Halloween is Upon Us

Are you ready? So far this week we’ve gave the costumes a dress rehearsal, hung the ghost and pumpkin lights in the front window, and carved pumpkins. I have a giant leftover bag of candy from Princess’s birthday. I think we’re ready.

So far the weather seems to be cooperating. In this neck of the woods Halloween usually comes with freezing temperatures so costumes with fur and hoods are usually a safe bet. The forecast for tomorrow is in the 60s so we’ll see. Our downtown merchants have treats for the kids in the afternoon so I’m hoping to take advantage of that and get some of the trick-or-treating out of the way early.

Princess is excited. She remembers Halloween from past years. She knows the amount of candy she will rake in tomorrow. Flower is clueless. Up until this point in her life her candy consumption has been minimal so I’m not sure how she’ll do when faced with a plastic orange pumpkin full of sugary treats. I can see her sitting on the curb shoving it in as fast as her little hands will go….wrappers and all.

I’m hoping for healthy kids. Last year and the previous year Princess was sick and running a fever at Halloween. Nothing serious, just a little virus and she was still in a fairly good mood so we took her to the homes in our neighborhood. If she’s not sick this year Daddy may have a more difficult time convincing her that it’s time to come home. I’m glad I get to man the door and hand out the treats at our house.

Rock Hard Music

Princess is a dancer so we regularly have the stereo on so she can glide around the room. Currently she prefers a cd of lullabies which is nice and soothing….great after a long day of work. She must have been perusing our cd collection, which is very outdated since we haven't bought a cd in years….at least 5 years, maybe more since we almost exclusively listen to XM radio….and she must have come across some of our 80s hair band cds. So she's sitting on the toilet the other night (that's another post) and she says to me "Mama, do you know what kind of music my daughter likes?" (Side note: Princess has two daughters who are ALWAYS doing bad thing….interestingly the exact same things she gets in trouble for….) Anyway, I said no, what kind of music does she like, to which Princess replied "Rock Hard Music!" I said "Really?", and she said, "Yes, do you know what it sounds like?" so of course I had to find out what rock hard music sounds like, and Princess scrunched up her nose and eyebrows and started making this deep pounding bump-a-bump-a-bump noise.

Do you suppose Princess will have the same aversion to rock hard music in 10 years?

Poo, Poo, and More Poo

Another post about sick kids. We had a fun weekend at our house. Daycare was closed last Thursday and Friday so Grandma came to stay and babysit…..just in time for the poo-party. Flower seemed to be having a few “issues” Wednesday night but I thought she probably ate more than her fair share of fruit that week because she’ll do that if you let her. Thursday things were a little questionable and I thought she might be coming down with a little stomach bug. Friday she had a check-up so I ran my theory by our doctor and he confirmed that a GI tract bug was going around and she would be better in 24-48 hours. So we took it easy and stayed close to home.

There was a lull in the action Saturday and I mistakenly took it as Flower was feeling better so we headed to town for some shopping and pizza. Let’s just say we didn’t get much shopping done and dinner wasn’t very relaxing because Flower took a turn for the worse right after we ordered pizza. Home we went and back to the bath….or sink as the case may be. Flower’s little bum was pretty red from all the activity and scrubbing so I was soaking her in the kitchen sink with baking soda in the water. Let’s just say the giant box of baking soda I thought would last for months only made it about a week. But if you are dealing with some serious diaper rash I highly suggest a baking soda bath.

Sunday morning Nana and Papa picked Princess up for church because I didn’t think it wise to take Flower out….oh, did I mention Daddy went hunting last weekend….yeah, flying solo in the parent department, thank goodness for Grandma…..but Grandma had to leave early Sunday morning. So far Flower was doing well and Daddy called to say he was on his way home (4 hours away) around 10:30 am. I brought him up to speed on our weekend and told him to hurry; I was tired of changing diapers. Just as I was ending the call, Flower gave me the “look” and grabbed her diaper. The poo was back….with a vengeance.

We cleaned and soaked her little bum and I headed down to the laundry to get some clean clothes from the dryer. I was having a hard time keeping up with the laundry at this point. I dressed Flower and grabbed the basked of clean clothes and took it upstairs to fold. I went back downstairs to see what Flower was doing and she wanted me to pick her up. I carried her upstairs and when I put her down my arm was wet. Seriously. So, back upstairs we headed for another round of cleaning and soaking. Oh, and the smell. I’ve never smelled anything so horrible. Through it all though Flower was a trooper. She wasn’t too fussy. She never got a fever or anything, just the runs….in the form of a marathon.

Flower is all better now. Her appetite came back on Monday and she practically ate us out of house and home. Now I’m just waiting for Princess to start vomiting…. By the way, if you have trouble getting a little one to drink pedialyte, try buying the unflavored stuff and mixing a small packet of their favorite jello with it. Flower drank an entire bottle of cherry jello pedialyte and let’s just say we had some colorful diapers….

Still Here

Just another week around here. Princess picked up a little bug somewhere and spent Sunday and Monday on the couch with a fever. We made a trip to the doctor and ruled out strep.

The physical therapist we saw over two months ago to evaluate Flower's walking skills finally called to say the inserts had arrived. A little background. At Flower's 15 month check up I told her doctor I didn't think she was walking as well as she should be at that age.....as if I really knew how well she should be walking.....anyway, her doctor agreed but since she had only been walking for a month we decided to give her another month to see if things improved.

After a month, she was walking much better but still turning one foot out slightly. It was barely noticeable, but sometimes she would catch the side of her foot and fall flat on her face. Luckily she didn't take any big spills, but when she ran on concrete or equally hard surfaces I was a nervous wreck. So we went to see a physical therapist for a professional opinion. The PT agreed, she did turn her foot out slightly, and recommended inserts for her shoes which should fix the problem almost immediately. Ten weeks later they are finally here. Of course Flower's walking has also improved and she doesn't fall down nearly as much as she did two months ago....but we'll try them out anyway. Better to be safe than sorry.

Tumbling It Is

So dance class was a bust. Princess decided it wasn't her thing. After spending 10 minutes in the waiting area with the other mothers I decided it wasn't my thing either. So I called the dance studio and told them we wouldn't be attending tonight.

One of Princess' friends at daycare takes tumbling so I asked Princess if she would like to try tumbling with L. She thought that sounded good, especially when she found out tumbling does not require tights. We went tonight and it was a hit. Princess informed me she would like to go to tumbling every night!

I'll post more details later but right now I'm just happy to report Princess is happy. Yeah!