Break on through to the other side

We got ourselves a toof! First one and surely not the last. Man I hope not, that would kill his good look reputation. Not sure how a one tooth wonder would do with the ladies. Bottom left broke on through today, can't really see it but I feel a little pointy shard poking through. I knew something would be coming soon because his nursing latch told me, his latch got all funky. Now that there is a tooth he better adjust!

Seeing stars, er I mean stripes

Life is rough on the inside

In the market

I was wondering if anyone has been shopping around for an adorable 6 1/2 month old boy. If so, I have the perfect one in mind for you. He's so cute, I might even risk saying the cutest. He's also really sweet and comes with a killer wardrobe. He now has really nice hair but I think his greatest selling point is his latest talent that has developed over the last week of waking up every morning at about 3:30 am and not willing to go back to sleep. It's so cool, let me tell ya. He doesn't fuss or anything he's just WIDE awake. You can either get really mad and try to get him back to sleep for a couple hours which will eventually work or you can just say forget it and get up and let him play while you cry softly to yourself in the corner then proceed to get dinner ready at 4 in the morning.

So anyway if you or anyone you know is looking for one of these, let me know I'll give you a great deal.*

Serious inquiries only please.

*Even with a huge discount, you wouldn't have enough money to buy him even if you had all the money in the world.

Red Rover

Colors of the rainbow

Wow it's really been almost 10 days?

I didn't realize it's been this long since my last update. Time flies when you are kept busy non-stop by a 6 month old. Let's see if I can remember anything that has happened in the last week or so...uh no not really!

Last week I took Julian to the Tuesday movies. We haven't been in awhile since the older he got, the least likely he was to sit still for that long. I decided to chance it and since it wasn't a movie I was really worried about seeing, it wouldn't be a big deal if we had to leave midway. He was great the entire time he just required a lot of entertaining but we managed to stick it out the entire time.

Julian will be going on his first vacation in April! We just booked tickets to Chicago where we will be visiting my sister Kristy and nephew Brandon as well as our good friends Lisa and Jeff and their daughter for the first time who is a month younger than Julian. He does fly free at this age but we don't feel comfortable not having him in a carseat after talking to a girl I know who is a flight attendent. Apparently they refer to babies held in laps as "Meat Missles." Isn't that enough to make you want to buckle them up? It's not the takeoff and landing that is the problem it's the cruise portion and turbulance since holding a baby in that case would be impossible. Like holding a baby in a car when getting into an accident, you know there is no way to hold on to them. So it's going to be a very interesting flight.

I was so excited the beginning of last week. Julian created the most perfect schedule on Monday. His naps were at the ideal times and they were 2 long naps. At least 1 1/2 hours minimum. He slept well that night and Tuesday and Wednesday were just as good. I'm thinking oh yeah he's got this down now and I didn't even have to do anything. So uh yeah, Thursday was pretty bad and it's been down hill ever since. His naps are either extremely brief or non existent. And the evenings are probably the worst ever. And on occasion he had the brilliant idea that since he woke up around 2 am, he might as well stay up. Normally I can get him back to sleep instantly but for whatever reason there were a few nights he was ready to party. And we were ready to cry. We're hoping this doesn't become one of his favorite thing to do.

I know he'll sleep through the night when he's developmentally ready to do so. I also know these days won't last forever and there will be a time when I will look back and miss them. But I realized that I seem to be a better mother when days go like last Monday did. I have my me time to refuel. I can really focus on him when he's awake because I had my intermissions. Days like today I feel frazzled and distracted. I try to do too much at once and I know I'm not 100% mentally with him. I'm running through the lists in my head, trying to slip away to play on the computer clean something and do really important things. Sometimes I catch on and realize it's not gonna happen and once I can let go of that expectation the day improves. But sometimes I just can't let go no matter how hard I try. I try to tell him we ALL win when he molds to my ideals. Kidding.

