(What's for dinner?)
It was a week of stomach flu for Enzo. Not fun for anyone. It sucked, as a parent, to watch my kid vomit so often and to see him uncharacteristically less playful for most hours of the day. And, because of the warnings to keep a child hydrated, it was a bit stressful every time he did vomit to consider how much water was not absorbed, how much food was not absorbed. He didn't look too bothered by the experience, he just went through his days. We called the advice nurse three times and spoke to a pediatrician by phone once. All said that Enzo was doing well, the facts we described were all acceptable for the situation, it was stomach flu, and that it could be several days before it went away. I took that advice just fine for a couple of days but as the one week marker became very close, my concern increased. Enzo still looked fine. He always did seem to perk up for at least an hour in the day when he would play and look happy enough. He was always hungry though. The medical advice was to only give him very small portions of food and water, and then to wait so that it would digest before giving him more. The foods were all simple like toast and rice. Enzo was always hungry. He knows the baby sign language for 'more' and 'food' (and others like 'potty' and 'water') and so he used those signs over and over and over. It was sad to stop him from eating and watch his sadness and frustration over not being allowed to eat and drink more in a serving. Like I said, it sucked. Enzo wasn't completely himself but he was still super cuddly and adorable. He liked being held even more so during that week and I was happy to hold him as much as possible. Finally, we decided to see our pediatrician and so Tami took Enzo in to her one morning. It was comforting to hear again that Enzo was doing fine, all the symptoms were normal, we were doing everything right, and all would be well soon.
Thankfully, the stomach flu week is over now and all is in fact well, one week after it began. Enzo is back to his super happy-smiley self. Playful, energetic, and allowed to eat as much as his body would like. It's happy days again and I feel so much better knowing he is feeling good.
(St. Patrick's Day dinner at the Campbell Cafe.)
This morning he was so cute. Enzo was lying back, one leg propped up on a pillow after breast feeding, looking as relaxed as could be in his milk-full laziness. And then his smile came out, the twinkle of mellow alertness appeared in his eyes, and the morning while I dressed became delightfully punctuated with smiles and giggles. I will smile all day thinking of his smiley happy face this morning. It's the kind of thing that simultaneously can get me through the day away from my family but make me want to do nothing but spend my day with my family. He is adorable, my happy beautiful boy. His mother is lovely. And his sister is less than a month away from her big expected day.
(Rocking away.)
Speaking of The Progeny, we have made one more step towards being ready for her arrival on the outside. We co-sleep, meaning that Enzo sleeps in bed with us. Which is great. However, his sister is coming soon and so Enzo needs to make room. We have been considering our options and Tami came up with one that we started as of Sunday. We took the crib front off, that side that goes up and down, and pushed the crib up to our bed. Basically, we added a wing onto our bed. I was wondering how Enzo would take to it as he is used to sleeping between us and would now be out to my side on his own bed. He has taken to it quite well and it's working out for naps and at night time. He is still close to be breast fed, close to change a diaper if he pees in the night, close to watch and love; all the advantages of co-sleeping but with room in the middle of the bed. And in the morning, when he wakes, it's just an easy move to bring him next to his mom where he can smile and giggle as I get dressed for work.
