Catching up after the croup...

We've had a busy few weeks since New Year's... We all got pretty sick after Christmas. First, Andrew had it--and gave it to my parents. They all ended up with some degree of bronchitis after a cold went to their chests. Somehow, I got off with only a bad cold and blocked ears, but no cough. (which is terrible enough in WV because the altitude changes make getting in the car torture when your ears are blocked...)

The kids, however, ended up with the croup. Ingrid is especially susceptible to chest problems because she had RSV when she was 4-5 months old. One night a couple of weeks ago, she woke up from her nap and could hardly breathe. She had a terrible barking cough. It was a rough night that night (no one slept), and she was no better the next day, so I called our pediatrician and got her in to see her that morning. The doctor gave her a breathing treatment (which Ingrid was afraid of at first, but she progressively got worse through the morning and started letting the doctors do whatever they wanted to her... :( ) even though she said that her lungs didn't sound too bad. After the treatment, however, she started to hear whistling in her chest, so she sent us to the hospital in Morgantown (where Isaac was born) for chest x-rays.

We got to the ER and they gave her a little teddy bear while we waited and they were really good to us there. They took X-rays, but decided that it was just her upper trachea that had swollen up...the doctor said that it was "classic croup." They gave her a good dose of steroids and another breathing treatment, and before it was time to leave the hospital, she was asleep on my lap (which was wonderful because she hadn't really slept since the day before because she couldn't breathe...). The next day, she felt MUCH better, although she was still moving slowly. She ended up with a rough cough (she's still coughing), but she's feeling much better now.

Rowan ended up with lots of congestion, but no cause for worry. His cough sounded awful, and he had some coughing fits that were a littel worrisome, but he never had a hard time breathing, nor did he have the barking cough that Ingrid got. I'm so glad. I hope that's it for the winter. We'll see.

I've been extra busy the past two weeks because I've been trying to get back into working more after taking time off to have Rowan. I'm teaching voice lessons again in Fairmont (an hour and a half away where Becca lives) in their comunity music program two nights a week and at Fairmont State University for the college theatre students during the day on Tuesdays. I go down Monday night while the kids stay with Anita and my parents, stay overnight with Rebecca, and teach on Tuesdays all day until 8pm while Andrew works at home with the kids. I am not liking staying away one night a week, but I'm not making enough money to drive all the way home and back twice in two days... Oh well.

I'm also trying to get more people to sign up for my Kindermusik classes that are starting again at the end of the month. Yesterday, I had an open house where people got to come to a free class in hopes that they will sign up for the semester. So far, no one has signed up today, but I think there were a few who were interested. I will teach those classes on Thursdays and one class on Saturday mornings. It's been pretty cool to do these classes with Ingrid. She thinks they are amazing, and they're great for her socialization. She can't get enough of the singing, which we do a lot. Even though I'm not making much on the classes right now, they're worth doing so that Ingrid gets the experience... Rowan comes, too, and I'm glad he's getting the experience so early.

I have also completed an inservice to be able to substitute teach in Garrett County, MD as well as Preston. I'm hoping that pans out. One of my Kindermusik moms is a teacher in Garrett County, so I'm hoping she will call me if she needs a sub. Aunt Sue is the secretary at an elementary school here, too. Melanie is subbing also, so I hope we get to work together sometime.

Andrew is doing lots with his ATRAN (autism network) website, and his friend Ram in India has gotten him in contact with a publisher who wants to publish his book there and market it here, too! He's also advertising himself as someone who will come do trainings for schools and other places in MD and PA who want more information on autism/theatre and behavior modification as a part-time gig. Check out his http://fullspectrumeducation.blogspot.com advertisement and his http://www.autismtheatre.org ATRAN website. If you know anyone who is interested, let them know that they can become a member of the network for free! He's gotten several prominent applied theatre/autism researchers and workers. We all think that he should see if Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey want to be a part of it! Wouldn't that be cool?!

I will leave you with a really cute video of Ingrid singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to her brother from tonight. We sing this song at Kindermusik, so she's had lots of practice. Rowan loves it. She's learning to be much more gentle with him, especially since she's started to realize that he reacts positively to her when she sings to him. It's my favorite thing to hear her sing... :) She sings ALL THE TIME. She's my little singer. How fun. :)