Single Mom for a Week

This picture shows why I'm missing Evan-- he's enjoying having three kids bounce all over him! He is definitely a keeper...

Evan is working on a job up near Mom and Dad's this week. I would normally let my daughter play hooky and we'd all go up with him, but this was the week for lots of doctor and dentist appointments, as well as Cheyenne's Special Day at school-- can't miss that! In some ways, I'm a far better housekeeper when Evan's gone. There's no backup plan-- if I don't keep it all together, no one else is there to step into the breach! Even though I am really doing about the same amount of cooking and cleaning as I would normally do, I feel much more tired out from it.

Rilla in her high chair.

Apparently, she's not in her high chair enough-- she had her 12-month checkup today and the doctor says she's not even on the growth charts now. I have to bring her back in a month to see how she's doing, feeding her lots of calories in the meantime. I do like the doctor, but it's extremely frustrating to have to go through this with my full-term baby. I thought Elliott was my only problem baby! I am completely unconcerned about Marilla-- she is active, alert and progressing just fine. Another mother with a tiny kid told me recently that the World Health Organization's growth chart (comprised of more breast-fed babies) was more realistic than the one most doctors use. I looked that up when I got home, and Marilla was almost in the 25% in that one. I think we'll ignore the other growth chart! While I obviously plan on feeding my child, I am NOT going to fall into the obsessing-over-every-calorie trap I fell into with Elliott. As far as I can see, my kids just grow slowly. As long as they are getting a fairly normal diet, I think they'll be fine.

Elliott's weight was a little more exciting today. While he's still nowhere near the growth charts, he was now 25 lbs! (With jeans and a full belly of Cream of Wheat, but, hey!) It has no significance, but 25 just sounds like a nice round number for a little boy.

He's not such a little boy anymore, though. Today, I had to say, "No, Elliott, you are not allowed to download computer games." They are getting computer literate earlier and earlier!

Cheyenne managed to find this game online, download it and install it.

Definitely need to password-protect our computer! She and Elliott are just enthralled with this game. It is possibly the most cringe-inducing game known to man-- I have always loathed Candyland, and this is Dora the Explorer Candyland. Not only do you have the soul-scorching monotony and idiocy of Candyland, you get to have Dora the Explorer's obnoxious little squeaky voice chirping at you the whole time! It does occupy the children for quite some time, however...

Thankfully, the computer time hasn't totally turned Cheyenne's brain to mush. This is her creation, who grows every day. Last week was her 100th Day of School Party. Cheyenne brought home the hat and sunglasses and taped them to the pig she had drawn in Wednesday night meeting! The next day, she made arms and legs for the pig. Then, to entertain him, she made a book (with pages!) and taped that in his arms so he could read. The latest installment is a battery pack taped to his back so he can talk! For the .00001 it cost for the tape and paper, she's certainly having fun!

Cheyenne continues to love school, though Monday was an awful day-- she had to Pull a Stick! All the kids have 5 popsicle sticks in a little pouch with their name on it, and if they misbehave, they have to pull a stick. That phrase has a HUGE weight to it. Alex's mom brought her home Monday, and Cheyenne didn't seem quite as bouncy as normal. When I asked her how school went, she said "I had to pull a stick." I said, "Are you telling a story, or did you really have to Pull a Stick?!" She buried her head in my skirt and started sobbing! Poor little kid was quite undone by it-- cried on the phone to Daddy about it. It sounds like she kicked a girl by accident during calendar time (when they all sit on the rug.) I don't think she meant to kick the girl, but she'd probably been told to sit still or something and she hadn't. Anyway, it was very heartening to see that this bothered her-- no hardened criminal here! She dreaded today, when she had to sit for five minutes of playtime (the consequence of stick-pulling!) but now that we have that behind us, we are resolved to NEVER have to pull a stick again!

Cheyenne has always embodied that little ditty, "There once was a girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad she was HORRID!" So it happened that on the day she descended to the depths and had to Pull a Stick, she also totally surprised me with her good behavior! Elliott dumped our whole huge tote of wooden blocks right after supper, so I told him he had to pick them up a little while later. I didn't even ask Cheyenne to help, because it really was all Elliott's mess. Without any prompting, Cheyenne started helping Elliott, encouraging him and saying, "It's okay, it will be quick and we'll have it all nice and clean!" This is the same child who lay down on the floor and HOWLED Saturday night because she had to pick up Little People! I'm hoping it means some of the hours we spend correcting her and trying to get her to do the right thing are actually paying off!

My little standing/walking girl. She has REALLY taken off with her walking the last three days. Now she'll venture off into open spaces, with nary a handhold in sight!

She really likes phones, and standing at Mommy's knee.

It's been unbearably cold the last several days. For once, though, the snow was low enough that Cheyenne could kick her feet and swing! After about five minutes, though, we needed to come in for some "chocolate tea."

And while Evan may be gone in body, he sure lives on in his son. Sitting in the La-Z-Boy, with a laptop computer... The nonchalance with which he sat there!