Confessions of a Mom with 4 Sick Kids. . . 5 if you count Chris
When the kids are all sick in this house it is utter chaos. I feel scattered and out of control and even with a nanny on board I feel that we are short helping hands. During times like this I want to crawl into my bed and not come out until the illnesses have passed. I was having coffee with my girlfriends this morning while Ava was at school and the babies were napping (Nanny Kathy was at the house of course) and as I was walking back to my car I said -- maybe to myself, maybe out load, I cannot remember -- I don't wanna go home to all those sick snotty sneezing wheezing coughing barfing kids.
Let me break it down for you: Ava has a horrible cough and was coughing so hard at 6 in the morning that she threw up 3 times in her bed; Violet has a double ear infection and bronchitis with green oozing from many orafices; Elsa has a double ear infection; and Preston has an ear infection in one ear. Oh, I forgot to mention that I have another sinus infection and Chris has a cold. Even Nanny Kathy is on antibiotics. It is ridiculous and pathetic at the same time.
So, Chris and I are at the doctor today with Violet and Preston. Violet is a terrible patient and she usually screams bloody murder if the doctor even starts inching toward her. This visit was different though because our doctor -- a woman -- has a major curly unruly afro and Violet liked it. She liked it a lot. She kept caressing this doctor's unruly afro and using her pointer finger to poke around her curls and at her face while the doctor was listening to her breathing through the stethascope. The afro saved the day. Preston just sits there and lets them do what they please to him and usually has a smile on his face because he is so super easy going. The doctor informed us that Violet may have pneumonia and a double ear infection and Preston had an ear infection. Then Chris drilled the doctor about Violet's turned-in feet and reassured him that Violet does not have club foot and her feet will straighten out once she starts walking. This is his third opinion on the matter. She left the room and Chris had tears in his eyes. I said, "Chris, are you crying?" and he said "I just want all my babies to be healthy." Bringing Chris to the doctor with me is always interesting.
I had a similar emotional experience as Chris on the way to the doctor for my own illness a few days ago. Traffic was stopped on Cameron Park drive going both ways and backed way up. I cussed about it briefly and wondered what the hold up could be at 2pm. Then from a real distance I saw what looked like a dog dodging in and out of traffic and traffic in both lanes had stopped completely so no one would hit this clueless dog. A few good samaritans had gotten out of their cars and were literally weaving in and out of traffic with the dog trying to catch him so he would not be flattened by a car. It took about five minutes and finally a woman had her arms around the dog on the side of the road and was hugging and petting him and just loving him. I completely lost it. I was crying my eyes out thinking about how this beautiful dog had almost gotten hit by numerous cars on his little escapade and then I thought about how this one little dog managed to stop so many cars and these people who had actually gotten out of their cars and were running around the streets of Cameron Park after this dog. It was too much for me to take in my current state and I cried all the way to my doctor's appointment. I think it was the dog, in combination with the good sumeritans, in combination with all the stress that accummulates inside of me when I have sick kids, in combination with my own sinus infection that was raging and pounding inside my head, all of this created a much needed release for me.
Enough about illness. My little people are growing up and working on some new skills. Elsa is trying to say new words and repeating some words that she hears. It is so adorable. She said "hi" to Gramps several times last night when she saw him. Violet watches your lips move when you talk to her and then you can practically see her little wheels spinning inside her head trying to make her lips shape around those same words. Violet has also found a special friend; Curious George. She has a very special attachment to the very soft curious George stuffed animal that Chris insists on calling a teddy bear despite several attemps by Ava and myself to correct him. She sleeps with Curious George, carries him around the house, hugs him. Ava thinks this relationship is very special and is nurturing the love between Violet and her monkey by always finding the monkey wherever it may be in the house and bringing it to her. It is very sweet.
