We Had a Good Run

It has been a while since all three of us were sick at the same time, but unfortunately it has hit again.

Lee has had cold and flu symptoms for two weeks and has had no voice for the duration of that time.  Jackson had a mixture of conjunctivitis, a bad diaper rash, and a chesty cough for about a week-and-a-half (and after four trips to the doctor's office, we finally got him fixed).  I have a really sore eye due to conjunctivitis, but hopefully the new drops I got from the pharmacist today will work.  She said she's 'never seen an eye that bad' which wasn't comforting.  The over-the-counter drops I was using were making it worse since Wednesday, but I thought that I would wake up each day and it would miraculously be fixed.  That didn't happen.  Other than that, I was really dizzy and feverish towards the end of the week.  Lee and I both have the feeling that our throats are swollen, too.  So whatever that means?

Because of all of our illnesses, Jackson missed three-and-a-half days this week and two days last week, Lee missed eight out of the last ten days of work, and I missed the last two-and-a-half days of this week.  It is hard to take care of each other when we're all sick!  It's like the blind leading the blind (almost literally now with this conjunctivitis).

So to combat the various maladies, I filled our fridge with the 'best foods to eat when you are sick' as recommended by https://authoritynutrition.com/15-best-foods-when-sick/.  Most of the foods are ones that I absolutely hate such as tea, blueberries, and porridge and some of them were just additives such as honey, ginger, and garlic.  But, since we were at such a low-point, I was ready to try anything.  I must say that along with some ibuprofen for the swollen throats and paracetamol for the fevers, we have stuck to the list of healthy foods and have seen a big improvement in the past couple of days with energy and building appetite levels.

It took this second bout of being unwell to fully understand why rich people hire nannies.  Yes, I can even understand why multiple nannies are required for one child.  There was one time this week that we almost went to the childcare.co.uk website to look for someone who could help us for the day, but who would want to catch all of our diseases no matter what we paid?  So we were left to our own devices and we made it through to the other side.  But, if this were to happen again, and we had won the lottery in the meantime, then we would hire a nanny.

My little baby on Mother's Day--This year he got me a card, flowers, a handmade card with his footprints, and a painting!  Plus, we had a sunny day and got to get outside and play together.

Delivering his nightly speech

Explaining his ideas in his own language

Pretty impassioned at this point

And now, giving his closing statement

My friend's daughter is taking part in the National Swimathon to raise money for the Marie Curie charity next week.  If you get a chance, then please visit her Just Giving page:  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/swimathon-2017-AnnaCogan She's close to her goal of only £100 and it would be nice if she could receive enough donations to reach her goal.

Developmental updates:  Jackson knows how to make chicken noises and train noises now.  He also can point to his mouth and his belly when asked to do so.  Often, he will clap after completing these requests which confirms that he knows what he did was correct.  Another new skill Jackson has developed is speech-making.  He uses the fireplace as his stage and he gets on there with a purpose:  sometimes to deliver a speech, and sometimes to dance.  I was trying to clip Jackson's nails today and he said repeatedly what sounded like, "Go away."  Jackson can now reach the tops of counters and the top drawers so we have to be careful about what we set near the edge.  This week, he came into the living room with a bowl of fruit and tipped a small bowl of water on his head.  We are all on a learning curve.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

On Thursday evening, as I was tucking Jackson in for bed, he reached up with both arms as if he wanted to be pulled up to stand.  So I held his hands, but he just lay there and started nodding off to sleep.  That was the first time that he reached for me just to hold hands and it was precious.

Until Jackson went to sleep, I was thinking, "How many people in the world would feel better by holding my hand?"  That is why having a baby all to yourself is so special--there is possibly no one else in the world who needs you more and just the touch of your hand can lull them to sleep.

