I thought our dear friend Emily might like this story:
Lately, Joe has been reading to Ava and I have been reading to Cate before bed. We quickly realized it is impossible to read to them together. It was going anywhere from not being able to decide on a book to wrestling in the bed. Divide and conquer. Cate gets to pick out three books to read every night before going to sleep. For the past week Cate has wanted to read "The Bunny Book", otherwise known as "Guess How Much I Love You." For some reason, she really likes rabbits right now (and is sleeping with 6 or 7 at this very moment, one of which is named Baby Jesus and another Baby Moses- don't ask, I have no idea). So, we've been reading that book. Tonight I turned out the light and she wanted to pretend to be the Nutbrown Hares. So, I had to "settle" her into her bed "of leaves" and "lay down close by" beside her and scratch her back- the back scratching is not in the real story. Then she decided her stuffed bunny would be Little Nutbrown Hare and I would still be Big Nutbrown Hare. She could be Medium Sized Nutbrown Hare. Pretend Little Nutbrown Hare said, "I love you to the moon." And Cate made me say, "I love you to the moon and back, " per the book's lines. And then Cate said, "And then Medium Sized Nutbrown Hare said I love you to the moon and under the stars and all over the world and as tall as my rabbit ears and this much (arms spread wide) AND BACK."
I don't know how long I'm going to be required to be a Nutbrown Hare, but this book is much shorter than the Berenstain Bears and doesn't involve as many voices, something I could kill Joe for starting...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The last straw.
This past month has been insane. Our house is requiring a bit more immediate work that we had anticipated. We have bugs. The kids have been sick. Work is busy (a good thing for job security). And life is plain wild in general.
Just in the past week we've had two leaks, one in the roof that was easily repaired and one in the guest bathroom downstairs (not the master bath, that was 3 weeks ago and turned out to be the air conditioner leaking into the bathroom). The commode in the guest bathroom was leaking into the floor. It's never a good sign when the floor feels mushy and water squishes up through the wood slats when you walk on it. Due to repairs, there will be an open hole in that bathroom for another week. Very third-world-esque.
We aren't sure where they came from, but for the past week we've had literal swarms of gnats in our kitchen and bathroom. We are steadily whittling that population down (see picture of our homemade gnat trap). We've found several other ideas online that are working as well. No frogs, locust, or hail yet, though it's rained so much lately that Joe hasn't been able to mow and we can only see the tip of Tucker's tail when he traipses through the grass as we take him out.
Ava had to have a VCUG which required a catheterization. It was awful to have to hold her down while they did the cath and x-rays. She does have mild reflux and her pediatrician is recommending we see a Urologist at LeBonheur for follow-up. Other than that, she's been well for the past 2 weeks- Hallelujah!
Cate required a trip to the pediatrician's office yesterday- where they all know us by name and I've begun to just tell them, "Every couple of weeks we start missing ya'll and feel like we should just stop by." She has strep again and that sweet MD gave me a prescription for Ava just in case she needs it so we won't have to go back this week. (She hasn't so far.) I can't tell you how much hand sanitizer I put on the girls before, during, and after going to the clinic. I feel like we are covered in germs when we leave, not that it's dirty, there are just SO many sick babies in there. It has been packed lately. After we left the doctor's office we had to go to the Employee Pharmacy to get Cate's antibiotic. The pharmacy is very small and all the low shelving stocked with brightly labeled medication bottles is just too tempting for Ava. After being reprimanded several times, "No Ava, don't touch that. NO AVA. DO NOT touch that, " Ava decided to sit in a chair and Cate was sitting quietly beside her looking at the June 2007 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I thought it would be a good time to call and update Mama on Cate's status. Ava got tired of the chair and walked the 4 or 5 steps over to the glass exit door. I was still on the phone, but I was looking right at her. She gave the door a few slaps and then, she licked it. By this time, Cate was standing beside her and she also licked the door. The door to the pharmacy. The door everyone who is sick and comes in to get their medication touches. The nasty pharmacy door. And before I could get off the phone and get over there they had both done it again. Well, if they weren't good and sick then, they will be now.
I received a summons for jury duty in the mail today. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that at a later date.
Cate stayed home from preschool today since she was still contagious, but she really didn't feel that bad. She got pretty bored and by tonight, she was wild. We aren't used to her being into everything. I was cooking supper with Ava's assistance and really wasn't paying a lot of attention to Cate. She asked for a straw and I showed her the drawer they were in and turned around to chop broccoli. The girls are fast asleep in bed and I just finished picking up the last of the 50 pack of straws that Cate had strewn all over the living room.
We will get things with the house straightened out soon I hope, surely the gnats can't live for forever, and the girls will get well. As for the hectic schedules and wild kids, that may not change much. My babies sure do look sweet sweet when they're sleeping though.
A small sample of our gnat population.
