Seven Cereal Spoons

I cannot help but be a slave to a sick kid. All my parenting "rules" go out the window: watching very little TV (nonstop since Tuesday), eating healthy food (got loads of compliments - for the ice cream dinner last night & lunch today), eating while watching TV, and not giving in to every whim or change of mind (see below).

With Thomas's illness, he hasn't been too interested in food. He's been drinking well - thank goodness. This morning both of them asked for cereal. Thomas decided he wanted "different cereal." Of course that required a different bowl. Of course that required a different spoon. Of course that meant Veronica needed the same. Of course that meant we start over with a completely different cereal. Somehow I ended up with a stray bowl on the table, so we ended up with an uneven number or cereals and bowls between the two of them... seven bowls later.





For a soothing, sore-throat snack, we had popsicles for a snack. Veronica calls them, "Paulasicles." I assume that's a compliment to Aunt Paula.

Thomas has not been satisfied with anything for days. "Help me, help me." So cute when he's not sick. Very sweet when he's sick that he can sometimes as for help instead of scream about it. Then there are complaints (yesterday's script)...

I want a watch puppets. (put Muppets in the DVD player).

Different puppet! (fast forward)

(me: Thomas, this is the only one we have. )

OK. Different puppet! (fast forward).

Forward. (this repeats until the DVD is over)

Steve! (Blue's Clues put in player)

Different Steve! (Different Blue's Clues put in player)

Mary Poppins! (Mary Poppins in the player)

Steve! (and on and on)

Again, I'm a sucker for this sick kid. I try to keep up, but finally let myself understand he's never going to be happy because he feels so miserable. Makes me sad.

Fortunately, today he's getting better. I can still tell he's uncomfortable, but he can smile and ask me questions. So nice to know he's on the mend. It refills the patience pitcher that was running dry!

Judson came home in time to rescue us all from ourselves! The three of us hermits needed some time outside the walls of our home. So we headed to the local, family-owned Chinese establishment. V&T enjoyed the pasta (lo mein) and really perked up and had a great time. We played (the TV was not even requested!). Veronica focused on the people while Thomas started laying out two objects. He would ask himself, "Which one?" He'd answer himself and say "Oh, yeah! That's it!" and proceed to move the object to the other side of the room and start over. The evening ended with Veronica's rousing game of "Let's run." Everyone participated.

Snow Strolling

Thomas is still sick today. Veronica is trying to help. She has assisted in Thomas's diaper changes today. She has also started putting please at the end of all her requests without being prompted!

Thomas's fever was down (with the help of Tylenol). I could feel us all getting a little stir-crazy. I asked if they wanted to go out in the snow. They were both interested. However, as I got T bundled first, he had time to rethink his gloves as I got V ready. This started the tears. He didn't want to stay inside though. So, I got them to the porch and realized Thomas wanted to be held outside. Well, if Thomas wants to be held, who else do you think wants to be held? I didn't think I could carry them both with all their padding (snowsuits) and snow just below my knees. (I've dropped them enough for goodness sake!)

To make matters worse, I had told Thomas that we could try to build Frosty (the Snowman). The snow wouldn't pack AND Thomas assumed we would SEE Frosty. "I want a see Frosty," through icicle tears.

Veronica was willing to let me pull her on the sled about 4 feet while Thomas watched. They both wanted to "walk." I was about to find out this translation: you walk, Mommy, while you carry us. Both of them were screaming, so I took them to the porch where they screamed louder because they didn't want to go inside... but they still didn't want to walk on their own. By the time I had Veronica's coat off, she decided she needed to ride in the stroller. Thomas agreed. I ran to the car and got out the stroller. Thomas still made it known that this was not as good as me carrying him, but it seemed to foot the bill. I walked about three times on the sidewalk in front of the three houses my neighbor had so kindly snow blown. Then, Thomas wanted to be held again.

Realizing I couldn't make them happy, I gave up and took them inside. Thomas then told me he wanted to sled with sissy. I was spent. So much for the snow.



