Sick Again, But Still Sweet
I got a call from Miss Ingrid around 1pm on Tues saying that Ellis had 102 fever. By the time we got to the doctor, it was almost 103. Turns out the ear infection returned. Here she is, wiped out and glassy-eyed. Miss Ingrid and Miss Shirley said she tried to play and dance during circle time, but ended up sitting in a chair and laying down to go to sleep.
In spite of being miserable, she expressed excitement at seeing pretty lights and thanked me for taking her to the doctor. "Thank you, Mama. Thank you for taking me to doctor to make me better." She was also wonderful at the doctor's office. She was absolutely delightful.
When she first got the ear infection a few weeks ago, she was given 10 days of antibiotics. We were instructed to give her 1.25 tsp twice a day, which we did; but we ran out of medicine 3 doses early. I talked to the pharmacist about it at Tschiffely Pharmacy downtown and he explained (completely unapologetically) that they gave us the entire amount of antibiotic, even a little extra. But the bottle they had to use didn't accommodate enough water to dilute it as much as they normally would. Nonetheless, they instructed us to give the full dose, meaning we gave her doses that were too high but not as many as she should have had. Shockingly irresponsible. And surprising -- I've gone to Tschiffely since 1997 and never had problems, but this is dangerous.
The doctor decided not to give her any more antibiotics, since she had the full dose and was doing so well. But clearly it wasn't enough. So we are going back on and this time we went to the pharmacy at Target, which somehow found a way to use a large enough bottle.
Ellis and I spent the day at home, watching movies, playing in the new play space in her room and Skyping with Dad. Yeah, Dad is in Brussels and feeling very disconnected and helpless. But as you can see, Ellis is doing much better after a day of rest.
We also got some snow last night. I left the window shade open so that Ellis could watch the snow fall as she went to sleep. Thankfully, my neighbor shoveled out my walk. My back is pretty messed up (mostly from toting Ellis around, not the pregnancy) and shoveling was going to do me no favors. He also brought me some snow melt to put on my steps. And when I went to Target, I decided to pick some up but found out the bags were inconveniently placed by toys. It was too much for me to fight Ellis on the toys she would inevitably want; so one of the workers ran upstairs and grabbed the last bag for me. Thank heavens for the kindness of my neighbors.
We watched "Lilo and Stitch" during Ellis' convalescence. To understand this story, you have to know that Ellis mixes up subjects and direct objects. So if she finds something scary, she will say that the offending person/object is "scared." If she is scared, she will describe herself as "scary." So there is one part of Lilo and Stitch that scared her a bit (when one of the aliens was coming for Stitch) and she sat behind me on the couch. I told her that she didn't need to worry because, as she will learn as she gets older, Mommy is scary. She gave me a big hug and responded, "Oh no, Mama, you not scary. Don't worry, I will keep you safe."
Ellis also wrapped her cow puppet up in a towel and cradled him because he was sick, or so she told me. This leads me, for no particular reason, to tell two other little things about Ellis. First, if I ever speak sternly, she says, "Mommy, don't be angry at me," and then requires a hug to signal peace between us. Also, tonight I was complaining that my back hurt so she said, "Oh, poor Mama, let me rub it for you." And then she did for a few seconds before asking, "Is that better?" Yes, sweet girl, that is much better.
In spite of being miserable, she expressed excitement at seeing pretty lights and thanked me for taking her to the doctor. "Thank you, Mama. Thank you for taking me to doctor to make me better." She was also wonderful at the doctor's office. She was absolutely delightful.
When she first got the ear infection a few weeks ago, she was given 10 days of antibiotics. We were instructed to give her 1.25 tsp twice a day, which we did; but we ran out of medicine 3 doses early. I talked to the pharmacist about it at Tschiffely Pharmacy downtown and he explained (completely unapologetically) that they gave us the entire amount of antibiotic, even a little extra. But the bottle they had to use didn't accommodate enough water to dilute it as much as they normally would. Nonetheless, they instructed us to give the full dose, meaning we gave her doses that were too high but not as many as she should have had. Shockingly irresponsible. And surprising -- I've gone to Tschiffely since 1997 and never had problems, but this is dangerous.
The doctor decided not to give her any more antibiotics, since she had the full dose and was doing so well. But clearly it wasn't enough. So we are going back on and this time we went to the pharmacy at Target, which somehow found a way to use a large enough bottle.
Ellis and I spent the day at home, watching movies, playing in the new play space in her room and Skyping with Dad. Yeah, Dad is in Brussels and feeling very disconnected and helpless. But as you can see, Ellis is doing much better after a day of rest.
We also got some snow last night. I left the window shade open so that Ellis could watch the snow fall as she went to sleep. Thankfully, my neighbor shoveled out my walk. My back is pretty messed up (mostly from toting Ellis around, not the pregnancy) and shoveling was going to do me no favors. He also brought me some snow melt to put on my steps. And when I went to Target, I decided to pick some up but found out the bags were inconveniently placed by toys. It was too much for me to fight Ellis on the toys she would inevitably want; so one of the workers ran upstairs and grabbed the last bag for me. Thank heavens for the kindness of my neighbors.
We watched "Lilo and Stitch" during Ellis' convalescence. To understand this story, you have to know that Ellis mixes up subjects and direct objects. So if she finds something scary, she will say that the offending person/object is "scared." If she is scared, she will describe herself as "scary." So there is one part of Lilo and Stitch that scared her a bit (when one of the aliens was coming for Stitch) and she sat behind me on the couch. I told her that she didn't need to worry because, as she will learn as she gets older, Mommy is scary. She gave me a big hug and responded, "Oh no, Mama, you not scary. Don't worry, I will keep you safe."
Ellis also wrapped her cow puppet up in a towel and cradled him because he was sick, or so she told me. This leads me, for no particular reason, to tell two other little things about Ellis. First, if I ever speak sternly, she says, "Mommy, don't be angry at me," and then requires a hug to signal peace between us. Also, tonight I was complaining that my back hurt so she said, "Oh, poor Mama, let me rub it for you." And then she did for a few seconds before asking, "Is that better?" Yes, sweet girl, that is much better.
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