Fever! In The Morning, Fever All Through The Night

I am cuddled up to a slightly fevery boy. I was going to write "baby," but that's not really correct anymore. Baby J is going to be 3 in less than a month. Ouch.

He and I have a rotten cold/flu/walking death thing, though I have to say he's gotten the worst of it. Last night he was so hot it was worrisome--fevers are not something that typically shake me, but this one was persistent in the face of Tylenol and Advil, and that had me sleeping very, very lightly. The fever broke sometime during the night, but by morning his little hand, still wrapped around mine as he slept, was aflame again. Now he's got a regular old garden-variety fever, held easily at bay with one medication at a time. But he still gets to sleep with mama so she can check his temperature, by way of a kiss on the forehead, several times through the night.

The bigs are watching Star Wars with daddy right now, even though it's long past bedtime. The day was turning into a bit of a nightmare, so naps were dispensed all round and evening was salvaged. But a nap at 4 pm means bedtime is out the window. For them, anyway--I will be nodding off shortly.

Birthday Mania is about to set in. I was starting to wonder how we could possibly cram two birthday parties into the same month (with at least three other parties to attend), when I asked N if he would mind having a joint party with J. I thought he might feel ripped off, but au contraire, he lit up. Two cakes? Sold! Now I kind of wish I'd had all three boys in the same month, so I could just have one party.

Of course, if I were going to map out due dates, I don't know that I'd choose April. Sure, it sounds lovely, but the reality of April here is slush and mud and exasperation at the snail's pace of spring. We've had a spate of deceptively sunny days, bright and beckoning, but packing a bone-chilling breeze. Today was purely gorgeous though, warm sunbeams (the better for napping in) and mild air, all promises of beautiful days to come.

Not that I should complain, we were lucky enough recently to pack up and spend two weeks in lovely Mexico. We even managed to time it so we missed a record-breaking cold snap. Yay, us! I was terribly nervous about travelling with the kids, but they were marvelous. They loved every minute of the trip, even the turbulence we flew through as we made our descent into Cancun. The gut-dropping lurches and bumps made them shriek and howl...with laughter. Their delight eased the tension, and more than one passenger smiled and relaxed a bit to hear them (myself included). I was honestly rather proud of them--and I loved that they found such joy in that bumpy ride.

We crammed a lot into that vacation. The kids had never seen the ocean before (except N, as a toddler), and while the bigs were sufficiently impressed, J was intimidated and preferred to play in the sand, a safe distance away from the waves. There was snorkelling and diving and swimming, in pools and cenotes as well as the ocean. We took a day trip back into Cancun to swim with dolphins. We saw monkeys (one even bit N--but didn't break the skin) and lizards galore, and the kids had their photo taken with a toucan. Daddy and the bigs snorkelled and saw sea turtles, while I waited with J on a glass-bottomed boat and tried not to hurl. A good time was had by all.

Back at the homestead, we are spring cleaning and purging, and finishing up some housey projects. I am getting ready to dismantle my sewing room, weed through all my supplies, and reassemble the space with some new (to me) furniture. I am so excited! I may even paint in there and really prettify it. I wish I had more space than that teensy little room--I have several vintage machines that are just sort of shoved in there, and that is a crime. They should be displayed, admired (even if only by me), and ready to use at a moment's notice. The most beautiful of all my machines is an old Singer, ca 1929 (I think), in a bentwood case, given to me by my grandmother. What a wonderful gift! Just thinking about it makes me want to call her to thank her again. She was so excited to give it, knowing I would really value it. Suddenly I am wishing I could give her a great big hug.

Phew, I think I have almost run out of stuff to say. No, not really, I'm just too tired to continue. Happily, J's forehead is nice and cool (smooch), so maybe I can sleep better tonight.