Be careful what you wish for

So this weekend, Emmi had been throwing up.  I really couldn't tell if it was because she had a tummy bug or if it was because of her cough.  All of the kids have had some pretty nasty colds.  And Emmi was triggering her gag reflex while coughing and then ultimately, throwing up.  Yuck.  Poor kiddo went through plenty of clothing changes!  And of course, I went through plenty of clothing changes as well.

But anyway, it seemed to have all started with her coughing fits.  However, by the 2nd day, it seemed like she was throwing up at other times too, not just when she coughed hard.  This continued for both Saturday and Sunday.  Well yesterday while I was at work, I was telling my nursing coworker about how Emmi was throwing up Friday through Sunday, but I wasn't sure if it was cough related or tummy bug related.  She said, "well, if you end up vomiting, we'll definitely have our answer!!"

Not long after that conversation, my cell phone rang.  It was daycare.  I couldn't answer it because I had a patient in front of me.  Within seconds, the work phone rang...that's when I knew that SOMEBODY was sick.  Sure enough, they called to let me know that Addi had thrown up.  Ugh.  This was right around 11:00.  So Nate went to get her from daycare.

My coworker and I had a little laugh about how we now have our answer as to what was wrong with Emmi all weekend!!  As the day wore on, I turned to that same coworker and said how I actually hoped that by the end of the day, daycare would call to say that Livi had thrown up.  I had two lines of thinking there.  1) If it's going to be in the house, get it in and get it out...fast.  2)  Livi is inevitably going to get it, if she holds out much longer, she may miss Halloween festivities at school and may not be able to go trick or treating.

Well at 2:00, my cell phone rang again.  Sure enough, Livi had thrown up!!  I was both relieved AND overwhelmed!!  Relieved for the above mentioned reasons, but the thought of going home to a bunch of vomiting kids...yuck!

Luckily, it didn't last long.  They each went to bed a little early last night.  And by this morning, they were both feeling great and went to school.  So ultimately, I think Emmi's episodes probably had to do with both the tummy bug AND her cough.  The twins' sickness lasted about 4-6 hours each.  Emmi's lasted 3 days.  So I think she started with cough-related vomiting and then she eventually added a tummy bug.

Oh, who knows.  But definitely be careful what you wish for!!

Miss Emilia

She's such an amazing little girl.  Full of so much sass, funny, smart, interactive, stubborn, lovable, engaging.  Just amazing, I tell ya.  Her latest thing to do is to give hugs.  She loves, loves, loves giving hugs.  The twins get multiple hugs a day, as do I.  At bedtime, after we're done reading our bedtime stories, she has to hug both Addi and Livi twice...she has to go to one bed, give a hug.  Walk to the other bed, give a hug.  Then repeat the process.  She'd probably continue for a third and a fourth round as well, but I call it quits after the second time and pick her up to carry her out.

The cats are also shown plenty of affection...probably more than they would care for!  But they're actually pretty amazing with her.  We couldn't have asked for more patient cats, especially Daisy.  Whenever Emmi sees her laying on the floor, she walks over by her, grabs her around the midsection and gives her a big squeeze.  At times, she tries to lay on top of her.  Poor Daisy almost looks like she's going to be smothered!!  So I pull Emmi away, pick up Daisy to put her somewhere where Emmi can't reach her...but she immediately jumps back down and lays right out in the open again.  She secretly must love the attention!  Dory isn't quite as patient, but she's also still a young cat.  She'll usually bat at Emmi (in more of a playful manner) and then run away.

And let me tell you, outside of the hugs that Emmi showers on Addi and Livi, she sure does love her sisters!!  On Mondays when the big girls are in preschool for the afternoon, Emmi and I chill out at the house for a few hours (or run errands if need be).  The minute I ask her if we should go get her sissies, her face lights up.  She starts giggling and then she inevitably finds her coat and brings it to me!!  We can't get in the car fast enough!  Of course, once we get to school, the girls get yet another hug from Emmi!!  Yes, she loves her big sisters!

