Pneumonia!

Our battle with colds took an unexpected path last night. To Urgent Care.

AJ has pneumonia. That explains why my normally incredibly healthy child has been hit so much harder than the rest of us.

He's been congested all week, then late in the afternoon he started getting chills. By dinner time, he was complaining that his right leg hurt. I took a closer look and discovered a rash. I looked a little more and found a similar rash on his right arm.

Jeff must have figured it'd be easier to sit with AJ at Urgent Care rather than stay home and watch Sydney, because he volunteered to go. I'll bet he never makes that mistake again. Close to four hours, a throat swab, blood draw and battery of other tests later, they finally returned home. Jeff carried medicine and instructions. AJ carried the more than half-dozen Superman, Spiderman, Sponge Bob, Halloween and other stickers he'd obviously been rewarded with for enduring the various procedures.

He's not considered contagious, but we do need to keep him calm for the next few days. We also need to give him plenty of yogurt to replace the natural bacterias in his mouth that are likely to be killed by the antibiotic.

Jeff described AJ's expression during the blood test as "a look of terror." The poor guys. Though AJ did find time in the waiting room to make a new friend - a young boy with a sore throat. According to Jeff, AJ walked over to him and said, "Hi, I'm AJ. What's wrong with you?"

Of course all this couldn't have happened a day - or even a few hours - earlier. No, it will be much more fun to see the hospital bill, as opposed to the $20 co-pay for a visit to his pediatrician.