Julian foils our plans

So much for our grand plan of a long day together. Dave had a day off work that happened to coincide with a sleepover. Tonya offered to pick Gabriel up from Kids Inc, and she'd keep the boys all afternoon and for the sleepover, so we had the whole day and evening to do something fun like go to the city. A very rare wonderful opportunity!

But, Julian awoke with 101.5 temperature this morning. Foiled! He wasn't going anywhere. Well, except a regular well-baby checkup he happened to have scheduled that day anyway. Dave took him so I could finish our taxes (grrr). Incredibly, despite the fact that he hadn't been eating to his usual high standard for a week, he's still in the 35%-ile for weight. The pediatrician actually thought that the hives on his hands the previous evening might be related to the temperature.

Julian really truly wasn't feeling well, so he spent a lot of time on Dave's or my shoulder, just being held. Then he had a rare treat: he got to watch a LOT of TV! I usually tape 3 hours of PBS on Sunday mornings, even though most of the time they only get to watch half an hour of Thomas. That came in handy, as Julian zoned on the couch, looking so sad and sick. I set aside any squeamishness I had about unlimited unsupervised TV, as that is very rare here, but he really was too sick to play as he usually does. (I can't resist pointing out: always with the adorable crossed feet!)



In the evening, Julian felt a little better, and was allowed into the office for a few minutes. He likes playing with Tux Paint, a drawing program for kids, on our desktop Mac. But the mouse is even more fun to play with as a phone. He put it to his ear and "called" Gabriel (who was at Tonya's on the sleepover). How sweet.



Then, Julian found a calculator and used it as a "phone." I asked who he was going to call, and he said, "Papa Paul! Papa Paul give me orange, and I put it in my MOUF!" I guess Paul and the oranges made quite an impression on him!

Though his fever today definitely dampened Julian's mood (and perhaps mine, but I no longer get completely disappointed from major missed opportunities...that's just life with kids), on the whole it was pretty nice to have him alone all day. He hardly ever cries when Gabriel isn't around to make him cry! It was just as well that Gabriel wasn't around when Julian was so unenergetic and blue, even though I missed the little bugger. It rained all day today anyway, so maybe my great ideas about going to the city wouldn't have happened anyway. And the city will always be there (I say this a few days before the centennial anniversary of the earthquake and fire that levelled the place 100 years ago!).