Siiiiiiiiiiick!

I know you all love reading sick blog posts, so here's mine.

Henry is sick; he's really sick.

We went camping in Goblin Valley with some folks from the ward- on the way down he thew up. It's gross, but no big deal, he usually throws up on long car rides.

On Saturday, as we left Green River I noticed Henry had a fever so we gave him some Motrin. Just as we got off I-15 in Salt Lake, Henry threw up again. We thought it was another dose of car sickness, until he threw up again and again and again.

Sunday was on and off with the fever and the vomit and the coughing. So finally, I called the on call pediatrician who said it sounded like pneumonia, so off to the Kids Care we went for a chest x-ray and check up.

The diagnosis: adenovirus which casued Henry to have a high fever, weezing and pneumonia. The treatment: rest, albuterol and ibuprofin.

Monday was also on and off with a ridiculously high uncontrollable fever, minimal vomit and a TON of coughing. By 7pm on Monday night Henry was coughing so much I was nervous that he couldn't breathe so I took him back to the Kids Care.

The diagnosis: adenovirus which casued Henry to have a high uncontrollable fever, pneumonia, and the worst tonsilitis seen in a long time along with the high volume unstoppable coughing.

The treatment: Tylenol combined with a steroid to bring down the fever. Alternating tylenol and ibuprofen every 3 hours to maintain a lower body temperature. Albuterol for less weezing. Codene to relieve the coughing and put him to sleep.

Tuesday was awful. Henry's fever was nearly gone. The coughing remained and the whining was never ending. His whining was so bad that it nearly brought me to tears. On Tuesday, late morning, Henry was whining that he wanted a bike ride. I couldn't take him for various logistical reasons, so I offered a walk in the jogging stroller instead. I, unknowingly, didn't put the stroller together properly and after I put him in it he fell straight back onto the pavement. It was so sad and so awful, I dropped him right on his head! After he calmed down and the coughing and gagging ended we went on a short walk and came home and fell right asleep. I got nervous that I gave him a concussion so I called the doctor and made yet another appointment.

The diagnosis: his head is fine, no concussion. Severe ear infections in both ears.

The treatment: Antibiotics for 10 days.

I hope the worst is over and that Henry will be well again soon. I'm annoyed that doctors are so afraid to give antibiotics that it took three appointments for someone to say, hey maybe we should try them afterall. I'm sad that Henry has been feeling awful for so long. I'm upset with myself for being so impatient with him today, but don't really know how to be more patient with him in the future. I am hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day!

Calling all Nap Tips

Henry, sleeping in the hiking backpack in Moab.

Photo by: Jenny Spilker

Saturday marked the beginning of a ridiculous downward spiral for Henry's sleeping habits. For quite some time now Henry has been a happy sleeper- easily laying down and falling asleep when placed in his crib. Now, I'm having flashbacks to the days when he was an infant and wouldn't fall asleep anywhere except my arms.

Now, when I lay him in his crib at nap time, he screams and reaches for me, acting like I'm about to commit some heinous crime by placing him in his crib. In the past, if Henry cried when we put him in his crib, he would console himself and fall asleep within minutes. Now, even an hour later, he's still screaming, SCREAMING!!

Inevitably, I give up and go pick him up. And nearly as soon as he's in my arms, he falls asleep. And, even asleep, if I put him in his crib he wakes up and begins crying again. If I put him in my bed and lay next to him for 10 minutes he'll remain asleep.

In the evening the routine is the same, except after some time, even as short as 10 minutes, of screaming, he falls asleep on his own.

I can't decide, was it the vacation that caused this horrible melodrama or is it the separation anxiety which I've learned is normal at his age?

I've chatted with a couple people and done some research online and came up with a few ideas. Joe and I have tried creating a better sleep time routine, which is fun, but it doesn't remove the crib hatred. Today, at nap time, I placed a couple books and a couple toys and a picture of him and I in his crib, to see if that would placate him while he fell asleep and to potentially avert the separation anxiety (if that's what it is). After 45 minutes of screaming I went up to get him (so he could fall asleep in my arms of course) and he was standing at the rail, covered in tears, holding the picture, with all other toys tossed aside.

What should I do?

Hawaii

Joe's sister Aliza lives in Laie, Hawaii (on Oahu) with her family, so last week we went with Joe's Brother Dan and his Wife Becky, to visit Aliza.



Our week went something like this:



Day One - Pearl Harbor and the Sea Life Park
Day Two - Swimming at Turtle Bay and the Polynesian Cultural Center
Day Three - Hiking ManuaWili falls, Swimming at Lanikai, Learning to Surf in Waikiki
Day Four - Snorkelling at Hanuamu Bay, hanging out at Chinatown and Temple Beach
Day Five - Boogie Boarding at some random East Coast beach, Swimming at Turtle Bay, Waimea Valley Audobon Center and night swimming
Day Six - Snorkelling at Sunset beach, Eating delcious shaved ice in Haleweia, Hiking Diamond Head, Visitng the Iolani Palace Grounds




We saw as much as possible during our stay. Henry loved the beach and the ocean, as did Joe and I. Henry was so excited about throwing rocks and sand into the water and running in and our of the waves. At Hanuamu Bay he could sit on the rocks and watch the fish swimming in the water below. Even when we were in the car and Henry could see the ocean and he begged (and sometimes cried) to get in the water.


Honolulu is honestly an ugly city just like every other city, but we stayed at Turtle Bay on the North Shore which is more green and lush than the other side of the island.

My favorite thing about Hawaii was the sunshine. Even when it was raining it was fun to be outside because it's always warm. We could, and mostly did, spend the whole day outside without worrying about the weather. I also really enjoyed learning to surf. I was surprised how easy surfing is. Granted I didn't ride any awesome waves, but it was so easy to stand up and ride into shore on the wave. The hardest part about surfing is the strength endurance necessary to paddle the board out far enough to catch a wave.


The Polynesian Cultural Center was also awesome. We spent the entire day there. Joe particiapted in a drum show, which was hilarious. We watched the rivier pagent, the night show, went to the Luau, got tatoo'ed, and enjoyed the sunshine. I was disappointed we missed making the coconut bread, so I guess we'll have to go back some other time!



Hawaii is great.

Moab

A couple weeks ago we went on my family's annual Moab trip. The plan for the trip was to spend all day Saturday out on slickrock in Jeeps, but Joe and I didn't really think that sounded like fun. So when everyone went out on the "Fins and Things" trail in their Jeeps, Joe and I went out to a bike trail near the Chuckwagon. The bike trail was a good ride for my skill level, and it was good for Joe because he had to pull the bike trailer for Henry. Later in the day we left Henry with my family and attempted to ride the slickrock trail. I got about 20 feet into the trail before I decided that it was too hard and went home. Joe and Rob, my brother in law, tried for another hour or so.

We did go out in the Jeeps for about an hour or two. I'll be honest, it's not much fun, but everyone else enjoyed it.

We also went back to Negro Bill's Canyon which is a hike we did in March. It's great hike. This time when

we hit the top where the bridge is located there were people repelling down the arch. Maybe next time we'll try the trail that way.