1 Mother 2 Another

At the risk of tempting fate, I'm calling
it - Cora's feeling better.


Girlie went to bed at 6 p.m. yesterday near-catatonic, after
sleeping almost constantly since 2 p.m. She woke up briefly a
couple times but was out for good at 4 a.m., not waking up until
7:30.


And did she wake up.

When I came home from dropping Maddie off
at school, Cora was sitting in the kitchen chowing down on her
second bowl of oatmeal and talking a mile a minute. Cora finally
finished breakfast two bowls of cereal and three glasses of juice
later, at which point she turned a little green and said, "My tummy
feels funny."


Coaxing her to lie on the couch and read books for a while, I was
able to keep all the food down, and from there on out there was no
stopping her. Around lunch time Cora, still in her pjs, begged to
go outside and feed the birds (we keep a stack of stale bread heels
and pieces for such an occasion) in the side yard. I could see her
burning desire to go outside, so I said yes, figuring it would be
lower energy than hitting the swingset. As I worked in the
adjoining kitchen, I could see her out the window walking up and
down in a sweater and pajamas, tearing off pieces of bread and
singing at the top of her lungs. She sang through an entire set
list, lustily belting out her favorite songs and ambling around our
herb garden. Then she asked for her bird whistle so she could "call
the birds and tell them it's lunch time", and stood outside
warbling over and over for another ten minutes.


Cora dressed up as Sleeping Beauty and put on a show. She read
books. She painted a picture. She made a sled with a box top,
stickers, and red ribbon to pull several toys to help out Santa.
When bedtime arrived, she stayed up a good hour and a half later
singing in her bedroom.


Now, I know she's not out of the woods yet - she's tired, and
she's lost 10 percent of her body weight in just three days.
She's got a ways to go.


But my girl is back, and it's great to see.