Saturday, April 19, 2003
Heather: What does sibling rivalry look like when it involves a newborn/infant and a toddler? I don't think I'm seeing it. Maddie tries to share her Cheerios and sippy with her little brother, who is indifferent to these actions. She actually climbs over him--putting none of her weight on him, if you can believe it--when he's in his bouncy chair. And as much as he is able to focus on anything, he focuses on her. Somewhere in that developing brain he is fascinated by his big sister.
He's growing leaps and bounds; at his checkup two weeks ago he'd gained 5 pounds since birth. That put him at almost 6 weeks old and 13#10oz. He's a hoss.
As to details about Madeleine, she's edging closer to potty training. She has lots of signs, like using the words "peepee" and "poop" appropriately. I try to remember to ask her when she's naked before her bath if she wants to make peepee on her potty; occasionally she sits on it, but not always. Once--just once--she actually started going while sitting on it! I got all excited and she thought I was upset, and started crying. I think I blew it. Nuts. That was a while back, though, so I'm hoping she's forgotten it.
I can't keep track of all of her words, though apparently I say "Aw, shoot" often when the phone rings.
I apologize again for the long delays between entries. I hope we haven't lost too many frequent readers; those of you with children know of what I speak. It's often a choice between nap or shower when they are both asleep simultaneously, and of course I never know how long it's going to last.
Oh, Maddie's surgery. She's fine and the trauma was greatest for Mom. Her greatest upset was coming around and not seeing anyone or anything familiar, but when Daddy arrived with two--count 'em, two--long-awaited sippies of milk, the world got better. I catch her sometimes putting her fingers in her ears and calling me, then taking them out. It's like she's checking the system.
Thank you all for your prayers.
He's growing leaps and bounds; at his checkup two weeks ago he'd gained 5 pounds since birth. That put him at almost 6 weeks old and 13#10oz. He's a hoss.
As to details about Madeleine, she's edging closer to potty training. She has lots of signs, like using the words "peepee" and "poop" appropriately. I try to remember to ask her when she's naked before her bath if she wants to make peepee on her potty; occasionally she sits on it, but not always. Once--just once--she actually started going while sitting on it! I got all excited and she thought I was upset, and started crying. I think I blew it. Nuts. That was a while back, though, so I'm hoping she's forgotten it.
I can't keep track of all of her words, though apparently I say "Aw, shoot" often when the phone rings.
I apologize again for the long delays between entries. I hope we haven't lost too many frequent readers; those of you with children know of what I speak. It's often a choice between nap or shower when they are both asleep simultaneously, and of course I never know how long it's going to last.
Oh, Maddie's surgery. She's fine and the trauma was greatest for Mom. Her greatest upset was coming around and not seeing anyone or anything familiar, but when Daddy arrived with two--count 'em, two--long-awaited sippies of milk, the world got better. I catch her sometimes putting her fingers in her ears and calling me, then taking them out. It's like she's checking the system.
Thank you all for your prayers.
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Heather: Please excuse the delay. As Dale said, the kids are not following their parents' sleep schedule. Well, Madeleine seems to be figuring it out--two nights in a row now she's slept from roughly 9 until 6 the next morning with minimal interruption. She even came in to our room the first time, waking us with a perky, "Hi, Dahee."
She (and I) have also discovered the beauty of crayons. At first, I tried to be neat about it, taping down the sheet of doodle paper for her. That quickly became more trouble than it was worth for as fast as she would fill the page, not to mention the attraction the tape itself held.
Madeleine has found an additional hobby: retail fraud. She can, and must, remove any sticker from anything she finds. She can be distracted in the grocery store by any item hit with a pricing gun, and the produce section is a cornucopia of entertainment. The focus she devotes to this makes a police bomb expert's look scattered.
Anyway, back to crayons. She has removed the paper labels from all eight crayons, saying in a very serious voice each time, "Ticker." She would not be stopped; she would not be reasoned with. [Like when she MUST bring me my slippers whenever she finds them, including while I'm in the shower. "Thank you, sweetie."] Now I just flop the pad of paper in front of her, along with the box. She can get them out on her own. She can scribble with the crayons on each page for as long as she wishes. Scribble with them, put them in and out of the box at will, drop them on the floor, mark on her tray, try to color her hair, whatever.
And if Mommy's not paying too much attention, they make great snacks too.
On a more serious note, she goes in for surgery on Monday morning. She's getting tubes in her ears to stop the continuous ear infections since Halloween. The maintenance low-dose antibiotic she's been on since March 24 wasn't enough; actually, we missed a dose on the 31 because she fell asleep in her daddy's arms at the dinner table. Rather than wake her to put her through her bedtime routine, we just put her to bed. That 12 hour delay was all the opportunity the infection needed.
I know it's minor outpatient surgery. I know it's been done thousands of times, and by the surgeon that's going to do it. I know she needs it. That doesn't mean I'm not dreading having my baby girl go under anesthesia at the tender age of 19 months. The morning of not being able to give her a sippy isn't a selling point, either.
Please keep her in your prayers.
She (and I) have also discovered the beauty of crayons. At first, I tried to be neat about it, taping down the sheet of doodle paper for her. That quickly became more trouble than it was worth for as fast as she would fill the page, not to mention the attraction the tape itself held.
Madeleine has found an additional hobby: retail fraud. She can, and must, remove any sticker from anything she finds. She can be distracted in the grocery store by any item hit with a pricing gun, and the produce section is a cornucopia of entertainment. The focus she devotes to this makes a police bomb expert's look scattered.
Anyway, back to crayons. She has removed the paper labels from all eight crayons, saying in a very serious voice each time, "Ticker." She would not be stopped; she would not be reasoned with. [Like when she MUST bring me my slippers whenever she finds them, including while I'm in the shower. "Thank you, sweetie."] Now I just flop the pad of paper in front of her, along with the box. She can get them out on her own. She can scribble with the crayons on each page for as long as she wishes. Scribble with them, put them in and out of the box at will, drop them on the floor, mark on her tray, try to color her hair, whatever.
And if Mommy's not paying too much attention, they make great snacks too.
On a more serious note, she goes in for surgery on Monday morning. She's getting tubes in her ears to stop the continuous ear infections since Halloween. The maintenance low-dose antibiotic she's been on since March 24 wasn't enough; actually, we missed a dose on the 31 because she fell asleep in her daddy's arms at the dinner table. Rather than wake her to put her through her bedtime routine, we just put her to bed. That 12 hour delay was all the opportunity the infection needed.
I know it's minor outpatient surgery. I know it's been done thousands of times, and by the surgeon that's going to do it. I know she needs it. That doesn't mean I'm not dreading having my baby girl go under anesthesia at the tender age of 19 months. The morning of not being able to give her a sippy isn't a selling point, either.
Please keep her in your prayers.
