Blow, baby, blow.

So here is the latest scoop.

If you recall, on Monday, we took Christopher, who spiked a 105-degree fever to the pediatrician to follow-up on his previous week’s visit – incidentally, where they told me he had some virus – to see what was happening. The doc noticed a clear right ear, a questionable left ear, and some chest sounds that weren’t quite pneumonia. At 6 pm, the decision was to proceed with an antibx treatment for the probable (at the time) case of pneumonia and less likely left ear infection. Picked up antibx, gave first dose before bed on Monday evening.

Friday morning – Christopher wakes with a low-to-moderate-grade fever. Now, I must say that during this treatment period the fevers, fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite have not abated. With greater than 72 hours of treatment on board, I took Christopher to the pediatrician’s office for an urgent follow-up visit. Exam: chest clear – check. Fever is 100.4 – check. Right ear infected – What? Left ear is worse than right ear – What? Need I remind you of what happened last year at this time? Christopher developed an ear infection that did not respond to first-round antibx treatment. We had to move on to something stronger. Well, guess what? The antibx may have treated what was in his chest – although today’s doc noted that it could have been just a cold virus (which incidentally would not respond to antibx) – but it did not treat the ear infection.

By the time we got home, Christopher was bouncing off the walls, playing, and fighting with Matteo. For lunch, he ate yogurt and chocolate pudding. Calories, calories.

We are hoping for a brighter weekend.

Note to self – next time Christopher has an ear infection, start with stronger antibx treatment.

A year in the life of… from Mike and Michael on Vimeo.

Today, Matteo took his first BART ride into San Francisco to meet Dad for lunch. The platforms were quiet, the trains were empty, and the ride was quick.

What is it with babies/toddlers and their affinity for remotes and phones? Clearly, Matteo has the idea of what the remote does, but he cannot seem to get it to work. In time…

At this stage in his development, he crawls everywhere. Whether he crawls or cruises along the furniture, he gets around this house with the ease of an experienced traveler. We suspect that he will be walking by his first birthday.

Matteo no longer eats baby food. He eats big-boy food. By the time he reaches his first birthday, he will be done with bottles. Yay!

Here is the interesting thing…except for teeth and hair, Matteo is developing along the same timeline as Christopher did at this age. Of course Matteo was born with a full head of hair, but until recently only had two teeth. Christopher did not get a full head of hair until long after his first birthday, but he had a full set of teeth.

In the meantime, Matteo and I went to Peet’s for coffee – well the coffee was for me, of course – and breakfast. Matteo ate his yogurt, and when finished, stared out the window at the people, cars and rain. As we sat there enjoying our time together, Matteo’s mom, Sara, sent a text to check in with us. I took this photo and sent it to her. Hopefully, we will see her for Matteo’s birthday. Can you believe his birthday is in two months? Wow…

When we arrived, Christopher held tightly to me. I was afraid the situation was going to get worse, when one of his teachers reminded him of the walking sticks. As I said, “what sticks?”, he got very excited, turned and walked away from me. Christopher and his teacher huddled around the aquarium. I said, “Goodbye”, and quietly departed.

My new tool…

Walking Sticks. Source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/stick-insect.html