Cordelia didn’t go to the pediatrician today. She seemed to be feeling better this morning, and the rash was already starting to diminish. After cross-referencing with other Web sites, books, and more experienced parents, we’re fairly sure she has roseola. Luckily, it’s a minor illness and the worst is over. I didn’t want to drag her out early in the morning, pay a $20 co-pay to take a walk-in spot at the doctor’s office just for them to confirm what we thought and tell us she’s nearly better. I’m sure after the long holiday weekend there were kids more sick than her who needed to be seen.

One clue that she’s feeling better is that she can protest louder once again. The kid has a knack for the dramatic (thanks to her actor daddy’s genes), and she can do the best banshee wail when needed. Last night we gave her a bath, and her performance was probably her best yet. Surely Oscar quality. She hates her bath, and it takes two people wrestling her to keep her 25 pound body in the bathtub and to clean her. Washing her hair is the worst – when you pour the rinse water on, she gets that wide-eyed Carrie look to her, like we just dumped blood on her pretty prom dress. Last night’s scream fest was particularly painful on the ears, complete with thrashing, throwing her head back, and locking her knees to prevent sitting down. I think I’d rather bathe all three of our cats, at the same time, than Cordy.

Looks like we’re planning a trip to the pediatrician early morning walk-in hours tomorrow. Cordy’s not-so-well feeling has now turned into a nearly full-body rash. Thank goodness I’m not the panicky mommy who would think she was suffering some incurable disease and take her to Children’s Hospital right away. My mom works in the medical field, so I have a bit of knowledge of things medical. And although I’m not a doctor, I do find my way to WebMD more often than most. I entered her symptoms, and I’m pretty sure it’s roseola.

According to the various sources out there, roseola starts out with a fever and a general out-of-sorts feeling for a few days. Then the fever breaks and the rash begins, on the torso mainly but sometimes spreading to the extremities. The rash can’t be treated, but luckily isn’t itchy. Apparently nearly all kids get this at some point before 4 years old.

Cordy’s friend Ben had roseola at the beginning of September, and we worried she would get it then. I have no idea how this particular bug snuck past our Purell defenses. At least if it is roseola, it will clear up soon and she’ll never get it again. I’ll update after tomorrow’s doctor’s visit.

Something about Cordelia hasn’t been right the past few days. While she’s still playing, and still throwing tantrums with just as much volume, it’s obvious to all who are close to her that something is off. On Wednesday, she took three – THREE – naps. Now, this is a child who barely takes one nap, so three immediately indicates that either she has been replaced by the fairies, or she’s not feeling well.

Other signs have been more subtle. She’s wanted to cuddle more, and while I enjoy this cuddle time, I know her status quo is normally on par with a Hell’s Angels biker in her desire to be clingy and close. She’s also gone from (non-parents, skip the remainder of this sentence and proceed to the next paragraph) hard, well-formed poop to some substance resembling peanut butter in appearance and a decomposing rodent in scent.

The verdict is that we believe she has a “virus”. What that bug is, we don’t know. This to me is one of the hardest parts of parenting. It’s clear my little girl is out-of-sorts, but we don’t really know what’s wrong and worse, we aren’t sure what to do to help her. She can’t talk yet beyond a few words, so she has no way of communicating her woes to us. She doesn’t seem ill enough to waste a trip to the emergency room or urgent care. Anyone else have a child suffer from what can best be described as a mediocre virus? How do you know when it’s time to pester the pediatrician?

Today was Black Friday, when people everywhere give in to commercialism to venture out into the cold and pre-dawn morning, while trying to push and shove and trample their fellow human beings, all for a good deal. Yep, we did it too. I’ll admit, even I can have sheep mentality sometimes (but only for a good deal, honest! Poor folks can’t pass up $6 DVD’s!).

We started yesterday by buying a paper and grabbing the ads (News? Who cares what’s going on in the world – there’s shopping to be had!). We planned our shopping trips and made our lists.

Aaron’s scores for the day:

Kodak photo printer, at Target, so my mom can finally have copies of all the digital pics I take of her granddaughter. He also grabbed a game for Aaron’s brother and a DVD for us.

Then he fought his way over to Wal-Mart, where the first rush had already passed, and picked up two Little People sets for $10 a piece! Yay for cheap toys!

After he came back, I braved the cold for a trip to Old Navy. While I found a lot of great $10 deals, I wasn’t as lucky as Aaron with the crowds. I waited in line to checkout for one hour and fifteen minutes. Yep, I typed that correctly, one hour and fifteen minutes. The line went around the entire store.

Want proof? Here’s my position in line, 45 minutes into it. Notice the light at the end of the line? That’s the exit, and the checkout.

Good deals? Yep. Crazy? Hell yeah.