Plonk

So this last week has been quite crazy because Vir has been sick with a viral fever that spikes to a 102-103 degrees 3-4 times and day as well as a cough from hell that has tired him out terribly and rendered him completely unable to talk without breaking out into a long coughing fit. It's been horrible seeing my talkative little fellow only being able to point to the things he wants and not being able to ask any of the hundred questions that are in his mind at any point in the day. Of course, he still manages to choke out questions about which car we're going to hospital in or which car we'll buy him from the conveniently located gift shop in the hospital. That really makes us smile because no matter how low he's feeling, at least there's something that cheers him up.

He's been sick before but not as much and also not at an age when he's so aware about what's going on. When we took him to the ER the first night when his fever spiked suddenly, he took one look at the hospital and said, "Nahin...mamma....mera theek hai, mera theek hai...paint nahin ho raha." My heart actually broke into so many pieces at this point. Of course, as soon as they put some medicine in him and stopped poking him with stuff to check for infections in his ear and throat, and he started feeling better, he forgot about the whole thing and spent the drive back talking about the two policemen (security guards) and the blue ambulance he had seen at the hospital. The rest of the week since last Sunday has been a blur of medicines and syringes and nebulizers and hospital visits all of which he has taken as bravely and maturely as can be expected. I wouldn't blame him for any tantrums anyway, because all I've done this last week is come at him with some med syrup or the other (they really should call those things something else because I've had syrup and these things are not it. Maple syrup is syrup. Ascoril D is not syrup. And Vir's taste buds are definitely smart enough to figure out the difference). But even with all that we've put him through, he's been great...no tantrums whatsoever. Even giving him his meds has been easier than last time around when it actually took 3 whole people to give him 2 ml. of medicine. I'm really not joking - one person had to hold his arms and legs, one had to keep his head straight, and one had to push the syringe of medicine into his mouth. Somehow though, it's easier to give him medicine when he's struggling and fighting and screaming than when he's defeated because that look is just killing.

He was also pretty great this morning when we took him for an X-ray and a blood test. He insisted on taking off all his clothes and not just his T-shirt for the X-ray and even managed to tearfully thank the technician who drew his blood sample.

We've been rewarding him with dinky cars almost every day this week, which is probably spoiling him but I think at this point, Vijay and I really don't care about the long term effects of buying him too many toys and just want him to have some short term joy NOW when his days are so crappy. On the positive side though, he's a lot better today, and I'm really hoping the worst of his viral infection is over and he'll be back to his springy and mischief filled self next week. We can't wait because for Vijay and I, that cute little grin from his healthy little face is just what the doctor ordered.