Dentist Miracle

I took Veronica to the dentist yesterday.  Mike took her for her first appointment a few weeks ago, he took Anthony for a checkup on his extraction, and Maria and Veronica had regular checkups.  So what they do at this pediatric dentist, is give you an estimate of what it's going to cost.  I forget what it was going to be for Veronica, because they estimate it for everyone, but it was a LOT.  It was like $1600 or something, because I remember thinking it would be like $3,000 before all was said and done, including Anthony's work.  One of the costs they estimated was for sedation, because I guess she was such a freak during just the checkup.

So all week it was bugging me, I couldn't stand the thought of them sedating that three year old!  Anthony was VERY rough coming up from that sedation, he was crying and so upset, for hours.  If Veronica had it, Mike would have to stay home from work because there's no way I could stay with her and watch the baby.  Also, Veronica has ballet on Fridays and she really likes it, they don't have it next week because of Thanksgiving and I just hated for her to miss it two weeks in a row.  So I told Mike I'd take her to her appointment and just talk to them about it there.

I walked in and checked in - oh this was funny - I haven't been there in a long time, because Mike's been taking them.  He takes Anthony to school and the dentist is right near there, so it's usually him.  It was on the third floor, I knew, but I stopped short at the elevator because I wasn't sure where to go from there.  Veronica took off and said, over her shoulder, "it's over HERE, Mommy!  TO THE LEFT!".  Ha!  Anyway, we went in and they said "has she had anything to eat or drink, MOM?".  I hate when people other than my four children call me mom, fyi.  I said no she hasn't but I want to talk to the dentist, because I don't think I want her sedated.  It's so crazy when you tell any medical professionals that you are going to do something different than they tell you to do.  All of them get the exact same "WHAT?" look in their eyes, no one can BELIEVE you are daring to question the DOCTOR.  In this case, the DOCTOR is a DENTIST, so forgive me if I don't bow down and act like you're a neurosurgeon who went to Harvard.

So we waited, we had a tea party in the waiting room, Veronica was in very good spirits.  I had talked to her about it and I said she could either be made to go to sleep when she had her teeth worked on, and not go to ballet, OR she could just lie down and do what the doctor said, and then she could go to ballet and we would get her a prize and blah blah blah.  The assistant came to get us and she said "now, she's had nothing to eat or drink since midnight, right MOM?" and I said, well, I TOLD the woman up front, but no she hasn't but I'd like to talk to the dentist about it because I don't know if we want to do it.  That woman didn't even say anything!  How SHOCKED she must have been, to not even SAY SOMETHING!  People make me mad.  So we went into the kitchen, where there were permission slips and the medicine all out, just like I HADN'T SAID ANYTHING.  But then the dentist came in, Dr. Kevin, his name is, and he was really, really nice.  I said how I was concerned, blah blah blah and he said "do we have three year olds that can do it?  Yes!  Are there many of them?  NO!".  He said I could stay there and I had to be a 'silent observer', because it can be confusing for a kid when the dentist is saying one thing and the assistant one thing and a mother braying away.  So I said fine, I just wanted to tell Veronica how it was going to be and have it actually be that way.

We went in the room and she started to get tense right away, but I just talked to her and she lay down and started watching the Barbie movie she picked out.  The assistant put a mask of sorts on her with nitris oxide, but it was hard because it was way too big.  She said it was the smallest size but Veronica is a peanut and everything is slightly big on her.  I could see her relaxing from the nitris, at one point she even sort of slung one leg over the other, ha!  It took forever, as usual, for the dentist to come in and she did start to cry a little bit, but she just - stopped and did what he said.  It took a long time, much longer than it took when I took Anthony, but I don't think I realized how fast she did Anthony's.

Oh!  I'm forgetting that they were going to seal the other teeth, like all the other teeth in her head so she didn't get any more cavities.  I said why would we seal baby teeth? and the dentist said that she had 'deep grooves' in her teeth and those are more susceptible to cavities.  Now.  I don't want to call anyone a money grubbing scumbag, but what?  WHAT?  Do baby teeth have deep grooves?  Or just my kids' teeth?  I said my husband and I had more run of the mill, NORMAL teeth, so we were unfamiliar with these deep grooved teeth.  I said that the last year had been kind of crazy at our house, particularly in the morning and at night, and that we are re-committing to teeth care and I wanted to see if that would help our situation so if we could wait, I'd like to.  So he said fine.  Sheesh.

