Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sssshhh, Whatever Mum, Oh-no, Uh-oh, Round Up

Sssshhh
A couple Sundays ago, after a weekend of playing outside both days, Lucy and I were winding down after her bath by watching Elmo in Grouchland.
Daddy walked in the room and started talking; Lucy held up her finger in front of her mouth and shushed him!
SSSSHHHHH! she declared
Daddy, a bit stunned, stifled a laugh and kept talking.
DAAddddy! SSSSSSHHH (with finger in front of mouth a second time)

Stiff as a board, limp noodle
Lucy fights me when I try to put her in her car seat....almost everyday
Sometimes only for 5 minutes, sometimes 10 or 15......the record is 32 minutes (give or take)

We have the same routine when I pick her up: I get to Puddle Duck, gather up her things and then retrieve her from her room. She usually lolly gags for a few minutes so she can finish her snack or help the teacher pick up whatever is on the floor or finish the song they were singing...in any case, within a few minutes of my arrival, she is ready to leave. We hug the teachers, wave to our little friends and head to the front door. Lucy leads the way and usually beats me to the door where she waits patiently for me to catch up. Out the door, we open the gate and she reaches up and takes my hand because she knows she does not go beyond the gate without a hand. We stroll over to the car, she knocks on the door to get in, I open the door and she climbs in (as best she can)...this all sounds so peaceful and fun and like a special moment shared between Mother and Daughter right?

Well, as soon as I lift Lucy into the car and try to put her in her seat, she starts screaming. Then, she makes her body go rigid, like a board...then, when she's tired of holding that pose, she throws her head and her arms back and goes limp like a noodle...the whole time screaming blue bloody murder. Then, she'll squirm out of my grip and stand in her seat, throw herself over her seat so she's on the other side of the car from me, jump down into the floor and in general, does everything to get as far away from me the the five feet that is the back seat of my car.....

Its like wrestling an alligator.

I try to pin her down but I'm afraid I'll hurt her. I try to throw the straps over her arms but she someone how manages to get her head in the way and I end up bonking her with the metal buckle....right on the forehead. In the meantime, 5 other sets of parents have come and gone...and couple of them give me an encouraging glance, they've been there with the four year old their hanging onto. Some give me a look like what the hell kind of Mom are you.....those parents are the ones whose kid is still small enough they carry them in and out of day care in their car seat....I used to be that parent wondering what's so hard a bout getting a 25lb kid in her car seat...just throw her in there and call it good.....last time I pass judgement....maybe
Sometimes its only a 5 minute fit, sometimes there is no fit, sometimes it goes on and on and on with no end in sight...those are usually the days I just tackle her, pray I don't leave any bruises and force her into the chair.

I've tried the distraction technique: leaving books or stuffed animals or a toy in the car and bribing her with it...sometimes it works, usually she just uses whatever it is as a weapon.

Sometimes, I try singing her into her chair....

Sometimes I try the hey, we'll do it your way technique...you know, like reverse psychology...yeah, doesn't work.

I'm usually frazzled and totally stressed out by the time I got her in her seat...and if its a drive when she decides to cry the 2.5 miles home/8 minutes home....well, lets just be thankful I'm not operating any heavy machinery.

Anyway, I'm hoping this is only a phase.....that's what Catherine's Mum Liz tells me as she went through it with Catherine who is a year older than Lucy.......I hope she gets over it soon....The new day care, Wonder Years, is 3.1 miles/9 minutes......I'm not sure I can handle an additional .6 miles/1 minute of screaming.......

She rolled her eyes at me
We were in the car one day, I forget where we were going but I turned around and told Lucy to stop what she was doing (kicking the seat and throwing whatever she could get her hands on).
She rolled her eyes at me.....

This past Sunday, I asked Lucy to finish her vegetables, she rolled her eyes at me...again....

Yogurt is good for your skin, and your hair
In a vain attempt to get Lucy to start using her spoon, and to eat yogurt, I have been giving her a container of yogurt a couple times a week - usually at dinner because I know she'll be going straight into the tub.

