Unfortunately, Our Time Has Come
We’ve been lucky so far. Up until recently, Tiny and Buba had only had a handful of mild colds, one stomach bug, and one nasty case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. But suddenly, it’s getting hard for me to remember the last time our kids weren’t battling some sickness. Since October, they’ve both had one cold after another. For the most part, they don’t interfere with their ability to participate in activities, but occasionally they’re miserable enough that it makes more sense to spend a day or two resting at home.
But it’s been particularly bad since the beginning of November. The mild colds became more severe. Tiny and Buba’s noses seem to be running nonstop, and they’ve developed barking, hacking coughs that wake them in the night. Just when it seems that they might finally be getting over whatever they’ve got, we seem to start all over again. I’ve called the pediatrician and described what we’re dealing with, but so far, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to take them in. And many of the kids who attend the same activities we do seem to be in the same boat as us.
With the Thanksgiving holiday, we had a few extra days of no activities, and I was really hoping that that would help us get over the hump and back to good health. No such luck. Although both kids were needing fewer tissues and doing much less coughing on Thanksgiving Day, yesterday afternoon, Tiny developed a fever. I figured it was just the beginning of another cold, but this evening her fever was even higher. And then she started vomiting. Ugh! Buba was fine yesterday, but had a fever at bedtime tonight. Ugh!
So, it seems that our time has come. I’ve finally gotten my kids involved in activities (many more compared to the last two winters when we pretty much just kept to ourselves because the germaphobe in me was so paranoid of RSV and H1N1), and now they’re getting exposed to all sorts of germs and bugs. This just may be the year where we are constantly sick until summer. And I know that it will build up their immune systems (our too, as we battle though illnesses along with them) so, hopefully, they’ll be better able to fight off illnesses in the coming years. But, man, does this stink.
Did You Know? (observed at Stride Rite)
It is very rare that T and I buy brand new shoes for either Tiny or Buba. We’re fortunate to get some hand-me-downs from relatives, neighbors, and fellow MOTs. I shop the local twin sales in the fall and spring and pick up as many gently used quality shoes in a variety of sizes as I can to have on hand for whenever the time comes for either kid to bump up a size. Sometimes I find fantastic deals at Marshall’s, Target, or Kohl’s that are too good to pass up, but for the most part, Tiny and Buba’s new shoes are just new to them.
So it was very unusual for Buba, Tiny, and I to end up shoe shopping at Stride Rite this morning. Tiny had out grown her current pair of sneakers and I didn’t have another pair on deck for her. Normally, I would check out our resale children’s shop (where I often pick up Stride Rite shoes in great shape) before heading to any retail store, but we’d received a gift card to Stride Rite as a baby shower gift (almost three years ago!), and now seemed like a good time to finish it off (we’d used half already on a pair of first walking shoes for Buba, as it was tough to find a size 3 wide for a walker).
While I was waiting to pay for Tiny’s new white and pink sneakers, I witnessed this conversation:
sales woman: I’m sorry, but we don’t have that particular shoe in that size. Try Payless upstairs.
customer: says nothing, but sort of wrinkles her nose at the idea
sales women: I’m guessing they might have something similar. They’re our sister store, you know.
Well, no. I didn’t know that. I used to shop at Payless for dress shoes. This was, of course, years ago when I actually had occasions to get dressed up for and time and energy to go out. But I had no idea that Payless sold little kid shoes and that they’re in the same family as Stride Rite. Good to know.
Terrified
Last night, Tiny woke up around 1:30am screaming for me and T. T ran in to try to sooth her, as I was laid-up on the couch trying to work through a yucky intestinal bug (and trying to keep any germs to myself). Through her screams and sobs she told him that there was a bug in her crib. T checked the crib, assured her that there was nothing there and put her and Buba back to bed (because, of course, he’d woken up too and was now also in need of some soothing). Not two minutes later, she was shrieking again- the kid of cry she makes when she’s really, really hurt. Not good. T raced in again, but this time Tiny was beyond worked up, and Buba was becoming more and more upset as her crying and screaming continued. As soon as I heard Tiny call for me, I knew I had to get in there.
