Bittersweet

Wow…what a long weekend.   It was busy, fun, not so fun, involved bumps, burns, food coma, shopping, a Christmas tree lighting, and playing in the leaves.  

I’ll try to post some pictures very soon. 

Today is a special day, Littlest is now 11 months old and doing wonderfully!  The physical therapist said so far no worries and she only wants to see her every other month and that is just to check up on things.   She will still have OT twice a month and then with a teacher twice a month to work on those social and cognitive skills.  

Also, wanted to wish you all a very wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!  We will be pretty busy the next several days, so I probably won’t post again until Sunday or so.   So you will have to wait until then to hear how our world is crashing down around us….until then!

Who knew that a 70’s disco beat could keep you alive (and if you are old enough to remember the song, that’s even better!)   There was a study that determined that the BeeGees song “Stayin’ Alive” had the perfect 103 beats per minute to do CPR to.   In case you’ve forgotten the song, here you go!

Bee Gees - Stayin’ Alive

They also said that Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” has the perfect beat as well, but sends the wrong message.   Oops!

(Now that I watch the Bee Gees video again - oh how cheesy it all was!)

Someone else linked to this blog analyzer and this is what it came up with my blog:

The analysis indicates that the author of http://bittersweet.blog.com is of the type:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

What do you think?

Both girls are growing up so fast and their personalities are shining through.  Littlest is babbling up a storm and sometimes she says something that sounds very distinctly like a word - not sure what the word is, but it has to be a word.  She is becoming quite the jolly girl who giggles and laughs readily now.  She loves, loves, loves diaper changes.  She smiles and laughs her way through it.  She seems to find joy everywhere.  The dogs are a great source of merriment.   Sturdy Gurdy has taken quite the liking to that little girl and gives her kisses frequently.   Littlest turns 11 months old tomorrow.  What an amazing journey we’ve had with this miracle baby.  

In spite of all the worries and stresses, you can’t help but find joy and love in these two girls. 

Why does the weekend go by so fast?   Probably because it’s always so busy.   I spent most of  Friday being domestic.   I did the usual kids, cleaning and laundry, but also made a major leap by baking bread……(I hear the gasp out there) and I also made meatloaf, kinda made up my own recipe and it was good….okay, who fainted.  These aren’t big things to most people, but I’m not a cook, I don’t like to cook.  Once in a blue moon I do, but that has to be a leap year.  I was amazed that Daddy actually liked my dinner, Bug too.   Littlest loves me for who I am and has no expectations on food - she will take a stinky bottle of formula any day!  The girls and I watched the Tinkerbell movie (Again) and Happy Feet (again).   Bug took a nap in her “big girl” bed in her “big girl” room.  I finally put the finishing touches on her room and so we are good to go whenever she is.   Her room is kinda Tinkerbell themed and I used her Halloween fairy costume as part of the decoration.   I think I have a thing for Tinkerbell, her being the independent mischief maker that she is, so I try to get Bug to like her.   I just have to finish cleaning out the closet in Littlest’s room and I’ll be done with the purge and clean in the girls’ rooms. 

Saturday we did more work around the house after some lazy time.  We all went out into the yard and raked up the straw and we have a smattering of grass growing.   After all that, we had some cheap fun.   Just for the price of gas, we had a couple hours of fun.  We went to the new Toys R Us and Babies R Us.  We are poor and the girls don’t know that we can’t buy anything, so we have a grand time playing and trying out new toys.   Even Littlest got in on the action (although I don’t have pictures of her in the store - she was dozing at times and other times babbling up a storm).  It was fun to watch Bug’s eyes get big and she would say “whoa!” whenever she saw another cool toy.   She definitely is all girl.  Pink things and dolls drew a lot of attention - and we weren’t guiding her there.  Usually Littlest gets pretty overwhelmed if you show her too much stuff, but not Saturday.  She had definite likes and dislikes and let you know it!  She particularly liked this one:

We have something like this already, but she put up the biggest fuss when I took this one away from her.  I got some good ideas on what to get her for Christmas.   Bug is already taken care of.  By the time we played hard and  looked around Babies R Us, we all were completely wiped out and it wasn’t even 6 o’clock yet.   At bedtime, Bug didn’t even want me to read to her much, so we said night night book and she was asleep in less than 10 minutes.  Littlest on the other hand was wound up!  She blew raspberries so hard, it was like it was raining in the bedroom.  She got some snuggle time with Mommy and Daddy and then finally crashed.   It was a good weekend. 


Trying out the smallest bicycle, but her feet don’t reach the pedals. 

Now this is a ride…A Pink Escalade that is more tricked out and
way better than than Mommy’s 4Runner.

But I love the pink, Barbie Dazzler Jeep….sigh…

But wait….what about this tough sporty red one.   So many choices!

The rest are a few pictures from the park last week.

Hmmm….I think I’m going to climb this ladder by myself.

That first rung is the hardest.

But I’m strong and determined, I can do it!

I did it, I did it!  Watch out world!

I’m not sure what was up with this picture, but I had to include it.  I think Bug is throwing a stick or something for Gurdy. 

Littlest now has two teeth and boy are they sharp!

***Coco, you can see how much Bug wears the hand-me-downs.  Just about every picture has something you’ve given us.   Thanks!

Littlest slept in the crib last night.   She stayed in there all night and only woke up twice.  She usually wakes up once about 3:30 or 4 am.   Now we just have to get Bug to sleep in her Big Girl Bed.  She slept with Daddy last night.   It’s either getting her sleep in the toddler bed or we go out, buy a California King size bed and we all sleep together (and you know that’s not going to happen - the buying the bed part). 

I’m not proud of it, but I did it anyhow.  I wore socks with sandals.  No…it wasn’t with white socks.  I wore black socks with black Dansko sandals.   Since I’ve been wearing the foot brace all the time, it’s hard to go without socks and nylons are too cold for this time of year.  I made sure they weren’t my Gold Toe socks. 

Please forgive me.  I’m sure it will happen again.  Besides, my right foot is not a pretty sight.  Two foot surgeries and a third one coming up, you would want me to cover that hideous hoof. 

Littlest does not like to sit down.  She wants to stand!  You try to sit her and she won’t bend.  She doesn’t really even want to crawl, but manages to get around.  The other night Daddy was testing her to see if she could stand by herself.   She can for a tiny bit of time. 

See those chubby cheeks!

The occupational therapist comes back on Tuesday and boy is she going to be surprised at the progress.  Littlest can sit by herself  pretty well, not perfect, but much better than before.  She also is on her hands and knees and can do a partial crawl.  She also is making different vowel sounds.  This week it’s “G.”  She is doing so wonderfully!

This was the first weekend in ages where we didn’t have appointments on Friday or other necessary engagements.  It was wonderful.   Friday evening we went to Target for a few baby supplies and ended up playing in the toy department for ages.   Bug was having a grand time.  We were dancin’ with Elmo and Brobee, gettin’ scared by the giant dinosaur that roared and moved, and screamed with delight at the dolls.   We had a blast.  

I did find these and boy do I wonder what kind of history they have!

They were so wonderfully sparkly and screamed hooker!  No I didn’t buy them!  

At Fred’s Bug and Littlest had their first ride in the racing car shopping cart.   Bug was in Heaven!  It was hard to drive though and we kept dodging and weaving and crashing into things.  All the more fun!