Elliott's 1st Cold

Well, I knew it had to happen sooner or later - Elliott had to get sick at some point.  Of course my vote was for later, but at 3.5 months, and right after New Years, Elliott came down with his first cold.  I held off taking him to the doctor for a few days hoping it would clear up, but when eye goop began dripping out of his eye like our bathroom faucet before Steve fixed it, I decided to take him in.  (It's hard to see, but if you look closely you can see the liquid running down his cheek)

The doctor confirmed that he had an eye infection, as well as two ear infections!  The poor little guy.  If it weren't for the difficulty he had sleeping due to congestion (poor Mom & Dad too!), and the aforementioned eye goop, you would never have guessed he was that sick since he was still the smiley and happy kid we know and love.  Perhaps even more giddy than usual.  In fact I am beginning to wonder if deliriously happy is one of his sick symptoms.  As proof, here he is helping me do the laundry in the early stages of his cold:

The doctor mentioned that these types of colds usually come from other kids, and wondered if he had been in contact with any.  

Well, as a matter of fact, Elliott had been in very close contact with his cousin Boaz from Austin the week prior.  To be a bit more specific, he got in his first fist fight.  Here's the play by play:

"Hello Boaz, nice to finally meet you.  I have heard so much about you."

"Nice to meet you too Elliott"

"Sure Mom, I'll be nice to my little cousin and show him the ropes"

And then out of nowhere "Take that Boaz! No one is allowed to be cuter than me!"

"What Mom? I didn't do anything.  I just don't have full control of my body parts yet."

"This was what I meant to do the first time!"

and then Bo responds "Take this Elliott!  Don't worry Aunt Danielle,  I can take care of myself!  I'll just share the sniffle germs that my big sisters and brother have"

Well, first fight aside, being sick took a lot out of the whole family.  Steve and I took on sick kid duty tag team style.  I stayed home in the mornings, and then I would pass the torch to Steve at lunch who would watch him in the afternoon.  Here's the two of them wiped out at the end of the day...

The doctor also recommended that we get him extra fluids by starting him with the sippy cup full of water.  He can actually hold it up to his mouth on his own, but he's still figuring out how to get the water out of it.  Either that, or he's just disgusted that milk doesn't come out of it when he does try to take a drink.

Once he started feeling better we did a mini photo shoot of the newest items in his wardrobe.  Aunt Janine made him this cool beanie with ear flaps that matches one she made for Steve.  I'm hoping he'll be a model for her Etsy shop "LittleWhatKnots".  I'm willing to share my cute kid with the rest of the word because I'm generous like that.

I'm also on a mission to create a cool bib substitute.  Elliott has begun drooling buckets, and soaking through his shirts within 5 minutes of putting them on.  Bibs are the obvious solution, but I really dislike them.  Baby bibs look kind of silly if it's not meal time - they're large, and the velcro that most of them scratch up his neck.  So my solution - the bandana, with a few tweaks to make it Elliott size, and easy to put on.

Once Elliott was all healed up it was more sleep for Mom & Dad, and back to daycare for Elliott.  It is still incredibly hard for me to leave him everyday (I cry just about every morning as I'm driving off). At least I get to visit him at lunch every now and then.

And what kind of a mom would I be if I didn't share a pic of a sick kid milk coma with you.  Much like the eye goop pic, if you look really closely you might be able to see the milk dribbling out the side of his mouth...

How are all of you doing?  I hope you have been able to avoid the crazy bugs that are being passed back and forth this time of year.