Breaking the Rules

We brought the kids to The Golden Corral today. I love the place cause my favorite thing is a salad bar. Justin loves it b/c we let him eat his ice cream before he eats his meal. We call it "breaking the rules." He loves it!

Sarah - again

I am not making this stuff up. WTH? Sarah is the cautious one. Sarah is not even close to being the kid that climbs everything and falls off. Yet she keeps getting hurt. This time it was at Sue's house. I brought the kids to play with Sam & Charlie. Then it was time to go. I had Sarah go potty before we left. I went in with her and I had her wash her hands while I peed. She hates cold water, so I turned on both the hot and cold to make it warmish. All of a sudden I hear her SCREAMING!!!! She turned off the cold water and put her hands back under the water. The water was steaming from the faucet. Holy crap! She freaked. I tried getting her to keep her hands under the fauvet with cold water running. She wouldn't. It was too cold and she was just freaked. Luckily Sue was smart and calm and got her a towel to put her hands in and then poured cold water on the towel. We eventually had her sitting watching a show while we kept changing the towels around and pouring more cold water on them. Her hands looked so scary at first. But, somehow, 20 minutes later the red was gone. I am still shocked that she was ok. And I am so grateful we didn't have to go to the doctor again.

Mamma loves her sweet Van & Norma

So, a few months ago, Sarah decided she wanted a crib acquarium like Justin has. I found one. So, each night, I sing to her too.
I sing:
"Mamma Loves, Yes she does, Mamma loves her sweet Sarah. Mamma loves her, Mamma loves her, Mamma lov-a-a-avs her. Mamma loves, yes she does, mamma la-a-a-avs. Mamma loves, yes she does, Mamma loves her sweet girl."
And every night, after I tuck her in, I hear her singing as I close her door:
"Mamma Loves, Yes she does, Mamma loves her sweet Van & Norma. Mamma loves them, Mamma loves them, Mamma lov-a-a-avs them. Mamma loves, yes she does, mamma la-a-a-avs. Mamma loves, yes she does, Mamma loves her sweet boy & girl."
So stinkin funny!!

Momma Loves..

Justin has a love for his Fisher Price crib aquarium. When he switched to his bed, he took it with him. He plays it every night. A month or so ago when the kids slept at Grammy's house, he couldn't fall asleep b/c I didn't bring that with his stuff. Grammy had no clue what he meant when he kept saying he couldn't sleep without "mamma loves." He only listens to one song, one way. He likes the Lullaby song and he needs it with the "ba boom boom" bubbles sound. Way back when I started singing to him and I sing-
"Mamma Loves, Yes she does, Mamma loves her sweet Justin. Mamma loves him, Mamma loves him, Mamma lov-a-a-avs him. Mamma loves, yes she does, mamma la-a-a-avs. Mamma loves, yes she does, Mamma loves her sweet boy."
He's a sweet boy.

ENT Appt

I took Sarah today to see the ENT. He suspected that it could be croup caused by reflux. Like asthma, croup can be caused by reflux and cause the coughing and breathing issues, just in a different area of the body. His feelings were that if it was being caused by asthma, it would happen during the day, not just during sleep. As a baby, every attack came b/w 1-3 am. In Dec it happened at 5:55 am and the one 2 weeks was at midnight. So he thinks that would more likely be the cause.

My next steps:
Go back to the pediatrican and get an upper g-i barium test done. He recommended that I get a referral to the pediatric gastroenteroligist(?) in Albany. Sue has been there and highly recommends I skip that doctor and see if my pediatrican can order the test herself.
I can go back to the ENT if I need to in the future, but he doesn't forsee anything in his area as the problem. Yeah!
If it is not a reflux thing, I will have to see the allergist again to re-check the asthma possibility.
If it is reflux, one little pill a day may help prevent anything else.

That's it for now.

Everyone please stop beating up my baby!

Enough already!

Sarah has been victimized way too much lately.

In Dec, the couch pushed her off of it and the floor hit her. We ended up in the ER getting her head glued.

Friday the floor moved and made her fall and a bowl beat up her face. Really? Is this necessary?

