Highs and Lows

This past week was our first full week without a snow day in almost two months! The last time this happened was the week right after winter break. As a result, I think we are all pretty wiped out. Five days isn't a lot, but it sure feels like it when you've grown accustomed to having every Monday off! But I will happily get up early five times a week if it means that spring is drawing nearer. Time for this snow to melt!

Anyway, last night was the Pinewood Derby. It's a Cub Scout tradition-- the boys and their parents all make little cars out of blocks of wood, and then they race them. It's a lot of fun, and some people can get really competitive. Niko decided that he wanted his car to look like a penguin sliding on its belly. So he sketched it out for us, and then Gus helped him shape the block of wood appropriately. I was in charge of the paint job (under Niko's direction). And Gus did the wheels. It was designed for appearance rather than for speed, and I think this ended up upsetting our boy. His car was one of the slower ones, and he was getting upset about it (though he held it together well).

On the way home, his voice was raspy and the tears started to fall. He was mad that he lost, mad that his car wasn't fast enough, and upset that he didn't get a trophy. And tired, to top it all off, since it was hours past his normal bedtime. We came home, got the kids in their jammies, and tucked everyone in bed. We followed suit not long after.

At around 11, I heard loud coughing, followed by crying. Niko was sitting up in his bed, coughing, with tears streaming down his face. He told me that Maya was in his room (she wasn't). His nose was running like crazy and his cough sounded awful, so I bumbled around and found the humidifier and got it set up for him. This continued all night, and he was a mess when he got up this morning. I was snuggling him in my lap when I noticed he was burning up! So I got him some ibuprofen and started looking into after-hours medical options. Fortunately, there's a place not too far away that is open on weekends, and you just pay your regular doctor's office co-pay! It was fantastic. The doctor there didn't even want to do the flu swab, because she said it would take hours and she would be surprised if this wasn't the flu. He had pretty much every symptom. My poor guy! She prescribed him Tamiflu, which we have since picked up from the pharmacy and started using. Our guy is a little ragdoll today. He is camped out on a cot in front of the pellet stove, dozing in and out of sleep. He still has a fever. And he has thrown up a few times. And he's talking in his sleep! Earlier, before I got the cot set up, he fell asleep building with a brand-new Minecraft Lego set. That alone should tell you how sick he is!! Healthy Niko would never stop mid-Lego-building!

Anyway, poor fella. Let's hope this Tamiflu starts working quickly, because I hate seeing him like this!