Perk-up pictures

We've had another bout of illness in the last week--all Alice. It included a trip to urgent care and from there to the ER, after both ends of her digestive tract had been non-functional for three days. The cure then proved worse than the disease, as Alice cried her way through the next 36 hours due to some 2 dozen diaper changes and powerful stomach action that left our house smelling like a dairy barn. (If we'd been able to hook her up to the grid, we'd have earned some energy credits.) The pro forma follow-up visit to the pediatrician revealed a raging ear infection...and now she has a cold. But at least she's talking and walking and smiling again, and all digestive systems are go.

And although Tom logged more time with the patient overall, I realized in the course of the week that I'm a pretty decent mother to very sick children. My patience for changing foul sheets, holding little vomiting bodies over the toilet, helping rinse mouths, and generally soothing limp, sad, little people lasts far longer than when navigating confrontations with willful, dawdling, wheedling, stubborn, healthy children. Not that I'd ever wish sickness on my daughters. We're so glad that Alice is on the mend. But like newborns, very sick children are so supremely vulnerable, I'm inevitably moved to compassion and feel an urge to comfort and care for them that lasts for the long haul.

To counter all that, finally a few pictures from my cousin's wedding last month: