A Very LONG Week!!!

Well we think (knock on wood) that the bad part of this illness is behind us. Claire has not run a fever over 100 all day today. She is eating a little better and Michael says that she has been in a good mood for the most part. So we are hoping that we are on the getting better side of this virus!! It turns out that this virus is going around - very high fever with no other symptoms. 3 of the kids in my class had it this week as well...I don't know if I transported it to them or they gave it to me and I passed it to Claire. Who knows? On top of a very sick baby this week we had an ice storm! Tuesday the weather started getting really bad and I just knew that they were going to let us go home from school early...but no such luck! Wednesday however was canceled before 8 o'clock on Tuesday night. Here are some pictures from Tuesday night of our back yard! And one picture of a sick baby at the bottom. I couldn't take pictures of her this week - it made me too sad :(

Another Update

For those of you who have been praying for Claire - we are asking you to keep your prayers coming. She has now had a fever of 100 or higher for 3 straight days. We did get it to come down to 98.7 for about 2 hours this morning but then it shot right back up. She is having a hard time sleeping and not really wanting to eat. We are letting her eat when ever she feels like it and offering her a bottle anytime she is awake. We are just trying to get fluids in her. Anyways if this virus does take 7 to 10 days to run its course then we are going to have a miserable baby on our hands for 4 to 7 more days! Thank you all for praying!!! We will keep you updated!

Update

We finally heard back from the doctor today...Claire's blood work is showing that she has a virus - thank goodness it is not bacterial! We are still waiting for the blood culture to come back but they are expecting it to show the same things. They said it could take 7 to 10 days to run its course and for us to keep giving her tylenol to fight the fever. I'm really hoping that it doesn't last that long...seeing her so sick is NOT fun!

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

Sick

We got a call from Claire's daycare today saying she was running a fever of 102.2!!! I left work immediately and went to pick her up. We took her into the doctor's office where they checked her lungs -clear, her ears - clear, her throat - clear, her teeth - nothing, they even ran a flu test on her even though she had a flu shot - the test came back negative. The doctor then told us that babies her age that run that high of a fever with no outward symptoms could have something a little more serious going on. I tried not to panic as she sent us across the hall to have some blood work done. I knew that she was pretty worried b/c the paper work had the word STAT written all over it. At the lab only one of us could go back with her and so I decided I would go. The lab lady was a little too chatty for me...that says a lot! She tried to get Claire's vein to plump up so she could get some blood...Claire was screaming at this point b/c she HATES her arms to be held down! After about 2 or 3 minutes of trying she decides to try the other arm! Claire starts crying all over again and the lady decides that she an get this vein. She takes an abnormally large amount of blood, which came in handy a little later, and sent us on our way. While I was in there I had said that the Dr. had ordered 2 blood tests and she told me no that there was only 1 test ordered. After we left Michael told me I needed to go double check with the doctor about the tests...so I did and she confirmed that I was right and she did need 2 tests and that I was going to have to go back and have more blood drawn! Luckily, she did take too much blood and she hadn't broken the seal on the vile yet so she could easily use that blood for the other test as well! We are still waiting on the doctor to call us back...Claire's temp has not been under 100 degrees since before 1:30...which has me VERY worried. She is only wanting to sleep on Michael or me...so I see a very long night ahead of us!!! Please keep our little girl in your prayers as we search for answers.

Lookin Good

My two favorite people looked very nice on Sunday so I had to snap a few pictures!! Claire has a lady bug clip in her hair - and all morning people kept saying that she looked like a little lady bug! Enjoy!

Playing in her room

Claire has started playing in her room. We have moved some toys into her room from the playroom so that she can be in there. She usually plays in her room when we are in our "office" right across the hall. She really likes playing in there - I guess it is a change of scenery.

Pancake Dinner

Michael and I love having pancakes for dinner! The other night I decided to introduce Claire to the amazingness of pancakes! She loved them! She kept say "mmmmm" after each bite! She ended up eating an entire pancake by herself!! This girl loves to eat!

