Chow Hound On The Move!

Lily reached two milestones this week. First of all, she decided she was all done with being fed baby food. All day Thursday I worried that she wasn't eating enough solid food - every time I tried to feed her, she would cover her mouth with her hands or swat the spoon away. You would think, this being my third baby, I would have known she could eat table foods. I mean, I have been giving her cheerios and graham crackers, but I completely blanked about the rest of the food. For some reason I had it in my head that she couldn't eat cheese or other good finger foods until she was a year old. So after lunch, when I was able to get only one or two spoonfuls of baby food into her mouth, I went online to see what was acceptable for a 10-month-old to eat. I was shocked (and felt a little like a duh) when I realized that she can eat pretty much anything, other than peanut butter, eggs, cows milk & honey. So I gave her some cheese and some watermelon and she devoured them! For dinner she ate macaroni and cheese and turkey and strawberries! It's a whole new world for her! She LOVES turkey.
Secondly, she has become mobile! She had been rolling around the house - now she is sometimes crawling (when she remembers how) and mostly doing the army crawl. Which means the gates will soon be going up, and we'll have to be cautious of the basement door being shut. And I will have to baby proof. Like being sure all the electrical outlets are covered...
This week Micah had his full-arm cast taken off. He was re-x-rayed and we were told the bone had healed just fine. We were then offered for the doctors to put a small cast on for a couple of weeks, just to protect it a little more. What were they thinking - that Micah is a little active? That he might hurt himself again jumping off his bike (he stands on the seat of his bike with training wheels and jumps off) or maybe breakdancing, or perhaps running laps through the house at maximum speed, which is just how he moves. Uhhh - yeah, that was exactly what they were thinking, and we gladly had the small cast put on. This one is blue, and does not limit him very much at all, but a couple more weeks of protection sounds good to me!
Emmalee has not been feeling well the last couple of days. When she was 5 we learned that she is anemic, and sometimes she gets really run down and all she has the energy to do is lie on the couch, pretty much. She doesn't want to eat or play, and is just totally not herself. She has had episodes like this a handful of times. It typically lasts a few days, during which we fill her with eggs and red meat (which is a battle since she doesn't want to eat), and after a couple of days she feels much better and becomes Emmalee again. She is having one of those episodes right now - the first one in a really long time. We made her go to her soccer game this morning, thinking she might feel better if she were getting some fresh air and running around. Nope - she had no energy at all - she kind of putzed around the field for a bit, then asked to have a sub come in, and she came out of the game and lay on the ground. So we left. She just told me she is feeling a bit better, and she has been listening to her new Annie soundtrack, memorizing the words to the song "Maybe", which she will sing on Wednesday night at an audition for the musical, which the town of Simsbury theatre group will be putting on in November. Of course, she wants to be Annie, but if she gets even a bit part as an orphan, that will be great.
So now Lily is sitting in her exersaucer, smacking herself in the face and laughing. She hangs out with Micah too much...
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Their own vacation

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Emmalee and Micah got to have their own vacation at Andrea and Michael's house. Micah was especially excited since this was to be his first time away from us. I had started telling him about it about a week early, because I worried he might have a hard time. So for the whole week before we went, he asked me every day, every time we got into the car, "Is it my own vacation yet?". On the drive up to Syracuse last Friday, every time we stopped (to get gas, to go shopping at the outlets in Lee, to feed Lily, to get lunch) he would say "Is this it?". Yes, he was a bit excited. Needless to say, when we finally arrived, he was beside himself. He and Emmalee both jumped right into playing with Rafe, Maggie & Sam, screaming like little banshees the way they always do when they're together. Steve, Lily and I stayed the night on Friday and left for Rochester on Saturday morning. We always go to Rochester for Memorial Day Weekend, to stay at our friends Courtney and Rick's house. For 6 years, we and 5 other couples (friends from college/MA) have been going up there to invade Courtney and Rick's house and yard for 3 days. Always a great time. We usually bring all the kids, but this year decided we needed a break. Micah is just too wacky and all over the place and it would have been exhausting trying to keep up with him all weekend, making sure he wasn't getting himself hurt or into trouble or playing with the 3 foot long black snake Courtney's son found in their yard near the field which is behind their yard. Let me just pause and say I am SO GLAD I did not see that snake. Hearing about it was bad enough.
So - back to the kids' vacation... it sounds like it went very well. Micah stayed safe for the most part, aside from falling off the swing and pinching his finger, and riding the tricycle down the driveway and tipping it and Michael catching him just before his face met the pavement... Steve and I came back Monday afternoon to two very happy children. On the way home when I asked Emmalee what her favorite part of her vacation was, she asked "can I have more than one favorite?" "Sure", I said. And she went on to list EVERYTHING they had done:
"Playing with Rafey, Playing on the new playscape, playing on the old swingset, having a picnic outside, finding an inchworm, going to McDonalds with Grampa, making and eating cookies, going in the hot tub in the morning with Grampa, babysitting the little kids (Andrea paid she and Rafe a dollar each to keep an eye on the younger kids one evening while she helped put together the new playscape outside), running in the sprinkler... all of it!"
So a great time was had by all. Thank you, Mike, Andrea, & Dad for taking care of Micah and Emmalee and allowing Steve and I to have a semi-relaxing weekend with our friends! Micah has already asked when he can do it again!

