We survived night one. Little sister slept beautifully all night. Big sister, not so much. We were up two or three times last night, but she slept in the big bed very well. Every time she was up it was just for some comfort. Sleeping alone doesn't seem to be what she is used to. She may have also been uncomfortable because her wound opened up a bit last night as well.
Last night I showed Big Sister that we had clothes for her and her sister, and she said that little sister's outfit was "beautiful"so this morning while they were all sleeping I left Squirrel and the kids and got a matching outfit, scripts filled, bath supplies, and the promised strawberries. Oh, did I mention that we
have had bugs? So, I went with the whole folder of kid info and then only went into the store with the Medi cards. Little did I know that you have to know your kids' birthdays to fill a script so out to the car I go to get the rest of the folder. The pharmacy tech was great and she pushed my script forward before the others so I was home before anyone was up. The RID was also available over the counter, but since we had a script it was covered and cost us nothing. Now I understand why CPS had us take both girls to the ER. The tech also suggested Miracle Whip, so later this week we may be outside with Mayonnaise heads.
The kids also got some new favorite toys today... our fantastic neighbors across the street put a little package in the door and the Sesame Street characters are a hit! They also put in there some new bottles, but we managed to hide those and have been successful with sippy cups.
We have been struggling all day on being kind and calm with the dogs. Poor things have been trying to hide all day. The cats have been in hiding. It has been a chuckle though having two toddlers try to say "Percy". The "er" sounds like a "u" and then you have two kids saying Pussy. I joked with Squirrel a few weeks ago that this was going to happen. We may have to start putting the dogs outside during meals, it seems mean to them, but we have to find a solution to the distraction.
The classic easy kid meals were served today... cheerios, hot dogs & mac, pizza & green beans. We just needed to find foods they would eat. Little sister downed the dogs... now we just need to get big sister to eat something other than fruit. I think we are throwing half the fruit out though as she is big enough to open the refrigerator and is fascinated by the trash can. We also need to create a kid proof solution to the refrigerator. Even the little one can get in.
This morning we did our RID treatment. Little sister did much better than big, but as the day went on I was able to continue combing big's hair so we are almost to where she doesn't look like a wild animal.
Speaking of a wild animal, they no longer smell like wild animals either! After lunch I took little upstairs and ran a bubble bath. She is so easy to convince to try something without her sister. Big sister came up to investigate and I ended up forcing her in the tub. After a few minutes she was convinced it was a good thing and we no longer have a house that smells like pee... at least for now. Maybe tomorrow my car won't smell like pee either. It really isn't a good thing associating your kids with the pungent smell of old pee. Have you ever seen the "I smell like beef" clip on Youtube?
The Beef Video This would be appropriate for our girls, but substitute Pee instead of Beef. Now that we have conquered the bath we really need to work on the potty training.
We were tired of being trapped in the house all day so we went for a walk in the rain to the little library down the street. These two love books. We did however have a major issue before our walk. Since we only had 1 shoe come with them our neighbors down the street gave us a pair. Big sister went to try them on and they were just too small. I was outside arranging the stroller for little and Squirrel was inside seeing this kid flip out. Big sister thought that since the shoes didn't fit that we were going to take little sister away and leave her home alone. I'm so grateful that these kids are verbal and can share this with us because we would have never been able to guess this. We were able to assure her that she was going with our without shoes and that we wouldn't take her away from little sister. Little sister then proudly sat down and stole the shoes. We are so lucky that a great friend and co-worker gave us her high-chair and stroller. They work perfectly.
Car rides are a blessing to all of us. They were the quietest part of the day. We bought a gently used seat for big sister and they both slept for most of the ride to pick it up. I am driving really slow and we enjoy the reprieve from the constant need for noise and movement. The car is also where they love to sing.
Daniel Tiger is a favorite show and we watched the one about school and the doctor today. Hopefully we can arrange "school" in the next week. Both of us can take the time off of work, but we really feel that the longer we stay home with them the more difficult it will be for them to have use not with them at all times. That is the biggest challenge... they need constant reassurance that you are there.
Tonight we went upstairs earlier than yesterday and we tried to brush our teeth (complete failure). The tooth brushes are still on the counter though. It may be like yesterday's sandwiches where they try it when we aren't looking. Books are a hit and we did some bedtime reading, lots of reading. Little sister insisted I put a book in her bed. We managed to end the reading at 9:00 and then by 9:40 the screaming is done. Unfortunately during the after reading, before sleeping time we discovered how little sister is an acrobat in climbing out of her crib and big sister scratched her wound open again so tomorrow will be a morning mess. She almost let me see it, but she wouldn't let me put any cream on it. You would think I could put a bit of antibiotic on a 3 year old without issue, but this one twists and contorts in such a manner that I am afraid that trying to hold her she will throw herself and end up even more injured.
Heartbreaking moment for the night was when Squirrel heard big sister tell little to come to her... she needed her, and she need her to say she loved her. Then little sister told big that she wanted to go buh-bye. They know they need to be here and this is their home right now, but they know they have another home.
Speaking of injuries... little sister discovered what wood floors and socks are like together. We are going to have to start being a bare feet or shoes house... no sock feet allowed. Also did our first time out when big sister insisted on standing on top of a book pile after a warning. These two are really into testing boundaries. The book pile was because they are good helpers in picking up toys, but the books get picked up and put in a pile. We will be pulling some of those books out and start a weekly rotation.
We are really lucky with these two. Yes, we think that big sister should be potty trained, but there was no running water at their home. These two chatter boxes seem to be otherwise developmentally on. We sing, talk, mimic, have excellent motor skills, problem solve, so we are doing very well.
If you are curious... we still got our runs in tonight. After dinner and before reading time we took turns and did a quick mile. The run streak lives on.