This is not the first time that Tiny has awoken scared in the middle of the night. And, while I can’t know with absolute certainty, I’m pretty sure it was a bad dream that started all the night waking months ago. But this was the first time that she couldn’t be easily consoled. She clung to me like her life depended on it, and I could see the fear in her eyes. She was absolutely terrified. I held her and rocked her and told her she was safe. When she appeared calm enough to go back to sleep, I placed her back in her crib. But she shot right back up and refused to lie down. Her bottom lip went out and she began to whimper. I put on her crib soother, which glowed enough so we could both see her mattress, and smoothed down her sheet, showing her that there definitely wasn’t anything in her bed. T put Buba, who he had calmed, back to bed, and I gave Tiny one more hug before zipping up her crib tent.
Tiny held it together for maybe three minutes before she was shrieking and calling for me again. She was still standing up, now in one of the corners of her crib and was still just as scared as she’d been when she’d first called for us. I felt so bad for her. It was clear that this wasn’t game playing. And it was also clear that this wasn’t going to be a quick fix, and then back to bed for all of us. There weren’t any good options for taking Tiny out of her room. I was sick, T has a sinus infection, and Buba would probably protest a ton if he had to stay in the room without her (they’ve never slept separately). So, I held her and rocked her and told her I was there for her. I waited until she stopped hiccuping, and then put her back in her crib. She wouldn’t allow me to lay her down, so I put her in standing and then tried to get her to lay down. It took a few minutes, but she finally crouched down on all fours in one corner of the crib. I stroked her hair, and rubbed her back, and tried to get her to lie down. A few minutes later, she lied down at the far end of her crib, her body all scrunched up in the small space between the front and back of the crib. She refused to lie in the middle, as she normally does. I continued to sit with her until I was sure she’d be okay, maybe 15 minutes or so, and then I returned to the couch.
I could hear Tiny whimper every now and then as she tried to get comfortable but kept bumping into the sides of her crib. She remained awake until almost 3:00am, but then slept soundly until 6:30am, their normal waking time. I changed her crib bedding first thing this morning, and put on a sheet that was a little less busy. Both kids slept soundly at nap time and went right out at bedtime. I’m hoping we’ll all sleep well tonight.
Picture Perfect
This is such a fabulous deal that I simply cannot let it pass me by. I’ll admit that I may not have written such a post if Shutterfly wasn’t offering 50 free holiday cards, but I swear to you that everything written here is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
In looking back at the albums and projects I’ve created, it looks as though I’ve been using Shutterfly for all my photo printing needs for about five years. In that time, I’ve created four holiday cards, one birth announcement, one Father’s Day coffee mug, two photo albums (both close to 100 pages each), and two calendars. I can’t say exactly how many actual prints I’ve ordered, but I know it’s well over 300 in the last 3 years (at one point, we prepaid for 300 prints to lock in an extra low rate, and I know we took full advantage of that print plan). And in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be using Shutterfly to order this year’s batch of holiday cards and calendars. I usually choose cards with just one photo spot, but maybe this year I’ll try one that will allow me to include three or four photos.
So, needless to say, I’m a pretty big fan of Shutterfly. I find it very easy to use, and I like that the photos I upload are stored there even after my projects have been completed. I can always go back and order more of a particular print or project (with the exception of calendars, which expire after time) without having to re-upload the photos or start the project again from scratch.
Now the only thing left for me to do is to dress up the kids, take out the camera, and hope I can get a shot or two of their sweet, smiling faces. Let the holidays begin!
I Don’t Want to See Santa
In August, Aunt D and the California cousins came for a visit. When it was time for them to leave, I encouraged Tiny and Buba to give them hugs and kisses, telling them that we wouldn’t be seeing them again until Christmastime. Tiny’s response? “I don’t want to see Santa Claus.” Hmmm… and I didn’t think she’d remember her not so happy visit with Santa at 20 months old. Apparently, she did. Or, at least, she knew enough to know that she was not excited about a repeat visit this year.
For the next few months, Tiny continued to voice her position about not seeing Santa Claus every so often- like whenever I’d talk about going to the mall, whenever we’d talk about the California cousins, and, of course, whenever the subject of Christmas came up. Buba, however, was on the fence. Sometimes he’d side with Tiny about not wanting to see Santa, but sometimes he’d shout that he did want to see Santa Claus, as though it would be a huge injustice for me not to take him. What to do? What to do?
