Two weeks later, last Wednesday, I get a call from daycare that Harper had an injury they wanted me to come take a look at.  That call was worse than the fever calls I had grown accustomed to.  Luckily it was an institute day, so I was pretty much able to just take off.  Harper had tripped into a chair and bit through her bottom lip.  By the time I got there (about 10 minutes after it happened), it had nearly stopped bleeding.  I was able to get her in to see the dr who said it looked like a pretty clean cut, so no stitches or glue needed, just some preventative antibiotics.  It really never slowed her down much, and it’s been healing nicely.  I don’t even think she’ll have a scar!  The downside is that she had an allergic reaction to this antibiotic (the pharmacist warned me 6% of people allergic to penicillin do) so we were back to the dr. again.

Both girls are continuing to amaze me with their growth.  Harper’s has been more language related.  It continues to crack me up with surprise when she says new words for the first time, which seems to be a nearly daily basis.  Over the weekend, we went in to school so Ed could help me copy all my computer documents onto a flash drive.  Ella of course needed to use the restroom, which is at the opposite end of my hall.  On the way back, Ella had gotten considerably ahead of Harper and me, so I picked up Harper, and I swear when I did so, she told me to run!  So I did, and she giggled all the way down the hall!

Ella is getting so independent and helpful!  Yesterday morning Harper and I were getting dressed upstairs while Ella was downstairs watching TV.  I threw Ella’s clothes down, and she got herself dressed all by herself!  When we left to pick up some groceries, Ella noticed we had left all the balls out in the yard earlier.  I asked if she could get them picked up while I was buckling Harper into her seat.  And she did!!

She’s been saying some funny/sweet things too.  We drove by our old house, and I expressed sadness that my cone flowers and black eyed susans were gone.  ”That’s okay, Mommy,” she said, “You can plant more when we live there again.”  Yesterday she was talking about rainbows; “I love rainbows…they fill my heart with beautiful colors.”  Aww…my sweet girl.

And this:  Ella noticed there was a hole in the screen in one of the windows and asked Ed what happened.  He said one of the boys who used to live here probably did it.  Later Ella asked Ed to read her a book…the cover got torn off over a year ago, but she really likes the story, so we’ve kept it.  She asked Ed what happened to the cover.  He answered that she probably ripped it on accident.  ”No,” she replied, “I think it was the boys who used to live here.”

We’ve been trying to spend some time outside with this nice spring/summer weather.  The girls and I planted some flowers and Ella loves to help water.  We go for lots of walks and are loving having the swing set in the back yard.  We’ve even been to the pool a few times too.  Looking forward to doing a lot more of that now that we are on summer break!!

And hopefully with summer here, I’ll get back on track with more regular updates!!

