Worst October EVER!

Ok, maybe I am exaggerating, but it has been rough.
It start the last week in September. Jocee had a cold and shared it with Claire, who shared it with us. We were getting over it when we left last weekend to go to Phoenix. There was still some runny nose from Claire but Alann and I were mostly okay. We flew to Phoenix on Saturday. Saturday night, Claire didn't want to sleep. I figured it was all the excitement and the new place and the weird people and it was hotter in the bedroom than she is used to. She was up most of the night, as were we. Sunday morning we went to sacrament and barely made it through. So we went home and put Claire (and Alann) down for a nap. She slept for 3 hours and felt better. We went and visited some friends for a while and when we got back, she went down for another nap. This was in the late afternoon. So she didn't want to go to sleep again when it was bed time. We kept her up a little because it is just easier to keep her up than fight her to go down. It was hot again and she really doesn't fit in the pack and play anymore. Darn big kid messing up my plans. (The plans that included buying the smaller pack and play and using that instead of buying a bigger one. A bigger one still won't fit in the bedroom, but I guess we need a second.) So she slept int he pack and play for a few hours, but then got up, so we pulled her into the bed with us, because to be honest, I just couldn't stay awake any more. She slept much better, but I did notice she felt really hot. Monday morning she had a fever and was overly fussy. We got our hair cut (yay!) and she just sat in daddy's lap the whole time Kim was cutting mine. So then we went to the store and picked up some more tylenol and a thermometer since I didn't bring ours and the battery is dying anyway. I thought she was mostly uncomfortable because she was having bowel problems. I talked to the nurse at our pediatrician's office and she said just watch her and if her temp gets over 104 to take her in. She played a little bit at my Grandma's house but really wasn't herself. When we got home at about 4, she had a fever of 104. (which was really 103 because of where we took it, but I didn't realize that at the time). So off to the Urgent care we went. It was not terribly urgent there. They did come out and take her temperature right away, but then just gave her tylenol and told us to take her clothes off and we sat for 3 hours. At least she pooped while we were there. That was half of her problem. So finally at 745 I got fed up. They said we were next to be called back. I asked a nurse to come take her temp again. It was down to 99. I also asked the nurse how long we would be back there waiting for the doctor. She couldn't tell us. There was a lady with her two kids who had waiting 3 1/2 hours to go back, and had been back there at least an hour and hadn't come back yet. So I knew it would be a while. So we just left. I didn't want to spend another 2-3 hours in the doctor's room. Claire had some more Tylenol and went to sleep (in her diaper to keep her cooler) and we spent a little time with the family. She slept in the bed with us again because she really was more comfortable and it meant she only woke up once instead of every time she rolled over and hit the side of the pack and play. Tuesday we had to leave. Claire slept all morning. We had to wake her up to go to the airport. She didn't eat too much and obviously didn't feel good. She had a temp of 101-103 (which was actually higher because it was under her arm). If we had known she needed more tylenol, she might have felt better. She outgrew the dose we were giving her. She slept the whole time we were on the plane (which was good actually) and when we got home all she wanted to do was be held by one of us. I called the doctor again and she said she had a 9am appt the next day and to bring Claire in. Claire didn't sleep very well Tuesday night and I had to wake her up for the doctor's office. She was still just kind of catatonic. The doctor found she had an ear infection and another one starting in the other ear. She also said she "probably" had the flu. Just looking at her, she looked like she had the flu. She could have done the test, but their machine was giving false positives and negatives, so it wasn't trustworthy. Most of Wednesday was spent with Alann sleeping and me holding Claire on the couch. He didn't feel well at all. I felt a little bad, but not too bad. By Weds night, Claire had started talking and moving again. It was good to see her feeling better. She slept most of the night and her fever broke. She is still coughing and snotty, but feeling a lot better. Thursday, I had the plague really bad. Alann took care of Claire all day, which was still pretty easy because she would only be awake for an hour or two at the most and then go take a nap. Today I think we are all on the mend. I hope.
So now we have a new problem- Claire doesn't want to go to sleep in her own bed. She really liked sleeping with us. You could see it in her face. When she woke up Tuesday morning, she started to cry, then looked around and realized Daddy was right next to her. She crawled over and woke him up and was so happy. (She has really become Daddy's girl through all this. There have been times that I have been holding her and she starts crying and crawls over to Daddy and he holds her and she is fine.) So now she is fighting going to sleep on her own. Last night she cried for half an hour. It is just something we have to break her of. She has also become really dependent on the binkie. I don't know if it makes her feel better or what. But she just wants it all the time. I'm sure we will survive all of this, but I hope the second half of October goes better- no more illness or sleepless nights would be great.

P.s.- I also think it is funny that liquid amoxicillian looks, and smells (and probably tastes) EXACTLY the same as when I was a kid. I remember being really sad the day they decided I was too old for the liquid. I'm not sure why. But it has definitely made all the difference for Claire.