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January 30, 2003
1.30.03
IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK:
It’s good to be back. I think Moms Today is the best place for me because I can stay put and not jump around from site to site depending on whether I am pregnant, or when my son has turned 1, etc. I like stability.
My parents, the snowbirds, are visiting as part of their winter trip south. They arrived on December 21st. We enjoyed having them here for the holidays. They really enjoyed seeing the kids’ expressions and reactions as they opened their presents and played with their toys. When they arrived, I opened the front door to find them standing with outstretched arms (not for us, of course, they wanted to get their hands on those grandbabies!). Mitch took one look at them, turned around and went screaming down the hall with his hands in the air. My mom was mortified. Mitch has come a long way in those weeks. This week, they are on a well-deserved, one-week cruise which left Galveston on Sunday heading to Key West, Cozumel, and Belize. When they left on Sunday morning, Mitch waved bye-bye and then started to cry because he didn’t want them to leave. My mom was very happy. Their ship returns on Sunday. They will stay for just 2 more days to pack and continue on with their travels through the eastern southern states and on up the east coast back to their home in Pennsylvania. We’ve really enjoyed having them. Most of my friends can’t believe they are still here and we are all happy with the arrangement.
MITCH: THE TABLE DANCER
We have had it up to *here* with Mitch and his table dancing. To my total frustration, his favorite thing of the moment is climbing up on the kitchen table and doing his happy feet dance. We have 6 chairs. As soon as we push them in, he pulls them out, climbs up and in no time flat, he is standing and dancing on the table. As soon as we grab him and put him down, he is not to be deterred and chooses a different chair and begins again. It gets tiring because there is no way to stop him. The chairs are heavy, but he is able to pull them out regardless of the weight. Last night, I was fed up with picking him up and putting him back down, pushing in the chair, and repeating this process over and over. I finally put the chairs on top of the table. Mitch didn’t know what to make of this situation. When Jerry got home, later than usual, he took one look at the chairs, and then said, “I see you outfoxed him.” Momentarily. Other than that, he enjoys his books (Clifford the Red Dog is his favorite), pushing his wheel barrow and riding his bike. He received a Thomas the Train riding car from his Grandparents which he enjoys riding and pushing around. He loves his Dirt Devil red vacuum cleaner, which was a gift from his Aunt Shelly. Rachel also got one; hers is the pink Disney Princess vacuum (gag!). Grandpa takes Mitch on daily walks in his push-car. As soon as Grandpa asks him if he wants to take a walk, Mitch will pick up Grandpa’s shoes and place them at Grandpa’s feet. Then he goes to the door and grabs the door handle. He is talking more and more. At his 15-month checkup last month, he weighed 27.4 lb. and was 34 inches tall.
RACHEL:
Rachel is 3 ½ now. She will start nursery school on February 17th. She is very excited, and so are we. The school is brand new and we plan to attend the blessing of the building on February 8th and the open house to meet other parents and students on February 15th. All the classrooms have cameras for internet viewing. We feel she is ready and are looking forward to helping her learn while having fun. A few weeks ago, I took my dad to the final home game of the Texans. I enjoy having private time with my dad. We went to breakfast first and then headed to Reliant Stadium. He enjoyed seeing the new stadium and having the game day experience. When we got home, Rachel had a little surprise for me. When I came in the door, she said, “mommy I have a surprise for you. It’s a pretty purple bead, but it’s stuck inside my nose.” What? Sure enough, upon closer examination, I found one large purple macramé bead lodged inside her nostril. I put her on the couch and had a look-see with the flashlight. I tried getting it out with tweezers. It tickled too much, so I called Jerry into the house. He immediately panicked and swore, “No more beads in this house!” Yeah, like we have them all over the place. In fact, they were purchased for a craft project we were working on for his mother. Back to Rachel. We tried coaxing her into blowing it out by covering her mouth and other nostril, but the bead refused to budge because it had a large hole through the middle. I tried moving it down by rubbing my finger on the outside of her nose. Then, Jerry came up with the decision to