Getting Excited!

We have both of our apartments for our trip booked.  We are staying here the first week, and here the second week.  Now we just have to hope there isn't a baggage or railway strike while we are there. 

"French unions say they will stop at nothing regarding new change in aviation rules for industrial action. ie no more wildcat strikes, unions will have to give management 48 hours notice of a strike so management can give us, the general public time to plan. Just have a plan B and C if traveling over Easter 2012 and this summer."

Eep.

Stitches

On Monday night, Amelia was running through the kitchen with her hands in her pockets, when she missed the turn into Marley's room and fell, headfirst, into the corner of the baseboard.  Right away, I knew it was a bad cut, so we headed over to the Swedish ER.

She liked laying in the hospital bed.

She did so well! The worst part was having the LET (lidocaine, epinephrine, and tetracaine for numbing) pack taped to her head. It had to stay on for 30+ minutes to be effective.  

Distracted for a while by the iPhone.

And by nursing.

They gave her a dose of Versed to make her sleepy right before putting in three stitches.  She didn't even mind being swaddled in a sheet for the procedure.  And afterward, she didn't want to leave.  She even wanted me to cover her up so she could sleep in the hospital bed. 

All fixed up.

She was happy to get a popsicle on the way out, though, and even asked for another one when she finished the first.  The doctor says that the stitches should fall out/be absorbed in about a week.  Then, we just need to work on scar care.  Daily sun screen and Mederma will, hopefully, make it barely noticeable over time. 

She seems to be doing pretty well this week.  She occasionally tells me that her forehead still hurts.  The tape over the stitches hasn't just fallen off like the doctor said it would, though, and I'm scared to pull on it too hard.  I'll probably take her into her regular doctor next week, just to get checked out before we head to France.

Okay, Amelia, you've now met your quota for accidents for the next ten years (at least!).

T minus 18 days...

Until we leave for France, that is.  No, I'm not kidding.  Jeff and I are the crazy people who will be taking a 4 year old and a 22 month old on a 10.5 hour flight to Paris.  For fun.  I blame my sister.  She wanted to travel and, I guess, thought that we sounded like good travel companions.  Yes, she's crazy, too.  She'll be meeting us in Paris, where we will proceed to jump on a train for an additional 3 or so hours to St. Malo.  Then, hopefully, we will sleep.  For a long time.

When we recover, we'll spend a week enjoying Brittany, and then head back to Paris for another week.  This part of it, I'm looking forward to.  The first part - not so much.

But, I'm hoping this explains my long blogging absence.  My time on the computer is limited to the hours between 9 pm and whenever I can no longer keep my eyes open.  With all the panicking planning that we've been doing over the last several weeks, there has been little time for leisure activities such as blogging, showering, doing the dinner dishes, or sleeping.

Plus, I'm sad to report, we don't even have our accommodations firmly nailed down.  And we're only staying in TWO different places!  I don't know why trip planning is so hard for us, but I guess the end result must be worth it since we keep going places.

New battery operated tooth brushes: cheap form of entertainment on cold, rainy days.

Anyway, not to worry, you haven't missed a thing.  The weather here has been total crap, resulting in the kids being forced to make up dangerous indoor games.  Like Bouk the Mountain, where Marley and Amelia fling themselves head-first over the back of the couch and onto the cushions.  Or Jump Over the Fire, where...well, maybe you should just watch the video.

King of Drama

Lately Marley tends to respond to normal everyday situations in an over-the-top dramatic fashion.  If Jeff tells him it's time to brush his teeth, he might respond by flinging himself on the floor and yelling, "Never!"  Two minutes before dinner's ready, he'll declare that he's "starving" and can't wait even another second for food lest he might parish! 

Here are a few other dramatic moments from this month:

Amelia peed on Marley's bed after bath one night, so I had to strip his sheets to wash them.  He was in complete despair, and cried, "I'll never find Lightning McQueen sheets like those again!"

Amelia accidentally-on-purpose tore one of Marley's valentines in half.  He wailed, "Amelia ruined Valentine's Day!"

And just so you don't think the drama is only reserved for when things go wrong:

I left my water bottle at the Y  last week.  We stopped in to check the lost and found a few days later and there it was.  Marley cheered, "I'm so happy you found your water bottle, I could cry!"

Daddy's Little Helpers

The kids LOVE going to visit Jeff at work. There's the white board, the computer, the not-so-secret candy stash, and of course the windows to look out  This week on his birthday, we met Jeff at his office, had lunch at Agua Verde (Yum!), and looked at dinosaur bones at the Burke Museum. Unfortunately, both kids fell asleep on the way home and then didn't end up falling asleep for the night until close to midnight! It doesn't help that we are all sick this week. Blah!

My Yummy Valentine

Marley was so excited about getting Valentines from his friends at school that he opened them in the car on the way home.

Marley: What's this?
Me: I don't know. I'll have to look at it when we get home. I'm driving right now.
Marley: Is this candy or a cookie?
Me: I don't know, honey. I'm driving, I can't look right now.

Later....

Me (looking at a heart shaped crayon with a suspicious looking piece missing): Marley? Did you eat this?
Marley: Yes.
Me: Honey! This is a crayon!
Marley: It wasn't very good.

Lesson: When your child is asking whether or not something is food, you should probably pull over and take a quick look!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Angry

Angry Birds hats crocheted by my mom.  Check out her videos here and here to see how she does it!