A Seed Must Fall to the Ground

My Grandpa Tanner was 91 years old when he died. He had lived a good life. He was frail, sick, and in pain and living in a nursing home when he died. His death was not a surprise. I was glad that his pain had ended and that he could claim his Heavenly reward. And yet I sobbed at his funeral. I was sad because I'd miss him. I was sad that my kids would never know him. I was sad because the world had lost one of the most loving people possible. In fact, the thought that went through my head most often was "who will I find to love me like Grandpa did?" Grandpa loved everyone. His love was unconditional. And he delighted in me. Some people never get to experience love like that, and I knew I was lucky to have had him. I missed and feared the loss of such a loving presence in my life.

Shortly after Grandpa died, I started attending St Thomas Church. I liked the place and people immediately. It seemed like just the kind of church I wanted to raise my kids in. Just a few weeks later Neil died. And St Thomas Church loved me. They loved me with hugs. They loved me with space and silence. They loved me with prayers. More than a year after Neil died, Anne Gibbs told me that she still prayed for me every day. They didn't really know me yet, but they loved me anyway.

St Thomas Church loved me through two emotionally difficult pregnancies. They welcomed and loved my babies. As my babies grew and became energetic toddlers, St Thomas still embraced our family. I never felt like my kids were a problem or that I was a bad mom just because my kids were loud or literally climbing the walls. When my kids were baptized, the people of St Thomas promised to help raise them in God's family, and they have followed through. They have loved my kids and encouraged them to participate in worship.

The amazing love from these people has helped me heal from depression and social anxiety. They have helped me heal from church wounds. They have helped me heal after Neil's death. I would not be who I am today without St Thomas Church.

Last Sunday at St Thomas Church's annual meeting, eight adults present agreed that our small number could no longer sustain a congregation. For more than five years, we've been without a pastor, and lay leadership has done everything in our powerful to keep the church thriving. However, the lack of clergy has been difficult, and we have no hope of getting a pastor in the near future. Our financial situation would allow us to keep the doors open for up to one year. Those present felt like we had given the church all we had even as membership has slowly decreased as people burned out. Rather than wait a year and attempt to grow a church when we were running on fumes, they decided to end it now. Essentially, they voted to stop being a church immediately.

I say "they" because I couldn't bring myself to vote for or against the end of St Thomas Church. I knew that the church was dying, but when the end came I was still sad. I just sat and cried. At first, I had no words. I knew that my life has had a lot of change recently, and part of my grief was cumulative. But as I thought about it, I found I was asking myself, "Who will love me like St Thomas did?" Who will love me because of and despite how well they know me? Will they smile when Maggie suddenly loudly sings "all the doo dah day" or "E-I-E-I-O" during prayers? Will they offer to let Lucy help take up the offering? Will my kids be allowed to eat bread with everyone else? Will I feel a swell of support or judgement when my kids act up in church? Who will love me and us like St Thomas has?

I feel like an incredibly loving entity has passed away. Who will love our community like St Thomas did? If you're poor or uneducated or over-educated or gay or trans or awkward or from elsewhere or just feel like an outsider, who will love you like St Thomas did? Who will welcome you and show hospitality and always be happy to see you?

Our second lesson on Sunday was from 1 Corinthians 12 about the parts belonging to one body. I ruefully considered that perhaps our church body committed suicide after potluck that day. Eyes were tired of seeing and noses tired of smelling without rest and just decided to stop. But that's not quite how the metaphor works. When enough parts quit a real body, the body dies. And when a real body dies, the parts die, too. But the scattering parts of St Thomas Church are not dead. It's more like they are organs being donated. It gives me some hope that the parts of St Thomas that did all of the loving will continue to do so in new bodies. (I know that being a part of the St Thomas body has made me a more loving and open and generous person.) And just as organ recipients sometimes mysteriously develop qualities of the people that donated organs to them, perhaps the congregations that receive the parts of St Thomas will develop more of the loving character that made St Thomas Church so special.

Perhaps rather than a death, this change is more like planting a seed or grafting a plant. Perhaps something new can grow and spread in ways it couldn't when it was contained at St Thomas. I'm always up for planting a seed and seeing what grows.

Lucy is in Kindergarten

Lucy started kindergarten today. She hopped out of bed quickly this morning and got dressed. She was eager and helpful and stayed on task better than usual. She wore a new outfit that we'd picked out at Wal-Mart. She really loves wearing dresses and skorts, so her skorts outfit was perfect for her. She got her hair cut a little shorter yesterday to make hair brushing easier. The picture in the book at the hairstylist had a braid across the front, so I asked the stylist to braid it after the cut. Lucy loved it. We left it braided overnight, and it still looked good this morning, so she got to wear her fancy braid on her first day of school.

It was rainy off and on, so she wore her raincoat. And we talked about how the playground might be too wet to play there during recess. I was concerned that she would feel cheated on her first day if she didn't get to play on the playground since that was what convinced her to go to kindergarten in the first place. She was OK with doing something else fun inside instead.

The whole family took her to her classroom. Normally, the kids go straight to the gym, but we were told it was OK to stop by her classroom today. I helped her put things in her shared locker. We said hi to her teacher. She had met her teacher a couple of times at school events over the last two weeks. We think Ms. Clark is going to be great. Most people we've talked to know her as a friend from church and have nothing but good things to say about her. Susie, Lucy's godmother, actually took education classes with Ms. Clark and was super-excited when she found out she was Lucy's teacher.

Before taking Lucy to the gym, we stopped by the bathroom to see what it was like. It was Lucy's nightmare. The toilets are self-flushing, and there are hand dryers instead of paper towels. When she saw them, she started backing out of the bathroom saying "No!" We saw Ms. Clark again when we took Lucy to the gym, and I told her about Lucy's bathroom issue. I told her that Lucy would attempt (and probably fail) to hold it all day instead of use a self-flushing toilet. (I cover the "eye" for her when she uses them with me. We say we're playing peek-a-boo with the potty.) Ms. Clark is going to see if she can coax Lucy into using that bathroom, but there's another one she can use if she absolutely refuses.

