Okay, She Wasn't Kidding...

I guess Ava wasn't kidding. She IS sick. Her little cute cough has turned into a not so cute cough. She has been seriously congested for the past few days. Fortunately we were able to call Uncle Joe (Doug's brother) the pharmacist for some advice. He said that it is common for little ones to get colds during the summer.

Ava hasn't been running any kind of fever, so we haven't taken her to the doctor, but she does seem to have a cold. If she ran any kind of fever, believe me, I would be calling the doctor for the first available appointment. Fortunately she hasn't showed any signs of a fever yet.

Poor little thing. She has a runny nose and a cough. We've been giving her an infant vitamin, and a baby dose of Robitussin (Wal-Tussin, which doesn't contain any alcohol) to take care of the congestion. We also have given her minimal baby Motrin as needed.

We didn't take her to church or small group on Sunday, so she could rest as much as possible. We took her out for a walk to get some fresh air on Saturday and Sunday. She ends-up sleeping during the walk. We were able to use the Duncans' jogging stroller without the car-seat attached because she is now JUST big enough to recline in the stroller itself.

Almost 4 months... She's also reaching for things lately. She LOVES to grab my nose and lips. She has started reaching for the mobile over her crib, too. Her dexterity really seems to be improving. She's also able to ALMOST balance her body sitting up now, too. Not quite, but almost there! She also laughs on a somewhat normal basis now. Watching her laugh is the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

This is funny... Ava had me cornered Saturday morning. I got up to feed her and then make breakfast while Daddy slept. Before making a blueberry coffee cake (nothing fancy, just Jiffy Mix w/ pecans, etc), I put Ava in her activity "seat-on-wheels" (Doug calls it her "Death star" - from Star Wars) in the center of the kitchen. She obviously wanted much to hang-out with me, because she scooted all the way over to the corner of the kitchen, where I was, near the sink. I then had about 2 feet-square in which I could prepare breakfast... ;-) Each time I would move her back to the center of the kitchen, she would "walk" her way back toward me. I had to laugh.

I gave her a bath today in our tub and added Johnson & Johnson's bubble bath to help with her decongestion. She LOVES the tub. She likes to swim around and kick her legs. She enjoyed playing with some empty shampoo bottles. It was, however, pretty comical to watch her chase the bottles, which inevitably slip out of her little hands. We did laps around the tub, I guess you could say!

I just want to see her get better, and soon! :-( She has her 4-month check-up on Friday. I'm hoping she shows signs of improvement by the morning. Her congestion seems to be breaking-up, which is good. We think she got this fun little bug from day care. We kept her home today from day care, so I could continue to give her medicine as needed, and let her get some good rest (sans other-baby cootie-infested drool). This works out well with me working from home. I am still able to get my work done while she naps and plays.

People I talk with say kids who attend day care get their sniffles early on, whereas kids who stay at home get sick when starting elementary. So, it's either now or later... Ugh, I wish it was never!

She is still all-smiles. We're just giving her extra kisses and hugs these days.

Please say a prayer that our little one recovers quickly!

With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava

P.S.- She IS cutting teeth, too. We can see that both of her bottom teeth are starting to poke through her gums now. Talk about everything happening at once!!!