Sick Baby...

Like the rest of our fellow Alabamians, this week has left us deprived of sleep.
It has been a crazy week of weather and schedule changes.

The next three days are promising to be so incredibly jammed packed, but when Saturday night finally gets here, it will have been all worth it.

Last night, I had dreams of crawling into bed after my kids were finally asleep, resting against the pillows and drinking a glass of wine while reading part of a book that is taking me months to read.

Instead, I spent a good part of the night tending to a sick baby.
It wasn't even my baby, it was Addie's newest - Baby Andrew.

Addie is - a mess.
She was so tired last night and I was so sure she was going to fall right to sleep, Baby Andrew resting in her arms, but then, she sat up and started rocking Andrew and trying to shush him.
Then, she took his hat off, felt his head, became rather alarmed and announced he was "hot" and "doctor".
It was at that point that my dreams of any rest and relaxation got tanked.

In an effort to calm Addie, I got a cotton round, saturated it with lavender and gave it to Addie to apply to Andrew's head, reassuring her that would bring down his fever.
Next we had to brush his hair out of his face, get him snuggled in a baby blanket, with his stuffed bear in his arms.
Addie had to get him nestled in her arms, just right, so that she could keep close watch on his fever.

It is crazy.
Crazy awesome that she is nurturing and remembering the things that we do to make someone feel better, and she has such a caring nature.
It's crazy how much effort goes into making sure that I don't interrupt the miracle that I'm right smack in the middle of - because imaginative play is a gift that I didn't get to experience with Addie for years.
It's also crazy how I have to make certain that I don't rush through these moments - no matter how exhausted I am - because in Addie's mind, she is caring for her baby and I can't just toss him to the side and tell her to go to sleep.
It's not like when Julien was younger and I could put his toys in his toy box and he could go to sleep knowing that tomorrow he could play with them again.  
Addie doesn't understand the concept, we can't just take things from her, it's always a process.
It's a process of helping her understand and helping her make connections, because that is what she does.

She goes to sleep worrying about her babies and when she wakes up each morning, she always asks for her baby if she doesn't immediately see whichever one was there the night before.

It is a crazy, and sometimes exhausting process, of helping her learn and helping her understand and bringing her comfort.

I wouldn't trade it for anything - and thank goodness, Baby Andrew was feeling much better this morning.
Addie is sleeping soundly, and there's a book and a large glass of Coppola calling my name.

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