Another month has flown by. We’re finding it hard to keep track of time in our house, especially since there has been so much going on. Brigid had her well-child visit with the pediatrician a few days after her 4th birthday. She’s in great health but because of a mumps outbreak on campus – and she’s in the daycare center on campus – I had to bring her back the next day to get her second MMR shot. She was a trooper. We used the shot blocker and she barely winced. The aftermath wasn’t bad, either. This kid takes medicine like a pro, doesn’t flinch when she’s told she’s getting a shot. Is in good spirits after. Maybe that’s to make up for the fact that she’s hell on wheels all other times.
Brigid’s moods have been hard to nail down. Most of the time she’s loving and generous with her kisses and hugs – tells us she loves us all the time. And then on a dime she’ll turn and say she doesn’t like us anymore. I usually say, “Oh, OK.” And then she’ll flip again: “I love you Mommy!” She has become incessantly impatient for the most bizarre reasons. But she is also incredibly polite when she needs to be, excusing herself if she’s interrupting you (which is often) or when she makes socially questionable body noises. She alternates between adorable and exasperating – to wit, she’s a 4-year-old. We had her family birthday party late in March because of all the previous engagements. Granddad and Grandma Downs, Uncle Matt and Aunt Kristen, Uncle John and Auntie Shell and the boys all came over for dinner and conversation. Brigid was the life of the party and enjoyed all the attention. She also had the mistaken notion that she would have birthday parties randomly throughout the month. But now that we’re into April, I think she’s let go of that idea and instead is looking ahead to nice spring weather that will lead into summer. She said to me in the car the other day, “I love spring because the flowers pop up.” Amen to that.
Brigid was Friend of the Week at the center a few weeks ago. It gives the kids a week of being the No. 1 kid in class. They have special days – she did pajama and movie day, dance day, and had McDonald’s for lunch day. This, too, she thought should be extended throughout the month. But I told her other friends have to have their weeks as well. She didn’t see the justice in that but has to accept the way things are is the way things are.
The other two Downs girls had a busy month, too, Margaret’s “West Side Story” involvement notwithstanding. They had their district-wide band concert, which was incredible. And then they had the district-wide choral concert, which ended with a performance of all the students, grades 3-12.
One big bit of news came from Patricia’s orthodontist – she soon begins the process of getting her braces off. Her next appointment, April 22, will involve impressions from which her retainers will be made. Then she goes back in May to have them removed. She’s very excited at the prospect. I was excited a few months ago when I wrote the last check to the practice – at least for the time being. There’s no telling what Brigid will need.
Jack and I had some fun recently. We submitted passport applications. Had new photos taken (I look like some old crone). Our old passports are long expired and a group on campus was sponsoring a Passport Day, so we took advantage and bit the bullet – the $200 bullet. It’s expensive to be allowed to leave and enter the country. Not that we’re planning any extensive traveling, but to go to Montreal you need one. The girls can still get over on their birth certificates – so far. Margaret has until she turns 16. We haven’t been to Canada since the travel restrictions were put in place a few years ago.
Both Margaret and Patricia joined me last Saturday for an all-day scrapbooking crop at the VFW post. A Creative Memories consultant hosts one every month. We went to her crop last month and decided to do this one, too. It’s a good chance for us to get some pages done, and we really enjoy the time together. Shout-out to Daddy for having Brigid duty so we could crop. Now maybe we can unload the car of scrapbook supplies. They’ve been in there since my February crop with Connie in Syracuse!
The days are getting a little warmer, a little sunnier. Spring hopes are eternal. And now we gear up for the last quarter of the school year and all that goes with it.
