Riley and Avery

A freezing-cold Avery in the locker room after swimming.


Avery demonstrating how she can brush her hair AND walk, AT THE SAME TIME! Wow!


The girls playing around in a locker.


Sisters!

We went to family swim at our neighborhood indoor pool. It was $10.50 for the whole family. This was a different pool than the one we went to for Riley's friend's birthday party and this pool wouldn't let us use the life jackets. We had fun anyway, and it was really nice having Rudi there rather than me trying to keep two non-swimmers from sinking. I did buy Riley a life jacket yesterday (which she doesn't know about yet) since they were on sale at our sporting goods store. I couldn't get one yet for Avery. The infant size goes up to 30 lbs and the child size is 30-50 lbs, so I don't know which to get for her. Most of her weight is in her head, so I'd say the smaller size, but I would like it to last. I'm not even sure she'd wear a life jacket anyway. Riley likes wearing the life jacket and "swimming" around in the pool.

So, we are all definitely driving to Maryland, just have to figure out when. Rudi said that he is going to try to be more personable this time. Yeah, we'll see...

Oh, and the Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook rocks! We've made five (or six?) recipes from it and they were all good. We made Chesapeake roasted potatoes with tilapia, lentils and spinach with sausage (it called for soy sausage, so we put in regular sausage), seafood orzo, ratatouille, and something else.....oh, and west indian red beans with coconut rice. Although a couple nights ago, my cookbook was in Rudi's way and he tossed it into a large tupperware dish, which was the one that had been under the sink to catch the leak. No, he did not realize that there was still water in there, and the cookbook is all soft and squishy. He feels so bad. Oh well, still usable.

We have to get going to Riley's play therapy appointment and I don't want to leave another post on my computer for weeks, so here goes...

Just a warning, this will be long...

Fun things first: The dollhouse is coming along well. The shingling is done on the front and I'm just waiting for the stain to dry. That part sucked, mostly because shingling the roof was an adult thing. No way the children could help with that. Too much lining up and I wasn't using kid-friendly glue, you know? The paint on the front is done and some of the windows are in. I still have to put another coat of paint on the sides, but I'm avoiding that right now. We should get working on the front porch pretty soon. Update: I just noticed that the adhesive I used for the wallpaper is not sufficient. Now I have to re-paper. Yay. Shouldn't be too tough, but I don't know where to find the paste I need. Humph.

On to the not-fun stuff: Riley has been have a tummy ache for weeks now. I have an appointment today with a doctor for her. Not her normal doctor because he's out this week, but one in the same practice. Hope it goes well. My gut says that her stomach aches are related to her anxiety, but I wanted to rule out anything physical first. Tomorrow she has an appointment with a child psychologist to see about her anxiety and her general behavior.

Update: nothing physically wrong with Riley. Can't say that I'm surprised. I liked the doctor, she was really affable and comfortable and likeable. She's new to the practice so her schedule is not too full, which is why she could get us in. Her name is Dr. Mulder, which I thought was cool because I'm a nerd.

Okay, it's taken me a long time to write this blog. We've now gone to the psychologist. I really liked him. He was younger (but not too young) and informative. One thing he wants me to do is get Riley a blood test for thyroid. He said that mood swings and behavioral problems can be symptomatic of a thyroid problem, and with thyroid problems running rampant in our family...I'm sure nothing is wrong with her thyroid, but I'll check it out anyway. Just ruling things out. He wants to observe us as a family next time we go in, etc. It's going to be a pain in the butt to do all this stuff, but it is what we really need. Riley is not a normal child and I need a new way of parenting her. I'm willing to go outside of my comfort zone (such as more structured rules and a rewards system) if I'm asked to. I don't normally like those things, but Riley is not everychild. I have to accept that. That is, stuff that is not accepted on mothering.com may be just what Riley needs. I'm willing to accept that things that work for most children (time-outs, talking about it, listening, etc) just don't work for her. Meh, who knows...We're going back as a family on the 16th. The guy is only there Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are the only not-good days in our week, so I had to hold out for the 4pm appointment, which is a popular time.

Riley has an appointment today with her play therapist. She really likes Ms. Barb and has been asking to go back. That's at 11. Hopefully we won't be having 8 million appointments every single week. It's exhausting.

Avery had developed into quite the little artist. And makes a nice mess in the process!

I'm letting this one go so I can start fresh...someday.

I have pictures of our dollhouse progress to post, but I'll do that later tonight...

