the sickies and other stuff

It looks like Jude and I both have the sickies. He's been running and on again - off again fever for a few days and is coughing pathetically, and I'm a little achy and have a sore throat like nobody's business. We took Jude to the Doctor yesterday because - quite frankly - I'm a little paranoid about this whole swine flu thing.

And can I just say that I'm refusing to call it H1N1? Apparently several months back, people were thinking that swine flu was contracted by eating pork, and the pork industry was seeing a decrease in sales. So the media decided to call it H1N1 so as not to confuse us. This leads me to conclude two things:

1. Americans are stupid. All you had to do was watch the news for two minutes to see that the swine flu was not contracted by eating pork. Pick up a paper, people!

2. The media is also stupid, and I'm a little obnoxious about being told what to do. Seriously. When the news anchor on our local channel says, "don't change the channel, we'll be back after the break," my usual response is, "You don't change the channel. Don't tell me what to do," with a very indiginant presssing of the channel button. That'll show him, huh?

So, because I feel like the media is telling me to call it H1N1, I'm continuing to call it Swine Flu. Fight the man, friends, fight the man.

So Jude and I are sick, and poor Shawn is left trying to care for two pathetic sickies (and will most likely end up sick himself), and we're just trying to putter through this week as best as we can. Oh, and it looks like Jude does not, in fact, have swine flu - just a bad cold that will likely develop into an ear infection.

Jude's begun standing up by himself every once in awhile! The first time he did it, he and I were in his bedroom, playing on the floor. I was reading him a book, and he was completely ignoring me and playing with his blocks. He crawled over to my knee, pulled himself to standing, let go of my knee, and stood for a good four seconds before he fell down to his cute cloth diapered butt. Of course I gasped, and squealed, "Jude! Do you know what a big deal that is?!" He acted all nonchalant and wrinkled his brow like, "Seriously, Mommy. If you keep reacting like that, I'm just gonna stop reaching milestones, alright?"

And Jude has also begun dancing, but only when he's sitting down. If you give him a musical toy when he's sitting, he starts rocking back and forth and grinnin' like it's the best thing ever. And you know what? It is.

Just because I'm so excited, I feel the need to share with you this:

You see, Jude has some pudgy feet. It's one of the first things the nurses commented on after he was born, and getting shoes to fit those feet is not easy...or cheap. I've basically been keeping him barefoot or in socks most of the time, but I've known the day is coming when he'll be walking and will need some kind of foot apparel for those Flinstone feet (Shawn's words...not mine!). Shawn and I have checked out a few stores, but it is seriously expensive to buy baby shoes - especially in sizes large enough for Jude to wear.

Which would be why I was so excited to receive that in the mail. A ton of shoes from Jude's cousin, Noah! Thank you, Noah, for sharing your super adorable shoes with Jude! Everyone comments on how cute they are, and Uncle Shawn and Aunt Jen are thrilled to not have to spend so much money on Jude's footwear!

And finally, I'd just like to share a pacifier clip I made for Jude. The colors chosen for this clip may or may not have something to do with Shawn's NFL loyalties.

So here's hoping your family is making it through this season of everyone being sick a little better than ours!