Thanksgiving pictures continued

Dad took Andy down to the river to shoot a gun, a .22 calibre pump action, for the first time. Andy did fine, but he isn't quite ready. He took it seriously enough, but his arm strength wasn't quite enough to hold it on his own and he lost interest in it (and the ear protection pretty quickly). I'm glad we did it though.

Mark, on the other hand...Does this city kid from suburban Washington, D.C., look comfortable in the country with a gun or what?

Grandmother and her baby bundle.

I stole Elizabeth's sunglasses. Meg stole them from me.

Megan and Andy down by the river. All four kids had a blast throwing rocks, finding freshwater shells, building dams and collecting wood at the river. It was awesome.

Elizabeth rocking the four-wheeler.

The requisite picture of all four kids in the bathtub. Elizabeth and I intend to document Andy and Megan in the bath together until they're 18. What, is that weird?

Pictures

I liked this picture -- Mary and Andy with Kieran followed by my dad with Megan on his shoulders.

Meg catching a ride with Bjorn as we walked to the take-out spot on the Colorado River.

Mary and Emma sitting in the boat. Yes, it's broken and yes, it's out of the water, but it's a nice place to rest down by the take-in spot on the river.

A self-portrait of Mark with the fire and the sunset in the background.

Margaret and Megan really hit it off at the end. Here they are on the chair in Mom's living room.

Here are all four grandchildren -- Megan, Andy, Emma and Margaret in their matching pajamas.

Another picture we tried to get of all four kids in matching Christmas pajamas. Emma, however, wished to have nothing to be done with it.

Phew

We are back. I, for one, am exhausted. I have a feeling my mother as uber hostess for many is beat as well.

It was so fantastic seeing my parents, my sisters and my adorable five and 2 1/2-year-old nieces. Andy and Margaret had the times of their lives. I loved watching that. It all made me wistful that we don't live closer. It is always hard traveling for the holidays and then trying to be a good house guest when my kids insist on smearing yogurt on the kitchen floor and then while I'm trying to triage that situation, the other one starts eating her yogurt with a knife. Oh, and let's not forget Meg forgot how to sleep while we were there. No fool, she sensed our weakness and inability to let her cry and ended up in bed with us probably every night at least for a bit before waking up before six FOR THE DAY. Of course, today -- our last morning -- Mom had to wake her up in order to leave for the airport to catch a flight that was then delayed nearly three hours. Fortunately both kids were angels on the plane, once Andy got down throwing a 30 minute fit that his new favorite cat Meowey was in our checked luggage. This after I asked the kid before I checked it if he was okay with that. Poor kid is practically luggage himself after so much excitement the past week. I, too, and worn out.

I also look forward to the years to come with the kids are easier to travel with and easier to send out of the room to play games with each other while we catch up and play bridge.

There are lots of great pictures to share, but right now I'm just too damn tired. I am planning to watch a little Tivo BY MYSELF IN MY OWN ROOM and then go to bed. I am crazy like that.

Thanksgiving

We have just gotten back from a weekend trip to the ranch down near Brownwood and it was great! The kids had a truly marvelous time. I think they could have happily thrown rocks, built fires and collected fresh water shells for another week. Andy shot his first gun, Dad's little pump action 22-caliber rifle. Andy was excited, but I don't think he is quite ready for it. Next year. Meg loved playing with 2 1/2 year old Emma and Andy and five-year-old Megan were truly inseparable. It was nice that they each had a buddy. Except for the close quarters and the fact that Meg woke up before six for the DAY both mornings, it was really great. I need to figure out how to get back there again. I'm thinking my birthday 2010.

It was a full house -- five Egans, two Miller babies, the four of us plus Mark Bennett (Jennifer stayed home this trip) and my Uncle Bobby. Pretty close quarters for a four bedroom, but we managed and didn't fight over the bathroom. Too much anyway. At night, I got both my sisters to drive around with me with the big spotlight looking for animals. The first night we took the big kids, but they quickly got bored. I loved it though. We even managed to get in a few bridge games before we all sacked out. No stars, sadly. It was cloudy both evenings. At least the weather was fantastic -- mostly sunny and highs in the 60s. It was a good trade.

In fact, this trip made me love Texas again. I'd never really not loved it per se, but I have lots of fantastic memories of summers down at my dad's place in Kerrville and at the Y.O. Ranch Adventure Camp and it was really great to get out of the city. We weren't roughing it by any stretch, but I did enjoy it. I am sure my parents are exhausted from hosting, but it really has been a marvelous time.

