A Team Week 74: Snuggles Galore!

This week started off like every other but took a turn when Eric brought the boys home from daycare on Tuesday evening.  Eric said Christina (our childcare provider) had said that Avery hadn't eaten much all day, was very sleepy and had a fever of 102.  Thus began the week of snuggles.

In the past, my boys have gotten sick and gotten over it within a day or two, but this illness just wouldn't let go of our little Avery.  From Tuesday through Friday we spent our time caring for a very sick little boy who wanted nothing more than snuggles with Mommy and Daddy.  Although we loved the extra cuddle time with our little guy, it broke our hearts to see our energetic little man so down. 

Tuesday night snuggles with my little man.

On Wednesday I had some things I needed to do at work, so Eric stayed home with Avery.  Since he was showing no signs of feeling better, had a fever in the 103s, no appetite and a nasty cough Eric took him into the doctor.  They ended up spending a lot of time there waiting for the results of a flu test and then getting a chest X-ray over at the hospital (which I'm told Avery absolutely hated).  Thankfully both tests came up clear, but unfortunately that meant that we just had to keep an eye on him and wait it out.

Waiting at the doctor with daddy is exhausting.

A cafeteria worker at the hospital took pity on him and gifted him a very large cookie.

Eric tried to take the cookie away, but Avery wasn't having it.  Even though he had no appetite for anything else, he must have decided that he shouldn't pass up the opportunity for a gigantic cookie!

Wednesday night: More snuggles with Daddy

On Thursday I stayed home with Avery and we enjoyed many more snuggles.  With our vacation only a couple of days away, I kept hoping he would get better, but he actually seemed worse.  His fever was up to 105 and he was barely willing to drink anything.  I started getting really freaked when his little lips began to get chapped and I realized I only changed one diaper all day and then when I changed him before bed he was still practically dry! :(

Facebook post: At church (@kenosha.church ) Sunday Pastor @andymcg was talking about "fakebook" (aka Facebook) and dared us to post what our lives are actually like. Well today here is mine: I have packing to do, literally mountains of laundry to fold and put away and an appointment to get to, but all that matters is my baby boy who I want nothing more than to feel better again

After being up for only an hour or so, Avery was very grumpy and obviously not feeling well, so we headed up to the nursery to snuggle in the rocking chair.

He passed out in a matter of minutes.

On Thursday morning I also had a doctor's appointment, so Eric came home for a bit while I did that. Minutes after I'd left, he texted me and told me that our little man is a faker and that they had been playing since I left.  I chalked it up to the tylenol kicking in.

Video: Faker

When I returned from my appointment Eric headed back to work, and Avery wanted to get out of the house and go with.  He grabbed a hat and a bag and stood at the door waiting for Daddy to get him.  He wasn't happy when Daddy said goodbye. :(

...so we waved goodbye to Daddy.

The rest of the morning, Avery was feeling pretty good.  He ate a little bit and played for a couple of hours, so I had hoped he was on the mend, but I think it was still the Tylenol in action.

Video: Table Play

(2) Videos: Feeling Better

While we played in the basement, Avery and I had a great time watching the trains go round and round.

Avery taking a train for a train ride.

Thursday night Eric headed back to work after the kids had gone to bed.  I checked in on them both before I went to bed and found Asher completely perpendicular to his bed with his feet on his pillow.

On Friday, Avery was feeling slightly better and his fever was back down to just below 102 which was a big improvement.  He spent the morning playing with Daddy and then spent the afternoon with me, getting lots of snuggles as the fatigue and fever hit him again.  With less than 24 hours till our vacation I tried to pack us up while he slept, but wasn't sure if it would all be for nothing.

Avery enjoying a warm bath. He played until late morning and then was ready for an early nap.  He got up around lunch and by the the time he had eaten a little, he was ready for nap number 2.

When Avery woke from his second nap, he still wasn't really in the mood to play.  We facetimed with my mom and he would alternate between snuggles with me, lying on the floor and short bouts of play time.

Afterwards, we headed to Meijer to get some items for our vacation.  Avery seemed very eager to get out of the house, but by the time we had finished about half of our shopping trip, he was just hanging off the cart in complete exhaustion.

Missing my spunky little guy.

We put him to bed early on Friday night and prayed that he would be fever free in the morning so we could go on our trip. Thankfully he had a good night of sleep that evening and when he woke on Saturday, his temperature was back to normal. We got everyone ready, had some breakfast, loaded up the van and then away we went...more on that to come!

Side Story:  It is obvious in this post that much of our focus this week was on Avery and trying to make him feel better, but that doesn't mean that Asher was ignored or forgotten.  On the contrary we made great efforts to keep him apart from Avery by not letting them share foods or drinks, play close to each other or even play with the same toys because we didn't want Asher to get sick as well before or during our vacation.  At one point, he was coloring and drawing at the table alone while I was in the kitchen with him.  I asked him if he could draw a picture of daddy and he set out to do so.  First he drew a circle for Daddy's head.  Then two lines coming down for Daddy's legs and then an arm with three fingers.  After that, he decided that instead of drawing Daddy, this was a picture of Mommy and he proceeded to draw a little blob in the middle.  He then said, "this is Mommy and this is a baby in your belly...and it's going to pop out!"  I was so shocked, I had to put it on the fridge...now that the shock has worn off, it makes me laugh! :P