No Nap and All Play Makes Brigid a Force of Nature

Brigid has turned into the incredible non-napping baby. For the last three days she has not had a nap, and her early evenings have suffered as a result. For some reason, she just refuses to comply and does everything she can to avoid sleep. Even lying down with the boob did no good. She just flung herself around the bed. She's been very animated lately, running around like a crazy person. Could be the age, could be the bowl of raw sugar we give her every afternoon for a snack. (Joke...it's a joke.) And last night, she woke up about 4 and cried out. We tried to give her time to fall back to sleep on her own. I'm having a difficult time getting her in and out of the crib because of my back, so finally, Daddy got up and brought her in to me. It's very cute, because when he hands her down to me, she smiles in my face and says, "Hi!" She then snuggled down for some Mah Mah Mah, but only momentarily. She then proceeded to thrash about, clime around and generally make a nuisance of herself until 6 a.m. When she finally did drift off, I was exhausted, my back was killing me and I was afraid of waking her so I had to stay in the same (uncomfortable) position until she woke about 8:30. I don't know what's going on -- whether she's changing her internal routine, whether she really doesn't need a nap anymore (she does) or if it's just a temporary blip on the radar, but we have to figure out what to do about it because I can't have many more nights like last night. We may just leave her to her own devices in her bed for a longer period of time. It's torture to listen to her crying, but it's torture to be thrashed and smashed by a whirling dervish in bed, too.

Maybe she is moving into a new developmental stage. She's showing some signs of imaginative play and has been running around with her "horshies," making them fly through the air, all the while saying, "Horshies, horshies, horshies!" At babysitting at the Y, Jack said they had taken out some Toy Story characters and Brigid was playing with them, holding Buzz (or Buzsh) and Woody and interacting with them. Margaret was very much into horses at this age, and would play with little Breyer horses all the time, making up stories for them.

We had parent/teacher conferences today for Patricia and Margaret. First we went to Oak Street School for Patricia's conference, and her teacher, Ms. King, had wonderful things to say about her. Patricia's report card was exemplary. They don't give out letter or number grades in the elementary school -- just a 1-4 rubric, and Patricia was straight 4s. We were so proud, not just of the outstanding job she is doing, but because of something else she's doing: she's a reading buddy for a child with Down Syndrome. Her teacher said it's a volunteer thing. A few kids from Patricia's class meet with their buddies during the week and read to them and work with letters and such. But the other very heartwarming thing she said was how Patricia and her classmates go up to these special-needs kids on the playground to talk to them and play with them, something their monitor said never happens. It's those kind of reports that really make me proud.

We then went to the middle school to pick up Margaret's report card and visit with a few of her teachers. We really didn't have much to visit about; Margaret is a straight-A+ student. You can't get much better than that. The comment section was enough to make you blush. But she wanted us to pop in and say hello to her Spanish teacher and see the projects they had done around the room. We wanted to just say hello to her core teachers so they know we exist, and they all said how pleasant she is, always has a smile on her face and is always a delight to have in class. That warms our hearts no end because junior high can be so tough on a kid emotionally. Her math teacher just beamed when he spoke of her; her social studies teacher was pretty matter-of-fact: "She's an exceptional girl," he said. Although her English teacher wasn't available (her comments were glowing), we did want to see her science teacher to tell how much Margaret enjoyed her leaf-collecting project. We didn't get the words out before the teacher launched into how much she enjoyed Margaret's project. She got an incredible grade -- A+++. How can you get an A+++? Her teacher said an 8th-grade colleague even asked to see it. But again, more than that, it was the fact that all her teachers commented on her demeanor in class. That makes us very, very proud.

I posted the popsicle photos because Brigid has become a popsicle fiend. But she calls them "anudderone" because one night, I gave her one and asked, "Do you want another one?" "Want anudderone," she said. And they have been "anudderone" ever since.

The kids had today off, which was nice because although my back is still quite sore, I had to come to work for a while and they were very helpful in babysitting for us. We'll see if Brigid made this Napless Day 4. I can only hope that isn't the case.

