Alexis made her glorious return to daycare this week after a too quick 3-week absence. It didn't take long for things to turn right back to the way they were.

Because of a change in schedules, I have been bestowed with the glory that is the morning drop off. There's a very good reason I don't do drop offs--I can't take the pain. On the first day, Alexis gave me a super-sized dose of pain by ripping my heart out and tearing it to shreds. In other words, she had a total and complete meltdown and made it real obvious that she wanted to stay with me. Her teachers swear that she calmed down shortly after I left, but her tears haunted me all day.

And then came Tuesday, and she no longer cared that I was alive. She cheered when we pulled into the parking lot and took off running once we were inside. I didn't even get so much as a kiss goodbye. And that's how it continued the rest of the week. I'm glad she likes school and all, but would it kill the kid to at least say goodbye? I'm not looking for another meltdown, but I bet there's a middle ground in there somewhere that would leave me feeling loved, but not too loved.

Alexis learned a few new things at school this week. First the good--she learned to count all the way to 8. You could have knocked me over with a feather the first time I heard her do it. Now I keep making her do it over and over because I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that my little tiny baby who just a year ago still couldn't walk, suddenly knows how to count. I feel like I should throw a "She Can Count!" party, but maybe that's a bit overboard.

The other thing she learned is that merely saying "No" when asked a question is really not quite enough. You should say "No way" just so that you make sure that your parents know just how ridiculous their questions about what you want to eat, whether you need a diaper change, and what you want to do really are. And the sassier you say it, the better.

I'm guessing that the same kid that taught her the art of sass is also the one that breathed on her and shared his/her grimy little toddler germs. Oh yes, it took a mere three days before the daycare-induced runny noses returned. By last night, a little bitty cold had grown to a full-sized cold.

I have previously mentioned that Alexis like to take everyone down with her when she's sick, and she did a masterful job of it last night. She ended up in our bed after several trips back and forth between the rooms to tend to her crying. I really have no concept how the child survived her first few weeks of life given how completely stupid I become in the middle of the night. Bringing her to our bed was dumb in and of itself, but then I managed to stay oblivious to the fact that she had a fever for hours. Other Moms I know check their kid's temperature the second they sneeze. Despite the restlessness, whining, and crying (oh, and the fact that her forehead was hot--duh!), I just couldn't seem to figure out what was going on. Then it took me an additional hour or two to realize that I could do something about the fever. I finally stumbled around the dark house, bumping into walls and falling down stairs, for ten minutes in search of the elusive baby Tylenol which was located in the medicine cabinet (where it belongs). I administered it it to one pissed off Toddler and she was able to sleep soundly for the four hours that followed. She woke up a new woman and you wouldn't even know that she was miserable for the greater part of the night. Unless, of course, you look at the bags under my eyes. They tell the story like you wouldn't believe.