Helen Claire Weekly

Consider this "Onesie Wednesday" also, because after the week poor Helen Claire has had, I'm just not going to force her to do anything else.

Let's see where it all started... Friday before last, Helen Claire had a great day! We had been working on clapping, and she finally got it- she learned to clap! We said yay, and she just started clapping. Here is a little video:

She also practiced saying "dada" a lot, which made Jonathan really happy. We had a good weekend, ran errands, hung out, etc. Monday, we were off for MLK, and I noticed that little Helen Claire had a slightly runny nose. It was clear, not running constantly, so I figured I would wait it out. Also, on Monday, we got her second dose of the flu shot. While at the doctor's office, I even asked about the runny nose, and they agreed with me--no big deal. Monday night around 6pm, she had a high fever and she was miserable. She couldn't get comfortable, nothing seemed to help her feel better, she couldn't sleep; she was pitiful and had the saddest little hoarse cry.

I got her an appointment on Tuesday, and we found out she had a double ear infection and was also fighting off a fever virus.

By Tuesday night, she was even worse. We called the Emergency Nurse Line, and the nurse told us to sit in the bathroom with the hot shower going so the steam could help her breathe. We let her sleep in the car seat; we gave her warm juice- we did everything to try and help her feel better.

She still felt terrible on Wednesday, so we tried to keep her happy. Then, on Thursday, she got her first tooth! We were so happy, since she has been working on that tooth for about 4 months, but can you imagine how bad she felt! I mean, as if the ears weren't enough, then she gets tooth pain too.

The part I feel really bad about is sleep- we just finished sleep training, and she did great. Then all of this happened, and we did whatever it took to get any sleep. I'm worried about getting back on our schedule, without a lot of crying. I don't want to put her through that first night of getting herself to sleep again, and I definitely don't want to retrain every time she's sick.

She is still on the mend, but thankfully, I think the worst is over for now. Mrs. Alice at daycare told me yesterday that her youngest child got an ear infection with every tooth. Let's hope we don't have that problem... remind me again how many baby teeth there are?