Author - Lorri

Yesterday morning Bip was up at 7:15. He got himself out of bed and disappeared. I had a momentary thought that maybe I should get up, too, but I got over it. Thirty minutes later, though, I decided to get up and see what mischief he had gotten himself into. I checked the upstairs rooms and didn’t find him, so I called for him from the top of the stairs.

“Me-a down downstairs!” he called. That’s “down-downstairs” as opposed to “up-downstairs.”

I walked down to the landing and saw him sitting on the bottom step. “Come upstairs and we’ll get you changed so you can have breakfast.”

“NO! Me-a waiting Boo, Pumpkin!”

Apparently I told him that Daddy, Boo and Pumpkin Girl would be coming home from camping in the morning. So upon waking, he went down to wait patiently for their return. He needed quite a bit of convincing to come upstairs and get dressed, with the promise that he wouldn’t miss the arrival of his beloved family.

In French, the literal translation of “to miss” means “to lack.” To lack means to need something that is absent. I guess Bip was very much lacking his brother and sister. Il les manque.

Despite the nice weather, the neighborhood was quiet today.  Most of the boys were off at the end of the year Cub Scout campout, along with their siblings and at least one of their parents.  The ones  left were the toddlers and their moms.  It was an interesting day for me, nowhere to be, nothing pressing to do, no one knocking on the door, no one running in and out of the house.

Philip woke up way too early for a Saturday. He wanted to get out of the house in time to set up camp before the activities started.  He woke Bip up, too which resulted in my early start.  It turned out nicely, though.  Philip, Boo and Pumpkin Girl were on the road by 7:45 and Bip and I settled down for a day all by ourselves.

I don’t often get a chance to spend time with just one of my children alone.  They come as a set, especially the older two.  When Boo was my only child, he and I did a few Mommy and Me type things that were fun.  Pumpkin Girl and I didn’t do any of those activities, but she and I are kindred spirits, so we find time to spend with each other easily.  Bip just tags happily along with what ever is going on.

Today he had me all to himself.  He played happily while I tackled mounds of laundry and various and sundry other tasks I’d been putting off.  After my morning vanilla chai while reading my favorite forums and blogs, the two of us headed out to the BX.  With nothing else to do today, I could take the time to let him buckle his own car seat.  “Me do it!,” he proudly says. Bip is such a joy to shop with.  He chatters along about the things he sees in the most amusing toddler way.  It’s fun to squeeze his fat little legs  as he sits in the shopping cart and to hold his hand in the parking lot.  I like to pretend to leave him in the car when we get home and he laughs with delight when I “remember” him.

Back at home, we watched lots of Thomas videos and when he told me it was my turn to pick a movie, I took him up on his offer and grabbed one of my favorite chick flicks.  I settled down with a crochet project and he constructed ancient ruins with his blocks and drove his cars all around them.

Later he and I went to church together then watched “Toy Story” while eating dinner.

It was a simple day.  A quiet day.  A Bip and Mama just doing nothing sort of day.

When I kissed him goodnight, I told him that I enjoyed our day together and that he was a good boy.  He told me, “yeah, you fun!”

Yeah, you fun, too, Bip.

About those Mother’s Day cards.  The ones I bought early and had all ready to go out in the mail?

Right.

Well, first, there was Monday’s All Day Headache.  And Tuesday’s fever, followed by Wednesday’s fever and discovery of the staph infected knee.  And Thursday’s excursion to the doctor for confirmation of another round of scarlet fever.  And Friday’s (that’s today) search for my favorite yarn catalog which also yielded the aforementioned cards, safely tucked under my desk calendar.

They’re not really going to make it to California before Sunday.

Did I mention my daughter, lying pitifully on the couch for 2 days?  And Boo’s needing twice daily applications of ointment on his knee?  And the chart on the white board so I don’t forget everyone’s antibiotics?  And a husband who has been at some meeting or another every night this week?

Because I really did mean to get those cards in the mail on Monday.  You know, before the migraine, staph-knee and scarlet fever.

Somehow I think I’m in the dog house anyway.

It all started about 2 weeks ago. The weather was nice and Boo was spending a lot of time riding his scooter with his posse. It was only a matter of time before one of them wiped out and this time it was Boo. Fortunately, he was wearing his helmet, which now bears the scars of his crash instead of his head. Unfortunately, he was wearing shorts but no knee pads. He came limping home, and one of his buddies wheeled his scooter home for him.

It wasn’t that bad, really. A couple of band-aids for each knee and one for each one of his hands. He was sore but ok.

The rest of the week was colder and he was wearing pants again, his band-aids fell off and he kept riding his scooter. All was well.

Until last Friday when the weather was warm again and he was wearing shorts. We had just settled on to the couch to start school and I turned to Boo, who was holding the books and saw his knee.

In a word – eeeww!

One of the scabs was clearly infected. It was raised and pus-filled and surrounded by red. I asked him if it hurt and he said only if you touch it. Apparently there’s this lever on his scooter which is used to raise and lower the handle, and it hits Boo on the knee when he rides. Instead of that particular spot healing like the rest, it kept getting reinjured. I managed to get him the last appointment available that day, which was good, because of course, it was Friday.

The nurse and the doctor had entirely too much fun at his expense – exclaiming that while that wasn’t the grossest thing they’d ever seen, it was pretty darn gross. The doctor poked it until it oozed, then pried the scab off. She swabbed it for a culture, then gave him Bactroban ointment and instructions on what to do if it looked worse over the weekend. I even got to fill out an injury report!

All was well.

Monday night Pumpkin Girl started not looking so good. Tuesday morning she skipped her ballet class and by that afternoon had a 102.3 temperature. Wednesday her ears hurt when she swallowed, which I know from personal experience can actually mean a sore throat. By the evening she had the tell-tale signs of a scarlet fever rash. Philip promised to get up at the crack of dawn to get her an appointment for today.

Meanwhile, the nurse had called to tell me that Boo’s culture had grown staph and that he needed to go through a round of antibiotics. Lovely.

Pumpkin Girl kind of freaks out at the idea of having her throat swabbed, so she lucked out that her fever, rash and very obviously painful throat all pointed to scarlet fever. Again. The doc didn’t even bother swabbing her, just sent in the prescription.

And with Bip’s daily antibiotics for VUR, that makes all the children on antibiotics. I’ve made a chart on the white board so I don’t forget. I’m hoping that with Staph Boy already being on antibiotics that Strep Girl won’t infect him, too.

So if you come around our house, don’t be surprised if you’re greeted by this:

Just run for the hills.

H/T to Mary Grace for the sign.