We're Keeping an Eye on Them

Well, Margaret has pink eye. She was home Monday with her cold, went to school Tuesday, came home with watery, gooey eyes and I said, "You've got pink eye." I called the doctor's office and they phoned in a prescription. Put the drops in last night and they went crimson. She woke up this morning with more goo; she has to stay home 24 hours on the antibiotic drops before returning to school, so she'll go back tomorrow. I just have to keep her away from the baby and insist on her hand washing and using Purell hand sanitizer all the time. She's actually very conscientious and good about it, but this is contagious. I'm hoping we all don't come down with it. Jack said his eyes were funny this morning and he said Patricia said her eyes felt funny. That's all we need.

Brigid woke up this morning about 6 a.m. after crying out about 4:30. I brought her into bed and she fell asleep nursing, and her breathing was congested. She slept on and off until just after 8 so I got up with her and Daddy was able to get a little more sleep. He has a late night tonight and is exhaused. I hope to do the same thing tomorrow morning. Once up, Brigid was in a good mood and ate a good breakfast of cream of wheat, some toast and a few pieces of peach. Last night, the girls and I went to the Homestead and Brigid stuffed her face with both fists! She had a scrambled egg and cottage cheese and just stuffed and stuffed. She was starved! It wasn't until she neared the end of her egg that she slowed down. Some of the pieces went overboard and I knew she was at her limit, but then she'd open her mouth for more cottage cheese. A little bit of Margaret's lemon meringue pie and some whipped cream also coaxed her to open her mouth.

Brigid is close, SO SO CLOSE to taking those real steps. She's taken one, two here and there, going from one piece of sturdy furniture or a leg to another. She's close. She grabs the gate and looks through it as if to say, "Get me out. Get me out, I tell ya." She can walk very well holding on to only one of your hands, so it's only a matter of time. But she also crawls very, very well and very, very quickly.

Her kisses are so cute. She's now giving kisses all the time, with her little face-to-yours then smacking sounds after pulling away thing. It's adorable. So far, she's also vocalizing her acknowledgment of Daddy with her Dadah's at appropriate times. She has said a few mum mums but I don't think they're directed at me yet.

Her DAH Dohs have increased, however. She says it all the time with this very cute sing-song sound ... DAH doh, DAH doh, DAH doh. She also says UH oh all the time, too. She'll drop something and say UH oh. She'll repeat it back to you if you say it, too.

Another thing she's started doing is blowing breaths out, like she's blowing out candles. When she's outside and the wind blows in her face, she'll do it. She'll also do it if you blow on her hair or she sees or hears you blowing. It's very faint, and she concentrates on it, but she does blow. It's so cute. We like having a trained monkey who will perform tricks on cue.

Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking

Well, our Baby Brigid has her first facial bruise as a result of a fall. Yesterday she was cruising the furniture and her reach fell short, causing her to fall face-first into a small table in the living room. I saw it happen; I was just too slow to grab her as she was going down. She didn't cry very long, but the crying she did do was genuine. She has a small round bruise the size of a pencil eraser on her right cheek. The first of many, I am sure, as she feels her way to bi-ped navigation. The fall only compounded her woes, however; she has been congested and bleary-eyed for the last couple of days. The fever she was experiencing has waned but its been replaced by a cold. She was a real cranky crank last night at Granddad's birthday dinner at their home. She started out strong, eating as she sat in her new portable high chair (we got this cool baby seat that attaches to the table). But soon she started screaming and crying. She didn't know what she wanted until the ice cream came out. Then she certainly knew what she wanted, at least for a few minutes. After we got home, she just wanted to nurse and fall asleep, but it was so early -- only around 7 p.m. -- and I knew if she fell asleep she'd be up only a few hours later. I was able to wake her with a bath and then she didn't want to go back to sleep. took until 10 p.m. for her to really fall asleep. When she's not feeling well, her whole schedule is thrown off. She joins big sister, Margaret, who is also experiencing cold symptoms and is home from school today with a low-grade fever and overall congestion. Her first day home since starting in middle school. She didn't want to stay home; Margaret is enjoying her first year at Stafford. So she really isn't feeling well.

Brigid has started giving real kisses -- or at least as real as a 10-month-old can give. She puts her mouth on yours then pulls away and makes smacking sounds with her lips. It's adorable and she was doing it over and over again to me this morning. She seems very proud of her accomplishment. She has also started waving not just bye-bye but she'll wave at people, and her own reflection and photos. She waved at some kid in Wal-Mart the other day and at first I thought it was a fluke, but then she waved at other people and then at her reflection when I said, "Say hi to Brigid." She waved and laughed.

