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Riley has been sick for the last 4 weeks. Court decided last week that enough was enough and hauled him into the doctor’s. He’s been in to see the doc 4 times in the last week alone. Good news is, he’s finally on the road to recovery.I believe his sickness was holding him back from progressing. For awhile Riles planed out on new features. Usually he was doing a new thing weekly. But while sick, he just sort of maintained. This week though we got more than we bargained for.

Let me run down the new features (They’re biggies too):

1. He started holding his own bottle. I didn’t know kids actually did this. It’s sort of odd though because the bottle is so disproportionate to him. I liken it to me drinking a 64oz beer. It just doesn’t look right.

2. He started falling asleep in our arms. He’s been a bear to deal with, quite high maintenance when it comes to sleep. But this week he started settling in when you hold him. He’ll actually check out if comfy enough. Makes our life much easier.

3. He started rolling over! I have been waiting for this one for a long time. I’m very excited about him moving around.

Here’s Riles immediately after the “big move”:

Followed quickly by frustration of actually being on his stomach:

So, I’m a very proud dad this week. It’s amazing to watch this child grow up.

After a week from hell, Riles is on the upswing. By Friday his condition had worsened to the point that the doctor put him on a nebulizer. I didn’t realize it at that time, but kids that go on nebulizers typically have asthma, something struggled with for a good portion of my childhood. At least I know what to expect if he does end up having it.

To add to the hectic home situation, I was working 14 hour days through the entire week and weekend. By all graces Courtney should have shot me. I was little to no help on the home front. But by Friday I had had enough of work and just had to tell them to cool out while I tended to the Commander.

He’s back at it today, now spending his 3rd full day back a daycare. We’re hoping it will help with his sleeping patterns. Right now he’s getting up twice a night, once at 12:30am and again at 4:30am. The 4:30am is just a killer. By the time he’s fed and put back to sleep it’s time for me to get up and get ready for work. So in essence I’m now getting up at 4:30am to go to work.

Chad and Tina joined us for a little impromptu Superbowl party Sunday night. On a whim we invited them over so we didn’t have to watch the game by ourselves. I made the world’s worst Pigs in a Blanket. I wasn’t careful enough with the biscuits. Before I knew it, the pigs were blowing out the blankets and escaping out the end.

Life has been pretty low key lately. We’ve managed to keep all the dogs warm despite the cold weather. Riles is doing well. Court and I are just getting into the swing of being parents. Weird.

Riles attended daycare for the first time last week. He was only there for two days but it was long enough for him to catch a nasty cold. On Saturday he started showing signs of the oncoming sickness. He slept most of the day and looked miserable. It was only a prediction of what was to come.

By Monday Riley was in terrible condition. Courtney had taken him to urgent care Sunday night where they told her it was a virus and Riles would have to tough it out. That didn’t really help much on Monday as he ran a fever and sneezed out of his tear ducts (a sight I didn’t believe until I saw it). Courtney spent most of the night up with him.
Tuesday was my turn at the sick kid. I had worked some very long hours over the weekend and had just finished the project so I volunteered to take the kid on. He was in better shape on Tuesday, the fever had subsided, but he still had snot coming out everywhere. He spent most of the day sleeping. When he was awake he was crabby and refused to eat. By evening he was ornery and still refused to eat. Once again, we were up a good portion of the night with him.

Wednesday is Nana Angerer’s turn. Hopefully she can work her nursing skills on the boy. We’re starting to feel a little helpless and stressed about it. Regardless of what we do Riley will scream. We can’t tell if he’s hungry, tired, uncomfortable, or just pissed.

As I left this morning both Courtney and I were coughing and sneezing. My money’s on us spending a significant amount of time on the couch this weekend.

I mentioned to Courtney earlier this week that I was surprised my allergies hadn’t acted up yet. Typically by this time of the year I’m popping pills every morning and run the humidifier constantly. But this year I haven’t had to do any of that. Well, that was until yesterday.

I woke up with a scratchy throat and my sinuses were running ramptant. My allergies have arrived.

If you ask Courtney, she will tell you that it’s all in my head, which is sort of true. Did I cause the onset of sinus congestion? Maybe. Was I ignoring the early signs a month ago? Maybe. In any event, this year I have my trusty Allegra by my side, left over from a nasty sinus infection/brain tumor this summer.

I really question if any of this is real anyhow. I’m sure if you told me that a magical gray pill would clear my sinuses, grow hair, and make me socially adept I would pop it in a second and all would be right. I can’t really tell if the Allegra is working or not. I’m used to popping decongestants which dry me out and make me pee a lot. The Allegra doesn’t have any of those side effects. Not to mention it’s a 12-hour solution. What happens if it starts to wear off? Should I take more? From my estimates it lasts only 8. But then again, it’s all in my head anyways.

Apparently the sniffle season moved into Minnesota this past weekend. I’ve been surrounded this morning by people unable to properly use a tissue and administer nasal decongestant. I never thought the sound of a slow, drawn-out, inhale could drive me so crazy. I’ll bring in my bottle of Allegra tomorrow and hand out some free samples.