10 Months!!!

This is a day late...but I have been sick for a couple of days - better late than never!
Claire is 10 months old now! Michael and I think that these past 10 months have gone too fast! She changes every day and learns something new every moment! Some new things - She is feeding herself now! She is letting go while standing for a few seconds. She jabbers constantly! And has added new sounds to her "talking." She really enjoys playing with her toys with or without company. She LOVES her books and will sit and look at them for 30 minutes at a time!!! She is still doing some baby sign. She will show us the sign for more and all done...all done also looks like her bye bye wave - except it is done with 2 hands instead of one. She is starting to blow kisses at us. Usually she does this when we pick her up from daycare - it's really sweet. One of the biggest accomplishments we have made over the past month is church. Claire used to be "that" baby that cried the entire worship hour. I had to keep reminding myself that she had been at church since 8 and that she was just very tired when 11:30/12 rolled around. But, we are over that hump! She hardly ever cries in the nursery and each Sunday gets easier and easier for her!

Playing patty cake!

Throwing it in the pan

Such a happy little girl!

Showing you her new tooth...it is still hard to see but it's there!

Thinking about her birthday which is 2 months away!!!

Sweet Girl

Tonight I wasn't feeling so well and was laying on the couch reading. Claire - who had been asleep for over an hour woke up and started screaming bloody murder. Michael could not get her to calm down. Even him holding her outside of her bedroom (which usually works) would not work. She did not calm down until she was snuggled up next to me patting my arm. After about 5 minutes she sat up...looked at me...took her paci out of her mouth and tried to give it to me! I shook my head no and told her that I didn't want it - which usually makes her laugh...instead she grunted at me and tried to pry my mouth open with her free hand to stuff her paci in my mouth!!! It was like she was taking care of me! Turns out I had a fever at the time (which I am hoping she didn't catch whatever it was) and after taking some tylenol the fever broke. As soon as the fever broke she laid her head on my tummy and started yawning deeply. Michael laid her back in bed and she was out in seconds! She's the BEST!! Michael swears that she knew I didn't feel well and that she wanted to take care of me...

Feeding herself

As she reaches the 10 month mark Claire is becoming more and more independent. She has been feeding herself cheerios and crackers for awhile now but I have still been feeding her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This week we started giving her bite size pieces of food for her to try to feed herself - and she LOVES it! Today she had cheese and turkey for lunch and ate so much. There was one point in time I reached down to help her and she pushed my hand out of the way (that made me a little sad). Things she likes to feed herself: Cheese, meat, pasta, mango, some berries, bananas, grapes, cheerios, and crackers. She is really starting to branch out in what she wants to eat. If we are eating she wants to be eating. We have not found anything that she doesn't like. She even likes things with seasonings on it!

Friends

Last weekend our friends Clayton and Amber came over to hang out. They have a sweet little boy named Brock who is a month younger than Claire. They played so well together. It was fun watching Claire share all of her new Christmas toys with Brock.

Even though Brock is a month younger than Claire he is a good 2 inches taller!

What sweet babies!

Just some sweet photos from the week!

I'm am just so excited that Claire is REALLY loving looking at books!!! It makes me so so happy!! This week we have even got her to sit in her new reading chair to look at her books. She is getting so big so fast! I can not believe that in a week and a half I will be a mom to a 10 month old!! So crazy!

Aren't these the cutest pjs????

Praise the Lord!

Today Michael and I found a childcare center for Claire!! I was beginning to think that I was being way too picky...my list of "musts" in a place was very long and high...I have had the best in childcare for the past 6 months so it was hard to compete. But, after searching and touring several places God answered our prayers and gave us a wonderful, safe, caring environment where the staff loves the Lord! Other places I have visited have had several red flags from the moment I entered the facility...and today I was in the mood to be VERY nit picky!!! And it passed with flying colors! We are so happy and feel so blessed to have found this place! One other perk is that I get a discount because I am a local teacher!!! Thank you all so much for praying for us as we searched for what God had for Claire! Please keep praying that she transitions well in this center - it took her 2 full weeks to transition into a new room at our old center - I'm a little worried :)

A new pastime

This week Claire has discovered her books!! We read to her on a daily basis but she never goes and gets a book on her own - until now. We will put her in her playroom and with all the thousands of toys she has she will head straight to her book box and pull out a book to look at! As an early childhood educator this makes my heart sing!!!!!!!!! Some of her bigger board books are hard for her to hold and turn the pages and she's getting a little frustrated with them - but I quickly go over and help her - I never want her to get frustrated with reading!

I know the book is upside down...but print concepts aren't developed until 3 or 4!!

Playing with toys

Claire got a sing and dance stage for Christmas and she loves it...She loves it so much that I have started hearing the songs it plays in my sleep... I also found myself singing one of the songs the other day! This is one of the many videos we have taken of her playing with this toy. We think it is very cute when she dances!