A Small Brag

Fiona had her first dental X-rays today. After some inital hesitation about being alone in the chair (it really was small potatoes) she got three x-rays done happily. She thought it was very cool. She tried really hard to be still for her cleaning, too (which I can see is difficult---I can almost see waves of energy coming out of her body). Her four temporary fillings are holding in nicely. So nicely, in fact, that I finally relented and will now let her have gum (the only sugar in it being xylitol). You can see her front adult teeth in the X-ray. They are so big! It is really neat. Foreshadowing. The big girl teeth.

I took the girls to Silver Lake with a friend and her son and godson and while it was a lot of work for me, we had a great time. Unfortunately, my shoulders and back got pretty sunburnt. You'd think at 33 I would no longer get sunburns. At least the girls did not. I forgot how annoying sunburns are. No blisters, just pain.

Doug is my hero and sent me out to eat by myself. I don't normally like eating out by myself, but I brought along Last Child in the Woods and had a good time. I had some pretty good calamari, some very nice house-made gnocchi (a tad too much Parmesan...or was it Asaigo?) with fabulous vegetables (snap peas, asparagus, haricot verts, carrots--all very fresh) and some Italian Zinfandel that didn't really make a huge impression with me, but it was all relished. I wanted dessert, but I was just too full. Next time, no calamari, but definitely some dessert. Maybe even somehow a side of Doug. I ate at Conoscenti's.

Events I Must Record for Posterity

After browsing my neglected blog, I realized I left out two disgusting events that I simply cannot forget about (and, of course, must share).

Sometime this early spring, when the snow had just melted and the grass was mostly brown and the crocus was up, we were playing in the yard. I noticed a couple of deer dung patches (the deer come pretty close to the house, especially in late winter/early spring). The girls are busy digging and drawing and walking and climbing. I was doing something with Fiona when I noticed Sophia with something in her hand and it was making its way to her mouth. It was a deer dung patch I had missed. I let out some abnormal screech (which amazingly got her attention) and no dung was consumed. I think it had been in the grass a while, but still. When I say she still puts everything in her mouth, I mean it. Everything.

The other event was on Easter. They opened their baskets and Fiona enjoyed her chocolate. She didn't eat it all (some of it is sitting next to me right at this moment) but she didn't eat breakfast or lunch or dinner unless I missed it. She did say her tummy hurt, but she has said that before and she seemed fine otherwise. That evening, while Doug was on the computer with Fiona and I was bathing, she barfed all over him and herself and the floor. A huge pool of chocolate vomit. Sophia immediately came over (it did smell strangely of chocolate), slipped, and fell right into the pool of chocolate vomitus. Doug got them all cleaned up and then told me about it. He is a rare one. So I missed it all. The laundry smelled strange, though. Amazingly, we all still like chocolate. She was fine after that. I think I will insist on some sort of breakfast before we find the baskets after this.

Parenting in the Rain

After getting soggy in the past few weeks, I've decided we can't live somewhere where it rains all the time. At least not somewhere where you are yearning for the warm sunny weather after a long winter.

This weekend---finally---is supposed to be warm and "partly cloudy". It is going to be EIGHTY degrees Farenheit! I don't know what we will do, but it will involve mowing the dandelion yard of darkness.

Fiona is continuing to thrive at school. She has two tadpoles that are slowing growing their limbs. Even when they are fully grown, they are a type of frog that lives in the water. At that point we just get a bigger container and different food. They are really cute. She caught some "beatles" (I have no idea what they actually are, but there are a lot of them this year) and we tried to feed them, but they just recently expired. I tried to get her to name them John, Ringo, Paul, and George, but she didn't understand why. (The tadpoles--both of them---are named Cutie-cutie by the way). Actually, I was showing her the first word she wrote (she's writing quite well now and reading along with it): "John" and she was totally perplexed. "Who is John?" she asked. So fickle.

