Sunday, November 30, 2008

Milky bar kid

We’ve been a bit poorly here in spud central. I had to rush off to pick him up from nursery two Mondays ago because he had lost his dinner (and by the size of the patch of sawdust, his lunch and possibly his breakfast) all over the toy shelf.

I came to get him, expecting, as I usually do when he is ill a pale, limpid slip of a thing but getting my usual rambunctious spudlet showing no indication that anything was wrong, other than the softly lingering scent of his incident and a constant desire to be carried. I bathed him and he refused his dinner, demanding instead the first of what must now be 100 bottles of warmed milk.

The next day, barred from nursery, the frog stayed home with him so that I could work and the spud bounded around the house, defiantly being well, but still not eating. He had a smidgen of breakfast but then refused lunch and dinner, demanding instead an ever-increasing number of bottles of milk. Yes, he is still having milk from a bottle. Alright, YOU come over and give it to him in a cup. Go on, I Dare You. You face that look of betrayal, the clutching hands around the cup, the quivering lip as he bravely raises it and then... the wail of humiliation as he sips, the howl as it all becomes Too Too Much and he lets it go all over his lap and lies down sobbing as though he was All Alone in the Void. I thought not.

Anyway, so here we are, two weeks later and still going through 4 pints of milk in less than 2 days. Friends rang us on their way over the other day and asked if they could pick us up anything and I asked for 4 pints of milk. They brought over two 2-pint bottles ‘so that the last part doesn’t go off in your fridge’ and I looked at them as if they were completely insane. It’s not just milk though, oh no, it’s fluids in general. He can now pad his way over to the fridge, take out the juice, open the lid, pour it into a cup (aha, now juice – THAT goes in a cup), put the lid on, take it back to the fridge, drink down the cup and go back to do it all again. Notice I don’t add the words ‘without spilling anything’.

He’s eating again now but not really that much. Now we’ve all come down with a cold and a cough it’s hard to resist his husky little voice holding up an empty bottle and wheezing ‘maw?’ so I guess we’ll just keep bothering the cows until he decides he’s had enough.

9 comments:

Jen said...

It is hard to resist them when they are sick. If they catch on, they might end up with a pony one of these days, I fear. Dylan drinks a ridiculous amount of milk and juice also. He refuses to drink water, and he's still drinking from a sippy cup. When I watch him with all his boundless energy, it just seems ridiculous to limit his fluids. I hope you are all doing better soon.

Anonymous said...

I apologize - it seems that Halfdan contaminated you the other day when he had his hands all over your blog. I'll make sure he washes his hands first next time.

Very funny about the cup. I'm such a spillage nazi, I tell you. Oh, and I'll take the dare too!

Helen + ilana = Hi said...

No arguments here...... Hair's 1 & 2 both kept their bottles until they were damned good and sick of them. Or at least I was of hearing all about it from my friends. Perfectly well adjusted and bottle free now so they are. But the milk consumption thing.... sorry that only gets worse. We buy three or four 4 litre jugs each week. After accounting for the 5 TBs in my teas and a bit for The Mench's cereal the rest all disappears down Hairy gullets. Followed by gallons of juice, jugs of water and many cups of tea or hot chocolate (made with you guessed it more milk. And don't even get me started on food consumption!

Anonymous said...

My kids are milkoholics. And they're not ill.
They are on first name terms with the milkman and he's on their Christmas card list!

~ej said...

my second son is a milk fiend...breast or cow. he never cared. he carried his sippy cup with him all around like a best friend. kids are funny....hope your milky boy is feeling better :)

Sparx said...

Jen - I know... and he's cottoned on so quickly to areas in which he can possibly take the mickey it's not funny! I'm practicing steeling my heart!

Jennie - oh, you will, will you? Right then, first flight out, I'll be at the airport.

Helen - OMG, really truly? I thought I was supposed to be getting him down to two cups a day!!! Ha ha ha, obviously...

Tara - that's so cute, really? And... you have a milkman?!! I WANT A MILKMAN!!!

Elena Jane - oh good, this is great, I thought we were having a major slippage and turns out it's all good, phew!! He's a little better today, thanks.

Michelle said...

My kids and I go through 5 gallons a week. And I adore a good cold chocolate milk! It can't be bad for you, right? It's dairy! I'm with you--keep bothering those cows!

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

Are you sure you live in England? I swear we are having the same stuff going on over here. Jonathan did manage to eat on Sunday and seems to be better, but we are still going to the dr. as it seems he may have Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, which isn't as awful as it sounds, but can be painful, causing blisters on the hands and mouth. It is not like the disease cows get however!

Sparx said...

Ack, I commented on these. Michelle - 5 gallons? No, really? Really? I feel a lot less bad about our consumption now!!

Jonny's Mommy - I am so sorry about HFMD.... I hope it clear up soon, poor little soul.