How We Survived the September Plague

Maybe if I write a "how-we-survived" post, it'll guarantee we actually do survive and make it through the last lap to good health? I hope.

The score as of Monday was Super-bug Strep: 5, Us: 0. 

Jeremy and I visited urgent care Saturday night, after Jeremy ran a fever of 104 Friday and had a terribly sore throat and an ear ache--and I clearly had at least a bad cold. So we joined the antibiotic crowd (Jeremy for obvious strep throat [and ear infection], me for probable). 

Lydia

I don't know exactly when Lydia caught the disease, but her throat swab tested positive for strep when I took her to the pediatrician Monday morning. She never got the fever, rash, etc. that Josiah had. Last week she said "blah blah blah" some, pushing her tongue out against her bottom lip. I thought a lip wound was bugging her (she bit through her lip in a fall on Josiah's bed rail), or maybe she had some teething pain (molars coming in). But it's likely she had a sore throat.

 Abby

I think I mentioned we took Abby to the doctor's a week ago for conjunctivitis. The pediatrician put her on penicillin for an ear infection and said it would kill any latent strep, too.

Yesterday was Josiah's last day of eye drops (hallelujah! he fought tooth and nail four times a day when we had to administer them), and today was his last day on penicillin. Abby will continue antibiotics for a few more days, and Lydia till middle of next week. Thankfully we kept the conjunctivitis contained to the children--and that's cleared up.

Now I'm just thinking of all the toys and EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE the kids have mouthed that I should sanitize. I found Josiah licking chairs and walls the other day--no idea why. Unless I move us out and fumigate, I won't catch it all. I've washed linens and stuffed animals, sent toothbrushes through the dishwasher, and may try to soak all the Duplo and play food.

So this was supposed to be a how-to post. Here's how we survived the past few weeks of illness and quarantine.*

*Disclaimer: Please don't attempt this at home. You'd be better advised to just avoid strep, scarlet fever, conjunctivitis, and ear infections--especially at the same time--altogether.

1. Crying

Okay, so maybe crying isn't actually a survival tactic, but a lot of it happened. Josiah cried. The girls cried. Mama cried. It's hard to be little and emotional and sick and hurting. It's hard to take care of little, emotional, sick, hurting people--especially while sick and emotional yourself!

2. Tasty Medicine and Thermometer Propaganda

Photo mostly unrelated to topic . . . sorry

Josiah has improved immensely in his medicine-taking and thermometer-tolerating skills since a year or so ago. His cooperation in both departments has positively influenced his sisters, who were begging us to take their temperature and give them medicine before they were diagnosed for anything!

Abby

Apparently the amoxycillin is pretty tasty, since none of them have balked at it. Josiah took a swig of water to wash it down, but overall he didn't mind his "pink medicine." Poor Lydia felt left out after Abby got antibiotics last week, so she was happy to join the crew Monday.

Lydia

We were relying on our ol' under-the-arm thermometer during most of Josiah's illness, but it's slow, and axillary temps aren't terribly accurate. The girls wanted it under their arms, but they didn't want to wait around for the beep. After a week of taking many temps with our old one, Jeremy bought us a temporal thermometer--it's a quick swipe across the forehead for a more accurate temperature, and the kids like it well enough and can't tire of it before it's done.

3. Mosquito-infested Backyard

 Josiah and Lydia

 Abby

Three weeks of house-bound quarantine meant we all felt stir-crazy. In each stage of the various diseases, at least a few people felt up to doing something, but we couldn't just traipse along to the library, park, grocery store, etc. So despite the heat, humidity, clouds of mosquitoes, we were thankful for a spacious backyard. The kids still enjoyed stints of digging in the sandbox, pulling each other in the wagon, fighting over the sin-mobile, and hammering on the little toy fort.

Josiah cooling off and trying to keep mosquitoes away

Lydia

Even with bug spray and a fan blowing, those mosquitoes still ate us a alive, though . . .

See the mosquito bite on his cheek?

4. New puzzles and books

Throughout his sickness Josiah still wanted to get up and play, but he didn't have enough energy to do much. He'd build a Duplo tower and then climb back on the couch to lie down. His capacity for pleasantness was pretty limited, so almost anything his sisters did bugged him. He was a sick, sad, cranky little boy for a while. :( Thankfully he perked up when I picked up some new books at the library, and he really enjoyed a four-part animal jigsaw puzzle I found at a thrift store. We've read Babar the King and The Seven Silly Eaters many times in the last few weeks.

The girls want to do whatever Josiah is doing. Recently I've allowed them to page through "real" picture books (vs. board books) on their own, and they love to do this. Often they sit together and point out things of interest on the pages. They also like to do puzzles, but were tiring of the regulars. I let them try out a couple more advanced ones that Josiah has pretty much outgrown. While the tougher pieces frustrate them, they feel like big girls trying out the train puzzle!

