Sick and spooked

Last night Owen came down with a cold that he must have picked up somewhere along our journey. It’s the usual runny nose mixed in with regular bouts of fussiness that are so out-of-character for our little laid-back guy. In his fragile state he decided he was frightened of my sweet 90-year-old grandmother, who he hasn’t seen since Christmas. Yesterday every time he looked at GG (our nickname for great grandma) he’d pinch up his face and burst into tears. At the dinner table my mother started playing a little GG peekaboo game: When Owen started crying my mom would put a cloth napkin over GG’s face, we’d say “Where’s GG?” and the tears would instantly stop. She’d remove the napkin, reveal a sweet, smiling GG -- and there came the tears. It was just plain terrible but also terribly funny. Today fragile Owen has had a bit more sleep and is slowly warming up to GG again. He almost blew her a kiss before his nap. And then at dinnertime he started stealing glances at her and crying inconsolably again.