If I were...

Below are a few unprompted quotes from Amelia...

"Hey Dad! I can smell the sunshine! If I were a superhero...I would fly up into the sky, lift my head, and smell the sunshine."

"If I were a butterfly...I would stay in a cage so I wouldn't be so tickly."

Just cute.

Pink Medicine

Much has happened since my last post. We moved. We moved from a condo on a golf course where we lived for almost 6 months into a town-home where we will reside for probably a year. We are hoping Ford will land a summer job next year at a firm out of town, and if that's the case we will move again.

A lot of moving for a toddler. For an adult too. :) But Amelia has handled it all really well. The fact that summer is here helps since we have been spending a lot of time outside. We have even taken a few trips to the beach and Up North. She is a true Michigan kid. Looking forward to the rest of the summer.

We have been blessed with good health this past year. I feel especially blessed that Amelia has been such a healthy kid. Just a few days ago however, she began sneezing, the dark circles under the eyes appeared and her little hands felt warm to the touch. I knew something was coming. She awoke the next morning with a fever and a full on runny nose. She's has low grade fevers with a runny nose before, and sure it slowed her down, but she pretty much played right through them. Not this time. She was on the couch or in my arms the entire day. She did her best to play but would collapse with exhaustion and frustration into my arms after a few minutes. Hard for a little one to understand why they feel so bad.

We took her to the doc and to my surprise she tested positive for strep throat. Strange since she never complained of a sore throat, even when asked. So we were prescribed a round of antibiotics. I knew what this meant...

She was quite excited at the though of pink medicine and wanted it right when we got home. Great, pink! Her favorite color! I told her she could take it after she ate dinner. I held her and Ford gave her a taste on the spoon. She smiled, bubblegum flavor. He gave her the rest. Her face shifted and she began to cry and gag at the same time and then...up it came, with all of her dinner and all of her juice. All over her, all over me, all over the floor and counters. Two times a day for ten days? Right.

I called the doc and they said the alternative antibiotic was even less tolerable. I hate this.

When she was one, she was prescribed the same medicine for a bacterial infection...and the same exact thing happened. I tried hiding it in her food. She knew and would not eat it. That time the doc said don't worry about giving it to her. She made a full recovery and all was well.

But step is much more serious. She has to take the medication.

I made the mistake of giving it to her in full form. Should have hid it from the start.

So, that night I made a milk shake and put some pink fizzy in it along with the antibiotic, hoping she wouldn't notice the pink bubblegum flavor she had previously puked up. (She's NEVER had soda in her life by the way...I was desperate). She drank it, hesitantly. She acted suspicious. I told her to drink all of it. She said, "why, Mom, why??"

Yesterday morning it was smoothie. Last night another milkshake. 8 more days of this. Come on.

When I asked what our alternative were...the answer was "injections." Plural?

So, I will do my best to lie and hide and sneak pink medicine into yummy foods and drinks.

It's going to be a long 8 days. :)