Just in the past week we've had two leaks, one in the roof that was easily repaired and one in the guest bathroom downstairs (not the master bath, that was 3 weeks ago and turned out to be the air conditioner leaking into the bathroom). The commode in the guest bathroom was leaking into the floor. It's never a good sign when the floor feels mushy and water squishes up through the wood slats when you walk on it. Due to repairs, there will be an open hole in that bathroom for another week. Very third-world-esque.
We aren't sure where they came from, but for the past week we've had literal swarms of gnats in our kitchen and bathroom. We are steadily whittling that population down (see picture of our homemade gnat trap). We've found several other ideas online that are working as well. No frogs, locust, or hail yet, though it's rained so much lately that Joe hasn't been able to mow and we can only see the tip of Tucker's tail when he traipses through the grass as we take him out.
Ava had to have a VCUG which required a catheterization. It was awful to have to hold her down while they did the cath and x-rays. She does have mild reflux and her pediatrician is recommending we see a Urologist at LeBonheur for follow-up. Other than that, she's been well for the past 2 weeks- Hallelujah!
Cate required a trip to the pediatrician's office yesterday- where they all know us by name and I've begun to just tell them, "Every couple of weeks we start missing ya'll and feel like we should just stop by." She has strep again and that sweet MD gave me a prescription for Ava just in case she needs it so we won't have to go back this week. (She hasn't so far.) I can't tell you how much hand sanitizer I put on the girls before, during, and after going to the clinic. I feel like we are covered in germs when we leave, not that it's dirty, there are just SO many sick babies in there. It has been packed lately. After we left the doctor's office we had to go to the Employee Pharmacy to get Cate's antibiotic. The pharmacy is very small and all the low shelving stocked with brightly labeled medication bottles is just too tempting for Ava. After being reprimanded several times, "No Ava, don't touch that. NO AVA. DO NOT touch that, " Ava decided to sit in a chair and Cate was sitting quietly beside her looking at the June 2007 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I thought it would be a good time to call and update Mama on Cate's status. Ava got tired of the chair and walked the 4 or 5 steps over to the glass exit door. I was still on the phone, but I was looking right at her. She gave the door a few slaps and then, she licked it. By this time, Cate was standing beside her and she also licked the door. The door to the pharmacy. The door everyone who is sick and comes in to get their medication touches. The nasty pharmacy door. And before I could get off the phone and get over there they had both done it again. Well, if they weren't good and sick then, they will be now.
I received a summons for jury duty in the mail today. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that at a later date.
Cate stayed home from preschool today since she was still contagious, but she really didn't feel that bad. She got pretty bored and by tonight, she was wild. We aren't used to her being into everything. I was cooking supper with Ava's assistance and really wasn't paying a lot of attention to Cate. She asked for a straw and I showed her the drawer they were in and turned around to chop broccoli. The girls are fast asleep in bed and I just finished picking up the last of the 50 pack of straws that Cate had strewn all over the living room.
We will get things with the house straightened out soon I hope, surely the gnats can't live for forever, and the girls will get well. As for the hectic schedules and wild kids, that may not change much. My babies sure do look sweet sweet when they're sleeping though.
A small sample of our gnat population.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Catespeak, verson 1.0
Cate's always been good with words. She likes to talk, and she was very verbal early on. As a three year old, there's not much that she can't communicate to us now. In fact, she has taken up word/phrase creation:
jewelrious - (pronounced ju-ree-us). adjective. 1. In possession of and/or wearing a large quantity of jewelry. Example: "Mama, look at all my rings. I'm jewelrious."
Cate uttered this as we raced to church a couple of Sundays ago. She had a ring for each finger. We were so impressed with her new word that we let her wear 4 of the rings in.
She's aso been singing this song recently that she picked up from somewhere. I don't even really know the tune, but according to Cate, the words are as follows:
1,2 I Love You.
3,4 Let's Count Some More
5, 6, Tap Your Bix
7,8 The Numbers are Mixed
9, 10 The Numers are BIN!
Let's DO IT ALL AGAIN,
1, 2, etc.
Obviously, the phrase "tap your bix" takes you by surprise. Not only do we not know what a "bix" is, we don't know why it needs tapping. We also have absolutely no idea what the words are supposed to be, and we have analyzed this exhaustively. We feel good about everything through 4. After that, it goes haywire, and there aren't even enough clues to make an educated guess. What does one tap that rhymes with six? And even though "The Numbers are Mixed" makes grammatical sense, shouldn't that line rhyme with eight? And really, the number's aren't mixed. That's not to mention "the numbers are bin." I have no idea. It's hopeless. However, "tap your bix" like "jewelrious" has been added to the Babb Lexicon:
bix - (pronounced bihks) noun. 1. Something that needs tapping.
