"I Scared!"

We got that light up ladybug toy in the mail yesterday. The one I ordered with my Huggies rewards points. It's pretty awesome. It shines constellations on the ceiling when the room is dark. Elise totally loves it.

Henry kind of loves it and is kind of afraid of it. If he's sitting still holding it, he's fine. But then if he makes the mistake of getting up and trying to move around the room while he's holding the toy and the lights are out, all of the little stars seem to be bouncing around the room following him and it TOTALLY freaks him out. Like, instant yelling, tears, shaking in terror kind of freak out. Poor little guy.

So after Henry had a freak out tonight, Husband and I turned the lights back on, told the kids that everything was okay, and offered to show them the stars again to prove that everything was all right. We put the ladybug in the middle of the room and didn't let anyone hold it, and we turned the lights back off.

Then Elise, anticipating Henry freaking out again, started crying.

"What's wrong Elise? What's wrong? Use your words."

"I SCARED!"

"It's okay. It's okay. What are you scared of?"

"I scared! I don't know why! I don't know why!"

Ridiculously cute. We got everyone calmed down and loving the toy again.

Not For Germaphobes

Elise has a rash in her diaper area that I've been trying to cure for the past month. She and Georgia both have pink eye, I think. Clark is still getting over his chicken pox. And Henry has been coughing non-stop for the past two days.

Kids are gross. I super love them. But they're gross.

Suck Face

Clark has a much stronger need to suck than Elise ever did. I don't use pacifiers. Elise wouldn't take them anyway, the few times I tried to give her one because she was losing her mind in the car. But Elise also never sucked on her hands and she wasn't one of those babies that is constantly putting things into her mouth. Clark sucks on his thumb sometimes. Not super often, maybe once a day you'll see him doing it. That's one way that he and Elise have been different.

He's started sucking on his own lips, too. He sucks his little lips right into his mouth-- it's very cute. It looks like he's got a mouthful of bubblegum or something, with his lips pressed together and his jaw moving round and round.

Kermit Kabobs

This afternoon I called Husband and asked what he wanted for dinner. Sometimes we like these fake meat things that come slathered in bbq sauce, and we happened to have some in the freezer.

"Do you want riblets for dinner tonight?... Okay... Bye."

As I hung up the phone, Elise turned away from me and said in a tiny voice, "Ribbits dinner? Noooooooo..."

"Ribbits? Elise, we're not eating frogs tonight. Is that what you--"

"No ribbits."

"Okay. No ribbits."

Wah Wah Wah, Etc.

* Clark just LOVES to say "aaaaaaaaaaah" while I pat my hand over his mouth, so that it makes a "wah wah wah" noise. Super cute.

*Clark has started getting really mad when his toys don't do what he wants them to do. And if he accidentally drops one, watch out! Kicking, screaming fit... followed by smiles and giggles as soon as you hand the toy back to him. It's a little Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde -ish, really.

* Clark weighs 19.5 pounds now.

* Last night and today the big kids played Baby Bowling and they really enjoyed it, even if they don't totally get the concept. I made a few stacks of their duplo blocks, set the stacks up next to each other, then encouraged them to roll another toy at the stacks and knock the blocks down. Henry caught on and thought it was great fun. Georgia kind of tossed the ball in the general direction of the blocks, but I don't think she hit the stacks once. And Elise doesn't let go of the ball, she just holds it in her hand while she swipes at the blocks and knocks them all down. The kids were really good at taking turns, though.

* Today marks probably the fourth time since Henry and Georgia have come to live with us that a stranger has asked us if we are running a day care. Not in an ironic way. Just in a that's-a-lot-of-babies way. It's always interesting to see what strangers assume about our family. I usually answer with a full explanation, like "We're foster parents, actually." But I think that from now on I'll just say, "No." Screw them, nosy busybodies.

Out of Quarantine

Clark is no longer contagious! Yay! My little trooper.

Through the Eyes of a 1 Year Old

Tonight one of our cats was scratching in the litter box.

"Mama! Beanie PLAYING with POOP!"

"She's not playing, Elise. She's going potty."

"I hear. She PLAYING with POOP!"

Don't get any ideas, kid.

Today's Notes

* Elise has (finally) figured out that she can get up out of bed whenever she wants. Ugh. Here we go.

* The girls have recently started getting time outs for bad behavior. Because Elise has seen Henry get time outs, she regards them as something exciting and fun. And now SHE gets them. She thinks this is very cool. We're walking a fine line between the time out serving its purpose of showing her that her behavior was wrong and the time out serving as a reward for her bad behavior. I mean, if she WANTS the time out, is it really doing any good? I don't know.