 Lydia

 Abby

5. GRANDMA!

We are eternally grateful to Jeremy's mom, who took pity on us and braved our germ-laden home to come help over this past weekend, when Jeremy and I both got sick. The kids were thrilled to see her, and she spent hours playing with them. She allowed us parents to rest, go to urgent care, and take a break from intensive childcare while we suffered the worst of the illness.

Because we were all sick, I didn't think to get pictures of the kids with Grandma :(

She made the ultimate sacrifice--we heard today that she has strep throat and a double ear infection. Thank you, Mom and Grandma, for loving us so much and taking care of us so well!

6. Prayer

This one is for real. In the midst of exhaustion and anxiety, I've prayed for help, peace, grace, cheerfulness, forgiveness, healing, patience, and much more. The psalmist's cries in Psalm 119, Paul's exhortations in Philippians 4, and the benediction in Hebrews 13 have aided and anchored me these past few weeks. I'm thankful for the truth of God's word and His care and comfort.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us!

Abby

Just an Update

Trudging along. [Trying to] do the next thing. Hoping for a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep. Praying for peace and help in perseverance. That's how I feel lately in our fog of sickness. But that aside, there's plenty to be thankful for, and the kids persist in being cute even when life is hard.

Here's a little update on our doings of late:

1. On a positive note, Josiah turned the corner in his bout with scarlet fever and conjunctivitis. I'm so glad and grateful to see him more cheerful and energetic. This has been his toughest illness to date, I think--long and hard for all of us. 

Well enough to wield a cardboard-roll sword!

2. The girls turned 19 months old on my parents' 31st wedding anniversary! More new words: both say, "Wa-wa" (water) and "me" (while pointing to themselves). 

Today while nursing they kept up a back-and-forth argument: 

Lydia: "Me!" 

Abby: "Me!" 

Lydia: "Me!" 

Abby: "Me!" etc.

I'm not quite sure what it was about, but they both used indignant tones. They also like to launch into "uh-uh"/head nod arguments.

They continue to be best friends and rivals. Lately each likes to gleefully pull Sister's hair while she screams in pain. They also like to sit close on the couch and page through books together, though--one points out items of interest on the page with finger and an "uh," and the other nods sagely.

Sparring for the saddle 

 Abby on left, Lydia on right

 Happy solution?

 Maybe not . . .

Nope. Lydia definitely doesn't want to be sat on, and doesn't want to give up her spot.

3. Abby now has conjunctivitis in at least one eye. I won't be surprised if the other swells up and gets red, too. (Lydia had it in both eyes last week and is just about clear.) Jeremy took her to Goodnight Pediatrics this evening, and we found out she also has an ear infection. So now she'll be on antibiotics for the ear infection and eye drops for the conjunctivitis. 

Sickie Abby--her eye definitely looked worse today :(

While Jer and Abby were at the doctor's, I took the other two to Trader Joe's for milk and a few necessaries. Josiah kept saying he was sad Abby wasn't with us. He actually cried a couple times before we left for the store--when Jer and Abby drove away, and when we were getting ready. At the check-out he asked for stickers, and he tore off a strip of them to save "for Abby."

I was touched by the brotherly love. But after all, who wouldn't miss our little Abby sweetie? Just look at her . . .

4. Jeremy and I both have a sore throat today. I'm losing my voice, he has canker sores and achiness . . . I guess it was inevitable that we'd end up sick, too. But you don't want pictures of us sick. So here's cute (and relatively healthy) Lydia . . .

5. I read Psalm 77 to the kids at breakfast this morning. It begins like this: "I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord . . ." At this point I stopped to quiet Josiah, who was yelling. But I realized he was only taking the words of the psalm literally--he was shouting, "GOD! GODDD! GOD!" 

 

Tea Party

One day on our Michigan vacation, Josiah crashed his second-cousin Lyla's tea party, but we got some cute pictures out of it . . .

Lyla is exactly a year younger than Josiah--they share a birthday

Josiah really liked Lyla's real tea set!

He provided tea to all the surrounding adults

Lydia and Abby joined in . . .

Cutie Lyla

Lydia mostly wanted to pull apart the fake flowers . . .

Funny Little Twosome

Lydia and Abby make a hilarious twosome--and they're always aspiring to be a threesome with Josiah!

How cute can they be? Well, here are a few sayings and doings of late . . . 

About two or three months ago, the girls started nodding emphatically when I asked them to say, "Yes, Mama!" in response to my instruction. They often add "Mama" with the nod, but lately Abby nods and seems to say "Yeah Yeah Yeah." Abby has also started saying "na na na!" for "no no no!" rather than just shaking her head (which both have done for many months now).