She starts out with one or two tentative dips in the yogurt with the spoon and licks it off. Then she gets a bit more confident and sticks the spoon in and pulls out a glob of yogurt...78% of it makes it to her mouth, 17% hits the tray of her high seat and 5% lands on the front of her shirt.....the percentage that makes it to her mouth drops drastically with each spoonful. Then, she resorts to just sticking her whole hand in the container and licking the yogurt off her hand. At some point, she will pick the container up and try to drink the yogurt...and when nothing comes out, she gets frustrated and squeezes the container as hard as possible......which results in a geyser of yogurt usually landing on her head or in her eye. And when it lands on her head, she laughs and starts ti rub it...because I showed her how to wash her hair and anytime there is a glob of something on your head it must be shampoo so one must rub massage it into her scalp and through her hair paying close attention to the ends........Good job we have a washer, and a tub...and patience....

OH-NO
For the longest time, everything was Uh-Oh. Now, we've switched to Oh-No which takes on a whole new meaning.

Oh-No is used for when something is not where it should be (ie Elmo is on the couch not perched on the table next to Lucy while she is eating)
Uh-Oh is when Lucy drops something

Oh-No is when a squirrel is spotted under the deck and does not run off no matter how loud daddy yells, stomps and claps at it...and Oh-No is actually chanted in this situation: OHNOOHNOOHNOOHNO
Uh-oh is when Lucy tries to put something somewhere it should not be and it does not fit (ie her shoe in her hippo shape sorter)

Oh-No is used when Mummy or Daddy is trying to strap Lucy into her car seat or high seat and she does not want to go
Uh-oh is when Lucy bonks me in the face as I'm trying to strap her into the car seat

Funny thing is when she says Uh-oh, its sort of under her breath in a quiet voice and she will hold her little hand in front of her face, her open palm over her mouth.
When she says Oh-No it is enunciated and said in a loud confident voice...and she stretches her mouth into an O so her chin sort of drops and her eyes get really big....and sometimes she will hold her hand in front of her face or she will tap her head with both hands at the same time as she says it.....and when she's chanting OHNOOHNOOHNOOHNO, she will often times clap in rhythm with the Oh-Nos

Elmo, Ebby, Ollie, Abbey, Papa, Noni
When Lucy is in the throes of a fit, say when I'm trying to strap her into her car seat, she will scream/chant and cry the following pretty much in this order:
ELMO ELMO ELMO.....oh no.....Ebby, Ebby....OLLLLIEEE, Abbey, Abbey.....oh no..Noni Noni Noni.....PAPA PAPA PAPA, oh no oh no.....

Elmo is, well, we all know Elmo
Ebby is our next door neighbor's dog
Ollie is the next door neighbor;s other dog
Abbey is Abbey Cadabby from Sesame Street
Noni is my Mum
Papa is my Dad

Summer is over
Things have quieted down, summer is officially over and fall is here
The leaves are changing color and the nights are a bit cooler
We're headed to the Big E this weekend in Springfield....its a Fair.....yep, we're making another pass at the fair...it better have Kettle Korn

Soon we'll go apple picking and pick out pumpkins for carving and we'll decorate for Halloween
I love decorating for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

We're still trying to decide what/who Lucy should be for Halloween: Sean says Abbey Caddaby, I say Lord Voldemort

We're finalizing plans for our trip to England

I finished my Christmas Shopping

Sean got his sleep machine thing and has been doing great with it....we're both getting better night's sleep

We haven't caught any more mice but I'm not taking any chances, the traps are still laid

Cooper and Angela came down this weekend for Lego Fest.
Cooper and Uncle Sean went to Lego Fest and took over 200 pictures.
Lucy and I took Auntie Angela to Talbot's and watched her try on over 200 articles of clothing, she bought one.
Lucy adores Cooper and followed him around everywhere

Lucy starts her new day care, The Wonder Years, October 4th, wish her luck

We missed my in-laws anniversary, so a Happy Belated Anniversary to Sue and Colin. May the next year bring you much love, health and happiness....and may the first 44 always be remembered and cherished. See you in a few weeks!

