Ailments and Treasured Moments

So much for normal. This week I only left the house twice, once to teach yoga and once to take Bren to the doctor.

Kaeleb ended up having his fever last through Monday, we are assuming it was a funky fever-only virus, because he didn't have any other symptoms. Of course, he milked it for all it was worth and we spent the day snuggling on the couch. He watched lots of Little Einsteins, Sesame Street and Charlie and Lola.

Tuesday we had a picnic. It was our anniversary, but things have been so busy around here that we hadn't had time to plan anything. That is an obvious signal that we need to slow down. We woke up frustrated because here it was, the celebration of 8 years of our love.... and we didn't have anything to do. Kwint worked all day and I did bills and laundry. I planned a picnic in the park, so that at least dinner would be different. However, it was blistering hot and that doesn't make for a fun picnic and Brennan was asleep in his crib at dinner time. Everyone knows you never wake a sleeping baby!

So, Kaeleb and I laid out blankets on the living room floor and packed our cooler full of PBJ and fruit. He was so excited about it. He helped me set out paper plates and filled the paper cups with water. He was dancing around gleefully waiting to surprise Dad. Dad loved it. We ate our picnic and watched National Treasure 2. We both agreed that it was a fabulous way to celebrate our marriage- by doing something out of the ordinary and having fun with each other and our little boys. We ended up being glad we hadn't planned something else. But next year we're thinking bigger....

During the movie Brennan came down with a fever. We assumed it was the same thing Kaeleb had and didn't worry too much. But then he stopped eating eating and drinking and we got a bit worried. By Wednesday night we were ready to take him in, he was dehydrated and his skin was ashen. We said a prayer and he drank a bottle, and then his fever broke and he played his heart out for 4 hours, crawling all over the house. We thought, "Phew!! Glad that's over!"

Until midnight when he woke up screaming, with the fever back and refused to eat again. Thursday morning we took him to the Instacare and found that he has good old fashioned Herpes Simplex. Yes, the cold sore virus, a gift from his brother, which he got from me, which I got from my dear old Dad. Apparently, the first time it hits it can cause what sweet little Bren got- a mouth FULL of canker sores. The doc let me look at his tonsils and they looked like honeycombs. I felt so sad for him and don't blame him for not eating. The doctor gave us Tylenol with Codeine so he could eat and sleep. He lost weight- down to a meager 19 pds 15 oz.

Usually herpes lasts a week or two, but thanks to a Priesthood blessing he was better two days later. We are so glad to have our wild and crazy kid back, as exhausting as he can be. One of our favorite things Brennan does is carry toys around in his mouth. It's pretty smart, that way he has his hands free to crawl. It looks hilarious, especially when he carries his toy keys around. He reminds us of the dog on the 1st Pirates movie.

Kaeleb felt a bit lost while Bren was sick. I had to hold the baby 24/7 because he couldn't even sleep on his own. So, every time he asked for something he heard "Not right now, I have to take care of the baby." In defense, Kaeleb developed a few phantom pains and ailments. Every time Brennan cried, Kaeleb would cry. He couldn't bend his knee because it hurt (except when he forgot that it hurt), and had a "hard spot" in his side. On Thursday Kaeleb mysteriously contracted 2 canker sores which I couldn't see, but they were most certainly there. I was so thankful for the Codeine because once Bren was sleeping so much Kaeleb had me back and all his ailments disappeared. Phew! He is so funny and full of life.

Kaeleb is learning a lot these days. He loves Sesame Street and remembers things he sees on it. He told Kwint that 2 plus 2 is four, and I didn't tell him that. He is also asking a lot of questions about words and what things start with. Yesterday he said "Mom, extra starts with X!" I hated to tell him it starts with E because I was so happy he'd put that together. He memorizes his books and pretends to read them, running his fingers across the words saying them slowly as if he were reading them. He can read "the" and we are working on "it, in, is" etc. This is a fun age because we have great conversations about real things and he's still small enough to be sweet. If I leave him and Bren playing together to fold laundry or something he will yell across the house "MOM! YOU FORGOT YOUR GUYS!" and I come running back "Oh no! My guys!" He also still loves our morning snuggle. If he wakes up while I am still working out he will come sit by me, give me pointers like "No, Mom, your hand is supposed to be like this." or tell me that the girls on my yoga show are not modest, then when I'm done he will say "Mom! You forgot your morning snuggle!" So I sit down and hold him and he doesn't even care that I'm all sweaty. He says "Let's stay like this forever!" Love that kid.

Friday night Kwint and I went on a real date! We decided to celebrate our anniversary again by doing something we never do- dinner and a movie. We ate at a yummy asian food place and then went to Great Harvest Bread and got a big pink sugar cookie. We saw Indiana Jones and laughed until we fell off our chairs. We loved it, it was a perfect night. It is always nice to go on dates. We always look at each other after dropping the kids off and say "Wow! Hi! How are you? Long time no see!" I think we do a pretty good job at staying close even with our hectic schedule and rambunctious children, but it is different when we are alone and not distracted. Very nice.

So, even though it wasn't normal, there were enough bright spots in the week to treasure it.