Why am I awake at this hour?

It's because David isn't here to tell me to shut the computer and go to sleep! He'll be back in a few days, so I get to web-surf to my hearts content, even if it means I'm slogging during the day.

Just read a few beautiful blogs - the gorgeous Miss Elianah's mom has a terrific blogroll. A common theme on all of these blogs from parents of kids with DS is how we defend our children, our families, and our special views of the world from those who would wish away our kids without ever reading them. The scariest thing I read tonight was a 2000 report on the cost-benefit analysis of how the US and UK do (did) DS screening - and it was co-written by a team from UCONN - no doubt by people who my BIL works with.

I don't know how to say this. I know my sister and BIL love my daughter. But do they think we were somehow wrong for having her? And if they do, is it because they are "armed" with the medical knowledge, but have no idea of the joy Sofia has brought us? I hope I'm just being paranoid. But I suspect I'm not.

Ok, enough melancholy. Yes, I'm still a bit in denial about the fact that there is anything unusual about my daughter - other than that she is an amazing little girl, of course. A few weeks ago, when I was in my melancholy funk, we were all out for breakfast, and I was aware that there were a few sour people staring at our table. Normally, I'd just assume it was because Sofia was gleefully flinging crayons to the floor and the Micah was talking a mile a minute and Sam was whining and moping with his hair in his face. But that day, I got a little more of a "hit" about what they might be staring at. My daughter really is "different".

They don't know the half of it! She's different - from her brothers, because at two and a half she can already use a fork way better than Sammy can, because she has a more sharply honed sense of what clothing she wants to wear than Micah ever did in his worst days, because she can swing in the toddler swing for half an hour without getting sick (although she walks like a drunken sailor when she gets out). She's different - because her mommy adores her and encourages her to do just about everything (within safety limits - I would NOT let her climb into the fountain at miniature golf today, despite her protests).

I took her and the boys to mini-golf, along with our friends, who have 2 boys. The 4 boys were the official golfers, but the guy at the desk gave Sofia a toddler-sized plastic golf club and a ball, and she had a blast wandering around the course, either throwing the ball or hitting things with the club. She was also fascinated with the fake deer at the end of the course.

I'm rambling. We had a lovely Shabbat dinner at our friends' home in Concord on Friday, but Sam was still feeling sick and passed out on the couch. That afternoon, Sofia had also been more sick, and had a weird rash on her neck. I ended up back at the Pediatrician. They still just have a virus, but the dots under Sofia's neck might have been from rubbing against the pillow. Doc scared me by telling me that we should keep an eye on it, and if it got worse we'd do blood tests - I panicked and asked her if that was a lead-in to Leukemia, but Thank G-d she said no!

So Saturday morning, we'd planned to go to shul, but both Sam and Sofia were still sniffy and slightly feverish. I sent David and Micah to shul, and Micah ended up falling asleep on David's lap for an hour, also feverish. When they came home, all 4 of them took a long nap (Micah on the living room floor, the other 3 in bed together). In the quiet, I got to clean the entire pantry, and then took a short nap myself.

The sleep was what they all needed. This morning the kids were much better. They all have stuffy noses, but we got a lot of fresh air this afternoon (I took them for a long ride and then to mini-golf), and it helped alot. Hopefully everyone is on the mend now.

Tried to take the boys rock-climbing at REI, but the wall is still under construction. We had a nice chat with A, the guy who runs the climbing wall. He's a great guy, and has really taken Sammy under his wing with the climbing. It was a bummer they couldn't climb yet, but they enjoyed talking to A, and I also bought Sam a new school backpack.

I started "working" tonight - I'm making a family video for a friend, and I had to scan in about 40 pictures first. I love making slide-show videos. It's a lot of fun.

Nothing much planned for this week - the kid next door is coming over for the day tomorrow (as long as none of us have any fever). Micah might go visit another friend. I hope the weather is warm enough and everyone is healthy enough, because I'd really like to go to the pool again!

David's Party

We had SUCH a nice evening! It was a very long day. I had to read Torah in the morning at Sisterhood Shabbat. David has a bad sinus infection (of course he won't call the doctor), and Sofia is still running a fever, so I left all four of them home. I stayed just for Torah reading, and then did my errands and came home.

I think we ended up with 43 guests, plus us, the babysitter, and 8 kids (including mine). I definitely need a bigger kitchen! But it was a really fun time. It's intersting how peoeple split into regular groups (David's college friends, the Day School parents, etc.), but the more fun thing was to see the unexpected conversations - like my sister and BIL and David's friend from high school and his girlfriend. Not people I'd ever imagine together, but they had a nice conversation.

The Day School crowd left around 11:30, and the WPI crowd stayed until after 1am. David was a bit woozy, from too much alcohol (which flowed freely). (I'd forgotten to buy Tequila, and the neighbors all wanted margaritas, so I called D to buy some one her way, but in the meantime, neighbor B ran home to his house with several glasses to fill up!)

Both David and I really appreciated how much our friends enjoyed themselves. We feel very lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives, and we were glad that so many saud "so when are we getting together".

We went to sleep at 2am (Laura and I watched David open his gifts first). Today we are relaxing, while Sam is off at a birthday party for a classmate. Sofia STILL has a fever. But she's walking almost all the time now!

Fever

Well, since Sofia stayed up until midnight AGAIN, this morning I decided to call the pediatrician. I had to take her in the afternoon, since I was busy at Sam's school all morning - Portfolio Review, Parent Info session about the recent Math assessment (they used the G*MADE test), and then I drove 4 kids to the nursing home in Waltham where they did a choir concert.

So after lunch with some other moms, Sofia and I picked up Micah and raced to see Dr. G. She was the only one in - I like her, but she's not my first preference to see. Oh well. But she could not find anything specific. Sofia's ears were ok, throat was red but quick strep test was negative. Tylenol or Motrin. Yeah.

After we picked up Sam, I took all three to the grocery store, and then Sofia fell asleep on the way home. Finally - I also took a nap when we got home, while the boys watched "Born Free".

Sofia woke in time for dinner (David is off with his buddy, shopping at Cosco), and we all ate. Then Sam showered while Micah played "Pots & Pans" over and over again. Sofia really seemed to enjoy the concert!

But when I sent Micah up to bathe, it turned out Sam had used all the hot water. Sam also had a complete melt-down tantrum (again), because I wanted him to clean up and put things AWAY, and he really hates to put things AWAY! Argh.

Anyway, I wiped Sofia down with a wet washcloth, and then took her temperature - 100.3. Yikes. More Motrin. Now Sam's asleep, Micah's supposed to be asleep but he keeps trying to talk to Sam, and Sofia is playing with toys in my room (as usual).

I did a lot of cleaning so far, and I'm trying to get ready for the cleaning ladies tomorrow and then David's 40th birthday party on Saturday. Nearly everyone is coming!