The hospital is nice!

Only a mother of two young children might think so, but I have to say: the hospital is nice!  Many of you have heard by now that I had an overnight stay this week with possible appendicitis.  Luckily, it turned out to be only an infection, and I'm back home and feeling much better.  But since I had never ever been in the hospital before, I was pleased to discover how competent and kind the nurses and doctors were and how awfully nice it was to have someone else taking care of me.  (It also helped that I wasn't actually very sick.)  It was such a relief to be completely absolved of any responsibility for anyone else.  Now I just need to figure out how to orchestrate that kind of break once in a while in a way that doesn't involve massive abdominal pain.

More things Henry says

The scene: playing legos, after naptime, with Mama on the couch.

Henry: "What's that noise?" Me: "I think that's the guys next door, working on Jean's house." H: "Did they sleep there at Jean's house during naptime?... That's really noisy.  It's going to wake Daddy up!"

A few minutes later:

H: "Mom, you know in the Bad Smeller [a SpongeBob episode actually called Something Smells] Patrick ate the bowl of the stuff SpongeBob had, but we should never do that. We don't eat bowls."  Me: "Yes, that's right, we shouldn't eat bowls."  "Yes, because that's not right.  You don't eat the bowl.  You should never crunch it.  That would make you really sick."

H: "Look at my boat, Mama!"  Me: "Super-duper!"  H: "Remember that time I showed my boat and you were supposed to say Wow, and you didn't say it.  That's not right.  You're supposed to say Wow, Mama, so please remember to do it next time." 

Heirloom overalls

Not such a great view of them, but here Aggie is wearing the overalls that Grandma Ruth made for Jill many moons ago.  Grace kindly passed them on to Agatha.  We will take good care of them in case any other Rauser girl babies come along!  I note that they are ever-so-slightly worn in the knees from when little Jillsy was crawling around in them.  So sweet.

Blowing bubbles

Agatha learned to blow bubbles with her lips today and she did it all day long.  She had a hard time stopping even while eating (as above) or trying to go to sleep.  Tonight I put her in the crib and she just lay there, buzzing her lips and whacking her heels excitedly against the mattress.  By the way, the weird thing she's chewing on in the video above is a dried banana.  I have another video of her from today in which both ends of the banana are sticking out of her mouth as she grunts madly.  She looks (and sounds) like a walrus.  I'm saving that one for future years, when blackmail is necessary.   

Almost heaven, West Virginia

We returned this afternoon from a one-night stand in Berkeley Springs, WV, our favorite woodsy getaway.  It's only 2.5 hours, an easy drive, and feels very far away.  We like to take the waters there (it's an old, old spa resort town) and this time we stayed in a cabin in the state park for the first time.  It was really nice.  Agatha is just the most adaptable, even-tempered baby in the world (says her mother).  She took her naps in the car and slept beautifully in her porta-crib-- only woke once for a feeding during the night.  But there is one thing she doesn't like: the bath!  I knew she didn't like baths at home, but we went in the roman bath there (they fill a deep, tiled tub with hot water and the whole family gets in) and I thought maybe she'd enjoy that more being with us.  But no!  She really doesn't seem to like the feeling of the water.  I sat and nursed her on the step with her feet dangling in, and she tolerated it, but that's all.  

Henry also enjoyed sleeping in a different bed.  But he was still kinda poorly and didn't do so well with the hiking.  There were lovely trails right behind the cabin but we got up a few yards and he pooped out. This photo shows Michael carrying both kids this morning!  I think Henry must be still weak from his cold and stomach flu, because normally he's so physically vigorous, and he's been tired and napping every day.  But also I should consider that maybe he's just not as into the woods as I imagined he would be.  He also showed little interest in roasting marshmallows.  Hmmm.  Is he becoming a city boy, happiest when inside playing legos?  Well, we are planning a longer trip there this summer, so that will be the true test.  Traveling with kids is stressful, but I'm glad we did it because it emboldens me to do it again.  I worry so much about keeping them to their routines, but it's good for me to see that they can be flexible and enjoy a vacation too.  Mostly.  

