he won't stop eating

or drinking. Saying that he feels 100% better is putting it mildly. Within 12 hours of being on the antibiotic for Giardia Baby G was a new little kid. He hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea again. Bless modern medicine. Giardia is a sickness that kills people (especially children) in developing countries. I feel so blessed (and maybe even a little guilty) that the access to doctors, hospitals, and medicine is so readily available. Baby G was truly starting to worry us. He had lost too much weight and was looking awful. He was lethargic and sad. He is the complete opposite of that now. He has gained almost 5 pounds. On a little body that is a LOT of weight. Like I said, he really hasn't stopped eating. He didn't even eat like this before the Giardia, and I am wondering if his appetite is going to slow down at all once he makes up for all the calories he lost when he was sick. He ate three (three!) scrambled eggs for breakfast and then wanted graham crackers. Isn't it funny how we, as mothers, feel like we are doing a good job when our children have full tummies? It is so stressful to have to work to get your child to eat-- I am grateful to have gotten to this side. Hopefully this will be the last Giardia post from me. I am ready to close that chapter and move on to all the other fun things we've been doing since we've been healthy. More to come soon.

we are happy to announce...

...that our son has Giardia!
(You thought I was going to announce I was pregnant, didn't you?)

So, I realize that finding out that your child has a parasite isn't typically good news, but we were SO happy to finally know why he has been so sick and be able to do something about it. He already seems to be responding to the medicine (no throwing up or diarrhea yet today *knock on wood*), and we are hopeful that he will be back to himself in a few more days. We cannot figure out how on earth he contracted it, and I am a little nervous about that because if I don't know how he got it in the first place I don't know what to do differently to prevent him from getting it again. He hasn't done any of the high risk activities (traveling, being exposed to pubic water in pools, hot tubs, or even rivers/streams) in the past couple of months. Okay, that's a lie, he did go fishing with his daddy last week but he was already sick then. Anyway, we are grateful to know how we can start to get him healthy again. You better believe I will be loading him up with all the healthy, high calorie/fat foods I can get my hands on.(he was sick in this picture (can't you tell? He looks miserable to me now), but I didn't know it at the time)

Let me leave you with this sweet little story. About a week ago I brought Baby G into my bed with me early in the morning for some cuddles. I had him laying on top of me and we were singing songs. Pretty soon he popped his little face up and looked right at me and said, "Love you Mama. Mama pretty." Darn near melted my heart right out of my body. Funny how happy hearing your almost two-year-old tell you he loves you and thinks you're pretty can make you. I'll treasure that memory forever.

still raining (outside and in)

Still throwing up. Once Wednesday. Twice yesterday. Three times today. I'm no genius, but it seems to me that this is getting worse, not better. I am mad at myself for letting him be sick for so long without doing anything about it, but I really did think he was getting better. His symptoms keep coming and going (for days at a time) and it throws me off. Went to the doctor (finally) yesterday. It's been two and a half weeks of a sick boy and I am growing weary.  Weary of cleaning up body fluids, yes, but mostly weary of seeing my baby sick and not knowing what is wrong. The wondering is stressful and exhausting. As we speak tests are being run to see what is up. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will have some answers tomorrow. Saying lots of prayers that we can start to get this baby healthy and back to himself. I think he is okay, but I just want to get him eating and keeping food down to know that he will gain some weight back. He is looking so skinny, with a big bloated tummy. The good news is he's still happy.

And so sweet.

And extra cuddly.

And we adore him more than ever. The other good news is that he has thrown up enough over the past two weeks that I can predict it coming and can get him to the sink or toilet in time to avoid having to clean up carpet or sheets or furniture. I'm pretty happy about that :). I'm feeling hopeful that tomorrow is a new day and maybe he will be feeling better. I'll let you know.

scenes from a sickhouse

I spoke too soon. Last time I posted I was sure that Baby G was getting better. He was acting much better and wanting to eat everything in sight, so I though he was on the mend. I guess he wasn't because I was still cleaning up throw-up on Friday. This has been a pretty crazy illness. I haven't really been sure what to do because I don't ever know if he is still sick or not. I am thinking that he is getting better for real this time because he has had two days with no symptoms, but knowing my luck he will be losing his lunch tomorrow. We'll keep our fingers crossed though, because this time I think it's the real deal. Here are a few of the pictures we took over the past week or so of our sick boy.

