Dx: Crying

He can't always be smiling.

Chad had a rough day on Thursday. Daycare called to tell me that he had spent most of the day either crying or sleeping, but he didn't have a fever. We can see many teeth right underneath the gums, so it could have been teething, but because he was getting over a cold I was worried this was ear infection Número Tres festering in his little Eustachian tubes. I quickly wrapped things up in the lab sped down to pick him up. As soon as he saw me, he came over and started crying and slobbering all over me. There weren't many kids in the room, so Miss Simone won the title of My Favorite Teacher by having the teachers in Infant B cover the rest of the Young Toddlers and sitting with me and Chad in a quiet classroom so he could have a cup of milk while she gave me the play-by-play, which included stories of a mopey Chad who randomly fell asleep on the floor, refused to eat, and sat quietly by himself instead of playing. When Chad finished his milk he began crying again, so it was off to the doctors for us! If you're keeping score, this is three sick visits in about two months. Bad times.
Chad cried for the entire ride to Urgent Care, and then while we checked in, and then as we waited (although there was a short break to play with some chalk on their blackboard wall). He REALLY turned the waterworks on during the vital signs checks, which took three people to get through. He continued the hysteria while we waited for the doctor and got himself so worked up he was sweating. The doctor said he wouldn't be able to get a good examination unless we quieted him down, so he got a dose of infant Motrin, and when the doctor stepped out he finally settled down and fell asleep. The doctor checked him out from head to toe, with Chad occasionally opening his sleepy little eyes to make sure we weren't going to pull a fast one on him and give him a shot.
Everything checked out fine. One ear was healthy, but the one with the healing ear drum was a little tough to see in, and the doctor didn't want to fight with Chad to get a good look, since he could accidentally hurt it again. So we got a prescription for a third type of antibiotics, and were told not to fill it right away, but if a fever showed up we should assume it was Número Tres and start the drugs. The doctor also used the "T" word, which didn't thrill me, but I think we're aways from having to have that fight.
We collected our paperwork and left Urgent Care.  Chad scored some stickers from the nurses station for being such a good patient.  I think they must have very low standards if screaming and kicking for an hour straight is considered "good".
When we got to the car I looked at his discharge papers and right at the top under diagnosis it read, "Crying".  That's it.  No "Possible ear infection" or "Pain due to teething."  Just "Crying".  Awesome.  Now every time someone looks at his medical history they'll see that I'm a hysterical mother who brought him in because he was crying too much.  I told Chad we need to find a happy medium between hiding ear infections until they rupture and going to Urgent Care because he just feels like crying.  Also, when he starts getting an allowance I'm going to take the $35 co-pay for this visit out of it, just to make up for being so humiliated.
We got home, and Chad suddenly decided he was ready to EAT.  He went through 8 or 9 fishsticks, a side of okra, an entire banana, a piece of bread and then 4 or 5 crackers with peanut butter.  Just when I thought I'd need to make a midnight run for a Shmuffin, he exhausted himself and fell asleep with no fuss.
Since then, he's been back to normal, happy Chad!  The mere threat of a macrolide kept Número Tres at bay.
Here are some pics I got of him when he was feeling better.

Eating a Jalapeno Popper Burger, made by Andy, for lunch.  It included jalapenos, cream cheese and bacon in a cheeseburger.  He also had a side of guac and some bread to dip it in.  He asked for some tequila to go along with the Mexican meal, but I had to say "No, Chaddy.  Tequila is a dinner-time drink."

Fenway stops by for a visit.  Fen has had it rough lately, because Chad has repeatedly tried to give his stuffed squirrel rides on Fenway's back.

He ate an entire banana like this, and then wanted to eat the peel too.  Apparently peels don't taste good, because he spit it out and handed it to Andy.  After a couple bites/spits, he agreed that only the fruit part should be eaten.

A pre-haircut shot!  I had to bribe him with a Gerber cookie to get him to sit still long enough to take this picture.

At Peek-a-do.  His stylist let him sport a faux-hawk for a bit before she started clipping.

He didn't think this was his best look.

After he made one too many escape attempts, I relented and let him try a lollipop during the cut.  That kept him still!  And stained his mouth bright blue.

The traditional post-haircut trip to the park.  And he's off!

Headed to the slide...

... to climb up it!

Some other park-goers cheered him for wearing his Red Sox shirt.

Crawling through the tunnel

Still only 6 teeth, but he's a "tooth spurt baby", so we know we'll get a bunch soon.

This was hysterical.  His Grammy gave him this jacket a while ago, and he finally fits in it.  It has little frog feet shapes on the wrists, and a frog face on the hood.  But I guess he doesn't think it's as adorable as I do, because when I put it on him he started crying.

He ran to the coat rack and tried to grab his Red Sox jacket.

Being bigger, I won this fight, and Chad went to school dressed like a frog.  Even worse, I made him take a picture with me so you all can appreciate the cuteness of the frog face on his hood.  Adorable, right?  Chad needs to learn that this is one of the few times in his life where he can get away with this kind of outfit, and he should take advantage of it!