More Thankful

My Thanksgiving was nice, yadda yadda.

But I would be more thankful if my entire family was not under the weather. Both girls are on antibiotics. In the last week we have paid four $25 copays at the pediatricians office:

• Monday: LP's one year check up and confirmation of an ear infection. Add to this the $30 for the antibiotic that is penicillin free and therefore not in the "cheap tier" of our insurance.
• Friday: AK doesn't like to sleep when she can't breathe through her nose. Mommy was hoping to learn about some relief for her - alas, they only recommended saline for her nose. And to call back if her fever went over 101.
• Saturday: Follow-up for both girls. LP's ear infection is gone. AK now has one. Everyone still has the snots. But you try and get a 2 year old to take fake grape flavored Dimetap. That stuff is nasty!

Oh, and no doctor appointment needed to confirm that mommy is suffering from a serious bout of the sniffles and exhaustion.

Giving Thanks

Let's keep it simple.

I am thankful for...

• My two beautiful, healthy, happy daughters;
• The Hoos, a wonderful father and husband;
• The fact that the Hoos and I both have jobs;
• The roof over our heads, in the form of our cute little house;
• The health and love of our family and friends;
• New babies (congrats to our neighbors who welcomed a daughter yesterday);
• Silly projects involving construction paper, tape and hole reinforcement stickers;
• Comfortable shoes and pants that don't need to be shortened;
• MickeyD's Sweet Tea;
• My cleaning lady, Gabby; and, finally
• Each and every hug, kiss, and peal of laughter from my girls.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Time For Everything

On Friday I got an automated call from the girls' pediatrician reminding me about an appointment for LP today (Monday) at 9am. I stared at the phone in disbelief. Why would LP have an appointment? She was 2.5, I didn't think she had another appointment until her three year...It didn't make sense to me and I did not remember making the appointment. I called the Hoos and asked if he had made a follow up appointment when he brought LP in for her black eyes (from getting kicked in the head by the teacher a few weeks ago). He said no.

When I called the pediatrician's office for details they told me it was her 2.5 year check-up. Alrighty then...

Turns out I made the appointment on May 30, two days before AK arrived, at LP's two year check up. This is the first time I have ever forgotten an appointment I made for LP or AK.Hopefully we can just chalk this up to pregnancy brain.

In other firsts...

1. AK SLEPT FROM 8:30PM UNTIL 6:30AM LAST NIGHT!!
2. I am home alone with LP today for the first time since having AK. AK is at day care. I am happy to have time with my big girl, but am definitely missing my baby.
3. LP wore undies all morning on Saturday (and today). Even to run errands. She stayed dry. I think she must be a camel, since she never peed on the potty, despite pretending to try. I put pull-ups on for her 1pm nap and she woke up with it soaked. At least we know she has bladder control.

A Retrospective

Six weeks ago I finally finished compiling all of my blog entries for 2007 into a Blog Book, a project I thought I could start and finish during my maternity leave. I printed a couple of copies and had them cut and spiral bound at my local FedEx Office (the location formerly known as Kinkos). It ended up being a grand total of 218 5x7 pages. And it seemed to take damn near forever to put together. Mostly because on a blog you see the most current entry first, so I had to do a lot of copying and pasting to get them into the correct order. Regardless, I am quite happy with how it came out. If you want more info or want to me to email you a pdf of the final, let me know.

The most interesting thing about doing this was rereading postings from months ago. It was also weird to realize that my little AK wasn't mentioned at all last year - until about mid-November when I let on that I was pregnant. There is not one single picture of her cute little mug in the entire 2007 book - not even an ultrasound. Without the blog I wouldn't even have remembered life without her.

I am now working on my 2008 collection. And yesterday I realized that the first time LP peed on the potty was January 7, 2008. 11 months later and she still pretty much refuses to use the potty at home. Yesterday she peed in her underwear twice, or as she proudly tells people, "I peed on myself two times."

Jack Bauer Style

Back in the day, the Hoos and I were avid fans of 24. After a few seasons of watching Jack Bauer, we became addicted to Lost. Shortly thereafter we decided that one high-stress show full of cliff-hangers was all one person could stand. Needless to say, 24 fell off of our viewing radar.