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• Ella and Harper have been taking swim lessons at the Y.  Ella started the preschool class, so she’s in the water by herself (well, without me!).  There’s about 12 kids and 3 teachers, and I’ve been quite impressed.  They do a nice job sorting the kids depending on their abilities and a nice job teaching swim and life-saving/help-seeking skills.  Ella’s been working on things like the side stroke, floating, and diving.  Having Ella in the preschool class has freed me up to take Harper to the parent-child class.  She was pretty unsure at first (the difference between starting at 14 months instead of 6?) but has been getting more and more comfortable each time.
• Harper had her one year check up at the developmental center.  Their only concern is that she’s still a bit small.  They are having us put carnation instant breakfast into one of her milk servings and making sure we do our best to give her healthy fats…lots of butter, peanut butter, full calorie things.  I do think she is looking bigger already…she has a check up with her pediatrician in a few days…we’ll see if she’s gained anything!  Otherwise she’s doing great…above expectations in things like gross motor and receptive language.  She is talking quite a bit…her favorite word seems to be “down” (as in “put me down”…and yet last night I had to make an entire casserole with one hand because she refused to be put down…go figure), but is also saying more (reserved for foods like ice cream), drink, and this (as in “I want this” or “what’s this?”).  She’s also working on animal sounds.  We were quite impressed how quickly she got quack-quack down for the bathtub duck…a little less so when she made the same noise for our neighbor’s cat.
• I had another book club meeting.  This month I picked Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close (is that even the right title?  I always get the adjectives mixed around) and I loved it.  Some people were frustrated with the boy’s thoughts that seem to run together, but I thought it was great.  I enjoyed his thoughts and felt like they were all they for a reason.  I loved the way the plot evolved and pulled together.  I loved the change in font and color and the illustrations.  I thought the theme/message was powerful.  Best book I’ve read in a long time!  (On a side note…I almost missed book club this month.  I had it on the calendar for the following week…got back in the car from my yoga class…and saw a missed text and call from one of the girls…shoot!  Yoga class is actually right across the street from where we meet for book club.  I arrived 15 minutes late to the meeting I was supposed to “host” with no book, no dessert, and in yoga attire, but it was still fun).
• Ed’s still been busy with his CNC machine.  He partnered up with a company called Inventables, which is going to be taking over the kit sales.  We are hoping this will free up more of his time in the long run, but it has taken some extra time this month getting ready for the switch-over.  He’s also been pretty popular in the tech (he calls it ‘Maker‘) community, having several articles about him published this week.  After reading them, I finally have a clue of what he’s been doing in the basement/garage all these years!
• We got a swing set!  We had wondered some about a swing set last year but never got one.  A few weeks ago I saw one in a Toys R Us catalog that seemed like it would fit nicely in our yard while still having all the things I thought the girls would enjoy…swings, glider, slide, fort…so we bought it!  Ed and a few friends/coworkers/family put it together last Saturday, and the girls have been loving it since!

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Things have been busy; I’ve joined a book club.  Most of the other members are moms with young kids, so it’s a nice group to meet up with on a regular basis.  Our first book was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lackes. Have any of you read it?  I don’t know if it’s one I would have picked to read myself, but I enjoyed it, mostly because I couldn’t decide what to think of her situation.  It made for good discussion.  Meeting at the wine bar helped with that too.

We’ve been sick; took Harper to the doctor three Mondays in a row.  Started to feel a little self-conscious but got a diagnosis with new meds each time.  First was a cold that settled in her eyes.  Antibiotic and eye drops.  A week later broke out in hives.  Allergy to the antibiotic.  Prednisone and benedryl.  Next week ear infection.  New antibiotic and ear drops.  Made it through last Monday with out a doctor visit, but she did have an eye appointment (check up due to her prematurity) on Saturday, and we have an ear check next Monday.  The week after that we have her one year neonatal follow up visit (that was previously scheduled for the day her ear infection was diognosed!).  What’s that…six appointments in six weeks?!

I’ve managed to catch something as well.  I’ve been on meds for a sinus infection, which I think has cleared, but I’ve still been feeling really run down.  I’m hoping one of these days I’ll get some energy back.

Our biggest event this month was Ella’s third birthday!!!  We celebrated with the grandparents at Angelo’s.  Ella had been wanting to eat there with “everyone” ever since the lot had been cleared last summer.  Every time we’d drive by and note the progress, Ella would mention how she’d like to eat there.  We had a great dinner (Grandpa Ford did a great job keeping Harper entertained!), then came back home for cake and presents.

Ella has become a bit enamored with princesses, so I caved and found her a Princess Belle cake.  Harper must have both grandpas wrapped around her finger.  At one point we all noticed she had a grandpa on each side of her…one feeding her bits of cake, the other sips of milk.  She was pretty content!

Two days later we rented out Fun Jump for a private party with friends.  I had wondered if it was a bit over the top, but I’m really glad we had the place to ourselves.  We didn’t have to worry about “big” kids and even didn’t have to worry too much about our kids, because we knew everyone there!  I think the adults had a nice time too…without being overly worried about the kids, we had a chance to visit while they all played.  It was pretty stress-free for me too…Grandma Kathie took care of the cake and Fun Jump really did the rest.  It was fun.

Now that Ella’s three, she’s started big kid swim lessons.  She was a little uncertain for the first few minutes, but once she got in the water with her teachers, she did great!  Now that Ella’s in big kid swim, Harper gets to start parent-tot classes.  I was a little worried about her (her first class will be Saturday), but the way she’s been floating and swimming in the tub (big grin and all), I think she’ll do great!

