Last Week=Fun. This Week=No Fun.

The title of this post pretty much says it all. Last week, we ate up all the sunshine, chalk drawings, bubble blowing, and neighborhood walks we could. It was splendiferous. We had a little detour on Thursday when we ended up at the pediatrician to look at something weird on Jackson's right foot, but it did not spoil our fun. Good thing we enjoyed last week.

This week has been very different. Not the good kind of different. Jackson went to bed on Sunday evening with a low grade fever; I went to bed with a bad feeling we'd all be up in the middle of the night with a sick baby. I really wish I had been wrong. But there we were at 1 am with a baby (you call him toddler/little boy - I call him baby. humor me.) who had vomited everywhere in his bed, even in his eyelashes and soaking through his sheets and supposedly waterproof mattress pad. He also had a fever of 102.8. So into the luke warm bath went mommy and Jackson, and we loaded up on Motrin. He awoke again at 6 am with a temp of 104.6. So the week has gone. He tested positive on Monday morning for the flu (he already had H1N1 in March; this go round is regular flu) despite having gotten both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccinations. By Wednesday he was breathing strangely, the fever was still lurking (but had finally gone below 103.4, where it had lurked for 24+ hrs despite tylenol and motrin) and the toe (remember last Thursday?) had split open in two places. So back to the doctor we went [anyone keeping track? that's our 3rd visit in 7 days. thanks but no thanks. . .I do not want freqent flyer points at any doctor's office] to learn Jackson now has croup and an infected toe. Oh, and minor detail, I also was sick Friday through Wednesday and at the doctor on Saturday morning. So that's a tally of four doctors visits in seven days for Team Basquin. Yep, that great of a week. And if you're keeping track, I wrote in my last post that God was teaching me to laugh instead of gasp at germs and the like. I admit to regressing this week. I really don't find any of this funny.

But to take a break from my pity party (really, it's just that I can't stand not being able to make my little monkey all better immediately), there is a bright spot. . .Jackson and I have had plentiful cuddle and rocking time this week. And the child who is constant motion has sat around in my lap watching Elmo on repeat. Truth be told, I'd so much rather have constant motion without illness. It's just one of the many storms we'll weather as parents, and I can still say without wavering we are so blessed. Even with no appetite, a barky cough, ragged breathing, a toe that must really hurt, a fever that's STILL here, and sporadic vomiting, our little boy is managing to smile, laugh, and chase his dog for a few minutes a day. I will be over the moon for a boring, uneventful day [hopefully soon!] when he just runs willy nilly and I chase after him cleaning up his messes. Until then, I'll look at pictures of last week. And I promise my next post will be full of good news and positive thoughts. :)
Chalk covers us by the time we head inside after "art class."
Perfecting his lines. Jackson is obsessed with drawing chalk moons. He can't quite master them yet, but he asks me every time we go outside to draw him a gazillion moons in every color of the rainbow [or just every color in the chalk bucket]. Just a forewarning in case you see my driveway anytime soon. The moons make him happy, and I love a happy boy.

I get bored with moons, so I wrote Jackson's name on the neighbor's fence. Hopefully they haven't seen and/or don't mind.

I was determined to get a few good shots before church in something other than our every day casual clothing. The photographer might not have been very skilled, but he's so cute it doesn't matter. He loves rocking (in his own chair) on the front porch.

At almost 18 months, he still has no interest in smiling for the camera. This was the closest I could capture despite Daddy's silliest faces and noise making.

I can always get this when a car goes by.

Even though it's not a smile, this was my favorite. . .