Bittersweet

This former King has lost her crown

When you have a tendency to clench your teeth constantly, teeth crack.  When teeth crack, you have crowns.   When you have crowns, you probably should avoid certain delicious treats.   Bubble gum, taffy, and….carmels!   I had eaten some carmels last week without adverse effects.   Yesterday, I found a carmel I had put in my pocket and thought, “yeah!” and popped it in my mouth.   Chew, chew….CRUNCH!   Oh dear, there must be something wrong with this carmel.  I pulled it out of my mouth and what should I see, but the oldest crown in my mouth was now in my hand.    Fudgsicles!    I couldn’t get into the dentist after work because of my doctor’s appointment, so I had to wait until today after work.   It looks ugly, but you can’t really see it.     I only hope they can glue it back one until after January 1 when I will have the money to replace it and the other tooth that needs to be crowned.   I can’t leave the space it left alone.   I keep putting my tongue in it.  I’m going to have it all irritated if I’m not careful!

Christopher Walken incarnate

I have decided that Littlest sounds a little bit like Christopher Walken when she talks.   Unfortunately I can’t post a link to YouTube at this computer, but if you look up Christopher Walken there are several clips of him doing the three little pigs and Lady Gaga’s Poker Face.    Daddy laughed when I told him this, but he had to agree. 

We did manage to get Littlest and Bug to the doctor yesterday.   They put her on a super powerful antibiotic since her ear was still draining lots of pus after four days of antibiotic ear drops.  The doctor also thinks her rash is perioral dermatitis and it is hard to remedy, but the super antibiotic should help it.   The doctor was estatic that Littlest’s lungs were clear and thinks all the coughing is from the draining ear.    Bug had the ugly bump on her checked and got her  H1N1 shot.   She gave the nurse the stink eye after the shot.   Dad rewarded her by letting her pick out a bunch of stickers…say, oh about 15 or more!!!   Then Daddy got 4 for himself and Littlest got 2.   Daddy got a little lecture from Mama about having a bit of dignity  and less greed when it comes to getting stickers.   Hopefully now everybody is on their way to health again. 

Later in the evening, Bug found the stethoscope that I used when I put the NG tube in Littlest when she first came home.   Bug was being the doctor and checking everyone.   I was deemed sick while the others were fine.    It’s probably true.   When I was trying to put on Bug’s jammies, she kept telling me to be “careful Mama” because of her bandaid and her shot.   I showed Bug where I got my H1N1 shot and my Daffy Duck bandaid.   Then I told her it was all better and took off the bandaid.   She kept saying, “All better Mama?”  I’m trying to get her to understand that just because there is a bandaid, it doesn’t always mean that it still hurts.   If I put a pretty bandaid on her just for fun (because she asks for it), she treats it as if she has an owie and won’t let you touch it.  She’s my little hypochondriac.   But then again, that means lots of extra hugs and kisses.

I’m thinking…..

I should re-title this blog to “Diary of a tired, frumpy, overwhelmed Mama.” That’s how I feel. I am so far behind on laundry. The girls’ clothes are piled up on one of their beds and I mean PILED high! Their room is a mess. Everything is a mess it seems or is messy as soon as it’s cleaned up. Today I almost resigned from everything. I spent quite a bit of time trying to make an appointment with Littlest’s ear doctor. I also spent time getting myself a doctor’s appointment because my sinus infection is coming back full force. Daycare calls me and says that Littlest started acting really grumpy and then had a bad coughing fit and threw up a huge chunk of phlegm. Plus her rash will not clear up. I then spent 20 minutes on hold trying to talk to the advice nurse. When I finally did talk to her, she sounded a bit concerned and so we have an appointment for later today. Then I decided to go on break. I no sooner get down there, when my co-worker comes down and says daycare called and Bug fell down and hit her head. They applied ice and they thought she was okay, but just wanted to let us know. I started to cry. I couldn’t get in touch with Daddy, I couldn’t just up and leave work because it would be without pay…I just wanted to take care of my babies. About the time my break was over, Daddy showed up and said he was going over to give Littlest a nebulizer treatment and check on Bug. Later he called me to say he had picked them both up and Bug really needed to talk to her Mama. She sounded so sad, “Mama, I fell down…sob…I running….fell down…head…sob!” I felt bad for her. She has such a sensitive soul. I felt better that Daddy had picked them up and we have a doctor’s appointment for later today.

In other breaking news, I got my H1N1 shot today.

