at first I was like :D but then I was like D:

[metaphortunate]

;__; all Tuesday night the baby had this hacking cough and on Wednesday morning he sounded terrible and it was my turn to stay home from work with him

:/ of course, half an hour after I sent out all the emails saying I wouldn't be into work and he wouldn't be into daycare, he cheered up and started running around like a tiny tornado

:D so I decided that as long as we were playing hooky, we would go and get him some his very first set of rain gear so that he can go out in the winter weather

D: but it turns out to be impossible to find rain slickers in his size! I went to three places and then he was exhausted and we had to go home

D: and I bought the smallest rain boots they had and they were still too big and he got really frustrated later that afternoon when I took him to the park to try them out

:D but maybe he can wear them over his shoes for a while, and also I got a really good deal on other new clothes for him, and I got my freelance illustrations done and I installed a budgeting app on my phone and I'm going to start keeping track of my expenses and basically I got almost everything I had set out to do that day, done!

D: but that meant I didn't get to bed before 2 am.

:D but on Thursday I had planned to have dinner with Mr. E andjrtom who is in town!

D: but on Thursday Mr. E was sick and jrtom pinged me to say with traffic it sounded like a 2.5 hour drive from the office.

:D but Mr. E said he didn't mind staying home with the Junebug and jrtom found a carpooling buddy and the two of us went out to dinner and I had a totally great time talking about Tolkien and The Once and Future King and names and Google and kids and all kinds of things

:D and holy cats, that was some delicious fired tofu*

D: but I didn't get to go to bed early

D: and my god I'm so tired today

DDDDDD: and the baby's diaper came UNFASTENED in the night so he woke up smeared from stem to stern with poop

D: so he had to have an emergency morning shower with me, and it turns out, 1) the baby no longer copes well with showers, 2) there is an air raid siren somewhere in the ancestry of one or both of our families, 3) lot of good acoustics in the shower. Yes indeed. Very reverberant.

D: and the baby is STILL coughing, and cough medicines don't work so you shouldn't give them to babies

:D but it turns out that a simple spoonful of honey is actually as effective a cough suppressant as dextromethorphan! Hey, we have honey right in the kitchen!

D: but the Junebug refuses to eat honey. It turns out. Will fight like a cornered badger to avoid even having it smeared on his lips so he can taste it.

D: I failed at feeding honey to a baby.

D: See the bit about the shower.

D: And then today work was SHITTY.

D: And then today the Junebug had to come home early from daycare with a high fever, in addition to his cough. Mr. E was able to pick him up, which was a mixed blessing.

:D But then I had a brilliant idea about melting honey in warm lemon juice and letting the baby drink it out of his water cup, instead of trying to feed it to him with a spoon, which he hates!

D: Now the baby doesn't trust me to give him water, and there is honey all over the floor, the walls, Mr. E's guitar and amp, and everything.

X[ And I don't even give a shit anymore. I'm going to bed.

-------------------

*[sic]

Comments

[thistleingrey]

aw, man. I hope that tomorrow has fewer causes for D:

I don't know whether a raincoat suggestion would be useful. If it is not, please stop reading here....

Last winter REI had a simple hooded raincoat (no lining, no warmth) in 18mo. It was a generous 18mo because I kept its sleeves rolled twice till this winter (well past when all other 18mo-labeled clothes had become too short/tight), but hey. *pokes web* This, more or less. See also. One nice thing about REI is that if there's a shop near you, delivery-to-shop is free.

[lovepeaceohana]

I will second this - we have a very similar one in blue (with matching little pants, because I thought that was a great idea at the time) and it's fantastic. Er, not that we've had much occasion to use it, living in southern California and all ... but on the two times we've used it it's been great!

[thistleingrey]

Good to know about the pants--I skipped them because when it rains heavily around here, I usually end up carrying a worried Reason, and then her legs are tucked into my raincoat. But soon, soon, she will be too heavy and less worried....

[metaphortunate]

That is perfect! I will get one! Thanks!

[wordweaverlynn]

Yargh. So that's how he got smeared with honey and poop.

Sending good vibes toward you.

[metaphortunate]

Thank you. :P He seems to be improving, yay!

[veejane]

You know, sometimes reading your stories I am convinced that when you are talking about the Junebug you actually mean a beagle. Because I can totally imagine trying to wrestle a messy beagle into a shower, him hooooowling over your shoulder all the while. (Not, sadly, that they make rain boots in a beagle's size either.)

Presumably, the difference is that children can't lick their own privates, and beagles will never grow up to be embarrassed about the trials they cause their parents.

[metaphortunate]

There is honestly not that much difference between them at this age. :)

[laurashapiro]

Aaaaaaauuuuugghhhh!!!

::hugs you forever::

[kalmn]

What she said.

[metaphortunate]

Dude. Miss Otis regrets she could not make dinner. :P

[laurashapiro]

She clearly had other things going on! It's okay. It'll happen.

[cahn]

uuuuugh, I am SO SORRY. Especially about the poop part.

With E, the things that have been most helpful with her horrible-sounding cough, which sounded worst at night, were a humidifier, set on high several hours before she went to bed, as well as putting three or four pillows under her head. But the first time we tried this she had just turned two at the time (and had been using pillows for ~6 months), and I think the Junebug is younger? I never tried honey... (E would like honey very much, but she would almost certainly not like it in lemon juice, which she haaaaaates.)

[lovepeaceohana]

Oh noooooo, poor Junebug! Poor you! I hope everybody feels better soon.

[metaphortunate]

We're recovering. Slowly.

[dancingsinging]

Dang, that sucks. D: Mostly sending you hugs and wishes for things to be better fast. Also, maybe this will help or maybe it will be annoying, but just in case it's helpful, I wanted to say that things get a lot easier as they get older. At least up to 7; I can't speak to anything beyond that.

Also, we gave kid #1 that cough syrup that's not supposed to work, that is SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN not to work, and it actually seemed to help a lot. She was maybe 5 at the time.

Yay for time with good friends. I hope the fond memories of dinner out will help you through the being exhausted part.

**hugs**

[dancingsinging]

Maybe try just honey in water?

[metaphortunate]

I hear that. About the getting easier thing. So far, it's totally true.

[oyceter]

Yaaaaaai poor Junebug =(. (Also I am desperately pretending cough medicines do work right now if only to trick my body into stopping for a bit.)

[metaphortunate]

I know right? C'mooooon, placebo effect!

[merielle]

Jeeez. I hope you got a fantastic night's sleep and then had a much less roller coaster-y day.

[metaphortunate]

It's getting better! Slowly.

[jrtom]

I'm sorry that Mr. E and the Junebug weren't feeling well, and especially that I just missed my chance to meet the Junebug. But it was awesome getting a chance to see and hang out with you, and I look forward to being able to do that again the next time I'm in the area.

[metaphortunate]

I am so glad we did get to hang out! I really enjoyed it.

[surexit]

Poor baby and poor you. :(