It's been a sickly month for our little family. As I mentioned in the entry right before Christmas, William got a cold at that time. Well, since then he and Daddy and Anna have all had ear infections, Daddy's had a sinus infection, and William, Anna and I have had eye infections - twice. We all got through them once only to have a relapse. Anna has felt pretty miserable off and on. So has William, with a constant stream of snot dangling from his nose and chapping his lips and cheeks. This has made it hard to keep up on this blog. Both the kids aren't sleeping well which means Mommy isn't sleeping well. And William doesn't nap in the daytime anymore, so I don't get any breaks from him to work on the computer or my scrapbook or anything I really want to do.

In spite of all that misery, we have managed to have some good fun lately. William and Anna are both making tons of progress with development and we're very proud. Anna has learned to roll over! She first developed this skill about a week and a half ago. I took some photos of the event...But William kept getting in the way.


She's a real champ at it now and can get herself into new and exciting places.


William has developed a love of singing and often tells me that there is a song in his mouth. He then opens his mouth and points inside. This is especially fun at mealtime. Some of his favorite songs are the ABC's, the Wheels on the Bus, and the Snowman song. He seems to be learning a lot from his nursery song leader and every time we listen to the Primary Songs CD, he surprises me by singing along with new ones. He absolutely adores Anna. If she naps while he and I are awake, he asks me every five minutes "Is Anna awake?" If I say yes he says "want to go see she" (his pronouns aren't quite straight) and runs to whichever room she's in to stand over her and smile and laugh (and hit her in a way he means as hi). He loves to shake her in her bouncy seat and push her in her swing so hard that it scares me but he ignores my demands that he stop because she laughs at it. He continues to love to watch TV, with his first words every day being "want to watch a show." We're trying to limit our TV time, but when I'm tired I don't do so well with it.

Starting Solids

Last Monday, Anna got really cranky in the afternoon. I spent a few hours just holding her and watching TV with her and William, since she would cry if I put her down. This was unusual. She’s usually a very good-natured kind of baby spending hours laying on the floor or sitting in her bouncy seat cooing and gurgling and drooling all over any toys within her reach. She finally fell asleep and I was able to get dinner on.

Some time after she woke up and before I bathed her, she pooped. I went to give her a bath after getting William to bed (who has suddenly and inexplicably decided that baths are miserable and awful experiences—this after 2 years of begging me to bathe him several times a day!). When I removed Anna’s diaper I found it full of baby pooh and, right in the middle, a round, plump, and perfectly intact raisin. This struck me as odd considering that Anna is 5 months old and hasn’t been given the go-ahead for solids yet, and even if she had, I wouldn’t be starting the toothless baby on whole raisins. Her 2½-year-old brother, on the other hand, loves raisins and eats them whenever he can. In fact, he is often given baggies of raisins and animal crackers as a breakfast-time treat to keep him occupied while I shower. Well, I’m guessing he decided to share his raisins with his adorable little sister one morning and that would explain the discomfort that led Anna to cry for hours and then pass a solid raisin in her pooh. My first response to this discovery was to laugh. Her first solid food – a raisin stuffed into her mouth by her well-meaning big brother. Then, another thought crossed my mind, that of ‘choking-hazard.’ I could imagine the outcome of the raisin-sharing being a little different. What if she hadn’t managed to swallow the offering? What if she had choked?

I thank the busy guardian angels of my little girl for pushing the raisin down the right tube. I hadn’t realized that the biggest threat to the survival of a baby would be her older siblings. But I should have guessed. After all, there were six kids in my family. I’ve seen what kids do to each other.

Ear infection?!? Who me?!?

When I was a baby my mom would take me to the doctor and he'd ask if I'd been upset/screaming/crying a lot. She'd say no, and he'd say, "That's wierd, he has an ear infection, sore throat, etc. "

So last week I caught the cough that William had. And then my right ear started hurting. I came to the most plausible conclusion - it was my headphone earbud irritating it. I'd been listening to iTunes radio while working from home, watching episodes of 24 on the computer, and playing computer games I got for Christmas. Boy was I wrong! Last night I heard some liquid in the ear, and within two hours I was crying in intense pain. The pressure was amazing! I lost hearing, and the constant ringing kept buzzing in my ear.

Kristin took me to the ER, and after waiting for hours the doctor looked in my bad ear and said, "Wow! That's incredible!" Probably the last thing you want to hear a doctor say when he looks in your bad hear. He told me it was infected and the eardrum would probably burst - nothing he could do about it. I didn't ask if it could just be an irritating earbud. He prescribed penicillin (can someone send me the grilled-cheese sandwich?), ear drops to numb the drum, and Vicadin (hope I don't get addicted). Loaded up with drugs I was able to sleep, and I am feeling much better today. That Vicadin makes you feel funny...

Before the ER, while I paced the floor in pain, I thought, "Why me?" I decided it must be my RUDE,RUDE,RUDE teasing. I thought, "What if I die from head explosion and the last blog entry I wrote ripped on Chad?" So I'm apologizing to Mom for calling her an "Old Bitty" - not that I ever did, but just in case. And I'm sorry Bro for the jab at your GRE. And I'm sorry for the countless other low blows I've dished out in the past. Now hopefully my head won't go KaBoom!!