Halloween and Thanksgiving

I have been so bad at updating. Things are just so busy these days. I haven't even done a post about our Halloween!

Halloween here was HOT and the costumes were like little roasting bags for my babies! They didn't seem to mind, however. William loved being outside when the sun was not as bright (he has some photophobia) and was so calm! He did a lot of staring at his Daddy, who carried him for much of the night. Margaret also had a great time. It didn't take her long to figure out that people were giving out candy and she loved grabbing what she wanted out of the bowls. She also knows no fear and walked right into a few houses and explored. Most people thought it was really funny but it kind of scared me...

Thanksgiving was good even though William had been fighting a cold. Our family took the five hour drive and spent the holiday with David's parents. Margaret refused all Thanksgiving food. William threw up about four times. It was the best Thanksgiving in a while... since 2004. 2005, fresh NICU graduate sequestered for the winter. 2006, in the hospital days from having Mister. This year was nice in comparison!

William is now over his cold. He is a baby who does the cough-n-puke so I'm sure he has lost some weight. There were several days when he kept no food down at all. Margaret has a bit of a runny nose today. Daddy is snorty and I've got a bit of a throat tickle... I'm praying this is short lived. I was hoping that this winter would be more "well" since it is M's second at Mother's Day Out. She is certainly getting over her colds faster but I still get everything she brings home. Blah!

Long Overdue

I just hate letting those toothy pictures fall to the bottom of the page. Seriously, how cute is my Sweetie???!!

Things are going well here. Margaret has finally gotten used to her new teacher at school and resists leaving when I pick her up! She shouts, "No WAY!" and runs to the far corner of the room. I'm glad she likes school so much but it still makes me feel a little bad that she doesn't always prefer me anymore. She even eats better at school!

Around the house Margaret is talking up a storm. Finally. However, when she is around her Speech Therapist, she clams right up. I don't think M has done anything other than repeat the things her ST says. About two weeks ago, I got a alarming note from the therapist saying that she saw "red flags" about M's lack of speech and anti-social behavior. I was very pleased to be able to call her immediately and say that we had just had Margaret evaluated by a Neurologist who saw no "issues" at all to worry about. Still, the therapist wants me to call an agency in town and place Margaret in a speech and hearing playgroup. Yeah, I'm not going to do it. Instead, I racked my brain trying to figure out why Margaret exhibits the behaviors she does.

And I did figure it out, I think. What I think is going on is that her old tactile defensiveness has reared its ugly head again. So, I have arranged to have M seen by, count 'em, two OTs through Early Intervention. I guess I naively thought that after we tackled her early defensiveness, we were done. Nope. But, I do know she can be helped and does show improvement with sensory therapy. I'm just glad that her ST made me think about this in such a way to be able to get her the proper help.

Otherwise, Margaret is being her sweet, funny, loving self. She is still a Daddy's girl, showing so much favoritism to make me a little jealous at times. When Daddy is gone during the day, Margaret loves to come up to me and firmly state, "Daddy. Work." And when he comes home, the room lights up with her smiles and squeals, "Daaaie, Daaaie!"

How does Margaret feel about her brother? She is definitely warming up to him. Tonight she hugged him of her own accord with no prompting from us. And she cries and screams "NO!!! MINE!!!" if anyone other than me tries to push his stroller when I am dropping her off at school. She is also very concerned with any crying he does. "Brodah cwying!"

My favorite thing of late, though, is her new game of "Night Night". She will gather a group of toys: stuffed animals, figurines, rattles, whatever. And then she will put them all to bed, sometimes on the hearth and sometimes in her bed. "Frog, night night. Elmo, night night. Turtle, night night. Toy, night night." Occasionally, one will get extra care. "I coming, I coming!" Followed by the toy being covered in a washcloth and kissed. She is so gentle and it is so cute to see. So cute. Makes me feel good to know that is how she views Motherhood. What a good little Mommy she is!