I'll go with the flow with these short naps but he then forfeits any yawning rights postnap. I've tried to explain this to him otherwise he has to deal with the disciplinary actions I've put in place. Right now these actions are: if he's yawning within 30 minutes of waking up from a catnap I gobble his face up and tickle his ribs. This isn't working as planned because it only throws him into fits of laughter causing me to join him in these fits of laughter which then have an adverse effect on my discipline. Jeez, can't win.

He seems to be a little fussier as well. We're beginning to think it's just the frustration of him wanting to crawl and move on his own so badly and not being able to. He wants me to hold him nonstop but when I hold him he wants to crawl all over me and try to get down. When he's down he wants me to pick him back up. I can't help wonder with the declining sleep habits and increase in fussiness if it's something that either I or he are eating. For now I'll assume he's just trying to overcome some difficult milestones. They are known to sleep worse when they are on the verge of a "breakthrough." I just wish he'd breakthrough already!

I am so ready for warm weather and sadly we are still in the early stages of winter! I just feel we'll have more options in the Spring and Summer. He'll actually be able to play at a park. I'll be organizing some outdoor playdates too. In the Winter, since he's still at this age where he can't do too much and when he doesn't sleep much either I run out of ideas and we end up sitting there staring at each other while I'm thinking "Man, I'm bored and I don't know what to do with this kid anymore" and he's thinking "ENTERTAIN ME, ENTERTAIN ME. WHY AREN'T YOU ENTERTAINING ME?" You can only play with the same toys, read the same books, go for the same walks, do THE.SAME.STUFF. so many times before you want to run out of the house yelling "someone please save me!!!" You know, not that I'm complaining or anything. I swear.

I had gotten him some organic jarred baby food for him to try last week. There were a few vegetables I had no desire to cook and prepare at home such as sweet potatoes and carrots. Two things I ate way too much of on my diet. So one night at dinner I opened up jar of sweet potatoes and scooped some into a little dish. I also cut up some banana, not sure why because he clearly has very little interest in it, and also some apple which seems to still be a hit. I wanted to see what attracted him more, slices of crisp fresh apple, pieces of sweet banana or mashed up orange junk from a jar. The banana sat off to the side and his eyes were all over the orange slime. I spooned a little into his mouth and he gave the automatic initial "I just ate pooh" face. But then he opened his mouth for more. And more. Each time still making the face of disgust but something was attracting him to it. Normally if I try to use a spoon he grabs it from me and turns it into a chew toy. But not this time, he wanted me to keep shoveling it in. I was shocked. After getting quite a bit he started chewing on the spoon and I knew he was done. I continued to eat my dinner while he ate his spoon but then he dropped the spoon on the tray and started grunting and reaching for the sweet potatoes. I went with it and fed him some more until his interest ran dry. Pretty surprising I must say. Surprising and messy, my LORD these solids can make a mess. And we haven't even gotten to things like p'sghetti yet. But, I think Julian might be experiencing a sensitivity to the sweet potatoes so they are temporarlily on hold.

I decided to try to finally give him some of the rice cereal just to see what he thought. We can't continue to give it to him though as iron fortified cereals interfere with the iron absorption from breastmilk. See breastmilk is lower in iron than formula but it's absorbed at a better rate so it actually provides more iron that is unless we were to continue feeding him the cereal (you can read more about that here if you like) . So what did Julian think of it? I'll show you:



Well that about sums it up!

Awhile back I submitted pictures of his nursery for a book that is being published (yes I am freakishly obsessed with submitting anything Julian related into as much as I possibly can) by the manufacturers of his nursery furniture, Bratt Decor. I didn't think much of it as most people who use their furniture hire professional designers to do their rooms unlike us who bought it at a warehouse sale. Well I got an email this week from them saying they want to use our pictures! They went on and on how much they liked it but the kicker? We would have to hire a professional photographer to take photos. We would get $100 gift certificate for our participation but I have a feeling a photographer would cost us a lot more than that. I responded saying we weren't interested since the benefit of being in the book does not outweigh the cost. I got this response today:

We appreciate your time and submission. I understand your position, and I will mention to the editor your feelings, and hopefully she'll make a concession, because your room is so nice. The vast majority of our submissions are from professionals who do receive a great benefit from being in the book, as their businesses are published. However, she has a budget to get this book published, and I don't know how she'll respond. However, yours is a special case. I will push her, because I love your room. If things change, I'll be back in touch!

