Just A Sweet Little Kid...

I intended to make this post a couple of days ago but after running the laptop's battery down to under an hour's charge, it was only plugged in for a few minutes when I saw the little orange LED go out... and smelled burning insulation. Sure enough, the base of the cable from the box to the laptop was badly frayed (when did that happen?!?) and the box was almost too hot to hold. I used my iPhone to place an online order for a new one & picked it up at the Apple Store the next day, then spent the rest of the day out of the house doing various things. Late that night I happily went to plug it in... and discovered I'd bought the wrong power adapter! I had to return to the Apple Store (on a weekend, ugh!) and exchange it for the correct model the next day, then spent several hours of "uncle duty" (AJ had to work again) before finally being able to use the laptop again.

This, of course, also interfered with returning the Pipsqueak's "phone" (actually a 4th generation iPod Touch) to her.  The refurbished unit I'd been so smug about saving money on back in December had quickly proved it had been refurbished for a very good reason... and by the time all was said & done, the brand-new iPod bought this past week only cost about $25 more than the highly defective "guaranteed" refurbished one I'd bought from an online reseller. (Kudos to NewEgg for a no-argument, no hassle quick refund.) Lesson learned -- but I was up ridiculously late Sunday night restoring the old iPod's identity & contents to the new unit, along with converting & loading almost a gigabyte of assorted Wiggles videos. Hopefully we'll get the new/old "phone" back to her this week.

But enough kvetching about faulty technology... Where's the "sweet little kid" I mentioned, you ask...?

Turn the clock back to early last week, when Grandma & Grandpa had picked Miri up from daycare and were heading back to their house with her. An ambulance passed them, apparently on its way back to its station from a nearby hospital, triggering an exchange that went a little like this (I got the story secondhand so there's a bit of paraphrasing, but it's as close to the actual conversation as I can make it -- plus the Pipsqueak's actual word is actually somewhere between "hopspital" and "hopsital"):

Grandma: Miri, did you see the ambulance?

Pipsqueak: Yes, Grandma.

G: Ambulances go to the hospital, don't they?

P: Yes, Grandma, but they don't stay there. They stay at the fire house, so people can call them when they need help

G: That's right!

P: You went to the hospital in an ambulance, right, Grandma?

G: That's right, Miri. When I fell I had to ride in the ambulance to the hospital so they could help me with my boo-boos.

P: I visited you in the hospital. Grandma. I gave you a kiss to make you feel better there.

G: Yes, you did, and that helped me feel lots better.

P: I like it when you feel better, Grandma. I glad you feel better!

G: Thank you, Miri! I do feel lots better now, and you helped.

P: I don't like when you in the hospital, Grandma. I can't be your Honey Bunny there!

This from the 3-1/2 year old who regularly makes sure Grandma takes her medicine as prescribed (Mom's still getting over a nasty weeks-long bout of some undetermined type of virus), tells her Grandma that she hopes she feels better soon, and will occasionally just stop whatever she's doing to walk over and gently & soothingly pat or rub Grandma's arm or knee before going back to her play. She also still reminds Grandma & Grandpa to be careful on the stairs, or when stepping off curbs, or when she things a "lug" (slug) may be lurking underfoot, telling them she doesn't want them to get hurt.

Like I said, just a sweet little kid. (More on that ellipsis in my next post.)