Petunia, Beware!

It's 10:30 at night, and I'm just sitting down with a few squares of dark chocolate and a sippy cup of soy milk. I stopped caring what the crib will look like in the morning. Jay has been rocked to semi-sleep holding half a banana, which he steadfastly refused to either give up or eat. So, he gets to take it to bed with him.

I'm done.

Last night Jay got sleepy pretty early, and willingly strolled to his room for his bedtime routine. That should have tipped us off. Laura and I both assumed he was pooped from a busy day at Miss Candace's toddler gymnastics class and the whirlwind of activity that followed. About halfway through a dramatic reading of "Petunia Beware", he began coughing and gagging. Soon his entire afternoon snack and dinner landed on Laura's lap.

I grabbed him and ran to the bathroom while Laura attended to herself and the bedroom. He leaned over the toilet and said, "I want to do it again." Sometimes he leaves out the negatives, so I'm still not sure if he wanted to vomit again to feel better, or if he was dreading it and didn't want to. Regardless, he didn't, and we began to clean up. For reasons beyond me there were no towels in the bathroom. After stripping Jay to his diaper, I did what I could with toilet paper, some flushable diaper wipes, and the back of his shirt. If you have been following our saga, and are just now realizing that I should have been on my crutches to get him into the bathroom, this is about where it dawned on me as well. Thankfully I'm only about 5 days from getting my cast removed, and my ankle should be pretty well healed.

I peeled off my own shirt and held Jay, skin to skin, cooing in his ear while he whimpered. I gave him a drink of water, and showed him how to rinse and spit. He sipped and spit, then drank. He said, "My teeth, daddy". After brushing his teeth, we sat together on the bathroom floor for a good twenty minutes or so. I heard the laundry running. We hobbled together back into Jay's bedroom. Laura had already replaced the bedspread we keep on the floor with a quilt, and changed out the pillow cases. This was in addition to cleaning herself of the bulk of the mess.

After we all spent a few minutes collecting ourselves as a family on the floor, I let Laura know I would spend the night with him, and she could shower and go to bed. Soon Jay was asleep, so I transferred him to his crib. I decided to spend the night on the couch nearby, where I could easily hear him. Laura and I both ended up staying up for a while. Around 10 pm Laura checked on him. "He's snoring." Awesome.

At 11:30 he was up and sick again. I picked him up and cleaned him, changed him again, and planned for a night on the floor. I gathered towels and burp cloths. I laid a small blanket under him, then we curled up tight. 

We were up a few more times during the night. Each time I changed out what was under him and cleaned him up, and we drifted back off together. He slept deeply between his bouts; me, not so well.

Morning finally arrived. Laura came in and said, "It's 7:30. I have to go soon." We said goodbye, and Jay and I got ourselves dressed. Well, okay, Jay got as far as a fresh diaper and his "Snack Attack" tee-shirt. It would be a few hours before pants entered the scene. I called "Debbie Daycare" and said Jay would be staying home today. 

We had one more episode shortly after attempting a light breakfast. We had to change out of the Snack Attack shirt, which was a most unpopular move. I promised to wash it so he could get it back on "ASAP". He wasn't sure what that meant, but it seemed like a good reason to recite the alphabet.

The day was a quiet one for both of us. He settled in on saltines and water for the morning, and that seemed to work. In the afternoon we added a banana, half at first, then the other half an hour later. As we got some fluids and electrolytes back into him, he picked up some energy. I tried lying down with him for a nap around one o'clock, but I was the only one falling asleep. I finished dressing him in hopes of taking a nap-inducing car ride. He wouldn't have it. So, we pulled out the doll house and played. 

Jay's interior design sense is nothing if not functional. All of the food-related items went in the kitchen, including the toilet. Actually, pretty much everything ended up in the kitchen. The mommy and daddy dolls ate raw turkey while lettuce cooked in the oven. Jay sat on the eggs (not sure if he was hatching them, or just hiding them from me). 

Eventually the whole family was displaced by a "flood". They found themselves all together in the bathtub, floating down the street (in Jay's pretend world). Jay has been staging train disasters since he got his first track, and has brought this special talent to his new doll house. After everyone survived the flood, they were quickly besieged by an earthquake. Still reeling from the aftershocks, the Attack of the Mutant Killer Irish German Jewish Forty-Foot T-Rex pretty much finished things off. Jayzilla was back.

That was enough excitement. We did a few puzzles, read a Blue's Clues book, and discussed whether or not he should keep his socks on. He's a skilled negotiator. I'm not sure who won, but the socks stayed on (my choice) and we watched two episodes of Dinosaur Train on TV. I think we'll call it win-win, since I was ready to check out anyway.

At 5 pm he finally sacked out on my chest. I reclined the rocker so we lay almost flat. Within minutes the phone rang. I picked him up and hopped to the kitchen to answer. Laura was calling to let us know she was on her way home. Jay didn't budge. I didn't want him to sleep too long, although I knew we both needed it. I just hoped to avoid him staying up until 10:30. 

Fail.

It was a long night, and a longer day. The plan was for a normal night of sleep last night, followed by a "me" day today, taking care of some business and catching up on rest. I should be in bed right now, but I still need a few minutes of "me" time more than I need sleep. If tomorrow allows, Jay will go to daycare and I will do a little bit of what I needed to do today. 

Check that- I'll do what I wanted to do today. I guess I did what I needed to do today.