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We got Evan a new tricycle this week.  We were in Babies ‘R Us last week (it seems like we’re there every week) and he noticed a trike there (“bike bike bike bike”), so we put him on it, and he spent a few seconds sitting proudly on it before promptly falling over.

So we learned 2 things: We should get Evan a bike, and we should also get him a HELMET.

The bike arrived, I put it together (not as bad as I feared), and we gave it to him yesterday when he got home from daycare.  As you can see from the picture, he is pretty psyched about it.  He’s still too small to pedal, etc, but the center of gravity is low and his feet can reach the ground, so he can scoot himself around.  Perfect.

This morning, predictably, Evan wanted to go outside and ride his bike.  He spent the morning putting his helmet on, grabbing his shoes, etc, in an effort to convince Rachael to take him outside (today is my day to sleep in, which didn’t really work that well, natch).

Since it looked like rain, we decided to get him out there for some good bike time.  I inadvertently caught his neck in the snap of the helmet strap, which had to hurt.  Evan started crying, and became a bit scared of putting the helmet back on.  Worse, since he’s a little tired, he went into one of of his ‘inconsolable spells’ where he cries his eyes out, and nothing will cheer him up (except distraction).

So Evan was upset, Rachael and I felt horrible, and during a quiet break in all the action — both Tucker and Madison could be heard in the house howling their heads off (note that our dogs don’t normally howl).  They heard Evan crying and so upset in the driveway, and wanted to commiserate too.

That’s my family.  We all stick together.  Fortunately, all 5.5 of us are on the couch now, tickling and laughing, and the crisis is over.  We’ll try the helmet/bike combo again later.

JP’s pneumonia went away, only to be replaced by bronchitis a week later. He still isn’t quite himself and can’t seem to get enough sleep. It’s hard to rest up when you have a very pregnant wife and an active toddler constantly making demands of you.

Evan’s cold, double-ear infection, conjunctivitis went away, only to be replaced this past weekend with a massive episode of teething (he’s got at least 4 teeth coming in at the same time!), plus a runny nose and persistent cough (another cold? or just part of the entire teething fun?). One of the teeth coming in is a molar and seems to be causing him an incredible amount of pain. JP and I are left completely hopeless as we watch our poor little boy suffer, waiting for the teething gels and pain medicine to finally kick in

My head cold/double-ear infection went away, only to be replaced by yet another head cold this past weekend. Fortunately it isn’t nearly as bad as my previous head cold, but I’ve got to say that I’m really tired of not being able to breathe/hear/talk and of coughing all the time. I’m reaching the stage of my pregnancy where I can’t get very comfortable as it is – having a head cold on top of it just adds insult to injury.

Speaking of…our dogs are up to the same annoying habits that really try you at times like these. Tucker has mastered the art of getting into the garbage and spreading the contents *everywhere* throughout our kitchen. This is no easy feat as our garbage is contained inside a cupboard specially designed to hold garbage cans and he has to get in paw in just the right position to pull the heavy cupboard door open. I think he can do it in 5 seconds flat. We’ve tried to childproof the cupboard through unique methods (words won’t do…I need a picture)…but he’s figured that out, too. Damn dog.

Madison continues to remind us that we have absolutely no hope of ever housebreaking her. She is particularly not fond of going outside when the weather is anything but pristine (and even then we’ve had issues). Yesterday we had a major rain storm come through…so of course she left a stinky little present for us to clean up after putting Evan to bed. That wasn’t enough. She started dancing around the bed in the middle of the night, so JP got up to let her out. Apparently that wasn’t enough either. This morning after taking a shower and getting Evan up and ready, I came back into the bedroom only to find that Madison had peed all over my side of the bed (JP slept through it all), soaking through every layer of the bedding. Sigh.

I’m getting really tired of all of this…

We’re still a little bit in recovery mode (JP’s worn out and I am looking forward to the day when I don’t have any more coughing fits) – but I’m happy to report that we *finally* had a weekend without sickness…and lucky for us, it’s a long one. JP and I both get today off, though strangely enough Evan’s school is open (they get Cesar Chavez day off but not President’s day, go figure). I feel a little guilty about sending him in to school today (though we’ll be picking him up early) – but I know it will be better for both him (new stimuli, different toys, playing with friends) and us (more sleep!). He was pretty psyched to go and show off his new rain gear (Thomas the train) – he *loves* chu chu trains.

We had a pretty low key Valentines Day. We had originally planned to cook a nice dinner of chicken/eggplant parm, pasta, etc…but JP wasn’t feeling up to it so we made the last minute decision to head to Olive Garden instead. Apparently we weren’t the only people with such plans…they were quoting a 2 hour wait! Fortunately we were able to get a table in the “first come first serve” section that is pretty much the same as the restaurant with slightly less comfortable chairs – so we didn’t really have any wait.

