My Little Monkey

Okay, so most of you all have seen the monkey shots or the actual monkey himself before this post for sure, but for my personal record keeping, I'm obligated to post them here of course!  We didn't do to much as far as Halloween goes, except for Molly's birthday party which was Keller's one and only out and about in the costume experience.  Kind of warm that day for a full fleecy outfit, but he looked cute!  Back home here, he hung out in his costume for a little while as the trick-or-treaters came, though not too many, and Trav and I had out annual Take-Out Chinese on Halloween treat which has changed over the past few months from Szechuan Bean Curd and Broccoli to General Tsao's Bean Curd and Broccoli---yum!  Here's Keller on his new wheels!  Jill gave Keller a gift card to pick out his own ride-on toy which clearly a boy his age needs and so this is what we got.  He's good at getting on and off all himself and though he doesn't quite sit on the seat, he does  "walk it" around the house.  Not so good at steering yet though, but it's an oh so cute bike!  On the topic of walking, Keller is all over it.  It is officially his preferred method of transport at this time and I just love watching him waddle around with his arms up (in half guard?--jiu jitsu term) and ready to catch himself when he falls.  He's pretty good though--it's liberating for him to be up and about and able to use two hands to carry stuff around.  Every morning that we're home, he goes into the cabinet that has pots, pans, tupperware, and his cereal in it, takes out the cereal box and walks it over to me saying, "Nah, nah, nah, nah..." which means "Can I have some?" or "More" or a myriad of other possibilities!  So he gets a little bowl of cereal and has a picnic on the floor.  A cute little morning ritual!  

Keller is also big into books and being read to, which I love.  I told Travis the other day when Keller handed him a book saying "Nah, nah, nah..."--anytime Keller hands you a book, you're obligated to read it to him, at least for now!  Keep that love of books going!  So yes, he'll sit cozily on your lap looking at the pictures, and taking my finger to point at different things.  He was into the flap books for awhile (Where's Baby's Bellybutton, etc.) but now he's really liking the books with actual photos of animals and other real objects.  He'll just listen to the words and point to different things on his own.  He can point to the duck, dog, bike, ball, and car on his own now when prompted.  

On Thursday, Keller, Bo and I went up to my mom and dad's for a change in scenery and visit while Trav was out of town.  Keller stayed up late so he could have a visit with Grandpa and was a happy playful little guy and then went right to sleep when it was time.  Well not two hours later I was going in to check on him before I went to sleep and woke him up with the creek of the door.  That was the end of sleep for him for awhile.  He sounded all congested and was miserable so I held him, rocked him, laid down with him and he cried and slept on me on and off for about 2 and a half hours before being officially zonked out enough for me to stick him in the crib.  He slept a good stretch and then around 3 am I heard him coughing that lovely bark like cough.  He whined and fell back to sleep.  Then about every half hour or so it was the same, cough, whine, sleep.  He ended up sleeping until after 8 which is unheard of but considering how much he/we were up in the night it made sense.  Finally when I went in to get him, there were these rosy red cheeks and a feverish little boy.  102ish.  But by the time he ate and went downstairs he was happily playing and running around.  In the meantime, I made an appointment to see the doc later that afternoon---after all, cough and fever are THE symptoms to watch out for these days.  Keller stayed home with my mom while I worked for a couple of hours after which we went right to the doc who after hearing him cough said, yup, croup.  She immediately recommended a steroid to open up his airways a bit and sent us off with a scrip to continue the steroid and with explicit directions on what to do in the night when croup flairs up the worst.  She said "If you make it through tonight without having to call me and go to the ER than you're in the clear, but make sure to check on him regularly to be sure his breathing is okay."  Hearing how seriously she took it made me a bit worried, but I knew Trav would be home that night and as a team we could manage just fine.  We actually used the baby monitor for the first time so we could hear him, but still needed to go in and check on him.  He was just up with some coughs and whines like the night before so we were in the clear!  On Saturday his cough was better, not "croupy" and he was playing about happily.  And today he's been playing, although is coughing more and far more drippy/sniffly than he has been, which to me is a sign that things are clearing out I guess...It's no fun having a sick baby though:(  At the moment, he is out getting some fresh air with Trav and Bo at the doggy park while I relax and clear my brain a little..loooonnnngggg overdue!  

On top of all of Keller's feeling bad, I too have been feeling not well, but alas, who has time to be sick when you're the mommy?  And so it goes!  I'm just glad he's feeling better.