Down For The Count

I don't remember the last time I was so sick for so long. I spent about five days on the couch. For the first three days it was all I could do to drag myself to the bathroom, or into the kitchen to make a sandwich for the Boogie, or into bed at night.

The girls were so, so very good. The Boogie was such a big helper, going for diapers and wipes, fetching snacks and drinks, even getting clean clothes for both girls. Phebis was content to roam around and play with her sister. Thank you Lord! Eric took good care of me when he got home from work, making dinner and doing clean-up.

I am feeling better, but not well. I feel pretty wiped out. Every day I can do a little bit more, though. Yesterday was my first afternoon back at work, and I lasted four hours before getting sent home, ha ha.

I would like to take this opportunity to say how grateful I am for my job and coworkers. I used to always be the flexible one. I could work any shift, any hours, fill in for anyone at the last minute. Now I'm no longer that person and I'm so appreciative of those who are. My coworkers are so good to cover for me when my kids (or I) get sick, or when I have a doctor's appointment to take someone to, etc. The doctor and the office manager are good to watch out for me when they know I'm not feeling well, and they don't hesitate to send me home if they think I should go.

There are so many things I've been wanting to write about, so this is going to be one of those boring recaps that I must post from time to time in order to have something to reference when I wonder "when did we _____?" This is, after all, my journal.

At the beginning of February we took both girls to the Philly Auto Show. We go every year but this was the first trip with kids. It was also our first time to go on a weekday instead of on the weekend, and what a difference in crowds! I told Eric that we should never go on a weekend again. The Boogie was excited to go to Philadelphia on the train, and she was excited about the idea of going to the car show, but I think she thought it would a be a show, like a performance. She quickly became bored and asked a dozen times when we would go back to the train. Some rainy day we are going to take the Riverline from one end of the line to the other, just for the fun of riding the train.

While at the auto show we picked up a flyer for Ringling Bros. circus. I stuck it to the fridge and eyed it for a couple of weeks and finally we decided that we should take the Boogie. We didn't tell her (of course) until we were walking up to the building. We sat waaaaay up in the nose-bleeds and the performers were like little ants down there, but we could see well enough and it was so much fun! The Boogie has talked about it daily ever since, telling us that she reeeeally wants to go to the circus again "with Pheeboo!"

Speaking of Pheeboo, she had her nine-month check-up last week (right before I got sick.) I searched for the post with her six-month stats but apparently I never wrote that one. So, for comparison:
6 months old -- 18 lbs 10 oz 27 inches (95th percentile)
9 months old -- 20 lbs 13 oz 29 inches (75-80th percentile)
Her pediatrician attributes the drop on the growth curve to becoming more active in the past three months. She certainly is active, crawling everywhere like a little wind-up toy. She also just cut teeth #7 and 8. Now she has another head cold. Poor baby. It's rough for her since she is a thumb-sucker. It's hard to suck your thumb when you can't breathe through your nose.

Today was the Boogie's first visit to the dentist. She should have gone before now but I was a procrastinator and never scheduled it. She did very well today and has no cavities, praise the Lord! She didn't like the suction tool (Eric says "no one likes those things") but did fine until it was time for an x-ray when she freaked out. I blame myself for not preparing her but it just didn't occur to me that they would want to do one today. They managed to get one picture and hopefully next time she will do better. 

And now, as a reward for making it through the boring recap, a few words from the Boogie.

After having her teeth brushed before bed: "Look at my teef, Honey! Are they clean? Do they sparkle, like this? 'Ding!'"

When she came home from church with Eric the other night, I asked her if she missed me and she replied, "Well, Honey, I just didn't think about it on my mind."