Evan – my littlest valentine – continues to amaze me with how bright and sweet he is. He says “hi” and waves in earnest to everybody and everything. “Hi Tree!, Hi Mommy!, Hi Tucker!”. At day care he is the one that cheers on his younger friends when they accomplish some milestone like walking “Yay (clap, clap, clap)!” He gives hugs and kisses and is just so lovable all around. He knows hundreds of words (his pediatrician says he’s very advanced that way), he knows his shapes, he’s learning how to count, say his letters, the days of the week, etc. I don’t know for sure – but I have a feeling that he’s going to be smarter than both JP and me!

My love affair with my little boy has a downside though. On more than one occasion I’ve caught myself wondering how this next one is ever going to measure up to Evan, and whether or not I’m going to love her as much as I love him (I can’t imagine loving something so much). I know from seasoned mothers that I will…but it doesn’t stop the occasional doubts from crossing my mind.

Speaking of the little one – I saw her on the ultrasound last week and all looks good. Strong beating heart, good size. She’s not head down yet though (she’s “transverse” – laying with her head on one side of my abdomen and feet on the other side). She’s been that way for a little while now, so I’m starting to get nervous that she’s settled in and will not be budging – which means a possible c-section for me. My doctor doesn’t seem too worried (but he doesn’t know how stubborn the women in my family can be) – I guess we’ll see at the next appointment. If she’s anything like Evan, she could be making her appearance in a little as 6 weeks, but I’ve got a feeling she’s be closer to on time (somewhere between 9-11 weeks from now). I guess only time will tell.

UPDATE: We’re all on the road to recovery.

Evan went to have his ears rechecked yesterday and he is all better (he even got his 2nd H1N1 shot).  Rachael’s antibiotics are working, her ears are feeling better, she’s sounding much better and even made it back to work today.  And my antibiotics are working too and I’m feeling better and better every day (tho still a little exhausted).

All of our fingers are crossed that we’ll continue to remain healthy thru the 3 day weekend.  Would be nice to actually have a weekend in 2010 where we aren’t all sick…

i still haven’t been able to get through to my ENT, so i made an appointment with my regular doctor yesterday. they’re actually a great practice – they guarantee same-day service (though not always with your doctor) and you never feel rushed through your appointment. I called at 9:30 and was able to get 10:30. the doctor looked at my ears and had to call in two other doctors for consult. they’d never seen anything like it. i’m getting used to non-ENTs saying things like this when it comes to my ears, but it still troubles me on some level…especially when i can’t hear anything these days. anyway, they prescribed antibiotics and said i needed to get in to see the ENT pronto. i let them know of the fire and my difficulties getting through to the office, so they tried to reach them through the secret “back lines” that doctors have. they didn’t have much luck either. it’s only been a day on the antibiotics – but so far i am not seeing any improvement; i’ve been up since 3 am (couldn’t breathe, headache, aching ears) and i’m starting to get really nervous about permanent hearing loss.

jp was also able to see his doctor yesterday, though not until 5 pm. poor thing has pneumonia. he’s on some really strong meds though, and noted that he’s starting to feel a little better (though still has a long way to go). fortunately evan has thus far avoided getting sick again (good god i hope i didn’t just jinx us), so he went off to daycare again this morning and jp and i are looking forward to a day of rest.

Last night sucked. My sore throat came back with avengence, my sinuses completely clogged and stayed that way (despite the extra squirt of Afrin that I allowed myself), and in short – I couldn’t breathe, so I couldn’t sleep. It was made all the more miserable by the fact that I was experiencing a bit of pain in my right ear (the same ear that I had a bad ear infection in last year and am still suffering the consequences of hearing loss caused by nerve damage). I was literally up from midnight until 5 am, sleeping at most maybe in 10 minutes at a time at most, worrying about permanent hearing loss. I had to blow my nose so many times that I filled up the bathroom trash – so I started throwing those tissues in the toilet. It didn’t take long for that practice to clog the toilet. So there I am at 3 am, sick as a dog, plunger in hand, trying to unclog the toilet.

I got up with JP in the morning to help get Evan off to school (JP isn’t feeling well either). When I came downstairs, I went into our bathroom to blow my nose and heard a noise. My hearing is not that great right now with my stuffy head and possible ear infection(s), so it took awhile for me to figure out that it was the toilet running. It has been running all night (can’t wait to see that water bill). I, the plumbers daughter, could not figure out how to get it to stop, so I shut off the water to the toilet. This means we can’t use the toilet downstairs until it’s fixed. This is particularly annoying for the pregnant woman who has to pee every 15 minutes…

JP leaves to take Evan to daycare; I let Madison out for the second time this morning so she can go potty, let her back in and then head upstairs to use the bathroom up there since it’s our only working one at the moment. I was gone for maybe 5 minutes. Despite my clogged sinuses, I could smell the foulness of poop as soon as I came down the stairs. Despite being let out just 5 minutes before, Madison had decided she needed to relieve herself in our dining room. I was livid. There are definitely days when I seriously regret the decision to add a second dog to our household.