However, I think AK must have gotten copies of the DVDs or something because the kid is TORTURING me (for those of you that never watched 24, the show is all about finding new ways to torture and be tortured by the protagonist, Jack Bauer, portrayed by Keifer Sutherland). She is the cutest, sweetest, most lovable little bunny munchkin. And she looks like an angel when she is sleeping. Heck, she even looks like an angel when she wakes up every 2.5-3 hours.

Last night she woke up at 1...and 4...and 6.

Sure, she doesn't cry at these times. She just kind of calls for me loudly. And when I go into her room it is incredibly adorable to see her fuzzy little head, just visible behind the bumper, telescoping around looking for me. And I wouldn't trade her and her sweetness during the day for anything. Not even some extra sleep...okay, maybe for a day...

Ummm...No

Once again AK's teacher asked me, "Do you have faster nipples at home?" And I knew that the lack of sleep was getting to me when I almost responded without thinking that they are the same speed no matter where I am.

On a positive note, when I walked into AK's class to pick her up yesterday she looked up as I opened the door and broke out into a huge grin and started laughing her deep, wonderful belly laugh. It was awesome to be recognized.

And finally, because what would a day be without a funny LP story - last night as I gave both girls a bath, I found myself saying words I never thought I would, "You don't touch another girl's [privates]."

Turning a Blind Eye

On Friday I confirmed with an optometrist that I had broken blood vessels in my left eye and while it looked nasty, there was no deeper problem. It would take two to three weeks to heal and would likely look worse before it looked better as gravity pulled the pooled blood down from the top of my eye, where it was mostly hidden by my eyelid, to the lower part of my eye.

Amazingly, my children have not noticed my condition. I know this because, first of all, no two and a half year old is polite enough to ignore it. Heck, most adults I encounter are not polite enough to ignore it, looking at me and gasping, "What happened to your eye?!"

Secondly, LP is a very empathetic person. If she sees a boo-boo, no matter how old or how nasty, she wants to kiss it. She gets upset if you don't let her kiss it. I am pretty sure that she would be kissing my eyelid every ten seconds if she had observed the injury.

As for AK, the only thing she has noticed is that I have been wearing my glasses. She frequently likes to reach up and tear them off of my head.

Today is the first day I am wearing my contacts since breaking the vessels and I am thrilled. I am realizing, however, that the glasses to some degree obscured my eye and either it looks more disgusting than ever, or I work with some pretty tactless people. Hmm...a toss up.

Delicious

FYI

The information on the girls' Daily Sheets from day care, when accurate, has the potential to be really useful.

For instance, last week when AK's sheet said that she had only drank 2.5 ounces of milk all day (while chowing down her solids), I was sufficiently warned that it would be a rough night full of feedings so that AK could make up for lost calories.

And, when LP's sheet calls out NO NAP, I know that there is a good chance that the next few hours will be not-so-pleasant for the entire family.

However, there are occasions when I am not really sure what to make of the notes on the sheet. Yesterday LP's sheet said:

During nap time [LP] likes to sit on her cot and take off her shoes and socks even though we tell her to keep them on in case of a fire drill.

I am not sure if they are passing on an anecdote or if I am supposed to try to have a conversation with LP about keeping her shoes on. I do talk to her several times a week about using her listening ears and hearing her teachers' words, but should I be specifically talking to her about her footwear?

AK also had an interesting note yesterday:

[AK] has a rattle in her chest.

This note was also accompanied by a phone call. When Miss Louise spoke to me I asked if AK was coughing or in any sort of distress and she said that my little fuzzyhead was smiling and laughing and having a good time, although her nose ran occasionally. Am I a bad mom because I am trying to pick up cues from her actions instead of her chest? Should I be rushing her to the doctor?

In addition to trying to decipher the daily sheets, I have the distinct pleasure of having burst blood vessels in my eye again. This totally sucks and makes me feel really yucky. I cursed audibly when I noticed it in the mirror while brushing my teeth last night.

These Made Me Laugh

Linda at All & Sundry posted some poems about motherhood. I was cracking up at my desk. I highly recommend checking them out. A sampling:

If you stop that screaming
I will pay you
Eleventy jillion dollars.
Really I promise
Here is a check.
_ _ _ _ _ _

Stop! Stop! Stop!
I do not like this game.
Where you pretend to be a thrashing alligator
and you are naked. On the changing table.
And I am some lady trying to put a diaper on an alligator.
Alligators don’t wear diapers.
Or was that your point?