Poor Little Sick-o's

My poor little babies have been sick the last couple of days. Olivia is making a bad habit of getting sick on special occasions--last time it was when everyone was here for her birthday; this time she woke up with aches and a fever Friday morning--the day of David's surprise birthday party with friends. I kept holding out hope that it was a fluke of a morning and she would be fully recovered by the afternoon. My hopes were high through the morning, because after the ibuprofen kicked in her fever went down and she was acting like herself, but by early afternoon she fell asleep on the couch--not normal. She woke up with a fever again, so I painfully decided to cancel the party--turns out David would have been totally surprised, too! Oh well. It has been a roller coaster with her since then, but nothing more than a fever and a bit of a cough--I couldn't figure out what the actual sickness was going to turn out to be--then Aubrey figured it out for us last night.
A little before midnight she threw up all over her bed (of course--I just washed her bedding that day :) So I stripped her down and threw her in the bathtub, put the icky laundry in to wash, replaced her sheet with another, washed her up, wrapped her in a towel, and after about two seconds of cuddles she was asleep on my lap in the towel. So I put new jammies on the sleepy little peanut, checked her temp, which was high, woke her up to give her medicine, and left her to sleep. By then I couldn't sleep, so I waited til about 1:00 for my brain to finally shut down. Aubrey threw up once again early this morning, went back to sleep, and then when she woke up she acted just fine and insisted, "I not sick anymore, Mommy! I drink my medicine!" Now, after eating a few bites of breakfast she is cuddled on my lap while I type, and I have to wonder--
Is it just me, or are everyone's kids a whole lot cuter and sweeter when they are sick? My girls are normally pretty busy, especially Olivia, and she is also rather fiesty. But when she is sick, she sleeps a lot, cuddles a lot, and when she asks for things she isn't demanding as usual--her tone is soft and sweet and oh so vulnerable. Like when I was trying to decide whether to cancel the party and she said simply and sweetly, "Mommy--will you just come and sit with me? Please?" It melted my heart! And ever since I tried to explain to Aubrey that I couldn't share her drink because of germs, she has been reassuring me that she doesn't eat worms---they are yucky, and I shouldn't eat worms either. Maybe it is also my perception of my kids that changes when they are sick--that vulnerability makes me feel needed and imporant--selfish, but true.

So for whatever reason the girls seem more adorable than normal, I have decided it is definitely a blessing--if not for the extra cuteness, a mom might not be able to handle waking up 5 times a night or getting puked on or washing the bedding two days in a row, heaven forbid. Just don't ask me what I think about it when they get better and I get sick, because that is a whole different dynamic which usually does not turn out so well. For now I guess I will just enjoy the cuddles.