"Can I have some one of that?"

"Can I have some one of that?" That's a common question around here these days. Anytime you have something to eat, here comes Meagan, asking for some. Sometimes she even does it during dinner, when she already has some of what she's asking for on her plate. In response, Nate has taught her to say, "Can I have some one of that? I am a mooch!"

First good snowstorm of the year

It started snowing yesterday afternoon, the most snow we've gotten this season. The girls were dying to go out in the snow, so Nate decided to take them out, even though it was getting dark. Meagan only played in the lawn for a few minutes, then spent most of her time smashing snowballs Nate gave her up on the porch. Bethany built a "snowball mountain". Sean had trouble sitting upright in his snowsuit, but enjoyed being outside.

"Now I am all done with nursery"

Today was Meagan's last day of nursery. A couple of weeks ago, when we took her to nursery, she rebelled and said she wanted to go to class like Bethany, so we told her that she only had a few more weeks, and then she'd go to primary. I guess she remembered, because the first thing she said to me when I picked her up after church today was, "Now I am all done with nursery." When we went out in the hall, she immediately turned and started walking down towards the primary room (the opposite way from the way we needed to go). She was ready to start primary right then.

On the way home from church, Meagan said, "Our white house is broken. That means we need a new house. We need a new house." I have no idea where that came from, and we laughed but didn't really pay any attention to it, but I guess she really meant it, because she started crying when we actually pulled up in our driveway. "I said our white house is broken!" We asked her to show us what was broken so we could fix it. She walked up to the garage door and pointe to one of the cracks between the panels of the door. Nate managed to convince her that it was just part of the door, and then she was okay to go in the house. Meagan has quite the imagination.

Christmas pictures

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas:


I put wrapping paper up across the front of the living room and over the door from the kitchen to the living room, so the kids couldn't get in until we were ready--I thought anyway. I left a small gap under the paper to the kitchen for the cats to get through, because they tore down the paper last year. Apparently, it was too big of a gap, because Bethany slid right under it. At least Sean had fun ripping down the paper on the other side.

We got the kids a basketball hoop. It was slightly too tall for Meagan to put the ball in without actually throwing it, so she insisted on using a stool to throw the ball in.

Nice smile Bethany. She thought it was really funny when she saw the picture.

I think this was Sean's favorite toy, apart from the wrapping paper and boxes. He loves the noise it makes and the little string hanging from it.

Bethany and Meagan in their Christmas dresses from Mom.

Christmas pictures

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas:


I put wrapping paper up across the front of the living room and over the door from the kitchen to the living room, so the kids couldn't get in until we were ready--I thought anyway. I left a small gap under the paper to the kitchen for the cats to get through, because they tore down the paper last year. Apparently, it was too big of a gap, because Bethany slid right under it. At least Sean had fun ripping down the paper on the other side.

We got the kids a basketball hoop. It was slightly too tall for Meagan to put the ball in without actually throwing it, so she insisted on using a stool to throw the ball in.

Nice smile Bethany. She thought it was really funny when she saw the picture.

I think this was Sean's favorite toy, apart from the wrapping paper and boxes. He loves the nose it makes and the little string hanging from it.

Bethany and Meagan in their Christmas dresses from Mom.

So What's for Dinner?

I asked Meagan what she wanted for dinner and she said, "Mustard and ketchup!"

Latest kiddisms

We've made a big deal about Meagan pooping in the toilet, to encourage her to keep doing it. So now, she has to show me every time she goes. The other day she called me in to show me she'd gone, and said, "Look! It's my big, cute poop!"


*****


We were getting ready to head to Brenda's house for the weekend, and I was telling Bethany everything I needed to get ready. I said, "I need to pack our clothes, and our shoes and our socks and our pajamas, and our blankets, and..." She interrupted me to say, "Let's just take everything." Then she thought for a second and said, "Well, not everything. That would make the van too full."


*****


On the way home from Brenda's we were listening to a book on tape, when a husband was mentioned. Meagan heard it and said, "I want a husband." I said, "You want a husband?" "Yes, I want a husband. You are looking for a husband for me. But I don't see any husbands."

