A Quiet Christmas

Poor Lola is still recovering from whatever stomach bug she picked up.

On both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the poor kid was so sick that all she wanted to do was sleep. Then the day after Christmas, we sat in urgent care for 3 hours, only to have the doctor tell us that she was moderately dehydrated and needed additional fluids. Getting her to drink anything other than water was very difficult. We offered an array of choices to her, from Pedialyte to Gatorade to 7-UP, but she didn't want any of them. She only wanted water, and occasionally she requested "a hot sandwich with cheese" (which is Lola language for a grilled cheese sandwich.) I think since Christmas Eve, this little girl has eaten a dozen hot sandwiches with cheese.

But back to Christmas Day. Since things were so mellow, I did take a few photos.

Archie posed with his stocking.

Archie with his hedgehog toy and Lola with her dinosaurs.

 Me, modeling my cute new apron.

Then, me with my  black North Face vest, which was a gift from Josh. His gift made me smile because...

I bought him a black North Face jacket. (ha!)

 Lola with her Jessie doll,

 and Hello Kitty binoculars,

 and Woody lego watch.

And then the cute new shoes she got, and refused to remove from her little feet. She insisted on wearing them all day and even requested to wear them while she napped (I said no.) After her nap, they went back on her feet for the rest of the day.

Wild Nights and Holiday Lights

Last night, I took Lola to the wild animal refuge/sanctuary for their Wild Nights and Holiday Lights event. Since it is an animal sanctuary, most of the animals are ones that previously lived with private owners and were later confiscated by authorities. So you know, tigers, bears, wolves, and other types of animals that aren't appropriate domestic dwellers, but also can't be released into the wild.

I forgot to bring our camera, and as a result, I was stuck taking photos with my phone. Which was fine, because Lola wasn't in the mood to pose for me.

I tried to get a photo of her in the "enchanted forest" (i.e., area of excessively decorated Christmas trees), but the lack of flash on my phone made it rather difficult.

 However, I still tried to get a photo of her with Santa.  Even though she wasn't thrilled to do it, she sat on his lap. She confirmed with him that he was indeed going to bring her a dinosaur for Christmas.

JOSHUA, ARE YOU READING THIS?

(The dinosaurs are still under the tree.)

Afterwards, we rode the mini steam train through the park. It was cute to see how excited Lola was over the train.

On our way home, we stopped at the drugstore because we needed printer paper and I refused to go to Target. When we were checking out, the clerk asked Lola what she wanted for Christmas. Lola looked at her, coughed, said "Excuse me," and then barfed all over the floor.

I was hoping the drugstore incident was a fluke, but nope, she proved me wrong. Lola and I were up most of the night, going through almost all of her pajamas (and mine), and all of the sheets and towels that would fit on her bed. At 2:30 AM, she fell asleep on the floor, in the hallway, and I tucked a blanket around her and left her there. At 4 AM, she woke up and asked me to lay down next to her. So, I curled up with her in the hallway, and then woke up at 6 AM to her puking on me and my pillow.

Right now, the washing machine is going, she is sipping on some Pedialyte, and I am on my 3rd cup of coffee. I am writing about this, not to complain (well, maybe to complain a little bit), but to remind myself that for whatever reason holidays do not go as planned when you have a beancake like mine. Learning how to roll with it (and pour yourself another cup of coffee) is an important part of all of this.

Update on the Eyeball

A $20 co-pay and about a half-hour of our time (yes, we both go to her doctor appointments) determined that Lola does not, in fact, have pink eye.

Instead, she is blessed with a blocked tear duct. Her doctor believes pollen or one of the many small ag items that seem to float in the air up here could be blocking it. He instructed us to wipe out the gunk with a soft washcloth and her eye would clear up in a few days.

This morning, she was already looking better. The green goop was gone and all that remained was a little yellow gunk and a watery eye. :)

Here we go

Oh God, no.

Someone woke up this morning with her little eyelids glued shut by some nasty green goo.

I knew she would eventually get sick, but so soon? Poor baby Lola.