Soaring Temps

Was I just saying something about genetics? Jeff has a pretty clean bill of health but when he gets sick he gets SICK. He runs crazy high fevers. My head nearly exploded the first time Jilli ran a fever over 104 a bit after her first birthday.

Rory didn't want to be behind Jilli on that particular milestone so she recorded 103.7 on the ear thermometer Friday night. It looks like it was the result of an ear infection and she was miserable pretty much all weekend. The slightest offense (No Rory, you can't eat the shampoo) set her off every single time. This girl can pitch a fit. Thankfully she appears much better today. She played hooky from school with Jeff this morning and then played with Hazel and Erin all afternoon (thankyouthankyou).

I feel sometimes like this is a weather blog, but holy moly, it was hot outside this weekend. Jilli sweated at soccer and we hung out on the deck, pruned trees and splashed in the itty bitty pool. It felt like July but it was really fun.

Linked

I have a disorder called dopa-responsive dystonia that is very rare but also, miraculously, very treatable. I take a very low dosage of dopamine once a day and I can live my life with no interference whatsoever. Without the meds I can hardly walk, really, no walking. The rareness of this disorder means that I have never met another person with it, and when we began thinking about having a family it was topmost in our minds. There is very little literature out there that addresses the inheritability of the disease or the effects of the medication on a pregnancy. Fast forward over four years, we made our peace with the info we could find, determined that our daughters could inherit it but luckily it would also be entirely manageable with medications and had two perfect pregnancies and two amazing babies.

I went to see a new neurologist yesterday. The DRD is so managed that she looked me over and declared me fine until my next yearly check-up (and she is an expert in this field so I trust her opinion).

After my brief check-up she told me about a young couple who had been in her office one day earlier. The woman has DRD, takes the same dosage of medication I do, and is terrified to get pregnant. She is fearful of the effect of the medicine on the pregnancy (to be clear, the very few case studies have indicated no concern whatsoever, there are just very few pregnant women who take the medication) and scared of what the disorder means for her future kids. My doctor asked if she could put the couple in touch with me.

I am by nature a worrier and the chance to offer another worrier some pretty concrete reassurance means the world to me. I think I have pretty solid evidence to offer her.

First Steps

She can walk! Sunday Rory took a series of one or two steps in a row. These are steps 7-8.5. We are amazed. I am a little teary thinking about it.


First Steps from MLS on Vimeo.

Rory now thinks she is the boss. Monday we were playing outside with the Levys. Jilli and Hazel were motoring around on their big wheels and Rory was walking behind her push toy. Ever so often I would re-direct her course or turn her around so we didn't get too far from the house. It took me a while but I finally figured out that when she was waving her hands and yelling at me every time I touched the toy she was saying, "No touch!"

GOOOOAAAAALLL!

A soccer game full of three year olds ensures hilarity. Early on Saturday Jilli and her friends decided to make snow angels in the grass. Later, one little boy fell down and the rest of the team threw themselves to the ground to join him. Then there was the kid that got his head stuck in the netting of the goal (he was ok.)

Jilli has a blast at practice every week but something about the teeming masses on game day freaks her out. Saturday morning she was thrilled to go to the game all the way until we were walking onto the field. Then she froze and refused to walk on. After a teensy bit of bribery she ran out on the field and played like a maniac for the next 40 minutes, only getting tired at the very end. She ran down the field and got a goal sometime in the first half. I am sure both Jeff and I were sporting goofy grins.

This is a good shot of the Yellow Giraffes (that's Jilli, #4) learning defense as they herd the lone member of the Grapes out of shooting range. Brutal, those herding giraffes....

Here's the lead up to the goal. Note the Grape checking out the flowers. They need some coaching on defense.

Priorities

Still no cup, or milk, or up, or even no....

Her new word this weekend is: Breakfast

Jeff: Rory, do you want to go downstairs?
R: Breakfast.
Me: Rory, Do you want some milk?
R: Breakfast.

She obviously takes after me, its my favorite meal of the day.

What we did on Spring Break

We:

Stayed in an awesome house.

Walked on the beach.

Got blown about by gale force winds.
Got knocked over by a wave (Jilli.)

Didn't go anywhere near the water for the rest of the week (all of us.)

Went to Harris Teeter.

Colored.

Visited the aquarium.



Picked up shells.




Climbed.


