More winter = sick kids

We were on a pretty good stretch of healthy kids - until this week! Poor Kale started to go down hill on Sunday. He's had a fever since Monday, and develped a bad cough/cold at about the same time. He looks terrible - red, puffy eyes, runny nose, cough, etc. We debated taking him in to see the dr. yesterday, but decided to wait until his 6 month check up today. He had a fever of 102.5 at the dr., and based on his symptoms recommended a chest xray. They compared the xray to the one he had done in February when he had influenza. Turns out the poor kid has pneumonia! They put him on an antibiotic and told us to bring him in on Friday if he isn't acting normal by then. I feel kind of bad that I was the one who recommended we wait until today to bring him in. It's so hard to know. We thought he was teething or had an ear infection! Because of the fever he wasn't able to get his 6 month shots today, so we'll have to take him back in to get that done in a few weeks. Other than the fact he was sick he had a good report. He is quite the big boy: 18 lbs 4 oz (70%), 28 1/4 inches long (95%) and 17 inch head circumferance. He's a pound heavier than Nolan and 1 3/4 inches longer than Nolan at this age! Kale also had a helmet appointment on Tuesday - although he hasn't been in his helmet since Monday because of the fever. The orthotist did another scan of his head to see how much progress he's made - and the results are pretty amazing! His head is still flat on the right side, but it has rounded out by .6 milimeters. We saw a 5% change (our goal is 6%), and his ears are almost perfectly aligned now - going from a 5 to a 1 difference. The helmet is still a little loose on his head, and because of that his head actually rounded out a little too much on the left side. The goal for our next appointment is to make more room on the right side and let the left side round out more to the right. We have another scan scheduled in 6 weeks, and we'll know at that point if he needs to be in his helmet longer.

Oh, and big news - Kale started crawling a little bit tonight! He perked up a little after a piggy back of motrin and tylenol, and he got up on all 4's, started rocking, and managed to make his way to a toy he was playing with on the floor. He is sure a motivated little bugger! I think he just wants to keep up with his brother.

Nolan had his 2 year appointment today. I'm always so proud of him at the dr. He is so well behaved, and lets our nurse and NP pick him up and hold him without making any fuss. He answers their questions as best he can, and sits very still for the exam. Nolan weighs 28 lbs 7 oz. (60%), is 35 inches long (65%), and has a head circumferance of 19 1/4 inches (60%). He has pretty much tracked in this range since he was born. The great news is that he doesn't have to go back to the dr. until he's 3. The bad news is that I'm a realist and know that we'll probably make a comeback much sooner than that! Nolan had a slight fever yesterday at daycare and has been running a small temp today, too. We can tell he's a little worn out - he cuddled way more than normal before bed tonight. We're just going to take it easy this weekend and hope for the best.