Evan out, Cal still in

Cal had a fairly good night last night although his oxygen levels fell badly during the night. They dropped to the low eighties which is actually significantly worse than it might sound and a serious concern. After spending some time back on oxygen and Ventolin they came back up, and he's been fine all day. But the fact they fell is keeping him in for another night at least - he needs to get through a night without oxygen before they'll let him home.

He's been cheery all day but is fragile and increasingly stir-crazy - a bad combination.

Jennifer has is staying with him from tonight as we're not sure my back will ever recover from another night on a camp bed or my brain from yet another game of Guess Who (something I don't think I ever want to play again although Cal seems to find it endlessly, and I mean endlessly, entertaining.

Swimming

Declan has been very taken with the swimming championships. For the last couple of days, he has been very happy to demonstrate his dry land butterfly stroke to anyone who would watch.

When we went for his swimming lesson today, he demanded a swimming cap (which I bought him - green, of course). So our little boy in speedos looked the complete professional as he sat by the side of the pool in cap and goggles seriously taking instruction.

When he was playing around in the pool beforehand, he also did three strokes of butterfly before sinking; probably about as good as most adults I know.

Recovering

Callum has been much better today, following a confirmation of which pneumonia he is dealing with (Mycoplasma pneumonia if that tells you anything).

He's now being treated with antibiotics that treat it specifically (as opposed to the more general set of antibiotics) and spent this afternoon off the oxygen entirely. When Declan and I visited in the morning, Callum was sitting quietly watching TV, with oxygen. When we visited in the afternoon, Callum ran down to the garden at the end of the ward, desperate to point out its excellent features to me, and to get Declan to join with him in sneaking up on me.

After about 15 minutes of running around, he sank into, "can you read me a book, Jennifer" but it was a wonderful contrast to yesterday's disinterest in even talking.

Best estimate is that he will be home on Sunday, once it's confirmed he doesn't need oxygen any more.

I just want to talk to you...

I think Declan is missing Callum, particularly at bedtime, but he's also enjoying having me to himself. He spent a long time going to bed tonight, finally saying, "but I want to talk to you all night, mummy." Out of Callum's orbit, he's quite the chatterbox!

We went out to dinner at the Italian restaurant tonight, and he did a very good job of charming all the waiters, saying "Grazie" and asking very nicely for gelato.

A day in hospital

Callum has spent the day in hospital. They were very busy last night, so last night was in emergency, in a pod in a corner, but at lunchtime today he got to a proper ward with a bed.

The doctors think that it's not normal bacterial pneumonia, but some less usual bacteria causing his main symptoms, so they've switched antibiotics, and are also giving him nebuliser drugs every three hours. He's also on oxygen. Hopefully as they get closer to a diagnosis the things they try will make more of a difference. Right now they are more treating the symptoms.

Callum just wants to lie in bed - even a visit from the Clown Doctors barely raised a smile (although that could have been because there was a train movie on TV at the same time).

Mummy dance

When I went to pick Declan up from Jane's last night (she'd been looking after him until I could get home from work) he did a little dance as he often does when he's happy about something.

Later I asked him if that was his mummy dance. "No," he said scornfully, "this is a mummy dance" and demonstrated with egyptian handmovements.

Worse

This evening Evan took Callum to see Dr Goh, as he seemed worse. Amateur diagnosis confirmed; Dr Goh suggested that Evan take Callum up to hospital to get him properly checked out.

They confirmed that he's worse, that he's not breathing well, and lethargic, and admitted him. So Callum and Evan will spend tonight in hospital; Callum on industrial strength antibiotics through a drip and oxygen, and Evan on a campbed, which is probably supremely uncomfortable.

Jealousy

Declan is a bit jealous of Callum. He keeps telling me, at odd moments, that he's very sick. He's not, there's absolutely nothing wrong with him, but he sees Callum getting to sit on the couch, avoid setting the table, and generally getting pampered and he'd like a piece of the action.

So I let him sit up with me and watch the Australian swimming championships tonight. I asked him if he'd ever be able to swim that fast. He thought, and then said seriously, "yes, but with my noodle."

More coughing

Callum did stay home from school today, and went to visit Dr Goh. After an X-ray, the diagnosis was bronchial pneumonia. I hasten to add that the addition of the adjective "bronchial" makes it not quite as bad as it sounds, but still, it's a week off school, some very strong antibiotics, and lots of quiet time.

Callum's quite keen to take the X-ray to show and tell next week when he gets back to school. He told me, "nobody else has ever taken an X-ray to show and tell before!"

Bu he's quite sick. The toughest thing is that it's quite hard for him to talk - it sets him off in a fit of coughing. And, knowing Callum, not being able to talk is a pretty severe disability.

Coughing

Callum's been sick for a few days now. He went to school on Friday, but rapidly faded to feverishness and coughing in the afternoon and evening. On Saturday, we went to Greenwich Baths with the Gaynor Vincents. Jennifer, watching him run around like a lunatic splashing people ("I've made up a new gag, Jennifer, it's a squirt gag with a watering can"), found it hard to believe he was in any way sick, but he faded rapidly again in the afternoon.

Today we went up to the mountains for Emma Lee's first birthday celebration, and Callum once again had a great time playing with the steam train, soccer in the backyard with Aidan, and general merriment (as did Declan in case you're wondering). But this afternoon when we got back here, Callum lay on the couch and coughed so hard he threw up all the birthday cake he'd eaten that afternoon.

