Thursday October 3rd 2002

Just one of those days......

Yesterday was just one of those days.

Kate and Aiden have had diarrhea for several days which has resulted in a terrible nappy rash. We have to hold them down to change them and get the cream on. 

Aiden went to bed the night before looking less than healthy. He then woke every hour to two hours in the initial part of the night and was partly unsettled for the rest. He just needed someone to go in and reassure him and he would go back to sleep. He woke at 5:30am and I got him up. I changed his terrible nappy and tried to soothe his poor butt with cream. 

He really looked bad. He had red, red eyes and a very runny nose. Basically he was miserable and just wanted to be held. This coupled with the nappy rash did not make for a happy boy. At about 6:45am I put him back to bed and he went gratefully. I fantasized about going back to bed when I heard Kate wake up so I got her up and gave her her bottle.

(Where was Aaron? He had gone fishing at 5am - smart move given how difficult Kate and Aiden were!).

Georgie has been staying with us and has been such a blessing. She looked after Kate so I could catch up on some rest. Aiden woke about 9am and was beyond miserable. He only wanted to be held by me and he looked really bad. I rang the Dr and they could only get him in at 3pm. I had a suspicion he was getting conjunctivitis (he had been exposed on the weekend). I left Kate with Georgie and I bundled Aiden into the car to try to find a local Dr that might have a free appointment. The poor thing sat in the back of the car with his droopy, red eyes and his mouth hanging open, trying to breathe. I found a Dr and I sat outside and rung them but they were full. I decided to keep driving as he seemed to make Aiden relax. 

On the left coming up I saw what looked like a prison compound with barred up windows and door. I realised it was a Dr's surgery so I stopped and we went in. I had a choice of Dr Wong, Dr Wong or yet another Dr Wong. There was an appointment in an hour so I grabbed it. She looked at me and said, "You know you have to pay?" Strange comment but I assured her that would be fine (considering the Dr we normally go to charges like a wounded bull this wasn't a shock to my system and I had, in my 31 years, grasped the concept of the "user-pays" system of our consumer society)

We came back at the appropriate time and I saw myself through the Receptionist's  eyes. There I was, the human handkerchief. I was covered in snot and medicine. I had on an old pair of leggings with a t-shirt that didn't match. My hair was pulled back in a semi-neat ponytail and I hadn't a scrap of makeup on. What a picture we made as all Aiden was wearing was a nappy, and for that matter it was all crooked because I had had to wrestle him to get in on. He was hot so I hadn't dressed him. I had also not wanted the war that would've occurred had I tried to get clothes on his hot little body. We looked like we couldn't afford to eat, let alone buy clothes.

As soon as I sat down in the surgery he wanted to walk. He grabbed each of my fingers and pulled my hands up, so off we went around the waiting room. Me with my decorative clothing, Aiden with his charmingly naked body and artistically position nappy (a girl nappy too). He had red eyes and a large amount of discharge coming from his nose. We waddled around the waiting area as I was barraged with posters encouraging me to get the flu vaccination, try viagra, drink more calcium and do a whole lot of other things I was unsure of because the posters were in another language (this was obviously a multicultural clinic).

As I looked at the state of Aiden I realised that I had always said I wouldn't be one of those people who let their child have a crusty, dirty nose. That was, of course, before I found myself with one and realised WHY parents let it stay that way. It is virtually impossible to clean and causes such distress if attempted that it is just easier to leave it be. On that subject I always thought I would have clean, clothed children until I realised 'clean' and 'children' don't really belong in the same sentence, particularly when teething rusks enter the equation.

Anyway, back to the Dr's. The outcome of that visit was a prescription for butt ointment and an assurance that he didn't have conjunctivitis, it was just part of the symptoms of his cold.

An hour later, after he awoke from his nap it was glaringly obvious he did. Luckily I hadn't cancelled that later appointment with our normal Dr (whose office he also insisted on walking around, but luckily by this stage I had managed to clothe him AND change my t-shirt).

In the meantime Georgie and I thought we would give Kate and Aiden a bath to try to soothe their sore butts. We filled the bath and Aiden, who was almost comatose by this stage, quietly sat in it. Kate, who normally loves the bath waited until she was butt naked before she let me know she would prefer not to have one. Her method of communication involved lots of screaming and clinging. The only thing that would calm her was if I held her at the light switch while she turned the light on and off so Aiden got to have a disco bath and I got to have incredibly aching arms from holding Kate up. If I dared move she would scream....talk about behaviour (mine) modification! 

I won't give the boring details of the whole day but suffice to say it involved much clinging, crying an obsession with Mummy. Kate couldn't cope with Aiden being sick and she became incredibly clingy to me which made life really tough as I tried to deal with Aiden in his hours of need. By the end of the day I was exhausted and my arm muscles ached. We had been to two Drs and two chemists and spent a fortune.

It couldn't get any worse could it? Surely the fact that Kate's eyes are looking a familiar shade of red is only a coincidence........

Here's Aiden when he was sick. The spit beard was from blowing bubbles	Kate does her best cheesey smile	Helping Mummy cook	First trip to the beach
Surely an inspiration for Michael Angelo	On the bench	Why Mummy has removed the knives	At the park

Sunday October 13th 2002

15 months.....well ALMOST

Is the sun still shining? Anything major happen in the world?? We've emerged from the hell of illness. Not only did Kate get sick...we ALL got sick, including Mum, Jackie and Georgie who had all come to help at varying times. By far the worst hit were Kate and Aiden. They had diarrhea, bleeding nappy rashes, conjunctivitis and a terrible cold. They were miserable and very very hard to comfort. They were very demanding of me as their mother and it was all I could do to stop from going insane, especially when I got sick. like I said, somehow we survived and Kate and Aiden have reverted back to their happy selves. For a while there I had begun to wonder whether they ever would.

Poor Aaron had taken a week's holiday and spent most of it sick. Happily towards the end of our holiday we did go out. We went to a park and to the beach and Kate and Aiden had a great time.

Kate has an insatiable desire for anything Aiden has. She knows she can't just take things so the clever minx finds something she can give to Aiden to distract him while she grabs the desired object out of his hand.

They are both cutting molars but not doing too badly.

Well I have to get my weary, sick self to bed, ready to face a new day tomorrow. 

Thanks Aunty Georgie for all the love and care over these holidays! Love Kate and Aiden and their weary Mummy and Daddy, we couldn't have survived without you xxxx

These collages were made by my online friend Tina	THANKS TINA!!
Ride 'em cowboys!	Enlarge this one to see Kate's face (this is her friend Will)	Kate struts her stuff	Aiden mows the lawn

Tuesday October 29th 2002

15 and half months 

Kate is off and running, well walking. She has decided it is much easier to walk rather than crawl. She does crawl when she wants to play with Aiden. Aiden's only obstacle to walking is his confidence. He walks everywhere using his trolley/wagon but isn't confident to let go. When Kate is walking with something he wants he crawls behind her head butting her legs until she falls to the ground!

Life has been truly wonderful now that Kate and Aiden are feeling better. They seem to have hit the next phase. They are enjoying life so much! They constantly laugh and interact with us. 

There is more good news on the sleeping front. FINALLY we no longer get woken at 5:30am....why? DAYLIGHT SAVING! Yahhhoooooo. Not only that, when they wake at 6:30am we just put a bottle in their cot and close the door. They have a drink and we don't hear from them for another half an hour. They have also gone to one nap in the middle of the day. This gives me up to 2 hours of freedom.

Life sure is GREAT :-)