Sophia's words and signing are continuing to grow. The latest is "thirsty". She says it at the same time she is signing it. She does that for all her signs actually: "help" "cereal" "cheese" "banana" (although banana sounds like something else--sort of like "nana" but different). The only one she doesn't say is "more". But she signs that a lot. She is playing more and more with Fiona and obviously adores her (so far, it seems to go both ways). She calls her "Fee-nah-nah" or "Nah-nah!". She is finally signing "Mommy" and saying Mommy. We were both Daddy for a while. Sometimes I am still Daddy, but at least he is sometimes Mommy. When we go to pick up Fiona after school, they are almost always on the playground. Her classmates love Sophia (she's "the baby" but she isn't the only baby) and Fiona is very protective of her. She will sometimes stand in the middle of the playground and announce Sophia her sister is here and they need to be very careful and not hurt her. She is fragile. That does not seem to apply to Fiona, but Sophia seems to love roughhousing with her (it just makes me really anxious). That is where the "more" sign comes in a lot. They laugh a lot together.

I have been watching LOST (a TV show for those of you who don't know---I didn't for a while) based on a friend's recommendation. Since we have no broadcast TV, I have been downloading the episodes off of iTunes. I haven't looked forward to a season finale in a long time, but I am very excited for this one.

Wah-Wah

Right now, our kitchen trash can is being used in the bathtub. It's maybe a little less strange if I tell you that the bathroom is right next to the kitchen. No? It's the only way we can keep Sophia from throwing toys, clothes, and assorted non-trash things away. It's still not foolproof. If the trashcan is moved to the bathroom floor, I find bath toys in it.

"Wah-wah" is what "water" sounds like when Sophia says it. Yesterday, we met friends at the playground and there happens to be a shallow river next to it that has some sand, but mostly rocks. It is very, very cold. I knew this without touching it, but now I really know. Sophia was entranced by the moving river. She wanted to go right in. The cold didn't really seem to bother her and she proceed to soak her mittens in it. Fortunately, she only went in up to her snow boots, but she was very determined to check it out. Back on the playground, she looked back at the river and wistfully said, "wah-wah". We also rediscovered the swing. She was grumpy and upset about leaving the water, but the swing made everything happy again. She proceeded to coo.

Fiona has a bad cough, which only shows up at night, and therefore keeps her up, so she stayed home from school today and is spending the afternoon sleeping. Poor thing. It's the warmest day of the year by far and very sunny. I think it got above 60 F or darn near close. Sophia and I went on a walk (Doug is home sick as well) and found the ducks in the river. I even took pictures. My goal this summer is to take lots and lots of pictures. The ducks were a big hit. She said "ducks!" "birds!" "wah-wah!". She made the sign for birds as well. She sort of makes the sign for water.

Random Blithering

Tomorrow it could get as warm as 65 F. 65. I must get the pool and the bathing suit out tonight. I want to bend over and weep tears of joy.

I just finished watching Season 4 of Enterprise. Which means that I just finished watching Enterprise. Just as I was getting into it, I learn they only made four seasons?! How can that be? Star Trek is supposed to have several seasons. Not four. I feel cheated.

Signs of Spring

I took the critters out yesterday for a romp and we found crocus coming up! I am a little too excited about it.

Foreseeing the Fever

Well, the doctor visit was not grim. Sophia did not cry the entire time. I wonder if it was because we unexpectedly had a different doctor or if that was a coincidence.

This doctor, however, recommended that we give Sophia Tylenol any time she has a bad cold. The kicker of this is, we didn't know she was sick until after the seizure. The idea is to prevent a fever so she doesn't seize. I try to foresee hunger, bathroom breaks, boredom, cold, heat, sun protection, battle of wills, sibling clashes, and sleepiness. Foreseeing fever? No, that I can not do. Sophia was normal feeling before the seizure and hot afterward.

See, this is what happened:

Sunday morning, we woke up and made our way downstairs. Doug went to the kitchen to start breakfast and I went to the laundry room to do laundry. All of the sudden, Doug is urgently calling to me. I go in the kitchen and he is holding Sophia. She is very still and staring straight ahead. She start to seize (shake) and turn slightly blue and her eyes roll back. That is when I called 911. They've asked me how long it lasted, but I don't really know. The guy on 911 was great, very calm, and the ambulance and volunteers were there very quickly (they are just down the street). I think 4 people showed up. Maybe it was five.