That's pretty cool they like us that much to even consider that! I'm really not expecting to hear back but nice knowing our "amateur" room was accepted into a book along side professional done rooms.

We went to our first "Mother Goose on the Loose" story time at our teeny tiny library yesterday. It seemed like there were 100 people there, I was impressed. They said it was probably their largest turn out. There were all kinds of people, some just like I thought there would be: old moms, moms straight from the gym, moms that dressed like their babies which I would never do. But there were plenty of young moms, dads, nannies, kids of all ages. It was the perfect melting pot. I of course, made eye contact with no one. Except I kept staring at a baby that made me do a triple take because he looked so much like Julian when he was little. That is weird, to see your baby in someone else's hands when he's also in your own.

I came in and everyone seemed to know just what to do, where to hang up their stuff, where to sit, knew everyone's names, date of births, social security numbers. I'm wandering around trying to look confident and comfortable but probably look more like a freak that escaped from the circus. I was trying to find a spot and I saw a girl with freaky colored hair and thought maybe I should sit next to her. No that would look to obvious so I went on the other side and sat next to the mom and daughter in the matching purple sweaters. The librarian that talks in a stereotypical whisper came in and started to sing in a voice that made Tracy Chapman sound like a soprano. Then everyone started to join in. That alone was enough to make me want to bolt but in an attempt to prevent Julian from experiencing the same painful shyness I stuck it out and mouthed the incorrect words to nursery rhymes I probably should know. Julian had a permanent blank look on his face, I think he was just taking it all it. They handed out props and all kinds of fun but no actual "story." I like what they did better.

In fact, I think this was more entertaining than and probably almost as interactive as our baby yoga classes were but this is F-R-E-E. My kinda fun.

As always I must close with some pics of the great one:

Julian prefers to do his sprints in the buff. Can you look at this picture and not laugh? Seriously if you can, tell me because I sure can't.




His new buddy who is almost 6 months older:

Does this count?

After much pondering and "is he ready?" or "should we wait?" and reading and re-reading the signs of readiness and how to get started, Julian got his first taste of solids.

I'm not sure if we can really say he ate solids but he had some in his mouth nonetheless. I was so torn over what to start off with. I had always planned on skipping the cereals and using the baby-led approach but with food sensitivities running rampant around here I didn't know what was best. All the more reason to hold off but I'm just not that patient. Rice cereal would most likely be the safest but man, I've been up to my eyeballs in rice around here, I could not bring myself to push it on him. Regardless I bought some ORGANIC rice cereal (not just because organic is better but because the Gerber garbage has S-O-Y!) waiting for the prime opportunity. Well we thought the opportunity arrived but we just happened to have some nice looking bananas on hand. And we went with it.



Surprisngly he showed very little interest. I thought he'd at least like to feel it squish between his little nubs but after a few tastes he was over it and off the tray it went. I stuck with the banana for a couple more days, making sure to put absolutely NO pressure on him to eat it, and still his interest became less and less.

Still the rice cereal sat but it still just wasn't talking to me. I looked around to see what else I could pawn off on him and it came down to apples or avocado. Being way too lazy to peel and cut up an avocado I went for the apple. Well, honestly it allowed me to finally use my handy-dandy apple slicer for the first time. I knew I got that darn thing for a reason.

The reaction to the apples was much more pleasant. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy it until a piece broke off into his mouth and he acted like it was a piece of pooh with the way his face contorted right before he spit it out. Aside from that, he enjoyed sucking away on the apple slices for a good 20 minutes while I ate my breakfast.



