Sick Thirty

Charlie is sick for the first time. He had a little bit of a cold when he was around 3 months or so, but I wouldn't even call it sick. Not compared to how he is now.

A few days ago, he woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. I gave him some Tylenol, fed him a bottle and went back to bed. The next morning, however, he still had a fever and after I clocked him at 101, I started to get a little worried.

He won't eat or drink much if anything, and when I can finally manage to get him to take his bottle, he throws up right after. He doesn't want to drink anything, so he's definitely dehydrated and you can tell he is just miserable.

I took him to the doctor on Wednesday and they ran a couple tests to see if he had strep or a UTI, but both results were negative (although it was SO AWESOME to have to try and console him while the nurses gave him a catheter. NOT.).

I think it might be the flu, or some virus. I totally understand kids get sick and especially with virus's, you just have to let them run their course, but he is definitely dehydrated and that is what makes me nervous. He still won't eat or drink much, even though we've tried different things like Gatorade and Pedialite.

I hate being helpless, and even more so when it is at his expense. I'm hoping this passes soon!

Changes

What a cute age! Charlie is developing more and more of a personality every day. For example, right now, he is bouncing in his chair and giggling at Spongebob on TV. This is new - he hasn't ever really cared about TV before other than some big glowing thing with colors.

He's also paying more attention to what his hands can do. He can pass things between his hands and his dexterity is amazing. The feet are still a fascination, too. Now that he has two - yes, two! - teeth, he is chewing and sucking on everything that he can fit in his mouth (and even a few things he can't).

My favorite part of my whole day is going to get him out of his crib when he wakes up. I might as well have solved world hunger judging by the expression on his face. He is always SO happy, full of smiles, laughs and just overwhelmed with joy when he sees someone coming to get him. I like to give him a few minutes to wake up, though, because if I get him too soon, he is a complete crab until his next nap.

One of his favorite things right now is the cat. Sometimes he will just sit and stare at her, amazed at the fuzzy little face with long white whiskers. Kitty is pretty patient so far, but he hasn't been able to grab her yet, so I think once he starts crawling and can start chasing her, that tolerant relationship will end pretty quick.

Charlie is as close to crawling as you can get without actually crawling. He gets into the stance, does the wiggle back and forth, then gives up and rolls onto his back. He does have a little mobility, though. He has figures out how to kick his legs and spin in circles, or roll over from tummy to back over and over until he gets where he needs to go.

He's still chowing down on all his fruits and veggies, although his favorites are pears, bananas, squash and sweet potatoes. He isn't so big on carrots or peaches, but he really doesn't like peas or green beans. Who can blame him, really. He's also now able to chew on some biscuits and baby Cheetos, but they are more of a chew toy that food, really. He can drink from his sippy cup now, too. I was so impressed with this milestone. I thought it would be ages before he understood the whole tip-the-cup-and-suck thing.

I still haven't heard any words yet, or none that seem to be intentional. We have started a couple of sign language words, such as "drink" and "all done". It's weird to think he'll be talking one day, and even more weird to think of him forming complete sentances and actually communicating. It's a good thing all these things happen gradually, otherwise I'd be overwhelmed with sadness at how fast he is growing up. I'm pleased to say, though, that thus far I have enjoyed seeing him reach the new milestones and love seeing him grow and develop. Sometimes I have to be conscious of not taking my time with him for granted, but most days I'm so engulfed in having fun with him I don't even notice.

I love my little cuddle bug!

7 Months

I have had this outfit on hand since my first baby shower. I knew as soon as I saw it I would be using it for a photoshoot. I'm only sorry I haven't been able to find any baby cowboy boots. I know Charlie doesn't quite get it yet, but just hanging out with him and doing stuff like this makes me laugh.

As you can see, he is sitting all by himself. The crawling is still tricky, and he hasn't quite figured out how the hands fit into the equation.

Cousin Camp

Back in February, I decided my life was so boring that I invited all my nieces and nephews to come stay with me for a few days during the summer break. That is 7 kids, ages 17 to 6, not including Emilee, Charlie or Justine.

It might cause others to be suicidal, but I was SO EXCITED. We had so much fun!