Now for a Littlest moment. Last night Littlest found Daddy’s belt. It looks kinda like the collars the dogs have. Littlest decided that she needed to find the dogs and put their collars back on. She calls both dogs “Missy” no matter how many times we tell her the other one’s name. She started walking through the house saying, “Missy, Missy…..MISSY…..MISSY!!!” Now remember, she says this in a deep, gravely sort of a voice. She went into the living room, kitchen, bedroom, look outside the patio door, and everywhere else looking for MISSY! We were laughing so hard. She sounds like she should be a hit man for the mafia or something.

Trick or Treat!

This year both girls went Trick or Treating in our new neighborhood.   Auntie Auggie came over for dinner and to go out with us.   I put Bug in her outfit first.  The first signs of trouble came when I removed the pink cowboy boots she had  been wearing for the past several days.  I put on black tights and a black shirt along with the ladybug top with black shoes.   Oh my gosh - a fit was thrown at the fact the pink cowboy boots were not going back on.   Next thing I know, she has maneuvered out of the ladybug costume and put the pink boots back on.  Now she’s all in black with bright pink cowboy boots - it actually was quite cute.   It wasn’t worth the fight, so we just sat down to dinner.   When the first Trick or Treaters came to the door, Bug helped hand out candy.  She saw that if you wore a costume, you got yummy chocolate.  Suddenly the ladybug costume  was what she wanted to wear, including the black shoes.    Littlest didn’t mind her costume because it was more like wearing pajamas than a costume. 

We headed out about 6:30.  The first house we went to was a mistake.   The homeowner popped out of the door dressed as a clown with a really scary face.   It made both Bug and I jump back a bit.   We grabbed our candy and high-tailed it out of there.   The rest of the houses were great and fun.   It was good to see who our neighbors are.    Once Littlest realized that if  you stood in front of a door you got something in return, she wanted down and started walking and telling us which house to go to next.   At one point, the girls were told to grab a handful of candy.   Littlest grabbed a handful that was bigger than anything I could have gotten.  She is a tiny girl with a big grab!   It was fun to see what our neighbors decorations and lights and it felt good to know that other people were coming in car loads to Trick or Treat.   Before we hit the other side of the neighborhood, we dropped off Daddy and Littlest because the cold air was affecting Littlest’s asthma.   Bug wanted to go to “one more house Mama!”  We kept going and going until she was dragging her bag and her feet.   There was a tiny hole in her bag by the time we were done.   

One house had a fog machine, lights, all kinds of scary things as well as music.  Bug wasn’t too sure about going there until suddenly a little guy dressed as Buzz Lightyear came running out and gave her a huge bag of candy.    She also fell in love with a little elephant.  It was the cutest costume and I’m not sure if it was a boy or a girl, but Bug wanted to follow it everywhere.   She was determined to keep going.   I had to trick her into going home.  I told her that there was one more really great house with two cool pumpkins.  We walked up to the door and knocked.   Who do you think should open the door?    Daddy and Littlest!   Bug still expected her candy though!   She wasn’t too happy that we had to go inside and take off the costume.   Each girl got one little sucker (carefully supervised thank you very much!) and the rest of the candy was hidden.   It was more the experience than the candy I wanted them to get out of it (even though they got a ton of candy). 

(Littlest has an allergic reaction on her face, so it’s kinda blotchy)

As for carving pumpkins, we did it last minute.  I spent at least 1-1/2 hours carving a cat face into a pumpkin.   Never again!    Daddy did a traditional type one.   We decided the other two pumpkins were just harvest pumpkins and didn’t need faces.   Next year I’m getting the carving kit.  

*Pictures courtesy of Auntie Auggie.

Graduation Day

Yesterday, Littlest graduated from the early intervention program with the school district.   She has caught up with other “normal” kids.  In fact, in some areas, she’s doing a bit better than the norm.   It will be sad to no longer see the people who would come over to play with her, but it’s a huge step.  

One of the areas they said she was a bit behind on was 2-3 word sentences.   That night, Littlest said, “Misssy…..are you?”  (Both girls say “are you?” instead of “Where are you?”)   I guess that’s a non-issue now.   That girl can talk up a storm, most of the time, it doesn’t make much sense though.  

The therapists even worked with Bug every time and they said she is doing very well and her speech is very good (aside from the fact her teeth are a mess and affect the sounds of some words).   It’s a comfort to know she’s doing well.   They even praised us as parents - that’s a huge boost since there is always that bit of worry that we’re ruining them somehow.

Not me Monday

I did not go to bed in my own bed and wake up hours later in Bug’s bed. I’m fully coherent and conscious, I definitely know how I got there. I certainly have never done anything like that before!

