Happy birthday, Rory! She turned two in style, visiting Aunt Toni on the farm, seeing cows and horses, eating her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and having cake with friends and family.
Rory received some great gifts: books, stickers, inflatable spiders (see next paragraph for explanation), and a Radio Flyer trike from Great Grandma Del. She is a lucky girl to have so many people love her!
A huge shout out to Cousin Del for throwing a fabulous bash! The spider decorations put Rory in a HOME (pictures at: homepage.mac.com/lauramuck), and Del's lunch of homemade pulled pork and fresh corn salad was outstandingly delicious - we were practically fighting over it. Many thanks also to Aunt Toni and Lou for sharing their abode with us, for tasty potato salad, and for tolerating the addition of many sweaty bodies to an already-steamy household. And for the wine - that always helps!
We can't believe Rory is already two. She is such a great kid, and is so fun to be with. We are lucky parents!!
At 12:38 on Wednesday, 18 July, Donna and Kurt Baumann had a baby boy! Grayson Alexander Baumann weighed in at 7 lbs, 8 ozs, and was 20 1/4 inches long. Baby and mom are doing great, and so is dad! =) Congratulations!
Do I start every one of these age-related posts with "already!?" Well, it's true. Time is flying. Fiona is five months old, and Rory is 13 days from being two! We gauge our own rapid aging via theirs. How frightening!
So Miss F is five months old. To celebrate, I drove the girls into D.C. to visit my lifelong friend, Ted. Rory and Ted had a ball, and Fiona enjoyed herself, too. Rory rode on the carousel in front of the Smithsonian castle, and Fiona watched. Rory ran around the Mall like a lunatic, and Fiona watched. Rory ate spaghetti and meatballs with Ted and his friend, Steve, and Fiona watched. =>
Fiona is very chatty now, and loves gnawing on her fists. She spends quality time in the exersaucer (aka, "the circle of power") every day, and loves playing with toys. She now sleeps at night unswaddled, and is on the cusp of starting on solid food. Maybe when we're in Connecticut for Rory's second birthday! That would be exciting. Maybe for her. For me, it will be messy! =>
Well, I did it. I bought a minivan. I am now the quasi-proud owner of a Honda Odyssey EX-L, in Nimbus Gray Metallic, and with leather seats, a sunroof, a 6-disc CD changer (all for mom), and various other amenities that I don't realize it has. =>
So far, it has been fabulous. Makes life one heck of a lot easier, that's for sure!
I'd also like to point out that I bought it on 7/11 (which is funny in and of itself), which coincided with the release of the fifth Harry Potter movie. That combined with the car's color (Nimbus) means I have to name the car something Hogwarts-related. I am now taking suggestions!
We went to the Leesburg parade this morning, which was quite a small-town spectacle. It included two fife and drum corps (which I love), rescued greyhounds, Bolivian dancers, a variety of small-town politicians, WWII veterans, motorcycles, firetrucks, and a camel. Yes, a camel. The camel-herder brought a big pooper-scooper. The two kids walking the sheep didn't, and used a plastic bag to make up for it. Nice!
Rory was mostly interested in the camel and the greyhounds. Otherwise, she was happiest looking at the fishes in the brook, and running around in the mini park in which we were situated. Fiona seemed to enjoy her first July 4.
We tried to take the kids to the local farm park (Frying Pan Park) just now (5:00 pm), but came home when we heard that we are under a tornado WARNING. Now a watch, a warning. Eeeeep!
We're ready to hide in the bathroom if we need to. The worst of it appears to be south of us, thankfully. More later!!
This afternoon, the underside of Fiona's tongue - also called the frenulum - was clipped to improve her tongue's range of motion. She handled it like a champ; she seemed more irritated by the application of anesthetic than she did the actual clipping. I thought it was going to be much worse, and was fearful that Fiona would cry a lot - not to mention bleed. But neither thing happened. Here is how it went down.
The ENT used long Q-tips to apply several rounds of anesthetic on either side of her frenulum. I held Fiona in my arms, with her head kind of trapped between my upper arms. She was already tired, so the jamming of swabs into her mouth was displeasing to her. => She was crying a lot at this point. Then the doctor got out a pair of small scissors, which is when I closed my eyes. No need for me to witness THAT. A second later, Fiona's tongue was clipped, she was asleep, and we were on our way home.
She has cried a bit tonight, but nothing too terrible. And I can already see an improvement in her tongue's range of motion. I was changing her, and I saw the tip of her tongue shoot out a few times, something I had not seen her do before.
Following is some more information on being "tongue tied." Just ignore the comment about the mother having done cocaine. It isn't true! Hah! =>
http://www.healthbanks.com/PatientPortal/Public/ArticlePromoted.aspx?ArticleID=HW5hw183100
Strange name for a post!
At Fiona's 4-month appointment, I told the doctor that she "sucks weirdly" on her bottle, often letting in tons of air at the sides. The doctor checked out her mouth, and declared her "tongue tied," meaning that the membrane under her tongue goes too far to the end of her tongue. Tomorrow, I am taking her to an ENT for an official look-see, and if they say it needs to be cut, it will be cut.
I hate the thought of inflicting pain on her sweet self, but the doctor says being tongue-tied can lead to speech delays, which would be a way worse thing to deal with, I believe. I hope it doesn't hurt her too much. I don't know if they numb it first, but I do know she doesn't have to be put under, and it can be done in the doctor's office.
I am glad to have Wednesday off, so I can be with her all day. Poor little minky!
Happy birthday, Rory! She turned two in style, visiting Aunt Toni on the farm, seeing cows and horses, eating her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and having cake with friends and family.
