Lately

This morning we were surprised to find a rather large package blocking our doorway. It's not that we were surprised to find a package on our doorstep—because we were, in fact, expecting a package—it's just that we weren't expecting to receive such a large package.

We knew that it was from Grandma and that it was for Benjamin. We just didn't know what it was.

I have to admit that I was a little frightened when I saw the box. Where was I ever going to find a place to fit anything that large?!

I opened it up and saw...nothing but paper.

I sifted through the paper and eventually found a little push toy (in a box much, much too large):

And also a sun shade for the beach (but that was also fairly small for the size of the box).

Breathing a sigh of relief that Grandma hadn't shipped us a small pony, I put the new toys aside for Benjamin when he woke up and crawled back into bed.

I'd been up with Miriam in the middle of the night. She had woken up with a raging fever and a nightmare. I helped her go potty and then she rested on my bed while I got the thermometer and tylenol. Her fever was still high enough that I wanted to bring it down a notch so I gave her the tylenol and then refilled her water bottle so she could wash the tylenol down.

"Let's get you back into bed," I coaxed.

"Uh, Mom," she said to me as if I'd broken some sort of parental code of ethics. "I had a nightmare..."

Right, she'd clearly come into my room expecting to sleep between me and Andrew (aka: the only safe spot in the entire house). I groggily considered trying to fall asleep with her feverish body wedged in my bed. There was no way that was going to work—it's starting to get warm and humid here as it is.

We wandered out to the living room and pulled out the couch to make a bed, which is where I slept until Benjamin started crying out for an early-morning snack.

Up, down, up, down. All night long I wandered between my bed, the couch, and Benjamin's crib. I was wasted. So, I slept until 10:00, right along with my children.

When Miriam woke up she just wanted to watch cartoons. Benjamin wanted to go exploring.

He found his new toys. The push toy is a little too advanced for him (since he's not walking yet) but he had fun pushing it back and forth in front of him.

A few hours of exploring later and he crashed:



Take a good look at that sleeping child because it's a rare sight!

Miriam continued to watch cartoons through the afternoon. Her spirits rose and fell to compliment her fever, but she didn't throw up again (things had headed south).

Rachel spent the day on a class field trip the Marbles Museum in Raleigh. She had a great time, though she admitted that the bus ride was a little long. I would've loved to go with her, but Benjamin's not quite old enough to be left behind for that long (if he wasn't still nursing six to eight times a day I might've been able to pull it off).

She was thrilled to come home and find new toys! She spent a good half hour playing with Benjamin's push toy. She seriously just walked in circles, around and around the shared kitchen/living room wall.

Benjamin didn't mind sharing.

The box, though, was Rachel's source of joy for the afternoon. By the end of the evening it had been flipped on its side and turned into a fancy bedouin tent, with pillows and rugs for comfort, and a flashlight for a lamp. She and Miriam (with her pillow and favourite blanket) were both inside it, telling stories to each other at one point.

Since Rachel was so busy entertaining herself and Miriam was busy lolling around, Benjamin took it upon himself to unload the dishwasher.

Miriam was feeling much better by dinner time, though her eyes were a lot hungrier than her stomach was. She helped herself to a bowl of saltine crackers, a bowl of macaroni, and a bowl of peaches.

She ate a bite of cracker, a couple spoonfuls of macaroni, and a couple peach slices, leaving plenty left over in all three of her bowls.

Benjamin's been shunning pureed foods lately and has become much more insistent on self-feeding. Unfortunately he doesn't understand why we put food in bowls or on plates (obviously Miriam understands this concept; he should learn from her) and he usually ends up emptying his dish of food onto his lap, the floor, or the table.

And although he enjoys have a utensil to hold, his most effective method of getting food into his mouth is his fingers:



And here's a picture of Rachel taking her medicine at dinner. She hates it and has spat out more than one dose. She's one of our more difficult children to get medicine inside of...

And that's what's been happening in our house lately. A lot of lounging around, broken up with sprints to the toilet. Fun times.