I'm eating cheese with this whine.

I don't have a really upbeat post this time - we're all still sick. And sick and tired of being sick. Kent's cold has turned into a nasty cough and the cold remains. Matt and I have his cold and today, I think I'm coming down with a cough too since my chest doesn't feel right. Every. Single. Month. I'm so over it. He's sick for 1-2 weeks, then we get a mere two weeks of rest. Meanwhile, there's no church going, no gym classes, and no MOPS for me, which are my favorite (and only) social outlets. It's so hard. It's harder trying not to whine about it.

Stephanie, my French friend, has gotten some tutoring gigs so our three meetings a week have dwindled down to one hour on Fridays. I'm happy for her since we worked on her resume and cover letters together, but I'm lonely for the lack of routine and friendship. It is nice to get both of our families together, like at the Superbowl. 

These last 2-3 weeks I've read a large number of parenting books and other great novels. We go to the library when we can, but the bitter cold, snow days and bank holidays have kept us away a bit. I do enjoy chatting with the staff there, but Kent goes around pushing books off of the shelves and pulling newspapers onto the floor so it's not as pleasant as it used to be. He's also in a hitting stage. He hits when we play, when we read, when I hold him, and definitely when he's angry. My efforts in teaching him this important lesson are not registering right now. I hope it clicks soon. 

Kent's night wakings continue and now that I know his molars are coming through, his shrieks make sense. That and his mucous cough that's so loud it rattles the house. No wonder he wakes himself up in tears. He cries and bites the air over and over (day and night). I offer him everything I can think of to bite, but he prefers his fingers (which get red and swollen). Today, thanks to Kara's suggestion, I found popsicle molds (4th store charm!) but he did not like that really cold sensation. If summer ever rolls around, we can break them out again. Kent's not tolerating very many foods, maybe because they hurt? He does eat lots of soft foods like oatmeal, eggs, cottage cheese, untoasted bread, applesauce and yogurt. I wish he would like stews over rice, like Matt's delicious Valentine's day Indian Dal (not spicy). 

These are the things that still bring a smile to our face when the going gets tough: 

He says "Btah!" (button) every time we walk by a light switch because he wants to turn it on/off. 

He fist bumps everyone he sees, multiple times, including the little old lady in the restaurant siting behind us. 

He points to the stereo and says "eh!" because he wants to listen to his music. He proceeds to dance.
He steals my socks from my bedside and walks around the house with them like they are priceless treasures.
He will find every dog and cat in every book and name them. Once he was saying "zzzzz" over and over until I realized he had the page open to the bee. Yep! That's what the bee says!
And of course Matt's enormous help with Kent when my patience is in the negatives. He's let me sleep, he's stayed home with Kent so I could go to the gym, and he's helped with dinner and dishes too. Most of all, he hears me out when I tell him how hard some days are.