Another of Riley’s colds has nestled into my sinus network, and I can feel it in there now stretching out lazily. I seem to be handling it better than he did, though; poor guy was miserable for five solid days, got an ear infection and is now on antibiotics that he doesn’t even like the taste of. He’s hardly eaten anything solid for the past three days. But today he had a little of his gumption back, so here’s hoping he’s over it completely within a day or two.

My mom sent a couple MiniDV tapes of her reading fairy tales, along with the book she was reading them from, for the kids. I finally got them all burned onto a DVD today. I’m sure Lydia will just love it, I hope Riley will too in time. It’s up against some stiff competition though. It was such a sweet idea, and bless my mom, she really pours her all into the readings. I just hope she’s not disappointed with Riley’s reaction when she comes to visit us in a couple of weeks. He’s back in full mommy-fixation mode again. (I’m a distant second; I don’t exist if she’s around, but am a sufficient substitute when she’s not and any other people try to make friends with him.)

Olfantoms

The kids have had diarrhea for about a week, first Riley and now Lydia. She’s having a harder time getting over it, since her immune system is nowhere near as developed and her diet is still mostly liquid anyway. But there’s a very particular odor to it, nasty as anything. And the thing is, I’ve got that smell stuck in my head like a song. I keep thinking I smell it, even when I’m across the room and her diaper’s clean. Laura says it’s a sign of how much I care, that I must be a little bit obsessed with it. And of course it is on my mind a lot; she’s got a diaper rash from it and so we’re trying to be extra vigilant.

Have you ever gotten olfactory phantoms? Hopefully it was a more pleasant aroma than this. Why couldn’t it happen with vanilla or something? šŸ˜›

Sick Bug

Today was rough. Riley got another stomach bug, his second since we moved here. He spent the morning throwing up, clinging to me like a cobweb and crying pitifully for milk and food that I didn’t dare give him. The pediatrician gave him a shot of Zofran. That’s probably over-treating him by a fair amount; by the time we got back to the house, he was feeling better enough to start acting like a tyrant. šŸ˜› He wouldn’t drink his Walgreens-brand clone of Pedialyte, but he did have enough good ol’ water that hopefully he’ll be fine in the morning. Poor little guy.

Stop the grocery store, I want off.

Saturday morning I started feeling light-headed, but thought little of it until I started feeling woozy and nauseous at the grocery store. By Sunday night, I couldn’t stand up without getting motion sick.

There seems to be something wrong with my inner ear; it keeps insisting that I’m constantly turning to the right. It’s difficult to focus on things because my eyes try to follow them by reflex, in spite of the fact that they’re not really moving. I can’t read, or use the computer for more than a couple of minutes without lying down. Driving is out of the question.

So I’ve been sleeping a lot, and lying down even when I’m awake. The ceiling sometimes contorts before my eyes, as my brain tries to rationalize the conflicting signals it’s getting. Television has been a decent distraction. Thankfully I can see it well enough.