Why Did the 20-month-old Climb the Chair? Because it Was There

First, happy 20-month-old birthday, two days late! We have a 20-month-old toddler who is every bit the toddler in every sense of the word.

Brigid has become a force to reckon with lately, running from couch to chair, chair to sofa, sofa to table and back to couch, climbing each one until you take her down and tell her no. She doesn't react negatively, necessarily; she just matter-of-factly moves on to the next climb. She's taken a tumble once or twice. Last night she fell off the cube table in the living room; rolled right off. Landed on her side and looked at me, like "I meant to do that." She then got up and ran to something else to climb.

Buzsh and Woodeee are still among her favorites and clamors for them all the time. You have to hand it to her, she's a die hard fan of anything she sets her sights on. Heaven help us if she turns her attention to the Yanks or the Sox. Shrek hasn't disappeared off the radar; she's just broadening her appreciation for clever dialog and great animation.

BB has been suffering from a head cold and hasn't been 100 percent herself lately, but compared to her condition with the fever, era infection and croup, it's a huge improvement. One thing that we have noticed is a lack of interest in taking a nap. The last two days she's refused to even consider it. That made last night difficult because she was too tired to be cooperative but not tired enough to go to sleep. But she slept through until after 8 a.m., after I had left for work. That means she had no snuggle time in the morning with me. But Daddy said she woke up fine after I left.

I had a mishap this morning walking down the stairs. My foot went out from under me on the top stair and I fell the two steps onto the landing. Hit my back on the edge of one of the stairs and cracked my wrist pretty hard. Wrist seems to be fine; my back is killing me. It's different from the herniated disk pain. All I kept thinking is "Thank God I wasn't holding the baby."

We have report card/teacher conference day Friday for both Patricia and Margaret. We don't expect anything out of the ordinary. It will be nice to sit and chat with their teachers. It heralds the ending of the first quarter of school. Hard to believe a quarter of the school year is over. After Thanksgiving the time will fly until January. Then we have a few weeks until winter break. After winter break the time flies until spring and then, it's summer again. How nice, the year has flown by already.

She Wouldn't Be a Wright If She Didn't Speak in Movie Lines

Brigid is more than recovered from her illness. She's on the last days of her antibiotice and is full of energy and spunk. She's turned into Sir Edmund Hillary, scaling anything that looks slightly vertical. We're forever taking her down from things, saying, "No, Brigid, don't climb that." She'll go right back to the challenge or find another one to scale. Nothing seems to phase her much. And she's able to tell us as well. Her vocabulary has grown considerably and her curiousity about what things are called has been piqued. She points to things and says her version of "What's that?" And when we name it, she tries to repeat it. She LOVES to point to features on your face and name them. When she says something she claps, as if to say, "I can do it. I said it right." Her pronounciation of some words and sounds is very, very cute. "Horses," or "Horsey" which used to just get the whinny sound, now comes out "Horshes," or "Horshies." She says so much more than I could ever record here, and it's fun to talk to her and get her to say things. She still says "Batabay" for Little Bear, which I absolutely love. "Buzsh" is still Buzz Lightyear, whom we fear she may love even more than Woooooodddeeee. She's seen Toy Story I and II so much, she says dialog right along with the movie, which, of course, puts her in good stead with the Wright family. How can she survive visiting the Wrights and not be up on her movie trivia and favorite movie lines? Actually, with Margaret and Patricia doing their part to keep the family traditions going, she'll get along fine.

Speaking of Margaret, she did manage to go to her rehearsal for the concert Tuesday night, although her throat was very, very sore. The concert Wednesday blew us away. She performed in the chorus and played her flute for one number; then she took the stage for the 7th- and 8th-grade chorus performance where she read a monologue about Russia during World War II because the first number they played was about the Russian struggle in 1941 and how the war was almost lost on the Russian front. Very haunting and powerful. They then played a march that was incredibly uplifting and had a lot of flute. I teared up I was so darned proud. She only started playing and taking lessons just a year ago, and she's come so far. Have to give a shout out to Auntie Shell, because without Michelle's flute, we could never have afforded one at this time for Margaret to try. Thank you, Michelle, from the bottom of our hearts. Margaret loves it; you should have seen her beaming after the concert!

