Fall! Return to Daycare, Hand Foot Mouth and Potty Training

Hello Fall! I can't believe that in the blink of an eye summer was here and gone. Since June, we have been to: Bushnell Park, Wickham Park, Gillete Castle, Springfield Museum and Library, KidStreet Playground in NJ, peach picking at Melick's Farm in NJ, Rocky Hill Ferry, touch-a-truck, various splash pads and many trips to the local park. We took photos during every event and I will share my favorites at the bottom.

Liam had his fair share of colds, including a horrible run-in with the ever so common hand foot mouth disease. There was a rumor that it was pretty bad in our town and our neighboring town. We had planned a trip to see family in NJ and I tried everything to keep Liam well. We refrained from library visits for the week prior and stayed close to home.

During the trip to NJ, Liam stayed healthy, however the day after returning, he developed welts on his leg. At first I thought they were mosquito bites. Wrong. Then the welts started oozing and I thought it might be poison ivy. Wrong again. Liam developed a high fever and white spots appeared on his tongue. The nurse confirmed hand foot mouth and told me that it was a virus that needed to run its course. Liam seemed fussy but it wasn't as bad as I had heard it could be. I thought everything was going to be fine. Wrong again. The sores got worse, Liam stopped wanting to eat and stopped sleeping through the night. He was crying all the time and super fussy. Then I found blood on his pillow and on his pacifier at night. I called the pediatrician and they said that it was just running its course. I brushed it off and thought the sores were healing. Instead of healing, the sores got worse and the next day we were walking outside (Liam was fever free by this time) and bloody drool came out of his mouth. I got so scared that I called the pediatrician and told them that this wasn't normal. I brought him in that day and they confirmed a nasty mouth infection. All in all, it took 3 weeks from start to finish for Liam to heal. I wouldn't wish this on any mother. Liam lost a lot of weight and stopped using his pacifier. Once the sores healed, he slowly regained his old eating habits but thankfully we have dropped the pacifier 100%. My little boy is growing up!

Another major milestone is that Liam is fully potty trained! When I started this draft back in September, we were still in the process. We did the 3 days of no pants and he picked it up quick. Along with positive reinforcement from daycare he was trained in a week. By week two, we didn't have to use pull-ups. Around that time Liam got sick again which caused him to need a nebulizer. He has been sick on and off for about 3 weeks and I am just ready for it to be done.

When Liam returned to daycare, he had some trouble adjusting to the other kids. He was violent, which had a lot to do with his speech. He is now seeing a behavioral therapist at daycare. However, after a couple of weeks (and many sharing sessions with mommy) he has made leaps and bounds. His vocabulary, though slow to his peers, has greatly improved. He has started to put two words together, says mine for when he wants something. He can say "I love momma" or "I love daddy". We are still doing speech every friday.

I have been very busy with school and family. I will try and keep this updated, especially since we have some news about my health... see next post.