Hail Mary

The best part of this is what you can't see: He's resting on a little kneeler he made for himself out of his step stool and he's placed the Marys ("Crown Mary" and "Bathrobe Mary," as you might remember) on his Learning Tower so they'd be at eye level, like in church.

She's back!

Redhead

It was WARM out today!

Bonding

Cody and I just had one of the most precious nights ever. Cordelia sacked out around 6:30, but Cody had had a long nap, and wasn't nearly ready for bed. So after we got her down, I asked him if he'd like to have some special time, just the two of us. And if so, what he would like to do together. I was betting on Play-Doh, but his answer was immediate and unequivocal: "Vacuum. Because the kitchen is pretty disgusting." Quite true.

So we vacuumed, and then I decided to make eggs for my dinner. He asked if he could join me and have a banana. So we settled in at the coffee table. He was thrilled -- such a novelty to be up late, by himself, snacking in his pajamas. (And for me, such a novelty to have him asking to eat anything at all.) He said sweetly, "Are we having a bedtime snack together? Just us? No Cordelia? No Daddy? I love this banana." After he finished, he clearly didn't want the moment to end, and said hopefully, "Can I have another banana?" We were out, so he settled for half an apple. Then we read a couple of stories on the couch, after which I said it was getting late and about time to go up. He looked appraisingly at me and said, "What if I am still hungry? Could I have another snack?"

Stunned, I said sure. Granola bar? Done. He ate the whole thing. I had one too. As I was brushing the crumbs off his face, he said, "Is it bedtime yet?" When I answered yes, just about, he said thoughtfully, "But...my tummy would really, really like some toast. With butter. Please may I have just one piece of toast with butter please? Or two? It would be my pleasure to share my toast with you." I nearly fell off the couch laughing, and made the toast. When I gave it to him, he said, "Thank you so much for toasting this toast for me. It is delicious. I love it!" I gave him a squeeze, and then this followed:

CJP: Are my manners excellent?

Me: Yes.

CJP: Are they gorgeous?

Me: Yes, I suppose they are.

CJP: Mom? When I get bigger -- maybe when I am three -- can we go to Rome together?

Me: Rome? Yes. Yes, I will take you to Rome.

CJP: And will we see the huge enormous church? Like on Mr. Rogers? And will there be fountains?

Me: Yes. So many fountains! Way more than we will be able to count.

CJP: And will I put my hands in them and splash?

Me: Probably.

CJP: Also when I am three, can I get a surfboard?

Me: Don't push it.

CJP: I will not push it. I would never push my surfboard. It is rude to push.

After awhile, he settled his head against my chest, and said, "Mom? What is this called?" I was confused. He said, "What is this called that we are doing? Is it a bedtime visit? With no Cordelia, and no Daddy? Am I up so late? Is it past my bedtime?" I said yes, it was just special time just for the two of us, called bonding.

He was quiet for a few minutes, then put his little arms around me, kissed my face, and said, "Mom? I love you. All the way to the moon and back. And I really love bonding."

I couldn't ask for a better end to the day.

Superbabies

I'm happy to report both my superbabies are on the mend. It turns out that having 2 sick children makes you 85 times as busy (and tired) as having 2 unsick children, hence the light blogging. Cody is nearly all the way better, and Cordelia is getting there, too. She wound up with an ear infection on top of everything else, and we had to buy a nebulizer to treat her at home. It was just as awful as it looks:

She refused to drink milk for over a week, but we are slowly getting there. She has a few more days of antibiotics and goes for a follow-up tomorrow -- the best birthday present of all for me would be for her to get a clean bill of health!

Cody is back to his boundary-testing, but the shared sickness seems to have had a sweetening effect on him with regard to his baby sister. He now calls her "my sweet babe" all the time, and tells her -- often, and unbidden -- "Little baby, I really like you now! I love you! I love you all the way to the moon and back! You are my favorite friend!"

Now THIS is more like it!

