Yes, it really snowed a lot, so it was a good thing school was canceled. The day was not too bad, considering. I got up when Sofia awoke (around 7:30). Micah watched TV, Sam was drawing and bouncing around the living room.
Sam went outside mid-morning, and then I got up the energy to go attempt to clear the driveway. I did manage to use the snowblower for the top, flat part, but then the darn thing kept clogging. I called over my neighbor, who had just finished his driveway, to help me unclog it (I've never used the snowblower before!). He ended up using his snowblower to do our driveway - MUCH THANKS!!!!
The only thing that would ever get Micah to go outside to play was the temptation of playing with the 11 year old next door. My boys both adore A. So the three of them played outside for a while (I went in when they came out, so Sofia did not have the run of the house!). Then they all came here and played. After lunch, Sam and A. played guitar - they have both just started taking lessons - and apparently they made up a song!
Sofia watched an awful lot of Signing Times videos, but she now can sign several days of the week! I spent about an hour on the phone with the caterer for the Shabbaton dinner on the 25th. Oh, and I booked our spa appointments in Florida! Yeah!
Not much of a day, really. I didn't have a lot for dinner; Micah's tummy is still bothering him (we've decided "Mr. Creepy" is the name of the 'bug' in his tummy that's making him poop so much). Sofia only got halfway out of pajamas - I put her in tights, but left her pj shirt on.
At one point, I was reading, and Sofia brought her "Where's Chimpy" book over and started reading it to me. She would point to the pictures and tell me various things in them! It's totally her favorite book right now. Very very cute to watch her looking at it. (I just wrote a thank you letter to the author - of course, the book was written 20 years ago!)
Just got a link to this terrific story: Meanest Mom on the Planet
Ok, time to pack, and NOT stay ont he computer all night!
The creative offerings of my “Next Chapter” now that most of the kids are out of the house and my career of 20+ years has changed. Formerly the ramblings of a mommy whose brain was distorted by dealing with her two wild pirates and her banshee princess, their stressed-out daddy, and a variety of special needs.
Monday, January 14, 2008
I should probably go to sleep already
It's 1:15 in the morning, and I've just spent the past 2 hours catching up on all the blogs in my blog-roll. There are some really stupendous writers out there, and far too many people going through unbelievably bad things with amazing grace and courage.
The boys and I cuddled into my bed and watched a silly movie on Lifetime until about 10:25. Micah kept saying he was bored, Sam kept yawning. So I finally said it was time to go to bed. "But we're totally not tired."
I said, "I'll sing, and I bet you'll be asleep in 3 minutes."
Micah: "Ok, but I'm totally not tired!"
10:27, I started singing.
10:30, Micah was softly snoring. (Ha! 3 minutes flat!). Sam murmured "I'm not tired" before snoring.
So I cleaned out the humidifiers (burned my leg by dropping Sofia's unit and splashing my leg with hot water!), and have been reading blogs. There are so many, but especially of note (and in NO particular order):
I really MUST try to go to sleep now (but I'm totally not tired!).
The boys and I cuddled into my bed and watched a silly movie on Lifetime until about 10:25. Micah kept saying he was bored, Sam kept yawning. So I finally said it was time to go to bed. "But we're totally not tired."
I said, "I'll sing, and I bet you'll be asleep in 3 minutes."
Micah: "Ok, but I'm totally not tired!"
10:27, I started singing.
10:30, Micah was softly snoring. (Ha! 3 minutes flat!). Sam murmured "I'm not tired" before snoring.
So I cleaned out the humidifiers (burned my leg by dropping Sofia's unit and splashing my leg with hot water!), and have been reading blogs. There are so many, but especially of note (and in NO particular order):
- Narrow Ridge (Tom's blog)
- All 4 My Gals (Nicole's blog)
- Unlimited (Kei's blog)
- Chewing the Fat (Dave H's blog)
- Rhett's Journey (Pam's blog)
I really MUST try to go to sleep now (but I'm totally not tired!).
Sunday, January 13, 2008
This should be interesting
I'm going to try to blog while the boys are still awake...and bouncing around my room. Hmmmm.
School has already been canceled for tomorrow. We are expecting about 12" of snow. Yeah. And David is on his way to El Paso TX. Which means I will be home, alone, with all three kids, all day. And our driveway. Yeah.
So right now, it's 90 minutes past their bedtime, but I'm letting the boys continue to bounce, in hopes that they'll be slightly subdued tomorrow morning. (Yeah, who am I kidding?)
I've had a migraine for days, my normal January migraine due to the weather pressure.
