What a January we had! After Henry got over his double ear infection and RSV, we got through Christmas, New Years, and we all headed back to work/daycare/life. Or so we thought. First it was the flu (and for those of you that use the term flu when connected with throwing up, that's not the flu -- The flu is a respiratory virus that makes you feel like death for days and never wants to go away, and this years flu was especially bad), but we didn't know it was that until it landed on Ryan's and my doorstep. Henry got over it quickly (and therefore didn't think it was the flu)-- most likely because he's the only one in our house that got the flu vaccine this year. He had a high fever for 2 days, it broke, and then a runny nose and cough. The humidifier hummed in his room and he was again happy as a clam. Ryan and I on the other hand felt like death. Death that had to take care of a 16 month old. And just as Ryan and I were starting to feel normal again, the stomach virus hit. It was a sneak attack -- crept up on us in the middle of the night and the bombs kept falling for days. Henry went down first, but like most kids, he didn't act very ill, and really just needed a lot of cuddling, being read to, and an watchful eye of fluid intake to make sure he didn't get dehydrated. Ryan fell next, landing in bed for a day. And me? I thought I escaped it all being that my hands were raw from all the hand washing and the bleach that I had used on every surface imaginable. I wasn't so lucky, I woke up two days later and stayed all day in bed not remembering the last time I had felt so awful (or the last time I was in bed past 6:30am!). Thankfully it wasn't the whole family at once and we didn't have to call in for reinforcements. Charlie was a big help and snuggled with each family member at the appropriate times. Thankfully we are all healthy once again and back on track.
Henry finally feeling like himself again :)
Henry is 17 months -- he has 12 teeth, he's growing like a weed, and has become so obsessed with whales. It's usually one of the first things out of his mouth in the morning. "Mama, milk? Whales?" I'm not sure where the whale obsession came from, but it's pretty darn cute. And just if anyone wants to know -- there aren't a ton of books dedicated to only whales for young children. You need a shark book? Sure, you can find boat loads of those, but whales? Not so much. I thought I would try to support some local business and find some books close to home. No such luck. Good thing this Mama is an amazon.com regular (okay, daily) user and clicked away and in no time had some whale books that made Mr. Henry's face light up like the Christmas tree we took down last month. And please don't get me started on the fact that my husband, bless his heart, thought it would be a great idea to show his obsessive son some kid-friendly whale videos on the computer. (Henry doesn't watch TV - the few times he's seen a TV on, he's been so still I thought he had fallen asleep standing up... nope, just the magic box at work making your brain slow down...). So on top of Henry talking about whales, he now runs into the office, points to the computer says, "Dada, whale", followed by a pleading scream as if to say "TURN IT ON, NOW!!!" Awesome.
So, we have a healthy* 17 month old with 12 teeth who loves whales/monkeys/(insert any animal here)/snowmen/snow in general/bubble baths/his frog pillow pet/ his dog Charlie/yogurt and yam loving baby toddler who is on the go-go-go.
Henry - 17 months!!
Another thing Henry loves? Snow!! He loves loves loves it - loves putting his boots on and heading out into the snow with Charlie. We recently got Henry a sled and loves being pulled around the neighborhood, fast!
Snow, snow, snow!
*At time of posting, Henry is sleeping and we never know what the morning will bring, but crossing our fingers that the past month of illness buys us some sort of reprieve from the rest of this flu/cold season? Okay, I'll take a common cold/runny nose thing... just no more throwing up!
We hope everyone else is dodging the flu/stomach virus and that cold/flu season is over very very soon!
Love,
The Beach Family
