six

Dearest Birthday Girl,

You've been talking about this day since before you turned five!  Last year you wanted a birthday party with friends, and I told you that when you turned six you could have one.  So here we are!  It's finally the day!

In the fall you went to a birthday party for our neighbors at a bouncing place.  On the way home you asked me if you could have your birthday party there.  I told you that we would see, but you didn't stop talking about it for months.   So tonight you'll finally have your bouncing party with your friends and cousins, and I hope you LOVE it.  You invited your whole class, plus your cousins and some other friends....we're still waiting to see how many people come. (Some have RSVP'd, and I told some people that siblings could come....we could have quite a crowd on our hands!  But no matter who comes, I know you'll have a great time.)

This has been an exciting year for you....  first year of school, first year of Girl Scouts, first lost teeth (and four more are loose!)....  A year of lots of firsts!  You're learning to read and write, and get so excited when you read things all by yourself.  Several times a day you tell me, "Mommy, I know how to spell _______," and then you spell it for me, so proud!

At six years old you're still in love with playing dress up and princesses.  You love to pretend and I marvel at your imagination.  You love to dance in the family room in your princess dresses, watching yourself in the glass of the fireplace.  Your markers continually run dry because you love coloring and drawing so much.  Mostly you draw princesses, rainbows, and flowers.  Your room is littered with pages and pages of your drawings, and every so often I make you go through them and keep only your few favorites. 

Lately you've enjoyed playing outside again in the warm weather.  You play in the sandbox, pick leaves off of the bush (to make "gumbo," you tell me), pretend all kinds of things up in your clubhouse, and draw with chalk. 

Most of the time you love being a big sister to Rebecca.  You often just come up and give her a hug and a kiss for no reason.  You love going in her room in the morning when she wakes up, and Rebecca gets SO excited to see you when you walk in.  You like to boss her around, and you get annoyed with her, too, usually when she's bothering things you're trying to play with, but for the most part you love her and are a good big sister to her.

You're still the pickiest eater I know, and dinner times often result in tears (yours, mostly, but sometimes mine, too).  I'm really ready for you to outgrow this stage.  You also get really upset about certain things, like having your hair brushed when there are tangles in it, having Daddy or me try to touch your loose tooth (or anything else that hurts a little bit), or being woken up from a nap (you've finally given up your nap, which you were still taking almost every at day this time last year, but once in awhile, usually when you're sick, you still fall asleep during rest time, and when you get up you're usually crying and really whiny).

But you are also the sweetest girl I know (well, you and a certain sister of yours), and I am so proud and thankful that I get to be your mommy.  My favorite moments of the day are the first ones in the mornings when I sit on the couch with you on one knee and Rebecca on the other, all of us still waking up, and you both wanting to be close to Mommy.  Though sometimes I'd really love to have my own space, I know that these days of you sitting on my lap are numbered, so I savor them and love the times when you still want to be cuddled. 

You're scared to go to first grade next year.  Whenever it comes up, you get really sad, so I try not to mention it.  When I ask you why you're scared you tell me that it's because you're going to miss me too much.  It makes me cry just thinking about it, because you have no idea how much I'm going to miss you, being gone all day, instead of just in the mornings, but I know you're going to love it, once you get there and get used to it.  You're such a social little girl, and love riding the bus to school so you can talk to your friends.  I know that once you have lunch and recess time thrown into your day and more time to socialize, you'll be in heaven.

Six years sounds like a long time, but they've gone by in a flash.  I watched your birth video a few weeks ago for the first time in years, and watched myself cry tears of joy as I caught my first glimpse of you.  Today I cry more tears of joy, thinking about what a blessing you are to me, and how happy I am that you are my daughter.

I love you so, so much.  Enjoy this exciting day, sweet girl!

happy easter

Scenes from yesterday's (very chilly) egg hunt and today before church (trying to get Rebecca to sit still for a picture is quite a feat) ....

a new obsession

Rebecca is officially obsessed with The Wiggles.  It all started about a week ago, when Rachel was watching a show on Sprout, and The Wiggles came on after her show.  Rebecca liked it, and kept asking for more.  A few days later, Daddy got out an old Wiggles video we had for Rachel and put it in for Rebecca.  Rebecca sat for several minutes to watch it.  That's the longest she'd ever watched anything. 

Over the last week she's asked for it over and over and over.  I got a new one out of the library so we've alternated between them.  And each time she watches it (once per day for the last week, I guess), she'll sit still for a longer amount of time.  Today she lasted almost the entire video!

Most parents want to "unplug" their kids, and not have them watch as much TV, but since Rebecca hasn't been remotely interested in anything up until this point, I'm thrilled that she's finally interested enough in something to sit still so that I can get something else done for a little while! 

So tonight I dug Rachel's old Wiggles guitar out of the toys that are put away in the basement.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Rebecca went crazy over it.  She knew just how to hold it and danced while she played it--it's the cutest thing ever (I got it on video, and maybe one of these days I can put it on here). 

I tried to put her to bed tonight and she kept crying, "'tar?  'tar?" because she didn't want to go to bed.  She wanted to keep playing her guitar.  She finally gave up her crying and went to sleep, but I'm sure tomorrow morning she'll be much more interested in her 'tar than she is in whatever is in her Easter basket!!!