Emmalee's expensive mouth...

So... I brought Emmalee to the dentist today, just for a checkup and cleaning. $300 later, we left, armed with pictures of her mouth, and several business cards for local orthodontists. WHAT?!?! Well, we've known all along that Em has a crossbite and that her new teeth have been coming in kind of large. Well, after a special xray that takes a picture of her entire mouth (it was really cool, but added over $100 to our bill today, which of course I discover AFTER THE FACT!), we saw just how crowded her little mouth is. Pretty much, she has 4 teeth on their way in, that have nowhere to go. To prevent them from all coming through her gums, making her look like a fanged FREAK, we need to have her palate expanded. I haven't researched it thoroughly, but I am told it is something attached to the roof of her mouth that,over time, will make her mouth bigger (she certainly doesn't need a bigger mouth in my opinion!). This may fix everything so that she doesn't need braces, but then again, you can't tell until after you've done it, so she may need braces as well. Oh boy. Did I mention that we don't have dental insurance - Steve's company doesn't offer it. I'm thinking we may need to purchase some of our own...
Micah has his first appointment next month - I wonder what we'll find out then...

Pretend Friends

Some of you may remember when Emmalee was 3 and 4 and had her pretend friends Abby and Debbie. These 2 girls went with Emmalee everywhere. She would hold the door for them and play with them and talk to them often. It kind of freaked my brother out. Well guess what, Dan- Micah has a pretend friend now. He calls him Micah (pretty imaginative, huh?). He introduced me to him today. He was outside playing, and I heard him talking. He came to the door and called inside for me. He said "Mom, I have a new friend. His name is Micah and he doesn't have a mom. Do you want to meet him?" Then he ran back across the yard to the swingset, said "come with me, Micah", acted like he was holding someone's hand, and dragged pretend micah across the yard to me. He had me hold the door for he and pretend micah, and now they are inside playing. I asked him if he wanted me to be pretend micah's mom too, and he said "No, you're just my mom". Too funny.

Rainy Relay For Life

First of all, thank you so much to all of you who donated to the Relay For Life this year! The team I was with was the top fundraising team for Simsbury, over $4k! I was with Jenn's Team - my good friend Jenn was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, went through a vigorous therapy, and is cancer free today! She was selected to lead the Survivor Lap at the Relay on Friday night.
Okay - so I didn't end up walking at 3am after all. It was POURING and Jenn called to tell me not to come. I was ready though - I had my raincoat and change of clothes in the car Friday night at work - but was so thankful when Steve texted me at work and told me Jenn had said not to come. I was SO tired! But I did get up early Saturday morning (the rain had stopped and it was a beautiful day!) and went over to the Relay and walked with Jenn and her family for a couple of hours. It was really neat to be a part of the event. Luminary bags were set up all around the track with people's names on them - "In Honor Of", and "In Memory Of" bags - I had donated one in honor of Bryce, so that was pretty cool to see it there. While I was there they did a "Fight Back" ceremony - a survivor spoke and then we all were encouraged to fill out pledge cards, saying what we would do to fight back against cancer, whether it be quitting smoking, never starting, getting or encouraging someone to get a mammogram or colonoscopy. I pledged to quit smoking. HA HA - just checking to see who is paying attention! I pledged to educate my children in and encourage them to join the fight against cancer. Then - the Cancer Express bus showed up - this bus is only stopping in 3 CT towns, and is touring the country - it will stop in DC on election day, to encourage the legislators to join in and do something to fight against cancer. The coolest part about this bus is that everyone got to sign it! They gave us special pens to use, that will not rub or wash off, and everyone was able to sign the bus - it was COVERED in signatures from all over the US - it had most recently been in OH. It was very cool!
Anyway - that was my experience. Jenn's going to have another team and do it again next year! She and I joked about training to run in one of the cancer road races. We just joked though... just a fleeting thought... but maybe...

