Halloween a little late

Elijah was a turtle for Halloween and I thought you'd enjoy seeing him in all his cuteness.

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Welcome back little one

There is nothing more enjoyable than a child that is back to his old cheerful self after having been sick.

I picked Elijah up from daycare today and I don't remember the last time I heard him laugh so much. Everything was funny. He has learnt to shake his head back and forth when you ask a question. He doesn't really get what he's communicating. He only knows that it's incredibly funny.

I missed my happy little boy so it was fun to cuddle and giggle with him today.

And then came the rash...

So Elijah started getting this rash on his stomach yesterday. This morning it had spread.

I called Healthlinks and found out that 5-7 days after the start of Amoxicillan a rash can break out. It's not itchy and it's not an allergy. It's just a side effect from the drugs.

He looks really bad but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. So I guess we won't be bothered by it either.

And so we took another trip...

When we went to the ER on Saturday the doctor told us to come back if Elijah's temperature was over 38.5. After several days of being sick, but not getting worse, his temperature was hoovering around 39. So, we went back.

Once again we had a great doctor. He checked Elijah out and said that the issue really seemed to be the ears. He wasn't concerned about anything else because the major areas where there could be concern seemed okay.

He was also a realist. I will forgive him for directing his comments at me even though Elijah's Daddy was in the room. I don't believe he intentionally meant to disrespect Elijah's caring Daddy. He confirmed in a tongue in cheek kind of way that I would always do the wrong thing. Bring him in today and the doctor makes you feel like you're a paranoid parent. Wait two days and the doctor makes you feel guilty because you waited two days. Above all, according to kind ER doctor, mommy's gut rules. If I really think that something is wrong with my child, find a doctor that will listen. As far as he was concerned though, Elijah will likely be okay.

So, Elijah is sleeping now. Hopefully we'll have a good night and the fever will continue to drop. I don't have to work until 11:30 tomorrow so we can hopefully get some good sleep in time. Poor fellow.

I'm gunna go get me some supper and head to bed.

Poor Elijah

Poor little Elijah has a raging ear infection.

Saturday night Elijah fell asleep on our way home from a party where he was happily playing with a bunch of other kids his age. At around 10:30 he woke up CRYING. We figured it was teething and gave him some Tylenol and Orajel. Now usually the Orajel is magic. Give it a few seconds and the crying stops. Not that night.

Three hours of crying later I called Health Links to find out what to do. He had no fever and we thought that maybe it was something he had eaten. She informed me that we should head to emergency as no child should be crying for that long.

We bundled Elijah into the carseat and took off to the hospital. His crying died off on the trip and as we entered the hospital doors I was starting to feel a little foolish. My crying baby wasn't crying anymore. (Turns out that Elijah likely stopped crying in the carseat because there was less pressure on his ears being upright.)

They checked us in an let us go sit in a separate room so that he wouldn't have to get in contact with all the germs floating around the general waiting area. There was another couple in there. The man had fallen on ice and was waiting to hear if he had broken his ribs. It was nice to be able to chat with someone to pass the time.

When Elijah finally got to see the doctor she ended up the best doctor we could have had. She checked him from head to toe to make sure that there wasn't anything else wrong with him. She made us feel like good parents. (Did I mention that I took Elijah to the walk in three weeks ago? The doctor that he saw told me that even though he was tugging at his ears, I shouldn't bring him back unless he had a fever. I'll leave to your imagination my thoughts for that doctor.)

So by 6 a.m. we were home and heading to bed. We spent the day sleeping on and off. He had moments of obvious discomfort but for the most part, he was the happy little boy we know.

And, I am happy to report that he actually likes the taste of the medicine. How great is that?

Safe, shmafe...

OK - so it's probably not particularly safe to let your child play with hangers. I'll give you that. But look at him. He gets so much joy from it. How could you not let him? Besides, some of them are good Mennonite hangers with all the padding on them.

Elijah

Life is good

Sometimes it is hard to be optimistic about life. Others times it is much easier. Now is one of those times.

I have been back at my job for almost two months now and it has been nice to be back. Sure, there have been some hiccups. I'm going back to the job I left on Monday which means that I have spent a lot of time doing other things. I have been reminded of the things that I enjoy about my job. From the 86 year old member driving across the city to welcome me back from my mat leave to the staff and their idiosyncrasies. I work with a great mosaic of people that enrich my life.

Elijah has been doing so well at daycare. His daycare Tante takes great delight in him and his achievements. I was sad to have missed his first steps but I have no doubt that they were encouraged just as enthusiastically as they would have been at home. I love dropping him off or picking him up and seeing him interact with the other kids. I love seeing his social skills develop.

I have great friends and family who continually remind me by their words and actions how blessed I am.

Yup. Life is good. It may suck for some people that the weather took a dramatic turn this week but I'm looking forward to letting Elijah play in the snow for the first time. It may suck for some people that McCain lost in the US election but I am full of hope because of Obama. What a great world to live in.

So there you go. The moral of the story today is: Life is good.