It'll be a busy blogging week next week....  There are Easter Egg Hunt pictures to post (from this morning), tomorrow's Easter pictures, and Rachel's birthday pictures (Monday is her birthday). Exciting times 'round our house!!

conversations

Rebecca's talking is ramping up even more lately.  You can actually sort of have a conversation with her now.  Here's one from earlier today:

Rebecca: "Mommy.....ahh done now."  (as she was finished eating lunch)
Mommy:  "Would you like to get down?"
R: "Des, peas." (yes please)
M: (I got her out of her booster seat.)
R: "Mommy....cars...me...minute."
M: "You'd like Mommy to play cars with you for a minute?"
R: "Des, peas."

So we played cars.....

Here's another recent conversation.

R: "Wawn Mower!" (she's currently obsessed with lawn mowers--I remember Rachel loving them at this age, too)
M: "Yes, I hear a lawn mower, too!"
R: "Dee it?"
M: "You want to see it?"
R: "Des, peas."
M: "I don't know where it is."
R: " 'ere'd go?" (Where'd it go?--with arms outstretched, palms up)
M: "I don't know."
R: "Mommy....died it."  (Find it)
M: (I finally saw the neighbor across the street bringing his lawn mower back to his garage, and he turned it off.)  "There's the lawn mower!  He's all done!"
R: "Mo wawn mower?"
M: "No more lawn mower.  He's all done now."
R: "Daddy....wawn mower....gahge....noise...times." (Daddy's lawn mower is in the garage.  It makes noise sometimes.)

She definitely finds a way to get her point across!  Sometimes I have to tell her that Mommy doesn't understand what she's saying, but most of the time, I can translate.  She's out of luck if I'm not around, though.  Daddy (and everyone else) has a harder time understanding her, though Grandma's pretty good at it when she spends a little bit of time with her.   

Sunday in the sandbox

It turned out to be a beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon.  We were cleaning the garage and getting the summer toys out of the basement.  This led to opening the sandbox.  I thought we were going to need to get new sand this year, but it turns out that after we took just the top layer of sand off, everything else underneath was fine.  I cleaned up the sand toys and the girls got to work.

This was Rebecca's first time in the sandbox.  She loved it (literally--here she is giving it a hug!).

She calls it Elmo (because of its red color and big, round, white eyes).

What a beautiful day!

spring break update

I don't have much to say, but here's what we've been up to:

--We enjoyed our several days at Grandma and Grandpa's.  It included a trip to the lake to throw rocks in (just like my brothers and I used to do when we were little), a trip to the children's science museum there, which Rachel loves, playing at the playground at the park (in the freezing wind), visiting with Great Grandpa, visiting with an old friend and her baby girl, and Rachel drawing lots and lots of pictures while sitting at Grandma's dining room table, listening to all of my old Disney records. 

--The trip also included lots of bad sleep.  The first night Rachel was up with a fever and I couldn't get back to sleep (that was the only fever she had with this sickness, though, so we got off easy!).  The next night I just couldn't sleep.  I've been having a lot of insomnia issues lately.  It stinks.  My kids already have trouble sleeping (Rebecca's back to waking up at 5:00 AM and then crying off and on until I get her up at 6:00), which makes sleep an issue for me, anyway, but when they DO sleep, I should be able to sleep, too.  It's really frustrating.

--My husband finished up 10+ years at his job on Wednesday.  The last several years have been just awful for him there, and he's been looking for another job for a long time.  For awhile we thought we might have to move to another part of the country for him to find something, but thankfully he was finally able to find something closer to home.  It's a 50 minute drive (one way), which stinks for our gas budget, but at least we don't have to move.  On Monday he starts his new position.  He was off yesterday and today for a couple of well deserved vacation days.  I don't tell him enough how proud and thankful I am for him for working so hard in a place he's hated for so long, just to provide for us, but I am.

--My birthday present from him was a night away.  It's tonight and I can't wait.  I told him I just want to sleep.  I don't really care what else we do, as long as I get to sleep without children waking me up.  Sadly, I could very well be stuck in a dark hotel room with insomnia, but I'll be armed with Tylenol PM (and a flashlight and a book, just in case), so I'm really hoping that doesn't happen.   We also plan to see a movie, enjoy some child-free, complaint-free meals, and explore some parts of our own city we've never visited.

--Rachel got her pictures taken yesterday (the spring school pictures weren't good, so we didn't order any, so I had her pictures taken at a studio yesterday for her birthday instead).  They weren't that great either.  Ugh.  Thankfully I had a great coupon and only ended up paying $6 for the pictures I did order!

spring (?) break

Since it's been feeling like the middle of July lately, it's hard to believe it's actually only spring break, but it is.  Rachel finished school today and is off until April 2. (Just as an aside, she's been asking for weeks how many more days it is until April, because of her upcoming birthday.  When she found out that school didn't start again until April, she was ecstatic, because she knows it'll be almost her birthday.)

