What a Week!

Where to begin... 

How about Monday, when we finally got the key to our new house!

Later that day I got a text message from Miss Wendy telling me that Avery threw up at school. When I picked her up, she appeared to be fine and was not running a fever. She was smiling and in good spirits so Miss Wendy and I concluded it must have been something she ate and I put her in the car to head for our new house to unload the first round of boxes.

When we were almost there and on one of the busiest streets in Orange, she projectile vomited quesadilla all over my car.  And then again. And then again. And then coughed so that it sprayed up on the steering wheel and into my hair. And then started screaming.

Cut to Tuesday, when I stayed home with her to give her a day to recover. She seemed to be doing better until she woke up crying during her nap, and as I picked her up she puked all down the back of my hair, my shirt, my legs, and my feet. And the carpet. I stood there in total frozen horror in the doorway of her room until I decided what to do, which was to strip both of us naked and to put her into the tub where she could play while I cleaned the floor. Of course what that really boiled down to was her screaming in the tub and crying "I want my Daddy" while I scrubbed with my giant belly, on my hands and knees, covered in puke, so that we would be able to get back into her room to get her dressed.  

Wednesday I kept her home again, but she was better. I however, was not. By mid-afternoon I had a full-blown panic attack/meltdown over how many things are on my plate right now. Between moving and feeling physically incapable (which is stressful enough by itself), having a toddler with the stomach flu (which is stressful enough by itself), and a full-time job that I had missed for two days, which I can't really afford since I will shortly be going out for 10 weeks and I have a lot to get done before then (which is stressful enough by itself), I am also going to be giving birth in 2 weeks and will have a newborn to take care of. 

I was inconsolable.

But that evening Josh stayed with Avery so I got a break, and my mom met me at the new house to help me scrub the (unbelievably filthy) kitchen. Although we didn't get done, we made some good progress, and it was enough to lift my spirits, at least for now.

On top of everything we have going on, we have gotten very ambitious on getting the construction underway at the new house. (Yes, I think it is clear that we are completely insane). So although the house was "livable" when we bought it, it now looks more like this:

This is a lot for a child to comprehend, so naturally Avery isn't too thrilled about her "new room," which we keep promising her will soon be pink and pretty. 

I don't think she's too convinced.

I am excited to be able to post pictures as construction progresses.  In the meantime, we will be moving in this weekend and staying our first night on Sunday.  And camping out in the living room. And about 11 days later, we will have a baby camping out with us. 

It's going to be a wild ride!

Foiled Again

Scene from our house last night:

Avery tried to shut the cat out in the hallway and lightly pinched her fingers in our bedroom door. She started to whimper and cry.  She came over to me and I kissed her fingers while Josh tried to cheer her up.  

Josh: Avery, the door didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident.

Avery: What?

Josh: The door didn't mean to hurt your fingers. The door is saying "Sorry!"

Avery: (Stops crying). No Daddy. The door isn't saying "Sorry."  It can't talk. It doesn't have a mouth.

Another airtight argument from our 2 year old that left us speechless and hysterical. Man she is getting good at this.

Avery: 2. Mom and Dad: 0.

Preschool, Week 1

I was so pleased that Avery got glowing reports after her first day of school on Tuesday. She had eaten all the food that the school served (which I was anticipating she would not do and had packed her a backup lunch just in case), she had gone right down for a nap on her cot at naptime, and had slept the entire two hours.

Miss Wendy sent me this photo mid-morning of Avery and her classmate eating snack together:

She came home wearing a fruit loop necklace that she had made at craft time.  Miss Wendy said that all the other kids were eating their necklaces, but Avery had decided to keep hers intact because she wanted to "show Mommy." Awww!