Today, I (bravely? insanely?) took my three kids plus one extra (Sam's friend J) to Chuckie Cheese for two hours. I have to say, once you get past the noise and the cost (fortunately, J's mom gave me coupons), it's really a perfect place, because all the kids and parents get their hands stamped upon entry, and you have to leave WITH the correct group! So I can find a table, and worry about following Sofia around, and not worry about the boys. Micah plants himself in front of the Star Wars game or a driving game, and doesn't care about tickets. Sam is on a mission for tickets. We had a pizza (ok, the boys each had one skinny slice, Miss Sofia had three!) and lots of soda (free refills). Then we took J back to our house.
I set up the soccer goal that my MIL got the boys for Hanukah, so the three kids played outside for a while, then we went in and they watched TV. J's mom (a friend of mine) and sister came to pick him up and ended up staying for dinner, which was a lot of fun.
Then Miss Sofia stripped naked (in the living room) and headed directly for the bathtub. So I had her in there for over 30 minutes (Sam joined her). She went right to bed after that.
I braided Sam's hair just like Sofia's...
Ok, both boys are "bored - and not even close to tired." What should they do? Hmmmm...
Friday night was a really nice dinner with just the 5 of us. Saturday, we actually made it to shul, and it was nice. Afternoon, the kids and I were playing outside for a while, then David took the boys to a science program at the library while I took Sofia for a walk. She promptly fell asleep, so I put her in the crib and spent 2 whole hours cleaning out my basement! Amazing.
We took the kids to the local restaurant for dinner. The staff there always comments on how well behaved they are, and David and I are always amazed, because we think they are wild. But I'm glad other people think they are good.
Oh, my neighbor let us borrow their old Ketler trike for Sofia. I've been saving up Pampers points for 3 years, trying to get this thing! She loves it.
Wish me luck tomorrow! And I'll have to figure out how to clean off the driveway. Oh no!
School has already been canceled for tomorrow. We are expecting about 12" of snow. Yeah. And David is on his way to El Paso TX. Which means I will be home, alone, with all three kids, all day. And our driveway. Yeah.
So right now, it's 90 minutes past their bedtime, but I'm letting the boys continue to bounce, in hopes that they'll be slightly subdued tomorrow morning. (Yeah, who am I kidding?)
I've had a migraine for days, my normal January migraine due to the weather pressure.
Today, I (bravely? insanely?) took my three kids plus one extra (Sam's friend J) to Chuckie Cheese for two hours. I have to say, once you get past the noise and the cost (fortunately, J's mom gave me coupons), it's really a perfect place, because all the kids and parents get their hands stamped upon entry, and you have to leave WITH the correct group! So I can find a table, and worry about following Sofia around, and not worry about the boys. Micah plants himself in front of the Star Wars game or a driving game, and doesn't care about tickets. Sam is on a mission for tickets. We had a pizza (ok, the boys each had one skinny slice, Miss Sofia had three!) and lots of soda (free refills). Then we took J back to our house.
I set up the soccer goal that my MIL got the boys for Hanukah, so the three kids played outside for a while, then we went in and they watched TV. J's mom (a friend of mine) and sister came to pick him up and ended up staying for dinner, which was a lot of fun.
Then Miss Sofia stripped naked (in the living room) and headed directly for the bathtub. So I had her in there for over 30 minutes (Sam joined her). She went right to bed after that.
I braided Sam's hair just like Sofia's...
Ok, both boys are "bored - and not even close to tired." What should they do? Hmmmm...
Friday night was a really nice dinner with just the 5 of us. Saturday, we actually made it to shul, and it was nice. Afternoon, the kids and I were playing outside for a while, then David took the boys to a science program at the library while I took Sofia for a walk. She promptly fell asleep, so I put her in the crib and spent 2 whole hours cleaning out my basement! Amazing.
We took the kids to the local restaurant for dinner. The staff there always comments on how well behaved they are, and David and I are always amazed, because we think they are wild. But I'm glad other people think they are good.
Oh, my neighbor let us borrow their old Ketler trike for Sofia. I've been saving up Pampers points for 3 years, trying to get this thing! She loves it.
Wish me luck tomorrow! And I'll have to figure out how to clean off the driveway. Oh no!
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Need to Blog
I know, it's been a few days. Busy days, filled with the "normal" routine of our lives. But now it's the end of the week, and I can take a little (tiny) break. So here are the highlights of the week.
The nicest thing said to me this week: On Wednesday, I left Sofia home with E when I picked up the boys (and saw my therapist!). It was a beautiful day - we've had really warm weather all week - so I had another mom watch Micah on the playground while I drove Sam to his therapist (yup, Wednesday is Therapy Day). It is rare that Sam and I get to be alone in the car, and he is almost always much more relaxed and sweet (because there is no one taking my attention away!).
