The President, Bronchitis, and the Nutcracker

Maliana ~

We began the week on the eve of our nation's election...watching actual news shows with you when you asked the following, "Mom, where's Jon Stewart?" Hmmm...can you tell we watch a lot of The Daily Show around here? Ha ha.

And what a better book to read for bedtime on our Presidential Election Eve...right?

So, Tuesday (election day) was long...with all of us sitting around and watching the results roll in until we just had to put you to bed, and then I stayed up to watch the very end (which was very very late for me!) But I am happy to announce that our beloved President Barack Obama won re-election. I was very relieved and elated with the outcome. Not to mention it was a brilliant day for women of all stripes to get elected as well...disabled women, gay women, minority women...it was a good good election day in my book. While this was happy news (at our house anyway), it was slightly overshadowed by your getting sick. I actually left work early to come home and tend to you on Tuesday, then the following day Daddy stayed home and took you to the doctor where we found out that you had gotten a touch of bronchitis, and an ear infection was threatening your little ear drums to boot. Boo. No fun to be sick. You had had a fever on and off, but had kept up good spirits overall. You even marched into the doctor's office and cooperated with everything (except her taking your blood pressure). I was very pleased that you handled yourself so well, in spite of feeling so crummy.

sleep can be the best medicine sometimes

Thursday I took most of the day off and stayed home with you. We had a good "sick day" together, milling around the house, running errands, and generally just hanging out. Luckily, thanks to the advances of modern medicine, I was able to post the following on Facebook as one of my daily gratitude posts for November.

~ On Day 8 I am thankful for modern medicine and antibiotics that are kicking
bronchitis's butt so that Officer Mali feels well enough to write me tickets for
things like  "Driving my airplane too fast" and "Llamas!!"
(yeah, I don't understand that last one either) :)

By Friday, your fever was gone and you finally went back to school. It was a short day for you anyway so we figured, what the heck. You walked in the door and about 6 or 7 kids yelled your name and wanted to know how you were, then your teacher Ms. Beth asked the same thing. It was nice to have such concern from your teachers and peers. You are a very loved kid.

While even a short day at school wiped you out (bronchitis really takes a toll on one's body), we took it easy the rest of the evening after speech therapy. We continued to take it easy on Saturday too, no dance or tang soo do classes in the morning. We did take you and Abby to Hoover for a tiny hike in the fresh air (with you in our backpack) and we all really enjoyed getting out into the autumn sunshine. Poor Abby gets the shaft in the walk department during the week, so it's nice to take advantage of the weekends to let her loose in the woods and really make her happy.
 

surveying the land

ready to chase a stick

both you and Abby were reluctant
participants in taking this picture

hiking at Hoover

Sunday you were still feeling under the weather so Lao Lao and I took you to the Ballet Met studios for an interactive storytime/food drive called "Feed the Nutcracker, Feed Columbus." While you were pretty subdued the whole time and wanted nothing to do with dancing like the other kids, it was a really nice program and we got to see some of the company's actual dancers up close. If nothing else it got your mind off of feeling crummy for a bit and we helped feed the hungry. A win-win in my book.

the Sugar Plum Fairy

 

the Nutcracker was crouched down
waiting to take pictures with the kids,
but you wanted nothing to do with him

we got a nutcracker doll instead, even
signed by one of the Nutcracker dancers

Monday was our "bonus" weekend day, the Veterans' Day holiday. I would have loved to have taken you downtown to see the Veterans' Day parade, but with you still feeling under the weather with a nasty cough and a lot of congestion, I didn't think that sitting in the cold rain would have been the smartest mom decision. Instead, I let you sleep in until 9:45am (wow! you must have needed it) and celebrated a cold, wet, and windy Veterans' Day by hunkering down inside after making a Tim Horton's run for donuts, playing "Watch out! Hot lava!" (your idea and a cool coincidence because I used to have fun playing the same game when I was a kid), then setting you up downstairs for craft time. Over our breakfast we talked about what a veteran is and why we were giving thanks for all of the sacrifices they have made to keep us safe and give us our freedoms. We talked about the different branches of the military and what they do. You were also very tickled to find out you have many military family members, both past and present, including (but not limited to) Wai Gong, Papaw, and your great grandfather Hart.

eating a timbit on the way home
while Abby is trying her best
to beg from the back

creating art and feeling better

riding the infamous "car cart" at Kroger's, you were
definitely feeling better as you gave me
an "aye aye cap'n...ready to go!"
(you are a goofball!)

It was a quiet and calm day, with lots of much needed rest to make sure you are completely up to snuff for school tomorrow, not to mention some great one on one quality time for you and me. It was nice to see your smile, hear your laugh, and see you slowly perking back up to feeling healthy and being your silly self again. Perfect timing for a "bonus" day for both of us!

Love,
Mama