Arrrghhh, again

Calum's ear drained again yesterday. We've got him back on the drops. He seems fine, a little cranky at night. He's been sneezing and has a runny nose again. I hope it's all related and not another cold. Seems some kids at daycare also have runny noses. I made an appointment with his doctor for a general check up but wasn't able to get one till next Tuesday. Let's hope we don't have another trip to the clinic or the Children's Hospital in the meantime. As long as he seems fine otherwise, we will keep an eye on it and see what his doctor says.

Pro-D day for the girls. This means I won't see Desiree and Dakota will laze about watching tv and chatting online. Hmm...sounds nice. Well, back to work.

Happy belated birthday Tabitha

Jan. 23, you will of course forgive us for not mentioning it. We were thinking of you.

Our house was a little election crazy that night as we cheered our local candidate on. Even Calum was quite happy to squeal and clap when we saw that he was winning. Please son, not politics, anything but politics!

Introducing our new pet - Bazooka Joe (Baby really likes him)

A day in the life of Calum

He tells his sisters to get out of bed. Has a snack. Gets ready for his pjs (opps, lost my pants again). Watches from the window and welcomes us home.

Calum likes his toys

He did it!

A bottle at last. Calum woke up at his usual 3am and wouldn't settle down as he wanted to play. I tried feeding him but he just kept wanting to play. Finally I gave up, got up and made a bottle. It took a few minutes but he grabbed hold, latched on and sucked away. He drank a whole 4.5 ounces, a lot considering he had just been nursing for a half hour. He was so proud of himself too. He first tried to share with me then called out to dad and offered him some. Only after Don praised him did he go back to sleep, bottle in hand. Now, unfortunately, I'm wide awake. Oh well, a nice quiet morning and a good time to get a start on my work day. Happy Friday all and a belated happy birthday to Nicola and Clint.

Cranky? Umm...maybe

Calum is doing much better. He's back at daycare, over his ear infection but still on antibiotics for pneumonia. His cough is a lot better and he's much happier. Well, he's all smiles when he's got me around. Apparently he's been a bit fussy at daycare. When I go up at lunch he seems very happy to see me, sheds a few tears, has his milk and is off playing again. He seems fine but the staff tell me that when I'm not around he demands their attention a lot. I guess it is because he's been away for so long and has had my undivided attention that it's an adjustment to being in the group setting again. For the sake of the staff I hope he settles back in again soon.

I think that once he's over his cold entirely I'm going to try to get him on the bottle once and for all. It's been 10 long months and I think he is more than ready to make the transition. Sure would be nice for Don and the girls to get to feed him too - it's nice to be needed but after all of that sickness it really has shown me that it would be better for everyone if he didn't just need me to feed him. He's got a very loving family that just want to help too and I really need to be able to get caught up at work and not have to worry about getting up to the daycare to feed him everyday. So, another transition ahead and unfortunately, a grumpy baby. Growing up is sure hard work.

For all you Merritonians - stay healthy. I've heard you got a bad cold going around there.

and it continues (part 2)

It's Sunday afternoon. Calum did not sleep at all last night, at most an hour at a time. He was in pain. At 5:30am, Angie and I decided that we should take him into Children's Hospital Emergency. After a mad dash across the city and an hour wait, the doctor said that Calum's 2 week cold caused a middle-ear infection. He also told us that he thought he heard something in Calum's chest. Off to radiology for a chest x-ray.

Let me tell you, an x-ray is pretty simple for adults. But for a sick child who wants nothing more than to be held by his mom...seeing Calum stapped in (to prevent him from moving) and bawling his little eyes out was hard.

The doctor found what he called the "smallest pneumonia in the world" but as he said, "nonetheless it's there"

Calum is on antibiotics for his ear infection and for his small pneumonia. He seems to be doing a lot better already...what a tough kid eh.

