This Is Getting Ridiculous

so, the max still has hives. it's been 8 days. that doesn't really seem that long when i say it that way. 8 days. but OMG, it feels like it's been forever. especially when i think about the number of times i've taken him to the doctor in the last two weeks. 3 times. in two weeks. really, in a week and a half. first, the thursday before last (b/c of the bronchitis and the ear infection). then last thursday (b/c of the hives). then tuesday (b/c of the hives AGAIN). and we might be going back on monday. or tuesday, if the doctor's office is open on fat tuesday. it seems like they should be, but daycare is closed tuesday. mobile county schools are closed monday, tuesday, and wednesday next week. mardi gras is a Big Deal around here.

holy crap. i am SO SICK of hives. and i feel so bad for max. he's had two more doses of orapred, and he still looks the same. i mean, he is much improved comapred to those first few days, but the fact that he is still breaking out everywhere is a little scary. on the plus side, he is acting like he feels a little better, and (thank GOD) he's sleeping a little better (but he's still waking up around 1 or 2:00 and coming to bed with chad and me). i attribute the improvement in his mood to the atarax. it really did seem to help the itching. plus, it's used to treat anxiety. my mom said that's what they gave me when i was little and had night terrors.

on a totally different track, max decided to test his walking limits today. i guess technically he's been walking at least a little bit for about a month, but he went almost a week when he first got sick with bronchitis without taking a single independent step. and he will not walk at daycare. at home, he's been walking to something if it's only a couple steps away (from the fridge to the baby gate separating the kitchen and dining room, from the coffee table to the couch), and he's walked across a room to get to me or chad a few times, but he really hasn't been that adventurous in his walking endeavors.

that changed today. first, he let go of the coffee table and just stood there for the longest time. i kept thinking he was getting ready to walk to the couch, but he never did. he stood there until he fell back on his bottom. then he started walking short distances around the living room, gradually walking a little bit farther. then he was holding onto the double recliner, and his walker was in the kitchen by his highchair. he let go of the chair, looked at me, and then took off like a shot toward his walker. he made it to the island in the kitchen (about 3 steps away from his destination) before he fell down. then he just crawled the rest of the way and took off running with his walker.

and that is max's issue with walking - he runs with his walker now, and he doesn't have the balance to run on his own yet. the reason he fell down on his way to the walker is that he was going too fast. falling down doesn't bother him, though. he just keeps on truckin', as they say.

now he just needs to start walking at daycare. he's only done it once, and he was walking to me. and that was three weeks ago. he's 3rd oldest in the big baby room now. week after next, he will be the oldest baby, since the two babies who are older than max are moving up to the toddler room. at least they're not moving max up yet. he still gets a little wigged out when other babies walk around him.