the "situation" of the new year. . .

Cole has croup.
And a stomach virus.
And his two top teeth coming in. . .all this week.
Super.

Let me tell you a little about this week has gone for us. . .

It started on New Year's Day with some "situations" as Bill and I like to call them, in Cole's diaper. I'll save you the specifics but let's just say we switched to a bland diet of banana slices and rice cereal. . .quickly. And we've been on that diet since. We are still having repeated "situations" about 5 - 7 times a day.

But he's been playing and cruising and generally pretty happy. We monitored his fluid intake to watch for dehydration (sounds so clinical) and he seemed to have no fever. . .so we just kept an eye on it.

Then, in the middle of the night. . .I hear this barking that sounds like I'm in the seal tank at Sea World! I realize it's Cole and the poor thing is standing in his crib literally barking at me through tears.

You might think I was unprepared. . .but. . .I remembered this scene from Terms of Endearment where the baby has this terrible cough so they sit in the steamy bathroom, and that's what I did. Cole went back to sleep. . . periodically. Bill was alarmed that I was applying parenting lessons from what he considers the worst movie ever made. . . even if it does star Jack Nicholson.

The next day the cough was pretty bad. . .teamed up with the "situations" that are still going strong so we had a visit with Dr. M. And our diagnosis. . . croup. Croup with a side of tummy virus. Beautiful.

You parents out there already know this. . .that's there really isn't anything you do for this croup. You can sit in a steamy bathroom (which is very pleasant and not disturbing at all at 3:00 a.m.) or you can bundle the little man up and take him outside to breathe some cold air. . . and if neither of those things work. . . you should go to the ER. Exactly what you should tell two new parents that are hypochondriacs anyway (okay, well one hypochondriac parent and one that settles the other down). . .and of course, it'll get worse before it gets better and the "situations" and that horrendous diaper rash will stick around for a bit longer, too.

Anyway, last night was alright - Cole was up a handful of times and is a sad camper today. He's been going from playing happily one minute and then coughing and crying the next. Not bad I suppose for going 11 months without a diaper rash (yep, honestly!) and without getting anything more than a runny nose. Suppose it was bound to end.

On a positive note. . .Cole clocked in yesterday at 29 inches and 20.5 pounds. And exactly one month to go until the little man is one! Can you believe it?



Here he is last week before the storm, riding his car he got for Christmas from Memere and Pepere. . .