Anyways, he filled them and the assistant - I guess he just drilled them and the assistant filled them and then we were finished!  I can't believe how proud I was of her.  She was really amazing, miraculous, even.  It just goes to show that you can't judge a person by just one facet of their personality.  Veronica is kind of a wussy, she will cry for 20 minutes because she has her feelings hurt, but she is also really tough and a hard worker and she definitely proved it yesterday.  I felt really vindicated as a mother, and I am not kidding when I say that has almost never happened to me the whole TIME I've been a mother, so I was glad for it.  Then we went to ballet, and out to lunch, and all day she was so proud of herself, it really was a great day.

Halloween

Veronica was a fairy for Halloween, Bloom from the Winx Club, to be exact, but that rat fink didn't wear her wig, even though I combed it all out perfectly - PERFECTLY - the night before, but whatever, she looked super cute.  She was also willing to wear her tights and a long sleeved shirt under her costume, unlike a certain sister I know, so I appreciate that.  Here's her picture:

She's pretty, right?  She is so sweet.  She is kind of a kook, I have to say.  You know how she leans on the table like she does?  She and Maria call it 'getting her air out' and she has been getting her air out a LOT lately.  It's funny to hear Mike say, "Veevsy, you're going to have to get your air out later, we have to go!".  I hope it's something she outgrows, or at least I hope she finds a more subtle way to get her air out than to perch on the corner of a table, ha!

She has really been yapping away this week, yap yap yap yap YAP!  Today she made me go in the big room outside of Maria's ballet and she told me SHE was the teacher and WE were pretending to be pigs, so lay down here, Mommy, and OINK!  She told me to grand jete, and to turn and when I did it, she said "that's not right!".  She is bossy but it's so cute, she is really finding her way.  She loves school and her best friend this year is named Rosie.  Some day maybe I'll post something else about her but mostly she is my real heart girl and I am madly in love with her.

Firsts

Veronica went to NJ for the first time last week, she also went to the ER for the first time!  Actually, I have taken her to the ER twice before, but both times we left before we were treated.  One time she burned her hands on my straightener and another time she poked her eye with a fork but she was fine.  This time, she had a fever of 102 and croup and she was coughing and coughing and not breathing well.  I was so worried she was turning blue or something but I couldn't see because we were lying down in the dark.  It was a crazy, crazy visit to the hospital.  We went to the hospital in which I was born, it was ROUGH. They took her temperature rectally, they had to give her a Tylenol suppository because she wasn't willing to take it orally (that's two bum invasions, for those counting!), I held her for the breathing treatment but the nurse threatened her that SHE was going to hold her if she didn't behave herself, sheesh!  We all coerced her into drinking her the steroid, in apple juice, and right before we left she vomited all over both of us.  She threw up all over my sweatshirt but I couldn't take it off because I was only wearing the tshirt that I had gone to bed in.  It was an experience, but as usual, I was grateful to walk in and walk out of the hospital.  They ended up giving her a steroid shot and although we had to go home early, she really has recovered well.

Before she got sick, we had a great time!  Veronica really loved the beach - she didn't fly into the ocean the way Maria did, but she wasn't scared, either.

Veronica enjoyed visiting my cousin Lisa in PA on the way in.  Lisa's daughter Sasha was super nice to her younger sister and young cousins, Veronica had a high old time playing with their stuff.

And of course we ended our trip down the shore with some ice cream.  Veronica really branched out and got black raspberry with rainbow sprinkles, or jimmies, as we called them when I was little.  Except for her sickness, she was a great travel companion.  They both tried so hard to be good and they were plucky as hell as we drug them around the great state of NJ.  They are good and sweet girls and I was really proud of them.

School

Veronica is back in preschool and she is loving every minute of it!  She is so funny, I go to get her and she's super happy to see me, she wants to hang on my leg and wants me to carry her.  Maria is all, CAN I GO OUTSIDE CAN I GO TO DAIRY QUEEN WHERE ARE WE GOING? but Veronica is just 'hold me'.  My friend Kristin was in town this weekend from Alabama and she was describing Veronica to friends of ours and she loved Veronica.  She loved all of them, of course, but especially Veronica.  She's a sweetheart!