He was talking about chorus (the kids in 2nd grade and higher almost all sing in the Makelha choir at the school), and about some upcoming concerts (they occasionally go to nursing homes and things like that). He asked if I would be there, and I asked if he wanted me to be there.
He said yes, he likes it when I am at his concerts. "It's like you're always there for me. You hold me up." It was such a sweet thing, brought tears to my eyes!
The "just stop going to meetings" moment:
In two weeks, we are having the day school Shabbaton, which means we will all be together (students, family, staff) for Friday night services and dinner and Saturday morning services and lunch, and it's going to be at our shul this year (the shuls are taking turns hosting us).
So Thursday, they finally got around to having a meeting for all the parents who go to our shul. And somehow I ended up co-chairing the Friday night dinner!
Just kick me if I try to go to a meeting, will ya?!
The "hm, this is different" moment:
We have started Sofia's IEP evaluations. On Wednesday, the Inclusion Specialist observed her at playgroup, and today I took her over to the Speech Therapist, whose office is at the town's kindergarten building. Of course, both ladies were very impressed with Sofia's abilities, and the speech therapist is going to recommend at least 3 days a week in the inclusion program, with both one-on-one and in-class time for speech.
But here was the weird part. We have made this commitment to sending our kids to Jewish Day School. We have bought into the rhetoric about day school education, about pride in this choice. In some ways (which can cause plenty of problems, but that's another issue), the day school kids are "special" in the community.
But here I was, going into the Public school, and not only was I lost, I sort of felt as if I had done something wrong by sending my kids to "private" school.
No one said anything derogatory, everyone was very nice. But when she asked about Sofia's brothers, I was suddenly struck with the self-imposed "difference".
This is going to be an odd experience for me, sending Sofia to the public preschool program. I am going to try to remain calm and open-minded, especially since I do think the teachers and staff are really wonderful and it's totally the right program for her right now.
But it was odd to be in the situation of not feeling admired for the day-school choice.
The Don Corleone week:
I did take Micah to the pediatrician on Monday (the warning lights on my car went off about a mile after I left the house in the morning, so I cancelled the Toyota appointment). She couldn't find anything specifically wrong with him, and we think it's a virus.
He's still fighting it. The hives have gotten better. I give him Benadryl every night at bedtime, and he's taken a few oatmeal baths. But his mood swings are INTENSE. He goes from bouncing off the wall happy to screamin furiously for no particular reason, without any warning.
The poor kid is really uncomfortable, but wow, when he gets angry, it's something to behold. And he's very conscious of his body. The other day, his arm must have fallen asleep, because he complained to the teacher. She (about to go out for gall bladder surgery, and really not feeling great herself) let him go to the school "nurse" (really, she's the Office Administrator; we have a nurse on-call). R let him hang out on her cot for a while. Then he complained that his elbow felt like a hammer was pounding inside.
His vocabulary is great; he is very descriptive. And VERY serious!
The "he's losing his marbles" week:
Poor David is overworked, stressed beyond belief, still sick (taking the leftover Amoxicillin he found in the closet, which is helping). He comes home very late every night, and this week has had to leave very early several times for 7:30 programs. He had an annoying time at the Partners' Annual Meeting yesterday, so that just added to the stress.
I don't know how to help him, other than trying not to bother him with house and family issues. But at the same time, I don't want him to feel excluded.
The Signing Times addict:
My mother-in-law ordered Sofia three new Signing Times videos, and they arrived yesterday. Miss Sofia is a complete addict! All she wants to do is watch "aLLLLLLLLL" and eat. (oh, and now she's unplugging the Nintendo...)
I have to figure out whether any of the Signing Times videos really focus on potty training! (She's gotten much more enthusiastic about that, by the way. Now, when we suggest it, she goes straight to the bathroom, and picks the seat up to put it on the toilet.)
The Bath Toddler:
She's also a bath addict. Yesterday, I gave her a bath. Then I got her into pajamas, and Sam got into the bath. As soon as she saw that, she took off pajamas and diaper and wanted to get back in the bath. When I told her no, she screamed in fury.
When Sam was done, Micah took a bath; again, Sofia stripped and wanted in. Oh, she was sooooo angry at me! Mean Mommy!
