Hallie and Travis

It’s fortunate that we have some type of overnight company every month or two, since that’s the only time the house really gets cleaned (especially the upstairs). Last week I was starting in on the bathrooms in preparation for Gum and Gup’s visit. I’d arranged with Mark that he’d take charge of the kids after dinner so I could get that done without fear of waking them from naps, having them get into the supplies, etc.

When I headed upstairs, Hallie immediately asked, “Mommy, can I help you clean?”

“Sure!” I replied, secretly thinking that she’d spend about five minutes with me and then get bored. Boy was I wrong! Hallie hung in there with me through both bathrooms. She was pleased as punch when I gave her her own new sponge to use. And she LOVES spraying Windex (or “Index” as she often calls it) on the mirrors. She happily soaked her sponge, wrang it out, sopped up the water while scrubbing the counter, squeezed out the sponge, and started all over again. She chattered on and on about “getting things clean for our guests” and loved talking about how they would admire everything sparkling and “squeaky clean.”

And she must have said about 15 times, “Mommy, I really like helping you clean!” or “Mommy, I love it when we work together!” At one point we talked about how Travis wasn’t old enough to be helping out yet. “Yeah,” Hallie said, “He doesn’t know how to be careful around the chemicals.”

Later I told her that when Travis is her age he’ll be able to start helping out. But by then Hallie will be so good she’ll be cleaning on her own. Hallie got her super-enthusiastic voice and expression, stumbling over her words as she declared, “That’s right! And he’ll be in here helping you and I won’t even be in her because I’ll be down the hall cleaning the other bathroom all by myself and doing a super job of it!”

I wish I could bottle that enthusiasm! I don’t want to be a pessimist, but I wonder whether she’ll feel the same way when she’s 8 or 10 and has her own responsibilities? I do know, though, that I’ve never had such a good time cleaning as I did that night!

There was a general roar of activity and toy commotion and conversation going on this evening. It didn’t abate much during dinner, so I was tuning out some of the kids’ chatter. Suddenly something Travis was saying caught my attention.

“Tano. Tano. Sita. Sita. Saba. Saba,” he was chanting.

I looked up in surprise and started cracking up.

“What?” asked Mark, looking confused.

“Travis is counting in Swahili!” I announced.

Sure enough, he was reciting the numbers 1-10 in Swahili. As soon as Hallie realized what he was doing, she chimed right in. We have an Ella Jenkins cd that features a call and response lesson in Swahili numbers. Each number gets said twice, once by Ella Jenkins and once by the kids with whom she’s recording. We’ve been listening to this in a the car a lot lately, and it shows.

Travis doesn’t understand what he’s saying–it’s really no different than him singing “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” after hearing it a zillion times. But there’s something pretty cool about our less-than-two-year-old (and his big sister) rattling off numbers in Swahili at the dinner table.

Hallie got in another doctor’s visit this weekend, this time accompanied by Gum. She’d been on antibiotics for her infected mosquito bite. On Friday (the last day to take the medicines) I noticed several red spots on her legs. At least once before she’s had what they call a “nonallergic reaction” to amoxicillin. I assumed that’s what it was, but left a message for the nurse anyway.

During the day, the spots got bigger and brighter and multiplied. At 5:30 I called again and got a call right back. Turns out the nurse had misdialed and left a detailed on someone else’s answering machine. While it was an honest mistake, and she was really apologetic, this was pretty annoying as she recommended that Hallie be seen by a doctor. We’d lost our chance to get Hallie in on Friday and would have to take her Saturday–when Mark and I had our plans all lined up.

Gum to the rescue! She said she’d be happy to take Hallie. By bedtime, though, the spots were so much bigger that we wondered whether it could wait until morning. We were starting to plan a visit to the emergency room, but a call back from another nurse put us at ease. The nurse gave me several ideas about what could cause the hives. He said even if it was the medicine, which was unlikely since she’d been on it for so long, she wasn’t at risk of any anaphylactic reaction–that that would occur in the first 24 hours or so. He said we were fine waiting until morning.

So, Saturday morning Gum and Hallie trotted over to Raleigh Peds. Dr. Rusher checked Hallie out. He couldn’t give a conclusive answer but thought the most likely cause was a reaction to the original infection. He gave us some samples of Zyrtec to use until the spots are gone and said to use Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream if it itches (which it really hasn’t). He said it could also be a reaction to food or a virus or contact dermatitis or possibly a reaction to the drugs or a couple of other things.