I had been concerned about the bathroom situation before I saw the bathroom and had written Ms. Clark a note about Lucy's bathroom issue and let her know that a change of clothes is in Lucy's backpack if she even has an accident. The note also had a few other of Lucy's quirks. I felt like I should be sending a user's manual with her but limited myself to what I thought was most important. I told her that Lucy does not respond well to threatened consequences. If she's told that she will miss recess if her work is not done, the work will not get done. She will focus on recess being taken away and be unable to do anything. She will probably also cry. It's better to tell her you'll give her a hug if she finishes her work in 5 minutes. She'll do it in 3 minutes and throw her arms open for her hug. I don't know what Ms. Clark's usual techniques are, but just in case I thought she should know how Lucy would react. Some teachers might see Lucy's failure to perform in the face of an ultimatum as defiance. That seemed like it could set them up for a bad relationship. The last thing in the note was that Lucy doesn't tell me or Matt anything, so if Ms. Clark thinks there's something we should know, we'd appreciate her telling us because we probably won't find out about it otherwise. Ms. Clark already found out at open house that Lucy is left handed and can already read at an advanced level. My note didn't tell her everything about Lucy. Lucy could be different at school, and getting to know her is part of the fun. I thought I'd let Ms. Clark learn about "digger cats" and "diver cats" on her own.

I think Lucy is going to like school. She liked preschool. This is the smaller of the public elementary schools in town. Everyone we've encountered at the school has been very friendly and nurturing. Lucy knows one girl in her class: Rinoa has been to every birthday party Lucy has had. They don't see each other often, but they are friends. And we were very fortunate that all school supplies and all meals are free this year. Lucy was able to reuse her backpack and lunch box from last year, so other than one new outfit bought on clearance at Wal-Mart, back to school hasn't cost us anything this year.

School is 8:00-3:00, Monday-Thursdays. Fridays end at 1:30 or are completely off. I expect her to be really tired when she gets home, but I'd looking forward to what she has to say about her day (if she'll say anything). (Her answer to all questions about VBS this summer was "I can't say." She's one weird and wonderful kid.)

Kindergarten-Bound! (as far as we can tell)

Lucy took the kindergarten-readiness assessment and score 89.5. They rounded it to 90, so she's in. The counselor didn't say anything to me about waiting until June when she gave me paperwork to fill out, so I think Lucy's really been accepted to kindergarten.

I watched a video online of a boy taking the same assessment and knew we had some things to work on. We practiced standing on one foot. I made up a cheer to teach her to spell her last name. She had to be able to write her first and last name, and she already knew how to write her first name. I know she can write all her letters, so I just focused on teaching her to spell her last name, and she put it together for the assessment. Her score probably benefited a few points from my having watched the video.

The only things she was marked down for on the assessment were standing on her non-dominant foot for ten seconds, drawing shapes (her corners are often a little rounded), and saying the alphabet. According to the score sheet, she sang the alphabet instead of saying it. In the video I watched, that kid sang the alphabet and was then instructed to say it instead. According to Lucy, they didn't say, "Say it; don't sing it." So I'm not sure she was given a chance to try again. She lost 5 points for not saying the alphabet, which I know she can do, so her score should have been 94.9. Test materials say that a score above 91 is in the gifted range. I'm not sure why this kind of knowledge-based test thinks it can figure out who is "gifted." Also, the expectation for this test is that children will take it when they are actually five years old. She's 4.5. I put her scores in the assessment's online scorer to see what further information I could get. I had to tell it that she was already five to get to input the data from the assessment she took. With a score of 94, it said her adjusted age is 6.5. That actually seems about right intellectually.

The counselor did say that she was concerned about Lucy's maturity. Lucy was fine during the testing, but as soon as she got back to me, she started climbing on a chair (which the counselor helpfully told me was not appropriate behavior in a classroom). I'm concerned about her maturity, too. I also know that Lucy was taken into a room by strangers and made to answer questions for 15 minutes. Then they couldn't find me, even though I hadn't moved from where they left me. So when she got back to me, she had some steam to let off. Climbing on furniture is not appropriate behavior, but I get why she did it. I really do think she'll be fine when August arrives. If not, we can hold her back. And the counselor says that we have 30 days after school starts to decide if kindergarten is a good fit for her. The counselor also told me that based on Lucy's score she would be really bored in preschool.

I think at this point we're assuming we'll go ahead with kindergarten. We can change our minds later. I think Lucy is excited about kindergarten. As we were driving up to the school, she saw the playground and students playing on it and asked me what was going on. I told her it was recess; Every day at kindergarten, you get to play on a playground. I then reminded her that we were there to talk to a kindergarten teacher to see if she wanted to go to kindergarten next year. "I do," she whispered longingly from the back seat. :)

The Quest for Kindergarten

When Lucy was born in September 2013, I looked up the kindergarten cut-off date to see when she would start kindergarten. When I was growing up in Missouri, the cut-off was in October. In Wisconsin it was September 1. I learned the Kentucky cut-off was October 1, so it seemed Lucy would start kindergarten in 2018, before her 5th birthday. I couldn't have known at that time if Lucy would be kindergarten-ready in August 2018, but I assumed so.

And I was right. Lucy can already read phonetically and knows about 70 sight words. She can add, subtract, and count by 2s, 5s, and 10s. She has flirted with multiplication. She can recognize and name the major organs of the human body and some of what they do (Livers do everything!). She knows the eight planets of the solar system and the four dwarf planets (we'll never forget you, Pluto!). Her verbal skills have finally caught up with her terrific physical talents. She just turned 4-and-a-half. She's a smart cookie.

What I didn't know when I googled the Kentucky kindergarten date back then was that the legislature had already voted to change the cut-off from October 1 to August 1, effective for the 2017-2018 school year. Because of her September birthday, Lucy got bumped back a year. She would be nearly six when she started kindergarten.

I discovered that she got bumped when I started looking into preschool. I think that if I had never expected her to start kindergarten in 2018 there would have been no quest to get her into kindergarten this year. I would have accepted state law as normal. But when I didn't get what I expected and she was obviously ready, I felt I had to try to get her into kindergarten "early."

Being bumped by a year has already affected her. Under the old rules, she could have attended 3-year-old preschool last year. Instead, she's spent this year in a class that taught colors, shapes, and numbers to 10. She knew all of that before her first day of preschool, so she has learned almost nothing academic this year. Fortunately, we knew that going into the 2017-18 school year and only expected her to gain social skills, scissor skills, and experience in a school setting. And in that way it delivered exactly what we hoped. However, when we enrolled her at this private Christian preschool, I had also hoped that they would see that she was academically advanced and allow us to enroll her in their half-day kindergarten the next year. Unfortunately, they don't recognize academic advancement (and I don't just say that because they didn't let Lucy move up); they only recognize birthdates and make no exceptions. With that grand plan foiled, I looked into getting Lucy into public kindergarten.

To be accepted into public kindergarten, Lucy has to score at or above the 90th percentile on the kindergarten-readiness assessment, and then they have to have space for her. She is scheduled to take the assessment next Wednesday, and they will tell us right away if she scored high enough. But we have to wait until June to find out if they have an open seat for her.

