I had heard in the news that there was this drug resistant stomach bug being brought over from foreign countries that lasted a long time, was horrible, and should be avoided at all cost. If there is one thing I hate more than anything else, it is the stomach bug. More than just feeling sick, it is the idea of food I already ate coming up the way it went down. The acidic taste that seems almost impossible to eradicate from my mouth is just not something I relish going through. Our whole family went through it a few years ago when our son was a little over one year old. I figured it would happen again at some point, but I was also hoping even harder that any type of stomach bug would never cross the threshold into our house ever again. But alas, having little children, no matter how hard I hope for something to not happen, it inevitably will. And that stomach bug did indeed cross that threshold into our house. This time, I believe it was our daughter who started the whole illness. She got sick to her stomach over night around the weekend and woke up with it everywhere. The weird thing was, and this is the best part about this particular bug, was that her spewing was a one time occurrence. The rest of us avoided catching her bug immediately and it wasn't until the afternoon on Monday while at daycare that our son succumbed to the bug and went about spewing everywhere for about 45 minutes. Yet, after that 45 minutes, he was acting normally, playing outside, and generally in good spirits. Now, from the last stomach bug that went through our house, this was a welcome sign. The last time a stomach bug ransacked our livelihood, it lasted at least a day and then after that it took a good 1-2 days to recover all our energy and get back to normal. It was a little odd, but I did not complain. So 2 of our family got the bug, and I was hoping that was it. Yet Monday night I woke up to the sound of heaving coming from our bathroom and I just knew that the bug had spread, this time to my wife. My first thought was, "Damn, I'm next". I just figured there would be no way I could escape the bug when I was sleeping in the same bed as my wife. So I resigned myself to the fact that by morning, it would be my turn perched over the toilet staring into the bowl and waiting for it all to come up. Well, I came close, but my turn never came. I got the unsettled feeling in my stomach, but nothing that made me run to the bathroom. I did have one day yesterday with a noticeable lack of energy, but no spewing for me. I made it through unscathed! And even better, since our son was throwing up at daycare, I got to spend the whole day with him on Tuesday. With the stomach bug being mild and our son being in good spirits, it was a day off where we could actually have some fun.
Turns out we didn't get the horrible stomach bug but some mild version, thank God. Part of me would like to think that it is just our strong immune systems that allowed us to get over this latest stomach bug so quickly. But then again, we could just have gotten lucky enough to catch a super mild strain and have it pass through our house super quickly. Regardless, I was thankful for more than just the fact that it was mild strain. I got to have a day off with our son as he stayed home from daycare. If it was a few years ago, we would have spent the day inside, laying on the couch with him feeling miserable as I pumped him full of fluids to replenish all those he had lost. Instead, it was a day of fun, just the boys left to do whatever we wanted. It started off with us ushering the women out of the house and off to daycare and work respectively. Once they were out of the house, we got down to the first most important activity of the day, reading. We grabbed some books and headed up to our son's room where we sat in a rocking chair and read books for about an hour. After that amount of time, our three and a half year old son was getting a little restless. We checked to see if the brief rain storm had passed and seeing that it had, I asked him if he wanted to go on a hike. As soon as the word "hike" registered, his eyes lighted up like a Christmas tree in a dark room and it took everything I had to keep him from running out the door before we had everything ready. Not that we brought much as it wasn't going to be a long hike, but still, we needed shoes, coats, and to put his car seat in my Jeep. With that done, we were off. We went to one of my favorite hiking spots, a waterfall in Naugatuck State Forest, and proceeded to meander our way up the waterfall, stopping periodically to throw rocks into the stream. All told, we were hiking for about an hour, our son walking most of the way on his own, when like flipping a light switch, he turns to me and says, "I want to go back home now." I knew it was just a matter of time before he said that, and that is partly why I made sure we took our time. I also knew that I would have to carry him back. So up on my shoulders he went and down the trail to the Jeep we both walked.
And that was only the beginning of the day. The rest of the day was spent playing outside. He helped me build a few more boxes for the raised beds in our garden. In between all of that, we BBQ'd some hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, of which he ate about two bites, and we went on excursions into the woods and around the house. Three and a half is wonderful age. I am able to get some work done outside, but its not the focus of the day. Things only get done when our son isn't pulling me in one direction or the other to answer questions or take part in one of his adventures. I love that his imagination is taking hold and he can entertain himself with the simplest of objects. A stick becomes a magic wand or a fishing pole, his wagon becomes his car to go to New York City. (Really not joking here, he actually entertained himself for about an hour on his wagon going to NYC to work). And the stories he weaves around these are fantastic. While I am working, he will carry on a conversation with me about how he has to go to NYC for work. Every minute or so, he either forgets his money, or his lunch, and then gets back on his wagon to carry on his trip. He even waves goodbye and tells me he will see me at the end of the day. I completely play along (how could I not) and ask if he wants dinner ready when he gets home, remind him to call and tell me when he will be home or when he is on his way, and to be safe while he is there. I chuckle inside the whole time, not because I think it is ridiculous, but because I think it is awesome and am blown away by his imagination. I remember talking a few years ago on this blog about how I wanted him to develop a sense of curiosity and I always hoped he would be creative and be his own person. Well, it has begun and I just hope that sense of curiosity stays and doesn't get suppressed by anyone or anything. That right now is his most valuable asset (along with his being cute). In any case, it is amazing to watch the transition from lump of flesh when he was born to this growing, unique little boy we have now. Time does fly and I am just glad I take the time to enjoy as much as I can with him. Most days, if I have to take the day off, I don't even think twice about it, I just do it.
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