Karston ate next-to-nothing yesterday and today, and his behavior was starting to deteriorate. Every incident either made him cry, or yell and kick. We explained that we couldn't see Aunt Robin today if he weren't nice. That was probably too theoretical! So I told him I could tell that a Mean Bug had jumped down his throat, and the only way to fix that situation was to eat some food to cover him up. That didn't work at lunchtime, but he wasn't too terribly awful, so we joined Aunt Robin and her family at the park for birthday cake. Cousin Evan played ball with Karston and Cale, and he set a terrific example for safety! He wouldn't go in the road after the ball, and better yet, he wouldn't let his young cousins go in the road after it either. And his sister chased down a runaway Karston (out of character, but there was Karston almost out of sight, and Cale gamely trying to keep up). Thank goodness for such good cousins!
After the birthday cake picnic, we went to City Park. New rides opened yesterday! The carousel music made Cale sing, and dance (sway) in my arms! Every time we went past, Cale would sing and dance! So we rode the carousel (Cale picked which horse he wanted to ride, and he wouldn't let me get on any other) and the train (Cale gamely leaned over the edge as we went over the water). Then Karston and Cale rode the no-adults flying kiddie ride quite happily. I wasn't sure it would work, but they had a blast!
They fell asleep on the ride home. Despite a longer nap, Karston was still behaving poorly, so I went back to the Mean Bug story. Gulping didn't make Mean Bug go away. Finally, after Karston's bath, I coaxed him to eat penne with cheese in one of those moments that makes no sense unless you're the parent of a poor eater. I was sliding one long sliver of Colby cheese and then as many sections of grated mozzarella as I could fit inside each penne noodle. Tedious! Ridiculous! And worth it, since Karston ate as much as my best-case guess. Sure enough, the Mean Bug went away, and Karston was suddenly full of smiles, hugs, kisses, and kindness. Whew! The change was dramatic enough to make anyone believe in Mean Bugs that can stick in throats.
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