WHOOSH!!!

The two weeks since my last post have absolutely flown by. Nothing really spectacular has been going on but it seems to be all I can do to get through each day in one piece. Aside from the regular grind - making sure everyone is happy and clean and fed - I seem to only have time to taxi the kids to and from school, take Daniel to his frequent, new baby doctor's appointments and occasionally take a walk with a friend. Any other down time is spent staring at the wall trying to gather my wits and my energy for the next phase of the day.

I do feel an obligation to myself to update the blog so that in a year or so when I wonder what life was like in May 2009 I'll have something to refer to. So, to that end, here's a little nutshell about each of us:

1) DH...working, working, working. Work has been busy and we aren't going to complain about that. With the economy the way it is, busy is a good way to be. He even went to Oregon on business the week before last for THREE NIGHTS and I didn't implode, explode, or sit hugging myself, rocking and muttering in a dark corner of my closet. I was proud of me.

2) Me. I'm up at least once in the dead of the night with Daniel but am surprisingly energetic. I don't get as much time to knit or soak in the tub as I would like. Those are my two big stress outlets and I'm pretty sure it is going to catch up with me pretty soon if I don't make efforts to change things. Daniel is a bit of a snuggler and I absolutely adore it but it is hard to bathe or knit with a wee person on my person. He's cute...it's ok. I'm glad the weather is getting nicer as it is easier to do, well, almost anything in good weather. My seasonal allergies are trying to kill me and kept me from recognizing that I was getting a cold (or maybe a flu but that's a dirty word these days so let's leave it as a cold) till I was up all night with chills and aches.

3) Claire has been back and forth to school, one of her favourite places to be. One day last week I went to pick her up to have her teacher ask me to stick around to hear a funny story about her. I waited till she dismissed the others and then found out that during class, the one little boy who likes to make trouble kept touching Claire's face. Teacher reported that this was done in an attempt to invade personal space and irritate. Teacher did not know if Claire asked the boy to stop or not but she did watch Claire ball up her wee little four-year-old fist, wind up, and punch the little squirt in the belly as hard as she could. Apparently, he was so winded, he could barely create enough volume to tattle on her. The teacher took Claire aside and explained that she had to use her words to try and solve issues of this ilk and not to punch boys in the belly but she says that inside, she was really quite proud that Claire (who is usually quite meek at school) stood up for herself. I was torn between being absolutely appalled at the behaviour and proud of her assertiveness. We had a chat about conflict resolution and another about when you really are allowed to belt someone and since then things have been uneventful at school. Whew.

She is reading at "Level E" at school and even though I don't really know what each level means I know that she can read any "Stage 1" reader that I can get at Walmart or Chapters or the book order. She can also read my emails, mail, the TV guide, greeting cards and signage of any sort. We also have to be careful what we spell nowadays because she can keep track (if it isn't too many letters), sound it out in her head and tell us what we said. Last week I asked DH if he was up for a T-R-I-P to the Z-O-O and she got all bouncy and started squealing "Can we go to the zoo? Puh-leeeeze with one HUNDRED cheeries on top?" (one hundred is a massive number to her).

She also did this:



Went to a Toronto Blue Jays game with her father and uncle who was visiting from Newfoundland. DH decided to take her so I wouldn't be home sick on a Sunday with three children while he was out having fun. Nice of him, eh? I wasn't sure how she would do but apparently she was very well behaved. Chips and chocolate and a big ol' apple juice helped pave the way.

4) Jillian has been trying (I was going to add a "to" and an explanation but "trying" covers the whole situation pretty well). She'll be three next month and, well, we aren't a fan of age three in this house. Claire is pretty dominant and, in retaliation, Jillian has learned how to say "NO!" as well as any graduate of a women's self-defence course. It would be ok - maybe even encouraged - if she kept this sort of thing between herself and Claire but it has spilled over to DH and myself and is making us crazy. The child doesn't even stop to consider any request/question/statement anymore. She just says "NO!" and moves on. She has also been pushing and shoving Claire a lot and that gets her in trouble. Trouble is, Claire knows it gets Jillian in trouble and so she either baits Jillian or refuses to move away from Jillian's abuse so that Jillian will get disciplined. Claire has also taken to whispering things to Jillian like "ask Mommy if we can have a treat?" and, despite all the "NO!" in other situations, like a little minah bird she will come trotting to ask/do whatever Claire wants.

At the same time, the child can be so cute and sweet and loving that it nearly makes our souls ache. She loves hugs and kisses and has such a lovely nature when she isn't being Miss Independence. The other night DH gave her two little foil wrapped chocolates after dinner and she asked him if she could give one to Claire. Claire was going to get her own as soon as she finished her dinner but Jillian didn't know that. When DH explained that those were for her and Claire would get some in a bit, she declared that she would wait till Claire had her treats before she ate hers.

While DH and Claire were at the ball game last week, Jillian and I had a bit of a spa day. I spent a loooong time straightening her hair for her. She keeps telling us she has short hair and I know it is really quite long, it just looks shortish because of all those gorgeous curls. I thought straightening it would be fun and prove how long it is. Here she is:



I had to use both the blow dryer and flat iron to even get it this straight. She loved it...I hated it. Her hair is much thinner and finer than I thought it was. I figure it isn't done thickening up yet but I still fear it has the texture of my hair (which I wouldn't wish on anyone). It also persists in its curling more than I thought it would. She went to bed that night with straight-ish hair and woke up with her regular curls all over her head.

5) Daniel is now six weeks old. Again...whoosh! He is growing like a weed and is much bigger than the girls were at the same age. He is wearing three month size clothes and I think he'll be into six month clothes before he gets to be three months old.

His acne seems to be clearing up...slowly but surely. His skin is fairly dry now but I'm loathe to put too much lotion or anything on it for fear of setting off some other dermatological nightmare. He still gets pretty red when he gets worked up but I'm hoping that will only last another week or so too.

He is still a really happy, easy-going little guy and mainly only gets upset if he struggles with gas or gets overtired. We realize how lucky this makes us and try not to talk about his lovely demeanor too much for fear of breaking the spell. So...shhhhhh....moving on. He's getting better at holding up his own head and has figured out that he has a tongue (which he sticks out at us) and how to smile (which melts our hearts):



A couple of weeks ago, after his bath, I noticed a small hole on Daniel's bum/back area (just inside the top of the crease in his bum). It wasn't very big but I couldn't see the bottom of it and the whole thing freaked me out. I consulted my cousin, a chiropractor, and she said that it sounded like a sacral dimple and I'd better get him checked out by the family doctor. My family doctor examined him said that the dimple is small and when she really poked at him (he was surprisingly fine with the poking) thought she could see the bottom of the hole but sent him for an ultrasound just to make sure he doesn't have Spina Bifida Occulta. Well, the words "spina bifida" nearly sent me into hysterics but I know enough about medical things to be able to convince myself that he is likely fine and the tests are just precautions to make sure he's ok. His legs are both strong and move equally well and he seems to have good sensation in them and that makes me feel better. Still, he went for the ultrasound last Thursday (he slept through it all) and now we are waiting, waiting, waiting for results. Cross your fingers for us, ok?

Hopefully, I'll be back into a regular blog reading/writing schedule soon. I miss my time in cyberspace.