When she stopped shaking (before help got there), she had this eerie cry like I've never heard before. Then she went into a deep sleep. She would still grip your hand, but she would not wake up. They recommended taking her to the hospital after seeing how non responsive she was. I went with her in the ambulance. That was when we noticed she had the fever. She seemed to get hotter during the drive. The hospital is 20 minutes away, but it seemed much longer. The fever only went up to 101.7 F.

As you know, it all turned out well, but it was terrifying. I kept thinking that because she wouldn't wake up, she was brain damaged. I thought it might be meningitis (it wasn't, her neck wasn't at all stiff). I have this problem of thinking of the worst possible scenarios. I can act all cool and decisive in a crisis, but I am thinking the worst. Afterwards, I am a gooey wet mess.

I am hoping that was our first and last experience with seizures.

In other, more fluffy news, I took Fiona to see Curious George a few weekends ago, and I have to say it was pretty cute. Very age appropriate (she's 4). I really liked the soundtrack.

A Potato Throwing Event

Sophia has spent the last 10 minutes throwing potatoes into the bathtub. It's fairly entertaining. Boom! Boom! Boom! While she tosses them in, she sings a little song as she goes back and forth between the cabinet where she got the potatoes and the bathtub.

She woke up yesterday making the sign for cookie. I said, "Well, we can't have cookies for breakfast. How about a banana?" I made the sign for banana and she made the sign back! She also has started singing "Daddy" which is no surprise.

Today she has a well-baby checkup, which I am dreading. The last two (at least the last two) trips have been grim. She cries anytime someone comes into the room. The examination is done with her in my arms. That part is ok, but the crying is traumatic. She is due for a shot today and I am paranoid, more so than usual, of side effects, given that she has already had a seizure. She has never even had a fever from a vaccine, neither of them has had any sort of reaction, but I worry anyway.

Boots!

One of Sophia's favorite words is "Boots!" (with the !). She will put the snow boots on (eh, they aren't that dirty) and clonk around the house.

Another favorite word is "Daddy". "Daddy" has come to mean all that is good and wonderful in the world. Of course she says it when Doug comes home, in a gleeful voice. She also says it when I appear at the end of nap time, when I come to take her out of her car seat, and other such instances. I think the only time she says "Maaaa MEEE!" is when she wants more food. She has gotten very insistent about nursing, and makes the sign for milk while saying "eh eh eh eh". That may be because of the antibiotics---she is not eating as much as she normally does, and is nursing more (let's just say I have to change diapers and clothes more often because of the antibiotics).

I didn't get the chance to remark how well Fiona did at the hospital when we left for there frantically via ambulance and car. After her inital worry, she found the hospital adventure exciting. She loved the juice and cocoa in the patient "kitchen" area. She frequently said she was bored, but she did not really act out. If this had happened while Doug had been at work or had been out of town, I would really have had my hands full!

Bravery is...

changing your very mobile, very kicky, very squirmy toddler's diaper while she is wearing snow boots.

Sophia is growing in a million different ways--she seems to pick up a new word an hour and is determined to put on her own coat and boot for inside wear. She wants to brush her own hair, her own teeth (she just sucks on the toothbrush) and she likes to screeeeeeeech. She's 17 months.

Fiona doesn't like the screeching, and she thinks Sophia is just too loud. Fiona, at 4, is not exactly quiet--unless she is in the car, and then for some reason, she speaks very softly. So softly that I don't know she is speaking to me until she starts having a small fit.

Bravery is also surviving a febrile seizure. We had our first taste of what that is like last Sunday. It happened to Sophia about 830 AM. I won't go into the horrific details of what it's like to watch your baby having a seizure, but we did take an ambulance to the E.R. and were told they are fairly common and harmless. If she has another one, they do want to see her again, however.

What I'm Listening To Today

Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling For Soup

The Lyrics:

BOWLING FOR SOUP LYRICS (from azlyrics.com)

"Ohio (Come Back To Texas)"

She said she needed a break
a little time to think
but then she went to Cleveland
with some guy named Leelan
that she met at the bank

There's nothing wrong with Ohio
except the snow and the rain
I really like Drew Carey
and I'd love to see the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame

So when you're done doing whatever
and when you're thru doing whoever
you know Denton County will be right here waiting for you....