The nicest thing said to me this week: On Wednesday, I left Sofia home with E when I picked up the boys (and saw my therapist!). It was a beautiful day - we've had really warm weather all week - so I had another mom watch Micah on the playground while I drove Sam to his therapist (yup, Wednesday is Therapy Day). It is rare that Sam and I get to be alone in the car, and he is almost always much more relaxed and sweet (because there is no one taking my attention away!).
He was talking about chorus (the kids in 2nd grade and higher almost all sing in the Makelha choir at the school), and about some upcoming concerts (they occasionally go to nursing homes and things like that). He asked if I would be there, and I asked if he wanted me to be there.
He said yes, he likes it when I am at his concerts. "It's like you're always there for me. You hold me up." It was such a sweet thing, brought tears to my eyes!
The "just stop going to meetings" moment:
In two weeks, we are having the day school Shabbaton, which means we will all be together (students, family, staff) for Friday night services and dinner and Saturday morning services and lunch, and it's going to be at our shul this year (the shuls are taking turns hosting us).
So Thursday, they finally got around to having a meeting for all the parents who go to our shul. And somehow I ended up co-chairing the Friday night dinner!
Just kick me if I try to go to a meeting, will ya?!
The "hm, this is different" moment:
We have started Sofia's IEP evaluations. On Wednesday, the Inclusion Specialist observed her at playgroup, and today I took her over to the Speech Therapist, whose office is at the town's kindergarten building. Of course, both ladies were very impressed with Sofia's abilities, and the speech therapist is going to recommend at least 3 days a week in the inclusion program, with both one-on-one and in-class time for speech.
But here was the weird part. We have made this commitment to sending our kids to Jewish Day School. We have bought into the rhetoric about day school education, about pride in this choice. In some ways (which can cause plenty of problems, but that's another issue), the day school kids are "special" in the community.
But here I was, going into the Public school, and not only was I lost, I sort of felt as if I had done something wrong by sending my kids to "private" school.
No one said anything derogatory, everyone was very nice. But when she asked about Sofia's brothers, I was suddenly struck with the self-imposed "difference".
This is going to be an odd experience for me, sending Sofia to the public preschool program. I am going to try to remain calm and open-minded, especially since I do think the teachers and staff are really wonderful and it's totally the right program for her right now.
But it was odd to be in the situation of not feeling admired for the day-school choice.
The Don Corleone week:
I did take Micah to the pediatrician on Monday (the warning lights on my car went off about a mile after I left the house in the morning, so I cancelled the Toyota appointment). She couldn't find anything specifically wrong with him, and we think it's a virus.
He's still fighting it. The hives have gotten better. I give him Benadryl every night at bedtime, and he's taken a few oatmeal baths. But his mood swings are INTENSE. He goes from bouncing off the wall happy to screamin furiously for no particular reason, without any warning.
The poor kid is really uncomfortable, but wow, when he gets angry, it's something to behold. And he's very conscious of his body. The other day, his arm must have fallen asleep, because he complained to the teacher. She (about to go out for gall bladder surgery, and really not feeling great herself) let him go to the school "nurse" (really, she's the Office Administrator; we have a nurse on-call). R let him hang out on her cot for a while. Then he complained that his elbow felt like a hammer was pounding inside.
His vocabulary is great; he is very descriptive. And VERY serious!
The "he's losing his marbles" week:
Poor David is overworked, stressed beyond belief, still sick (taking the leftover Amoxicillin he found in the closet, which is helping). He comes home very late every night, and this week has had to leave very early several times for 7:30 programs. He had an annoying time at the Partners' Annual Meeting yesterday, so that just added to the stress.
I don't know how to help him, other than trying not to bother him with house and family issues. But at the same time, I don't want him to feel excluded.
The Signing Times addict:
My mother-in-law ordered Sofia three new Signing Times videos, and they arrived yesterday. Miss Sofia is a complete addict! All she wants to do is watch "aLLLLLLLLL" and eat. (oh, and now she's unplugging the Nintendo...)
I have to figure out whether any of the Signing Times videos really focus on potty training! (She's gotten much more enthusiastic about that, by the way. Now, when we suggest it, she goes straight to the bathroom, and picks the seat up to put it on the toilet.)
The Bath Toddler:
She's also a bath addict. Yesterday, I gave her a bath. Then I got her into pajamas, and Sam got into the bath. As soon as she saw that, she took off pajamas and diaper and wanted to get back in the bath. When I told her no, she screamed in fury.
When Sam was done, Micah took a bath; again, Sofia stripped and wanted in. Oh, she was sooooo angry at me! Mean Mommy!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Whirlwind Weekend
Whew! When last I checked in, Micah had just barfed all over the rug. Friday, I kept him home from school. David was able to drive Sam, and my babysitter was able to come at noon, giving me enough time to do the grocery shopping before I had to pick up Sam.
