What has Malachi been up to...

His ears in blisters...that's what! Last Friday, I learned that Malachi had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Okay, it's not really a disease, it's just a virus so I'm not sure why they sensationalize it! Anyway, putting the pieces together, it looks like he started to get sick last Wednesday, but wasn't showing any major signs until Friday...Let me start over!

Wednesday, Malachi ate a cherry sucker at daycare with Lolli! (Can you say 3 washings later and his shirt is FINALLY clean!!) Anyway, he was covered from head to toe in sticky sucker mess, so Lolli put him in one of the large sinks at the daycare (I hope no one from the health department is reading this) and gave him a bath with soft soap! Then, Wednesday night, I put him in the bath at home for our evening playtime (yes, he LOVES the bath) and noticed a small rash on his legs! I called mom and asked her for sure what she had used to wash him so I figured it was just a contact rash from the soap! You see, we are VERY careful about what goes on Malachi's skin! It's Johnson and Johnson soap, lotion, etc! Nothing else! But, the rash didn't seem all that bad so we went on! Then, Thursday, Kelly called from daycare and told me that Malachi was running a VERY low grade fever (100.3 or 100.4) and was drooling ALL OVER the place! Even though I'm not a believer that teething causes major fever, Malachi's normal temperature is right around 99, so I thought, given the drooling, it was probably teething as we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of his top two teeth which should be coming any second now! Tylenol should help! He slept ALL NIGHT Thursday night, so we didn't think anything of it and we knew we had a Dr.'s appointment Friday afternoon for an ear re-check since he was just getting over his 2nd ear infection! Friday, noon, I called my mom to check on him and she says he's been REALLY fussy all day, drooling everywhere and she's checking his temperature. 100.4, 100.5, 100.6...okay, I'm on my way! I pick him up and he's got a HORRIBLE rash on his arms and legs. (Nothing on the trunk) I took him home and waited for the Dr.'s appointment for 4:30 that afternoon. By the time we got there, he was in a decent mood, just a little fussy and we were keeping his temperature controlled with Tylenol/Motrin! As soon as we got there and I explained his symptoms, Dr. Young did a REALLY thorough exam! White sores on the tonsils, but not a red throat. Finally, Malachi unclenched his hands (you know from screaming from having something shoved down his throat...haha) and THERE IT WAS, a HUGE sore on his palm. Cocksackie Virus, he says! And Thomas and I look and simultaneously say, okay, what's that? It's hand, foot and mouth and generally takes 5-7 days to get out of his system. There's nothing you can do but give him Tylenol and Motrin in a rotation to help with the pain. Keep him hydrated! But, good news is, his ears both look great!!!

So, Friday night, we chilled out at home. He slept well Friday night only waking up once and woke up in generally a good mood Saturday. Until about 9:30 that is. That's when the WORST started! No eating, no drinking, pushing everything away, crying, inconsolably crying...high fever...blisters ALL OVER his body including now on his lips and tongue! The only thing he would eat was yogurt and daddy went to the store for pedialyte popsicles that we crushed up just to get SOME liquid in him! It was terrible.

Saturday night comes around and it got worse! We put him down for bed, after a nice warm lavender bath thinking that his day would catch up with him! NO SUCH LUCK! 15 minutes later, he's up screaming! I take the first shift. I was up from 9:00-12:00 and finally put him down thinking he was good and asleep. No dice. At 12:30, it's Thomas' turn! We give him some more yogurt since he's not touching his bottle and I go to bed. At 4:00, I hear the bedroom door open (not sure how since both fans were going and I had a pillow over my head!) and it's Thomas telling me that it's MY turn! So, we switch again and I lay on the couch, Malachi on my chest waking up ever 15 minutes crying, me bouncing and walking and going outside and doing everything else I can think of to calm him down, and just as he's asleep, I lay down and the cycle starts over again! 7:00, it's daddy time! So now, we're BOTH up! Sunday was more of the same until about 5:30p.m. We went to my parents' house just to get out for a little while and things started turning upward! He started acting like he was feeling better and even sat in his high chair and figured out how to pick up cheerios and get them in his mouth! (On a side note, can I tell you how much of a blessing this has been? Give a kid cheerios and yogurt bites and he's happy!!!) He crawled around for a little while and even ate some oatmeal.

Sunday night was better, he only woke up twice and Monday he actually went to daycare! However, I had noticed that he started pulling at his ears again, so I called the pediatrician's office, again! Sure enough, ear infection in his left ear again! This is the 3rd in 5 weeks and both times we have gone for ear checkups 2 weeks after the initial infection is found, his ears look great! So, in another week, we go back to the Dr. for another ear checkup and I'm sure the infection will be gone, just like it has been!

The difference here is that I'm once again calling on our beloved Chiropractor for assistance! I don't know why she's always the last person I think of! So, as I type this, I wait for word from my mom (who's the BEST mom EVER by the way!) to call me and let me know what Dr. Hinders says! I've ALWAYS heard that Chiropractors do WONDERS with children with recurring ear infections, so I'm hoping we'll be successful in her visits! Hey, I'll pay the $35 a pop if it means he doesn't get ear infections, or at least not as often!! **UPDATE** Dr. Hinders said his ears had a TON of pressure on them and his sinuses are all clogged up! Hopefully her work will do some good and we'll take him back Monday for one more checkup! I think we'll make a standing appointment once a month for him from now on!!

On the development front, he is doing GREAT! He is crawling ALL OVER THE PLACE and has gotten SO fast! We just love to hear the pitter patter of his hands as he moves throughout the house following us around! (I think it especially thrills daddy, as, let's be honest, if daddy's around, it's mommy who?) He also started pulling up to his knees this last weekend and is standing up (sometimes even without holding onto anything) for long periods! It won't be long at ALL before he's cruising and walking!! He's also completely on table foods...and we're not talking completely mashed up either! He actually ate 1/2 a hamburger yesterday! (Of course it was pinched up, but he's learned to gum things to death!!) There's NOTHING the kid won't eat! We've moved him to next-step formula, but he's not taking too well to that, so we may just go straight to whole milk soon! I just don't think he likes the taste! However, we have found "Yogurt Juice" from gerber and he loves it! So, mommy (being as wonderful as I am...ahem, CHEAP is more like it) figured out how to make her own instead of buying 4 4oz bottles for 4 dollars! It's easy! Take any fruit you like, puree it completely, add yogurt (we're using Activia so it'll keep his digestive system normal), puree that together and then add your juice of choice! Yes, we'll have to watch so he doesn't gain weight too much, but frankly, we're not EVEN worried about that right now! And, you know what they're drinking instead of having sugar and junk!! His top two teeth are also looking ready to break through at ANY MOMENT!!

He has got to be the happiest baby I have ever seen and is developing SUCH a fun personality! He scrunches up his little nose when he smiles, laughs at EVERYTHING and is SO interactive!

I did get all of his items for his 1st b-day party in the mail last week, so we're getting ready for the big May 16 soiree at Lolli's house! I'm going today to order his personal b-day cake and we'll probably order his cookie-cake this weekend, because you know we have to carry on that tradition from mommy's birthday parties! Although, if we continue on the current path, we'll probably be adding that ginormous hamburger from Arnold's sooner rather than later to the b-day menu!!

Finally, please watch this video that I saw on a fellow mom-blogger's website! I can't believe it's Hootie, but more than that, I can't believe Hootie made me cry so much! What a GREAT song!