Bob's 5th Birthday!

Today was to begin with an early morning trip to the Phoenix Zoo (the zoo opens at 7am to beat the heat). Then it would be home for lunch and a nap while I made our birthday dinner.

Bob had a fever before bed last night, which responded to Ibuprofen. He woke up announcing that his fever was gone and he was just FINE to go to the zoo. We were just getting ready to leave when I noticed that he didn't look quite right. His temperature was 101.6 F (38.6C). His cousin Isabelle had a sore throat last week that responded quickly to antibiotics. Although normally I would wait out a fever for a day or so, we were flying home the next day and didn't want him miserably sick on a 5 hour plane ride. So instead of the zoo, we went to the urgent care clinic. But we were in for an unpleasant surprise. The nurse practitioner announced that he had a very large left tonsil that might be an abscess and she arranged for him to be seen at the emergency room at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Thankfully, the visit there was relatively quick because the Dr did not agree with the initial assessment at all. He felt it was viral and that we should load him up with Motrin or Tylenol and have a fun day. Phew. 3 hours of worry for naught.

I forgot to charge my camera battery, so this is the only picture I have of Bob today, other than this pathetic one taken at the Dr's office this morning. Since it was too hot for the zoo once we got out of the emergency room, we headed to the Arizona Science Center, which was great fun. My niece, Shannon, helped me prepare Bob's birthday dinner, which was also great fun. My nephew brought home lots of pool toys and we ended the evening with disco lights, toypedos, and cool floaties in the pool. A great day in the end.

In the days leading up to Bob's birthday each year, my mind wanders back to the terrifying days of my pregnancy, worried that Bob would arrive too early. I thought those memories would fade with time, but those days are probably even more clearly etched in my mind than any of my short term memories. Those memories make Bob's birthday a very happy and sentimental time for me. What a fantastic kid we were given after all of that work. He was worth it :-)