Another interesting thing that has been happening is that oftentimes when the babies are in their chairs eating food they play with each other and touch each other and steal food from each others chairs. This has been happening for 6 months. Violet has always stuck her pointer finger, which she loves to use, in Elsa's mouth and it is just a way that they interact. Well, now Elsa has two front teeth and two bottom teeth and when Violet sticks her pointer finger in Elsa's mouth, Elsa bites down right into Violet's finger. Violet lets out a scream so loud that I am sure my neighbors want to put their house up for sale. Since Violet doesn't seem to learn from previous journeys into Elsa's mouth of pain, I have had to separate Violets booster away from Elsa. Just another fun multiples moment.
Ava has been quite a big girl lately. We have reached a milestone with her that I wasn't sure would ever happen. For the first 4 years of her life, Ava never once played by herself. I know this seems like a gross exaggeration or maybe an impossibility, but it is true. As a mom, I constantly questioned what I was doing wrong and why my child wouldn’t sit down and do anything on her own. I compared her with other kids, mainly boys since that is all she had in her playgroup that we have attended on Fridays from the time she was six months old. I wondered why all the other kids could sit for an hour or longer and play with trains or various toys and Ava couldn’t do this for even a minute. I cried to Chris, I cried to my mom, I cried to Sherri, I cried to my sister – why is every second of my day monopolized by this needy child? When will it end? Well, when you have one year old triplets for siblings you learn that playing by yourself or having alone time isn't so bad. The other day she played imaginary play with her barbies for about an hour. I couldn't believe it. She is growing up and she is smart enough to adapt to her new environment. Don't get me wrong, Ava still spends most of her day playing with someone, but the difference now is that she is actually learning to play independently also.
Ava-isms:
Ava was giving Chris lots of hugs and kisses while they were playing in the hot tub. Chris said, “Ava, why do you love daddy so much?”
Ava replied, "what would I do if I wasn’t loving you?"
On the way to Mountain Mike’s pizza last night, Chris told Ava that mommy and daddy were upset with her today because we wanted her to treat people nicely and we sent her to her room so that she would think about things. Ava said, “I did think about things.” Chris asked, “what did you think about?” Ava said “I thought about how beautiful the world is. I thought about how I wish the trees would talk. I thought about Disneyland and Mickey Mouse. And I thought about Grandma and Papa.”
13 days until Hawaii. I am picturing myself on the beach under the warm sun sipping on a Mai Tai reading a book. Sigh. I am taking book recommendations if anyone has a very good one.
Until next time, the mothership is signing off.
Let me break it down for you: Ava has a horrible cough and was coughing so hard at 6 in the morning that she threw up 3 times in her bed; Violet has a double ear infection and bronchitis with green oozing from many orafices; Elsa has a double ear infection; and Preston has an ear infection in one ear. Oh, I forgot to mention that I have another sinus infection and Chris has a cold. Even Nanny Kathy is on antibiotics. It is ridiculous and pathetic at the same time.
So, Chris and I are at the doctor today with Violet and Preston. Violet is a terrible patient and she usually screams bloody murder if the doctor even starts inching toward her. This visit was different though because our doctor -- a woman -- has a major curly unruly afro and Violet liked it. She liked it a lot. She kept caressing this doctor's unruly afro and using her pointer finger to poke around her curls and at her face while the doctor was listening to her breathing through the stethascope. The afro saved the day. Preston just sits there and lets them do what they please to him and usually has a smile on his face because he is so super easy going. The doctor informed us that Violet may have pneumonia and a double ear infection and Preston had an ear infection. Then Chris drilled the doctor about Violet's turned-in feet and reassured him that Violet does not have club foot and her feet will straighten out once she starts walking. This is his third opinion on the matter. She left the room and Chris had tears in his eyes. I said, "Chris, are you crying?" and he said "I just want all my babies to be healthy." Bringing Chris to the doctor with me is always interesting.
