Tuesday February 28

Ah, what a day today has been. It all sarted with a visit from the Williamsburg/James City County police. Well, acutally, it started with them ringing my doorbell, and me finding them standing on my doorstep. It seems they were there to serve Brandon L. Bailey with a warrant for who knows what. Ahhh...I have no idea who the Brandon L. Bailey person is, but I can tell you we have been getting mail for him for some time. Who knows. I just want to know what the warrant is for. When we were in NN, our phone number was one that was once DeMarcus Bell's. We would get phone calls from collection agencies. But, no matter what he did, we didn't have the cops on the front stoop waiting for him.

In other news, Lily continues to get better and better with her hands. The movements are still rather jerky, but she's getting there. She was fawned all over today by the women in Nana's office, as well as by a bunch of teenage tourists from California. We had stopped in the B&N on DoG Street to get a book and there were the kids. They were very sweet and enthusiastic and they made me smile for quite some time. One young lady kept commenting upon Lily's eyes, and how they looked like, "big, blue Hawaiian pearls!". Um, okay, whatever they are. I haven't Googled that one yet.

Hannah reported some interesting things today. It seems that when she is at Melanie's, Kathryn has told her she has to follow all the rules. Rule number one is Kathryn is the "ruler" or, the rule maker. Rule number two is, Hannah must do everything Kathryn says, even if this means just watching while Kathryn does something fun. Hmmmm. Hannah also brought a picture home from school today. Caroline, a little girl in her class, colored it for her, wrote her name on it and gave it to her "because she wants me to be her friend". Now, that's my kind of friend. I want Hannah to be one of those kids other kids want to be friends with, not because she's cool or popular, but because she is a sweet and nice kiddo.

I have decided to go back to work the week of March 13th. Oddly enough, I'm no longer having anxiety over this. I know that I'll have the rest of this week and all of next week, but I'm not panicking. I actually spoke with Leticia, my long term sub, today, and told her when I planned on returning. She was very happy, because the 13th is when she will move into the music class to be a long term sub for Jaryn Crosby, our music teacher. It works out well for everyone. I'm still not looking forward to leaving Lily. If I had my way I would stay with her until next September. However, since that is not possible, this is not such a bad solution. That will leave me with one marking period to teach, with Spring Break and a few holidays thrown in. I can still pray for a snow storm to get me a few snow days as well. =)

Bedtime Sunday Night

Every night we get the girls in their night clothes and then snuggle in our big bed to read stories. Hannah likes to cuddle with Lily while we read her her "chapters". She is currently engrossed in the Magic Treehouse series of stories, and Brien reads her one chapter every night. I read a picture book and then Daddy reads the chapter.
I would like to begin to read either Ramona or Little House in the Big Woods to her. I think she would really like both of them, and we could save the picture books to be read during the day. We'll see. Lily still gets to hear Good Night Moon and Pajama Time! every evening. You just have to love Margaret Wise Brown and Sandra Boynton. 

Sunday February 26

Well, we've had quite the weekend! We went to see "Nanny McFee" in the new movie theater in Williamsburg, at New Town Center. It is a lovely theater with stadium seating, armrests that lift and polite and helpful workers. The movie was fabulous--of course, I'm half in love with Colin Firth, so that helps =)--and Hannah really enjoyed it. Her favorite parts were the dancing donkey, and the final scene. During that scene, it snows in August, and turns everything crisp and clean and beautiful. Hannah also proceeded to consume more popcorn than I thought a four year old could possibly hold!

Speaking of Hannah, so continues to hate cleaning her room (what kid likes it?), and love going to play outside. Hannah, being the extrovert she is HATES to be anywhere by herself. Whether it's cleaning her room, or playing on her playground, she must have company--even if it's only the dogs. I often forget that Hannah has only just turned four; she is capable of doing so much independently, can read, and speaks so well. However, Hannah will frequently do something, that while developmentally appropriate, drives me crazy, because I forget she is only four. She needs supervision when cleaning her room because she will become distracted. She still cries and is a drama queen when she gets her clothes wet. All normal for a four year old, but still frustrating at times. All this being said, I'm still enjoying this age (well, all except the lying...), and Hannah is truly a delightful darling. She is able to keep herself entertained for hours by herself (hence the often exploded bedroom!), and she says the funniest things. She calls ferry boats pixie boats, jumpers are hoppers, the t.v. is the t.d., kinibutter for peanut butter, and many more that I can't remember right now.

