Friday afternoon we kicked off our spring break. Juma's off school for a week, and we're off for two. Not that we get to rest from studying, but at least we don't have classes.
Saturday morning I took Juma to his old preschool for their annual open house to try to recruit new families. Juma was hoping to see some of his old friends, and his old teachers spotted him and just gushed. They loved Juma. One of his teachers gave us a packet of pictures of him from last year, and I'll try to get them scanned in to a computer to post them here.
After that event, we all went swimming at a community pool, Juma strapped in to so many flotation devices he happily floated above the surface, grinning beneath his swim cap. (This pool requires all swimmers to wear swim caps.)
After the swim, though, he started to feel under the weather, and alternated between sitting in our laps during dinner. After bath, he got chilled and couldn't seem to warm back up. I put him to bed early under double blankets, partly because of the odd chills and fatigue, and partly because we knew the clock change was coming. At 10:30pm, he started to moan and whine in his sleep, so I checked on him. He seemed to be having a nightmare, and I touched his back and tried to wake him up.
"Juma," I called, "It's me, Mama. Wake up, honey. Juma!"
"What?!" he yelled, still asleep. My voice must have entered his dream.
He opened his eyes, but didn't seem to see me. I thought he must be still asleep, and he looked scared, so I gently slid my arm under his head and tried to coax his awake. His skin was hot.
Eventually, he said, "I want to, I want to stay."
"Stay in bed?" I asked. He must have thought I was lifting him out because my arm was under him.
"Yes." He was finally awake, and I asked him if he was dreaming. He said he wasn't. I checked his temperature, and he had a mild fever of 100.2. I brought him some medicine, which he trusts to help, so he generally calms down immediately after taking it. But he was still obviously uncomfortable, so I sang him some songs. This late at night, my memory failed me, and I ended up humming several tunes, while he fought his eyes from closing.
In the middle of one song, he started to say something, so I stopped and asked him what he needed. "I...I...zii...I'm looking at your zipper." He reached his hand out and touched the zipper of my jacket, white against dark blue. I suppressed a laugh. It seemed like one of those half-asleep, not-thinking-clearly moments.
He eventually fell asleep, only to wake up again two hours later, but he fell asleep easier that time. He had a fever still this morning, and is feeling pretty down, but has been able to eat some "Mama cereal" (cracked wheat) and drink water. I was planning to take him to the St. Patrick's Day parade later today (there are a lot of Irish-Americans here, so this is a big holiday), but I'll have to see how he's feeling.
And that is how we're spending our spring break.
Update: Juma's mysterious illness lasted only 24 hours, and he is doing great now. He helped me fix up our bikes for spring, pumping up tires and greasing the chains. Now he's off to play with a school friend.
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