miscellaneous

Just some pretty every-day things that have come to my mind as I've tried tried to think of more profound things to say...

Most nights TLC wakes up at least once during the night in a disoriented, very upset state. He'll cry out like the sky is falling, come to our room, startle at least one of us enough to get up and quickly usher him into the bathroom to go potty, and then tuck him back into bed. I'm amazed that, for the most part, his sisters stay asleep through this commotion. In fact, most nights I have to "wake up" RVC after getting T settled again and drag her into the bathroom and sit her on the toilet (I'm not sure the waking up part ever happens in this process) in an effort to avoid having to wash wet sheets the next day.

My right leg is not very attractive at 28 weeks pregnant. I'm one of the lucky women to have vericose veins--they made their appearance during my third pregancy and are even more brilliant this time. I am excited to show them off this summer, let me tell you.

SCC seemed to suddenly slip out of the early speech stage recently. I have memories of her emphatic affirmative nod that she'd give when I'd ask her questions. This then transitioned into an adorable "jes!" But I'm noticing that even more now, she's started using "ya." It's still adorable...she raises her eyebrows and her voice even matches the inflection of the question asked. I just wish I had recordings of all these stages, and of the many other things I'm afraid I'll forget. Like how she says "thank you, mom" all the time--even as I'm pulling her off the floor of the car where her shoe somehow got stuck as she tried to climb under her siblings' feet.

And as far as speech goes, we're getting better at understanding TLC. He's pretty patient with us when we don't do so well--repeating himself over and over until we figure it out. It's pretty typical sounds that give him trouble: the "th" in three, the "r" sound, etc. I have to laugh, because he has a hard time with the "k" sound ("cookie" comes out like tookie), yet when he tells us something funny, he almost always ends his story with a little "k"-sounding half laugh. Go figure.

TL is often sharing his thoughts...literally. He'll start to tell you something and you think he's going somewhere with it, but then you realize that he's just sharing his train of thought. This morning he was awake before the girls and sitting with me at the table. He started saying, "Mommy, I'm not a big kid..." Trying to read into what he was saying, maybe address what might be on his mind, I replied with something or other. TL continued, "and I'm not a little kid..." I asked, "Are you a middle-sized kid?" "No," TL replied. And that was the end of the matter.

Just a few minutes ago, he came up and asked, "Mom, remember when we went trick-or-treating?" (it took me a few tries to get the "trick-or-treating" part). When I said "yes" and waited for what he was going to say next, he just smiled, I guess simply enjoying the memory, and walked away.

RVC had her dance performance last night. She did a great job and and enjoyed all that came with it--the costume, the star attention from her family as we watched her from the bleachers-- and we all enjoyed chocolate chip cookies for an after-performance treat. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

TE and I are going on a date tonight. I can't remember being so excited to have a night out. My saintly sister and her husband have graciously offered to take the kids. They [our kids] are looking forward to a night with their cousins.

And this weekend (Happy Memorial Day), we'll be enjoying some time up at the cabin and some down time with family. Hope the weather treats us nicely.