Picture above is Meg with her Pop. The rest of the pictures will come later from my camera. This I managed to upload from my iPhone to Mom's Macintosh. Cool!

Happy Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for, especially my awesome family that never fails to make me laugh, even when I really want to throttle them.

We're off to Dallas in 36 hours. Andy wanted to start packing yesterday. Fortunately we're going to be down at the ranch so I'll really just needs lots of casual clothes. Well, that presumes I have formal clothes.

Meg is *just* on the cusp of talking. She says things sometimes that are so clear and crisp I think they must be from Andy and then they're not. I'm hoping time with the family, especially her cousins, will help her pick up a few new phrases. I hope they're clean phrases at least.

Andy and I have been talking a lot about the stars so I'm excited to him out of the city where we can look at the stars and see the Milky Way and Orion. When I got back from Chicago, I put some glow in the dark stars on his wall in the shape of the Big Dipper and Orion (Orion was much more complicated than I remember). It will be fun to get away from the city lights and see the sky. We've also been doing lots of "hikes" around the neighborhood. I have a nice backpack for Meg and then the three of us start tromping. I love that they like it half as much as I do. I find Andy's not so whiny on a mission. I'm not sure how we're all going to fit at the ranch house. It should be an adventure for everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving

Andy's school celebrated Thanksgiving this week. They invited parents so Bjorn went. Andy was thrilled to show off his school and his daddy.

Edited to add his headband says Andy is "Chief Danger Ranger," in honor of one of his favorite DVDs.

Oh no

Meg can say, "Oh no." She can also close the toilet seat cover so she can stand on it and poke around in the medicine cabinet. Oh no, indeed.

No good deed goes unpunished

Jennifer (with the help of Mark and Margareta) babysat the kids overnight Saturday night so we could go out and enjoy our 11th wedding anniversary. It was the first time we'd left both kids and gone out. It was a really decadent 20 hours and it was great to get some time alone with Bjorn when someone wasn't demanding more juice or Magic School Bus on television.

The kids had a great time. Andy even cried when he saw us because he was having so much fun and didn't want it to end. To pay Jennifer back for her hospitality, Andy snuck into bed with her this morning about 4 a.m. complaining of a bad dream. She thought it was really cute, I mean, the kid did walk past our bedroom, past Mark in his bedroom who was home for the weekend, past Meg's room and down two flights of stairs to the dark basement to find her. Jennifer wasn't quite prepared for the kicking and fidgeting from the almost five year old though. Later she woke up at 7 a.m. to start getting ready for work and he laid there sprawled all over his bed until nearly 8:30 a.m. I took a picture with my cell phone that I need to upload.


It was a great anniversary. We trekked out to Strasburg, Virginia, a place we used to visit in our younger, less encumbered days. The best was this place called the Strasburg Theater with the best performers at an open mic night that I've ever seen. We had planned to tour some antique/junk stores, but ran out of time. Next time, but hopefully it won't take us 11 years to get back.

Evidence

During the parent teacher conference at Andy's school last week, his teacher told me Andy can count to 41, which is pretty good for his age. That night I asked him how high he could count in the bath and he counted to 59. At 60, apparently, the numbers start over at 20.

It's amazing to see how different he is in a very similar situation just three years ago.

Spiderman

Stupid Kodak EasyShare is impossible so use these days which is part of the reason I haven't uploaded pictures recently. I just started using the Windows picture import thing which is better in that it works, but something about it just not intuitive to me. Anyway, I did manage to get some pictures and videos uploaded. I forget how much Andy delights in seeing himself. After we got these up, we went back and watched some of his earlier videos on here. I have personally watched him age every day and yet I'm still amazed at how far he's come.

Report card

Andy got a report card of sorts this week. It's an interesting preview of what's to come, that's for sure. The good news is he seems to be right with his peers in terms of language development, speech, interaction, socialization, math, motor skills, etc. He's even above average in his counting, being able to count solidly up to 41 was apparently impressive. Bjorn is thrilled about this part. It cracks me up to see his delight in his kids excelling at something, anything.

I was worried about the socialization part. He's new to this school, well, a few months now, and when I ask him about who he played with, he won't tell me much. But his teacher said he's got a core group of buddies -- Leonard mostly, followed by Elliot and sometimes Matthew. That was good to hear.

