Migraines, a hematoma, rain, kids - all in the Marais...

I feel as though I'll ramble so here goes. But first: we are in Paris, we are in Paris, we are in Paris...I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Yes, la vie est belle but this week anywhere would have tried the last nerves of anyone. I am beginning to realize that Creed gets migraines. I really don't believe that it has anything to do with his VP shunts or shunt malfunction or even his vision. Ever since he could express pain in a fairly directed way, he has been able to tell me about his headaches. They don't come often but when they do, he wakes up writhing and crying in pain...no loud noise - not even cartoons for distraction. He wants darkness and then there's the vomiting. It happened after the night of July 4th: too little sleep, too many bonbons, rain & sun, Coca cola...who knows but I am trying to track it all. And then suddenly he'll vomit one last time - after about 3 hours - he'll declare that he's better. Was it yesterday that I slipped coming in from our lovely terrasse as I pulled in the laundry when it started to rain? Yes and as I cursed in two languages, my shin bled and developed a huge swollen hematoma that put me in bed with ice for the afternoon. The twins are angels and devils in disguise. They do wonderfully for several hours and then sink into whining, demanding, complaining little turds. I couldn't leave the appart for arnica or painkillers because that would have meant readying the kids and going down 5 flights. Creed is doing well with his French but I still don't trust an almost 7 yr old to go down into the streets of Paris to the pharmacie - even if we can see it from the terrasse. The rain comes and goes in buckets. The weather today was in the 60's. The kids at the park were a friendly lot and latched on to the twins, despite Zelda being quite disagreeable. After the initial meeting of a blind child and their reaction of "Oh, la pauvre!" (oh, the poor thing), I had them close their eyes and they each tried walking with her long white cane. They asked lots of questions and when I asked them if they lived in the "quartier", they said "Oui, le Marais." Yes, they live in the Marais...is that cool I asked them? "Ah oui", they shrugged, "0n a l'habitude." - "We're used to it"... So, we are in Paris, we are in Paris, we are in Paris...I think I am getting sick, freezing under the blankets, looking out over the rooftops...