I've been remiss

Obviously it has been a ton of time since my last post and I can't possibly update all that I have missed, but I will put several pictures up to document the time a growth. That last semester was probably the most challenging one I have ever experienced in terms of balance. It was definitely a great learning experience figuring out how to give time to everything that needed attention. Brett was gone 5-6 days a week often from early morning until late evening because of track season, and I was taking a graduate course as I am still working toward my MA in English. (I took the fall semester off so that I could ease into the balance of working and making sure I had enough time with Phoebe--although I don't know that any amount of time is ever 'enough.') Of course some things suffered--I taught well overall, but I definitely was not as focused on my teaching as I normally would be. Most important to me was that I didn't lose much more time than I already lost by working full time with Phoebe, so I did my homework during nap times on weekends and after she went to bed at night and I tried to do most of my grading during my plan periods although I still had a good bit to get done at home. So Phoebe got the bulk of my time--as it should be, and the other two things suffered a bit, but it all went well in the end. The thing that suffered the absolute most was my house--I have never lived in such unapologetic filth as I have in the past 6 months. I have never been neat--things have always cluttered and been unorganized, but I have always cleaned the bathroom once each week and did general cleaning as needed, but this has not been the case in the recent past. I guess you can't do it all--but I think I need to find a slightly better balance there. I guess maybe this year will be better (I hope) because Phoebe is more able to occupy herself with play, so we can be in the same room and I can clean and talk to her while she does something else--or maybe she will even want to at least play like she is cleaning something and wipe things off with a damp cloth, we'll see. I'm certainly not a proponent of child labor and am in no way suggesting that her chores should begin, but perhaps I will be more diligent about getting things done in that manner and she will learn some lessons about cleanliness--we'll see. Speaking of her being more self-occupied, she has grown an incredible amount mentally in the past month or so. She is very verbal and generally quite decisive. We had an entire telephone conversation today, in fact. I left for class before she woke up from her nap, so I called to talk to her before going into class. She said "Hi, Mommy." and then proceeded to tell me that she slept well and had sweet dreams and that Grandma and Papa Shobe were coming over (which they were to eat some leftovers and gather up their belongings that we borrowed for Phoebe's birthday party). How fun is that? A whole conversation! She amazes me everyday and I know it is going to be just as hard to go back to school in August as it was last year.

Don't bother me; I'm creating!









That sure is a big footprint!









I'm the mommy now; I'm even wearing her shoes!








Don't worry Daddy, I've got you.

Easter Sunday

I know she is supposed to wear white shoes, but I didn't have them and didn't think about it before Easter--oh well. While I helped with the dye, the artistic touches with the marker on the Easter eggs were all Phoebe.

her own reading chair

wearing her favorite accessory













sitting in her favorite place













--just because he could.

a few extras

Cosmopolitan Phoebe






Indiscreet Phoebe










Resigned Phoebe

















Gluttonous Phoebe

more snow

Snow Day

Phoebe got to miss school for two days this past week because of snow and Grandma and Grandpa Shobe got the girls sleds--so we had fun in the backyard! Henry loved it and Grandma made snow angels!

Poetry

I have been meaning to post my two favorite poems on children and parenting which I came across as an undergrad several years ago:

My Son My Executioner

My son my executioner,
I take you in my arms,
Quiet and small and just astir,
An whom my body warms.

Sweet death, small son, our instrument
of immortality,
Your cries and hungers document
Our bodily decay.

We twenty-five and twenty-two,
Who seemed to live forever,
Observe enduring life in you
And start to die together.

by Donald Hall (published in To Read a Poem)

On Children

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's
longing for itself.
They come through you but not from
you,
And though they are with you yet they
belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not
your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not
their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of to-
morrow, which you cannot visit, not even
in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek
not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries
with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your chil-
dren as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path
of the infinite, and He bends you with His
might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand
be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

by Kahlil Gibran (excerpted from The Prophet)