If she doesn't get into public kindergarten, we have a couple of options. First, we can put her in pre-K at the private school she's currently at. We've paid the non-refundable fee to get her a seat just in case. She already knows everything they're going to study, but at least she'd still be in school and probably with a few classmates she already knows. Her current teacher said that Lucy could be place with the pre-K teacher who reads with advanced kids so that she could be challenged more. That's something, I guess. It's possible that we could fill out paperwork and claim to be homeschooling her at the same time so that she could enter first grade when we thought she would. We would be supplementing at a kindergarten or higher level at home anyway because that's what we're already doing. Second, we could put her in public preschool. We've seen the classrooms, and Lucy and Maggie both had a blast playing there for a little while. I'm not sure we could get away with claiming to homeschool her while she's at public preschool (even though we still would be doing it).

So far I've mostly talked about my expectations and Lucy's academic abilities. I know that there's more to the question of whether or not starting kindergarten is in Lucy's best interest. In some ways I'd love to just keep her with me forever. If I homeschooled her even for one more year, I know she'd receive adequate attention and encounter varied and challenging curriculum. I could limit negative influences and take more time to shape her character. She'd be able to continue swimming regularly and could follow other interests. Now that Maggie is bigger, we could go on field trips that we'd be unlikely to take if Saturdays were our only days to travel. That sounds really great. On the other hand, Lucy doesn't always learn as well from me as she does from others. It's pretty hit or miss whether she'll listen to me or believe me when I tell her things. And she doesn't have a strong network of friends with whom to develop her social skills outside of school.

I am a bit concerned about maturity. Is she able to sit still, follow directions, listen, and answer questions well enough for kindergarten? Is her stamina up to a 7-hour school day for five days every week? Her current preschool is two hours long for two days every week. I'm certain she won't be the least mature in her class. And I've seen tremendous growth in her in the last few months. By August, she may be 100% ready.

I'm not really worried about her getting along with the other kids. She's still learning how to play with others in some ways, but she's charismatic and a natural leader. Other people want to be with her and do what she's doing. Today at the playground, she wanted to run up a slide like a couple of middle school boys were doing, but her legs were too short. So instead she started climbing a ladder backwards and said, "Hey guys, see how I climb up backwards." Next thing I knew, the middle school boys were climbing the ladder backwards, too. This is not exactly uncommon for her.

She already has friends who will be in kindergarten in 2018 and one friend (who is a week older than Lucy) who is also trying to get into kindergarten early. So although she won't remain with her current classmates, she still knows some people.

I have talked to Lucy's preschool teacher about whether she thinks that we should try to get Lucy into kindergarten this year, and she's not for it. She hasn't given me any specific reason why Lucy is not kindergarten-ready. Her opinion is based on her experiences with other kids' starting kindergarten early. She suggested that it would be better for Lucy to be older and better at everything than everyone else because then school would be really easy for her. I don't want school to be a struggle for Lucy, but having things be super-easy is not good either. Life is full of challenges, and I'd like for Lucy to learn to meet challenges earlier rather than later. I didn't find her teacher's input terribly helpful.

At this point, I feel like we're keeping options open. If she tests as kindergarten-ready and gets in, we could still decide not to send her if we don't think she's emotionally or socially mature enough. And we still have a choice of preschools as back-ups.

I feel a certain amount of pressure to get this decision right. I don't want to hold her back intellectually, but I don't want to push her out of childhood too fast. I don't know what being a little younger will mean for her when everyone else is getting driver's licenses or when she graduates at 17. And yet we have to make this decision now, and Lucy will have to live with the consequences.

I'm certainly praying for direction, and I'd appreciate it if you'd pray with us, too.

(Also, I don't want to even think about what we'll need to do with Maggie. She's already counting to ten, naming all the numerals, and saying and naming the entire alphabet, and she turns two next month. I am certainly blessed with bright, sweet girls.)

Valentines Day 2018

Valentine's Day cards are being mailed on Valentine's Day this year. So Lucy's great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles should be getting "love monsters" in mail in a few days. Sorry we never sent Christmas cards. Lucy wasn't into it, so I didn't force it. I'm hoping to get a good picture of the girls before Easter, and hopefully Lucy will feel like making Easter cards. Maybe Maggie can help, too.

Lucy had a Valentine party on Tuesday at preschool. She had a good time. And Maggie got to attend, too. She sat by Lucy and had a blast.

Earlier today, when I asked Lucy who she loved, she said, "Maggie. She makes me laugh." When I asked her who else she loved, she said, "I can only love one." I told her that wasn't true, but she insisted that she did not love Matt or me because she only loved Maggie. I asked her if Matt loves her. She said yes. I asked if Matt loves Maggie, and she said, "Most of the time." I asked if Matt loves me. She said, "Most of the time no." As usual she insisted that I love Maggie and do not love her. And as usual, I told her that that was not true and was not something I could allow her to believe. She says this even when I'm cuddling her, so I'm not really sure she knows what the word "love" means. However, by this evening, she told me and Matt that she loves us. So we've made progress over the course of the day.

We're giving the girls some books for Valentine's Day. The university swimming pool is open again, so the girls and I will go there for an hour tomorrow. Other than that, we have no plans. But a day with books and swimming is still a pretty good day.

Kids Movie Inventory

I went through the girls' DVDs today to see what we own. I thought I'd share since sometimes people buy them videos. We don't often buy them movies, so the list doesn't change often. If I had a list of their books, it would change much more frequently.

Lucy and Maggie watch quite a bit of TV, but it's almost all PBS or educational shows streamed from Amazon, Netflix, or YouTube. Because we rely on streaming services, and their catalogs change frequently and without notice, we got DVDs from series that Lucy was obsessed with (Paw Patrol, Special Agent Oso, Bubble Guppies, Martha Speaks). Those obsessions were temporary, and those shows are no longer watched. But Maggie may go through those same phases, as she is currently doing with Curious George at exactly the same age that Lucy did.

I am happy to report that both girls love many of the programs I enjoyed as a child. They love old-school Sesame Street. We're currently watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street for the second time today. Lucy HATES the newer Sesame Street episodes. She runs away from the TV. But she likes the old ones. I must say that I like them better, too. They were more episodic and psychedelic. The new ones talk about imagination; the old ones showed you what imaginations can do. Lucy also likes Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. They have not yet seen The Muppet Show.

Now that I know what we have, I'll try to update their Amazon wishlists. There are some things that I'd love to have. The Wuzzles cartoon series. I loved and love that one! Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is great. And I'm a big fan of The Great Muppet Caper. Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.

