Oh, What a Night...and morning (UPDATED)

Brig took Owen to the dr. yesterday for them to check his weight. (we made this appt a month ago when he had his routine 12 m.o. appt and his weight was down slightly) He has gained a pound, so all is good there. The nurse checked his temp and it was normal. Fast-forward a few hours and he has a fever...and will not take a good nap...and won't eat...and wants to be held. How fast do these things come on sometimes? Brig gave him his first dose of Tylenol. He takes a crappy second nap. I was thinking it was maybe just his teeth/gums giving him a fit until I came home. BTW...one of his top teeth has finally pushed through.

I come home from work and what greets me on our front porch? A snake. If you know me, you know how I can deal with almost anything...but that. Granted, it was a baby, and was no longer than a foot, but still a snake. I thought it would actually move the closer I got to it, but no movement in sight. I walked around it, went inside and greeted my family. I told Brig and she went to take a look. We have an agreement in our house. I deal with all bugs (Brig has an intense fear of roaches) and she deals with all reptiles. I got the shovel for her, even though she preferred a hoe for the murder weapon. But we don't own a hoe. What would I do with a hoe? Kill snakes I guess. Anyway...Owen and I snuggled on the couch while mommy chopped the big bad snake into pieces. When she returns fresh from the kill, she tells me she's not sure if she recovered the head and oh, btw there is now splattered blood on our stoop. I felt like we should put police tape around the scene. If you are feeling bad for the snake you won't get any sympathy from me. Baby or not, if we didn't rid ourselves of it, it would turn into an adult someday.

So...now we move on to the rest of our evening. Owen was very mopey but still managed to eat his dinner and had a pretty good time in the tub. He was getting a little stuffy, so my teething theory went out the window. We took his temp the accurate way (if you know what I mean) and it was around 101. We gave him another dose of Tylenol. He was down by 7:00 since he took bad naps and we had high hopes that he would be okay. He mumbled for a few seconds around 8:00 and the same around 9:00. We checked on him several times and he seemed to be alright. Neither of us heard him until he started wailing around 2:00.

Brig went in first and I followed with the Tylenol. He was very upset and burning up. We took his temp again and this time it was 104.4. I immediately jump online to get some tips. Why do these things always happen in the middle of the night??? I know a fever is sort of a good thing...and that it occurs to fight off something else...but 104? Really? We stripped him down and put him in the tub again...lukewarm water if you are interested. He sat there for a few minutes, but was understandably not interested in fun bath time at 2 a.m. We got him out and dressed and put a cool washcloth on his forehead while we read stories. After 15 minutes we took him temp again and it had dropped to around 102...not great, but not 104! He was no longer on fire and was falling back asleep.

I went back to bed around 3:00 and Brig was right behind me. Milo came to see what was going on during bath time, but Crash never got out the bed. As I was trying to go back to sleep, I kept hearing Crash's tummy making some very strange noises. Brig asked if that was me or him, and I confirmed it was him.

Sometime between then and 5:00 our power flickered. My clock was out and Brig said she set hers and reset the monitor, etc... While I was in the shower, she came in the bathroom and said Crash had just vomitted right next to her head. She immediately through the bed linens in the wash and had to clean the mattress. When I got out, she was attempting to sleep on the couch. I continued to get ready for work and I heard Owen cry for just a second. When I was getting ready to run out the door, Brig was in the den scrubbing a spot on the floor. Apparently Crash got sick again while she was in Owen's room checking on him.

Owen's fever is now at 101 and he did eat bfast. Brig also reports that he has been laughing a little.

UPDATE: Two-hour nap this morning and temp down to 99!

UPDATE #2: Owen is back to his happy dancin' self. I got to thinking...when Owen got his 12 m.o. shots the doc said he may have side affects a few weeks afterward. I wonder if that's what this was...

Nothing Runs Like A Deere

Owen had his first ride on Papa's lawn mower this weekend. Needless to say, he loved every minute. We are so glad this kid's not afraid of anything big and loud.


We also went to Josh's 6th birthday party this weekend. It was a soccer theme, and although Owen is just a little too young to play, it didn't stop him from trying.

I Think I Love You

Owen will be 13 m.o. tomorrow and he amazes us on a daily basis. We thought this age would be fun, but he has exceeded our expectations. He has such a personality and we can't wait to hear what he says next.

He is doing really well with his animals and the sounds they make. And he loves books. He would rather us read to him than do anything else. In the last few days he has said "thank you", "off", "up" or "open" and "good job", but what tears me up is when he first said "I love you"...This totally makes up for him learning to say "no".

New pics coming soon...

Pictures of You

We finally managed to get Owen's 12 month/1 y.o. pics taken yesterday. This was the first time we've done it in the afternoon, and he was not a happy camper. He warmed up a little half way through the session, but the pics turned out good nonetheless.

A side note...Owen now says the word "no" and our lives will never be the same.

Another side note...I came across this quote the other day and it's exactly how I feel about Owen:

"Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. "
-Elizabeth Stone

Word Up

Owen's vocabulary is rapidly expanding. In the last week he has said:

Cat
Hat
Light
Apple
Tickle
Roar

He says words we don't understand (yet) all the time, but to him I'm sure they make perfect sense. It's fun to hear him repeat words we say and to encourage him to say new words when he points to something.

He's also less cautious of walking slow and now moves quickly in the house and the yard. In fact, I think he's become more brave and a much more confident walker since we've been outside so much...since the terrain is not smooth and completely flat like the inside.

BTW, his two front upper teeth will be popping through any day now....and that explains the massive amounts of drool we've seen the last two weeks. We are FINALLY getting his pics taken this week, but here a few recent ones to tide you over:

Let's go to the park...again

What is that?

As we were getting Owen ready for bed last night he discovered his you-know-what. Brig and I couldn't stop laughing and wondered what he was thinking.