Poor Edward has his first ear infection. He's had a cough and congestion for the last two weeks, but seemed to be weathering it fine until last night. He woke up coughing at 2:30 (after going to bed around 7:45) ate a little and seemed to fall asleep, but when I put him back to bed he just cried and cried. We tried this pattern a couple of times--holding, falling asleep, back to bed, crying, holding--until it was clear he would not sleep in his bed. This is highly unusual for Edward in the wee hours. He usually sleeps through the night, and, if not, just has a little snack and goes right back to sleep.

So I held him upright sitting in our big soft chair for a little while, but that didn't last long. We tried him in his carseat on the floor in our bedroom, but that only worked for about 15 minutes. Finally, he fell asleep on my shoulder as I walked around patting him and stayed asleep as I stopped patting, stopped walking, then carefully and smoothly transitioned to lying down on the couch with him resting on top of me. That's how we passed the time from about 4:30 to 6 this morning. In that short time I had two bad dreams about having a sick child including one with an intensive care setting and lots of respiratory equipment.

I called the doctor as soon as they opened at 8 and got to take him in a little after 9. After removing what seemed like a pound of ear wax (!) the resident and then the doctor agreed that the left ear was infected and should be treated with antibiotics. They said that pressure in the infected ear could cause pain when lying down so that explains why Edward couldn't go back to sleep. The pressure also can trigger the coughing reflex, making the existing viral cough a little worse. So I guess it all fits together. Edward did not like the ear exam, by the way. He was happily playing with his toes and blowing raspberries until they stuck that probe in there. No wonder.

He fell asleep in the car on the way to pick up the prescription and has been sleeping in the carseat ever since (obviously, I brought the seat into the house when we got home!) As soon as he wakes up we'll start the medicine and then it's twice a day for the next 10 days. Hope he likes it--or at least tolerates it!

In other Edward news, he rolled over on Wednesday evening. Demonstrating what may be a lifelong independent streak (if he's anything like his father) he waited until I stepped out of the room for a moment to perform this latest trick. He was about 3/4 of the way over, which is as far as he'd gotten before, always getting hung up on the shoulder. I stepped into the kitchen to grab a plate of food from the microwave and when I came back he was all the way on his belly. He does not particularly enjoy tummy time (I mean, really, what's the point if you can't reach your feet?) and has not repeated this maneuver. Once he figures out how to go front to back look out--no more setting him down in one place and finding him there after a quick trip to the kitchen or bathroom!