A First for Elizabeth

Our little lady has her first ear infection! I'm so delighted that we avoided toddler ear infections and that she can say, "Mommy, my ear really hurts." The kicker was when she said she WANTED to go to the doctor. Going to the doctor is not her cup of tea, so often when I know she's faking some pain or tiredness, I'll threaten to take her to the doctor right away and she suddenly feels better or less tired. (I know, it's awesome parenting, threatening your kid and manipulating them. I'll write a book someday.)

If you're interested, what follows is the whole story.
If not, please don't read on. It will cause no offense.

We hosted an egg decorating playgroup with our friends this afternoon at 4.

We gather with them every Wednesday afternoon for playgroup, taking turns at each home. This week, as is customary in the Ashe home, and after the egg dying, the girls were playing Elefun.

There was a lot of squealing and giggling and hustling to catch butterflies, and then suddenly E said her ear hurt. I didn't worry too much about it at first, but the crying/fussing about it went on for a while. And she pretty much removed herself from any more activity with her friends. (This, if you know E, is quite strange.) So I called Colin and told him to rush home to be with Brian so I could take E to the ER. (Of course it was just after 5!) Azilah wisely suggested giving E some Tylenol to take the edge off the pain. (Thanks, Azilah! Below: Azilah with Brian)

Our friends left early, all extending well wishes and making us feel loved. I switched on a program for E to watch while I started to get food ready for Brian and dinner for us to take to the hospital. When Colin got home, E was feeling calmer, so we decided to eat together and "wait and see." Brian was ready to sleep right after dinner (around 6:15) and E had gotten up early, so we had her get ready for bed too. As an experiment, I made her lay on the side of her painful ear while I read her a story. I figured if it hurt again, we were outta here to see a doctor. The pain came pretty quickly, so Colin put Brian down, E got back into her clothes, and I gathered up our things - a book for me and Leapster for E- in case the night got long.

Fortunately, all told, it was a seamless visit to the ER. It always involves waiting, so if your expectations are low, you're in for an acceptable time! E did great. The Motrin they gave her took the edge off and she was acting normal as we walked around Walgreens waiting for her prescription to be filled. She'll be tired tomorrow; 9:30 is a late bedtime for our Elizabeth. In fact, she'd fallen asleep in the car on our way to the hospital! Poor child.

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the cuddle time we had on the bed there. She explained and we played Leapster games and I got to tell her some stories to keep her mind off the ear pain while she awaited the blessed drugs. It was precious. I love our little girl so much.