Disney
Animated Movies
The Aristocats
Beauty and the Beast
Frozen
Mary Poppins*

Pete's Dragon*

Robin Hood

School House Rock

The Sword in the Stone
Winnie the Pooh (The Many Adventures of)

Animated Shows
Special Agent Oso: The Spy Who Helped Me

Live Action
Apple Dumpling Gang 1 & 2
Benji the Hunted
Blackbeard's Ghost
Gus
Hot Lead and Cold Feet
The Journey of Natty Gann
Mary Poppins*

Muppets Christmas Carol

The Parent Trap (1960)
Pete's Dragon*

Rascal

The Shaggy Dog (Old and Remade versions)
The Shaggy D.A.
Swiss Family Robinson
The Ugly Dachshund
Where the Red Fern Grows


Sesame Street/Muppets
A Muppet Family Christmas
Big Bird in China
Big Bird in Japan
Bert & Ernie's Great Adventures
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Muppets Christmas Carol


PBS
Curious George - Season 1
Daniel Tiger's Winter Wonderland
Zoboomafoo
Martha Speaks: Martha Goes to School
Martha Speaks: Martha's Superhero Adventures
Martha Speaks:Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!


Nickelodean
Bubble Guppies: The Puppy and the Ring
Paw Patrol
Wonder Pets Save the Beetles


Sprout
Meet Chica
All Aboard with Noodle and Doodle
Noodly Doodly Things to Make


Misc.
Babe
Beethoven
The Cat in the Hat
Despicable Me 1 &2 & Minion Madness mini movies
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo's Child
The Land Before Time
The Little Rascals Save the Day
Sarah Plain and Tall (all three in the series)
Shawn the Sheep Movie (and most of the TV show)
Shrek
Sing
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss

Writing for a New Reader

Lucy now knows 60 sight words, almost all of the preschool words and some of the kindergarten words. She knows all of the letters and their sounds and is beginning to sound out words. She doesn't like sounding out words, but she likes playing reading apps on her tablet. I have bought some little beginning readers for her, but I've been disappointed in them so far. I know I can't expect a lot of plot when she knows so few words, but the books we've found have so many unfamiliar words that she gets bogged down and wants to give up. Of course, one solution is to put the books away until she's ready for them, which is what I'm doing. But I know that she loves reading the sentences I write her using the words she knows. So I thought I'd pass along that list in case anyone wanted to write something for her as a Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.

Here are the sight words she knows:

No, Not, Yes

Articles: a, an, the

Nouns: can, cat, one, three, two

Pronouns: all, he, I, it, me, my, one, she, we, who, you

Verbs: am, are, be, can, did, do, eat, find, get, go, help, is, jump, like, look, make, ride, run, see, will

Adverbs: away, down, here, so, too, up

Adjectives: big, black, blue, funny, good, little, new, one, pretty, red, three, two, white, yellow

Prepositions: for, in, into, like, on, out, to, up

Conjunctions: and, so


Sticking to those words as much as possible is good. Having her sound out a word or two is fine as long as the words are three letters long and have short vowel sounds (tub, fox, dog, etc.). And using multiple words from a word family (ball, call, mall, wall, etc.) is a great idea.

I've sketched out a little cartoon with two characters describing trees. (Tree would be the new word.) One says his tree is tall; the other says his tree is big. It turns out their just standing on different sides of the same tree. (The characters are stick figures named Curly and Spike due to their hair-dos.) I'll also try writing a few stories that she can illustrate.

Most of what Lucy knows, she has learned from playing games on a tablet. I'm not trying to push her, but I want her to have opportunities to expand the skills she already has and learn to love reading rather than find it frustrating.

Christmas Gifts 2017

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've missed recording so much because I've been so busy working and raising two very sweet, very smart, very active little girls.

To save myself some time communicating, I've added things to the girls' Amazon wish lists and will give some suggestions below about Christmas gifts.

I need to go through their clothes to see if they need anything. They really don't need many toys, but I've tried to highlight a few things they don't have that they'd really like.


Maggie
Maggie LOVES books. We have many books, but if you want to see a happy Maggie, give her a book. ("Book" was her first word after mama and dada.) She likes dolls and stuffed animals, but we have plenty of both. She could probably use some new baby bottles for her dolls, but we have all the other doll accessories. She also likes blocks of all kinds, puzzles, music, our vintage Fisher Price Little People, hats, things to open and shut, and farm animals.

Lego House - This includes a Lego toilet and other home furnishings. Maggie LOVES Lego blocks. At the library, she heads to the Lego table first.

More puzzles - Maggie is pretty good at putting together the chunky puzzles that have you put a cow figure into a cow-shaped space. She's not quite ready for something harder, but she may be in a few months. Melissa and Doug make some puzzles that are like 4-piece puzzles. Some are chunky, and some are peg puzzles.

Pete the Cat - Two of Maggie's favorite books are Pete the Cat books. She would like anything Pete the Cat: more books, clothes, or a plush Pete.

Farm Beads to string - She's actually pretty good at stringing big beads, and she likes to do it. It's a good quiet activity during church.








Lucy
Lucy loves to make things. She likes craft projects, cooking, and play dough (has plenty). She likes to play dress up and board games and play outside. She is interested in science, especially animals and space. She is usually less likely to play with toys than Maggie is. She is also the one who chooses what they watch on TV most of the time. Last year, she received passes to Bounce, a local inflatable playground, and that was great. Experience/event gifts work well for her. If I come up with any experience/event ideas, I'll pass them on.

"Mermaid" Sequin pillow - Lucy REALLY wants a pillow with sequins that turn when they are brushed, revealing another color. She likes this color combination. The item on her list is just the slip cover and would require a pillow to go inside.

Dr. KittyCat books - We read Lucy some chapter books, and she likes these books. We own the second one in the series (Clover the Bunny).

PJ Masks DVDs - Lucy likes the Disney show PJ Masks, about kid  superheroes who fight super-villains in their pajamas.

Toy food to cut with toy knife - She has a real children's knife for cutting real food, but this toy looks like fun for her.

Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Counter - Lucy played with this at the library and LOVED it. It is pretty cool.

Costumes/Dress-up Clothes - Astronaut costume, Chef Costume. Keep an eye on post-Halloween clearance. She probably has enough princess dresses for her current size.

BB-8 Bike Helmet - She has a tricycle and likes that this helmet will make her look like BB-8.

Monster Feet Stilts - She tried a toy like this last summer and did a good job walking on them. The monster feet are a bonus.

Water Wow! Connect the Dots and Mazes - These Water Wow! books have been fantastic for potty training and travel entertainment. The ones she owns are just coloring books. These would require her to think and mark carefully.


Matt and I have wish lists and appreciate money.

Happy St Margaret's Day

Today is Maggie's first name day, and we aren't really celebrating because I have a cold. Maybe I'll take something to church on Sunday. I thought this would be a good time to catch everyone up with Maggie's development.

