Still Sick, but Not Slowing Down

Tucker came home from school on Tuesday with diarrhea. It is Thursday night, and he and I are still home...he will not be going to school tomorrow. He still has an upset tummy every time he eats; other than that, he is his regular active, happy, bossy self. On Wednesday, I had already decided that he was staying home, so I didn't set the alarm clock to let us both sleep in. Well at 7 am, Tucker was standing next to my bed, smiling, saying "get up, get up." I thought, maybe he feels better? Then I realized he reeked....and the smell was coming from his diaper...lovely! So he definitely stayed home, even though he had no fever, and wasn't even tired enough to take a nap that day. He kept looking out of the window and asking to "ride the bus, ride the bus." By the end of the day, we were both tired of the diaper changes, and he was crying each time I fed him, because he knew what would inevitably follow. Last night I put him on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) to help him out, but so far that hasn't worked. Mom and Gina brought over about 20 jars of banana and applesauce baby food today, along with about a gallon of Pedialyte so that Tucker doesn't get dehydrated. I called his pediatrician today, and they said that a stomach virus is going around right now. (Tucker's teacher said they have already sent home 3 kids with it.) All they can do for Tucker is just keep him on the BRAT diet and watch for dehydration. This can go on for 5 days total before they would look into it further. So far, I think he is fine with his fluids. I think he is just in danger of losing his mind; after over 48 hours on house arrest, neither one of us is doing too great! I don't even want to take him to my parents' or Chris's parents' because I don't want anyone to catch his stomach bug and have to miss work or school. When Chris comes in the door at night, we are both so excited:) I am happy because I get to complain and get a break, and Tucker is excited because he thinks surely his Daddy will let him outside to play! I have actually kind of enjoyed having Tucker home with me, it's just that we are both used to being on-the-go, and he is especially used to his routine. He has been carrying around his booklet with all of his school friends' pictures. He can sit and point to each one and say their names, it is so cute! I told him that once his tummy feels better he can go back to see all of his friends. We had a few visitors so far that braved the exposure, and Tucker has sent them all home. Yesterday Alexis dropped off some clothes for Tucker, and he hugged her then tried to shove her out of the door. Today he did pretty much the same thing with Mom and Gina. At least when Mrs. Mia came over tonight he let her rock him for a few minutes, then he said "Sissy bye bye." Mrs. Mia and I were talking, and she told him she was visiting a little while longer. He was not happy, and kept crying "Sissy, bye-bye" until she finally left, which was at least 10 minutes later. He really likes watching people drive into the driveway, and then he likes sitting by the window and watching them drive out...but the in-between, visiting time is not really exciting to him! Even though Tucker has many medical issues, I am not used to Tucker being "sick." He has pretty much never thrown up, he almost never has an upset tummy, and he hasn't had a fever in a very long time. I actually had to go out and buy a thermometer the other day (which I have been needing to do for awhile) because I thought the one I had was broken. They both read at about 98.7 degrees, which is normal, but he felt so hot. I thought that maybe I just didn't take his temperature correctly since I hadn't done it in so long. Today Tucker took a long nap, and he was still tired at bedtime tonight. This is very un-Tucker like behavior, so I hope that his little body is just fighting off this illness and he will feel better soon!