Pedialyte Brown

Will has a certain infatuation with Pedialyte popsicles. It was a love affair that began after a hospitalization. At about 15 months old, Will acquired a particularly nasty case of rotavirus and try as we might to force feed him the regular liquid Pedialyte (we used syringes to no avail), he wound up dehydrated enough that our pediatrician at the time decided he needed to get IV fluids. Unfortunately it wasn’t until he was recovering in the hospital that we learned about Pedialyte popsicles, which he would have happily sucked on for hours on end.

For a long time, he loved the things even though he obviously had them very rarely. On one occasion when Owen had a diarrhea bug and got to suck on a Pedialyte popsicle, Will envied Owen so much that he voiced his yearning for a bad case of diarrhea himself. All so he could suck on some icy Pedialyte.

Lately I haven’t heard him pining for Pedialyte popsicles, but apparently he’s still got them on the brain. Tonight as he tried to recall the name of the fictional hero Encyclopedia Brown – he found a fitting replacement (for Will at least) for that cumbersome “encyclopedia” word.

“Mom, we should read more chapter books,” he said as I came to say good night while Rob read a chapter book to him on the couch. “Remember that Pedialyte Brown book, dad? We should read that one.”

Rob and I just laughed.

I am looking forward to reading more chapter books with Will, even if we don’t ever get to dive into the mysteries facing young Pedialyte Brown. Lately that enviable "chore" of chapter-book reading has fallen to Rob, while I’m getting Owen to bed. Will and I tend to read shorter tales in the afternoon while Owen’s napping, but I’d like to get to dig into a longer book with him again soon.