Maggie is now 6 months old. She sits really well. She's not quite able to sit herself up, but if you place her in a sitting position, she stays there until Lucy knocks her over. She can roll onto her belly. She has rolled onto her back, but she doesn't do it regularly. She can plank, baby twerk, push up onto her hands and knees and rock, army crawl forward, pivot, and scoot backward. She can take a few steps while holding fingers.

Maggie likes to experiment with sounds. When my sister Ashley was visiting, Maggie started making clicking sounds with her tongue. She clicked at Ash and would wait and click and wait until Ash clicked back. Maggie was so proud of herself for learning to speak "Ash."

Maggie likes to look at and handle books, stuffed animals, blocks, and balls. She likes to shake things that make sounds and crinkle things. She sat in the kitchen floor with a package of ramen while I made lunch the other day. She was perfectly happy to crinkle the package while I cooked. She still loves to play with her sister, although Lucy is occasionally to rough, and I have to rescue her.

Maggie is pretty easy going. In fact, she's usually very jolly. She loves to laugh at her sister. She's ticklish and giggles when her clothes are removed. Maggie's laugh makes every day happier for me. As long as she's fed, she's pretty happy. She'll let anyone hold her. She'll sleep anywhere. She self-soothes pretty well. After her 4-month shots, she calmed herself by the time the nurse got the bandaids on, before I even picked her up. She sucks her fingers and thumbs. She is pretty patient, but when she decides she needs something, she can get angry quickly if her needs are not met. If she tells me she's hungry and I walk past without picking her up, she screams. And it quickly escalates to sound like she's being murdered, and she cries tears.

We started solids last month, and so far she'll eat almost anything. She didn't like avocado. We thought she had a reaction to carrots, but it was a virus. She has successfully drunk from a straw, but she doesn't do it regularly. She averages one baby food meal every other day at this point. She likes it, but it's more of a treat than a meal at this point. When I have milk pumped, she's willing to drink from a bottle, which really helped after my surgery.

Maggie is a delight. I enjoy snuggling with her, tickling her, playing with her, and watching her grow.

Health Update

Maggie is sleeping on my lap, but I have one hand free, so I'll try to write a little.

My gallbladder was removed two weeks ago. I'm healing well and feeling good. Thank you to mom and Ashley for coming to help. And thank you to grandma for sending the food I was craving. I have a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Monday. Hopefully, I never have another digestive episode ever again.

Maggie was sick right before my surgery. She had a rash, body aches, and sore throat but no fever. Then almost her entire body peeled. It was scary enough that I took her to urgent care and then to the pediatrician a few days later. Strep test was negative; otherwise, it acted a lot like scarlet fever. Fortunately, she's better. Just a little clingy and cranky today. We all have those days.

Lucy seems to have her own allergy cough, mostly at night. More than once she's coughed so hard that she's vomited. I had been giving her Benedryl but switched to Zyrtec three days ago. It's a little better. I'm also doing the vapor rub and sock treatment to her feet and running the humidifier. I've offered honey and cough drops, but she refuses those. I hope we can get it under control. It's messing with our sleep.

Matt's cough is a little better with Flonase.

Christmas Gifts

Usually, I post something about gifts before Lucy's birthday. That didn't happen this year, so in case people are still shopping, I'll share lists and recommendations now.

Lucy
Lucy's Amazon list is here. There's a lot on it, so I thought I'd make some recommendations.

I must confess that Lucy watches too much TV. Because of pregnancy, c-section, breastfeeding a newborn, and having my gallbladder removed, I haven't spent the kind of quality time with Lucy that I wanted. I'm hoping that after recovering from my gallbladder surgery, I will be strong enough and Maggie will be big enough for me to do more with Lucy.

When she plays something, Lucy plays with blocks, cars and trains, her vintage Little People house, play dishes and food, doctor kit, play dough, and dress-up clothes. She also likes to paint. And she still loves books. And almost every night she wants to play board games before putting on pajamas. Two of her favorite things to pretend are Pirate Lucy, Super-Lucy, and Lucy Puppy.

Recommendations:

Games
Lucky Pirates
Animal Upon Animal
Preschool games other than Candyland

Painting
Bathtub paint, available at Walmart and in gift sets at places like Big Lots
Melissa & Doug Paint with Water. Any paint with water is good. That's just what Amazon has.
Art smock.
Finger paint paper.
Color Wonder paints.

Cooking/Food Toys
Food to cut.
Sandwich making set




Characters
Lucy isn't super-loyal to any character. Her birthday cake was Super-Grover, but the runner-up idea was a Gruffalo theme. Pajamas, books, or shirts with any of these characters would make her happy. Other specific items are noted. And despite knowing that she watches too much TV, I've put some DVDs on her list. We rely a lot on streaming shows, which means that she doesn't have much to watch without the Internet, so it's good to have DVDs of her favorites.

Shaun the Sheep has been a favorite for a long time, and she always comes back to it. We have the movie and some DVDs, but she doesn't have any plush sheep.
Gruffalo - Lucy likes a couple of books by Julia Donaldson, one of which is The Gruffalo. On her list are Gruffalo finger puppets, magnetic book, plush figure, and a collection of books from that author.
Paw Patrol - Lap desk would be great for coloring at church
Dr Seuss - We have several of the books, and she watches the Cat in the Hat on TV. A plush Cat in the Hat is on her list.
Wonder Pets - Painting Book
Sesame Street (esp. Elmo and Super/Grover)
BB-8 (Star Wars) - Bicycle Helmet was her favorite thing from the entire Target toy catalog. Plush robot.
Marvel Superheroes, especially Hulk
PJ Masks
Doc McStuffins - She always comments on the Lego block set.

Toy Storage Bags
For a while, I've been storing sets of toys in huge ziploc bags from Dollar Tree, but Lucy has started putting them on her head. She still doesn't understand danger or death, so my forbidding her to put bags on her head has had little affect. I stop her when I catch her, but it's best to switch to a non-plastic storage system, I really like big draw-string bags that double as play mats. We have one. They can be bought on Amazon. But a person with a little time and skill could make them.






Maggie
Maggie's list is here.

Maggie is just starting to sit and play independently. She likes balls, blocks, and stuffed animals. Most of all, she likes to play with her sister, so things they can play together are great (except for when Lucy doesn't want to share, but we're working on it.) We still have all of Lucy's baby toys, so Maggie doesn't need much. SHE DOES NOT NEED ANOTHER SHAPE SORTER. I love shape sorters, and that's why we have plenty already.

Recommendations:

Books
I've put a lot of cloth activity books on her list. She has a couple of cloth books without activities and loves them. I've also put some sheep books by Nancy Shaw. We own and love the other books in that series and would like to complete our collection.

Blocks
The Infantino Press and Stay blocks look like fun and might work with Lucy's bristle blocks, allowing them to play together.

