So I've had that song in my head now for the past couple of days. You know the song that starts with "this is the song that never ends, it just goes on and on my friends" and then continues from there without ending. I can only remember the first couple of lines, but even that is enough to go around and around in my head without ending. So I guess it truly is the song that never ends... at least for a couple of days.
I'm sure the reason for the never-ending song in my head is that I've been thinking about putting together a blog post for a couple of days now and there is so much to tell that I feel like this post could go on and on and on. Sorry. I'll try to keep it brief. And my New Year's resolution for this year is to update my blog at least once per week so hopefully future posts will be shorter, and more timely. We'll see how long that resolution lasts. (In past years my resolutions have lasted about 3 days.)
So, lets start with the girls' fevers. About a month ago ago we went back to the Children's Hospital to see the Infectious Disease team, and (drum roll please...) it looks like the fevers are gone. I was convinced the doctors were wrong and the girls did not have Marshall's Syndrome but it looks like they did. They had their tonsils out on August 20th, and since then we haven't had what I consider to be a "real" fever. A had a really low fever for a day after she had her H1N1 vaccine, so I attributed the fever to that. And E had a low fever for a few hours, a couple of weeks back, which was accompanied by a runny nose, coughing and congestion. So, it looks like it was a flu bug. In both cases the fever was just over 100 degrees, and lasted only hours. It was a far cry from the 104/105 degree fevers that last four or five days that we'd become used to.
In other health news, I took the girls to our pediatrician's office for the regular flu shot a few weeks ago. E really doesn't like needles and before going I joked with DoT, laughing that there wasn't much E could do... it's not like she could get up and leave if she decided she didn't want to go through with it. Well, yeah, nice theory that. When I was sitting on the pediatrician's table, holding A while she got her shot, E announced that she didn't want the needle, opened the door to the office and left; in spite of me hollaring at her to "get back in here!". She went to the waiting room play area and hid. Luckily there aren't really that many great hiding spots in there and I found her pretty quickly.
B has now started at the same daycare the girls go to. He loves it. I'm back to work, and I love it considerably less. :-) I had been hoping to get many of the things on my to-do list done during my time away from work, but that didn't happen. Although, I did have all my Christmas shopping and decorating done before I went back, which was nice. A couple of weeks ago we pulled out the Christmas decorations and put them up. We have a small tree that we let the kids decorate themselves. Then they "helped" us decorate the big tree. Only a few ornaments were broken. Here are a couple of pics of the event...
And here is a short video that makes me laugh, of B trying to find the perfect spot for an ornament...
The only problem with B's starting daycare is that most days he is not napping. He has always been a really light sleeper, and there is just too much fun going on at the daycare, so he refuses to sleep. Which makes supper time and the evenings really unpleasant for all of us. I know it is hard to believe since B seems to be such a fun, easy-going kid, which he is for the most part, but he can also be really terrible. For him "the terrible twos" seem appropriately named; at least during the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. timeslot.
We have lots of snow in Ottawa, which the kids are loving. But it now takes about 15 minutes to get all the kids into snow suits, hats, mitts and boots before getting out the door in the morning. And of course none of us wants to get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning, so we're kind of pressed for time these days.
DoT and I went to a parent/teacher interview several weeks ago. The girls' teacher told us that the girls "don't have a mean bone in their bodies" (mostly true), and that she loves having them in her class, and then launched into a running commentary on everything that is wrong with their participation in school. :-) Basically, on what I'll call the academic side, the girls are doing fine. They can both print their names now, with only minor mistakes, and can count to 30 or so, and recognize the numbers 1 to 10, and most of the letters of the alphabet. But, on the social side of things (which is what much of jr. kindergarten is about), they have some work to do. The biggest issue the teacher seems to have with them is that they like to play with each other, and don't interact as much with the other kids. This is especially the case with E. I have always wanted the girls to have a strong bond with each other, and it seems I've got my wish. The teacher recommended (again), that we seperate the girls into different classes next year. If at the end of the year there is still an issue with how the girls socialize with others, then we'll consider it.
Now the only other comment the teacher had was that the girls have trouble "keeping their hands and feet to themselves". Both DoT and I thought that meant they were hitting or kicking other kids. But no; it means they are too "huggy". They "like to give their friends hugs". So on the one hand we have them not playing with other friends, and on the other hand they are hugging the other kids when they shouldn't be. I guess that means they are just randomly running up to kids and hugging them. :-)
Around Remembrance Day, the girls homework entailed finishing the sentence "Peace is...", and colouring a picture of what they said. Later the teacher put together a book of what all the kids had said, and it rotated through the homes of the kids. When we got it, I took pictures of each page as a momento. Some of the sentences by the kids said things like 'giving hugs', or sharing candy or toys. E said peace is "when you say sorry". A, on the other hand, said peace is "keeping the streets clean". Huh? Overall, a really cute project. And, to Spencer, who said "peace is being with my babysitter", I would like to say "amen to that". :-)
Okay, I'm going to end here. I know I haven't talked about Christmas, and maybe that will be a post for another day. It certainly deserves a post of its own. But for now I'll just say the kids thoroughly enjoyed Christmas this year; and loved all the gifts they got from Santa and others. It was touch-and-go right up to the very end as to whether or not Santa would leave gifts or lumps of coal, but in the end the kids all got what they asked Santa for, so I guess they were good enough this year. :-)
Happy New Year everyone!
K...