Our Henry Scare

We had a brief scary episode where we thought Henry was not going to see his third birthday. About two weeks ago Henry, being as talented as he is and as controlled by his nose as he is, unzipped Brett's book bag and found a small zip lock bag with ibuprofen in it which he proceeded to eat. He didn't eat the whole bag; in fact, we had no idea how many he ate. There were still a lot there when we found it. However, Ibuprofen is apparently extremely toxic and we didn't get Henry to the doctor right away--we should have been more proactive, and we were definitely remiss in our parenting here--so he became very sick. He was unable to eat; he was drinking and urinating excessively, and his legs began to shake. So we took him to the vet and ended up having to take him to the emergency vet where they pumped him with iv fluids continuously overnight. Then in the morning, he transferred back to the regular vet where he stayed on the iv for a day and a half longer. So he went in on Tuesday and came home Thursday night. Luckily, that flushing of his system saved him. They don't think that he suffered any lasting damage to his system. He is doing well and we learned several potent lessons:
1. don't keep ibuprofen in baggies even if it is in a zipped bag.
2. as soon as we suspect Henry has gotten into something dangerous, induce vomiting with a mixture of peroxide and water
3. ibuprofen is toxic to animals
4. the sooner you seek treatment, the more likely everything will be fine, and the less it will cost in the long run
5. Don't think the dog just needs a day to work it out of his system.
And there are probably a few other things we learned along the way, too. The one positive consequence is that if we are going to make parenting mistakes it is better that it is with our dog than with our daughter. But that isn't really a silver-lining kind of positive consequence--it is just slightly better than the alternative. Needless to say it was a tense week and
we are glad to be beyond it.

Phoebe, on the other hand, is doing great. She had a cold, again, this past week, but she remained in good spirits and it didn't become anything more than a cold. She is talking like crazy and even stringing words together to create little phrases. She is finally happy in her new room at daycare. Just before Christmas break, she transitioned to a new room because she was ready to move up with her age group, but she does not adjust to change well. And of course staying home for almost three weeks over the holidays did not help her with the adjustment. So this past week she finally felt fully acclimated to her surroundings and was ready to take her coat off and stay a while.

Phoebe's most recent pictures eating breakfast and playing at Jungle Gym.

here's the last of our Christmas vacation pictures--Brookfield Zoo was cold but fun. Phoebe loved her Christmas Eve presents.

peek-a-boo! These book shelves are perfect toddler-size.

Sydney and Phoebe share a kiss.

Phoebe had a great time at the Museum of Science and Industry

It's been a while

We had a wonderful Christmas break which has been over for a while now, and we are very busy, but life with Phoebe is great!  We did not go anywhere special on vacation, but we did try to take Phoebe on several outings.  We went to the zoo to see the lights and the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Christmas tree display and Shedd Aquarium.  Phoebe was healthy which was so nice to see because she hadn't been for a long time.  She just kept getting one illness after another, but a few days into break, she got better and stayed better the whole time.  Unfortunately, she went back to school on January 8 and is sick again--coughing and runny nose.  She has an insane number of teeth coming in as well.  First she didn't have any, now she is getting them all.  She's a trooper.  Despite all of her illnesses and growing pains, she has a great personality and is learning new stuff every day.  She is more and more fun to watch--she is becoming a little bossy, actually. She spent last evening taking my hand and leading me to what she wanted to do and telling me what to do. She would grab my hand and say "walk." Then we would walk to wherever she wanted to go and then she would say what she wanted to do--mostly either "dance," "book," or "tent." Her cousin Sydney seems to be the first thing on her mind for much of the day.  She'll see something in the house and say "it's Sydney's"  or she'll ask "where's Sydney?"  I'll post the rest of the new pictures as soon as I get a chance--I started a grad class last week, so now I will have even less time!  But I will try because it is important to me to document her development.  I wish I had more time to think about what I am writing, however, because it isn't very interesting to read a list of events.  I would like to post in a more narrative form, but for that I would need more time.  "had we but world enough, and time..."  **sigh**

Santa Breakfast

Phoebe all dressed up and ready to see Santa!

Putting on a happy face

She was still sick here, but she remained in good spirits and had a great time exploring the house in Daddy's shoes.

Sick Phoebe

Phoebe had a fever for a week starting the Monday after Thanksgiving. This is how she looked everyday. Henry loved it because there was a lot of cuddling and lying around. But poor little Phoebe was not herself at all. She was so sad and sick. She started off with some crusty stuff in her eyes and the whites were slightly discolored. That was apparently some sort of virus which led to a double ear infection and a very sore throat with big red bumps. She took antibiotics for the ear infection, but nothing could help her throat except time. She couldn't eat very well because of all of the pain. It was the saddest thing to watch. I'm sure I seemed like a lunatic, but I called the doctor every day because I didn't know how long she was supposed to have a fever or not eat, etc. She got better, but not completely. She didn't start feeling totally better until after she was home for a few days during Christmas break because although the sore throat and ear infection eventually went away, she had this lingering cough and congestion that it turns out was a sinus infection. We went to the doctor for that on Dec. 20 and she got another antibiotic, and it seemed to clear up within a few days. Now, however, she seems like she is getting another cold--so she had about a week illness-free.