Art projects

Back in January (that's how bad I am at updating this), I took the big girls to the art museum for their special family day. We spent a little time looking at the art on display, a lot of time in the kids' room (it's spectacular ... if any families in the area haven't yet had the chance to explore the museum, I'd recommend it JUST for the kids' room), and some time making art projects.

 I did the wax scratching in Miriam's; she did all the painting.

Analee's project.

Bekah was upset at how hers turned out.

Bekah's donation

Rebekah used to have super-long hair.

Two-year-old Rebekah in January 2008.

Then she got into the habit of sucking on her hair, which caused snarls, which caused trauma when it came time to brush her hair. So we chopped it off, and she had it short for quite a while.

Four-year-old Rebekah in March 2010.

When she promised she had kicked the hair-sucking habit, we allowed her to grow her hair out again. It took her a year or so, but her long, golden locks returned. However, the battle over brushing resumed, and when I suggested that a haircut would make washing and brushing easier, Rebekah decided to chop away. We rushed her to the salon, and she was able to donate eight inches of her corn-silk hair.

 Bekah's long hair before the cut. 

After the cut and holding her donated pigtails.

Before the stylist started hacking, Rebekah told her how she'd like to look after the haircut.

Rebekah: Do you know what American Girls are?
Stylist: Yes.
Rebekah: Do you know who Kit is?
Stylist: I'm not familiar with that one.
Rebekah: I want to look like Kit.
Andrea: She wants a chin-length bob.

(Here's Kit, for comparison's sake.)

I'll admit, I kind of miss Bekah's long hair. I FINALLY figured out how to French braid someone else's hair, and I was having a fun time doing new things with it. And on Sundays when I'd get out the little curling iron and curl her golden mane ... goodness. Her hair was gorgeous. 

But every other day of the week when she wouldn't let me touch her hair, it didn't look nearly as put-together or lovely. I'll admit ... with her new cut, it's much quicker and easier to do her hair, and she can finally wash and rinse it on her own. As for snarls, they're pretty much nonexistent. It's a trade-off, but with a headstrong second grader, it's for the best.

Miri-ism #12

Miriam understands the gist of the phrase, but muddles it.


Miri: Goodbye, alligator.

Miri-ism #11

Miriam was making some funny noises.

Andrea: Miri, what are you doing?
Miri: I'm hicking up.

Ana the artist

 

Artist: Analee Grover

Title: The Octopus

Date: 4 March 2013

Medium: Play-Doh

Q: What inspired you to create this piece of art? 
A: Nothing. And the material I made it with is Play-Doh. It's all Play-Doh.
Q: Why did you choose to make an octopus? 
A: Because it would be cool.
Q: Do you like octopuses? 
A: Yeah ... they're my favorite kind of water animal.
Q: What makes your octopus special? 
A: Because it's all out of Play-Doh.
Q: What are the orange things? 
A: They're BUBBLES!
Q: Is there anything else we should know about it? 
A: Uh-uh. (Shrugs shoulders.)

Thumbs up

All my girls have been very short-lived thumb suckers. Being the fourth daughter in the family, Winnie's working hard to be remembered for something, so she's taken on the roll of long-term thumb sucker.

She still likes her pacifier, but if the kid is ever feeling tired, she just starts shoving her hands into her mouth until she finds the part she wants. It seems like she favors her right hand so far. 

I have no objections to her being a thumb sucker as long as it doesn't become a problem sometime down the line (the dentist had to threaten to cut my thumb off when I was 5 and still sucking).

Caught with her thumb in her mouth.

Stylin'

Yes, that's my child wearing a fuzzy brown backpack, a Tinkerbell bow, skull sunglasses, fringey hair and a purple hat. Why do you ask?

And guess who dressed the baby in the fluffy headband? See above.

Smart aleck

I'm totally blaming this on Seth's genes ... after all, I was a teacher's pet, not a class clown.

The other day, Rebekah brought home some typical papers from school with something atypical at the top. Make sure you look closely. Here's the conversation that followed:

In case it's too hard to read, in Rebekah's writing it says, "Name on it." In Mrs. Funke's writing it says, "Rebekah."

Andrea: Rebekah, what did you write on your paper?
Bekah: "Name on it."
Andrea: And why did you write "name on it" on your paper?
Bekah: Because Mrs. Funke handed me a paper and told me to write my name on it.

More little miracles

She's only 4 months old. She proved to us once that there are guardian angels watching over her ... I guess she just wanted to remind us of that fact.

One week ago (2/4), Winnie developed a barking cough. Since she's so young, I called the doctor's office first thing the next day and made an appointment. The doctor looked her over, told me she was okay and let me know that if she started having a hard time breathing or got a fever to bring her right back in.

By Friday night (2/8), the cough had transformed from a barking cough to a junky cough. She felt a little warm that evening, so we took her temperature. It was 100 degrees even, so we gave her some Tylenol. It kicked her temp back down to normal, and she seemed fine.