Lydia on the left, Abby on the right

All three kids like me to do "this little piggy" with their toes. The girls come up close or plop themselves in my lap, grab their toes, and imitate my intonations with high-pitched voices (mostly the "wee wee wee all the way home" part). Josiah sometimes obliges them in their love for this game, and they giggle when he names each little piggy-toe and push their feet at him for more when it's over.

Lydia

Just in the last week or so, Lydia fine-tuned her pronunciation of Abby's name. Now it seldom comes out "Babby" or "Wabby" anymore--it's clearly "Abby." The girls say each other's names quite a bit--maybe almost as much as they say "Mama!" A couple days ago I heard them across the room from each other calling back and forth: "Abby!" "Lilla!" "Abby!" "Lilla!" etc. 

 Lydia watches apprehensively as the garbage truck rounds the corner

 Lydia expresses her feelings about the garbage truck

Abby joins in watching the truck till it's safely gone from sight

Lydia has taken to blaming her toots on Abby. The other night Lydia and Josiah took a bath after Abby, since I suspected that both of them may have pink eye, and we wanted to attempt to keep Abby uninfected. Anyway, while those two were in the bath after Abby was done and diapered, I heard an unmistakable noise from the tub and asked, "Who tooted?" Lydia promptly replied, "Abby." 

 Abby of the funny faces . . .

She's perfected this scowl and uses it aptly

Seldom do the girls play separately. If one wants to do puzzles, the other does, too. If Lydia wants to ride the rocking horse, she often invites Abby to climb on behind. If Abby wants to drive cars down a ramp, so does Lydia. If Lydia wants to build towers out of Duplo, Abby does so too--or messes with Lydia's creations. They fight, of course, but I'm also surprised at how often they play nicely together--not just "alongside" each other. 

Our pediatrician gave us a sheet of expected 18-month milestones. Its expert advice says, "Don't expect your toddler to share." This made me smile. Of course, I don't expect the girls (or Josiah) to want to share or to share naturally or easily, but between several factors--twins, siblings close in age, a small house, and a limited number of toys--I don't really have an option but to teach and train them to share early! 

And actually, they're doing pretty well. (Sometimes I have to remind myself of this fact when I'm refereeing spats!) Often without prompting they trade their books and puzzles when done. They can happily play with Duplo or dance together or collaborate to put away the box of blocks. Certainly they require quite a bit of supervision (they like to climb onto the kitchen table and stomp together), and certainly they fight quite often. But I think their twinness has given them a head-start on sharing. (Josiah certainly didn't have a constant companion with whom to practice playing or sharing at this age!)

Silly Abby

Both girls love to pretend with their dolls, and they're developing more of a game out of it (vs. just hugging/kissing the babies and then trying to get me to nurse them). Lydia came up with the idea of putting her baby into her high chair. I mentioned she might want something to eat, so Lydia loaded her up with fake food (see below)! She was intent on getting the doll to slurp some milk (complete with sound effects) from her little toy carton.

 This is the current style of posing for pictures

Abby wanted to join in on the fun, so she stole some food from Lydia's doll's stash--instigating outrage from Lydia. She and her baby would clearly miss the fake chicken Abby swiped.

 Everybody's posing this way!

Abby feeds the entire chicken to her baby

The girls are partners in crime as well as in cuteness. During nap time, they egg each other on in getting out of bed, climbing atop the changing table, looking out the window, pulling clothes out of drawers, etc. Typically Abby is the first over the crib rail, but we suspect Lydia of sometimes encouraging her sin from the safety of her own bed. 

The other day, I checked their room for perhaps the tenth time after putting them down for a nap, and I found them working assembly-line style to empty the dirty cloth diapers from the diaper pail. Abby pulled them out of the pail and passed them to Lydia, who piled them in the middle of the rug. Yuck!

 Abby (like the other two) still loves hats

Both girls love paging through "real" books!

I strapped Abby in her high chair seat for time out the other day after some misdemeanor. A couple minutes later I returned to find Lydia supplying Abby with dolls, books, and other toys to keep her happy during her period of punishment!

 Lydia

Abby reading to her babies

The girls add new words almost daily. Lydia said "birdie," "hat," and "book" in the last week. Abby said "pillow" ("bop-oh") and "thank you." Both say "dere" (there) and "dis" (this). For some reason, Abby was quite enamored of her pajamas the other night, composed of a pink t-shirt and purple leggings. I pointed and said, "Pink shirt, purple pants" in answer to her questioning noises, and she tried to repeat the words after me. She approximated "purple" pretty well.

Abby in Great-grandpa Earl's old swim cap

And to round out the post, here's a final little snippet from Josiah: 

"Are you funny or what?!" I exclaimed the other day to the girls. 

Josiah said indignantly, "I not what!" 

Sillies' love