Beep!

If you keep up with me on Facebook, you know Allison was sick all last week. She ran a 103+ fever for 4 days, had swollen lymph nodes, wouldn't eat, and she was so miserable that she ended up sleeping with me and Frank for a couple of nights (we NEVER do that!!). The doctor told us it could be the flu (even though she tested negative), mono, or tonsillitis, but without blood work we couldn't confirm. Once her fever went away she was still very tired, but we assumed it was because she had had such a long week battling the fever and not eating. She is also cutting two molars, so we factored that in. But now she's sleeping around 17 hours a day or more, which includes a morning nap that she hasn't had in about 2 months. This kid has mono. I'm totally convinced. I was baffled at where she could have contracted it until I read up on mono on Web MD and found that since I had it in HS, I can still be a carrier of the virus the rest of my life. It has active and dormant periods, and when it's active I have the chance of spreading it. I also learned that up to 50% of people are immune to the virus - which explains how I've never given it to Frank. Luckily, you will only ever display symptoms of mono once in your life - so I'm safe! I say all that so people don't feel like they need to stay away. In another week Allison will be less contagious, but even then you're fine as long as you don't let her lick you! No need to quarantine the family!

Now that that's out of the way, here is all the cute Allison news. When she was sick last week I was checking her temp every couple of hours, and she didn't like to be bothered with the big beeping thing in her ear so I made a game of it, and made a big deal when it beeped. She caught on and started taking the thermometer and putting in either her ear or her sheep's ear and saying 'beeeeep!'.

She's picking up new words all the time, but she doesn't repeat them often. Some of her new words are: puppy (which she says very clear), baby, socks, cookie, cracker, Dora, eye, nose, flower, cheese, and papa. I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting. It's strange to hear her talking a little. She usually surprises me with her words. I'll have no idea she can say something and one day she'll just point and label something out of nowhere. We are trying to teach her a few words for bath time - faucet, shampoo, and fish (one of her bath toys). So far she's only attempting shampoo. It always comes out either pey-pey (??) or pooooo. Maybe I should have called it soap. :) When we were at the grocery store a couple weeks ago she saw the shampoo on an isle and started telling me 'pey-pey! pey-pey'!

She is also finally beginning to adopt the new sheep we got her about 3 months ago (there's apparently a very long probation period). We bought it hoping she wouldn't notice that it wasn't her favorite sheep since it is EXACTLY the same minus all the wear. Nope, she knew immediately and the new sheep had been shunned. Recently though, she's been carrying both of them around the house and seems very proud of her flock.

She and Maggie continue to be buddies. She likes to pet her while telling her 'puppy' over and over. This morning she tried very hard to cuddle with Maggie, but Maggie was confused and bolted before Allison could finish leaning on her.

In not so cute news she is really discovering her opinion and how to express them (fits). I'm a little overwhelmed to see her act that way sometimes, and hoping I can be consistent enough to teach her correct behavior. I'm reading a book right now called 'Parenting by the Book', and it's giving me a lot of perspective on how to parent her 'God's way' and to always keep in mind the goal of raising a godly woman of character who is independent, selfless, and humble. That feels like a tall order in our society, but the tips in the book are very helpful. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a child around the age of two since the book suggests that about that time (maybe sooner) is when parenting takes a new turn and should be WELL established by age three. Just my two cents.