Dug holes in the sand.



Flied kites.

Ate burgers.

Drank wine.

Walked the dogs.

Watched Slumdog Millionaire.

Danced to kid's music.

Got cacti stuck on our shoes.

Blew bubbles.


Ate crab cakes.

Built sand castles at the beach.

Drank beer.

Watched Party of Five(!)

Stickered.

Painted shells.

Went to Harris Teeter.

Watched a video on how to eat crabs.

Ate crabs and boiled shrimp.




Splashed crab juice on the laptop.

Wiped the hard drive.

Played at the beach.

Ate sand (Rory.)

Watched The Women.

Worked (Josh.)

Drank margaritas.

Watched Marley and Me. (cried).

Went to Harris Teeter.

Drove home to work (Jeff).

Had an easter egg hunt in the house.

Had hot time! (in a cooled down hot tub.)

Played on the beach.

Had hot time for grownups!

Had our first ice cream sundae. (Rory.)Drank wine.

Drove back to the beach house (Jeff.)

Climbed sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge.

Watched a three year old (mine) climb one that was roughly 4 stories high (5 times.)

Walked around Roanoke Island.

Ate she crab soup.

Ate fried oysters.

Ate ice cream.

Walked on the beach.

Went to a lighthouse.

Saw deer.

Ate more shrimp and burgers.

Shopped at a yard sale.

Contemplated when we can buy a beach house.

Jumped my car's battery to drive home.

Stats

Rory finally made it to her 12 month check up today. I realize its closer to thirteen months but who's counting? I suffered a terror attack at the end where Dr. Morgan informed me Rory's iron was hovering at 8 and that was VERY VERY BAD. Thankfully the nurse spoke up and said she didn't think the sample she had gotten was good. They ran a new sample, concluded that in fact she was at 10.3, mildly anemic but nothing to be alarmed about, and everyone in the room took a deep breath.

Our little Rorybear weighs 21 pounds 12 ounces and is 29 inches long. She falls a hair above the 50th percentile for weight and a hair below it for height. She's doing all the things an almost 13 month old should do. She won't walk, though I suspect she could if she tried. She talks up a storm and usually with her hands just like her mama. We regularly hear DaTa (dada), yeah, Sketch, Hazel, Josie and Bye Bye. We hear lots of other words sporadically, including Christian, while he was here last week. Odd that she is going so strong on names but not so much on the staples like duck, cup, up (oh, and that one she gave up months ago, MAMA...its not like I carried her for 9 months and then, you know...).

She pitched a royal fit pretty much the whole time we were at the doctor's office. Dr. Morgan asked if we were seeing a bit of her "personality." I explained that we think she is a blossoming drama queen. She said its a sign of intelligence (I have no idea what that conclusion might be based on, but whatever, I think my kids are brilliant so I'll take it.) It took me and two nurses to hold her down for shots....she may be a blossoming wrestler too.

Easter!

We had a great day here Sunday. The girls perused their baskets quickly (Jilli inspected by eating a ton of sugar) and we made it to church early.

Rory did amazing in the nursery, far better than I had hoped. Jilli sat with us for a while and then went to the children's area. She clung to me like it was the end of the world but when we came back after the service she was happily playing with new friends. On the way out we stopped on campus and snapped a few pics of the girls (I consider it my own Easter miracle that I have one with BOTH girls in it.) We lounged for most of the rest of the afternoon and then welcomed Josh, Erin and Hazel over for fun, egg hunting and dinner. We opted to skip the ham dinner this year and had shrimp and grits. It was hands down one of the best meals I have ever made, and the start of a new family tradition for us on Easter. I think it was a run of the mill day for Rory. Jilli loved her special treats that Easter brought her (you know, the bunny? In Jilli's world she is first name: Easter last name: Bunny). Jeff and I have been laughing for days over that one.

Its not easy being green....

Our vacation to the outer banks afforded some educational opportunities; chief among them a new recycling option.

Tuesday

Truth be told, I delayed this whole blogging thing because I figured that it would be one more item I just didn't have the time to get done. And, true to form, I have countless posts just waiting to be put to keyboard that never quite make it.

So briefly:

We just got back from an amazing vacation at the beach. It rocked.

A few minutes ago I walked downstairs to get my coffee (at work) and spied krispy kreme donuts awaiting our morning staff meeting.

My life, it is good.