The chief end of children is to prove their parents wrong and enjoy it forever.

Because Asher is completely fine. As in, the boy was literally climbing up the baseboards yesterday, trying to climb the WALLS. I guess Emily was right - he probably did get sicker when he was younger because of his allergies, and the medicine regime last spring worked, so now a runny nose really can just be a runny nose. YAY AND HOORAY.

However.

Silas, bless his little snotty nose, is still really congested, and hasn't slept well the past two nights. My big concern about taking him to Nashville is sleep, because he is capable of flat-out refusing it, at all. When Asher was his age, eventually he would give up the fight, regardless of how averse the moment was to his particular sleep preferences. Not Silas. He hasn't moved from bassinet to crib because he won't do it. He loves to play in his crib, but will not sleep in it. Will Not. We spent an entire day with no nap for twelve hours, because he refused to sleep in his "new" bed. He has even been known to refuse to sleep at his Grandma's, who is the baby whisperer, for those who don't know. Every baby loves to sleep on her, every time, without fail, always. Not Silas - he will now, because her super baby-soothing powers eventually won him over, but it was not without several miserable visits first. And that's when he's healthy. So this is my concern - not that he won't sleep as well, but that he won't sleep AT ALL, and I'll endure five hours in a car with one sick baby and one bored toddler only to spend the rehearsal dinner and wedding at Mikkee's house, failing to console a sick, overtired, and apparently stubborn Silas.

Boo.

So it looks at this moment as though only Asher and Brian are going to Nashville this weekend - Brian for Valerie's wedding, and Asher to see Mikkee for a few days. While I'm so SO sad to think of missing Valerie's wedding, I also see the silver lining. Asher gets very little opportunity to spend time alone with Mikkee, and they both will enjoy that very much. I get very little alone time with Silas, sick or not. And Valerie gets to have a wedding without a screaming infant in the background. Everyone wins.

Even so, Valerie, I am sure it will be beautiful and fun and meaningful, and I'll hear stories and see pictures for the next ten years, and inevitably someone will say, "How did Valerie get married and Elizabeth and Stephanie weren't there?" And someone else will say, "Elizabeth was in Hong Kong and Stephanie ... wasn't one of her kids sick?" and I'll always wish I could have been there this weekend. (I did find a dress, in case anyone was wondering. I have the most generous neighbor, really - every time I see her she's in the middle of doing something for someone else. She read my post of desperation and had a dress I could borrow, and it's so cute and not at all like someone's picture day mistake). But you'll get married without me, and I'll look forward to pictures and stories, just the same.