She's now on the last days of HER antibiotics for strep. Although her throat is sore, it's not SORE like it was. This is her second bout of strep in eight months. Reminds me of me at that age. I hope it isn't a trend.

Patricia has a sleepover tonight with a friend; Margaret is having a friend over for the night tonight. Brigid has a sleepover every night with us. She is still waking at odd hours and crying very long and very loud. Last night, it was just after 2. She started calling Mahmeee mahmeee! I worry because of her bloody noses and her poopy diapers and the fact that she's still just slightly off her schedule. She's also asking for a drink when she wake up like this, so she could truly be thirsty. But then after all she wants is boob. At least I get to get some more sleep. And she's gotten up in a good mood most of the week. Can't argue with that.

On the Mend

We think we've turned a corner with Brigid and her illness. Yesterday she was more like herself, although changing the clocks back threw everybody's body clock off. She started to fall asleep last night about 7 p.m., which, to her body, was more like 8 p.m. I tried to put her in her crib and she skrieked and clawed her way up my arms. I retreated and tried again a few minutes later and was able to put her down successfully soon after. She slept through until about 4 a.m. at which time I brought her in with us. There she flopped around a bit, wanting boob until she drifted off back to sleep again, waking about 8 a.m. She was in a great mood this morning when I left for work, eating her regular breakfast of Cheerios with Daddy. I'm hoping this is a sign that she's going to be able to drift back into her regular routine.

Yesterday was our church harvest dinner and although Brigid was napping at mass time, Jack brought her over to the school in time for the harvest dinner. She wasn't too crazy about the roast beef dinner; she picked at a few of the veggies and kept sticking her finger into the mashed potatoes and licking it. She did enjoy some of the dill pickles on the table, and when it came time for pie, she seemed to truly enjoy both the pumpkin and apple pie we all chose. Many of the parishioners at the dinner came by and commented on how big Brigid is getting. I don't know these people; I recognize them as being at mass every week. When I showed up for mass Sunday without her, a lady who always sits in the front left pew said, “I don’t get to see my girl today?” At the dinner that afternoon, an old guy came by and commented on how big she’s getting and leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head. I think it’s sweet, and it really is an endorsement for the type of parish we belong to. Many people comment on how they’ve watched our girls grow up before their eyes, having seen me through three pregnancies, seen the girls’ baptisms, etc. It’s quite a community.

Patricia has double chorus rehearsals tonight, one at Oak and one at Plattsburgh State. It's a hectic day. Tomorrow is Election Day. Don't forget to vote.

B O N U S P H O T O S

Here are a few photos from Halloween. I still have to get the baby in her costume to take a photo if only to say I've done it.

Two Sides of Brigid, Neither of Which Has Been Pleasant

The combination of ear infection, croup and fever have left our Baby Brigid beside herself. One moment she's her happy self, the next she's screeching and screaming and crying uncontrollably. We don't know how much of it might be the medication she's on, but even after an unprecidented two-hour nap today, she's been miserable. I think she's also just bored -- bored of the house, bored of the TV, bored of her family. All she wants to do is nurse when she realizes how bored she is. What makes her any different from any of us, who, when bored, go stand in front of the refrigerator wondering what there is to snack on?

Jack took Margaret and Patricia on a hike today, leaving me with the loveable tyrant all day. We waffled between Buzsh and Woody, boob and the Lion King. I tried to get her interested in Antiques Roadshow, but she'd have none of it. It didn't even impress her when the Keno Brothers found a great 18th-century hutch. The hiking gang got home about 4:30 and I high-tailed it out of the house to pick up some things for supper, since I didn't even have the chance to extricate myself from Brigid's grip long enough to get something out of the freezer downstairs. Dinner didn't do it for her, either, although she seemed happy enough to sit on my lap through most of it. But that made it difficult for me to cut my own steak. When her interest turned to mashed potatoes and ketchup, I thought she'd sit in her high chair, which she did, for all of two minutes before shreeking again with arms outstretched for me to take her. I left to work on the calendar at the Press, leaving Jack to give the baby a bath. She was screaming as I was walking out the door. And as I bid goodbye to Patricia, she said in small voice, "Can I go with you?" Funny kid.

