we survived H1N1

There should be a T-shirt for this!

With all the hype... we caught it! Well, it was unconfirmed, but the doctor basically said if we've got the flu now, and the symptoms we reported, it's safe to assume we've got it. One good thing - no need to even enter the vaccination debate!

Saturday, Septeber 26th Sofia woke up with a fever. We kept her home from dance class, and she basically slept and hung out on the couch all day. Her fever persisted, and Tuesday I took her to the doctor, who tested her for strep. The strep culture came back negative, but her fever stayed. She had a cough, but that was about it, besides complaints of achyness, stomach pain, chills.

Thusday I came down with it. I felt funny all day, and at night I had chills and aches. It was a pretty miserable night, honestly! Friday I felt better, and Sofia was perky, so I thought we were in the clear. That night, though, same thing for me - chills and fever and aches again, along with a really nasty and painful cough. (Kent is still doing fine.)

Saturday I felt horrible! Sofia was better though, so we sent her to dance class.
(Kent is still doing fine.)

Sofia must have picked something up there, because at 2:30am Sunday she woke up and threw up! She did that about 3 more times before falling asleep around 4:30am. Then she had diarrhea all day long. By afternoon she was looking horribly gaunt and was weak, not wanting to walk or stand. I called the Children's Hospital nurseline, which thank goodness is amazing for giving parents advice on whether their child needs to see a doctor! The nurse (Kim) kept me on the phone for about 1/2 hour, asking all sorts of questions, trying to assess Sofia. She finally determined that Sofia was OK at home, but if anything changed I should call again. Kim called me back an hour later, saying that after further thought, she just didn't like the way Sofia sounded, and we should take her in. So, we gathered up the family, and headed to Children's Hospital Urgent Care Clinic. It was busy, and everyone in the waiting room, kids and parents alike, were wearing masks! We definitely weren't alone in our suffering! Of course, by the time the doctor was able to see us, Sofia had started perking up, and was even asking to eat! She was given zofran, and anti-nausea medicine, so she could keep down some fluids that night, and sent home.
(Kent is still doing fine.)

She was much better Monday. I was still not feeling well, so luckily Kent was able to let me sleep in, while he took the kids for a few hours.
(Kent is still doing fine.)

By Tuesday I was feeling a bit better, and Sofia seemed to be over this, but I kept her home one more day, just to give her immune system some time to recover!
(Kent is still doing fine.)

Wednesday, October 8th, she finally returned to school! But, Emerson had a fever. And, after picking Sofia up, once we got home she complained of her stomach hurting again! She had diarrhea! We ended up sitting - all three of us - in the bathroom, Sofia on the pot and leaning on the cupboard falling asleep, Emerson nursing, me sitting on a stool. (Can it get any worse?!) I was concered, so called the doctor. She said to keep Sofia on the BRAT diet and push fluids. For Emerson, keep him on tylenol and bring him in if he develops a cough or any difficulty breathing.
(Kent is still doing fine.)

Today, Thursday, I'm finally feeling better, though still low on energy. Emerson still has a fever. The doctor called me first thing to tell me she was calling in a prescription for tamiflu for Emerson. Sofia is doing fine, and no diarrhea!
(Kent is still doing fine.(knock on wood!))

Tonight Emerson slipped and fell and bit his tongue - really badly! He bled for a long time, and Kent and I couldn't figure out what was bleeding until later, when he stuck out his tongue! We were on the phone to Children's again! It was humorous hearing Kent and I trying to get Emerson to stick out his tongue, while we were trying to figure out how long, deep, etc. the cut was! Emerson thought it was fun. Luckily, it's nothing to get too concerned about, and will heal on its own.
(Kent is still doing fine.)

Please let next week be normal again! And please let this one pass Kent by!!

lost time!

OK, so I've not posted in a LONG time! How do I make up for all the valuable tidbits that happened over the past month?

Sofia, well, Sofia is Sofia. She's sanguine, she's a princess, she's a sweetheart, she's defiant, she's strong-willed, she's smart, she's intuitive, she's an absolutey amazing 4/7 year old. When Nana was in town at the beginning of July, Nana asked her why she was 7. Sofia explained that 7 year old's know how to be polite! I think she summed it up for us right there! She knows that it is hard to be 4, and that there are a lot of things she is trying to figure out. But in her world, 7 year olds have already figured that out. So, she decided that if she is 7, then she won't have to figure all this stuff out!

The best thing I've discovered recently is that Sofia really responds to charts or writing. We made a "Mommy/Daddy decisions vs. Sofia decisions" chart, where we listed some decisions, such as bed time, which mommy or daddy make, and then listed all the decisions under bed time that Sofia can make, such as which pjs to wear, which bedtime snack to have, which stories to read, etc. We made a "Consequences" chart, where Sofia drew pictures of her doing something we don't like, and then talked about the consequence of that action. We made a "happy" chart, listing things that make us happy. Sofia loves to draw the pictures, and I can write out the words.

Sofia just finished a 1-week summer "Camp of the Creative Arts", where she had 1 hour of dance and 1 hour of art each day. Her art has really expanded this summer, her drawings becoming more detailed, and writing looking like real letters! She can write all the letters of her name, too! It's so interesting to see these developments.

Emerson. Well, Emerson turned 1! Yea!! We made it through the first year! I think the first year is the hardest. Some people love babies. I of course love MY babies, but I am fascinated by the developments as they turn 1 and beyond. Emerson is still our little social guy. He waves and says "hi" (which sounds more like "haaaa") to everyone he sees! We just walk out the front door, and he looks for someone to wave to. If no one is there, he sometimes waves just to wave! He is pretty smiley, and easy to bump out of a tantrum (so far!). He loves the dog and the cat. He is walking now, and proud of it! He is super-active, and into everything. Sometimes I feel I get nothing done because I'm constantly moving him away from something! With all his activity, though, it's amazing how much he loves to just sit in my lap and read books! His attention span on single pages isn't long, so we're more or less paging through books, but he will ask for one after another after another! Emerson is generally a pretty easy-going guy, which brings great balance to our household, as I think Kent and I are pretty opposite characters, and now Sofia has her opposite as well.

After a very busy June and July, with rounds 1 and 2 of visitors, August looks to be a bit calmer. (Of course as soon as I put it out there, our schedule will fill up I'm sure!) Uncle Robin and his girlfriend Kayle are here now, but they have their own agenda, so I don't think we'll see too much of them. Sofia and Emerson have really taken to Robin, though, and he has even promised to watch the kids some evening so Kent and I can get to a movie! What a treat! (Robin doesn't even realize what a treat that is for us!! Thank you Robin!!)