I think that’s our month in a nutshell…Happy Leap Year!

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On Jan. 2, Ed and I took the girls to the Museum of Science and Industry.  Besides our friend who was going to meet us there getting sick, everything went eerily perfectly!  Traffic on the way there was light, and I had bought tickets on line the night before, which was a little more expensive but saved us from waiting in line at all.  We were able to walk right into the Dr. Seuss exhibit (there was a line on our way out), and I saw as we were leaving that the exhibit actually ended up selling out.  Even though exhibits with kids don’t leave much time for reading or getting the ‘full’ experience, I’m happy we were able to see it, and had a really great overall family experience!  I hadn’t been there in a really long time, but was super impressed.  Lots of fun things to look at and explore.  We definitely hope to head back sometime soon!

Harper’s actual birthday was fairly low key.  I made tuna casserole for dinner because I remember that being one of Ella’s first favorite dinners.  Harper ate it well; we even have a picture of her licking the plate!  It may have been the turning point of her eating table food…I’m not sure that she’s eaten baby food since then.  We had little cupcakes for dessert, which she seemed to enjoy as well!

Saturday we had a bigger party with local family and friends.  She had a pink elephant theme, and again, seemed to have a good time having everyone over to celebrate.  It did wear her out there…she was so tired she could barely make it through gift opening (lucking big sister and cousins were more than happy to help!).

It’s pretty unbelievable to think of that little girl turning one year.  When I allow myself, I can still see her so clearly as a 4 lb. baby in the NICU, hooked up to tubes and wires.  I know we were lucky that she was pretty much there simply to get bigger and learn how to eat, and I continue to feel lucky that I don’t think you’d ever know of her beginning just by looking at her.  She’s got pudgy cheeks and pudgy legs, a mouthful of teeth, bright blue eyes…she’s climbing stairs, balancing, taking tentative steps, and starting to talk!  She says Ella (pretty sure that was her first word!), hi, Bob, dog, and ball (which also works for balloon!). I love seeing how her personality is developing and how she’s becoming even more of a little person.  Yep, that girl is pretty unbelievable!

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We had several good celebrations.  It started mid-December with the Keller Family, followed by extended Prindaville family, immediate Prindaville family, Christmas Eve at our house with my parents and Ford family, and a super relaxing Christmas Day with G&G Ford and Grandma M.

Ella and Harper received a play kitchen, which has gotten a lot of use already!  It was all both girls had eyes for for about the first 10 minutes of Christmas morning!  They opened some Santa presents, but it took awhile since Ella wanted to open and play with each gift immediately after opening it.  Grandparents arrived about 10 for brunch and more presents.  We spent the day just hanging out; had time to play, watch a movie, and skype with Aunt Becca and Uncle Jake!  Aunt Deb and Aunt Barb came over for a laid back Christmas dinner…had early visions of dining on our china but with all the Christmas clutter, just couldn’t bring myself to get it out.  We ate off the Corell instead (but it still tasted pretty good!).

Today Ed took Ella out for a bit, and I had about two hours during Harper’s nap to try to restore the house to somewhat normalcy.   I cleaned up and sorted through toys,  packing some up to donate to make room for the new stuff and putting it all away.  That left me feeling better!  I had time to go for walk and truly appreciate the best gift of all…time with family and friends!

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I had Wednesday off, so the girls and I met some friends at Burger King play area for breakfast.  We attempted some Christmas shopping afterwards, but I think that was a bit over-ambitious on my part.  It didn’t go all that well; we ended up making just one purchase, then met Grandma M. for lunch at Arthurs!  Harper has been starting to sit at restaurant high chairs (after a thorough sanitization), which she gets a big kick out of.  At our last restaurant meal, she passed the time waving and blowing kisses to the waiter!  That night we were supposed to go out for Becca’s b-day, but poor Jonny had been running a fever pretty much since his arrival to town.  Instead of going out, Becca cooked us a fantastic meal at G&G Ford’s house.

