My little niche

Yesterday was a little too hectic for my tastes.

We started off with a night of little sleep. Katie has been waking up several times a night for the last couple of weeks. I figured it was due to her cold and decided to wait it out. Her cold finally faded, but she was still waking up at night.  I called the pediatrician's office first thing in the morning and got a 10:30 appointment.

Amelia had gymnastics from 9:15-10AM. We didn't get into the car until 10:15 - trying to get the children to hustle can be like herding cats.

I pull up at the pediatrician's at 10:35. I rush everyone inside, and we get called in rather quickly. Katie reacts like your average toddler being held down to get her ears checked. (She's, um, strong, and hates any sort of medical check-up. Amelia was the same way until 2.5 years old.)  It turns out she has an ear infection in her left ear as well as sinusitis. The doctor recommends we take our prescription to Publix, because amoxicillan is one of the medications they'll fill for free. (Kaiser has its own pharmacy in the same building as the doctors' offices, but it would have cost the co-pay.)

I hustle the girls into the car after stopping by the bathroom twice, and a good 5 minute play session in the Kaiser pharmacy. (It has an awesome playhouse.)  At Publix, I grab them a cookie at the bakery to help tide them over while we wait at the Pharmacy.  At this point, Katie is SO over the morning. She proceeds to wiggle out of the lap belt in the car shopping cart and tries to dive over the side repeatedly.  Yargh. Finally, we get the free prescription (plus $2 to have it flavored to grape). I run them over to the deli to have them choose something to eat for lunch.

We get home, I feed them the food They Pined For. They play with it a bit then run around the house.  At 1, everyone goes down for a nap, including me. I wake up at 4:30, due to Amelia snuggling into the bed next to me. Katie wakes up at 5. I start a big pot of spaghetti sauce and play with the kids for a while.  Tom gets home about 6:30, and we settle down for dinner.  We had the kids in bed at 8, and I tried to go to sleep at 10:30. I was spent.

Yesterday was the day I tried to do too many things in the morning. Everyone paid for it. I need to remember to take it a bit easier, especially when underslept. :)

By the by, the grape flavoring was worth the 2 bucks. Katie actually liked the flavor of her medication!

Tom and Amelia are heading out for a daddy-daughter date in a few minutes.  He's taking her to see Ratatouille. She "earned" this treat, since she's gone #2 in the potty 4 times this week. (We've set up a variety of treats that she earns. So far, she's earned an ice cream outing, a Dora book, and now the movie. Next time will be a Diego book (for 5 times). 

This will be Amelia's first movie out, so I have a touch of worry. However, she's so excited about being alone with Daddy! Eating Popcorn!

I'll share the results later today. :)

EDIT: They just left!
YET ANOTHER EDIT: Just to be clear, she doesn't get a huge treat every time. She has to go another 5 times, then she gets the book. :)

For the last few days, Tom has been sick. He stayed home Wednesday and Thursday, which completely threw off our schedules. However, I really enjoy his company, so it more than made up for it. His cold has progressed from sore throat to coughing. :( He had to go to the office today, so I hope he's not infecting all of Oracle.

There has been great progress in the new baby's room. The gawd-awful wallpaper has been stripped, room was TSP'ed, primed, and painted the most lovely lavender. Tom spent most of yesterday's sick day rewiring the room, rotating the sockets, and adding network and telephone connectivity to the room. (Not that we'll take advantage of those outlets while the baby's there, but it adds to resale value of the house.)

This weekend, we'll be busy assembling the dresser and guest bed to go in that room. The crib will go into the room whenever we can convince Amelia that she's ready for her big girl bed. We've been allowing her to approach it at her own speed, and she knows that mommy and daddy sleep in beds. However, she views her crib as her "safe space." Sometimes, when the universe is too much, she walks over to her crib and raises her arms so she can be placed in there and cool down.

I'm not about to force my child to leave her "safe space" until she's ready. If necessary, the new kiddo can sleep in the pack and play for a good, long while. Eventually, Amelia will want a bed. *shrug* Basically, we're following the advice of almost all pediatricians and not forcing any unnecessary change when her world is getting ready to change so much in two months.