Sick, Riding, and Reaching

My dad used to answer the phone "Ross's summer house, some 'er here and some 'er not." It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Lately, I feel like I could change it a bit to "Gross's summer house, some 'er sick and some 'er not." To say that things have not gone according to my plans around here this week would be an understatement. None of us plans on sickness. Thankfully the sickness in our house is just strep throat (again) and nothing anymore serious. Sam is the one who first got it in our family (again) but has so generously shared it with his big brother, Jon. Sam has been sucking his two middle fingers since he was about 8 weeks old. When he gets feeling better, we might be putting an end to all of that. I don't know that he whether it would have kept him from getting it or not, but it sure seems like it would help limit the passing of germs around here. At any rate, he's four and half and it seems like a good time to "be a big boy" and not suck his fingers.

The first couple days of Sam's sickness I was constantly giving him Motrin to bring his fever down because it was so high. It worked almost too well though. It would kick in and he would start feeling so much better that he wanted to go out and play. Thinking a little fresh air would probably do him some good, I let him go play. In fact, his dad had promised the week before to help him learn to ride his bike without training wheels, and he had been counting down the days. So, here you have it, the removing of the training wheels:

He picked it up so fast. (fyi, this video is only 17 seconds long, so have no fear)

However, when the symptoms continued to get worse, I decided to limit the Motrin and the activity so that hopefully his body would begin to get better. We even went to the pediatrician when his appetite went away and the fever remained along with a terrible hacking cough that was keeping him (and his mama) up at night. Initially, the doctor tested for strep and the quick office test came back negative. The doctor declared it a virus and sent us home. Then yesterday, Jon woke up with the exact same symptoms and the doctor's office called to confirm that Sam does indeed have strep. The longer test came back positive. And you know how in medical terms positive is really a bad thing. As I explained that we'd have to wait for Sam, who asked to take a nap early, and my 16 month old to wake from their afternoon naps before I could bring everyone in to the sweet nurse who was trying to schedule an appointment for Jon, she said, "Let's see if the doctor will just write a prescription for him without an appointment since he shares a room and has the same symptoms." She wasn't sure if it would work, but I could hear the sympathy in her voice. She must have been convincing because she called back a bit later and told me the prescriptions for both boys had been called in! Since I'm convinced that we picked up the first round of strep at the doctor's office when I took all the boys in for Will's ear infection, I'm trying to avoid that place as much as possible!

In other news, Will must be growing because suddenly he can reach things he hasn't been able to reach in the past. Yesterday in the span of 15 minutes he grabbed and dumped two cups that were full of water. Then a couple hours later he saw that someone (me--oops) left the gate open and before I even noticed, he was upstairs in Jon and Sam's room and had dumped half of the container of fish food all over himself and the floor. Thankfully I got up there just in time to see it happening and keep him from eating any of it--YUCK and what a mess! Today, I caught him reaching for my mug. I'm so thankful that I caught him when it was full of hot tea. That was a scary moment that you would think would teach me to scoot that cup back further on the table, but no. Later I found him with it, but this time it was already empty, so instead of freaking out, I grabbed the camera--evidence!