Summer's early mornings

The last week has been very interesting in the wake-up department. Starting about Thursday last week, our little mini human slept a full 9 hours straight. So awesome to wake up and realize that it was 6am when Colin was waking up. He continued to be a sleepy little bug for about 4 days and it was heavenly knowing that I wouldn't have to wake up at 3am for a half hour.

But, we didn't get to wake up to all sleepy and snuggly with our little man because somebody (ahem, the big boy) was waking up at the crack of dawn!!! Not fair. Saturday morning he was up at 6:30. Ugh. More amazing was the fact that he didn't fall asleep until after 9pm on Friday night because we drove into Marysville to meet my mom and grandmother at the house and then we went out to IHoP for dinner. He did crash really hard in the car on the way home though; when I changed his diaper and his clothes, he slept through the whole she-bang. So Saturday had an early wake-up and then no nap. Instead we played tag, red light/green light, and hide & seek all day.

Sunday we got to sleep in a little later as it was 6:55 when he came into our room and climbed on the bed. He was vibrating with energy all freakin' day!!! The kid didn't slow down once. He was a maniac. He was whiney. He was happy, then sad, then happy all within minutes. He was constantly glomming for attention. When I tried to sing the "inside voice" song, he countered by singing the "outside voice" at the top of his lungs. And of course, naptime was a bust as he spent 90 minutes locked in his room pulling clothes from the drawers, books off the shelf, jumping on the bed, and throwing his cup at the door (probably shouting some toddler obscenities too). By 6:30 he was begging for a bath. He and I hopped in the shower then I got him his evening milk but (bad mommy!) I drugged him with benedryl. Funny, he sipped that milk down tout suite. Then we went to his bed and I read him two books while he continued to talk and climb his feet up the wall and try to turn the pages on me. Then I started the second chapter of The House on Pooh Corner (which I grabbed at the thrift store for 50 cents last week). He mimicked me when I read Tigger's growl and mumbled some, then the next thing I know he's breathing slow, his eyes are closed, and I finished the page. He NEVER falls asleep while I read. He didn't even stir when I lifted him up to get him under the sheet or turn on his music. He was fast asleep by 6:55pm.

Yesterday, we were awakened at 6:15 by him crawling into our bed and laughing and giggling. Usually he says "goodmorning mommy, good morning daddy. Wake up." in his loudest whisper. But no, on Monday morning he woke us up with "I hungy, I soooooo hungy, I hungy." Luckily, he was loud enough to wake Colin (who was back to getting up at 3:30am again btw) so I got to stay in bed and nurse the baby for a half an hour while Jon had to get up and do the breakfast ritual. His school teachers were under strict orders to wear him out, but I guess that didn't happen since he didn't nap (although he did stay quietly in his room reading and playing for an hour which is, frankly, all I ask for) and then we played tag and MONSTER AHHH for an hour running around the living room table and back and forth. Surprisingly, Colin napped through all that commotion. During his "nap" I made a Good Boy Chart for him so we can reward him for doing his good behavior things. He barely touched his dinner which was funny because chicken nuggets are probably his favorite right now. It was a pathetic attempt to eat and around 6:30 he crawled up next to Jon on the couch and said "I so tired." Jon pulled him up onto his lap and then Liam was asking for his froggy and the next thing we knew he was sacked out! Again, he crashed so hard that we were able to change his diaper and get him snuggled into bed without a slight stir. I took this picture at 8pm to prove he was still totally asleep.

He slept through the whole dang night and guess what . . . at 5:55am he was running into our room whispering "wake up Daddy, wake up Mommy!" Jon tried to go back to his room with him, but after 30 minutes I was awake from feeding Colin and just got up with him. I was hoping that he would be able to expend a lot of energy at school again today, but as I sat down to write this, the freak summer sprinkle that was falling on us as I walked him to school has turned into a torrential pour strong enough to disrupt the satellite signal a couple times. Woah, I also just heard a good clap of thunder. What an odd day (oh yeah, and it's gonna be 104 on Sunday - wth?). Please please please take a nap Liam and then go to bed at your normal 7:30-8pm bedtime and please please please sleep in until 7:30 tomorrow morning. Ack!

