Sick Day

Finley's cough had been increasing (in frequency and level of hacking) through the second half of the week and last night his runny nose and slight fever had us concerned.  He had an okay night's sleep but woke up with the fever still present and looking rather pathetic with flushed cheeks, a crusty nose, and teary eyes.  Dan was kind enough to take the morning shift and I went off to work leaving the two in our bed reading Richard Scarry's  Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (searching for the no longer elusive Goldbug).  I returned at noon so Dan could go off to the job site and it sounded like the morning was relaxed and while he hadn't eaten much, Finley was no worse for the wear.

I got him down for a nap, though it was less than stellar with the last part of it occuring on me in his rocking chair.  But perhaps it was better that I didn't have to wake up to make our 4pm doctor's appointment, after all.  Finley was a champ at the doctor, letting her poke and prod him with only a few murmurs of "mommy, mommy."  While Finley usually sees Dr. Pangburn, he seemed to process the idea that Dr. P had other kids to see and we'd be seeing Dr. McCarty the "lady doctor."  She found just a single ear infection and sent us off with a prescription.  Phew--I had been expecting a much worse diagnosis!

We got the medicine and Finley proudly carried out his freshly mixed bottle of amoxicillin from Walgreens and brought it all the way inside, upstairs, and put it in the fridge.  While he wasn't coughing or complaining, he was certainly tired from the minimalist nap and exhausting trip to the doctor.  On a whim, I looked through our DVD collection and selected Finding Nemo as Finley's first full length feature film (figured he wasn't ready for Lord of the Rings or Anchorman).  We sat and watched and despite answering, "Where's Nemo, Mommy?" a million times--it was quite fun.  He almost gave up on it towards the end, but enjoyed the exciting family reunion between Nemo and his dad, Marlin.  Dan had come down to enjoy the last third of the movie with us and we'd love catch each other watching Finley and his reactions (concern "Where's the fish daddy, mommy?", enthusiasm "There's Nemo, mommy!" and confusion, "Where's that turtle going, daddy?").

A bowl of rice, an attempt at eating a popsicle, another reading of Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, a crying medicine ingestion, and now the little guy is now sound asleep.

Finley's been a very healthy guy overall and it always takes us by surprise when he is truly under the weather, but it's nice to know that we can find ways to keep him comfy (tylenol, strawberries, garbage trucks on youtube, books, etc).  Hopefully he'll be back to himself soon and we can all get back to our usual routine...now who's going to break it to him that he can't go to his swim class tomorrow...