Losing weight

As expected, this stomach bug is probably going to cause all affected to lose weight.

Starting with Tobey, I don't mind if he loses a little weight. He's not overweight or anything but given my genes, his usual stellar eating habits and his track record of being "big" (but proportionally tall and heavy), I just want to steer clear of any hint of childhood obesity. I don't mind him losing weight, as long as it's not in his cheeks. :-)

Eli is a different story. Going on day 5 of his bug, today I noticed that when I pick him up, I can feel his ribs through his clothes. That's wrong. I wouldn't say it actually worries me, because I know the cause of it. And I hang on to the hope that when this is gone, he'll ramp up to his usual eating habits (which weren't like Tobey's but at least I was satisfied with them). But it just doesn't seem like you should be able to feel ribs or see collar bone on a baby in an upper middle class family from the "richest" nation in the world. It just doesn't seem right. My dad was saying that 2nd kids often catch up to the 1st in size. Well, Eli has 90 percentile points and the stomach bug to catch up.

For me, this is a welcome change. Yesterday, I felt a little hungry but didn't really feel like eating. By night's end, I was hungry and wanted to eat, but wanted to be cautious. Sadly enough, there wasn't much adult food in the house that was deemed safe enough for my tummy to accept (although I don't think I was as sensitive to food as the kids). Today, all morning I didn't really eat, in somewhat of a show of solidarity to Tobey who couldn't eat anything either. Although I slipped in a fortune cookie wafer or two, it wasn't until lunch that I could clandestinely sneak in a sandwich while Tom distracted Tobey. I was happy to eat it and looked forward to my cheesy popcorn as my "side". But weirdly enough, the sandwich was all I really wanted to eat and I only ate a few kernels of cheesy popcorn. That's when I know my stomach has strunk and my appetite has not fully returned: the day I reject cheesy popcorn. Tonight in front of a spread of 99 Ranch bought Chinese food, I only ate a little.

Ah, so speaking of which, my dad, now in town, is trying his best to be helpful (and I'm trying my best to accept and appreciate the help, even if it's not exactly the way I want). The way he knows best to help is in the way of driving/errands (thus 99) and food. He's cooking a pot of soup, orders from my mom, for my tummy, which is filling the house with yummy aroma which I just hope doesn't further Tobey's desire for food. He also kept offering me food (his snacks from his flight, etc.) and was talking with Tom about dinner ("we should make rice", "I bought a roast duck"), right in front of Tobey, even though I told him we need to tone down the food at the risk of Tobey whining. I think an "old" spoiled daughter me would have said none of us can eat in front of him but that seems a bit ridiculous given that we do have him staying with us. But Tom and I did take turns distracting Tobey/Eli in the bedrooms while the other ate with Daddy.

I hope everything gets back to normal soon, except for my tummy size. :-)