It's the simple things in life

Since moving to WA, our family has been without a very basic and essential household item--a table we can all sit and eat at. We never felt we had room for one given the design of our house. Drew and I got in the habit of eating dinner on the couch. Now that Silas is eating "real" food, however, we feel it's important to eat together as a family as much as impossible, and the small counter we were crowding around just wasn't cutting it. So, we finally decided to do a bit of rearranging and we bought ourselves a great wooden table. We love it!
Here's Master Silas sitting at the head of the table:
We also got a new hook-on high chair for Silas, so as you can see, he is seated right at the table with us now. For several months, he's had the unfortunate habit of kicking and shaking his other high chair. This included shaking the high chair until it rocked and when we added the table to the mix, kicking it away from himself. So the change in chairs was necessary both for his safety and our sanity.
Another simple thing in life that we are not taking for granted today: Our boy is eating well again! It is SUCH a relief! Today, he had rice and an entire avocado for lunch. And as you can see, he's able to eat peas again, which makes him very happy.
He gets very playful and amusing at mealtimes:
He loves this sorting drum but it wasn't a great idea to give it to him at the table, as he later threw it on the floor, and narrowly missed hitting our wi-fi modem. Oops!

I've made coasters (see pictures of them here) and will hopefully make place mats to accent our lovely table soon!

It looks like snow, BUT...

...it's HAIL. No kidding! We had the craziest hail storm yesterday. Never in all of our years have we seen a hail storm that poured down for 20+ minutes and coated the ground like snow.
Seriously, we couldn't get over it, so we both took lots of pictures.

Here's our welcome mat, completely covered with hail:
And here's the scene from our front porch, just 3 hours after the storm. Quite a contrast.

Well, it's been a whole week since Silas became ill. We called the after-hours nurse yesterday afternoon after another hurling episode. She basically said that we had to wait it out and let it run it's course, but there was nothing to worry about as long as he wasn't dehydrated and was eating/drinking a bit. Finally, last evening, Silas seemed really really hungry! Woo-hoo! Today, I am happy to report, was vomit-free. His appetite still comes and goes, but he is starting to eat better, though we are still restricting his diet to bland foods. Anyways, let's hope he's finally over this yuckiness!

Regret, served fresh, with a side of vomit

In Thursday's post, I announced that Silas was back to normal, except for his appetite. This may have been premature. We've had some regrettable setbacks since then. Drew and I are both feeling a bit guilty about decisions we made for Silas that seem to have been detrimental. Confession time:
On Thursday, after another day of Silas barely eating, I gave him cooked peas, which are his favorite. Finally, he ate willingly! I only gave him a small portion, but he finished every single one and I was so happy to see him finally really eat. He hadn't vomited in 2 days, so I thought we were safe. At 1 am that night, he vomited peas. Lesson learned--stay away from green foods when baby is still recovering from the flu.

Friday went alright (not including the fact that he possibly maybe ate a teeny bit of red paint on our broom and flipped backwards from our window seat onto the floor) and Saturday was shaping up to be a good day for Silas as well. Drew was feeling better too and the two of them were having a good time. Just after Silas got up from his nap, Drew was bouncing Silas up and down and Silas was laughing and laughing--until he puked. He cried steadily for 20 minutes after that and has puked twice since then, including at 4 am this morning. Lesson learned--stay away from bouncing activities when baby is still recovering from the flu.

I should also throw in the fact that severe diarrhea is just part of the fun times we've been having, and the doctor says that will last a few weeks. Lovely.

Our tactic today is to feed Silas very tiny portions--one O at a time, one spoonful of rice cereal at a time, smaller amounts of breast milk per feeding. And of course, no bouncing. We'll see how it goes.

Like Son, Like Father

When we went to the doctor on Tuesday, she told us that gastroenteritis is common and that we typically get this sickness a bunch of times in our life. As our body builds up an immunity to it, each time we get it, it is a milder case. So, Silas was probably as sick as he'll ever be with this particular bug. When we left the doctor, Drew remarked that he had no memory of ever being so sick, while I could recall having very similar experiences a number of times as a child.

