Quick Takes, Hospital Edition

--1--

This week brought a bit of excitement as Birdie's sickness escalated to the point that we ended up in the hospital for overnight observation on Wednesday.  We thought she might need oxygen or IV fluids, but ended up needing neither.  On the one hand, that is good--she is pretty little to be needing such serious interventions--but on the other hand, it means that the diagnosis the doctors are going with (bronchiolitis) means we can't do anything for her medically speaking.  We just have to wait it out and listen to her wheezing and coughing and generally sounding awful.  She is doing better today and isn't fighting for breath as much as she was before we went to the hospital, but it is still hard.  

--2--

I'm running on fumes after so many interrupted nights, first with Boo (who still has a cold and is congested), and then with Birdie.  I'm beginning to think I will never sleep again.  

--3--

Did I mention that I'm sick and tired of all the sick in our house?  Please someone make it go away.  

--4--

My post on Christmas traditions is over at Conservamom's blog.  Because we are on the Julian calendar, we are still mid-Advent, as Christmas falls on January 7 for us.  

--5--

We had a nice St. Nicholas Day celebration on Monday, complete with coins in the shoes and a small gift for each of the boys.  I had wanted to give the gifts at breakfast, but due to a shipping screw up by amazon (when you pay extra for overnight shipping, it means OVERNIGHT, not Saturday delivery), I didn't get one of the gifts until Monday.  But it all worked out in the end.  Piglet loved his purple shirt and Boo is learning how to work the big knobs of the farm puzzle.  We did have a small kerfluffle over the puzzle, as Piglet couldn't understand that the gift was for Boo and it was not, in fact, all for him, but as the days have gone by, the boys seem to have worked it out.

--6-- 

When he is ready to get up in the morning (on those rare mornings that we don't have to wake him up before he's really ready), Piglet has a habit of shouting at the top of his lungs, "Papa!  I'm all done with bedtime!"  He repeats this shout until one of us (usually my husband) goes and gets him.  Since Boo is attaining vocabulary at an astonishing rate just now, it was only a matter of time until we heard it in chorus.  Today was the day.  "Papa!  All done bedtime!"  At least we don't have to worry about not hearing them in the morning.

--7--

We have a great pediatrician.  I mean, great.  She is extremely available by phone and e-mail.  She does all her scheduling online so if you have a sick kid at 3 a.m., you can make a same-day appointment right then rather than waiting for business hours and praying you are the first in line to call for a sick appointment.  She keeps up on the latest research, and is open to alternative methods of treatment.  She has a school-age daughter, so she still remembers how tough the toddler years are and is able to offer moral support.  She makes house calls for the first postpartum baby check.  She calls to check up on kids who are or who've been sick, and, the best thing, she is three blocks away.  We are so grateful for her, especially after the drama of this week.  I initially debated whether to include her in our list of people outside the family that we gift, but after this week, I decided she definitely goes on the list.  I decided to squeeze time out of a rock and make a set of thank you cards for her, packaged in a nice box.  I'm still working on the box (as boxes require math, and I tend to screw them up the first few times I try, especially when I'm beyond tired, as I am now), but here's what the card looks like.  I adapted the design from two other cards I saw around the blogosphere.  I'm loving that Triple Treat Flower--it is so easy to use, and with the three punches, really packs a wow-factor when you start layering.  (Oh, and you can get it for free during Sale-A-Bration, which starts January 24).  

Go see Jen for more Quick Takes.