uhhh...let's see. anna went to her well-child visit on monday, she is 12.5 pounds and 24 inches, 88th percentile for weight, 95th for height--basically a butterball. and since she has carters structure, her buttery-ness is all in the middle, so she does look a bit like a ball when in her bouncy seat. it is very cute. everything else is fine, except that she does have a strawberry hemangioma on her eyelid. generally, a strawberry mark is not an issue, as they eventually go away, but often they grow fast before they go away, and in this case it could interfere w/ her eye opening. and thus it could interfere with her vision development. which means treating it with steroids. the doctor said "it seems like it is always the parents that are the least likely to be ok with steroids (ie crunchy no medicine organic-y folks) that are put in the position of having to use them." we are by no means in that position yet, but it is a possibility. currently it is wait and see.

ava had her second riding lesson, both kids adore the barn because it means free space to run around in, bunnies, cats, kittens, a pile of dirt and lots of trucks, and an 8-year old very happy to play with the kids.

riding and skating. great!

carter is going to have his first playdate today. his friend is coming over after school, and will be here until i bring them both back to the school for elder-sibling pickup. it will be interesting. it is so nice though that he is finally not relegated to playing peripherally with ava's friends. because when that happens, ava is very quick to prove to her friend how much older she is. "oh, carter...why don't you go play with your helicopter or something? we have some important things to do..." or something like that. then she will turn to her friend and say "i love my brother and everything, but sometimes he is really annoying."

i think the experience of motherhood is nicely described by the following:

this evening, after changing anna's poopy diaper, i set about the task of clearing her nose, since she has caught the next round of viruses coming from kindergarten. as i bent over her, delicately pulling on a rather large, gooey booger so as to get it out intact, i paused and looked at her little nose, in particular her little teeny tiny absolutely perfect nostrils, and i was moved nearly to tears by the perfection and symmetry and incredible-ness that somehow these were created from just a tiny little bunch of cells, and for the millionth time i sat back and wondered at the magic of it.

and then i finished pulling the crusty bits out of her nose.

anna is absolutely huge. she is officially out of her 0-3 month clothes. when she is fed, well rested and dry, she spends most of her time smiling and laughing. she is still quite soft spoken, preferring to stare at you and quietly say "goo...ah goo...glah gooo" and "ooohhh...oohhhh...allloooo" (which of course sounds like hello) in a teeny tiny voice. and of course "aabllllleehhh"

my only major concern is that she still does not appear to have tears--there was a point where her eyes watered early on, but that stopped, and now she seems to get an inordinate amount of crusty gunk, and i am wondering if her tear ducts are blocked. she has a well-child visit soon, so i will ask then.

carter is currently making snickerdoodles. technically i am helping him, but he has been tasked with filling the 1 cup measure with sugar, and i can't watch. i will just end up hovering and saying "no. no! noooo! careful!" as the sugar goes everywhere, and since that is completely inevitable no matter how much micromanaging i do, i think it is best that i not ruin the atmosphere and step away.

anna was congested all week, but no fever or anything other than a stuffy nose, but i called the doctor anyway, just in case. they said they wanted to see her, so we traipsed to the office again and as expected, she is fine, and as a matter of fact thriving. in 4 days she managed to gain half a pound, and is now a solid 10 lbs. that made the visit worthwhile.

we spent the weekend at the paul smiths pool (pauls smiths is a local college), and the kids were in absolute heaven. it is really great there--very relaxed, fun, the lifeguards all seem to love kids, they cheered carter when he went off the diving board (a real springboard about 4 feet or maybe more off the water), -- more to the point, they actually HAVE a diving board, and they supply a ton of floatation and swim accessories for everyone to use.

tonight, i was helping carter put on his jammies, and i said "you know, we really have to get you doing this yourself...you know how..." and he said "but mom! i am only half older now." i queried this, asking him to explain. he said "i was 1, then 2, and now i am 3. half older than when i was 2."

i sort of stared at him, trying to figure out if her really had grasped the concept that he was describing and i truly think he did. the other day, he looked up at the clock at the arena and announced "it's 2 o'clock!" and it was. but the most hysterical thing he does is to 'help' ava with her reading. every night i try to have her read a book to us -- sometimes she wants to, other times no. but when she does, if she pauses even for a nanosecond, carter fills in the words for her--or even the whole line. he has probably 30 books completely memorized, and he won't let her actually read them--he narrates to her. as expected, this pisses her off. i think it is a riot (though i don't dare let on), and he has even done it to me--there was a book that had the word "stupid" in it--"stupid something or other"--and i edited it out--"something or other". he immediately corrected me--"no mommy, it is a STUPID something or other..."

ava has a cold, and now carter and anna have it. both of them are snotty and miserable. we have been up since 4. carter frightened me at breakfast when he just looked terrible--pale and lethargic and refusing to eat. i am used to ava and what she looks like when she is sick, but carter never is sick, so i was unprepared. then he rallied and ate a ton of food about 2 hours later. seems to be ok, other than runny nose and cough. anna is all junky, and i really ticked her off when i used the nose syringe.

we actually were just at the doctor's the other day, because her eyelid was swollen, but the dr did not think it was serious. but we did get a weight and she is 9lbs 9 oz. so she has gained 2 lbs.

we are preparing for ava's first competition. it is very nervewracking for me, but she is totally excited. we are trying to keep it FUN. not serious. but the time, money and effort is hard to ignore as an adult, and i have to constantly remind myself that this is not something she can even begin to grasp or appreciate.