*****

I asked Meagan what she wanted for dinner. She said, "Mustard and ketchup!"

*****

I woke up this morning to a wet, sloppy kiss on the cheek, and Bethany's grinning face inches from mine. It was really cute.

*****

I opened a box of Cracklin' Oat Bran at breakfast the other day. Bethany took one look at the brown, biscuit-like O's and asked, "Are those for Grams' dogs?"

Just checking in

I decided to take the kids for a walk today after Bethany got home from school. It was cold, but not too bad, and I thought the exercise would be good for Bethany. It helps her get her excess energy out, and then she's calmer and happier. Anyway, I got everyone bundled up and out we went. But then my vision of a quick walk with Meagan and Sean in the stroller and Bethany walking morphed into a caravan and An Exercise In Patience. Bethany wanted to ride her bike, which would've been okay, but then Meagan wanted her tricycle, too. It was stop and go, stop and go, with a lot of stops and short gos. Meagan can pedal, and she can steer, but seemingly not both at the same time. It got better, though, when I figured out that I could "nudge" her along with the stroller. At any rate, Bethany got her exercise.

Sean has been on the verge of standing by himself for quite a while. He's been pulling himself up on things, but not fully standing for a couple of weeks. Two days ago, he finally pulled himself up fully, and then today he pulled himself up over and over, and stood at the toy box for a long time. It won't be long before he's walking.

We had rice for dinner the other night, and I plopped a chunk on Sean's tray. He ate a bit, but had more fun squishing it in his hand. Most of it got on his shirt and head.

My preschooler got kicked off the bus?!?

I was having a nice phone conversation with Brenda today, and had just finished telling her how well Bethany was doing with riding the bus, when Nate called on the cell phone. I didn't quite get to the phone in time, but he called right back, which made me think it was important. It kinda was. He'd gotten a phone call saying Bethany was getting kicked off the bus, and that I needed to go get her. My first reaction was, "Say what? Who kicks a five-year-old off a bus?" Nevertheless, it was too true. I called the transportation office, found out where the bus was waiting for me, and went and got Bethany. It turned out that the driver had seen Bethany standing up at the end of the bus at one of the stops. When she asked Bethany to sit down, she wouldn't. So she got up to lead Bethany by the hand to sit down, and that's where Bethany exploded. The driver didn't want to touch her or do anything to her, so I got called instead. Yikes. Fortunately, Nate's mom is visiting with us, so I was able to leave Sean (who was sleeping) and Meagan home and leave quickly to get her. When I got to the bus, I found Bethany still standing at the back, with this funny expression on her face and her hands over her ears. I was kind of annoyed and started to get after her in the car, but then I saw that she was near tears, so I stopped. She kept saying things like, "I'm not going to play anymore" and "I'm not paying attention". It was very sad.

Of course we beat the bus to the school, where the preschool teachers were all lined up, plus the principal, waiting for the bus. Bethany's little tantrum knocked the schedule off for the whole preschool for the day by 15-20 minutes. After she left with her teacher, I went out and talked with the driver and the principal. The driver wanted to have Bethany sit in a seat in the front with a five-point harness--which Bethany would freak over having to use--but I wanted to see if this was a one-time thing or a trend. We agreed to see how she did the rest of the week, and go from there.

I think most of her problem was that she hasn't been getting enough sleep or exercise, so she's been more easily agitated. She threw several fits this morning and this evening before bed. I really want to get her outside, or somewhere where she can run. Maybe I'll make her jump for ten minutes on the trampoline before she can play on the computer. I'm also looking into more gymnastics or even soccer. A few weeks back, she went outside nearly every day for an hour with her grandma and her dogs, and during that time she was so well-behaved and happy. If it weren't so cold and muddy now, I'd have her do it now, too. I just hate trying to figure out what it is my children really need sometimes.

Tomorrow is my ninth wedding anniversary. Bethany is five. In spite of this, as I was talking with the principal today, I had an odd sense that I was just playing dress-up, that it couldn't be true that I was having a parent-principal mini-conference. Even now, hours later, it still doesn't seem real. I feel so inadequate much of the time, like I'm winging it. I hope that feeling will go away with more time, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's here to stay.