This morning, she woke in good spirits and didn't seem to be congested, at least not to the extent she was last night. We'll see how well she holds up throughout the day.

On Her Mark, Get Set, Go!

Well, our Baby B had a slight fever last night and spent most of yesterday in an unusual state of crankiness alternating with the need to be on the floor to move around. She'd cry and jack knife herself out of your arms in order to get down; then, once down would crawl around to play, pull herself up and practice standing, cruising and occasionally letting go to take a tentative step unassisted. Then she'd break down and cry as if it wasn't her idea to be there. You'd pick her up and she'd start all over again. Last night, she took a late nap after the girls' jazz class, which may have affected her ability to go to sleep at her usual 8:45 p.m. bedtime. But even so, she was inconsolable most of the evening, crying and screaming out. She'd then want to nurse, but only briefly. She'd cry again, root around, nurse, rip her head away, cry and so on. I gave her some Advil and also gave her a few homeopathic teething tablets, thinking maybe it is her teeth afterall. She finally fell asleep about 9:30 p.m. and I got in her in the crib, only to wake up and want to get out of the crib. I spent the next half hour trying to get her to settle down. I didn't take her out of the crib, but rather stood there, then knelt there, rubbing her tummy, humming to her, vibrating her tummy. She would drift off, then jerk upright to a sit. Then she'd plunk back down again. Finally, about 10 p.m. she drifted off for the night, or at least most of the night. She had several occasions of wakefulness, but we didn't go to her because she only had a slight fever at bedtime. I finally brought her in with us about 5:30, which is really only an hour earlier than she's used to. She woke up in a good mood, or so it seemed, until she wasn't. She was happy then crying then happy when I was heading out the door. On the phone with Daddy this morning, I heard her crying in the backgroud. If this is teething, she must be working on the whole bottom row to have her acting so uncharacteristically. I hope we're heading for the other side of this. We'll see how she does tonight fever-wise.

On the plus side, Baby B is getting much stronger on her feet, moving about with much more strength and confidence. At jazz class, she managed the row of chairs like a pro, letting go momentarily here and there, which brough a chorus of "oh, she's SO ready" from most of the moms in the room. We're not so ready, though. Let the games begin.

On Her Mark, Get Set, Go!

Well, our Baby B had a slight fever last night and spent most of yesterday in an unusual state of crankiness alternating with the need to be on the floor to move around. She'd cry and jack knife herself out of your arms in order to get down; then, once down would crawl around to play, pull herself up and practice standing, cruising and occasionally letting go to take a tentative step unassisted. Then she'd break down and cry as if it wasn't her idea to be there. You'd pick her up and she'd start all over again. Last night, she took a late nap after the girls' jazz class, which may have affected her ability to go to sleep at her usual 8:45 p.m. bedtime. But even so, she was inconsolable most of the evening, crying and screaming out. She'd then want to nurse, but only briefly. She'd cry again, root around, nurse, rip her head away, cry and so on. I gave her some Advil and also gave her a few homeopathic teething tablets, thinking maybe it is her teeth afterall. She finally fell asleep about 9:30 p.m. and I got in her in the crib, only to wake up and want to get out of the crib. I spent the next half hour trying to get her to settle down. I didn't take her out of the crib, but rather stood there, then knelt there, rubbing her tummy, humming to her, vibrating her tummy. She would drift off, then jerk upright to a sit. Then she'd plunk back down again. Finally, about 10 p.m. she drifted off for the night, or at least most of the night. She had several occasions of wakefulness, but we didn't go to her because she only had a slight fever at bedtime. I finally brought her in with us about 5:30, which is really only an hour earlier than she's used to. She woke up in a good mood, or so it seemed, until she wasn't. She was happy then crying then happy when I was heading out the door. On the phone with Daddy this morning, I heard her crying in the backgroud. If this is teething, she must be working on the whole bottom row to have her acting so uncharacteristically. I hope we're heading for the other side of this. We'll see how she does tonight fever-wise.

On the plus side, Baby B is getting much stronger on her feet, moving about with much more strength and confidence. At jazz class, she managed the row of chairs like a pro, letting go momentarily here and there, which brough a chorus of "oh, she's SO ready" from most of the moms in the room. We're not so ready, though. Let the games begin.

