Catch up

Been busy (for me) the last week, so here's a quick update:

I spent most of last week gearing up for a whirl-wind trip to Kansas for a wedding. One of my college roommates was the beautiful bride and asked me and the other 3 roommies to be bridesmaids. I took Baby J. with me because she's still nursing (and I don't pump). So the husband got to have a fun Daddy/daughter weekend with the big girls.

The trip went well. Baby J. loved watching people in the airport and trying to get them to smile back at her. My mom flew out to help me with the baby and she and Baby J. had fun playing in back areas while the rest of us did wedding stuff. I enjoyed seeing several good, old friends, despite the fact that they are all in very different stages of life than I am. I was the only parent of our roommie bunch so felt a bit alien, and I'm sure they all got sick of hearing about my main topics of expertise (breastfeeding, potty training, staying sane while staying home with 3 high-drama girls, etc). The weather was nice, the wedding was beautiful - especially the flowers - and all the logistics worked out nicely. I rented a car for the first time and found it a rather enjoyable experience (but haven't checked my bank account yet to assess the full damage of the weekend).

I didn't realize until I got home, but Baby J. has now had more commercial flying experience than her Daddy and sisters. Her sisters spent the weekend swimming in the backyard pool, learning how to further navigate their internet game sites, and eating mostly hot dogs and candy. I'd say they had a good weekend too :)


Today we had an appointment with girls' new pediatrician. After about 45 minutes of filling out paperwork (about 8 pages per child), we got all three girls checked - the big girls got hearing tests, too, and Baby J. had her shots (and an oral vaccine which was totally new to me). I was very satisfied with the new doctor and her office and staff. The doctor said it is ok to start Baby J. on some veggies and fruits now that she has had cereal about 5 times. So...

Tonight Baby J. had her first green beans. She seemed to like them....she ate half a jar. I bought some sweet potatoes and peas to try also. I want to get her very into veggies before we start fruits. The doctor also ok-ed yogurt which makes me happy. I look at yogurt as a sort of health maker. Those little bacteria in yogurt are awesome. I wish I liked the stuff!


We had two little instances of drama from the big girls over the last two days:

First, we decided to try pull-ups for A. since she still needs protection at night (we had just been using diapers, but there's something sort of disturbing about diapering an almost 4 year old). The pull-ups are designed to make little kids like them - ie pretty princesses on them. So, I was concerned that B. would decide she would rather wear the pull-ups than underwear. To keep that from happening and reward B. for not needing the pull-ups, I got her a Cinderella toothbrush. This broke A.'s heart. There were tears - lots and lots of tears. Never mind that she was all excited about her new princess diapers - it was still the end of the world when B. got out her new toothbrush. Who would have ever guessed that toothbrushes made that much of a difference?!? I felt horrible - but I can't 'reward' A. for still wetting at night while B. gets nothing for staying dry. Things seem to have calmed down on night 3 of the new diapers/toothbrush...but I'm guessing that's only because A. conned B. into sharing the toothbrush...

Second drama involved the swimming pool. The girls used it yesterday, and we didn't empty it. We only drain it every three days or so to conserve water. Well, we have a flowering tree/bush that is dropping it's flowers (and has been for the past few weeks), so the pool had some flowers and leaves in it. The girls were adamant that they could not swim with flowers in the pool. I refused to scoop flowers out. So, again, we had tears...and hysterics... I tried to help them find ways of getting the flowers out, but none were acceptable. After ten minutes of tears and almost-tantrums, both girls were put to bed until Daddy got home. Luckily, Baby J. was able to sleep through the very noisy transition from pool to bed. And, Daddy came home about 20 minutes later and got us all calmed down. Thank goodness!!!

I just realized that I forgot to drain the pool....imagine the horror of another day and night's worth of flowers added to the already traumatizingly flowerful water......scary.