Sick ward

We've had illnesses this week, and boy has it been fun! Meggie Meg spiked a fever Saturday afternoon. We'd had a nice day, a birthday party (Meg's first as a guest!) and then went with some neighbors to see George Mason women's volleyball play William and Mary. Not my normal outing, but they invited us and it was fun and different. Meg was lethargic and warm, but I somehow had my eyes on the game and totally ignored all the warning signs. Serves me right because she threw up all over the car and on me as soon as we got home. Poor chicken.

She slept well that night and was perky and a bit warm the next day. I deduced a sore throat as she wasn't eating or drinking much. Then she had a hideous night where she was up every 45 minutes practically whether she was in our bed, hers or what. I thought it must have been strep, instead it was the virus hand, foot and mouth. It basically put a bunch of mouth sores over her tongue and back of her throat. She was one pissed off and tired kid all Monday who also refused to take a nap. Mommy was also quite exhausted. Monday night, I drugged her up with Motrin and antihistamine, took and Ambien and went to bed.

Naturally, she slept fine, but Andy came to our bed twice. The second time we noticed he was warm. Then in the morning he started screaming, "Why is there no air conditioning in my room!" Turns out the kid was burning up with 102 fever, but no symptoms. Miss Ayesha watched him for a bit and Bjorn stayed home with him the rest of yesterday. This morning he woke up saying his mouth and ear hurt. I schlepped back to the doctor today.

Fortunately no strep, HFM (not to be confused with High School Musical, HSM) or an ear infection, but Dr. Murphy looked in his right ear and pulled out a hunk of ear wax the size of my pinky fingernail. He thought that the sinus pressure of a cold and slight sore throat put pressure on the wax that was making his ear hurt. He was in a better mood the rest of the day with a low fever.

I took the opportunity to ask about the H1N1. I'm fascinated because all the health agencies are saying it's safe, but all the doctors I talk to at work and personally are not recommending it for themselves or their patients. Dr. Murphy said in the late 1970s when he was in medical school, they had a vaccine that wasn't tested enough that sent lots of people to the hospital with Guillane-Barre. I asked about the mercury, which is what I'm hearing is a problem from other mommies, but he said that's not it. He's totally advocating the seasonal flu and with folks (fingers crossed!) on the mend, we'll get that this weekend.

H1N1

Turns out lots of us are unsure about the H1N1 vaccine as evidenced by this article in the Post today. The article, sadly, doesn't address any of the facts vs. myths in the whole thing, it just addresses that a lot of us are uneasy. It did bring up an interesting point that just as many parents are freaking out that their kids aren't going to get is as are freaking out that it's a bad idea for their kids to get it.

Ah, parenting. No shortage of neuroses here.

To vaccinate or not? A swine flu love story

There is a ton of talk about the swine flu, excuse me, H1N1 flu these days and whether or not there are vaccines, if they will be available in time, who is at highest risk and if you can ever get one. I must say, something about it just isn't sitting right with me and I'm glad to read I'm not the only one. Believe me, I hate my kids getting sick probably more than the next guy, especially since fall is the busy season for me at work. But something about this new vaccine, how fast it's been prepared, how there's higher than normal levels of mercury in them (the same mercury some folks say can cause autism).

I want to protect them. Most likely both are getting the regular flu shot and I'm scheduled to get mine this Friday. However, the new one? I'm not so sure. I haven't talked to the pediatrician about it yet, but they are usually fairly conservative. Thoughts?

Sleepover etiquette

We're planning our first sleepover for Andy in a few weeks as we're making plans to have one of Andy's best buds overnight. He's thrilled and I'm a little curious how all this works. It's been a good, oh, 30 years since I had a sleepover and I'm way rusty on the etiquette of all this. Plus, they're boys so that's going to be a bit different than my perspective as well. Other than making sure we wear full-body pajamas in case of any late night visitors not my own and keeping the parents on speed dial just in case, what do I need to plan for? Any special rules for sleepovers for 4 1/2 year olds?

Double uh oh

In addition to "no," she's also picked up "uh oh." Meanwhile, Andy seems to spend half his day saying, "No, Meg. Not that, do it this way," or whatever. The charming little dictator certainly has his opinions. I wonder where he gets that from?

Andy had his second soccer game/practice today. Last season, I was the assistant coach of this organized playtime with soccer balls and jerseys. He spent half the time whining at me which made it tougher to pretend I knew how to coach, much less coach four year olds. Part of the problem was the games were all at 2 p.m. -- right in the middle of his usual rest time. Even if he doesn't nap, he's still used to some downtime so probably running around in the sun didn't help his mood.

This season, he's playing at 11 a.m. and I'm not right there. So far, it's so much better. Plus, he's actually got some skills. What a difference a few months and a better time slot can make.

Bjorn is reffing football which is cool except he does like five games in a row which eats up all of Saturday. Fortunately, Jennifer was around today to help me get all the gear to Andy's game and manage the all-important handing out of juice and snacks. I tell you, that kid is a good egg these days.

Uh oh

Bad news, sports fans. Meg has learned the word, "no." It's a good thing she's so adorable with those chubby smiles and beautiful curls.

Back to school night

I had my first back to school night for Andy last night. Well, it's not really my first. I certainly went to several for the big kids through their school years. Sure, it's just his preschool, but I figure this is an interesting preview of what is to come. I mostly like this kind of stuff, getting to talk to the teachers without kids hopping around. I also liked meeting the other parents. Well, except the ones that I wanted to smack.

I am always amazed at the disrespect some folks have for teachers. I am all for a dialogue. After all, these are the people that we entrust day in and day out to teach our kids and mediate their interactions with their peers. But I don't see a need to call the teachers out in front of everyone else and put them on a spot. It's like showboating or something, and I didn't like it. I figure if you have a concern, talk to the teacher privately, not in front of an audience.

Overall, it was a good meeting. The biggest bonus is Andy is really liking it.

School age kids

Have you guys noticed a trend to holding your kids back in school? I'm seeing a lot of it lately where parents of kids are holding them back rather than putting them into school. So if your kid turned 5 in June, rather than putting her in kindergarten where the cutoff is usually October 1, holding her back another year so she starts at age 6 instead. The theory is that kids will be more ready at that age and thus have a leg up intellectually, athletically and socially than kids a year older.

I am fortunate to have two kids born in January so I don't really have to make a decision. If I held Andy back a year, he'd be 6 1/2 starting kindergarten and likely 18 months older than some of his peers. That seems pretty funky. I could see if you had a kid on the edge, like a late August birthday. I could see if you talked to his or her teachers and agreed it made sense. So that kid would just be at most a year older than the youngest kids and just a few months older than many.