As a general rule, I do my best not to step even one foot into the mall after Thanksgiving. We’re not able to do much gift giving for Christmas, so it’s not really that hard to do. But on Monday, it occurred to me that Thanksgiving is next Thursday. If we were going to attempt to see Santa, we’d have to do it soon. I checked our calendar, and we we’re pretty solidly booked. The only chance we’d have to go before the holiday rush would be this morning after storytime.
I didn’t want to have to discuss it for days, but I also didn’t want Tiny be totally surprised when we strolled up to Santa’s chair. So, last night, I let Buba and Tiny help pick out what they’d want to wear to see Santa Claus and told them we’d be going to visit him tomorrow. Tiny, of course, reiterated her dislike of the whole idea, but seemed to enjoy choosing a holiday shirt and a new pair of black Mary Jane shoes with a bow on the toes. As they chose their outfits, I told both kids that they did not have to go up and see Santa if they really didn’t want to. That it would be just fine for them to watch Santa talking with other boys and girls. That they could just wave from a distance, if they’d like. And that under no circumstances would they be forced to sit on Santa’s lap and take a picture. This information seemed to sit well with both of them.
And then the big morning came. They both seemed totally calm as we approached the big guy’s Christmas throne. I parked the stroller out in front of Santa, and for a few minutes, Tiny and Buba watched a few other kids take their turns with Santa. Thankfully, none of them were crying. A woman dressed as an elf approached us and asked if they’d like to go up and see Santa. Tiny sank back into her seat. I told the woman we weren’t sure yet, and she was kind enough to leave us alone. Then I reached into my purse, and pulled out Santa Bear and Reindeer. Tiny got all wiggly with excitement and reached out for Santa Bear. “Maybe Santa would like to see them,” I suggested. And that was enough for them to both demand to be released from the stroller.
They both walked confidently up the ramp towards Santa and the elves. Buba even marched right up and let Reindeer give Santa a kiss on the cheek. Tiny had to be encouraged, but quickly went without any fuss or tears to take her place next to Buba for a photo with Santa Claus.
Honestly, I was pretty shocked by how well the whole thing went down. I was fully prepared to just stroll right past the Santa display, stopping just briefly to wave hello from a safe distance. And I certainly didn’t think we’d get a photo this year. Especially not one with Tiny and Buba smiling sweetly.
And now Tiny is all about wanting to see Santa Claus. She’s already asked, “Where did he go?” and proclaimed “I’m gonna see Santa again!” I’m hoping this is what she’ll remember when it’s time to see Santa Claus again next year.
Gloating
It is with much sadness and exhaustion that I report that we are again having night wakings. (You may recall that we had this problem earlier in the year with Tiny.) This time, Buba is the caller. He’s been stalling more at bedtime, and then also waking once or twice a night calling for T or me to come in to see him. It actually started two or three weeks ago, when both kids had fairly nasty colds. Buba was having trouble breathing, and would call us to help provide some relief. I would go in and hold him upright for a few minutes, wipe away whatever poured from his nose, and held him until his junky sounding coughing ceased. He no longer needs this assistance, but is, apparently, quite fond of having visitors in the middle of the night.
But enough, enough already! I need my rest! So I decided last night to tell him that nighttime is for sleeping and that neither T nor I would be coming to see him during the night. I knew we’d have trouble at some point, but was quite impressed at how Buba managed to scream and cry almost continuously from 12:31am-2:26am. And even more impressed at how Tiny did not make one single sound- not one cry, not one cough- during the entire screaming fit. I know it sounds awful, and it was (after one hour, T wanted to go in and stop the madness), but my hope is that the good Dr. Weissbluth is right, and this will be a step towards extinguishing the undesirable night waking behavior.
To further drive home the point of “nighttime is for sleeping”, I praised the heck out of Tiny’s great sleeping. She got stickers. She got a special snack. She got to choose what we had for lunch (Italian wedding soup was her choice). And she got a special surprise- a trip to the Hallmark store to choose a new cuddle blanket to sleep with at nap and nighttime.
Buba was not please with this arrangement. Tiny, of course, loved all the praise and attention. On the way home from the Hallmark store, she enjoyed a bit of gloating while bouncing her new cuddle in her on her knees…
Tiny (to the tune of BINGO): There was a naughty naughty boy and Buba was his name-O!, He don’t get surprise, He don’t get surprise, He don’t get surprise, And Buba was his name-O!; He be sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, Buba was his name-O!, He need sleep, sleep, sleep, He need sleep, sleep, sleep, He need sleep, sleep, sleep, and Buba was his name-O!
