La Llorona- Mini Version.

Speaking of our trip to Nana. Do you know what is really, really awesome timing?!
A toddler managing to spike a 104 degree fever in the middle of the night before you get on a plane across the country! That's what!
What is it with Little One and traveling? Doesn't She know that our insurance forces us into the ER for every sniffle if we're not at our home base? I tell you.
So, since the fever was still with us after 2 airplanes and 8 hours, and as it was now accompanied by a lot of screaming, we skipped the first night of Nana's parties and had our own party in the Santa Fe hospital's special pediatric waiting room.
Complete with child-friendly diversions! Such as: The gang member and his half-naked girlfriend with the tattooed neck. The reeking bag lady that Little One wanted to "tuck in" because she was "sleeping". And, best of all, the large woman in a belly shirt, hotpants, knee-socks and sneakers, with the traditional espanola lipliner, shaved brows, and mile high bangs, SCREAMING into her cell phone for 20 minutes; "why you like that?! How you gonna leave me here?! You know I got no ride and why you gonna be mean on me?!" while spewing standard swear words and allusions to other women, drugs, and violent threats. Ah, Santa Fe. Feels like home again.
Little One wasn't too concerned about all this. She was mostly consumed by complete disgust in a big cheese doodle on the floor that She was convinced was an orange poo. An orange poo on the floor. Why is there orange poo on the floor?! MELTDOWN.
She might have felt better if the triage nurse had been able to give Her some medicine for the fever. But since they carry only one flavor of motrin, and She happened to be allergic to it, we got to experience 4 hours of the above delights at 103.6 degrees!
We finally got a bed in the ER and were told by the hippie with the red fro-hair, that "man, ya know youre gonna be here like all night man. Its crazy busy man, friday night!" Luckily my mom was in town with us and went out for safe motrin and food, so we were all in a better mood by then. We entertained ourselves with stickers. And then, finally, we saw the doctor.
Now, I expected the long wait, but what I was really dreading were the tests. We have had a couple of nightmare experiences with taking Little One to the ER while traveling. But do you know that there is a huge benefit to potty training that I hadn't even thought of? Pee in a cup! Pee in a cup! YAY NO CATHETER pee in a cup! It was the least traumatic ER visit we've ever had. (In some ways.)
We went to our hotel with meds for an ear infection and a good healthy dose of nostalgia for the proud location of my birth. Little One draped Her entire burning-hot baby body on top of me, circled Her sweaty arms around my neck, and slept all night.
A few days later a tell-tale full-body rash informed me that roseola was the culprit all along, but for the remainder of the weekend, Little One continued to be pretty out of sorts. She spent a lot of time pouting and clinging to me like a little monkey. She loved the music at Nana's party, but hated all the people. NO ONE was to touch, talk to, or look at Her besides Mommy. With one exception:

Tia Ree. My babiest sister was a haven for Little One. She approached calmly, waited patiently, and otherwise just seemed to "get" Little One. She was an incredible help to me, wiping down tables and high chairs for cheese remnants before I even got there, handing Little One what She wanted before She knew She wanted it, and playing or cuddling according to Little One's mood better than I could have myself. It was a relief for me, and my back, to have those two so close. And it was really, really sweet to see. As I watched the two of them from across the room, seeing the word "Babysitter" flash in neon lights around Ree's adorable little head, I added another reason to the long list of why I wish I lived closer to this sister who is growing up awfully fast.
Lets face it. It was a lovely few days of parties, it was fantastic to see so many family members- the technically related as well as those appropriated into the clan over years- and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But it was exhausting tending to a miserable kiddo and there were a lot of tears shed as the festivities wrapped up and the goodbyes came around on Sunday.
Of course, our plane home wasn't until Tuesday. Which left us a whole day to treat our wounds with the patented Santa Fe elixir of green chilis, oozey cheese, and more green chilis. Maybe they should keep some of that in the fancy hospital.