Socially there can be real difficulties with this. A 14-year-old seventh grader is in a totally different social ballpark than a 12-year-old in terms of dating, physical maturity. Sure, she might be a better lacrosse player, but she's starting to scout out boys when her friends are still watching Miley Cyrus. And intellectually, if I put my kid in a lower grade, what's to say he won't be bored with the lower grade work and lose interest in school altogether rather than being challenged to move forward?

Also, if everyone starts to doing it, then folks of these borderline kids might need to wait another year. Then you end up with kids being 20 when they graduate high school.

I don't know. I want my kids to have the most advantages they can, but I'm not sure this is a good idea.

What do you think?

Picture

The church had a free community day Saturday complete with moon bounce. A few friends came and I was able to catch this picture. There is something very special about having known these kids since the day they were born.

Baby!

Meg is fascinated with babies. She will shout, "Baby!" with keen eyes focusing on the stroller, baby seat or kid in a baby Bjorn from 50 yards away. She'll call out to babies of all ages, ranging from one day to 15. Okay, not 15. She probably stops at five. I find it somewhat hilarious that she'll scream out at the baby in the supermarker who is clearly on his way to kindergarten and old enough to not want to smack her for such slander.

Meg, our baby, has had a slight fever since Friday. Nothing major, just like 99-100ish mostly in the evenings when temps are highest. I would give her a little Motrin at bedtime and she'd be fine. She has a slightly stuffy nose and some diarrhea, but nothing too interesting thankfully. She had a weird night last night refusing to go down and then waking up a few times between 7:30 and 12:30. She seemed fine this morning and I reported the weekend to Ayesha. Around noon, I got a call that Meg had a fever of 101 and was tired, not hungry and lethargic. I gave her permission to administer Tylenol and then called the doctor. After our urinary tract infection adventure of the summer, the doctors warned me that I needed to come back if she ever had any fever for more than a day or so to check for UTIs. If she were to get another one, we'd probably have to get her a somewhat invasive ultrasound to see if she has kidney reflux.

They finagled me in at 2:30. The doctor's was booked, but I said I really wanted her to get the pee test since it can take overnight to get the results and they acquiesced. Then I waited for nearly three hours for her to pee. Meg contaminated the first bag by pooping on it. The second she wiggled so much she peed everywhere BUT the bag. The third time was the charm. Good news -- no UTI (they'll call tomorrow with the overnight test), no white blood cells in the urine, no ear infection, no sore throat -- just some basic upper respiratory infection.

Fortunately, Meg seemed to be a great mood despite it all (although it's always a little embarrassing to beg for an appointment for a sick kid for her to not act sick AT ALL). I'm glad we got the baseline. I would hate for her to be sicker tomorrow or have a painful UTI tonight.

Sad

A friend of Mark's from high school died last week. The details are still a mystery, but the fact remains the same. He is gone. There's not too much to say except it's all so terribly sad and it hits a little too close to home.

Peter went with us in 2006 to Lexington to look at VMI and a few other colleges before the boys entered their senior years at Robinson and were considering playing football. I remember him being a nice, funny, polite kid. He was a good sport of hanging out with an 18 month old. He and Mark even babysat one night so we could go out to dinner with friends.

He will be missed.

New school!

Andy started his new school at the George Mason preschool on Tuesday. So far, so good. I gave myself lots of time for a lengthy drop-off. I chatted with his teacher, who has a son who graduated with Mark. I talked to the administration people about his paperwork. I generally lingered. And after about a minute, he asked if he could play and didn't look back. His only complaint was that he wanted his big neon green microfiber plush blanket to have for nap time. I would let him have it, but it was on sale at Target sometime last spring for like $7.99 and it's at least a queen size. The thing would take up his whole cubbie even though his new one is twice the size of his old one.

As a reward though, I went to Target and got him a twin sized version of it. Sadly, it's in season and I paid like $25. Worth it, though. The only thing strange for me so far is it's more of preschool in that he's supposed to bring his own snacks for snack time as well as a list of school supplies. I certainly don't mind spending $20 on the supplies and snacks I just didn't realize it on the first day so he had to get a snack from the kitchen.

The only things bad for me were it really is about 7 minutes further away. Not bad, but in rush hour that can be significant. I also haven't really worked out my new routes yet.

It also sucks that after last week's sunburn debacle, I sent him off with a peeling face and back. Nothing like admitting in the beginning that I'm a shitty parent that, gasp, let my kid get sunburned. I can hear the judgements from the other parents already, "I would never let that happen to Susie." I don't care so much that I am not the perfect parent as much that I mind that they know already. Fortunately, a friend e-mailed me to say she had gotten her dates mixed up and he daughter started kindergarten a day late. It's nice to know we're all human.

I don't have any pictures to post of his big day. I thought about it and then didn't want to make it any more dramatic than usual fearing waterworks and whining. It's especially a bummer since I'm seeing all the adorable pictures my friends are posting from the first day of school and I WANT SOME (just like the Pigeon who wants to drive the bus, which Meg has made us read 200 times in the past week). I may have to stage some pictures. You won't tell, right?

Vacay

Before we could leave for the beach, Andy had his last day at Kindercare. Here he is with his teachers Mr. Jerrell and Ms. Clydie. I teared up a little, but he was fine.

Tor and Ryan on the boogie boards.

Nicole with her shadow Mia.

Trying to convince Meg this was fun. She didn't buy it.

Poor awkward port-wine sunburn.

Day two with the hat and shirt. That's Mia behind him. They did variations of this for five and six hours at a time. It was remarkable.

We did it! We took a vacation that wasn't to see family, go to a wedding or a graduation of some kind. Through a Theta friend, we got a great deal on a four bedroom house in Rehoboth, Delaware, about 3 1/2 hours away. After trying for months to pin down a date with friends, we finally just booked the house and were fortunately that folks could join us. Andy had the time of his life. Minus the seriously red sunburn (poor kid has my features, sadly) he had the best time. He played with Mia and Liam and loved the beach, just running into the surf and making piles of sand and water entertained him for like six hours at a stretch with no complaining. It was remarkable really.

Meggie Meg, however, was not so keen on the beach. In fact, with such a willing audience, she spent a lot of time whining. Her new trick is to get others to read her books, which is both adorable and annoying. She also loves to take us by the hand and take us to whatever it is she wants to do next, like go outside, eat sometime. It's not talking, but she's getting started on that. I imagine next year she'll be more interested. I think my friend would let us rent it again next spring (it's cheaper in the off season and right now we don't have to worry about school schedules). I also think next year she'll be entertained with the DVD for three hours. As it was, she was a pretty good whiner about the ride as well.