“Not nice!” I told her, but secretly, I’m hoping that she’s helping to drive home the message that it pays to be a good sleeper. As soon as we got home, I made up a sticker chart for Buba. If he has three days of being a good sleeper, both at nap and at nighttime (I threw in nap time to help start off successfully, since nap is never a problem), he gets to take a trip back to the Hallmark store to pick out a new cuddle blanket for himself.
Update: I started this post yesterday afternoon, but didn’t have a chance to finish it up until this evening. At this point, Buba has three stickers on his chart. Last night, he fell asleep sometime around 7:45, and I heard not a peep until about 6:15 this morning. Yay! Three sleeps down, and three more to go.
Fire Station Birthday Party
This morning, we attended a 5th birthday party for our friend and neighbor, J. J was just about Tiny and Buba’s age when T and I brought them home from the hospital. At that point, it was hard to see that they might all turn out to be playmates someday, but over the summer their friendship really blossomed. Tiny and Buba both seem to love having an older companion, someone who knows how to play with them, not just near them, and J is usually pretty good at playing on their level. They were all very excited that we would be able to attend J’s party.
As luck would have it, J’s father was chosen in a drawing back in September to have a birthday party at our town’s fire station. I had no idea what to expect, but the entire event was very well planned, keeping the kids engaged and entertained for the entire two hours. It started off with a tour of three vehicles- an ambulance, a hook and ladder truck, and a fire engine. All the kids (maybe 20 or so) got to take turns climbing up inside the vehicles while the fire fighters gave bits of information about the use for all the gear inside. Then we settled down for a delicious pizza lunch before returning for a group shot in front of all the vehicles. Next up was pinata time. Everyone got to take a few swings at the fire engine pinata before one of the men just ripped it apart and sent all the kids diving for the candy inside. Then we returned to the tables to sing Happy Birthday and enjoy cake and ice cream. Once Buba and Tiny had finished, it was time for us to leave. There was still about 20 minutes left of the party (during which the fire fighters demonstrated how they put on all the fire gear they wear), but I wanted to get our guys home in time for their nap.
Everything seemed to be going fine as far as our nap routine goes, but then Buba and Tiny started behaving poorly during book time, and T and I chose to cut that portion short. They were not happy. They protested, but we were sure they’d go down. With all the fun they’d had, they were bound to be exhausted. But 90 minutes later, with neither of them having napped much (if even at all), I declared that nap time was over. I entered the room to find Buba bopping around his crib with no clothing from the waist down. He had removed his sleep sack, his pants, and his diaper. I’m guessing the look on my face was not a pleasant one, but he just smiled at me and said, “I need to go potty.”
Tiny and Buba tend to be pretty good nappers, so I’m going to blame today’s nap failure on the excitement of the fire station birthday party. Perhaps there was something in the frosting…
Voting Day
It was after trying out a music class. I was getting Tiny all buckled into her car seat…
Tiny: So, where are we gonin (it’s always nin, instead of ing)?
reanbean: We’re going to go vote.
T: Is it gonna go on the wada (water)?
r: Is what, honey?
T: The boat. Is it gonna go on the wada?
r: No, not a boat, honey. Vote. With a /v/ sound. We’re going to go vote.
T: What’s that means?
r: Voting is what grown ups do to help make choices.
T: Like what you want fo yo breckin (breakfast) or dinna?
r: We vote to make choices about who we want to make big choices for us- it’s kind of complicated. But it’s very important.
T: Oh. When I get big, then I will do that. But right now I’m little. My body is still grownin, and when you get big, you stay big. And Mommy want me to be little for a while.
r: That’s right. I don’t want you to get big too fast. You can have fun and do lots of things while you’re still little. But one day, when you get big, like cousin A (now a freshman in college), then you will be able to go and vote.
T: Yep.
Minutes later, we pulled up at the middle school, our polling place.
T: What’s this place, Mommy?
r: This is where we vote.
T: Oh. Is it gonna go on the wada?
Trick-or-Treat!
We had a wonderful week of Halloween. Tiny and Buba attended two Halloween parties and went trick-or-treating twice! We considered it a practice round as they went trick-or-treating at local businesses in a neighboring town on Thursday, and then we had the real deal last night. They were so excited and had so much fun!
