*ESHIALO SHILALA*: Finally recovering...and some sweet visitors!

After two weeks, our family finally seems to be beating the flu. Only the coughs and chest congestion remain, but the fevers are gone and our energy is back, making us feel like ourselves again. For a while there we felt like the house of the living dead. I had always known that if we were unfortunate enough to all get sick at the same time, it would be difficult...and it was. Good golly, Jafred and I could barely get out of bed, couldn't eat anything, were sneezing and coughing, and poor Fazal felt equally miserable and needed extra attention. When he started to cry, we'd look at each other and decide who looked less like a zombie and take our turn at trying to comfort the baby, as there was really no medicine he could take at such a young age. Meanwhile, Fazal got his second tooth, which I am sure made his mouth feel even better - eek. If you are in a household with a baby and one of you comes down with an illness, we suggest total quarantine of that unfortunate adult so that it doesn't spread around the house!! Next time, we will be ruthless with ourselves, to spare this household-wide mess. All in all, Fazal's good nature outweighed his sickness, and despite a 103.7 degree temperature, a nose that ran non-stop, and breathing that still makes him sound like Darth Vader, he is cheerful and energetic most of the time.

Okay, enough about that!!!

We had such a treat this week, as we are on the mend, of three visitors who came to stay with us for two whole days. Relatives Karen, Bella and Annie brought cheer and good health with them, Bella with a huge number of hugs and kisses for her cousin Fazal, and Annie brought her accordian and graced us with some great music. A few times when Fazal got really fussy, she played some tunes, and he calmed right down and listened, mesmerized. The accordian happens to be an instrument that Jafred loves, so the two of them had lots to talk about, and found a lot of fun videos of accordian players on You Tube. Very cool. Here are some photos of the week. The ones of Fazal near the bottom were taken just today, and if you look closely you might be able to spot his two little teeth. Now that we are on the up and up, we are going to try to post regularly again.

Karen holding Fazal, Annie, and cousin Bella. We were sitting in front of the fireplace eating dinner.

Fazal and Bella are going to be good buddies. She already said that when she gets her babysitting license (in about 5 years) she is going to come up here and babysit for us. We are looking forward to it Bella!