Making Christmas cookies

Bathtime in the sink

We got new windows installed today in our living room, downstairs, bathroom and one window each in two of the bedrooms. The ones replaced were all cracked or had broken seals, and looked pretty bad. It was more expensive than we'd really wanted (who wants expense?), but I'm glad we did it. Hopefully it will help us in selling the house.

The bathtub got pretty dirty in the process, though. Sean made quite a mess of himself at dinner, so I decided to give him a quick bath in the kitchen sink. He had a blast and splashed water all over the place.

Sean's first haircut

Sean's hair was getting quite long, so I finally attempted a haircut. As you can see, I only know how to do one kind of boy's haircut--a military cut. It came out quite a bit shorter than I really wanted it to, but at least it will grow out again.

And it was all for naught

Today was Bethany's first day riding the bus. I've been worrying about it for weeks. I worried that she'd be scared going by herself, that she'd be overwhelmed when she got to the school and not know where to go, etc. etc. I tried to prepare her by telling her that she'd be riding the bus by herself, and that her teacher would meet her, and she'd get to meet new friends, etc. I didn't really believe that it would be enough, though, and I had visions of her crying the whole way and crying all day at school, and the school calling me because she wouldn't settle down. Okay, I was a basket case. I wanted to follow the bus, or at least show up at the school when the bus would arrive and make sure she was okay (Nate thought I was crazy). But when it finally came down to it, she happily ran across the lawn, climbed on, and drove away with a big smile. So what was I worried about?

Another day, another drama...

Yippee! Bethany finally started school today. It's only taken over seven months and lots of meetings and headaches, but finally she started. I'm not sure what she did or how she liked it, because she won't talk about it (no surprise there), but at least she's not crying and saying she doesn't want to go back.


I wasn't sure today if she was going to make it. Last night she started saying that her ear hurt. She's prone to ear infections, so I was groaning inside that we'd be back at the doctor and she wouldn't make it. We gave her some Tylenol, and that helped enough that she was able to go to sleep. She's more or less been on Tylenol since then, but at least she was able to go to school.

I took her to the doctor after school was over, which was NOT a pleasant experience. I don't know if she was still upset from the pink eye visit the other day, but she really didn't want the doctor looking in her ear. I ended up holding her on my lap while Nate held her legs and some assistant helped hold her head while the doctor checked her ears. She screamed so much she made Sean cry and then she started puking in my lap. A lot. It was pretty gross. She kept saying it wasn't fair. I wonder if she even knows what that means. Of course she was perfectly fine by the time we got home. It was rather depressing, though. I thought we'd gotten past the whole freaking out at the doctor phase. Sigh.

Lookout! Here comes Sean!

Sean just learned to sit up a few weeks ago. I think it was kind of an accident, really. He was next to the piano bench, and pulling upwards with his arms, and kind of fell into a sitting position. It was like a light clicked on or something, though, because he did it again a little later, and then over and over again after that. Now he's quite proficient in moving from a belly position to a sitting position.

Yesterday he pulled himself to standing for the first time. I was sitting on the floor stringing lights on the lower branches of the Christmas tree, and he all but crawled up me. Next thing I knew, he was standing next to me, hanging onto my shirt. Like the sitting thing, he did it again a bit later. Maybe he'll be walking soon.

In the meantime, he's still practicing new moves. There are boxes all over my living room from the Christmas decorations. Sean just pulled himself up on one of the boxes and was happily playing on top. I wonder what he'll come up with next.

A most disappointing day...

Last night I was so keyed up for today. I had a million things to do, and many of them were fun. It was also supposed to be Bethany's first day of preschool (finally!), and I'd been getting her worked up for that, too. Well, it all went to pot when Bethany woke up this morning and I saw her goopy, swollen, pink eye. Of all the days for this to happen, why today? So of course all my plans went out the window. No preschool for Bethany, no grocery shopping, and the added doctor's appointment set me back on just about everything else. And while we were at the doctor's, Bethany suddenly reverted to her panicked state when confronted with anything doctor related. She absolutely freaked out, enough that the doctor left the room, saying he was going to go see his next patient, and then he'd be back. While he was gone, I kept talking to Bethany telling her that she had to let the doctor see her eye, and finally she said, "Fine!" When he came back, she did cooperate--barely--but she insisted he keep his little flashlight thing at least twelve inches away. Whatever. At least we got some eye drops so she can go to school. We didn't get them until almost 4:00, so she won't get to go until Wednesday, but there's not really anything I can do about it. I'm using the drops on Meagan, too. This morning she was fine, but by bedtime her eye was three times as swollen as Bethany's was this morning, while Bethany's wasn't swollen at all anymore. Hopefully this will be a quick illness, then. I just hope that Sean doesn't get it, too.