May Day - Man Down

The plague hit us. The preschool plague finally hit us. We made it two full weeks before Liam got sick-sick. He started a cough last Monday. By the time our friend Kara and her 5 month old, Aidric, came to visit us on Wednesday, Jon and I had sore throats; Liam started having coughing fits during the night. I was sure we would be getting them sick too, but as she lives in Washington and we might not see them again until November, we had her visit anyway. Well, she forgot her coat and since I had to go into Roseville to pick up a note from my doctor, I volunteered to bring it to her on Friday. I drove down with Colin and the 4 of us went out for Cheesecake Factory lunch. I also brought her a book that is by one of her favorite authors (she turned both Jon and me on to him when we were up visiting them last June). I tried desperately not to cough on her since I was having awful post-nasal drip attacks.

I got home from Rocklin around 4pm. Liam had only been up from his nap for a little bit and he looked awful. Jon said he had been out of sorts and kinda tantrummy at preschool. When he got home, he proceeded to barely eat any of his lunch and headed straight into bed. He had a fever. A mild fever, but one nonetheless. He vomited while in bed. This is awful for us since he doesn't get sick like that at all. With Tylenol and love, Liam's fever had passed. But just at bedtime, it picked back up again. In fact, I could tell when it happened. He was sitting next to me on the couch watching Olivia and by the time it was over he had slumped onto me and was just staring at the television. The side of his face that was leaning on me was 103.4, but his forehead and other temple were only 101 so another dose of Tylenol he got and went to bed. Saturday, he was cool all day, but obviously out of sorts again. He spent the whole day on the couch when he wasn't napping in his room. And of course, by bedtime, he had another fever. He woke up in the middle of the night from a coughing fit and Jon spent the majority of the early hours sleeping in his room in the recliner because "he was just staring into the dark and breathing so pathetically. It freaked me out."

Sunday . . . cool and active all day. No fever. Officially ready for preschool on Monday. But oh, his nose runs and the snot and coughing are oh so bad. And he tells us everything hurts.
Liam: "Mah finger hurt. Mah knee hurt. Mah elbow hurt. Mah heh (head) hurt. Mah eye hurt. Mah ear hurt (this one makes me concerned because I don't want this cold to turn into an ear infection). Mah toe hurt."
Me: "Does your brain hurt?"
L: "Mah bain hurt."
Me: "Do your pants hurt?"
L: "Yeah, mah pants hurt."
Me: "Does your shoe hurt?"
L: "Yeah, shoo hurt."
You can see where this goes. I continued to ask him more and more inanimate objects that have nothing to do with him. Apparently everything hurts.

He was up at 6:30(OMG!!!) for Monday morning. He went to school and had a great day. He fought going down for a nap, but I slept with him and did okay until I woke him up with my coughing. Then he got into such a coughing fit that he vomited again. It was mostly mucus (you're so lucky you get to hear all this). End of nap.

Yesterday, up at 6:00am (OMFG!!!) for the day. But at least he was eating his cereal (he was fighting eating breakfast at home last week). He had a great day and was "so HAPPY!" according to his teachers. Nap was easy. He was being pleasant, but when I got out of the kitchen and took a good look at my child's pallid face with faint shadows growing under his eyes, I sent him in. He didn't argue or fight me. A definite sign he still feels awful. And by 6:30 in the evening, he grabbed his blankie and sang a made up song with "green ghost" as the only words (that's his blankie's name). He disappeared. I was nursing Colin so I figured he was just quietly reading when he didn't come back out. Nope. When I checked he was awake, but laying in his bed, facing the wall. When he heard me he looked me square in the eye and said "Mommy, I so sick. I so tired."

Breaks your heart :(

Today's been another day of miserable coughing and running nose. He and I slept at naptime again until, again, I woke him up with my own coughing fits. He's probably gonna have to have eye drops for pink eye (more on that in the next post) thanks to his well-child check-up today. Not looking forward to dosing my child with eye drops. I am already have horrid memories of my own parents having to do the same to me.

I'm going to drop off the infant in his daddy's arms and take the little man to the shower. I think we both need to get rid of these plague germs we have all over us (seriously . . . I'm sure you've seen a snotty toddler so you know how gross his face and arms and hands are right now).

Easter Elmo

Today...Liam's first egg hunt courtesy of ELMO!!!
Lovely day entertaining Nana and Granny. Found 5/12 eggs without help. Marshmallows, jelly beans. Refused nap. Sugar crash tantrum. Tickles, laughing, delightful day.

napping

Just fell asleep on couch. First time since he was a newborn.
Huge moment; Liam finally comfortable enough to sleep somewhere besides his crib.
Hate to wake him for dinner.

Achievements

Liam's productive weekend:
successfully postponed nap time until after 2pm,
finally cut 4th molar,
spilled gallon of humidifier water on carpet,
went for sunny ride with new wheels.
Said "hiya."