February 2008

February was not a fun month for us. For the majority of this month's 29 days, at least one of us was sick.

I believe it started with Kyla, who got a cold. Then as she started feeling better, she went to spent the night at Linda's and spent four hours throwing up again and again in the early morning. This flu lasted a couple of days, subsided, and then returned. Needless to say she missed a lot of preschool.

Blake seemed to get the flu and a cold at the same time, recover, then catch another cold. Our jovial little baby was replaced by this unhappy, uncomfortable little wreck who often lost his appetite. Thank goodness we can get infant Tylenol in bulk at Costco.

Becky caught most of these illnesses, but each had a pretty minor affect on her compared to the kids. Somehow I survived unscathed.

We weren't literally sick the entire month. Kyla learned to play baseball in her sports sampler. Again she had a lot of fun and was very eager. The running of the bases must have been a little confusing though because instead of rounding second, she just kept going straight and the instructor had to chase her down.

Kyla continues to have some epic tantrums, but now she seems to feel remorse for them after they're over and apologizes without prompting. One morning when she was throwing a fit in the car and wouldn't let Becky get her out after they arrived home, Becky unbuckled her from her carseat and told her to come in whenever she was ready. Kyla spent a good 30 minutes in the garage, then came inside and started cleaning up as a peace offering.

Blake has been showing signs of having allergic reactions for several months now, so Becky took him in to see an allergist. The poor guy had to get poked 20 times in his back with different potential allergens. His reactions were so strong and numerous that the doctor and nurse were pretty surprised. He reacted most strongly to eggs, salmon, and cashews. The doctor issued us EpiPens and told us to keep him (and Becky while she nurses) away from eggs, dairy, fish, and nuts.

He has a good chance of growing out of the dairy and egg allergies, but the fish and nut allergies are probably permanent. I can't help but feel really sorry for the guy having to go through life always worrying about what he can and can't eat. Fortunately most food labels highlight potential allergens and fish and nuts shouldn't be too hard to avoid (at least compared to milk and eggs).

I feel like this post is very negative, but we weren't miserable for the entire month of February, it's just the negative that is standing out to me as I write this. I'm willing to bet that March will be a good month because we are due.