Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

(Note: Actually written on Tuesday, just not posted until Wednesday...)

Alexander's awful day actually started yesterday. He's been a little congested for a couple of days now, but it was very noticable yesterday. Every time you got near his face, you could hear the wheezy sounds, and he was coughing . As the day wore on, the snot started, too. Oh, joy. I read up a little about babies and colds, and was surprised to find that several websites confirmed that most babies will get 6-8 colds in their first year. I started out feeling pretty bad when I saw that A had a cold...Did I take him out too much? Do I not wash my hands enough? Is it from the dog licking his face, or letting strangers touch his cheeks? WHAT DID I DO WRONG? OK, it turns out that 2 colds by 4 months is actually a bit below par (uh-oh, now he's BEHIND all the other kids!!), so we are doing pretty well :-)

Last night was the worst night we've had since about Week 2. At least by Week 3 or 4, Alex was sleeping for 2 or 3 hours at a time. Last night, it was less than an hour at a time. There was one decent chunk of sleep, from 7:30am or so until about 9:00 am-- and thank goodness Dan got him that time because I was a WRECK by then. The problem seemed to be that he was so congested that he kept waking himself up, or that he'd cough and wake himself up. Then he'd remember that he was congested and didn't feel good, and the only thing that made him feel better was eating, which was also kind of difficult because he couldn't breathe very well. So, he'd wake up screaming, eat a bit, wiggle and whimper, eat a bit, cough, cry, eventually fall asleep for 1/2 hour or so...and repeat. BTW, walking didn't help, rocking didn't help, bouncing didn't help, and he was having trouble even eating laying down in bed, so really it was up to me to cure all that ailed him. As much as Dan might have wanted to be sweet and pitch in, it was only the magic of Mommy Milk that could save the day...or the hour, as it were.

So, that leads to today. The front room is still a mess, and someone bought the TV cabinet this evening, so now the electronics are on the floor, along with all of the stuff (papers, a globe, keys, and all the other items) that called the top of that cabinet "home." I tried to pack today, I really tried, but some baby was pretty much inconsolable and I could hardly sit down, let alone put him down. So, I got 2 boxes packed. I don't get it at all. When I'm sick, I don't want to move. I want to sleep and be left alone. This little guy hardly slept at all last night and took two naps no longer than 30 minutes each today and is still (at 10:30) awake and needing love. Luckily, he's finding love from someone else right now so I can type into the blogosphere and let you all know all about it! This day made me want to move to Australia!**


Here is Alex, being a little trooper. Despite that runny nose and the fact that his house is an explosion of half-packed boxes, he's managing to enjoy a little play time. Thanks for the walker, Grandma W. I've been playing the music and amusing the whole house with it since Christmas!

** For those of you who are not teachers or other lovers of children's literature and therefore have not run across this book recently, moving to Australia is the solution that the title character of "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, etc...day" thinks will solve all of his problems. I don't know if Australia will help, maybe moving to Hawaii though... :-)