Here's looking at two

Slane turned two last week. And this year more than last year I remembered all that went with her birth. The labor, her being stuck, the C-section, the feeding issues, etc. But, all worth it for our healthy, happy, spunky little girl. It was spring break so I even got to spend the day with her. We had lunch with my mom and sister and went to the science center to play for a while. She knows she is two, and if you ask her she will hold up five fingers and tell you she is two. She can't figure out how to hold up two fingers yet. She'll get it. Her party is Saturday, and we'll have birthday pictures then. We haven't had camera batteries for a while and since we rearranged and redid our living room, our computer has been out of commission, so we will get to it. Promise.

infected!

Poor Slane has a double ear infection. This time I called it, about halfway through the Wizard of Oz production that we probably shouldn't have taken a feverish, moany child to. But she loved the show and I knew she would, so we took her anyway. At least we weren't infecting other kids with some horribly contagious disease. But she will have to be on antibiotics for her birthday, which is not fun.

We have cabin fever. It was nice enough Friday to go for a walk, and once I convinced Slane to ride in the stroller that I picked, and not the wagon, we had a nice walk. We headed to the athletic center on campus and watched a bit of the high school indoor track meet. It was crazy packed and there was no way I could let Slane out and run so we only stayed for 5 races before we headed home. But Saturday was not so nice and we only went to the post office. Slane was starting to get sick that afternoon and spent a lot of time just lying on the couch while I made massive amounts of muffins.

We are anxiously awaiting weather that is nice enough to stay outside until the sun sets. Next week is Spring Break, maybe it will be nice for us. Maybe. I intend to get in as much Slane time as possible before we go back to the grind.

May the pants be with you!

Now that the last post is published, I can add this as well. I wrote it several weeks ago.

I vaguely remember playing a Star Wars game in which the word "force" was replaced with the word "pants." This is not about that.

In the fall, when I was pregnant with Hyfrydol, when I had the opportunity to purchase pants, I did not do it. I thought I would be wearing maternity pants soon enough and could make it with just a few pairs of pants.

For Christmas, I asked for pants. I was given a generous gift card with the instructions to buy pants. I couldn't find a single pair at that particular store that fit me (I tried on over 14 pairs over the course of 2 days). I bought a Glee shirt and a hat and scarf with most of the money instead. That was my lone shopping chance.

So, again, here I am with 4 pairs of pants, not wanting to get new ones, because I just need to make it to skirt weather and maternity clothes and things will be fine.

Except that I have before school playground duty and Monday when I bent over to retrieve the football that had been kicked at me, I ripped the crotch out of my khakis. Fortunately, the good art teacher next door had khaki colored duct tape and it held up for the day. Q told me to go to the mall and get pants after school. I went to one store and they had none. They sent me to another store, and they had none in my size. I finally found a pair at the Maurice's in Grinnell.

I hated that I had to get pants right now. I won't be able to wear them again until sometime in November. But I guess at least I have pants. May the pants be with you.

choir and books

Slane loves a good book. She asks us to read many books before bed, and is starting to ask for the story two or three times. Sometimes she even "reads" part of the book to us. She can quote all of "Five Little Monkeys" and almost has "Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing" down.

Q and I have been fortunate enough to continue to participate in the church choir even though we have a busy toddler to entertain. When she was first born, we took a break but then managed to stick with it last year. This year it has been more difficult, due in large part to the fact that Slane is fully mobile and verbal. At first it looked like one of us was just chasing her around during rehearsals. It got to the point that I told Q that maybe one of us should not do choir because we weren't getting much out of it (or contributing much). Just a few days after I said that the church hired a nursery worker to watch Slane while we were in rehearsal. It has been wonderful! Slane loves to play and we love to sing, so it works out.

But, what about actually singing during church? Well.....at first it was easy to just hand a tiny, social, baby to anyone who had free hands. Then it got a little bit harder, and sometimes Slane didn't take being passed off very well. We tend to give her to the same person, Karla, who sits near our spots (yes, we are that kind of church, where we all sit in basically the same locations each week).

