Poor Josh!

He tried SO hard. He even prayed for help getting sick.

So when I told him Wednesday night that we would try to get him to a doctor the next day (due to fever and a cough and exposure to Streppy Ben), his whole entire face lit up with a glow of pure joy unrivaled by any. "I'm SICK?" He asked this in the same voice a kid would use to ask "Santa CAME?"

Alas, his ailment is nothing more spectacular than the common cold. He still gets three different medications, though, and he DID get to see a doctor after all, so he's still pretty happy. In fact, if not for the fever, I doubt the urgent care staff would have believed he WAS sick, he was so chipper for them.

Matt and I have been discussing this a lot lately. He seems to have, as one of his inherent spiritual gifts, an enthusiasm that's as infectious as all the germs swimming through my air right now. Even if you can't get excited about the same thing he's excited about (I find no joy in my children getting sick, and I'll admit that's mostly because it throws a wrench in my routines), you can't help but feel some of his glee.

Pity Ben, however. He's feeling the spotlight dimming around him. He's gotten the attention of his DREAMS all week - meals in front of the TV, special treats, etc. - and now he's better. If school were in today, he'd be allowed to go. Last night we got a pretty impressive little melodrama about a mysterious bellyache that eventually got him one last dinner upstairs. I hope I don't have to endure more of those today...

Joseph, meanwhile, has proved himself IMPERVIOUS to all germs. Drinking from Streppy Ben's cuppy? Nothing. Josh coughing on him? No problem. No fever, nothing. Whatever he HAS got, we could bottle it and sell it. But I won't, because he's cute. Mischeivous, yes, and definitely Two, but still cute. Come to think of it, I've been proving pretty impervious myself.

Thank goodness!