So Penny got sent home early yesterday with a rash on her stomach and back.

And I'd rather daycare was too cautious about the kids' health than not cautious enough, but... this rash was only barely visible. Half-a-dozen little rough bumps on her stomach, another four on her back. (And the four on her back were positioned to make me wonder if they were just caused by an itchy tag on her shirt.)

But Matt picked her up, and I called the doctor to make an appointment, and the earliest appointment they could give me was for today - which wasn't surprising, as I was calling at 3:30 - at eleven-thirty.

Damn place needs to sign on another three or four doctors, I swear.

Anyway, I got home and Matt showed me the non-rash, and we decided that since she was showing no signs of discomfort, that we'd look again in the morning and if it hadn't worsened, we'd just take her back to daycare and cancel the doctor's visit.

Last night was pretty normal - I made a creamy tomato-onion soup (with my new hand-blender!) that both Matt and Penny seemed to really like, and we played with the baby and watched a half-hour of Baby Mozart, and put her to bed at 7:30 when she started acting tired and cranky.

When Matt had finished reading his comic book, we decided to stay up just a little late, so he could watch Spirited Away. (I want a sootling! With starfood!)

That wrapped up around 10:45, and we slowly made our way to bed.

At 11, just as we were drifting off, Penny woke up and started wailing. She does this sometimes. Usually one of us will go into her room, give her a hug and a pat and straighten her blankets and reassure her that everything is fine, and she'll drop back to sleep.

It didn't happen. Whenever one of us was in the room with her, she was perfectly fine, but the instant we'd leave, she'd start wailing again. Matt checked the "rash" again, in case it was getting worse and bothering her, but it wasn't. I tried giving her some Tylenol. Matt changed her diaper. We tried just waiting until she'd fallen asleep before we left the room (a sleep-training no-no, but desperate times and all that) but the instant we'd open the door to leave, she'd wake up and start crying.

She finally, finally got back to sleep around 1am - and it was a restless sleep for a little while, so I don't think Matt or I actually slept until nearly 1:30.

She woke up a bit after 5 this morning, but thankfully didn't start crying again. She made a few quiet sounds, then went back to sleep. She was up for good, though, at 6.

And of course, she was perfectly fine, as if two hours of Sadness had never happened. No wailing. She was happy to see me. Wanted to sit in her crib and show me things and have me tell her what things were.

And the "rash" wasn't any worse. Maybe even better. So Matt's taking her to daycare, and I asked him to show them the rash and get a ruling before he headed to the office - if she has to go back home, I'll meet him there to take care of her and take her to the doctor; if they decide it's okay for her to stay, I'll call the doctor and cancel the appointment. As I write this, I'm waiting on tenterhooks to find out which it will be.

All of which was a very boring journal entry, no doubt, but I'm kind of astonished, given that I got approximately four hours of sleep, that it's as coherent as it is.

--Liz