Jenny, the Pumpkin Patch and More Doctors

The week of October 15th was (very thankfully) a pretty normal one around here. There were no trips to the doctor, no new prescriptions to fill and no major events to work around. It was wonderful!

On Friday, the 19th, we were excited to have our friend, Jenny, from St. Louis, come to visit! She got here around 5:30 and we all went to dinner at Carrabba's. Yum! After dinner, we came home and played with Caleb, then sat up talking for a while. On Saturday morning, Rudy went to play golf with a neighbor and Jenny, Caleb and I went to a couple of the big craft fairs that are very popular around here. We weren't very impressed with the first one, but the second one was wonderful! I bought a mini Christmas tree decorated in Razorback stuff for our little temporary home since I don't plan on pulling out all of the Christmas stuff here this year.

Jenny and I went out for some "girl time" on Saturday night. We went to eat in Fayetteville and then hung out at a couple of places on Dickson Street before coming home to our PJ's. We were sad to see Jenny leave on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon (10/21), we met up with the Lyons family and drove to Southwest City, Missouri. We went to visit the Right Choices Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. It was wonderful! We even went on a hay ride pulled by a real tractor! The boys (Caleb and Jackson) had a blast playing in the hay tunnel, pumpkin patch and corn box. Caleb adores Jackson and will do whatever he says. (We need Jackson around more often.) Baby Grace didn't quite know what was going on, but she was a trooper the whole time! Even though the Lyonses had to leave early, we stayed and enjoyed ourselves until almost dark. We even had a picnic dinner. Caleb got to pet a pig, slide on a feed sack, jump on a hay bale and go in a big, red barn.
On Monday (10/22), Caleb woke up with goopy eyes and a runny nose. By the end of the day, he had a rash on both hands and the worst diaper rash I've ever seen! He was also running a fever. Again...Rudy and I took him to urgent care. The doctor said that he really thought it was just allergies causing all of it, but he wasn't sure. He wrote a prescription for a decongestant and told us that if it didn't get better, he would recommend allergy testing and possibly immune system testing. I guess my maternal instincts kicked in at that point, because I just didn't feel right about it. The next day, I called a pediatric clinic for an appointment. I wanted to see a REAL pediatrician...someone who really knows babies and kids and what to look for when they are sick. I got an appointment for Wednesday morning and took a half day off of work. In the meantime, Caleb continued to be sick. He had a fever Tuesday afternoon and didn't sleep on Tuesday night. I had to lay in the guest bed with him to keep him from crying all night. We managed a couple of hours of intermittent sleep. On Wednesday (10/24) morning, I took him to see Dr. Harmon at 8:15. We were at the clinic ALL morning. We left there at 10:45! Caleb weighed 29 pounds (90th %ile) and was 32 inches long (50th %ile).

The good thing about the morning appointment was that the doctor wasn't rushed and had time to answer all of my questions. I filled him in on Caleb's medical history and we talked about all of his symptoms. He looked him over very thoroughly and then suggested that he thought it was all probably just allergies, but that he wanted to do a little blood work to make sure it wasn't something bigger than that. So we waited and waited and waited. Finally, the doctor came back in and said that the lab was backed up and he would call me with the blood test results. He gave me samples for allergy medicine, a prescription for eye drops if needed and said not to use baby wipes until the diaper rash healed. I took Caleb to school, gave him the allergy medicine and went to work. Later that afternoon, Dr. Harmon called our house and left a message on our answering machine. He said that Caleb's blood work showed "9 monos", which was borderline for a diagnosis of mononucleosis. He instructed me to keep an eye on him for a spiking fever and said to call if I had questions. What?!?! Of course I had questions, but the clinic was closed by the time I got the message and I couldn't call. So - after Caleb went to bed, I got online and did some digging to find out about mono in toddlers/babies. It seems like all of Caleb's troubles for the past month or so may be attributed to mono: swollen tonsils, intermittent afternoon fevers, lethargy, cold symptoms, rashes, etc. I was blown away. It was like a weight had been lifted from me. I felt all along that there was more to it than just allergies and I had some vindication in knowing that my feelings were justified. That didn't make my baby feel any better, but at least I knew there was something to my maternal instincts that I should trust. There's really nothing you can do to treat mono. You just have to treat the symptoms, so we've been giving him allergy medicine to dry up his eyes and nose. I did call the doctor's office on Thursday morning, but STILL haven't heard back from them. For some reason that doesn't worry me. Just knowing what's going on with my child makes me feel better and I don't really need much more information.

Wednesday (10/24) was my 31st birthday. After spending the morning in the pediatrician's office, I spent my afternoon at work. We went out to dinner after work, drove through some neighborhoods that we like and then I spent the evening doing laundry and cleaning up the house. I know it doesn't sound very exciting for a birthday, but it was nice to be home with my husband and my child and have the sounds of life surrounding me.