By lunchtime T's temp was just registering and I could tell from his temperament that he still didn't feel well. I took him to the doctor in the afternoon. Judson was so kind as to take the afternoon off so that I could take Thomas alone. Thomas just kept telling me he wanted to see Sissy. The doc told me it was the worst throat he'd seen all week. We went home and saw Daddy and Veronica waiting in the window for Thomas. Such a beautiful sight! We had a lot of waving interaction between the house and the car before we went in. Judson said Veronica was concerned as to when Thomas would come back soon.

I finally reheated the lasagna I'd made earlier in the week. Veronica was pretty pleased with it, but yet again, Thomas wasn't feelin' it. I decided to pull out ice cream for dinner. It was a hit! "Dewishes, Mommy!"

Sick, Snuggled, Snowed, & Spaghetti

We have plenty of snow outside (around a foot?), a sled waiting, but oh - we're sick! Or at least Thomas is, poor guy.

Thomas has had a fever of 101+ for over 2 days now. If it's still there tomorrow, I'll call the doc. Otherwise, I'm just doing my best. He needs to be held incessantly, which makes Veronica feel left out and with no playmate. When we can, the three of us snuggle together (V's actually very patient). Yesterday T was just lethargic - today it's cranky, so I'm hoping that's an improvement. He is having spurts where he wants to play a little today too, so I'm hopeful. When he's not playing though, I have to guess what DVD is needed (not always the one he asks for!).

Right now he's watching Bob the Builder and playing while Veronica pushes her babies around in their "stwower." She keeps putting a dishtowel over them and saying they are "cozy." Once I inquired, "Are you cozy?" "NO!" was the reply. "Amy cozy."

Well, this first and brief break sounds as if it were over. I hope we are well enough for our first sledding experience before the snow melts!

***
Strike that - They were just begging to play with Play-Doh! Oh, it's nice to see him turning the corner and her so happy about it!

A Sensational Saturday

This morning we had a great play date with Kasey and Dean and their mommies. The four of these toddlers are just months apart in age and all live in the neighborhood. They will all likely go to Little Flower together as well. There was just a little shyness in the beginning, but it was great fun. There was especially a lot of laughter at the lunch table.

Finally, an easy nap today which put them in a GREAT mood this afternoon. Loads of giggles and singing. They were especially happy to spend some quality time with Daddy, I could tell.

We went to Mass where they were super-well behaved. Just a few shout-outs to Bob (Fr. Bob, that is). Then, we went to Denny's for dinner. I happened to mention shopping (grocery) in the car and Veronica insisted we go shopping. So, we also had the smoothest grocery run in a long time too. We sang all the way home and then my family went to play while I prepared a snack for tomorrow's book club. It warmed my heart to hear all the laughter and excitement. Then I went to the living room to discover this:

Uh, oh... pasta?

We had a picnic lunch at the mall today with our friends Carolyn and Robert so we could play at the playground there. Carolyn had told me some friends and Robert's father were trying to teach him "Uh oh, Spaghetti-Os!" last month. One day she heard Robert in the living room saying, "Uh oh, pasta!" Today he passed that on to my kids.

What have we here?

Instead of waking to the monitor sounding off, "Mommy, Mommy!" or "Whaaaa!" or "I want OUT!" This morning was a Veronica pleasantly thinking out loud, "I want to watch Frosty." She said this a few times, and then Thomas broke out into his famous rendition of "Frosty the Snowman." It was too sweet and too fun - I had to start the day by turning on .... Frosty. We watched it together and then Thomas did something he has never done. He requested we sing a song together. Usually it's a marathon of requests for me to sing something (or a request for me not to sing at all). He sang the entire alphabet with me! We went onto a breakfast that demanded cheese - not just cheese - but three cheeses later we had the right cheese.

Mid-morning we met Mak at the Children's Museum. The only thing that took us so long to get there was that neither suddenly barefoot child would tell me where they'd put their socks. Despite that, we had a great day at the museum. We rode the carousel three times. Thomas even named his white horse Frosty. The second time we got in line, we were behind my old college friend, Brandi and her 3 kids. We were able to enjoy lunch with them.


