Week from hell

I feel like a real parent now. I'm about to head into what is looking like night five of close to no sleep. This on top of having had no internet for three days (thanks Telecom) and thus a massive work backlog on top of some shall remain explanation-less in-law drama-ramas and this week is definitely shaping up to be the most testing yet for me since Roman was born.
But the lack of sleep is all for a good cause: illness.
Or, in this case, development. Not only does Ro have four top teeth coming through at once, he now has a random rash covering his body and a very occasional barky cough. The rash could be a heat rash, or it could be German measles. He is eating a mountain of blueberries (and not much else), which is also what Margaux did just before she had a similar looking rash - but there is no noticeable fever. And the cough is so occasional I'm thinking it's only brought on by the fake coughing he loves to do.
But the no sleep thing, man it's exhausting. I usually get a lot of work done in the evenings once he's gone to bed but at the moment he isn't falling asleep until 10pm, then he's up every hour, sometimes for an hour or more, before waking for the day at 7am.
We're trying everything to help ease his frustration - chamomile and Epsom salt baths, every relevant homeopathic going, a tooth gel with clove oil which helps numb, vitamin C, chamomile tea, lots of breastfeeding and cuddles....
For the most part he's still pretty sunny, he just has a much lower tolerance level and gets grouchy quicker. This high needs time means he needs lots of attention which can be trying, but James and I are doing a good job of sharing the load. I have so much respect for parents doing this on their own/with high needs/special needs children/without much support - basically all parents.
I guess the main thing is this is a choice - we could easily dose him up with Pamol or other anti-pyretics (I now totally get why parents do this) but we have instead chosen to guide Roman through his milestones to the next exciting level of development and not the alternative (my sister wrote a much better post than I can on this here).
On another positive note, Mumner and Paps are finally here and moving into their new/old place. New for Pappy (and Lils when she arrives), old for mum and me and Rach and Ruth. It's such a wonderful place, full of great memories from growing up. Sisters you are going to love visiting and exploring all the old memories. Dang's room. The backyard that used to have a trampoline we convinced Ruth to lie on naked at night while covered in toothpaste (moonbathing). The old kitchen (renovated now, but still the same size) where we used to make pikelets for mum every Sunday. The hole in the wall mum knocked out with a sledgehammer the day after Mez said "wouldn't this be great if there was no wall here". The front porch. The upstairs view out to the Waitakeres. Amazing.
Here are some random pics from the last few days: