Tristan James Teet: November 2009

This past month has been the month of sickness for Tristan. It all started when I took him to the doctor for his 1 year checkup on a Monday. Two days after his visit, he spiked a temp. I took him back to the doctor the next day and they swabbed him and said that he was positive for the flu (he got the flu shot and other vaccines at his checkup). The doctor said that it was most likely the H1N1 (piggie) flu because that is what all of the cases in the area have been, but we don't know for sure since they did not send it off to the CDC since you would treat it the same either way. The doctor said that he probably picked up the flu bug when he was there on Monday for his regular check up (Ugh!!). She gave me a prescription for Tamiflu, which no pharmacy in Daphne or Fairhope carried in liquid form. Luckily a pharmacy in Grand Bay carried it so my mom picked it up and brought it to us. His fever was gone a day later and he never had any respiratory symptoms. He did, however, turn into a little heathen. I guess we got a little preview of what the terrible twos are going to be like. But when he woke up from his nap Monday afternoon, my little angel baby had returned to me! He was well for about a week and a half, and then he came down with a cold. He didn't turn back in to hellian child, but you could tell that he just didn't feel good, not to mention couldn't breathe. His head cleared up, but he still had a nagging cough. Then, this past Thursday, he had a low grade fever, which I assumed was from teething. Friday morning, he still had a low temp, but when he woke up from his nap, his temp was 102.3. So I called the doctor and off we went. They checked his ears and throat and did an xray of his lungs to rule out pneumonia. All of his tests came back normal, so we still don't really know why he had a fever. She gave me a prescription for some antibiotics in case it was bronchitis. By the time we got home from the doctor's office, he had chills so bad that his poor little bottom lip was quivering and all he wanted to do was be held. He wouldn't eat dinner and when I put him in the tub, he screamed bloody murder (so needless to say, he didn't get washed off that night). He seemed to be feeling better the next day, but still had a temp. Finally, Monday he seemed to actually be well. Lets hope it lasts!!!!!

Between, doctor visits, we have otherwise had a good month. Tristan was an Alabama football player for Halloween (its about being something you're not, right?). We took him to the fall festival in Fairhope. He loved seeing all of the other kids dressed up and playing the little games. He was actually pretty good at throwing the ball/bean bag into the hole. He wasn't too thrilled about waiting in line though, he kept trying to skip everybody. We had a great time, and he seemed to as well.

Tristan has gotten much more talkative lately. He is saying "Mama" lots now, which is great to hear! He loves reading books, and he actually sits and looks at them now instead of just ripping them out of your hands and throwing them. You can say "go get your book" and he will go get one and come back saying "boo, boo" and crawl up in your lap. It is too sweet! Tristan has finally mastered getting off of the couch feet first. Luckily, he hasn't figured out how to climb up there yet, so there haven't been any accidental head dives while Mommy and Daddy aren't looking. We have been going outside a lot to enjoy the beautiful weather. Tristan will swing for a little while, but now he likes to get down and explore. He especially likes to try and climb up the slide. Tristan's hair was getting a bit long in the front, so Justin and I attempted to cut it ourselves. We had to wait until he was asleep because I was afriad of poking his eye out. We didn't touch the back though, there is no way I could get rid of those curls! Its a tad uneven and choppy, and I almost lost a chunk of my knuckle in the process. I think I will take him somewhere next time! We had pictures made the other day for Tristan's one year pics and some family pics. Tristan cooperated really well, and the pictures turned out great! It is just so hard to choose which ones to get printed.

Getting Tristan to eat any type of table food has been quite the endeavor these past few months. He used to eat anything you put down in front of him, including tofu. Now he seems to turn his nose up to everything but fruit and milk. He will eat jarred baby food all day long, but does occasionally refuse to eat the stage 3 foods that have actual chunks in them. One day, he will love something, but then the next time we try it, its like we are feeding him gasoline. On a good day, he will eat chicken nuggets if you help him stab them with his fork and then let him feed himself, and he will eat peas if they stick to his finger when he squishes them, otherwise they get shoved away. Some days we will try almost anything. Today for lunch, I had to scrape the chicken out of the pasta, mix it with the sauce, and then put a few bbq chip crumbs on it for him to eat it. Whatever works. At least it wasn't just a bag of chips I guess (that's what I keep telling myself anyway). Fruit is a whole other story. His eyes light up like Christmas when he sees a banana. Unfortunately, you can't live off bananas alone. I don't think that the problem is that he doesn't want to eat at all because today when it was close to lunch time, he brought me a bib and went and stood by his chair. It was later, during the bbq chip bribing, that I realized his bib said "I Love Mommy." So maybe he wasn't hungry, he just wanted to tell me that he loved me, ha! Hopefully this picky eater thing won't last too terribly long. If anyone has any suggestions on what he might eat, I gladly welcome them!!!