I'd like to say that the day at least ended on a good note, but it really didn't. I'd promised the kids that we'd decorate the Christmas tree for Family Home Evening. With everything going on today, including a fussy Sean who wanted to be held a lot, all I managed to do by dinnertime was bring the tree upstairs. My ideal way of decorating the tree starts when kids are in bed. I like to put the tree up, and put on the lights and garland by myself, without kids running around like crazy. Then I like to sift through the ornaments, and choose which ones to put on the tree and have them all ready to go when we decorate it all together as a family. It's much less chaotic that way, and I get to interact more with the kids as they are putting the ornaments up. What really happened was I put the tree up while the kids finished dinner. Sean was afraid of the tree at first and screamed bloody murder, so I was trying to hold him while finishing spreading the branches. Then I put the lights on the tree while the girls ran around and screamed in the background, and Sean crawled in circles around the tree and grabbed lights and pulled himself up to standing for the first time. When I finally got the ornaments out, they were grabbing them and putting them on the tree as fast as I could get the hooks on them, so I didn't really get to help out with placement or anything else. Now that they've gone to bed, I need to redistributethe ornaments. But I don't feel like it. I'm just sitting here, messing with the laptop, and not even wanting to do any other decorating at all. Maybe I'll just have the tree up this year, and nothing else.

A Battle of Wills

Over and over again, I work to make a nice balanced dinner, which my children then reject. Bethany's definitely the worst. Meagan is learning to branch out and try new things (she actually likes broccoli, and even tried squash the other day), but Bethany has a very limited palate. Last night I just got tired of her refusing to eat, and refusing to eat stuff that I know she normally likes, and told her that she wasn't leaving her chair until she ate at least one piece of the breaded chicken I made, and one piece of broccoli. She did taste the broccoli fairly quickly. Of course, she grimaced and nearly spit it out, but at least she tried it. The chicken, on the other hand, was a different story.

I just don't get it. How exactly is breaded chicken different from chicken nuggets. She has no problem eating those. So why is what I made any different? She does like "clean" chicken--or completely plain with nothing on it chicken (I guess chicken nuggets are the exception). So I figured that was why she wasn't eating it, and scraped off all the breaded stuff. It still wasn't good enough. She didn't make a big fuss at first about having to sit in her chair, but then the longer it went on, the more upset she got, until she was screaming and crying that she "can't stay in the kitchen for a long, long time," and yelling "Never, never!" at me when I told her all she had to do was eat one little piece, and then she could leave. Sheesh. I kind of ignored her and did some dishes for a while, while she sat and cried. Nate tried to reason with her and bribe her with a cookie or game time on the Wii. Finally I sat down to talk to her and asked her why she wouldn't eat it. She said there was still stuff on it. I asked if I washed it, if she would eat it and she said yes. So I actually speared her bite of chicken, took it to the sink, ran it under some water and brought it back. She immediately stuffed it in her mouth, chewed it up and said, "Yummy!" That crazy kid is going to drive me insane one of these days.

"Yes, Your Mom"

For the past couple of months, Bethany has been saying, "Yes, your majesty" to me when I ask her to do things. It's sometimes cute, and sometimes annoying, because it sounds like she's being sarcastic. The thing is, she has no idea what sarcasm even is, so I know she's not trying to be. I think she got the whole idea from Backyardigans. There's an episode where Pablo is a king and a couple of the others are knights, and keep saying "Yes, your majesty" to him. Somewhere along the line, though, Bethany's modified the phrase into "Yes, your mom". It's hilarious. I'll tell her to wash her hands or get dressed or whatever, and she says, "Yes, your mom." I wonder how long it will last.

