Category: Oh, baby!

Sixth disease aka exanthem subitum aka roseola infantum

Max has roseola. Yesterday the fever left and the pediatrician said the rash would peak, and it seems that the concentrated red spots all over baby’s face, chest, and back have turned somewhat blotchy and less well-defined today. The important thing is that Max is getting stronger again. We played around some yesterday and even though he didn’t smile so much, it was a relief to see him demanding mental stimulation again. Until two days ago was just horrible – he was hugging mommy all day and got weepy about anything.
Last night, he actually let me hold him and put him to sleep with two conditions:

  1. I didn’t stop walking
  2. I didn’t even think about stopping walking

So I held him and walked around the living room from 9pm to 3 am. This is only fair, since mommy has been taking care of him every night like this, although I kinda went into this Gumpish trance and couldn’t stop walking or even change the arm I was holding him with – my left arm feels like it did a thousand pull-ups or something. I gave him milk from a bottle when he woke up every couple hours and Nam finally got some uninterrupted sleep. In fact, I believe her exact words right before she fell unconscious were, “haha now you know what it feels like,” followed by, “don’t wake me up.”
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Max is sick

It started with a runny nose a week ago, then a fever four days ago. Then coughing two days ago and a rash on his face this morning. The pediatrician thinks it’s a bacterial infection in his intestines and perhaps an allergy as well. Max is now on an antibiotic course and taking a lot of fluids – mama’s milk, lactose-free formula (mostly sugar it seems), electrolyte beverage and water.
I’m not too worried because he’s a strong boy and getting sick is part of growing up, but it’s hard on Nam because he’s even more weepy and sensitive than he was a few days ago. She’s not getting much sleep at all, and is basically carrying him all day and all night except when he allows the nanny or me to spell her for a little while. We have to go see the pediatrician again tomorrow. Here’s to hoping it all ends well soon (especially the rash on his face, it pains us to look at it and we couldn’t bear to take a photo for reference, either)
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I happened to be going through New Years photos as I wrote this so here’s a photo of Max and his great grandma:
20090102ny-in-the-fields0106.jpg

clingy

Max is currently going through a very clingy stage with mommy. The past few nights, he would only sleep if she was holding him – and get this – walking steadily. The second she tried to set him on his bed or even just sit down while still holding him, he would start sobbing uncontrollably (BTW, it’s amazing how babies can tell if you’re actually walking or just sitting and rocking back and forth to emulate walking). This went on all night, every night, and I’m impressed that Nam still goes to work and functions normally and all that.
So.
Yesterday I stayed home with the baby all afternoon and watched him while his nanny cleaned the house. He was demanding, as ever, but not nearly as weepy as he is with mommy. Oh well. He has full rows of front teeth emerging top and bottom, so maybe it’s just driving him a little bit crazy… I often tell him not to be such a baby, but he just ignores me. Oh well, I guess this is all part of parenthood.
I plan to post some pictures from last week if I get the chance later.