5yr appt update and faces of Emmi

The big girls had their 5yr appt on Monday.  Both of them are now 43 1/2 inches tall.  Adalyn weighed 38 pounds and Alivia weighed 40 pounds.  Developmentally, they're doing great!  Both passed their vision tests with flying colors.  Livi did fabulous on her hearing test.  Addi struggled with some lower pitch sounds, so after her first hearing test, Dr K removed her ear tubes that have been sitting in her ear canals for a year and a half (she had tubes placed in April 2011 - by May 2012, both tubes had fallen out of the ear drums and were sitting in the canals...apparently the stubborn little things still refused to fully fall out!).  Anyway, after Dr K removed the tubes, we repeated the hearing test.  She's still struggling to hear some lower tones but nothing too alarming.  So we'll just recheck next year.

Lastly, they had their 5yr/kindergarten vaccinations.  Addi handled it better than I expected.  Livi didn't handle it quite as well as I had foreseen.  She was just a bit more sad than I had anticipated.  She kept telling me that she "didn't WANT to get her flu shot."  Even a couple days later, she kept reminding me that she didn't want to get her flu shot.  I kept reminding her that it was already done and we can't go back and change it.  They actually received more than just the flu shot - DTaP, polio, MMR and varicella.  Overall, they're doing well.  They still insist that they like going to the doctor...they just don't like getting flu shots!!

Making faces at me.

The smiles don't get much bigger (or cheesier!) than this!

Trying to tell me what she wants in the fridge.

Look who found the leftover birthday cake!

Happy 5th Birthday!!

I cannot believe that these little 6 month old belly dancers are now FIVE!!

 

Seriously, where does the time go?  It honestly doesn't seem like that long ago that I was on bed rest with these two little girls.  Oh how they have changed my life.  Their little (or rather, big!) personalities bring multiple smiles a day to my face.  I'm in awe every day watching them develop into the young children that they're becoming.  Their knowledge, their ability to tell stories, the uncanny sense they have to know when you just need a hug, the way they nurture Emmi and love on her...it's all simply astonishing.  Happy 5th Birthday to a couple spectacular little girls!!!  Now slow down!!!

 

Their birthday cake.

Their favorite part of their birthday!!

Okay, maybe cake is their favorite part!!

Look who's walking!!

She's been taking a few steps here and there for WEEKS...she just didn't have any interest in actually walking.  Apparently, she just wanted to wait until she was pretty much proficient at walking before she would really attempt to do so!  Because today, she took off.  All the way down the hallway without falling.  All the way back.  Then we went outside because Addi and Livi wanted to go for a bike ride, so I put her in the stroller.  After quite a bit of grunting, I took her out of the stroller...yes, she wanted to walk.  She's definitely a walking machine now.

Here's the proof!!

Even though she was focusing, she knew the flash was coming!

So proud of herself.

A pause in the action to attempt a bathroom break-in.

Another little break...those tiny legs get tired!!

Jazz hands!!

Mom says just put your head down and go!

Little stinker

Emmi.  Stinker.  A couple words that you never think will ever be in the same sentence when your baby is just a few months old.  First of all, I think she might be on the goldfish and milk diet.  Those seem like the only things she will reliably eat.  She even refuses some of her prior favorites - mandarin oranges, raspberries, pancakes, cheerios, string cheese, yogurt, etc, etc, etc.  I know that kids go through weird food stages, in fact, I distinctly remember the twins going on a hot dog and cheese diet!!

However, I'm dealing with something I've never dealt with before.  If the twins were served something they didn't want, they either ignored it altogether or they would drop it on the floor..."drop" being the key word.  Not Emmi.  This child WHIPS the food across the dining room.  There's essentially a six foot radius around her highchair that's not safe from flying food.  She'll throw it overhand, chuck it behind her, swipe it to the side, etc.  She's definitely exerting her independence, but I just wish that independent streak would be a little cleaner!! 

She's now up to 11 teeth.  The four front teeth on both the top and the bottom, and then 3 of her molars.  The bottom right molar is super, super close to popping through.  Hopefully it comes soon because she's been a little restless at night and I'm pretty sure that that's why.

Her "uh-oh" face...usually after she's done something she knows she shouldn't.

Oh yes, did I mention that the little stinker also spits water now?  Yeah...here's that face too.

And then the little devious smirk afterwards!!