Stuffed animal
Maggie doesn't have a favorite yet, so I thought we might try Dilly the Monkey. Dilly has clothes with various fasteners to learn. We don't have anything like this.

Puzzles
Maggie won't be able to do puzzles for a while, but the chunky puzzles double as wooden figures to play with.


Curious George
Maggie has just started to notice television, but Curious George is already a favorite. I don't plan for her to watch a lot, but we don't have access to George the way wedid when Lucy was smaller, so it would be good to have DVDs.



Natalie
I have an Amazon list. Things I really want are marked as Highest or High priority. I want a carbon monoxide detector, fire extinguishers, some face masks, dish wand refills, and a broom/mop organizer. I know. I'm wild and crazy and dream big.


Matt prefers money.

Magpie

We aren't calling her "magpie," but Maggie sure can talk, and it sure is funny. This morning I was the only one up and was getting ready for church before getting the girls up and ready. While in the bathroom, I thought I heard one of the girls talking, so I peeked in on each of them, but both were sound asleep. That happened two more times before I caught Maggie talking in her sleep. I watched her for a while while she babbled with her eyes closed. And then she opened her eyes and continued to babble. The sounds this morning were normal babble sounds, but she's got some sounds she's picked up from Matt and Lucy. Matt's allergy cough is back, and (as Lucy did at about the same age) Maggie has decided that coughing is part of human speech, so she coughs at us sometimes. She especially does it to Matt because she's trying to speak his language. Maggie has also started making high-pitched squealing sounds. Sometimes I can't immediately name which girl made the sound. Maggie has learned the squealing sound from Lucy, so she often uses it to talk to Lucy. When Lucy starts responding in kind, I have to tell her to stop. Entire conversations of squeals are more than my ears can handle. Maggie coughs and squeals at me, but she also pulls out the "mumumum" sound when she's really hungry and wants mama milk from the source. She and I pretty often have two-way conversations. The most remarkable thing about Maggie's talking is how she mimics sounds. I've heard her repeat "car," "no no no," and "delicious." She's only 4.5 months old. She wants to talk like the big people so badly I think she'll succeed at a younger age than Lucy did.

Checkups

I'm very behind on my blogging, but I wanted to give an update after Maggie's 4-month and Lucy's 3-year checkups this morning. They're both growing and immunized. I'll try to write more and post pictures in the next few days.

Maggie
4 months
14 lbs., 4 oz. (41.6%), 25.5 inches (76.9%)

2 months
11 lbs., 7 oz. (30.8%), 23.25 inches (53.7%)


Lucy
32 lbs. (+5.5 since last year), 37.5 (+2 since last year) inches

Maggie's 1-Month Checkup

Maggie is perfectly healthy. She made some faces during the exam but only fussed a little once. She weighs 9 lbs., 1.5 oz. (26.4%) and is 21.5 inches long (40.9%). She's gained about half a pound a week, right on track. There's not much more to report about our calm, perfectly healthy baby. Next month she gets her first shots.

Six Weeks: Growing Strong

Yesterday Maggie turned 6 weeks old. She seems to be getting bigger every day. We'll find out exactly how much bigger at her 1-month well baby checkup on Friday. She has outgrown the Gerber newborn sleepers, which were the ones that fit her when she was first born. That brand runs smaller than others. She's still able to wear newborn size in other brands. She's also starting to wear 0-3 month clothes, which are reasonably loose but no longer ridiculous looking.  Other than some scary nose congestion a couple of weeks ago, she's done well. She still sleeps independently and has started sleeping 4+ hours at a time at night. Her growth is being fueled by cluster feeding all afternoon, mostly while Matt is teaching. Maggie is becoming more fun. She's starting to notice and interact with her surroundings. On Sunday Maggie was interested in my tablet while I was taking these pictures and tried to reach for it. On Monday she took interest in Lucy's wooden Melissa & Doug dog. I put the dog beside her while she was lying on Lucy's bed. Her eyes got big, and she began reaching for and touching the dog's face and cooing at it. When Lucy came to reclaim her dog, Maggie protested. Last night we went out in the late evening to enjoy the outdoors before the weather changed. While we were outside, I put her in Lucy's blue baby swing and pushed it gently. She seemed to like it. She held herself up well and looked around. She then fell asleep on my shoulder as the fireflies blinked around us.

Lucy is also getting bigger. She can now climb the Burger King play structure that says it's for ages 4+. The terrible twos seem to have ramped up. She's testing boundaries constantly. And her new-baby regression seems to be putting things in her mouth, eating paper and licking things. She is still very independent and has strong ideas about how things should be. Last week she wanted Matt to help her into the bath, but he was unavailable. She didn't want my help and started undressing herself. She has trouble getting her pants over her bottom, so I nudged them down for her. She spun around and said, "You no help me. Me pull pants back up." And that's just what she did. When she's not being difficult, she's enjoyable and even helpful. She wants to be helpful. I'm not sure what she was doing, but when I found her in her room a few days ago, she told me, "Me being helpful." She stacks the plates and bowls in the bottom rack when we unload the dishwasher. She likes to help with laundry, loading the washer, unloading the dryer, and sorting the clean clothes while I fold. She also wants to do things with me, so I'm trying to do more projects together, such as baking cookies or making breakfast. Lucy turned 2-3/4 last week, so I'm thinking ahead to what she needs to be able to do as a 3 year old, We're working on obedience, listening, answering questions, table manners, sitting still, and entertaining herself at end of meal and other times. Soon I plan to work on scissors skills and hope to work on potty training again.

I, fortunately, am not getting bigger. I'm not shrinking as fast as I'd like, but I'm not trying very hard. I have started going back to the pool with Lucy. I've been careful to take it easy, mostly just walking in the water while Lucy paddles around. If all is OK at my 6-week checkup tomorrow, I'll push myself more, perhaps swimming a few laps. I've also started cooking more. After people stopped bringing us meals, we lived mostly on fast food and frozen food. We're still eating a lot of that, but I'm trying to expand and improve our diets.

Maggie at 3 Weeks

I feel that I haven't said much about Maggie. I didn't say much when she was in utero, and I haven't had many specifics to share since then. Perhaps it just feels that way because Lucy has ALWAYS had a lot of personality. But I want to try to capture some of Maggie's Maggie-ness without comparing her (much) to her siblings.

Before she was born, we saw Maggie a lot in ultrasounds, but she didn't do much. Because she was so low in my pelvis, we didn't get a good profile picture or see her suck her fist or yawn or wave her hair in the amniotic fluid. She did make it hard on the ultrasound tech who was trying to see her genitals and her heart at 20 weeks. She kept crossing her ankles under her bottom and then putting her feet over her head to cover whatever the tech was scanning. We thought she might be another acrobat. We already marvel at her physical abilities, and the pediatrician commented on how strong she was at her first appointment. Maggie holds her head up well. She doesn't mind tummy time and even makes good attempts at rolling over. She hasn't tried to push up on the hands, but her feet move as if she's trying to crawl. I don't expect her to crawl soon, but she already acts like she wants to be up and about.

