Happy New Year

Here is a picture of me & the girls. I suppose it isn't the best photo of us, but it isn't the worst.

I had a hard time picking ... there was one where C4 & I looked happy, but you couldn't see Q2's face at all. And I was looking away. And I had red eye (don't I always?). Or the one where my new haircut looks great. Or where C4 is all proper and you can't see up her skirt. But, in the end I chose this one because C4& I look happy & silly, and Q2 isn't crying or diving out of my arms, just doing the going limp trick. You can see all of our faces.




Hopefully one of C39 and me soon.

Q2 update

Here's the good news: she loves to dance. She asked me to video her this morning before Ninoo & Papa left.




Here's the bad news: that recurrent cough? That weezing heavy breathing you can hear in the above video? Asthma.

A friend of mine heard Q2 coughing in the cold, and suggested that I have her checked out for asthma. I hadn't even considered asthma as the reason for the recurrent, never ending cycle of coughs (and as it turns out, wheezing).

And the other day, when C4 & Q2 were racing, C4 won handily, and Q2 was wheezing and breathing much too heavily for a 2 year old. C39 began to suspect that she has asthma.

So, as a follow up to Saturday's take-her-to-the-hospital-oh-it-isn't-appendicitis extravaganza, we went to the doctor on Monday and I asked about the wheezing and coughing and could it be asthma?

He said yep.

So now she is on liquid albuterol. That stuff makes her irritable, excitible, and maybe a touch OCD. I don't like it. Can you NOT treat asthma?? Or do you have to treat it? What can I do besides albuterol??

I call the doctor on Monday or Tuesday for a follow-up on the phone.

New Bed

Recently, C39's G'ma was breaking house, and her bed, a petite sleighbed, was no longer needed. It was offered to us and we joyfully accepted. Well, I joyfully accepted, C4 was less than enthused. No, thank you, she said. I have a bed.

New Year's Eve C39 and Papa went out and bought mattresses for C4. C4 went with them, only after the promise of macaroni & cheese. She barely tested mattresses and settled on a blue one with a pillow top (um, actually quite grey).

Anyway, this whole time, C39 was freaking out, worrying that C4 was not going to transition well. Yes, there was cause for concern, but I figured the HUGE BED would be such a draw that it wouldn't actually be a big deal.

Turns out I was right.

When C4 got home, still uncertain of things, she came up to find the bed frame set up ... and immediately thought it was FANTASTICO!

When the bed was finally set up (one more trip back to the store) and made up, C4 & Q2 jumped right in:



C4 loved the ability to look out BOTH windows from bed, the ability to put all her dogs on the bed and still have room to be without falling off. And it should be much better for reading bedtime stories, I think.

Nighttime arrived, and C4 was thrilled she could see Christmas lights from bed. But even that couldn't keep her up too late:

Tissue

If you've been to our house you know that there are bits of tissue around all of the time. Not because we blow and leave dirty tissues about (although, there is some of that, too), but because C4, and Q2 to a lesser extent, like to play with tissues.

C4 takes the tissues and dresses her little people dogs. This involves ripping the tissues and generally leaving a mess around. And invariably I throw the clothes out.

So C39 suggested that C4 use scissors and real paper to make clothes for the dogs. DING DING! Lightbulb moment!!

She spent 40+ minutes fashioning clothes for the dogs. And again this morning. Here are a few, not her best work, but an eclectic bunch of veils, ponchos, and whatevers!:

Skip Christmas

Because Santa was good to us, things are good.

And today was one of those days. Wait. 24 hours.

6:00 PM (last night) Dryer noisy.
6:10 PM Dryer finished cycle, and I go down to get clothes.
6:11 PM I find out that there were not sneakers in the load. The dryer had fallen apart. But the clothes were dry.
6:12 PM I send C39 down to look at it. Fewer obscenities than I anticipated.
8:30 PM Dryer together again. **
5:30 AM (this morning) Q2 spits up in bed (mostly snot, I think). Seems to have a low fever of around 100-101.
9:00 AM Washing machine overflows big time ... the water flowed all the way into the bathroom and even a bit on the carpet in the finished area of the lower level.
10:OO AM Q2 vomits 10 (silver dollar sized) pancakes, soymilk, and maple syrup. All over me. And a wee bit on the couch. She begs for a shower and won't let me in.
10:15 AM While I am showering, C4 eats half a tube of toothpaste.
10:20 AM Poison control says just watch out for diahrea, but she'll be OK.
10:21 AM C4 laughs maniacally in our faces and says "It was all worth it, all worth it, suckahs!!! BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!"
10:21 AM Just kidding, but C4 does look self satisfied and not scared at the prospect of pooping.
10:30 AM to 1 PM Q2 rests on me on the chair.
Noon Neighbor comes by to drop off 2 fans and a dehumidifier.
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Q2 rests on C39 on the chair. Complains of abdomen pain on the right side. Insists it is only there, nowhere else.
3:00 PM call doctor.
3:30 PM call doctor again! Why didn't he call back??
3:40 PM doctor finally calls back and it is decided she probably doesn't have appendicitis, but why not go get her checked out at the hospital anyway.
3:45 PM C39 takes Q2 to the hospital.
4:00 C4 and I take a walk to the park to play Zippity Sticks (Pat. Pending).
5:00 C4 & I walk home and go to Franklins for dinner. I finally asked for a rare burger, and LO! the best burger I've ever had there. I think they undercooked it for effect, but dang, it was exactly what I wanted!!
6:30 C4 & I get home, C39 & Q2 get home minutes later. C4 takes a 40 minute bath. Q2 takes a 2 minute bath and fell asleep before I put her on the bed.
8:15 PM Q2 making waking noises. And so the cycle begins.

