The Croup and the Couch

So it's been kind of a rough month for us and I haven't felt much like writing about it.  Here's recap so hopefully we can push past these bumpy weeks.

Drew had his 10-month birthday, so of course Tess insisted a party was in order.  We told her it was just a little birthday, so we only had a little celebration.  We had chocolate ice cream and Tess made Drew a card.

We had a fun zoo day with friends, which sounded like a good idea.  But in retrospect....[insert foreshadowing here].

  Danielle and Tess

 Tess came home and wanted to make her own zoo.

Then Dipsy came for a visit!  Hooray, hooray!  Tess loves her Dispy and I was hoping a fun visit would lighten the mood around here.

We started in on a usual fast-paced Dipsy visit with the mission:  "Find Miriam a new couch!   Pronto!"  Surprisingly, we found something we liked at the first store we visited.  Tess had a meltdown at the store because she would miss her red couch with the holes.  She hid under a coffee table and cried.

That night Tess came down with a 103 degree fever and I knew she had caught the croup from a friend at the zoo.  It kept getting worse and worse until she completely lost her voice and was pretty listless, and we were essentially housebound for the rest of the trip. Not the funnest vacation ever, but I was glad to have Mom to help with the kids because Tess was very sick. 

Hey, that's not a red couch that Tess is passed out on!  We may have been housebound, but that didn't stop us from completing our mission!

One last kids-on-the-red-couch picture.

 A picture for Tess so she can sit on our new couch and look at pictures of the old red couch.  

And here it is!  I keep waiting for a time when the house is all picked up and put neatly away so that I can take a better picture, but that just hasn't happened yet.  I'll let you know when it does.

So Tess was sick a good solid week and we had a lot of downtime.  She's better though, but still tired from being sick.  When she asks to take a nap everyday, I know she's still not 100%.

Kind of sad because this is our FAVORITE time of year.  The days have been golden and beautiful (from what I hear).  We planned activities for the weekend, but instead spent it fighting off one Tess tantrum after another. We were finally able to make cookies late Saturday night.

But Drewie's been sick too.  This is not my usual happy-go-lucky boy.  He's starting to feel better now.  I'm giving us until Monday to get all our grumps out and then we are going to be the shiny-happy Higginbotham family again!

September 2011 Tidbits

Yesterday I was getting dressed when Tess yelled up to me that my cell phone was ringing. I heard the phone, ran downstairs to answer it, but there was no one on the line. "It not your phone, Mom. I was just joking you! It the computer! It sound like your phone!" Apparently, the Sesame Street computer game she was playing made a ringing sound similar to my phone. She thought she was very funny.

While watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse this morning, Tess said, regarding Mickey's dog: "His name is Pluto. Just like the small planet."

Tess' words last night before falling asleep: "Daddy, I'm not sleepy. I can't fall asleep." 
Tess' first words this morning after waking up: "Daddy, I'm not sleepy. I can't fall asleep." (She seemed completely unaware that she had slept for ten hours in the meantime.)

"The hallway is too dark for me to sleep."

"I need someone to sleep with me. I need someone big to sleep with me. I need a big boy or a big girl to sleep with me. The bonk bed won't broke." 

OK, we're done with preschool. She made a card for her teacher that we're going to take tomorrow and then bid our adieus.

Tess told me she didn't want to go to school because she'd be the last one to get her lunch box again. She said they have to sit on the carpet and be called to get their lunch box. I asked her what you have to do to get your name called and she said, "You have to sit on the carpet and do nothing wrong." So I asked what she was doing on the carpet that got her picked last. She said, "My stomach was hurting and I was missing my mommy."

Tess spotted some of our number candles in the pantry and asked what they were for. I told her we used the number 3 candle for her last birthday, when she reminded me that we also used it for my last birthday. 
Tess: "You turned 3, Mom?" 
Me: "Nope, I turned 35."
Tess: "Whoa! That a really big number, Mom. Really big."

"My mommy drink Dr. Pepper every day."

"What if somebody take my mommy when I at school? Then who can be my mommy?"

"What if one of the other mommies take me at school and take me home? They can't do that!"

Tess had a major, howling, hysterical, leg-kicking, hyperventilating, face-scratching conniption fit at preschool Tues. morning. It was ugly. UGLY!!! I had stayed with her the first 45 mins of class, and she was teary and clingy the whole time I was there. When I tried to leave, all hell broke loose. Her teacher tried to pick her up and she started thrashing like a wild animal. I finally took her outside, where continued to freakout. She wanted school, but needed me to stay. I finally told her she had to pick school or home. She said school, so I opened the back door a crack and kind of shoved her in, and her teacher took her into class and I left. When I picked her up, she was all smiles and her teacher said she stopped crying after 5 minutes. 

Out of nowhere, Tess pointed to one of her canine teeth and told me, "Mom, you see? One of my teeth looks like an animal tooth!"

Ryan: "Tess, how do I start Family Home Evening?"
Tess, adopting a deep voice: "Welcome to Family Home Evening." She then adds, referring to my introduction, "It's kinda boring." 

As I helped Tess out of the car after arriving at the restaurant, I said, "Tess, do you want to bring your coloring book to do some coloring before we get our food?" Tess: "That's okay, Dad. I can just talk to you." 

When I shampoo Tess' hair, she loves it when I sculpt her soapy hair so that it sticks straight up on her head like a Kewpie doll. She then admires the reflection of her hair in the tub spout. Her comment last bathtime: "I have temple hair!"