try the Kirby vacuum cleaner attachment which we had, so far, never had a use for. Privately I was saying, “oh yes, I’m sure this is exactly what Kirby had in mind for this attachment.” It is meant to clean small areas like between cracks or the spaces between keyboards. Anyway, I was not a fan of this idea and said we needed to take her to the ER since it was a Sunday afternoon. Jerry proceeded to get out the vacuum cleaner and fire it up. Oh my! Well, you can see where this is headed. This did not work, of course, and Rachel was getting alarmed. I told him we needed to get her to the ER, that we could NOT let her stay with a bead in her nose all night. Rachel was really calm and acted no differently than usual, it was her father who freaked out totally. And, I’m usually the one who would panic in a situation like this, but not this time. I guess I just can’t stand the sight of blood and no blood was involved here. So, we made it to the ER and felt totally moronic to be answering questions like, “and how did this bead get up her nose?” She’s 3!! Two hours later, the doctor came in and explained that this was very typical behavior for a 3-year-old. “We see things like this all the time, M&Ms, gum, buttons, pretzels, stones, etc.” This made us feel more normal. Rachel had to lie down on a gurney and she was very calm as the doctor examined her and, in no time at all, the bead was out. Jerry lightened up after hearing that this is normal behavior, and the trip home was so much more enjoyable. I have saved the bead and we are going to make a necklace of it. The co-pay was $50, so we are definitely making it into a necklace!
MEGAN:
As for me, I finished my classes last semester and did very well. Classes started back this semester and I am taking part 2 of the bio/chemistry course and a child psychology course which I really enjoy. It is so much fun since both of my children are developmentally going through the stages taught in this course. The bio prof is much better this semester. He is easy on the eyes and teaches while sitting Indian-style on top of the bio table. Unlike last semester’s professor (God bless him!) who was 70+ years old and spat while talking. Those of us in the front seats were not so fortunate and we also got a close look at the white foamy stuff that formed in the corners of his mouth during his lectures! Never a dull moment.
One more quick story, and then I have to run. Something weird happened to me this weekend (never a dull moment!). I was in my car waiting my turn at the ATM. There was one car ahead of me. I sat filling out my deposit slip while waiting. When I looked up, I noticed the car ahead had driven away. I pulled up to the machine and continued writing on my envelope, etc. I looked at the screen and it asked me how much money I wanted to withdraw and I pressed the button for *quick cash $100*. Then it asked if I wanted another transaction. As I looked down, I realized that I hadn't put my ATM card in the machine, but it had given me $100. The guy ahead of me left his card in there and drove off without it. When I realized what happened, he was long gone! So, there I was with $100 in hand (which did not belong to me). I canceled the transaction. It spit out his ATM card and a receipt. I looked at the receipt. It said withdrawal: $20; balance: $296; withdrawal: $100; balance: $196. I didn't know what to do, so I got out of the car and went to the car behind me (a woman) and told her what happened. We thought it was a good idea to exchange names and phone numbers. I told her I would call the bank on Monday morning. What else could I do? So, I made my deposit and got my $ and left. I put the other guy's money, receipt, and ATM card in an envelope. I felt really weird especially because the receipt showed that he only withdrew $20, then I withdrew $100, and his balance was $196. I called the bank on Monday morning to explain what happened, and they gave me this "oh you are so honest, thank you routine." They told me to come in to any branch and ask a teller to redeposit the $. Well, I did just that. They called him to let him know his ATM card was safe and everything was okay. Anyway, I would not have kept the money, but I’m no Girl Scout either. Because we live in a world where Big Brother is constantly monitoring, watching, and filming, and especially because I did not want to see myself on video on the 6 o’clock news with a reward from Crime Stoppers for bank robbery: well, that’s all the encouragement I needed. If I left my card in the machine, I would have wanted someone to do the right thing or at least be scared into doing the right thing.
I think that’s enough for now.
Warmly!
Megan
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/millimaki/
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