Where to Begin?

Our normal crazy life has seemed even crazier recently. Well, at least until Friday. Daniel really knows how to celebrate his 8-month birthday. We had been in full holiday swing until Daniel came down with Croup on Friday. We were scheduled to go in for his flu shot with a nurse, but that morning he was so unusual that I rescheduled for a Doctor's appointment. He was being relatively lethargic and quite clingy. No big red flags, but I just wanted to get him checked out. Well, we get to the doctor, and everyone keeps asking me if it started last night. I kept saying maybe. I had to describe his cough about 10 times. Apparently, 'barky' is the correct term to describe a croupy cough. Anyway, they check him out, everything seems ok, and then Daniel let out the slightest cough, and the Doctor proclaims it croup. I guess the cough is quite telling.

Well, Friday night we found out why they kept asking if it started the night before. Daniel went to bed like usual and slept fine until about midnight. Then he was up every hour from then on. All he wanted was to be held. The poor kid was miserable. He would cough, pause, and then cry. It was a long whiny cry. He stayed fairly miserable until Sunday morning. Luckily it is nice and cold outside, so we can expose him to nice cold air to help his throat feel better. He is feeling much better now, but the croup still lingers a bit. It is the worst between 6 and 10 pm. I'm afriad that the sleep training might be out the window.

Daniel also started crawling in the traditional sense this past week. He is getting faster each day. It is really entertaining to watch him learn. His arms will start going faster than his legs, and sometimes he just misses and has a faceplant. He still gets right back up and goes again. Maybe I shouldn't laugh at him, but I need the peace of mind sometimes. He is also getting better at getting down from a standing position to sitting without bonking his head.

The past three or four times I've gone to get him when he wakes up, he'll be standing in the crib. At least twice, he could have been standing there for a very long time. He is a stealthy stander. He'll wake up and stand up with only making the slightest noise. Like a noise similar to a sigh. I'll think his is just napping away only to go in and check and find him standing there looking around the room. I guess if he had a problem, he would let me know.

His top two teeth are just about to erupt. You can see the little white pieces under the skin. I hope they aren't too terribble for him. I'm ready to get back to the normal sleep routine. I'm thinking he will be into a great routine around December 22 when we head to Toronto for Christmas. At least we will have lots of help there!

I'll work on getting more pictures or a video up on Friday.