Froggy Rachel

She has a cold. It started with a frog in her throat on Friday night when I picked her up from daycare and has grown steadily worse since then. Now it has developed into a full-blown case of runny nose, lots of sneezing and a throaty, lower voice (I told Daniella last night that it sounds unnervingly like having a sexy baby in the house. Poor, poor Rachel!).

But as is usual with our kid, she hasn't let it slow her down a bit. Energy level is up. Appetite is unchanged. She's a tiny bit more cuddly than usual, but not really. The only change is that she regularly asks for medicine ever since I decided, as I pulled into the garage Friday night, that I really, really needed to get her something for her cold. I agonized over two days whether to buy her kids' medicine or let her tough it out, since all the packages say you're not supposed to give Dimetapp or Sudafed or whatever to kids under 4. I ended up talking to a pharmacist at Fred Meyer who assured me it's OK; the package directions are for drug companies to protect their liability.

"I need medicine," Rachel told me last night. "It make me feel better."

So, I gave her some. I hope it won't damage her neurologically.

In other news...our friend Steve came over last night. I made Mom's cornish game hens, couscous, a salad and chocolate mousse for dessert. I was extremely unhappy with the way everything turned out, especially the mousse, which I thought was awful, even with the whipped cream on top. But Steve (and Rachel) loved it! Go figure!

Steve gave Rachel a purple unicorn with big, bug eyes as a Valentine's Day gift, which made her scream in fright. I couldn't really blame her; it was kind of scary looking. Steve kept harping on the fact that she didn't like the gift and that someday she'd realize that that's not the nicest reaction to getting a present, until I finally told him gently to give it a rest.

Craig, my tenant, came back from dinner at 9 and he and Steve got into a nice conversation about Colorado (Steve's family is from Denver) while I put Rachel to sleep, then Steve and I continued talking until around 10:45. By the time I cleaned up, polished the silver and mopped the kitchen floor (it was disgusting and I felt a lot better when I woke up this morning and saw a nice, clean floor), it was 1 a.m. Luckily both Rachel and I slept late this morning.

Perfect ending to the evening: As I got Rachel tucked in under her two blankets, with her binkies and book and small teddy bear, she said, "I had a nice dinner. And dessert."

"THANK YOU, Rachel!" I exclaimed. It was best Valentine's Day gift she could have given me!