The Bug on solids

So, it's going very well. Here you see her reaching out after a meal of sweet potatoes, cheerios, and a bit of applesauce. The girl can DOWN some pears. Peas are a go. Green beans, not so much. She likes cake of any kind and enjoys wildberry fruit combinations.

In other news, Elliot uttered his longest sentence so far the other day, "Baby Elss, it's cold outside - you need to wear a hat." I made him repeat it, just to make sure. Would anyone else have understood that except me? Probably not. But I understood every word.

New pictures

coming soon. I promise. We have an open house today so we're behind. But there are cute ones coming!

Wow. Genes are a powerful force.

Can you tell which one's which?

Much better

We've been healed! We seem to finally all be back to normal. Thank God. That was a very long run of yuck. The day after we all seemed to be better, we took our van in and didn't have a car for 4 days. But even the van is better now.

We've had a couple of pretty days in St. Louis, so here is Elsie enjoying some sunshine. She loves working in her office, which she doesn't know used to be Elliot's office. He doesn't know either. This is a good thing. He has begun sharing one or two pieces of track with her - a major breakthrough.

It's cold and rainy here today, but I feel hopeful that spring may actually come. Soon there will be flowers, and more and more warm days. Sometime we'll forget about the dark cold winter altogether. I love forgetting about winter.

We're on our third configuration of the train track already, and it's only 9:52am. I'm off to join the action.

A crabby update

So in the background right now, Elliot is screaming. Keep that in mind - it's a great soundtrack for this post. I'm choosing to think of this week as a comedy. Otherwise, well, we won't go there. Last Saturday I took Elliot to ride 4 trains as he loves them and is always asking. I figured, why not, it's $2.25 for 2 hours of riding. And so we did. I didn't feel great when we started. By the time we ended, I was so motion sick I almost didn't make the walk home. Sunday seemed better, but Elliot, as you know from other posts, was not well by then. Monday I spent much of the day in bed, while Michael tried to take care of us, defending the carpet from viral predators escaping Elliot and other evil things. Tuesday Michael was in bed all day. Wednesday we were snowed in because it had snowed 8 inches. So, one teething 7 month old, a leaking toddler and a cranky mom, trapped in the house.

Thursday we thought we'd get out. We had to get out. It was 7am. Doesn't everyone go to the mall then? So I drove to a large mall about 20 minutes away with an indoor playground we'd been to several times, early in the morning, this past summer. I was already tasting the Starbucks and thinking of Elliot's giggles on the big slides. The Starbucks was closed, as was the playground. ...Yup. And more poop.

Friday I was sick enough - and I mean really sick - that Michael actually stayed home from work to take care of the kids. I literally couldn't leave bed for a long time. Saturday someone coming to look at our house, so we had to not only clean it up, but get out of it for an hour or so. By this time, I was able to walk around, but still extremely nauseous, and Michael was much worse. We made it out, with much screaming from 2 children who were not happy to be ignored while Michael and I tag teamed cleaning and taking turns in bed.

And today I so wished I could vomit, but I just don't seem to do it unless I'm pregnant. We probably would have stayed home, but someone was coming to look at our house - 2 people, actually. This is a good thing. But we had to be gone from 10 to 12:30. So imagine a fairly vulnerable Michael (in the bowel way) teaching Sunday school and leaving me here to somehow get out of bed, clean the house, get dressed (when did I last wash my hair?) and get the kids (by now I think Elliot is fine) dressed and out of the house. We made it out. With 10 minutes to spare. The rest of the day has been a slow torture (Elliot is literally still screaming). Michael and I really could use a 2nd bathroom right now. Sometimes the drain in the basement or the back yard seems like an option (is this too graphic?). Needless to say, we're both still sick.

I think if we would have been filmed it would be pretty funny to put it into fast forward. I guess it's just part of being parents of 2 small children. Someday we'll talk about it, with a good glass of wine, and a very quiet house, and laugh.

While he sleeps...

This is what Elsie does sometimes while Elliot sleeps - plays with his toys. He'll never know.

The good, the bad and the stinky

First the good. Elsie slept last night from 7pm to 6:20am. Fabulous. We've been sleep training and this is the second time she's slept all the way through the night. I love it. Next, the bad. Elliot has managed to pick up some alien virus which has cleaned him out (read: vomiting, 4 changes of sheets and blankets, 3 outfits, all this in less than 12 hours). The vomiting has stopped, but the poor kid just keeps on poopin'. I'm not sure what's left in him. Suprisingly, he's pretty happy today, except when we try to change his diaper (this would be the stinky part). He's looking a bit skinny. Even the belly has all but disappeared. I love the belly. I'm sure it will be back.

Michael seemed to experience this virus yesterday, and I was the day before. Bug? Well, she seems immune. She's excitedly cooing on the bed behind me. She's working on teeth. One thing at a time.