All Clear!

I took Ben to see Dr. Vermont yesterday after school, and he listened to his chest, back, lungs, etc. He seems to be in pretty good condition. Now we just have to keep him that way!

Three Day Weekend

We are currently on Day Two of a three day weekend. There was no school yesterday so that the teachers could start their report writing for conferences which are in a few weeks. Since Ben is still recovering from his pneumonia we just took it very easy. The only time we left the house was to go to Target to buy Leapster #2 (he lost the first one when I was in Florida over Labor Day Weekend) and Batman Game #2 (it was in the Leapster that he lost) as well as something that Ben's been coveting forever - a Pancake Puff Pan. I'm sure you've seen the infomercial for it. If you haven't, just ask Ben. He recites parts of it verbatim for me. It's hysterical to hear some of the phrases come out of his mouth! Needless to say we had pancake puffs and sausage for dinner last night. They're super easy to make and really cute, but I need to work on my cooking times/technique. They were either dark on the outside and cooked on the inside, or they were beautifully golden brown on the outside and sort of mushy/partially cooked on the inside. I just need a little bit of practice to figure out how long to cook the things. Plus one recipe of pancake batter makes a TON of pancake puffs - way more than two of us could ever eat - so we were just fine.

This morning we had a soccer game. I know that we scored at least two goals. The kids all seem to have figured it out and seem to enjoy it. We had our full team there today for the first time in awhile so that was pretty cool too. Next week we play the other MICDS JK team so it should be a pretty interesting game.

We're going to hang out and rest for the rest of the weekend. Ben is feeling so much better than he was this time a week ago, but with pneumonia and the weather really cooling down I don't feel the need to push it. His energy level is still a bit lower than usual which leads to a crankier kid. There are plenty of weekends ahead of us in life where we can go nuts. This weekend is a good one to keep quiet. Plus now that Ben has a Leapster again he really has no interest in me anyway!

Pneumonia Update

Ben is on Day 4 of antibiotics out of 5 prescribed days. He's doing pretty well. His coughing has massively slowed down and seems to be fading away. He had a good day at soccer yesterday (his team actually scored 5 goals even though they don't keep score). When we went out to dinner last night he was really such a good boy. He ate practically nothing (although he ate an entire cheese sandwich within about 45 minutes of us going out - the only thing he'd eaten all day aside from part of a corn muffin that morning and some snacks at soccer), but since he's been sick he eats and drinks even less than he usually does. I'll take it from him where I can get it!

Pneumonia!

Ben's got pneumonia! Ben went back to school on Wednesday after staying home sick for two days, but his cough wasn't going away and sounded like it was getting phlegmier (is that even a word?!) and deeper. He had a ridiculously long coughing fit in the middle of the night Thursday night so Friday morning I decided to call the doctor to see if this was more than just a cough. I took him in on Friday afternoon, and after examining Ben, Dr. Vermont sent us to the hospital for a chest x-ray. He called us at home a little while later to say that Ben definitely has pneumonia and that he'd call in an antibiotic for us. He also tested Ben for whooping cough (Wow, Ben did NOT like having his nose swabbed!), but I have a feeling that the extremely long coughing fits that he's having are all about the pneumonia. Who knows...I must have missed medical school that day. Anyway, he also wants us to see a pediatric pulmonologist to see about getting tested for asthma since this is the second time Ben has had pneumonia (last time was two years ago at Thanksgiving). Can't hurt to check, right?

So that's our story around here. We're still going this afternoon to see the Backyardigans Live at the Fox Theatre. If we didn't go I think Ben would absolutely go beserk. He used to come to me out of nowhere and tell me that he wanted to go to Chicago or Washington, DC, and when I'd ask him why he'd tell me that the Backyardigans Live were going to be there (Thanks so much, Noggin). And tomorrow are the rescheduled soccer pictures (and soccer game) so we have to go to that too. We're just hanging out at home today and resting. Ben was up before 8 this morning (yuck) and isn't too bad right now. He's pumped full of antibiotics and cough syrup and only coughs once every once in awhile which is much better than it was before. I think he'll be fine to do a few things. Besides, the fresh air will be good for him.