But...as I was backing out of the garage to go shopping, my minivan slid down the driveway, and landed rather solidly in the snowbank at the bottom of my impossible driveway! Fortunately, E let me use her car. I called David, and he said "nah, don't bother with AA, I'll get it out when I get home."
Yeah, right. So our friends come for supper - always fun when S&R join us - their son is one of Micah's good friends, and they are both really fun. They arrived early, so the kids (their daughters didn't come this time) watched a movie upstairs while I cooked and we all chatted. Miss Sofia passed out on my floor, so she missed the dinner (I'm not worried - she eats ALL DAY).
After they left, David attempted to move the minivan. Yeah. No such luck.
So first thing in the morning, I call AAA. An hour later, they call back saying they are having trouble locating a truck! But eventually someone showed up:
Yes, they did get the car out, and David said it was ok when he drove it down the street and back up the driveway. But tomorrow I have to take it to Toyota, because three different warning lights are stuck on.
So we never made it to shul as planned, since the car didn't get moved until 10:30. But later in the afternoon, David's cousin and her family came up, and later Laura and Lilie joined us (actually, Laura dropped off Lilie, and drove to my friends' house to trim their dog!).
We had a very nice time together. The babies are adorable, and Miss Sofia was fascinated with them.
Sofia & Lilie:
Sam:
Baby Ian all snuggled in for the ride home:
Big Cousin Micah and Little Cousin Lilie:
I was out-of-sorts, though, and needed a little retail therapy, so before dinner, H and I took a ride over to CVS, and sat on the floor examining hair colors until we picked one (eggplant!), and then came back and she helped color my hair. It came out really nice! Just a little tiny shine of purple on top of the black. Perfect color for me!
I made a feast of spaghetti and meatballs, and we had a terrific visit. Sam went to sleep right after dinner, but Micah was up until nearly 10pm. Micah has not been feeling well all weekend, and he switches from happy to insanely angry to whiny at the drop of a hat.
At 2 am, Micah was in our room, whining that he did not know where to sleep.
"So go to bed"
"No, I don't want to sleep there."
"Then sleep on the floor here."
"No, I don't want to sleep there."
"Where DO you want to sleep?"
"I don't know." (this was yelled, which is really special at 2am).
Eventually I got him settled at the foot of our bed (I think he really wanted to cuddle in with me, but I REALLY didn't want him too - it's very uncomfortable for me). David is not feeling well, with a head cold and aches, so he was semi-lucid for the whole thing, arguing back at Micah (in retrospect, I guess it was funny, to hear them both arguing in their sleep, but at 2 am, I wasn't so pleased with it).
This morning, I found Miss Sofia in her crib stark naked. The diaper was on the floor. It took me a minute to find the pajamas, and when I showed them to her, she very emphatically announced "DONE".
"Oh, you don't want to wear these?"
"DONE!" (with hand motions this time).
Ok, I can take a hint.
Oh, did I mention the hives? Friday, just before he went to bed, Micah came in complaining his back itched. Nothing new, he's had excema since he was born. But when we looked, his back had several large splotches of hives!
I gave him Benadryl, and waited. They didn't respond quickly, so I did check with the on-call pediatrician about how long to wait before using the EpiPen and would I need to bring him to the ER if I penned him. Fortunately, they did start going away, so we didn't have to pen him.
But Saturday night, same thing - more hives! And today, he was sooooooo whiny. He was supposed to go to a birthday party at a gymnastics place. When I told him where it was, he
announced "No, I'm not going to gymnastics. I hate gymnastics."
I eventually got him to get dressed and into the car (originally my friend was to drive him, but between the hives and the whining, I felt I should go).
As soon as we left our street, he started whining that he was hungry, and worked himself into a full fit (he's had several over the past few days). Then he almost fell asleep, but was still awake when we arrived at the party. But only barely, and really hungry. So after about 15 minutes of him refusing to participate in the party, we left. I took him to Starbucks ('cause I desperately needed a coffee!). and as soon as he got some food, he was fine. Sigh.
Came home, found David asleep again, Sam watching TV downstairs, and Sofia wearing just shirt and diaper, watching "Signing Times" and trashing our room. I attempted to check my email, and Sofia wandered downstairs. Then Micah yelled "Mom, Sofia stinks!"
I found her at the bottom of the (carpeted) stairs, wearing only the diaper, but she'd pooped, and it was leaking...on the carpet. UGH!
