sissy

Lou got the plague. It started just before bed, just like it did with me. Why does the flu always start when you should be sleeping?

+

At about 5:30 a.m., Belle must've heard her sister cry and said with a tiny voice, "Mommy?" Sick, little Lou opened her eyes wide, shot out her binky, and said, "Sissy?" I asked if she wanted to go and see Annabelle. "Uh-huh." And so we went and sat by Sissy (her bed is on the floor). Lou's small, sick voice crackled a "Hi!" and her small hand found its way out of her blanket to wave at her best friend. Belle smiled and said hello back, and they both slept.

When Annabelle woke up, I told her Lou was still feeling sick. Annabelle's first question, "When can she play with me again?"

+

An hour later, Lou guzzled 8 ounces of water and fell asleep. She woke up a little later and seeing Annabelle on the couch, scrambled out of my lap with a smile saying, "Seat! Sissy!" She took her place by Annabelle, pulled the towel over her legs (I'd been packing her around with a towel all night). And smiled at Sissy.

+

Sickness is like the snow. It makes you slow down, forces you to prioritize, to do only the necessary things. And those things are usually just loving each other, the way these sisters do. And always have:

Annabelle with her very brand new sister, just minutes after Lydia Lou's birth.
Belle was the only one I let in the room for the first fifteen minutes.
I wanted her to see her sister before anyone else. (Jess was already there, of course.)
My how they've grown up.