Tess was excited when she saw the "Diary of a Worm" book I picked out for her at the library. "Look, Mom! It say 'Diary of a Wimpy Worm!"

Somehow Drew just completely skipped over the "12 month" size of clothing. Or maybe I just dressed him in too-tight onesies all summer long.

Tess heard me discussing Ryan & Miranda's exciting news on the phone that they're going to have twins. It's funny because when I told our Ry that they were pregnant, he misunderstood and thought I meant they were having twins. Turns out he was right! I told him, "I guess you really are a prophet!" Tess got very excited and said, "Mom--Dad a prophet now?!!!"

Another April Fool's joke idea from Tess: "Mom, you can growl on the phone to Dad and he not know who it is!"

I came downstairs to find Tess peeking out while hiding in the corner behind the couch. When I asked what she was doing, she told me, "I camouflaging! See? My shirt kind red like the couch and you can't see me!"

Tess pointed to the Easter studio photo of her and Drew, in which she was giving a fake, forced smile. Out of nowhere she explained to Ryan: "I have a 'babysitter smile' with bracelets on my teeth. That why I smile like that." Ryan asked what "bracelets" are and she said, "they what babysitters have on their teeth." 

"Mom, you be-member what April Fool's is? It when you take someone's clock and get it a different number they don't know. That funny?"

"Mom, you know sometimes if my underwear's wet I pretend it dry so I get an MM."

It's kind of killing me that I have no idea what Tess is doing for 4 hours when she's at preschool. She's not very forthcoming with details.

Drew + teeth = little sleep. I fear I may never be not tired again.

Sunday morning Tess told me, "Mom, I want 'nother Saturday. I like Saturday cuz it's my favorite. I love to play with my dad."

Today Tess told Ryan: "Lauren say that Jesus' brother make the wind. That funny!" When probed further, Tess didn't know who is Jesus' brother.

Tess was helping me clean out the Nursery closet today. She pointed to the rooms next to the baptismal font: "That not where you go potty. That where you get bat-ized."

Tess: "Dad, you know having two kids is hard 'cause there is only one mommy." 

Drew is an enthusiastic and appreciative eater. He sings a chorus of "M-m-m, m-m-m, u-m-m, o-m-m" throughout his meals.

When I tell Drew "good job" or "good boy," he claps for himself.

"Mom, I don't want Drew to grow up. He's so cute."
Last night Tess told me she was excited to show Dad a small toy I let her pick out at the thrift store. "Mom, Dad going to freak out!"

Scarred

I've ruined my little girl.  

Faces like these are far and few between these days.  The kid is a whiny, crying, nervous wreck.  

I'm trying to return her to a sense of normalcy.  We had Cade over yesterday.  I took them to Chick-fil-a yesterday and we had to leave the playplace after about 10 minutes because she wouldn't stop crying.  She was afraid to go up the tube because she "would miss her mommy."  I gave up and let them curl up on the couch with Curious George at home.

She threw a huge crying fit last night because she didn't want to sleep by herself in her bed.  I had to bring Drew in our room to sleep because she was so loud.  This morning she's been hysterically crying for the past hour because she doesn't want to go to church "after Saturday."  "I want Daddy to stay with me in Primary."  Fine.  She keeps crying.  "I need someone to line up with me."  OK.  She keeps crying.   "No, line up with me AFTER Primary."  Fine.  She keeps crying.  "But I won't feel good cuz my nose is stupped up."  Crying continues.  

At least someone is happy these days.  Well, at least when compared to his sister.  His second top tooth is cutting through and that's a little sensitive.

This is the pumpkin pre-decoupage.  Drewie liked it and he was right.  It did look better before my crafting.

I'm posting the "after" picture for Maur, in case she's really desperate for her pumpkin page.   But I don't want my name associated with it, Maur!

I actually have the orange pumpkin on display.  Because I was going to make TWO of these things!

Weekend

Weekends for us have kind of devolved into tag-team naptime.  Ry and I take turns spelling each other of the kids while the other tries to catch up on sleep.  Tess relishes her time with Dad.  He usually takes her to the park or on a long walk and they often end up getting a smoothie together.

This Saturday, Ry took Tess to a mini golf course at one of the parks by our house.  It's closed for fall and was actually flooded during our recent hurricane. Tess was pretty thrilled when Ry pulled out his golf clubs from when he was kid so they could play the course.

Tess is getting braver at slides and more terrified of everything else.   Every morning she wakes up in tears because "she doesn't want to go to school on another day."

Today she cried all morning because she didn't want to go to church or Primary or her class.  She cried all during Sacrament Meeting because she would miss me in Primary.  Her tummy hurt, she was sick, she was too sleepy, she needed to stay in bed all day long.

Ry had to sit with her for all of singing/sharing time and then help her to class.  She gets nervous about the transition time when they go to class because of all the chaos in the hallway.  "I don't want to line-up after Primary.  It not my favorite.  I get lost!"  She hasn't needed this much help in Primary since the start of the year.

After a tough week, Tess at least got to spend some fun time with her Nana and Papa on Friday.  Nana helped us pick out some fall decorations for our house, pumpkin included.  We are now the proud owners of Tess and Drewsie scarecrows.

If Tess looks a little puffy in this picture, it's because it was taken in between crying fits this morning.  Nothing like a pumpkin to take your mind off your worries.  At least for a little while.