Never a Dull Moment!

Life with kids is a little like a sitcom, at least in this house! Last week's "shows" were about the skunk and the broken arm fiasco. Yesterday's "episode" was the one where the kid gets gum stuck in his hair and the older daughter has a dramatic meltdown about pain in her ear. Here's the synopsis for you, since you all missed the live viewing yesterday...

Scene 1: Everything was calm - Lily was down for a long nap, Micah was watching tv, and Emmalee was playing on the computer. Then Lily woke up and I was feeding her some delicious green beans, which she decided to start spitting at me as soon as I put them in her mouth, and then laugh hysterically. Emmalee finished on the computer and joined Micah in the tv room. Suddenly, Micah is crying and coming to me with a big glob of gum stuck in the front of his hair. Apparently, he had unsuccessfully tried to get it out himself, which means it was stuck in there pretty good. See the picture. I busted out laughing - which made him cry harder. I asked him what had happened and he said he had taken the gum out of his mouth to look at (he must have been playing with it in his hands too because the originally white gum was gray now - ick), and then he thought Emmalee might want to look at it too, and when he reached back to show it to her (he was lying on a chair), it fell out of his hand and into his hair. So I started working at the gooey mess. Micah was howling, which of course made Emmalee come - she wouldn't want to miss anything! I asked her to get me the scissors, which made Micah cry even more. Not because he didn't want me to cut his hair, but because he wanted me to be able to get all the hair out of the gum so that he could chew it again - honestly. "NO WAY!" I told him, which of course made him cry even harder. In case you didn't know, my kids are all slightly dramatic. After several minutes, a glob of peanut butter, minimal hair cutting, and a fine-toothed comb, I was able to pull out the gum. Micah and Emmalee went back to the tv room, and I gave Lily a handful of cheerios to occupy her while I made dinner.
Scene 2: Dinner was ready, spooned onto plates and ready to be consumed. I called Emmalee and Micah to the kitchen (Steve was at baseball practice). They come out and immediately, Emmalee bursts into tears. "My ear hurts when I swallow!" Sure, I'm thinking, she just doesn't want to eat what I made for dinner (which was a delicious pasta with peas, shrimp & alfredo sauce - now that the kids like shrimp!). I gave her a look and told her to sit down and eat. She was carrying on - holding her hand over her ear, crying hysterically. "When did your ear start hurting?" I asked - she didn't know. At school? No. When she got home from school? No. When she was using the computer? No. When she was watching tv? Yes. Why didn't she say something when it started hurting? Because she was afraid she would have to take her earrings out and then her holes would close up and she would have to get them re-pierced. Yup - that's what she said.
I had her go rest on her bed and I took her temperature - 99.8. Okay, so she wasn't faking. A little Motrin, a lot of dramatic crying (Mommy, the medicine isn't working yet!), and 30 minutes later, she was eating, and said her ear felt fine. We checked her temperature a few more times during the night, and it stayed normal. This morning, she has a slight cold (stuffy nose), but said her ear felt fine (I assured her that she would not have to take her earrings out even if she did have an ear infection and that she needed to tell me right away if she had any pain in her ear!), and no fever. The episode ends with Emmalee happily skipping out the door to go to school. And I haven't gotten a call from the school nurse, so I am assuming she is fine.
*End of show*

Happy Mother's Day!

