Week 19

A million people warned us it would happen, but we just didn't want to believe it...Colin got his first cold within a week and a half of starting daycare. Ahh!! He woke up around 10:00pm on Wednesday night with a runny nose, a cough and a fever. Bleh. We were able to obtain some footage of four likely suspects:

We quickly learned the most frustrating part about Colin being sick was that there really isn't a whole lot you can do for a baby with a cold, so we just did what we could - took him to the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything more serious, loaded up on baby tylenol, Vick's baby rub, and saline spray, tilted his mattress on a little incline, cranked up the humidifier, and gave him as much love as possible. Unfortunately, he mostly needed that extra love between the hours of 7:00pm and 6:00am. That led to very little sleep for us, which in turn meant the entire Kruse family eventually caught the daycare cold. One down, hundreds more to come I'm sure! Here's a pic of the little guy with "fever face" (i.e., red face) - or is it just the McGinnis blood in him?

Going on four nights in a row of poor sleep, we realize how spoiled we've been to have a baby who sleeps 10+ hours a night, and this shift in routine really put us back in our place! We'll never take sleep for granted again...that is, if he ever sleeps through the night again. Although we got a glimmer of hope tonight when he turned over onto his belly and almost instantly fell into a deep sleep. We're crossing our fingers that this new position will allow all the gallons of snot that make it hard for him to breathe to run right out of his nose and on to his mattress so he can stay sleeping. A girl can dream, can't she? Ahh, the good old days...

Enough whining about the three sick Kruses! On to the fun stuff from the week. We've gotten a little more control over our schedule. Or maybe we've just gotten a little more used to the insanity? Who knows. Regardless, it's better. Washing things - clothes, dishes, bottles - is probably still the biggest time suck. While he hasn't yet mastered the art of washing all these bottles, Colin does seem to have a knack for helping us fold laundry -

As we mentioned last week, Colin started at his full-time daycare center in Alexandria this week. We love it! With the exception of the first day when we got all the way there before realizing we had forgotten the required health forms at home (so we drove all the way home, all the way back, and then finally to work), we had a great first week! Here are some pictures of their infant building and Colin's friends and teachers:

Colin got to spend a lot of time with his dad this week. First, his dad stayed home from work on Friday because Colin still wasn't feeling good. They got to do a lot of fun stuff, including play with Reggie, with Colin's favorite elephant toy, and with dad's scratchy beard.

And then this weekend Colin got to go to his daddy's championship basketball game where he hung out with his Uncle Greg and Aunt Lisa while he watched his dad win! (Check out how Gabe, when standing among a group of giants in that team picture, actually looks like he's normal sized. Or small even! Weird.)

Colin has developed one of the funniest belly laughs we have ever heard. Much like his neck, it's very rare that we catch it on film. These next three videos have brief moments of this new sound!

1. Mom being weird.

I was kind of scared of myself when I watched this video for the first time, so I would recommend keeping the lights on. I don't think the noises I make are 100% human, nor would I ever want someone to run back and forth at me like this. Luckily Colin found it funny - he clearly doesn't know any better.

2. Dad's Poopy Pants Song.

Gabe finally let me take a video of him singing this G. Kruse night time classic to Colin. He's afraid people will make fun of him. NEVER.

3. Tickle Monster!!

No description needed - he's just fun to tickle!