Cute dress

No one to share the worrying

I've been a single mom the last two days while Michael has been in NYC, and the hardest part isn't the physical strain of caring for two little kids-- you can hire someone or call on friends to help with that.  For real single parents, the hardest part has got to be the worrying.  Henry's still not completely over his mystery illness, and it ebbs and flows enough that I can't decide whether to take him to the doctor or not.  I keep thinking it is improving, and then it seems worse again, and I can't decide what to do.  And there's always Agatha's digestion to worry about.  I'm not really a worrier, but with just me here there's no one who knows the kids and cares about them as much as me.  Dealing alone with the constant, low-level anxiety of being a parent would have to be the hardest part of single parenting.  I'm glad it's only temporary for me! 

Henry or Agatha?

Two of these are Agatha and two are Henry.  Hmmm, can you tell which is which?

Years and years

Things Henry says, part 43:

"Henry, when we get the blinds trimmed at Lowe's it will take a while.  They're slow."  "Are the guys slow or are the machines slow?"  "The machines are slow, but I guess the guys are kind of slow too!"

Also, twice today he said that he hadn't done something "for years and years."  (I wish I could remember the exact sentence!)  And most every conversation begins with "Hey, guess what?" or, "Yeah, but guess what?"  He's also getting the concept of naughty words, although he doesn't really want to be naughty.  He'll say, "Aw, darn it!" and then say, "is that all right to say, Mama?"

He's back!

Henry woke up cool and full of energy this morning, thank goodness.  We had a great day together.  One highlight was a trip to Lowe's while Gran sat with Agatha during her nap.  He loved having just a Mommy and Henry outing.  Plus he got to pick out some pansies and pull the wagon all around the store.  He carefully arranged the pansies in the wagon, handed them to me to pay, and then rearranged them back in the wagon, to the amusement of many onlookers.  As he pulled the wagon out into the parking lot, a grandpa chased him down and gave him a shiny silver dollar, just for being so darn cute and such a good helper to his mom, I guess.  "I just don't know why he did that, Mom!"  But he was quite pleased to put it in his pocket.

Agatha is getting so good with her hands.  She can grab hold tight and then bring most anything carefully to her mouth.  We are now racking our brains all the time for interesting and safe things for her to hold and explore. Tonight Michael gave her a "finger" of my homemade bread (even though some books say to hold off with wheat until a year of age--oh well!).  She loved it-- can grab, gnaw, pass it from hand to hand, chew, and swallow the bread.  It makes for many long minutes of entertainment.  She's also becoming Agatha Clapper, Super-Napper.  She's been napping from 9-11:30 am and 1:30-3:30 pm lately.  This means she's going to bed a bit later, around 7 pm rather than 6, and still waking up at least twice at night and up for good around 5:30 am.  So I am still tired!  But the napping is good for her and makes for good time for me to get work done (during the week) and to spend with Henry.

Urpy

Henry woke up from his nap yesterday with a fever, and then vomited in our bed (yuck!) while watching his movie before bed.  The fever held on all day today, although he didn't puke anymore.  He did manage to eat a little banana and applesauce and a few tater tots.  Our best guess is food poisoning from some dirty raspberries that he ate in the car on the way home from the store, but who knows.  We finally choked some Tylenol down him this evening and hope that he is better in the morning.  So sad!  He is actually so sweet when he's sick like this. Just wants to cuddle and tell us how much he loves us.  But I hope tomorrow he's back to his usual deviltry.  

Sweetie pie

Agatha is such a sweet, good-natured girl.  She generally doesn't take the pacifier, but Mom discovered when she was caring for her that the pacifier was very helpful when Aggie needed to calm herself before sleep.  It's so nice that they have bonded and have their own routines together.  

Deviled eggs

Henry loves the "High Five" magazine that Aunt Grace sends him.  Whenever it arrives he gets so excited.  Yesterday, it came and we read it cover to cover.  We immediately put two activities they illustrated to the test: he made a little loom out of cardboard and string and wove a little mat of ribbons, and he made deviled eggs.  He did a beautiful job with the eggs; this photo shows the delicate and careful sprinkling of fajita spices (I didn't have any paprika!).  When it was time to eat them he put an entire one into his mouth, and after a few chews, decided he didn't really like it.  "I just like the dough, Mama.  Can I lick the bowl?"  Surprisingly, he preferred the yolk and didn't like the whites.  

And now, your moment of zen

Prune juice

Poor Agatha is still not pooping too well.  Today we started her on prune juice at the doctor's suggestion.  Results are pending. 

