05Jan08 - Colds and Cold

We have been cooped up indoors for a lot over the Christmas break so we made the effort today to go out for a short walk. We hoped that the fresh air might do Lucy some good and knew that Joshua needed it. It was fairly cold and damp but we wrapped up well and made sure Lucy was as snug as she could be in her chair.Joshua ran around the woods exploring and making things out of sticks and I had to join in while Dawn and Lucy stuck to the path. It was nice just to spend a little boy time with him for a change.About half way round the walk Lucy began coughing. Unfortunately we underestimated how the cold would affect her and she coughed on and off for the rest of the walk. It kind of took the shine off things a bit and we were just glad to get her back in the warm car, but not before she posed with a friendly swan.Not to be beaten we decided to call in for a pub meal on the way home. Lucy had a coughing fit in the car on the way there and we had to stop the car a few times to get her out and clear the saliva from her mouth. By the time we arrived at the pub she was exhausted from all the coughing and Dawn just managed to feed her, surprisingly easily, before she fell asleep. She slept for just long enough for us to eat in peace which is a luxury these days. She woke up coughing again and coughed just about all the way home. Joshua did his best in the back of the car to help Lucy but it was not until we got her out at home that we managed to calm her down. By the time I had bathed and fed her she was ready for bed and fell asleep straight away. That was until 20 minutes ago when she woke having yet another coughing fit. I went upstairs and found Joshua tending to her. He had Lucy sitting up in bed and was wiping her mouth with a tissue. He is such a brilliant big brother. I took over and had to give her a dose of paracetamol because she had developed a temperature again. Now it is 23:30 and Lucy is downstairs with me, so I can keep an eye on her until the paracetamol kicks in and it is safe to put her back to bed. I guess it has just been another normal day.