Yes, Kanan has officially caught his first cold. And of all the times to catch it, his symptoms arise exactly 24 hours after his dad Mike left for Mexico for a week on a surf trip. “Call him” you might say. I would if his phone worked that far south but that is not the case. And he has his number forwarded to his business partner Brad. Meanwhile, Kanan is sneezing gallons of snot, he is coughing, he can’t sleep well because he can’t breathe and he can’t eat well for the same reason. When he is not eating or sleeping, he has moments of happiness if I can distract him from his misery with live puppet shows and tickling. He woke up at 3 am last night and finally fell back asleep after crying for an hour and half because he was miserable. At first, I wasn’t sure why he was so upset but then I heard his congested breathing and figured it out. I finally put him in his infant seat (poor baby is so big, his legs dangle off of it from the knees down and the safety harness won’t even fit him) to keep his head elevated and squirted saline in his nose to break up the snot and he finally went back down. Of course I set up the infant seat in my bed so he had me next to him to comfort him if he needed it.

Today his room is set up for sick mode. He is napping in his infant seat right now, which I placed in his crib with the vibration on. I have the vaporizer plugged in to help him breathe and a Vicks Vapor Plug In, which emits menthol vapors into the room to help also. He won’t let me aspirate his nose so I have to hold his arms with one arm and hold his head with the other while also trying to use the aspirator with the same hand and keep from crying myself because he is screaming and crying real tears. He has eaten a total of 8 oz in the last 6 hours which is half of what he normally drinks. I have to go to work tomorrow and thank god, his day care provider Bobbi is willing to still take him in but only because he is the only kid she has right now so she won’t have to worry if he is contagious. But if he develops a fever or he becomes too much to handle, I will have to get a substitute and take care of the little boy during the day myself because his Dad won’t be here to help. Regardless, I know I will have to wake up to help soothe my sweet, sick little man multiple times tonight and perhaps the next few nights until he feels better and I will not be able to have Mike help me with shifts. “Give him some cold medicine” you might advice. Well I looked into them and all the ones they have for infant nasal congestion have pseudoephedrine in it. Sure that stuff will clear his nose, but it will also make his heart race and make him hyper, not sleepy. So cold medicine is out of the question. So after little sleep, I will have to wake up extra early to get ready for work, feed and get Kanan ready for daycare, drive him there, and be at work by 715. Then after work, race back to Bobbi’s to pick up the little boy and be mommy nurse until he goes to bed, at which point I will have to work on grading and lesson planning. Thank goodness I have coffee. Boy will I deserve a back massage when Mike gets back. Wish me luck! And by the way, single mommies out there, how do you do it?