What is it with babies and solids? Maybe I've just been craving variety for so long I can't understand why they wouldn't gobble this up. I think if he could live solely off of breastmilk for the rest of his life he would. Especially judging by the way he reacted to water in his sippy cup, I think he thought I gave him rat poisoning. Wait until he tastes my actual cooking.

Unrelated yet just as good looking:

I'm full!

I wasn't sure when to make this announcement but this is as good a time as any. I'm eating food. LOTS AND LOTS OF FOOD. No, not lots of turkey, I'm talking a wide variety.

When I was sick I "went crazy" and ate some make-shift tomato sauce and a few other random things. Well, he didn't have any noticeable reaction. If there was a reaction it was masked by cold symptoms. This got me thinking. I started to think back about how I used to eat potatoes (most often in the form of a french fry) all the time. Especially after the removal of dairy and soy my fry intake greatly increased. Well once I was on my TED the potatoes started giving him reflux. It seemed like everything I was trialing was giving him reflux but this was all stuff I used to eat on a regular basis. I started wondering if it would be less likely to cause a reaction if my diet was more varied. Or maybe he needed to build up a tolerance and no matter what or when I would do a trial it would always fail at first. I was also starting to question my sanity wondering if I was finding reactions where there weren't any.

This may not sound very logical but I figured that if there was always going to be an initial reaction for a couple of days that maybe while he's sick would be the best time to get it all out of the way. That way if the reaction was so minor that it would be masked by his cold I wouldn't freak out, I would just think it was cold related. I know this kind of sounds like I was kicking him when he was down but I felt my body shutting down along with my will power. I had to do something and it was to the point where it didn't seem to be improving no matter how little I ate. I think I eventually got numb to the funky pooh. As long as he didn't seem uncomfortable then that was all I could focus on.

I really struggled with this decision but I needed my life back. I was actually counting the days until his first birthday so I could wean him. I didn't like that feeling. I don't want to wean him especially when the clock strikes midnight on 7.11.06, plus I have a feeling ol' Julian wouldn't wean so easily. But it was getting to the point where I was more depressed than happy. So I had to choose, wean him when he hit 12 months and be miserable until then or get some food and freedom back and be able to nurse him as long as he needs me to. That sounded like the better option to me.

I don't regret being on a super restricted diet as I do feel it really helped. It never got us back to "normal" but I do feel it allowed more healing to take place than if I hadn't done it at all. Plus it eased my guilt, knowing I did everything I could aside from going to formula. I think weaning him at such an early age would have been the most traumatic thing...for both of us. Maybe because I was so strict I am now able to bring back some of the food.

So I went to Bryan and asked "What do you think about me bringing back a bunch of food?" I got the thumbs up and "all for it." This gave me something to look forward to. It was that moment when I decided to bring it all back except for dairy and soy...and peanuts...oh and eggs. But hey that's still a lot of stuff! And none of this one food per 4 days garbage. I would be 83 years old before I made it to something as exciting as a bean. I decided to do it all in one full swoop. What would be the worse that can happen? He'd react and I'd have to go back to turkey and rice.

Since then I've had beef, chicken, broccoli, ketchup, wheat, ginger snap cookies, salad consisting of lettuce and cucumbers with oil and vinegar, black olives, regular salt (gasp!), bananas, apples, sweet potato chips, grape juice, OJ, dairy/soy free bread, guacamole, corn tortilla chips, Hot Tamales and Swedish Fish. The greatest victory was when we ordered DELIVERY. And no this wasn't delivery from Whole Foods; I'm talking a real restaurant. I got FRENCH FRIES and black bean soup. And you know what? We WENT OUT TO EAT last night. I had real pasta not made from rice and sauce, more fries and SPRITE. This may not sound like much to someone who doesn't need to watch what they eat but it's like a buffet opened up right in my mouth. We may actually be able to eat the same meal for dinner as a family again.