Brigid had a bad night. Woke up about 11:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep in her own crib, so once again we had her in with us. She was fitful for most of the night. I'm hoping once she gets past the hurdle of this illness, we'll return to some sense of normalcy. The antibiotics and prednisone haven't done much, I fear, but she's only been taking them since Thursday. At least she's been taking them like a trooper. Otherwise, we'd have an even-more-stressed-out child on our hands. Let's hope for an uneventful and peaceful night.

Croup Got the Best of Our Halloween

It's not been the best week in the Downs household. Brigid's fever has lasted longer than we thought it should, so by Tuesday morning when it hadn't broken we took her in to the doctor's office. The PA there said her ears looked good, said it was probably just one of the viruses going around but to bring her back in if it hadn't cleared by Thursday or Friday. Well, she was still feverish on Halloween, so the poor angel didn't get to go out. I worked Tuesday night getting Patricia's costume done; Margaret's was easy and I had it made Wednesday afternoon before dinner so she could wear it that night, but alas, Brigid, glassy-eyed and broiling, stayed home with Daddy. I took Margaret, Patricia and Margaret's friend, Logan, to Grace Avenue where we did the usual route and ended up at Grandma and Granddad Downs' house. Logan's mom picked him up there. It was already 7:30 and we stopped by the rectory to say hi to Fr. John even though his Godbaby wouldn't be with us. We were then going to swing by Aunty Shell's house and then Lois' house for her usual get-together, but on the way Margaret started to come down with a migraine, so we headed home instead. Could have been better, could have been a lot worse. Baby B was already in bed when we got home, although she was crying a bit here and there. Margaret went straight to bed even though it was only about 8:15 and Patricia was allowed to paw through her candy briefly before she, too, was ushered upstairs.

About 2 a.m. Brigid started coughing and crying, but it was a barking cough so the first thing I thought was croup. I brought her in with us and she slept fitfully, which means so did I. I went to work Thursday morning and called the pediatrician's office. Jack brought her in and the report wasn't good. She has an ear infection AND croup, so she's on antibiotics and prednisone. One good thing is she's a good medicine taker and hasn't balked at the stuff yet. Yet. There's always time. Margaret was awful as a baby. I had to sit on her to get her to take her medicine when she was about 3 and had pneumonia. So far, I haven't had to resort to any such tactics with Brigid. She says, "mmmm" when we give her medicine. Could be a cautionary tale.

Yesterday afternoon and evening she wasn't herself, naturally, and it was a weird experience getting her to bed. She shrieked and screamed -- diferent from her usual protestations when being put to bed wide awake -- last night three times when I attempted to put her down. She finally went to bed fitfully, and cried out and barked a few times during the evening, but at 12:30 a.m. she started to bark and cry out "Mahmee" for me, so I went and got her. Rough night again as a result. She slept in some this morning, and was in a good mood when I left for work. We'll see how she does throughout the day. The prednisone is to be given for five days, with the last day being the day after her last day of coughing. Hmmm, hope that works.

Meanwhile, the rest of us have thankfully and mercifully been spared. We've all at one time or another the last couple of weeks sniffed or coughed, but so far, no fevers or barks. Even though Margaret had her migraine, she said she enjoyed Halloween; Patricia loved her Elizabeth Swan (from Pirates of the Caribbean) costume even though very few people knew that's what she was. Margaret, as a vampiress, got a few correct guesses. We were able to resurrect her Malificent cape from a previous costume to pair with her vampiress dress, so she did pretty well. It was a beautiful night, weatherwise. This afternoon, Margaret has a harvest dance she's attending, and next week is the combined band and chorus concert, so she's been busy with that. That should be an enjoyable evening because it's the first time she'll be performing both chorus and band. She loves both enterprises.

I took photos of Margaret and Patricia in costume; I'll dress Brigid up as she was supposted to be for Halloween and post them when I can. Perhaps we can create an after-Halloween event. Maybe we'll send them out for Election Day. The politicians are scarier than anything we could ever come up with.