Today Marcie returned to the doctor to review her immunization record and check in. We had to get it translated to see what was missing. Turns out quite a lot. We did 3shots today. Another 3 or 4 at her 12 month check up in 6 weeks, then a few more 6-8 weeks after that. Poor kid. I had my camera and contemplated taking a host of her crying with the bandaids on her meaty legs, but then my mind got the better of me and I decided it was too mean.
Our last check up was 4 weeks ago-- and since then she has actually grown a little over 1/2 and inch and put on a bit more than a pound! I think this is astounding. Is it normal? No idea-- Casey is only 3 1/2, but I have no recollection of how quickly he gained wait. Guess I could look back. All I remember is that he hit 20 pounds right around 12 months and only gained like 3 or 4 pounds the whole next year. That means Marcie currently weighs about what Casey weighed at age 2. Totally crazy.
Last weekend while Jason was working, I decided to brave the world with the kids in tow. First, on Friday evening, I took them down to the park near our house. I bumped into someone I knew from when I was in the classroom, and it was nice to catch up a bit. Then, with Marcie sitting on my lap, I watched Casey make a crazy, daredevil move. He climbed up the ladder toward the monkey bars and lept for the bar, missing, tangling his leg in the ladder part, and landing on the side of his face, with his next twisted. . . What do you do with the 10 month old on your lap when your three year old is contorted into such a state? Amy to the rescue! I literally interrupted her mid-sentence and handed her Marcie, then sprinted off to pick up Casey, who was sitting up on his bottom by the time I got to him. We washed off all the sand from his eye and his mouth in the drinking fountain, took deep breaths, checked his arms and shoulders for anything dislocated, torn, or broken, and walked back over to the sand. He was fine-- what a tough kid! But I am so grateful Amy was there!
Then on Saturday, the law firm where I will be working after graduation was having their company picnic at Mission Bay, and I thought it would be fun to bring Marcie and Casey to meet everyone. Off we went. Thankfully, there were a lot of helpful hands-- Casey immediately attached himself to a family with kids close in age to him and Marcie and ran into the sand playground, then followed them off to fly a kite. This gave me enough time to eat. But after they left, I had to chase Casey all over the place. Fortunately, there were plenty of hands to help out with Marcie-- and she did amazingly well. Of course, when she saw me, she wanted me immediately-- which is great. Anyway, I don't know how I could have spent those two hours or so without the help of so many people. . .
From the bay we drove up the coast to a princess birthday party. It was at my sister-in-law's sister's house. (How crazy does that sound-- this is my brother's wife's sister whose child was turning three.) We've been fortunate to be included in all the family birthdays, so they know us (and Casey) well, and they were overjoyed to meet Marcie. Of course they had a million questions about her and her adoption, which I dutifully answered to the best of my ability. The nice thing about this party was that even though it was just me with the two kids, it was safe for Casey to run all over because everyone knows who he is and watches out for him. Plus, the yard was fenced in.
Finally, we headed home. On our way up the hill to our house, Casey spotted Sponge Bob walking up the street. Saturday was the day of the neighborhood block party-- and we got a flyer inviting us this year. After I got the kids in the house and fed them, we walked down the street to the party, where Casey met up with his good friend J.T. (of Gould23 blog fame). The two boys ran all around, jumped in the bouncy house, bounced down the slide, and became Sponge Bob's personal sidekick for the evening. We also met a very nice couple who has three foster children through the County, one of whom they are in the process of adopting. How cool! And we saw our neighbors who finally got to ask us all about Marcie. I am so glad we went. It's nice to finally meet some people. We've been living in our house for over three years now, and because I'm never home, I haven't really met anyone (except our next door neighbor who complains that our dog barks too much while we are gone-- hopefully that is resolved now, because no one wants to be the neighbor with the irritating dog!).
What an exhausting weekend! But it was fun, and the kids did great!
2 comments:
Thanks for this one. It's helpful to know that I'm not the only mother who thinks having two small kids (in my case, 2 and 6 mos.) out and about can be overwhelming. And I resonate with you on the question, "what do you do with your baby when the toddler is contorted on the ground after getting him/herself into trouble?" I can't tell you how many times I've run into that problem....enough to keep me from going to a few places by myself, just to avoid the drama.
Anyway, sounds like you've adjusted to multiple-kid parenthood really well. Kudos and keep up the good work!!!
Amen sister!! It's tough chasing after 2 as well. My daughter who is 6 has totally different ideas re what's fun vs. what my 3 year old son thinks is fun. He sees what he wants and boom....he's after it. Why moms don't have eyes on all parts of their heads....it's a mystery to me.
I liked this post. Alison from Dallas.
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