Linguist, lexicographer, radio host, public speaker

Birthday and Easter

The boy had only a little birthday party last Wednesday. We were all three very sick, so we asked our friends to stay away to spare them the misery, although Carol the babysitter wasn’t as lucky. All four of us are recovering, with coughs, runny noses, and general malaise still prevailing.

On his birthday, Guthrie had a fever as high as 101 or more—who can say, really, how hot it was? Wiggly little boys don’t make for the best testing conditions. Once we stripped him down to his diaper and turned on the ceiling fan, he cooled off enough that he was in a pretty good mood.

So Papa finished wrapping the little presents he bought for the boy. Mama was too sick to even leave the house to do her own bit of shopping, though she made a big batch of carrot and molasses cupcakes the day before. We’d already given him the big present of the tricycle a few days earlier.

The haul included lots of stuffed animals, books, and bath toys.

Oh, the tiredest boy!

We were still sick enough on Saturday that we had to cancel a trip on the train to an easter egg hunt at some friends’ house, and the boy was still feverish enough that we had him Porky-Pigging it around the house with only a shirt and diaper on.

For Easter, he got more stuffed animals, little plastic eggs in their own carton, some Cheddar Bunnies, and even more books.

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Grant Barrett