When JP came home I made him take Madison back upstairs with him to bed so I wouldn’t have to deal with her and the constant bell ringing. (That kept me up quite a bit yesterday when I needed to rest). I then decided to hop in the shower in the off chance that I would be able to get an appointment with my ENT this AM (I was supposed to have an appointment yesterday at 4 PM, but that was canceled due to a fire in the building (oh lucky me)). As I’m in the shower, JP comes in and exclaims that Madison just puked in the bed. Lovely. I finish showering and JP pulls the covers off the bed. He’s not too happy with me when I make him take the soiled covers down to the washing machine instead of just throwing them into the blue room. I’m not sure if that’s a guy/girl thing – but even as sick as I am – there is no way I’d ever let a stinky puked on cover sit in a room all day, potentially resulting in a permanent stain and definitely making the entire house reek.

It’s only 9 AM. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the day is like. Double sigh.

That is what I call the little one inside me, inspired by Cara Thrace aka Starbuck, Harbinger of Death. I have never been so sick so many different times in such a short period, and it all started once I got pregnant. You could easily argue that Evan being in daycare is also responsible for the rash of sickness – but I still maintain that my immune system is not able to fight off whatever germs he brings home now that I’m pregnant, and I had no problem with his daycare germs before I was pregnant:

- August (4 weeks pregnant): I come down with the worst ear infection of my life while on “vacation” back east. It results in nerve damage and significant hearing loss in my right ear.

- October (13 weeks pregnant): I come down with a nasty flu bug, and the doctor suspects it may have been H1N1. At that point in time, there was a shortage of the H1N1 vaccine, and even though I was supposed to be in the highest priority group for receiving the vaccine – I couldn’t get my hands on the stuff. I knew of non-high risk people in small towns in Texas that received the vaccine before me – a pregnant woman in one of the larger urban centers in the nation. The logic that dictated the distribution policies of the H1N1 vaccine complete escapes me.

- January (25 weeks pregnant): Evan goes to daycare and comes home with a cold. Two days later, the entire family comes down with the same cold. By this time, I had received the H1N1 and regular flu vaccine – so I am assuming it was just a cold – but what a nasty cold it was. Both JP and I had to stay home from work because of it.

- January (26 weeks pregnant): Evan goes to daycare and comes home with the stomach flu. One day later, both JP and I come down with the stomach flu…although I could easily argue I had it the worst out of all of us.

- January (27 weeks pregnant): Evan goes to daycare and comes home with a fever, which turns into a cold, double ear infection and conjunctivitis. Two days later, I come down with a sore throat, fever, achy body, rash, and a head cold. Before I can get better, JP gets sick, too. I’m worried I may have strep throat and ear infections, and am grateful that I just happened to have an appointment with my ENT doc today. He’ll be able to determine the extent of my sickness and if I need to be on antibiotics. As I’m getting ready to leave the house, I just happen to check my cell phone and see I have a voice mail. It’s a receptionist from the doctor’s office saying that there was a fire in the building that morning and that the fire fighters were not allowing them back in the office and that I would need to call tomorrow to reschedule. Just my luck…

The worst is when both JP and I are sick. Not only because neither of us has the energy for Evan…but also because we both handle being sick very differently. I like to be left alone and try not to complain unless I’m really in bad shape (like I was the other weekend with the stomach flu). JP likes to be pampered. He gets very melodramatic when he’s sick, “Oh, I feel so horrible, I feel like I’m dying (moan moan moan)”. Since I’m the type that likes to be left alone, I must confess that I’m the worse nurse for JP when he’s sick. “Take some medicine; go to the doctor then” I usually say in reply to his moans. Not much compassion I’m afraid. I have even less compassion when I am sick myself. I think in times like these we would both benefit from having one of our mothers here with us; they would be able to take care of Evan and the dogs, they would be able to attend to JP’s needs; and I would be able to rest in peace. Sigh.

We took Evan to the weekend clinic last night — one nice thing about living in SF is that our Dr. office is affiliated with CPMC (the hospital Evan was born at) and they have an after hours pediatric clinic.  He was diagnosed with a cold + 2 ear infections + conjunctivitis.  Poor little guy has been running a fever and coughing, etc — I stayed home today to take care of him (he needs drops in the eyes every 2hrs + amoxicilllin, tylenol, etc.).

Today has been tough.  He goes through moments with this where he is absolutely inconsolable — I think maybe has a headache or something on top of all the rest of this.

To make matters worse, though, Rachael just came home from work early.  Now she’s sick too.

For a moment today, I had 2.5 sick and inconsolable people in my family.  I put one and 1/2 of them to bed (Rachael + Baby Girl Lester) and put the other one (Evan) in a bath with me which cheered him up.

I literally cannot believe that we have been sick with 3 different things 3 weeks in a row.  I hope this ends soon and that I don’t get this one too.

This is the current state of counting around our house. Just gotta get that 3 and 4 in there (and start with 1, obviously).