Not sure if he'll go to school tomorrow.

When I see girls

Declan and I left the house the morning to get me a coffee. There was a young woman walking past our door as we left.
D: "When I see girls my eyes roll."
E: "Why?"
D: "I like girls."
E: "Oh?"
D: "Girls who are not in our family are lovely."

When I was a kid

Cal was home from school yesterday as he had a temperature. We were watching TV in the morning and Playschool came on. "Ah", he announced, "I used to love this when I was a kid."

Apart from the decision that he's no longer 'a kid' the funny thing is he's always hated Playschool.

Meet the daughter-in-law

When I went to pick Declan up this afternoon he introduced me to Holly who, he announced, he is going to marry. What really amused me is that Holly agrees.

While I was waiting for Declan to finish his afternoon tea so we could leave, he and Holly looked deeply into each other's eyes and smiled at each other, for all the world like a courting couple out for a romantic dinner.

Tantrum

Declan has been acting a bit strangely the last 10 days. He vacillates between being sweet and being very naughty. He's also wet himself a few times at pre-school with rather strange excuses.

This culminated (I hope it's a culmination) on the weekend with the tantrum from hell. On Saturday we went shopping and he completely lost the plot when we refused to get him the book he wanted. He chucked a complete, screaming tantrum. I ended up stomping out of Dymocks carrying him under my arm while he screamed out that he didn't like me. we then had another 15 minutes of unrelenting screaming and shouting.

Then almost as quickly as it came the cloud passed. He took a breath and started smiling.

We don't really understand what's going on and are desperately hoping it is a short-lived stage.

Across the bridge

Today we all walked across the bridge (with Jack and Sue) to celebrate its 75th birthday. Callum and Declan were quite taken with the fact that we were walking where the cars go; Callum going so far as to say, "I'm glad we walked on the road today, Jennifer. Walking on the footpath is so boring." as we were walking home from the ferry.

We also got free souvenir hats, which Callum wore to bed tonight. I had to take it off him and put it on his bedside table, otherwise I'm sure he would have worn it all night.

I had been thinking that Declan would be one of the youngest walkers (as opposed to children in strollers) but he didn't stand out particularly from the other small children walking. Everyone else has caught up with us, I think.

Experiments

Callum has been doing science after school every Thursday this term. He's really enjoying it, and is starting to talk about everything in terms of experiments (with a tiny bit of encouragement from his parents, I have to admit). Tonight he and Evan decided to do an experiment to work out whether the chocolate brownies that Evan and Declan made were yummy or not. So they gave everyone a chocolate brownie, and then asked each person their opinion. Result: yummy!

After dinner, Callum, Declan and I did an experiment in making ice. We mixed salt and water in one batch, and sugar and water in another batch, and put them both in the freezer. In the morning, we'll have a look at the results. I have no idea what they will be, so we'll see if anything interesting happens.

More career ambition

Declan has suddenly changed his mind about what he wants to be when he grows up; now its a train driver. I don't think it's a coincidence that I was telling Evan the other day (in Declan's hearing) that Tom Linigen wants to be a train driver when he grows up.

I don't think he'd ever thought before that there might be a career involving his favourite thing; trains. He does have another ambition, though. He's going to have a motor boat and go to Antarctica in it. There's one issue, though, "do they have shops in Antarctica, Jennifer?"

That's my little consumer.

Staying put

We bid but failed to purchase a house in Cammeray today. We'd shown it to the boys on Thursday night, and they had both been very keen to buy it. Callum particularly liked the bed hidden in the cupboard that you could pull town, whereas Declan was keen on the cuddly toys on the bed.

But when I asked them whether we should buy the house today, they both said that we shouldn't, because then we wouldn't go on any more holidays. Our brainwashing has been very successful.

Better

Declan has been very grumpy the last few days. He's also been complaining that his tummy is sore, and eating very little. This evening, he wolfed down a full set of Gozleme at the Noodle markets, and then spent the evening running around like a mad dervish with a broad smile on his face.

Clearly, something was wrong. It's so easy to blame his grumpiness on general preschool recalcitrance, that we tend not to give credence to his almost certainly justifiable complaints about not feeling well. Oh well, at least he's better now.

Toons and cogs

The boys have a new (non computer game) - toons and cogs. Entirely derived from their new favourite computer game (toontown), it involves standing face to face and throwing things or phrases at each other. It's very funny to listen to, because the villains in toontown, the cogs, have names like "micromanager", "pencilpusher", "telemarketer", and they say things like "you'll be sorry you answered the phone!"

Callum is constantly making up new gags (which are the weapons) out of any vaguely interesting thing he can think of - the latest one is the spare telephone which is sticking in the dressup box.

Probably a symptom of our inner city lifestyle that it does not involve anyone chasing anyone else.

Cooking

This afternoon, the boys and I decided to make scones. It was a fully participatory event. They both did things (whisking eggs, crumbling butter into flour, cutting out scones and putting them in the pan). We tried ringing both grandmothers for a recipe, but in the end had to find one on the internet.

After they were cooked, Declan decided we should invite someone over to help eat them, so we rang Claire. After a bit of warming up, she and Declan had a great time, playing on the bikeboards, running out onto the playroom verandah, and then playing hide and seek and shopping in the playground next door.

Callum was too busy playing Toontown to join in.