Man, what a week. Griff was really, really sick for the first time, with a fever that registered at either 104.2 or 103.5 depending on which device we used, his first ear infection, a runny nose, and a wheezy cough that required a nebulizer treatment at the doc and some at-home asthma spray. Despite our best efforts (which at his age can only amount to Advil for fever and pain, a warm steamy vaporizer in his room, and raising one end of his crib mattress to help him breathe), poor Griff didn’t sleep through the night for a week. He was utterly exhausted after waking 3 or more times a night, and so were we.

We also had our first experience with Griff refusing to eat and drink for an extended period (which resulted in one of our most stressful days since he was a newborn and I was frantically trying to figure out the nursing thing) and our first time being unable to get him to take medicine (he’s always sucked down his liquid Ibuprofen like a champ). We were totally unprepared for the coaxing, begging, pleading, multiple failed attempts to disguise the antibiotic in various yummy foods, and finally, the all-out screaming wrestling matches that left us feeling like the worst parents on the planet. Note: even if you can get medicine into a toddler’s mouth, it doesn’t mean they’ll swallow it. Ever.

We now know that liquid Amoxicillin is the most vile substance known to humanity, with a stench that no amount of delicious decoy food can hide, and that if you call the doctor and explain that your kid is not having it, they’ll prescribe something else that 1.) tastes pretty decent all by itself 2.) only needs to be taken once a day instead of twice and 3.) has a dosage volume roughly half that of Amoxicillin, which means it’s really easy to stir into a small amount of chocolate pudding that the unsuspecting victim patient can reasonably be expected to consume, given his reduced appetite. Which of course begs the question of why they didn’t prescribe this alternate medication in the first place.

Things have improved quite a bit, although Griff’s appetite is still not back to normal and he napped for almost 4 hours today. Here he is with his beloved school bus (a $4 toy we bought on a whim to keep him occupied at lunch one weekend, which he has since become utterly obsessed with. The house rings with cries of “Mah BUS! Mah BUS!” when he misplaces it.)

I haven’t been feeling any knitting projects lately, so I’ve turned back to sewing Big Butt Baby Pants as pajama bottoms. The pattern only goes up to 2T, and I’ve needed to start adding cuffs to make them long enough. As you can see, I’ve decided to give up and embrace the Elmo thing. La-la-la-LA! La-la-la-LA! Elmo pants!