Alex turns 2! (And other things)

(Written on Sunday Jan. 31st:)

Happy Birthday, Munchkin!

The poor chap is sick. He got a fever Friday evening and hasn't been fever-free much since then. Motrin and Tylenol take it down for awhile, but it always rises again. And he seems to be getting worse instead of better. He's got the fever, he's lethargic, doesn't care to eat and says he's cold a lot. He's into cuddles and, of course, is wanting to nurse more. The five of us (Gracie the cat included) had a snuggle this morning in our queen sized bed. While we were laying there, we took Alex's temp - 103.0. Then the Motrin kicked in and he ran around acting normal (though he still felt warm to the touch). Around lunchtime, you could tell the Motrin was losing its effectiveness. He started losing energy, and almost fell asleep on Biju's shoulder. He wouldn't eat his lunch, so we just gave him his dose of Tylenol and I took him to his room. I sat on his rocking chair with him and took his temp again. 103.9 under the armpit! Ack! I called the doctor on call for the weekend and he suggested taking him to Immediate Care. As Biju put it, there is nothing immediate about Immediate Care. We decided to put him down for his nap and just keep an eye on him. I've checked on him twice and he still feels warm, but not as hot as before.
In the meantime, Ajay and I made his birthday cake! It smells delish, and I just hope it tastes as good. I need to get my hands on some powdered sugar so I can make the frosting. Ajay is excited about decorating it and putting the candles on.
(Written Feb 2:)
Well it's been a busy couple of days, so I'll attempt to finish up this post now!
Alex and Ajay helped to put sprinkles on the cake. Ajay ate his up. Alex didn't even take a bite.
Alex LOVES his birthday present. We went to see the pediatrician yesterday. Doc seems to think it's walking pneumonia again. We've got the same medicine that he was on back in November when he had it the first time. He had a fever throughout yesterday, but so far today, he doesn't feel warm - and he's acting like the goofball he is, so that is a good sign! Still isn't into food much, though. We'll just keep praying for continued improvement.
We're so proud of our little two-year-old. He weighs 25lbs on a good day, and is about 32.5 inches tall. He talks like a 3 year old, I'm sure of it. He can hold down his end of a conversation and easily makes 4-6 word sentences. This helps cut down on the temper tantrums, as he's able to tell us what he wants/whats going on. Ajay can't get away with things anymore, as Alex has learned (from big brother) how to tattle. And Alex can't lie, yet, so Brother gets busted quite often!
He enjoys dancing around the room with Ajay. We often have kid-music playing (we love our library!) and they'll do their herky-jerky moves that make us laugh. He's a shy flirt and it usually takes him awhile to warm up to new situations. He's not quite as outgoing as Ajay is, but I still think he tends to be more extroverted than introverted.

The cake didn't turn out as pretty as I'd hoped (still tasted good, though!). Two different piping bags (er, Ziplock baggies) burst open as I was trying to decorate it. So I gave up and just dolloped the rest of the icing around the side.

As you can see, he was mesmerized by the candles!



As for other things, here are some snaps of random pics taken since the last time I posted miscellaneous updates.

Ajay tried his hand at melted crayon prints. I got the idea from here. We took a hot-plate of sorts, put some aluminum foil on it and turned it to low. Once it was warm, we took crayons and drew on the aluminum. Afterward, we took a piece of paper, placed it over the drawing, pressed down with a hot glove, and viola! Artwork!

Drawing on the foil:


Pressing the paper to the foil:


Ever so enthusiastically showing off his art:


After melting crayons, Ajay had some fun outside - it was one of those days when it was actually NICE to be outside! And what better way to play than to use a lopped off branch as an army rifle?


When we were last ill (all of us), we ended up giving Shelly and her family the stomach bug. So one day last week we kept Kyleigh for the day so Shell could get some rest. Kyleigh and Alex enjoyed each others company so much they didn't even fight (much)!

They sat on the swing for a bit after we dropped Ajay off at school:



They sat inside this cool expandable ball:



Ajay came home from school and played, then Paige came over w/ Carrick (this was when he was working on our computer). The kids had made up a nest of sorts out of the over-turned footstool and stuffed buddies.



The next day while Carrick was still working on our computer virus, Audrey came over for a little visit, too. She's over 6 weeks already! She's still having a hard time keeping her eyes focused!



More snow!! The boys wanted to go out and play. This was last Friday. Alex ended up getting his fever later this night. I hope it didn't have to do with playing in the snow, this is a child's rite of passage!






Here is our lil patient getting some rest on Saturday before I left for Topeka for a Norwex party:



Here is a photo of Ajay that Alex took:



Even though Alex was feeling sickly, he still felt well enough (with the help of Tylenol and Motrin) to play Superhero with Big Brother!



Another indoor activity Ajay and I did was our own version of "Air Hockey." He must've seen some children's show freeze water, as he had poured some water into a little bowl and stuck it in the freezer. He knocked the ice out of the bowl and thought it resembled a hockey puck. So we used some of the toys from Alex's new Clippo set, got out a metal cookie sheet, and had a little friendly competition!



And now you're pretty much caught up on the family. Be sure to check in later for more random bits of information!! (And feel free to leave a comment, or click on the little boxes below. I love to hear back from people and get a feel as to who all has visited the blog!)