the cure

Who new taking a sick baby out into the frigid winter night could be a cure?

The boy got sick right after I did.... of course. Staying home with a baby while you're sick, it's a fairly good bet you'll pass it along. At first, he seemed to just get a little of what I had with a runny nose and a little fever. Didn't last long, but then showed signs of lingering, metamorphosing into another strain altogether.
Got to the point he's coughing himself awake at night and during naps, which is leading to a crib phobia. He has been sleeping through the night for a few months, and taking good naps without much fuss. The past week, he cries when you put him down, cries when he wakes, and is up several times a night.

As a parent it is difficult to see your child hurting like this. But alas, there is nothing you can do. A little Tylenol for the fever, TLC for everything else. You cannot give any other medications to a 7 month old. So you hope each morning this day is better then the last and keep the TLC coming.

So when invited to go out to a local Christmas light celebration (booths and lights everywhere for about a month), your initial reaction is to pass b/c baby isn't feeling well. You then take note that although said baby is still coughing and has a runny nose, he appears to be feeling quite fine, actually. Thus deciding to risk it and go knowing he will love the lights and the people and the company of grandma and grandpa.

And he does. At first he doesn't really look up. Maybe because he's in the stroller wearing 3 layers of clothing and then covered by a thick blanket, hat, gloves that don't fit, and booties. Poor thing can barely move, much less look UP. But he likes the music and the people and the girls dancing in the amphitheatre.
And then I pick him up and carry him and all at once he spots the lights. BAM! Head goes back, eyes open wide. Mom's arm almost falls off trying to hold this uncomfortable position, but it's so amazing to see the reflection of all those lights in his little eyes that we hold it just a while longer.

He fell asleep in the car on the way home, right around when he would usually go to bed anyway. Woke up when getting his pj's on, but right back to sleep within a minute of going in the crib. Not a cough or a whimper all night.

Was it the cold air? The lights? The excitement? something snuffed out the cough and this morning we woke up bright and cheery.
Notice I said WE.