Rockettes & Antibiotics

This week was time for our annual Christmas program outing with the Higginbothams! You know, the one time of the year when we actually get a sitter and Tess suffers some horrible mishap? You remember last year's penny incident, don't you?

Well, this year Tess came down with a fever just in time for the Rockettes. I wasn't too worried about her because she was doped up on Motrin and my Relief Society President agreed to come stay with her.

The show was a lot of fun, but we kept commenting how much Tess would have loved it. She would have been in awe of the teddy bears dancing the Nutcracker and the magically multiplying Santas! Click here to see a sneak peek of the show.

Tess did OK while we were gone, but her fever persisted. After a couple days of high temps, I figured I'd better take her to the doctor. We came home with a diagnosis of Strep and an antibiotics prescription.

She's starting to feel better, but we've spent a long number of days housebound together. A favorite new phrase: "No, Mommy! Mommy go bye-bye!" Usually, this charming refrain is accompanied with a face that looks like this:

So, how do you entertain a tempermental 2-yr-old with a 103 degree temperature? I have no idea--if you have any suggestions, please let me know. She's watched her birthday Winnie-the-Pooh DVD about 389 times. If I see another Heffalump or Woozle I think I'll puke!

The only thing worse than having to watch Pooh over and over again is having to play Puffball (AKA "Ready!") over and over again. Puffball is a game entirely of Tess' own invention. One of our recent craft projects came with a bunch of puffballs, and instead of using them for their intended decorative purpose, Tess delights in using them in a game of catch.

The rules of Puffball are inflexible. The game begins whenever Tess interrupts whatever you happen to be doing (doing the dishes, changing her diaper, taking a shower) and says, "Ready!" When Tess says "Ready!" you know you are in for a long game of Puffball.

After Tess says, "Ready!," then Tess must sit on the red bench and you must sit on the floor. She throws the puffball and you try to catch it. Then you throw it back. If she misses, she says "Close!" and claps. If by some miracle she catches it, fireworks go off and she yells, "Yeah, Tess!" If you are too slow in throwing it back, she chastises you, "I hab it. I hab it." ("I have it. I have it.")

Also, if a puffball happens to fly out of range (only like EVERY TURN), say behind the bench, behind the Christmas tree, or under the couch, it is YOUR responsibility to retrieve it. You can't expect her to descend the red bench, of course. The game can escalate in complexity when 2, 3, 4, 5--even up to 6 puffballs enter play at once.

One final important rule: Trying to take a picture of Tess playing "Ready!" Puffball is apparently grounds for a nuclear meltdown.

She's happy to teach the game of Puffball to anyone willing to play. When we came home from the show, my RS President said, "For some reason she really likes that little puffball." Um, yep. Did I mention that I have a REALLY GREAT RS President?

Let's see--what other fun games have we come up with? Tess loves to play "Bye, bye!" in my closet. She goes inside, says "Bye, bye!" and closes the door. She waits for me to knock, then opens the door and says "Hi!" She gets mad if instead of knocking you, say, try and take a nap.
She also likes to find other treasures to entertain herself with in my closet:

For fun, we also decorated our windows with snowflakes. This morning, Tess was pointing outside and saying, "Baby, baby, baby!" over and over again. I didn't see anyone outside walking with a stroller, so I had no idea what she was talking about. Finally I realized she was pointing to the "baby" snowflake on the window. Phew! I was concerned there was some abandoned baby freezing outside!

One last fun (and appropriate) sickie game is "doctor." Tess was a bit traumatized by the strep throat swab (can't say I blame her). She keeps pointing to her open mouth and saying, "Ahhh--doctor!" Here are some pics of her pretending to take her own temperature (it's good thing I use the under-the-armpit method!).

We are going to be so grateful to be HEALTHY again! And to be able to leave the house!