Cody Communications

The other day in the car, Cody launched into a long imaginary story that went something like this:

CJP: Yesterday, Bidi and Patches and Tigger and Tippy and I went to the pool! We had a great time. We took all our water toys and towels and sunglasses and we all got really wet.

Me: That sounds amazing! Especially since it's been so cold! Did you say "Cowabunga" when you got water all over your faces?

CJP, with great seriousness: Mom! Bidi does not have a face.

Me: Oh. Well, that's true.

CJP: Patches does have a face. But it is tiny. He has a little tiny puppy mouth so he cannot eat Five Guys. He can only eat puppy food. And yesterday when we all went to Dunkin' Donuts (we didn't) I shared my munchkins with him but his mouth was too little so he could only eat the crumbs.

Me: That was very kind of you.

CJP: Bidi could not have any munchkins. She does not have a mouth, Mommy. But she can still talk to me and sing to me and help me calm down, Mommy. Bidi does not have a mouth but she can still COMMUNICATE WITH ME!

Me: I don't doubt it for a second, babe.

Cordelia-bird, down for the count

Cody took us up on our entreaties to do a better job of sharing with his sister, and graciously passed on his virus to Cordelia. Unfortunately it hit her much, much harder (which I would have thought hard to imagine). She's had diarrhea, fever, congestion, lots of vomit, which she has been sweet enough to reserve mostly for me, and of course, she can't blow her nose, or talk to us, so it's really been rough on her.

After about 36 hours of no sleep -- she couldn't stop coughing and crying or get comfortable -- we took her to the doctor, where they tested her for several things and determined she has RSV. It's a fairly common respiratory virus, but is extremely rough on babies. She's been absolutely miserable, and has had to undergo nebulizer treatments every 4 hours to help with wheezing, at the hands of Evil Mommy, whose job it is to hold her down and press a mask against her little face for 10 minutes while medicine poofs into her lungs. You can imagine how well that's going, and how much she enjoys it. This is on top of me coming at her every so often with the Nose Bulb of Doom, to which she reacts like I'm attacking her with an ice pick. She had to go back Saturday morning, and will go again tomorrow, so they can check her breathing and hydration (she doesn't really want to eat or drink). Anyway, she's pretty inconsolable unless she's in my arms (especially at night; she likes to sleep sitting straight up on me in her rocker, which seems to help the horrible congestion). I didn't think it was fair to post sick pics of Cody and not of her.

Obviously, she disagrees. Keep them in your prayers! Hopefully week 2 of February will go a little better.

When You're Feeling Crappy...

...It helps to dress like a superhero.

My Little Snot Factory

JVL and I had company in our bed for the first time ever last night. At 9:15, after listening to 3 hours of moaning and whimpering, we finally brought him in. He didn't really sleep much, but being near us seemed to at least soothe him. Also, it turns out he really likes my pillow, so it may no longer be my pillow. Oh well. We're hoping tonight is better, but here's your status update...

We Love You, Aunt Hannah (and Uncle John, we're pretty damn fond of you, too)

Mixed emotions is the only way to describe it. (Well, that and devastation.) Aunt Hannah and Uncle John stayed here all weekend, but departed this morning for their next big adventure...a cross-country move to Denver, where Hannah's dream job awaits her. I'm at once totally bereft and completely thrilled. We had such a great weekend...and Cordelia became particularly bonded to her mama's best friend. : )

Aunt Hannah, the speed bump!

Girl talk!

As for Cody...well, he knew exactly how to pay homage to Hannah:

Cody Plain Sick, Mommy & Daddy Heartsick

Around 2:00 on Sunday morning, JVL and I heard the dreaded, telltale sound of rasping over the monitor...and Cody has been on a downward spiral ever since. Poor sweet bear is as sick as I've ever seen him, and has been alternately weeping and putting on a brave face. He's still too little for us to give him any sort of cough medicine or decongestant, so we are just waiting it out...but the poor darling can't really sleep for coughing, and his nose and eyes have been streaming for 36 hours. We're hoping to keep Cordelia away from it, and in the meantime, have just kind of decided this will be a lost week. Keep little Cody Bear in your thoughts.