* Clark is doing much better today. Only a few little blisters left and no hives.

* Today as we were getting into the car Elise complained, "Hot!" I said, "I'm putting the air on." And she replied, "Put air on ELISE!"

About Coupons

So far so good on the couponing. I still don't totally have the hang of it-- you won't see me on any of those "extreme couponing" shows anytime soon-- but I'm starting to save a decent amount of money, I think.

It seems like part of the trick for me is looking for coupons AFTER I figure out what it is that I want to buy. There are a ton of coupon websites and I just get overwhelmed if I try to look at all of the "deals." For example, I knew tonight that we needed more Pull Ups for Henry. So I went to the Pull Ups website, and lo and behold, they have printable coupons available. BAM! Saved $2 (plus I stacked that coupon with some other coupons and I actually ended up saving, like, $6.25... but that's beside the point).

Here's the link for the Pull Ups coupons: HERE

I know that serious couponers swear by the Sunday newspaper, but it seems to me like there's a lot of crap in those coupon sections. Nasal spray and doggie treats and gross sugary cereal and stuff I wouldn't bring home even if it was free. I'm buying ONE paper each Sunday, just to make sure I don't miss anything awesome... but printable coupons are the way to go for me, so far.

Hives Update

Clark had one more outbreak of hives last night before bed. We gave him Benadryl and he was fine. Then he went all night and and all day until about 6:00pm without any hives. Right around dinnertime Husband noticed some hives on his chest, then one appeared on his chin and one on his cheek. We decided to just watch them and after about 30 minutes they all went away. Hopefully whatever is bothering Clark's body is going away or leaving his system or whatever.

His chicken pox are looking a lot better, too. No new spots all day and almost all of the blisters have turned to scabs. That means he's almost done being contagious. Yay!

Chicky Pox AND Hives?!

Poor Baby Clark! He's been breaking out in hives over the past 24 hours. Two itchy, uncomfortable skin problems-- it's not fair!

Yesterday before dinner I noticed that Clark's cheeks looked all red. I thought maybe he was too hot, so I took his shirt off. Then I noticed that his shoulders, arms, and under his chin were BRIGHT red. Sunburned looking. White splotches started to appear in the redness. Hives. I spoke with a nurse (the after hours nurses for my doctor's office are becoming quite familiar with my voice), gave him some Benadryl, wiped his skin down really well and all was fine. I figured that something must have been on the shirt. Problem solved, right?

Wrong. This morning he woke up with hives on his arms again. Then they started to appear on his legs and tummy. More Benadryl and I called his doctor's office. The nurse said that so long as the Benadryl is treating the hives, there isn't much that can be done. Make sure he's breathing okay and keep giving him Benadryl every six hours or so, as needed. The nurse said that sometimes viruses cause hives, so it could be a virus or an allergic reaction. If he's still getting hives after 3 days, I need to call back.

If he's having an allergic reaction, I can't imagine what it is. He hasn't been out of the house, since he has chicken pox. He doesn't eat solid food yet, so he hasn't gotten any new foods recently. He wasn't on any medication. Weird.

This afternoon he got some hives again. First on his ankle, and I watched that spot and it cleared up on his own. I was all happy, thinking that his body was fighting off whatever was causing him to break out. Then BOOM! Hives on his tummy, chest, and shoulders. More Benadryl. My spotty, splotchy little Babu. You don't deserve this.

We'll see what happens tonight.

Clark's Doing Better and Other News

* I think Clark is on the upswing. Clark's latest round of new chicken pox spots had a lot fewer spots than in the past. He has a lot of scabs now instead of just being covered in blisters. And he didn't need any Benadryl last night in the middle of the night to help with the itching-- I could nurse him and put him back to sleep whenever he woke up. I'm so glad that he's doing better.

* I have been SO HUNGRY the past few days. I think that my body is trying to help Clark fight the chicken pox. Making extra antibodies or whatever and sending them through my breast milk.

* Clark can roll from his back to his front by turning in either direction now. Yay! He's been doing this for about a week or so. He does favor rolling to his left. Still hasn't rolled from his tummy to his back.

* Elise can say her whole name, as of about a week and a half ago. If I ask her, "What's your name?" she says, "Elise!" Then I say, "Elise what?" and she says, "Elise [Blah] [Blah] [Blah-Blah]." It's a mouthful, but she can say it all. She knows that Clark has the same last name as she does, and she knows Mommy and Daddy's first names. She knows my middle name, too-- she remembered that for some reason.

Watch Your Back, Baby Clark!

You know that song, "I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee. Won't my mommy be so proud of me?" Tonight Elise thought it was very funny to sing, "I'm squishing up a baby baby Clark!"

