Monday, March 15, 2010

Katie Sez...

... Hi, I'm Needy and I'll be your shrieking barnacle this evening.

I don't know what kind of a game she's playing, but we are definitely losing it. As I mentioned previously, all four of us have been battling a stubborn head cold for a couple of weeks now. Both girls had fevers at the beginning of last week, but they were low grade and cleared up after a couple of days. Nevertheless, Kate went on to be generally cranky and obnoxious for days afterwards. This is not her normal personality at all. Maggie at this age - yes, we would have expected snarkiness and bad attitude. But Kate is a chipper little chappie who normally looks just like this:


(She's making that face because she was just so excited to have a yogurt smoothie with a straw and I was letting her hold it by herself. The kid is ecstatic about everything.)

We know that she's cutting a new tooth and she's right at that stage where she blabs all the time but is ultra frustrated because we can't understand what she's saying AND she's transitioning from two naps to one nap. So we have been trying to cut her some slack in the behavior department, but Saturday morning she was just screaming her head off. She wanted me (and only me) to hold her and then bucked and arched so that I couldn't keep her on my lap. She shrieked and growled. She demanded food and then didn't eat it. She wanted to be rocked but she didn't want me touching her at the same time. We put her in her bed but she wouldn't stop crying. She finally fell asleep but then woke up after less than half an hour. Yet she did NOT have a fever. We gave her Tylenol and Motrin, which did no good, and worried that she had an ear infection left over from the fever days. We called the doctor and made an appointment for Saturday afternoon.

Now let me say that we have been so incredibly lucky with both of the girls because neither of them has ever had an ear infection. Not one. Ever. Either girl. How amazing is that? Everyone we know wishes they owned stock in the company that manufactures amoxicillin, but we've only ever filled one prescription for it - and that was for a UTI two years ago. Mike and I both had horrible ear infections as babies, but our girls never do. I credit it to the black tar-like ear wax they both have. We'll probably find out some day that neither of them can hear worth a damn, but no bacteria gets past that sludge that's for sure.

And let me also say, although I'm sure you already know, that Saturday afternoon is when all the kids who have typhoid fever and consumption and the plague go to our doctor's office for the weekend sick kids appointments. So with great trepidation, Mike dragged Kate in so we could find out for sure whether or not she needed that exorcism or if we could just clear it up with some antibiotics.

Sure enough, she received a clean bill of health. The doctor told Mike all about teething symptoms (yes, we know about them, this is our SECOND child) and sent him on his way. Kate spent the rest of the evening playing happily and singing "This Old Man." Seems she just wanted to ride in the car.

Or maybe she just wanted to go lick some toys that kids with whooping cough had played with, because of course now she has a fever again. And she's shrieking. And she only wants to be held by me but not while I'm touching her. And she wants to sit on the couch on my lap and watch cartoons as long as I don't move or speak or cough and as long as Maggie doesn't also sit on the same couch. And don't even think about putting her down anywhere because independence is not an option. And Maggie can just pee on the floor and eat cat food for lunch as far as Kate is concerned. Unless you want to hear more shrieking.

Maybe it's time to call that priest...

2 comments:

  1. I love this book! I finished it in three days. Hi from Jasmin and Alex : )

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  2. Jasmin - Hi! I got Lost Symbol from my in-laws for my birthday. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it right now and so far it's very interesting! Hope you guys are doing well. Say hi to Alex for me!

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