We loved seeing our friends with the bonus of them having friends in town. Bjorn's brother and his kids were there, too, so it was really nice and social while relaxing. I want to go back tomorrow. Well, except for the driving and sunburn parts. Poor Andy is so sunburned awkwardly on his face due to my poor sunblock application is looks like a bad port wine stain. For the second day, I made him wear an "aqua" shirt which in this case was just a microfiber shirt and a hat.

In other big news, Andy starts his new school tomorrow. He's starting at the George Mason University Preschool/Daycare. I really liked the program. It's slightly less convenient, but I liked it better and it's marginally cheaper. Score! And as if things weren't busy enough, I've decided to take a graduate school class at George Mason myself in health communications. One class in and I'm already a little daunted.

Gettin' old

Little Miss Jennifer is not so little anymore as evidenced by her 24th birthday today. The eight year old I knew back when is now a college graduate complete with a real job, her own apartment, a new promotion and is an excellent big sister. I'm so proud of her.

Katchie

As a kid, we spent a lot of time in Pecos, Texas, visiting my grandparents and uncle. I remember always being so proud whenever my cousin Katchie came by. She was clearly the life of the party. I could hear family talking excitedly about whether or not Katchie would be there. It was a guarantee that everyone would have an above average share of laughs. I liked her a lot myself, but also, I remember being so proud that she was named Katherine, too, and I was named after her. How cool, I thought, to be named after someone that everyone likes so much. I would later find out I was named after lots of Katherines in the family, but she was the one I knew and liked best.

When I was probably 12 or 13, Katchie invited me to come stay with her for a week one summer. Although I was excited to have been invited, I was a budding teenager (therefore moody and hormonal) as well as a little shy. While I loved Katchie and loved sitting on the floor across from her as she sat next to Ranny on the big blue couch on Hackberry, I was a little afraid to be away from home staying at her house instead of with Ranny and Papa. It was a really nice week. She let me watch all the Nick and Night I wanted (obviously way cooler than my mother) and she chaperoned me about town as her namesake. I was also so intrigued about how bold she was to have a good friend in Governor Ann Richards, the (gasp!) Democratic governor I knew my parents and grandparents did not approve of.

As a college student and then an adult, my visits to Pecos began to dwindle. But I knew we would always have a good time when we came for Christmas. A party at the Faulkners, Christmas Eve service at St. Mark's Episcopal followed by dinner at Katchie's with Christmas at at Katchie's followed by Christmas dinner at Ranny's. I always loved that she served Mexican food for Christmas dinner (which was also excellent). It was so Katchie to think beyond the traditional institutions.

Katchie herself was an institution herself. She will be missed.

Pictures

Meg and I are headed to Dallas, then Midland then Pecos and back again over the next four days. Bjorn and Andy are staying home this time. The boys will be fine, but Andy's old enough that he cried about not getting to see his cousin Megan. I must admit, that was a good reason.

It will be interesting just flying and traveling with one kid again, especially with a 19-month-old. I know I thought Andy was so big and grown up at this age, but I certainly don't look at Meg that way. Yet. Or ever, perhaps. I do understand why people call their youngest "Baby" forever.

Here are some recent pictures.

Andy is obsessed with climbing trees right now.
Mark and his roommate Thomas at their new off-campus house at ODU.

Meg being totally adorable.

Salon day

I took Meg to get her first official haircut today. I have trimmed it here and there over the past nearly 19 months, but it was time to get all of it cleaned up a little and her bangs trimmed. I'll admit I was nervous about it. Fortunately she handled it like a champ. She got lollipop that wasn't even that interesting for her. Rather she sort of skeptically sat there with me touching her leg through all five minutes. Quite a big girl.

Andy was very sweet about the whole thing. He kept trying to distract and reassure her. I don't think she needed it, but it made my heart well up a little.

Speaking of welling up, my cousin Katchie died last night. I say cousin generically as I believe she's my mother's first cousin. We spent a lot of time with her growing up and I have great memories of her houses in Pecos where she usually hosted everyone after church on Christmas Eve. We also spent some great holidays at her house in Ruidoso, N.M., where my grandfather taught us various card games that we played for hours in the hopes of winning the $50 pot.

I have seen much less of her as I got older. The combination of not going to Pecos for holidays anymore combined with her inability to travel and the complication of pregnancies and little people was a big deterrent. I did get out to see her a few years ago. My mom and I caught a Southwest flight from Dallas and just went to see the Pecos crowd for the day. She was a fantastic cousin and I was always very proud to say I was named after her (I believe my mother wisely named me Katherine after family on both sides, however, I was always proudest of my Katchie connection.)

Katchie has been unwell for a long time, particularly in the past week so it wasn't a surprise, but I'm sad all the same. My older sister was the hero of the hospital by going out to Midland to be with her at the end and I'm really proud of her for it. I can only hope that when my time comes there is much love (and Scotch) to go around.

The things they say

Andy came home from school the other day singing the one little, two little, three little Indians song. You know it, "One little, two little, three little Indians, four little, five little, six little Indians, seven little eight little, nine little Indians, ten little Indian boys." I started to sing along with him.

"No, Mommy. It's ENGLANDS, not INDIANS."

I haven't figured out if that's the political correct way to sing it now or a honest mistake. Cracks me up either way.

Holy sleep regression

Meg is going through some sort of phase at the moment where she cries and shrieks at bedtime and naptime. It started Thursday night and has happened every night since then. Naptime today was so painful I finally had to put her in the car and drive around for 10 minutes and she was out, then made the transfer and had to be woken up at 4:30. With a baby, this sort of stuff is expected, but in a 18 1/2 month old?

Part of it is the cats' fault. She got freaked out that the cat was in her closet so when I noticed the shrieking, which is highly unusual for my normally good sleeper, I went in and sure enough, one of the cats was there (and dying to get out). That first night, Thursday night, nothing we did worked and she even threw up a little either due to the intensity of it or catching herself just right. Because of that, we didn't feel right laying her back down to cry. Then we tried everything -- holding her, cuddling, water, you name it. We ended up bringing her to bed with us until about 1:30 when my back hurt so bad I had to move her back to her bed. That stint in our bed was probably the main error of our ways.

Jennifer put her to bed last night while we went to the movies and had a similar, but not quite as bad experience. Tonight was particularly terrible -- nearly 40 minutes of shrieking -- not crying, no shrieking. Bjorn finally went in and held her until she fell asleep -- at 10:15 p.m. I suppose if this keeps up, we're going to have to go back to Dr. Ferber and just let her cry it out. The problem is that she's older and has more resources to throw at me, like shrieking.

Suggestions on the 18-month sleep regression, other than more wine for mommy?

Pictures

Meg likes the pool, but prefers to wear her swimsuit like this. Next year I'm getting her a different style. I don't think she likes it around her neck. That or she prefers to show her chest.