She did a good job of changing the words but keeping the rhythm the same. I was impressed!

Still Growing Spots

Clark keeps getting more and more spots. My poor Babu! Only a few of the pox have scabbed over, so it seems like we have a way to go before the end is in sight. He's doing really well, though, all things considered. He got fussy when I tried to dress him for bed a little while ago, so I took his clothes off and I'm just letting him sleep in a diaper. Whatever makes him comfortable.

Chicky Pox

Yep. It's chicken pox (or "chicky pox," as Elise calls it). I took Clark to the doctor's office today-- they wouldn't let us inside, though. Nurses came out to the car to look at him. They didn't want to contaminate their office.

Poor baby. He's now covered head to toe. COVERED. His little butt has it the worst. But he has them all over his scalp, head, chest, tummy, and butt. Not quite as many on his arms and legs. He as a few on his weenie and baby taters (Husband refers to the boy parts as the "meat and potatoes"). He's acting okay, doesn't seem particularly fussy or uncomfortable. A little sleepier than usual, but when he's awake he's happy and alert.

The nurses this morning said that if Clark gets any pox in his eye, it's an emergency and to go to the ER. Well, a few hours after we left the doctor's office, he started to get a little spot right on the edge of his eyelid, where the eyelashes grow. I called the doctor's office and spoke to a nurse on the phone. She said that Clark needs to be seen by a doctor to make sure that his eye is okay, but my regular doctor was already booked for the day and to call another specific office. So I called over to the other office and spoke to a nurse who then spoke to a doctor and got back on the phone with me. She said that unless the spot was on the eyeball itself, there's nothing the doctor could do. She told me to just watch for redness on his eyeball and call back if there are any significant changes.

Okay. Fine. So then I get on the internet just to see what might happen if you have a pox on your eyelid. My own doctor's office sounded pretty convinced that Clark should see a doctor, pronto. But the backup doctor didn't want to see us. Everything I found online basically just said, "If there's a spot on the eyelid near the eyeball, go see your doctor." Ugh!

So I called my eye doctor's office. Because that's the kind of paranoid mommy that I am. Again, I talked to a nurse who talked to a doctor who then talked back to me. Same story. Nothing you can do about a spot on the eyelid, but if the eyeball starts to look red or gets a red spot on it, contact someone right away. So now that two doctors told me the same thing, I'm okay with not rushing Clark to an urgent care facility.

Of course, I'm obsessively checking his eyeball now.

We'll be quarantined for the next couple of weeks, Clark and I. No trips to the grocery store or the library or anywhere else. Better at home than the hospital, though.

Clark-a-dots

Clark has little spots. They look kind of like tiny bug bites. They're on random places around his body-- his tummy, chest, on his scalp, one on his penis. I called a nurse and she said it sounds like chicken pox.

RSV, ear infections, roseola... now chicken pox? Clark is clearly hell-bent on contracting every possible childhood illness before he turns one year old. All of the big kids have been vaccinated-- I can't even imagine where he would have gotten chicken pox.

Ugh!

So we're going to the doctor tomorrow. It looks like a pretty mild case if that's really what it is.

My poor baby.

Oh, and he weighs over 19 lbs now.

More Silliness From Elise

Yesterday Elise sat a cup down next to my diaper bag and when I went to move my bag, not seeing the cup, I knocked it over.

"Elise! You didn't put your cup back on the table, now your water's all over the floor."

Elise walked in from the other room and in a high-pitched, thoroughly mocking tone she said, "E-leeeeeeeeeeeees. I spill your waaaaater." I took that to be her 1 year old way of saying, "Look, lady, you spilled the water, not me." Thanks for keeping it real, Elise.
......

Tonight Elise was having trouble sleeping. Husband was getting her a glow worm to snuggle with, and I went into her room and told her, "Daddy's going to bring you something special to help you sleep."

"It a elephant?"

"No, it's not an elephant. Why would Daddy bring you an elephant?"

"It a cup?"

"No, not a cup."

"Oooh! It a cupCAKE?!"

"Noooo..."

"It a lemon?"

She went on like this until Husband arrived. We've never played that kind of guessing game before. She just did that on her own. It was cute. She also told me that I have pretty hair, giraffes have two legs, and spiders like to "open their wings." Sleepy talk, I guess.

Henry Update

The State might be announcing its intent to terminate Henry's mom's parental rights soon. Soon-ish. An expert needs to present a report to the court regarding the mom's completion of her case plan. If the report says what everyone is expecting it to say, then the State will announce its goal of terminating parental rights for Susannah and Henry. If the report doesn't say what everyone expects... I don't even know what happens. No one has discussed that with me.