Fever in the Morning, Fever All Through the Night

Well, I took BB to the doctor's office on Friday after work because her temp just wouldn't go away. Advil wasn't even really doing anything for her. The PA there ordered a urine test and some bloodwork, so I had to take the baby to the lab at the hospital. They had to attach a plastic baggie to her bottom to collect any urine she might pass. They try this before resorting to catheterization. We all went over to the hospital and up to the lab area where the tech and a helper came out, one to draw the blood, the other to help hold the arm still. I sat with Brigid on my lap, expecting the worse. Brigid sat there looking at the women. She looked from one to the other, up at me, back to the women. She was totally nonplussed by the whole thing. They drew three vials and she just sat there as though they were just a curiosity to her. The baggie caught some urine, so we had to put it in a sterile cup they gave us.

She was feverish all day yesterday and last night she was atomic. The advil must have helped overnight because when she woke up this morning, she was cool, but by mid afternoon, she was warm again and her fever was about 101. We were over at Michelle's house for a visit, and she crawled around and seemed to have a good time being active, but then she got cranky and I nursed her. She fell asleep and woke in a good mood, only to get cranky again not long after that. She didn't eat a good lunch; she ate almost nothing at dinner (except she did enjoy some Pirate Booty). I gave her some more advil before bed. The doctor's office called to report that there was nothing to report. Her tests came back negative for anything suspicious, so we're not sure what we're going to do. If she's still feverish tomorrow (Monday) we'll probably return to the doctor's office to see what they have to say, but I don't know what they'll say differntly tomorrow than they said Friday and today on the phone. In the meantime, Brigid acts pretty well for a while then gets cranky and sleepy, and then she perks up again, then gets draggy all over again. If it's viral, and it most certainly must be without any other signs of sickness, then there really isn't much they can do beyond treating the symptom. So we'll see how she is in the morning.

Margaret's dance after school Friday went well, she reported. She had a lot of fun with her friend, Logan, and he came over to the house after for a short visit before his mom came and picked him up. We think they had a good time; he said probably all of five words so there's no telling.

Friday Night Fever (It's No Disco Dance)

Our Brigid Baby Girl has been running a fever for a few days on and off. Last night, it was 101.something and today she's been warm and kind of lethargic. Plus, she's pretty congested. It's hard to tell if it really is a cold or connected to teething, but it's hard to see her with that fever-look to her eyes. Poor pokey. Last week at the doctor's they said her ears were clear; I hate to have to bring her back only to be told there's nothing they can find, but if this low-grade fever continues, we'll have to bring her back. So far, we're just treating the fever with Advil. Thank goodness she doesn't mind it. In fact, she sees the Advil "syringe" come at her and she opens her mouth wide, like it's a treat. I remember having to tackle both Margaret and Patricia to get them to get it down.

We've been lucky all the way around this season as far as sickness goes. There's been some kind of stomach bug making the rounds and so far, we've avoided it. I hope the trend continues, and now that we've had some sub-zero temps, maybe it will help kill off some of the germs that are plagueing us.

Margaret is at her school dance right now. I'll have an update in a future blog that reports how it went. I hope she has fun.

She's a Little Hula Hula Baby

NOTE: I'VE EDITED THIS BLOG BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE EMAILED ME OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS ASKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE HULA BABY SONG. HERE IS A LINK TO ANOTHER BLOG I WROTE THAT HAS ALL I KNOW ABOUT THE HULA BABY SONG:
GO TO www.pressrepublican.com and scroll down to a feature called "Blog: On the Beaten Path." Click on that link and it will take you to the reporters' blog site. Scroll down to a blog written (by me) on July 1, 2008. It will tell you more about the Hula Baby song, and will tell you all I know about the Hula Baby song.

OTHER THAN WHAT I'VE WRITTEN THERE, I DON'T KNOW MUCH MORE ABOUT IT. THANKS FOR THE INTEREST. AND NOW, THE ORIGINAL BLOG ENTRY:
Margaret has another dance at school she's looking forward to on Friday and she's meeting Logan there. It's a very controlled atmosphere and the kids don't actually dance. They mostly jump around and stare at one another from across the room. It's junior high, afterall, but the air of possibility hangs in the atmosphere and that's the thing that worries parents of junior high students. Afterwards, Logan is going to come over to our house to watch a movie. His mom will come by to pick him up and if they're open to it, we'll invite them to stay for dinner. We'll see how this, the second "playdate" goes. Margaret is so excited, and she said Logan has told her he can't wait for Friday. He's a nice boy and I think he's happy to have her as a friend.