****

Every night before I go to bed, I check on the kids. I developed this habit when Bethany was really little, because she'd wiggle out from under her blankets at night and then get cold. So I'd go in, cover her up, and go to bed. Now it's hard for me to sleep if I don't do it, like there's something niggling at my conscience that I've forgotten. I get a lot of laughs out of it, too, though. I don't know how many pictures I've taken of the kids in weird sleeping positions. And then there's all the times they've talked in their sleep. Sometime it's hard to make out their babblings, but the other night I came in, and Meagan sat up and said, "Mommy, I want to be upside down." A few days before that, when I went in, Bethany first asked if it was morning, then said, "I like bubbles." I'd really like to know what they're dreaming sometimes.

****

At dinner the other night, Bethany held up a piece of the cornbread she was eating and said, "What does this make?" Confused, Nate and I looked at each other and said, "What?" She repeated, "What does this make?" Not getting an answer, she then said, "Poops or pee-pee?"

Along the same vein, after I was done eating the other day, she asked me if I was full. When I said yes, she then said, "Now you need to go pee-pee." I really have no idea where she got these ideas from, unless it was from us telling her she couldn't have water at night or it would make her go pee-pee in her bed. Regardless, it was pretty funny.

****

Our ward's primary program was a couple Sundays ago. Bethany's part was, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead." She loves playing with the microphone in the primary room--but only after everyone's gone and we're just cleaning up. When she had to give a talk in primary, she just stood there while Nate said everything for her. So I was pretty sure that she wouldn't say anything for the program. We tried practicing her part with her at home. At first we'd prompt her with, "When I am twelve..." and then she'd say, "I'm five!" Then, when she finally started saying the whole line, she'd tack on "tomorrow" at the end. So we'd ask her to say her line, and she'd say, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead tomorrow." Of course, Meagan was fascinated with the whole thing, and learned the part along with Bethany. She'd randomly come up to me during the day and say, "When I am twelve, I can do baptisms for the dead." She really wanted to talk in that microphone, too.

On the day of the program, we made a speical effort to get to church on time. It was the first time since Sean was born that I was on time. Bethany sat in her chair up on the stage, but didn't really participate. When she got up for her part, she crossed her arms, turned sideways and huffed. So the counselor said her part for her, and she hopped down and went back to her chair. Oh well, maybe next year.

****

Meagan came up to Nate while he was washing dishes and said, "We don't eat bees. We eat spiders. We eat spiders in nursery. We pull their legs off!" ??? Makes you wonder what they're getting up to in nursery.

Going Mini-golfing

It was dark and a bit cold, but we decided to go minigolfing the other night. The kids don't really get how the game is supposed to go, but they sure have a lot of fun. Meagan's idea of minigolfing is to carry her ball to the hole, set it down on the edge and then knock it in. Bethany does a bit better, but she tends to drag her ball with the club. It's all good.

At the end of this course, the final hole is inside a big box with a plexiglass front. The holes kind of look like skee ball--if you get it in the center hole, you count it as one stroke, two strokes for the second ring, etc. Well, most of us didn't do so well, but Bethany and Nate both managed to get the center ring. For days afterward, Bethany talked about how she and her daddy both got "it in the hole." It was really cute.

Cute pictures of the kids

The kids looked so cute at church yesterday that I decided to take some pictures when we got home.

Meagan's new haircut

I finally did it. I cut Meagan's hair. Aside from a bang trim, I'd never cut her hair before. I'd resisted doing it, because she had these cute little curls at the ends of her hair, and I'd heard of so many kids who'd lost their curl after their hair was cut. That, and I was afraid of really butchering her hair, since I've never done anything like it before. But her hair was getting really straggly, so I finally did it. It turned out much better than I was expecting. She wiggled and squirmed a lot, which made it a little hard, and it's a bit shorter than I first meant to cut it, but that's okay. I had to trim a few stray pieces the next day, but on the whole, I'm pretty proud of my first attempt. I was happy enough that I even dared trim the hair above Sean's ears, too.

