Sick-o

There are some uses of the word "sick" that are good. Like, "Hey that wheelie you just popped on your motorcycle was sick!" But these days, the word "sick" means this:

...and that's not even all the medicines we are taking.

Ivy came down with it first, then I did, and now my poor little Rose is also sick at the tender age of 4 weeks! At least she is older than Violet was when she caught RSV from Ivy at just 1 week old. Somehow, I think that Violet getting sick so early somehow toggled a superhuman immunity response to illness - she hardly ever gets sick, and this go-round she has been just fine as well. But I myself have now incubated and developed my special little germs into full on bronchitis.

While you may think this post is about complaining about all the illness and sleeplessness on all our parts, its actually not that bad. Ok, the sleeplessness is bad. Always. But apart from that, the rest is totally do-able. I had dreaded having to look after sick children now that I have 3 kiddos needing me to feed, clothe, nurture and care for them. But honestly, its totally fine. Bring on baby number 4, I'm so ready!*

Granted, I am not doing so great on consistent blogging. Much less on consistently clever and entertaining blogging. But I have bigger fish to fry in my life these days. Or more important gardens to water, if you will. Get it? Ivy, Violet, Rose?


(crickets)

Well! Anyway, I will try to be a little more consistent with blogging. I hope you will check back every couple of days to see if I have posted anything new or if I have regained any of my previous blogging cleverness.



* This foolhardy show of optimism brought to you by a delicious Panera double shot latte.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do Newborns Really Smile?

Last night was a much better night that the 2 or 3 days preceding it - Rose finally slept calmly instead of doing that newborn grunting thing that she was doing. What a relief, I thought I had given birth to a little piggy. And then I thought, shoot - does this mean I am going to have to start giving her mud baths? Because I love mud, don't get me wrong (its so good for the skin), but it really cramps my style for my kid to be muddy. I have this ridiculous desire for my house to be clean, and mud does not picture prominently in my vision of "clean".

The point is that this morning both she and I woke up in great moods.

So Ivy and Violet came in the room to coo at Rose and also to attack her under the pretext of "petting" her. In all fairness, I know they don't really understand that she is a person and not a toy. I am mostly referring to Violet - that kid is rough on newborn piggies! You would think she is aiming for some bacon at breakfast and is intent on slaughtering her own meal. But I am trying to teach her to be gentle and I think she is starting to get the picture.

So there we all were, me and my little garden of 3, and the girls were smiling ear to ear. Rose kept looking at their faces, showing interest for the first time. And then - BAM - a smile!!!

It was a huge, open mouth smile, and it was directed at Violet. I thought for sure that was just a fluke, but then she smiled again, at Ivy. And then twice more after that! There was no mistaking it - she was actually smiling.

I hope this bodes well for her character and her sense of humor. I am thinking of buying her a rubber chicken for Christmas. Or at least a Groucho Marx pair of glasses with the nose and mustache attached. Its never too early to cultivate their interests, I say. What is Emily Post's take on the etiquette of rubber chickens as gifts?

Oh So Awkward

Now that the baby is out, and I am no longer pregnant, I am faced with that awkward postpartum phase.

I just got done being extremely pregnant and my body is trying to adjust - but my belly is still very distended. This means I do not fit in my regular clothes yet. This leaves me with really only one choice: maternity clothes. But I am not pregnant anymore. And the thing about maternity wear is that is emphasizes the round belly. So I am now in that awkward phase, where I am not pregnant anymore but I only fit into pregnancy clothes.

I am that woman that people unthinkingly ask, "Oh, when are you due?" only to realize I have a baby in the stroller and there is no way possible I am actually pregnant.

And its oh, so awkward!