Ran her upstairs, cleaned her up, threw her in a bath, had Sam come watch her in the tub, and ran back down to clean the carpet before Micah walked on it. All the while, David is vaguely moaning from our room "What happened?"
Ok, got it all cleaned up. Time to get dressed for the gala! Got dressed, discovered that the babysitter (our former nanny, not our current mother's helper) was running really late, started stressing. But we made it in time.
Lovely evening, except when I was told to save a seat for someone and had to move another couple and then another couple moved and my husband got angry at me but then I let other people explain what was going on and then he was ok. (Whew, I'm sorry, that's just stream-of-consciousness).
Nice evening, and of course we won one of the raffle baskets (Spa stuff, yeah!). David's company had donated enough for a large ad AND something like 300 raffle tickets, so I had a good chance of winning.
Now we're home, David went straight to bed, I'm typing. He's sick, I can feel it starting in my own throat, I'm not sure what to do about Micah, and Sofia appears to have diarrhea. Yeah. Gonna be a real fun week!
Oh, Sofia has gotten the hang of the potty training - now she grabs the little seat and waits for help to put it up on the toilet. She did pee on the rug on Friday, but not since then...
And she loves to take off all her clothing!
But...as I was backing out of the garage to go shopping, my minivan slid down the driveway, and landed rather solidly in the snowbank at the bottom of my impossible driveway! Fortunately, E let me use her car. I called David, and he said "nah, don't bother with AA, I'll get it out when I get home."
Yeah, right. So our friends come for supper - always fun when S&R join us - their son is one of Micah's good friends, and they are both really fun. They arrived early, so the kids (their daughters didn't come this time) watched a movie upstairs while I cooked and we all chatted. Miss Sofia passed out on my floor, so she missed the dinner (I'm not worried - she eats ALL DAY).
After they left, David attempted to move the minivan. Yeah. No such luck.
So first thing in the morning, I call AAA. An hour later, they call back saying they are having trouble locating a truck! But eventually someone showed up:
Yes, they did get the car out, and David said it was ok when he drove it down the street and back up the driveway. But tomorrow I have to take it to Toyota, because three different warning lights are stuck on.
So we never made it to shul as planned, since the car didn't get moved until 10:30. But later in the afternoon, David's cousin and her family came up, and later Laura and Lilie joined us (actually, Laura dropped off Lilie, and drove to my friends' house to trim their dog!).
We had a very nice time together. The babies are adorable, and Miss Sofia was fascinated with them.
Sofia & Lilie:
Sam:
Baby Ian all snuggled in for the ride home:
Big Cousin Micah and Little Cousin Lilie:
I was out-of-sorts, though, and needed a little retail therapy, so before dinner, H and I took a ride over to CVS, and sat on the floor examining hair colors until we picked one (eggplant!), and then came back and she helped color my hair. It came out really nice! Just a little tiny shine of purple on top of the black. Perfect color for me!
I made a feast of spaghetti and meatballs, and we had a terrific visit. Sam went to sleep right after dinner, but Micah was up until nearly 10pm. Micah has not been feeling well all weekend, and he switches from happy to insanely angry to whiny at the drop of a hat.
At 2 am, Micah was in our room, whining that he did not know where to sleep.
"So go to bed"
"No, I don't want to sleep there."
"Then sleep on the floor here."
"No, I don't want to sleep there."
"Where DO you want to sleep?"
"I don't know." (this was yelled, which is really special at 2am).
Eventually I got him settled at the foot of our bed (I think he really wanted to cuddle in with me, but I REALLY didn't want him too - it's very uncomfortable for me). David is not feeling well, with a head cold and aches, so he was semi-lucid for the whole thing, arguing back at Micah (in retrospect, I guess it was funny, to hear them both arguing in their sleep, but at 2 am, I wasn't so pleased with it).
This morning, I found Miss Sofia in her crib stark naked. The diaper was on the floor. It took me a minute to find the pajamas, and when I showed them to her, she very emphatically announced "DONE".
"Oh, you don't want to wear these?"
"DONE!" (with hand motions this time).
Ok, I can take a hint.
Oh, did I mention the hives? Friday, just before he went to bed, Micah came in complaining his back itched. Nothing new, he's had excema since he was born. But when we looked, his back had several large splotches of hives!
I gave him Benadryl, and waited. They didn't respond quickly, so I did check with the on-call pediatrician about how long to wait before using the EpiPen and would I need to bring him to the ER if I penned him. Fortunately, they did start going away, so we didn't have to pen him.
But Saturday night, same thing - more hives! And today, he was sooooooo whiny. He was supposed to go to a birthday party at a gymnastics place. When I told him where it was, he
announced "No, I'm not going to gymnastics. I hate gymnastics."
