Quick Update

All three of us have been battling a cold for the past week and a half, so we've been laying low. My mom came to visit this past weekend and she and Marino had a great time together. They spent lots of time in Marino's "Train Room", which is what he now calls his bedroom (that's where his train table is). My mom downloaded a Thomas app on her iPad and Marino was IN LOVE with it! They must have listened to the story (Misty Island Rescue) and the song that came with it about 50 times over the weekend.

Over the weekend, Marino started intermittently running a fever, so I guessed (correctly) that he had an ear infection due to ongoing cold. The doctor put him on antibiotics and seems to be getting better (although he now has a nasty diaper rash, of course).

Here's a cute picture of Gramma and Marino, snuggling.

I took this picture Tuesday after work of my two boys, looking like twins!

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. Marino's speech evolves so much from week to week. Lately, he has been saying "my back"- asking me to pat his back at bed time. This week he busted out with "Mommy, want to give me your hand on my back?"

4. For the past couple weeks, Marino had been complaining about "my bugs in my ears", which we interpreted as an extended swimmer's ear infection. Evan took him back to the pediatrician to check and it turns out "the bugs" are actually his two year molars. She said they can cause pain in the ear (as well as to the external jaw). This means the boy will FINALLY be done cutting teeth (and hopefully drooling!!)

3. Wednesday night Marino started to say his prayers without me. He said, "Now I lay me..." and when I didn't chime in, he looked at me and said "DO IT, BABE! DO IT!" (as in "say it with me"). Evan calls me "babe" 90% of the time, but it was hysterical to hear Marino say it.

2. Evan converted Marino's crib to a toddler bed this week. We showed it to him and asked him what he thought in the afternoon and his only thoughts were "I don't want to go sleep!" :) It hasn't seemed to effect his sleep at all. Such a big boy now!

1. Last weekend, out of no where, Marino gave me a "big hug" (and announced it as such) and said "Mommy, I love a you".

Our Weekend and Sick Again:(

Our first snow fall of the season came this weekend. Marino did go outside and ate some snow but I didn't get any pictures. He could only go out for a few minutes, since his asthma seems to act up in even moderately cold weather. He did tell me the snow was "pretty" and he learned the word "snow."

Sunday we had a busy day. First we went to visit my friend Sarah and her daughter Claire. Claire and Marino hadn't seen each other in a while so it took her a little while to warm up to us. Soon they were old chums again!

After lunch and a nap, Marino and I braved the mall to get him a haircut. Randomly, Evan's cousin Joyce and her grandson Landon were checking in at Cartoon Cuts ahead of us! That may not seem that strange, but we live in a county with 1 million residents, so the fact that we were both in the exact same place at the same time is pretty unusual! Marino and Landon play well together, so it was great having a playdate since we had an hour wait!

Here's Landon and Marino waiting to get haircuts

Marino tackling Landon (do boys just have wrestling engraved in their DNA?)
Marino after his hair cut. She cut a LOT off but I know his curls will be back within 2 weeks, so I won't waste any energy worrying about it.
We also did some quick shopping. Marino was loving the mall (I don't think we've been in at least 6 months). Of course, he was deathly ill within 24 hours, as is the case everytime we go to a public place, but I'll get into that more below.

After another quick nap, we headed to PF Chang's (yay for gluten-free menus!) for Aunt Rianne's 19th birthday dinner. Marino was a complete monster! I assummed it was b/c he was tired from our day, but I now know he had an ear infection. My apologies to PF Chang's patrons on Sunday night!!

Cousin Krissy, Aunt Rianne and Aunt Chelle

Aunt Ronnie and Grammy Deb

Marino and Daddy

On Monday, I got a call from daycare that Marino had a fever. I was certain he had an ear infection, since he was on day 10 of a runny nose and he had been a monster the night before. We went to the doctor and confirmed the ear infection. But he also had laryngitis and a cough. She was worried about croup, which hasn't appeared yet. I have him back on the nebulizer every 4 hours (albuterol and pulmiocort) and she proactively prescribed an oral steroid in case his breathing gets worse. He's also on antibiotics for the ear infection (which will inevitably lead to a bleeding diaper rash).

Monday night was rough. I gave him a bath to help bring his fever down and he started shaking uncontrollably. All night he kept waking up and moaning or screaming. He was obviously very sick. Tuesday, he seemed somewhat better but he was obviously still feverish and not eating. Today, Aunt Chelle was nice enough to take care of him for us so Evan and I could go to work. He was much more playful and cheerful today and even ate! The cough (wet and productive) and laryngitis are still there but no fever. I'm planning on taking him back to daycare tomorrow.

It's definately hard for me to figure out what's best for him. I literally feel like every time we go to a public place, he's come down with a virus within 24 hours. Part of me says he needs to build immunity and part of me says maybe it would be better to build immunity in a few years, when he could potentially have outgrown his asthma (I can dream, can't I?). We were able to avoid any major respiratory issues with this virus, so that's a good sign that his lungs are getting stronger.