The Battle of Sick vs. Happy

This past weekend, Leah fell victim to her very first cold. She seems to be past the worst of it, and it hasn't been much more than a cough and a case of the sniffles. Still, watching Leah, our happy-go-lucky daughter, go through a cold has been a sad, sad thing to watch. Because through it all, you could see that she was trying desperately to stay happy. Leah would be sitting there, with snot pouring out of her nose, hacking like a chain-smoker, eyes watering -- but with this big grin on her face. It's as if she thought that maybe, if she smiled wide enough, she could convince those little virus cells to leave her alone and maybe travel over to her sister.

She does this around naptime too. You can always tell when Leah's first starting to get tired because her smile starts looking a little forced. You can almost see the "tired" side of her brain and the "happy" side of her brain battling it out inside her head. Leah keeps trying to let out her normal happy coos and squeals, but they gradually start sounding more and more edgy and desperate. And then suddenly, the smile's still there, but the joy is completely gone from her face, and you just know that Tired Side has emerged victorious. The smile fades and the lower lip starts protruding farther and farther out. And then, meltdown.

Riley's a lot more black and white. When she's happy, you know it, and when's she's not, you know it. And there's no "tired vs. happy" battle going on in her head. If Riley's tired, you ain't gonna be able to make her happy, and she sure as hell is going to try to pretend to be happy just for mommy and daddy's sake. As if.

And so, now that Riley is starting to show signs of catching Leah's cold, Kathy and I are mentally bracing for the storm. It ain't gonna be fun, folks.

Although by the time Riley's at her peak sick level, Leah should be just about back to her full yeeeeahh strength. I guess that is one of the nice things about having twins -- usually one of the two is in a good mood and can offer you some respite from the crabby-pants one. Or I guess you can look at in the glass-half-empty way and complain that one of the two is always grumpy and bringing you down from the joy of the happy one.

What the heck. For today, I choose to look be a glass-half-full person. Although, that's subject to change -- check in with me after a day of two of dealing with sick Riley.