Good gravy.

Today started off fairly normal. I didn't sleep well, but that was it. I got Andrew on the bus, and decided to try to lay back down for a little while. Liam was having a heck of a time, though.

Finally, after going through a whole list of what could have been bothering him, I'd asked him if his ear (the same one that became infected with the air quality shenanigans a month or so ago) was bothering him. When he'd told me, "I've got a big, bad boo-boo" and grabbed his ear, I decided to grab the otoscope.

Sure as anything, there was fluid around his eardrum, and everything was starting to look red. We had a whole bottle, plus some, of his ear drops left, so I started those up for him and called the pediatrician. Last time, they did an oral antibiotic with the ear drops, and they kicked it right out quickly.

Naturally, his pediatrician is out of the office until next week, and all of her colleagues think I'm the most incompetent person on the planet. I tried advocating for accommodation for him (I had no way to get him out of the house, plus they didn't even have an appointment available) to no avail. I didn't want to have Scott leave work for us to take him to a walk in either, because the last thing he needs on top of this is to get sick. (I'm so mad at myself for forgetting we have an otoscope that's also able to take pictures. My friend had mentioned it to me, and I was definitely kicking myself. At least I can store that information for next time, right?) 

So, to Google I went.

When I couldn't find an option locally to do a virtual walk in appointment, I asked if any of my Facebook friends had any suggestions, but I'd already tried those ideas. I decided to give searching the internet another shot, and I'm so grateful I did. I found a completely virtual walk-in, and we were in the appointment within 10 minutes. It kind of sucks that it was so expensive, but money well spent, without a doubt. He's already gotten a dose of amoxycillin through his feeding tube, so hopefully it starts working quickly.

The cotreat with Special Instruction and Speech was a dud on our end, but his teacher and SLP were able to kind of come up with a game plan for tomorrow's cotreat. That's if he's feeling up to it, anyhoo.

Andrew did really well on the bus today, which makes my heart happy. His teacher wrote to me that he started banging his head on his desk, though, so I hope the pointers I could give in that department help. I'm not sure why, but he's really been struggling with letting himself have a BM at school, and I think that's a big part in why he's having these moments. All of this week and last, he goes as soon as he gets home. Usually a couple of times, so I can tell he's been holding it. We've tried to tell him that the staff there can help him just like we do here, but so far, no such luck. His teacher has tried to tell him this, too. I'm really hoping he starts feeling more comfortable soon, because I feel like this school has the potential of being a wonderful experience for him.

Later in the afternoon, once Scott got home, I asked Liam if he wanted to snuggle. He's not always a snuggle bug, but he usually is when he's not feeling great. I hate seeing him feeling like garbage, but I love seeing how cuddles with mom make him feel better. Here's at the beginning of our snuggle session and the end, plus his sweet little weasel face when he was proud of himself for swiping my glasses right off my face.

Oh, and I'll include one of his baby, Kiki, giving him some snuggles once he got settled into bed, too. I love how much they love each other.

Maybe one of these days Andrew will finally be agreeable to having his picture taken, so I can share one here. He's usually too busy managing mischief for photo opportunities, hahaha.

Here's a recent one of him. The only reason I was able to snag it, was because he was zonked! Hahaha.

That's all for today. Just hoping for a smooth sailing night, and for everyone to feel more like themselves tomorrow. 💗