JUNE 2004
Well, June was certainly an eventful month...
It all started off well. Callum had started 'lumpy' foods and took to it straight away. However after a few days, he started to struggle with it and no longer appeared to like having the lumps in his food. We put it down to teething and the fact that the weather was particularly warm and he may have been feeling a little off colour.
However, his appetite continued to wane, and after a week or so we started noticing other small things that started to get us thinking that he may be a little unwell, such as him waking frequently through the night again for drinks and having more naps during the day. Before we could sit and think about it, Callum's temperature shot right up. We were at my Mum's at the time. We undressed him for a couple of hours, gave him a cool bath and some Calpol, but his temperature remained high.
We telephoned the doctor who agreed to see him straight away. Once we saw him, he said that it was probably just down to teething. We explained that we had thought the same to begin with, but that we now thought it was something else. He therefore concluded that if it wasn't teething then perhaps it could be a 24 hr bug and we should just keep an eye on him and call the doctors again if he got worse. We weren't happy, but trusted that the doctor had given him a thorough check-up and took Callum home thinking we were perhaps a little over cautious about him.
Well, only 3 hours later Callum's temperature reached a fever again and we could not get it down. We decided to skip the doctors as it was 9pm at night and took him straight to the Casualty Unit at Pontefract General Infirmary (PGI). The staff there were fantastic with him and did everything they could to lower his temperature and make him more comfortable. Eventually they decided to get the paediatrician down from the children’s ward. When he came down he quickly diagnosed tonsillitis… I supposed he more used to getting a quick look inside babies mouths as he will have had more practice! He said that Callum’s temperature was a concern so he would like to admit him. Obviously we agreed… by then it was gone midnight.
Callum was only in one night, both me and Shaun stayed with him until he was discharged the following afternoon. Again the staff on the ward were fantastic and were so friendly and approachable… they all fell in love with Callum and we overheard several conversations out on the corridor where the nurses were discussing how lovely he was – y’see even when he was poorly, he could still flirt for Britain!
So, I got my breakfast in bed for my birthday – only it was brought by a nurse, not by Shaun as I had expected!
It took a couple of weeks for Callum to get better. It was very tiring for us as he was constantly waking in the night for breast feeding as his appetite for solid food just wasn’t there.
He had his 7-9 month assessment this month. He passed everything ok, which surprised them as his hearing was probably temporarily affected by the tonsillitis. His weight was down though. He lost around 1lb during his illness. However, in the last week and a half of the month he did really well and put more back on that we thought. By the end of the month he weighed 18lbs 8oz… I’m sure he will soon catch up the rest. His length was 69.5cm.
Of course it was Father’s Day this month – Shaun’s first. He made me promise not to go mad on his pressie, so I looked for something that would be memorable but wouldn’t cost the earth. It didn’t take long before I found the perfect thing. Shrek2 was due to be released at the pictures, and the premiere was to be held on the 28th June… it was being held as a single simultaneous event between London, Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow in order to raise funds for charity. Shaun loved the first movie, so I decided to get tickets for the Manchester premiere. My Mum & Dad offered to baby-sit, but nearer the time they talked me into letting him stay overnight especially given that I had had very little sleep since he had been poorly. I reluctantly agreed, thinking that he would not settle. Babies…. Why do they always prove you wrong?! He slept straight through for them!
It had been so hard to leave him, but Shaun and I had a great time at the premiere and a good night’s sleep. It also made me more comfortable about leaving him overnight and have since let him stay again!
Also on Father’s Day, one of our friends’ daughters, Lauren, took her First Holy Communion. We had been invited, but as it was Shaun’s first Father’s Day we wanted to spend the day as a family – plus Lauren was having a further service followed by a disco the following week, so we decided to attend that instead. However, apologies to Lauren that we didn’t make it in time (it was over much quicker than we had expected). Still, we saw her at home and Callum had some pictures taken with her in her dress… she looked beautiful. Once we have copies of the pictures we will put one in the photo gallery.
On the 26th June two of our friends, Joe and Dawn, got married (about time guys!!). Callum scrubbed up rather well on the day… he was a pageboy! The trouble we had getting black dress shoes and trousers for a baby was unbelievable! However, I didn’t give in and finally got the trousers from eBay and got his shoes from www.darlingbabyshoes.com (fantastic site for kids shoes, well worth the international postage etc. and the lady I dealt with, Elza, was so very helpful and courteous). His shirt, waistcoat and cravat weren’t too much trouble… although they were a size up from his he didn’t look bad in them (he would have looked a little better had he not lost weight). You can see Callum in his outfit in the picture gallery.
CONGRATS to Joe and Dawn again… it was a fantastic day and it was great to see you both finally getting hitched… good luck to you both for your future happiness.
So, all-in-all it was an eventful month… I’m sure I’ll find the energy for next month from somewhere!
‘til next time,
Amanda
