Friday, January 29

Sicko The Sequel

Last Friday night, Bethie started throwing up. Dan and I knew that we were beginning another week of Hell. But we muddled through. It helped that at no point Bethie needed to go to the hospital. She showed signs of improvement early this week.

Yesterday, I decided to put all three children back into daycare. However, at breakfast, Bethie's health took a dramatic nose dive. She regressed to lying lifeless on the floor. I knew that I had to keep her home. How could I possibly send my deathly ill, first born child to daycare in this condition? I shipped off Katie and Sarah, and devoted myself to the care of my wee Bethie. Then she told me that she was "pretending" to be sick in order to have a "Bethie and Mummy" day!

Super! I haven't had a true day off in over 2 weeks! I have neglected work in order to take care of my little girls! Thursday was supposed to be my "catch-up" day! Instead, I got to watch "The Wizard of Oz" while looking at my filthy house thinking about all my work been neglected once again.

Friday, January 22

Sisters

Sarah speaks quite a bit of French. This is funny because Dan and I don't speak French at all. This makes communication with her more challenging. For instance, the other day she said to me "Pum peas". I had no idea what she was saying. She grew more and more frustrated until she gave up on asking for my permission, pushed the chair over to the counter, climbed the chair, and helped herself to an apple from the fruit bowl. It was then that I realised that she was saying "Pomme, please".

The children have also come to understand that we have a wee francophone in our midst. Bethie said to me, "How come we have a French baby?". I didn't feel like explaining that she spends a fair amount of time in French daycare, and has picked up the language there. Instead, I said, "I don't know". She said, "Can we switch her for an English baby?". Ummm, no.

Later that day, Bethie said to me, "You bought a really good baby!". I replied, "I didn't buy Sarah.". Bethie let out a huge dramatic sigh, and said "Okay, okay. You grew a really good baby". I snatched her up and said, "I grew three really good babies!".

Wednesday, January 20

Sicko

We have been through Hell. Katie got sick last week. She had the stomach flu. She threw up every couple of minutes... for days! She couldn't keep down any food or liquid. After four days of this, she stopped talking. She would simply lie down (often next to the toilet) and wait for the next wave to come. Friday afternoon, I took her to CHEO. They told me to "keep her hydrated", and sent us home.

Saturday at 1:30pm, we were back again. By this point, Katie still didn't have enough energy to talk. She also had stopped walking, and was barely able to hold her body upright. She was treated rather quickly, and eventually got an IV. This was a traumatic experience.

By 10:30am Sunday, Katie was fed up. She said to me, "I have had sufficient of being at the hospital". That politeness didn't last long. I told her that we couldn't leave until we saw the doctor one last time. She told me to stand in the door way and look for the doctor. I did what I was told. After staring for a couple of minutes at an empty corridor, I glanced back at Katie to see if she was okay. She shouted, "Don't look at me! Look for the doctor!". I guessed that she was on the mend!

Monday, January 11

Winter Wonderland

Dan and I have noticed that from April to October, there are a ton of pictures of the kids outside. From November to March, we only have indoor pictures. So, here's some proof that we do head outside:
Bethie (on her tummy), Katie, and Sarah enjoying the snow


MY LITTLE RED CAR! And the twins, of course.


A closer look at the twins.


Daddy and Sarah cleaning the driveway.


Sarah...still in the "helpful" stage


Sarah sliding down the "mountain"


Time to play everyone's  favourite game..."Guess That Twin"


Katie sliding down the "mountain"

Friday, January 8

Panic

Mum and I had taken the twins out one afternoon. We had just made it onto the highway when Katie shouted, "I have to do a poop!". Mum looked back at Katie, and saw the look of panic on Katie's face. We realised that we had to hurry. However, we were on the highway. I explained that Katie was going to have to "hold it" for a couple of minutes until we found a bathroom.

Bethie found this situation unacceptable. She said, "Katie needs to do a poop right now! She can't poop in her pants! You have to get her to a toilet!". I explained that my full, and undivided, attention was now on finding a washroom. Bethie replied, "Katie, tell me when you want me to get mad. I will yell at Mummy for you!". I told Bethie to calm down, and I would find a store that had a washroom.

We decided on Leons. We parked the car, I grabbed Katie, and we raced into the washroom. Then Katie had to do a thorough inspection of each toilet in order to determine which toilet would be good enough for her. Once she had selected a toilet, she got down to business. But nothing happened. Katie thought it would be a good idea if I sang "Deck The Halls". It would encourage the poop to come out. So I stood in the public washroom at Leons singing "Deck The Halls" to a child who was doing more dancing on the toilet than pooping. At the end of the song, Katie announced that it hadn't worked. I was to sing "Deck The Halls" again, but  louder. And I did. While I was singing, I thought, "My mother would never have done this!". After I belted out a couple of songs, Katie announced that this must have been a false alarm.

We went off to search for Bethie, who was wandering the store with Mum. Mum and I ushered the children out of the store. But before we were able to leave, Katie had to show Bethie the toilet where so much inactivity had occurred. Bethie did her own thorough inspection of the bathroom and agreed that Katie had found the perfect toilet not to poop in.

Monday, January 4

Christmas Snaps

Our Christmas was exhausting! The children had a great time. Here are a couple of snaps:

Katie: modelling her new dressing gown


Bethie: playing her new game on the TV


Bethie: fighting for the right to continue playing her new game on the TV


Sarah: playing sweetly with her Little People train


Dan trying to teach the children to play Hungry, Hungry Hippo


Playing Aqua Doodle moments before World War 529 broke out

In Memoriam

It didn't come as a shock. It was a long and painful process. But the death of that crappy hunk of metal that I lovingly referred to as "the green car", came rather abruptly. I decided that it was better to have the car limp into the dealership than to have it towed. So, just before Christmas, I told Dan that I was going to do a grocery shop. Instead, I bought a car.

It's lovely. Everything is automatic: the windows, the mirrors, the locks, and even the seats. It has a working speedometer (which doesn't sound exciting until you've driven two years without one) and a little light that comes on when the windshield wiper fluid is low. It even has...wait for it... air conditioning! When I informed Dad about all these fancies, he said that I was becoming "soft" in my old age (it is important to remember that he has every feature that one can get with a car, except a chauffeur. I'm sure his next car will come with one included!). That's when I sprung it on him: my new car has heated seats! Dad expressed amazement that I would need such a silly upgrade (yes, my friends, I paid extra for that little feature). However, I have decided that my rump shall never be cold again!

I felt quite proud bopping around town in my little car. It's a sweet little thing that truly is "me". It was the first time I bought something for myself and didn't go for the cheapest thing on the market. In fact, it was the most expensive car that I was considering. How very grown up of me to be able to afford such a luxury! I grinned from ear to ear as I presented  my shiny new car to the twins. They were delighted! They exclaimed, "Now we have a big red car, too!". Just like The Wiggles. Poof. They sucked the pride right out of me.




The Wiggles may be "cooler" than I am, but my arse is warmer!