Tomorrow morning the girls and I are headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for several days.  Rachel's been talking about it all week, telling me the various things she plans to do there.  All day yesterday she said, "Tomorrow we have to pack up for Grandma's house, Mommy."  This morning before 6:30 AM she already had all of her necessities packed--a container of bubbles, Curious George, and a princess dress.  (!!)  

Tonight she asked me, "How many more hours is it until we go to Grandma's house?"

Some people take their kids to Disney World, or the beach, or some other fun, exciting destination for spring break.  All Rachel needs is her Grandma and Grandpa's house (and bubbles, Curious George, and a princess dress!).

Sadly, though, she is getting sick.  She's started her non-stop coughing, which always seems to be how her sicknesses start.  My husband has been sick this week, so I suppose that's where she got it.  We'll have to wait and see if Rebecca and I succumb.  Unfortunately, we'll be subjecting Grandma and Grandpa to our germs, too.  Hopefully it'll be something short-lived.

The weather is starting to turn here, though, and this week is likely to feel more like spring than the awesome summery weather we've been having.  Ordinarily I'd be thrilled by spring temps, but now that we've been spoiled with the 80s, the 60s will feel COLD!

showing off for Daddy

Today was spring picture day at school.  Rachel and I went shopping over the weekend for a dress--I had picked one out, but she didn't like it, so I took her with me to return it, and we picked one out together.  The ones she liked I didn't, and the ones I liked, she didn't.  So this dress was a compromise.

This morning when she put it on she was SO excited and couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror, just thrilled with herself. 

When she came home I told her she needed to change her clothes before she ate lunch.  She didn't want to take it off and said, "But Daddy won't get to see how pretty I look today!"  I told her I'd take her picture so he could see.

So here she is (minus the sandals, which she had already taken off)....

And here's Rebecca, just because when I took Rachel's picture, she wanted her picture taken, too.  She wouldn't back up, so here's a close up of a sweaty Rebecca, after playing outside in this crazy-warm weather!

catching up

A couple of weeks ago Rachel had a day off of school.  I was looking for something fun to do, and I remembered the little hands on museum we visited over the summer.  We decided to try it out again and I'm just now getting around to uploading the pictures.

They had added something new to their children's area: an ice cream stand.  Both girls spent the majority of their time serving me ice cream (and making me pay for it so they could use the cash register).

I didn't take a lot of pictures because I spent most of the time following Rebecca, but it was a fun morning.

early birthday

I guess since Rebecca can't read the calendar yet, she decided to give me my birthday present a day early today.

-First, she slept until 6:55 this morning.  I don't think she's ever slept that late.  Rachel was up at 6:30, but she just hung out on my bed while I laid there with my eyes closed and talked to her, so I didn't actually have to get out of bed until 6:55.  It was great!

-We surprised Rachel by picking her up from school today, I let Rachel pick the park, and we went and had a picnic for lunch and played in the 75 degree sunshine (in March!  This weather is unbelievable!)!  Afterwards, I guess because we wore her out, Rebecca took a nap until almost 3:00 (usually she's up by 2:00 or 2:30, so this was a treat as well!).

Of course, the birthday gift ended with the hour-long cry fest we had to listen to at bedtime (she didn't want to go to bed--maybe because she took a long nap?), but it was still a good day.

Hopefully this sleep will carry through into my actual birthday tomorrow.

losing sleep

Not only did I lose an hour of sleep with the time change, but Rebecca must've learned to read a clock or something, because she's decided to wake up even earlier.  Instead of waking up at 6:00 or 6:30 like we thought she would (since it feels like her usual 5:00 or 5:30), she's waking up at 4:40 instead!  Makes sense, right?  Ugh.

The first day she actually did wake up at 6:00.  But the last two mornings it hasn't worked.  She was awake at 4:40, then again at 5:30, and then she woke up for good at 7:00 (I'll gladly take the 7:00, but why does she have to wake up at the earlier times?)

Rachel was up at 2:00 (this doesn't usually happen--she's not usually the problem), which woke me up, and then I couldn't get back to sleep.  So I was awake from 2:00 until almost 4:00.  Then Rebecca's shenanigans kept waking me up, so I didn't get much good sleep.

One of these days I suppose I'll sleep well again, but it sure seems like it's never going to happen. 

on eating

Eating has become a stressful thing.  I'm referring mainly to the girls' eating.  Rachel's always been a picky eater, but it just seems to get worse as she gets older.  Here are the foods Rachel will eat, usually without any complaints:

milk
hot dogs
mac and cheese
pizza
peanut butter sandwich (no jelly...eats this almost every single day for lunch)
chicken nuggets
french fries
potato chips
Doritos
Goldfish crackers
bologna
cheese
crackers
graham crackers
yogurt
applesauce
apples (no skin)
bananas
grapes
strawberries
cantaloupe
pasta w/ tomato sauce (no meat)
ravioli w/ tomato sauce
garlic bread
ice cream
cake
cookies
brownies
candy
cereal (cheerios, or anything sweet, which I rarely buy)
toast
scrambled eggs
pancakes
waffles
popcorn

Actually, now that I've listed them, it looks like a lot more than it really seems.  But notice that it's a lot of junk, and there really aren't many meals in that list (and NO vegetables!).  That's why meal time is such a battle.  Unless I make one of those meals on the list, I hear lots of complaints, and she sits at the table forever to eat her required three bites of each item on her plate.  We've tried giving her a time limit, we've tried making her sit there until it's done, we've tried punishments, we've tried everything we can think of.  It's still a battle.

