Lift!

Lee has had a really tough 4-5 last days, battling fevers and flu-like symptoms as well as being on 2nd call all weekend, and being called in almost the entire time. Boo. Through all of his crazy schedule and lack of sleep, illness and weightloss are inevitable consequences. Bless his heart, he can not get a break and we miss him dearly!!! Needless to say, he definitely needs a good "lift" and hopefully, Sullivan and I can raise his spirits later today and this week. Baked goods may be in order here.

Sullivan herself has also been working on her "lifts" lately, leg lifts I mean, as she has embarked on a rather prissy stage all of the sudden! She has taken to wearing a bucket as a purse, her bib as a necklace, donning stacking rings and baby rattles as bracelets, wearing real bracelets and hairbows as well as dancing. Below, she is bouncing and marching to her favorite "go" (i.e. "show") before bedtime and I think in an effort to "dance" does a little arabesque, or leg lift, off to the side. This makes me laugh every time! :) I really am enjoying these "little girl" things...I love to do her hair for example.

Craziness

For some reason in the last two weeks or so, I have had a few close calls with locking myself out of my car. UGH! How could I be so thoughtless, I think to myself! This is such a simple task, opening/closing a car. Well, this has been really frustrating, not to mention inconvenient and simply ridiculous on my part. I've just got to think more about this simple action of locking/unlocking my vehicle! So,let me retell my experiences: he first instance was last Thursday as I was hustling to campus #2 for class #2 in the rain and in a moment of flurry in trying to get the umbrella out of the backseat and not get wet, I mistakenly locked myself out of the car with the keys inside! There I was standing in the pouring rain as my purse (with keys and cell phone inside),umbrella, uneaten lunch, all teaching materials, etc., inside the window peering at me. Immediately I had a moment of panic. First, I ran inside to escape the rain and try to find a phone to call Lee. Then I realized that I hadn't committed to memory Lee's new work blackberry number and as he doesn't carry his cell phone anymore, I wasn't sure how I was going to contact him. With 45 minutes til class, I finally stumbled into a kind colleague who ingeniously suggested to call campus security to see if they could use their police tools and break in to my car. Boom-battah-bing, it worked! Alas, 10 min til class, disheveled, dripping wet and hungry, I shuffled to class just in time! Whew!
But wait, there's more!!! This morning after pulling up to Sullivan's daycare, I am trying to hastily, but effectively, brush her teeth while she is still in her carseat before I take her in to her classroom. Somehow, I close her door, try to open the front door and realize that I've locked her inside! AHHH! No! Not again, I say to myself! Swiftly, I run into the daycare center and encounter a kind granpa who is quickly helping me brainstorm who to contact at 7:25am to help me once again break into my own car. Meanwhile, Sullivan is sweetly handling her sweater and is happy as a clam. Then, as I am trying to collect myself, I put my hands in my pocket and POOF! There are my missing keys! WHAT? Am I losing my mind here?! I am done with all this car key drama. I don't like drama. I don't do drama. Ugh. Thankfully, Sullivan remained intact and happy through all of these instances, but man! I am wornout by this self-inflicted craziness.

Check up!

We had a thorough check up this Monday for Sullivan's 18 month marker. She very bravely endured multiple prods, pokes and 3 terrible shots. Ouch! She is lookin' good and healthy, although still a "small fry" in the 25% for height (30 in) and weight (22 lbs), but her head circumference is in the 64% which Lee feels good about. She has a continuous and normal growth pattern, so Dr. Clark assured me all is well and not to worry about her size/height. We've recently tried Triple Paste Ointment to deal with our raging diaper rash and it seems to be worth its pricey price. We'll see...Her recent rashes have been so bad that she was bleeding in areas and her wince and wail as I changed her was tortuous for both of us! Ah!
We saw a new doctor this go around and she asked some poignant parenting questions for me like...
-How are you discipling Sullivan?
-Are you brushing her teeth? How is that working out?
-Is she showing signs for potty-training readiness?

Gulp. Our baby is no longer a baby! I feel like kindergarten is around the corner!

The Big Easy!

That's right! We traveled down to New Orleans last weekend for my mom's side of the family reunion. It was truly a great time to see all 60+ Rousseau family members that have descended down from my grandparents, Marcelin and Bernadette, or as I knew them, "Maw Maw and Paw Paw." From their five children, of which my mother is the 5th, there came 15 grandchildren of which I am the youngest. Then from us 15 have come more than 20 children thus far, as we are still counting! Hailing from Louisiana, Texas, California, Maryland, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, we're all very spread out and only see one another every 5-10 years it seems. Hopefully, this can become a nice tradition.
My dear parents made the trip possible for Sullivan, Lee and I and we had a relatively easy flight there and back all slept well at our fabulous Hampton Inn on St. Charles Avenue. We got to enjoy riding the streetcar, eating at Emeril's Delmonico restaurant, playing at Aunt Junie's house, visiting at our family dinner at Loyola University, exploring StoryBook Land and City Park as well as cozying up with family at the hotel. A fantastic weekend! Thank you, Gigi and Waylo!