State of the Family #15

Miss Thumb Sucker might need her own post today. . . she has been busy! Be prepared! To start she is just inches away from being very mobile. Don't get me wrong. She can currently get to whatever she wants as long as it is within about 3 feet of her. I am not quite sure how she does it, but she gets there. She isn't fully crawling yet, but I am guessing by my next post she will be. She can also sit herself up and pull herself up as well. I found her sitting up in her bed just the other night and she can pull up to standing by things if there is something very sturdy to grab onto. She still has some pretty wobbly sea legs though so she doesn't usually stay in the full upright position for too long, but she is darn proud of herself nonetheless. And heaven forbid you let her hold onto your fingers. . . there will be no more sitting after that! And, last but not least for the little munchkin is our discovery of her allergy. Yes, the poor little thing is very allergic to mosquito bites. Now I know you are thinking, "We are all allergic to them, that is why they itch." But do not get me wrong. This is no normal reaction. I'll let the picture explain it. She got her first one last Saturday evening while up at my Sister-in-Law's. By Sunday night it looked like she had a tumor on the side of her head just above her ear. (I didn't take a picture of that one). Had we not been in Podunk (sorry Thurston residents) Nebraska, I probably would have taken her to the ER. Thankfully it was diminished by 3 am the next morning. However, she got her 2nd bite, just below her eye on Tuesday morning, and by Wednesday morning, the poor thing looked like she had gone rounds with Mike Tyson. I did take her to the doctor for this one since it was so close to her eye. They gave her a steroid shot to help with the swelling, but it didn't get better until almost 24 hours after the shot. She still has remnants of the bite by her eye, but looks like a normal child once again. We have purchased an off fan to keep near her at all times while she is outside from now until eternity. Whew, I think that about covers her. Thanks for sticking with me.

Miss Firecracker. . . hmmmm. It has been a tough week. Maybe I should just leave it at that in fear that she will read these posts when she is 20 and think that I never had anything nice to say about her. I try. I really do. She is a ball of energy and fun, but this little girl knows just how to push my buttons. This past week we had 7 potty accidents in 4 days just because she wanted to throw a fit and not go to the bathroom by herself. We have had toothpaste all over her face, legs, hands, toilet paper and sink not just once, but twice. (The toothpaste is now kept in an undisclosed location only reachable by fully grown adults.) We have had baby soap pumped all over the bathtub no where near bath time. And last but not least we wore enough sunscreen to coat the entire state of Florida from the sun for an whole year just on our neck and one arm. Why I addressed all of these occurrences in the "we" fashion since it was in fact just one naughty little redhead causing all the chaos I am not quite sure, but it got my point across and stories told. I do love her with all my heart and she can make me laugh like no one else, but oooo whee she can get under my skin!

Noisy Man is a fisherman and his daddy could not be more pleased. We have gone fishing about 4 times in the last 3 weeks and he is all over it. He even takes the fish off the hook by himself! Well, as long as they aren't hooked very deep. I am not sure how I feel about that though! Daddy had the gall to go fishing without him (he left at 5 am and didn't return until 8 pm, a little bit too long of a day for a 4-yr-old) and he was heartbroken. He is also becoming quite the bossy pants as well. I am constantly having to remind him that he is not the mommy or daddy in this household. And we have had to implement "The tattle tale gets the same punishment as the crime committer" rule to help with some of these tendencies. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule when it comes to his sister. Like if she is hurting someone (most likely her baby sister) or hurting something (like ruining a piece of furniture with a pencil). This is a hard concept for a 4 year old to fully grasp, but we are working on it.

I can't really think of anything exciting the 2 adults in this household have done in the last weeks. Sad, isn't it? About all I can come up with is Daddy's all day fishing trip down to Milford Lake in KS this last Saturday, and Mommy gets her biannual 2 day scrap this weekend. We will celebrate our 7 year anniversary next Monday though, that will be news!