Mak took the kids home while I went to an appointment. When I turned home, I cranked up the computer to show Grandma the latest pictures we'd taken. After looking at many photos of Isaac, Chloe and Robert, Thomas crossed his arms and asked with indignation, "Where Thomas?" We were soon to find enough pictures of him for his liking. The next time we came to a picture of Chloe, Thomas told us, "Chloe cute."

Just before bedtime, both twins were sitting with their own books on my lap. Veronica was reading me nursery rhymes while Thomas would open to each page of his book and ask, "Have here?" Then he would proceed ask what each person on the page was doing. This was pretty interesting to Veronica as well. Thomas took an affinity toward the doctor, while Veronica was smitten with the skier.

Pretty Little Pout

This morning, T & V were a little more shy around T & P. It didn't stop them from playing in the end, but the beginning of the morning was spent hanging on Mommy. Veronica was trying not to make too much eye-contact, when Paula asked, "Does she always hold her mouth like that?" Paula was talking about the infamous pout. The way I can answer this to the fullest is...

Veronica was born first, in the delivery room. I couldn't see anything because of the screen they had up for my c-section. However, I could get a mental picture from Judson's first words after seeing her, "She has your pout!"

Inaguration of the Presents

Today Barak Obama was inagurated as the 44th President of the United States. I tried to watch some of the coverage on TV this morning. The twins settled down a little to let me watch a little after we cleared up the confusion: We were watching the Inaguration of the President. We were not opening the presents.


I posted a comment about this cute interpretation. This was Judson's reply:

I like to think that we're all "opening a present" today: a better future for not only these two precious kiddos but the entire nation, as well. One way or another, the new president has it right: Americans have always shone brightest in the darkest of circumstances. I love you, Christen--and Veronica--and Thomas.

Paula had a death in her family and the funeral was here. So, despite the circumstances, we were treated to a visit from Thad and Paula. I didn't tell the twins they were coming in case they weren't able to see them. However, as fate would have it, they were wound up from Daddy's later arrival home and still awake when Thad and Paula arrived. Veronica was the first to notice them on the porch and let out a shrill squeal. Thomas hopped up and started running back and
forth. They were super-wound-up! Thomas bounced all over the couple while Veronica ran back
and forth between Mommy and Daddy. We think she was trying to sneak past Thad and Paula who were on the couch. After some time, they decided to bring most of their stuffed animals to Thad and Paula...

Girlfriend!

What a wonderful day! We all stayed in our jammies - all day! Such a fun family day... even breakfast for dinner.

Tonight while the kids were playing tonight, they decided to clean up a game. Thomas was throwing pieces in the box when he told Veronica (with some attitude), "Clean up, Girl!"


After a rambunctious bath, Thomas picked up a book. Veronica followed him and asked, "Read together?" He answered, "OK, Sissy." They hopped on the couch together but got distracted by their notebooks. So, instead of reading they just drew together.

Oh, yeah. And we finally took down the Christmas tree today. Actually, that's early for us. We'll keep the spirit alive with lots of singing of "Frosty," "Rudolph," and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" I'm sure.

Phone Calls and Lunar Landings

Today, Thomas was pointing at me with his fingers crossed. He's been doing it all morning. I've never seen him cross his fingers before. It was the middle and index finger on his left hand.

It reminds me that I haven't seen Veronica cross her fingers in a long time. She used to constantly have ALL of her fingers crossed!

They were playing very nicely together, so I thought I could sneak in a shower. Thomas came to the shower with my cell phone to tell me he was talking to Daddy. Not long later I heard the home phone ring. Veronica had answered it and brought it to me in the shower. Judson called to make sure everything was OK as he didn't know what was going on when Thomas answered the phone, passed the phone to Veronica, and then got it back.

