It Feels Like We Have Had a Sick Child All Year

Posting has been light this week because Jack has been sick. He doesn't get sick often but when he does he makes it count. We have spent about 10 hours at our pediatrician's office this week, most of it Monday. Needless to say, we have had a tough week. I mean, there are only so many times that you can pick up Wonder Time magazine and feign interest over articles about getting your toddler to eat veggies while waiting to talk to the doctor.

One of the craziest things we have had to do this week is save dirty diapers and take them into the doctor's office for testing. I have been thinking about this a lot and I just can't seem to come up with a worse job than having to check those diapers once we get them there. What kind of terrible crime do you think those people had to commit to be stuck with that job?

He is much more playful and active today, which is a good sign, but he is still experiencing many of the symptoms that he had on Sunday and Monday. The shots he received have helped his fever go way down so we are hopeful that he will be as good as new by the weekend. 

poor Jack, clearly not feeling good and Avery with her "I didn't do anything" look

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To catch up on some things from this week:

1. The Longhorns won the Fiesta Bowl. I would not have normally been up late enough to see the whole game but Jack was awake for most of that time so I was able to see it all happen in real time. (I record them. I just can't stay up that late and then go to work the next day so I always record the games and watch them when I wake up in the morning. Quit saying I am not a true fan. geesh) I was pretty impressed with Colt McCoy's ability to keep his cool in the 4th quarter.

2. Avery spent 2 nights with my parents this week--partly because we thought we might be taking Jack to the emergency room and partly because we knew that he would have the whole house awake with his crying. It was nice to just deal with one baby at a time and Avery had fun with Grammie and Poppa.

3. The weather has been amazing this week and I have had the chance to get out and walk several times. It was just about 80 today so I took the kids to the park after work. Jack just stayed in the stroller since he is still a little sick but Avery had a great time running around. 

4. Having a sick kid during the first week of work after the holiday break kind of sucks. I have lots of help, more than most people, but the stress of work and worrying about a kid is never fun. Generally I don't even realize how stressed I am until Matt speaks and I get annoyed. Pretty much anything he says is wrong or irksome. He pretty much doesn't stand a chance around me when I have too many things going on at once. I try to stay away from him as much as possible since I know this about myself but he follows me into the next room and actually tries to engage in conversation with me. (I know! ridiculous!) 

Or worse, he asks me what's wrong. Jerk. There is pretty much nothing worse that you can ask than that when a woman is feeling too much pressure from all sides. Completely insensitive. 

Oh, sure, I could be patient and just tell him that I would like some space because either a baby is attached to me or I have some deliverable at work that is on my mind but I think it is just much easier to make snide comments and leave the room. Much healthier for the relationship also. 

5. We are planning a trip to Vegas in March. My brother and sister-in-law will be there along with some of their friends from Illinois so it should be a good time. This will be Matt's first time in Vegas so I can't wait to see how he reacts to it. Such a fun trip as long as you only stay for 3-4 days. I think beyond that you start to get overloaded with too much stimuli and you end up marrying some guy you were friends with in high school and then you get the marriage annulled 52 hours later. Or some such nonsense.

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And speaking of nonsense, I would just like to thank my neighbors (THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE) for the lovely Christmas gift that they gave Jack. My knees and back would also like to thank them. My lovely neighbors were nice enough to give us crayons for the bathtub. Avery took them over right away and drew a masterpiece in the tub when Matt was bathing her. Unfortunately she did not erase her masterpiece while still in the tub so it dried on the walls. And it did not want to be destroyed by the water I sprayed on it. In fact, those colors put up a damn good fight and required bleach to remove. 

I would just like to say that my neighbor's kid is a year younger than Avery and their next one will be a year and a half younger than Jack. Payback is hell. :-)

Oh Clorox, you are a dear, dear friend.