I wonder sometimes how she stays alive with how little she eats every day.  It must be the vitamin she eats every morning (that's another story--there's only one brand of vitamins that she'll eat--I've tried different ones and she's so picky that only a certain kind will work--ugh).  Lately, though, she's been saying she's hungry all the time.  Growth spurt, perhaps?  But when I try to get her to eat more of whatever we ate for dinner, or something healthy, she won't eat it.  All she wants is junk/snacks, which I won't give her.  So she goes hungry.  I hate it--she's been in tears twice this week because she's hungry, but I won't let her eat what she wants to eat, and she won't eat what I've offered her to eat.  I don't want her to be hungry, but neither do I want her eating more junk.  I don't know what the answer is.

She's allowed to choose what she wants for breakfast (usually cheerios or toast, plus milk) and for lunch (almost always a peanut butter sandwich, sometimes bologna/cheese/crackers, plus fruit of some sort and milk).  Dinner is my choice, and that's when we battle.

And then there's Rebecca.  She's always been a really good eater.  The problem with Rebecca is that she wants to snack all day long and when we sit down for meals, she doesn't want to eat.  She'll eat most of the things we eat (though she'd really prefer most of the things on Rachel's list, she'll still eat many vegetables, meat, and fruit), but she doesn't like sitting in her high chair.  She'd rather wander around and eat, which I won't let her do.  Or at least sit there for a few minutes, enough time to eat a few bites, and then get down.  So she fusses.  So they're both fussing at mealtime, for one reason or another.

And then there's my husband.  He swears up and down that he's not picky.  In his defense, he will eat whatever I put in front of him, for the most part, but there really are very few foods that he enjoys (except sweets or seafood).  And I want him to enjoy what I feed him.  Anytime I try a new recipe (something I enjoy doing), he has to analyze it and know exactly what's in it.  Usually he doesn't like it.  He'll eat it, but he doesn't like it. 

So dinner time is high anxiety for me.  Do I try a new recipe to try and find something he enjoys?  (I've actually found a couple lately!) But whatever it is, Rachel will complain, and Rebecca will want down.  Sometimes I wonder why I bother.  All I need to do is slap a pizza, pasta, or pancakes on the table, and everyone is happy.  I could just alternate those meals and stop stressing (for a couple of weeks, anyway, until they'd get tired of it and start complaining again). 

I really like to cook, but I can't enjoy it, at least not at this phase of my life, because my audience is TERRIBLE. 

Just venting....there have been lots of battles lately and I'm just tired.

pigtails!

Rebecca's first pigtails!

I had a ponytail this morning (I don't, usually), and Rebecca was fascinated by it.  I finally asked her if she wanted some, too.  She said yes, so we gave it a try!

They're a little crooked, but what a cutie!

pjs

The day Rachel's been soooooooooooooo excited about is finally here--pajama day!

She has lots of cute PJs, but for some reason she wanted to wear this nightgown (with pants underneath).

And I did brush her hair, but it looks like she just got out of bed....I guess it's okay today, since she's in her PJs anyway!

funky

Today is "funky sock" day....for "Fox in Socks."

She took off her original funky socks because they were "too bumpy."  They actually were a little too big for her, so they were bunching up inside her shoes, thus creating "bumps."

These socks have Belle on them.  Not all that funky (the other ones had different colored stripes).

So here's a cute picture of Rachel instead.

She's soooooooooooooooooooooo excited for tomorrow's clothes. She's been talking about it ALL WEEK.

Any guesses as to what it is? (No fair guessing, Emily, I know you already know!)  :)

wacky wednesday

Today's Dr. Seuss book is, appropriately, "Wacky Wednesday."

So here's my Wacky Rachel:

(showing you that she has her shirt on backwards)

Mismatched clothes and shoes....she thinks it's hilarious.  I tried to get her to have a wacky hairdo, but she didn't want to.  I also suggested she wear knee socks pulled up over her pants, and she tried it, but she didn't like the way it felt, so she nixed that idea, too.  Oh well.  She's excited about how wacky she looks.

a vision in purple

Today's book for Dr. Seuss week is "My Many Colored Days," so the kids are supposed to dress in one color from head to toe.

Rachel chose purple.

Including purple socks.

Her shoes are even purple (and silver...but there's a lot of purple on them, too, even though you can't really see it).

(Doesn't she look like a deer in the headlights?  She's been concentrating so hard lately on making sure she looks at the camera instead of off to the side, and that results in very wide eyes!)

Love that girl of mine!

in the spotlight

Rachel's in the spotlight this week.  I feel like the blog (and life) has been so much about Rebecca lately.  So this week is about my dear Rachel. 

Rachel is all about dress up--always has been.  Here are some of her very first dress up moments (I had so much fun looking through them all that I'm going to post a bunch--she was just about Rebecca's age in most of these pictures):

And here's one of her latest.