Saturday morning, no fever. Same cough. Saturday night, a temperature of 101.8. I called the pediatrician on call, and he said if she didn't seem to be acting too sick (which she wasn't ... she was being her same sweet self) or having trouble breathing, she could take some more Tylenol and wait to see the doctor until the next day. Or if she seemed to be doing fine Sunday, we could just watch her and determine if we thought she needed to see a doctor later on.

Sunday morning, no fever. We took her to church and to Grandma's. Sunday night, a temperature of 100.4. The Tylenol took care of that again.

Today was her 4-month check-up, as previously discussed. If she hadn't already had an appointment scheduled, I may have made one anyway ... I don't know.

Either way, I'm grateful we went in today. I'm grateful we have a skilled doctor. I'm grateful for the chest X-ray torture chamber of doom.

And now I'm grateful for antibiotics. Not only does she have bronchiolitis, but she also has early signs of pneumonia. We're instructed to give her medicine and keep an eye on her. She'll be fine staying at home unless she seems to be having a hard time breathing.

Isn't this the sweetest pneumonic baby the world has ever seen?

Gwendolen's 4-month check

Her stats:

Weight: 11 pounds, 5 ounces (3rd percentile)
Height: 23 inches (17th percentile)
Head: 16.33 inches (73rd percentile)

She's a typical Grover: big head, scrawny everything else.

Winnie's had a cough for a week and a fever the past three evenings, so the doctor suggested we delay her 4-month immunizations until she's feeling better. And after listening carefully to her lungs, he suggested that we get a chest X-ray. He said it sounds like she has bronchiolitis, but he wants to make sure it's not developing into pneumonia.

If you've never had a baby get a chest X-ray, you're missing out. I thought all devices like the Iron Maiden were a thing of the past. I really wanted to get a picture of my precious baby squeezed into a plastic tube, but Analee and Miriam had my phone in the other room (when the staff asked me, "Is there anyone else with you who can stay with them?" and I shot them a look that said, "Do you SEE anyone else here with me?") so they could play Angry Birds, and I was busy holding Winnie's hands up above her head. But since words won't do the procedure justice, here's a picture I borrowed from the Intertubes:

Here is an empty pigg-o-stat, as it's called. How does this help your wee one get her chest X-rayed?

By squeezing her into the tube with her arms above her head. This one has holes for the kids legs--Winnie just had hers tucked under her body so she was kneeling.

Looks traumatic, no? I'll admit I was a little nervous as they closed it around her tiny little body. But my sweet little Winnie was very content as they took the X-rays. She just spent her time in there chewing the piece of plastic just below her face.

We should hear back from the doctor's office later today. If she has pneumonia, she'll get to experience her first antibiotics. If it's just bronchiolitis, she'll get Tylenol as needed.

Miri-ism #10

Miriam mixes up a couple of exclamations:

Miri: Holy sakes!

Six-letter word

Today when the girls got home from school, Rebekah had something to report.

Bekah: Mom, Ana said a bad word.
Ana: Bekah! I didn't know it was a bad word!

Just like a TV sitcom flashback, the air got all wavy and I remembered the time when I watched Back to the Future with my siblings for the first time and took a liking to a word Marty McFly used when he was upset/surprised/frustrated/bored/pensive.

Andrea: S&*#!
Siblings: That's a bad word! Don't say that word! Mom! Andrea said a bad word!

More wavy air as I came back to the present.

Bekah: I'll write it down for you, Mom.

Of course, I expected the worst. What kind of cuss word would she write? Would I need to lecture Ana on taking the Lord's name in vain or using dirty language? Given my naiveté, would I even recognize the word?

If this is the worst word my girls know, I think we're doing pretty darn well. Until we let them watch Back to the Future, that is.

Ana's drawing

Today Analee brought this home from kindergarten:

In case you can't tell, that's Ana (with the curly hair and glasses) on the left. Then a snowman, then Seth, Miriam, Andrea and Rebekah.

I looked it over and then asked, "Ana, why do some people have angry eyes?"

She said, "You and Daddy have angry eyes because Miriam's outside in just her underwear."

In Miriam's defense, she's potty-training right now and prefers to run around in just her skivvies. But if she DID go outside to build a snowman in just her Rapunzel undies, we would definitely have a problem.

Bekahism #49

While sitting around the kitchen table, Rebekah reported to us an incident that happened during school.

Bekah: When we're learning new vocab words, Mrs. Funke gives us hints about what the word is.
Andrea: Like what?
Bekah: Like when she said, "Santa Claus is this." And I said, "Obese!"
Andrea: What was the vocab word?
Bekah: "Jovial."

Ana-ism #23

Ana the Kindergartener has been reading like crazy, but sometimes she needs helps when she encounters a new word. 

Ana: (Reading a book) Mom, what is e ... i ... e ... i ... o?
(Pause)
Ana: Oh. EIEIO.