Another thing we knew about Maggie before she was born was that she wasn't highly reactive. That's why we kept having to stay late for NSTs. For her first week or so, Maggie just didn't cry much. She is gradually becoming more vocal. Now she protests at some diaper changes and when she's really hungry. Occasionally, she sounds downright angry at having to wait to eat. And sometimes she's got enough pressure behind her bowel movements that they're painful, and she cries about that while it's happening. Despite the pressure, we've never had a diaper blow out. She's flooded a couple of diapers with pee, but that's my fault for not thinking to change her enough. She doesn't cry about having a wet or dirty diaper. Like Lucy, she doesn't seem to care. Maggie also has started fussing and batting at the NoseFrida while I suction her congested nose. But she quits fussing as soon as the irritant is removed. She doesn't seem to hold onto hurt the way Lucy always has. Maggie is normally pretty content. And she smiles in her sleep all the time.

She eats well. We haven't had any latch issues. She doesn't play around or really comfort nurse. She gets down to business and eats until she passes out or even continues to eat while sleeping (swallowing and not just sucking). If I don't sit her up ASAP to burp, she can become a milk fountain. One morning she seemed to spit up an entire feeding or more. That was pretty sad. She tends to burp easily, which is good because I'm not a patient burper. Fortunately, she has never regurgitated while burping. I have learned that if she's laying down and I hear her swallowing her hard, I should sit her up so that gravity can help her keep the milk down.

Maggie likes to snuggle. I've started strapping her to myself in the Moby wrap while I prepare breakfast and lunch. She's very content to be snugly curled up against my chest while I work. She prefers skin-to-skin contact. She rests her hand on my chest during and after feeding. She didn't like feeding while I was wearing a pumping camisole that covered most of my breast. The camisole didn't change latch or position, but she didn't like having fabric between her and mama while nursing. I hope she eventually leans to be OK with the camisole. It really expands my nursing-friendly wardrobe, and I wore them all the time with Lucy.

Even though she likes to snuggle, Maggie can also sleep by herself. To make it easy on myself, she naps on me when I'm resting in the chair. It's easy to deal with cluster feeding when I don't have to keep getting up to get her and lay her down again several times an hour. However, when I need to be up and doing things around the house, she is willing to sleep in her cradle or hang out in a bouncy seat. A couple of days ago I put her in the cradle awake, and she went to sleep on her own. I was thrilled. I'd read about such things but never had it happen before.

Maggie likes her daddy and sister. (Mom--a.k.a. Milk Lady--is obviously OK with her, too.) Matt has gotten her to follow toys held in front of her. Even if she's hungry, she'll often settle for daddy and a pacifier for a little while. And she likes when Matt reads books to her and Lucy at bedtime. She likes to see and listen to both Matt and Lucy. Lucy's hugs are sometimes too much for Maggie, but she puts up with most of the exuberant affection. Recently, Lucy has mastered removing her clothes and decided that she doesn't want to wear anything, even an Elmo diaper. We haven't had time to deal with extra messes, so I figured out how to get her back into a diaper--sister diaper changes. Now a couple times a day Maggie and Lucy lay side by side on Lucy's mattress on the floor to have diapers and clothes changed. They both seem to like lying together. I think Maggie tolerates diaper changes better while Lucy is beside her.

So far Maggie is easy going and sweet. She's not demanding or messy. I still feel like I can tell more about what she is not than what she is. I look forward to getting to know her better as she learns to express herself. Until then I'll just keep enjoying the snuggles and hope that's one of the things she'll continue to like.

Post-Pregnancy Digestion

As I figured out my digestive issues after Lucy was born, I realized that each pregnancy slowed my digestion and altered my IBS: from IBS with diarrhea before Neil to something like normal after and then to IBS with constipation after Lucy. I hoped that Maggie wouldn't slow things further, and I don't have an answer to that yet. Until last night, I would have said things weren't running slow; however, my other health issues might have affected me. While I was congested, I was swallowing what I coughed up so that the mucous wouldn't come into contact with anyone or anything and spread the infection. But that made my stomach kind of upset and caused loose stool for several days. Throughout my pregnancy, I took stool softeners every day, and they worked. I didn't throw up or need an enema to relieve constipation that was keeping my stomach from emptying. I've continued the stool softeners and hoped for continued good results. 

But last night after our family walk, I started hurting. I didn't feel like I was going to vomit, but the pain felt like a combination of back pain and digestive problems. Doing the stretches the chiropractor showed me helped a bit before bed, but I woke in the middle of the night in serious pain. I put Maggie in a bouncy seat in the bathroom while I tried to feel better. I thought I might need to go to the chiropractor first thing Saturday morning. I decided that the one thing I could try immediately was an enema. If it helped, I might get to sleep. If it didn't help, I'd just get help for my back as soon as possible. So the enema did its work, and I still felt bad. I took a couple of Motrin, which I figured would help back pain but not do much for gall bladder pain. Once again, I'd either get relief or more information about my condition. I took Maggie back to the recliner and suffered as she leaned against my abdomen while nursing. When the back spasms started, I started composing a text to Mom to pray. And then I felt a gurgle in my intestines, and all of the pain and spasms suddenly and completely stopped. I was fine for the rest of the night. So it seems that constipation is still causing me problems and is doing so despite higher than maximum doses of stool softeners. I had some urgent bowel movements later this morning, but that seems to have settled down. So I don't know if my condition is significantly worse, but I definitely need to see a doctor to see if we can get this straightened out. Fortunately, I've met my deductible for the year by having a baby, so anything I get fixed is free from now on. 

My back is also a problem while I'm recovering from surgery. I'm sure I'm using my back muscles in unusual ways to compensate for weak abs. I need to slow down a bit, carry Maggie less, and slowly build strength. I'm really looking forward to getting back to the pool after my 6-week check up. Moving in the water does more for my back than anything else I've tried.

Maggie's Second Check-Up

Maggie gained 5 ounces in 7 days. Dr. Mike had hoped for an ounce a day, but anything over half an ounce a day was acceptable. He gave her a B+. Considering the week we've had, that B+ deserves a gold star and a spot on the fridge. Dr. Mike checked her all over and declared her perfect. I expect that Maggie will make greater progress before her one-month appointment. My milk supply was low during my recent illness and just started to get back to normal today.

