Weekly update

Give the government long enough and I guess they can eventually get efficient at certain things...I went to the passport office on Monday the 5th to apply for Kieran's passport and I received it in the mail on the following Monday. I must say, I was impressed. So now we are all ready for international travel and we have booked an all-inclusive trip to Cuba. We're going to stay at a "family-friendly" resort in Varadero and we'll be travelling with Tim's brother Eric, his wife Catherine and their 22 month-old daughter Vanessa. We all can't wait to go!

Kieran and I had an uneventful visit to the paediatrician on Friday the 9th for a regular check-up. Dr Monotone, as we have taken to calling him (he speaks very calmy and well, in a monotone voice!) says we have a very beautiful baby. Kieran got an oral vaccine against rotavirus which causes a type of gastroenteritis. I'm not sure what to think about the schools of thought that are blaming vaccines for the higher rate of autism in children these days but we've decided the benefits of giving Kieran his shots outweigh the risks.

Last Saturday Tim got up and wasn't feeling too well, but we did some running around town anyhow. We bought Kieran a Pea pod travel tent which we will bring to Cuba as his sleeping quarters.

On Sunday Tim's cold really kicked in with fever, chills and coughing. Kieran was also a bit out of sorts that day, not wanting to be put down.
We started using cloth diapers that evening which I loooooove! They are a far cry from the cotton squares and diaper pins my mom used on me. I bought some cotton diapers from a woman in my swimming class and then bought some more absorbent bamboo ones from Mère Hélène, a baby-boutique in Lasalle. No more accidents if you put the diaper-cover on properly and 2 or 3 extra loads of laundry a week makes no difference to me.

Tim didn't go to work on Monday morning but went to the clinic instead. He only went back to work on Thursday as per the doctor's orders. It was only a virus but he needed his rest.

I spent a few hours at the Children's hospital with Kieran for his follow-up ultra-sound on his kidneys. It seems like the hydronephrosis has not improved and has possibly gotten slightly worse so now we have to have a MAG3 scan done. They will inject him with a radioactive material to get a better view of how the kidneys are functioning. I was only there for a few hours, but most of it was spent waiting in a hot, dry environment surrounded by sick children. Not your most pleasant atmosphere. And that evening I also started coming down with a cold.
As for his kidneys, the doctor doesn't seem overly concerned but I will be relieved once Kieran gets a clean bill of health.

On Tuesday, we rested by going to the movies. We went to the Movies for Mommies showing of Bedtime Stories. Tim & I enjoyed it. You have to like Adam Sandler though. Who I have grown to like over the years. I think he gained my respect after I saw him in Punch-Drunk Love.

Wednesday we braved the cold and my sniffles and went to swim class. We had a good time and Kieran took to the water no worse than last week. I can't really say he "enjoys" the water, as he doesn't really have any reaction to it but he doesn't seem to mind it either.

On Thursday morning Grand-maman came over to watch her favourite grandson while I had some more gum surgery. Not the most pleasant thing to have done and certainly less than enjoyable when you also have a cold to deal with. Anyhow, I got through it with a few codeine pain killers!

Catherine and Vanessa dropped by that afternoon and Kieran and I entertained V for about an hour while Catherine went to run an errand. V was very happy to see Baby K, as she call him.

On Friday, it was Kieran's turn to get sick. He woke up with a fever. The poor boy looked miserable with watery eyes and a runny nose but he wasn't complaining too much. We gave him some Tempra and cleaned his nose with saline spray and even if he didn't like having salt water sprayed up his nose, it certainly helped relieve his congestion. We figured there was no point going to the doctor even if they recommend you do so if a child his age is running a fever. After the Tempra, his temp was back down again and we knew he had caught our cold so there's not much more the doctor could have told us to do...I'll write later about the great weekend we had.