What a nice day I had yesterday. All 3 kids hopped into bed with me in the morning (well, Lily was placed there...) to give me my presents. They gave me a new ipod!, lovely cards, and they (with Steve's help of course!) had put together a beautiful photo album for me! Emmalee gave me a book she had made about me (telling me how sweet I am and that I make good pasta and pancakes!).
We all packed up and drove over to the lake to have brunch at Gram and Gramp's. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for hanging at the lake. The men made breakfast - Steve made delicious omelets - and we all were able to relax a bit. Emmy and Micah got their feet wet and had fun fishing and throwing stones into the lake. It was a nice time! And then I had to work last night - but it was a great night!
I hope all my mom friends had a great day too!

Lily

Lily is growing like a little weed! She is 19.2lbs and 27in. Healthy as can be! Both she and Micah, however, were prescribed drugs for allergies. Micah's are bad - his eyes swell all up and run and he sneezes like crazy. Lily gets hives when she has been outside on the ground - the dr. says she believes they are seasonal allergies and told me to give them both Zyrtec once a day, and she prescribed drops for Micah's eyes. They both seem to be doing a bit better on the meds. One thing after another here!

Bologna!

I forgot to write about this when I wrote Micah's broken arm blog. The funniest part of the ordeal was when he was coming out of sedation. He had just started to respond to us (prior to that when we would ask him something he would turn to us but stare blankly or just blink) and I asked him if he was hungry. He said, in a tiny quiet voice, "yes". "What would you like to eat?" I asked him. He looked at me and answered, "a bologna sandwich".

She Rocks!

Emmalee had her first soccer game this past Saturday. It was a cold, wet, early morning game (9am), but we layered her clothes and we all trudged onto the field. Emmalee surprised us by playing quite aggressively (she was not so much during Fall soccer), hanging tough by playing the entire game because there were not enough girls to give any of them a break (some parents must have decided to skip the game due to the weather), AND she scored 4 goals! Way to go, Emmalee! Thankfully she has not inherited my sports skills!
In other news, Micah goes this morning to have his "real" cast put on. He gets to choose a color. Yes, casts are much cooler now than they were when I had one! He has decided he wants green, and that is because they do not offer orange, which is his favorite color. He is doing really well with just his left hand, and he has learned that the cast makes a pretty handy weapon for when Emmalee is bothering him.
And Lily goes for her 9 month checkup this afternoon. I'll let you know her stats when we get back.
I just came off of a busy, but lucrative weekend of work. I love my job. :-)

"I can't do anything"

Poor Micah. He's so bored with his arm in a cast. He told me today he was ready to take it off. Ha - not for another 6 weeks.
So I decided to take him out for a walk this afternoon. He put on his shoes and said he was going to wait outside for me, while I put Lily in the front carrier. I just about have her in when I happen to look out the window and he is swinging on one of the swings on his belly (his favorite way to swing)! I yell outside "Micah - you can't do that!" and he stops. I put on my shoes and head outside and he is trying to climb the ladder up to the fort, one-handed. "Micah! You can't do that either!" "But why?" he whines to me. So I explain that the playscape is off limits until his arm gets better. And we go for our walk. A nice looonnnggg walk, with him in the stroller. My back is killing me from the carrier because Lily is such a pig and feels like she weighs about 30lbs, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine. And listen to Micah pointing out daffodils, tulips, dandelions, squirrels, chipmunks, and the numbers on the mailboxes we passed.
When we got home he asked if he could swing "just a little bit". Of course I told him no, so he asked if he could shoot his basketball. "Sure" - so he tried, but couldn't do it left handed. So he stopped. And came over to the swingset and tried to hang one-handed on the same hang bar he fell off of yesterday. "You can't do that" I told him. So he asked if he could slide and I said "no, but maybe you can golf one handed" He didn't want to do that - he wanted to play baseball. "Nope". So he looks at me and yells "I CAN'T DO ANYTHING!". I told him he could play in the playhouse or use chalk and he asked if he could play with his sand table. I told him yes, he could do that. And he spent about 5 minutes shovelling sand out of the table. When I told him to keep the sand in the table, he said "No, because I am a pirate looking for treasure, and pirates always dump the sand out". I decided to let that one go - we can buy more sand - and I was sick of telling him no!
My friend Sandy came over this morning with books and stickers and cars and playdough and games for Micah - she is so nice and thoughtful! He was thrilled.
Hopefully his little bones will heal quickly and he will be able to play outside more soon!