Beware the germs of March

Six years ago, I would have proclaimed that the hardest part of being a parent is surviving a night with a sleepless baby. This week I discovered that those sleepless nights of early momhood were nothing compared to night after night after night of tending the needs of three sick children. Erik is recovering from a cold and only woke up once  last night from a bad dream. The younger two, however, are testing my physical endurance with their nighttime woes. William has been battling a cold for at least two weeks and a cough for several weeks prior to that. On Thursday he was diagnosed with RSV. Previously I thought that it was only something preemies and sickly children caught, but not this year and not in this house. It seems like half the families we know have been battling some respiratory problem. Fortunately, William is generally fairly healthy. That didn't stop us from taking a trip to the ER Thursday to get his breathing under control. Anna has a nasty cold, too, and a fever that spiked dramatically late yesterday afternoon. I've been up with all the kids on and off all week, but last night I just seemed to go from room to room all night. Coffee is my very, very best friend.

The good news is that everyone seems to be much more like themselves this morning. The fevers are breaking. The coughing is still rather unpleasant but it hasn't brought anyone to hysterics today yet. I'm grateful for the tools we have for dealing with these illnesses, but I'm amazed at how much medical junk I'm wielding right now: ibuprofen, acetaminophen, Benadryll, nebulizer, inhaler, oximeter. My personal favorite: the Snot Sucker -- yet another leap past the icky frontier of stuff a person will do only because they are a parent.

I'm also beyond grateful for the local friends who have been so helpful and encouraging as we try to mend. Sure, this isn't the worst illness we could be battling, but it's been a bit scary and a lot exhausting. So, thank you to everyone who's kind words have done wonders to keep me sane.

And now, to have more coffee.

William at SEVEN months!

Another train-loving Olsen boy

William's current favorite toy: Legos!  

I can do something with this block!

Tomorrow William turns 7 months old! I can't believe the time has gone so quickly. Of course, those late-night wake ups seem to have been going on forever, but the transformation from tiny newborn-- well, he was never really "tiny" -- to curious and personable little man has happened so fast. Our current challenges are separation anxiety and a refusal to nap more than 45 minutes at a time most days. When William thinks he's being left alone and missing out on fun somewhere else, he can pitch a fit with the best of them. Almost no one outside of the walls of this house believes this truth, though. Most of the time, William is a happy guy. When we are out and about, he gets constant comments on how alert he is and how he's clearing watching everything and taking it all in. We will know in a few months what devious schemes he's been planning!

I do believe William is observant and clever, but I think he strikes people as particularly aware because he's just more visible than most babies who have been wrapped up for the winter in buntings and blanket-covered car seats. I gave up on the baby-carrying bucket seat a few months ago because William is heavy enough even without accessories. Thankfully, this mild winter has made it easy to dart in and out of buildings with a basic coat and hat on him. Either in my arms or in the Ergo carrier (Why, oh why, did it take me three kids to discover the joy of the Ergo?) William is up at eye level looking at the world.

As for other developmental milestones, William is eating whatever he can get his hands on. He seems frustrated that food doesn't get to his mouth fast enough and he's starting to hold a sippy cup on his own, ever so briefly. The bottle just never interested him, but he's likes the Nuby cups. He can grab baby puffs but hasn't quite mastered getting them from his hand to mouth. Soon enough. He's not crawling yet, but he rolls across the floor with speed. Sometimes he just rolls and giggles. He's always pretty excited to do something on his own.

As you can see from the pictures, William is very happy to play with big kid toys. He likes Erik's trains, which Erik expected. Erik does not appreciate when William rolls across the tracks, though. William likes Legos, too. Our major struggle is going to be keeping all the tiny construction toys away from him. Fortunately, we have an ample collection of Duplo and Quatro Legos for our Junior-est civil engineer.

In recent weeks, a few times I've been out shopping when someone, usually a clerk at Aldi as it happens, fusses over William and says "Congratulations." Honestly, my mental response is: "Congratulations for what? Oh, yeah! I have a new baby." In many ways, it seems like William was a novelty for just a week or so after he was born and then it was as if he had always been a part of the family. With Erik and Anna's school and social schedules to keep me busy, I just haven't had time to bask in Williams new-baby-ness. I don't feel like he's missing out on attention, though. Even though his baby days are zipping by, he gets so much love from his brother and sister and attention from everyone we meet taking them where ever they need to go. Sometimes I have a moment of panic thinking, "Wow, who put me in charge of three kids?" I also have many moments of absolute love for all the kids. When I'm getting William ready for bed each night I can' t help but thank God for the miracle of three healthy children, three happy, smart, loving children. I am so thankful that one more time I get to participate in a child's discovery of the world, step by step. Happy seven-month birthday, William.

My big kid

(I meant to publish this last week, but time got away from me...)

Erik and Grandma G playing Connect Four

Time to brag on my oldest child for a moment. Every day before "quiet time" and bed time, we read to the kids. Now that Erik is a big kindergartner, sometimes he does some of the reading. Today, I was able to tuck in William for a nap first, then read with Anna and Erik separately. That gave me some nice one-on-one time with each child.

Last week Erik's papers from school included notice that he had jumped two reading levels since the last time he was evaluated. I wasn't really surprised since his reading skills and willingness to do the reading has really taken off since Christmastime. Being an observant and clever kid, Erik early on was showing off his reading skills by memorizing signs and favorite words ("train," "Lego"). As he began kindergarten, I was convinced he knew how to read at a basic level for his age. He preferred to let others do the reading to him, though, so I couldn't determine what he really knew. It's very exciting now to hear him read aloud and see concrete evaluations of his reading skill. Since imparting a love of books is one of my main goals as a mother, it is so gratifying to see all my kids delight in reading and being read to. It's also fascinating to see the process of reading development from small person who chews on books to bigger person who devours books!

Long live words!