less red, more itchy

The day after the redness showed up my parents provided caution as to what was to come and offered advice on combating itchiness of the receding hives.  Naturally, since the doctor did not recommend any sort of ointment to us, we assumed the itchy hives did not apply to modern US babies.  Later same night we were, once again, reminded that the basic design of a baby is the same, regardless of country of manufacture.  In other words, we were wrong, my parents were right.  And boy, were they...

All of Ben was itching.  Badly.  The night was basically a blur, with Benjamin sleeping in his bed (hardly), not sleeping in his bed, sleeping on top of Alla, not sleeping in bed with us (mostly).  Around 5 am Alla gave up and went downstairs with him.  Zev slept late and had to be woken up around 7 am.  Left to his own devices he would have slept more, making up for the crummy night his brother treated him to.

The next night Ben slept, but Zev woke up a quarter to 6.  My turn.  Another slightly zombified day, followed by another short-ish night.  Honestly, it blurs a bit at this point.  I do recall that Alla has taken the morning shift on at least two occasions, for which I am dramatically grateful.  Interestingly, once both boys are awake, things are better and even Ben is everyday slightly less red and slightly less itchy.  The itch returns  in the evening, promising adventures each night.  We continue to give Benjamin the aptly name Benya-dryl.  Ben, on the other hand, has just about had enough of pink substances administered via a plastic syringe.  This morning he, as usual, shook his had vigorously at the sight of the thing and cried when I got hold of his head. Alla took over and in one fluid motion squirted the entire dose (all of 3.75 ml) into Ben's mouth, resulting in a Benadryl geyser.  I refilled and went back to the "one drop at a time" approach.  I could have sword Ben saw me, stopped fighting, calmly let me drop some in his mouth and blew a raspberry.  Then again.  I gave up and went to work.

In the evening I knew we had no choice, so down the gullet the meds went.  At this point the kids are asleep, so is Alla (no idea how she lasted today - I know I struggled to 6 pm) and shall follow suite.

one... red... baby!

Benjamin is red.  There are no two ways about it.  He is red.  End I don't mean political views.  I mean color.  More intense and spotty yesterday, more subdued and even color today.  All that - compliments of an allergy to an antibiotic Benjamin was taking for his ear infection.

Now, you have to admire Benjamin's sense of timing.  For five days he was taking the meds just fine.  he waited until mom and dad were about 9 hours into their two-night getaway to the coast.  Then he developed the coloration an oophaga pumilio would envy (posting of a picture is currently vetoed by mom and is being negotiated).  Naturally, we got back by 10:45 the next morning and took Benjamin to see his doctor.  She immediately recognize the allergy for what it was and sent us home with Benadryl.  

This morning Benjamin continues to exhibit a red color, though it is not quite as intense.  He is still a touvh warm, but slept well and woke and good spirits and is eating well.  

In other news...  Zev is now up to three consecutive steps.  Zev also has the distinction of being the first of the brothers to draw some else's blood.  My own, in fact.  This morning, while playing with me, Zev decided to give me a hug, which resulted in a full-body headbutt to the lower lip.  Said lip was slightly busted, giving Zev the honor of first blood!

Antibiotics, day 6

We are currently in day six of the antibiotic course with Benjamin.  The meds seem to be working - Ben is consistently in a better mood and has been sleeping well (t'fu-t'fu).  He is pretty used to the routine by now, and takes his 5ml is five or 6 sips, with milk to wash them down in between.  Sometimes he obligingly lowers the bottle and opens his mouth to get the meds.

The interaction continues to improve.  In the mornings the boys are usually glad to see me and want to spend time in my lap.  This often leads to jockeying for the best position.  While reading, there is usually room enough for both, but when they decide to explore my head (beard and teeth are of interest presently), someone sooner or later ends up slapping me or his brother.  They get one warning and on second offense are summarily expelled from the lap.  For the most part, things work.

Today also I observed a brief instance of genuine play between Zev and Ben.  Zev was in my lap, Ben was just serving out his sentence behind my back for slapping his brother.  Ben crawled around me and peeked at Zev.  Zev moved is head and peeked back.  For the next 20-30 seconds the boys played peek-a-boo with each other, using me as an obstacle.

The other change is at night time.  The boys now consistently prefer to be in their beds while we sing to them.  As I have written above, being further away from our singing is motivation enough.  I imagine they will be applying to live-in day care by phone and mail any week now.  In the mean time, they may stand or sit while we sing.  When we finally go to give them a good night kiss, however, the boys immediately lie down flat.  We brush our teeth, I swear.  I personally brush mine at least once a week, whether I need to or not.  We think they may be afraid we will pick them up.  In the end, we sing, the boys are in their beds and lying down, we exit.  Good deal.

Lower fever, first step

An utterly miserable night was followed by a pretty decent one.  This morning Ben woke up reasonably early (6:05) but in a pretty good mood.  He is running a nominal fever (37.1 C), but other than that - he seems well; played very nicely with me and his brother.  Even offered a toy to Zev.  And then offered one to me.

What is clear is that Benjamin is not a fan of taking meds.  He will (sort of) tolerate taking Tylenol when he is not feeling well, but 5ml of antibiotic twice a day is not a hit.  Same bubble gum flavor and pink look fools Benjamin none at all - he rather hates it.  No negotiating on this one, however.  Down it goes.

In other news: yesterday Zev too his first, single, independent step, from support to support.  As befits a Jewish man of learning, his first step was taken towards a shelf of books.

one day at a time...

After two days and two nights of moderate fevers we took Ben to see the doctor, who promptly proclaimed "ear infection".  At present Ben is a little better, though still not comfortable.  Antibiotics, probiotics, Tylenol for the fever occasionally.  Sleep is somewhat better - for all of us.  Settling in for a hot day tomorrow.