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Have I really been away from here for almost two months? Gracious!
I got super sick with something that sapped my energy totally dry. During the middle of all that, I caught the cold germ that Lizzie and Lee Lee had started, and then my sister, Rue Rue and Mickie came to visit for a week. So many auntie moments; so little time to record them all!
I can't believe that my sister is planning Lee Lee's first birthday party and that I have started birthday shopping! What do you get a child that doesn't need a thing? I have settled on finding her a baby doll. All the toys that she has were Lizzie's at one point, and Lizzie reminds everyone that they belong (as in present tense) to her. I want Lee Lee to have her own dolly to play with her big sister. Lee Lee has perfected crawling and has incredible speed! She's standing up on her own for several seconds at a time but she hasn't realized it yet. She's trying to sing now, too, and when I'm involved in pulpit duties at church, I can't look in her direction. She drones on and babbles when everyone is singing and she's silent when we are silent.
Mickie was able to keep right up with his cousin; he's cruising now too. He is simply too delicious! Being the only boy among the girls, he gets special attention; we just can't help it! His dad has nicknamed him "Hoover" because there isn't anything that he won't eat. If you've got food and he wants it, he will hunt you down and crawl all over you to get it! Watching him take a bite of my freeze pop, and the ensuing brain freeze, was very amusing!
Holly is growing like crazy too! She had her 4 month check up and shots yesterday and is now 24 inches long and 12 pounds. She is always beaming, that one. She is such a happy baby! She's very chatty, too. She's got great stories up her sleeve! She discovered her fists about a month ago and on Monday she discovered her toes.
The last night that Rue Rue and Mickie were here, Rue and I built a "tent" in my mother's living room. Mickie crawled over and promptly pulled the sheet down from the chairs. I had to laugh; I so remember their mother doing the exact same thing to Bella's dad and I when we were all younger! Rue thought that was a great story.
We had tornadoes go through Maine last week; damage was extensive around us but spared my family & their in-laws. Poor Lizzie was totally panicked and freaked by the vicious storms, and has been difficult with bedtime since. My sister's on her last nerve in that area!
And Bella... my sidekick. She's constantly begging to come over to my apartment. The past couple of months she's come over for a few hours all by herself. I even took her with me when I did my regular grocery shopping. Just today I had a break a promise with her; I told her I'd see her this afternoon, forgetting about an important doctor's appointment I had at the same time. When my SIL gave Bella the bad news, Bella promptly picked up the phone and called me (at 8 am; I am NOT a morning person!) to make sure that I was OK and was going to the doctor. I am also taking care of a rabbit for the animal shelter that has bad teeth, among other things, and made the mistake of telling my mother about the rabbit in Bella's hearing. For the past week, she's been telling everyone about the bunny being sick and not being able to eat because his teeth hurt and he needs to go see the dentist. That was taken care of yesterday, so when I told her this morning that bunny had gone to the dentist, Bella was reassured.
and my favorite Auntie moment of the recent past....
on Savvy Auntie's Day (which is not acknowledged by my family b/c I've not actually told them about it) Bella and Holly were at my mom's house, past their bedtime. I pulled out one of their books to read them their night-time story; Holly on one leg, Bella leaning on the other side of me. Holly stares hard at the pictures and follows my finger as I glide over the words so Bella can follow along. When the book ended and I said "the end", Holly turned to me, her face crumpling into a pout, and she began to cry. I opened the book back up, and she immediately settled down. I was unable to put that book down until my sister-in-law was ready to put the baby in the carseat!