Between her grass allergies and mosquito reactions and this episode, it seems like Hallie must just have really sensitive skin–or a sensitive system that shows up in skin irritations. We’re glad this wasn’t anything more serious and especially that it hasn’t made Hallie uncomfortable. And we’re grateful to Gum for helping us get it checked out!

We just got the kids settled for naps after a terrific weekend with Gum and Gup. As always, Gum and Gup treated us like royalty, even in our own house. The main point of this visit was for me and Mark to have an early anniversary celebration. So, Gum and Gup took charge of the kids all day and evening yesterday while Mark and I did all sorts of gallivanting.

In the morning, we went for a two-hour horseback ride. It was great fun! Despite a slow start and some other glitches, we really enjoyed ourselves and plan to go back when it’s cooler. After grabbing some lunch, we went to Lake Crabtree and rented two sunfish sailboats. It had been a while since I’d sailed, but it all came back eventually. There were some storms brewing, so we ended up having decent wind even though we almost decided to skip it because it was so calm. I turned my sailboat in a bit early and used my extra minutes for some time in a kayak, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while.

After the lake we got home and showered and fancied up for our evening out. We got to see Travis for a little bit (Hallie stayed conked and didn’t get up until Gum woke her at 6:30!) Travis was clearly having a little Mommy withdrawal. (He’s been very cuddly today and reluctant to let me too far from sight.) It might have been better if he hadn’t seen me at all yesterday. But Gum and Gup got him happy again really quickly.

Mark and I had a terrific dinner at 18 Seaboard downtown and even enjoyed some of the Fayetteville Stree gala (though who could miss the irony of shutting down the street they’d just reopened in order for people to congregate in the street to celebrate how it was now open to traffic. . .).

While we were off gallivanting, Gum and Gup were great with the kids. They took them down to the science museum where they spent the whole time in the Discovery Room. It’s never open when we get there during the week, so this was a great treat. They had lunch at the museum and pulled out all the stops to keep the kids awake on the way home. It worked, and both kids went down for good naps. The evening went smoothly too, and everyone was tucked in and snoozing soundly when we got home. And boy were we ready for bed, too!

Travis had us all in stitches on Friday when he became clear that he was calling Gup “GumandGup.” Several times he referred to him by both names. When we’d ask him who they each were, he’d get it right. But I guess we refer to them as a unit a lot and he decided that Gup was the unit. By the end of the weekend he seemed to have it straightened out.

This morning we puttered around the house for a while and then the kids showed off their new playset. We went out for Indian food before sending G&G on their way. Both kids surprised me with how well they ate there, Travis especially. It’s a good reminder to keep offering them new things.

Hallie’s already mentioned several times that she’s very sad Gum and Gup are gone. But she’s been matter-of-fact rather than hysterical, a big improvement from our last separation! We’ve got plans to get together again at the end of September. That seems so far away, but I’m sure it will be here in no time!

After almost 21 months of nail clipping being a real challenge, Travis has finally turned a corner. The last two or three times I’ve done his nails, he’s been still and calm and cooperative. Now I just say, “Which hand should I do first?” and he sticks one out. I wasn’t sure we’d ever get there, but I hope it sticks around!

Today was another big day during swim lessons. Today BOTH kids did some independent swimming. Hallie is doing a great job keeping her body fully extended and kicking and stroking. She’s definitely not ready to be fully on her own, but she’s close! Her teacher told a friend we have in common that Hallie should go right to med school b/c she’s never seen a student as motivated as Hallie. She said she’s so eager to learn everything she’s taught. Some of that may be just that Laura is an incredibly positive, encouraging person. But it also seems Hallie is really catching on quickly.

Travis is doing really well, too. Towards the end of today’s class, he kept sticking his face all the way in the water and pumping his arms and legs. Laura held him so he could “swim” to me. When she let go of him, he did just that! He opens his eyes under water and I can see him watching me as he pumps everything along. He didn’t even seem bothered when he was on his own for a few seconds. He seems to know he needs to wait to surface before he breathes. But he doesn’t have the bubble blowing down yet, so I’m a little afraid he’s going to breathe at the wrong time and spook himself. I think we’ll work on that a bunch tomorrow. What a great thing these lessons have been!

