Will it be Spring next, Mama?

Well, this week was exciting.

Andrew and Rowan came home from Minnesota on Monday night (Andrew spent the weekend with his Dad and brother in Bluefin for their annual Father/son weekend trip and took Rowan with him. He stayed with Pam for most of the time, and I'm soooooo glad he was able to spend some quality time there!! Thanks, Pam!). We put Rowan to bed kind of early because he was really sleepy, and after about an hour of crying with no consolation, he fell asleep. Andrew had said that he kind of had a little cough, so we thought if we could get him to sleep with a humidifier, he might sleep it off.

No such luck.

At about 11:15pm (Andrew and I had gone to sleep by 10:00pm...!), we woke up to him crying and coughing a "barky" cough. I ran into his room, and with every breath, in and out, he "barked." Scary. Ingrid had had the croup last winter, and I recongnized this as the same thing. The croup is just an inflamed trachea, making breathing difficult because of the small airway opening. We called the hospital in Oakland to make sure they took our insurance, and when we found out they did, I got up and took him in (so much better than driving to Ruby Memorial in Morgantown, like we had to with Ingrid! It's an hour away, and Oakland is 15 minutes away!). They gave him some steroids, and he was on his way to feeling better, though he did wake up a few more times that night. He's much better now, but the cold that accompanied the cough is still pretty bad, so he's been taking decongestant that the doctor gave him a few colds back, and that helps tremendously. (It should, since after insurance it cost $50!)

The other news is that we changed the kids' sleeping arrangements, and it's soooooo much better! We ended up putting a pack 'n' play in the office (it's been tricky with the printer and computer in there, so we're going to have to figure out some way to move that around), and he has slept through the night for 3 nights in a row! Even with not feeling well! We're attributing it to the smaller bed, and most importantly, a stricter nap schedule. We've started a bedtime routine, which seems to help the screaming, however, he still hates going down for a nap, but even when it takes him 45 minutes to fall asleep, he eventually does, and we let him sleep as long as he will. I think we're on the right track. I can't believe how much better I feel! I'm sure he's feeling better, too! I was having a lot of trouble with "blacking out" every time I stood up, and since getting even 3 full nights' sleep, it's almost completely disappeared! I guess my body was just telling me it needed more sleep...

Autumn?

On a different note, this week, we had an early snowstorm. I mean, it wasn't a foot of snow or anything, but the temperature dropped really fast, and it became icy and snowy in a matter of hours. Not fun to drive in.

Ingrid, on the other hand, was ecstatic! She's a Minnesota Baby through and through. She could not wait to get out into the snow and make snow angels or "throw snow bites" (or "have a snow fight," as we would all say). ;) She played outside till we told her she needed to come in because her nose was so cold! She would have stayed outside all day. Andrew went out and helped her make a sad-looking snowman (there was only about 4 inches of snow...), and she felt satisfied after making snow angels and showing me her snowman. I made her a "steamer" of hot milk and maple syrup (chocolate brings out her evil twin...), and she felt so grown up drinking out of a "grown-up" mug, holding it like Mama does with her hand through the handle, cupping the mug to keep her hands warm.

She's so funny. She really, really tried to convince us to go sledding. She tried every angle, suggested every hill, and told us it would be okay... I don't think she was convinced that there wasn't enough snow. I think she thought we just didn't want to do it.

She talked with me about how the snow will go away and then it will be Spring. (My mom had been talking about the seasons with her recently.) But then, when I told her that the snow would probably go away this weekend, she asked if it would be Spring next. I explained that it was just a funny snow because it was still Fall, but about Thanksgiving time, it would stay cold and the snow would stay for a while. Then, we could make more snowmen. She was excited for that, and a little relieved, too, that winter wouldn't be over.

Tonight, we go trick or treating. It's supposed to get near 60 degrees today, so it shouldn't be unbearably cold. Ingrid is going as a pink and grey kitty cat instead of the tiger because the costume is much warmer. She was excited to be something else, anyway. I'm not exactly sure what we will do with Rowan, but we'll just make it a surprise for everyone! In any case, they'll be using their Halloween bags that Pam got them for Halloween last year with their names on them. Check back in very soon for pictures of our Halloween Adventure!