Under the Weather

Just when I started thinking I had this whole motherhood thing down pat, it happened. Our first illness. I should have known this was coming because we just got the bedtime routine and sleeping schedule fairly regular and things were finally settling down a bit. Sunday morning I took Landon to the doctor after he was up all night coughing, sneezing, and just moaning in misery. Luckily, our pediatrician's office is open 7 days a week. I was so afraid they would just tell me he had a cold and send me home with a "good luck!", but it turns out he has bronchitis and an ear infection. He got a breathing treatment in the office and they sent us home with a tiny little oxygen machine shaped like a little penguin who I have affectionately nicknamed Chilly Willy. Landon hates Chilly Willy and the steaming mask that comes with him. I have to give him 4 breathing treatments of albuterol a day. Bailey is there for moral support as I force my little guy to breathe in the medicated steam. It's working already, though. In the last 36 hours, I feel like I have earned another badge of motherhood. I have begged and pleaded with a 5 month old to open his little mouth for medicine or lie still so I can put drops in his nose. I have wrestled, pinned down, and bargained with this miniature version of my husband, and now know Landon is just as stubborn as his daddy. You're not going to get him to do anything he doesn't want to without a fight. I have had penicillin literally blown back in my face, my finger mashed as I tried to pry open those little gums, and had to hold down the little bucking bronco to get the mask on him. As bad as he feels, he still has a considerable amount of fight left in him. It took Mike and I both to pin him down yesterday to use the nasal aspirator (aka booger sucker) on him so he could breathe well enough to eat. I'm sure this is just the first of many, many sleepless sickly nights ahead of us. I should just thank my lucky stars it's not the stomach flu!

Trick or Treat!

Now that I'm back to work, I'm running a little behind on getting my pictures posted. Still, one week isn't too bad. For his first Halloween, I decided Landon was going to be a pumpkin. So, about 2 months ago, I ordered this costume out of a catalog. Hind sight is 20/20 and if I had it to do all over again, I probably would have ordered a zip up soft costume. Although Landon was precious as a pumpkin, there were some wardrobe challenges that I didn't forsee. For example, I would love to shake the hand of the person who can tie that stem onto an infant's head and get it to stay in place more than 5 seconds. Also, the green collar spent more time in Landon's mouth than around his neck. The elastic around the bottom of the costume was so tight, it kept riding up on his belly. As you can see in the first, "dress rehearsal" picture, his little legs are sticking out uncovered. For the actual Halloween night, we had to put him in jeans because it was a little cool outside. As you can see in the second picture, the stem is just balanced on Landon's head. I gave up trying to get it to stay on. The Cincinnati Bengals hat replaced our pumpkin stem so Landon wouldn't freeze. It's so funny how different Landon looks with a hat on, he doesn't even look the same child! His face looks so round! Landon did match his Daddy's costume this year. Mike dressed up as a very disappointed Bengals fan due to the 0-8 record as of last Friday! They are currently 1-8 now, though. Oh happy day! My boys lasted outside for about an hour before Landon actually began to turn into a pumpkin due to a fast approaching bed time. Mike handled the bedtime routine while I managed the 200+ trick-or-treaters! I just had to include this completely unrelated picture of Landon and Bailey. A little while ago, Landon realized that he has a fuzzy puppy running around and he LOVES Bailey. Bailey is my secret weapon to make Landon stop crying. Every time Bailey comes around, Landon gets this huge smile on his face. He constantly watches Bailey. The other morning, I was sitting in the recliner holding Landon when Bailey walked over and smelled Landon's socks. Landon belted out the loudest and longest belly laugh I have heard so far. I wish I had the camera to record it. It was precious. There's just something special about the love between a boy and his dog!