Leah's First Haircut!!

BEFORE

DURING...

 

AFTER!!

 I wanted her to go about a half inch shorter, but oh well. I love it. And so does Leah. She was playing with it all evening! Maybe we'll go shorter for the summer!

Fifth Disease

On Friday past, I noticed Leah's cheeks were kind of blotchy and red. Although it wasn't bothering her whatsoever, I wrote it off as an allergic reaction to something and gave her Children's Benadryl. By Sunday there was no improvement. Monday was a snow-day, so she stayed home. But on Tuesday we got a call from her school asking us to come pick her up because she was showing symptoms of Fifth Disease and her teacher is pregnant.




Once we were home I decided to do some Google-Diagnosing-Research and realized that she may very well actually have this Fifth Disease, so I made an appointment with our doctor.

Turns out? She's got Fifth Disease. Odd. Something I've never even heard of.

The rash can last up to 14 days and when the rash appears she's actually no longer contagious. So she can return to school. I've apologized profusely to her teacher and principal. I feel terrible about it.

The good news is: it's nothing serious and she will recover perfectly fine.

Anyways, that was an experience!

A Run-in With Head Lice

Ew.

That's my first thought when I hear "head lice". Tiny little bugs living on your scalp, laying eggs, feeding off your blood? Yeah, stay FAR away from me, thank you!

But then we get a phone call from Leah's school. She's got head lice. She needs to be picked up.

And...queue freak-out.

As soon as she came in the door she was beaming. Smiling from ear to ear, "Mommy, look at this! I got head lice. See, the bug is taped the paper, and an egg too!" Oh, their sweet innocence. They are so untainted from this evil world. This world of judging, name-calling, mean people. I wish it could always be that way. I was honestly expecting her to be more uncertain, nervous, or sad. I guess my kid is just a confident one.

I asked if I could have a look near her neck and she willingly bent her head over. The nits were clearly visible and I don't even know how I didn't notice anything. That's one thing I never understood with kids getting lice. How did the parents not even know? Do they not brush or do their kid's hair?

I bathe the kids 2-3 times a week depending on how busy we are. I do Leah's hair everyday. French braids, pigtails, buns, pony-tails, and I never noticed a thing. I didn't even notice itching!

I've personally never had head lice so I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. But with head lice in my home(!!), I felt extremely antsy and had to do something while I waited for Matt to come home on his lunch to pick up treatment. Here's what I did and what I suggest you do if you know your child has head lice:

• Put all couch cushions, blankets, throws etc. into the dryer for 35-40 mins. on high heat.
• Gather all hats, coats and either wash and dry or just dry for 35-40 mins as well.
• I also stripped Leah's bed of all bedding, pillows, stuffys, as well as the other beds in the house (just in case)
• What can't be put in the dryer, vacuum if you can. Otherwise put aside for 48 hours. Some people suggest placing things in garbage bags for 48 hours but it doesn't matter. Lice can't live off of the scalp.
• Collect any bath towels they recently used and place in the laundry. I gave Leah a new towel each time her hair was washed.
• Make sure they wear different pyjamas every night.
• Boil hair brushes and combs
• And lastly, give them a hug and kiss because yes, they can transfer from head to head but they cannot fly or jump and giving them some love will definitely make the both of you feel better

Once we got the treatment (we used Resultz Head Lice Treatment, which I highly recommend) I bathed Leah and did it with her still in the bath. Basically you soak the head and let it sit for 10 mins then wash out with shampoo. Afterwards, she got in jammies and we sat to the kitchen table. She had a snack and I combed her hair and went through it with the lice comb, removing the eggs (nits). Im going to say she had about 50 eggs max. And honestly, that might sound like a lot but its totally not (they can lay between 10-50 eggs a day). I found ZERO bugs.

 

She had to stay home for 24 hours and the night before she was to return to school she got in the bath again so I could wash the rest of the oily residue out. I went through her head again and only found 2 eggs. SO YAY!! That means no mature lice laying eggs. (I think we caught it early enough!)

 

I'm going to continue going through her head every night before bed since the eggs are so small, chances of missing some are high. And in 7 days she's due for another treatment. 

**Some other suggestions:

•  Tea Tree shampoo! Lice hate it. Only use a small amount though, it dries out the scalp. I used a little too much on Leah and she was itchy from dry skin :(   
• Once you're done combing through hair, braid it and use hair spray.

This wasn't a great experience but it was an experience nonetheless. I can now take better precautions to prevent it in the future. It's obviously something I don't wish upon you, but if you ever find yourself in the situation I hope you find these tips helpful!

