Dreams, Glitter and Tears

Sorry I haven't posted any pics of ratties lately. My kiddos have been taking turns being sick, baby James being the latest. I got a fantastic new toy for the rats, and they all love it, but when I went to take some pics and video of the rats playing in it, I found this:



I couldn't bear to wake him, poor little guy. You know he's sick when he takes a nap, otherwise he's a nuclear reactor.
More pics of the rats soon.

Well, Juliette is still in her own cage and has built a nest but hasn't had babies yet. Her spotting has stopped so we are just watching her closely. Her tummy really isn't all that big. Annika on the other hand, her belly is dragging on the ground. It's huge and getting bigger every day. I did the math and based on the night that they were playing with Donnie and were in heat, the babies will be due around Wednesday, the 8th.

In other pet news, One of lauras parakeets, Kamikaze, "flew" onto Juliettes cage and Juliette bit her on the leg. I plan to take Kami to the vet tomorrow to make sure that everything is ok. It was unnerving, but I think that she will be fine.

In people news, I am slowly getting better and getting my voice back. I've been using laura's inhaler when I get really wheezy and cough a lot and it seems to be helping. Several people in the house have this illness and I must say, it really drags you down. I'm simply exhausted at all times. On that note, I'm going to bed.

*knock knock knock*

*groan* it's 6 am the morning after we got home from an amazingly short 10 hour drive from Memphis to Houston. What on earth does a kid want this early? Probably to play video games or eat. Ugh.

*knock knock knock* Such a teeny, gentle rapping at my door.
I open the door. It's James. He looks concerned.

Then I smell THE SMELL. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? PLEEEEEEEASE tell me someone just forgot to flush or something. UGH, it's so... "off" smelling.

"I need new undies" he mumbles "I had an accident"
NO. nonono.
"A peepee accident?" Oh God please let it be a peepee accident.
"...no"
fuuuuuuuuuuuck

He is only wearing a shirt and is coated with a foul smelling liquid all the way to his ankles. I peek to my right into the bathroom and see a TRAIL of liquid poo. I see his shorts in front of the toilet. They have taken on an entirely new color. I see NO underwear. UGH, he was commando!! I groan and look to my left. The trail continues down the hall, behind the couch and into the living room where he was sleeping. I grab a towel, some foam cleaner and start scrubbing in front of me as I tell him "get naked and run yourself a bath, don't touch anything."

I step forward to scrub more. EW. I step in a drop I didn't see. I somehow keep repeating this offensive mistake, because we have a NAVY BLUE carpet and the trail is just drip drops in a spattered line with the ocassional small pool. I finally scrub all the way to the couch, where he was sleeping. The cushion has taken on moisture but no matter. I scrub the cushion and flip it.

I go to the bathroom and every step is moisture. I have to tell myself over and over that it's CLEAN moisture, that I didn't miss any... Please don't tell me I missed any. James is in the tub running water, but the plug is not in the drain. I plug the tub, pour in some shampoo for an insta-bubble bath and run a few more inches of water. Scrub the kid from neck to toes, remove everything in the bathroom that was nailed by random spatters, towel James off while asking normal Mom questions about whether or not his tummy hurts, headache, etc. As soon as I tell him he is going to have medicine, he says "I'm not sick, I'm uhh... hungry."
"No, son. you just pooed for 30 feet. you're sick."

He's all dressed in new undies and back on the couch with a towel under him, sleeping.

Thank GAWD this did not happen while we were on the road or in Tennessee.

Gee... I'm hungry. Anyone want cocoa and chocolate pudding?