Mr. Huggly needs a Snuggle

I love holding Ruben. That being said, he does weigh nearly 25 pounds.  And it is kind of hard to do any two handed task while holding him.

So last week I mentioned that Ruben got his first tooth and we were so excited. His tooth was followed by a fever which I assumed to be a fever associated with teething because June did that sometimes and I've heard from other parents that teething sometimes coincides with a fever.  I never really took his temperature because the thermometer has been elusive (meaning, June likes to dig through the bathroom drawers and find random items to use as toys - this week it was an old bottle of hair moisturizer that she used as her "medicine").  I gave him tylenol a few times to help reduce his fever.  I never called the doctor because last time he had a fever they recommended that we go to the emergency room which ended up being a really expensive and painful (blood draw) experience that could have been avoided had we just given him tylenol (which is all that they did at the hospital). So I made sure he was drinking enough and sleeping enough and I figured we'd muscle through this fever on our own.  On Thursday, he developed a rash on his neck and face.  By Friday, I was starting to freak out just a little bit because the rash was spreading and now his whole face, head, neck, and torso was somewhat blotchy. But again it was Friday afternoon and I wasn't going to call the doctor just to be sent to the ER again.  After some quick WebMD research I figured that his symptoms were probably Roseola, or sixth disease, which isn't that traumatic after the fever.

I give this medical history to explain why my arms are incredibly tired. Ruben is already a snuggly baby so when he's sick, he literally wants held ALL THE TIME.  Today was the big Young Adult grill out at our house, so we spent the week getting ready by tiling and grouting the back porch and cleaning every inch of the house. Try to do all that while holding a 23 lb baby. In retrospect, it wasn't horrible.  Although there were moments that were particularly difficult. For instance, this morning I played and sang for GO Fish, but Ruben wouldn't be held by anyone but me so he sat quietly in the sling on my hip while I played piano around him and sang into the mike.  The last song woke him from a pretty solid nap so I did spend the majority of that song playing the bass line with my left hand, singing harmony into the mike, and tapping him on the rear with my right hand until he wormed his way out of the sling.

While Ruben's constant need to be held could be wearing at times, I love to hold my baby and every time I picked him up as he sat crying on the floor or in someone else's arms, he would calm down immediately, rest his head on my chest, and wrap his arm around mine.  Ahhh.  What else could a mom want?

This picture obviously isn't from Go Fish but it shows Ruben in his favorite sling. This picture is from our first trip to the Lake this summer during our annual visit to the Nature Center. Does this picture seem familiar?

The Nature Center at Pokagon State Park is absolutely riveting.  I promise.