Anyway, she has a friend named Rosie in school.  Today Rosie was getting her lunchbox right when we were getting Veronica's and Veronica sort of sneakily pointed her out to me.  "Mommy", she said, "that's ROSIE!".  It's so funny, how far a person comes in one year, right?  Last year she was fine going to preschool, but she took a nap, she had her little babydoll at first, she wasn't potty trained, she didn't really make friends, she was still in speech therapy.  This year, she not only doesn't nap at school but sometimes not even in the car when we go to get Anthony AND she stays up til 8:30, she is potty trained, she is ... I dare say vivacious and social!

Tonight Mike and I were watching tv and BOOM! we heard someone crash to the floor upstairs.  I ran up and poor Veronica had fallen out of the big bed, and crawled up in with Maria.  She cried and cried, waaaaah!, but she was still sleeping, poor baby.  Mike said and it's true, when could we ever use bunk beds with these girls?  I can't have her falling from six feet!  Sheesh!  Maybe I'll bag it and get something like this?

So, to catch up, all's well, Veronica's fine.  She never ever shuts her mouth.  She is still using L a lot for  a lot of letters.  She says "Glandma" and "Leah" for yeah.  It's so damned cute I  know I'll miss it when she stops.

What's So Great About Veronica?

• She is the sweetest thing.  I always say that I get all blame when the kids are crazy and loud and obnoxious because that is much more in keeping with MY personality, while everyone knows that Mike is the kind of person who has birds come and land on his shoulder.  And it's just funny, but it's also true that Mike is sweet and gentle and so is Veronica, in the same way.  She totally does get that from him.  
• She is incredibly cuddly.  I am trying to focus on the greatness here, since sometimes it can be a bit much.  
• She shares everything she has.  She's not a sucker about it or anything, she will keep what she wants, but mostly if it's not going to kill her to part with it, she will.  
• She has beautiful, perfect teeth.  When I think about how she had that big giant chomper for so long and looked so funny I can't believe it!  
• I think if she were on her own, she'd be a late sleeper.  We'll never know but I'll assume it.
• Now that she is conversing so much, I can see and hear more of her sweet personality and it's been so fun.  Even though she is a quiet, sweet butterfly of a person, she has her own feisty personality.  I have no concerns about her starting school this fall, in fact, we're all excited about it!
• She has a scratchy adorable voice.  
• She says slipperty when she means slippery.
• She is starting to sing a little bit and it's so, so cute.
• She was so scared at swimming at the beginning of the summer and she has really, really taken off.   She is scared every day but she pushes through it and it's a great thing to see and a great thing to emulate, now that I think about it.  

The Mystery of Veronica Vep

Many moons ago, my friends Chuck and Lebron were a hilarious production of The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Phoenix Theater here in Indianapolis.  Chuck and Lebron played a billion characters and one of them, played by Chuck I think, said "Janey" in this way that was really funny and has stayed with me for years, so much so that if I meet someone named Jane, I have to say it that way that he did.  I wish I could add a video clip but that seems like a lot, but it's kind of a ... ugh I can't do it justice, but anyway it was great and like I say, I think of it a lot.  I wish I could get her to call me Jane.

Veronica says LOTS of words like this.  She makes, like, a super long A or something.  So she says, Mama, can I have some lemon-ay-ud? for lemonade.  It cracks me up.

And it's a good thing it makes me laugh because sometimes she drives me bonkers.  She was super, super bad in church today.  It's about 150 degrees in our church because we've been baking like cupcakes all summer and there is no air left, and all Veronica does is wrap herself around me.  I suppose it's good that she doesn't run away from me anymore, she is leaving the confessionals alone, thank God, but man.  Why can't she just SIT THERE?  The priest knows how hot it is, so the Mass is pretty quick, like 50 minutes or something, so how hard is it?  Pretty hard for Veronica, is I guess the answer.

Her new teacher called today, we're going to meet with her on 8/22.  Both girls have preschool sponsored park playdates starting this week, and we are going to the fair and the museum, so it should be a fun week.  Ha ha ha boo hoo, I always think that and it never really is.  

Even More Talking

Seriously.  She will NOT shut up.  Hoo boy, it's crazy.  I was telling my parents this last night, as an example of her extreme talkitude.  Yesterday Anthony was in the bathroom downstairs and, as usual, Veronica picked that exact time to have to go.  So I said go upstairs already and she did.  THEN of course she yelled for me to come upstairs because I had shut both bathroom doors up there, so up I went. I opened the door to the upstairs/kids bathroom but she wanted to go in mine, she said.

