Weather Turns Colder as We Get Busier

It's been a long time coming, but Brigid has a cold. We've been relatively illness-free (knock on wood) but the poor baby is having a hard time breathing and it's not just seasonal allergies, although she's plagued by those, too. She doesn't deal well with wetness on or in her nose because of her bad nosebleeds. Anytime she feels anything running, she thinks she's bleeding, and who can blame her? Most of the time, she is.

It's getting colder out, more fall-like, and I'm having a huge battle of wills every day over what she wants to wear. If it was up to Brigid, she'd wear nothing but shorts and tee shirts, a compromise on running around naked. But now that it's getting cold, she can't be wearing shorts and tee shirts to school every day. So every morning she asks for shorts and tee shirts and I have to be the meanie mom and say no, it's too cold, it's not summer anymore. And because she is insisting on doing everything herself, dressing has become a true marathon some mornings.

We had some nice weather last week and she was able to wear summer clothes, but by Friday last week, it had turned cold and rainy, the day her class went to the apple orchard (of course). So we had to bundle up, and that was a huge issue. But she enjoyed herself regardless, and spent more time riding the kid rides and looking at the animals than we did in the orchard picking apples.

The other girls are doing very well in school. Margaret has adjusted to the trauma that is high school (whew!) just as I expected. She's involved in so much -- band, chorus, Key Club, which is a community-service oriented organization where the kids have to do so many hours of volunteer work. She has also started confirmation class at church and as part of the requirements, she'll have community service there as well. She walks over to the day care center when school lets out and I pick both Brigid and Margaret up about 3:30 each day, so she's gotten approval to use her time there for volunteer hours. She helps in the classroom or out on the playground, depending on where the kids are when she arrives. She already has more than 20 hours from helping with the book sale at the church festival, so she's doing fine. Her classes are going well, and she's maintaining a solid "A" average throughout. I'm very proud of her.

Patricia loves her classes. She has all of Margaret's former teachers, so they all knew her previously. The big leaf project has begun for her in science class -- they have to collect at least 25 pairs of leaves from various trees and ID them in various ways. If this doesn't make a mom's heart swell with pride, the teacher used Margaret's leaf project from 7th grade as an example of what to do. Patricia's math teacher told us the night of the open house how happy he was to have another Downs girl in his class. She started taking tennis lessons in intramurals twice a week and seems to love it.

Speaking of classes, dance class started last week for all of us, and Brigid is in heaven. She ran into class, gave Miss Nancy a big hug and just beamed the whole class. When it was finished, she cried because she wanted to go back. Tap and jazz are in full swing, as well, for both Margaret and Patricia and myself. The year has officially begun.