I eventually got him to get dressed and into the car (originally my friend was to drive him, but between the hives and the whining, I felt I should go).
As soon as we left our street, he started whining that he was hungry, and worked himself into a full fit (he's had several over the past few days). Then he almost fell asleep, but was still awake when we arrived at the party. But only barely, and really hungry. So after about 15 minutes of him refusing to participate in the party, we left. I took him to Starbucks ('cause I desperately needed a coffee!). and as soon as he got some food, he was fine. Sigh.
Came home, found David asleep again, Sam watching TV downstairs, and Sofia wearing just shirt and diaper, watching "Signing Times" and trashing our room. I attempted to check my email, and Sofia wandered downstairs. Then Micah yelled "Mom, Sofia stinks!"
I found her at the bottom of the (carpeted) stairs, wearing only the diaper, but she'd pooped, and it was leaking...on the carpet. UGH!
Ran her upstairs, cleaned her up, threw her in a bath, had Sam come watch her in the tub, and ran back down to clean the carpet before Micah walked on it. All the while, David is vaguely moaning from our room "What happened?"
Ok, got it all cleaned up. Time to get dressed for the gala! Got dressed, discovered that the babysitter (our former nanny, not our current mother's helper) was running really late, started stressing. But we made it in time.
Lovely evening, except when I was told to save a seat for someone and had to move another couple and then another couple moved and my husband got angry at me but then I let other people explain what was going on and then he was ok. (Whew, I'm sorry, that's just stream-of-consciousness).
Nice evening, and of course we won one of the raffle baskets (Spa stuff, yeah!). David's company had donated enough for a large ad AND something like 300 raffle tickets, so I had a good chance of winning.
Now we're home, David went straight to bed, I'm typing. He's sick, I can feel it starting in my own throat, I'm not sure what to do about Micah, and Sofia appears to have diarrhea. Yeah. Gonna be a real fun week!
Oh, Sofia has gotten the hang of the potty training - now she grabs the little seat and waits for help to put it up on the toilet. She did pee on the rug on Friday, but not since then...
And she loves to take off all her clothing!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Sick boy, Popping Girl
Well, Micah just barfed all over the place. His tummy has been bothering him for a few days, so hopefully he just got rid of it all, but WOW what a mess - and smell! Poor baby.
Miss Sofia, on the other hand, actually pooped on the potty earlier!
And Sam...well, he's just nuts. Exhibit A: He's been stressing about summer camp, and told me that he wants to go to a camp that's just for rock climbing. When I reminded him that, as an Upper Camper next summer, he'll get to do rock climbing, he was unconvinced, so then we stated talking about the arts component (he goes to an arts camp). He told me he is afraid of Cray-pas, because they are oil-based "and if you bang them together they can explode". Oy. Ok, then Exhibit B: Sam went to the early Tae Kwan Do class, which generally has younger kids, plus the older sister of a kid with DS (the sister is there as the aide - she's a higher rank belt, and takes her own class later). Anyway, on the way home, Sam was very upset. Apparently one of the teachers (higher-ranking older students) had been teasing some of the kids (including the sister/aide) and "said some bad words" (which in Sam's world, could be things like "stupid" or "dumb"). Sam was very very upset, and made me call the office on the way home.
The teacher did call back, and not only apologized, but explained to Sam that in no way was he trying to be mean to the kids, and he has a really great relationship with the sister/aide. Sam felt better afterwards. I think he just did not understand the humor of the friendly teasing that might have been going on (I didn't hear any of it; I was too busy chasing Sofia around).
I love being a mommy. I love being a mommy. I love being a mommy. (yeah, I'll just keep saying it...)
Miss Sofia, on the other hand, actually pooped on the potty earlier!
And Sam...well, he's just nuts. Exhibit A: He's been stressing about summer camp, and told me that he wants to go to a camp that's just for rock climbing. When I reminded him that, as an Upper Camper next summer, he'll get to do rock climbing, he was unconvinced, so then we stated talking about the arts component (he goes to an arts camp). He told me he is afraid of Cray-pas, because they are oil-based "and if you bang them together they can explode". Oy. Ok, then Exhibit B: Sam went to the early Tae Kwan Do class, which generally has younger kids, plus the older sister of a kid with DS (the sister is there as the aide - she's a higher rank belt, and takes her own class later). Anyway, on the way home, Sam was very upset. Apparently one of the teachers (higher-ranking older students) had been teasing some of the kids (including the sister/aide) and "said some bad words" (which in Sam's world, could be things like "stupid" or "dumb"). Sam was very very upset, and made me call the office on the way home.
