First Quarter Returns Show Positive Trends

It's amazing to see how a toddler moves from one developmental milestone to another. Sometimes, it's as immediate and obvious like taking first steps. Others are almost imperceptable until you realize they've happened. Last night, when I was snuggling with Brigid before her bedtime, she and I were having a conversation. An actual conversation, one that required to her recall events and information. She wasn't just parroting me or repeating what she had already said. She had to think a minute and recall events of the day or something that goes on in day care in order to answer. At first, I asked about her day. She said we went to church and the mall (which we did). We talked about school because she would be going the next morning. She said Jodi and Jena (her teachers) call her "Brig," not Brigid. (I'll have to have a talk with them about THAT).

Then this morning in bed with me she asked for a drink (or a dink) of water. I told her I didn't have her cup right there. She said, "It's in my room." She had to envision her cup, sitting on her little bedside table, and know it was there from the night before. I know that doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment, but you have to keep in mind that a toddler's frame of reference and timeline is much different from an older child's or an adult's. Toddlers think in the here and now. Brigid is now showing she can project into the future, into the past and into another room to visualize what she's talking about. It's exciting, but it also means that babyness I love so much is fleeting.

We're gearing up for our Buffalo visit. Although Grandma won't be there, we'll spend some quality time with Uncle Dave and Aunt Connie, Tim and Stephanie, and we'll see how Aunt Sandy is doing for a visit. I'm hoping we can take Cassandra for a while at the pool to give her some swim time and give Sandy a break. We'll see how that goes. There is also a chance that Margaret's best friend, Maggie, can spend some time with us if we work out the details to get her up from Ohio. I know that will make Margaret's year.

Speaking of making a year, so far, both Patricia and Margaret are making a great year -- school-wise. We had parent/teacher conferences last week and picked up report cards. As Margaret's (and Patricia's) Spanish teacher said, "How can you improve on 100?" Both girls are doing A+ work in most subjects. Patricia got an A- in math, which is advanced math, so her teacher said it's like getting an A+ in regular math. Margaret was worried about her math grade and her teacher, a not-so-warm-and-fuzzy nun of a woman who takes no prisoners but gets her students to succeed in 8th-grade math. She didn't do well on one exam last quarter and that dropped her grade to 89, but the rest of her grades were A's, so the teacher isn't concerned and told us we shouldn't be, either. All of the teachers raved about the "Downs Girls" as they called them collectively and asked when the next one was coming up. When I said she's 2 and a half, every one of them either sighed or said something like, "I can't wait to have her." Patricia's English teacher, who had Margaret as well, went so far as to call them clones as far as their behavior, their grades, their love of reading and their temperment -- all of which was complimentary.

We had Brigid's parent/teacher conference at day care a few weeks ago and she's doing just what she's supposed to be doing. We asked if she's bossy, if she screams in people's faces, or displays any of the demanding personality we've come to know and, well, know. They looked at us like we were spouting fire from our heads. No, we've never seen any of that, they said. She probably just saves that for you. Yup, you betch'ya she does. But...

We couldn't be prouder -- of all our girls. It's one thing to think you're doing a good job raising them. It's another to hear other people tell you you're doing a good job and be able to cite examples. We have a long way to go -- Margaret has only just entered her teens; Patricia is on the threshold. Brigid? Well, let's just say we're waiting to see what the other two do first before projecting onto Brigid what the future might hold. For now, for this quarter, all is right with the world.

A Bloody Nose Would Wake Me Up, Too

Well, it's almost 11:30 p.m. and I just threw a load of laundry in. Why, you may ask? Well, because Brigid woke up to another bloody nose, only this time, I was able to get her back to sleep and get the soiled bedding out from under her. I've never had a child who suffers nosebleeds the way this kid suffers nosebleeds. And they're not just trickles or bloody boogers -- they're gush-fests. You'd think she'd grow faint from loss of bodily fluids with the amount it seems that she loses. I've warned the day care center that she has bloody noses, and they nodded and said, Oh, that must be something. Until they witnessed one. A few weeks ago, they told me she was wearing different clothing and they were sending her bedding home a day early because she had sat up from nap and her nose just started gushing. They couldn't stop it for what they said seemed like an hour. I said, "Welcome to my world." She had three others in the space of 24 hours. We've talked to the doctor and didn't get any information and they didn't seem too concerned. But even Brigid knows this can't be normal because she'll talk about it. She'll comment on her bloody nose and it registers that she doesn't like them, that they're something I get concerned about and they're something she cries about. I wasn't able to adequately wipe her face tonight, so in the morning, I'm afraid she's going to look like she went a few rounds because she has blood all over her cheeks. Maybe I should send her to day care like that to see what they say...

Patricia is speaking before the city school board tomorrow night. She and two other students are going to talk about the new integrated language program in the sixth grade. Students take Spanish for one quarter and French for a second quarter to prepare them for a foreign language in the seventh grade. I think it's great.

Margaret and Patricia both performed last Thursday night in a band and chorus concert at school. I am always amazed at how good the music program is at the middle school -- the chorus (both girls sing in the chorus) was wonderful. The 7th- and 8th-grade band was as phenomenal as always. Patricia is taking clarinet this year and will be in the band at some point. This also marks the first time Brigid sat through the concert without one of us having to take her into the hall in the middle of the thing. It may be a developmental milestone.

On a personal note, I finished my book a few weeks ago and yesterday I hit the "send" button and sent it off to the agent for her read-through. I'm beside myself with excitement at the prospect of having an agent represent my work to publishers. Of course, it's a long-shot no matter what because the publishing world is difficult. But to have finished the manuscript and then to have someone who wants to read it -- I'm walking on a cloud.

Gratitude and Relief

Baby Brigid woke up tonight about midnight in the middle of election coverage. As I rocked her back to sleep, I said a prayer of thanks and gratitude that she will never know a time when a black man had no hope of being elected to the presidency of the United States. I said a prayer of thanks that Margaret and Patricia will know the significance that this moment in time has in the history of our country. I’m thankful that my girls will grow up in a country that, at least for the next four years, has a leader who puts people first, who truly believes that the middle class is the backbone of this nation and the wealthiest among us don’t deserve the breaks they’ve received at the expense of those who helped make them wealthy.

I am thankful they will have a leader who will not jeopardize their constitutional rights when appointments are made to the Supreme Court and who believes every American – regardless of his or her affiliation, orientation or belief system – is deserving of the dignity that comes with being a human being living on this planet, a planet he has pledged to help protect. I am thankful my daughters will grow up knowing a leader who will put an end to this senseless and unjustifiable war in Iraq and bring our troops home, a leader who opposed it from the onset. They will see dignity restored to the White House and integrity and intelligence restored to the office. I am thankful we won’t have to wince every time our president opens his mouth to speak.

But above all, I am thankful and grateful our country, by an overwhelming majority, said no more of the same and opened its mind to infinite possibilities. For the first time in a long time, I have hope in my heart and for that, for my girls, for my husband, my family and friends and country, I am grateful.