How long do colds last?

How long do colds last? I was thinking a week should be max but we do things big around here. According to our pediatrician if the kids are still sick in 48 hours we need to bring them in. I called to just confirm that there is not some miracle cure that I hadn't heard of. I had been spraying saline in Addy's nose and using a bulb suction syringe to help with congestion. I'm sure Addy is happy that our pedi said I should lay off the suction- down to once or twice a day. They don't even have to see the saline spray bottle in my hand and they all know that I'm coming with it and go running screaming from me. Also, I've figured out that I absolutely must wear clothes with pockets to I have quick access to tissues. If I wait the ten seconds to grab a tissue and come back, my target has been either wiped on a hand, face, furniture or lovie or even better, licked off.
If you are counting, and I am, Addy has had a cold for 8 days and hasn't really napped in 9 days. That last number is what is what is making me just teeter on the edge of insanity. I'm hoping that she just can't nap because she is so congested but funny, she sleeps 12 hours a night without a peep. So we'll see what happens when she kicks this cold. Addy is really even tempered, wild, but even tempered. Surprisingly even when she is sick with no nap, she is still pretty good if not a little unpredictable. One minute sweet and calm.
A few minutes later fake smiling, posing for the camera, pretending to blow her nose, wiping boogers everywhere, gobbling down blueberries and then I found out later was smashing them into her seat and pants.
Eloise seems to have kicked the cold for the most part.
She is a little more clingy and pretty much just wants to be held and lay on the floor with her lovey. Excuse me, a pile of lovies. We have 9 lovies around the house and they all share the lovies and just grab the closest one(s). No one owns any. Until now. The last two days Eloise has been very particular about lovies and wants the yellow duck and the blue elephant. If anyone else grabs one of those, she goes bonkers. So she has been a little unpredictable as well.
Guess she was done coloring.

Beckett has had a runny nose (and screams with terror when I wipe it) but that hasn't been such a big deal. The big deal is that he thinks that everything is his. For example, at lunch he wanted his plate AND Eloise's plate of food even though he refused to eat any of it. He'll scream if someone take anything off of his plate even though he is not eating. He wants whatever Rich is eating, not anything off of his plate even if it is the same thing. He doesn't want anyone to touch the Legos when he is playing with them and even if he is playing with Legos, no one is allowed to read the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear. That book and every other of the 100 or so books are his and not to be touched. If the girls get something he wants it too. If the girls get their hair done, so must Beckett. The other day he wore a barrette most of the morning. On Saturday, Eloise had pigtails and of course, Beckett wanted them too. He doesn't have enough hair for pigtails so the Samurai look had to suffice.


Tonight I was washing dishes and Rich yelled, "Come quick and take a picture of Beckett's face before he eats it." He would never pick that off of his face and eat it. First of all, I'm sure he doesn't even know it is there. And secondly, something that size is at least 1 calorie. He doesn't like nutrients or anything with calories, remember?