Brigid, meanwhile, isn't content to be held any more. She wants to go go go. She squirms and jackknifes herself out of your arms in an attempt to get to the floor. Her crawling is determined and it just gets her to something that she can use as a brace to help her to her feet. Her cruising is stronger; objects just serve as something to steady her so she can let go. She's taken a couple hard falls, but nothing that has produced any blood. Her footwork is getting better, too. She's also been a crankpuss lately and I think the fever she's been sprouting at night might have to do with her teeth. She's not navigated teething well -- she's been out of sorts for each one of her chompers -- so I'm not surprised that if her bottom teeth are getting set to erupt, she's cranky about it.

Yesterday at the girls' tap class, Brigid had to just crawl around the waiting room and would sit in the doorway to the studio. When the music was playing and the girls were all tap tap tapping, she would wave her arms up and down and clap to the beat. She was right on. I see Hula Babies in her future. I think it's a devious ploy by Miss Nancy to keep an unending supply of dance students coming her way -- get 'em when they're young and implant that tune in their heads from the start: "I'm a little hula hula baby, from the land of Waikiki. I can hula and I don't mean maybe. Come with me across the sea...."

UPDATED DECEMBER 2011: This topic has created 25 comments. I need to reiterate to anyone finding this for the first time since I wrote it five years ago: I do not have the song. I do not know who wrote it. It was a demo song the dance school teacher had from probably 60 years ago and still uses for her three-year-old students. She will not give it to me to share. That is all I know. Thank you for your interest and persistence.

Maybe She Has a Thing For Homer Simpson (DOH!)

We're back to normal sleep patterns with Baby Brigid, which has been a true blessing. She'll go to sleep between 8 and 9 p.m. and sleep through with an occasional cry-out now and then but generally she's not heard from again until 6:30 the next morning. She'll then come into bed with us for a nurse and a snooze, and she'll stay until after 8. She usually wakes in a good mood, too, which is truly a plus.

The last few nights, however, the poor little pokey has had a slight fever, and I'm suspecting her teeth are bothering her. The doctor said there was no sign of ear problems and otherwise she's a healthy 18-pounder. Turned 10 months old on Friday the 12th, a stat that's hard to believe.

Lately, when I come home from work, Jack has had her sitting in the exer-saucer and she'll bounce and turn around and around. It's hysterical to watch her propel herself around and around. She gets this vocal thing going for effect, kind of aaaayyyaaahhhhh, aaaayyyaaahhhh, aaaayyyyaaahhhhh. And last week, she started reacting to things with appropriate "Uh Oh" and will repeat it when you say it. She loves doing things like that because she gets a reaction out of us. She'll wave hi or bye bye and then clap as if it's the most clever thing, and of course, it is, so we all cheer "Yay!" so she claps again. I think yesterday she gave me an actual baby kiss but I can't be sure. She kept her face still when I went in for a kiss, so until I know better, I'm claiming it for a kiss.

Her cruising is getting stronger, as is her standing alone unassisted and her squatting down and standing up. She doesn't seem too interested in taking any independent steps yet, but that's OK. I'm happy with her crawling for now, and she can crawl really, really fast. She really enjoys being on the floor, and when she wants to get down, she'll throw her body off you and try to pry herself out of your arms in order to get down. Floor time is her fun time. And she babbles along the whole time. It's so fun to hear her.

Another choice phrase lately has been Dah Doh with a high emphasis on Dah. It's sing-song, DAH doh, DAH doh. It isn't Dah Dee or Dah Dah, because she says those, too. It's DAH doh, DAH doh. And she'll repeat it for you if you say it back to her. So, DAH doh to all of you, too, and have a great day.

This Is My Baby, Whom I Adore

Rough night last night. On an ill-advised attempt to check in on the baby about 11:30 p.m., she ambushed me and we had a hard time getting her back to sleep. It was after 1 a.m. before she fell back to sleep. Note to self: If you hear any movement on monitor, don't go in to check right away. I ended up picking her up for a while, which is taboo according to Ferber but she was beside herself. Then I just gave up, put her back in the crib and crawled exhaused back to bed. She woke this morning (and the last few mornings) around 5:30 a.m. and nursed and snuggled until after 8 a.m. none the worse for wear. When you step back and look at the big picture, she's still doing very well. And while I was holding her and rocking her last night, the thought kept coming back to me, "This is my little baby, whom I adore; I don't mind holding her and snuggling with her." And I mean it.