Halloween pics

I hate coming up with Halloween costumes for the kids. They're no help at all. Bethany hates dressing up, so there's never anything that she voluntarily wants, and she outright rejects anything else I may suggest. Meagan's easier, but is still too young to really tell me what she wants. After a couple years of spending a lot of time making costumes that they hated, I decided that this year I would just buy something. So we all headed to the store to look at costumes. Once again, Meagan was pretty easy to please. After looking at a couple of costumes, she picked out a green M&M. It turned out to be slightly too small for her, but not so small that it didn't work. There's one down. Then I found an easy one for Sean, too--a little doggie/sleeper deal. It's really cute, and really easy. Bethany, on the other hand, refused anything we found. For days, anytime we went to a store with costumes, I'd have her look and tell me if there was anything she liked. She'd barely even glance at them before she'd say no. I kept telling her that she had to wear something if she wanted to go Trick or Treating, but she didn't really seem to care. Finally, only a few days before our ward Trunk or Treat, I was at Joann, and saw some tulle. She's never minded wearing her leotard to gymnastics, so I decided to just sew a little tulle skirt and add it to the leotard. I thought that it would be minimal enough that she wouldn't object. I put it on her when we got to the church, and I was right, she didn't seem to mind too much. They had a great time at the Trunk or Treat (even if it doesn't look like it in the pictures).

The Trunk or Treat was on a Tuesday, and Halloween this year was on Saturday. After we'd gotten home from the ward party, Bethany said she didn't want to wear her costume anymore. All week long I told her she didn't have to wear it if she didn't want to, but if she wanted to go Trick or Treating, she had to wear something. She told me she didn't want to go Trick or Treating. Over and over she said that. She really meant it. On Saturday night, she was still saying it. Then Meagan said she'd rather have a bath than go Trick or Treating, so I put them in the tub, and thought that was that. About 7:00 they got out, and then of course Meagan started crying that she wanted to go Trick or Treating. Sigh. I wasn't going to give in, because it was already so late, but I could tell that Nate really wanted to take them out. So I blow dryed Meagan's hair and got her in her costume. So then Bethany finally wants to go, too. Turns out it was a moot point about her costume, since I went to get it and found that Meagan had had a potty accident on top of it. At the last minute we cobbled together a costume for Bethany out of Nate's work boots and my old uniform. It was kinda cute, but Bethany had a really hard time clomping around in the boots. I stayed home with Sean, and Nate's mom sat out in the driveway handing out candy. Nate and the girls weren't gone for very long, but at least they got to go. And who was the one who didn't want to stop? Bethany of course.

More kiddisms

Last Sunday we had some nice weather, so we decided to go out for a walk. Bethany insisted on bringing her bike and followed behind us. It was a little longer that I think she was ready for, though, and partway through she stopped and said, "This bike needs gas."

Then a couple of days ago, Meagan came up to me begging to make some cupcakes. They would be "for my Bethany, and not for Sean, and for me, and for my dear friend Dad." Haha, that last one won me over, and we went and made some brownies together.

Bethany went in for a checkup since she just turned five, and I knew she was due to have some vaccines. She really didn't like her shots, and cried and cried all the way out to the car. Sean got some at the same time, and she sympathy cried for him, because we were hurting her brother. Meagan managed to fall off the chair she was sitting in while this was all going on, and started crying too. It was all crazy. As we were going out, Bethany said, "I don't not want to be broken. I want to be fixed." Apparently she thought the shots "broke" her.

Trouble with Teeth

All the kids have had an adventure with their teeth in the past several days, none of which has made anyone very happy.

It started with a trip to the dentist last Wednesday. I'd been sort of building the kids up to it. I figured that Bethany was over her fear of doctors enough to at least try it out. It was well past time for them to go. Bethany's teeth are rather yellow, and I'd noticed a couple of suspicious spots on a couple of Meagan's teeth. I made an appointment for them both together, at a place where I could go back with them. I can't say I like the place very much, though. When we got there, we waited over an hour past our appointment time. The wait wasn't too bad, though, because the kids got to watch Backyardigans, Little Bill and Max & Ruby. They love those shows, so they stayed pretty entertained. The checkups didn't go so well, though. I expected that we'd all go to the same room, and the girls would take turns in the chair. What they had, though, was a long room full of a row of chairs, and put the girls side-by-side, to do them at the same time. That made it kind of hard to help calm them down, because I was on a roller chair in between, holding Sean, and going back and forth. I eventually had to just tune one of them out, and focus on the other. Meagan was making more progress, so I worked with her, and the technician with Bethany just gave up. After Meagan was done with her very brief cleaning, I went over to Bethany, who refused to let them do anything. The technician had cleaned about four teeth before Bethany clammed up and refused to do let them do any more. She got so upset, she puked on me. Joy.

