Sick Days Aren't So Bad

Home today with a sick Emma Claire. Arnold went to school. Saw Dr. Hobbs (much to Emma Claire's dismay). She has a virus and an eye infection. She ended up doing great with Dr. Hobbs. No major incidents (probably didn't hurt that I promised "Old McDonalds" afterwards.
That is just what we did.

McDonalds drive thru. Books on the couch. Ratatouille. Nap in my arms in her rocker "I want to go to my room and rock". Don't know the last time she wanted to do that.

Peaceful. Quiet. Glad we're home today.

Weekend Woes

Emma Claire woke up in the night on Friday "spitting up" (as she calls it) in my bed (I always have her sleep with me when Brad is out of town).

Stripped our bed, got in the shower with her at 1am. Back to her bed.

Saturday am - changed Arnold's diaper prematurely, which made for a big mess all over him and the changing table. To the shower I go with Arnold. (as the shower was heating up, Arnold decided he wasn't finished yet, all over our bed - "that's not the plan, Arnold!", says Emma Claire). Thank goodness at least the mattress pad was still on. He did manage to get it on our box spring cover, though. Mattress cover off. Mattress off. Box spring cover off... Emma Claire: "Arnold pooped and I spit up on that".

LOTS of laundry to do.

Apparent police activity in the neighborhood Friday night, also. I find this out through Whitney, who is in Key West (this is what I get for not being on Facebook) - robbery at Good Day Cafe, I guess.

Emma Claire better Saturday day, followed by a fever Saturday evening.

Sunday, she perked up again.

Arnold woke up from his morning nap in a HUGE mess in his crib (all smiles, by the way). Dawned on me at this point that he must have a touch of the stomach bug too.

Strip Arnold's crib. Off to the shower we go - again.

MORE laundry.

Everyone is fairly happy in the afternoon.

1 am Monday - Emma Claire wakes up shivering, - 102 fever.

Arnold is up twice in the night - happy, awake, wanting to play (I think he is working on crawling and that, along with the stomach issue, is interrupting his sleep. My "theory" anyway).

No work for me today. Hate to call people at 6am with the "can you work for me today" call.

Brad is in sunny Palm Springs this weekend. Looking forward to his return tonight.

Fun With Cleaning Gloves

Emma Claire loves to play with the blue latex gloves we have around here for cleaning. She finds lots of creative uses for fun with them. (Just prior to this shot, Arnold had them on both of his feet.)

Party Planning...

Emma Claire is SUPER excited about her birthday this year. She asks every day if it is her birthday yet. I think it is especially fun this year because she is really into the "party planning". She has chosen a Tinkerbell theme. We went to The Cake Box this morning to pick out the cake. She wanted a "chocolate" one with "lots of colors" and "sprinkles". The cake we ended up with was Tinkerbell with chocolate frosting and chocolate filling (with a raspberry cream). My child for sure. On the way home I asked if she wanted ice cream and what flavor. She, naturally, chose chocolate. I suggested we do sprinkles on the ice cream and she said, very loudly, "no, I already though of that, that is MY idea!".
We plan to pick out the decorations and party favors on Friday.

Sledding at Theo Wirth

We had some sunshine and more tolerable temps over the weekend, so we met the Knaufs at Theo Wirth for sledding.

The girls loved it. Arnold - not so much. He hung in there for a few minutes, then Suzanne and I sat in the warm car with him and sipped hot chocolate while the Daddies took over sledding duty.

Addie and Emma Claire enjoyed the double tube. Down, and up they went over and over and over.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Six Months Old

Arnold is 6 months old today (on Groundhog Day). We have a dream baby. Arnold is the sweetest, happiest little thing. He just makes me giggle.

Arnold smiles all the time. From the time he wakes (or we wake him) in the morning, to when he wakes in the middle of the night, he is smilin'. I love his closed mouth grins. If he is unhappy, you can be sure that he needs something, or something is bothering him. Rarely fusses or complains. Just goes along wherever we go and sits in his little carrier, content to be here.

He giggles, especially in reaction to Emma Claire. I have to work to make him laugh, but she just has to be present for him to laugh. Emma Claire is so attentive and helpful with Arnold. She loves him and he is taken with her. When he is in his carrier, she is always leaning over him, right in his face and he loves it (even though, I am sure he is somewhat smothered). Emma Claire calls him "hun". "Hi hun,", "It's OK, hun", "Here ya go, hun". I am not sure where she picked this up, because we never call anyone "hun". She also uses it when she talks to Rudy.

Arnold is, so far, our sleeper. He loves his crib. I can put him down awake and he falls asleep on his own (a skill Emma Claire, to this day, has not developed). He is waking once a night, most nights, but readily falls back to sleep after a snack. (although, he slept thought the past two nights - yay!)

Arnold loves to roll, and roll, and roll lately. He is rolling to reach toys and apparently, he rolled halfway across the room at school one day this week. He really reaches for things and is interested in different textures now. He gives BIG hugs. He is teething and also likes to "teeth" on my chin. I can feel two bottom teeth just barely poking through.

Arnold is a good eater so far. The rice cereal didn't go so well at first, but once he got the hang of it, he took off. He loves his meals now. We have moved from rice cereal to oatmeal now. I think sweet potatoes are in his near future.

Arnold LOVES his feet. He is perfectly content to lay on the floor and play with his feet.

He is beginning to react to emotions. He and Emma Claire take baths together. A couple nights ago, Emma Claire cried (as typical) when I washed her hair. Arnold looked at her, then looked at me. His bottom lip flipped out and he started crying. He gets upset when Emma Claire takes away a toy he is playing with.

Arnold is still on the verge of sitting up independently. He does fairly well, but tends to topple after a few seconds.

He loves the dogs and really reacts to them. They love him, too. When he is on the floor, they can't resist licking him like crazy. He smiles and reaches for them. Even Rudy is patient when Arnold grabs his fur.

I think Arnold is a week or two away from scooting/crawling. He is really getting strong and more mobile with his rolling (or, maybe he will just roll to get where he needs to). I just can't believe how big he is getting. It all happens so quickly.

Positive Thought

January is behind us and February is a short (and busy) month.
Belinda Jensen says that we gain 1 hour and 15 minutes of sunlight this month! There are signs of hope, even though tomorrow's high is 9.