Turned out to be...

...pneumonia.

But she seems to be a lot better.

Along with the antibiotics she got a lot of hands-on tender loving care. For 3 days straight we pretty much just held her in our laps and coddled her. She wouldn't let us lay her down for a nap for a couple of days, insisting on sleeping in our arms, fitfully tossing herself around periodically. Her breath was hot, heavy, stinky. I did a lot of clapping and cupping on her back to break up the rattling mucous. Clearing your own mucous by way of coughing is a skill that's lost on an infant/toddler.

A day or two ago she sneezed up this huge blob of mucous that I'm still swooning over. It was sort of a huge thing that seemed to have a life of it's own. I couldn't believe it came out of such a little person. It dawned on my that this was the pneumonia, the physical manifestation of the infection, and that she would probably be a lot more chipper having shed it.

And she was! She took a great nap a little while later and woke up with SO much energy. She was all over the place. I couldn't sit still on the couch for 2 minutes without her bolting not only upstairs to the bedrooms, but all the way up to the attic. She did this, like, 5 times that afternoon. She was into everything.

Something about it made me miss working at the hospital. I haven't seen a booger that big in a really long time. It made me remember doing suctioning on my patients, and the satisfaction I felt when I helped someone clear their airway, breathe a little bit better.

So yeah, the biggest booger has been strangely inspiring. Go figure.

Seems like...

...the little one has some kind of illness. For the past two days she's woken up in a fairly decent mood and then slid into big, pile of tired, feverish, crankiness. She was tugging at her ear a few times today so I'm wondering if it's an ear infection. Poor thing.

So it looks like tomorrow is another day off for me, getting her to the pediatrician and probably filling prescriptions for antibiotics or what have you.

Watching a couple of minutes of Edward Scissorhands. The part where they show the montage of weird hairdos he does for all of the neighborhood ladies. Good movie.

Superbowl Sunday

It's about so much more than just football.

It's about gathering together with friends and family.

It's about good snacks.

It's about the entertainment.


It's about cute babies and the dogs who love them.

Meatloaf Muffins!

Wish I had a picture of these cuties, but they're gone already.

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs of ground meat, either beef, turkey, pork, or any combination thereof
1 egg
1 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp of bbq sauce, ketchup, or a combination of both
pepper to taste
seasonings to taste
6 cubes of cheese such as cheddar, mozzarella, gouda, swiss, 3/4" by 3/4"

(Yesterday I used turkey, cheddar cheese, and fresh thyme leaves. Awesome!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 6-muffin tin with cooking spray. Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, except for cheese cubes. Add more bread crumbs a little at a time if the mixture seems too moist to hold it's shape.

Divide the mixture into 6 equal pieces and form the pieces are one cheese cube each into ball shapes. Place the meatloaf muffins into muffin tins and bake for about 40 minutes. When the muffins are done they will be sizzling and firm to the touch. The tops of some might break open and a little bit of cheese might ooze out. This is another good sign that they are done.

Allow to cool slightly for a few moments before removing. If they stick, slide the back of a butter knife around the muffin.

Serve with ketchup, mashed potatoes, and a warm vegetable such as stir-fried broccoli.

Enjoy!