Get Well, Daddy

Yesterday Charlie and Lily spent their first night without Daddy. About two weeks ago, Joe came down with a cough. Nothing else - no runny nose, no sneezing, etc. He felt fine except for the cough. Just to be on the safe side he wore a mask around the babies for several days, but when the cough continued without getting worse or better we figured he probably just had allergies. Yesterday though his chest started to hurt, so to be safe he headed to the doctor, where he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia! Now, the doctor diagnosed him just by listening to his chest - no x-ray or anything - and he really has no symptoms of walking pneumonia (at least according to what we read online). Still, the doctor felt confident that he was it even though Joe and I aren't so sure. She gave him the three-day Z-pack antibiotics and an inhaler.

I immediately called the pediatrician as I was worried about Charlie and Lily's risk of getting sick. She assured me that the babies should be fine. You can't catch pneumonia - it develops as a secondary effect of something else, like Joe's cough. She said the babies could have caught the cough, but Joe would have really had to be coughing in their faces for that to happen. He, of course, had NOT done that, plus we are nuts about hand washing and sanitizing. Even though Joe has been around the babies for 2 weeks with this illness, now that he is "officially" sick we were worried about him being around them. Plus, sleep was what the doctor ordered - literally. So Joe spent last night at his parents house. My mom, Charlie and Lily's Crackers, came over and spent the night with us. The babies enjoyed the sleepover with their Crackers and we got along fine, but we sure missed Daddy!! He's going to stay one more night at his parents' house just to be on the safe side and so he can get more rest, but then he'll be coming home to us!

So Daddy was down for the count, but Charlie and Lily are going strong! I thought it was time to bring out their Baby Einstein play mat, since they seem more interested recently in looking at things and following sound, and they really seem to like it. It has a cute little lights and sound soother on it that both babies really like looking at, and they'll also look up at the toys hanging above them. But Charlie and Lily aren't the only ones who like the mat! Roy and Roger seem to think that the toy is theirs - they've taken to napping on it every chance they get. Luckily the babies don't mind sharing! In other news, Charlie and Lily have graduated from newborn to size 1 diapers (well, Charlie graduated and Lily has gone along for the ride). After a few diaper leaks I decided to try the bigger size diapers on Charlie. They looked HUGE in comparison to the newborn size and I thought they'd never fit him, but they do! They are getting so big - it's great!

Tomorrow the babies go to the pediatrician for a check-up, their four month vaccines and their Synagis shot. The Synagis shot is designed to protect the lungs of preemies and other high-risk babies from RSV. The babies will get one shot a month beginning in November and ending in March. Synagis is not a vaccine and will not prevent the babies from contracting RSV, but rather a dose of antibodies that will strenghten the lungs and help them fight RSV should they become infected.

Before our photo shoot on Sunday, Joe and I tried to snap some pictures ourselves. As you can see, sometimes it is best left up to the professionals.

Regardless of who is behind it, Lily totally knows how to work the camera. We have a whole series of pictures like this, each with a different, priceless expression.

This? Well, this just makes me happy.

Lily and Charlie enjoying their play mat.

Luckily Roy was willing to share "his" new toy with Lily.