Mama Maria

Friday, September 10, 2010

Kettle Korn, The Bloody French, Corky, and Oscar

Going to the Fair
All I'm going to say about the Fair is this:

No Kettle Korn
We missed the Sheep Dog Trials
Rick Charette and the Bubble Gum Band were playing too late for us
Oh, and Lucy almost ate goat poop

Trip Home
Trip home did not take 8 hours like it did a couple weeks ago, only took 5. We broke it up by stopping at LL Bean in Freeport....where some out of control French Canadian kid popped Lucy in the face while his parents watched. Sean confronted the parents, who had no reaction what-so-ever...Bloody French. So we got some ice from the 1912 Cafe and left LL Bean.

The Wonder Years
We have been at Puddle Duck for almost a year and in that time, Lucy has made some wonderful friends and endeared herself to the Staff......but we have been a bit concerned about the environment of late. Teacher turnover has been high, Lucy's been coming home with her diapers on all haphazardly, teachers complain openly about the work environment and at times about one another....and that's just to name just a few things.
So we made the very difficult and emotional (because it makes me cry every time I think about it because I'm afraid we're doing the wrong thing and I'm ruining her life...which I guess as a parent we'll feel like on more than one occasion....but look, I'm new at this so cut me some slack and let me beat myself up for a little bit longer and work through it because I know in my heart, we are doing the right thing) decision to switch to a new day care...The Wonder Years....first one to make a Corky crack gets a slap upside the head.
So if you happen to think of it on October 4th, say a little prayer for Lucy at her new Day Care.


Mice
Only caught one, but the traps are still set, I'm not taking any chances

Grouchland
No, we're not talking about me...though we could be because I had a four day grumpy spell....Sean introduced Lucy to Elmo in Grouchland....see Elmo's blanket accidentally ended up in Oscar's can, Elmo went in to retrieve it and somehow opened a door that threw him down a tunnel (which looked like an acid trip) that landed him in Grouchland....and Elmo is trying to find his blanket...I have no idea how it ends (I'm assuming happily) as Lucy of course does not have the stamina to make it through an entire movie yet but it is great fun watching her react to what she sees.
And its been a learning experience because she can now say Oscar.

That's it for now, I'm too emotionally spent to keep writing or even make an attempt at  being witty and funny.......maybe Sunday evening as I'm sure we'll have great fun this weekend....we're going to see my cousin De who I'm terribly excited to "get to know" and I'm sure at some point, there will be a trip to a toy store because I feel terrible about taking Lucy out of her Day Care and I need to compensate...and that is not spoiling her because she is not even asking for anything so just let me do it with no judgement ok? Great, thanks....told you I was grumpy!!!!

Maria, the Mama (because that's what Lucy calls me, that's my handle now!)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

JC, AFF, Chim Chiminey, Throw Up and Mice

I've been working on this blog for a few days now...it just seems every time I sit down to work on it, I get distracted, interrupted and sometimes, lose interest....I think I lose interest because I write too much....I'm a talker....how annoying...see, this is why I can’t fulfill my dream of being a writer; I talk too much, have no direction, and get bored way too easily (so character development is out and I’m pretty sure that's key to writing)

Earl, JC and his Dad
Anyway, I left off on with Mikel's Wedding - that was back on August 21st.

Last night, Lucy awoke in the middle of the night and as I was cuddling her (waiting for her to fall back asleep) I started to worry about my little sister. Not because she's married but because she's in Hawaii on her honeymoon and is supposed to get on a plane tomorrow to come home but this Earl guy could make it difficult for her to land in Boston. Hey! Earl! Leave my sister alone! Don't touch my sister!

Not sure why I got all worried and worked up about it; probably because I haven't been to Church for a few weeks (try keeping Lucy quiet and in her pew for an hour some Sunday morning). I think it’s because I miss Church (notice I said miss and not missed; big difference) And no, I'm not a Jesus freak who is about to start preaching about going to church to save your soul from the devil....but I am a big fan and go to Church because I like to and because I need to - and if that offends, well, look deeper within yourself because it really should not.

My point is, I miss my pal JC and his Dad - I really need to get back....I guess I did not realize how much my time spent with them grounds me...

No can do, Richard's in Australia
Awhile back, Sean’s boss went to Australia. We were trying to plan a couple days off (or days we could leave early) to get some things done including a couple doctor's appointment. But every time we tried to do or schedule something, Sean would say, No can do, Richard will be in Australia. So for a few weeks, every time someone asked me to do something (Sean, a friend, someone at work) I would say Geez, no sorry, no can do; Richard will be in Australia.