So, where does that leave us today?

If you guessed that Drew is now sick, you win a gold star!

Yep, this is shaping up to be one of those weeks. Drew has been in bed all morning and I am home from work yet again. But, there's nothing to be done, of course, except hope that if I do contract this ugh bug, it's effects will be much less extreme.

As for Silas, well, he's back to his old self today, except that his appetite is still not that good. He'll have a few bites of banana, for example, instead of eating the entire banana. I suppose he just needs more time. My fear is that the experience he just went through will trigger a pickier reaction to food, but I suppose there's no real logic in that fear. Anyways, he is eating a bit, as well as breast feeding, so there's no reason to sound the alarm.

Let's just hope both my boys are totally back to "normal" soon!

13 Months Old -- Ugh Bug Retreats!

Silas is 13 months old today! You wouldn't know it from these pictures, just taken this afternoon, but he really was very sick the last few days. We had another rough night last night, and I know I promised a vomit-free post today, but this ain't it. He tossed his cookies so much more last night that I was starting to really worry, especially because he hadn't eaten any cookies or anything else to actually toss. For a while, he couldn't even keep water down. But thankfully, he seems to be over it, for the most part, today. He's even eaten a bit--saltines, applesauce, Os and bananas, mostly. Though he's not back to 100%, he's on his way.

Ugh Bug Update

Unfortunately, we didn't escape a trip to the pediatrician. I wanted to avoid taking him in because it's no fun to transport a child who might hurl at any moment. However, when he started to puke up bright yellow bile, we decided to call the doctor and just let her have her say. She confirmed that he has gastroenteritis and that we should just try to keep him hydrated, which we have been doing.

Also, to give my opinion on Pedialyte: Ah, it's not that great. Breast milk is WAY better at this point as it keeps him hydrated and provides antibodies to help him fight the virus. Also, breast milk doesn't generally have the immediate upchuck affect that Pedialyte has. Apparently, some babies respond better to it than Silas (and it's obviously the best solution for formula fed babes).

Soon after getting home from the doctor, Silas fell asleep (as did I). He's been napping for several hours--his second long nap of the day. He didn't even nap this much in February when he had that nasty cold and ear infection. So at least he's getting the rest he so badly needs. Let's hope he doesn't wake up vomiting again, yes?

On a different note, I've been wanting to get a video post together of all the signs Silas knows. I've got them filmed, but haven't done the editing yet, and that's on the back-burner for now. Maybe tomorrow, you'll be treated to a post that doesn't include the word "vomit" or its synonyms. We can hope!

Ugh Bug

Silas appears to have a stomach bug--the kind with forceful expulsion from both ends. We sort of lost count of how many times he's puked but it's around 10, beginning at 5 pm yesterday. You know it's bad when you hear your son crying from bed and he's laying there drenched in his own vomit. Poor, poor baby. But he is a trooper. When he's not heaving, he's in fairly good spirits most of the time, and we have to keep him from overdoing it with his usual high energy activities. At the same time, he's visibly tired. Obviously, none of us got a lot of sleep, and I'm home from work today to help care for him.

We've been able to keep breastmilk and water down for several hours at a stretch (sometimes), but Pedialyte always brings on an upchuck. He won't even touch his beloved Os and banana. Still, I think he's better today then he was last night, so hopefully, he'll be better soon. We are worried, of course, but are hoping to avoid a trip to the doctor as long as we can keep him hydrated. Will keep you updated...

Leap Day Update

A splendid Leap Day to all of you!

Just wanted to let you know that we had a GREAT night last night. Everyone slept well for the first time in quite a while. Everyone, that is, except for the poor unfortunate country mouse that found its way inside our house only to play out Wild Kingdom-Living Room Edition with our very able cat Sobin. The mouse is currently camped out below the stairs, and Sobin has been taking him out and playing with him every now and then. Poor mouse. Just a few minutes ago, Sobin tried to give the mouse (still alive) to Silas. Supposedly, in times of plenty, cats will help each other out by hunting for the weakest member of the group. Judging by the number of dead things our cat has brought us over the years, we can determine that he thinks we're not quite up-to-par, hunting-wise. That's what he gets for taking up residence with vegetarians.