Rudy and Caleb have been gone all weekend. Rudy went to a bachelor party at the deer camp in Fordyce. On his way down there, he dropped Caleb off with Jan in Ft. Smith. This was my annual weekend with "my girls" for homecoming. Cindy and Les got here Friday night and we went to dinner at La Huerta. We laughed until our faces hurt and then came home, put on our PJ's and laughed some more. Yesterday, we went to the Razorback game, did some shopping and had dinner at Tim's Pizza. Cindy had to head back to Tulsa last night, so Les and I did some crafty stuff (scrapbooking, frame-making...) until midnight and then fell into bed. She got up and left this morning and I've been procrastinating going to the grocery store. Rudy and Caleb will be home around 4:30 or 5:00.

Caleb has an ENT appointment tomorrow to check on his ear tubes. After that, he has his Halloween carnival at school. Wednesday is actually Halloween and we have plans to Trick-or-Treat with the Schmidts. Should be a fun week!

Real Estate

Our house sold tonight! Praise the Lord!

It's hard to believe that we are all healthy and the house sold at the same time. I really think God was pushing me to show me what I could take before he gave me a rest. This is amazing! The house has been on the market for 6 months - almost exactly - and we got a call tonight from our agent with an offer. We counteroffered and the buyers accepted. We're not getting as much as we hoped for (isn't that always the case?), but we are at least getting something! I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to pay someone to buy it.

We are truly grateful for this blessing!

From Bad to Worse and Now We're Better

We started October on a sour note with Caleb fighting a major ear infection and a minor eye infection. The ear drops, eye drops and oral antibiotics were quite a ritual and we were glad when they were over! Rudy ended up also getting an ear infection and is actually still fighting whatever caused it, but since he's 31 years old, he is a little better at handling those sorts of things than Caleb is. He was feeling pretty rough on the 5th, so Caleb and I went to Hot Springs by ourselves for the weekend. It was a fun, low-key visit with Mom and Mr. L. Caleb rode on the golfcart with Pops and played in the yard with LaLa for 2 days straight! He was really feeling a lot better - just because he was with them. We drove back on Sunday, ready for another week of work and daycare.

Rudy had a busy week, with responsibilities on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Since Caleb was finishing up his ear drops, I took a look in his ears on Tuesday night just to see if they were looking better. They were better, but still not healed. I told myself to just keep an eye on it and see how he did. I was trying not to panic. On Wednesday, I worked, went to the gym and came home to a child with laryngitis. There's just something pitiful about a one-year-old with such a squeaky voice! I took one look at him and knew immediately that something wasn't right. Rudy was on his way out to a brass ensemble rehearsal and I put Caleb in the car to go to urgent care...again.

We got to urgent care at 6:15. At 7:15, we finally got called back to see the doctor. At 7:30, the doctor finally came in to see us. So much for urgent. I gave the doctor a rundown on the past couple of weeks' adventures and medications. He took a look at Caleb's ears and said they were both infected and one of his tubes is on its way out. When he looked in his throat, he gasped and his eyes got big. I've never seen a doctor do that! He asked me if Caleb's tonsils are usually that big. I told him that I've never really looked at Caleb's tonsils, but that he's never had laryngitis before. He poked and prodded at Caleb's throat for a while, then put some things in his computer and his PDA. He finally told me that he was very concerned about Caleb and that if he were more lethargic, he would have sent us straight to the hospital to be admitted. I almost passed out - literally, I had to sit down. He said that he was going to put him on a strong antibiotic in addition to a steroid and that he needed to have a dose before going to bed that night. I was instructed to watch his breathing very closely for signs of respiratory distress and to take him to the ER immediately if he showed any signs of difficulty breathing. I was terrified. We left there at 8:00 and went straight to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions. On the way, I called my mom to see if there was any possible way she could come up and help us with Caleb so that Rudy and I wouldn't have to miss more days of work already. She offered to leave immediately, but that would've gotten her here in the middle of the night. We agreed that she would come up on Thursday morning and Rudy would stay home until she got here. She ended up getting to our house at 9:00 Thursday morning and stayed until this morning. She definitely earned her grandmother crown this weekend!

Rudy and I grudgingly went to work on Thursday and Friday. Mom and Caleb stayed around the house and played until they were both exhausted! They also did ALL of our laundry and straightened up our house. Mom (somehow) managed to also get some work done while Caleb napped. I was amazed! We went to dinner Friday night and walked around the Promenade to enjoy the Fall coolness. Rudy and I went to the Razorback game yesterday. (I don't even want to talk about that.) While we were gone, Mom made chili, chicken spaghetti, banana pudding and chocolate chip cookies. Good grief! We are set for the week for sure! She also took Caleb to Chick-Fil-A and to Wal-Mart to buy some toy trucks. They played and watched the ballgame on TV and were sound asleep when we got home.

