The Goat Rodeo Episode Continueth

Yesterday was a new chapter. M refused to eat. And he mostly declares his dislike by first tasting the food and then declaring Yay or Nay by the pursing of his lips. 

But yesterday was different because he just would not open his mouth, and was fussy and cranky. In fact, he was not even happy with milk. 

"You must be hungry. This is food. You can eat it. I eat it. It is not that bad. Open up your mouth. Darn it!", was the mental chatter in my brain. 

Then we discovered something called mouth ulcers. One bugger was right on the inside edge of the left side of the lips. I could not see anymore. 

My mind perceives two possible causes. One is that he was put on antibiotic on Saturday, and it was his first time on that medicine. Also, M does have a white coating on his tongue, which is white because of his milk residue, and on the last visit the pediatrician had mentioned about cleaning his tongue regularly. Maybe that is the cause? Or it could be a combination.

Whatever it was, M was in pain, and refused solids all day. He began accepting milk better by evening, after I was done with couple of applications of a mouth gel that was prescribed. 

He also has a light cough, and last night (today early morning), I noticed that he was uncomfortable because his nose was congested. He was trying to sleep, but was fidgety. 

So I found a nasal spray, and woke up the half-asleep baby and sprayed the stuff right up his nostrils. I forgot two things. 

a. This is not a dummy. This is a baby, who reacts and screams at whatever went up his nose.

b. Never wake up a sleeping baby. 

For point number b, I don't know if I should have waited for him to completely wake up, or was it a good decision to take care of his restlessness immediately. 

I eventually gave him an antihistamine I have which is a good decongestant too, and M went back to sleep a little while later. 

It was 4:30 a.m. when I gave him the medicine, and by 5:30, I had woken up and was off to the kitchen and simultaneously busy with a load of laundry. 

We do not let Figlia nap at all in the afternoon because letting her nap in the noon means her energy levels are super high and she refuses to sleep till her battery is completely discharged. Even if she reaches the bed, she will keep on talking and talking and talking. Given the fact that we all are in the same room, it sometimes leads to her disturbing the sleeping baby. 

On the other hand, Figlia gets super tired at night because she has been up all day, and active too. 

The two evenings when hubby was out of town, Figlia just ate dinner and went off to sleep in the living room itself by 2030 hrs. But when DH is around, and when he breezes in around 2000 hours, it revs her up enough to sometimes stay on till 2145 hrs. However the farther she pushes, the more wound up she gets. 

Then there is screaming (when you ask her and want her to shush up), rude talk, and complete disregard to whatever you want her to do. 

In the night, we take turns to make the baby sleep, if the baby is not asleep yet. And Figlia is inconsolable if I am out with her and DH is with the baby. She will want to go to DH immediately, for urgent matters such as showing her score in Su.bway Sur.fer, and then she does not listen to any logic about how it could disturb the baby. 

More than a few times, I have just hogged on my dinner to finish the meal thing in three minutes flat, so that I can go back to the room, and relieve the favoured parent.

Putting the children to sleep frays our nerves. When either of them are sick, the crankiness gets exponentially multiplied. 

Today morning, my ears were ringing because of the lack of sleep. I can't even explain what a weird sensation it was!

Some nights I am thankful to have slept better than other nights. When nights are tough, I am glad for the gift of dawn, and that night lasts for only these many hours and there can be some change of pace somehow.  

(Goat Rodeo was a term coined by one of Mel's kids)