A Week of Firsts

What an exciting week! To start out, Riley was still fighting his way through the terrible cold he’s had for the past two weeks. Thankfully, the goopy eye situation cleared up rather quickly. That was a great thing because he was catching on to every antic I could come up with in order to get adequate drops in his eyes. But no amount of humidity in his room, elevation of his bed, or vapor rub on his chest would calm his worsening cough and snotty nose.

What started out as a dry, seemingly normal cough turned into something very phlegmy and persistent. He had coughing fits throughout the night that would wake up everyone in the house. Poor little guy. A week went by since we originally saw the doctor and he wasn’t all better yet. So he had to go back. Except this time, Max took him without me. So imagine my heartbreaking surprise when I received a call and heard that Riley had an ear infection. Riley’s first ear infection and I wasn’t there to comfort him while the doctor poked and prodded his little ears. His first ear infection. An ear infection that led to his first prescription of pink, bubble-gum flavored, amoxicillin. Ick.

Speaking of icks and firsts, Riley also tried his first spoonful of cereal this week. He’s four months old now and curiosity got the best of us so we decided to give it a whirl. It went about as well as to be expected. I cant say I blame him as the stuff looks and smells disgusting. So we’re looking forward to more enjoyable things like…smooshed peas and squished squash.

As exciting as amoxicillin and cereal is, it was no match for what we were to discover on Thursday evening. After work, we were all settled on the couches, probably watching Sponge Bob or The Simpsons, cause that’s how we do here at the Miller house, and Riley was nursing. As he often does when he’s finished, he lie there smiling at me with his big gummy grin. We can sit there together forever, smiling at each other, playing, giggling, me chewing his little fingers. But this time…this time I caught a glimpse of something. “Is that what I think it is?!” I quickly got up, handed the baby to Max, and went and washed my hands.

As Max looked at me like I was bonkers, I pulled Riley’s lip down to take a peek inside. Instinctively, down goes the lip and out comes the tongue. Little booger. So I ran my finger along his bottom gum to see if I could feel what I thought I saw. Oh my gosh…it’s a tooth!! He has a tooth! At four months old, Riley Roger has a tooth! I was ecstatic. Dumbfounded. And proud! My son cut his first tooth! This explains the excessive drooling for the past month or so. The chewing of the fingers. A couple of strange poopies. Who would have thought we’d experience our first tooth so early in the game? It’s a good thing we started him on cereal this week because as his sitter said, ‘he’ll be eatin’ ham by Easter!”

Poor Riley

I have just determined that being the mommy of a sick little boy feels far worse than being sick myself. Riley is sick. Sick with a cold that seems to be kicking his tail.

A few days ago I noticed that he was getting stuffy and snotty. Yesterday morning, as I was loading him up in his car seat to go to the sitter, I noticed a substantial amount of “goop” on his left eye. I wasn’t sure if it came from his eye or his nose so I quickly wiped it off and sent him on his way. After checking in with the sitter throughout the day, I learned that the goopy eye was getting worse, as was his cough, and he should probably be seen by a doctor. Great. So I made his appointment for today, took the day off work, and tried to cope the best I could in the meantime.

I’d like to go on record to say that last night was our worst night ever. I will take two-hour feedings over last night any day. I had his humidifier on high. I propped up his bed so that he was elevated. I tried laying him on his back. I tried laying him on his belly. The poor kid couldn’t sleep. All he would do is softly cry. And break my heart in the process. But my baby wanted his mommy, that much I know. He would only sleep soundly when I was holding him. That in and of itself made me feel as if I was doing at least something right. Except…how was I supposed to sleep? For hours, I was up and down, in and out of bed to sooth him. I was finally at my whit’s end and resorted to lugging his car seat up to his bedroom and laid him to sleep in that. I then, slept on the floor beside him so that I could reposition his fallen pacifier, or gently rock him when he stirred. It was a long night. A long and difficult night indeed.

But, today is a new day and I think he is showing signs of feeling a little bit better. We visited the doctor, who confirmed that he had nothing wrong with his chest or ears but prescribed some drops for his eyes. Id like to add another notch to my mommy belt by saying that I successfully added two drops in each of his eyes! Either he’s a great kid or Im gettin’ the hang of this mommy business. Or maybe its both. That being said, he’s still more comfortable in his car seat, so that’s what we’re going with. Here’s to hoping spring gets here sooner rather than later so we can all feel better!

Go Colts!

This is Riley after the Colts won the Championship game a couple of weeks ago. We're hoping for the big win later today!