Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Poor, poor Joseph

Joseph is finally better today, after being really, really sick for 2 days.  I thought he was going to have a 24 hour bug, but that virus kept going strong for about 48.  Yesterday he spent the day sleeping and throwing up, and that's about it.
I was worried about him getting dehydrated.  I gave him water and juice to sip, but he couldn't even keep that down.  He woke up in the night so thirsty, and I felt so mean telling him he had to only take small sips.  He told me, "Water is the best thing in the world, mom!" 
As bad as I felt for him, there is nothing like a sick child for a constant source of cuddles.  He asked me once, "Why do you stay near me?  Aren't you afraid you'll get sick?"  I told him that yeah, I might get sick, but it was worth it to me if I could help him at all through his sickness. 
That's a mother's love!
He finally woke up this morning feeling better, although really weak.  It's amazing how 48 hours with no food shows on a 58 lb boy.  His eyes looked huge in his head and his cheeks were noticeably hollow.  He told me, "I feel tiny, mom."  And he looked it.  He ate a little today-- hot chocolate, some applesauce and toast and half a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  I hope he'll eat more tomorrow and get his strength back.
As for the rest of us, we basically took the last couple of days off.  Yesterday was Christopher Columbus Day, which the public schools had off.  The boys' cub scout pack planned a field trip to a police station and then bowling.  Joseph stayed home and slept (and threw up), but Brigham and Mosey went.  Mosey told me before hand, "I hate bowling!  There is nothing that will ever make me go bowling!"  Well, I guess Sister Kelley is pretty persuasive, because he did go bowling, and he came home saying, "Bowling is the most fun thing ever!"  He had a good time.  :-)  I'm hoping to take Joseph on his own private Police Station tour; I know he was disappointed to miss it.
I wanted to do part-lessons with Brigham yesterday, but he totally balked at that.  He didn't have a very good day yesterday after getting home from the field trip.  My asking him to do his piano practicing and violin practicing and work on his mineral report was pretty much akin to me telling him to work 18 hours a day in a textile factory...  He was very angry.  As it was, he spent a lot of time complaining, and very little time actually working on his lessons...  He never even got around to his music practicing.  And then I was working with Mosey on learning to tie shoes, and Brigham came over and wanted to try.  He knows the bunny-ear method of tying shoes, but I was teaching Mosey the regular method.  Anyway, a (very) long story short, Brigham got frustrated and then got mad and then I got mad and then some voices were raised and some doors were slammed and a very frustrated mom went into her room for a self-imposed time out.  It wasn't pretty.
All the boys were put to bed at 8:00 and I think I was asleep by 10:00, which is something of a record for me.
Today was a little better, thank goodness...  I finally edited a few recent pictures which I will append to this post.
 Finally, a smile out of this boy!  He was the picture of misery for two days straight.


 See how big his eyes are?  He was starting to waste away after only 2 days!


 Even his cheeks were starting to hollow out.  Here he is perusing the Webkinz online catalog.


 Two silly boys.


 Here's Mosey working on his writing.  You know what?  One of his two front teeth is finally loose!  He's excited, but I'm so sad...  When kids get their permanent teeth, they lose that "little kid" look forever.  He's my baby!!


Cute little Mosey feet swinging under his chair as he does his school work.

3 comments:

Mama said...

I remember actually loving it when my kids would be just sick enough to want me to rock them and snuggle in my lap :) But when it goes on for 2-3 days, then the worry starts. I'm so glad he's better and hope the rest of you don't catch it. Give hugs all around to those handsome boys.

Christian Jacob Frandsen said...

Gabrielle, when I read the title of your post, all I could think of were the words "whatcha gonna do?" and the good memories of listening to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dreamcoat during long roadtrips in the van. I'm glad he's doing better!

Naomi said...

You know, Joseph really looked like you in that picture of his big eyes. Not surprising, but I don't know that I'd ever identified your features so strongly in him.