Once the goal of termination is announced, it will take "about a month" (which probably means two or three months, but maybe I'm just being bitter, having lived within the foster care system for several years now) before the hearing is set and the case is presented. Then the hearing happens. Then we wait for the judge to make a decision. Technically, the judge is supposed to make a decision within 60 days of the end of the hearing. However, I know for a fact that this judge sometimes takes longer than 60 days... so 3 months? 4 months until a decision is reached?

If we have a decision regarding Henry's mom's parental rights before the end of September, I'll be surprised. Best case scenario is mid-July. But I'm thinking end of November is more realistic.

Clark's Baby Song

I made Elise a special baby song and Clark has one, too. I started singing his song to him when he was in the hospital with RSV. It's to the tune of "C is for Cookie" (sung by Cookie Monster).

C is for Clarky
He's cute as cute can be
C is for Clarky
He's cute as cute can be
C is for Clarky
He's cute as cute can be
Oh, Clarky, Clarky, Clarky starts with C

Crazy Babies

This afternoon Elise was looking at my phone, which has a keyboard for texting.

"Where da letter X?!?! WHERE DA LETTER X?!?!?"

"It's there Elise. Just look at my phone."

"It NOT there! Letter X NOT on phone! Letter X NOT on phone!!!"

She kind of freaked out. Then she freaked out again at dinner time, looking at a piece of food that was dangling off her fork.

With genuine concern she said, "Mama! It a PENIS!!!"

Yeah, Elise. I made you penis for dinner.

Then after dinner, Henry told me that I have banana boobs. I was feeding Clark and Henry decided to use his newly expanded vocabulary to say, "Baby eating! Baby eating banana!" Next, he climbed behind where I was sitting, pulled open the back of my pants and looked down at my butt and declared, "Poo poo! Poo poo!"

What's going on around here?

Happy Early Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day today. We bought some blooming tulip bulbs that grow indoors, gave the big kids each a cookie, and told them all things we love about each one of them. Happy Valentine's Day, sweet bambinos! We love being your parents!!!

Clip and Save

I've decided to try couponing for a few weeks and see if it's worth it. I'm a pretty careful shopper as it is-- I plan meals and buy accordingly and keep sales in mind while I'm picking out our menu for the week. But I'm going to go the extra mile and see just how much I can save.

I'm not sure if our diet will be amenable to the awesome savings you hear about sometimes. "Cut your grocery bill in half" or whatever. Sure, if you want to eat Hot Pockets and Kraft macaroni and cheese all week long. So we'll see. We did some shopping today and we saved about 20% off our bills. Not a bad start, I guess.

It's That Time Again!

henry and georgia's mom is pregnant. again. that will make 5 kids in 5 years by the time the new baby is born.

i don't know if she wants more babies or if she doesn't know how to engage in family planning or if she doesn't feel empowered enough to take control of that aspect of her life or what. i think that most people in her situation-- 4 kids in foster care and the youngest one was literally taken from her in the hospital after she gave birth-- would try to avoid another pregnancy right now.

i'm way past the point of shock. i'm past feeling like their mom is being selfish or ignorant. i just feel sad. i feel sad for her, because somehow on some level she just simply doesn't get it. but mostly i feel sad for this new baby, who will likely end up in a foster home, separated from his or her siblings.

if i were the praying sort of person i would say, "god, wherever all of these children end up, please let them have adults in their lives that respect their bond as siblings. also, if there's any way to make this woman's uterus fall out with causing any physical or emotional harm to her, please don't hesitate to make that happen after this baby is born."

Hello, Object Permanence!

I've been suspecting for a couple of weeks now that Clark has the object permanence thing going on, but as of tonight I'm sure of it. Clark was sitting in his swing, playing with a toy elephant. Every time he'd drop it, he would start to cry. I'd go and pick it back up and hand Clark the toy, and he'd stop crying. Over and over again. Out of sight, out of mind? Not anymore.

Teeth?

Tonight Clark went from gummy little sucks on my knuckles to trying to bite the ever-loving crap out of them. Bite, hold, growl. Release. Bite, hold, growl. Release.

Teeth soon?

Cashed In My Rewards Points

Ever since Elise was born, I've been collecting "rewards points" from Huggies diapers and wipes. Not that I'm loyal to Huggies-- a lot of the items were baby shower gifts and the diapers or wipes that we've bought have just happened to be the best price we could find. But whatever. The point is that since we have 4 kids in diapers, we have a lot of rewards points.

