After a nice long nap, Joe woke up with a much lower temperature and a much better outlook on life.

Look how he bounces back:

Poor Joe is feeling under the weather. At 16 months of age, he has his first real fever! (He’s had low-grade fevers while teething, but nothing like this. He feels like a soft little furnace!)

It’s already come down a bit from where it was, with some Tylenol and rest. As soon as he wakes up, he’s going to have some juice and a little snuggle time.

I think he picked up what Patrick had over the weekend, which means he’ll be toasty and tired for a day, and then have a yucky cough. Poor kid!

Joe with his cousin, Abigail.

He is sooooo close to crawling, this kid.

Look at how hard he works:

Joe’s friend Doc is in the hospital for a little while, so Joe and I dropped by for a play date.

As far as Joe is concerned, the hospital is the Happiest Place on Earth:

Here he is with the giraffe he fell in love with — and ended up taking home:

Note to Nana: No, Doc isn’t in there for swine flu. Relax!

How about a little laughter to start your day:

Patrick had the day off for Columbus Day yesterday. Not sure why that’s still a holiday, but we’ll take it!

The three of us went to Ashland Berry Farm to enjoy the hayride and pick out some pumpkins. It was so cool and breezy outside — perfect fall weather!

We are taking our sweet time trying to decide what Joe will be for Halloween this year. Last year’s “Bee Ennui” will be hard to beat! Maybe a skunk, or a lion, or a chicken. Stay tuned!