No one thought it was funny but Sean....

I busted out with that line this morning when someone came in and asked me if I could do something for him. I looked at him, paused for a moment and said, No, uh uh, no can do...Richard's in Australia.
My co-worker looked at me all pissed off and said Well when the hell is he coming back?!? He's been there for like a month now...

This portion of my blog below was started Sunday, it was, at one point, 5 pages...but I whittled it down because frankly, I could have kept going and never ended.....

We've never Bonded
A couple weeks ago, Sean informed me Lucy did not like him....that they had never bonded or connected and that he was second fiddle to me....all because Lucy would not let him hold her that night as we were trying to put her to bed. So I tried to empathize with him but he kept yammering on about how she did not like him. I said honey, what makes you think that? He responds by telling me that for the past few days, Lucy only wanted me. Yes, I say, and for the week before that, she only wanted you. Babies go through phases Sean…and she have been through Mummy phases, Daddy phases and remember that week she did not want either of us, she only wanted Elmo? It did not make him feel better so I let him work through it….

First thing out of Lucy's mouth the next morning? "Daddy!" As she gave him a big grin and giggle and reached up for him....but no, they've never bonded or connected.

Papa and Noni
I forgot to mention in my last blog that Lucy can now say Papa (my Dad) and Noni (my Mum)
And now, she will randomly yell out "PAAAPAAA! NONN-NI!"
Funny thing is, when she yells Papa, her voice gets deep, when she yells Noni, she goes all high pitched

Time to get your Folk on
The American Folk Festival was on up in Maine this past weekend. It started Friday, August 27 and ended yesterday, the 29th. As I blogged last year, and as many of you already know, Sean goes up every year to lend his time and muscle (he is way stronger than he looks, and I’m being totally serious). It’s been a family affair for a number of years (Dad, Sean, Felicia, Teresa all working; Mum and various other offspring attending only because Dad could score us movie star parking and free food)

Usually, we both (and now all three) go up…Sean takes the bus up on Tuesday so he can work Wednesday through Sunday and I would follow up Thursday night or Friday morning...all so I could get there for the opening ceremonies on Friday because it’s a Parade and I love Parades…and I love blueberry smoothies and Kettle Korn which we all know, always taste best at a Festival/Fair...I pretty much go for the Parade, the Smoothie and the Kettle Korn.....and if I catch an act or two great...but I am not one of those people who can camp out for the day or drag my chair from stage to stage knocking over old people and kids as I bum rush the stage in hopes of getting my picture snapped and ending up in the BDN (Bangor Daily News) while wearing Birkenstocks, a prairie skirt, and a tunic top...not that there’s anything wrong with that.

We decided this year Lucy and I would skip the Festival...we had a tough drive back from the Wedding and are planning to go back up Labor Day Weekend for the Blue Hill Fair so we did not think three weekends in the car was fair to Lucy - for the first time since 2003, I skipped the Folk Festival....Sean may want to correct me and say Maria, we started dating in 2005, that was our first festival..Yes Sean, it was but I did do stuff before I met you.....and yes, I love you and stuff is way better now that you are in my life

So Sean heads up Tuesday and Lucy and I were on our own from Tuesday night to Sunday.

Tuesday
Tough day at the office….I was behind from being off the week before and it seemed everything I touched went to shit…I could not wait to get home and go to bed early. But as with most couples, I could not sleep without my husband and stayed up way too late watching TV. Watched a couple crappy police dramas....which led me to being convinced at one point there was someone on the back porch...turns out it was my own reflection....I may have a slight case of paranoia especially when I'm home alone

At bedtime, Lucy and I were in her room reading books…every few minutes, she would run to the door, stick her head out and look left and right while yelling for Daddy….terribly endearing but also slightly heartbreaking.

Lucy wakes up crying three times during the night, neither of us slept well

Wednesday
Rain all day...cold, drizzly rain (I hate it when people describe rain as wet....) that soaks you even though you can barely see it coming down

After dinner, we're about to head upstairs for a bath when I hear this metallic sound, like something vibrating. So I walk into the living room and look at the heating registers because sometimes, Lucy drops her toys in there...but then I'm thinking why would the heat be kicking on?