I had a similar emotional experience as Chris on the way to the doctor for my own illness a few days ago. Traffic was stopped on Cameron Park drive going both ways and backed way up. I cussed about it briefly and wondered what the hold up could be at 2pm. Then from a real distance I saw what looked like a dog dodging in and out of traffic and traffic in both lanes had stopped completely so no one would hit this clueless dog. A few good samaritans had gotten out of their cars and were literally weaving in and out of traffic with the dog trying to catch him so he would not be flattened by a car. It took about five minutes and finally a woman had her arms around the dog on the side of the road and was hugging and petting him and just loving him. I completely lost it. I was crying my eyes out thinking about how this beautiful dog had almost gotten hit by numerous cars on his little escapade and then I thought about how this one little dog managed to stop so many cars and these people who had actually gotten out of their cars and were running around the streets of Cameron Park after this dog. It was too much for me to take in my current state and I cried all the way to my doctor's appointment. I think it was the dog, in combination with the good sumeritans, in combination with all the stress that accummulates inside of me when I have sick kids, in combination with my own sinus infection that was raging and pounding inside my head, all of this created a much needed release for me.
Enough about illness. My little people are growing up and working on some new skills. Elsa is trying to say new words and repeating some words that she hears. It is so adorable. She said "hi" to Gramps several times last night when she saw him. Violet watches your lips move when you talk to her and then you can practically see her little wheels spinning inside her head trying to make her lips shape around those same words. Violet has also found a special friend; Curious George. She has a very special attachment to the very soft curious George stuffed animal that Chris insists on calling a teddy bear despite several attemps by Ava and myself to correct him. She sleeps with Curious George, carries him around the house, hugs him. Ava thinks this relationship is very special and is nurturing the love between Violet and her monkey by always finding the monkey wherever it may be in the house and bringing it to her. It is very sweet.
Another interesting thing that has been happening is that oftentimes when the babies are in their chairs eating food they play with each other and touch each other and steal food from each others chairs. This has been happening for 6 months. Violet has always stuck her pointer finger, which she loves to use, in Elsa's mouth and it is just a way that they interact. Well, now Elsa has two front teeth and two bottom teeth and when Violet sticks her pointer finger in Elsa's mouth, Elsa bites down right into Violet's finger. Violet lets out a scream so loud that I am sure my neighbors want to put their house up for sale. Since Violet doesn't seem to learn from previous journeys into Elsa's mouth of pain, I have had to separate Violets booster away from Elsa. Just another fun multiples moment.
Ava has been quite a big girl lately. We have reached a milestone with her that I wasn't sure would ever happen. For the first 4 years of her life, Ava never once played by herself. I know this seems like a gross exaggeration or maybe an impossibility, but it is true. As a mom, I constantly questioned what I was doing wrong and why my child wouldn’t sit down and do anything on her own. I compared her with other kids, mainly boys since that is all she had in her playgroup that we have attended on Fridays from the time she was six months old. I wondered why all the other kids could sit for an hour or longer and play with trains or various toys and Ava couldn’t do this for even a minute. I cried to Chris, I cried to my mom, I cried to Sherri, I cried to my sister – why is every second of my day monopolized by this needy child? When will it end? Well, when you have one year old triplets for siblings you learn that playing by yourself or having alone time isn't so bad. The other day she played imaginary play with her barbies for about an hour. I couldn't believe it. She is growing up and she is smart enough to adapt to her new environment. Don't get me wrong, Ava still spends most of her day playing with someone, but the difference now is that she is actually learning to play independently also.
Ava-isms:
Ava was giving Chris lots of hugs and kisses while they were playing in the hot tub. Chris said, “Ava, why do you love daddy so much?”
Ava replied, "what would I do if I wasn’t loving you?"
On the way to Mountain Mike’s pizza last night, Chris told Ava that mommy and daddy were upset with her today because we wanted her to treat people nicely and we sent her to her room so that she would think about things. Ava said, “I did think about things.” Chris asked, “what did you think about?” Ava said “I thought about how beautiful the world is. I thought about how I wish the trees would talk. I thought about Disneyland and Mickey Mouse. And I thought about Grandma and Papa.”
13 days until Hawaii. I am picturing myself on the beach under the warm sun sipping on a Mai Tai reading a book. Sigh. I am taking book recommendations if anyone has a very good one.
Until next time, the mothership is signing off.
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