Everyone in the house loves Wii. Even Meg has her own Mii now. Here she is getting her first body test. I think her Wii Fit age was 12. Random.

The big tree branch that fell during last week's storm. Since then, we've had at least 10 different tree people stop by trying to offer their services. We're getting an arborist out next week to make sure to rebalance it so it doesn't crash on the house next time.

A picture during Cousin P.J.'s visit. I've been a little slow to upload lately. Kodak EasyShare Gallery is proving anything but easy for me right now.

Apparently boys must start comparing early as witnessed as I got the boys ready for a bath.

Meg looks so much like Bjorn in his glasses. It cracks me up.

Seriously, is the just the most adorable right now? She is also so close to talking that it makes it so much better for me when we can actually communicate.

Is this what I'm going to be listening to for the next 15 years?

Andy's vocabulary has expanded into a few phrases I fear I will be hearing a lot of from the two of them, oh, forever probably.

"This is boring."
"I never get to do anything."
"You're not my friend."

It's hilarious as well as totally irritating.

Meg is also a fantastic mimic right this minute. She's not exactly talking, but she will say the most surprising and spot on things. Like I swear the other night Bjorn and Andy were playing Wii and then we hear, "I want to play," as clear as day. We all looked at each other and then her. Naturally she didn't say it again, but she's sure getting close. Andy's wrong, it's not boring at all.

Holy tree branch and an 18-month check up

Meg had her 18 month check up on Friday. The little rascal is growing perfectly and seems right on target for her age on all accounts. She got two shots that she did not appreciate, but she got two lollipops which she did like. I don't think she's consider it a fair trade, but it was something. Fortunately, that's the last of the vaccinations except for the flu shot until Kindergarten (good thing Andy can't read yet to know what's coming next year).

Weight: 27 pounds, 7 ounces (90-95th percentile)
Height: 33 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

If you take her height and double it, that's 67 inches and following the old wives' tale of doubling their height at two, you get their height as adults, that makes her 5 foot, 7 inches -- Bjorn is already planning her basketball career. Indeed by Egan standards that makes her a giant. I have a theory that Andy will be 5' 10" and Meg will be 5' 9". I'm okay with that.

We talked about the UTI. She said from now on, any time she has an unexplained fever to bring her in for a check. If she gets another UTI, then we'll likely have to go in for some type of sonogram to make sure the kidneys are working properly. She said with one UTI after an event like diarrhea, it's probably just isolated, but we definitely need to keep an eye out. As for her ears, the advice is to keep our fingers crossed for a good fall free of ear infections. Otherwise, tubes here we come.

In other exciting news, the electrical storm that blew through around midnight snapped one of the big branches off our big tree out front (check my Facebook profile for some pics until I get them uploaded here). It took Mark, Bjorn and several neighbors all morning to chop it up to get it out of the road. They also put a lot of the branches in bundles with twine so the trash folks will take it (hopefully). We also need to call an arborist to come check out the tree and let us know if it has been compromised and in need of more work. Any recommendations?

A first of many

Andy got in a fight at school last week. Actually, he got in two fights. My seemingly well behaved, good natured kid managed to clock two kids on the same day. It wasn't even with one of the so-called bad kids in his class (and every class even at this age has a kid who seems to always be in trouble for something so I could understand hitting that kid). Nope, these were two separate kids -- a boy and a girl.

The hit on Chelsea wasn't so bad apparently. They were playing and she took something so he bonked her with a plastic shovel. The other, the worse of the two, was his friend Evan. Apparently Evan "wasn't playing right" so Andy hit him. And actually made him bleed. Great.

Bjorn got the news from his teacher that afternoon. He's such a good kid normally she was embarrassed to have to tell him. When we talked to Andy about it, he was so matter of fact and not sorry at all. "He wasn't playing right." or "She hurt my feelings." Later I ran into Evan and his mom at the library and got to apologize for his behavior. She understood -- apparently Evan said he took Andy's toy and wouldn't give it back. But still. I am sure I'm going to be apologizing for my kids for the next 20 years ago. Then it will be time for them to apologize for me.

Mini-Andy

Meg is in a hero worship stage with her big brother. I imagine this will last off and on the rest of her life. She really wants to do everything he does. Andy is riding his bike? She wants on the bike. He plays with the water table? She wants to stick her hands in. A few days ago I even took out the high chair (perhaps even, gasp, forever!) and put in a booster seat right next to Andy's chair. She is thrilled to be right next to him. Now I just have to make sure to feed them the same stuff because she totally notices if he gets juice and she gets milk.

What is also fun about this stage is that he's old enough to teach her things. Like tonight at dinner he was teaching her the "open, shut them" song that they sing at school before meals. It involves holding up your hands and clapping. He was proudly showing her and she was doing it. I know, beyond adorable.

Also adorable, Andy pretends that Meg tells him things. So she'll say, "Baba baby oweyo." And he'll say, "Mom, she says Daisy is not a fan of President Obama's plans for health reform." Okay, it's really more like, "Mom, she said she's not going to let me play with the blocks ever because her baby wants them." I do find that she is saying some real words and even some two word sentences, but certainly not to the extent he gives her credit for.

Sibling rivalry

It was bound to happen. Once the kids could play together, they would naturally learn how to fight, too. Case in point, Andy was building a "road" with his big living room blocks. Meg decided to get in on the action by finding the biggest block and promptly sitting on it. Andy cried/whined and then pushed her off. She then came appealing to me for intervention. I'll admit I'm not sure what to do with all this. My options here are:

a) Try to get Meg interested in something else or out of the room.
b) Get Andy to be okay with her in the midst of his "work."
c) Discipline Andy for pushing her and let her have the blocks.
d) Have another glass of wine.
e) Some combination of the above.

Thoughts?

Out of the mouths of babes

"Andy, why did you say that? It's not nice to say, 'Mommy, get away from me.''
"I don't know. I think it was germs. Some strange germs got in my mouth and made me say that."

Pictures

Andy and Marc in the pool on the fourth. It has been remarkably coolish here so they were the only ones brave enough to get in the pool. I love the artistic water shot Bjorn got.
Meg and Lauren eating outside while we prepared fireworks. I posted this picture because this expression she has in the photo reminds me of someone in the family, but I can't quite place it.

I love the fun that can come from something as simple as a diaper box. Here the kids are in Andy's "boat." He is at a stage where his imagination is really taking off. He turns all sorts of every day items into his imaginary playthings. I love it.

Andy was so tired from school last week he went to "rest" on our bed and fell asleep half-way off. I was tickled by the picture and by the way his hair fell.

Follow up appointment or how long does it take for a toddler to pee in a bag?

