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Finally!

 

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. It was a small, wonderful break before we head into rainy, cold weather again this weekend. So Eva and I went for three walks to stock up on fresh air.

Eva's Stuff

For those of you keeping track, Eva's added another "friend" to her entourage. She now carries around Ducky and Blankie and...Other Blankie. She's nothing if not creative.

Gah.

I know. Can you believe it? Did this happen where you were this weekend? We headed up to Webster, WI to visit Mike's family (it was his dad's birthday), and we woke up Saturday morning to a winter wonderland. Luckily, we had nowhere to be, and we were able to stay inside where it was cozy and warm.

Lazy Rainy Day

And also, Eva and I had this conversation yesterday:

Eva: I'm three!
Mama: No baby, you're one year old. Soon you'll be two. And then you'll be...
Eva: Three!
Mama: Right! And then...
Eva: Four!
Mama: Yep. And then...
Eva: Five!
Mama: That's right. And then...
Eva: Then...six!
Mama: Six! Yes! And then...
Eva: Seven!
Mama: That's right. And then...
Eva: Eight!
Mama: Yes! And then...
Eva: Nine!
Mama: Uh huh. And THEN...
Eva: You are old!

Happy Weekend, everybody.

Playdate in the Park

 

Eva and Ralph

About two days before Eva got sick she and I visited the library. While we were there I picked up a couple CDs for her by a group called Ralph's World. I actually first heard about Ralph's World before I ever even was pregnant, because one of Ralph's songs was in a Target commercial and I liked it, and my husband is a nice guy who bends the internet to his will and retrieves any song I hear a snippet of and love. How's that for a sentence? Anyway, we've had this song in our iTunes library for a few years, and we put it on a mix CD for Eva and she loves it as well. Which brings us back to the albums I got from the library.

One of the CDs came with a short DVD of music videos for six of the songs. Those of you who are regular readers know that Eva doesn't care much about TV, but she does love music, and she likes to watch short YouTube videos, so I thought maybe she'd like to watch a couple songs.

And now that we're on the other side of the horrible plague that settled on our house, I can say THANK GOD I picked up that DVD. And THANK GOD for Ralph.

We watched those six songs over and over and over again while she was sick. It was about the only thing that could calm her and take her mind off of being sick. She'd just sort of melt into the shoulder of whoever was closest and go into a little Ralph coma while snot ran down her face and her poor little eyes streamed nonstop. For a while, Ralph did a better job of comforting my baby than I did.

...And now I have to find a way to break her addiction. I can only renew the thing so many times. Although, at this point, I think Mike and I have the whole DVD burned so deeply into our brains that we can probably perform it for her live.

That's Better

Well, we're home. Eva and I stayed an extra day at my parents' house for a little extra TLC (Mike had to head home for a meeting), and I'm so, so glad we did. After being cooped up in the house together last week, we both needed a break. But now we're back, healed and refreshed, and ready to get back into our regular routine.

(I dropped the ball on the pictures this weekend. This is the only one I took that has Eva and a grandparent in it...and Eva looks so crabby. I promise she's not, though. The wind was just in her face.)

 

A Glimmer

Yesterday at approximately 3:50 PM, Eva took a tiny bite of canned pineapple. Her little eyes darted up to my face and she said (weakly) "Want more." I gave her more. And then more. And then even more.

My little girl ate half of a (big) can of pineapple, and then...

She Smiled.

And because this whole week has been so draining and stressful and sad and frustrating—and, just, damn hard—I broke into tears. Big, wailing sobs. I was so relieved to see that little sign that everything was going to be ok, that we were going to make it through this, that I could be a mama even when things were really tough, that I cried like I did the very first time I saw her little face after she was born. (And then I ran and got the camera just so I'd have proof that she smiled, in case Mike didn't believe me.)

We're not out of the woods yet, but things are definitely better today. She sort of ate lunch, and she's napping in her crib (!) right now—which is so much better than having to hold her in order to get her to sleep at all.

So, I'm taking a minute to check in with you all, and to say thank you so much for all your concerned comments and well wishes. We're ok. I'll (hopefully) be back to posting next week, but first we're heading to my parents' house for the weekend. Now that I know my baby's getting better, it's time for me to go see MY mom. She's making a huge pot of her homemade chicken soup, and nothing sounds better to me right now than that. 

Update on the Sickies...

Hey! Daddy here. Shannon and Eva are still pretty sick and kind of confined to the family room for hours and hours of half-asleep-ness, kid's music videos (over and over), gobs of snot, lots of water, and the occasional bowl of dry Cheerios. Fun development: Eva has discovered a few new ways to wail, all of which she practices when not being held/snuggled.

Wish them well!

Ugh. Sick.

Be back tomorrow...with any luck. Send healthy thoughts our way.