Speaking of our illness, Lucy and I are steadily improving after almost a week of coughing and chest congestion. Last Tuesday night I could tell that I was coming down with something and could feel the congestion setting up in my chest like concrete. I thought Lucy might be getting sick but wasn't sure until the next morning. I got medication recommendations for both of us from the pediatrician. Lucy got Benedryl to stop the drainage that caused the coughing. I got Mucinex for the cough suppressant and expectorant, avoiding decongestants that would mess with my milk supply even more. We did our best to keep from infecting Maggie. Fortunately, she was getting antibodies from the breastmilk. . I was supposed to push Maggie to eat more often, but part of the time on medication I was fuzzy headed and had no idea what time it was. During those times I just sat on the couch all day and fed on demand. Had I been in my right mind we might have gotten her weight up more. Lucy and I both went without medication today. Lucy might have benefited from some treat. She was in a mood today. At times nothing made her happy. Matt explained this to Dr. Mike, who thought that was normal for a two year old with a new baby sister. Then Lucy got up on the exam table next to Maggie to help Dr. Mike and comfort sweet baby Maggie.. Lucy was very, very sweet. I think we could all agree that being two years old might be a problem, but the new baby sister is not.

One Week

Maggie is one week old! It's been a good week with a few moments of craziness. Here's how we're doing.

Maggie
Maggie is doing really well. She eats well, often and efficiently. She sleeps well, even by herself in the cradle. She burps easily, hasn't had gas problems, doesn't mind wet diapers, and cries infrequently. She likes to cuddle and listen to stories and songs. She seems to like her sister. She's just a really sweet, easy going baby. (I don't want to label Lucy as difficult or high maintenance, but even with frequent feedings, Maggie has required much, much less effort than Lucy did or does.)

Lucy
Lucy has been sick part of this week. As usual with Lucy, there weren't really symptoms. She didn't feel well, and it affected her behavior, making her prone to meltdowns. We know it was illness and not just a reaction to a new baby in the house because we took her temperature and she had a fever over 102. On Saturday, she seemed more volatile than usual. Alice came to stay with us while Matt was at graduation, and Lucy refused to have anything to do with her most of the time. Fortunately, Alice doesn't take such things personally. That night nothing made her happy. She cried and complained for a couple of hours. Few suggestions met with approval, and then she didn't really want what she said she did. That was when we found she had a fever. Eventually, after a bath and some ibuprofen, she curled up under her blanket and with no pajamas and fell asleep. She has remained a little volatile to varying degrees, but she seems a little better every day. The only other symptom is digestive. She didn't poop for a few days. Then her stool was loose. Last night she took her diaper off, and while Matt was getting her a new diaper, she suddenly pooped on her bed and the floor. She couldn't control it, and she was horrified. Bath and ibuprofen helped again. Despite not feeling well, she has continued to be sweet to Maggie and usually remembers to be gentle with me. She also does a good job of being patient. We do have to keep an eye on how helpful she's being with Maggie, but I told Matt that if Lucy were to harm Maggie it would have been motivated by love and kindness. She has started giving Maggie kisses, which is sweet but potentially dangerous because she has a fever. We've tried to limit but not discourage the kissing. We want Lucy to love her little sister, but we want Maggie to be healthy. So far so good with both goals.

Natalie
I'm doing pretty well. I move pretty well. but I tire quickly. I can now cough and laugh without feeling like I'm flying apart. The external incision seems to be healing well. You can't ask for much better a week after a c-section. My biggest problem has been a herpes outbreak on my face, first on my lips and then in my nose. I'm sure it's just the opportunistic virus taking advantage of an immune system working to heal me while being further taxed by stress and lack of sleep. But because the virus is so contagious, I've been unable to kiss Lucy and Maggie for most of the week. I have to constantly wash my hands to make sure that I don't spread it to my nipples or other parts that are currently being handled more often than usual. I've been taking an antiviral prescription, and hopefully, the outbreak will clear up soon. Other than that, I'm mostly just tired. Feeding Maggie every 2-3 hours while also trying to let Lucy know she still has a mom hasn't left me a lot of time to sleep. I'll keep trying to get more naps.

Matt
Matt is healthy so far and doing his best to get enough sleep. He's been sleeping on the floor next to Lucy so that he can help her when she wakes in the night. Lucy has adapted well to cuddles with daddy instead of mama, but cuddles from a two year old can still make it hard to sleep. Matt turned in grades by Monday, so his semester is over. Normally, he would take a day or two to lounge and recover. He's not getting nearly as much lounge time as usual, but some of it is done while holding a sweet, snuggly newborn, which has to make it better. We've done a good job so far of taking turns with the kids. We quickly size up the latest situation and divide and conquer. We each get opportunities to care for ourselves a little, too.

Other than a couple of minor health issues unrelated to delivery and recovery, we've done really well in our first week.

Maggie's First Check-Up

Maggie had her first appointment today. She weighed 6 lbs., 4.5 oz., half an ounce higher than when she left the hospital. She is also half an inch longer than last week. In comparison, Lucy was 4 oz. lighter than hospital weight at her first appointment. Despite her comparatively good weight, we've got another appointment next week to check weight again. Dr. Mike said he's not really worried but wants to keep an eye on it.

Dr. Mike asked if we had any concerns. We only had a few. First, her right eye is constantly crusty or draining. Her tear duct is too small. It's something that should fix itself. If it doesn't resolve by her first birthday, the duct can be enlarged. Second, her nose sounds a little congested, which is pretty common for babies. I just wanted to know if I should suction based on sound or wait until I can see something to suck. She had a huge booger a couple days ago, and she sneezes fairly frequently, which Lucy thinks is hilarious. I'm allowed to use saline and suction. Third, we noticed when we bathed her that she has a divot at the bottom of her spine (in her crack). It currently looks like a second anus. Dr. Mike said it's a sacral dimple. Hers is not big or deep and should be no problem. If the dimple is deep and hairy, they can cause problems. We haven't noticed any other birthmarks on her. Last, Maggie seems a bit jaundiced. She wasn't jaundiced when she left the hospital, but she is a little now. Because she's eating and pooping well, it should resolve soon. If it gets worse, we should see the doctor, but we're going to see him in a week anyway.

Maggie handled the appointment really well. She didn't cry much at all. Lucy, on the other hand, was a bundle of energy. She wanted to touch everything. She pushed the wheeled stool around, crinkled the paper on the table, and ran in circles. She wanted to listen to baby's heartbeat, so Dr. Mike let her use his stethoscope. She heard another baby cry and tried to leave the room saying "baby in trouble." She liked when Dr. Mike poked Maggie to check for jaundice. She kept gently poking Maggie while Matt put her clothes back on. She was very sweet, but we had our hands full.

It was a good appointment. I'm sure next week's will be even more positive.