Be careful what you wish for, I guess. We had almost a full week of everyone being more or less healthy, so I guess my prayers were technically answered (note to self: be more specific next time). While we were in Saskatoon with relatives, Brayden’s benign-sounding cough turned nasty and he developed a scary high fever, but we got the latter under control and he seemed to perk up. When we flew home yesterday he was tired and coughing, but he never complained about pain — but it turns out he has bronchitis and a double ear infection. How does a five-year-old endure air travel with two infected ears and not say anything? What a trooper.

You could argue the family visit was sort of doomed from the start. Janette was back in the Philippines for a school reunion, leaving Rob with sole custody of a two-year-old and a baby who hardly sleeps. They were all staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house just like we were, so you can guess how much fun that was. Then Brayden got sick and the baby followed shortly thereafter, so not only was the little one not sleeping, he was also screaming. Good times.

And so begins 2013…