Then Sunday the Sit N Spin threw her off of it as she was innocently trying to stand on the top level of it. Darn sit n spin. After it threw her off, she was beat up by the floor. On the back of her head. The result? She somehow cut her upper lip very badly and loosened her left upper tooth. WTH? Darn Sit N Spin.

She cried and cried and cried. And it bleed and bleed and bleed. The lip slowed down a little but he tooth wouldn't stop bleeding. It bleed for over an hour. It was very loose and when I tried to touch it, it would bleed tons more. Yuck! She went to bed extra early and insisted on sucking on a wet washcloth when she went to bed. We went to the dentist today. There is a possiblity that the root is affected. We need to go back in a month. Best case scenerio: the tooth tightens back up. Worse case: the tooth gets infected and they have to pull it.

So, for now: she has a very bad upper lip that is swollen and will take quite a while to heal. She has a loose tooth that we need to be very careful with. She is on soft foods only for at least 2 weeks. And we have to avoid spicy, hot, salty and acidic foods for a while. Poor thing. She'll survive, but I will go crazy. She was happy today though b/c she got unlimited popsicles and she got noodles and soft pretzels. What a treat!

I looked inside her mouth. The gums inback of the tooth and on top on the tooth are so bruised. It is just amazing to see it.

My poor girly.

Happiness

For the SNDMs I asked the kids "What makes you Happiest?"

Their answers:

Justin:
You mommy, and Sarah , orange (his favorite color) and Daddy.

Sarah:
Getting a pretty star. A pretty dres.. Getting dollies all day long!

When I asked Sarah yesterday, right after asking Justin, her answer was "all of the Valenti family." I asked again today to get an answer not influenced by her brother.

Tuttles Game and Hotel Lady

Sarah has a lot of times that she is getting out of the van when Justin isn't home. So....she makes me unbuckle her, close her door, walk around the van and open Justin's door. Then I either have to pretend I am picking up Justin off the bus and Sarah pretends to be Tuttles. At those times, the role of Baby Sarah is happily played by Crissie, Sarah's dolly. Or, I have to pretend to be the hotel Lady and welcome Sarah to my hotel.

And, if we are coming home from preschool, I am immediately informed that I need to give her a popsicle. She wants one every day after school.

I love my quirky girl!

Justin's case of "much sadness"

Justin was very upset last night. He said he couldn't go to school the next day b/c he was going to be sick. I finally got him to tell me that he didn't want to go to school b/c he was losing his morning playtime. He hadn't finished his work and he needed to finish it in the morning. They were working on the letter R and he was sloppy with his work.

So I talked to Mrs Chmiel about it this morning. I was laughing, telling her that he didn't want to come to school today. She laughed and told me she knew that it was going to be a problem today. When she informed him that he and Megan were sloppy and had to work on it again during playtime, he was so upset. Megan said "well, that's fine. We need to try our best." Justin's response? "There will be MUCH sadness tomorrow."

He is truly a piece of work.

"Goodbye Mommy & Sarah"

Everyday. Still. We are 5 months into school now and Justin still walks backwards down the hallway everyday as he says "Goodbye Mommy & Sarah! Goodbye Mommy & Sarah, Goodbye Mommy & Sarah...." At least 15-25 times each day. And at the corner, he stops and yells "I love you Mommy & Sarah!" Every day. It can be annoying. But it is so darn sweet. I will miss these days when he is older and he won't even want to be seen with me. I will I could bottle up this boy's love and hold onto it forever. He loves me so much. And it is heartbreaking to think of how he'll be too cool to care in 5 years. But, for now, everyday I hear him yell to me that he loves me!

****
And, I must add that so many people know him as the kid that does this.
The 1st grade teacher has laughed with me and told me "It is a nice thing to hear everyday." Mrs Chmiel has told Justin that "No one gets sick of hearing that they are loved." And I have overheard some 1st graders talking about the fact that he does that every single day...still...lol

All Things Giselle!

Sarah and I love Enchanted, the movie. And Sarah knows it is my favorite. She always tells me that she is going to buy me a Giselle doll, or a Giselle movie, or a Giselle book. It is so funny and so sweet.