Things have been chaotic here otherwise. I was out of town for a week for work, which was both good and exhausting. I'm always glad when it's over as I don't have to do it again for a year, but I've been working toward this for at least six months so it's always nice to see the fruits of my labors.

Jennifer also moved in last weekend. Right now the house is still brimming with too much stuff so we're still sorting out what furniture to keep, what to put in the attic and what to get rid of all together. She's taking over the basement and it's been interesting to see all her stuff mixed with ours and trying to find the best way to give her privacy and space while keeping the TV and Wii station and access to the laundry room. Right now I am bumping into furniture in the wrong places still, but we're slowly getting it all situated. The bonus? She makes coffee every morning and occasionally folds laundry and does the dishes. I can get used to that.

Babies!

Meg is obsessed with babies. Really. Her favorite thing to do is to scream out wherever we are to point out any babies in the room, even if said baby is actually older than her. In her mind, anyone smaller than her and/or under the age of three is a baby.

She has a series of toy dolls of various shapes and sizes that she carries with her practically everywhere. A few were gifts from my mom and a couple we stole from her babysitter's house. I am amazed how stereotypical it is -- Andy loved trains and she loves babies. Believe me, we tried to make her love Thomas as much. It sure would have been cheaper and easier since we already own the stuff. No, she loves her some babies. It really does make you think there is some genetic component at work here beyond the gender roles assigned by parents and friends.

I am leaving for a week for work today so I bought the kids toys as a parting gift. Andy selected some Hot Wheels parts and I got her a baby. Heavens, some of the choices out there -- babies that pee and poop (gross! I already have one that does that, why do I want a toy to do more of that?) and others that cry and make noise (again, I already have one of those) or crawl. I settled on a baby that can go in the bath and doesn't make noise. Hurrah! Also, since all her others are light-skinned, blue-eyed babies, I picked one that has dark hair and dark eyes, you know, for diversity's sake (note -- in the picture it links to the white version). Adorableness. The only downside is she wants to take her babies with her everywhere, which can get quite cumbersome. Now I need to find a bag for her to carry them all in. Perhaps I'll find one in Chicago.

Breaking the baby

Meg fell down the stairs today. I'm not sure what happened. Normally the basement door is closed (usually she's the one who closes it) but this morning Bjorn was in the basement doing laundry and she must have decided to follow him downstairs. I didn't hear anything except the thuds. That's right, thuds PLURAL.

We both rushed to her and she was naturally screaming crying. And bleeding. She'd landed on her face just right and busted her lip. It was heartbreaking to see her so upset and awful to think this could have been prevented.

We attended to her quickly. We assessed that she didn't have a brain injury -- she was responsive, crying and all that. But I did worry a little about stitches inside her mouth. It was early enough on Sunday that we could just make doctor's office walk-in hours. I was glad I did. Dr. Murphy looked in her eyes and ears. He said with a real brain injury, she'd have bleeding inside the ears. That was good to hear. The nurse also taught me a trick to assess pupils -- turn off and on the light quickly and see if they dilate. That's the kind of test I can do.

He looked in her mouth and surprisingly, she wasn't that pissed off about it. There was some blood inside her mouth and all over her teeth, which was icky. He diagnosed her with a busted frendulum, which is that thing connecting the gums to the lip. No stitches necessary, which was good. He said to give her salt drops for her minor nose bleed and not to worry about cleaning her mouth -- the saliva would do that. Good thing, she'd be pissed to have me fishing around in there. I was really glad I took her to the doctor's. I think I would have stressed that she was really hurt and I didn't take her. Plus he swabbed her sore throat for strep. Bonus!

She came home and took a nap while the lovely Jennifer came to take Andy to the Halloween party at the lake. He was a champ while we were at the doctor's so it was nice he could get some special time with "Gemminer" rather than waiting for Meg to wake up. Once she did, we hiked down to the park and met up with a bunch of neighbors.

It was nice seeing friendly faces after a rough morning. Especially nice because as I showed off my girlie with her busted lip, they all expressed sympathy and had a similar story of their own to share. I love other honest parents. This parenting thing is quite an adventure that can get pretty competitive. I love finding other folks who are happy to share a bottle of wine, pat you on the shoulder, laugh and move on.

