Feeling better
We have not written much in the past couple of weeks, because we had been a little under the weather. Well, Keegan has been a little under the weather, to be more precise, and therefore as a consequence, we have been too.
We are still not sure what it was exactly, but it dragged on for more than a week. A couple of weeks ago, we started the weekend in a bad way: Keegan was really cranky, would not eat much or sleep well. We didn’t think much about it, and in fact we all went to our friend Lena’s house to celebrate Mila’s second birthday. We had a good time. It was a small gathering, so Keegan warmed up somewhat quickly and he had fun drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, and reading books, playing with his favorite girls and of course eating a yummy cake.
The three musketeers again:Keegan, Hannah and Mila
Sunday was pretty uneventful: we got into the pool, and we even convinced him to take a walk on the benches around the edges, with water up to his chest. He seemed better, but he started having a little cough. On Monday, he went at daycare as always, but when I picked him up, they told me he was tugging at his ear. Well, he often does that, either when he is upset or tired, but for extra caution, I took him at the Minute Clinic. They did not see any ear infection, but the nurse noticed his cough and a little redness in his throat. He also weighted him: a whooping 25 pounds (11.3kg). Not sure how accurate this is, but hey, I will take it!
His mood was normal, so we felt reassured. Sure enough, that night we got the early wake up, or should I say wake UPS. Keegan was waking up almost every hour, coughing, and he was really warm. We gave him some Tylenol, and hoped for the best. By 2.30/3 am, after another wake up call, I ended up sleeping with him in his room: he was coughing and warm, just needed some reassurance. His cough was now very barky, so we were a little worried. Could it be croup? Against our temperament we took a wait and see attitude. I stayed home with him, while Matt had to attend all day meetings. Keegan did not seem to mind. Of course this is the day they are having the Pony pictures at school! And after the “crying cowboy” picture last year, I did not want to miss it this second chance. I asked if it was OK to take him down for the photos: he did not have a fever at this point. So, here he goes, up on that pony and, since I was there, he did not cry. YEAH!…he did not smile either, mind you, but hey, it looks like he was the only one of his class NOT to cry.
At least he did not cry till the end, as he was disembarking, when his lower lip started quivering…but mommy was there to grab him and he was all better.
He even got to pet the pony… we stopped by to see his friends in his class, and of course what is the first thing he did? He ran in and set on his teacher’s lap. No matter what, he is always the one sitting on the adults’ lap. Talking about choosing the best spot. How he beats the other kids, I am not sure…he must be his sweet smile or his puppy face…
He feel asleep quickly for his nap, but when he woke up, he was burning up! I measured 100.4 under arm (so really 101.4). Insert mommie’s guilt here: I decided to wait and see, and sure enough, he gets high fever! I immediately made an appointment for the next morning (pm at his doctor is a zoo) , and comforted him as I could. His mood was actually not too bad, but his cough was really scary: dry and barky. We had another horrible night, and another early morning cuddle/sleep in.Matt stayed home with him this time:it was Tizi’s last few days of class, so she had to be there for helping the students, for finals and presentation. Plus, she felt she earned a little treat: so she went to have a relaxing lunch with her designer friend. She really felt she needed the break. And a nice glass of beer help soothe anxiety and guilt. (-: Thank you Matt!
Matt took Keegan to the doctor: nothing new, but at least we ruled out anything serious. The doctor said it was an upper respiratory infection caused by a virus, and that we had to wait it out. The doctor cleared us also for taking him back to daycare, as long as he did not have fever. That afternoon, Tizi figured Keegan deserved a treat as well, so she took him to Seaworld, to meet up with his best buddy Hannah, and her mom Jennifer. Keegan really likes Seaworld: as soon as I mention the name, he starts moving his hands up and down as they do at the Shamu show. Plus, he has been looking at the blog pictures over, and over, and over and over again, especially the ones with him and Hannah at Seaword, so he knows well what it is. This time we saw a walrus, polar bears, baluga whales, penguins and the obligatory Shamu show. We all had a nice afternoon. It is funny to see how he is now interacting with Hannah: he must really like her, since he offered her his fish crackers, one of his favorite snacks.
The rest of the week continued the same way, minus the fun part. We were able to take him back to daycare, even if a little later, but we had horrible nights: he would wake up 3/5 times, and want us to snuggle with us and to be soothed. A few days, he feel back asleep in our bed or on the couch.
It was tough, on everyone, and the fact he would not eat almost at all was a little scary. His cough slowly improved, and even our neighbor, who is a pediatrician, reassured us. It was just a little stressful, as Keegan was obviously a lot more clingy than usual (!) and sleeping a lot less.
We did managed to squeeze in a date night, a really needed relief. We were planning to go to the Depeche Mode concert. We bought tickets months ago, and we were really looking forward to it, but being our dark week, they canceled the show at the last minute. We still had a great time, though, with movie and dinner. We watched Funny People that brought some relief.
The weekend was still tough. Saturday he had possibly his crankiest day ever. A bad night, LOTS of meltdowns, lots of crying. We calculated he probably cried a good three plus hours all together that day. We tried to distract him: we went to Torrey Pines, and the Glacier Point to see paragliding, but nothing helped. He was not even able to take his normal nap: he woke up early and could not be soothed. He finally passed out right on the couch and slept another hour.
On Sunday we finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Another bad night, followed by an early morning nap, for all three of us. We actually got up around 8 and it felt great. So we decided to go to the zoo as they opened. It was fun. We got to see the elephant exhibit again, and all the animals were very active: we saw the lion, the lioness, the jaguar and the elephants of course. Keegan’s favorite thing, beside running around, was playing hide and seek with the jaguar as it was going in and out of his exhibit.
crappy cell phone pic: dad and Keegan at the zoo
On Monday, despite a really bad night, in which Keegan called out for us and cried for more than an hour, we were full hope, and fortunately, knocking on wood, so far so good. Keegan has started eating again, and playing and being the same happy little guy he is. We are all breathing a big sigh of relief, and looking forward to have more fun all together this weekend.
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