The Honeymoon (Honey15moons?) is Over

Well, after 15 months, the other shoe has dropped. Sweetie has joined her sister in giving me gray hair. It's been so interesting--the two of them are SO different.

Smartie is strong-willed, so we have had plenty of battles of will (the honeymoon was over with her at 10 days!) But she's an introvert like me. We read a book or snuggle for a few minutes, then she goes to play by herself.

Sweetie is much more compliant, which is why we've had such an easy time for the first 15 months. Early on her people needs weren't a problem. I could just sling her on my back and go about my business. But her extrovert personality is really starting to clash with mine. She's not content just to be held anymore, she wants to be on my lap shredding my newspaper, banging on my keyboard, and constantly interacting. I love playing with her, but I need a break every so often.

I can't pass her off on her sister because Smartie's an introvert too. I'm trying to teach Smartie to say, "Mom, I need some space, can you come get Sweetie," instead of hitting. I really don't know quite what to do with Sweetie. She wants to DO things and GO places. She stood by the coat closet one day yelling, "Go ga-bye." For an HOUR! I thought the strong-willed one would be harder, but I'm afraid I can't keep up with Sweetie. She doesn't just need to be active, she needs someone to be active with her. So if any of you have a kid like Sweetie, give me a call. We'd love to have a playdate.

Potty Obsession

Sweetie has become obsessed with the potty in recent days. She's been watching Smartie, I think, and several times I have caught her with her pants off (diaper on, she can't unbotton her shirt with the between-leg snaps yet) trying to climb onto the toilet. We got out the potty chair and let her pretend to go. No actual tinkles, but she gets such a kick out of trying. I'm tempted to give the one-day potty training a try. This may be a window of opportunity. But I don't know if she's really ready for it, and I don't want to push her too soon. She's only 15 months, after all. Maybe we'll try for a day and see how it goes.

Welcome Baby!

My sister, her DH and DD welcomed a little boy this evening. He made his entrance at 6:22 weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces and 19.75 inches. Mom and baby are doing well after a successful VBAC. Can't wait to meet him!

LC duties

Today I had the privilege of sharing some of my breast feeding knowledge with a friend. As most of you probably know, I had surgery a few years ago that damaged my milk glands. I did extensive research and went to a lot of work to nurse Sweetie. (I also had some problems with Smartie before the surgery.) If anyone ever has nursing issues and would like some advice from an experienced mama, just give me a call. I know a lot about correct latch, ways to supplement, and how to increase supply.

TNT Update

Getting the mail has become the headline event at our house lately. Rarely does a day go by that we don't find a little envelope with a donation. Every dollar helps, and we are so grateful.

We have been surprised on several occasions to see a return label from someone we don't know well, or from another young family with lots of obligations. We'll think maybe they sent $20, only to find a check for $100, $200, even $500! We've begun to realize it's not about how well they know us but how much they've been touched by Leukemia and other blood cancers that drives the donation. (I share this not to make anyone feel bad for not giving more. We really are just as grateful for the $20 donations as for the $500 one.)

Our funniest donation was from one of our Crown students who apparently gave us their weekly tithe right down to the cent! We get a chuckle every time we see that 24 cents on the end of our balance.

With today's mail, we were thrilled to find that Papa Runner needs just $30.76 to reach his minimum goal! (The official minimum is $3900, we rounded up to $4000 for our letters and websites.) So if any of you have been meaning to send us something and just haven't gotten to it, you can go to Papa's webpage and finish out his goal. If he's reached the $3900 mark, you can click the link to Mama's webpage to work on hers. And of course, you can always drop a check in the mail or pass one on in person. (Wonder how many checks we'll get in the next week for $30.76!) Thanks again to our 59 wonderful donors and all the others who have offered prayers and well-wishes. Your encouragement means a lot on those cold runs!

Car Seat Safety

After watching this video, I'm glad we got Smartie a car seat rated to 100 pounds. Sweetie is still riding reverse at 15 months, which is even safer. We have no plans to turn her around any time soon.

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Grandpa passed last night (Thursday) around 10:00 surrounded by family. It's comforting to know that, although we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

TNT Update

Marathon training is going great! I've done almost 36 miles total with a longest run of 4.5 miles. Papa Runner is fast approaching 50 with a longest run of 5.5 miles. We've learned to stretch properly which does wonders for achy muscles. We've also learned some "no sweat" exercises, the kind you can do whenever, to strengthen our legs. I've lost 4 pounds already! So I'm very excited to keep going.

Fundraising is going well, too. Our initial 200 letters has gotten us 47 donors for a grand total of $3575! We're almost to the half-way point. You can keep track of our progress at our TNT webpages.

Brett
Jen

Pet News Peeves

First some updates: No news on Grandpa. Smartie's doctor wants to wait and see if she gets an infection, so no surgery yet.

Now to my News Peeves: I read in the paper an article in which it was stated: Police believe he may have been speeding. This doesn’t make sense. “Believe” implies being sure, “may” implies being unsure. They’re convinced it’s a possibility? Duh! Better wording would be “Police suspect he was speeding.”

Another pet peeve of mine is when an article uses a word/phrase requiring one number, then giving a range. For example, “We will get at least 8-10 inches of snow tonight.” So which is it, at least 8 or at least 10? If you say at least 8 and get 10, you will still be correct. So why make it a range? It's either at least 8 or between 8 and 10.

I hate it when newscasters report that something like dark chocolate or red wine decreases the risk of death. I’m sorry, but the risk of death is and always will be 100%. Everyone dies. It may decrease the risk of early death or the risk of death from a particular disease, but chocolate eaters and wine drinkers will still die eventually.

Yes, I'm crazy!

Two prayer requests

Lots of news at our house today. First, my grandfather is in a coma and probably won't last much longer. It's been expected for a while, and it will be a blessing that he can finally rest in the arms of Jesus. And yet, we're never quite prepared for it. So if you could remember Grandpa Ralph, Grandma Catherine, and the rest of the family, we would all appreciate it. We don't really know at this point if we can expect him to go tonight or last a couple more weeks, but it will probably be soon.

Second, Smartie fell against our computer desk this evening and hit her right ear HARD. I looked in it with a flashlight, and I'm pretty sure her tube popped out. I'll call the doctor first thing tomorrow. We're praying there wasn't damage to the ear drum when it came out. We'll also need to decide if we should put it back in or wait and see how she does infection-wise. It happens to be her worse ear, so I'd think they'll want to put it back. Another surgery! Boo! We'll let you know what we find out.

I would like to apologize...

...to Mike Fritz. In my last post, I included a link to his website with the inflamatory label of "spied on." I'm sure this led my readers to view his site through a negative lens. I should have asked and understood his motivation before doing so. I'm sorry.

I've been thinking about how hard it is when we use distance communication like blogging to interpret others' thoughts. We don't have the advantage of body language, tone of voice, or facial expression to help us. I hope you don't mind, Mike, if I use an example from you.

"Others may find it informative to see what type of blogging activity is occurring." This could be interpreted in many ways ranging from the innocent (Those who don't understand what blogging is can use these links to help them learn more about it) to divisive and threatening (Those who hold certain opinions may find it informative [i.e. shocking] to see these links.)

I think we all, and I definitely include myself in this, should be careful not to jump to negative conclusions without understanding exactly what others mean. Again, I apologize for any heartache my post caused.

Did you know...

Did you know that we are being spied on?!? My blog isn't listed (yet) but some of my comments on friends' blogs have been featured, and several of you my regular readers ARE listed.