Adorableness

My kids are, gasp, actually playing with each other a little these days. It's sort of amazing. It's been 21 months getting here (well, 30 if you count the whole pregnancy thing), but them having each other to play with and entertain each other is pretty damn awesome. And awesome to watch. Granted, now that they can play together they can fight together. There is lots of, "Mine! Mine!" shouted out around our house. Usually from her. Sometimes because he stole something from her. Used to, he could take what he wanted and she didn't mind. Not so much these days. Now she shouts "Mine!" when he's holding something she'd like to play with.

Unrelated, I have been totally obsessed with Mad Men. I discovered it on Netflix first. Now my sister told me about FiOS on demand so I've been watching episodes there, too. Sure, I have work to do, in fact, a lot since this time next week I'll be out of town for work and have a lot to do professionally and personally before then, but damn, that Don Draper is pretty addictive.

Construction results

This is just a gratuitously cute picture of both kids in diaper boxes saying, "cheese." Those diaper boxes somehow hold a special appeal to these guys.

The finished kids' bath. I love theirs almost more than ours. So pretty! Bjorn bought some eggshell white paint and went ahead and put it on the walls behind the toilets after I got the wallpaper remnants off. He'll get the rest of the walls eventually.

Our bath mid-grout. See the cool tiles we have as a border. Love it!

New tiles in our bathroom pre-grout. Also pretty! We had them put them in diagonally, which is very nice. And far nicer than we could have done ourselves.

New tiles before grout. So pretty!

Our bathroom floor after the tiles and subfloor were up (and toilet removed). They then put down backer board before putting down the new tiles. Note the awesome wallpaper that was behind the toilet. That used to be on all the walls. I got it all off a few years ago, but couldn't get behind the toilet. I got it this time.

What we've been living with in the hallway. They did a great job keeping everything clean, but it's still been a mess.

The kids' bathroom floor before. They have already taken off the border tiles and covered it with something to help get the tiles up. Note, this pattern isn't a tile, rather it's lots of little bitty tiles that make up the pattern and thus, lots of grout lines to get dirty.

The leak that started it all. The workers cut out some drywall above the sink in the kitchen to access the pipes under the shower upstairs.

Construction

We are replacing the tiles in our two upstairs bathrooms. We had a random leak the precipitated the replacement in our bathroom. And while we had the guy in, it was just another few hundred to replace the tiles in the kids' bathroom. All fine, right?

Well, it never occurred to either of us that they would remove the toilets to put the tiles down. Or that it would take more than one day. So we're down to only the half-bath off the kitchen. Not great for me with my small bladder and a kid that often needs to be walked to the toilet at 3 a.m. As Mary would say, this is suboptimal.

As the work began, they naturally discovered that the problem with our bathroom tile is not the source of the leak, but something in our shower. So we're spending $1,000+ to replace something that wasn't broken. Oh sure, the tile was old and yucky and in definite need of replacement, but we didn't have to do it. We still would have had to cut open the ceiling in the kitchen, but that would have been a far cheaper project at a time where it appears we're hemorrhaging money. Personal property taxes are due, yearly insurance rates are here, Mark needs a lot more money for college and Jennifer has decided life on the outside is too expensive and is moving in. Bjorn's got a few deals in the works that, if they work out, would ease our pain quite a bit. Fingers and toes [or legs, as Armando prefers to say] crossed.

Language

It's exciting -- Meg is putting words together and almost meaning some of what she says. We were at Ikea and she was trying to climb into a baby crib. After a few minutes, I pulled her off and started toward where we were going. She protested harder than usual, crying out, "Sho! Shew!" Something like that. I walked faster and tried to distract her. When I caught up with Bjorn, turns out, she was missing a shoe. It had gotten wedged on the crib rail and I'd pulled it off when I picked her up. I know! She's brilliant!

Of course, as I type this she is busy taking her dinner, noodles, and dropping them on the floor. Then she's examining them and eating some. Tasty.

iPhone Pictures

Margaret's first hair cut.

This girl has manners. She likes to eat at restaurants with her bare foot on the table.

Andy getting his sticker on the wall for finishing his summer reading list. It was pajama day at school that day, hence the classy outfit.


My dad and Meg in Dallas. How adorable.

Meggie and her babies, Callie and Daisy. The iPhone camera is convenient, but it can be messy. Plus, as you can tell, I'm not so good about remembering to download them.

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.