Flu Shot Fiasco

On Oct. 9, which was a Friday, both kids were off school. I believe it was due to some sort of teacher conference-type thing. It made for a long weekend because the kids didn't have school either on Monday due to Columbus Day. Me, being the practical one, scheduled the kids' flu shots for bright and early Friday morning. I figured this would be a perfect way to get Riley in there, too, since Jeremy has off more mornings than Riley.

We were in and out in less than 10 minutes, but not before Riley kicked me and I had to physically hold her down with both hands. I thought she'd outgrow that by now.

They were rewarded with a trip to the local ice cream shop. Ever since I told Riley that she had to have a shot, which, by now I should know NOT to do, she said she wanted ice cream as a treat. We had to wait until the place opened at 2, but the ice cream did not disappoint!

Jeremy enjoyed some chocolate ice cream,
which Mom gladly help finish.

Riley chose cookie dough for her first trip to this ice cream place.

Anyway, the kids were a little sore the rest of the day, but they were both overall in fine shape. Saturday came around, and after a lengthy nap, Jeremy woke up with a fever. A 103-degree fever to be exact. We loaded him up with some drugs and headed off on a date. (For the record, our sitter was totally fine with J being sick--I blamed the shot since he acted fine and ate well.) I did have Phil call later in the evening to check in on our little guy.

Sunday J still wasn't well, so Phil stayed home with him while Riley and I went to church. Jeremy didn't have much of an appetite the entire day and still had a fever. He was pretty listless for the next few days, in fact. His fever broke on Tuesday, but then he developed a horrible cough. He would cough to the point that he'd throw up because he had so much phlegm in his throat. And forget sleeping. He would start coughing so much that he'd wake up and start choking. He (and Mom and Dad) did not sleep well for several days. Phil and I both called the doctor, and they reassured us that we were doing the right things. But he wasn't getting better.

I called and made an appointment the following Monday (day #8 of him being sick and day #4 of puking, which he started to do on Friday). He barely ate all weekend, but on Monday he started to actually eat a bit. We got to the office, and J was weighed (33 lbs). The doc came in and listened to J's lungs, and it turns out he had fluid in his lung, which was causing him to be all raspy and produce the phlegm in his throat. He prescribed steroids and an inhaler, and $50 later, we were all set.

As a treat after picking up the medicine, I took the kids to the park since it was actually a decent day for once. We ran into former neighbors (Dawn, Lauren and Jonathan) along with a little boy from Riley's old preschool and his brother who is in Jeremy's class this year.

Once we got home, Jeremy took the medicine and inhaler like a champ. He is SO not his sister! I took him back to the doc after 2 days to check his status. Jeremy was improving, although he still had a little fluid. The doc said that if Jeremy had a fever while he had the fluid, he would've had pneumonia! How scary.

Jeremy was on the medication/inhaler for 5 days, and he FINALLY seems better. Now I know that everyone reacts differently to shots (case in point, Riley was fine during this whole episode), but Jeremy will not be getting the flu shot next year. Just to be safe. And because he had NEVER been this sick before. Ever. I'm still contemplating the H1N1 shot, though. We go back on Wednesday for a 2-week check-up on Jeremy, so we'll see what the doc recommends.

Jeremy Unplugged

I think around age 3 is when words/sentences come out of kids' mouths and make you laugh. It makes for some interesting conversations, but mainly it just makes me laugh. So I thought I'd share a few:

Last Thursday, like most Thursdays, the little guy and I headed to the library. After we picked out more books and movies and did the festive Halloween craft, we went over to Trader Joe's. I love that store. Anyway, the store has a fun game for little kids in that they hide a stuffed animal turtle named Shelly. She's somewhere in the store and the kids have to try to find her. It makes the shopping experience enjoyable (although both kids have always loved going shopping with me, for some reason). Sometimes we need assistance from the workers as to Shelly's whereabouts, which we did this time. After being pointed in the right direction, Jeremy found her.

The kids then tell the cashier where Shelly is and the kids receive an organic fruit snack. Not too shabby. So Jeremy tells the cashier he found Shelly. The cashier asks where she was. To which Jeremy replied:

"Shelly was bringing home some wine."

Sounds like my kind of turtle.

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Last Friday I volunteered to help out at Jeremy's school. Every third Friday they do "Mystery Reader" day where a relative comes in to read stories to the class. The key is to not tell the kids beforehand. The teachers needed someone that morning (usually there's a sign-up sheet), and I figured I could spend 15 minutes doing it.

I arrived at 11:30, and the teachers ushered me in. All the kids were sitting on the carpet, waiting attentively. I come in and all the kids are looking at me. The teachers said someone's mom is here to read some stories. I look right at Jeremy and I said, "Who am I?"

Deadpanned, he looked at me and said, "You're you."

How can you argue with that?

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Yesterday we finally took the kids to the pumpkin patch (I blame the cruddy weather and Jeremy's nasty cold--more on that to come), and it was a tad muddy. When we got home, Riley socks were wet and her pants damp from the mud. Jeremy was upstairs in his room, and he wanted Riley to come into his room. She told him, "Let me put some clothes on."

I heard him reply, "Yeah, I don't want any naked girls in my room."

You better believe it, Buddy.