She changes her clothes multiple times a day in the afternoons when she's home from school, always into something she considers "beautiful."  I never know what she'll have on when she comes downstairs from her rest time, but I do know that she'll be waving her arms elegantly and dancing through the room (usually trying to catch a glimpse of herself in the glass on the fireplace!).

It's Dr. Seuss week at school, and each day has a different theme.  I'll post a picture each day of what she's wearing--we spent quite awhile on Friday getting her clothes together for the week, deciding what she could wear to go along with each theme.  You can imagine how excited she was to choose a week's worth of fun clothes.  Of course, she's excited--it's a celebration...something special.....and you know my Rachel.  Throw any sort of celebration in there and she's thrilled.

So today was Cat in the Hat day, and they were supposed to wear a hat to school.  We went through all of her hats and this is the one she chose to wear.

Brought me back to this day....the day I bought the hat at a garage sale--one of her first dress up pieces.

improvement

Things are looking up.  Rebecca's getting better.  She's slept ALL night--even until 6:00 am--for the last three nights.  Three nights ago was my first full night of sleep in months.   I couldn't believe it when I opened my eyes and it was 6:07!  (The other nights I've not slept the whole night, but it's not because of Rebecca.  It's just because I don't always sleep really well.)

She's been a much happier girl, too.  It's so nice!  Seems like she's been a fussy girl for months.  I missed my happy girl!

There's not a whole lot in the way of news to write about.  We went to the zoo this weekend, but I didn't take any pictures to show you.  We went to the park yesterday, (it was almost 60 degrees!  In February!) and it was lots of fun, but I didn't take any pictures.  Rebecca LOVED the swing.  Every time we'd try to get her out she'd say, "Again?  Again?"  Rachel spent most of the time dancing on a big tree stump (her stage). 

Rebecca's finally sitting still a little bit longer for stories.  She brings me books over and over through the day, saying, "Deed it?"  (Read it?)  I don't usually get through the whole book before she's up and moving on to another book or to do something else, but at least we're making progress at some sort of attention span. 

Rachel, on the other hand, is a little bit more interested in reading herself.  Until now it's something she has tolerated when necessary (every weekend she brings a book home for homework that she has to read us), but every so often now I'll see her with a book, or trying to read a piece of mail on the table, sounding out the words all on her own.  It's not something she loves to do (yet!) but hopefully she'll develop a love for reading as she continues to get better at it.  She loves to be read to, though.

The girls' favorite new toys are our old phones. On Friday our phones weren't working. The cable guy came (our phone is part of our cable package) and figured out it was our phone that was a problem, so we had to go buy new phones that night. Our old ones quickly became toys. Rebecca "calls" Grandma several times a day, now. Other times she calls Daddy. (The only two people I ever talk to on the phone are Grandma and Daddy, so when you ask her who it is, those are the two names she tells me.) My husband saved the charger so we can still charge them. Otherwise they don't beep, and the beeping is what makes them so fun for them to play with, because they sound real. 

taking the good with the bad

Well, Rebecca never really got well after last week's sicknesses, and now is even more sick.  I was up with her every hour last night (except for a stretch between 1:30-3:00 AM, so I didn't see the 2:00 hour).  She's got a fever and a bad cough, and is fussier and clingier than ever. She has an appointment at the doctor this afternoon.  Likely they'll tell me it's still a virus and they can't do anything for me, but if there's any chance that it's become an infection and antibiotics will help, then I want to find out.

I drank two cups of coffee this morning.  I NEVER drink two cups of coffee.  It's going to be one of those days....

But despite her being sick, there are some happy things to write about.  She's been working on her colors for a couple of months, and I think she's finally got them down pretty well.  Purple seems to be her favorite.  Every morning she points to her hair bows, which hang on the wall by her changing table, and says, "Bow.....burple."  She wants a purple bow, no matter what color her clothes are.  Sometimes I pick out purple clothes just so she can wear a purple bow.  Other days she has to be satisfied with a different color bow. 

She spends a LOT of time on my lap since she's been so sick, and has been loving looking at her word book over and over and over while she sits there.

She can tell me practically every word for the pictures in the book.  My husband looked at it with her the other day and couldn't believe how much she knew.

She's also getting really good at her shape puzzle, and knows most of the names of the shapes, too.

While she doesn't speak in phrases very much yet, she's got a few phrases down.  My favorite:

" 'ere'd it go?" (all slurred together, with her arms outstretched, palms up, shrugging her shoulders)

One of her favorite things right now is saying, "ugg," and throwing her head down on my shoulder and her arms across my chest for a big hug.  I can't resist those.  Even at 3:00 AM when she's up crying.  Fever or no fever, I'll take her hugs at 3:00 AM.  I'd prefer them at 3:00 PM, but I'll take them all.

She's the sweetest, cutest little handful I'll ever deal with.


Edited to add:  She has an ear infection!  Now that I have an antibiotic, I hope it will finally start to get better.  Anything's got to be better than last night.

celebrating

I've decided that Rachel loves any excuse to celebrate.  Christmas is the epitome of celebrations, but she was almost just as excited about Groundhog Day, for goodness sake.