We went into my room and she was yapping away, telling me the reason she wanted to go in my bathroom was because her butt fit better on the toilet in my room, the toilet in her room was WAY too big, she said.  It's true, the one in their bathroom is an oval shape and it's just a circle in my bathroom.  I know that's a lot of information about our toilets, but what can you do.  Sooo, we go into my room and she proceeds to pee, which I know because she says "I peeing, mommy!".  She says how when she's done, we can flush the toilet and I say, I'll flush it after you want, if it's too noisy.  She says, NO, this toilet does not flush too loud, but the other one does.  She says "I don't like loud noises but I like quiet noises, like this:" and she puts her index finger up to her mouth and, dirty looking me the whole time, says SHHHHHHHHHH.  I said okay, then, so she finished peeing and jumped up and flushed the toilet, talking the WHOLE ENTIRE time, "see Mama, I fine, I don't mind this noise because it's a quiet noise and I like quiet noise just not loud noise like the potty in my room is too loud but this is fiiiiiiine". Sheesh.  SHEESH.

She did great at swimming yesterday and she VOLUNTEERED to go out with Mr. Isaac, swimming.  At one point, I was sitting there with Felicity, who was standing holding on to the bench, and I noticed Veronica was crying so I went over.  I said "what is wrong?", she seemed SO upset and she said "Mr. Isaac won't let me go first!".  Ugh.  I shooed her away and went back to Felicity.  It's annoying but so funny that a month ago she wouldn't get in the pool and now she's mad she can't show off her dog paddle.

Three weeks from Monday they start back to preschool.  What a difference a year makes, right?  I was worried she'd never be able to leave me and now she can't wait to get back!

Irony

Is it irony that I was so worried that Veronica would never talk and now she never, ever shuts up?  Today I went to get Anthony and Maria fell asleep right away, the baby was quiet and sleepy and Veronica yapped and yapped and yapped.  Here's some of what she said:

Hoe mah han, mama! (Hold my hand, Mama)

Doe!  DOE!  DOOOOOEEEEE!  (Go!  Go!  Goooo!)  (I tell her the light is red so I have to wait)

You late for the light to turn led mama? (You wait for the light to turn red, Mama?) (I tell her I am waiting for the light to turn green)

You laiting for the light to turn gleen mama? (You waiting for the light to turn green, Mama?) I say yes

Gleen means glo, led light means stop and lellow light mean slow (Green means go, red light means stop and yellow light means slow)

Sheesh!  I tell her 100 times a trip that I am trying to DRIVE, Veronica, I can't hold you hand because I have to keep my hands on the wheel!  She cares not, she has been all over me like a duck on a june bug here lately!  If I sit down with the baby, she is on my leg immediately.  Hold me!, she says thousands of times a day, she wants to be carried into the Y, carried to swimming, held while we are at the park, etc., etc., on and on.  She is a lover, and not a fighter, for sure.

She is getting much better at swimming.  I am hoping we'll go to the pool tomorrow for the first time.  I'm scared to take all three of them but there is a baby pool and a splash pad and I'm hoping they'll hang around the splash pad more.  We'll see.  You never know.

Swimming

Veronica finished her first swimming session last week, she starts her second session on Tuesday.  They do three week sessions, two times a week, for 30 minutes, which works well for us.  Like, on the first day, she had a very hard time and it was good to go back just two days later to work on it again.  She usually made a good amount of progress in the 30 minutes and I'm glad she never had to wait a whole week to go back so she could pick up on the progress where she left off.

Her teacher said this about her in the comments:

• Veronica likes to be with an adult
• Veronica is still hesitant and needs encouragement to get in
• Playing with toys is a good way to keep her having fun at the pool
• Keep coming to the pool and having fun this summer, Veronica!

So that's nice.  It's true, she does like to be with an adult in the water, but she got much better about it as the weeks went on.  She did like to have a toy, and although she was worried about it, by the end, she laid back in the teacher's arms and kicked her legs.  She is so different than Maria was when she started.  First of all, she was younger - Maria turned three in the January before summer lessons and Veronica just turned three in May.  Secondly, Veronica will just *leave* if things are unpleasant and Maria will stay right there and scream in your face.  It's funny to see the differences in them.  