So, over the past month or so, Riley has REALLY blossomed at school. I mean, REALLY REALLY REALLY blossomed. She LOVES her teachers and finally seems to be absorbing so much there and I'm starting, finally, to see the rewards of a Montessori education. She's taking a leadership role with the newer (and also the slower, sorry, that's mean) students, etc.

Today at school, the director said that she would really love to have Riley back for her Kindergarten year and I made a comment about the economy, etc. and she said that if I'm up to it she has a lot of work I can do over the summer. We didn't speak further at the time (it was pick-up time, so rather busy) so I don't know if she would be there 5 full days, if work would take care of all the tuition, or just some, and so forth. But now I'm back to the drawing board.

Riley's current school IS so FAR to drive, but I can sacrifice if it's what's best for Riley and if it's what she really wants, or the best place for her to be. But then if she goes to Globe Charter School in first grade, she'll be the new kid, rather than a new Kindergartener like everyone else.

I told Riley that we'll go visit the new school to see if she likes it (last time we visited, it was quiet time, so she didn't get to get a good feel as to what a real school day would be like there) and it'll just be me and her so that Avery can't distract her. I thought I would actively involve Riley in this choice, since it will primarily affect her. Yes, the drive will affect me, but if Riley really wants to continue at her current school and if I think it would be best, I'd be willing to make the drive.

Ugh...just when I thought the decision was made...

Here's our dollhouse so far. It's coming along really nicely. The pieces fit together so well and the girls are having a blast. Right now we are painting the window frames. I do some of the complex gluing while the girls are in bed so it'll be dry by morning for the girls to work on, but for the most part Riley and Avery are involved in almost every step. It really should last for generations. Today we'll go to Home Depot for the girls to pick out exterior paint. I've been wallpapering it. I'm debating on whether to do baseboard and crown molding. It really looks nice in the pictures of dollhouses, but is it too much?

Nothing eventful happening in our lives right now. Hence, no pictures.

We went to Riley's Valentines Day party at her school yesterday. It was chill and fun. The holiday party is such a zoo since ALL the parents come and it is a small school. Only a few parent volunteers made it to the V-Day party, so we socialized and had fun with the kiddos. Not too shabby.

I think that Avery has abdominal diastasis (I think I have it too, but I am more worried about Avery.) When she tried to sit up from laying on her back, there is a long ridge that pops out from just beneath her breastbone to her belly button. And she has a small bulge just right of her belly button. Hmmm...the beginnings of umbilical hernia? Oh, I don't know. She's had the ridge pretty much all her life, and I thought nothing about it, until a mother in my mother's group mentioned diastasis and how restricting it is for her. I'll have to do more research...

We are supposed to go to Big Horn Sheep Days at the Garden of the Gods today, but it is very wintery outside today. That is, it's cold, foggy, and white. I seriously doubt that we'd be able to view any Big Horn Sheep. Did I mention that I despise the cold? Even so, it's worth repeating. I hate the cold.

Additionally, Avery stayed up until 1 am and woke up at 7am, at which time I desperately tried to nurse her back to sleep. It didn't work, but at least I got a few more minutes of sleep.

Thirdly, we ran Rudi ragged yesterday and I seriously doubt he'll want to go anywhere at 10am this morning. He went to the V-Day party yesterday, then we all went to Borders. Then he took Riley out for one-on-one time yesterday to Blockbuster and Entertainmart and was gone for a few hours with Riley. That's a lot for him.

This is going to be a lazy day. Riley got Wall-E at Blockbuster and she is joyfully watching it right now, trying to get Avery interested in it.

Just some random stuff not included in my previous four posts today.

Rudi and I agreed on Brazilian Capoeira for Riley. I thought that ballet and tap and such were too mainstream, and Riley is more athletic and energetic than poised and controlled. And Rudi didn't like the belly dancing suggestion I made (yes, belly dancing is available!) so we agreed on Capoeira. They teach dance, martial arts, and musical insturments all in one, with a little Portuguese thrown in. Not too shabby.



We also moved the rabbits upstairs into the girls' toy room. Rudi said that he was having allergy problems with them (probably their hay more than anything) and I thought that the rabbits needed a break. With the girls and I up all day and Rudi up all night, they didn't have any calm time, or time when it's dark for them to sleep peacefully. So I think it's great for everyone.

Oh, there was something else...

