Halloween roundup

Yes. I am aware that is Dec. 1.
I am just getting around to posting about Halloween.

But between the never-ending merry-go-round of colds, earaches, croup, one freakishly bad eye infection, a sick cat, buying a house, a week-long vacation to the Caribbean, and pneumonia, my blogging took a hit.

Month-long hiatus, over.

I need to memorialize Scott's second Halloween. He was here for it last year, but at a mere six weeks old, was asleep in my arms by 7 p.m., and pretty much unaware of anything going on around him. (He did look awfully adorable in his Superman costume though.)


This year,  I "gave" Jim Halloween. He indulged my book-themed first birthday party, so I let him pick the costume. He chose football. Shocker. But, somehow appropriate for our bruiser Tank.

I hit the big time when I found a replica Arizona State University costume online. Never mind it was for kids ages 4-6. I safety-pinned the jersey, and just let the pants be a little baggy. The only thing we couldn't use at all was the helmet. Still, a little of mommy's mascara smeared under each of Scott's eyes, and the "look" was complete.

That's one handsome footballer, no? (And yes, that is one adorable Minnie....Scott's slightly older cousin, Peyton.)

First up was a family trip to Boo at the Zoo, where Scott tried out his new walking skills. It is also the only family photo we have of the entire "holiday."

Next was the Halloween parade at Scott's daycare. He got to join the big kids in the room next door, and after an initial freak out, laughed it up like he belonged there.

Our plan was to go trick or treating in one of my colleague's neighborhoods. But as has been the case too many times in Scott's young life, he came down with croup the night of Halloween. (If anyone is counting, this is time #5.)

So we decided to stick closer to home. Cool night air is actually good for croup, so we loaded Tank on to his big-boy trike/scooter (which he loves) and cruised the streets in our neighborhood for about an hour or so.

Scott discovered the sheer goodness that is a lollipop, and, in the throes of a sugar high, was kind enough to share his second one with Daddy.

Oh my GOD! This lollipop is good, don't you think Daddy?

His cuteness generally netted him extra goodies at each stop, so by the time he got home, his football (of course) themed Halloween basket was overflowing with sweet stuff.

Scott charms yet another neighborhood candy-hander-outer.

Halloween #2 = big success.

Not bad for a first time stash.

Be Gone, Evil Germs

It's Sunday night. 7:35 p.m. and exhaustion has officially set in.
I've been up a good portion of the past two nights with Scott, who has turned into a full-fledged snot factory.

On the positive side, the steroid shot and the follow-up oral steroid seem to be working well against the croup. His cough is much looser and he doesn't sound like a barking seal anymore. But the virus that has caused all of this is still doing a number against our little Tank. He's incredibly congested - so much so that he's had trouble drinking his bottle. He just can't breathe. His eyes are glassy and watery, he's had bouts of diarrhea (so we're watching against dehydration) and he's pretty lethargic and extremely fussy.

Occasionally, he'll give us a wan smile, and I'll see flashes of the normally happy, relaxed baby I know. But they're too brief. I can't wait until his normal sunny disposition re-emerges.

We did two more steam showers overnight, and I slept for part of the evening on the air mattress again. Scott was up early...about 7 a.m., and we sat outside and let him breathe in the cool air for a few minutes. I was hoping for a morning nap, but twas not to be.

A early, early a.m. steam shower helps ease Scott's congestion.

Scott refused to sleep unless I was holding him. He took a short morning nap while I drank my coffee, and then an hour later, after about 15 minutes of pacing and jiggling in the house, he fell asleep in my arms and conked out for a good ninety minutes. I moved him to the swing and he slept for another 45.

Mommy's arm makes a great pillow.

The break gave Jim and I a short respite and we were able to eat lunch, do some laundry, pay some bills...that kind of thing. My mom and dad watched Scott for two hours later in the afternoon, and we both grabbed a quick nap.