I still need to read all the stupid labels and be very selective of what I buy. I read every pack of ginger snap cookies at Whole Foods and only found 1 that didn't have either egg or dairy. I wanted to eat some frozen hamburgers Bryan bought that were “Angus Ground Beef” that were like $3 for 85 of them but had an ingredient list a mile long including soy so I ended up having to buy my own that were 100% ground beef and were like $6 for 4 (because yes I am that lazy to form my own patties out of beef). I still shouldn't eat out yet really unless I know the ingredients which chances are I won't be able to get the full list. I'm scared to find out what was in that pasta sauce I had because if you read the ingredients on jarred sauce many contain dairy and/or soy (I did ask them if they put cheese in their sauce). But I needed some celebrating for a while so I'm gonna play dumb for a few meals. What is gonna get me is the vague "natural flavor" and "spices" which usually has some evil soy hiding out. Hopefully the new labeling laws that went into effect on 1/1/06 will eliminate the need to call the manufacturer to find out just what "natural flavors" they are using (now manufacturers are required to clearly list out any of the major allergens in bold print since not everyone knows "Whey" or "Casein" is dairy!!).

It's funny when I first started out dairy and soy free I swore there was not a thing in the world for me to eat. Now I'm diary, soy, nut and egg free and I feel like the options are endless. I haven't seen any blood in his stool for at least a week so that's a good sign. It's still randomly green and mucousy but with the cold it's hard to tell what the cause is and it's not like we were ever 100% free from that before. But I haven't even been writing down his poop or what I've been eating because I am just that "crazy" now. And man it feels! Plus reflux doesn't seem to be an issue either.

I wish I could explain why corn seemed so bad a few weeks ago but now it's not. Same with potatoes. Why any of this was so bad until now. Heck, I wish I could explain any of the stuff we've had to deal with but I can't so I guess I'm just gonna go with the flow. Who knows, maybe he really did outgrow this at 6 months on the dot. But heck if I'm gonna eat some dairy right now to find out. I may be crazy but I ain't that crazy.

Now I have no idea what I'm gonna do with all that turkey and rice I have because I don't think I could eat it if my life depended on it. But now my biggest concern is how to keep from putting back on all the weight I had lost.

So maybe getting sick was just what we needed so thank you Johnny!!!

6 month well-baby

At our 6 month well-baby we found out our baby is well...doing well. He is now a long, lean, lovin' machine. He's 28 3/4 inches tall putting him at 97% and 18 lbs - 8 oz dropping him down to the 75% range. And the pea head is still a pea at 50%.

Julian puts on the best show at the doctors. I must say he seems to like our guy. He is always extra happy and extra playful when we go. He got his 4 month vaccinations today since we're 2 months behind. An unintentional delayed scheduling of sorts. He handled his shots so well and I must say I handled it better this time around as well. He didn't cry until his 2nd shot and stopped immediately after the 4th and final when I got to really love on him. It helped she was super quick too. No fever, no fussing just the pleasant Julian we always have. He did however, take a 2 hour nap about an hour after we got home. He probably would have slept much longer if SOMEONE didn't go poking around because HE missed him. But even before the appointment Julian had almost 2 hour nap, with no intervention on my part. Maybe it was just a good day for sleep. If only we could have a good NIGHT for sleep too.

He is still recovering from his cold and still has a pretty bad cough. I forgot to mention after 2 doses we ditched the antibiotics. As we all know antibiotics are way over prescribed, they are handed out like candy even when they aren't really needed. Bodies can be very good at fighting off infections so it's best to save the Rx for when it really warrants. We didn't like the idea of dumping antibiotics into him for something the doctor called "minor." So the day after they were prescribed I called his doctor to find out if he really thought they were necessary to which he informed me they weren't. Case in point...if they weren't necessary then why were they prescribed?? Anyway, since Julian didn't seem to be bothered by his ears very much, if anything it was more the congestion, and we had his doctors blessing so we didn't feel it was worth it. We rather just use something more gentle to treat the pain if there was any pain. I knew we were going back to the doctor today anyway so if it really needed the medicine we would have found out today. Which the doctor still said it's fine to skip the antibiotics.

