The Queen's Rambles

I am so glad I had company on Friday! I am not the best housekeeper, but we cleaned the place up and made it presentable. We didn’t totally ruin it this weekend, thus I was able to host a huge impromptu Halloween party this afternoon. Crazy! Totally crazy!

I was somehow roped into being the planner for our Halloween party (mainly because I do the newsletter and when I e-mailed the board, asking who was hosting, no one replied). We were going to do it at a local park, but it sounded a bit boring so I bought a pinata and came up with a “pin the bone on the skeleton” game. I spent money! The party must happen!

I went outside to pack up the van and the skies looked like they were about to open. I checked the forecast and the downpour was supposed to start about 15 minutes after our party was supposed to start.

Life is so busy that there was no good time for me to reschedule, so I sucked it up and said I would host. At the time it was only going to be four families, but we ended up with seven families. If you’ve ever been to my house you are probably wondering where I put seven families.

Luckily it didn’t rain, so I put seven families out on the deck, out in the yard, and all over the basement. It was a squishy party. Very squishy.

Do you remember my theory that Erik acts like a lunatic right around his birthday and half birthday? Sure enough, he went insane and went on a major crying jag because he didn’t get to go first in the “pin the bone” game. It’s lovely to be a hostess when your kid is standing out in front of the new neighbor’s house, howling louder than any wolf ever dreamed, wearing a Darth Vader costume.

Other than that, I think things went pretty well and people had fun. Made for a crazy day for me, but when aren’t my days crazy?

We also had Erik’s five year appt and Elsa’s six month appt. He’s 43 pounds/42 inches and she’s 23 pounds/27 inches. He’s still 50th and 5th percentile. She’s off the charts for both height and weight.

The doctor asked me what I’m feeding her and I explained that I’m giving her cereal and mashed banana but she just spits it out. “Well, yes, but what are you giving her as a supplement?” She kept asking and didn’t seem to think I understood the question. I would say I just make rich breast milk, but I think it comes down to genetics. Erik had the same breast milk and he was just a little guy.

I know, logically, that she is really big, esp when I can’t fit her into 12 month clothing, but the point was really driven home when my neighbor came by with her son. He’s three days older than Elsa and makes her look like a linebacker. I wouldn’t say he’s tiny, but he’s dwarfed by Elsa.

Other than that, things are good with both kids. Elsa started crawling and clapping her hands yesterday, so we’re in for a world of trouble.

Erik decided he hates school because he is “nervous” that he’ll scribble-scrabble (what his teacher calls coloring outside the lines). I asked the doctor if that was a developmentally appropriate expectation and she started spitting fire. She said I need to talk to the teacher ASAP because there is no way most five year olds, especially boys, care enough to color inside the lines. I’m glad I’m not crazy. I also thought it was a little too much. I really hope this teacher doesn’t instill a dislike of school in Erik. I plan on talking to her tomorrow.

I was surprised by the very thorough genital exam that Erik received. He was not happy with it at all. I guess those exams are normal, but it was weird to see.

The doctor did please me immensely when she refused to give Elsa her vaccinations today. I was going to tell her I wanted to delay them until she was feeling better, but before I got the chance the doctor said that she wouldn’t give them today because of her cold. Score!

I don’t know when we will all ever get well. Mike has been coughing so hard that he thinks he broke a rib. Poor guy has some cough syrup, but that’s it. He is in AZ for a few days so I hope he was allowed to take it in his carry-on.

I guess I better go upstairs and see if Erik is asleep and Elsa is awake. My mom has been a huge help, but she is not familiar with our patterns and missed the moment of night diaper/pajama change time so I’m not sure what’s going to happen tonight.