Turn off the color, daddy

It was stormy out and Animalia was sitting in her high chair at Nana and Tata's house, a plate with cucumbers and crackers in front of her. Her eyes were glassy and small, she was barely picking at her food. She didn't look very happy. We waited out the worst of the storm and got home. She looked even less happy and felt hot. Once home, I changed her into her pajamas and took her temperature. It said one-oh-three-point-something. Oh my god. Tylenol. We hadn't used the thermometer in awhile so I tried it on myself. It didn't work. Great. Was her temp really 103 or was the thermometer just bad? A phone call to Nana and Tata and Tata brought another thermometer to us so that Daht wouldn't have to run out to the store. Animalia was asleep. Her new temp said 101.something. Not as bad but still not great. And so an entire night of fever would begin, with no other signs of illness other than lethargy and disinterest in food and a very occasional tiny cough. "Turn off the color, daddy," she would say at bedtime, her eyes too tired to see the light.

Her fever persisted into the next morning. We saw the doctor. Animalia was well-behaved, easily stepping onto the scale (she weighed in at a whopping 32 pounds), allowing the stethoscope, only a slight grimace when her ears were checked. No ear infection, nothing obvious, just fever. The doctor gave her advice: switch to Children's Motrin and get a chest x-ray tomorrow if the fever persists. At that point, we should be concerned about pneumonia.

That was earlier today. Now, she's into her second night of misery. More fever. Right before bed her temp was 102.8 and her eyes were glazed and tiny, even as she sang a song about hands clapping and another song about shorts. Her songs were abbreviated and she curled up in a ball immediately afterward. She fell asleep quickly' her still feverish body curled up against me, my hand resting on her warm stomach, though she started a few times when I tried to move my hand. She'll sleep in our bed tonight while I sit up and google "toddler fever" and listen to her breathing for any other hints of illness.

I hope this is over soon.