For "minor" things I prefer to take more of a holistic approach with Julian. Something I wish I have done more for myself. Having Julian to care for and this wonderful job of reading ALL food lables really made me aware of how much junk goes into our bodies. I knew of a few natural remedies for ear infections, such as olive oil in the ear as I have vivid memories being young myself with my head tilted to the side as my mom poured in the oil. But also breastmilk is used to treat tons of infections from ears to pink eye. This is the dosage information we've been following:


If a child does develop an ear infection a simple solution is to put a few drops of breast milk in the ear canal every few hours. This usually works to clear up the infection within 24 to 48 hours and is far safer, less expensive and a better solution than putting the child on antibiotics.

Well it didn't seem to "clear up the infection" yet but at the very least it prevented it from getting worse. Or maybe it's doing nothing at all which then means the body is doing just fine on it's own.

Julian Ridley: Month 6

When you were born my heart felt like it exploded. There was no way I could ever love you more than I did that moment. I was sure of it. Then a week goes by, a month and now an entire half of a year and that same heart that was maxed out continues to grow and grow and grow allowing me to love you more with each passing second. Somehow these last months were quite a blur yet leaving behind thousands of deep memories that are permanently etched in my mind. It is these memories and the promise of new ones that make each day with you better than the last.

Watching you grow is watching a miracle in action. It is simply amazing how someone once so helpless and tiny can turn into an independent, healthy, strong little boy. I love to set you on the floor and pile up a bunch of toys around you and step back and watch.



I like to see what interests you and watch your little creative mind in motion. You sit there so big and tall just playing away, occasionally toppling over. I set up the Boppy right behind you to catch you so we can't blame any of your future quirks on too many bonks to the head. You hardly need it but if you do tumble you try and try to sit up, flexing those abs which sometimes still aren't quite strong enough. This is when you call out for me.



Someday soon you won't even need me for that. You will be mobile in no time. Right now you get up on all fours and rock back and forth. You are also starting to scoot along forward, although ever so slowly before belly flopping onto the ground. And now you are beginning to move each leg independently if only you can figure out how to move your arms without falling face first. You are getting it though and there will be many sleepless nights until you do. We put you to bed and I hear a peculiar noise on the monitor, I go in to check on you and I find you half asleep, crying but up on all fours doing your rocking at record speeds. It's as if you have been possessed by the need to master it overnight. It's paying off though, now you are getting so strong you are going up on your toes. I'm not quite sure what you are trying to do, but whatever it is it's impressive.



You are so determined to do everything. You surprised me a few weeks ago while in the bathtub. You scooted forward on your legs as if you were a little frog. You grasped onto the edge and struggled with all your might to stand. I was amazed at your unwillingness to give up until I realized an unstable infant attempting to stand in a wet tub probably isn't a great thing for me to allow.

All these signs of mobility have forced us into the dreaded baby proofing territory. Our bedroom was already aesthetically challenged but even more so with the white mesh barriers on both sides of the bed. Which by the way, you find incredibly fascinating. You love to run your little fingers along it, scratching it with your nails which closely resembles nails on a chalkboard. Also, when you are half asleep you ever so gently reach up and caress our faces with your feathery hands. Often you softly slide them across my chest with your eyes closed looking for the necklace that keeps you entertained. Once you find it you wrap it around your hand as if to tell me you aren't going to let me sneak off this time once you are asleep.

You are even sleeping more grown up. Well to clarify that does not mean sleeping through the night by any stretch of the imagination. Instead of sleeping as if you are in a permanent cocoon there is an oldness about the way you sprawl yourself out now in random positions all over the bed. You are still easy to get to sleep which is fortunate as we have to put you back to sleep about a thousand times a day. One of your father's favorite things and I must agree, is how you light up when we greet you after a nap. Your face lights up the room as you lay there on your belly, head against the mattress smiling at us almost bashfully, slowly tapping your left leg and letting out a soft coo. You remain so cuddly for a period of time after these wonderful naps. If only we could freeze time.

