Miles had an exceedingly restless night, and although there are a number of factors that can currently contribute to this, it wasn’t far into the day before I found out the real culprit. I got the call at work — Miles had a fever and needed to be picked up from daycare.
The staff at his daycare said that he wasn’t his usual, energetic self, which had prompted them to take his temperature. When I arrived at daycare, I could see what they were talking about — Miles was in the corner holding his usual “child’s pose” sleeping position but he was not asleep, just wearily blinking. He perked up a little bit after we left (and plowed through three fruit and veggie pouches after we got home), but he still vacillated between lethargy and crankiness for the bulk of the afternoon.
I don’t know what it must be like the first few times you get sick as an infant or toddler — recognizing that you feel different than usual but being unable to articulate how you feel or understand why you’re feeling that way. I can only hope that the degree to which Miles knows he can rely on us to take care of him outweighs how lousy he feels overall.
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 