DQ Blizzard.

DQ. DQ is going through some changes. She is so emotional these days. It's really quite funny and pathetic all at the same time.

I feel for her because my mother and my sister, I don't get mad/I get even, really aren't sympathetic. I think they think I baby her too much but really I remember feeling similar things when I was her age. I feel her pain. She so wants to be grown up but she knows that she won't be anytime soon.

It's funny to watch her get upset. Things upset her and she doesn't understand why. I remember that too. Gosh those darn hormones are such pesty things.

DQ, is so tiny still. She can fit into size 4t clothing and the only thing wrong with them is the length. She needs size 10 clothing but even the slim pants are too wide for her waist.

So some of her favorite sayings are, "I hate this family"; "I hate my sisters" ; "I hate you" ; "I hate daddy". Pretty typical stuff for her age but I know this is all just the beginning.

I just hope she knows that I love her. I love her and I'll be waiting for her at the end of this tunnel with open arms.

Labor Day

This was started on March 31st. I'm going to finish it tonight and share with you all.

A year ago today I labored to give birth to my 4th child. And I mean labored. In my other deliveries I never sweated or at least it never poured off me like I had run a marathon. I remember how the sweat just kept coming. My labor was induced. The waves of contractions never let up. There was no rest. I did the most during this labor. I sat in a rocking chair. I bounced on the labor ball. I did the labor dance with PF. I don't have fond memories of the birth like the others. This one really was difficult. I shouldn't complain because so many other women have harder times than I have had. But compared to the other 2 births this one was harder for me.

When it came time to actually push I had to wait for my doctor to make it across 2 parking lots to attend. They had me panting. I panted for so long that my whole body started to tingle. I never felt anything like it before. I kept thinking to myself that "I didn't need any stinking doctor. I had given birth before without one I could do this again." But they all kept forcing me to pant. When my doc finally made it into the room I was so ready to push. She wanted me to move further down the bed. I just didn't want to. I wanted to push. Anyway she got tough with me and I finally did as they asked and moved my butt down the bed. I pushed and out she came. I remember my doc saying, "You're no longer pregnant." Then came the other stuff that's really not all that fun and most don't want to hear about it but I have to say that her partner is much better (gentler) at cleaning up the afterbirth. It must have been gauze that she put up there but it felt more like a wire brush. And when she went to stitch the small tear that occurred she ran the cat gut back and forth before actually making the sutures. So I guess in away I wish I had her partner there after all. Doc O, delivered all the others and this was the first time that my doc made it to one the births.

I took a shower after the birth. I was so icky feeling. I forgot how messy labor and birth is. I surprised my nurse. She came into help me shower and she found me all done. My older children came by that evening to meet their youngest sibling. They were all so proud and excited.

Toilets + baby=Interesting times

Imp drives me to hate toilets. I have 3 older children who don't seem to be able to remember anything except whether I treated their siblings better than them.

Here is the problem: Imp can raise the toilet seat. Imp loves to play in the water of the commode. Yep, splashing is the best. Of course then things progress to putting things into the toilet. One night I came into the bathroom and there in the toilet sat a frog. Ok. A toy frog. But still it took me a back for a moment or two.

Although, I have to admit this is much better than some of the other things I've found in the toilet. Use your imagination folks. It's gotten to be quite a chore at times cleaning up after Imp. I'm living in dread of when Imp discovers how to flush the toilet. Don't you know I'm going to have some really fantastic plumbing bills in the near future.

Oh I can hear you now... "Buy one of those child safety products that lock the lid." Need I remind you I have other children in the house? They tend to leave the chore of pottying to the last second. I still hear some of my kids saying to their waste on the way to the toilet, "Hold on pee pee. Hold on." I don't think a lock on the toilet is the answer. For right now closing the door is adequate.

When Imp progresses to opening doors then we'll put those door handle covers on them. Hopefully by the time Imp can disable those covers she will not be playing in the toilet.

All I can say is Imp is horribly attracted to toilets. I'm hoping that this is a good omen that potty training shall be easier than it was with the others. I can only hope, right?

Imp

It's been a while since I've blogged about anything about the kids. So I'm at home with my eyes running and my nose running down my face. Imp is home with me because there really isn't any point to her going to childcare. So here is the story of Imp.

Imp is a delightful baby. She is now 10 months old. Things she enjoys...

First, magnets. She loves to pull the magnets off the refrigerator and take them around to different surfaces to see if they will stick to them. Unfortunately she hasn't found anything yet. I'm waiting to see how long it takes her to find the metal back door but right now she is content to continue to try the wood cabinets in the kitchen.

The kitchen holds a great many things that fascinate her. Open the refrigerator door and she goes into hypercrawl. It's amazing how fast she can crawl to make it into the refrigerator. Another part of the kitchen is the pantry. When the doors are open she crawls over and starts taking things out of the pantry. My spices have hit the floor so many times now. I had mustard seeds rolling around the floor for days. Do you think I'm done? No. Imp loves the dishwasher. It's a great teething toy. Recently Imp had a run in the bottom basket. She pulled too hard on it and it came flying out and knocked her over. Poor thing hit her head and she cried and cried. When she was all calmed down I went back to stuffing the dishwasher and she, with great deterimination, plucked the flatware out and threw them on the floor. As you can see I get a lot of work done around the house. Not.

Next, comes her sister's easel. This easel has a whiteboard and a chalkboard on either side. Imp loves the chalk. Everyday we must return all the pieces to their home in the little compartment shelf of the easel. I'm starting to think about moving the easel down to her sisters' hall way. Imp also enjoys chewing the chalk.

Which leads me to the next characteristic of Imp. She is completely oral. PF and I don't remember the others being quite so orally fixated. EVERYTHING. Goes in her mouth. Cords are her most favorite thing to chew. It's like having a puppy in the house. Yes folks I know it's important to child proof the house but really it's really hard to do it with 3 other children in the house. Also this child finds things... The childcare center is baby proof yet she finds paper and small twigs and sticks to stick in her mouth. We spend our day constantly sweeping her mouth with our fingers to get the stuff out. Sometimes she tricks us because it's only her tongue she's chewing on occassionally. Other times she stores things in her mouth. She's like a chipmunk.

This is a really adorable little one. She has a way about her that takes your heart and squeezes it. Her smile melts your heart. Such a wonderful happy baby.

Friends / Enemies

"Never explain — your friends do not need it, and your enemies will not believe you anyway." Source unknown.

How my dad tried to get this through my head.

Opinions.

You have the right to your opinions; as long as you keep them to yourself. Says a friend...