And just as I think that, I hear this loud grinding noise that turns into an even louder booming noise which then morphs into a buzz....I throw open the basement door and the sound gets louder.

I run down over the stairs, throw open the door to the laundry/utility room and see smoke.
Double time back up the stairs, grab Lucy, the phone, my car keys and turn off the emergency oil switch. And of course it’s the one night my two next door neighbors (the ones I would call if I needed anything) are not home...so I call my husband...I know I know, rookie mistake but I was panicked.

He says call John the Oil Guy....right I say as I happened to grab the magnet off the fridge with his number. So I call John and he can tell by my voice that I'm.......scared....yep, I was scared, no problem admitting that! So he says throw the emergency off switch (I did I told him) and tells me that Frank the Oil Burner Guy will be right over.

I look in the basement window, no flames so I know it’s safe to go back in...At the same time, I look on the ground and see pieces of the fan blades from the chimney...

We have oil heat and when new homes were built with oil heat, especially town houses as we live in, the builders, to save a few thousand dollars, did not install old fashion chimneys; instead, they put in motorized chimneys. When we had the oil burner serviced in February, Frank said the chimney would need to be replaced sooner than later......sooner had just arrived.

Frank arrives within half an hour, assures me we are safe in the house and says he can replace the chimney Thursday but I have to move everything out of the utility room.....so at 10pm, I'm in the basement wrestling with the storage shelf, tool boxes, storage bins and a Christmas tree stand. Oh, and then I have to move the stupid dumb elliptical out of the way of the bulk head door so he can get in and out. I swore a lot while moving everything

Lucy wakes up 4 times during the night...........

Thursday
Frank calls me, we have a new chimney and our bank account balance is substantially lower than what it was 24 hours ago….someone remind me why we bought a house?

Pick Lucy up from Puddle Duck and all the way home, she is calling out for her Daddy. We get home and it’s the first nice day all week and all the neighborhood kids are out. We stay outside and play for a bit but the kids only distract her for so long before she starts looking and yelling for Daddy.

We have dinner and I drop her to the floor to play for a bit while I finish cleaning up our dinner dishes. She was in the living room playing when all of a sudden, I hear her come running into the kitchen and she stops short in front of the refrigerator. She starts pointing at pictures of Sean calling out Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. She stands on her tippy toes and grabs one of the pictures that is encased in a plastic magnetic frame, clutches it to her chest and starts crying. Then, I swear this is all true, she puts her right arm up on the refrigerator leans into it resting her forehead on her arm and start sobbing while calling for her Dad…..Daddy, Daddy, DAAADDDYYY.

I’m at the sink doing the dishes trying really hard not to laugh because for all her pain, this is actually quite funny. I kneel down next to her; Oh, Lucy, honey, it’s okay. Daddy will be home soon (yeah right, not for another 3 days, who are we kidding, I miss him too)

She picks her head up, looks at me with crocodile tears falling down her face and wails; Daaadeee! Punctuated with a sob and throws her head back onto her arm. At the same time, she stomps her left foot and holds up the picture she pulled off the refrigerator.

So I scoop her up and snuggle her and carry her up for her bath. She held onto the photo right up until I dropped her in the tub at which point, she set it on the shelf in the bathroom ....in her line of vision from the tub! She took said photo to bed with her….

Lucy only wakes up once....but I'm tossing and turning worrying about money because that's what I do - and I miss Sean.

Friday
Lucy wakes me up at 5am. She's crying and when I go in her room, it appears that she has been sick, little bit of throw up in her bed, more in her hair. I clean her up and take her into my room with me for a half an hour snuggle before I have to get in the shower.

Lucy seems ok though she does not really eat much of her breakfast.....which is not entirely unusually…she’s never been good about eating first thing in the morning and often times ends up having breakfast at Puddle Duck.

I get to Puddle Duck and tell Cheryl that Lucy did not eat much breakfast and notice a sign that says there is a stomach virus going around the infant room.....for a split second, I consider taking Lucy home because she may have said virus…..but she has none of the other symptoms and it could have just been a fluke she threw up, right?

At noon, I get a call that Lucy is running a low fever, is lethargic and she is burping which smells like rotten eggs. Crap.

