Hospitals Part II

Ian had a brief (3 day) stay at the hospital last weekend, reminding Julie and I of how much we hate, hate, hate them.

Last Friday she noticed that he seemed to have a fever, so she checked his temperature and found that it was above 100.4. She called the pediatrician for confirmation that what he told us earlier still applies - i.e., that with a fever over this temp she should head immediately to the Emergency Room. He confirmed it, so that is what she did. After I arrived, the doctor explained that because children as young as Ian don't really have immune systems yet, they would need to test for a wide range of things. Julie took Jocelyn for a walk while I sat with Ian and watched the nurses draw blood and install an IV, and the doctor administer a spinal tap (they had to rule out meningitis).

Luckily it turned out that he had "just" a urinary tract infection. He was on IV antibiotics for 3 days at the hospital while they figured out which oral antibiotic would be most effective on the bacteria in his system. During that time he had other tests done to make sure there were no mechanical problems with his bladder that could cause the infection to spread to his kidneys or beyond. He was discharged on Monday, and needs to take the antibiotics for 2 weeks. He was already acting like a new little man yesterday - Julie said he seemed more alert than he had in the entire week before he went in.

Overall, the nurses at Newton-Wellesley Hospital were much, much better and more attentive than those that cared for Jocelyn at Childrens'. However, last night we discovered that the syringe given to us by one of the nurses to administer the oral antibiotic had the dosage mislabeled, so we have been giving the wrong dose to Ian for a couple of days now. Luckily the mislabeling caused us to undermedicate rather than overmedicate him - luckily! There were other minor incidents at the hospital that I won't bore you with but which annoyed Julie and I as well. Overall it just affirmed our feelings from the ordeal with Jocelyn: trust and defer to no one charged with providing medical care to your children. Check everything they do, and ask more questions than they can stand to answer. We hope all the parents who read this blog can learn from our experiences.

Jocelyn's new sandbox

Grammy bought Jocelyn a little sandbox so she would have more stuff to play with in the backyard. I wondered whether she would immediately like it, because she is very particular about what gets on her hands. (Except for when she is in the high chair eating, where all bets are off.) For example, Grammy did some finger-painting with her a while back, and Jocelyn cried when she first got the paint on her hands. Also, when we take her to the park, the first time she runs around on a new surface and falls on her hands and knees, she always reacts with surprise when the surface (grass, wood chips, etc.) ends up on her hands and tries to wipe it off as soon as she can. As you can see, it took her a little while to warm up to the sensation of sand on her hands.

Not a great first impression.

But as soon as she spotted all her toys, she warmed up to it a little bit.

And then when Grammy showed her how to build castles, she was much more into it. She has just recently progressed to building things with her Lego blocks (when playing inside), rather than just knocking stacks of them down, and I think she recognized the similarities between that and what Grammy was showing her.

And now she's hooked!

Jocelyn's New Pool

On the first hot day of the year last week Momma went out and bought a new pool for Jocelyn and set it up under a sun shade so that she could cool off. The swim classes Grammy brings her to really seem to have cultivated a love for the water.

OK, I am clearly biased, but is this the face that launched a thousand ships or what?

You can see the little man soaking up the scene in the background. Either that or having himself a nice afternoon siesta.

Credit goes to Grammy for the great photography.

Tummy Time

The little man is not a big fan of his periodic dose of tummy time - I imagine few children are. But Momma makes sure he gets a regular opportunity to strengthen those neck muscles and learn to control his head. It seems to be working because he is getting to be a strong one.

Tubby Time with Ian

Most nights after giving Jocelyn her bath, either Julie or I put her to bed and the other gives Ian a bath. As the pictures below show, his initial reaction to the water is sometimes not so positive, but once he gets used to it he usually likes it.

It's hard to remember now, but Jocelyn used to be small enough to bathe in a bathtub placed in the sink too. Those days are long gone...now we have to make sure she doesn't climb right out of the tub before her bath is done!

Warming up to it slowly.

Those cheeks are starting to come in...but he still has a long way to go before he catches up to his sister in that department!

Ian Week 3 ~ Playing with All His Toys

Grammy fashioned this mobile above Ian's bouncy seat to give him something to look at while he is hanging out.

He looks a bit scared right here! Ian loves this mobile~compliments of Kim and Mike and his big sister Jocelyn.

Happy Easter

Since the town's Easter Egg Hunt was rained out on Saturday, after church on Sunday we decided to stage our own at the house. It didn't take Jocelyn long to figure out the object of the game - as soon as she saw a few pieces of candy lying around near the corners of furniture she figured there might be more for her to find.

Showing off one of her prizes to Momma (and for the camera - she's such a ham).

Scouring every nook and cranny...for someone who had just gotten their first taste of Easter candy earlier that morning she was on a mission!

We had an Easter basket for her to gather her "eggs"...

...which she later proudly paraded around the living room (see ham reference above.)

The little man decided to sit this one out...

...for him, the Easter Egg Hunt was a spectator sport. Maybe that will change next year!