Slowly but surely I've been working on her room and yesterday Brigid was able to use her room like a giant playpen. She crawled around and played happily for quite a while. When Margaret and Patrica came home, they went in with her and played for a while, too. Little by little her room is coming around. When I get the books off the bottom shelves in there, I'll feel even better about letting her crawl around.

I think Brigid has begun saying real words but they get lost in some of the babble. She's saying "Hi," I think; and she definitely says Dah Dah in relation to her Daddy. There are a few other things in there as well, and I'll have to listen more carefully because she's babbling a lot more now. I think we're on the cusp of some real developmental changes. It's hard to believe, but my little baby, whom I adore, will be 10 months old on Friday, the 12th. Ten months! Time has gotten away from me. I'm afraid to blink, but sometimes you have to blink to clear away the tears.

Her Bite is Worse than Her Bark

Brigid has turned into quite the little biter. She took a chunk out of my shoulder yesterday, and Daddy reported she's been biting on him, Margaret and Patricia today at various times. She's not doing it in aggression or anger; she's just doing it. Before, she was just biting my boob, as many babies do. But now she's almost doing it to brace herself as she climbs up my arm or holds onto my shoulder. We've been pulling her away, saying, "No bites. No bites." She doesn't seem to think it's a terrible thing; she smiles. Even when we say it in a stern voice, she finds it fairly comical. So we'll just have to pull her away before the teeth sink in and hope the stern warning sinks in.

She slept through last night with only a few cries out that quickly dissolved into nothing. I've only had to go in once or twice at night since we began the Ferberization. It's hard not to scoop her up when she's crying, but she'll settle back down and sleep and I think we're all doing better as a result. Again, however, it's totally screwed up her nap situation, and she's become VERY SUSPICIOUS of the crib during the day. If she has any indication that she might be headed for the crib, she raises a fuss. So nap times are still a struggle, but we'll take our little victories at night for now. At least we're getting some sleep.

Brigid's vocalizations are taking on a new tone: She sounds like she's starting to or attempting to say real words. I know she understands things; she knows words and what they represent. She knows her toes, for instance. But some of the babble is starting to take on a more word-like tone. One of these days she's going to come out with something as plain as day and we're going to look at her and say, "Did she just say 'juice?'" or something. I thought she said "Brin" yesterday, and maybe she did. I answered her as though she did, and that's a big part of the learning process, where you respond to her babble as though she's having a regular conversation with you.

She does a really cute thing (in addition to the cute way she waves "hello" and "goodbye" with her queenly wave). When you pick her up or take her from someone, she pats your back with a couple soft pats, as if to say she's glad you're there. It's very cute and quite heartwarming. She has yet to give me kisses, so I'll take the pats for now.

Fr. John was over for dinner last night and she let her Godfather hold her for a while, which was remarkable considering she was overtired and cranky after dinner. All three girls got to visit and enjoyed sharing stories about school and their interests.

Margaret and Patricia went puddle jumping today with Daddy (it was in the 50s!) while Brigid and I went shopping. She did very well even in the incredible wind, which seemed to take her breath away as it hit her in the face. We chatted and laughed through the Bed, Bath and Beyond and Wal-Mart aisles. She's learning early the benefit of bargain shopping.

Moms are People, Too

Brigid woke last night about 1:30, something she really hasn't done, but with a little visit from me (I didn't pick her up) she cried for a while but then fell back to sleep until 7 a.m. I brought her in with me for a snuggle and nuzzle and she slept until after 8. She's doing remarkably well considering she went from never sleeping in her crib to being there all night from 8:30 or so until 8 or so. We're very pleased and getting more sleep ourselves.

Last night Brigid proved what a Downs girl she truly is. After not eating much of a dinner, she wolfed down nearly three slices of toast, with great gusto and enthusiasm. She followed it off with some Mommy Moo Juice in her sippy cup. She couldn't shovel the pieces of toast in fast enough. She's a Downs through and through. They can't eat a meal without toast of some kind.

I left her with Daddy this morning. He was feeding her scrambled eggs in the high chair and when I said, "See you later," she gave me her royal wave and smiled this huge smile. Made me mushy inside.