Lily also enjoyed the movie as only Lily can. I had a few squeemish moments about taking a tiny infant to a movie, but hey, this is Lily, the baby that always sleeps. As predicted, she slept through most of the movie. When she wasn't sleeping, she was either eating, or lying quietly in my arms. She is fabulous! Talk about an angel baby.

Lily has also now discovered her toes and feet. She was "regarding" them very carefully this morning and kept trying to grab them. She is much better at grabbing things with her left hand than her right, and has been playing with a few different Lamaze and Sassy toys. Okay, maybe not playing, more like grabbing and putting them in her mouth. She is also doing this about 4 weeks earlier than Hannah did. I know you shouldn't compare your children, but I keep remembering the things Hannah did and when she did them, and I can't seem to help myself. Anyhow, because she is doing these things earlier than Hannah, Brien asked me, "What will we do if she's atheletic??". Now, if you know Brien and me, you know this is a very serious problem...

Hannah was always so very alert and it seems hungry. We started rice cereal at eight weeks. Lily is content to sleep the day away sometimes, and she seems content to nurse the six times a day she does. Hannah was nursing about 8 times a day, and still needed the rice. She also seemed to always be afraid she was going to miss something, and therefore would frequently fight going to sleep. One concern I do have with Miss Lily is her interest in the t.v. . If it is on and she hears it, she will turn to "watch" as best she can, and refuses to be distracted by anything else. I have had to turn the t.v. off more than once to distract her. Uh oh, another t.v. addict.

I continue to have anxiety attacts at the mere thought of going back to work. I'm trying to get myself more prepared though. I purchased a rolling briefcase/laptop case today so that I won't be trying to lug around three different bags as well as my Medela pump. I don't want to do it, I come close to crying whenever I think about it, but yes, I have to face the fact that I will need to go back to work. I just hope I can get another two weeks out.

Big Girl

Miss Lily sitting in her highchair at the dinner table last night. 

Thursday Feb. 23

Well, we had a very busy day yesterday. Miss Lily is discovering her hands! Yup, that's right, at only 9 weeks of age, she is figuring things out. I have noticed she has begun to clasp her hands together and wring them in front of her face (eyes in particular) when she is tired. She has also become an expert at getting her hands to her mouth for some very loud sucking. Anyhow, yesterday, she actually grasped something. She was sitting in her swing (not actually swing, just chillin'), and I had placed a few toys on the tray. I looked over and saw her concentrating on opening and closing her hand. The next thing I knew, she had a toy in her clutches! Yay! She was so excited she kept kicking her feet and legs, and grunting/cooing. I managed to record a little of the moment with the digital camera. I wonder if you can put movie links in a blog...I'll have to see.

Hannah had school yesterday, learning all about the letter "I". They had learned "P" on Tuesday for President's Day. She can tell you all about George Washington, sing a song about him, and tell you all about his teeth--which weren't wooden. I'm a little disappointed that she was told the cherry tree story, though. Why do teachers tell children things that aren't true? The myth of Christopher Columbus and the world being flat. George Washington cutting down the cherry tree. It sets kids up for disillusionment down the road. I try very hard not to do this in my own classroom. But, I digress. Hannah also learned quite a bit about Abe Lincoln when they did "L" last week. Did you know that Lincoln lived in a log cabin? And that he is on the penny and the five dollar bill? Hannah does too!

I'm currently having major anxiety at the prospect of returning to work. I had originally planned on returning after next week. However, I'm just not ready! I honestly become breathless, and my heart begins to pound hard at the mere thought of leaving Lily. This may sound awful, but I didn't feel quite this anxious about leaving Hannah. I guess it's because I realize this baby time goes by so quickly, and I don't want to miss anything. Brien did the taxes Monday and we will be getting a fairly decent return. Enough in fact that I may be able to take another couple of weeks off, even though it would mean a dock in pay. The refund would off-set it. Now, I have to deal with what to do about my sub. She's supposed to move to be the long term music sub after being in my room. Do I have dibs on her because she's already in my room? Will I be leaving my kids high and dry? I hate the conflicting emotions I feel over this. I know in the end, you typically feel worse about the things you didn't do than those you did, so I need to get over the guilt and go with my heart.

Hannah and Lily 2-22-06

Here are my two girls. Hannah calls Lily her "sweet angel". Gee, that's gonna last until Lily can start getting into her stuff.