The teacher did call back, and not only apologized, but explained to Sam that in no way was he trying to be mean to the kids, and he has a really great relationship with the sister/aide. Sam felt better afterwards. I think he just did not understand the humor of the friendly teasing that might have been going on (I didn't hear any of it; I was too busy chasing Sofia around).
I love being a mommy. I love being a mommy. I love being a mommy. (yeah, I'll just keep saying it...)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
First day back to school
Woo hoo! The boys went back to school today. Both of them were excited (actually, both thought they had school yesterday!), but I think they were nervous, because they started fighting before we left the house. It was a long day for them, and I could tell they were very tired when I picked them up. But they are asleep now (whew).
And my mother's helper came early in the morning and stayed home with Miss Sofia, so I could go for my physical. Which first meant no breakfast (have to fast before the cholesterol test) and no COFFEE, so between drop-off and the appointment, I wandered around Target like a zombie.
Appointment was good. I love my doctor, and thankfully I'm in good health, aside from needing to lose some weight and to exercise more - nothing new there, right? I DO have a plan, by the way. When Sofia starts the preschool, after she turns 3 in February, I fully intend to join the Curves down the street, because I'll be on my own for hopefully 4 mornings each week!
After my appointment, I met my friend R at our nail place for manicures - we have the snow-date for the Gala this weekend! Then I got some watches repaired (can't find a replacement band for my pink Speedo, just sent them an email), and stood in line at the post office to send out some stuff (DANG - I forgot to mail the hats to Miss Chelsea again!).
I stopped home to pick up the bedspread that Sofia had barfed on last week, and she was very excited to see me. She got angry when I left again right away, but I came back in just a few minutes. Then E left, I ate a quick lunch, and Sofia and I parked in front of the day school for a nap.
Sam had his therapy appointment (yeah!), and Micah had a tantrum in the car. Got gas, drove around, stopped at the drugstore for no apparent reason. Then picked up Sam and went HOME.
I managed to beat Micah at chess again, but only barely. The kid is GOOD!
I think Miss Sofia is teething, 'cause she's chewing on her fingers like crazy. OH, and we had our first experiments on the POTTY. This afternoon I put her on for a minute or two, and then again this evening - and this time she pee'ed! She was So unhappy about it, though. But we made sure to offer tons of excited praise. I'll keep trying. She's so ready. The other day, she "told" David that she had to go, but he thought she was just commenting on the fact that he was about to change her diaper...until she pee'ed all over the changing table...
I'm exhausted - I didn't sleep well at all last night. And both David and I had dreams about driving off of cliffs! What's with that?!
And my mother's helper came early in the morning and stayed home with Miss Sofia, so I could go for my physical. Which first meant no breakfast (have to fast before the cholesterol test) and no COFFEE, so between drop-off and the appointment, I wandered around Target like a zombie.
Appointment was good. I love my doctor, and thankfully I'm in good health, aside from needing to lose some weight and to exercise more - nothing new there, right? I DO have a plan, by the way. When Sofia starts the preschool, after she turns 3 in February, I fully intend to join the Curves down the street, because I'll be on my own for hopefully 4 mornings each week!
After my appointment, I met my friend R at our nail place for manicures - we have the snow-date for the Gala this weekend! Then I got some watches repaired (can't find a replacement band for my pink Speedo, just sent them an email), and stood in line at the post office to send out some stuff (DANG - I forgot to mail the hats to Miss Chelsea again!).
I stopped home to pick up the bedspread that Sofia had barfed on last week, and she was very excited to see me. She got angry when I left again right away, but I came back in just a few minutes. Then E left, I ate a quick lunch, and Sofia and I parked in front of the day school for a nap.
Sam had his therapy appointment (yeah!), and Micah had a tantrum in the car. Got gas, drove around, stopped at the drugstore for no apparent reason. Then picked up Sam and went HOME.
I managed to beat Micah at chess again, but only barely. The kid is GOOD!
I think Miss Sofia is teething, 'cause she's chewing on her fingers like crazy. OH, and we had our first experiments on the POTTY. This afternoon I put her on for a minute or two, and then again this evening - and this time she pee'ed! She was So unhappy about it, though. But we made sure to offer tons of excited praise. I'll keep trying. She's so ready. The other day, she "told" David that she had to go, but he thought she was just commenting on the fact that he was about to change her diaper...until she pee'ed all over the changing table...
I'm exhausted - I didn't sleep well at all last night. And both David and I had dreams about driving off of cliffs! What's with that?!
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