Following our intuition

If you remember in my earlier posts, Ally's sleeping was going  very well  in January and  February not so much.  Well, that is when she was diagnosed with an ear infection and 2 weeks later ear infection (still) along with Strep.  It has only been 2 weeks since Ally has been off her antibiotics.  However, recently JC and I still felt that something just wasn't right.  She was not sleeping well, occasionally pulling at her ear, a slight (very slight) decrease in eating.  But all in all,  she was our happy Allyson.   I checked for fever, none, but did feel that she felt hotter than normal.  We decided that we should take a trip to the pediatricians office (even though she had no "real" symptoms) because this weekend we are flying to Texas. (I sure didn't want to deal with a sick baby on vacation and perhaps infect her cousins with whatever she did or didn't have.)  We just needed to be sure and  thank goodness we decided to take her to the peds office!

The ears have still not healed.  Double ear infections.  We are on another round of antibiotics.  This time, she is not as easy to administer the medicine to.  What I find even worse, is the affects of the antibiotic, yuk!   If the ears still do not  heal, we will try one more antibiotic before we discuss "the tubes".  Let's hope this works and lots of Tylenol and ibuprofen before the plane ride!

Ally: 10 months

I can't believe how quickly Ally's first 10 months has past.  What joy Ally has brought our family!  At 10 months, Ally has really let her sense of humor show.  She laughs...even at herself.  She also makes a funny smile and wrinkles up her nose...I love it, but lets face it, its a smirk, for when she is doing something she shouldn't.  She is still trying to walk.  Ally can stand and clap (so I know she can balance herself) and take a step, then she falls.  She also is taking a "in between" step from the ottoman to the couch and things like that.  She loves the little horse that she can ride and she bounces hard on it, smiles and giggles.  Her laughter is contagious!  She also thinks Yo Gabba Gabba is pretty cool.  She doesn't actually sit down and watch it, but it does capture her attention and she begins to bounce to the music. Oh, and she thinks that Big Sis is hilarious!

Sleeping:
My Ferberized baby, is unFerberized.  With ear infections and a cold, her great sleeping habits went out the door.  In fact, she is HARDER now to put to sleep than she has ever been.  Sometimes I even have to "swing" her to sleep.  She is up two of three times a night and just cries.  She cries until we give her milk.  The child is still only drinking like 4-5 ounces at a time, so it is no wonder she is hungry (she is also still only in the 25-50% for weight too).  I later find her back in our bed again around midnight or so, but honestly, part of me likes it.  So soon my girls will be grown up and well, I don't even really want to think about that.

Eating:
So far I have found NOTHING she does not like.  Ally enjoys eating with us and EVERYTHING we eat she wants.  I also find myself giving her a taste of this or that (cookies, cake, etc).  That is something I would have never done with Kiley. Although, we mostly feed her baby food still (due to convenience), she really likes baked beans, cottage cheese, yogurt, bananas, those Gerber Veggies Sticks(almost like cheese puffs), dried apple pieces, green beans, rice...just to name a few.

Big Sister Love:
It is amazing to me, what a loving relationship my two girls have (keeping my fingers crossed that this continues).  Kiley is still Ally's biggest cheerleader.  I crack up when Kiley is so proud of Ally.  Ally recently started playing with a toy that you can put balls in and it counts the number of balls.  Kiley let out her high pitched voiced and excitedly stated, "Yay, Ally!  You did it!  I am so proud of you!"  She is also cheering her on with every "step" Ally takes...."Mom, she did it!  She is walking!  Mom, Ally is crawling!"  The excitement in Kiley's voice is evident!  "It's too bad they don't like each other,"  my husband commented as we watched our two girls riding in the jeep together.  Well, whether they are riding in the jeep or in the wagon, you are sure to see two smiling sisters enjoying each others company, while not really saying a word.  Of course, we still have times when Kiley asks me to put Ally in her bed so that Kiley and I can have some cuddle time, but that is understandable.

Can we just get back to normal?

Never fails, when you get one child healthy, the other becomes sick.  It wouldn't be possible to have them sick at the same time!  I have now taken off a total of 5 days from work and JC has taken off 2.  Kiley is healthy, and now Ally is sick.  However, Ally just finished off a round of antibiotics a week ago.  I have called the pediatrician 3 times this week, they continue to tell  me to wait it out because what Ally has is more than likely viral!  So, while I am waiting, dear sweet hubby, finally caved and took himself to the doctor on Thursday--Bronchitis and Strep!  I am heading to the doctor myself today before I get any worse!  It is not easy taking care of the family when you don't feel well, and we won't even talk about the way the house looks (UGH!).  I don't think Moms should be allowed to get sick--we should just be immunized to sickness!  Anyway.....Hopefully, we will all be functioning normal soon.  My only fear is that Ally's will progress to something more...let's keep our fingers crossed!

Update:
Well, I took myself to the doctor and you can probably guess, that yes, I was also positive for Strep.  While leaving the doctor's office, the daycare called to tell me that Ally had once again spiked a fever.  I immediately called the pediatrician's office, who was so kind to check Ally at 4pm on a Friday.  I am so glad they were able to see her.  Her ear infections (from 2 weeks ago) did not clear up from the first round of antibiotics and she also had strep along with some wheezing.  Our beautiful weekend plans were quickly canceled as we worked on mending our family back to health.  Now, we cross our fingers in hopes that Kiley does not "catch" it again....since she is already off her antibiotic!  Wow-STREP is NASTY!!  Stay healthy everyone!

March has come in like a Lion with all it's germs!

Flu, Strep, Ear Infection....who knows what else.  Our house is germ infested!  Kiley has had another week off from school.  Funny though, the girl leaves the doctor office with a 103.4 fever, and asks to go to the  park.  So far, Ally is free of the new illnesses at our house, but maybe that is because she has already been on antibiotics for a week from her ear infection.  All this sickness is making this momma tired!  Will try to update my blog some today...in my free time.