Babysitting Brig, Sick Lila

After my midwife appointment, I took Lila to the Oshtemo library.  We happened to drop in while they were having story time, so we did that and then Lila got to pick out some books and play with the toys there.  She liked sitting at the little kid tables too.

After her nap, we sat in the living room for a few hours.  She played on her own (mostly with my iPhone, which is her new favorite toy--she calls it "Mommy Phoney") while I read blogs.  For dinner we went to Panera.  I had a lame salad and she had mac & cheese.  It's fun eating out just the two of us, except for when she climbs all over the place and wants to run around.  We then went to the mall.  I had a $10 off coupon for JC Penney (I bought her holiday dress that I may end up returning) and a $15 off coupon for Express (I bought Emily a t-shirt for $5 for Christmas).  Lila got to walk around, which she loves.  She also pooped twice, of course.  The last time we right before we were going to leave, and it leaked through the diaper onto her pants.  Yum.

Came home, got in our jammies, half-watched The Office while we Skyped with Jake.  Jake was out walking the strip with Jen; they stopped at a magic store to buy presents for her sons.  After Lila went to bed, I stayed up for an hour and talked to Jake a bit more.  I started crying because I missed him, was really tired, and was jealous that he got to be out "partying" late in a new city while I had to stay at home. Poor me, I know.  I love being a mom, but sometimes I get jealous of Jake's freedom.

Friday we laid low.  In the afternoon Lila and I got some paint samples--one for her room and one for Jared's.  Up until this week, I was planning on putting Lila in what used to be the office and putting Jared in her room, just so that he would be closer.  But Lila has adjusted to her room and likes it there, so now I think we're going to keep her in there.  It's not like Jared's room will be much longer of a walk... it's like 5 feet further down the hall.  And then we went to Target, where she did not poop for once.  :) I was proud.    I bought a Halloween costume for her for next year on clearance (a little Eskimo girl... like her mother).

She fell asleep on the way home, which was good because she had only napped for a half hour that day.  Jake got home shortly after that, and we were so happy to see him. :)  Lila was pretty hyper for the rest of the evening, planing with Daddy.  We had a quick dinner and then went back to Lowe's to buy a gallon of paint for her room.  We planned on painting her room on Saturday.... but that didn't happen because we ended up watching Brig all day.

Kasey Hunt dropped him off at 8am and off we went.  Lila woke up with a fever; she'd caught Brig's cold earlier in the week.  Bummer!  Brig has had a cold for some time and has a cough still.  But she had a lot of fun playing with Brig.  Jake took them outside for a while to enjoy the nice fall weather we had this weekend.  Aunt Gina came by for a while and so did her cousin's wife Linda.  Linda is married to Greg Krause, son of Auntie Sis (my grandma's sister, so my mom's aunt) and Uncle Floyd.  Uncle Floyd just passed away a few weeks ago, he was 91 years old.  Greg lives in Mattawan, not too far from us.  He's best friends with our realtor, Rich Kurth.  Small world.  Anyway, Linda wanted a copy of the Trotter Family Cook Book because the Krauses wanted to do something similar.  So we visited for a while and it was nice.

Lila took a 3 hour nap that afternoon, which is almost unheard of 'round these parts.  I'm so glad she was able to get good sleep.  Brig took a good nap too.  Jake got his hair cut.  When the kids got up, we picked up a trailer from Brother Austed and headed to Battle Creek to buy a snow blower from an old man in the Battle Creek ward.  That took a little while to sort out and the kids had fun running around in the yard.  They were really good in the car for us.  We had dinner at Culver's before Derek came to pick Brig up.  Brig is the easiest kid in the world to watch.  He has absolutely zero separation anxiety issues, and the only time he cried was when he and Lila fell off a cardboard box they were climbing on.  He's very sweet and listens for the most part.  Easy, easy.  He's 3 months older than Lila, though, and doesn't really talk.  So it was interesting trying to manage/"parent" a toddler who doesn't talk.  Lila's a blabbermouth and gives a running commentary on just about everything we do.

So, we didn't get to paint Lila's room and I'm pretty bummed about that.  In the next few weeks, we'll have to drop Lila off at Alicia's one evening or one Saturday so that we can do it.  It should only take a few hours.  We have to paint Jared's room too.  We also wanted to go to Meijer and Sam's on Saturday, but didn't get to do those things either.

Lila slept pretty poorly last night.  Woke up with a fever and coughing.  The cold is in her chest, she has a tight/unproductive cough right now.  Poor girl.  She was in bed at 9:30 and up at 6:30 or so, but because of the time change it was 5:30.  Jake stayed up with her for an hour and a half, and then he went back to bed till 10:00 while I played with her.  I never understand how he's the one that gets to sleep in all the time! And how he gets all the back rubs around here.  And how he usually manages to fall asleep laying on the living room floor while we're playing as a family.  :)  That guy.

It was a long day.  We didn't go to church because of our sickie.  She took a regular 90 minute nap.  Acted pretty normal, for the most part, but was pretty cranky/sick after her nap.  We took another long car ride to return the trailer and then buy a saw from Craigslist.  Lila did great in the car again.  Played with my iPhone for the last part of the ride, but then told us she was tired and wanted me to hold the phone.  I told her to close her eyes and take a nap, so she closed her eyes but never actually fell asleep.  It's funny; sometimes it's like she needs to be given permission to take a nap in the car.

Came home and by 4:30 it seemed like she was ready for bed.  Darn time change.  But after dinner she got a second wind and stayed up till 9.  The time change is pretty great though, because she had been going to bed at 10 or sometimes later.  9:00 is more manageable for sure!

I'm happy to have Jake home.  So happy.  I just don't like being without him.  It was a long week and I was pretty lonely, even though I made sure to see people and get out every day.  Makes me grateful for all that he does for us when he's home with us.

I adore Lila.  She is so sweet and so good.  I've really enjoyed spending time with her lately.  She's growing up.  She's become a little more active these past few weeks... likes to run and gallop and hop around the house and to play games.  Her favorite is playing "where'd Lila go?" as she hides in the closet and then peeks out over and over... or "where'd hand go?" or "where'd shoes go?" or "where'd mama go?" as she covers them/me with a blanket.  She calls herself Yaya or Yiya.  She's pretty sick tonight, losing her voice, but still as chatty as ever.  I wish I could just videotape everything she does and says.  She is so smart.  Obsessed with computers and iPhones.  "I want Daddy com-pooh-ter."  "I want yopen it."  One of my favorite things she says is "don-d'oh" for downstairs.  She has a huge sweet tooth and likes to ask for "canny" (candy).  When it's time for me to test my blood sugar, she says, "Mommy poke ee-self."  Because I tell her that I have to poke myself.  She scrunches up her face and says, "Owie.  Bwood."  And her newest thing is to make a big deal about stinky diapers.  Every diaper change, not just poopy ones, she'll go on and on about her "stinky diaper" and she'll say things like blech, P.U., stinky!, plecha.  She now throws diapers and wrappers and trash in the garbage can when I ask her to, and sometimes knows to do it on her own.  When she's done eating something with a wrapper, she'll say, "I throw it away."  She's just learning and growing so much every day.  Getting taller and skinnier (still has a little baby chub though).  Looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby. She sure loves me, that kid.  "I want Mommy.  Where'd Mommy go?  Mommy holdy!  Mommy coming?"  She says "I yuv ooh Mommy."  She loves Daddy too though.  They have so much fun playing together.