Germ Invasion

The winter germs have taken advantage of this family.  I've never been hit as hard as I have this winter--starting on the 26th of December with a 5 day flu, followed by a brief reprieve of 1 1/2 weeks, and then knocking me over again.  The poor kiddos have been wiped out with wave after wave of flu, cold, cough, ear infections, and then REPEAT.... Sophie missed a week of preschool, and I have never seen her so sick.  And my sweet, sweet boy can still manage a smile here or there despite a double ear infection.  I think Sophie and Cam are just passing the germs back and forth between one another; at least Sophie is sharing something with her brother. Doug has managed to escape the germs... so, I guess working full time does have its advantages.... :)

Sophie's vampire look...gross but funny at the same time

The past few weeks have been full--and not just full of sickness. In the midst of dates with the doctors, cancelled plans with friends, humidifiers, many middle of the night wake up calls, and much reliance on the healing powers of Caillou, we have had several grandparent visits.  My mom spent a long weekend with us, and her help was incredible since she came at the height of Sophie's illness.  Doug's dad visited for a couple days as well, and my dad spent an afternoon/evening with us before he departed on an international mission trip. On a sad and serious note, Doug's "Little Gran" passed away this week, so he travelled to New Zealand to join the rest of his family in celebrating her.

"Mommy, it's taking so long to not be sick anymore."

 Despite feeling and looking pretty rough, Sophie did manage to maintain her sassy attitude and sense of humor.  She has begun to pick up on the different accents and intonations that mommy and daddy have.  When she imitates her daddy's Australian accent, it sounds like she is mispronouncing words though.  For example, Doug told Sophie that mommy and daddy were going on a date to eat sushi which was "raw fish." Sophie heard what Doug said and perfectly imitated it so the word "raw" sounds like "roar." Also, she is obsessed with all marine life and thanks to some lessons from Daddy, Sophie prefers the "orcer whale" (allegedly, that's Australian for "orca"!).

Looks like we have enough eggs for the rest of the sick season...

Just looking at this photo makes me want to snuggle him...

In an uncomfortable turn of events, Sophie now requests "open mouthed kisses."  On one hand, I guess it is good that she observes affection between her parents...but on the other hand, it isn't right when she asks her Daddy for an open mouthed kiss--which he quickly refuses...or when she goes in for an open mouthed kiss from her brother--which he mimics by opening his wide and slobbery mouth...

Sophie's latest obsession is making up words and saying "Do you know what that means? It means ______ in Spanish." For example "Lingen-don means rug in Spanish."

And now, I must take some more cold medicine, calm my very upset 8-month old baby, and bring more kleenex into my toddler's room who can't sleep if there is any trace of snot near her nostrils. And then, I will dream about everything sweet and thoughtful that Doug is going to do as a thank you to me for tending to our children during this sick, sick month.... I hope he still reads this blog...