Influenza

Today started out simple with sprinkle pancakes for breakfast. There were rumors of a possible zoo trip in our day but it was contingent on a few things one of which was Ronan's condition. By 7:30 Ronan is usually sitting in his bed manipulating his sock lovey. I went to check on him and he was still sound asleep. I made Jadzia and Xander their sprinkle pancakes which they gobbled down. Ronan was still sleeping. This was very odd seeing as he normally is up and ready to make a dash for his food cupboard to receive his promised breakfast. I decided to get him up and see if he would eat. He groaned at me and was not really responding.
I carried him to the kitchen and gently shook him awake. At first he refused my food offers so I got his favorite thing out which is yogurt. He ate his usual two containers and then collapsed asleep again. The Er had said to follow-up if he wasn't better by Friday. His pediatrician isn't in on Fridays so I decided we'd just head to urgent care. He woke up a little when we arrived at Urgent care. His eyes peaked out of tiny slits as he was unwilling to open them completely. The receptionist looked at him sympathetically. "OH, He doesn't look good." she pulled his chart and we sat down. He was like a rag doll in my arms. They called us back and he stayed asleep while they checked him.The doctor came in they did blood work and some other tests. The chest x-ray revealed pneumonia. They gave him two shots of a strong antibiotic and sent us home with a prescription for more. When we got home Ronan was still very lethargic. I got him to drink 8oz. of pedialyte and then he drifted back to sleep. His doctor called me to let me know he has influenza and they were calling in Tamaflu to our pharmacy. They told me he could go south pretty quick and to bolt for the ER at the first sign of distress. I wondered at that moment if it was too premature to bolt for the ER.
I laid with Ronan on the couch for the afternoon while the other kids took their naps. He slept and then about dinner time he woke up. I tried to get more pedialyte down him. He took 2 ounces and then threw the bottle across the room. I couldn't get him to take anymore. He went into a 15 minute crying fit and I held and rocked him. Shortly after that I was talking to my mother in-law on the phone and I looked over and Inara was throwing up everywhere. I told my Mother in-law bye and found out she also had diarrhea.My mother in-law graciously agreed to keep Landon longer (he was coming back tomorrow). Maybe we can prevent one kid from getting it. Inara threw up a second time since. I was hoping it was a fluke but throwing up twice I'm thinking she probably has it. The only thing is is that she's really happy so I'm not sure. Of course Inara is naturally happy baby but I would think she'd be unhappy if her tummy was really upset. Now the question is what to do. I'm waiting for Isaac to get home. I'm probably going to take Inara to urgent care to see if they can put her on Tamaflu or something. But Ronan won't drink and his cough is worse. I'm trying to decide if I need to take him to the ER or not. And that is where we are at this moment.

Sick Little Boy

Last evening Ronan started to act lethargic. He looked like the above picture all evening and was very clingy to me. He didn't want me to put him down for anything. He had been having bad diapers all day. He was on his tenth poopy diaper and looked very droopy. He had 102.5 temp. He also wasn't eating or drinking very well. When I put him down to bed he was wheezing considerably. I decided I'd take him in. I was kind of wishing that I had decided an hour earlier so I could have taken him to Urgent care instead of the ER.After four hours and two viles of blood later they determined he has a stomach virus. His blood sugar was ok so they sent us home. Today he was still pretty droopy and laid around the house still having his bad diapers. His pediatrician called and told me to hold off feeding him today and instead just push the pedialyte and as long as he was drinking he could stay home. If he wouldn't drink she wanted him in the hospital.Fortunately he drank an entire bottle (8 oz.) of pedialyte around lunch time and another at dinner time. By bedtime he was acting more like himself and I even caught a few smiles. I'm hoping by tomorrow the bug will have passed and he can resume eating.Today was a beautiful day in the high 60s. The kids had cabin fever from winter lock up. It was still pretty muddy so I let them run around in the drive way for a little bit. Jadzia enjoyed going to the store with me to get Ronan's pedialyte and we got to go without coats for the first time since Fall. Tomorrow is supposed to be decent so we might take the kids to the zoo or some other outdoor activity. We need to soak up the warm weather because on Sunday snow is predicted to return.Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?
She's pretty cute awake too.She's my little lady bug.

