Julian's tantrum

It must be because Steph wrote in email yesterday that Remi had been throwing up. This morning, Julian threw up a little on his pillow, and then at breakfast, he started throwing up his cereal even while he was still sitting in his high chair. Then I remembered yesterday, he said: "My tummy hurts -- I need a band-aid!". And yesterday, he didn't eat a good dinner, and had a loose BM. He's got a touch of something, poor baby.

The last time Gabriel had a bout of throwing up, the pediatrician said he kept throwing up because I kept feeding him -- give him only water until he's gone 24 hours without vomiting. So today I tried to keep Julian from eating, which meant Gabriel too had to forego snacks in the jogging stroller on our hike, and Trader Joe's samples as well.

But when we got home, Julian set off into a massive tantrum from...oh, what was it, I think because he ran down a countdown to get out of the car, and I carried him indoors. Getting him inside from the car has become a battle every time these days. He got SO upset, throwing himself on the floor and screaming, then wailing that he wanted me, then going into new fits when I'd come back to check on him, then coming into the kitchen to scream at the top of his lungs. I tried putting on soothing music and offering him water to drink, but each thing I did brought about a fresh fit. Finally I got him calm by offering to turn off the music, and after some hyperventilating and crying standing next to me, he got out of it. A genuine tantrum from him is pretty rare!

But how was I not supposed to feed him? I never thought I'd feel guilty about feeding my baby! He saw Gabriel eating yogurt and wanted some, threatening another rage. I gave him a little chicken soup broth, but he didn't like it, and he was very on the edge of going into a full-on rage at every step again (seeing the soup, then seeing me take it away -- there's no winning). Finally I gave him a piece of bread, and that settled him immediately. The moment the first piece went in his mouth, he cheered up and started talking happily. After one and a half pieces of bread, he was in a great mood, and then played great with Gabriel until his nap (coming into the kitchen once to tell me "Gabriel build a track for me!"). He's been cheerful ever since, especially after a 3-hour nap. It's pretty hard to take pediatricians' advice not to feed a child for 24 hours when you see this sort of thing.

The new expert on gastric ailments, I myself feel a little better today, not in relentless constant stomach torment, but never even close to right. Tonight I'm going to Coffee with my mom friends, and I'm going to spring the NEWS on them. I'm looking forward to their surprise!

I just snuck out to see what Gabriel and Julian are doing as I type: innocently reading a book together. Anyone want to take bets on how long this harmony lasts? (later note: it lasted about 20 minutes, then they moved to the bathroom to look through catalogs, for a total of about 45 minutes. Not bad!)