I keep forgetting to post about certain milestones that happen by ommission but are milestones all the same. Ever since our last visit to Virginia, Hallie has quit asking for her bedtime “yamalas” (where she lies on her bed and I say “yamala” against her feet and give her raspberries on her belly five times in a row). It was a fun routine as it evolved, but I was getting pretty tired of it. I can’t say I’m sad to see it go. It’s much nicer to focus on stories and “huggles,” which seem to have replaced yamalas.

Hallie and Travis are on their second round of swimming lessons for the summer. What a different atmosphere these are! Last time was fun, but there was a lot of time at the edge of the pool. And with Travis’s session, it was mainly just splash time with not much instruction.

This week we have 4 30-minute sessions taught by the mom of one of Hallie’s classmates. Miss Laura is terrific! It’s just Hallie and Travis, and she’s been focusing mainly on Hallie (with my blessing) while I apply some tips she’s shown me with T. After five minutes with Hallie, Laura announced “She’s going to be easy!” Hallie was already comfortable in the water. But now she’s doing real kicks and strokes and is very comfortable with Laura letting go of her briefly. She can use a kickboard and need almost no support at all (mental more than physical). She’ll be stroking on her own by the end of the week!

Laura is an incredibly warm, positive person. When she takes Travis he complains at first but she has him smiling in no time. She makes me and the kids feel like they are the most talented bodies ever to step into a pool. I’ll have to ask her to give me an objective assessment at some point. But all that positive feedback sure doesn’t hurt.

It’s very tempting to sign them both, or at least Hallie, up for another set of lessons. But next week is our last week with nothing scheduled before Hallie does a week of CHR summer camp and then we go to the beach. I think some “open” time is needed for all of us. I’m sure we’ll find plenty of ways to fill it.

Last week there was a huge consignment sale at the fairgrounds. In prepping to go, I wanted to find out what fall clothes Hallie already has. After naps one day, we tried several things on. At the end, Hallie was in a pair of purple leggings, a short black velvet skirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and too-big tan suede shoes with magenta flowers.

The outfit (if you can call it that) was certainly full of character. And Hallie LOVED it! She didn’t want to take it off. Which was OK. But then she asked to wear it to camp the next day. She started getting weepy when I told her no. No amount of explaining that she’d be hot, uncomfortable, etc. made a difference. Finally a light bulb went on for me. “OK,” I told her calmly. “You may wear that to school tomorrow IF, after you spend ten minutes sitting on the front porch right now, you decide you will be comfortable in it.”

The heat index was about 105 that day. And at 5:30 our front porch is in full sun. So, Hallie agreed and out she went. I left the main door open so I could see her through the glass. She lasted about 2 minutes before she stood at the door, looking defeated. I let her in and gave her a hug. “Too hot, huh?” I asked. She nodded limply. But she brightened up a bit as we changed her clothes. “I still want to wear this exact same outfit when it’s cold enough!” We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

I was greeted by a very happy two-thirds of my family when I got back this evening. Hallie was squirmy and giggly and somewhat manic and clearly happy to see me. Mark expressed his joy in a more traditional manner. And Travis was still snoozing, but I got to see all the pictures they’d made for me. And I got to see a picture of the welcome home message they’d done on the driveway–good thing Mark took a picture, since it got washed away before I arrived!

Though we’d all talked a couple times while I was away, I enjoyed catching up on the details of the weekend. It was clear Mark and the kids all got along great and really enjoyed each other. I had full confidence that they’d be fine together, but it was great to learn all the fun stuff they’d done (including Mark towing BOTH OF THEM in the bike trailer–no way I could have done that!).

For my part, I had a delightful weekend. Laura and I ate and shopped and read and napped (Laura napped while I read–seems that even away from home I still have trouble with napping, though part of it was that I was really engaged by my book) and ate and drank and read and slept (Laura slept 12 hours and I probably got in about 10–we woke up for the day at 9:30 and rolled out of bed, starving, a little before 11) and ate and shopped. The only thing missing was an hour or two to settle in with the Sunday Times. But for that we’d had to have gotten up earlier, and I don’t regret our actions at all!

It was a little sad to lose the relaxed feeling during the highway driving home. But I was thrilled to see my family and we had a nice evening and a smooth bedtime together. Mark leaves for two days in NYC tomorrow, so it feels like we’re tagteaming things. It will be nice when we’re all settled in together again. Gum and Gup are coming next weekend, and on Saturday Mark and I get an early anniversary present of a “date day”–we’re going horseback riding and maybe boating and then out to dinner! Can’t wait!