Then the dentist came in and checked Meagan's teeth. She had four cavities. Yikes! Apparently, the enamel on her molars was too thin or something. The dentist said that sometimes happens with clefts. We won't know if the problem will persist with her adult teeth until they come in. We're supposed to make sure we floss the kids' teeth, because that disrupts the acidic environment, and goes a long way to keeping their teeth healthy. Ugh, not looking forward to that one.

Bethany cooperated even less with the dentist that she had with the technician. She got all upset watching Meagan, and kept telling them not to "hurt her Meagan." I kind of got her to open her mouth by pretending to brush her teeth, and so the dentist got a glimpse, but that was all. I think I annoyed her, though. She wanted to hold Bethany down and just force her mouth open. She said that there comes a point where you just have to get it done. I wouldn't let her. I mean, it was Bethany's first appointment ever, and I didn't want to freak her out so badly that she'd never want to come back. I think what she saw was good enough, for a first visit anyway. The dentist did ask if Bethany'd been on a lot of antibiotics, because that can make teeth yellow. That could be the problem, because she does tend to get ear infections.

The one good thing about the visit was that the hygenists kept passing Sean around. He had been getting really fussy, and I had to put him down to help Meagan, and he slid right out of his carrier. They all thought he was really cute and had fun playing with him, so at least I didn't have to worry about him for a bit.

So all that happened on Wednesday the 7th . Sean's teeth trouble came during the weekend. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, he got one new tooth each day. Talk about a fussy child. Not that I can blame him, but he was really crabby, and didn't sleep well at all. Even now (Thursday the 15th), he's been a bit fussy. Last night Nate slept in the recliner with him, because he kept waking up every time I'd put him down. After I'd rocked him to sleep for the third or fourth time, I just gave up and Nate took him for the night. Those three teeth have mostly broken completely through now, though, so I have hopes that he'll sleep tonight.

Meagan had a return appointment to get her cavities filled on Tuesday (the 13th). I tried to find a babysitter to watch Bethany and Sean, but couldn't get one, so Nate met us at the dentist and sat out in the waiting room with them while I went back with Meagan. It was awful. First off, we waited about 35-40 minutes again, and then when we got back there, they said they'd only do two of the cavities. I can see why, but it really irritated me that no one told me that in advance. I came expecting to just get it all done and not have to worry about it anymore. The put a mask over Meagan's nose of nitrous oxide, and at first it did calm her a bit and she was giggling, right up until they shot her up to numb her mouth. Then it was all over. She got progressively worse and worse, to the point that they gave up on the mask because she was crying so much it wasn't working anymore. The first cavity got filled okay, but the bottom tooth cracked during the drilling, and ended up requiring a baby root canal and cap. Poor Meagan was totally freaked out, and must've been in pain, too, because she was screaming and screaming and sweating like crazy. It took me and two other assistants just to hold her, plus the dentist and another hygenist working in her mouth and one other assistant passing supplies to the dentist. It was so crazy. I wish they'd just knocked her out completely. She's going to be so freaked to go back, and she still has two more cavities to fix. I don't really want to go back to the same place, but I'm not sure how it would work insurance-wise to go somewhere else. She'd probably have to do another office visit, which I'd probably have to pay for out of pocket, and I don't know if another dentist would just do a filling without a visit, so it might take two more times instead of just one. So which is better? I can't decide.

