A Word about Veevsy Voo

Veronica is really coming into her own here lately, and really letting us know what she does and doesn't want. Like, she DOESN'T want me to leave her at the Childwatch at the Y. She goes, and she stays for the whole hour, but she cries and cries when I leave her and she cries and cries when I come back. I am going to keep taking her once a week and see if we can't get her used to it. She also doesn't want to go to bed sometimes and she lets you know that too. She wants to get up sometimes at 2:00 in the morning and she is MAD if you don't come and get her, which we don't. She has had a cold for the last six months, it seems like, so we can't use that as an excuse any more.

She is doing well in speech therapy but she is still not saying any words, really. It's making me really sad because lots of kids her age and younger (!) are talking away and I am seeing the evidence of it on Facebook and stuff and it puts me RIGHT BACK where I was with Anthony three years ago and I hate it. So I hope we start to see some progress soon. She is so sweet and funny, so engaged and engaging. I just want some words!

They Can't All Be Great!

Our poor Veevsy Voo has a cold! And she JUST had a cold! She is my sickest child AND my teensiest, so I always feel bad for her. Even yesterday morning, when she woke up at 4:30, and cried til 6:00, I felt sorry for ME but I mostly felt sorry for her. She cries and moans and sometimes she says "Maaaaaa maaa?" which kills me but I am NOT going in there to her. She is much too much of a party girl for me to go in to her when it's bedtime. So she was awake yesterday from 4:30 until 6:00 when Mike got her and we had no idea why she was up so early but then later she sneezed and not to be gross but half of the contents of her head came out of her nose and I thought, ohhhh, she has a cold. Again. Come on, Spring!

Prom Date

Ha, doesn't it totally look like they are on a date? How lame, to take Diego to your prom, though. Ooh-wee, she was BAD at the museum that day! BAD! She is very independent all of a sudden. We were in the Playscape and I was trying to watch them both at once, but they were at opposite ends of this big-ass room, and I lost her. I wasn't super worried because there was an employee of the museum sitting at the only exit, so I just checked where Maria was and then went to find Veronica. She was climbing up in someone else's stroller, then after she did that, she just mosied on out of there. She kind of waved at the employee, like she was FINE on her own, don't worry, nothing to see! She got soaking wet at the water table, I had to take off that cute shirt and have her wear just her jacket as a shirt. I was exhausted when we left. I felt five pounds lighter and ten years older.

Happy

Ooh she is a BAD THING at ballet. At the park where Maria's classes are, there is a button for handicapped access on the door to the lobby and then another button for the door to the outside and Veronica goes through both those doors, I'd say, around 50 times in 45 minutes. It's a NIGHTMARE and the judgments abound! Last week I was trying to hang back and see how far she'd go, I didn't want to give her attention if that's what she wanted, and every woman in that place was like YOUR BABY IS RUNNING AWAAAAAAY! I was all, thanks, Moms, solidarity, yay!

Then this week I was running after her and I had to say excuse me to some older women who are there taking an older woman gym class and one old biddy said "What a great game - for her. She runs and you go get her". And I thought, but didn't say, YES I do go get her but it's in a PARKING LOT! Where there are cars! You old cow! Sheesh.

My friend Marta is there and she was a big help to me yesterday, I never get to see Maria do one thing, I keep thinking she'll get sick of that damned door but so far, nothing.

Climber

Ooh this climber of a girl!  Today, we put her down for a nap at 12:00 but she didn't take one until 1:30!  She is all steely determination, just like the other ones.  I got that super cute dress, a Hanna Andersson, at Costco and Maria has a matching one.  They are CUTE in them!

Cold

She has such a bad cold and Friday night/Saturday morning she woke up at 2:30 crying and she had a bad bloody nose. It was *very* alarming to me, but once I got her cleaned up I realized it was mostly over. I have been reluctant to have a humidifier anyway because of Anthony tearing the hell out of everything in this house, but I got it out for Veronica last night and I think it really helped. This has been a wickedly cruel winter, and there is no end in sight. Basically since the day we moved into this house, the heat has been running all day and night and we are all dry as bones. It's hard for me to ignore Veronica in the night, sometimes I think she must just want some water. We are really looking forward to spring.

Tomorrow, Veronica and I are going to take a tour of what I hope will be their new preschool. We're going to drop off Maria and then come back here and then do the tour and sign them up and then go BACK and get Maria, which is more driving than I like to do, but we're supposed to start at the preschool at 9:15, so that's how it has to be. She's just going to go one day a week, but it will be the same day as one of Maria's days and then all my dreams will come true because I'll have a few hours where everyone is in school. Sometimes, like after this week when they are all hooting and screaming, I dream of boarding preschool.

Sicko

Poor Veevsy has a cold. She cried on and off from 3:00 and finally started really howling around 5:00. She went up for a nap at 10:30, she's so funny. She goes over to the stairs and points and cries until you take her up for a nap. She is still in good spirits, but we are having very long days around here with this damned weather. None of us have been out, really, since Monday. I am praying we can all get back to normal tomorrow and V starts speech therapy on Friday, which we're looking forward to.