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November 20, 2001
E is for emesis…
I am thoroughly enjoying the week off that the University has so kindly given me. It’s nice to spend all day with Alexandria, taking her to the park, putting together puzzles with her, denying her the pleasure of watching her Barney videos ad infinitum, reading to her, and in general, catching up with her since I started going back to school full time way back about a year ago.
I don’t know if it’s just wishful thinking on my part, but I’d like to think that she’s getting a little better behaved. Well, she did act up at the mall today, but I guess that’s to be expected. We were letting her play on the indoor stuff they had there, but I was beginning to get uncomfortable with how dirty it looked, and with how many other children there were. I tried to be nice, and suggest to Alexandria that it was time to go, but she wouldn’t have any of it. It got to the point where I basically had to drag her away kicking and screaming. Then we let her play on the quarter-operated toys for a while (we didn’t put any money in them, but she didn’t know!) and when we tried to pry her away from those, it just wasn’t happening. We even tried saying we were leaving (and then I hid behind a nearby sign) but she continued to play happily, stopping only once to look around. I eventually had to become (once again) The Enforcer, and drag her away. She was kicking and crying, yelling “No, no, no!” and trying to jump out of my arms. It felt like the WWF, and I was losing. Many of the shoppers were looking at us, and a few of them gave me the, “I feel sorry for you, and I understand” look, which I appreciated. I imagine the rest of them were happy to see us go.
Then Saturday night, Alexandria ate a ton of food (roast chicken and mashed potatoes). She ate so much; I wondered why she *wasn’t* sick. I didn’t have to wonder too long, though. That morning she was just squirming all over in bed, and when she woke up (about an hour later than usual) it was with a retch. She threw up on the bed, and I had to call for Al to help clean up. She had just woken up, and I didn’t want her lying in it. She was saying (and crying, because she hates throwing up) “Puke, puke!” It was so sad. I nursed her for a long time, and took her temperature. Sure enough, she had a fever. Once downstairs, I was holding her on the couch, and she was just lying limply in my arms. This is an incredible feat for a toddler, so I knew how sick she was then. When Al walked by, she had to have daddy pick her up. Which I admit, somewhat pissed me off. I forgot all about it a few minutes later when she puked again, all over his back, and onto the chair he was sitting in. I had to mop both of them off the best I could, and then I took her back, and let her sleep on me. Every so often she would feel better for about 30 minutes, but then go back to lying in my arms or dozing off to sleep. She napped quite a bit. She also did eat some crackers and water (I felt funny giving her anything else, so I held off). She did throw up again, after a bunch of ginger ale we bought for her. Poor little thing. After her bath that night, she went right to sleep, and woke up as good as new the following morning. I think it was food poisoning. I have such a sensitive constitution, that I get ill rather easily, and I wasn’t sick at all in that timeframe. I also didn’t eat the mashed potatoes. Al had one bite, but Alexandria has almost all of them. We bought them from the local deli, so I think it’s a definite possibility.
Then on Friday, there was the “bomb” incident, which is downright spooky. (No, it’s not about atomic bombs, or a bomb scare or bomb threat!) We were all in the bedroom getting ready for bed. Al was lying in bed already, Alexandria was with him, and I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth. I heard what sounded like Alexandria slapping a magazine (there was one Al brought upstairs on my clock radio) and saying “Bom! Bom!” I was thinking, well, she’s not saying “bed”, and she doesn’t know any other words except for “bum”…she must be calling Al a bum. *shrug* Then I heard Al say, “You didn’t tell her about the bomb did you?” Huh? Well, I finish up, and I check to see what he’s talking about. On the cover of this month’s Scientific American, it says in huge letters, “BOMB”. I told him I didn’t read it to her, or tell her it, or anything. I hadn’t even looked at the cover until then! Then she pointed at the magazine, and said, “Bomb!” as clear as day, and then grinned at us, such a little evil grin. It was weird. I cannot believe she can read, it just must be some strange coincidence. She does know much of the alphabet (about 16 letters), including all the letters in the word “bomb” but come on…we all would love to think our children are advanced, gifted, etc. And while I would be tickled if this were truly the case, I’m not breaking out the Mensa application just yet. ; )
Well, that’s all I have for this week (that should be sufficient, don’t you think?). I also am pleased to say, I have all the Christmas and birthday shopping finished for Alexandria, except for the party preparations. I am still unsure of what I am going to do for that…where it’s going to be, who’s invited (if anyone) and that sort of thing. I am sure I can work something out.
Till next week,
Candace and Alexandria
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