-Joe
jewelrious - (pronounced ju-ree-us). adjective. 1. In possession of and/or wearing a large quantity of jewelry. Example: "Mama, look at all my rings. I'm jewelrious."
Cate uttered this as we raced to church a couple of Sundays ago. She had a ring for each finger. We were so impressed with her new word that we let her wear 4 of the rings in.
She's aso been singing this song recently that she picked up from somewhere. I don't even really know the tune, but according to Cate, the words are as follows:
1,2 I Love You.
3,4 Let's Count Some More
5, 6, Tap Your Bix
7,8 The Numbers are Mixed
9, 10 The Numers are BIN!
Let's DO IT ALL AGAIN,
1, 2, etc.
Obviously, the phrase "tap your bix" takes you by surprise. Not only do we not know what a "bix" is, we don't know why it needs tapping. We also have absolutely no idea what the words are supposed to be, and we have analyzed this exhaustively. We feel good about everything through 4. After that, it goes haywire, and there aren't even enough clues to make an educated guess. What does one tap that rhymes with six? And even though "The Numbers are Mixed" makes grammatical sense, shouldn't that line rhyme with eight? And really, the number's aren't mixed. That's not to mention "the numbers are bin." I have no idea. It's hopeless. However, "tap your bix" like "jewelrious" has been added to the Babb Lexicon:
bix - (pronounced bihks) noun. 1. Something that needs tapping.
-Joe
Monday, September 14, 2009
Our Ballerina
Cate asked to "do that dancing in a tu-tu" many times last year when she'd see other little girls getting ready to go from the sitter's. Last night she cried real tears and said she didn't want to go. She didn't like ballet. Today she went in quite hesitantly and very skeptically. I was sitting outside the door when she came out. She saw me and a big smile appeared, "Mama, I DID like dancin'. When can we come back? Can I wear my suit until bathtime? Did you see me? I was a butterfly..." And she chattered non-stop the rest of the way home.
Cate's first day of Dance.
Showing a few of her moves.
Ava listening to Cate talk.
We had to make a couple of stops on the way home. I didn't hear a peep out of Ava after she got this sucker.
Cate's first day of Dance.
Showing a few of her moves.
Ava listening to Cate talk.
We had to make a couple of stops on the way home. I didn't hear a peep out of Ava after she got this sucker.
Sunday Morning Breakfast
I don't know what this says about our parenting or how such things will affect our family in the long run. We really do sit down and eat breakfast together on the weekends a lot of the time, but this Sunday morning I walked into the living room to find Cate eating breakfast from a box, quite literally (and she was eating Fruit Loops too). Ava had culled everything Joe had tried to get her to eat and was devouring Oreos. Joe said he looked at her and said, "Ava, when Cate was your age, she would have NEVER gotten to eat Cakesters for breakfast." I said, "What did Ava do?"
"She laughed."
"She laughed."
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Yard Day
A very busy Saturday at the Babb house:
A big thanks to Max for letting us borrow his 4 wheeler and trailor.
One of the 15 ant beds I poisoned. They are everywhere. Ava and I both got bitten today.
What a nice, clean, poison ivy free fence line. Ava has also gotten into poison ivy while playing on the swing set, so we're glad to have that cleaned up.
This is what my Mama did all day. Just kidding, Nana. Mama had actually stayed up very late the night before cooking so she could provide meals for the day and then she wrangled the girls all day while we worked outside. This was especially challenging because Ava wasn't feeling 100% (recovering from croup preceded this month by 2 rounds of strep and a UTI) and whined and wanted to be held a large part of the day. I must also mention that the little heifer weighs 30 lbs.
The end to an eventful day.
Climbing upstairs to read before bed.
#2 little monkeys...
Please note Ava is wearing her beloved Dora socks.
Thank you to my parents for all of the help today!!!
A big thanks to Max for letting us borrow his 4 wheeler and trailor.
One of the 15 ant beds I poisoned. They are everywhere. Ava and I both got bitten today.
What a nice, clean, poison ivy free fence line. Ava has also gotten into poison ivy while playing on the swing set, so we're glad to have that cleaned up.
This is what my Mama did all day. Just kidding, Nana. Mama had actually stayed up very late the night before cooking so she could provide meals for the day and then she wrangled the girls all day while we worked outside. This was especially challenging because Ava wasn't feeling 100% (recovering from croup preceded this month by 2 rounds of strep and a UTI) and whined and wanted to be held a large part of the day. I must also mention that the little heifer weighs 30 lbs.
The end to an eventful day.Climbing upstairs to read before bed.
#2 little monkeys...
Please note Ava is wearing her beloved Dora socks.
Thank you to my parents for all of the help today!!!
Rub a Dub Dub. Sweet Ava in the Tub.
Ava and I stayed home from church Wednesday night due to Ava's croup. It's rare that she gets a bath without Cate and she had a ball playing in the bubbles.
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