She is doing just fine this summer, although I am glad it's now July and not June anymore - anything that gets us closer to them being back in school.  We are continuing with swimming two days a week and I am looking into some one day camp things at a local park for them to do.  They like to do more things than I can have them do at home so maybe we'll make July busier than June and we'll see how that works.  

For Gael

 

Party Girl

She really isn't much of a party girl.  We went to Charlie's birthday party a few weeks ago and we went on a playdate to a park last weekend and both times, she kind of hangs by herself.

Veronica's been doing well, I'd say. She is completely toilet trained, she is getting a little bit better in church, and she never shuts up.  Sometimes I still get a little teary when she is yammering away at me.  I was so worried, for a while, and now she is just perfectly right for her age.  She is still a little hard to understand, but I'll take it.  Maria is a great interpreter, in fact they are really thick as thieves lately.  They're mostly very sweet together but it is all Veronica, really.  She is a Great Compromiser.
 

Almost three

One week from Monday she'll be three years old.  It's hard to believe, because she seems like my baby but also it seems like she's been around for longer than three years, much longer.  My mom sent me an email with some party stuff for sale and said "maybe you'd want this for Veronica's party" and I thought oh, crap!  A party!  I still don't know what we'll do.  Veronica doesn't really have any friends of her own yet.  I mean, she has two friends at school, Brookie and Halie, but I don't really know their moms so I couldn't invite them to a party.  Anyways.  We'll see.  I know she wants a Tinkerbell cake, at least she did a few weeks ago when she saw one in the window at the bakery.

She is doing very well with the potty training.  Not VERY well, I guess.  I guess if she were doing VERY well, she wouldn't have peed on her underwear, "just a little" and taken them off and handed them to me while I was sitting at the table at Chic Fil A today.  BUT she goes in the bathroom on her own most of the time and she did perfectly one out of two days at school this week, so we'll take it.  She wants to be in underwear, which is half the battle.  Ha, we were at a party on Sunday, though, and she had already peed through one outfit so she was in her second.  She came walking up to me and my friend's boyfriend said "I think she has mud on her foot" and I thought no, not mud, and it wasn't.  Sigh.  It's hard at a party, right?  Hard to stop partying?  She's like Lindsay Lohan or something, ha!

She has been driving us insane and I mean INSANE lately.  Maria wakes her up too early and then she is grumpy for most of the day.  She cries and whines a lot, she takes off her clothes in public, and if you speak even the slightest bit sharply to her, she BURSTS into tears and cries for 20 minutes, super loudly.  Her hair will never grow back from where Maria cut it, LORD GOD these girls have some fine hair.  Um, what can I say to end this on a positive note?  She is super sweet with Felicity.  She never wakes up when you move her from the floor to her bed at night.  Um.  Her teacher loves her and she has always done great at school, every single day of this year.  There.

Potty Training

Veronica, who will be three on May 14, has been insisting on wearing underwear to school lately.  It's FINE BY ME but I was worried on Monday that she'd just pee on the floor there like she does here.  Here, she pees on the floor and then looks at it and says, sighing, "I pee".  So poetic!

But she went in underwear on Monday and when I went to pick her up, she was in the *same clothes* as I left her!  Miracle!  Her teacher said she didn't go all morning (she never does here either) but finally right before her nap, around 12:00 (that's nothing from 8:30 until 12:00, whacko), she deigned to pee on the potty.  So.  That's good, right?  Her teacher was worried on Tuesday because there are more kids in there and she was right to be, because naturally she just peed right through her clothes when she had to go.

So today we are trying again.  It's 12:35 - 12:35! and she hasn't gone all morning.  She asked for apple juice and I told her she could have some if she peed on the potty.  We're headed out soon so I am going to have her try before we leave and then I'll have to put a diaper on her, I don't want her to pee on the car seat.  It's a giant pain but I feel like she'll be trained before her birthday and then we'll just have one baby left in diapers, and won't that be nice?  It's all that keeps me going, really.

Friday

It's hard to believe this was Friday, right?  And that hours later, she'd be throwing up all over me?  This was in a rare burst of energy, jeez she is CUTE, right? 

I was looking at this shadow and it reminds me, today I went to get Veronica at school and we walked out together, me and Felicity, Maria in front and Veronica behind us.  LORD, LORD, she is behind us.  Slow!  She reminds me of Prissy in Gone with the Wind, when she is moseying down the street and Scarlett is waiting for her to come help with the birthing of the babies.  "Only three more days to tote the weary loooooooad, she sings, remember?  Anyways, I am always stopping to turn back and remind Veronica that what we are doing is walking to the ding dang car.  Meanwhile, Maria is taking off into the parking lot.  Sheesh. 