On the flip side, though, Bethany seems to be very cooperative with her brushing now. She doesn't want any holes in her teeth. She's amazingly cooperative with the flossing, too. Nate bought these flossing sticks, that have a little bit of floss on the end of what looks like a toothbrush handle. We can floss their teeth without sticking our whole hands in their mouths, which really makes it easier. Meagan doesn't like it at all (go figure!), but I think she'll slowly come around. Hopefully we'll build the habit now, so they'll keep it their whole lives.

Sweet success

Meagan's been waking up with dry diapers a lot in the morning, so when she protested wearing one last night, I thought we'd give it a go without. This morning when she woke up, she was still dry. Yeah! No more diapers for Meagan!

Bethany's Birthday

Bethany's birthday was a really good day. It didn't start out so good, though. She started complaining the day before that her ear was hurting, so I took her to the doctor that morning. She's doing much better with doctors, but it's still not her favorite thing, and barely cooperated with him looking in her ear. She does have another ear infection, so we got some antibiotics and went home. All in all, it was a decent doctor's appointment--very quick and relatively painless.

We'd been home for about twenty minutes when I thought we were going to have to go back, though, this time for Meagan. When we got home, I went into the kitchen to start making Bethany's cake. The girls decided to dance in the living room, so I turned on some music for them. I was just finished cleaning up and getting ready to start the cake, when Meagan started screaming. I went in the living room, and she was huddled on the floor, clutching her foot. I never figured out what happened, but Bethany was apologizing to her, so I'm guessing Bethany stepped on it or something. Anyway, I had Meagan sit on the couch for a few minutes, and she stopped crying, but when she got up, she collapsed as soon as she put her weight back on her foot. I was afraid she'd broken something. By that point, I was in the middle of making the cake, too. I was having visions of having to take her to the ER and getting a cast and giving her baths with a cast on, etc, etc. I gave her some ice in a baggie, and had her sit back down and hold it on her foot while I finished the cake. I was just about done and was going to go check on her again, when she came sauntering in the kitchen like nothing had ever happened, and asked to help, too. I watched her for awhile, and she seemed just fine, thank goodness.

I didn't really go all out with Bethany's birthday this year. I've gotten a little crazy with them in the past, but I didn't feel like it this year. Instead, I tried to just spend some good time with her and have some fun activities. Instead of a fancy cake, I let the girls help me decorate it. They had a blast, especially when they got to eat the leftover sprinkles in their bowls.

Meagan and Bethany, holding the cake stand steady for me.

Bethany adding frosting to the first layer. As I added the second layer, she said it was a peanut butter and jelly cake, because it looked like a big sandwich to her.

Meagan frosting the top layer.

Yummy sprinkles!

The finished product. Bethany especially liked the balloon candles. Notice the swipe in the front of the cake, though? Meagan kept asking for a taste, and snitched one as soon as she could.

After we finished the cake, I got out some streamers and balloons and a big sign that said "Happy Birthday" and we all decorated the kitchen together. Okay, I mostly did it, but they got to choose colors of streamers, and they each picked out five balloons for me to blow up and where they should be hung. Bethany's were all in a cluster at the top of the hutch, and Meagan's were all on the blades of the fan, where I'd already put some streamers. When Nate got home, Bethany insisted that he blow up five balloons and put them up around the room. I think this was one of Bethany's favorite parts of her birthday. It's five days later now, and the decorations are mostly up still. She doesn't want me to take them down.

Bethany and her cake. She was so excited to get to blow out the candles.

Thar she blows!

This was one of her favorite gifts, a bowling set from her Aunt Brenda. She and Meagan played with that for a long time. Her other favorite toy is a dinosaur that walks and growls when you push a button on it's back. I didn't get a picture of it for some reason, just some video clips of the girls playing with it. Fortunately, Bethany opened that one first, and Meagan played with it the rest of the time Bethany was opening presents, and so she didn't feel bad that she didn't get any.

She also got the binoculars which Meagan is holding (but hasn't really played with them) and the 'birthday bear' she's holding. She loves her birthday bear, and has to sleep with it.

The outfit Bethany is wearing is a gift from my mom. It made me laugh, because I'd gotten the exact same one for Meagan just a week or so before. We'd been out running errands, and Meagan had an accident and I didn't have anything clean for her to wear, so I popped in to Walmart and grabbed something new. Now they match, and love it.