Squashed Fingers

This week is an easy week. We don't have a single appointment. Ronan's teacher came to the house on Monday and we had the weight check yesterday but other than that nothing else is on the agenda. We've been relaxing.
Inara is standing with assistance. She can move a few steps to the side but after a couple of steps she puts her hands back to be sure I'm there to catch her. She got a hand boo boo today. So far Inara hasn't had much luck in the small appendages department. From her toes being injured by a strand of hair to now smashed fingers. Inara is mobile now so she belly crawled over to the bathroom entryway and had her right hand half on the carpet and half on the bathroom tile.
Xander was in the bathroom and didn't know she was there. He went to shut the door. I yelled "Don't shu.." that was all I got out as I leaped for Inara. It was too late the top of the door went over her fingers and she let out a shrill scream. I gently pulled her hand out and she was holding a couple of her fingers weird and wouldn't bend them. I showed Isaac and he thought they were broken and said we should take her in. He went to get his keys and wallet. While he was gone I put my finger in the palm of her hand and she wrapped her fingers around it. She had also stopped screaming. I showed Isaac and he decided she was ok.
Now you can't really tell anything happened. In the picture it really doesn't show up but if you look closely at her pinky and index finger there are tiny scrapes and they are a little red. She's moving them fine now and isn't fussing so I'm pretty sure we're in the clear.
I thought this picture was funny. She looks like she's taking a picture of herself for an online profile. It's even slanted in a downward angle. I've been told people take pictures of themselves at that angle because it's supposed to make them look thinner. Not sure if it works but this is what this picture reminded me of. The above Inara one not the below Jadzia. Xander is quickly becoming a miniature version of his dad. He has his father's wit and building skills. He is also developing his father's germ phobia. You know the adorable pictures of a child eating their first birthday cake? Isaac hates those. He hates the messiness of it. Xander is starting to be the same way. Ronan had crumbs on his face from the crackers he ate. Xander sees him and starts gagging. I asked him what was wrong. He said, " Ronan's face is messy." The picture below is Xander covering his mouth while he passed Ronan. Hopefully the child will never aspire to work at a day care.

The Comfort of a Nose

Ronan went to the doctor for a weight check and he's back to where he was before. He had another bad asthma attack last night and we were up until early morning. I had his doctor check his lungs and they were clear so it seems it was just an asthma flare up. He seems to be doing ok tonight. We're still waiting on his Endoscopy results which I'm finding strange we haven't gotten them yet.

They tested him for Celiac disease since children with Down Syndrome are prone to having it. I'm not completely sure it would show up anyway since he hasn't really been on table foods. In order for Celiac disease to be detected you have to have been exposed to gluten for a certain amount of time.
Jadzia and Xander built a massive fort in the living room and they spent most of their morning under blankets. They played cave people and Xander was a dinosaur. I heard Landon's name mentioned a few times. Xander especially is starting to miss him. Landon told me today he was having fun and that he had made friends with two little twin girls.

I had Biology class tonight. We learned about the interesting process of cell respiration. The entire process takes seconds but is very complex. Our teacher had some of my classmates put on a skit of how cell respiration works. Yes this blog is pretty short without too much excitement but not everyday can be full of intrigue. Look who is still awake.This is my fault. Ronan had been in Inara's bed briefly this evening and he chose that opportunity to have a blow out. The mattress was washed and sanitized. But when I went to check on Inara her bed still had an unpleasant odor. I had no desire to leave poor Inara laying on a bad smelling mattress for the rest of the night. I tried to move her quietly but of course she was none too pleased to be messed with. I scrubbed the mattress pretty well. Then I left the room to make sure I hadn't just become accustomed to the odor. A short time later I returned and the smell had dissipated. Now Inara's nose can sleep comfortably.

