Got a Minute?

I do.

Kids are asleep, QT is out of town, and I'm all alone for once with no distractions of any kind around me...well, excepting the toys all over the family room and the dirty dishes in the sink, there are no distractions! Also, Giggles is now able to climb onto the sofa, and she made off earlier this evening with the remote controller for the cable box. So it's just me and my netbook...at least until I locate that remote.

Anyway, for those of you who are wondering, I took Giggles to the doctor today. Not so much my idea as that of the nurse on the Nurseline, but I think I may either be in the market for a new pediatrician soon or just start following my own advice from now on. It's happened more than once to us that the nurse on the phone will tell me one thing (for ex: a child under 2 who's had an unexplained fever for 24 hours or more should be seen in the office right away) and then I am told something entirely different by the provider who sees my child (ex: sure, we can run tests but it's too soon now. Come back in 2 days if the fever isn't gone yet b/c right now, we just can't tell). Seriously. Do I look like I'm made of money and have nothing better to do with my time? My kids' health is worth everything and anything to me, but this feels more like I'm flushing money down the toilet for all the good it does them. I was pretty steamed about it this morning, but I'm over it now. Plus, I'm getting tired.

So I'd best wrap this up. Giggles seemed fine today after she woke from her nap, but her temp was 101 when I checked her at bedtime. I've got some serious thinking to do tomorrow (take her in or risk waiting until Monday). Oh, and Giggles apparently has a heart murmur. Thank goodness she has a well-child exam in 2 weeks.

Pumpkin is doing great, btw. He's really gotten into his new computer game Trainz. He can sit at the PC for hours playing that game. I'm impressed that he figured the game out all by himself (and it looks complicated), but I'm not so sure it's good for him to be on the computer all day so I signed him up for karate classes. Tonight was his first class. On the way home, he told me he didn't like it because they "do everything too fast" but when told that the instructor would be working 1-on-1 with him next week to teach him all those moves, he seemed mollified and kinda sorta indicated he would go again next week. Only time will tell if he will actually want to go when the day rolls around. I'll keep you posted.

Goofy Kids

Today, Giggles woke up from her afternoon nap with a fever of 102.5. So here we go again. And, of course, QT is out of town...because it seems this kind of thing only happens when he's gone. Oh well.

Last night, I made a video of the kids while they were having dinner and goofing around. What a difference a day makes sometimes. Hopefully, Giggles will be back to her crazy self in no time. Until then, here she is (with Pumpkin) in all her crazy glory.

Wow, that dude in Austin...

Crazy. But, I read his manifesto, and not only is it (mostly) well written, it's also quite persuasive...and very angry.

Anyway, on the school front, Pumpkin's preschool teacher told me a cute story when I went to pick him up today. Apparently, at recess, Pumpkin was surrounded by 5-6 girls all of whom were insisting that he was her friend and "the best." In the car on the way home, I asked him who the girls were...thinking it was probably some of his little (girl) friends from our playgroup. (It wasn't.) His answer "Umm....I don't really remember their names." ......Goodness me!

While all this was going on, Giggles and I were entertaining some "little" friends at home at our 1st-ever baby playdate especially for Giggles! It was lots of fun. All the little girls (and one boy) who came over also have older siblings at home, and it was just so cute watching them play together without their sibs around to knock them down or speak for them, haha. As usual, Giggles took a few minutes to warm up to the visitors, but she was laughing and yelling away with the rest of them in no time. She also really seemed to enjoy the yummy snacks because she didn't stop eating pretty much from the time everyone arrived until it was time to go pick her brother up from school.

Sad to say, but I didn't even remember to take out the camera until the playdate was about over so I have no pictures to show for it. INSTEAD, I'll leave you with a lovely collage of Giggles taking Mousie (and her brother's Nintendo DS) for a ride in her red coupe.


I love that last picture! It looks like she's saying "Get that camera out of my face already!" hahaha

Moving Right Along

Gosh, it's been so long since I updated with much about the kiddos. Well...for starters, they're both growing like weeds. Clothes that fit Pumpkin over the holidays didn't fit anymore by the time we got back from Texas. As for Giggles, some of her 12-mos size clothes are too short/small, but the next size up is still just a bit big on her so we're in that weird midway point and trying to make the best of it.

Pumpkin is reading! Sight words, I think, but he's able to sound out words too though that takes him longer obviously. And get ready for this: Giggles is talking! Or trying to anyway. I can make out the words: drink, cat, down, cracker, and car. She also makes specific sound combinations when she's calling her brother or the dog, and though the sounds she makes each have the right inflection and the appropriate number of syllables, they don't really sound much like the real things yet. But she's getting there for sure!