Today it was so sunny and beautiful and Veronica was in love with that shadow of hers.  IN LOVE.  She was walking all over the parking lot, saying "my shadow!  Look, mama, my shadow!".  I told her she could walk toward the car and her stupid shadow would be there, too, ha!  She is a sweet thing, I can't believe it but she will be three years old in about a month.  Veronica Lucy Beck!  Three years old! 

 

Sick, in a new and different way

Ugh, I haven't posted since the last time Veronica was sick.  In fairness, it wasn't THAT LONG AGO!  Last night Mike took Anthony up to the bath kind of early, he was driving us mad with the taking the clothes off thing, so I figured he could get a solo bath, which is a plus for him, and he could be in his pajamas, which is a plus for us.  As it's been a long week, and Felicity has another ear infection, I thought the girls would benefit from a nice walk around the block.  As usual and for always, I was wrong.  It took us FOREVER to walk around one block.  When we were almost home, we stopped by my friend and neighbor's house and her husband commented that he had mowed not one but TWO lawns during the time it took me.  It was Veronica, of course, barely walking, that took us so long.  I was pushing the stroller but I carried her for about half of it, just so we could get home before dark.  We stopped by my neighbor's house and she seemed a little sad and she insisted on riding in the stroller on the way home.

After she got out of the tub, she was freezing and crying, miserable.  She didn't feel warm, so like an idiot, I figured she was fine.  I fell asleep after 11:00, the baby woke up at midnight until 12:30, and at 12:35 Veronica woke up screaming and howling and, of course, burning up.  Mike and I took her in our room because she was so loud and I forced some ibuprofen on her which of course, she viciously threw up all over me moments later.  Ugh!  It's so, so frustrating!  I always feel so stupid, I should see it coming, but I never do.  Anyways, we were up until almost 5:00.  I used to think it was the medicine that made her wide awake but NOPE.  It's just how she gets sick, she stays awake as if she's taken speed.  It takes a bad situation and makes it almost unbearable.  I took her downstairs and she threw up a few more times and we watched several episodes of Peppa Pig.  I kept saying to her, let's watch this one and then we'll go to bed and she'd FREAK OUT and yell, NOOOOOO!  Finally around 4:30 I said it and she didn't yell but said okay, so we went up to my bed around 5:00 and she fell asleep.  She had to have been exhausted, she threw up like five times!

She's no better this morning, she couldn't go to the Easter Egg Hunt in our neighborhood, I just took Maria.  She's still warm but hasn't thrown up again today, so we'll see.  The baby is sick and Anthony is impossible and I'm working tonight and hosting Easter tomorrow, soooooo.  I'm going to think of Christ on the Cross and be silent.  It's incredibly challenging but I'm trying.

Ear Infection

Now Maria is the only one who's never had an ear infection, never taken antibiotics.

Here's a pro tip: if it seems like your child is sick, has a fever, and is stuffy, but is also A RAGING LUNATIC, IMPOSSIBLY FUSSY AND UNWILLING TO BE PUT DOWN OR STOP CRYING, chances are very, very VERY good that that child has an ear infection. You're welcome.

I'm editing this to say that she also couldn't get comfortable - she slept with us, in our bed or on the couch, for two nights and she kept shifting and shifting.  Of course I thought she was just being difficult, it was between 11 at night and 3 in the morning, but now that I look back on it, it was a lot like Felicity was acting when she had her ear infections.  I've never had one, but I guess it's just awful.

We went to CVS to the Minute Clinic.  I wanted to go to the IU Urgent Care where I've been taking Felicity but there was a horrible traffic jam and I didn't have much time because Anthony had to get to swimming, so I went to the Minute Clinic.  There was ONE person in front of me and she was in there FOREVER, Lord, Lord, I was getting tense!  Veronica was really taking a turn, lying down on the floor, falling asleep, crying, etc.  It was awful.  I wanted to ask the guy who was the husband of the lady who went in there what she was in there for?  To discuss End of Life issues?  LORD!

