Poor Baby!

My poor baby got his first cold over the weekend! He started coughing on Thursday night and has pretty much gone downhill since then. He went from a throat clearing little baby cough a few days ago, to sounding like he smokes a pack a day this morning. I feel so bad for him because there really isn't anything I can do besides a humidifier and some saline spray. Luckily, he's the most easy going baby EVER. Besides the coughing and drippy nose, you wouldn't even know he's sick. He's been sleeping like a champ and still manages to smile all the time. Nothing is worse than watching your child suffer through sickness and being completely helpless! Today we're going to go to the walk-in clinic, just to be on the safe side. Hopefully my little bug-the-boo feels better soon!

We call him "Fang"

Please don't be alarmed by the photo! We are not torturing our child! We only wanted to get a picture of two of his latest developments. Eye teeth. Most children get the two bottom front teeth followed by the top two. We like to think that Ben is special. He got the two bottom front teeth very typically at six months in August. Then, a couple weeks ago, we noticed bumps where the eye teeth are. He was pretty crabby for a couple days, and shortly thereafter, his fangs appeared. I think that it's payback for me. Why you may ask? When my sister was a wee baby, she also got eye teeth first and when we were kids I relentlessly mocked her baby pictures and said that babies with eye teeth looked weird. I am now, of course, a convert. I now believe these babies to be extremely gifted and beautiful.

And life will never be the same

Ben started crawling on Sunday, November 2nd. I knew things would be different with a crawler in the house, but I didn't realize how different! Of course, at this point, we still think it's cute and are impressed with his new talents. Give us a week or two to realize the full impact. Until then check out this super cute video of him crawling to me.

Hard to say good-bye

I went to Madison this week for my Cancer Information Service Staff Retreat at the University of Wisconsin. Normally, we have two of these retreats every year and I always enjoy getting together with my colleagues from across the region. This retreat was no exception for the laughter, ideas and good times that we shared. This time was even nicer because we stayed at a great little bed and breakfast in Madison called the Arbor House. (It's environmentally friendly and way cool, definitely check it out) We had a great time like we always do, but it was definitely bittersweet. We got word in early October that our program won't be funded beyond the next year, so this was our last time to get together. I have been working with these amazing women for the last three years and saying good-bye to them today was much more difficult than I thought it would be. We have shared not only work with each other, but we have shared our lives. I will miss these incredible women dearly and I know they will all be successful in whatever paths they choose for themselves. They are all destined for great things. Take care, girls!

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Ben's first Halloween in the traditional way on Friday. We dressed him up to amuse ourselves and then paraded him around town. I must say, my child was the most adorable little chicken I have ever seen. We started the afternoon at my office at a little Halloween party that we put on to show off costumes. Then, we spent a couple hours greeting trick or treaters at our house. After that, we start receiving strange phone calls with 'Cluck Cluck... Bawk Bawk" noises, and I knew that my mom was anxiously awaiting the arrival of our Chicken Little at her house, so we then took Ben on parade to visit his grandparents. Overall, a very fun night! I think that even though he had no idea what was happening, Ben had a good time too!