Slowly Recovering

Last week was a doozy. Bella contracted roseola and had a 102 to 103.9 degree fever for 4 days. Of course, on those very same days, I was running a fundraiser at church which required a full-time commitment. So thank goodness for my mother who watched my sick child (and my healthy child) while I was gone. And thank goodness for children's motrin! In the end, Bella survived and we ended up earning over $2,000 during the fundraiser which exceeded everyone's expectations, so it all ended well.

After the fever broke, she had the rash for a couple days and then she was healthy, ostensibly. However, one residual effect of the illness seems to be an intense clingyness. She has never been so needy and so whiny and so dependent on me in all her life. I think she just got really used to being coddled and carried and babied during her sick days that she realized she really enjoys it! So, I've been trying to break her of her constant need to be carried these last couple days. I actually thought about getting out my baby bjorn again because my back is breaking after carrying her 25 pound body all day. But that thought was quickly followed by the thought, 'Am I crazy!? I'm trying to break the habit - not make it easier for her to be my siamese twin!' So, hopefully next week she'll rediscover that her own legs work just as well and I'll have an easier time. Especially because if Benjamin sees me carrying Bella, he wants to be carried too!

Here are a few cute pictures we managed to take during all this craziness. But before the pics, I want to share a conversation Benjamin and I had in the car this evening.
BENJAMIN: Please mommy, can we go to mars?
ME: How should we get there?
BENJAMIN: We need a rocket ship.
ME: How could we get a rocket ship?
BENJAMIN: We could make one.
ME: How do you make one?
BENJAMIN: It's easy. You just need a big seat, lots of buttons, and some sticks. You put that all together and then you have a rocket ship. Just like that. That's how you make one. We do that now, please?
ME: How about we do that tomorrow, after church?
BENJAMIN: okay.
Can you tell we visited the science museum in Detroit today and looked at their space exhibit?? Side note: at the museum, I parked in meter parking in front of the building and put in 2 hours worth of coins, only to have it suddenly switch from it's 2:00 display to a flashing red out of order, just as I put in my last coin. I was so ticked. I thought about moving to another meter and doing the whole things again but I'm way too stubborn (and cheap) for that, so I wrote a note and put it under my wiper that said, "I put 2 hours worth of coins in this meter and only AFTER that did it show out of order. Please don't give me a ticket. I'll be back in two hours. I promise. Thank you." I came back (1 hour and 55 minutes later) to find the meter still flashing and my car was unticketed. I don't know if the meter-reader never came by or if she/he had pity on me, but either way, I was happy.

We went to Kensington park (playground, farm with animals, etc.) with friends, but it was raining part of the day, so of course, the puddles were the most interesting thing for my kids. Followed closely behind by self-directed rides down the hill on the stroller.



I also took the kids to the hands-on museum in Ann Arbor last week. It was the first time I'd been there since Bella started walking. She had so much fun. Of course, the water table was the highlight of her trip.



Benjamin's new favorite toy lately has been scotch tape. The other day I came in to find he had made a "cast" for his feet.


So, then I suggested we do his hands too. I think I enjoyed doing that more than he did.


By the way, Benjamin's new haircut is courtesy of me. With a few exceptions, I'm always the one that cuts his hair, but it was a bad night for cutting hair - cranky Isabella, dinner cooking/burning on the stove, fidgety Benjamin, and over-tired me shouldn't mix with sharp buzzers. So, when the huge chunk of hair went flying off, I decided to avoid the stress of trying to fix it and just keep right on going. Benjamin's reaction to it was to wail in disbelief, "You cut off all my hair!!" He was depressed for the rest of the night but after I got enough people to compliment him on it, he lightened up. Now he tells people his hair is "scratchy" and lets them rub his head. I also think it's kind of fun to have two bald kids.

We attended a 2 year old friend's birthday party. Here's some cute pics of the kids at dinner and also in line waiting to beat up the piñata.



That kid better watch out - Bella's finished her food and is coming for his.


Random adorable picture of Benjamin in the car.

I'm Not Tired!

The transition away from napping is such a hard one. I was with my mom's club today and every single one of us who has a 3 year old was dealing with the same thing. Classic symptoms - 1. he refuses to nap at nap time 2. he sporadically falls asleep really late in the day or any time he's in the car 3. if he does sleep at all during the day, he won't go to bed at night until hours past normal bed time 4. if he doesn't sleep during the day, he'll go to sleep well, but wake up a few hours later and have a troubled night due to over-tired brain. It was amazing how we all had the exact same issues. I searched on the internet how many hours of sleep, on average, a 3 year old should get and I found between 12-13 hours a day. Wow - Benjamin never gets more than 9 and 1/2. 8pm - 5:30am. Anyone out there have a 13 hours of sleep kid that wants to trade? Anyway, so my experience today fit right in with my friends' stories - here's Benjamin after an hour of driving me crazy with whining and demanding and insisting he wasn't tired:


My only worry was that he would try to roll over in his sleep!



Not much new with Isabella, other than she waved and said "Bye" today to Kelly as he left for work. So cute. She's also gotten really strong. She climbs up ladders and all over playground equipment like a little monkey. She nearly ended up on the roof last week when Kelly forgot to take the ladder away after cleaning the gutters. Thank goodness I was out there with her! Here she is during one of her less-than-shining moments. She found the angel food cake pan but it didn't make as good of a shirt as she was hoping. It was stuck on her so tight I had a real struggle getting it off. She was so upset!