Let's Go Fly a Kite

Ending the Month on a Happier Note

Everyone is well and back at work and school. We spent the weekend enjoying spring.

This Week Sucks

Sunday: Alleluia. Tootle wore her pretty Easter dress to church with tights (she hates tights). Her Pop Tarts tattoo appeared to be semi permanent so I covered it up with a sweater (it was 40 degrees, after all). Flu stricken Doodle stayed home with Nana, and they arranged an indoor egg hunt for Tootle. In the afternoon, I hide eggs outside for both girls, and Tootle and I went on a bike ride. In the evening, Nana spiked a fever. What a way to start spring break.

Monday: Happy Birthday to me. My birthday kind of got shoved aside as we spent most of the day in doctors' office. Nana woke up with a higher fever, congestion, and vertigo, so I scheduled a doctor's appointment for her. I also made an appointment for Doodle to make sure that her scary cough wasn't pneumonia. Nana tested positive for the flu. In between appointments, I canceled out plans to go to New York the following day. Goodbye Mary Poppins on Broadway, dinner at American Girl Place, skating at Rockefeller Center, etc. Tootle went along to Doodle's appointment and had her own flu test. It was negative, but the doctor did put her on antibiotics again for her pesky sinus infection. As the day wore on, I became feverish too, so I went to an urgent care facility for my own flu test. It was negative. The diagnosis: a virus.

Tuesday: Doodle's fever rose to 104 again, and I spent two hours trying to get a seriously dizzy Nana out of bed in the morning so that I could wash the sheets that she had just vomited on (only one of the six loads of laundry that I did that day). I manage to sell our Mary Poppins tickets through our school's listserv (I love this listserv). A family in the school was visiting family in New York and was happy to take the tickets, which I Fed Exed to them.

Wednesday: Doodle had a chest x-ray and yet another doctor's appointment. The doctor diagnosed atypical pneumonia and put Doodle on antibiotics. Her fever disappeared, and her cough improved tremendously within hours. Yeah.

Thursday: I woke up with a fever of 102 so I went to my primary care doctor, who insisted on doing yet another flu test. This one was negative too. The doctor diagnosed a bacterial infection and prescribed antibiotics. I'm feeling better already. Doodle felt well enough this afternoon to have a playdate with a friend, but she fell asleep right after dinner. Tootle's sinus problem is much improved, and Nana is on the mend.

At this point I can't wait for spring break to be over, and I'm trying to come up with an activity or two to brighten up our week. We had such big plans for the week: not just the trip to New York, but Doodle and I had also planned to camp out for White House Easter Egg Roll tickets on Friday night and then take Tootle to the Egg Roll on Monday. I was awake so much on Friday night that I thought about getting up in the middle of the night to join the line, but I knew that I would probably be joining the line too late and that no one would be there to answer Doodle's cries for tissues and water. Tomorrow we were supposed to go to Pennsylvania to see relatives, but we'll be staying home and making sure that everyone is recovered. We're probably go to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms, see a movie, and say good riddance to this week.

The Week in Numbers

Number of doctor visits: 6
Number of flu tests: 5
Number of positive flu tests: 2
Number of chest x-rays: 1
Number of prescriptions filled: 7
Number of tissues used: 399
Phone calls involving cancellation of spring break jaunt to New York: 7
Dollars saved by avoiding trip to American Girl Place in New York: at least $100

Update:
Hours Doodle slept on Thursday night: 15

Not So Hoppy Easter

I took Tootle to the egg hunt at church today, and later we colored eggs at home. We aren't doing much hopping to and from Easter related events this weekend. Doodle has the flu, despite the supposed protection of the flu shot. Her fever rose to 105.7 yesterday (notice the commemorative egg), which prompted a quick trip to the doctor's office. The nurse swabbed her nose and the test was positive. Doodle hasn't had the flu since she was three; that time she lost four pounds. It takes Doodle a long time to gain that much weight so I hope that she doesn't drop four pounds again. She is still miserable, but we're hopeful that Tamiflu will at least cut the duration of the virus by a day or two. I have my fingers crossed that Tootle doesn't get sick too.

Motherhood Is Hard

Tootle and I had the following conversation this morning:

Tootle: When I'm an adult, I want to be a mom, but I only want to have one kid.

Me: You've always said that you want seven kids.

Tootle: I think it's too hard to have more than one kid. Two kids fight. (Interestingly, there were no spats this morning or any that I recall this week.)

Me: Do you think it's too hard for me?

Tootle: No. Do you think it's hard to have two kids?

Me: Sometimes, but most of the time it's pretty awesome.

Jump

The national champion Bouncing Bulldogs jump roping team came to our area, and both Doodle and Tootle participated in a three-hour jump roping workshop. Tootle wants to lift her legs separately, so she doesn't quite have the hang of jump roping yet, but she did love doing double dutch. Doodle reports that she could do up to Level 7; I have no idea how many levels they are, but Doodle can do some pretty cool tricks.

The Bulldogs, based in North Carolina, certainly teach discipline. They don't allow talking in their practices, which means that the kids are silent for up to 90 minutes. They also don't let kids compete if they get a C in school.

Movie Night

Friday night is often movie night at our house. We turn into couch potatoes (the theme of this week's FFFF), make some popcorn, and snuggle on my bed. Tonight's feature presentation was The Bee Movie. I give it two stars.

The girls don't watch much TV during the school week. Tootle loves Dora and Super WHY, but she isn't home during the day when these shows are on. Occasionally she watches Sponge Bob before dinner. Doodle makes sure that she catches American Idol (it's the only thing her classmates talk about on Wednesdays and Thursdays), and she likes to prove that she is Smarter Than a Fifth Grader. She also likes the Disney shows (Suite Life, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place), but generally only watches them on the weekends. I seldom get to watch anything that is on before 10 p.m. because Doodle goes to bed so late, so my top picks, in addition to American Idol and Grey's Anatomy, are generally reality shows like Project Runway. A little escapism at the end of a long day is always appreciated.

Doodle's Debut: Updated as FFFF

Doodle and her 4th grade classmates recently had their debut concert. The school's instrumental music teacher rocks, and he more than proved it at the concert. The concert was totally enjoyable, an extraordinary feat for kids who had been playing their instruments for four months, in my totally unbiased opinion. (OK, the clarinets were a little squeaky, but that's a really hard thing to get under control.) My one disappointment was that Doodle was hidden behind her music stand so I was unable to get any good pictures.

Doodle practices before the concert.Tootle and her posse play a Diego Nintendo DS game as they wait to see their siblings perform.
Doodle, the headless flutist.

The concert consisted of three selections performed by each instrument class, followed by a rousing finale by the whole band and orchestra.

Pajama Day in Whoville

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2), Tootle's school had Pajama Day today. Tootle also wore her Horton ears, courtesy of Target, and took her favorite Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham.

Does Doodle Need an Agent?

This weekend Nana gave Tootle an iPod Shuffle. As Tootle bopped to the music this morning, I asked her what she was listening to. "Hannah Montana," she answered. "I love her. She's just a teensey bit better than my sister." I didn't know that Tootle considers Doodle to be a great singer. Will Doodle be the one to bring fame and fortune to our house, or is Tootle looking at the world through sister worshipping glasses? I think it's probably the latter, but cute nonetheless.