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
Before you lose your accent
and forget all about the Lonestar State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway

I think I made a mistake
Its not that easy to take
She went to make a deposit
then she cleaned out her closet
Guess I'll sit here and wait

For her to come back home (I'd wish you come back home)
it shouldn't take very long (so long so long)
i bet she misses the sunrise
and misses the fruit flies but i could be wrong

So when you're done doing whatever
and when you're thru doing whoever
you know Denton County will be right here waiting for you....

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
I bet you missed your exit
and drove right on thru the Lone Star State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway

Troy Aikmen wants you back
Willie Nelson wants you back
NASA wants you back
and the Bush twins want you back
and Pantera wants you back
and Blue Bell wants you back

I got a premonition
I'm taking a petition
and the whole state's gonna sign

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
Before you lose your accent
and forget all about the Lone Star State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
Before you lose your accent
and forget all about the Lone Star State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway

Meme Courtesy of Lone Star Ma

Four Things Meme

I have been "tagged", apparently, and although this is not the sort of thing I normally do here, I thought, well, what the heck.

Four Jobs I've Had

1. Cashier: I was the cashier at Long John Silver's for a year in high school. My tag said "Seaman Apprentice". Guess what got old faster than that job?

2. Herb/Vitamin salesperson: I started as a cashier at Nature's Harvest in Tampa, Florida and then moved up to this job. I learned a lot about vitamins and supplements and herbs and enjoyed this job except for some strange customers and dismal hours.

3. Lab Assistant: I worked in a molecular biology (botany) lab during and after working there as the dishwasher (Hey, I was a dishwasher in a restaurant, too, but that was totally different. They didn't have autoclaves.) It was really interesting, but I don't think I was very good at it. I loved the people I worked with though, and I met my husband that way.

4. Cook/Assistant Innkeeper: I was the "chef" at a bed and breakfast inn (there were 11 rooms, so it was big for a B&B, but small for an inn ...). I was the only cook there (except on my days off) but I got to design the menus, keep inventory, make some lunches and a couple of dinners (those were my favorite). I enjoyed cooking there a lot, and I also enjoyed working behind the innkeeper desk. 99% of our guests were really pleasant and interesting. I had fabulous bosses, as well. I only left to bear and care for an infant! That is a good job, too.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over & Over
1.Serenity
2.Totoro
3.Any of the LoTR movies
4.Yellow Submarine. That is mostly out of my control at this point, though.

Four Places I've Lived
1. Denton, TX
2. Tampa, FL
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Austin, TX

Four Places I've Vacationed
1. Montreal, Canada
2. Rochester, MN
3. Bar Harbor, Maine
4. Seville, Spain

Four of My Favorite Dishes
1. Single Pebble's "Mock Eel" (it's shittake mushroom)
2. Doug's fried chicken with biscuits
3. Doug's hamburgers
4. Thanksgiving dinner

Four (Non-Blogger) Sites I Visit Daily
1. www.lalecheleague.org
2. www.cursor.org
3. www.lush.com
4. www.nytimes.com
(none of these are daily, but non-blogger ones I visit frequently)

Four Places I'd Like To Visit
1. Denton, TX
2. Austin, TX
3. Petaluma, CA
4. Tampa, FL

Turning 33, 4 and Going to Montreal

Last week, I turned 33. Yay. Fiona likes to remind me that next year I'll be *34* and then *35* and counts up to "thirty TEN"! I tell her that number is 40 (40?) and she proceeds to count up to some ungodly number and I try to forget we are talking about my age.

Fiona turns four this Thursday and she tells everyone that we are going to Montreal for her birthday (which is true). We're going to visit the Biodome , stay at a Holiday Inn in Chinatown (which we've been to before and it was a great experience), shop in Chinatown, and hopefully go to a LUSH store for the first time. Hopefully dim sum will be had! We are all really looking forward to it. Montreal has fabulous food.

A Shrew!

