Ellie started showing symptoms of a cold on Friday. We weren’t overly concerned because she didn’t have a fever and her spirits were still just as usual. Well, as the weekend progressed, so did her cold making it an interesting Monday.
Sunday night Ellie started whimpering on and off around 10:00pm. Then that whimpering turned into crying at about 11:00pm. I knew she was just plain miserable, so I decided to bring her into bed with us to snuggle to see if that would comfort her. And sure enough, it did! As soon as I picked her up, she got quiet and collapsed on my shoulder. Once in bed she snuggled right up, made herself comfortable….and starting snoring. Now I had to fall back asleep with two snoring women in my bed. I eventually drifted off but kept waking up about every two hours. It’s amazing how such a small person can be such a bully. Ellie had stolen my pillow and almost pushed me off the bed! It was a long night, but when she woke up for the day at 6:00am, I knew it was going to be an even longer day.
Ellie was awake and in a fairly good mood, but she was also very congested. She had turned into a snot factory overnight. I felt so bad for her, but you couldn’t help but smile when she smiled at you with a stream of snot dripping down her face. The only thing I needed to do that day was go grocery shopping. But other than that, I had cleared the schedule and didn’t plan on doing anything except be with Ellie. I didn’t want to take her out shopping while she was in that state, so I asked my mom to come watch her for an hour or so.
While waiting for my mom, Ellie started to flip out. She started coughing, which made her upset, which made her start crying. And then she started screaming. Screaming. Woah, I was not expecting this. I had recently returned the Glee DVD so I needed to think quickly for something to help distract her. The usual Beatles songs didn’t help, and her other favorite songs didn’t help either. Then I wondered, what was it about Glee that she liked so much? They had music, dancing, and flashy costumes. I looked up Netflix and saw a Madonna concert. That didn’t work. Lady Gaga wasn’t available yet. But then I saw it. KISS! I put on a KISS concert from Netflix and she stopped crying almost instantly. I sat down with her in my lap and she didn’t even twitch or scream. Her breathing slowed down and she stopped whimpering and then fell asleep to Shout It Out Loud. I guess nothing says sweet dreams like good hair metal.
My mom came and Ellie remained asleep. I was able to go grocery shopping, and when I came home Ellie was awake and in good spirits high on baby crack. She’s addicted to my mom and is always in the mood for her. If my mom, Aya, and I stood single file, Ellie would beeline it to my mom. Thanks. So with Ellie high on baby crack, everything appeared ok and my mom took off. Things were going ok, at least for a little while…
I got Ellie to fall sleep again without a problem and we both just chilled on the couch. She just laid there in my arms sleeping peacefully as I drifted off watching something on Netflix. After about thirty or forty minutes, she woke up. Crying. And then screaming. I mean SCREAMING! You’re probably wondering why I didn’t call the doctor immediately. But I truly felt down into my bones, that nothing serious was wrong. I knew she was tired and was upset that she woke up congested. If I could just get her distracted long enough for her to realize that everything really was ok, then she’d be alright. I pulled out all the stops. The Cheerios, the Beatles, Kiss, Glee on YouTube, a bottle, water, anything food. I held her, I patted her, I sang to her. Nothing was soothing her. Nothing! I decided to try and give her a bath. The warm water would feel good and maybe help break up her congestion. Sometimes just the sound of the water distracts her. This ended up being a very bad idea. Not only did I have a screaming baby, I had a naked wet screaming baby. I had to call in reinforcements. I called my mom. MOM! Come help me, she’s been screaming in my ear for an hour, I can’t even think about what to do next!
In the time it took my mom to come over, Ellie had calmed down and fell back asleep in my arms. But as soon as my mom opened the door, she sat up, looked at my mom, smiled and waved. “Hi Grandma!” And this is why we say my mom is like crack for babies. At least for Ellie.
See, I knew it wasn’t anything truly serious. She just needed her fix.
I’m so happy that you understand, and love the Grandma Crack thing……there are people who really resent that special relationship between kids and grandparents.