Hot Child In the City

Last weekend, Lucas got his first ever taste of Summer - with temperatures in the 90's, high humidity and sunny skies. We plopped him in the yard and he played with the grass and leaves (by "played" I actually mean "ate") and enjoyed all of the sights and sounds of the outdoors. He also got a taste of what it is like to try to sleep in the sticky heat because we do not have central air conditioning and obviously had not put in the room air conditioners yet, as it is only April and earlier in the week we were wearing winter jackets. On Wednesday morning when we got him out of bed he was sticky hot and we figured that it was just a product of our hot house. But when he didn't seem to cool down, we took his temperature and discovered that he had a fever. The fever persisted (hovering around 102) for the rest of the week, and cool baths and Tylenol/Motrin don't seem to make a dent in it. He also has severe congestion and a really runny nose (more than usual).

Marty was taking Lucas in for his well-baby 6 month check up (a month late) on Thursday anyway, so we held off on a sick visit (he is now 16lbs 8oz and 26 inches long). The doctor didn't seem overly concerned about the fever, saying that he just has a virus and it will work itself out. He doesn't have an ear infection and everything else looks ok. Of course being the paranoid Worrier that I am, I convinced myself that he has swine flu but so far I haven't convinced anyone else that this is the case. It's very hard not to work yourself into a tizzy when your child has an unexplained fever and illness, a bunch of staff and students from our work just got back from a trip to Guatemala and the news is giving 24/7 updates about this crazy swine flu pandemic that could potentially kill off a third of the world's population. I'm just saying. I blame the media for this one.

Elise has managed to stay healthy through whatever is going on with Luke, and really enjoyed the summer-like weather. She was extremely excited about playing outside in summer clothes ("I don't have to wear a jacket!", "I'm not wearing any socks!" - highlights of the year) and we tried to do our best to get outside as much as possible to enjoy it, hitting the zoo, multiple playgrounds and our front and back yards pretty much all day long over the weekend. While he does really like being outside and really enjoys watching his sister and the other kids run around at the playground, Lucas did not seem to be as much of a fan of being on the swing himself. It wasn't making him cry exactly, but he didn't seem at all amused (especially when Ellie was pushing him). Hopefully it will grow on him because we go to the playground a lot in the summer and it would be more fun if he got to participate.

This hot week, we also got a chance to eat summer foods like corn on the cob - Ellie's favorite thing from last year - and she still was still wild about it, scarfing down two ears. We have continued feeding Lucas different pureed baby foods (squash, sweet potatoes, peaches, peas, green beans, banana, applesauce, carrots) and have yet to find something that he doesn't like. This kid likes to eat. And his appetite doesn't appear to be at tempered by his illness. While the summer weather is going to be breaking soon, sending us back to the reality of a wet spring, we enjoyed the glimpse of summer while it lasted, and hope that Luke's illness is as brief as the summer weather.