tears

A long time ago, when The Babe was a little over 2 years old, she needed to have an echo-cardiogram done at the cardiologist. Because of her age, they believed she would need to be sedated, as the procedure requires the patient to lie very still. Well, part of the sedation process is that the patient is not allowed any food for 12 hours prior, and no liquid besides water for 4 hours prior (I think.... I can't remember exactly.... it's a long time ago now, hush). The cardiologist's office tried to give us an early appointment, so that most of The Babe's fasting would happen while she slept, but I remember it wasn't early enough.

The Babe was so distraught at her lack of food and milk that she cried. A lot. I was about 17 months pregnant with The Boy at this point, stretched to my limit both physically and emotionally, and the sight of my sweet daughter crying for food was enough to push me over the edge. She was sobbing, and over and over again all she could say was "Look at this wet face, Mommy. Look at this wet face". It broke my heart at the time, but now I remember it as one of the funniest things she's ever said to me. She was just figuring out her tears, and boy, did she have a lot of them that day. It's so sweet to watch them learn, even if the situation seems dire at the time (sidenote: they did not even end up sedating her for the procdure that day. My little angel lay perfectly still for the doctors. They were very impressed. Oh, and we took her to Toys R Us right afterwards and told her she could pick whatever bear she wanted, LOL).

So today, The Boy is coming to the same recognition of his tears. I'm surprised it has taken him so long, because The Boy cries a lot. He was crying over something silly, like whether or not I was trying to poison him with that awfully suspicious grilled cheese sandwich I placed in front of him for lunch. I left him at the table, and when I came back a minute later he was very calm, but very aware of his "wet face".

The Boy: What's that, mommy?
Me: Those are tears. You've been crying.
The Boy: My raining?
Me: (trying not to laugh) No, not raining, crying.
The Boy: Right. My raining. My rain. From eyes.

Almost adorable enough for me to forget that the whole thing started because he didn't want to eat lunch.