Alas, Fiona is sick. She has this wicked cough and she has missed three days of school. She isn't happy about this at all -- she was working on a project Tuesday and wants to go back and finish it. It is her 5th little booklet. Her first three were about shapes (one is a quatrafoil ... ooo ) and the 4th about continents. They are punched out shapes, one per page, with the word underneath. She loves making these. I hear this one is about letters.

So this is the second winter we've relied on a case of blueberries in the freezer to supply us until spring. Last year they took us well into summer. This year they were gone two weeks ago. Sophia and Fiona really, really like them. I am not sure Doug and I had any.

Sophia is definitely walking now, but she will say "up" if she want you to take her. Fiona loves helping her walk as well.

The most exciting thing that has happened this week is that Doug had an interesting early morning encounter with a small animal. He was working on the computer at some ungodly hour and heard something dropping gradually down the stairs. The computer is right in front of the stairs. The stairs are dark. He goes to investigate and nearly trods on this small animal who obviously cannot see well. He gets a box and puts this animal loose in the basement.

Now. After some asking around and some searching, he's decided it was a shrew. I can tell you if it were me who nearly trod on a small animal in the dark, not only would I have screamed like a teen in a horror movie, I would have somehow thrown it out into the bitter cold. Unless I passed out. He knew it wasn't a mouse or rat, but wasn't sure what else it could be. It was sort of mole-like.

I want to know how it got on the second floor. Where did it come from? It was obviously going down the stairs, not up.

I am hoping this was a very strange occurance and won't be happening again. I will also be very cautious coming downstairs at night as well.

So it's Been Ten Years

I also have neglected to mention that last Christmas was our 10th wedding anniversary. It is sort of amazing it has been that long and yet sometimes it seems longer -- in the sense that so far we have been "married without kids" for a longer period than "married with kids" ... and it seems SO long ago that we did not have our children with us yet.

I feel extremely fortunate to have found someone who is such an excellent mate and father and person in general. He loves me and he wants to be with me. It's an amazing combination. He is my true penguin.

I love you, Doug. Thanks for the many wonderful years and the many more to come.

Mommy has Watery Eyes

I do remember something that happened in the past weeks, now.

Doug took the girls out for a night at the mall and they came home with a little something for me. Fiona was very excited about it. It was a necklace from Claire's -- those necklaces that have a charm on them with a half a heart and the other necklace has the other half. These said "mother" and "daughter".

Now if we get angry at each other or grumpy, we're supposed to hold up our necklace and show the other. Sometimes we fit them together (goofy sci-fi type noises help here). I was very touched. Ok, it was Doug's idea, but it was still great.

She hasn't actually worn it in a couple of weeks, but I haven't taken mine off.

Happy 2006

So we indeed have 3 1/2 molars now in Sophia's mouth.

I believe we have mentioned Fiona's beloved backpack--obviously a common word around here and a coveted object because Sophia can now say, quite clearly, "backpack".

We've moved the computer downstairs into the foyer. This has the benefit of being more accessible (and in the fall one can actually use the computer without being assaulted by wasps and flies) ... and maybe I will actually be able to get my thoughts down more quickly. I come up with all sorts of musings while doing dishes, driving, nursing ... but then I sit down to the computer, ah, finally, ... and ... I am completely at a loss as to what to write.

Fiona got an extended Christmas from her Grandpa Brown and her Auntie Alex ... Alex got her a Magic School Bus DVD (the body one) and it is very cool. I won't say how many times it has been watched already (bad mommy!). I have very mixed feelings about exposing kids to video so young (can you tell?) but GOSH the quiet is sure nice and now that she's nearly four, she does obviously learn things from it. Even Sophia learns sign language from her DVDs (That is more interactive, obviously. Mom and Dad have to watch or there is no point to it).

Walking and Singing

I apologize for the lack of updates around here, but now that the um, joyful, time of Christmas is over, I should be able to get back on track here.

Both girls got quite a nice stash over the holidays. Fiona loved all her goods...one of her favorites is this plastic glow-in-the-dark skeleton that you put together. She carries him around everywhere (along with her friend "Backpack" that looks just like the one on Dora...sigh...that was a pick-up from Claire's a few weeks before Christmas...). He falls apart, of course, because he's a puzzle, so I am always putting those hip bones back on.