So Valentine's Day was no exception.

Rebecca did her usual wake-up-for-no-good-reason at 5:15 this morning (after waking at 4:00, also for no apparent reason), was quiet after I told her to go nigh night some more, but at 5:30 started screaming, until I got her out of bed at 6:00.

So imagine my surprise, at 6:00 AM, when I opened my door (which I had closed at 5:15 because I knew Rebecca's screaming would begin at any time), and saw Rachel standing in the dark hallway, with both hands behind her back, waiting for me, exclaiming, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mommy!"

 I don't know how long she had been standing there waiting.  But she just couldn't wait to give me my valentine, bless her little heart! 

Then she went and got Daddy's to give to him, and then Rebecca's.  Then she said, "Now the only Valentine left is ME!"  So I told her to wait upstairs and come down in a few minutes.  I came downstairs and got her stuff ready, and called her down.  I gave her a valentine card, a chocolate heart, and a plaster heart magnet that you paint (she loves that stuff).  She got her smock, started painting, and was done by 6:30! 

All morning before school she kept saying, "I'm just too excited, Mommy.  I just can't wait for my Valentine party."

Part of her excitement was that I was going to be at her party.  I hadn't gotten to attend one of her class parties all year because I had no one to watch Rebecca.  On the day of the Christmas party she was really sad because I couldn't come to the party, so I decided then and there that I would find someone to watch Rebecca for Valentine's Day so I could be at her party.  So today I finally was there.  It was nice to finally put faces with the names I hear every day when she tells me about school.  I also found out from another mom about a boy that supposedly likes Rachel. 

(She has no clue that he likes her--we asked her tonight what she thought of him and she said she didn't really like him.  We asked why and she said, "Well, his hair kind of sticks up, not like the other boys' hair."  (Yep, my daughter is deep like that--basing her opinion of people on their hair.)   But, she also told us that Caleb wants to marry her.  I guess Caleb's hair must be okay, because she didn't seem to have any objections to that.)

I made heart shaped pizza for dinner--completely for her sake.  I knew no one else in the family would care, but she, of course, thought it was awesome.  So that made it worth it.  Several times today, Rachel told me, "This is the BEST Valentine's Day EVER!"  

She'll probably say the same thing about President's Day next week.  That's my girl.  All she needs is a reason to celebrate.

desperately seeking sleeping advice

If Rebecca had her way, her schedule would look like this (heck, who am I kidding?  It kind of does look like this....I just don't want it to!):

5:15 AM  Wake Up
10:30 AM  Nap
6:00 PM Bedtime

But who goes to bed at 6 pm and wakes up at 5:15???  Not us! 

She can't seem to sleep later than that, and then she's tired and ready for a nap at 10:30 or 11.  If we're in the car at that time (which we often seem to be, on the way home from somewhere), she falls asleep.   The last few days she's even fallen asleep just downstairs in our house.  Yesterday she was in my lap and fell asleep and today she fell asleep on the floor!  She sleep for about 20 minutes, then something wakes her up, and she's ready to go again.  I put her to bed for her nap at her normal naptime (around 12:30 or 1:00), and she talks for an hour, then cries.  No nap.  Then she's ready to go to bed for the night at 6 pm because she's exhausted.  I don't put her to bed until 7, but she's fussy and rubbing her eyes, and clearly ready for bed at 6. 

Help!  I don't know what to do to break this cycle.  I will definitely do whatever I can to keep her awake at 10:30 in the mornings so she doesn't miss her afternoon nap, but otherwise, I don't know what to do.  How do I get her to sleep past 5:15 in the mornings????  I really don't want to start my mornings at that time.

I don't know what to do.  Any and all advice accepted.

20 months

I'm a few weeks late in writing this, but let me tell you about Rebecca at 20 months....

 

-She's fussy.  A LOT.  I don't know if it's because she's been sick a lot lately or if it's just a phase, or if it's her budding personality (I sure hope not!).

-She's clingy.  She doesn't do well if I'm busy doing something else.  She constantly wants me to play with her, carry her, hold her, read to her.   Rachel or Daddy will sometimes do in a pinch, but usually it's me she wants, and makes it clear when she's unhappy that she doesn't have my undivided attention.  She does fine, though, when I leave her at the gym playroom or in the nursery at church.  She's always happy to see me when I come back, but she doesn't cry when I leave, so I'm thankful for that.

-She copies everything Rachel does.  Usually all of the wrong things.

-She loves to climb.  Chairs are her specialty.  Oh, and the steps--she's constantly trying to escape up the stairs to get into Rachel's room to bother things she's not supposed to have.  It happens when we forget to put the gate up (which is way too often).

-She talks non stop.  If she's not talking, she's either sleeping, escaping up the stairs, or she's getting into something she shouldn't.  Usually my purse (I can't count how many times I've found her surrounded by my credit cards, drivers license, cash, gift cards, insurance cards, and the rest of the contents of my wallet.  I've learned to put my purse on top of the refrigerator, but I sometimes forget.)