My heart is in pieces. He was up and down all night, coughing and crying. We'd get him juice and he would mumble, "Mommy, I just do not feel well. Something just feels so wrong. When will I feel better?" This morning he rested in my arms for more than a half hour, just staring straight ahead. And then finally burst into tears and said, "Mommy, I need you. Please do not let me be sick anymore. Please get me better!"

Oh yeah, and Cordelia began consolidating naps...from three to ONE...and is also sneezing...and my best friend moved away today. Yes. The day is that sucky.

Even Five Guys didn't help.

Car Conversation

Today in the car, on the way home from running a quick errand with Aunt Hannah:

CJP: Mom, can we go to Wegman's for an adventure?

SLL: Um, I don't know, buddy. You're probably going to have to go the bathroom and Wegman's is kind of at time commitment.

CJP: I think we should go. We should take Aunt Hannah with us to see Wegman's. And I will just check out their bathroom, and then we will have some lunch. We will have Wegman's pizza, and then I will pee. After I check out the bathroom first.

SLL: You ok with peeing at Wegman's? (And yes, he has gotten over his fear of public bathrooms, thank goodness.)

CJP: I can do that. Or I will just hold it until I get home. But probably we should have pizza at Wegman's.

We did. And, he did. Twice.

Then on the way home from Wegman's, as he was getting sleepy:

CJP: Mom? Yesterday (his catch-all for anything that happened in the past) Bidi and I went for a walk and saw a moth stuck to the window of the Jeep. (Mom, remember the Dining Room Moth...last MAY?)

SLL: You did? Was it big? Or was it little?

CJP: It was enormous. It was the size of Daddy!

SLL: That's pretty enormous, all right. What color was he?

CJP, without a pause: Lavender.

SLL: A lavender moth?

CJP: Yes. And he had a lot of red hair.

SLL: Wow. What did he say to you?

CJP: He could not talk, Mommy. He does not have a mouth. So he just flapped his wings. And Bidi and I checked on him every day to see if he was still there until he flew away one day! (Pause.) Mom, can you please turn Sarah McLachlan back up?

Cody and Bidi, Then and Now

November 2008...

January 29, 2009...

January 2011 : )

Rockin' Robin

Bird and Bear, Almost Buddies

There's still some definite unrequited love going on here. But it's getting better, with moments of true sweetness.

Here they are at Cody's train table. He likes to construct, she likes to eat.

Note they are both wearing his pajamas.

If you look closely below, you can see Cody in the box. He calls it his ship, and it vies for first place in terms of Christmas presents (tied with train table crane and Mary Poppins doll). I dread the day it falls apart.

He mostly likes to hide from his sister.

Little Bird at 9 Months

Cordelia had her 9-month checkup the first week of January and I'm pleased to report her thighs weigh 22 pounds. The rest of her is the 5 ounces. She's a work of art, and 29 inches long! She was a brave little toaster for her shots, too. Her focus so far this month has been on figuring out how to walk. She mostly just stands -- for minutes on end -- and bounces. It reminds me so much of when Cody was trying so hard to "race" Aunt Hannah but couldn't actually crawl. She doesn't even try to walk, exactly, but it's clear she's pondering the mechanics of it. And anything else that will bring her closer to her brother.

Also, she now says "mama," "dada," and "ba-ba." Today she very distinctly said "COOKIE!" but I'm sure it was a fluke. Funny, though. And she waves hello and goodbye, flaps the "all done!" sign when she's sick of eating, and is working on blowing kisses.

Here's her first little pony-tail. She looks like Pebbles! (Or is it Bam-Bam?)

She's just the most wonderful little girl imaginable. I can't believe she's been here longer than she was inside me. I'm clinging to these last weeks and months of babyhood--she still falls asleep on me at night--but not because she needs to anymore. I just kind of still love it, and it's always a little bittersweet when my arm falls asleep and I move her to her crib.