A manly stroller...

We have missed so much church the last few weeks because of the flu and nasty colds. I can't wait to be back worshipping with our Creekside family Sunday, Lord willing.

Last Sunday, Kip was a few days into treating his flu with Tamiflu & was feeling a little better. So we headed outside to stave off cabin fever. I got Kip bundled up, even though it wasn't cold, and sent him out with Eric. I headed out front a little later and didn't see them right away. I looked up the street and saw Eric pushing the wheel barrel with Kip loaded inside. It was so cute, I started chuckling right away. I told Eric we have a stroller. He was like this is more fun & it's pretty good exercise too. :)

Oh, and I *finally* got Eric to take the outdoor Christmas lights down...yes, I KNOW it's Feb.  Please don't judge...*sigh*

Kory, the make up artist...

Has a few things to learn.

The other day after homework & chores were done, Kory asked if she could put make up on. This is what emerged from her room a while later. Teeheehee. :)

The Super K's

Kip had me read 'Potty time with Elmo' the other evening. He noticed the towel Elmo has on as a cape at the end & kept pointing it out saying "cowel". I figured he meant towel, so I got a blanket & tied on him.

He was beyond thrilled.

I'm sure this is the first of many cape adventures for this little boy. He was having so much fun, sister got in on the action, too. :)

Kip says GOODBYE, FLU

Today I had my boy back 100%. 

He started the day off eating & eating & eating.

We played, HE played (w/o me!!), we played.

He amazed us...he counted to 10 completely without any assistance. He's been able to mostly do it, just leaving out one number or saying 18, 19 instead of 8 & 9.  But tonight he got it completely right, completely unassisted, & unsolicited. Then he repeated it over & over because we all went over the top praising him. :)

Just another February day...

Well not really...it was 80 degrees here today. Kip & I have been closed up in this house, other than to go to the doctor or pick Kory up from school, for almost 3 weeks. Today we both were feeling MUCH better, so after we got Kory from school, we headed to the park.

I don't like this park for Kip because there aren't really toddler friendly jungle gyms, but it's the closest to the house & was nice to just get outside!!

Since there wasn't much there for Kip, he mostly ran around looking for Kory or just running after her. "Kory? Kory?". So sweet :)

Kory's words when we got there, not surprisingly, were, "I'm gonna make some new friends!". She wasn't too interested in baby brother slowing her down. She did take a few time outs for him, though.

Mad Gab

Ever feel like you're playing a game of Mad Gab when you're trying to understand your toddler?

Kip has a pretty big vocabulary for his age, even if no one besides our family ever hears it. He's like his daddy in that he's pretty quiet around others but talks nonstop at home with us. 

He of course copies so many words we say throughout the day. But he also adds new words/phrases to his vocabulary every.single.day...it really amazes me!!

Since I'm with Kip 24/7, I understand him better than anyone.  I know the code words he uses for things or can piece together bits of conversation to figure out new words he's saying.  I can usually figure out what he's saying pretty quickly but if I can't he gets pretty frustrated. I try to get him to show me, but sometimes that doesn't work either.

Poor Eric tries to understand, but a lot of times he's way off. Mostly because he doesn't observe the surrounding situation and just reflects what HE wants onto what Kip is saying.  :)

Kory's the worst though. She completely makes up what Kip says...all.the.time. The other day after I picked her up from school Kip was saying something to her and getting frustrated because she didn't understand. I couldn't really hear him and couldn't turn around to help out. Next thing I know, Kory says, "He's saying, 'down low you're too slow'". Ummmm...pretty sure he's not.  He'd never heard that before. Lol.

Today in the bathroom he was hanging onto the tie of my robe and swinging. It was hanging on a hook; I wasn't wearing it. ;)  He kept repeating something over and over, a phrase not just a word.  It sounded like this "mommy, ookame." He said it over and over. I just kind of chuckled in response. Then it hit me, he's saying, "Mommy, look at me!".  So I repeated it and he smiled and continued swinging from my robe tie and saying "ookame".

Score 1 for mommy on today's round of Mad Gab!!

However, there's one thing he used to say all the time that none of us could ever figure out. Now it's just become a joke between us. Sometimes he'll just say, "Mommy, upitall.". Then we both laugh because we don't know what it means. If he's fussy or getting restless in the car I'll say, "Kip, upitall.". And he starts giggling. I'll be interested to know if we ever figure out what he meant when he first started saying "upitall". :)

Sicky Kippy

I tried to post this the other day but had technical difficulties.

Thursday I took Kip to the doctor...he has the flu, double ear infection, sinus infection & bronchitis. :(

Two weeks ago he had lots of congestion. I assumed it was allergies or at the worst a cold. I treated his congestion and wiped, wiped, wiped his nose throughout the week and last Sunday his nose stopped running and congestion was almost completely gone. I thought we were in the clear.  Then...

Just before bed he coughed a little, twice....

During the night it turned "barky" so I knew we had a case of croup. Monday morning he had a low grade fever for just a very short time. I decided to monitor him, give him his inhaler regularly, and push fluids.  As is typical with croup, his cough wasn't bad during the day but got worse at night. So for the next couple of nights, he and I didn't get any sleep. He was so miserably congested he couldn't breathe comfortably. Every night I'd countdown the hours til I could call the doctor to get him an appt. Then he'd wake up in a good mood, wanting to play, and not coughing. So I'd change my mind and add some tricks to his med regimine.  Then...

Wednesday his cough sounded more wet and heading to his chest.rather than the barky croup cough. And he started running a low grade fever in the afternoon. So I called the doctor and got an appt for the next morning.  Then...

He slept restlessly the first half of the night but slept better the second half. When he woke up, he was of course in a great mood. He was telling his knock knock joke and playing with Eric. I almost cancelled his appt, almost. 

As Eric was getting him dressed, he coughed a couple of times. Coughs scare me because they can get bad so fast in little ones. That's why I kept his appt, to get his cough checked before the weekend. And I'm so glad I did!!

Flu, double ear infection, sinus infection and bronchitis!!

I was thinking to myself how did I miss all of that?!

We got some meds and his pedi gave me a prescription for tamiflu for myself just in case.

Kip screams when we go to the doctor. He's all fine until we go back with the nurse. He screams when they weigh him, he screams when they take his temp, he cries when they take his pulse ox, he screams when they check his ears, he screams when they run any tests...you get the point.

He did find 2 things delightful there today though. His first sucker experience and playing with the rolling stool.