Sick day

Last night at 1am, I heard Ellie shuffle into our room and stop at Papa's side of the bed. He didn't stir, so I asked her to go back down to her room. Since we all tend to get up before morning light (sigh), it's not uncommon for her to wake in the night and want to get up for the day. She told me she needed someone to put lotion (meaning Vicks) on her chest. Reluctantly, I dragged myself down the stairs, dutifully coated her chest and dragged myself back into bed. Then, I heard her start to cough. And cough. And cough. I went back down, feeling sorry about being so abrupt before, propped her up on some extra pillows and gave her some water. She was soon fast asleep.

At around 4am, she was back beside Papa. This time, he took her down, but he was soon back up, asking for the Panadol. She had a fever. He also put cooling wet cloths on her ankles to pull the heat away from her head. Again, she was soon asleep.

I kept her home from school today (obviously). Stephanie surprised me by making only a minimal fuss about being taken to school while Ellie stayed home. Poor Ellie was bright pink in the cheeks and had that eyes-glazed-over look that a fever can give, but otherwise her spirits were good. Her fever wasn't particularly responsive to the Panadol, but again the wet cloths on her ankles seemed to do the trick after a few rounds. She didn't want any breakfast but was excited about, though only picked at, the melted cheese on crackers I brought her for a snack. She happily stayed tucked up in bed most of the morning (again surprise), which I think was largely made possible by her newfound reading ability.

She started getting feverish again at the time we had to pick up Stephanie, but she still wasn't complaining at all. Luckily, we live close to the school now so her time up and about was brief. As soon as we returned home, she quietly moseyed off to her room, where I found her like this:

Sweet girl.