This morning, Caleb woke up with color in his cheeks, a smile on his face and a brightness in his eyes that we haven't seen in quite a while. It has been a wonderful day at our house. We've played and napped and enjoyed LaLa's cooking!

Now, we're getting ready to take on another week and we're hoping for a whole week without having to go to any doctors' offices.

On a more normal note...our 17-month-old little boy is ALL BOY. He has developed a love for hitting things, people and Dewey and for throwing his toys and cups. He gets in trouble for it and cries and cries like he's been condemned forever, but then he gets up and does it again. I'm hoping this is a phase and trying to tell myself that it's partially because he doesn't have the ability to communicate well just yet. If it continues, we'll have to take another approach!

As frustrated as we are with the aggressive behavior, we're also delighted with some of the other changes that we're seeing. Caleb is using more and more words and is now "singing" along with us when we sing to him. He has hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider and bobs his head to the Alphabet Song. He says "ro ro" when we sing Row Row Row Your Boat. He follows some one-step directions and loves to be tickled and read to. He's also climbing and can get into his stroller and rocking chair all by himself. Most of all, he loves to watch the videos of himself that I have on my computer, play with his his Daddy and snuggle with me.

Halloween Preview and Laughter

With all of the bad news about ear infections, eye infections and head bumps, I thought I'd share a couple of fun things:

First, some laughter ~

Next, a preview of Halloween 2007. I'm on the lookout for orange PJ's to complete the look:

Weekend (and) Update

We were excited to have Jerry and Sherry come visit this weekend! They didn't get to our house until almost midnight Friday night. We stayed up talking until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. They brought Caleb a Bubble Blower Mower and an adorable outfit from Rebecca. Rebecca also sent Caleb a little stuffed monkey that he has fallen in love with! For some reason, he calls it "Bobo."

Friday afternoon, Caleb got a terrible haircut at Great Clips, so I took him back on Saturday morning and asked for a do-over. The lady that I like was there and she did a great job. However...it's really short! As fast as his hair grows, though - I'm not worried about it!

Saturday morning, we were outside playing and Caleb took his first big tumble...right into a brick wall. In addition to his big mosquito bite on his cheek, he looks like this:

Jerry and Sherry volunteered (with vigor) to keep Caleb while Rudy and I went to the Razorback game, even though we offered Jerry the chance to go to the game with Rudy. They wouldn't have anything to do with it! So, we went to the game on Saturday. They decided to be nostalgic and took a trip to campus during the game. They even snuck a peek at the game from outside of the stadium. They took Caleb all over campus and then went to eat in Tontitown. They didn't get home much earlier than we did!

Sunday morning, we had a wonderful home-cooked breakfast (courtesy of Chef Rudy). It was a nice morning. We visited and played with Caleb until Jerry and Sherry left. As I wrote in my last post, Caleb wouldn't go down for a nap on Sunday. He cried and cried until I thought he was going to make himself sick! Little did I know!

After going to the ER on Sunday night, we struggled to get up and ready for work on Monday morning. When I was giving Caleb his medicine before we left, I noticed that Caleb's left eye was a little goopy, the way it gets when he has a cold. I cleaned it up and didn't worry too much about it. When we got to Pine Crest, I noticed that there was a little blood mixed in with the discharge from his ear. That worried me, but I thought it was probably just from the infection, or maybe from the examination the night before. I (of course) had it on my mind all morning, so I called to check on him when I got to my school. One of the front desk ladies had just gone down to check on him and said that his ear was still bleeding and that it wasn't looking good. I asked her to call me if it got worse and she agreed. I called and made a doctor's appointment for the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, the school called and said that his eye had swollen almost shut. I was worried sick by the time I met Rudy and Caleb at the doctor's office. By the time we got in to see the doctor, Caleb was worn out and pretty agitated. Dr. Byrum looked at Caleb's ear and said it was really bad and then looked at his eye and grimaced a little. He made some changes to our medication regimen and said that if it isn't better by Thursday, we need to come back for a culture. We're now giving Caleb 2 doses of oral antibiotic, 4 doses of eye drop antibiotic and 4 doses of ear drop antibiotic each day. It's an awful lot of medicine and pain for him. He hates it so much! Agggghhhh! I nervously asked if he could go to school tomorrow and Dr. Byrum said no. He has to stay home until he's on the antibiotic eye drops for 24 hours. So - I'll be home with Caleb tomorrow. I can't really complain about that, but it does make 3 1/2 sick days for me already this year! Oh, well. I have my priorities and if anyone questions that, they are being ridiculous.

If you're reading this, you must care about our little family, so please say prayers that Caleb will get better soon and life will get back to normal. We all need a break!