Anyway, once we got in there I could see why it took so long, the NP was super, super SUPER slow.  She didn't have a great bedside manner, she couldn't really get that thing into V's ear to see what was going on.  Veronica was screaming and screaming and she didn't stop for NINETY MINUTES.  I had to take her home so Mike could get Anthony to swimming, so I just loaded up the other two girls and we went BACK to the CVS to get the prescription going.  I dropped it off and then drove through Steak and Shake to get them something to eat and went back.  I picked it up, it was only $3.50 with our insurance and you sure get what you pay for, because I got home and that stupid amoxicillin was POWDER that I was supposed to MIX on my OWN.  It called for 67 ml of water.  ?  Who has that measuring capability in their house?  Not ME!  I called and had it out with the jackhole pharmacist and we went round and round, he said they were 'real busy' that day.  It scares the hell out of me to think these people are in charge of anything, particularly dispensing drugs.

BUT he fixed it and Mike picked up the rx on his way home from swimming and she took some and she seems better this morning, already.  We have our last ballet class today and a recital, so I hope she can go.

Sunday

Veronica just stopped knocking at her door.  The other night, she was sleeping and Maria couldn't and tonight it's the opposite.  We took everyone to church today and I am sorry to say that Veronica was AWFUL.  AWWWWFUL.  Mike ended up taking her to the car and putting her in her seat to wait it out.  She ran away, slapped at him, and was super noisy.  Then we got home and even thought we had breakfast ready, she went right to the couch and fell asleep for like two hours.  Poor baby, she must have been tired or not felt well.  I never have that as my first thought when they are bad,  even thought it is usually the cause of it.  I just think hey!  They're being so bad!  Ha!

She is doing just great in ballet and she is having fun while Maria is in gymnastics.  She is (this is a theme, I guess), pretty bad and messes up a lot of stuff but overall she's okay.  It's hard for her, she's jealous that she can't go to gymnastics too, I'm sure.

She talks so much and it's getting clearer.  We miss speech therapy and her therapist but in some ways, it's like we never had it, like I never wondered if she'd ever talk.  Sometimes she sings and dances to the Backyardigans and I can't get over it, I feel like my heart will burst with happiness and pride and relief.  Then other times she comes bashing in when I am putting the baby down and she says WHAT YOU DOING, MAMA, YOU PUTTING FELICITY DOWN, MAMA? and I just think SHUT UP!  Ha!

Ballet

She started ballet a few weeks ago, after ONE YEAR spent looking longingly into that room, now she's in it! The first week I think the teacher wasn't so sure if she could do it, you're supposed to be three and V. has a few months to go, but she has really been doing well with it, so she's there to stay! It's a good thing too, because I can't say what would happen if I told her she couldn't go.

It's hard, having the girls be so close in age. Maria is taking a gymnastics class and Veronica was FURIOUS the first time we went and she couldn't go in. She stomped her foot, crossed her arms AND blew a raspberry at me! But I always remind her that SHE can go to ballet TOMORROW (gymanstics is on Thursdays) and she is usually okay with it.

Lord, God, we had a rough day today. We went to Chic Fil A to meet some friends and toward the end, Veronica was very unhappy. It's so unsual for her to be so whiny and horrid. I mean, she can be as bad as anyone, NO ONE would keep on their damned socks so they were walking around a restaurant in bare feet, which, ugh, but she was really unhappy and she kept saying her belly hurt. She wasn't hot or anything and she had eaten okay so I had no idea what went down. My friend Silvia carried the car seat to the car for me, THANKS GOD, or I would have been in trouble. So we go to gymnastics and we are there a few minutes and I start to smell something. I asked her, Veronica, did you poop? NOOOOOO, she said, and then I moved on to something else. Then a friend of mine came in and she said, does something smell?, and I remembered what a LIAR V can be so I took her to the bathroom. Oh Lord. LORD. It was all over her legs and all the way up her belly to her NECK practically. She was wearing a dress and a diaper and these super cute long baby legs/socks and there was poop on the top of each sock (it goes up to her thigh) and all on the INSIDE of her DRESS! And of course I had no other outfits for her and of course my friend was staying outside with Felicity, who was asleep but I figured who could wake up at any time. So I scrubbed at everything with the wipes, I must have used 100, and I rolled down the socks a little and ... we just went back out there. V was wearing a cute sleeveless vest, like as a jacket, so I put that on her and zipped it up. It was all fine for a while until I looked over at V and she had her vest off and she was SHOWING some kid the POOP STAIN on her dress. We bugged out of there, Lord, Lord, the SHAME. I felt like *I* had pooped my pants, sheesh! And is it ironic or just annoying that Veronica didn't give a HOOT!