We had a follow up appointment for Meg this morning. Our doctor's office has Saturday walk-in hours for sick only (i.e. no appointments), but he wanted her to come in to check her urine to see if the infection was gone. Despite improvements since Wednesday, she still hasn't been herself the last few days. Thursday she was still pretty fussy throughout the day and very tired with a fever. Even on Friday she slept until 10:15 (unheard of!) and was only up for about two hours before she needed a nap. I did call the doctor to ask if that was okay. Granted, she was better -- lower fever, no vomiting, eating and normal bowel movements, but she still wasn't herself. He said that sick as she'd been, it was going to take a while to improve and so long as she was making eye contact and walking normally, she was progressing okay. I must say I appreciated Dr. Murphys' calm reassurances. He has not normally been my favorite, what with calling me "mom" all the time (which everyone at the ER did, too -- must be an industry standard), but he's been great through this.

Anyway, we went in today. Meg was perkier and generally happier, especially after a breakfast that included chocolate chip cupcakes that I baked to bring to the doctor's office (I am nothing but a suck-up). She was playing nicely in the waiting room until we went back and Dr. Murphy laid her down to attach the plastic pee bag. Poor thing, her legs were shaking as she clearly remembered how it went the last time a doctor laid her out. She was also shaking when the nurse came to draw blood from her toe (and she cried and was MAD about it). Now I just needed to wait for her to pee in the bag. Which took two hours, despite my plying her with nine ounces of Pedialyte in a baby bottle.

The good news, her white blood cell count is down to 30,000 from 40,000 on Wednesday. That means the antibiotics are working and the infection is working its way out. Now we wait until tomorrow to see if bacteria grows in the urine sample.

The theory is that last week when she had diarrhea, that a little bit of the poop made its way where it shouldn't causing the bladder/urinary tract infection (despite being different pieces of anatomy, the diagnoses are interchangeable). The cold she has is just a secondary infection. We will go back in about two weeks to check her urine when she's allegedly healthy to see if there is an infection. If she's clear, that's all fine, but if she's got an infection, it may be a sign that she's got an anatomical problem that would warrant more testing.

In all of this, Bjorn says, "Hey, have you seen the big cat? I haven't seen her since last night. The little cat came in the morning, but I haven't seen Coltrane." So with all this, we're casing the streets looking for a cat. Andy doesn't care since he's already decided he wants a black kitten. Fortunately, as my hope is waning she comes trotting up the driveway, seemingly healthy and covered in grass like she's been hiding in some one's yard. Phew. I wasn't sure how much more drama I needed this week.

Our first real trip to the ER

Little Miss Margaret got her first trip to the ER tonight. After another hitting the Wednesday mark with no improvement since Monday, we went back to the pediatrician who ran some blood work, another strep test, a urine test and whatever other tests. He couldn't find anything except that her white blood cell count was 40,000. Apparently that's really high. Normal is like 12,000. That was the sign that some bacteria was amiss in her system. He suspected it might be pneumonia and he gently said we'd have to go to the emergency room for better blood work and chest X-rays. Meg was fussy at the news (well, all day for a week, really) and I teared up even.

I headed over to Fairfax hospital next to my office and had the good sense to call an office friend to meet me. Bjorn was in Richmond for the day so I called Jennifer to pick up Andy who coordinated with Mark to babysit.

The whole event was pretty awful and tear-wrenching (for me as well) as they poked and prodded a kid who obviously didn't feel well. The X-rays were uncomfortable, but not so bad. What sucked was the catheter for the urine sample. What sucked worse was them looking for a vein and then getting the IV into her little right hand and covering it up with a strange little collar. They finally came back after probably four hours with a diagnosis of a urinary tract infection. She got some IV antibiotics and a script for omnicef and a follow-up with her doctor.

Fortunately, by the end, she had perked up with some IV fluids, Motrin and cuddles with Daddy. She was really tired, but not as sad and mopey (and dehydrated) as before.

As for me, I'm exhausted and going to bed.

Neurotic mess

Can someone explain to me why I am more neurotic with the second kid than the first? Doesn't that defy normal logic? Both are (relatively) healthy, beautiful kids. Both so far are following all the normal milestone progression. So why is it when she gets something I totally freak out?

Case in point, Meg has a fever. A high one, clocking in at 104 today. It started with her diarrhea/barfing adventure on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday she was a little warm and by Friday (when I left to go out of town), she went up to 102 and tracked off and on like that all weekend. I got home last night and she was seeming better, but she didn't eat much and had a rough night, waking up 2-3 times and still had a fever in the morning. I took her to the doctor this morning. Fortunately, no strep and no ear infection, but she does have a sore throat and a fever. Apparently a virus is going around that lasts about three to five days and the recommendation was to keep her hydrated and medicate the fever as necessary.

Ayesha kindly offered to watch her for a few hours while I "took rest" as she calls it since I worked all weekend and didn't sleep much while I was away only to be up a lot of last night. I rested and then went to pick her up about four after a few hours. As Andy and I arrived, Meg had just thrown up her snack and was incredibly listless. It was freaking me out to see her so limp and hot, alternating with chills, not to mention clingy and just sort of out it. I tried to give her some Tylenol, and after about five minutes, she threw that up, too. Ayesha asked if we should go to the emergency room with her fever so high, which sort of freaked me out, too. I called the doctor and left a detailed message. After about 30 minutes, I called back (now armed with the 104 temperature news) and she seemed somewhat annoyed to be forced by her receptionist to take my call.

"I imagine with a fever that high she would be miserable and achey. You should get some Tylenol suppositories, which sell under the name Feverall. They might be behind the counter. For her weight, give her 160 mg. Give her comfort foods, Pedialyte and white grape juice in small quantities. The fever may get worse overnight and be better in the morning for a couple more days." She earlier to come back Wednesday if it's not better.

Fortunately, the last dose of Tylenol I gave her before I got the Feverall stayed down as did the Motrin I gave her about an hour later bringing her temp down to 99.8. She even was hungry for what Andy was having for dinner and drank some Pedialyte. I am hopeful I can consistently work to keep her temperature down until this works its way through.

So why does this freak me out so? Was I just too naive the first time around? Do I just know now that I can bug the doctor when I have a question rather than be a martyr and wait? Am I just more impatient now and I want an answer/treatment now? Is it that two pregnancies have made my pregnancy brain permanent?

In other news, Andy keeps singing, "Who let the dogs in? Who, who, who?"

Bjornism

I have to give Bjorn credit, he is definitely more of a half-glass full guy than a half-empty kind of guy. It's usually a good balance for me since I tend to be more cautious. Today is a perfect example.

Meg and Andy were beyond adorable after dinner as they were both in an empty diaper box "driving." I think it was a bus, but it could have been a boat. I'm not sure Andy was entirely clear. But they were playing together and laughing.