Dad's Birthday

Phil celebrated another year earlier this month, and he celebrated it by taking the day off. Oh, and beginning work on painting our living room. It was an odd way to start the day, though, because both kids had school. It was the first time that both Phil and I have been home without the kids, and it was nice to talk without being interrupted. Phil was even blessed to receive a phone call from Uncle D from all the way across the ocean. Phil was able to paint an entire wall before he had to run and get Jeremy from preschool since I had a conference call for a potential freelancing job, which I ended up getting. (Yea me!)

Beginning the painting job.

The color is called Cruzan blue, or something along those lines.

After Riley got off the bus from school that afternoon, we had Phil open all his presents, which the kids helped me wrap the night before. Who me, procrastinate? Afterward, we all hopped in the car and drove to a restaurant to meet up with Papa and Nana for a nice meal. The kids had fun playing with the grandparents, and our tummies were happy with the delicious food. Both kids started to melt down, though, by 6:30, so we said our good-byes and headed home.

Opening presents (and note the lovely chair rail in the background).

Posing with the kids and his gifts (chocolate, DVDs and
a body pillow cover). Yeah, we know how to live it up!

And we cannot forget that instead of a birthday cake, we honored Phil's birthday with the traditional homemade Rice Krispie treats. Happy birthday, to the best dad of my children. :)

Saying Good-bye Part 2

When I started this little blog a year ago, my main goal was to keep family abreast as to what was going on in the life of the C household. One of my first posts was a tribute to my brother and his new wife and how they were going to begin their lives on the other side of the world. Our lives were all filled with exciting events, but the kids and I were beyond excited to have Casey and D back on American soil for awhile.

Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to them once again, this time over Labor Day weekend. They were heading back to Lebanon on the Sunday during Labor Day weekend, so we made a point to spend most of the day hanging out at Mom and Dad's. Unfortunately Phil couldn't attend, as our nephew's birthday party was the same day down in Bloomington, which is a good 3-hour drive south. But the kids and I represented, enjoyed the beautiful day and created more lasting memories.

We began with a little "bat and ball," which according to my neighbor is not a common term. She explained to friends of hers that my kids play bat and ball with her kids, and her friends had no idea what that was! They couldn't understand why people didn't just call it baseball. I had never thought about it that way. Guess it's how I grew up. Dad took turns pitching to Derek and myself, while Riley amused herself with raking leaves. No joke. She is fascinated my raking leaves and Papa and Nana's. She asks several times a week when we can go back to their house to rake leaves, since they have so many large, mature trees. Guess our minuscule ones at our house don't suffice!

Enjoying some bat and ball.

Look at those flowing locks of hair.

Riley insisted on raking the leaves.

Dad ready for some more pitching.

Casey decided to go for a walk with Riley around the block, and not to be outdone Nana decided to take Jeremy for a little bike ride. It was such a nice day, and I already long for that weather again. I am not ready for the frost we're supposed to receive this weekend! But I digress.

One of my favorite pictures: Riley with her favorite aunt.

Nana and Jeremy head off around the block.

My crazy, goofy, loving brother.

We enjoyed a delicious deep-dish pizza dinner, which I hope can tide D and C for awhile. I got the kids in their jammies, and we played some games with one of Uncle D's childhood friends, Jeff. We said our good-byes shortly before C and D needed to head to the airport, and the kids wished we could see them again soon. I told them we could send them pictures and cards and that we'd be able to talk to them on the phone. Surprisingly, I was lucky enough to talk to Uncle D just yesterday when he called to talk for a bit. It's always great to hear from them and hear the stories about life overseas. Thanks for making this summer memorable as always. (Casey, let me know if you want copies of any of the pictures.)

Who doesn't love a little Perfection?

The entire clan, minus Phil.

Addendum to J's Results

Last we left Jeremy's test results, I was told that he had allergies to ragweed and that was that. Well, that wasn't entirely the case.

Phil was able to talk with the doctor (I only talked with the nurse on Monday), and he was informed in much detail about Jeremy's results. It turns out that yes, he does have allergies to ragweed, but he also has mild allergies to mold. Why is this important? Because it can explain his multitude of rashes he's experienced over the last several months. Certain days he'd wake up with squiggly lines on his body, other days he'd have hive-like bumps and still other days he'd just have raised irritated parts of skin that constantly itched.

Apparently when he scratches, he releases histamines that can bother his skin even more. So it's a constant cycle, unless he stops scratching. Luckily he's done better with the scratching; it's almost non-existent because I've been loading him up with lotion at bedtime. The doc did recommend purchasing some Aquaphor, which is basically like a thick lotion. She also said to keep Benadryl on hand in case he does break out. And to keep hydrocortizone cream around to help alleviate the itching.

Also, there are three foods that tend to bring about the different types of rashes when the pollen count is high: bananas, sunflower seeds and cantaloupe. How weird! So our guess is that he broke out in that rash when he had a banana the day before and the pollen count was high. The doc gave us the name of a Web site about pollen count that can help us determine if those foods might irritate J's skin.

So basically it's good news. We don't need to seek out a dermatologist and there's nothing we need to fear about regarding J's rash outbreaks. I'm glad we're more well informed. And I'm also glad that Phil finally convinced me to get J tested for allergies. I just feel bad that Jeremy is probably going to deal with this for the rest of his life. Let's just hope he doesn't suddenly become allergic to the cats!