So I pick Lucy up from Puddle Duck and we head home….within minutes of being in the house, she throws up on me....I clean her up, change my clothes and we snuggle on the couch. Lucy burps and I pick her up and head for the bathroom a mere 15 feet away, but she throws up on me again. So we clean her up, I change and we sit on the floor in her bedroom for a bit just relaxing.

I decide I should take all her animals out of her crib and line it with two towels so if she is sick in the night, I can just drop the towel in the wash. As I’m doing that, Lucy….well, Lucy’s bum explodes. Poor kid…..it’s coming from both ends. So we get a clean diaper, another dip in the tub and this time, I leave her naked (diaper only) mainly because I’m running out of clean PJs

Once Lucy has calmed down, I take her downstairs and make her some rice and toast for dinner
She gulps her water and plays with the rice and eats a couple pieces of the toast…but really just wants to be held.

I’m standing in front of her chair, between the kitchen table and 5 feet from the sink when Lucy starts to cry…and then opens her mouth and throws up all over the front of me. She throws up so much that it drenches me and pools on the floor….I move towards the sink and she throws up again …it hits the floor and I slip in it.

So there’s throw up in my shirt, on my shirt, on my pants, on my face, in between my toes, all over Lucy’s face and tummy….she rubs her face and then throws her hands around my neck burying her hands, covered in throw up, in my hair. Back upstairs, back in the tub, serious snuggle time.

She finally falls asleep and I lay her in her crib and go downstairs to clean up the kitchen floor
I walk down to the kitchen and flick on the light to see a mouse eating her throw up. I jump up on the chair screaming like a 6 year old in a fun house, grab the broom and start whacking at the mouse…then whacking the counters and cupboards hoping to scare it away. He ran towards me, he turned around, ducked under the sink, popped back out, ran under the fridge and popped back out again finally disappearing under the sink. I hate mice. So I call Sean, screaming like a sissy because the stupid mouse kept popping his head back up. Sean laughed at me

Lucy was up and down all night - I think we slept for maybe two hours

Saturday
Lucy spent the whole day in my arms...and in between bouts of being throwing up on both of us and having diarrhea, she whimpers and naps. I get her to eat a bit and make sure she drinks lots of water, but she is miserable.

Around 5pm, Lucy has a nice long bath...I put clean clothes on her and we open the back door to get some air. I need to empty the trash so we step outside - Pat is out with the dogs, Lucy smiles for the first time since Thursday! We play with the dogs for about an hour - Lucy seems to being feeling better and I have hope.

Until I walk back into the house and realize it looks like a bomb went off.....there’s laundry piled up in the basement and on the first floor. Toys are strewn all over the place as I just kept pulling them out in an attempt to amuse Lucy. My work bag and lunch are still on the floor where I dropped them Friday afternoon and there are dirty dishes in the sink and the dishwasher is full....and then Lucy throws up...and I see two more mice...and Lucy has diarrhea, and throws up one more time.

I call Sean and beg him to come home as early as possible Sunday morning because I am a bit overwhelmed and on the edge.....

Lucy is up and down throughout the night.....and I'm tired...my nerves are shot and I'm convinced there are mice everywhere in the house...I even wear my slippers to bed so I don’t step on one or one does not take up residence in my slippers.....

Sunday
Lucy wakes me up by calling DAAADDDY. I walk in her room and she is standing in the middle of her crib holding Elmo and the picture she brought up earlier in the week. She has a big old grin on her face and starts bouncing up and down when she sees me...

Daddy will be home today I say
She claps and giggles.

Clean diaper, breakfast, we play...she takes a morning nap! I take a quick shower (FINALLY) and get a couple loads of laundry done

She wakes up, is bright eyed and bushy tailed...she's laughing and chattering and doesn’t fight with me when I lay her down to change her diaper and I dress her in proper outfit (figure we should make an effort to dress her up for Daddy...I mean she's been in nothing but a diaper and throw up since Friday)

I toss her in her chair for some lunch and as she's eating, in walks Daddy! Had you seen her face, you would have thought it was Santa Claus who walked through the door - she shrieked with delight, held her hands out for him and started chanting.....Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy!