"Wow. Isn't that adorable? It's so great that they can play together a little now," I said.
"Yeah, it really is great. 'Andy, you are being a good big brother,'" said Bjorn.
"It was a long way to go for this, but I do love it."
"Are you kidding? This is worth everything."

I know, what a sweetheart.

I leave for a work trip for the weekend tomorrow. Meg has been sick this week starting with diarrhea Tuesday followed by the barfs Tuesday night into Wednesday. I was up with her Tuesday night and then Bjorn stayed home with her yesterday (again, what a good guy.) She was really whiny and sad off and on during the day (and refusing Tylenol) so it was so great when she woke up this morning much more like herself. It makes me appreciate the joy the kids were having together all the morning.

Oh, what's up with Michael Jackson today? I just have to add that my mom wins cool points for taking us to his Thriller concert at Texas Stadium back in like 1980. The killer? We had front row seats. Apparently Mom sent away by mail for the tickets from the back of a Rolling Stone magazine. Totally cool.

Happy Father's Day

Two days late, I wanted to give a shout-out to Bjorn for Father's day. I love that he loves his kids, all four of them. At each stage, he has said every age is the best age. His positive attitude is a great asset on a day where both the big kids have asked for money and both the little kids have thrown consecutive temper tantrums. Seriously, he's a sweet guy, a good husband, very smart, and except for being just a little too chatty and know-it-all ity (I know, pot/kettle?), I'm glad he's my baby daddy.

Oh, pictures are from his birthday two weeks earlier, but I thought it was cute. I also need to hide those thick flannel winter pajamas as Andy insists on wearing them and then when I check on him in the night I find him sweating like Pete Schweaty.

Social media

It's weird, with the fun stuff like Facebook and Twitter (which I now am using a lot for work, thank you very much), I find I'm neglecting my blog. It's a shame, too, since this is my excuse for not really doing a baby book to record what my kids are doing. It's just that I'm finding it's more fun and immediate to post little things here and there rathering to really think about a post. Plus, there is all the fun of stalking high school and college friends to see what they're up to. It's like the best reunion I've never been to in that I get to see what everyone is doing, send some e-mails, view some pictures but not have to endure the awkward half drunk conversation at the Marriott over a $5 Bud light.

In other news, the kids are almost playing with each other right now. And I say almost because she wants to do what he's doing, but his initial interest in that wanes quickly and he whines and cries that she's taking something/breaking his fort/doing something else clearly evil and wrong. I've even witnessed him give her that a little too hard push or smack her almost testing to see what happens. I can see a future of "S/he's touching me."

Meanwhile, we're trying to plan an August get-away to Lewes, Delaware. I've been corresponding with a realtor about rentals, but I don't know the area. Anybody have a clue? I'm just afraid what looks fine in pictures is really in Dowistrepla or something.

Dolly

Dollies. Having a boy first, we never really went through baby dolls. Andy has his dogs and never really showed much interest in dolls. Of course, I don't think I ever gave him one explicitly, but when we were with my nieces or other girls with them, he wanted to play with the baby stroller and not the baby.

Now I have a daughter and things are different.

I picked Meg up from her babysitter's on Monday and she was dragging around a baby doll. She was reluctant to give it up so Ayesha let me take her home. I promptly named her Daisy after the famous air gun that I'd seen with my folks at the NRA firearms museum that day. (I'm not a queen of naming stuffed animals like Betsy, but I am actually rather proud of this one).

Since then, she's been carrying Daisy everywhere and sleeping with her. Not to be left out, Andy now says he wants a doll, too. I tried to give him a soft doll that my mother gave Meg for Christmas, a doll I promptly named Remy, short for Remington, sticking with my weapons theme. He instead wants one just like hers. That doll that we haven't gotten yet, will be a boy, Andy says. And I will name him Colt, after the rifle as well as the after the Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.

Picture is somewhat unrelated, but I really like it.

Hooray

My folks were visiting this weekend so my dad could be honored with an award for his legal writing (go Dad!) so we went (well, I forced them) to hit the Newseum that I've been trying to visit for at least a year. It was great and I want to go spend more time there, but the highlight was getting this great picture.

Classic.

I conned Andy into taking a nap yesterday. I knew he was tired and made him like next to me quietly in my bed. After about 15 minutes, he actually fell asleep. By then it was already 2:30 and I knew Meg would be waking up soon so I opted to crawl out quietly to do some work on my laptop rather than try to get in a nap that would be so short it would just piss me off.

About 10 minutes later, I heard a thumb, followed by a cry. Andy had fallen out of bed. I quickly scooped him back up and tucked him back into bed.

"That was funny," Andy said. And then he passed out for another hour.

Adorableness.

Boo!

I have a baby board book called Baby Boo! (thanks Frances, I think it was a hand-me-down from you actually.) It's got like eight pages and 15 words in the whole thing, so I love to read it too as it doesn't take forever to get through. On one page, you ask where the baby is and on the next page, it says "boo" to a smiling baby's face. In total adorableness, Meg now says "boo" when we read it, sometimes even on the right page!

She's getting so interactive right now I just love it.

One of those days

My kids had one of those days yesterday. That alone isn't that notable, but they chose yesterday to both have a bad day. At the same time. At the same time as it was pouring down rain. It started with Meg's ear follow up appointment. I was surprised to hear that her latest ear infection didn't clear up with the Suprax as expected. Next up, Augmentin. She had that last about six months ago (ages in the life of a 16 month old) and it caused some diarrhea. But that could have been due to something she ate or the antibiotics. I guess we'll see. The concern now is that this may be speeding up the timetable on ear tubes.

In any event, after the visit, we dropped off the prescription at the CVS drive-through (we're now good friends with the folks there). Then I needed to go to Target for a few things. There, they both proceeded to whine and wiggle through the entire store. If one wasn't crying, the other was and then they both were. Meg is now of an age (and temperament) that when she doesn't want something, she can really arch her back and make it difficult to carry her. So I couldn't contain her in the cart or control her on her feet. And Andy was just crybabying the whole way. Ugh.

Then we needed to head into the library to return DVDs from our trip and pick up a new one. This whole exercise usually takes five minutes, but Andy was still whining about everything (including all the "strangers" in the library and Meg was running away from me and/or climbing on chairs. It got so bad I had one librarian helping Andy who was crying because I had to run to grab Meg and he was crying that I had left. Then as we checked out, Meg ran off and I had a nice lady behind me with three kids of her own holding her while I checked out and Andy cried about not wanting to check out at a certain station. Big stuff.

We went home for a nap (hers at least) then we trekked into town to see an old high school friend who was visiting with her two kids and staying in Dupont Circle. In the afternoon, they were better, but I did discover upon returning that when Andy was having "quiet time," what he did was write all over his pillows with markers. Good times. I had several glasses of wine last night.