I did not secretly wonder if I really did have a brain tumor because of the weird smell I kept smelling and the fact that suddenly I could not make the number “3″ correctly if my life depended on it (for like a week).    I also did not quietly wish I could call in sick just two more days, even if it was without pay. 

Since I’m so extremely patient, I wouldn’t have lost patience with Bug when she hit her sister on the head for the billionth time that day.   I’m a perfect mom, I wouldn’t have bopped her (lightly) on the head and devastate my child emotionally (we had a long talk about hitting and how it doesn’t feel very good. )

I also ran right out and bought pull-ups when the daycare teacher asked me to.   Shoot, I’m rich, I wouldn’t let them provide them until payday. 

Finally, my family does not think sample day at Costco a great family adventure.

Littlest-ism

Whenever Bug wants a hug, she says “big hug” and holds her arms out wide. She does this a lot. I’ve been saying “big hug?” to Littlest, but she hasn’t really embraced it. Until a couple weeks ago. I was laying down in bed with her trying to get her to sleep (oh hush! I can hear what you’re thinking). She pops up, puts her hands up by her face in kind of an “aren’t I cute?” gesture and then says, “Big Bug? Big Bug?” Then when you hold out your arms for a hug, she dives into you. It so cute! She mainly does it when she’s supposed to be laying down to sleep. The other thing she does is lays down, is quiet for a loooonnnnng time and then lifts her head up and says Momma?” and then flops back down and goes to sleep. My not so snuggly girl is getting very snuggly and I like it.

Hello World!

Soooo, how’s it goin’? Good, good. Us? Oh we’ve been SICK! Oh so very sick. Daddy was lucky and didn’t get the rest of had. According to the advice nurse, Littlest more than likely had H1N1 and the rest of us had the same symptoms, so I’m sure Bug and I had it too. I had the added please of a massive sinus infection that I finally went to Urgent Care for because all I could smell was rotten fruit or old musty apartment. I figured it either was a sinus infection or a brain tumor. After a day or so of antibiotics, my world was much better. We all had the fever, cough, malaise. (Even though we were taking Tylenol, our fevers stayed above 100 degrees.) The girls and I slept a lot and then watched cartoons when we weren’t sleeping. Littlest missed a week and a half of daycare, Bug missed four days, but went Friday because she was driving everybody crazy from being cooped up! I only worked about 6 hours last week and then was forced to stay home. Come on….I had something to share, let me work!

Anyhow, hopefully we are all back on track. It was not a fun time.

I dream of binkies

Bug is doing much better at not having a binkie for naptime at daycare.   For some reason, all the binkies that have gone missing have suddenly started showing up in coats, pants, and under things.   It’s not just Bug’s clothes, it’s mine, Daddy’s and even Littlest!   It’s weird.  

I think the return of the binkies triggered my dream yesterday morning.  I dreamed I went outside to an overgrown grassy area next to the house I grew up in.   I glanced down and noticed a binkie, which I picked up.  I looked down again and there were a bunch more.   Every time I looked down the binkies multipled.  There were hundreds of them!

I wonder if Bug dreams of binkies?

Those darn rabbits!

I felt really sad for Bug yesterday.   She was in her new room at daycare for pretty much all day.   It’s a “big kids” room and therefore, no binkies.  We knew this day was coming and they prepare the kids in her previous room by making them put their binkie’s in a drawer during the day.  

When I picked up Bug, she was subdued.  I was told that she didn’t nap, just sat on her mat and asked for her binkie.    So it was no binkie and no nap.  I know she has napped before at daycare without her binkie, but the new room, new environment must have been too much for her.   She was so quiet and snuggly by the time we got home.   I felt  sad for her, but in the long run it’s a good thing. 

The weird thing is that all the binkies at home have started to disappear.  Daddy won’t admit he’s been taking them and I know I haven’t.   I told Bug that the rabbits can’t seem to wait untl she gives them her binkies and they’ve come in and taken them without asking.   Bug’s response was, “No no rabbits, NO!”  

I know it’s not the end of the world, but still, it must feel like it to her.   It doesn’t help that Littlest (I know it’s an attempt to torture Bug) has been saying she wants a binkie.   She can even imitate Bug’s “binkie…binkie… BINKIE!”  demand.

I guess I thought I had a little bit more time to prepare Bug for the no binkie days ahead.  Apparently not.  I guess I better get into high gear for the potty training, we’ve been lax on that.  

Growing up sucks!

From the blog