Cabin Fever
Tear-free since Wednesday night, I figured we were due. One desperate tiny arm gestured towards the mini fridge, soundlessly pleading for an early lunch.
“Wait a few more minutes, honey,” I held up a finger to demonstrate. “It’s almost time to eat.”
He tried a few more times before releasing the floodgates. You could see it before you heard it; the audio was just delayed a few steps.
When he saw the ham and cheese, joy was restored. Then he started eating so fast, he got himself started on a good old-fashioned choke.
“Bud, you’ve got to slow down. You’ve got to actually chew the food before you swallow.”
He didn’t like the idea of slow at first, but he still listened. Some way, somehow, in that little baby head of his, “slow” translated to “lento”. He got the message.
His mood had been great as usual that morning, if “usual” can be ascribed to only four days together. It was raining again, but we walked down to the pool anyway to look at pots of tropical plants and listen to the music from the coffee bar.
“He loves to swim,” our interpreter had explained earlier. “We swim a lot here. But maybe you don’t swim at home much because of the … clime? The climate?”
Rain and more rain, wafting over the mountains where clouds were born, morning and afternoon.
Inside, trying to keep a two year-old happy for the second straight day of claustrophobia. Almost warm enough to swim; almost. Yali didn’t seem to mind all that much. He just stuffed his face whenever given the opportunity. He also found the flashlight: dance party. Either that, or chasing the beam around the floor like a cat.
A few Skype calls to both sides of the family: Puck was watching a knife-building competition; severe weather in STL. Yali waved back, grinned, blew kisses, ate bread, stared, crawled under the bed, and threw his shoes, socks, and books around.
After hot chicken soup for Yali, down to bed. For the evening, I still had my Cardinals game set to watch/listen. Whatever I could get. One way or the other.
Cabin fever was definitely beginning to set in. One more full day of this before Step Two. That’s when the real process begins…