Update

River is recovering well from his pneumonia. He is happy again and getting rest. He's still a sick little guy but he is much better. Tonite I went to put him in the bath and noticed hives all over his arms, hands, feet and legs. After calling the Doctor it was determined that he is having an allergic reaction to his antibiotic. We gave him Benadryl. I went in to give him a breathing treatment and the hives are almost gone. I am relieved. Off to the doctor again tomorrow.

Snow Again and Sickness .....Again

This morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow. It is the most we have had all year at our house. I wanted to post pictures and take River out to enjoy the snow, but it is not to be. River is recovering from being really sick this weekend. He has a virus that causes a high fever. Today the fever has broke and the cold is moving in......or so I thought. A day has now passed and River has pneumonia. We took him to the doctor after a night of constant coughing. He now has to do a breathing treatment every 4 hours around the clock and take an antibiotic. He is borderline dehydrated so we are working on giving him fluids. He has a least been able to rest this evening with less coughing so I am hopeful for tonite. We will be taking care of our sick little one and making the best of it until he recovers.

Singing, Counting and Sentences

River has been growing so much since Christmas. He now attempts to sing both Twinkle Twinkle and Jingle Bells. I am not counting on him ever really learning Jingle Bells because his only exposure to the song has been Daddy's versions. He also likes to count. We start by saying one, two and then he will say three, we say four, he says five and so it goes until we get to ten. He will often say three numbers in a row before we have a turn again. Brian had started some counting games with him while he was giving baths. He also started picking it up from his morning cartoons. His sentences are really developing too. The other day I was eating a breakfast sandwich in the car and he said "I want a bite of samwich". I was amazed. I didn't realize that he had picked up the word "a" and "of" and knew how to use them. He also loves to remember things. He will start by saying "member?" and then I say some thing and then he will start saying names of people and a place where we all were. For Example: "Member?" "Amaya, Chaso" "Chuck Cheese". He is telling me about the time we met some friends at Chuck E Cheese. It was the first time he was big enough to really have a good time and it must have really stuck in his mind. It amazes me how he seems to be the same little River for a few months and then it seems overnight he is doing all these new things.

I really enjoy him more with each new development. He is busier than ever and doesn't nap as much. It is getting harder and harder for me to find time to get things done around the house. That's Ok though, because River is just so much fun. We can talk and play with each other. I am looking forward to Summer and all the new adventures we can have as a family.

Weekend Adventures

Brian had a 3 day weekend this week. We had a good time enjoying the extra time off. We took River to Tolmie State Park. It is one of our favorite parks and is close by. We have not been there in a long time. River had fun exploring around. There were several encounters of booted little feet getting in the water and one quick effort to run all the way into the water. The attempt was stopped by Mon, but it was a close call. River loves to watch and wait until I am not paying attention to make his move, quick as anything. He keeps me on my toes! We did not take a stroller or pack and he was free to roam the whole time. It got to be a little to much for him as it was time to leave. He was hungry and tired, but it was a fun time. We love that now he is older he can actually enjoy some of the places we take him.

That evening we took him to open gym gymnastics. He got to jump in the foam pits and run on the running trampoline. He had so much fun. He is starting to talk in sentences now. Mostly 2 word things but we get a lot of " I want to walk" . It seems he picks up a few new words everyday. He copies EVERYTHING Brian and I say. He has sat in the back seat of the car repeating everything Brian and I say as we are having a conversation.

For the rest of the weekend Brian has been working on insulating his shop and turning it into a place that he can play his music.

Sucsess

Brian and I have not particularly been in a hurry to wean River from his bottles. We never considered it important and sort of figured that when River was ready he would let us know. Well, that time has been coming. He had been down to 3 bottles for a LONG time. Morning, noon, and nite. He has been off his morning bottle for a couple months now. No big deal since he did not rely on it to help him fall asleep. I have been noticing that he really has been losing interest in his bottles and not fully drinking them. They really seem to be more of a habit than comfort lately. This afternoon was the first time I tried to give him a nap with no bottle. It went well. We went to the park this morning so I knew he was good and tired. I fed him a big lunch and put him down with a sippy. He took a few big drinks and put it down. He made some small fusses, called for me a few times, more small fusses and went to sleep. A big step for my little guy. Now I have to decide if we do the same tonite or take it in "baby steps".