She also got this Hello Kitty camera (thank you Auntie Maggie!), which she loves. We love it, too. Imagine having paparazzi in your home. It's like that. We tell her to at least make sure her subjects have all of their clothes on. All of them. It's a "film" camera (she keeps calling the canisters "batteries") so we have two rolls, nearly three, to develop soon.

Sophia has taken two unassisted steps!! She has been "walking" now with our hands for a little while. She has also been keeping me up a lot at night and is so so oh so grumpy in the morning. I hope there is a molar for all of this misery.

On the last day of school before her week of vacation, her school had a Holiday Party. It was at the library in the storytime room, which has a bit of a stage in front of the windows. And there was our girl, right in the middle, belting out all of the songs (with added expressive arm movements). There were a gaggle of grandparents and parents there, so the kids were a bit in the spotlight. Many of them did not sing (I sure wouldn't have...) at first, but mostly everyone warmed up after a bit. I got a lot of comments afterwards of the ilk of "she's going to be an actress when she grows up!" or "she sure isn't shy!" or "she knows what she wants"...you get the idea. When watching her interact with the other kids, I get a bit of "She sure knows how to stand up for herself!". All the parents also got a CD of the kids singing at school...and one can clearly pin point Fiona's angelic voice in the crowd (there are 11 other students).

Sophia got these two Signing Time DVDs (thank you Auntie Alex and Auntie Maggie!), which I am not able to watch all the time (Mommy hides in the Special Room, don't you know), so Fiona has been teaching me the colors. Sophia's favorite sign is "food". She has done "milk" once. "More" is another big favorite.

Fiona can now also write her name (after months of "John"--which she now has a letterset of--thank you, Auntie Alex! and a few days of her best bud "Max"). She can clearly recognize some words and is asking how to spell, well, everything. She will read words and spell them out and ask what they say...sometimes she will try to sound them out.

I hope everyone had a great Winter Holiday, and may 2006 be even better. Like maybe Bush will resign...Cheney goes to jail...something of that nature would have us dancing in the streets!

Naptime Zen

My daily challenge during the week (well one of) is to get both girls down for a nap. Quite by accident, I found the key to this without any arguing, wailing, or angst...

The key is to tell Fiona that we have to put Sophia down for a nap---which is totally true---and when she asks if we can "skip nap" (meaning her nap, of course)...it is essential to say yes. So far (and all of this could change any time) this means we eat lunch, we read a few books, we snuggle in bed---Fiona wrapped around my back---and Fiona is asleep instantly (although sometimes I have to urge her to "pretend" to sleep so Sophia copies us). Sophia is full of energy after nursing and screeches and laughs and bonks into me affectionately (I pretend to sleep with one or both arms over my face) and babbles and plays. Sophia will do this from 15 to 45 minutes. Fiona sleeps on. I am not tired; I can not nap even though I frequently have insomnia in the middle of the night. Sophia bonking around makes me crazy if I don't practice thinking of something else or concentrating on my breathing, or something. Usually, as soon as I stop noticing her activity...she is snuggled into my head (nothing like baby butt in your face) sucking her thumb. She typically sleeps about 1 hour max...sometimes less, sometimes more...if I am lucky, I can get to her before she finds Fiona (who is usually still sound asleep)...if I am not lucky, well, you know.

So one hour to do correspondence, bills, phone calls, cleaning, laundry.

Or watch some Desperate Housewives. You know--whatever has priority that day...

Still here

Sorry for the lack of posting...it's that time of year!

School is going well for Fiona, Sophia is full of personality and is not yet walking, but has a look in her eye...

We have a completely unadorned tree waiting for decoration. I have wrapped what presents I've gotten so far, but what is sucking up all my time are the edible things I make for Christmas, which I'm hoping to mail to family before Christmas...not to mention the photo Christmas cards...

Fiona has started really expressing an interest in spelling. She will sit there looking at a sign or a book and try to spell and sound out the words. Her teacher has even noticed this and is encouraging her but not pushing her (you can't really push Fiona anyway). I think we are perhaps at the threshold of reading and I can't think of anything more exciting than finally being able to read!