-She runs to me multiples times a day, throws her arms around my legs, and gives me a huge hug and kiss.  She's so sweet like that (when she's not being a little stinker!).

-She has no interest in TV, unless it's the Baby MacDonald DVD from Baby Einstein.  I should be glad (because Rachel has always been obsessed with TV and watches too much of it), but I really, REALLY wish I could put in a show for her and she'd be interested enough in it that I could leave the room for a few minutes and not have her follow me, fussing.  I've tried....she's mildly interested in Sesame Street, but so far I haven't found any other shows that keep her interest for more than 30 seconds.  And she's seen the Baby MacDonald DVD enough that it doesn't hold her attention as much as it once did.

-She wants to eat all the time.  But then when you put her in her high chair to eat, she wants down after a bite or two.  She'd really love it if I just handed her the food and let her walk around with it, but I don't let her. 

-She likes applesauce, yogurt, mandarin oranges, bananas, and graham crackers better than anything else.  She likes vegetables and meat, which seems strange to me, since Rachel's never wanted to touch them with a ten foot pole, but she'd rather have those other things.  She especially likes applesauce and yogurt because she can spoon feed them to herself, but then most of it winds up on her bib and on the table, instead of in her mouth.  But she doesn't want me to help her to get it into her mouth.  That's for babies, not big girls.

-She loves going out to wait for Rachel to come home on the bus.  I usually go out a little bit early, if it's not too cold, because she likes walking along the sidewalk, picking up leaves, rocks, and anything else she can find.  We wait in the driveway of our neighbors, who have twin girls just a couple of months older than Rebecca.  Rebecca remembers that one of their names is Penny, so whenever we get there she says, "Menny!" and runs up to their door.  Sometimes they're both standing there in the doorway (waiting for their big brother, who is in Rachel's class, to come home), and they play games through the glass at each other.  (Poor Izzy....Rebecca will never remember her name!)

-She loves Pooh Bear.  I don't really know why, because she doesn't want to watch it, but she loves him.  Rachel picked out a Winnie the Pooh pillow pet for her for Christmas, and just in the last several days she's started playing with it a lot.  Last night my husband was playing with it with her, and he said, "Do you have any honey?"  Rebecca said, copying Daddy, "Money!  Money!"  "No," Daddy said "Honey!"  "Money!" Rebecca repeated.  So she's already trying to get Daddy's money.....

-She takes her shoes and socks off constantly.  I find socks laying around the house in the strangest places (both hers and Rachel's--Rachel also hates having shoes and socks on.  I don't know where they get this because neither their Daddy nor I enjoy this!).  After she takes them off, she then puts on other people's shoes and clomps around the house. 

-She sleeps with her pink blanket (just like Rachel's beloved purple blanket, which Rachel picked out for her before she was born), and her 101 Dalmation dog.  Those two things have to be in her bed or it would probably be a major catastrophe.  She buries her head in her blanket with her little bottom up in the air and goes to sleep.  She wakes up with the worst cases of bedhead I've ever seen.

-She flits from thing to thing to thing all day long.  She doesn't stick with any one toy, book, or activity for very long.  Probably all part of being 20 months old, but I somehow remember Rachel having more of an attention span than she does.  I guess we'll see.  But what it results in right now is that every room in the house where she is allowed is turned upside down every day.  We call her the human tornado.

Many of these are negative, I've realized.  I don't want to come across that way.  She really is a very sweet girl, but is at SUCH a difficult age, in my opinion.  Maybe because Rachel was my only child when she was this age, I didn't notice it being this difficult with her, but I'm really whipped--all the time.  I don't sleep well anyway, but add to it the fact that she wakes up multiple times a night, and that she wants my undivided attention all the time, and that just compounds how tired I am, constantly.  But all of these little quirks make up the sweet little human tornado named Rebecca Joy.  Oh how I love that girl!

sleep, glorious sleep

The last several weeks (and even moreso in the last few days), I've felt like I've had a newborn again.  A newborn who walks, talks, and gets into trouble, that is.  Rebecca has been waking up over and over and over at night.  And since she's had a fever, I feel like I need to go in each time to make sure she's not running a fever again.  Some of the times she was.  Others, she wasn't.  She just woke up and couldn't put herself back to sleep on her own.  It's like she's forgotten how.  All I do is go in, tell her it's still nigh night time, and tell her to lay back down and go to sleep.  And she does.  But she needs me to go in and remind her.  Ugh.

So I've been walking around like a zombie for days.  So tired.  And during the day she's been super fussy and clingy, too.  A bad combination--a tired, fed-up mom and a fussy, sick, sleepy toddler.

Combine that with the fact that Rachel had several nights of waking up, coughing, and you've got a recipe for a VERY BAD DAY (and even worse nights).  I've had several of them lately.

So on Monday I kept Rachel home from school for her cough (which was constant!) and took both girls to the doctor.

Both girls were diagnosed with a virus.  Ugh.  But I did manage to secure a prescription for Rachel for cough medicine with codeine--the only thing that seems to help her sleep when she has a bad cough (I'm the same way).  So at least the doctor's office trip wasn't a complete wash.