But no, they've never bonded or connected

I'm relieved Sean is home and immediately demand he takes us out as we have not left the house for two days. We hang out at PetSmart for an hour watching the dogs and then go to Target for mouse traps (my dad sent 4 home with Sean, we bought 8 more. I tried to get him to buy poison and 20 traps but he suggested that was bit of over kill....and here I thought that’s what we were looking for! We get home and Sean lays 12 traps....I still think we should have more but he tells me to have patience

I finish the laundry, Lucy has dinner and a bath and I am so glad we are all together again....until we go to bed and Sean keeps me up with his snoring....and just as I fall asleep, Lucy wakes up screaming.....and we settle her...and just as I fall asleep, Sean snores so loudly it startles me and I jump up from the bed and then Lucy starts crying.....
And I'm still tired

Monday
Crazy day at work...I mean it’s out of control and I'm a bit frazzled.....admin is out sick, we have a new person who is still being trained and I’m trying to work on our insurance renewal...and nothing is working as it should be

I pick Lucy up from Puddle Duck and she is borderline cranky - they tell me she was fussing all afternoon. We get home and play outside for a bit but as soon as Daddy gets home, we go in for dinner

Sean finds one dead mouse and resets traps...after he tried to get me to identify the body (jerk)

Lucy gets a bath, we eat dinner, I finish laundry, we sit down together and watch a TV show and then decide to have an early night...we go to bed.....

Sean falls asleep first ...and starts snoring.....bad.... and then he stops breathing, I jab him, he catches his breath, and starts snoring again.......

Yes, he does have sleep apnea, diagnosed back in June and yes, he is getting one of those mask machines to sleep with but no, we don’t have it yet.......

I'm so tired I want to scream. I could go to the spare room and sleep but it’s hot and there is no ceiling fan in there....Sean is still snoring, I start reading

I just about fall asleep when Lucy starts crying

I go get her - she is screaming blue bloody murder. I am too tired to play the "let her cry it out" game

We go on the second bedroom and lay down together (please, do not pass judgment on me for letting her sleep in the bed with me until you have walked in my shoes over the week I just had!)

She tosses and turns and cries...and finally falls asleep....I watch her for a few minutes...she really is breathtaking and I helped make her.

I start to drift off to sleep when all of a sudden, I hear this deafening guttural snort...are you effing kidding me?!?!? I CAN HEAR HIM SNORING IN HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wake up exhausted

Tuesday
Sean sends me an email and asks me of he had a lot of apnea episodes the night before as he’s really tired....if I could have gone through the computer and slapped him, I would have
I ignore said email

Quiet night at home....oh, except Lucy fell head first into the bath tub. She was leaning over it as Sean filled it running her hands under the water and she leaned a little too far...Sean caught her by the foot inches from her face hitting the bottom of the tub...he pulled her up and she was laughing.....

Wednesday
Lucy woke up all out of sorts.....tugging her ear, but no drainage...crying while she was eating and drinking...Sean said I bet she’s cutting a back tooth...I agree and he takes her to school leaving a note telling them we think she is cutting a tooth, please use teething tablets and Motrin (which we have left at Puddle Duck) if need be

I get a phone call at 11:30am telling me she has been crying all morning and is just not happy. And has a slight fever...did you give her teething tablets and Motrin? Not yet...just wanted to let you know if she does not get better, you have to come get her. Ok, I say, I understand. But how about you give her the teething tablets and Motrin and let her have her nap and see how she does. Right, okay, yeah, we should do that
I pick her up at 5:15pm and they tell me she had a blast in the afternoon...full of energy, lots laughs...dopes

Auntie Dodo and Ba (Donna and Robin) came over for dinner.

Sean cooked perfect chicken on the grill, and we served it with salad and corn on the cob...good food, lots of laughs, great company. These two sisters are like the Golden Girls (Dorothy and Rose for those of you wondering) We're very fortunate to have them in our lives.....

So now you are up to speed:
I worry about things out of my control
I miss JC and his Dad
Sean went to the AFF
Chimney blew up
Lucy was sick and threw up a lot
We have mice
Sean snores and
We have really good friends

We're headed up to Maine for the Labor Day Weekend
We'll take Lucy to the Blue Hill Fair where she can see all kinds of animals, the Sheep Dog Trails and hopefully, Rick Charette and the Bubble Gum band

I just want a bag of Kettle Korn........and a quiet night's sleep............

Maria, the Mum