Grammie’s here!
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I had grand plans for today. Okay, not grand, but they included a shower and some time to myself while my mother-in-law watched the girls for a few hours. At 6:30 am this morning, I knew my plans were doomed. Susie woke up crying her poor little heart out early this morning, which was indicator #1 something was very wrong. Indicator #2 was that she was radiating heat. Indicator #3 was that she fitfully slept on my chest for the next hour, waking up every few minutes to wimper and wail. I proceeded to spend the rest of the morning cuddling her warm body while I got everyone dressed. My mother-in-law kindly came over to watch Becky, and Susie and I headed out the door into a snowy day to take her to the pediatrician’s office. Have I ever mentioned here how much I HATE driving in the snow? Well, I HATE it. Perhaps because one of the first times I drove in the snow (other than the little snow squalls I encountered while in college in Washington State) was when Jim attempted to amputate his own leg with a chainsaw while clearing the lot for our house. I had to drive to the ER with a bleeding Jim beside me while I was trying to focus on the road AND on not passing out myself (P.S. – Jim was fine. The wound to his leg wasn’t deep and simply required a few stitches, even though my psychic scars are another story). So. I don’t like driving in the snow, especially because I usually find myself doing it when my loved ones are in pain. Because there’s not much else that’s going to get me to drive in the snow. Anyway, we made it to the pediatrician’s office and back without me driving into a ditch or plowing into a plow-truck or encountering any of my snow-driving nightmares. The doctor diagnosed Susie with yet another ear infection (yes, that’s three in the last two months) and put her on yet another antibiotic regimen. I hope she waits at least until spring to get another ear infection; I don’t think my nerves can take another snowy-doctor-drive. There is a happy ending to all this melodrama: Lord willing, my Mom is coming here tomorrow from California! She and I are then flying with the girls to visit friends and extended family in North Carolina next week. I’m thrilled to have her here with us, and I’m excited to introduce my daughters to my aunt, uncle, cousins and dear friends. I doubt I will be blogging much next week, although I have a few posts in the queue to upload automatically. That way, Jim can have a few new pictures of his girls to admire while he’s left at home. I don’t want the poor guy to feel too lonely. They are his Faith and Joy, too, after all!
I’m feeling much better today. It’s amazing how good it feels to feel good again. Thanks for your well-wishes and support. I think the girls are happiest of all that I’m back to normal. When I spent yesterday lying on the couch with my eyes half-shut, Susie kept coming up to me at eye-level and saying, “Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!†as if she was trying to rouse me from my sickbed with the sheer force of her cheeriness. Becky eagerly obeyed my requests for her to bring me pillows and blankets. Maybe she’ll make a good nurse one day…or a good flight attendant. Anyway, we’re all smiles now! Here’s Becky’s smile:
And Susie’s smile:
I’ll spare you a picture of my smile, since I still have the complexion of a ghost and my hair looks like it hasn’t been brushed in 18 months…which is about right. But trust me, I’m smiling! Problem: How do you get the last bits of yogurty goodness out of a yogurt cup? Solution: Easy! Use your fingers! Here’s Becky displaying the proper technique:
I’m still under the weather today, but feeling stronger every hour – that is, until I try to eat. This definitely wasn’t the weight-loss plan I had in mind! My new definition of “Anarchyâ€:
What happens when Mom gets a stomach virus. I’m feeling slightly better today, so hopefully I’ll be able to reign in some of the girls’ rampant destructive tendencies. Otherwise, I don’t know if this house will still be standing when Jim gets home from work! My stomach was feeling a little funny today and the girls were irritable at times, so we kept our activities fairly low-key. We did a lot of this:
And a little bit of this:
And a little bit of this:
So today may not have been the most edifying time we’ve spent together, but we made it through. I’ve always said that everyone needs a couch potato/funky headwear day once in a while. All is well in Susie-land. She slept all night and kept everything down today, so I’m praying this was just a brief virus that has run its course and run away…far, far away. I’m not convinced that Becky is in the clear, since she hasn’t eaten much the past few days and her appetite is normally as dependable as Old Faithful. Hmm…maybe I shouldn’t use that simile, since I’m trying to forget images that involve periodic spewing. On a brighter note, I love watching the girls become more and more grown-up in the ways they interact with each other and me. The last few days, Becky has started to nod her head to indicate “yes†and Susie has started to shake her head to indicate “no.†I could probably extrapolate some personality characteristics from those developments, but I’ll refrain for now. They’re getting better at following instructions; I can ask Susie to pick something off the floor and put it in her little toy trash can, and she will oblige, although not without a detour if something else catches her eye. Becky is thrilled to put away toys and books when I inform her it’s clean-up time, and today she even voluntarily pulled down a dish towel to mop up a puddle she made when she dropped her cup. I proudly applauded this behavior, as it’s one I definitely want to reinforce. I’m working with them to try to learn how to sort and stack blocks and shapes, but right now, they prefer just to move them around. They like to line them up:
and knock them down (the blur in the picture below is Becky’s hand moments before she swept those unsuspecting shapes into oblivion):
and put them inside purses:
and then walk around with the purses (note the necessity of wearing TWO purses at a time):
Tonight, Becky had her own unique take on the purse walk. While wearing a backpack and eating a cracker, she filled two baskets with various and sundry items, and then used them as purses to complete her look. I suppose the “look†she was going for was a hiker/hungry grocery shopper. I think she pulls it off quite well!
These girls definitely have minds of their own! Well, I was planning on posting a photo tonight of the girls eating happily at our favorite Chili’s restaurant. Unfortunately, I never took such a photo, because we never made it to Chili’s. In fact, we never made it out of the house. Susie came down with a stomach bug late this afternoon, so instead of stuffing my face with chips and salsa as I had hoped, I’m stuffing load after load of laundry in the washing machine. We’ll see how she does tonight. I’ll keep you all posted! The girls had their 18 month check-up today, and although they emerged from the office indignant at being forced to undergo an examination and vaccination, I emerged pleased at being the mom of two healthy toddlers. The doctor was happy with all aspects of their development. Susanna weighed in at 20 lbs. 5 oz and measured 32 inches, and Rebecca weighed 22 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 31.5 inches (although I suspect that either Susie stretched out her legs or Becky was slouching, because Susie is definitely not taller than her sister). The doctor wants me to call him in three months to report on their expressive language acquisition, just to ensure they are hitting all the appropriate milestones, but other than that we don’t have to return until they are two years old. Two years old! Is it possible that I will be the mom of two TWO year-olds? I’m so thankful that my little peanuts are turning into…big peanuts! What’s bigger than a peanut? Does that make them Brazil nuts? In any case, they’re nutty alright!
Becky (on left): “I’m looking at the fish tank at the doctor’s office and smiling because I have no idea what’s coming next. Ignorance is bliss!†We took the girls tonight to Jim’s grandmother’s assisted living facility to attend an informal concert by an Elvis impersonator. The girls boogied and wiggled their way through the performance. They weren’t crazy about the slow ballads, but they loved clapping along to the fast-paced songs. They were happy campers until the end of the show when we took them up to meet the King of Rock and Roll.
I’m not sure they appreciated Elvis’ love of gaudy jewelry. Or chest hair. At least they liked his music! |
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