March 15

Brady got up this morning and seemed much better, so after I took his temp (which was normal) and he assured me that he felt okay, I gave him a dose of Tylenol and took him to school. He just happened to have his annual well-check this afternoon, so I figured the doctor could take a look then. Long story shorter, that's what we did, and he does indeed have a raging double ear infection, complete with a perforated eardrum. But that silly health detail couldn't throttle his energy.

After we left the office (and after I'd gotten him some ice cream, since little dude is apparently long and lean to the degree that he's significantly underweight like his bigger bro), we stopped briefly at the playground by the school while we waited for Isaac to be released. He climbed right up onto the play structure and grinned as he pretended he was surfing some big-time waves. Just to create a point/counterpoint situation here, I'll admit that the last time I had an ear infection --probably five or six years ago, and just in one ear-- I laid on the bed in my room and pressed my face into the pillow so no one would hear me screaming in agony.

My kids are incredibly resilient people. I watched Logan suffer tremendous pain, yet he still soldiered onward with heart, tenacity, and a mental toughness well beyond his five years until his physical body could no longer manage the fight. Then I watched his siblings cope with the aftermath; with emotional pain and a pair of exhausted parents and a whole slew of challenges that I'm not sure I could've survived when I was a child. They're incredible people, and all four of them inspire me to do better and try harder every day.