Hot Pickles

Henry has been sick for the past couple of days.  While it is not the sickest he's ever been (how can we forget his smoked cheddar pukefest of 08?), but it has been the longest he has sustained a fever.  He woke up puking on Monday morning around 5 am.  He didn't puke again until 11 am and in fact, those were the only 2 times he threw up.  The second time he threw up, it was all over our couch.  And then later Gracie managed to spit up on the one cushion that Henry didn't get.  (I see an Ikea trip in our not so distant future and another item being added to the Yard Sale list.)  Henry refused any and all liquid all day yesterday and we almost took him to the hospital for IV fluids until Sloan had the brilliant idea to offer it to him in a big boy cup rather than a sippy.  His highest temp yesterday was 103.8.  After we were able to get some gatorade in him, it dropped down to about 102.5.  Today he began around 102.  Midday he was around 100.5.  Tonight he is back up to 101.5.  He has yet to tell me where he is hurting, and simply says no to all the places I point.  He's also broken out in a rash.  Which is nice, because now he actually has some coloring to go with the dark purple circles under his eyes.  According to the pediatrician, this is going around.

So the role of Gracie's mom has pretty much been played by the swing.  Today, when Henry was behaving a little more human--playing Legos and looking at books, but still not his usual "Full Throttle" self, he did want to cuddle with her so I brought her into the family room for some gym time so he could at least see her.  It puts both of them in distress for them not to be in the same room. When I explained to him that he could get Gracie sick, he quickly backed off. 

He did have more of an appetite today and was able to keep down some dry Cheerios, some saltines, rice, and some graham crackers.  He requested pickles, candy, and popcorn, to which I responded, "Are you pregnant?"  He just stared at me blankly and said, "No m'am."

He has been quite the sweetheart throughout his sickness.  When I tried putting a wet washcloth on his forehead, he swatted it away, saying, "No thank you, Mommy." I was holding him in my lap, rubbing his hair and he said, "No touching hair, Mommy, please.  Thank you for littning."   I just went up to calm him down from what I'm guessing was a fever induced night terror and when I began to sing to him he said, "No thank you, Mommy.  Please no singing.  Just hugs."  He even said pardon me after he puked the second time.  Poor buddy.

I am hoping that the Motrin I just gave him will kick in and his fever will subside.  With Sloan gone for the next couple of days, the nights are going to be rough.  Gracie has decided to go through a growth spurt and eat every three hours and Henry keeps having these danged night terrors.  I slept with Henry last night, but got maybe three hours of sleep for his night terrors and need to have his feet in my face.

All that aside, the past couple of days have sort of been relaxing.  We've watched --- wait for it --- 11 movies. Yesterday we watched Wall-E, Cars, Curious George, Robots, Hero of the Rails (a Thomas movie), A Bug's Life, and Kung Fu Panda.  Today we read lots of books and also watched Ratatouille, Peter Pan, Diego's Safari Rescue, and Horton Hears a Who.  He's slept through some parts of them and we've learned that he needs to be in his Dad's leather chair for clean up purposes.  I've been able to get all of the laundry washed and folded, but seeing as Henry whines if I am not within view, I haven't been able to put any away.  And from time to time I have to simply hold him.  He usually asks to be held about 5 minutes before I discover I need to pee.  And then he falls asleep.  But it has been a sweet sweet time, even if my boy looks like death.