Trauma Drama!

The day dawned bright.  Chloe rose before dawn.  BEFORE either of us wanted to get up.  I changed her, set her back in the crib, and tried to go back to bed.  I soon slipped out of bed because I could not sleep anyway.  I turned off the monitor in the bedroom and moved to the living room and continued to listen for the daughter from there.  Soon after, she awoke in her full glory!

I whisked her off to the living room, hoping not to wake Cora, since she had risen in the middle of the night and changed the little angel while I slumbered, unaware.  So, Chloe and I shared some early morning father/daughter time.  I played with her.  I began cleaning parts of the kitchen, but soon found myself cleaning the same places over again because I was racing to stop the daughter from getting into trouble...like playing in dog food, or dumping dog water.  She manages to move like a bolt of lightning, and I was a moment too late for the dog water.

 I decided she was hungry and provided some food until she was obviously finished with eating.  So, I wiped off the high chair and added Cheerios, more for her entertainment than anything else.

While she fed Toby Cheerios, I worked on the kitchen.

I decided she was being extra cute and took some pictures during this time.  Then I let her down and she got her favorite book:  "Water, Water, Everywhere."  Since I did not stop to read to her, she sat in the middle of the floor and read to me.  I am sure that's what she was doing, even though I was unable to understand the words she used.  I finally relented and joined her on the floor and read the book to her four or five times.

She was extra helpful.  I did not get much done, but I did enjoy our time together.  During this time, she was exhibiting a cough...I ignored it, since it did not seem to bother her much.

Cora got up and we began moving for the day.  We made a list of things we needed and went to town for them.  During this time, Chloe's cough kept getting a little worse.  We had her bundled, so we were confident it wasn't the blasting wind.  We bought another humidifier for the house, that's two.

I unwrapped the new humidifier only to discover it was miss-marked.  It was a bit of fakery on the part of the marketing dept.  I took it back and went to get vegetables for tacos for dinner.  I was getting ready when we noticed Chloe was rattling and wheezing.  We thought maybe we should try the humidifier and wait, but while I was in town, Cora texted me to tell me Chloe was worse and that she wanted to visit the local medical center.  I came straight home.

We took her to the medical center and met our doctor.

Here is where I need to either grow a thicker skin or perhaps a thinner one so I can correct idiots.

I know.  I am an adoptive parent.  On top of that we adopted internationally, and we have more judgments thrown upon us than a criminal!  I thought I was prepared for the stares and the questions, but I continue to be amazed by some of the questions and pronouncements.  Our doctor proceeded to pronounce her beliefs and suspicions as though they were truths.  She had no idea of Chloe's situation, nor any other orphan, yet, she chose to act as though she did.

Did I correct her or tell her she was out of line?

No.

She kept talking.  She had not even examined poor Chloe yet!  We just wanted our Chloe to feel better.  We did not want to go on about why orphans are abandoned by their families, or other such things she seemed to think she knew about.  Perhaps it was the already long day, perhaps I was too tired to care enough at the time, but Cora and I both shared that knowing look that couples use to communicate so much.  We had our own short silent conversation while the doctor prattled on and on.  It is good to be so close to a person that you can read their mind and gestures.

Finally the doctor examined our lovely girl and pronounced that she has an ear infection!  WHAT!?  She isn't even running a fever!

We went and got some antibiotics and the little girl is safely sleeping in her crib as I write.  She awakes every fifteen minutes or so to whimper.  We have been checking her more often tonight than usual.  I think, with the vaporizer and the heat, she is feeling better.  We continue to monitor our princess' condition.

As an aside, I checked my email tonight and saw that I got two different emails for two different sites, both offering dating for singles, which isn't SO bad, but what really got me, was the fact that both were marked for a particular age group.  One was for Singles over 45, and the other was for singles over 50!  REALLY??  Two on the same day?  What did I ever do to you, dating site people!!

Tomorrow we will surely take it easy and have a lie-in.

I leave you with a few more shots.  Enjoy.

 I just looked and realized that Chloe has an odd glazed look in all these...I think she was tired, and also sick, so that is what that is, but what worries me, is I was blissfully unaware of this...I need to work on being a better dad!

Still, she managed to give us lots of giggles and chuckles and laughs and smiles today.  She is SO AWESOME!!