And then? Both kids slept until 8 this morning, which is unheard of. Then they were then precious angels most of the day, playing, smiling, eating properly. Meg took a power nap in the afternoon and I even got a nap in (which always makes me in a better mood.) What a difference a day makes sometimes.

Adorableness

Megan, Andy and Emma at the DCC last weekend. I know, they are totally beautiful.

Photo gallery

Meg didn't get to go on our trip, so I had to take adorable pictures of her before I left to show off. Note the new pink shoes and the open strap -- she insists on keeping the straps un-velcroed. I can't explain it. This was also after she climbed the big kid slide and went down by herself. That kid is a fearless climber.

Tia with Emma and her totally awesome hair that morning.

My birthday tiara was actually far less interesting than the seriously awesome fudge cake Mom, Mary and Bitsie picked up at Celebrity Deli.

Bjorn is horrified by his manly little boy dressed in a hula skirt and pink hat. I personally think he looks pretty cute.

The customary bathtub picture of the kids. We are going to try to get a photo every time they're together in the tub. This will probably be a problem in few years with a very high mortification factor.

Uh oh

Tonight Andy took the Neosporin and covered his naked body in it.

"Look, Mommy. I'm all slippery."

I should have taken a photo and didn't, but his whole body looked like it was getting ready for a G-string and a strip club.

Vacay

Andy and I are in Dallas at the moment. We came for a quick trip for a long weekend to visit leaving Bjorn and Meggie Meg at home. It's been fun and weird just having one kid. Andy has loved the attention. Well, when he's noticed me. He's be loving playing with his cousin Megan and occasionally Emma. It's been nice to not have to be so rigid about bedtimes and naps as a four year old is more flexible than a 16-month-old, but I have missed her. Emma is 22-months though and I love watching her closely to get a feel for what's coming my way. She is almost talking and is generally more into running and playing than Meg is at the moment.  I know Meg is going to really love playing with her the next time we're together. 

The trip has been too short to be able to really look anyone up unfortunately. Next time...

Toddlerhood

Holy sh*t. I have a toddler on my hands. I mean that in the sense that I now have a small person who is no longer content to play happily with toys or eat her dinner of whatever was on the menu. No, now she points, grunts and whines about seemingly everything, insists on eating my dinner even if it's what was already on her plate, arches her back to avoid getting in the carseat and generally demands attention only to reject it once I give it to her. It's going to be a long few years ahead, I can feel it.

On the other hand, with this new found independence and intellect comes an increasing awareness of what she does want. Like she likes to hand me a book and sit in my lap while we "read"/flip the pages. She likes to play in the bath water. She likes to sit in chairs of all shapes and sizes to turn around and smugly see what the view is like.

Andy is so desperate to play with Meg and she largely ignores him a lot of the time, much like he will do to her in a few years. It's nice to see what comes around, goes around.

Block party

I have vivid memories of the block parties growing up. We had a big block with lots of kids and it seemed the yearly block party was the highlight of the social season when we were in elementary school. They seemed to peter out as we got older, but the memories lingered. That's one of the reasons I wanted to organize a block party here in Fairfax.

I talked to my next door neighbors who were down with the idea. I then made a flyer with both our names on it. Since they're in there 70s and know everyone, I thought it would be a good mix of us (younger, newer to the block) and them (older, longer residents). I put out the flyers like six weeks ago asking for RSVPs. Doris and Ernie were out of town until this week so I was nervous that only a few people had said yes or no. We started talking it up more and it helped that a new family with four kids under the age of 7 moved in last week. In total, we had about 35 people show up, with maybe 15 kids of all ages. I was happy with the turnout and happy to get to know some of my neighbors better, especially since a lot of them have young kids in between my kids' ages.

It's been a long an exciting Memorial Day weekend. Other nuggets:

1) I bought Meg her first pair of real shoes. I love that there are like 10 pairs of cute girl shoes for everyone one pair of boy shoes.

2) Andy, Meg and I volunteered at the church Friday helping sort clothes for their first food and clothing distribution. Andy and I went back Saturday and helped in the kids' area letting kids color et al while their parents registered and were helped. It was really cool to be a part of that and I liked being able to volunteer with Andy.

3) I booked a flight for me and Andy to visit my Dallas family next weekend for a few days. Bjorn is going to stay here with Meg. Initially I thought about just bringing Meg, but Andy is old enough to really enjoy the trip and she's young enough that it wouldn't be a relaxing visit at all with me having to chase her everywhere. Next time.

4) Mark is home from college and has brought more clothes than I even thought he had. They are now strewn about his room and all over the laundry room. Bjorn said he wasn't going to wash them and I think Mark is trying to wait out his reserve.

5) The pool opened and we all went for a little while. Andy really loves it, but still refuses to put his head under water. I think I'm going to get him lessons this year.

6) I watched the Sex and the City movie via Netflix. And cried. Three times. I am a total sap.

7) Meg has another ear infection. I took her in on Friday to get her on and off goopy eyes looked at and sure enough, another ear infection. I didn't ask about tubes. This time.

8) Oh, and Frances, the duct cleaning went well. They were here about three hours with industrial vacuum cleaners. They said it was pretty bad in there. You're apparently supposed to get it done every three years. They also sucked out the dryer vent, which is good. Let's hope it also helps with Andy and Mark's allergies.

Parent/teacher conference

I had a parent/teacher conference at Andy's school this week. I know, sort of ridiculous as he's FOUR. It was the second one he's had there, I think, but the first with this new teacher in the class he's been in maybe six weeks or so. Generally he's doing well. He knows all his upper case letters and all but two of his lowercase letters as well as all his numbers. I could have told them that.

What I didn't know is that he's apparently quiet(ish) at school. I find this remarkable since he's soooo talkative at home. Since he broke up with his BFF/frenemy by moving up to the next class, it's taken him a little time to find his niche. Right now he's good friends with a little boy whose parents we know (score) and another little girl that the boy is friends with. I know them from birthday parties and they seem like nice kids so that's a plus. He also likes to tell me though, "I'm every body's friend." I love that. And I love that he seems to be progressing well.

I don't love right now is his pattern (like last night) of coming to my room at 5-ish claiming bad dream. I have been having a devil of a time sleeping lately. Either I have trouble falling asleep or else I wake up too early and can't go back to sleep so this early morning wake-up does not please me. This morning he came to our bed, insisted on getting in. Then between his wiggling and Bjorn's snoring, I finally left for Andy's bed for half an hour for some general peace and quiet. Needless to say I'm tired today. What is my obsession with sleep, theirs and mine? Seriously.

