what kind of world do you want?: February

Much of our February has been full of our "usuals..."

Finger-lickin' good yogurt...

Silly faces...

Ace's first Valentine's Day...complete with cards and a balloon...

Loving his balloon...one of his first words!

"Loving on" Mama and Dada - also some first words!

Waiting for Daddy at work...

Chasing toys on the coffee table...

Snuggles...

Tickles...

Big grins...

BUT, for a couple of weeks, we again struggled with sickness. Less than a week after Ace's ear check after his first ear infections, he started struggling with sleeping again. He would wake up at night and scream, and we would be in and out of his room for a couple of hours each night...this began on Sunday night. On Tuesday morning, Ace was acting super sleepy, trying to snuggle up with his blankie and sleep, even before breakfast. This was totally unlike him, but he was sounding like he was getting a cold so I thought nothing of it...until he puked while I was getting his breakfast out of the fridge. All over me and the floor. He hadn't acted like he was in pain, though, and nothing else happened all day, so we figured he'd just swallowed a lot of mucous and it had irritated his stomach. If only. The next day he had a couple of icky poops. That was all. We were still chalking these things and his excessive drooling up to teething. He was still crying a lot more at night and was having a hard time with naps, so on Thursday morning, I decided I would take him to the doctor, but the nurse told me his symptoms (which included screaming and arching his back when we laid him down to change him, feed him, etc.) simply sounded like a common cold and his acid refulx acting up again (which I thought was a crock - he'd been off his meds for reflux for about 5 months). I started really feeling like we shouldn't take him in, like it would be a waste of $20 that we already didn't need to spend, and he was acting a little more normal, so I canceled the appointment and decided we'd just see how he felt the next morning. What a HUGE blessing that proved to be!

Ace's "fluke" symptoms turned into a stomach bug when I started feeling nauseous that afternoon. Thankfully, I was able to hold it all in until we picked Mace up for a late lunch, and Mace stayed. We got two different prescriptions for me because, not only do I HATE vomiting (I mean, it's literally a phobia), I was still breastfeeding and desperately needed fluids. I finally was able to keep fluids down after seven hours and four doses of the meds. The next day, Mace was able to go to work and came home for lunch, and he had me just let Ace sleep whenever he would sleep...he said he'd get up that night with him if need be. What a sweetie. Luckily, Mace never got the bug (knock on wood), and it didn't take long for me to be able to get back to being "normal." And I lost the rest of my baby weight and then some!

Ace, however, only got worse in the sleeping and fussiness department. Monday morning, I called the pediatrician and made an appointment with the new doctor in the practice, after Ace was up screaming for three hours straight Sunday night. It was so sad...he screamed no matter what we did. Well, even though I felt so bad for Ace, I was relieved to hear that he had another ear infection, and that it wasn't just a cold...that can be so frustrating to hear when there's nothing much that we can do for cold relief. The pediatrician said the ear infection was so severe, "a med student could diagnose" it. Poor baby.

This was one day, right in the middle of it all, when he couldn't make it to his nap :(

Needless to say, we been SO happy to see the WARM sun, and have never been more ready for spring, here! Ace is, infact, teething again, but his ears looked great at his ear check, this time! We think he's got two teeth coming in on the top, and his molars aren't far from the surface on the bottom!

Here are some other fun things we did this month!