Well, I cashed some of the points in today. I went online and looked in the Huggies rewards catalog and ordered a light up ladybug thing that projects "stars" on your ceiling. Elise was totally psyched. She has this thing for ladybugs right now. Although, for some reason she sees them as angry, vicious little creatures. She sees one and says, "Oh! Ladybug! Ladybug SCRATCH you!" or "Ladybug BITE you!" She's not scared of ladybugs. She seems to think that their bad attitude is cool or something.

I'm anxious to see if this toy will meet my expectations. After 2 years of saving up "rewards points" it better be everything I'm hoping for in a constellation-projecting plush insect.

4 Month Check Up

Clark had his 4 month check up today. He's 18 lbs (93rd percentile) and 26 3/4 inches long (95th percentile). Healthy and doing well. He got 2 shots and some liquid in his mouth, all of which he took like a champ. Good boy, Baby Clark!

4 Months!

clark turned 4 months old yesterday. i can't believe it's been 4 months already! he might be the size of a 9 month old, but he's still my little bitty baby.

i love you with all my heart, babu!

Potty Time!

Henry is rocking the potty training. He's only wearing Pull-Ups at sleep times now. Yay!

I know I know I know that EVENTUALLY he will have an accident. And it will happen in public. And he will pee more than he has ever peed before in his life. He'll stand in the middle of a crowd of people and piss a gallon of stinky pee everywhere and then draw further attention to it by suddenly crying louder than I ever knew was humanly possible. Then I'll try to run to his side, but I'll slip in the pee and fall and my pants will be covered in pee, too. Strangers will point and laugh, and Henry and I will sit together and cry until the store closes.

I'm preparing for the worst case scenario, as you can see. Then when it actually does happen with less fanfare than all that, it won't seem so bad. (Husband says I'm a pessimist, but as you can clearly see, I am an optimist. I don't think that all of those bad things will really happen. Just some of them. And that, my friends, is what I call 'positive thinking.')

Elise's Guest List

Elise's birthday is coming up soon and I've been talking to her about her party. Tonight we were discussing who would be there.

Me: "... and Mimi and Grampy and Nana..."

Elise: "And bumblebees."

She doesn't know this but I'm, like, mildly phobic of bees.

Me: "No. Not bees. No bees allowed."

Elise: "And bumblebees at party."

Me: "Um. Okay. Maybe bumblebees. We'll see if they RSVP."

Thanks for inviting the bees, Elise!

American Dinners

I read somewhere that the average American family has about 10 to 12 dinners that it keeps in steady rotation. Of course there are holidays and special occasions where people cook something outside of the norm. And everyone tries new recipes every once in a while. But generally speaking, most families serve the same 10 to 12 dishes over and over again.

In my house we tend to make lots of variations on the same sorts of meals. For example, we might have spaghetti with tomato sauce and fake meatballs one week, but the next week we'll have penne with spinach, navy beans, and alfredo sauce. They're both just a pasta dish-- are they two unique meals? I don't know. Is pizza still just pizza if you put different toppings on it?

I think that our basic meals are 1) pizza, 2)burgers/hot dogs with some kind of french fries and a salad, 3) pasta with sauce and a protein, 4) a fake meat and two or three vegetable side dishes, 5) potpies, 6) Indian food with rice, 7) noodles with peanut or ginger sesame sauce, vegetables, and fake chicken, 8) burritos/tacos/quesadillas, 9) hearty vegetable soup (or chili) with dinner rolls, 10) perogies with fake sausage and lima beans, 11) onion, bell pepper, stewed tomatoes, black beans, garlic, and corn served over rice...

I think that's about it. Luckily, the kids are all pretty good eaters. Elise is going though a phase right now where she barely eats anything and she spits out half of anything that goes into her mouth. It's super annoying. But I'm sure she'll get over it soon. Just in time for one of the other kids to start THEIR picky eating phase. Oh well. No one's going to starve. (Except for the other night when I served everyone sushi and egg rolls and edamame-- no one ate much of that. So they all got cereal after a while. Ugh. Maybe next time.)

More Random Notes

1. Henry told me "I love you" spontaneously for the first time ever tonight. *mommy tears*

2. Clark weighs 18 lbs now. That's the 94th percentile.

3. Henry weighs 33.5 lbs-- 88th percentile.

4. I weigh 120 lbs. Woohoo! Pre-pregnancy weight, here I come! 5 more lbs to go!

5. Henry has another ear infection. We're back on track for ear tubes.

6. Elise: "Elmo a boy. Elmo has penis?"

7. Me: "Elise, what do you want for lunch today?" Elise: "Birthday cake." That's the last time I let that be an open-ended question...


Also: Discovery News article-- Hugs Help Kids' Brains