Thursday we had the morning to relax and prepare our dishes before meeting family at the Comfort Inn banquet room, where we celebrated Thanksgiving.  We had another great meal and the kids ended up the night with swimming in the pool!

Friday was my birthday and Ed went all out!  He rented a limo and invited some friends to join us in a night out!  We had dinner at the Steak Pit (man, I just realized I should probably be working out right now after all the food I’ve eaten in the last few days) and made a couple stops before and afterwards.  It was really nice getting out for awhile with friends!  We had a ton of fun!  G&G P. had the girls for an overnight, so I even got 8 hours of consecutive sleep.  Amazing!

Saturday we said goodbye to Becca and Nathan and today we are starting to get ready for next week…laundry, groceries, all that fun stuff.  It sure was nice having a few days off and getting to spend some extra time with friends and family.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Today we met friends at Niabi Zoo for Boo at the Zoo.  Kids wore their costumes and local businesses set up little tables and handed out treats around the zoo.  We had lots of fun…was a little worried about the weather being too cold, but we had Harper zipped up in the Burley and Ella with a coat and hat over her costume, so it was fine.  By the time we left, Harper was hanging out in the Bjorn and Ella had stripped off her jacket.  Glad we had gotten there first thing in spite of the chill; the parking lot was packed on our way out, and it looked like cars were parked along the road up to a half mile away.  It was so full, had we just been arriving, I’m pretty sure I would have turned around and headed back home.  But this morning it was perfect!

Last Tuesday my coworkers and I worked at McDonald’s for McTeacher’s night fundraiser.  That was crazy busy too!  I almost had to park at Subway across the street but on my second time around the parking lot, I caught someone pulling out right in front.  As soon as we got there we washed up, and I was put on a cash register!  I’m not sure what task I was expecting, but I wasn’t really expecting to have an actual job!  I thought maybe we’d be there mostly to socialize but there was no time for that!  One of my former students was the one training me which I got a kick out of.  She did a great job, but I think my slowness frustrated her at times.  Sometimes she’d lean across or push me out of the way to complete an order that I was having a hard time finding on the register.  I was surprised by how intricate the register was and how it was possible to complete all the special orders (and there were a lot of them!).  Things would be ordered like add shredded lettuce or Mac Sauce or 1/2 sweet and 1/2 unsweet tea, and there was a button for it all.  Amazing.  At the time it was a little stressful, honestly, orders were coming in fast and I didn’t know what I was doing!!!  In retrospect however, it too was fun, and I think if I were to go back again, I’d be a lot better at it!  We don’t have the amount that we raised yet, but I’m thinking it should be a good amount.  Field trip here we come!

Little Harper is an official crawler now…no more need for the stomach scoot.  She’s busy following Ella around and trying to pull herself into a standing position.  She’s waving and shaking her head no.  Lots of fun but I have definitely got to rebaby proof the house!

Hey all, this is Edward, I’m hi-jacking LP’s blog to tell a quick story:
With a long and busy day at the zoo, we decided to cancel our evening plans (a fall festival party that one of our good friend’s parents throw every year!) and just put the girls to be early. Neither had any sort of solid nap today, and both were um… fussy, to say the least. Harper usually goes to bed around 6 and EJ between 7 and 7:30. Tonight, Harper was upstairs by 5:30 and I put EJ down at 6pm. There was no resistance from either side.

About half an hour after laying EJ down, I was in the kitchen talking to LP when we heard EJ yelling from upstairs: “MOOOOOOM, DAAAAADDDDDDY, etc, etc” I walked up, popped my head into her room and asked what the matter was. She said, very calmly, “I need that”. Pointing to a pound puppy that was resting on her rocking chair. I said “OK, but it’s time for bed now.” She said “OK” and took the pound puppy I was handing her.

It was a little dark in the room, only a night-light was on, so I hadn’t noticed when I walked in, but she set the pound puppy down in her crib at the front of a line she had made with the rest of the crib dwelling stuffed animals, 5 or 6 total. I asked “Sweety, what are you doing?” She said, as she sad down on the pillow in front of the line, “Going for a train ride!”