Anyways, ballet, pooping, school's fine. I intend to start her in pullups here soon, maybe Monday. I can't just put her in underwear for preschool, because of health codes (ha ha smart people), so I bought some Princess pullups and off we'll go. I think she'll be fine once she gets started but I have to wait until her belly is all better before I start, obviously. Felicity has been sick with something viral and Anthony and Veronica just seem to have some d-ha and nothing else. I feel like from September-April, it is literally always something with them.

But isn't she cute? Her hair is starting to grow a little, thank God. Sometimes she asks me to put it up and ha ha ha boo hoo, you should see it! It's a WRECK! A cute wreck, but still.

Blockhead

Isn't she fun? Look at her little arms, dancing. She is so funny and so full of personality now that she is talking more! She was sick last week - was it last week? It must be two weeks ago, now. I forget if I said, but she'd be all fevery, hot and red cheeked, and I'd say, take your medicine, Veronica and she'd say, all bleary, "I fine, Mama. IIIIIII fiiiiiine". Poor stupid baby.

I can't believe she'll be three in four short months! This winter has gone by fast, mostly because the weather has been so good. I'm sure I just cursed us all but what can you do? I am worried it's going to snow and ice the whole Superbowl week or weekend or whatever it is. It's so exciting that it's here in town, I'd love to all go downtown but I am just going to have to hope for another Superbowl in a few years, so the kids can be old enough to enjoy it.

Anyway, Veronica. I have no complaints. I took Maria to Disney on Ice today and I only had one ticket for her and I don't think Veronica would have enjoyed it as much, if her behavior at church is any indication, but she was very cool and good natured about it. We promised her a trip to Costco - Costco! - as a runner-up prize and she was fine with that. We are just crazy about her.

Boo!

She is a funny girl, she was so determined to get in that hamper the other day when I was exercising. I put the baby down for a nap and then ran into my room to do the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, which is good and hard but only 22 minutes long so it's ideal for my short-napping baby. Anyways, the girls were in here with me, playing a game on the computer, while I was working out but they like to exercise too and I guess Veronica was doing a Feat of Strength or something, to show me how she could crawl in the hamper. She really does like to have fun, I'll say that for her.

The girls go back to preschool tomorrow, they've been off for two weeks! It feels like a VERY long time to me, and to them too, I'm sure. Today Veronica was so crazed that she flat out left me at the store. I took her and Maria and Maria was the good one! V kept lying down on that dirty, dirty floor and then she'd stand up and I'd say, "Come ON, Veronica!" and she'd fold her arms and turn away from me. CHARMED, I'M SURE, I always think. But mostly she is funny and sweet.

I have been terrible about keeping up with these lately, I'm sure it will get easier soon but for now I have to get to bed! Veronica's here, she's fine, she's looking forward to her birthday in May. We've been having so much birthday talk - first the baby Jesus, then Maria and now the long wait until May. I hope the time flies, for all our sakes!

Repair

We got her hair fixed today, kind of. At first we were going to cut it all as short as it is in the back, from where Maria cut it, but then the lady and I sort of pushed all her hair back and with those bangs, it looked especially demented, so she said, really quickly, "I can just blend it in!". Ha! She was pretty good but this lady used the blow dryer on both of them and on poor Veevsy Voo, she turned it up to HIGH! She has like 10 hairs on her whole head! I didn't want to fight and it only took like two minutes, PLUS it wasn't going to kill her but Veronica hated it. Finally she said "I ALL DONE, MAMA! I ALLLL DONE!", and I told the lady, she's all done, in case you didn't hear, and she turned off the blow dryer. But then they got their (damned) balloons and all was forgiven. I had to feed the baby right before we left so I didn't get a picture of V in the salon, or the haircut shop, as Maria calls it, but here it is as home, while she was enjoying some Chicken McNuggets. She's so cute, right? It's a good thing, man, because she has turned on us and she is b-a-d. we have her penultimate speech therapy appointment tomorrow, it's so bittersweet. We are really going to miss Kristin, she has made a huge difference in Veronica's life and I couldn't pay her back if I wanted to. Of course, she's probably also made Veronica this BAD, but what can you do? I'll take it.