Crazy Croup

We have been living in a sick house this month. Colin came down with croup the first weekend of October. He had a fever followed by a barking cough. I took him to the doctor and they gave him steroids. The barking cough went away pretty quickly but the RN told me once that left he'd probably have cold symptoms for up to three weeks after. I kind of brushed that three week comment off but she wasn't kidding! That kid has been coughing ever since! All month! 

About 5 days after Colin got sick Peyton came down with a fever but was acting normal other wise. Ryan's mom was here visiting that weekend so we still went out and did stuff and she kept up with everything. She didn't have a cough but on Monday her voice sounded hoarse. I assumed it was something other than croup since she didn't have a cough. She went to bed Monday night and as I was walking upstairs to put Brody in bed I heard her crying. She was sweating but didn't have a fever. She was, however, bark coughing. Once we got her to stop crying we realized that not only did she have the barky cough, she was wheezing. It was about 10:30 at night but we decided we needed to get her into the ER due to the wheezing.

That was quite the experience. They brought us back to the triage area fairly quickly. A respiratory therapist was trying to give Peyton a breathing treatment. She was pretty rude. Peyton HATED it. She was screaming, crying, and pulling the mask off her face. The RT told me I had to talk to her because she really needed this medicine. How do you reason with a 3 year old?! A feisty one at that! I knew Peyton was feisty and strong-willed but she is a FIGHTER! The RT stopped treatment to do something else and they moved us back into an ER room. They resumed doing the breathing treatment. I had to hold Peyton's arms down and a nurse was holding her legs because she was kicking me. We'd probably been in there about 10 minutes and the nurse left. The doctor came in shortly after and Peyton kicked him! She was still crying, screaming, and fighting. The doctor asked the RT what she was giving her and it turned out she was giving her Albuterol which is for asthma- which would not help Peyton. He told her to stop giving her the breathing treatment and he'd go get the steroid which would actually help her. So basically we went through all that fighting for nothing.

Once she got the steroid we had to stay for at least an hour so they could monitor her and make sure she was responding to the medicine. Thankfully she was and they let us leave at around 1;45 a.m. It was a long night! Peyton was wound up. As soon as we got home she ran upstairs yelling that she needed to find everyone. I had to explain to her that it was the middle of the night and she needed to be quiet and go to sleep.

Once I knew Peyton was going to be fine my worries switched to Brody. I was scared to death that he'd catch croup and get the wheezing like Peyton. I was really concerned with the fact that he's so young. Thankfully, and after lots of prayers, Brody has been fine! He hasn't caught anything! Which is amazing considering how impossible it is to keep the other coughing, snotty kids away from him!

Ryan and I each started feeling sick about 5 days after Peyton. Ryan had it worse than me and stayed home 4 days last week. The one day he did go into work he ended up coming home early. I wasn't happy that he didn't feel good but it was nice to have him home all the time!

So that's been our October. Hopefully everyone is on the mend and we'll be able to enjoy the rest of our fall!

TWO months!!

Brody turned 2 months on October 14th. 

My goodness, time is flying! 

He's such a sweetie! 

He still sleeps a lot of the time. He's averaging 6-7 and up to 9-10 hours a night! It's glorious! We usually put him in bed between 10 and 11. It fluctuates though. 

He has had some tummy issues in the past but those seem to be getting better. He'd just be fussy and move around a lot for awhile after eating. It still happens on occasion but doesn't seem to be as frequent. We have discovered that when this happens you can usually get him to stop crying by standing up and holding him. He likes to face out but is usually happy to cuddle on your shoulder as well. 

He smiles like a champ! It's not every time you talk to him but when he does he gets really excited and kicks his legs! He usually starts talking too. He makes the cutest little baby coos!

He loves baby bath time. He just kicks and kicks like crazy. He especially likes getting the water poured on his head. 

He loves to be held! For the longest time whenever he was awake he had to be held or else he'd cry until you picked him up. He's starting to tolerate longer waking periods without being held. It doesn't usually last too long though. That's okay, we're certainly happy to oblige! 

In the past couple weeks anytime we'd lay him on his stomach for tummy time he'd immediately find his thumb and go to sleep. One night he was pretty fidgety and I decided to try to lay him on his belly and he was asleep within 2 minutes. After about 20 I decided to pick him back up so I could cuddle him and he became fidgety again so I laid him back on the floor. 

{He only sleeps on his stomach during naps when I'm in the same area as him. For bedtime he's strictly on his back.}

There have been a few times where the tummy trick hasn't calmed him down but for the most part he seems to enjoy it. 

