Melanie has been a bit under the weather this week, so we haven't been having the usual amount of fun. Monday she woke up with a fever over 101, but other than that she didn't really have any symptoms, she just wanted to be held all day, which is kinda unlike her since she is quite the independent adventurer. Not even a bath would lift her spirits. I went ahead and sheduled a doctor's appt. for Tuesday just in case the fever persisted. So Monday was spent holding a baby and not getting much else done. That's ok, because as I suspected, the laundry was still there waiting to be washed on Tuesday, and the kitchen patiently anticipated a thorough cleaning (darn!).

Tuesday she still had a fever, but not quite as high, and she was more herself again. Only now she was sticking her finger in her left ear and had a bit of a runny nose, so we went ahead and saw the doctor. The official word was "she has some upper respiratory junk that involves her left ear". So apparently not an official ear infection, and some congestion was involved, so we were given our first round of amoxicilian (he didn't want to give her a decongestent seeing as they're trying to stay away from that with the kiddos). The simple fact that Melanie made it to 10 months old without having to go to the doctor for anything aside from her scheduled growth checks thrills me, but nevertheless, I knew the day would come. So we started her on her meds and looked for improvement.

Well, she started to act like she felt better, playing more independently, not needing me to be within a three foot radius of wherever she was. That's good, right? Well, apparently amoxicilian gives Melanie diarhea. No fun. We made the correlation on Wednesday, so Thursday we were back to see the doctor. Only now her congestion is quite a bit more prevalent. And when I woke up, I had the scratchy throat and congestion. The doctor confirmed my suspicions, that Melanie and I are sharing. No fun, because since I nurse Melanie that means I can't take a decongestant either. So Melanie is on a new medication (which doesn't smell nearly as appetizing as the amoxicilian did) and I'm toughing it out on menthol cough drops. I am allowed to take Mucinex or Robitussin, but I opted to take a nap yesterday afternoon instead of going to the store to get some.

Now, for a change of gears, these are just pictures for the sake of pictures. No real reason, I just thought they were cute. And as any mother will tell you, after spending several days with a feverish, clingy baby that repeatedly wipes snot from one corner of their face to the other before you can grab a tissue, you need to be reminded that your child is indeed capable of being cute.

Melanie looking especially like her dad, minus the applesauce/prune residue on her face, of course.

What a big girl! Every day I am more and more amazed at how big she's getting. There are days where I feel my baby slipping away before my eyes, but then, having a little girl to play with is turning out to be pretty fun too!

I find this last one pretty funny. I think it looks like her head has been cropped from a different picture and put on a smaller baby's body. I know it's just the shadow adding to the big head affect, but it still makes me grin.