1 pm he would announce that he was ready for his nap.  His toys hadn't moved in a week and he barely had any interest in what was on television.  He was visibly losing weight and had absolutely no energy.  Although the pediatrician told me that this could happen, five days of this had me worried...

I can't even begin to put my deepest fears in writing... What if it wasn't a stomach virus?  What could it be?  He washes his hands at least 30 times a day, how could he have this again!?  Google, WebMd, Google, WebMd.... Aaaahhhhh....

And then came that beautiful sight on Saturday morning.  Liam was sick-- not usually a good thing-- but in this case, it meant that Will probably did have a virus and he had passed it on.  Yesterday Will ate some toast and banana for breakfast, played Legos on the couch all morning, then had a plain cheese quesadilla for lunch and ran an errand with Bill.  He took a nap around 4 pm and woke up the next morning at 7:30 am.  This was a significant improvement and today has been even better.  

Hopefully, Liam's recovery will happen a little faster.  Unlike his brother, he seems to really love that Pedialyte.  I took a swig and can't say that I agree-- yuck.

I'm OK

Well, I did end up getting that stomach bug.

I woke up on Monday morning at about 3 am and was sick all day.  Bill stayed home from work to watch the kids and I had to cancel all of my tutoring appointments for that evening.  Tuesday was kind of a blur.  I was super-low on energy, but feeling okay otherwise.  

The rest of the week was spent cleaning up the house, taking care of the kids and trying to squeeze in all of the appointments that I had canceled earlier in the week.  

The kids have had many highs and lows this week. At least a thousand a day.  So many, in fact, that I'm way too exhausted to write a post about them.

Now I have a cold, or maybe allergies.  I'm not sure.  I'm coughing and sneezing and I have a low, hoarse voice-- which I think is super-sexy, but I think my husband finds annoying.  

I hope to write more this week, but for now, here are some photos from the last two months. Many were meant for posts that went unwritten.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Bad

Yesterday evening, as I was weaving through the crowd at the ice arena, I was thinking of all the mistakes that I have made as a parent.  There was the time I brought Will to Great Adventure on a sunny, 95 degree day, while 8 months pregnant.  Then there was the time I fed Will an entire bottle of milk less than a half-hour after Mommy & Me swim class.  There was also the time I was halfway down our street when Will reminded me that I hadn't fastened his seat belt.   Also, the time when I was so frustrated with Will picking his nose that I told him that his brains were going to fall out.  (Each of those stories could have made for some interesting posts.)  However, as I was weaving through the crowd last night, one hand holding onto Will's and the other carrying a plastic bag full of his vomit, I was pretty much thinking that tonight was my biggest screw up to date. .

.

A few hours earlier, I was rushing to make dinner.  Bill was upstairs, getting ready to coach his hockey game. Will and I had plans to take Liam to grandma's, so that we could go to the game, just the two of us.  This was the semi-final round for conference hockey and it was a pretty big deal.  In addition to making dinner, I had to get both kids ready, pack Liam's diaper bag, drop Liam off at grandma's and drive to the arena-- hopefully making it there early enough to get two seats.  Will was complaining, on-and-off, that his stomach was bothering him-- but he was still running around and playing as usual.  I had my back to him when he entered the kitchen, announced that he didn't feel so good and then threw up all over the floor and his sock-covered feet.  I drained the pasta, threw a roll of paper towels at the mess and then carried him upstairs to clean him up.  

It was decided that we weren't going to the game.  Then, as Bill and I were eating dinner, Will was running around and back to his old self-- telling us his belly felt better and that he wanted to go to the game.  And the truth of the matter is that I wanted to go to the game.  

So we went to the game.  We were there for 1 1/2 periods before Will got sick.  

I cleaned him up, carried him back to the car and we headed home.  I gave him a bath, put him in his pjs and introduced him to the 'puke bucket'.  We cuddled in my bed (photos above) until Will fell asleep-- but not before the bucket was put to good use a few more times.

Tonight, the good news is that Will is feeling 100% better and Bill won his game and is on to the finals.  Now, I'm just hoping that karma doesn't wack me with this stomach bug as a payback for dragging my poor, sick kid to the game.  

Rough Night

This was supposed to be a busy night.  I was supposed to pack up the kids and meet Bill at school by 4 pm.  We planned to switch cars there so that I could make it to a nearby tutoring appointment by 4:15.  I had three appointments scheduled, but was supposed to be home by 8:30 or so.

I pulled up next to Bill in the parking lot.  I hopped out of the car (running late as usual) and gave Bill a quick hug.  He asked me how I was.  "Headache", I replied.  I asked him how he was.  "Backache", he replied.  We exchanged a few details and then we were both on our way.  (Ah, the romance...)

My headache became increasingly worse.  I considered canceling the third appointment, but I knew that this particular student had a test coming up.  As I drove to that appointment, I knew that a full blown migraine was coming on.  As I entered the house, something immediately trigged a huge wave of nausea-- a cleanser or disinfectant or something.  I sat down for about 5 minutes before excusing myself to go to the bathroom, where I got sick.  I struggled through the hour of proof writing and problem solving, making a second trip to the bathroom at some point.  When the 60 minute appointment was over, I practically ran out of the house.  I got to my car and closed my eyes for a few minutes-- no relief.  I rolled down the windows and breathed in the cold air-- still no relief.  I dialed Bill on my cell phone.  He answered and I described my evening.  He couldn't really respond with much sympathy, because he had had a similar night.

Bill's backache had also become increasingly worse.  Thankfully, Will had a good night and was content playing with toys and watching television.  Liam, on the other hand, was apparently very fussy-- insisting on being carried/bounced around the house.  Due to his backache, Bill couldn't meet those demands for long.  The result was 1) a screaming, purple baby who collapsed from exhaustion about an hour later and 2) an exasperated, tired and hurting daddy.

After an indescribably difficult car ride, I arrived home.   Liam was peacefully sound asleep and Bill was laying on the couch with Will.  I kissed them both as I headed directly for bed.  I get headaches like these 3 or 4 times a year and the only cure that works is a good solid sleep.  

I woke up about six hours later, at about 3 am.  Liam was fussing and Bill was hunched over the crib in the dark.  I sat up in bed, trying to assess the headache situation.  It was gone, for the most part.  I scooped up Liam and Bill lumbered back to bed.  Liam was headed downstairs for a bottle and a diaper change, which only took a half-hour-- not bad.  He was sleepy, so we made our way back up the stairs and I gently laid him in the crib.  As I turned, on tip-toes, to leave the room, I heard Liam quietly stir and then I heard an odd gurgling sound.  I turned on the light using the dimmer switch.  Liam was sleeping, but he had spit-up all over his chin, pjs and blanket and there was also a puddle under his head.  So, again, we headed downstairs, this time for a quick wipe-down and a new outfit.  Only this time, he wasn't interested in going back to sleep.  On the upside, he's not fussy, just wide-awake.  On the downside, I am ex-haus-ted-- note the full set of luggage under my eyes.  

I'm letting him kick, punch and coo for a little while as I write a quick blog entry.  I'm also shooting this quick video before heading upstairs to try and rock him to sleep. 

It's nearly 4:30 am, what do you think are my chances of getting to sleep before Will wakes up in two hours?  Not good.  Not good at all.  But did you see those goofy smiles in the video clip?  Kind of makes it all worth it, I guess.