So Rachel has slept the last two nights without waking up at all.  Hooray!  But Rebecca hadn't improved (even though she's been fever free for a day and a half).  So last night, in a desperate attempt for sleep, I gave her the teeny-tiniest dose of children's benadryl.  She hadn't had it before, so I wasn't quite sure it would work (I know sometimes it makes kids hyper, and I certainly didn't want that), but I was willing to give it a try, since there was a chance that it could help her (and me!) sleep.

I'm thrilled to report that it worked!  I went to sleep at 10 PM last night and didn't wake up until 5 AM (without Rebecca crying--I just woke up because my body's so used to her waking me up at that time, I think).  That's the longest stretch of sleep I've had in a long time.  Of course, I woke up with a stuffy nose and a headache (thanks to my girls sharing their germs with me, I'm sure), but at least I got some uninterrupted sleep.    YAY!!!

She woke up at 5:15.  I went in to tell her she needed to go back to sleep, but she was complaining about her diaper.  I checked, and she was wet through her clothes, so I changed her and put her back in bed.  I got to go back to bed for another half hour, so it was definitely an improvement.

We'll see how today goes.  Hopefully since we both got some sleep, she'll be a little less fussy and I'll be a little more patient.

holding down the fort

I was home from church with two "sick" girls this morning.  I say "sick" because earlier they were running, playing and fighting (in princess dresses) like any other day.  But as soon as Rebecca's ibuprofen wore off, her fever came back, she was crying at everything, and back in my lap, where she spent most of yesterday.  Rachel is coughing several times a minute.  Still no fever.

Yesterday Rebecca spent most of the day either crying or sitting in my lap, until the ibuprofen would kick in, and she'd get down and play for awhile.  It never lasted long, though.  Thankfully, this morning she was happy most of the morning, until around 10:30, when it started wearing off.  She eventually fell asleep in my lap!  So right now she's in bed.  Hopefully when she wakes up, the ibuprofen I just gave her will have kicked back in again and she'll be her normal self for awhile.

If I manage to avoid getting sick, it will be a miracle, since Rachel's been known to cough right in my face when she doesn't remember to cover her mouth, and Rebecca's spent the better part of two days on my lap, drooling all over me (she has a tooth coming in, in addition to the fever).

Uh oh, she's crying up in bed....so much for her nap.

a passion for groundhogs

Yesterday at school Rachel's class learned about Groundhog Day.  They had a story about it in their little "Weekly Reader" type magazine, and their teacher read them a book about it, too.  She came home talking about it and kept saying all afternoon and evening how excited she was that it was going to be Groundhog Day.

This morning at 6:15, I heard her SPRINTING out of her bed and down the stairs.  I always have the news on in the morning, so she came running into the family room and said, "Did he come out yet?" 

I told her he wasn't supposed to come out until about 7:20, so she sat and watched the news with me, very intently, for the next hour.  (She never watches the news--she's usually playing during that time.)

When it was time for him to come out, she was so excited, and literally on the edge of her seat.  While finishing her bowl of Cheerios, she listened as they read the proclamation that Puxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and there would be 6 more weeks of winter.    At this, she THREW her bowl of Cheerios across the room and screamed, "NO!" and burst into tears!  She was immediately in big trouble for her bad temper, but it was sure hard to stifle back my own laughter at her extreme passion!  Who knew it would elicit such a response!? After she calmed down and cleaned up her mess (which thankfully wasn't much, because she eats her Cheerios dry and they were almost gone, anyway), I explained to her that it was just a fun story, and it doesn't really mean that there will for sure be 6 more weeks of winter.  When asked why she was so upset she said, "Because I really was hoping to go camping with Daddy in the spring, so I want it to be spring sooner!"

Gotta love my girl and all of her passion....for Groundhog Day and just life in general.  

another dentist trip

After Rachel's terrible dentist visit over the summer, I asked the dentist what I could do to ensure that Rebecca didn't have the same fear of dentists as Rachel.  She told me to go ahead and bring her in the next time I came with Rachel.  I didn't want to make their appointments on the same day, because I didn't want to have to wrangle Rebecca while it was Rachel's turn, and didn't want to be dealing with Rachel when it was Rebecca's turn.  So I made their appointments separately, a week apart, and left the other girl home with Daddy.

So today it was Rebecca's turn.  I had no idea what to expect.  How would they clean this baby's teeth, when I can barely get her to open her mouth for two seconds when I try and brush her teeth? 

They explained that they do a "knee to knee" cleaning, where the hygienist's knees touch mine, facing each other, and Rebecca is in my lap, straddling me, and I lay her back into the hygienist's lap.  She said she would likely cry, and it's actually better that way because then her mouth would be open!  So I had to hold her hands and let her cry while the hygienist quickly cleaned her 11 teeth.  It didn't take long, and she stopped crying as soon as I sat her back up in my lap and held her for a minute.  They said she did great. 

Since I expected her to cry, it didn't bother me too much, and thankfully, it was pretty quick.  And if it will help prevent her from having a fear later on of the dentist, then I'm all for it. 

My husband goes to the dentist next week, and I just made an appointment for myself for later in February, and then we'll be done with the dentist for awhile!  Yay!