Anyways, we all seem to be on the mend, FINALLY!

Ear Infection, Thou Art Our Enemy!

A message from Silas:
Ear Infection, I challenge you to a dual on the front lawn at dawn. You don't stand a chance against me as I am armed with an array of western medicine plus the love of my mama and daddy and the occasional lukewarm affections of my cat. Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Okay, all laughing aside, we just got back from the doctor's office and it's official. Silas has his first ear infection (both ears). The Doc says it has just begun within the last 24 hours. This explains why he was tossing and turning, complaining and unable to sleep for over 2 hours last night, and why he spent the entire morning crying. After several phone calls from Drew In which I could here Si screaming in the background (for those of you new to Planet Silas, Drew is a stay-at-home dad and I am a work-way-too-far-away-from-home mom), Drew and Patrick took Silas to the doctor and I rushed to meet them there. Good thing too as we got our diagnosis and can treat him for it. He's been given something for the pain (he fell asleep as soon as it kicked in) and Drew is picking up antibiotics to give Silas a big advantage in that dual with our enemy, the Ear Infection. It's been a rough few days for him, but we're confident he shall prevail!

Sleep vs. Snot--who will be the victor?

Falling asleep is so hard when you're a little bear with a stuffy nose and cough. After many tears, breastfeeding followed by a mucus-driven cough leading to a forceful expulsion of milk all over mommy, baby and bedding, and much tossing and turning, I finally figured out how to get him into a position he seemed to like--with the help of his Llama. Ok. Long sigh...lights out and walk slowly from the bed...and......two minutes later, I went in to check on him and found that he had thrust himself forward. At least he was still sleeping:
I moved him back and, several hours later, he was snoozing away comfortably (it didn't last):
It was a rough night, with ups and downs and everything in between and an even rougher morning. I stayed home from work, as I am sick now too. Silas was up a bit past 5 as though everything was perfectly fine in his world, but he crashed big time around 9 am. Repeat the bedtime routine I outlined above, substitute "expulsion of milk" with "puking of stewed carrots" and again substitute "bedding" for "daddy" and you have our morning. He crashed for about an hour, was up again before 11 and has remained awake till about 5 minutes ago (5:15). This time, his daddy walked him around in the ergo baby carrier until he drifted off. It's an improvement over last night. We'll see how things proceed from here.

Polaroids by Dad

Dad shot these Polaroids in Gerry and Erika's orchard earlier this week before Silas got sick. We've had some very spring-like days. In fact, today it was warm enough to bring Silas outside for a bit, despite the fact that he is still unwell. Although we didn't stay out for long, Silas seemed very grateful to spend some time outside after being cooped up inside for days. We enjoyed the sun, the green grass, and the crocuses, which are in bloom in abundance. The time spent outside, plus a long-overdue bath were the highlights of an otherwise somewhat miserable day for Silas, who felt yucky, had only 1 half-hour long nap, and fell twice, once scraping his neck, and once bumping his forehead. Another development I must mention: after his bath, I brushed his hair. He grabbed the brush from me and I expected him to shove it in his mouth (standard behavior). Instead, he brought it up to his head and started brushing his hair himself! Those synapses are really connecting!

Smile, the flu loves you!

It's been a rough week. Dad is on day 7 and Silas is on day 3 of a respiratory flu bug, or what we unaffectionately call, the plague. I am currently plague-free, but missed some work (and sleep) in order to take care of my boys. Let's hope they get better soon, and I avoid it all together!

But our week is nothing compared to the one our friends Jessi, Dave and Alden have had. They've had a trying time with Doctors and tests for Alden, who was born prematurely. He may or may not need surgery in the coming weeks, so please hope for the best for them (no surgery, healthy baby, no surgery, healthy baby, say it with me!). If you are able to do so, please consider sponsoring Alden's Team in the March of Dimes March for Babies. I'll put a link on the sidebar as well.