Triple Whammie

Disneyland's magical effect on our family is that someone seems to get sick every time a trip to DL is planned. On Tuesday afternoon, I made reservations for the following week at the Disneyland Hotel. Meanwhile, my parents decided that they wanted some one-on-one Henry time for their 42 year anniversary. Tuesdays are good days for that because Miss R sometimes has visits with her older bio siblings. Miss R had a great time when she got back. Her siblings had given her TONS of candy, and then she got some one-on-one time with me, Jeff, and Baby A while Henry was out. When my parents dropped off Henry, they reported that they'd taken him to Barnes & Noble (and gotten him lots of stuff b/c mom says she can't say "no" to Henry) and went to Red Lobster. I asked how Henry had behaved. Grammy said, "He was a perfect gentlemen." I guess that was the tip off that something was amiss.

On Tuesday night, Henry had a fever. We caught it before it hit 103 and gave him Motrin to keep it in check.

On Wednesday, McCall was the day's nanny. Fortunately, she said that she didn't mind taking care of Henry and Baby A. I had to work. And Jeff had jury duty. He was placed as a juror Tuesday afternoon on a criminal trial.

Henry didn't seem to mind too much being sick. I told the nanny to give him whatever snacks he wanted (it isn't as though he ever chooses candy) and tried to make it easier on her by allowing her to give him all of the TV he requested. He read books with her too.

I picked up Miss R after my workday had ended. We then went to the grocery store and didn't get home until 6:15PM. Henry was asleep when we arrived. He hadn't taken a nap, so when Jeff got home, he ushered him to bed.

I took the first shift with Baby A. She fell asleep around 10:30PM. Henry, however, got up at 11PM wanted a snack and wanted to watch TV. He stayed up watching TV while I intermittently napped beside him. Baby A woke up at 3AM. That meant she slept about 4.5 hours straight! I think that at some point around 4AM, I switched off with Jeff.

On Thursday, Jeff got me up at 7:15AM. Henry was already up eating pancakes. Apparently, he was famished and excited to eat. He actually ran to the kitchen table when he got up. Thursday mornings are Baby A's visits with bio mom. We gave her a bath before she was scheduled to be picked up. She really seemed to enjoy the bath and was very smiley. Her scheduled pick up time came and went. Then the driving service called wanted to know if she'd been picked up. That call went to the answering machine. So I called them back. Someone answered their phone and said that they'd look into it without asking for Baby A's name. I called Baby A's caseworker at CPS to let her know that she hadn't been picked up. I had to call her anyway b/c she had left a message the day before wanting to stop by Thursday or Friday for the monthly visit (two days left in the month). That was a bit difficult due to Jeff being on jury duty, Henry being sick, us having a visit for Miss R with Christy already scheduled, and me needing to work. But I said that 11:30AM, when Baby A was scheduled to return from her visit (assuming she was picked up for one), would be OK. And that was a good time for her. Jeff left with Miss R around 9:20AM. He had time to drop her off before he was scheduled to be at court. At 9:25AM, Baby A was picked up. That gave me two hours to get the house ready for the CPS visit.

Jeff had noticed some spots around Henry's mouth Wednesday night. By Thursday's breakfast, the spots looked red and angry. Henry had sores on his feet in-between his toes. I figured that he'd gotten hand, foot, and mouth from daycare. I was told my Miss Stephanie on Wednesday morning that someone had contracted it in one of the younger classrooms. I had called the ped's office at 8AM, and they had called back with a 1PM appointment time. I had described the red, angry, crusty spots, and the nurse said it sounded like something a little more than hand, foot, and mouth.

Baby A's caseworker showed up at 11:30AM. Baby A, however, hadn't yet arrived from her visit. The caseworker didn't have a lot of information. She gave me some impressions. There are two potential placements for Baby A, both of whom we were already aware. There are legitimate reasons why they haven't been chosen as placements (yet). It is truly unclear where the case is headed. Baby A arrived at 12:05PM. She was asleep. The caseworker got to see her, which fulfilled her CPS duties. The next CFT meeting has been scheduled for May 14. We may be able to get more information at that time.

During the caseworker's visit, Henry pretty much stayed in his room. Emma had arrived at noon to nanny. The caseworker left around 12:20PM. I turned Baby A over to Emma. Emma gave Henry a yellow balloon, which made him happy.

That happiness was short-lived because I told Henry we had to go to the doctor's office. This upset Henry because he wanted to watch Peter Pan. Henry was upset in the car. He couldn't be reasoned with. He threw a fit in the ped's office, so they ushered him into their weight room quickly. He weighed about 29 lbs on the big boy scale.

Diagnosis: (1) hand, foot, and mouth, (2) infantigo, and (3) pink eye.

The hand, foot, and mouth is viral. It is evident in his throat. It takes about 7 days to clear. Dr. Bianchi said that Henry should be OK to go to school on Monday. The infantigo is bacterial. It is probably an extension and mutation of the hand, foot, and mouth. Pink eye...who knows what kind it is. To quote Dr. Bianchi, "Henry's feet are a mess." Henry's now on an oral antibiotic, a topical for the feet and mouth, and has to take eye drops.

After the appointment, we stopped by Grammy's house to pick up alphabet cookies at Henry's request. We didn't get out of the car b/c I didn't want Henry to pass anything to my mom. Then, Henry and I went to Eegee's to get him some french fries. Then, we picked up his prescriptions.

Baby A was still asleep when we returned. Emma asked if she should wake her up, but I said to let her sleep. She'd been asleep probably 3 hours, but I figured that was OK. I got Henry settled in his room and gave him his medications.

Jeff's jury duties ended around 4PM. The trial is over. He picked up Miss R and took her to the store.

At 5:30PM, Christy from St. Nick's showed up. Our petition for Miss R's adoption should be ready and sent to the lawyer by the end of next week. Christy wanted to know what Miss R's new name should be on the paperwork. We are leaving her first name as is b/c it is a lovely name and is integral part of her identity. She'll be taking Jeff's last name. Christy is predicting that the adoption will be schedule for July.

Jeff and Miss R arrived about halfway through Christy's visit. Miss R threw a fit as soon as I said "How was your day?" She was so moody. Jeff said that she'd been perfectly happy at the store.

After Christy left, we let the kids eat dinner in front of the TV. Henry's choice: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He likes the part where Harry battles the basilisk.

I gave Miss R a bath. She liked the bubbles. I found her particularly girlie nightgown that's pink with white polka dots and a sheer pink cover. She was happy with that.

The kids didn't go to bed until 10PM. While Jeff took Miss R potty, Henry crashed. He was getting quite moody and hadn't napped all day. Hopefully, he'll sleep late. Miss R will still be going to school however.

I had planned to send cupcakes and party favors to school with Henry on Friday. But Henry won't be going to school. I suppose that I can send those things along next week. We had also planned to take Henry and the girls to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner Friday night. We're canceling that too. We're also canceling Henry's family birthday celebration scheduled for Saturday. And I've canceled Saturday and Sunday plans to go to two parks with friends. Sigh. I'm hoping that we'll figure out something fun to do in-house tomorrow. It will be Henry's birthday after all.