Shoes and Spews

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend. I enjoyed some time with the family.

However, our weekend was a bit of a whirlwind, and you know what can happen when you get too dizzy (details to follow below).

I got home from my conference at about 10:45 pm on Thursday (missed a connection due to weather), helped Mom-E finish packing, went to bed at about 12:30 am, got up at 3:45 am, and we left for the airport again at 4:30 am. Ouch.

We had a nice time at the family reunion on Saturday.

The only problem was that Mom-E and I weren't very nice to Little Brother.

Of course, I no sooner write a post about how much Little Brother loves shoes, then Mom-E and I manage to FORGET LITTLE BROTHER'S SHOES (AND SOCKS) FOR THE REUNION AT THE HOTEL. I mean, talk about pretty much stabbing the little guy in the heart.

(If I appear to be a professional actor playing a tired, forgetful father, it's because I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Seriously.)

"How could such a travesty happen?" you might think.

In short, it was Big Brother's fault. Okay, not entirely.

We've gotten into the habit lately of waiting to put on Little Brother's socks and shoes until we arrive at our destination. This is because if we try to put them on beforehand, he automatically takes them off in the car, so why bother?

Big Brother became quite upset about having extra clothes, including Little Brother's socks and shoes, in his backpack, and before we left the hotel, pretty much emptied the contents therein on the floor. In the mad rush to leave, apparently Little Brother's socks and shoes were left behind.

Unfortunately, it was about a 45 minute drive from the hotel to the reunion site, so going back really wasn't an option.

Fortunately, Little Brother didn't seem to mind very much. The rain resulted in cancellation of outdoor activities. The large numbers of people indoors made Little Brother quite clingy, and he wanted to be carried around the entire time, thereby negating the need for socks and shoes.

Unfortunately, it turned out that feeling a bit under the weather also contributed to Little Brother's clingyness.

For about a week now, he's had a small number of episodes of spitting up, and seems to be pretty much himself in between.

Well, just before the fireworks started that night, Little Brother put on his own "display." This time he went beyond spitting up all the way to a full-fledged episode of puke your guts out. All over himself and all over Mom-E. I mean hair, face, shirt, pants, and SHOES. Apparently someone Biggie-Sized his puke. Poor Little Brother. Poor Mom-E.

Being pregnant, many smells are intensified for her, and apparently puke is one of those smells.

I raced to their aide, grabbed my puking child (resulting in a mild transfer of puke to my clothes), and helped him to finish while Mom-E was escorted to the shower by other family. I then took Big Brother for a decontamination bath of his own.

Fortunately, everyone was in warm, dry clothes by the time the real fireworks started. Amazingly, Little Brother felt much better after his puke-fest, and was jabbering away like his usual self.

So, this morning, Mom-E and I held back on the milk products, figuring that they might not help Little Brother's stomach.

It didn't make a difference.

Again, out of the blue, we had another (but fortunately much more mild) puke while waiting at the gate for our first flight. It happened while I was taking Big Brother potty (are you surprised?). Apparently, everyone else in the terminal just sat there and looked at Mom-E, I guess waiting for Little Brother's head to start spinning around?

Thanks, guys. Thanks for helping out the pregnant lady with the puking toddler. Go America. Happy 4th to you, too.

Fortunately, we had no more spews the rest of the trip.

I've diagnosed him with IPD = Intermittent Puking Disorder. We'll see what the pediatrician says tomorrow.

Have a good week with NO PUKING (especially in your shoes),
Busy-Dad-E