All the kids, plus someone else's kid who
thought the dog pile on Nicole was pretty
fun, too.

I picked them up last week and brought them to the house. The first day was just a relaxed day - no big plans. We went to the park by our house and I allowed the kids some time to get settled.

Austin and Nicole, fighting it out at the park



Ryan, Trent, Megan, Austin, Nicole, Kelly and Emilee

The second day was the biggest adventure day we had. First, we went to Liberty Park for a picnic.

I love these kids!

Charlie loved being adored by all his cousins.

After lunch, we went to the water feature at the park and the kids played while Grandma and I rested.

Kelly, Megan and Emilee cooling off their tootsies in the water

Dustin, Ryan and Trent put leaves in the water at the top and
followed them down to the bottom.

The park was lots of fun. But we still had lots to do. Next, we went to the Planetarium (or the Planet-a-tarium, as Trent called it). Because I'm not delusional enough to think I can actually keep track of 9 kids all at once, we set up a buddy system. Each of the older kids paired with a younger one and they split up to explore. Oddly enough, they seemed most interested in the gift shop. Who cares about planets and space?? There are cool toys in here!

Waiting to cross the road - We love space!

Kelly and Emilee holding their breath on the moon

Checking each other out, 'scope style

Ha ha ha.

Once we were done at the Planet-a-tarium, we headed off to our hike. I've done this hike a few times before, but I always forget how to get there. Thankfully, we didn't get too off course and before we knew it, we were trekking up the mountain.

The best part of hiking is the payoff when you reach the halfway point:

We made it back down without any casualties, so we headed home to get dinner started.

The next day, I wanted to take the kids to one of the places their mom's and I used to go when we were kids - Antelope Island. For those not familiar with the Utah Valley, this is a public "beach" off of the Great Salt Lake. It stinks, there are dead shrimps everywhere and the water is of course super salty. But hey, it's still nostalgic. And if you live in Utah, you should know about the local attractions!

Grandma was smart - she stayed in the A/C

We had a late start that day, so it was back home after the lake. The kids had put together a skit for us during the day. After dinner, Kevin, my mom and I sat down and watched the cinematic magic the kids had created. It was so cute! They did a great job.

After the skit, we set up to watch a movie in the backyard. We have an extra projector, so I had Kevin set it up against the fence. We also set up a couple of tents because some of the kids wanted to sleep outside after the movie. It was so windy, sometimes we couldn't even hear the movie because of the wind beating against the tents.

Poor Ryan woke up having a nightmare when he went to his tent, so I took the two little boys and had them sleep in the basement - much safer than a windy tent.

Saturday morning, I drove Austin to take his ACT. Once I got back home, we got things ready for lunch. Instead of having a picnic, we ate at the house and waited for Austin to finish his test. We played an intense game of Apples to Apples (which I totally would have won if I didn't have to leave early) then it was time to head up the mountains again.

This time, we went to Solitude to do some geocaching. If you've never done this, you should totally do it! Although it was freezing, half the kids didn't have jackets and it was extremely windy, it was lots of fun. The kids enjoyed finding the hidden treasure and I enjoyed the walk. And guess what else! We saw a moose right off the trail, lying in the grass!

Kevin and Scoob

Shorts and sweaters. A great combo for such a cold day

Awe, lovies

Dustin and Megan were inseparable

Ryan didn't have a jacket, so we improvised

Kelly had a fantastic photo bomb!

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We were freezing from the walk around the lake, but we had already filled a cooler-full of water balloons, so weren't about to waste them. We made our way back to the park to have a water fight and take some pictures in the t-shirts I had made for them.

Ryan lost his shirt, so that's why there's a touch of Spiderman
in the family photo

I took probably 90 shots of the kids jumping, and this was the
best I could get. Ha.

Sunday was the last day. While we waited for my sister to get there, I worked on a slideshow with all the pictures and the video I recorded of the skit. I wasn't able to burn the disc so it was a little shaky when we tried to watch it, but it was cool to share with my sister and her husband all the adventures we had.

I'm so glad I did this, I had such a great time with all of them and made some beautiful memories. Hooray for family!