Another busy weekend in the land of very small children. Saturday we put Lily’s big girl bed together - Mike says she looks like a pea in her bed. It does dwarf her - but it’s so great! I couldn’t wait to put her new bedding on it - I’m attaching a picture of what her bedding looks like (note - this is lifted from PBK - not an actual picture of Lily’s bed). I’ve been shopping for something for about 6 months now and finally figured out what I wanted to do. It’s made out of corduroy and looks very cute with her weird green wall paint.

Pottery Barn always pairs their stuff with quilts, and I’m not a quilt person, so you can just ignore that part of the picture. Now I’m in the process of gathering all of Lily’s nursery stuff for consignment. I figure I could put it in the attic or see if someone else might enjoy it . . .

Tonight as we cuddled her in bed, she petted Mike’s face and commented on how his “whispers” made her hands feel “tingly”. We’ve told her they’re actually called whiskers, but it’s so cute, we don’t bother to correct her anymore. There is nothing sweeter than seeing her gently stroke Mike’s face and look at him with incredibly loving eyes . . . she can be the sweetest, most compassionate child at times. She can also be the complete 180 oppposite of that child at other times.

Mike felt sick yesterday - we’re passing the vomits on from one to the other, apparently, and I had tickets to a fundraiser for Fanconi Anemia. I took mom as my date. Eileen told me, “Mike has NEVER looked better!” She did look hot, that mom of mine. It was a lot of fun and also very sad, since the people running the fundraiser have a child with FA who is approaching the dangerous age (he’s turning 7). The prognosis for those kids stricken with FA is generally not good - it’s basically a death sentence, though current advancements have given some of them a much longer life. I tried to spend money but really wasn’t able to. That group has ten times the money we do and even in the silent auction I was outbid on everything. I’m glad, though - I can say I helped drive prices up by bidding so frequently!

Today my fantastic idea was to take the girls to Portrait Innovations for Christmas shots - as well as a group shot with Matt and Hayden, and one with Sophia for Right Angle holiday cards. It was disastrous. Lily refused to smile and made angry, pouting faces, complete with bottom lip pushed out and curled under. Arden screamed every time Mike tried to put her down. I got no shots of the girls together, which really depressed me, and one really good one of Arden alone. The other group shots were okay, though Lily wouldn’t smile in any of them. She was such a turd tonight.

After we decided to extend the agony by going to Friendly’s with Christine and the boys. Arden was a mess - she is angry with us for taking her formula away and forcing milk on her. She choked on a piece of chicken and barfed it up all over herself (and her new corduroy dress). Lily had numerous meltdowns at the photography place (including one particularly low point for me where I dragged her into the restroom to yell at her to “start smiling or I’ll spank you!”) and at dinner. After the near-Heimlich situation with Arden we cut dinner short, causing Lily to bemoan the fact that once again she was getting the shaft on her ice cream sundae. Poor thing. Mike and I couldn’t wait to get them into bed after another huge argument, followed by a temper tantrum, about why Lily must stop picking her nose and shoving her fingers in her mouth.

Risa just told me to go take some pictures of the kitchen and the lovely tile work that Steve and dad did, so I’m off. I’ve successfully procrastinated my way out of writing a proposal tonight. Hooray! More laundry awaits.

I had another hilarious and weird conversation with Lily tonight during our usual nightly “cuddle cuddle” session in her very small bed. Excerpts below.

“Lily, can you make mommy’s tummy feel better?” (I have a bad stomachache)
“Yes, I can.”
“What does mommy do when you feel bad?” (thinking she’ll say I hug her)
“Mommy puts Tylenol in my mouth. Do you need Tylenol in your mouth?”
“Maybe. Or something else, like Tums.”
“Do you have Tylenol in your bathroom cabinet?” (hers is, you guessed it, in the cabinet)
“Yes, it’s under Daddy’s sink.”
“Mommy. Yes or No. Are you going to put Tylenol in your mouth?”
“Sure, Lily, I will when I go to bed.”

Then she sang “Open/Shut Them” to me, kissed me, hugged me like a “python”, and told me to go into my bathroom and put Tylenol in my mouth. Instead I came downstairs to start working, but it’s the thought that counts.

Arden has the pukes. It started Tuesday night - she vomited at preschool, and she barfed again Wednesday at Judi’s. I spent the afternoon with her yesterday. She is definitely doing better but not eating a whole lot and still has a little bit of diarrhea. I’m hoping she’s on the end of this curve tomorrow. I think I have a touch of it now - I’m feeling quite yucky. Could be that or all the Halloween candy I’ve been pilfering from Lily’s pumpkin. Shhhh, don’t tell. I heard one of the guys at BNI today say, “My wife is always pimpin’ out my kids - one of them is 16 and she was trying to put a pillowcase on his head to get him to go out and get candy for her.” I think I almost peed in my pants from laughing so hard. That will totally be me when Lily’s 20 . . . “COME ON! You can pass for twelve! Put on the damn giraffe costume and get out there and get me some candy!”

Tonight we participated in our usual bath session with the girls, which is usually pretty fun. They splash and play and we have a good time watching them enjoy it. Tonight, however, after this most recent bath session, Cristina and I are now deaf and bleeding from our ears. I don’t exactly know how it started, but Lily and Arden engaged in a Texas death match of screeching and screaming. I don’t know who won, but I know Cristina and I lost. Lily would scream at the top of her lungs, and then when she stopped, Arden would do it. The two of them thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, and their screams were only interrupted by their laughter. Arden was particularly amused, and in trying to scream louder than her older sister, used every muscle in her body so that she tensed herself up and shook while screeching. I think that the two of them could have given Spinal Tap a run for their money while going for “one louder”...the volume was definitely at eleven.

posted by Mike

It has to. I feel like all we’ve dealt with since we returned from DC are incidences of vomiting and pooping. I just picked up Arden and headed over to Lily’s school. She was happy and screeching and waving. I got into Lily’s classroom and Arden jetted out a bunch of hot dog and milk, all over the floor, myself, and one poor kid who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We made it home, reeking of barf, and I ran upstairs to get Arden changed. She barfed again all over her changing table and my arm. I don’t know if it’s something that didn’t agree with her or if she has another bug like before - seems like she and Lily are passing it back and forth to each other. ARGH! Everyone, stop puking!

It’s funny now, but when Arden was throwing up, she was doing it so hard that she kept blowing out gas from the other end and screeching every time it happened. I’ve got a big load of gross laundry going and a pile of work waiting for me. Bring it on! Motherhood is so glamorous.

A picture of Katie last night on her first Halloween free of her parental units. I heard a rumor that Steve was tailing her through the neighborhood, but hopefully he stayed out of sight!