Happy 69 months to my 5 and a HALF year old girl. That half is awfully important! Whenever I tell anyone that you are 5 – whether stranger, friend, doctor, cashier at the grocery store – you are quick to pipe up, “Five and a HALF!”
Well, sweet 5 and a half year old girl, last month won’t be remembered as our favorite, thanks to a little something called walking pneumonia. It started as a random fever one Friday afternoon, just after you and buddy Ellanor enjoyed your first ever jazz concert as part of the Savannah Music Festival.
We’d had a great time, but when we came home you seemed so tired, and a thermometer confirmed what I’d already guessed – a fever.
We took it easy Saturday – the fever was the only symptom and you didn’t seem terribly sick. I was really hoping for a recovery by Sunday, in time for our church’s annual Easter egg hunt.
At 6:30 Sunday morning you came into our room and asked if you could get your Easter basket from the attic and put on your Easter dress. I reached out and touched your forehead and immediately knew the answer would be no. Still feverish. You crawled in bed with us and cried. I wanted to cry too.
Once the tears dried, you agreed that a backyard egg hunt would be an okay second choice. So we put on your church dress anyway and made the best of the day.
We took you to the doctor twice before getting the walking pneumonia diagnosis, about the time the coughing and wheezing began. It made me so anxious to see you getting sicker and sicker, but thankfully once we got the the antibiotics, you recovered quickly.
By the next weekend, you were yourself again – fever free just in time
to decorate eggs for the family egg hunt at Grandma Lou’s house.
You and Ava successfully hunted almost 100 eggs (with a bit of help from time to time), and enjoyed exploring the farm together.
The week after Easter was your spring break, and we made the short trek to Jacksonville to visit the zoo. You dressed appropriately in a giraffe dress, and we teased you endlessly about how confused the giraffes would be to see you wandering outside the enclosure.
The new butterfly habitat was enchanting, and we spent much time enjoying (aka harassing) the butterflies. One newly hatched monarch even agreed to rest on your arm for a bit as her wings dried.
As we left the habitat through the gift shop, you were smitten by a pair of monarch wings – so smitten you agreed to use money you’d saved so that you could add them to your dress-up collection. Perfect.
We wrapped up spring break with a visit to Fitzgerald where Erin and the boys were spending a few nights. Regrettably, I forgot my camera, but I managed to get a couple of pics from my phone of the fun and shenanigans. It was a wonderful way to finish the week.
Then it was back to school, including a field trip chaperoned by none other than Granddaddy! He even got to join us for our first Sand Gnats game of the season (many more to come!).
Looking back over the month, it really was a good one, minus your being sick. I’m just so glad to see you well again – you are your happy, energetic, silly, loving, enthusiastic, five and half year old YOU.
I love you so much sweet girl.