But there may be more people who may need our help than just our own children.  On Wednesday, when tragedy struck the city of London, the most moving moments recorded from that event took place as strangers passed those who were slain or injured and lay beside them and cradled them until help arrived.  They super-humanly put any fear aside that they had at the time in what was undoubtedly an unstable rush of hysteria.  Those people may have been naïve, or may have been perfect examples of what it means to be Christ-like.  I'm not sure I would have been that brave.

So, although I know for sure there is one person in the world who wants to hold my hand, I hope that I can be there for anyone else in their time of need.  Of course I hope that nothing happens like what happened on the Westminster Bridge ever again; if I do ever face anyone who is upset or in pain though, then I hope that I can be there for them.

The coolest baby at the park

Jackson waited very patiently to play on this swing until the other children were done.  His park etiquette far surpassed our expectations.

Local Celebrity and his bodyguard

Our Little Prince

A video Lee edited of Jackson playing in the backyard

Developmental updates:  Jackson can now do a very robust impression of an elephant by making a high-pitched noise accompanied by vibrating lips and of course, raising his arm at the same time.  This week, Jackson had to miss two days of nursery due to conditions that needed to be checked-out by the GP.  (He's all right; don't worry).  When he returned on Friday, we found out that his friend, Sadie, had been asking for Jackson for two days and when she was repeatedly told that he was 'poorly,' she kept saying, "Oh no."  I must say that I am surprised that the bonds of friendship are so deep when these little ones are only 12-18 months old.  While Jackson was taking a nap today, he was talking in his sleep which only shows how much his chatting tendencies are developing.  His spoken vocabulary still isn't matching the words he understands, but his key worker said that he is on track for his age group when I met with her at his parent-teacher conference this week.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Spring Training

It was rainy and windy out all day today, but inside our house, it was a bright and sunny day because we got to watch the Cleveland Indians play baseball LIVE!

The official Major League Baseball season has not started yet, so we are in the "Spring Training" pre-season until April 3rd.  I have never been interested in what happens during Spring Training before, nor have I ever watched a Spring Training game (similar to a 'friendly' in England).  But, this year for Christmas, Lee got me a subscription to something called MLB TV which allows me to tune-in to all live and previous Indians' games for the 2017-2018 Season.  Conveniently, the subscription also has a 'highlights' option to catch-up on games quickly.

I felt like I was back in Ohio as soon as the pre-game coverage started and I heard the familiar voices of Matt Underwood (a fellow Ashland native) and Rick Manning.  Also, the sound of baseball is a natural background noise to the weekend for me and it is a sport of which I am quite confident to discuss and use the correct terminology.

This American pastime is creating more entertainment than intended in our household, though:  Lee is still in his infancy of learning terms like pitcher instead of his label of 'thrower' and inning instead of 'batting session.'  His head started spinning when a runner got on base, because as he explained, "The game gets so much more complicated when there is someone on a base and someone batting" as there is "too much to take in."

After living here for nearly six years, I have grown fond of watching England's most popular sport/religion of football (soccer) whereas in Ohio, I only liked playing it.  But I must say that nothing compares to baseball with its swift crack of a bat, 7th inning stretch with an enthusiastic round of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, hot-dogs topped with spicy, brown ballpark mustard, civilized spectating and child-friendly chants, fans of opposing teams sitting side-by-side, emerald and shamrock criss-crossed fields, and games that cannot end in a tie.

Our Star Boy

Eating his current favourite snack:  raspberries

Nicely offering up his snack to share with Mommy--but only as a kind gesture; he didn't actually give any away to his parents.

Developmental updates:  Jackson is using "yeah" and a shake of the head for 'no' 100% accurately in response to questions about what he would like to do or what he has done.  This was his first week without using a pacifier so I think those days are behind us for good.  He has more teeth pushing through so it is good timing to rid him of the 'binky' since we do not want adverse effects on the formation or growth of his teeth.  Jackson's new animal sound and action of the week is elephant.  Most of the time, his 'trunk' goes forward, but he also swings his arm backwards when impersonating an elephant.  He said, "Daddy," very clearly yesterday and today so we are trying to work that into his regular vocabulary.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.