Brody had his 2 month check up last week. Here are his stats:

Height: 25 inches (99%)

Weight: 14 lbs, 14 ounces (91%)

To compare:

Colin at 2 months: 23 inches, 12 pounds

Peyton at 2 months: 23 inches, 13 lbs 9 ounces

He's a big, big boy!!

 

Still our favorite onesie! I think he's about outgrown it. I'm going to frame it and hang it in his room!

She loves to hold him

Snoozing on grandpa during one of Colin's soccer games

Best buddies! Colin is super excited to have a baby brother!

I'm always trying to capture a smile!

This is what happens when I put him down while he's awake.
"No Mommy, you can't use the restroom!"

We all love our baby Brody!

Learning to Read

I remember being in Kindergarten or 1st grade and learning to read. I was practicing with my dad, "reading" Down by the Bay. It was evident that I was doing it more by memorization than by actually reading the words because he pointed to a word, asked me what it was, and I had no clue!

I'm now experiencing this blessed event as a parent.

And it makes me want to pull my hair out! 

This totally does not bring out the best in me- in fact, it proves just how much I need to work on my patience!

One night shortly after school started Colin choose the lofty goal of reading a Magic Tree House book. In the past we've just read those books to him but that night he decided he wanted to read it himself. I kid you not, it took 30 minutes to read a page and a half. He'd look at a word then say something that didn't even have the right letters in it. If I had a quarter for every time I had to tell him to sound it out we'd be on a plane to Hawaii right now! 

After that fun-filled night I decided it'd be beneficial to our relationship if we practiced with easier books so I got Hop on Pop. He did so great and I didn't even want to pull my hair out! It's amazing the difference a month has made. He's able to recognize a lot of words and is doing really well. It's still a work in progress but we're so proud of the great job he's doing!

P.S. He's gotten 100% on all his spelling pre-tests this year so he always gets the harder list for spelling test day!

The Things She Says {Peyton Edition}

(Riding in Daddy's big truck)

This girl. She is hilarious! 

She is definitely our spunkiest child.

And probably the most hard headed. 

She's at an age that can be maddening but is one of my favorites all at the same time. 

She is constantly cracking me up all day long. 

And since she's the only vocal child with me during the day while Colin's at school I get a big dose of funny Peyton moments all to myself!

Here is the running list of things I've remembered to write down:

She told my mom and Rachel that they had "fat hair"- must have been a humid day.

*

The night we closed on our house we brought the kids over to walk through it again. As soon as she walked inside she said "There's no one here! It's our new house! We need to get bananas and oranges!"

*

We've been practicing writing some of her letters. Her favorite it t. She always draws them lowercase but sometimes they're different sizes. When she draws a big one she calls it a "mommy t" and when she draws a small one she calls it a "baby t."

(She can also write: o, H, p and likes to practice s).

*

We were in the car last week and I was on the phone with my mom. All of the sudden Peyton said "Look what the Brody did. He talked!" I didn't hear him making any noise but he must have said something!

*

Peyton and the Little Mermaid song. She is obsessed! She sings the ahahah part all the time- on repeat. It's pretty funny. When Josh and Cooper were here a few weeks ago she went upstairs during his nap and serenaded him...yeah, it woke him up! And bless her sweet heart, she sang it for at least ten minutes!

She also knows the words to "The Girl Who Has Everything." She'll randomly say "I don't know where, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now" and then bust into song. In fact, when Brody and I were still in the hospital she said the prayer before Rachel took Peyton and Colin back home and after she said all her normal prayer things she started saying the words to the song before she said 'amen.' It was hilarious!!

*

She loves to look at Brody and always asks "Mom, can I see Brody's eyes?"

*

I was reading a blog today and there was a picture with a mom and her son on it. Peyton came over to the computer and said "Who is that mom with toes?"...I kinda thought all moms had toes?!

*

Colin's sick with croup so I took him to the doctor this morning. I took Peyton and Brody over to my mom's so they didn't have to be exposed to germs in the doctor's office. After we came back Peyton was giving everyone check ups. She was listening to Colin's heart and my mom asked her if his heart was beating like a drum. Peyton quickly replied "No, doctors don't have drums. Doctors have lollipops!"

*

I must get mad at her too much because if she knows I'm getting frustrated she'll quickly say "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm so sorry!" 

I'm trying to pay attention to the things I get frustrated about and only get mad if it's a really big deal. I don't want her to feel like she has to apologize for everything!

*

Peyton wanted milk this morning before Ryan left for work but I was feeding Brody. She asked Ryan if he'd get it for her but she had just refused to give him a kiss goodbye. He told her no since she was mean to him. A couple minutes later Peyton said "Daddy, will you come give me a kiss? And then get me some milk?"

Oh, this girl!

We sure do love our spunky Peyton!