Tomorrow I'm getting the ducts cleaned in the house to hopefully alleviate some of Andy's allergies. Heaven knows when those were last cleaned. Certainly not by us.

Birthday!

We drove to Cape May, New Jersey, yesterday for a 20 hour visit to surprise our friend who turns 40 next month. It was so great to see them after they abandoned us for New Jersey last year so it was great fun when her mother invited us and some other friends up during their family vacation to surprise her. We had a blast catching up with friends, but Andy had the most fun riding bikes with Mia and Liam, playing emergency and jumping on the air mattresses. It was so great to see them playing together like no time had past. Meg was also lapping up all the extra attention of all the additional family ready to hold her, play ball and tell her she was so beautiful and perfect.

Meg had a hard time settling into sleep in the pack and play and probably wailed for about 45 minutes before finally going to see. Andy finally conked out on the air mattress around 9:30. The big kids were exhausted. After an exhaustive reading of Texts from Last Night over many glasses of beer and wine and lots and lots of laughs, I finally turned in around midnight. Just in time for the town air raid noise to go off for the town's volunteer fire department. Meg then woke up and refused to go back to sleep for anything. I tried to hold her in bed, I gave her water, I tried putting her back down, I tried feeding her, I tried a bottle of milk, I tried driving her around. Nothing. With a house full of 15 other people, I couldn't really just let her cry like I might have at home. Instead, Bjorn took her into the car and she finally conked out and so did Bjorn. What a hero, seriously, sleeping in the car. We were all exhausted today.

We are planning another trip to the beach with friends later this summer and I'm a little worried that she hates the pack and play so much that we're doomed. I have thought about letting her sleep in it in her room a few nights to get her used to it. Any other ideas?

Pajama party

It's warm and humid here, most likely in anticipation of rain again, so I've been trying to put Meg is some cooler clothes for night. I have gone shopping for short sleeved shirts and shorts recently, but I thought I was okay on pajamas. Turns out much of what I have is fleece and therefore probably too warm. I dug into the closet and found a few pairs of Andy's old 18-24 month and 2T pajamas. Some of them I remember so fondly of him at that age that it warms my heart to see her wearing them. I imagine she'd be thrilled to realize they were Andy's, too. Now I'm wishing I hadn't given away so much of his clothes as about now, she'd look just adorable in blue pajamas wish fishies on them. Precious darling angel baby.

Andy is getting smarter by the minute. We have started playing "memory" and that kid is amazing at it. He also just loves it, which I love. I also like that we can play while I have TMZ on in the background.

We're going to visit some friends for the weekend at the beach. I think the weather is going to suck, but who cares! I am in desperate need of a change of scenery. I realized I haven't taken the kids (or myself) really anywhere interesting since the Christmas debacle in Dallas where Meg was sick and up all night practically the entire time we were gone.

I have decided I am in a funk and, in my natural fashion, I'm driving Bjorn practically batsh*t with my continued stream of things I want to do. Like helping the poor in our neighborhood through the church, taking a vacation to somewhere anywhere, taking classes at Mason (turns out since it's been six years since my last graduate class, I have to reapply), taking tennis lessons. He smiles and tries not to roll his eyes, but I need some ideas of fun stuff to do, places to go, people to see. What you got?

Back in business

I bought a new laptop back in January probably, but in typical Bennett family fashion, I have yet to dismantle my old computer and was keeping it standing (and on most of the time) mostly to pay bills and upload pictures. Of course, now that I have a new fancy FAST laptop, the old one has lost appeal to me. It doesn't help that it's in a corner of the basement vs. the laptop where I can watch Diego and post at the same time. That's the reason there haven't been many pictures lately and also why I have missed a few bills. And if you know me, I love to pay bills on time. Seriously.

So I have finally gotten the software to upload pictures here. Sure, it took me about an hour to figure out where on my hard drive they were stored, but I did it! Next up, getting a better routine for bill pay.

Meanwhile, we're still planning a beach vacay this summer. We've settled on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, to meet our friends. I can't wait. I really need the time away and as you can see, the kids love sand. Any recommendations from you out there?

Awesome!

Andy's new word is "awesome." He says it all the time right now, some of it when it's actually appropriate. It's adorable yet totally annoying all the same.

Me: Andy, let's go to the library and get a new DVD. Would you like that?
Andy: Awe-some!

Me: Andy, can you change out of your pull-up from last night, please? I think it smells like pee.
Andy: Awe-some!

Fat deposit or hernia: you be the judge

So Meg's had this little spot on her tummy for weeks now. It's a little spot under the skin above her belly button about the size of a dime. I mentioned it to her doctor a few weeks/months ago. She thought it was likely just a fat deposit, but we'd keep an eye on it. On Friday, the doctor pressed on it a little more (to the extent Meg would let her) and she thinks it might be a mild hernia instead since it seems to only show up when she's standing and flexing her stomach muscles.

My only real exposure to hernias is the kid on my block growing up who had one when he was in elementary school. The doctor explained that in kids that age, the problem ends up more in their testicles, turning them blue and painful, therefore needing surgical intervention. In Meg's case, she likely just has a little piece of intestine sticking through her stomach muscle. We will hope that it goes away on its own as it likely isn't causing any problems. If it ever did cause a problem, the remedy is surgery. According to the Toddler 411 book, umbilical hernias like this rarely require any treatment, but we'll certainly keep an eye on it.

15 months

Meg went for her 15 month check up on Friday. The little darling is 26 pounds and 32 inches tall -- a healthy, growing girl most certainly. Bjorn is excited for her height. He figures if the old wives' tale of double their height at two is correct, then she's at least going to be 5'4" and that's a solid two inches taller than me and makes her the tallest on my side of the family, next to Aunt Tia. She showed off her jabbering sounds and a few steps. Then she had to get three shots. She cried and I nearly did. Poor chicken.

It's been a weird few weeks for me though. I've been having trouble sleeping for some reason. I don't feel stressed necessarily although Bjorn working out of town so much hasn't been so great. Now I find myself stressed about not being able to sleep. How refreshing is that? So I lie in bed mad at myself for not being able to sleep or else I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and have the same thing. It makes no sense.

My doctor had prescribed Ambien some time ago and I've been taking that a little. Of course, now I'm paranoid about getting an addiction to sleeping pills so I lie awake at night and try to go to sleep, then worry about that and then take something. Rather ridiculous. And the catch is that to take Ambien, you have to have an eight hour window to take it so if I don't take it early enough, I'm screwed. So now I'm totally in my head about this. It's so bizarre. Anybody else go through this?

It's so funny to be worried about my own sleep. I swear I have spent the better part of four years worried about my kids sleeping habits so I think my own have been all over the map for so long that I don't know what to do with myself.