If sharing is caring, then the big one must REALLY love the tiny one.
In this case, I think "sharing" involved licking every surface Mila touches because the cold that Alexis has been battling for a few days found its way to Mila. Which, BLURGH. I know it's an achievement everyone has to unlock, but I was cool with waiting to earn that "Baby's first cold" badge.
For the record, this is not daycare crud that they're battling. Shocking, I know. Rather, it is school crud. Half of third grade has it. If you believe Alexis' tale, there is a Patient Zero. Patient Zero's mother is a nurse who didn't believe her when she said she was sick and sent her to school. That kid then "won't stay out of my personal space" and "doesn't ever catch her cough" so there you have it. The instruction manual on how to spread germs.
(I kind of believe the tale of Patient Zero. I've met the kid and she really does have trouble with the whole STOP TOUCHING ME thing. Not that I've ever told her to stop touching me ... OK, I have. Multiple times.
ANYWAY.)
The thing about them having the exact same cold is that it's an excellent litmus test for just how different they are. Alexis takes after me when it comes to being sick. She rarely is, so she doesn't know how to handle it. That means it is now your problem that she's miserable. The misery must be shared! It's the only thing to do! So WAAAAAAAAAH!
Mila prefers the high road, it seems. She is downright pleasant while sick. It's ... weird. Delightful, but weird. Everything from her tiny, polite cough to the way she seems downright happy when I wipe goop off of her face screams I'M NOT FEELING GREAT, BUT I SO APPRECIATE YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU DO!
Alexis used to rip my face off when she saw the snot sucker from across the room. Like, I could have been moving it from a shelf to a drawer in another room and she would give me a piece of her mind.
Mila, on the other hand, is all, "Hello! Thank you for the assistance!"
Alexis is just now is starting to be willing to allow a tissue to touch her face.
I can scrub Mila's face from top to bottom and she's all, "Thanks, friendly lady!"
Alexis has screamed at me multiple times in the past few days that she can't sleep because she can't stop coughing and IT'S NOT FAIR, MOM.
Mila is struggling to fall asleep, but she is choosing to quietly sit in her crib and smile as if to say, "It's OK! Don't worry about me!"
Here's to hoping they continue to be wildly different about how they handle The Sick. I can handle one miserable kid. Two is pushing it.