Henry seems to have bloomed conversationally overnight.  Today he talked nonstop about all sorts of things, using long sentences and phrases like "Emerson's over there having a chat with those boys, but that's against the rules!" and "Mom, we learned about the continents today.  Penguins swim from one continent to another, from the white continent to the brown continent.  The white continent is SO COLD I am freezing if I am there!  But Mom, where do the penguins live most of the time, when they're not swimming?" 

Six months old

Agatha weighs 16 and a half pounds and is 27 inches long at six months of age.  That's about 50% for weight and 75% for height-- a tall, slim girl.  The doc said she is perfect, which we already knew!

Wild thing

Hey, guess what?

Henry starts most conversations with this question these days.  Other questions asked lately include: "Hey, Daddy, what tree can I climb?"  (This precipitated a trip to the park to climb trees before dinner, since there were no suitable trees in our yard.)  And this morning: "Daddy, why are you ironing your pants while you are wearing them?"  Why indeed?

I'm happy to say, after my last sour post, that we had a wonderful weekend of spring weather, a birthday party, many walks and reasonably good sleep.  Here's the photo evidence.  Please note that it was a pajama party, which is why Henry is wearing pajamas.  There is no explanation, however, for why he took off his pj top and put it on over his bottoms.

 

This sucks

It's not all darling anecdotes and smiling babies at the Rauser-Clapper household.  Sometimes being a parent of two little kids really sucks.  I'm so sleep-deprived, and unlike my brother I do not function well on little sleep.  By last evening, I was really tired and ready for bed early.  But when you have two little kids you can't just give yourself a good night's sleep when you really need one-- it's up to the whims of the children.  That lack of control over something as basic as my own sleep really gets to me.  As it happened it went like this: I got in bed before 8 pm.  Aggie woke at 8; I decided not to go in to her, since I had just nursed her and put her down to sleep at 6 pm.  She cried for 15 minutes and then went to sleep.  I was just about asleep when she woke again at 9.  Capitulating, I went in and nursed her.  Back to bed around 9:20, then awakened again at 11.  She cried for just a minute or so-- long enough to wake me up-- and then went back to sleep on her own.  Then she woke at 1 am.  I went in and nursed her; back to bed around 1:30 am.  

At 2:30 am, Henry woke up crying "MAMA," because he had wet his bed-- again.  Last evening I had decided he needed to wear a pull-up diaper at night until he woke up dry several days in a row, because I cannot handle an additional wake-up and freak-out by him when I'm already getting up with Agatha several times a night.  I don't like to discourage him from wearing underwear, but I can't deal with these wet beds all the time.  But at bedtime he talked me out of it-- he really wanted to wear underwear to bed, so I let him.  But at 2:30 I was cursing my own stupidity.  Michael got up and made everything right with him, but I was still awake and now so fried, frazzled, and enraged at the constant wake-ups that I could not go back to sleep.  At 4 am I just decided to get up, to assert some control, because at least if I were awake by choice then I would feel less powerless.  Plus I knew Aggie would be waking up for the day around 5 am anyway, and I have work to do-- I teach my seminar today and still need to finish the reading and make the slide presentation, and the main time I would have to work would be during Aggie's morning nap.  

So here we are at 5:30 am, Aggie and me, with a full day of work and childcare stretching ahead, unprepared for class, and going on 4.5 hours of fractured sleep.

Contrarian

Me: "Would you like some grapenuts?"  Henry: "Yes, I wouldn't."  Me: "That's kind of confusing; do you mean yes, you would or no, you wouldn't?"  Henry: "Yes, I wouldn't."  Me: "Well, you should really say it another way, because I can't understand what you mean."  Henry: "Yes, I shouldn't." 

Super Gran

Mom did great managing the kids for the four days Michael and I were in LA, and I don't think the kids even missed us very much!  I sure missed them, though.  One thing that Aggie really learned in the few days we were gone was how to play-- grab toys, shake them, turn them around, move them.  This morning both kids were sitting and playing near each other for a very sweet, peaceable moment.  

Michael and I were super-busy while we were away, but even so we enjoyed the time together on the plane and in the evenings to talk without interruption and to eat out a couple of times.  But there's no place like home, especially when your babies are there.