A cold

Sophie has been down with her first bout of common cold in the past few days.

It has been a challenging time for her. Sneezing, running nose, our continuous wiping of snot which she dislikes, 0.0005 appetite, and interrupted sleep, no thanks to nasal congestion and a little cough from post-nasal drip. As she hasn't learned to blow her nose, we've had to use the nasal aspirator to clear her nasal passages - with little success, as she would wake up (if asleep), kick and yell like Bruce Lee, flail her arms to ward off the offensive instrument, and scream bloody murder.

Nights are the worst. I have never prayed so hard in my life for anybody's nose to clear and dry up on its own. While sleeping with her head elevated affords some relief, she would wake up uncountable times in the night, whimpering. Sometimes, she ends up sleeping upright in my lap, propped up against my body. This continues throughout the night.

Well then. Despite my sleepless nights and hazy-brained mornings, I feel so.... motherly. Cuddling her in my arms, waking up in the night to help her get to a more comfortable breathing position, feeding her, wiping her nose, and etc. make me feel so happy, productive and fulfilled as a mom. One of the best parts was when she suddenly woke up last night to find me gazing into her face - she smiled sleepily and said, "Mama..." I melted.

Oh, I don't know how it happened or when it began happening - but now whenever we tell her to "call Mummy", she would go, "Ma-ma." :)