I dropped two of my classes and registered for ones that I actually need. I'm taking Political Science (American Government) and US History. I registered late, however, so I'm three weeks behind. I didn't miss much, so I think I can catch up pretty easily. The US History one in particular, since the early chapters deal with prehistoric peoples of North America, which I learned about extensively in my Native Americans class a couple of semesters ago. They are both online courses so I can catch up at my own pace. I did have to pay $170 for one book, since I was registering late and couldn't wait for a used order to come in from Amazon. Ugh...I better get a lot of money back for it when I sell it back. The other class I found the text online (for a charge) so I cut the cost in half, but have nothing to sell back to the school. Again, grr...

We've been getting used to carrying Avery's epi-pens around with us wherever we go. They came with a trainer, so that we can practice and get used to the feel before we ever need to use it (hopefully not, right?) The doctor said a 70% chance that her reaction will always be what they have been so far, a 15% that it will be worse, and a 15% chance that they will be better. I don't want to be pessimistic, but her reactions are already getting worse, so I don't think they'll be better ever. I mean, her reactions themselves aren't getting worse, but she is needing less and less to have a reaction. For instance, Rudi bought chocolates that were processed in a facility that processes peanuts, and I thought, what are the chances? Well, Avery said "These have peanuts in them and my throat feels funny" so, Benadryl and a very sleepy child ensued. She's really rolling with it, though. I thought it would be really tough to have a three year old suddenly unable to eat *anything* outside of home, but she is handling it very well. She's a smart cookie. I was bracing for tantrums, but she's been cool with it.

Oh, and Riley is reading a lot more. I was searching for a new episode of Desperate Housewives on TV and she said "Comcast, what is that? That's not even a word!" So, she read "Comcast" all by herself.

Oh, on Thursday I receive a call while on my way to take Riley to school, and it's her school's director, asking if I can help out at the school because they are short-staffed. I said okay and Avery got to spend the day at school and Riley loved having me there.

Okay, I've posted enough for today...

Wow! Four posts today!

We went to the zoo today (obviously) and I have to admit that it was a bit chilly up on Cheyenne Mountain!! This was the first time that Avery independently fed the giraffes by herself. She's been scared every time until now. She was also being very frugal with her precious giraffe crackers, breaking each one up into 10+ pieces.





This one is funny. That giraffe had just licked a huge chunk of Riley's hair. She then turned around to see what it was when I took the picture. Then she turned back around and saw the giraffe right there in her face with its tongue out and SCREAMED and laughed. It was funny. Kind of like the infamous "James and the Cow" episode.




Avery's patented stink eye. I don't even remember what she was POed about. I think Daddy had put her jacket on "wrong" or something like that.





I didn't even mean to dress the girls alike today. I knew they were wearing the same pants (they are their only lined jeans, so that's what we had) but then I realize that they have the same shoes on (seemed sensible at the time so they wouldn't fight over who got the coolest shoes, etc.) and the jackets, well they were on sale. At least they're different colors!


Avery says "statue" really funny. She says "ta-CHOO". It took a little bit to figure out what she was saying, and Rudi was more baffled than usual on that one.

Oh, and after looking at the Spectacled Bear, Avery said "I know what bears eat! They eat peoples!" I told her that bears eat a lot of berries and fish, etc. Riley said they eat honey. So Avery said "Well, apparently peoples smell like berries and honey." Yes, she said "apparently" and obviously didn't believe that bears don't normally eat people. (But she does know that bears will eat people. Hey, we live in bear country and can't really afford to sugar-coat such details!)



All in all we had a very nice day. Yes, it was windy and cool up there, but the family time was much-needed. We were at the zoo for five hours, I believe. We had a coupon for 50% off of admission, and we got an additional $2 off each person with our military ID. So not too shabby at all. We brought our own food and drinks and kept it fairly cheap. But still fun!

And some animals for your viewing pleasure:

Mostly pictures. Girls were just dancing again the the Baltimore Consort Renaissance music again.

We went, again, to the preschool class at the Garden of the Gods. This week's topic was dinosaurs. The girls really had a blast. Avery in particular was very into it, making sure her dinosaur was "just so." On to the next post...

I know, a while ago. I've fallen behind on blogging, so I'm trying to catch up!






Chinese New Year was a lot of fun (and cheap) but Riley was disappointed that she didn't learn Chinese while there. I tell you, Riley is all about learning languages. I really really really loved the taiko drums. Rudi thought I was nuts. The food was good, catered by the restaurant we always order from, so we knew it was safe for Avery.

I don't really remember all that much about it, so I'll just move onto the next post...