On Wednesday, I encountered a much different scenario at pickup time. Avery was in tears when I got there, and was sitting on the lap of one of the teachers, who was reading her a story and trying to calm her. I immediately assumed she had gotten hurt.  She ran to me when she saw me and clung to me, crying even more.  I rapid-fired questions at her, such as "Are you hurt?" "What's wrong?" and "Show me where your boo-boo is."  She said she didn't have a boo-boo so it was confusing and unsettling. But based on what the teachers could gather, and what we were able to get out of Avery later in the evening ("I wanted Mommy"), we think that she saw the other parents picking up their kids and she didn't see me, and thought I wasn't coming back for her. So basically I felt like the worst mom ever, and bolted out of work early on Thursday to make sure she was amongst the first few kids to go home.

But she had done fine on Thursday, and on Friday I got this photo along with the following message from Miss Wendy: "Avery is so talkative and so smart!" 

Turns out Avery hadn't talked much all week. But on Friday she came out of her shell. Josh had an off site meeting and was able to pick her up early, and discovered when he arrived that Miss Wendy now knows all about Gammy's house, and our kitties at home.  So we were so glad to know that she is finally getting comfortable enough at school to start conversations.  When I told her tonight that we were going to school tomorrow, she lit up with excitement and asked about Miss Wendy. So it seems that finally we can breathe a little easier.

And on the topic of conversation, here are some other awesome conversations we have had with Avery this week:

(After hitting her head on the bathroom door and starting to cry)

Kristen: Here Avery, watch your Katy Perry video. That will make you feel better.

Avery: [stops crying and stares at me inquisitively] No Mom, Katy Perry won't make me feel better. She's not a doctor. She's a singer.

(Touche.  I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. Why yes, Avery, yes. Yes she is).

***********

(After telling Josh that he couldn't come in her room because it was not HIS room)

Josh: Avery, why are you being so mean?

Kristen: Avery, that's not nice. Why are you being so mean to daddy?

Avery: Because I'm being mean to him.

***********

(After Josh came in her room when she didn't want him in there)

Avery: Daddy, you need to give me dollars.

Josh: Why?

Avery: You need to give me four dollars to come in my room.

Josh: (laughs)

Kristen: She is totally your kid.

Josh: Well.... I kind of like her thinking.



***********

(Bursting into our room at 6:00 am on Saturday when we were sound asleep after discovering that she had two water-filled sippy cups on her nightstand, instead of just one like usual)
Avery: MOMMY! There are SIX waters in my room! Get them out!
Kristen: What honey? Six what? Waters?
Avery: YES. I have six waters in my room. Can you get them out?
Josh: Avery, there are two waters in your room. You are so dramatic.

First Day of School

We've all heard the stories... Kid starts school, parent drops kid off, kid cries and clings to parent, parent has to sneak away and cries in the car because they feel so guilty.

So is it a little weird that Avery didn't cry at all, didn't seem to even mind that I was leaving her with strangers, and I was the one who was trying not to cry and cling to HER?

We got off to a little bit of a rocky start... Avery is on week seven of mysterious runny nose and this morning was no exception, so my car is full of Kleenex and she looked like she was sick when I dropped her off, even though she's not. And of course on the way to school, she rubbed her eye and got sunscreen in it, so it was all red and puffy and looking like conjunctivitis by the time we arrived.  

I was so proud of myself for charging the camera battery and remembering to put the camera in my purse.   Would have been nice if I had also remembered the memory card. And my wallet. 

I'm a mess.

Thank God for cell phone cameras...

After Avery and I got a tour of her classroom (her group is the "Monkeys") and she joined the kids back out on the playground, she was still in the process of warming up but seemed to be settling in just fine with the other kids, and her new teacher, Miss Wendy.

I waved to her from the fence and walked back to the car. (Where I may have borrowed a little of her Kleenex).

End of an Era

Although I don't think Avery fully understands what is going on yet, she will be starting preschool full time tomorrow.  So it was time to say goodbye to our sweet Lizzy on Friday.  Lizzy has watched Avery since she was 10 weeks old. She sees her about 45 hours a week, so Lizzy has basically been her second mom.

Avery made this thank you apron as a present for her very special friend.

Although I will be seeing Lizzy again in January when Avery's baby brother starts daycare, I know Avery will certainly miss her. And I will miss picking Avery up at the end of each day with beautiful hairdos and trimmed nails.

It is definitely going to be different.

We love you Lizzy!