This week when I passed Slane off to Karla, Karla showed me that she had been coming prepared to church. She has been bringing Slane appropriate books to church in her purse! Brilliant. Slane is occupied, Karla gets to enjoy the anthem (not always the case with Slane), and we get to sing.

a walk outside

It was warm enough yesterday that much of our neighborhood had escaped their houses and were enjoying the weather. I could smell several grills going, lots of dogs were being walked, runners were out, and everyone was in a good mood. It was muddy, and messy, but no one cared.

Slane and I took two walks. First she wanted to walk, and we did. There was a little boy (littler than Slane anyway) down the block and first we went to say hi to him. As is her way lately, she slightly accosted the poor child with hugs and her constant flow of commentary about life and babies. We then walked back home and cleaned up our driveway a bit (the recyclers did not pick up our stuff, instead I found it upside down in the middle of the driveway).

We went into the sunroom, opened a couple of windows, and played kitchen and cars for a bit before Slane discovered her strollers, and begged to go for a ride. So I packed her up in a stroller and we walked the neighborhood until we came to impassable mud and turned around.

It felt so good to get outside. We have been just going, going, going lately and it was great to slow down and enjoy life outside our house for a bit.

There are several pictures on the camera that I would love to get up soon, but I need to find batteries for the camera first, and then install the new computer mouse, and take care of a few other things first. Pics to come!

healthy

Last year in January, illness held us down, and this year, it looked like it might happen again.

We got home from Ohio. We started our week like normal. Monday night, Slane threw up in bed around 10:30 p.m. And over and over and over until a mostly naked baby and I were wrapped in blankets on the bathroom floor so the clean up would be easier. We eventually transitioned back into her room and I texted in sick for Tuesday. I woke Q up around 4:30 so that I could get some sleep. I stayed home Tuesday. She went to daycare on Wednesday and came back home with Q about an hour later when she threw up again.

Wednesday night we thought we were in the clear, until I threw up. And over and over and over before I texted in sick again. By Thursday night I felt better.

Sunday morning Slane was very cuddly during church, took an extended nap, and developed a fever. At 5 a.m. we had the argument I'm sure many working parents have: who is calling in sick this time. Whose work projects need the most attention. I had grades due at the end of the week; Q was supposed to give a morning presentation at an all-staff meeting. We split the day. I took morning, and he took afternoon. He also got to do the doctor appointment to figure out what was going on. Double ear infection. Slane was so upset during the examination that she threw up multiple times. Great. She was up most of the night screaming in pain because her ears hurt so much. She would kick. And hit. Me and herself. We finally found sleep sitting up in a chair. But not much sleep. Add to that a snowstorm, and me having issues on the road, and there went yet another sick day.

But now we all appear to be healthy. Hopefully this sickness thing swerves around us for a while.

Juicebox

Besides being into Baby Jesus, Slane is into hockey. Anything hockey excites her. When she sees players, sticks, ice, pucks, billboards, logos, etc. she points out the "hockey" to us. Last week we went to two Columbus Blue Jackets games and a practice, which she was very excited about.

At the first game, early in the week, Q happened to get into a conversation with the lady next to him. She is the wife of Kristian Huselius. She had their two daughters with her and I think his brother and dad. She was so sweet and kind, and was telling Q that her youngest daughter goes to preschool with the daughter of another player and the girls were comparing their dads' nicknames one day. So, the other girl says that her dad is called "Clarky," and the Huselius girl said that her dad is called "Juicebox." His nickname is actually Juice, but I think he will be referred to as Juicebox in our house.

Slane also likes juiceboxes, though we try to limit them. We keep hiding the case we received from a grandparent in various places around the house (I found an 8-pack under the couch last week). Slane especially likes Elmo juice, as she calls it.