Here is a picture of Calum and Angie, we went out to Richmond and enjoyed the sunshine by the airport.

and it continues

Poor Calum. He woke up really fussy Friday morning around 3am. We got him back to sleep but in the morning I noticed he had a whole lot of yucky ear discharge from one ear. We took him to a doctor and while waiting to see him, I noticed he was breaking out in a rash. His eyes were a little puffy and he was looking sick. At least his fever broke and was back to normal. The doctor came in and checked him over and told us he would be fine. His high 3-day fever broke and sometimes babies get a rash after a high fever like that. The fever was caused by another virus, meaning that after he was getting better from the cold he likely picked up something else. Oh, and yes, some of his irritability was probably because he is teething. He took a swab to test for strep throat and I'm hoping he doesn't have that too but we won't find out for a few days.

What an ordeal for the little one. The last two weeks have been pretty tough on him. Luckily, the ear thing relieved some pressure and his sinuses seem to be a lot better. Now we just wait for this rash to go away (anywhere from a few hours to a few days) and for him to kick this nasty cough he's got. The cough seems to be what is bothering him most right now. I have one too and I know it's pretty awful. I really, really hope we get better this weekend. We are both getting pretty tired of looking at the same walls, playing with the same toys.....not to mention missing daycare and work.

On the positive side, we've both read a lot of books. Calum knows his Christmas books very well now and I've finished 4 books and am working on the Chronicles of Narnia (7 books) now. Calum keeps wanting to look at the lion on the front cover so it's slow going but we'll get through.

Hopefully we will have news of our return to health on Monday. Happy weekend.

Another quick update

Calum was getting better and even went to daycare for awhile but developed a high fever. I'm not sure if it was due to the cold or because he has a new chomper coming in. It took awhile to get the fever down - he's not all better yet but I'm not as scared now. Grandma Bain is helping today so I've had a little time to get caught up on work. Everyone else is recovering. Don and I have a lingering cough but I hear that everyone is having a tough time with this one.

Just wanted to add, thanks Leah for the wonderful gift. It was very timely and much appreciated. I'm off to take care of the little one and let Grandma get home. Gesh, I sure hope she doesn't catch anything from us. I likely won't get around to another update till the weekend. Hope you have a good week.

Calum and the webcam

Calum is busy learning to use our new webcam. Look for many new pics to be sent as Calum reads email, surfs the web and looks at pictures of himself on the blog. He especially likes making video and watching it play back right away.

Quick update

Well, we are all still fighting this cold. Calum has developed a cough, as have Don and I but we all hope to be well again soon. My friend, Rukmal, and her family are in town (all the way from Dubai) and we hope to be well enough for a visit before they leave. We've never been introduced to her daughter, who is now just over 2 years old, so really hope to be well enough to do so soon.

No other news really. I'm getting awfully tired of spending so much time in the house though. I've essentially been shut in since the evening of Dec. 27th. We made one trip out to see if we could get Calum into a doctor but the wait was over 2 hours long. We talked to a pharmacist instead and Calum does seem to be doing a little better since. From everyone I've talked to lately, it seems we aren't alone and a lot of people have been hit with a similar cold. Misery loves company? Heck, keep them all away because we want to be done with this cold for good.

Calum seeking revenge against the tissue! As you can see in the post below, Calum is sick with a cold. He really hates having his nose wiped.

Calum's new wagon...he likes riding around the house

Happy New Year

Happy New Year all. I hope you all had a nice end to 2005. We stayed home and had a quiet evening. Once again, we are sick. Dakota is on the mend, Don just coming down with a cold and Calum and I are on day 5 of this cold. The last few days have been...exhuasting. I've learned one thing though, little boys hate having their nose wiped and if you aren't careful things get pretty messy.

Calum's due back at daycare on Tuesday but I may have to keep him home if he doesn't feel a lot better tomorrow. The little fella is now sleeping, thank goodness, but will likely be up again soon. I may take a nap soon myself.

Oh well, it's a new year and it can only get better.