A little surprised, I said “OK, but it’s time for bed now so you’ll have to be quiet”. She replied “OK….wait, I can’t”. I asked “why can’t you be quiet?”. Her reply? “My train goes CHOOO-HOOOO, CHOOO-HOOO”……. With that, I kissed her goodnight and closed the door.

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She has been continuing to crack me up with some of the things she says.  Here are a few good ones:

• I took Ella to church last Sunday.  She spent the first 20 minutes totally angelic, sitting on the pew straight up, legs sticking out, with her coloring book in her lap and clearly paying attention to Father and the readings.  The first one began “Brothers and Sisters…”  Ella announced quite clearly, “I don’t have a brother; I have a sister though.”  Then Father talked about October being the month of honoring Mary and Ella points out in her sweet little voice, “You’re married, Mommy.”  (Behavior went down hill soon after that and we spent the rest mass in the lobby).
• One day this week we were driving home from school.  Ella said, “Green means go; yellow means slow down.” (In response to traffic lights).  Well, I went through a yellow light, and Ella said again, “Yellow means slow down.  You didn’t slow down Mommy, you kept going.”  Oh boy…a 2 year old back seat driver!
• Grandma F. spent some time playing with Ella at school yesterday afternoon and commented to Ed that Ella’s verbal skills exceed that of her classmates.  Ed checked with Ella, “Does anyone at school talk like you?”  Ella answered, “Nicki does.”  (Her teacher).  Anyone else?  ”Lindy does.” (another teacher).  Anyone else?  She named a boy in her class:  ”He says, “‘Poopy, poopy, poopy.’”  Aha…so that’s where that was coming from.

Harper is doing well too.  She’s moving now…not quite crawling but definitely scooting.  She’s also getting a top tooth.  I’ve felt the one on the left and think I may have felt the one on the right today (they’re off to the side though…not the front ones, so she may look a little silly for awhile!  Maybe those front ones are on their way?!).  She’s also waving!  She went for a walk with her class at school today and waved to everyone from her seat in the wagon!

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The whole experience reminded me of how far Harper has come.  She was born this tiny, fragile little 4 lb. girl, and now she’s so happy and healthy.  She’s got pudgy little cheeks and pudgy little legs and bright blue eyes.  She’s sitting up and wanting to crawl and laughing and “talking” and eating carrots and sweet potato puffs, and I’m just so grateful for how everything turned out.  She’s amazing.

In other news, daycare might be getting slightly better for Ella.  She did great when Ed dropped her off Friday, so maybe that’s the secret!!  Swim lessons started back up at the Y, and Ella’s teacher got her out a floaty belt to wear which Ella adores.  She exclaimed gleefully, “Watch me!  I’m ‘wimming’ all by myself!”

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Harper spent the first two weeks fairly ill…stomach bug with intermittent fever and rash.  She stayed home with grandmas for four days!  It seems as if she is finally feeling better…still has a runny nose that doesn’t seem to bother her too much; I suppose she’ll probably have that until next summer!  She’s continuing to become her own little person.  Yesterday she had a big smile and reached her arms out to Ed when he got home from work, like “Hey, Daddy, pick me up!”

It seemed as if Ella was finally adjusting towards the end of last week.  Not too much crying during drop off and was happy when I picked her up, excited to show me what projects she had made during the day.  This week, though, was still pretty rough.  Crying at drop off; crying when I picked her up Tuesday and Wednesday.  Grandma M picked her up Thursday and Grandma F picked her up today.  They said she was happy both afternoons; I guess today ended up being a pretty good day. I’m hoping next week we finally get settled.

School is great for me…just feeling pretty exhausted by this time at night.  Harper had a couple nights where she was back to waking a couple times throughout the night this week.  The night before last she was up at 12:00, 3:00, and 4:30.  She was fussing pretty good at 4:30, so I had Ed go rock her, knowing she couldn’t be hungry.  Well, she cried and howled until I finally went in there, and I swear the little bugger laughed when she saw me.  Last night was better though…just one wake up.  Nevertheless, I’m still pretty worn out.  Load of laundry and to bed with a book for me!

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