Nov 27 2008

I'm done, get over it

Category: At Home

I don't know what's going on with my children lately, but there seems to be a movement underway for a new baby brother...or two.

Earlier this fall, Lucie got a book from the library about a family having a new baby. That's fine, it was a cute story. Then she brought it to preschool and told her teachers that I was having a baby. Not that they believed her, but Mrs. Jansen asked anyway. When I told her that I was too old to have any more babies  -- I'm 41 after all -- Lucie started to cry, "But I want a baby brudder."

So we made an agreement that she could "borrow" a couple of baby brudders, I mean brothers, from some of the moms we knew. We settled on my friend Michelle's little boy, Aidan, who's gorgeous and a big flirt. Whenever Aidan's around I'm compelled to pick him up and kiss him.

Since Lucie needed two babies, we decided to borrow my friend Emily's little boy Declan, too. Declan is even less a morning person than Lucie. He always has a big frown on his face when Emily drops his big brother off at preschool. His expression just cracks me up. But he's adorable and looks just like my nephew Oliver did at that age, lots of white blond hair and big blue eyes.

I did notify the moms just in case Lucie mentioned something. Michelle and Emily told me they'd be happy for us to borrow their boys anytime. Oh boy, what was I getting into? Luckily, after our "compromise" the subject went away for a while.

Then today we were reading, Froggy's Baby Sister. In it, Froggy wants a baby brother (but ends up with a sister). Lucie started with the "I want a baby brudder" tirade again, and got very upset when I said that I was not going to have any more babies. Then I reminded her about Baby Aidan and Baby Declan.

"That's OK, Mama," Lucie said. "I only need one baby brudder. Can Baby Aidan come over? He can sleep in my bed."

Oh boy, just when I got rid of all the diapers in the house, too.

Nov 25 2008

She's sick, I'm exhausted

Category: At Home

When Paul goes away, Lucie usually wakes up in the middle of the night and joins me in my bed. It's almost expected, and in order to get a good night's sleep (I don't fall back to sleep easily) I just let her go to bed on Paul's side. But this night was different. After coming back from a friend's house -- one of the many holiday home-shopping parties I've attended this season -- both kids got into their pajamas and beds with no fuss. In fact, Lucie promised to sleep in her own bed that night.

She came in at 2:30 a.m. complaining that her ear hurt. Since she had a cold, I was afraid it was the start of an ear infection. After giving her a dose of children's ibuprofen for the pain (she didn't have a fever) we tried to go back to bed. After a restless half an hour, I turned on the light and read, while Lucie watched Sesame Street. We finally went back to bed around 4:30 a.m.

Luckily Nathan woke me up at 7 a.m. I told him to get dressed, while I slipped on some sweats and washed my face. Forget makeup. I was exhausted and knew I'd be spending the day in bed with Lucie when we weren't at the doctor's office. I fixed Nathan breakfast and woke Lucie up. She was miserable and clearly in pain. As she cried that her ear hurt, I wrapped her up in her robe and took her out to the car. Strapped in, I covered her with a blanket.

By the time we saw the doctor at 11 a.m., Lucie had developed a fever and a sore throat. She screamed as the nurse practitioner looked into her ear and later cried when the doctor looked at her throat. My poor baby. We quickly got her an antibiotic prescription and took off for the supermarket pharmacy.

It's amazing how a nap and a couple of doses of medicine can do the trick. By that evening, she was almost back to normal, fighting with her brother, and asking for popsicles and mac and cheese for dinner.

Me? I worked that afternoon while she napped, trying to catch up on various assignments. By that evening, I was glad that both kids passed out before 9 p.m. because I was the one who needed to get some sleep.

Nov 19 2008

Party boy

Category: At Home

We had a party for Paul's coworkers over the weekend. This meant getting the house cleaned up, food bought and prepared (even though we had it catered), chairs set up, and making sure coolers were filled with drinks and ice.

It also meant dressing up in our Broncos finery since we were planning to watch the game. Paul picked out one of his Broncos Super Bowl t-shirts. I chose a button up Broncos shirt from the '80s that I had found in a thrift store. The old logo is very retro and "old school."
 
(Our friend, Big Dave and his family came in their Kansas City Chiefs shirts, since that's who the Broncos were playing. His daughter Becca, a true rebel at five, came in her pink Broncos shirt. Got to love her spirit.)

I don't know if Nathan was nervous about people coming over or just very excited since I found him standing in the middle of his room, deep in thought, and wearing just his underpants. He was trying to decide between three outfits -- two kinds of long pants, one pair of shorts, a too-small Hawaiian shirt, two t-shirts, and two different pairs of shoes. Nathan was beginning to panic, so I came in to help.

Due to the chilly weather, we quickly eliminated the sandals and shorts. Since the Hawaiian shirt was too small, I told him to wear the Broncos t-shirt. Instead he chose the "Blame my sister" t-shirt and opted to change into his Broncos shirt during the game.

Gosh, at six-and-a-half (as he likes to remind me) he's already acting like a teenager on date night. Lucky kid, as long as it fits, he looks good in just about anything. Wish I could say the same.