Margaret had a hard time last night over homework and tech class. Seems she forgot to pick up some graph paper for her drawings and, being the mom I am, I ran out and picked her up some at the drugstore. Well, this paper was five squares per inch; her paper at school is four squares per inch. I told her she had to make do; she had to measure with a ruler instead of counting squares. Took her a while, and she cried a bit, worried of course of disappointing her teacher. I told her she was actually doing MORE work this way because she was actually using a measuring device ... the ruler ... as opposed to just visualizing the thing on a ready-made graph paper. We'll see what Mr. Tisdale thought of her efforts. Looked good to me, but then, I'm just Mom.

Monkeys Like Their Bananas (and Other Peoples', Too)

Well, we're on Day 8 of Brigid Sleeps in Her Crib All Night. Getting her to bed hasn't been the nightmare we were dreading all along, and she's sleeping all night through, waking at a respectable time in the morning. It has thrown her day-time nap routine off, however, and I'm hoping it doesn't mean she's giving up naps because she's a cranky kid without those afternoon siestas.

The lack of day-time sleep hasn't thrown her off her attempts at standing on her own, and for the last few days Brigid has been adding more and more time to her record of unassisted bi-ped work. She manages to stand sometimes without even pulling up on something; she'll just get into a squat and up she goes. I fear her first steps because it'll mean all hands on deck keeping her contained.

I may have reported her wave before, but she's gone from waving bye-bye with her entire arm to waving bye-bye and hello with her hand and wrist. It's kind of Queen Elizabethesque in its movement. She delights in doing it, especially when you wave first at her. Then she'll clap, so you clap and say, "Yay, Brigid. Yay!" So she'll wave again, and clap again. And so on until this game is no longer the great kick it once was and she's on to something else. She's not a trained monkey, afterall, although her monkey toes continue to belie the point. I've taken some photos of those toes and will try to post them to show one and all what we've been talking about.

The other thing that seems to be happening is an awful lot of fist-in-mouth action, which leads me to believe she may be working on another tooth. I think I can see the evidence on her bottom gums, but sometimes it takes a long time and a lot of drool before one of those pearly whites poke through. The ones that are through get a good workout. Eating has gone from the occasional real-people food to real food at most every meal. With the exception of the fruit, I may have purchased my last tub of baby food because she does so well with much of what we eat -- pasta, bread, veggies she can pick up like well-cooked carrots, beans and peas. She does like fresh bananas and peaches and ate them happily, off my plate and the fruit salad bowl, at Grandma Downs' house on New Year's. We have yet to introduce meats, but they can wait. She's still enjoying daily boob so protein is included in liquid form. She just has to keep those pearly whites away from me as well.

You Never Can Tell, Whether it's Babies or Old Zip

Well, I did jinx it. Last night, New Year's Eve, Brigid wanted to welcome in 2007 with a full two-lung salute. She started crying after having been in her crib asleep about four hours. She cried from 1 a.m. until well after 2. I did the Ferber technique, which may work better than letting a child cry it out cold turkey but it's hard on the parent, who wants so badly to scoop up her little baby and comfort the tears away. I don't know why after several days Brigid decided last night was the one to cry, but I'm hopeful it was a fluke. We'll see how she does tonight, especially since I go back to work tomorrow after being off on vacation during the holidays.

Today I put together the Peek and Play Discovery Zone that Grandma and Granddad Downs gave Brigid for Christmas. You need a Ph.D. in physics and engineering to figure out how to put something like this together. But I managed without too many muttered cuss words and no one lost an eye in the process. Patricia is in Brigid's room right now playing with her in it. They seem to be enjoying the toy, although as usual, Brigid is finding more delight in the box it came in. I'm embarassed to say we have a typical baby.

The girls go back to school tomorrow and Margaret is at this minute trying to finish up homework that should have been done days ago. Her English teacher gave the kids work to do that had to be done throughout the vacation. She's only now getting to it. We're going to Grandma and Granddad's house for dinner tonight; she had better have it done by then or she's out of luck tomorrow.

Speaking of Grandma and Granddad's, today is the day we get presents from Old Zip, someone no one seems to know about except Jack's family. His grandmother's family celebrated New Year's with Old Zip, a mischiveous guy who more often than not gave gifts that were used, rude or otherwise insulting. People have received used soap, deodorant and old buttons in the past. Sometimes the gifts are new; most likely they're not. We don't know where Old Zip originated, but we think it might be a French Canadian tradition that somehow got lost in the English translation. All I do know is you never know with Old Zip.