Update on Melanie

Melanie had a fever starting Wednesday, September 15.  She stayed home from school that day - we sent her the next day, but she was sent home mid-day.  Friday, Gigi stayed home with her, and Saturday she woke up fever-free.  The fever never got higher than 102 degrees, but anything over 100 is grounds for no daycare.

During this time of illness, Melanie was, how do we say it, "challenging"??  Yes, I am not a good sick person.  But at least I know my limits and will shut myself off from the rest of the world (when I can).  Melanie, on the other hand, on top of not having an appetite, was taking her bad feelings out on her brother and anyone else who stood in her path.  By the end of that weekend, our mode of survival was to keep the two kids away from each other.  Another coping mechanism was that I went downtown and met my girlfriends before they headed to the Colts game.  Off-topic, I know - but an illustration of how we keep our sanity.

I ended up taking Mel to the doctor on Thursday, September 23 since she still had the cough that started before her fever started.  The doc thought she sounded fine, and spent some time with me discussing some of her - what did we say? - "challenging" behavior.  That which couldn't be attributed to her not feeling well was confidently diagnosed as typical 2.5 year old behavior.  We have a strong-willed child, and I'm not sure where we got her?  Haha.

Over the course of the last week, Melanie has gotten MUCH better in her treatment of Joey and in her sporadic tantrums, leading me to believe she really didn't feel well last week.  Yes, of course she still pushes her limits with all of the above - but it's more reasonable.  She continues to cough, but it seems to be getting somewhat better.  She continues, as well, to cry at the door after we put her to bed, usually falling asleep in front of the door.  This is after she gets read her three books, gets willingly put down to bed, knows we're leaving, and is fine.  THEN she gets up and cries.  I'm hoping this, too, is a phase accompanying her illness and that she'll go back to being a good sleeper soon.

Mel weighs 25 pounds, which is up to 10% on the growth chart.  She was thrilled that the doctor found Mickey Mouse in one of her ears and Elmo in the other (he does great voices!)  Of course she was too shy to talk to him, but she talked ABOUT him all weekend. 

On another topic, Melanie is doing great with potty-training.  She wears underwear all day at daycare, and has only had one accident there.