Seven days of fever and going strong

Does this look like a sick kid to you? When I called the doctor on Monday, they said "fever is a symptom, it doesn't necessarily mean the child has an infection." The doctor diagnosed her with a cold and sent us on our way. 

Tuesday, she got sent home from daycare with a 103.2 temperature and they asked me not to bring her back until she has been fever-free for 24 hours (shame on me for sending her with a cold/fever that she caught from some other kid in her class).

Wednesday I stayed home again. Thursday, my husband stayed home and claimed she had a normal temperature. I took it after work because she felt hot to me, it was 102. Friday I stayed with her again. 

Today she reached 102.9 and was running around, playing, eating, acting fine. I know there is nothing wrong with this child. Could she be teething? Could this be a normal cold symptom? I have NO idea! All I know is that neither my husband nor I can afford to miss another day of work. Unfortunately, the daycare won't take her if her temperature is over 100. My boss is not a fan of telecommuting and I am really at a loss for what to do. 

She's not sick! Ugh...

Update: It's a urinary tract infection due to an anatomical abnormality. We will find out more when the doctor gets her urine culture results back. Her renal ultrasound is scheduled for 7/8 at 5:30. Pray for a normal scan!

Sleep regression, milestones, teething, oh my!

19 weeks old. She is 19 weeks old and my amazing sleeper cannot sleep nomatter how much she wants to. I have tried nursing her, white noise, rocking, pacing, putting her down awake and letting her fall asleep on her own, and now I am onto pacing with her in the front carrier.

My only concern is we are veering from the regular routine - because it's not working anymore - and I'm afraid this will be one the new routine. I know from Gabby that good infant sleep habits are hard to come by and we've probably just been lucky to have had four and a half months of her choosing to go to sleep before 7 pm. 

The problem with an easy baby is that when they act like a normal baby, it really feels like suffering. Could be worse, could be worse, could be worse...

Do not be fooled by your baby

"Look into my eyes, Mommy..." I urge you strongly not to. It's easy to think these are the eyes of a wired, ready-to-party baby. You would be wrong. This is an un-napped, overtired baby who should've been put down half an hour ago or more. 

Do not look into her eyes. She will lie to you with them. 

Sibling Rivalry

Well, this was unexpected. Gabby has always been super close to Stanley. Ever since she was born, they have been playmates and cuddle buddies. Now, in her toddlerhood, Gabby is extremely bossy with him ("Buddy! No bark-in'!") and she fights with him over food and toys. I expected this within a few years between the girls, just not such squabbling between a girl and her dog. 

Sorry, Buddy. 

The Pee-Pee Book and Other Literary Problems

I don't know about you, but I don't think that's the title.

Gabby is very much into books these days. All books. Anything with pages, pictures, and words. She particularly enjoys books that rhyme, and she is very adept at memorization, especially if the rhyming scheme is good. 

This makes bedtime difficult for me, because since putting the girls into the same bedroom, my M.O. is basically to keep Gabby quiet so she doesn't wake Lilly up. So, now in addition to her usual, "I wake baby up!" outbursts, I am battling her passion for reciting every book at the top of her tiny (but powerful) lungs.

I added "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch to the bedtime pile, thinking it would be a sweet singsong-y way to end the evenings. It took one reading before I was being echoed as that little boy in the book "goo and goo and goo." She also memorized the song, but only the last word of each line, so she would mumble, "hmmmm-hmmm EVER, eehhhhhh ALLLLLWAAAAAYYYYS, hmmmm-hmm baby BEEEEEE." That book is out of the rotation now.

I also had to stop reading Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. This book would be a fantastic book to lull any other two-year old child to sleep. Most of the words are made-up, so comprehension is low. The rhyming scheme never changes, it has a very steady rhythm that makes me drowsy when I read it aloud. No, the problem with this book is that she doesn't know what anything is, and so she gets bored. The number of pages I had to skip in the book was getting out of control. I knew she was going to ask me, "What's that?" when I got to the page with the machine that counts how many people have fallen to sleep or the page where the Bumble-tub Club is sailing along the river. It was just riddled with disruption and ritualistic asking of questions I had given answers to nightly for months in a row. It was madness.

A friend gave me a stack of books her daughter has outgrown. There were a few good ones in the pile. One of her new favorites is "Just Be Nice -- To Your Little Friends!" by Caroline Kenneth. This book is referred to as "The Pee-Pee Book." Because my child does not know the difference between pee-pee and Pooh. <Insert face palm here> Maybe I need to find a book about potty training...

4 Months Old and Some Changes to the Blog

Lillian is now four, count them, FOUR months old! She weighed in yesterday at her 4 month check-up and was 14 lbs 9 oz and 25.5". She is a tall, chunky, sweet little charmer. Gabby loves to read to her and hold her and "helps Mommy give Lilly a bath" by singing songs to keep her happy.

 
Soon Lilly will be starting solids, so I set her up in Gabby's chair to see how she liked it. I think she felt pretty big and cool sitting in her sister's chair.

So, back to news about the blog.. I am trying to figure out what to do with this as I rarely post or advertise the fact that I have posted. My posts have mostly just been a way to keep family updated, but now that the girls are actually doing things, I have a little more to say. I'll be updating a lot more often, so check in frequently!