I know that its just a nasty bug, and I know that he's hardly the first kid in the world to get sick. It certainly won't be the last time that he's ill. But man, I am tired. I have bookoo respect for all the parents in the world out there who are managing multiple sick kids at once.

Jim and I are both going to work from home for part of the day tomorrow; he goes out of town for work on Tuesday, so if Scott isn't markedly better, I'll probably take a sick day. I don't want to bring him back to daycare until he's feeling a bit stronger. The last thing I want is for him to catch another bug and have to battle that on top of this one.

In the meantime, I am doing what I can to eradicate the house of all the nasty germs that have taken root. Laundry, all of Scott's toys, his pacifiers -- you name it - they're all being disinfected. Tomorrow I am stripping the sheets from his crib and the cushion from his swing.

Be gone evil germs.

My poor baby has Croup

We knew it was going to happen...the inevitable first bout with illness. But that didn't make it any less awful when I picked up my raspy, coughing, wheezing baby from daycare Friday evening.
The child who seemed fine at noon was most certainly not at 6 p.m.

A frantic phone call to good friend and mommy expert Alia, and a few minutes later, I knew: Scott had croup. The horrid, barking cough that made him sound like a hungry seal was too distinctive to be anything else.

I tried to make Scott feel better with a steamy stint in the bathroom with shower running full-blast, with a warm bath, with a bottle. Nothing seemed to work. So I put him to bed, hoping he would get a little bit of sleep.

When Jim came home from work he was horrified at how terrible Scott sounded (the baby had woken up less than 90 minutes after we put him in the crib.) We discussed whether to bring him to urgent care and decided to ride out the night.

Jim rocked Scott back to sleep and took the first shift. I went to bed and got 2 or 3 hours of sleep before we switched off. Good thing too...Scott woke up around 2:30 and didn't sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time for the rest of the night.

He'd doze off in his swing, only to be awakened by that hacking, barking cough. Then he'd cry. So we'd go into the bathroom and sit in the steam and I'd rock him back to sleep. Eventually, I just decided it was easiest to stay in his room with him, so I spent the night on the floor, sleeping fitfully at the foot of his swing.

By 7:30, Jim and I were up and dressed. The pediatrician's office opened at 8 a.m. and we were determined to be the first ones there.

Holding Scott upright helps ease his cough; Daddy tries to make him comfortable while we wait to see the doctor.

At the pediatrician's office; waiting for the steroid shot.

We got to the doctor's office at 8:01 a.m. Jim says next time, we'll arrive at 7:55. We were the third ones there, and had to wait about 30 minutes to get in. But we were lucky; by 8:15 there were 15 kids in the waiting room, including another infant who had a similarly distinctive cough.

The on-call doctor - who was fantastic - diagnosed Scott with croup on sight and was very good at explaining what was wrong with our little Munchkin. Basically, Scott had come down with some kind of virus -- perhaps a cousin of the flu virus, maybe RSV. Instead of staying in his nose and head and causing the typical sneezy, runny, congested, earache type symptoms, it burrowed in his upper respiratory tract, where it caused his airways, including his larynx, to inflame and swell. The condition, called larynotracheosomethingorother is what is causing his difficulty breathing and wheezing.

Unfortunately, antibiotics won't work; because its a virus, we just have to ride it out. But they did give Scott a steroid shot and a prescription for a different kind of steroid, which will hopefully lessen the swelling and make him more comfortable.

Our little guy is a trooper - he's hanging in there. But the pediatrician said to expect another long couple of nights, complete with steam showers, and humidifiers and raspy coughing. Jim's set up an air mattress in the baby's room, so the "on-call" person doesn't have to sleep on the floor. We also have to leave Scott out of daycare for the early part of next week until he stops sneezing and coughing and spreading germs around. Hoping he gets over this very, very soon. In the meantime, he's getting lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles from mommy.

The air mattress we've got in Scott's room, since he's waking up so frequently.

Putting on a brave face, post doctor, and showing off where we got the shot.