14 months, 1 week, 2 days

My poor little sausage has been under the weather quite a bit lately. I count us lucky that he hasn't had too many illnesses so far in his life as some of my friends' little ones seem to catch a lot more than Callum. Sometimes because they go to nursery and Callum doesn't but not all of them do so I take full praise for the wonderful antibodies that I've passed on :o). However, he has managed to catch a couple of viruses recently.

He had a cold a couple of months ago, then just as he was getting over that he caught a throat infection that caused him to have a nasty cough and now, just as he was getting over that, he has caught another virus! A sickness bug this time. He has been sick for the last couple of days and hasn't managed to eat anything and keep it down. Thankfully, he has drunk more water today than yesterday but still not getting anywhere near enough fluids. The worrying thing is that he keeps being sick in his sleep :o(. I took him to the doctor today after calling the Health Visitor. I was pretty sure they would say it was just something he would need to get over himself but he had a couple of odd symptoms that didn't make sense so the HV said I should take him to the doctor just to be sure.

Sure enough, he said he had a virus and there was nothing he could do for him. He said his throat is sore again and he could see he wasn't himself. Callum also has a dry rash on his cheeks which I was worried might be Slapped Cheek Syndrome, although he didn't have the other cold/flu like symptoms but the Dr said he thought it was just a bit of baby eczema and to put moisturiser on it. I think it might be a sign of him being dehydrated but then I'm not a doctor!

Poor love is so not himself either. This morning I put him on the sofa to drink his milk (which is the only thing he has managed to consume and keep down surprisingly) with a blanket over him and kiddie tv on. As soon as he had finished his milk he just closed his eyes and went to sleep. He had only been awake an hour :-/. He has been mostly asleep or happy to just be snuggled up to me on the sofa. He hasn't played with any of his toys or shown an interest in anything else.

In the meantime, completely selfish comment from me, I'm getting cabin fever. And cabin fever makes me want to eat...and none of it good! So I'm getting wider by eating loads and sitting on my butt! And to think I chose this week to start my diet again! Well, last week actually but didn't do particularly well then either. I just hope he is better for Friday as we have a couple of things booked in the diary that I think will do us both good!

One of the things is Gym Jams. It is a type of soft play centre but different from the usual ones. It is in a village hall and has a bouncy castle, a deep ball pool and lots of soft structures to clamber over. Callum loves it and I get to have a nice cup of tea and a natter while he goes off to play. The place is still quite small so you can keep an eye on him without having to be by his side. They have a Christmas party too with Father Christmas. How exciting, Callum's first Christmas party and the first time he has seen Father Christmas. I hope he doesn't get scared like some children do...

I took Callum swimming last week and was keen to make it a weekly occurrence but then he got ill again so I couldn't take him this week. He loved it last week though. He is gaining so much confidence in the water - too much really as he was trying to crawl to the deep end. I was trying to get him to sit on the side then jump into the pool into my arms. He did it a couple of times. I need to get him some arm bands or something I think as he needs to learn how to be on his own in the water (of course with me supervising but not with me holding him all the time). I have wondered whether I should go without them so that he is encouraged to swim earlier but not sure that is the best thing to do. I have tried him with arm bands before (a friend let me try her boy's) and they do take some skill in themselves as children don't realise that the arm bands will keep their arms up and then they still need to hold their heads up. Plus the ones we tried weren't particular good as the whole of him wanted to sink rather than the armbands holding him up. I have seen those suits with the float around the middle and wonder whether they will be better. Need to find some people who have tried both to see what would be best. I really do want to take Callum swimming more regularly.

Hopefully, he will be back to himself before I know it and we can get back to his usual active social life :o)