Learning Letters and Such

As a small kid, my third home was the library (first being my own, second being my grandmother's). I remember the small chairs, the little table with the built in cubby in the center that held some children's books. I remember the bean bag chairs, the stuffed animals from classic stories lining the book shelves. I remember the dirty yellow carpeted floor (oh how interior design has changed - thank goodness!). I remember the smell; musty, wood, paper, and occasionally oranges. But that smell. That smell. The one that permeates from the pages of old authors into every library.

And this just came to me: my love for books, just like my love for Jesus was present and rooted in me at the earliest age. Funny how glimpses of your adulthood can be seen in certain childhood moments.

Every parent wants their child to be a reader. But, being a reader myself I feel like its crucial. To be able to sit down and have the rest of the world fade away while you dive in and swallow up a good book? Its a great feeling; relaxing, distracting, stress-relieving. Important. Imagination expanding.

So, I've been really working with Leah on her Alphabet and writing. We've started weekly Library visits where she spends about a half hour on the computer, and maybe 15-30 minutes playing with the trains. Obviously those things are distracting. Things my library never had when I was a child. But while she does this, I walk around and pick out books. Sometimes we cuddle up together in a chair and read a short story.

One that we just borrowed that she is really enjoying is My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet. She told me she had a dream about it last night. Its a small chapter book. I love old classics.

 

Another of her favorites is No, David! by David Shannon. She thinks this book is so funny and loves the faces he makes.

 

***

About a month ago, Leah didn't completely know her ABC's. She forgot half of them and mixed up the other half. I came up with an idea to do some fun things that involved letters to help her. I made giant cut-outs of letters and let her stick foam letters on and stickers of words that started with that letter. We also started making an Alphabet-print book where I use her hand or foot to create a picture of something starting with a certain letter.

I also went to the dollar store and bought her some foam letters for the bath tub and an ABC Garanimals game. I picked her up a couple work books from Wal-Mart too. So, yes I spent some money but since I started all this, she knows her ABC's, and can pick out certain letters when asked. She's interested in writing too. And this says spending the little bit of money was worth it. She's learning, and loves it.

I hope she grows up to love words.

Happy 4th Birthday!!

To my sweet, funny, and excitable little girl.

 

Today is your day. The anniversary of your coming into the world. The day you made me a mommy, and him a daddy. Four years. Four years we've had you, grew you, watched you, loved you.

 

You are so unbelievably unique. Which i admire. So unlike me. So like Daddy. But so you.

 

This year your personality has really shined bright. Really surfaced. You like - no, love - to make people laugh. You are sensitive but daring. Loving but mischievous. You're the life of the party and a social butterfly. Your competitive but a real sweetheart. You love your baby brother and your an amazing big sister.

You're unstoppable and I'm so proud of you.

Your teacher said smiling, "She's the smallest and the youngest, but she's definitely not the quietest!"

I love that you're not afraid to show the world who you are. There is nothing at all wrong with a little more fun, and little more positive, and a little more you in this world. What a party this place would be if more people were like you. I'm so honored to be your Mama.

I wrote this for you before you turned 2. It brings a warmth to my heart to read it again:
This place is her garden. To grow and be unique.
To dig in and explore. To learn and embrace.
This world is her dance floor. She goes wherever the wind blows.
Chasing butterflies and gone-to-seed dandelions.
You are on stage my darling. Be who you want to be.
 
Happy 4th Birthday Sweetheart!
 

We made it to one.

One month that is. One whole month of two children, lots of diapers, little sleep, fewer showers than I would like, and breastfeeding -its going, and its going well (says the chubby-faced little ONE MONTH old!!). I've also learned to appreciate more, even 5 minutes of silence. It's a beautiful and welcome sound that doesn't occur too often. And I have to say, most of that isn't from James. I've recently realized that Leah's "off switch" may be broken, or not exist at all for that matter, and yes, its taken me this long to fully comprehend. The talking...never stops. Ever. But with lots of 3-year-old-talk comes lots of laughs. James seems to be so taken aback by everything. It wouldn't surprise me if it was because of his wild big sister. Always asking, saying, singing or acting out something while jumping off furniture or doing laps around the house. She's exhausting but so full of love, and she's so worth every new wrinkle or grey hair we find (and yeah, its happening).
One of the many things I look forward to is learning all about his personality and watching that part of him grow as well. The brother-sister relationship that has already kicked off with a bang just warms my heart and I'm excited to see their bond grow.
Everyday is a fresh new start that begins with smiles and coffee. Its a new reality that isn't always pretty; most days the inside of our house is not a pretty picture, some days none of us get out of our pj's, occasionally we're a little over-frustrated, tears are shed (not only by children), and supper goes without being made. But everyday there are smiles and memories are made. This month flew by and I know I will blink and they'll be finishing high school.

Month one, complete. Bring it month two. :D