During today's "nap" I heard a lot of singing. I finally went in when the tone changed and both were trying to climb out of the cribs. Two hours into this "nap" they were talking to each other about baby astronauts. (Daddy takes them on flights off the changing table after zipping up their astronaut suits (PJs).) So all that talk made me nervous, but it died down a little when I started hearing about astronaut bears. They got along for the 2 - 2.5 hours they were in there together, but alas, no sleep for Veronica. She sat and read the Hungry Caterpillar with me about 10 times before she had to go check on Thomas. A little later we heard him wake up and I heard a delighted squeal from Veronica, who knew she could go check on him.

It was quite the exciting bath - trains were made, teapots poured, A LOT of laughter!

All was quiet by 8:30 pm... first time in weeks. aahhh...

Superheroes and Princesses

Thomas's new declaration today: "You have [alfa- et, or alba-bet] power!" This comes from the Blue's Room alphabet show. (One of their current favorites that they've learned a lot from, and they say alphabet power.) Even as he was not wanting to sleep tonight and putting up huge protests (not the norm for him - he usually leaves the negotiating to Sissy), he stopped crying after I went in there once and told me (with a giggle), "You have alba-bet power!"

Tonight Veronica picked the Sleeping Beauty Golden book to read. She had a lot of questions about it. When Daddy walked in, she snatched the book out of my hand and said, "Daddy read it!" I've never seen her sit so still and listen to a book with so many words on each page. Ah, a princess in training.

Pampering Mommy

Monday night Judson came home just in time to send me out to paint some pottery. Wednesday he pushed me out the door to go relax again! What a great husband... Not to mention wonderful Dad! The kids have been asking about him a lot - he makes up great games with them. Apparently Veronica and he would order pizzas in the living room - Thomas would go to the kitchen in the playroom, bake one and deliver it. I'm so glad there is so much love in my family!

A Weekend of Visitors

We had a great time seeing some of our favorite people this weekend.

On Saturday morning, Debi and Chloe came by for a visit. The twins were quite thrilled. Chloe didn't know what to think of them at first. She took most of the morning to warm up to them, but seemed to enjoy watching. Finger painting was the first thing to get her moving (and talking!). She did a great job and Thomas and Veronica enjoyed it as well. (Thomas was sure it should taste as good as it looked.)

We enjoyed some lunch followed by birthday cake and ice cream for Debi. The sugar must be a bonding agent, because the three of them didn't need Moms after that. Debi and I enjoyed some quality time until our presence was requested in the playroom to see the train they had all built together.

The train

Debi and Christen 30 years ago?

After a late nap, Mak and Pa showed up. (Unfortunately they had to be in town for Great Aunt Frances York's funeral.) They send Mommy and Daddy out on the town. We got to go to Murphy's Steakhouse and Borders. Ah, the good ol' days. (But I have to admit, the good ol' days only get better!) When we returned, we found out that Veronica had been lining up all the Little People to "sing at church" and that Thomas had "coerced" Grandpa into YouTubing Peter Pan.

Sunday we finally made it back to our home parish, Little Flower. Veronica and Thomas were excited to see "Bob" (our priest) again.

• "What Bob doin'?"
• "Why Bob sit down?"
• "Where the boy (altar server) going? Come back boy!"
• "That man sleepin', Mommy." (Whenever the man behind us would close his eyes to play while kneeling.)
• "Bob doin' the dishes?" (Cleaning up after communion)
• "Light candles!"
• "Cheese! Drink!"

All in all, they were very good. It's great to know they are so inquisitive and interested in the service. The wife of the "man who was sleeping" stopped me after Mass. "My mother was wondering if those are the twins everyone was praying for." When I affirmed this, she had many questions, so I got to tell her all about their beginning. Her mother then scooted over and we introduced ourselves. I was so happy to be able to thank yet another person who's prayers brought my family to the place it is today.

