Toughest kid on Earth

It's true.  I think we have the toughest baby on Earth.  And maybe the happiest too.  Since early-July, Bryan has been sick.  It started with his first cold right around the Fourth of July.  We rushed him to the pediatrician because we have no clue what we are doing and it was supposed to be our first date night since he was born.  As any good doctor should, they gave Nuggs a thorough check up and told us he had a cold and he'd be fine and that it was best if we DID take our date night.  We'd all be better off for it. The date was great, and dropping him off at school for Parent's Night Out was like ripping off a band-aid.  He was fine and we were happy to have a couple hours of alone time.

After a week or so, the cold had gone, but the cough persisted as it often does with babies.  By the end of July, we sensed another cold coming on.  This was the cold Bryan had the weekend our air conditioner died and we tried (unsuccessfully) to stay in a hotel.  By the 25th of July he had white spots on his tonsils and a little fluid in his hears.  A round of antibiotics seemed to kick it right out of him.  But the cough persisted as it often does with babies (are you noticing a theme here?).

Although our little guy had been sick for the better part of a month, he was still happy, smiling often and finding new joys in the world around him.

Then we headed to Michigan for ten remarkably perfect days of family and river family and friends.  Except that Bryan caught a cold from the 10-month-old son of my BFF.  Oh well.  What's another cold?  Certainly  not the end of the wold.  It's just a cold after all.  Bryan snuggled significantly more than usual with all of us and sneezed gobs of snot out his nose that could rival the dog from the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie (his name was Snots, in case you were wondering!).  This cold made the cough even worse than it had been, making for a minor deficit in the sleep department for me and him.  But through it all, there was smiling and laughing and cooing and an endless supply of raspberry blowing with very little fussing.  Even on the flight home he was perfect. No fussing, no crying, just sleeping and smiling.  And now that we are over the cold, the cough persists as it often does with babies.  Sigh.

Yesterday I got the dreaded mid-day call from "School."  While we were in Michigan, a crazy terrible stomach bug spread through the baby room at school.  We were hoping that we had dodged a bullet.  But as it turns out, that bug was just cooking away in one of the teachers (who also happens to be Bryan's favorite and our go-to babysitter) until she got sick and was sent home on Monday afternoon...after she had played with Nuggs all morning.  By Tuesday at 3:00 pm, Bryan was projectile vomiting all over everything, had gone through the two spare outfits in his diaper bag and one the school let him borrow.  Then came the diarrhea.  Which could also classify as projectile if not covered properly.  And he never cried.  By the time I got to school to pick him up, it was almost 4:30 (they didn't call until 4:00), his coloring was almost green and he smelled like vomit.  But he smiled and cooed and laughed when he saw me.  What a remarkable little guy.  Even with how terrible he felt, he never stopped smiling.

The vomiting has subsided but the diarrhea persists this morning.  As does the cough.  The same cough that starts around 4:30 every morning and lasts until he's been upright for a couple hours.  Maybe after this bout with the stomach bug, the poor kid can catch a break?  Please?  Not sure what I can do to fill his Karma bank for him, but I donated a HUGE box of clothes he's outgrown to school so other kids can have something to go home in that is less nasty than the totally disgusting and stained onesie he came home in yesterday. Maybe that will help build his good Karma.  Or maybe I need to pray more.  Lots more.  I just want Bryan to have one healthy, cough-free month.

But in the meantime, while the coughing and colds and other cooties are no fun, I have a happy baby that seems to make friends everywhere he goes.  He smiles so much and it starting to find his voice and laugh out loud.  I can't even imagine how happy he'll be when we finally figure out how to get rid of this darn cough.