Loose Ends

Here's a summary of the latest goings-on:

* I have been really good about going out jogging/walking three times a week for the last two weeks. However, on only the second day out the jogging stroller got a flat tire. What appeared to be a setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Mark put two new tires on the back wheels and pumped them up to the correct pressure. The next day when I took the kid's out in the stroller I was amazed at how easy it was to push! I could push with only one hand, which I never could have done previously. I felt much better when I realized that my first-day-of-training pathetic-ness was partially because I was really having to push the kids, rather than just roll them along. It's been much better since we got the new wheels (thanks Mark!). In case you're wondering, no - I still don't like to run, but I consider it a victory that I don't dread the morning workouts.

Bryce & Aubree and Ella & Raelyn (our training buddies)

* Sometimes when Aubree is playing with her baby dolls she pretends to nurse them. Monkey see, monkey do. For a while, though, her baby-du jour was a beanie-baby dinosaur. She matter-of-factly told Mark, "you can't nurse a dinosaur - they bite." A few weeks later Aubree's friend Ella came over to play and brought a doll. When Ella left, she forgot the doll. Aubree was distressed when she realized this and claimed, "Mom, Ella's baby is crying because she's hungry!" She quickly wrapped the baby up in a blanket, grabbed a bottle, and sat in her rocking chair feeding the doll the bottle. Then she told me, "I have to give her a bottle because you can't nurse other peoples' babies!" I'm glad Aubree has such a strong grasp of nursing do's and don'ts.
* I've started to try to do a little bit of preschool with Aubree. My original plan was to have a "theme of the week," but I think it will work better to have a theme of the month. This month's theme is Space. My friend found an AMAZING website (learningpage.com - you'll have to set up a free account) that has great lesson ideas, worksheets, cutouts, etc. From that site and pulling ideas from a few others we've been doing a mediocre job learning about the stars, moon, planets, astronauts, etc. We checked out a lot of books from the library on the topic and visited the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex when they had their annual free entrance weekend for Brevard county residents. Yeah, Aubree liked the playground best, but she also thought the space shuttle was neat. We saw a 3-D I-Max movie about landing on the moon. Aubree liked it until it looked like dirt was being thrown into her face. Then she cried, "I don't want to watch this movie!" and wouldn't put her glasses back on. I guess it was just a bit too convincing. All in all we've been having a good time. I think Aubree's favorite thing we've done was making a telescope out of a paper towel roll.

Aubree looking through her telescope

* Last Thursday I took both kids to the doctor for their well-child visits (Aubree's 3 yr. and Bryce's 6 month). Aubree weighed in at 28 lbs. even and was 36 3/4" tall. Supposedly that puts her in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Bryce weighed 16 lbs. 12 oz. (50th percentile) and was 27 1/2" (90-95th percentile). Aubree loves going to the doctor because they give her lollipops. She definitely wasn't disappointed this time; over the course of the visit they gave her FOUR (after the first two I made her put them in the diaper bag for "later"). Aubree also had her first eye exam. She held a cover over one eye at a time and told the nurse what shapes she could see on the poster at the end of the hallway. Granted, she answered the nurse with slightly more than a whisper, but it was just loud enough for the nurse to hear and Aubree did awesome! Phew, what a relief. Mark is basically blind, so it's nice that (at least for now) Aubree's vision seems very good. The rest of the visit was blessedly routine.

Bryce & Aubree @ the doctors' (Aubree in her paper dress)

* The tip of Bryce's tongue is slightly heart-shaped. I noticed this shortly after he was born, but never thought too much about it. I figured it was just one-of-those-unique things (like if one's earlobes are attached or not). For some reason, the night following the doctor's appointment, Mark decided to try to look it up on the Internet. He didn't find much, but it got me wondering so I did some searching. I came to discover that a heart-shaped tongue tip is a sign of a tongue-tie, which means that the frenulum (the skin that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth) is too tight. It's a minor birth defect that might result in difficulties with articulation and a few other problems. Of course we realized this right AFTER the doctor's appointment! Regardless, I made an appointment with an Otolaryngologist (ENT) for next week to find out how to proceed.