After some yummy French Toast, we all settled in for another nap to prepare for our next visitor... Aunt Peggy! Aunt Peggy had told me my birthday present this year was some time to myself (or alone with Judson). So, Judson and I tried to go to a great Greek restaurant, Santorini's. It was closed on Sunday. Next stop? The Claddaugh - not smoke free! We finally made it to AJ's (Acapulco Joe's). It was a pleasant experience. The place was cleaner than we ever remembered and the staff was great! We enjoyed our meals while reading about Joe's history. He tried to enter the country at least 7 times. Imprisoned once, anyway, which is how he learned that you could enter the country easier if you married a citizen... (He ended up divorced.) We called Aunt Peggy to check in and she graciously insisted we stay out longer. We headed to Starbucks and poured over the East Side Herald together. That is when we discovered that Jim Jones had raised money for a new church by selling MONKEYS door-to-door in Indianapolis!

After all that excitement, we returned home to find Veronica, Peggy, and Thomas all coloring and having a ball!

Here Come the Acrobats!

We were feeling a little claustrophobic today, so we invaded a neighbor's house. We had a good time at Kasey's, but didn't quite settled in a that nap afterward.

After about an hour, I went to check on the chatterboxes (they'd been pleasant). They'd removed the end of the blind and T was CHEWING the inside rod. Chewed the tip of it right off. Looked like he was chewing gum! He spit it out for me.

After an hour and a half, I went in after hearing a thud. Figured V climbed out of bed (since she'd climbed out of her pack-n-play at Mak's yesterday). I was greeted at the door by Thomas... followed by Veronica. I picked up the crying Veronica to console her (yet teach her "that's what you get for climbing out of bed"). All the while, Thomas was doing his football drills trying get around me and out the door. I put them back in bed. Thomas calmed down immediately, and Veronica took a little time to calm down. They did nap 2.5 hours after that though!

Snowed in NV

My parents bought me a massage for my birthday. How wonderful! We scooted ourselves down to NV on Tuesday and the kids stayed with my folks. It was very snowy on Wednesday, so I decided to stay another night! The twins had a lot of fun playing the guitar and signing Jingle Bells.



Thursday afternoon we finally headed home. The kids were exhausted after NOT napping and CLIMBING out of their pack-n-plays. They demanded a snack before we left town and didn't even get to take a bite of it...

Happy Birdie Daddy!

Today was Judson's birthday, but also the first-day-back-to-work-after-the-holiday-and-before-session. So, I wasn't surprised to find out he was extremely busy and wouldn't have time to lunch with us. I baked a cake and took it to him. It seemed to brighten his day. He smiled and took us for a grand tour of the State House (or at least the offices of co-workers). We left him behind to work while we skipped over to the mall for a quick bite and brought him back something.

After work, we decided to go to Olive Garden for dinner. I've never seen the kids quite so excited about food. And believe me, they do get excited about food. They squealed when the hostess brought their high chairs over; made happy comments about all the food being delivered to tables around us; cried "MILK!" when their drinks appeared. They were psyched to get their own plate with some salad on it - and even more thrilled to see spaghetti come their way. All in all a great night!

Daddy, too?

The twins were so thrilled when they learned we were all spending the day together again. With each activity, they'd say, "Daddy, too?"

Kring Christmas

Wes's family came to southern Indiana for the post-New Year's portion of the holiday. So, Gayla & Dave opened their home again for us.

Fortunately, Veronica and Thomas opened up fairly well when they saw their buddies, Madeline, Julia, and Jaclyn. That way they were nice and warmed up when Wes's family arrived.

Brad gave Mikiah pointers on pool in the basement. It was wonderful to see what good friends Kahanna and Katavah are... and how much the younger kids want to be friends with them, too! Haniah was quiet, but he opened up to me with enthusiasm talking about his new Lego set.

We had a fabulous time. It's never quite long enough, but we do have to sleep sometime!

Happy New Near!!

Yes, I spelled that correctly - that is how V&T were ringing in the New Year! We called a few close relatives and let them ring it in with them... around 8pm.



Prior to that they did party most of the day. We went to Carolyn & Robert's house where we were joined with Robert's cousins (and our friends). It was a wonderful day!!