He spent more time than I'd like to admit watching TV. We almost never have the TV on during the day normally, and I felt pretty guilty propping my child's head up with pillows so he could see Zoobomafoo, but what else can you do when you have a little kid that is so sick that he doesn't even want to lift his head up?

He spent at least 5 days straight without getting out of his pajamas or getting his hair combed.

We had a rainstorm one of the days and I lifted him up to the window so he could see the rain coming down. He immediately started asking for his raincoat and boots, and since he hadn't really moved out of my bedroom at all that day I figured a little fresh air might be good for him. He had fun, but only lasted a few minutes. He didn't have the energy to stomp in puddles. Notice that he still has his pjs on.

One of the Sundays (all the days are kind of a blur) Baby G's aunt, uncle, and cousin stopped by to drop off some Pedialite freezer pops. We were out in the living room talking and Baby G came toddling out to see what was going on. He was so sweet and just stood there looking at us like, "What are you guys doing out here without me?" Then his cousin Logan (who is 4 months older) read him a story.

This is my favorite picture of them all. Notice the million sippy cups scattered all over our room. A sure sign of parents trying to keep their child from getting dehydrated.

Baby G lounged like this on everything and everyone. He is always pretty cuddly, but it was kind of funny to see him just constantly lay down wherever he was because he didn't have any energy. 

This picture was taken before I wrote the last post about Baby G wanting a burger and fries. He hadn't kept anything down (or wanted to eat) for four days and we went up to my parents house to visit. He took one look at the fresh chunky salsa and started begging for some chips. I don't know how many two-year-olds love fresh salsa (the kind that is basically just chunks of tomatoes, peppers, and onions), but Baby G went to town shoveling as much of it into his mouth as he could.

Baby G has been super into playing "basey-ball" lately. We were going to buy him a t-ball set and then we discovered that he could hit the ball when it was pitched to him (which totally shocked me). Anyway, he wanted to get outside and play, but again, had no energy to stand there and swing. So he sat. It made hitting a little more difficult, but it did the job.

Apparently this illness is going around, but I will hope that this is the end of it for us and that none of your children get it :).

eyes that don't quit

After Baby G being so sick this past week my mom said, "Thank goodness for his head! If he didn't have a big head he wouldn't weigh a whit!"

I have lots of stuff to blog about. Posts pile up in my head like laundry when your child is sick. That's what we've been dealing with this past week. Baby G got his first full-fledged illness, and it wasn't pretty. I'll spare you the details, but the worst part was that after not really eating (or keeping food down) for five days he had lost 3 pounds. He was already a pretty skinny boy, but when you are as tall as he is it isn't healthy to only weigh 24 pounds. I almost felt sick when I looked at his boney little body. But here's the good news. For the past two days he has been waking up begging for a burger and fries. He's never requested that before, so it cracked me up to hear him pleading , "Wan a burger, Mama. Wan fries. Dip it?" You better believe that I promptly took him to the nearest McDonald's as soon as it was lunch time. It did my heart good to see him eating all that fat. Last night we were out and about when he started asking for "beans and rice and chicken." I knew he meant Chipotle. Again, he's not really ever been one to request specific foods, but after 5 days of nothing, I think his little body was craving some good food and he let me know. I turned around and stopped at Chipotle and let him eat as much as he wanted. I'm hoping he gains 5 pounds, can you tell? Our eating out budget will be gone before J and I even get the chance to go on a date, but we'll eat Rice-a-Roni for the rest of the month and let Baby G eat whatever his little tummy dictates if we need to :).