Sick and Tired

I'm sorry to report that Joseph is sick. I am 95% sure that he's got rotavirus (which we vaccinated for!) In short, Joey started spitting up a lot for a couple of days last week and now has had major diarrhea for about three days. The doctor said to give him a special formula as well as pedialyte. As usual, Joey has kept a sweet quiet disposition which is surprising considering the circumstances. Here he is getting some of his 'medicine'.



He really hasn't been too fussy, he just seems to laugh less. He's still smiley.


We already had his 4 month doctor's appointment scheduled for Tuesday, so we'll be going to that, but probably won't be getting his vaccinations until he gets better.

I meant to update the blog earlier, but got caught up (and exhausted by) the sickness stuff. Nevertheless, let me quickly backtrack and mention that Joey had another visitor last week! A college friend of mine who now lives in Wichita, KS was in New York for family matters and took the train down to visit.


For those of you who have yet to make an appearance, the question remains... when are YOU coming to visit?

My Yankee Doodle Boy

For the 4th of July (and Joey's three month birthday!), a holiday-dressed-Joe and his momma and daddy went to a very large indoor outlet mall just outside of Philadelphia. It was our first "trip" since our little guy was born and even though we were gone for about six hours, Joe did great! He actually slept a lot of the time. We made use of a Gap giftcard, took a set of photobooth pictures, grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby Sonic and came home to watch fireworks on PBS.






Joe also had his three month doctor's appointment this week where we learned that he is now 17lbs and still off the charts in weight/height/head circumference, although he's the same amount off the charts as he's been his whole life, so no worries. He got the shots that we postponed at his two month checkup, polio and Prevnar (strep/pneumococcal). Prevnar is supposed to cover meningitis, blood infections and even seven strains of ear infection! As always, Joe took everything like a champ. He's a trooper!

I realized how giant Joe really is when I went to pick up some baby clothes from a lady on freecycle. She had a 9 month old daughter who was 15lbs. She sat next to Joe and then slowly scooted over to him and played with his feet and cooed at him. It was the strangest thing to see! Joey was two pounds heavier than her, but six months younger!


Joseph has started sleeping for longer stretches at night (6 hours!) and has started playing with a new jumper/exersaucer now that he has great head control. Also, he recently learned to roll over from back to belly. More on all that next time!

With Love from Oklahoma / Two Months

Joseph had quite a long weekend to celebrate his two month! Newlywed Auntie Em came to P-ton from Edmond to meet/snuggle/bond with Joey. Em is an absolute natural (having two nephews probably helps) and Joe smiled everytime he saw or heard her.


Well... almost every time. Sometimes he looked horrified.


Em brought along her husband, BW. Joe got to meet a fellow red-head!


At some point during the weekend, Em helped me give Joseph his first ever "real" submerged bath. Joe loved it and it made for many great photos. Here's a sample:




We also had a quick visit with Mrs. D who is a nurse in Tulsa and gave us some info about some of the illnesses she commonly saw when she worked in pediatrics. Not to speak on her behalf, but I think she liked little Joey and the feeling was quite mutual.


The biggest event for Joseph was his two month appointment. He weighed in at 15lbs and 2 feet long -- he's now (literally) off the charts! We have joked that I didn't give birth to a baby, I gave birth to a toddler. Even though he's only 2 months old, he's in 3-6 month clothes and I recently had to upgrade to size 2 diapers as well. Doc H said he has a tiny bit of cord stump still attached inside the belly button, but it will fall off eventually and that overall Joe looked fabulous! Finally, Joe had to have his first vaccinations. He was scheduled to get seven of them via 2 shots in each thigh and one oral vaccine. I am spacing them out a little, so instead he got five of them through one shot in each thigh and the oral. He got diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hib, and rotovirus. In one month he'll get the other two shots for pneumococcal and polio to 'catch up'. I am proud to report that no one cried (not even Joe Momma!) Joe ravenously gulped down the oral rotovirus vaccine (Doc H was impressed) and took the two shots like a champ. He fussed momentarily after getting them, but quickly drowned his sorrows in Similac. He got a bandaid on each leg and he was all done! We gave him a bit of Tylenol later in the evening when he got irritable and by the next morning, Joe was good as new. Here are his before-vaccine and after-vaccine pictures.



What a weekend! In just 8 weeks, Joe has had visitors from Nebraska and Oklahoma-- California too if you count Aunt J's visit the week before he was born. I'm happy that I have friends who are willing to come halfway (or all the way!) across the country to see me and meet Joe. Aunt M, Auntie Em, Aunt J and Mrs D might not be 'real' sisters, but they feel like family to me. Who will Joey's next out of state visitor(s) be?

Next Week: Typhoid?

Today was kind of a giant mess, through no fault of our own. Last night, I had some pain on the left side of my throat and left ear. We figured it was an ear infection, so I went to the campus health center the first thing this morning. In the waiting room, I ended up seated nearby someone who had the worst sounding congestion I've ever heard. It grossed me out so bad. After getting checked out, we went back home and within minutes Joe Daddy received a "campus hygiene alert" via email that there is now a disease outbreak on campus. The disease?

Whooping cough. (Pertussis)

What?! How did that happen? Then I realized that I had JUST been to the health center and seated not too far away from someone who potentially had whooping cough. AHHH!!! Luckily, we had our pediatrician appointment already scheduled, so we went in and told Doc H what had happened and he said we should be ok, but for Joe Daddy and I to get vaccinated just in case and keep an eye on Joe for any cough/wheeze/cold symptoms that may come up in the next 14 days.

So, we got DTP vaccines (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and although our arms are sore, we hope that will help Joe avoid the outbreak. Unfortunately, Joseph is too young to be vaccinated, so we just have to do our best to keep the apartment and ourselves (and our limited guests) well sanitized.

The rest of the pediatrician appointment went great. Joe weighed in at a hefty 9 pounds 2 and a half ounces, thus surpassing his birth weight and showing Doc H that "he can gain weight at a good clip". Also, we were told that we could give him either a little bit of Karo once a day or prune juice to keep him "regular". I was happy to hear that we're doing everything right and Joe is looking great.

Here's to hoping the P-ton undergrads don't come up with more rare diseases in the next few months.