I'm exhaused, headachy, bodyachy, sorethroaty, stuffy, coughy ... I think I need nyquil. Except then I won't be able to wake up in the middle of the night when Q2 needs help.

And the bathroom/basement guestroom need serious help before our visitors arrive tomorrow afternoon. I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry.


**for those of you how have alledged that my husband is not handy ... I beg to differ. You know who you are, ME62.

Christmas Eve

The real first where C4 has "gotten" it. Santa Clause, the reindeer, giving and receiving gifts. She got it somewhat last year, but not quite. Just like Q2 gets it somewhat this year, but not quite.

But 4 seems to be a good age, one where belief is firm, there is no doubt that Santa exists. Which boggles my mind, because in only a couple of years will she begin to doubt and realize that Santa may not exist!

I know better, but children do have silly ideas.

In the meantime, anyway, the girls are enjoying Christmas. I took them to buy gifts for each other this afternoon, and they really were thinking of each other. C4 bought Q2 a bunny (a lovely bunny! She wanted to get her the mumma bunny and the baby bunny, but that was out of our budget. We got the baby.) and Q2 picked a (what else?) dog for C4.

They got home and painted bags for their gifts for each other:



and



We played at the park, we played inside, we had quiet time ... all until got dark, when it officially became Christmas Eve for C4. We went to Watkins Park, where at 5:00 the festival of lights began.



Really nice! My photos were fuzzy and not so good, and the video featured a little too much of the orange road cones and lights out of focus, so check out the previous link if you are interested. They loved it. Hey, I loved it!

We got home, opened one gift (poor C4, she opened one from a school friend, but it was a ... toy car. Her faced showed it all, but she was polite and said nothing, just put it back in the back and chose another gift!), set out food for Santa (cookies, milk, a wee dram of whiskey), and then put out food for the reindeer (sparkles and carrots).



Why C4's teachers thought that putting sparkles out for the reindeer to eat was a good idea I don't know. After the children were in bed C39 went out and vacuumed up the sparkles. If reindeer ate sparkles they'd choke. Then C39 chewed up the carrots (and had a cookie & whiskey chaser).

Just waiting til morning, now!!

... fur isn't all it is cracked up to be

The girls and I had a crazy busy day, and we didn't leave the house once. We got up, did the usual morning stuff, and a friend called and I begged her to come over with her daughter to keep us entertained. She said yes, after her daughter finished her activity. G. often takes a long time to get out of the house with the gatrillions of stuff she is obliged to carry around with her, so we decided to start making cookies.

This time, of course, G. was at our house in 30 minutes.

I was so not expecting that. But G's daughter, C5, jumped in and helped us. We rolled and cut and rolled and cut. C5 fussed at Q2 for blowing raspberries and for eating too much dough C5 fussed at C4 for not covering her mouth well enough when coughing. She was right, of course. But thanks for pointing out my parenting flaws, C5!!

The cookies were cooked all cut and thrown the oven, and the girls played nicely until it was time to decorate. They decorated, then they went to play nicely again until we realized it was 1:00 and, gee, maybe they needed lunch. They ate a bit, and went to play nicely again. This was just a love fest, they had a great time. G. ran some errands and while she was gone the girls came down to finish lunch and eat some cookies. Then they played a bit more. Until 2:58 when our 3:00 playdate arrived!

Right on time, I. and her three boys arrived. By then my girls were abit more cranky, but still things went smoothly. They were good. C4 opened a package from my mom (a dalmation "fur" coat) and Q2 opened her "you didn't get a gift so here is a gift" gift (a doll with purple hair). The boys came and went, all was fine.

Dinner, video, and daddy came home. As we were sending the girls up for their baths, C39 said "WHAT!? Are you Cruella DeVil?? You have a dalmation fur coat???"

And as he said this C4's face just dropped like a lead weight. She had hung the coat up on her coat hook, and although she'd not tried it on, she'd accepted it as hers and a good item of clothing. It was hers. But her face wobbled as she digested the fact that she had a dalmation fur coat.

ARRRGGGAATEJEJSKALELELS!!!%%^^&EW#LEWLKEKW!!!!

C39 sometimes doesn't think before he speaks to our sensitive child.

We reassured her that the coat was fake fur and it wasn't a dalmation fur coat and that daddy was teasing her. C4 garbled up something about the coat for Q2 when she was 4 years old, and how she didn't want daddy to tease her.

So, if she ever puts that coat on, now, I'll be amazed.