Sydney the Wonderdog

This week, Sydney had a brush with death. She went into an unexplained seizure episode in the middle of the night last weekend, and she seized for over an hour. After a 30 hour stay at the emergency vet, followed by a full day of observation at our own vet, she came home to recuperate. I have learned two important things from this whole episode.

1. Pets are really, really good friends, and part of the family.

2. Their absence is felt so much more than their presence.

I had dropped her off at family's home for the week, as we were preparing to leave for a camping trip. I stopped to pick up a carry-out on the way home, and as I was trekking back and forth from the kitchen to the living room with the plates and food, I was unconsciously looking around for Sydney. She is almost ALWAYS underfoot, and if you're not careful, you'll step on her 50 times a day. I actually had the conscious thought "Oh, that's right, Sydney isn't here. Gee, I miss her already." Then, when I got that phone call at 4:00 am and I was standing over my beloved friend, begging her to wake up and really thinking that she was not going to, I had the follow-up thought: "Oh my god, I'm going to be missing her like that every day". And it made me realize what an important and yet sometimes invisible part she plays in our lives. I can't describe the joy and relief that I felt when she finally opened her eyes and lifted her head off the table. I thought, "I'm going to make sure Sydney knows how much we love her, every day". And then I realized, I should let EVERYONE I love know how much I love them every day. There are so many people who would leave a tangible hole in my life if they were suddenly gone, but I don't very often really stop to think about it. This is the lesson that my good friend Sydney taught me this week. So thank you, Sydney. And to everyone who cares enough about me to be reading this post, I love you too. And I would miss you terribly if you were gone.

Emmy the Explorer

Lately Emily has become obsessed with all things Dora. Our typical day starts something like this...

Me: (opening Emmy's door in the morning) "Good Morning Emmy!"

Emily: (rolling over and leaping up) "Hey Momma...I'm awake!"

Me: (scooping her up) "Yes, I can see that...come see me!"

Emily: "I want to watch Dora!"

From here we proceed into the living room where I set Emmy up with breakfast and put on a Dora episode. Generally, she becomes so entranced with Dora that she forgets to eat, and doesn't even acknowledge my prompts to get her to eat until I pause the Dora, when she immediately looks at me and states "more Dora". We repeat this cycle several times until she has eaten all of her breakfast or it has gotten so late that it is time for mid-morning snack. Emily is so enthralled with Dora that she has been known to go about spouting "Dora-isms" frequently...here are a few of the latest:

Down at the park throwing rocks in the water: "I'm gonna need YOUR help!"

In the bathtub: "I want to be a starcatcher! Reach up and catch them, catch them!"

Swinging on the swings: "Buckle up so I can be safe!"

Getting dressed on her changing table: "I wanna go to Play Park!"

And, my personal favorite: "Oh Man!"

During our second episode of Dora the other morning, Emily expressed her wish for a backpack like Dora. How could I resist, right? I managed to find one small enough for her this afternoon, and Emily was thrilled with her new gift...taking it off, putting it on, putting things in it, how great is that! If only she will always be this easily amused.

First Day of School

Last week I sent my second baby off to their first day of school. I have to say, this time went much more smoothly than the first time around. Emily was in the throes of some freakishly-early separation anxiety when she started school, and I was so afraid that she would cry when we left her there or be traumatized in some way. Turned out she loved it. Adam is such a laid-back little dude that I wasn't worried about him at all, and he seems to be getting along just fine. Emily has graduated to the "Big-girl Room" (i.e. Toddler Room) next door to her old room, and she gets to visit Adam in the "Baby Room" daily. Now comes the real mommy challenge for me...exactly how to get not one, but TWO kids dressed, fed, out the door and to school in time to start my day when I head back to work next week!

So This Is Why

Amidst my postpartum hormone crash, random nightwakings from our almost three-month old son, eating issues, gas issues, nighttime crying spells and refusal to be put down after falling asleep, I have started to wonder "Why on God's Green Earth did we decide to do this baby thing AGAIN?!?" I really think that some sort of amnesia falls over parents after their children become a little older, more manageable, more interactive, and more fun, and it makes you somehow forget all of the really miserable things about caring for a baby. This in turn leads you to think..."hey, the kid we have is fun...why not do it again?". And so we did. And here we are.
*Sigh*.
So, where were we. Ah yes, "why did we do this again?". The answer came to me this week in the form of my dear Emily. As I was having one of my crazy moments that I wasn't sure just how I was going to make it through the day, my darling daughter came up to me (out of the blue), put her little arms around me, put her little hands on either side of my face, looked into my eyes and said "I love you mama". Tears sprang to my eyes. I hugged her back, thanked God for my two beautiful children, whispered "I love you too, Emily", and recognized that THIS is exactly why I would do it all over again.