You are even brave enough to try to play fetch with the dogs but they don't quite understand why you are unable to throw the ball for them. You will do anything to get their attention. Unfortunately they try to avoid you.



Soon enough they will be your best friends once they start thinking table food is falling from the sky as you learn to eat solids from your highchair. You still have yet to have your first taste of solids but soon enough. I am having a hard time figuring out which foods I can eat let alone you. For now you enjoy playing with your grown up utensils.



I recently started teaching you sign language and I'm just waiting for the magical moment for you to sign back. I need to get a little more consistent with it myself. But as soon as I move my hand you watch it intensely. We started with milk, Mama, Papa, play, music (so you can request a personal concert from your father), doggy, gentle (for when we need to tell you the dogs don't like when you try to pluck their eyeballs from their heads) and jump. I have a feeling jump might be the first one you learn as it's one of your favorite things to do and you love when I make the sign as you jump cheering you on. You also are beginning to reach out for us when you want to be picked up. Right now you aren't very selective as to who you are reaching for.

I remember when we were leaving the hospital to bring you home I was upset because you were already so much older than the few days before when you were born. I was afraid I would miss that smallness and newness but to this day I am still in awe of you and how much you change and thrive. Everyday is new. There is no newness to miss but so much to look forward to.


to

Our clean track record is gone

Julian woke up with a nasty cough today so we decided it was best to take him in to the doctors. His next well-baby is Friday but we didn't want to wait any longer. The doctor said his lungs sound junky but no wheezing or pnuemonia but turns out he has a minor ear infection in his right ear and his left ear "is not normal, if left untreated it will get nasty." I was hoping to make it his first year ear infection free. So we're on our first prescription. Medicines really freak me out with the allergies since corn is in everything and usually soy. That was one thing that made me being sick so hard because I couldn't take any cold medicine knowing Julian didn't handle corn well. Being the antibiotic is orange flavored, there is no way it could NOT have either soy and/or corn. Die hard allergen avoiders wouldn't use it, they would go through hoops getting a safe prescription made just for them. Being as I have no idea how to do that I took what we were given and hope the benefits outweigh the risks.

I also don't like the idea of medicating at the first sign of a problem since the body can usually fight off most infections but he said since this started on Wednesday and he's just now getting the cough, etc things don't seem to be improving like they should. Otherwise if this were Wednesday he would let his ears go and see if they heal on their own. But since it's almost 6 days later, Julian got his first dose of prescription medicine. Poor guy. His ears don't seem to be bothering him that badly though. Bryan on the other hand woke up a mess today. He was sick yesterday but tolerable but today he was on death's door. Fortunately I am semi-functional just beyond sleep deprived. Isn't that a form of torture in some countries?? Sure feels like it.

Sorry if the previous post sounded too mean spirited. That wasn't my intention, more sarcastic than anything but maybe my sick grumpiness showed through too much. Nobody went out of their way to get Julian sick, the only thing we ask is that NEXT time we are told if there are any illnesses around BEFORE we show up so we can avoid the situation and hopefully avoid any potentially deadly diseases. Colds and babies don't play nicely.

The gift that keeps on giving, but we wish it would stop!

We got to visit with Julian's Aunt and cousins over New Year's weekend and it was a lovely time as always. It was also a belated Christmas celebration. Unfortunately Julian's cousin Johnny gave us more than we would like:

Cold #3 for Julian
4 sleepless nights
Droopy, watery, bloodshot eyes
Runny noses
Sore throats
Inconsolable baby
A bed ridden Mama
A worn out Papa from taking care of 2 sick babies
Eventually a sick Papa as well
And last but not least, a very miserable weekend.