Who IS this?

Last weekend was a VERY busy weekend. Thursday when I picked Rachel up from day care, she was running a fever, which means I couldn't take her in on Friday. My Aunt Gail and Uncle Paul came and watched her during the day while Jason worked and they had a great time. Aunt Gail said she was glad she didn't have to share :o)

Friday after I got home from work we immediately headed down to Newburgh for a few nights. Rachel still wasn't feeling good, it was storming, and we got stuck in rush hour traffic. Needless to say, a 3.5 hour trip took nearly 5 and I don't think any of us were more excited than the other to be out of the car.

Saturday Rachel spent the whole day with Grandma Terry and by the time I got back from Ferdinand where I'd gone for a bridal shower, she seemed to be feeling better. Her fever was gone and she seemed in better spirits. (I personally think she just likes Grandma's cooking better than mine, which is probably for the best!)

Before we left on Sunday, Grandma Terry arranged Rachel's first Easter Egg Hunt:

 It took her a little while to get the hang of it, but she finally did. I captured this image of Rachel with Jason and Howell:

Sunday we left and drove up thru Bloomington on our way home. Again another 5 hour trip. Thankfully, Rachel slept for a few hours as we timed our departure around her nap time. But she was SO wound up when we got home and finally got her out of the car.

There is no way anyone could have fathomed how horrible she has felt for weeks. She's normally got a runny nose, so that wasn't a very clear sign. She was fussy a lot, but again nothing new. It wasn't until her ears actually started leaking that we knew there was a problem, so she'd been "sick" for about 3 weeks untreated and without us really knowing what was going on.

Monday night and Tuesday morning were....horrible. Everything seems to send her into a tantrum. She was throwing food, kicking me, pulling my hair, scratching at me, smacking me...Although I would never actually do this, I was tempted to drop kick her. Seriously. Her teacher at day care went on and on about how wonderful and sweet she is, yet when we'd get her home she'd throw these horrible fits, refuse to eat, and it was just downright unbearable. Why in the world would she behave so sweetly everywhere else and be so completely rotten at home? My thought was that she just didn't like being home with us and we must be doing something wrong.

Tuesday at my weekly trip to Grandma's I expressed this concern and even noticed myself that Rachel was being such a sweetheart, not throwing much food on purpose, in a good mood, smiling, laughing, playing...

Then Wednesday came and a sudden change happened. I'm in awe. I almost cried. Our sweet daughter is back!!! We'd get home and she'd happily sit in her high chair and eat. When done, we'd go outside and she'd babble on and on and say sweet things, giggling and screaming in delight. So....who is the world IS this child we have now? I don't know....but I'm going to keep her!

Today is Saturday and this morning Rachel accompanied me to the grocery store. She wasn't loud or obnoxious. She didn't pull things off the shelf. She just sat in the cart, smiling and flirting with everyone that looked at her. She didn't fuss when I put her in the car seat. It was SOO....O to the M to the GOSH nice.

When we got home she was getting tired so I laid her down, finished unpacking the groceries then Jason watched her while I ran out and went sailing. (Garage sailing).

When I got home we had ANOTHER Easter egg hunt. Apparently they had one at day care on Friday and sent Rachel home with 5 eggs. So I'd repeatedly toss them into the yard and she'd go running after them and put them in the bag they came home in...with ears :o)

 

It's been a perfect day for it! She's down for a nap now, but when she wakes up we're going to walk down to the park and play for a little bit.

I just cannot believe the sudden and drastic change in this child. We did end up having to take her back to the doctor for some stronger antibiotics and they seem to be doing the trick. She's not as anxious about taking them like she was her other antibiotics, but we can normally force them down. She's also still on ear drops and I'm quite ready for that bottle to empty itself....we have to give them 3x a day and it's getting tedious. But it's all worth it if it means we get to have this sweet, wonderful child instead of the braty-I-don't-feel-good child we had before!

Happy Easter!