Clifford the Big Red Dog

The morning started off with the discovery that Ronan had learned to not only undress himself but also launch all his blankets out of his crib. The child had to have been freezing. As you can tell in the picture below his disposition was less than thrilled with his predicament. Moments before this he had been happily standing in his crib giving me all his toddler charm through a big toothy grin. The tears were let loose when I didn't immediately release him from his mesh prison.
Xander kept up his funny antics for the majority of the morning. He is determined to make a video that is worthy of winning a trip to Disney world. The stakes were raised when I was informed it is actually a Disney Cruise. Mommy suddenly became a tiny bit more motivated to aide Xander in his video efforts. Somehow I think launching a baby bottle across the room and pretending you are tripping over Ronan's therapy chair just aren't going to do the trick.Isaac is the type of man that buys me flowers randomly. There will be absolutely no holiday in sight and he will bring me flowers home. Major holidays he usually doesn't do anything and it never really bothers me. I mean having a man who randomly out of the year showers me with flowers and gifts is awesome and much better than him feeling obligated because of a holiday. I love the surprise and the fact the only reason is because he thought of me that day and wanted me to feel loved. I expected nothing today on Valentines Day and it didn't bother me. But he surprised me again and brought me flowers. They were beautiful. I was particularly fond of the big orange one. He's a good guy.
The day Xander had been waiting for for the last two weeks had arrived. He was going to get to see Clifford at the library. It was Clifford's birthday and Dan Wardell (the host for the kids programs for our state PBS station) was reading stories. Jadzia went too and my brother brought his wife and kids. In the room the event took place there was a big mat that had the alphabet all along the edges. Dan told all the kids to stand on their favorite letter. Jadzia very loudly yelled out "My favorite letter is W!" Next Dan asked the kids to stand on the letter of their first name. Jadzia yelled out again "I love W. I want to stand on W." After that Dan told the kids to stand on one of the books. Again Jadzia yelled " My favorite letter is W. I want to stand on the W."
Dan read the kids the story about how Emily Elizabeth got Clifford. As he was getting ready to start the next story Clifford walks in with his arms raised in the air and the kids went wild. Dan read another Clifford story while Clifford pantomimed the story. Dan was great about getting the kids involved in the story. At the end the kids got to form a line to get pictures with Clifford. Jadzia refused and was too scared. My mom was there so she held Jadzia and took her to see Clifford. Jadzia was still unsure. Xander ran right up and got his picture with Clifford. We snapped one of Xander, Jadzia and my niece and nephew together.As we were walking out the door. Dan looks at Jadzia and says "I'll always remember you as the W girl." With that she runs over and gives him a hug and says "I love W!" I took a picture of her with Dan and at the end he said. "Goodbye W girl."

Turkey vs. Gorilla

The Inara monthly report is in. She is eight months old today! The thought of my baby being one year old in four months doesn't seem possible. Today she crawled off belly about a foot. She is also getting better at using my hands to pull to stand. I know it won't be long before I find her standing in her crib.
She can wave bye bye. She can put a block in each hand and hit them together but isn't quite clapping yet. She still is mommy obsessed and prefers me to hold her or at least be sitting where she is playing so she can attain mommy comfort at a moments notice. If she doesn't know you expect her to give you a smile from a distance but if you enter her personal space bubble she will notify you with a wail. She loves her Daddy's beard more than most of her toys and he is the only other person she's ok with holding her while mommy is present. She's fine with grandparents if I'm not in the room.She'll be playing contently and then she'll hear or see me and she immediately starts crying and making a dramatic belly crawl to get to me. I'm enjoying having a good bond with her. They grow out of the baby stage so quickly and I'm trying to savor these moments.
Xander wanted to know if a turkey is stronger than a gorilla. I get those type of questions all the time from him. He'll think of something random and ask me if it's stronger than a gorilla. I'm unsure if he's pondering hosting gorilla fights someday. He also really wants to go to Disney World and he found out if you win Funniest Home Videos that along with the cash you win a family trip to Disney World. Now he is on a quest to make a funny video and this is what prompted him to walk around the house in Ronan's pajamas.Maybe someday we'll make it out to Disney World. He wants me to submit a video but I really can't think of any funny enough to win. Landon is having fun at Grandma's, he's made a few friends and they played with nerf guns and built a couple of snowmen. I'm so used to having him here that tonight when I got toothbrushes out I got his ready complete with toothpaste on it. Grandma has a toothbrush for him at her house so I never have to pack toiletries. I got through the other kids and saw his tooth brush waiting for his use.

Valentine Party

Despite being up late and giggling in their beds until midnight last night the kids were up bright and early. We had a special breakfast and watched a cartoon dolphin movie. The movie held the kids' interest through about half of it then they were ready for a party. They opened their treat bags and ooed an awwed over everything inside.
Once the excitement wore off we started the cup cake making process. I let the kids make them by themselves. I just gave the instructions, helped measure and handled the workings of the oven. Xander is my little chef and he does great at cracking open eggs and he doesn't drop any of the shells in. He's very talented for a four year old. Xander, Caleb and Hannah all got a turn doing some part of the cupcake process.
Can you tell they poured the batter?
While we waited for cupcakes to cook and cool we made heart shaped dogs out of construction paper. After a short time I cooled the cupcakes in the fridge and we had a pizza lunch. By the time lunch was over the cupcakes were cool enough to decorate. Each child got three cupcakes to decorate anyway they wanted. The cupcakes concluded our Valentine party and sleepover. My sister in-law arrived to pick up her kids and their mountainous assortment of treats.
Isaac and I went out for a Valentine date. Our dinner was free thanks to my coupon skills. I had a coupon combined with a gift card I'd received for free through a promotional event. It pays to sign up for local business clubs and deals. We have had many free date nights for this reason. We still have more to go. We're going to see a movie but it's awhile until it starts and I needed to feed Inara again. Even though the night is not over that's all for today.