5/21/07 Opening gifts

I took Gabriel to an ear doctor today, an appointment made long ago regarding his hearing loss. He hasn't shown signs of it lately, but he still does have fluid in his eardrums that almost certainly compromises his hearing. Really, the only treatment is "watchful waiting" -- waiting for him to outgrow it -- or tubes. I think we'll wait until the end of the summer, when the inconvenience of tubes is lower (he'd have to use earplugs swimming) and the necessity of accurate hearing is higher (kindergarten!).

Tonight we opened some little gifts from Bonne Maman. What fun!

First, Gabriel and Katrina played with the mail bag itself.

Looking at the nice wrapping:

Julian got a little baseball outfit (HOW CUTE!) and Gabriel, a shirt with a truck on it (HOW PERFECT!). Wow! Thank you Bonne Maman and Papa Paul!!

Best of all, Katrina got exactly what "she" asked for: an adorable white hat with a nice wide rim. Yay! Katrina is my first baby who didn't pull hats off as soon as she could grab things, as her brothers did at 3-4 months old...though now she is starting to pull hats off:

Gabriel and Julian think it's no end of funny when she pulls her hat off. I'm not sure she thinks this is such a funny game, but as so often happens, as soon as I put a stop to it, she's smiling and acting like it was the bee's knees.

Gabriel had to sample the hat himself. The tough part was keeping a straight face as I goaded him: "Noooo laughing! Laughing not allowed! "

His shirt is a fabulous color on him, who'd have known he was an orange guy. It's a high-quality Gymboree size 5, so Mr. Little here will wear it for years.

Julian claimed he didn't want pictures, but I nailed the little stinker anyway.
The boys are SO excited about Bonne Maman's upcoming visit over July 4th -- as well as Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Andreas, and of course, cousin Aidan and cousin Remi! I'm really excited to show off my delightful, outgoing baby, well past her fussy period and instead showing signs of a serious attention span, like her brothers. As I suspected, sitting up has gone a long way toward improving her outlook, though of course now, the bar has been raised -- now she wants to get to things. Will she crawl before her brothers (9 months, 9-1/2 months), and better yet, completely walk before her brothers (17 months, 18 months) ?! Oh yes, PLEASE, baby! Show those boys! You go girl!

Errrgh. Another migraine today. This time, I'm trying Imitrex, my first prescription migraine medication. It wasn't looking good at first, but this evening, the pain is lessened, though not all the other symptoms. Migraines are about a lot more than just pain, which is what makes them migraines instead of "normal" headaches. In fact, to call them a "headache" is almost a misnomer, like calling a bullet wound in the torso a "stomach ache." It fills me with frustration again. Why am I cursed with this? What did I do to bring this on? Did I eat something wrong? Was I too impatient with my children? Did I snort with scorn at the wrong letter-to-the-editor in the newspaper? Did I pay our PG&E bill late? Clearly, I'm being punished for something.

At least my children were relatively rewarding today, all three of them. Three. Let's get this straight: three. THREE. (And I wonder why I have headaches?!)

5/21/07

p.s. DAY 14 OF HIVES!!!!! OK, now we're past the "two weeks is within normal limits for an allergic reaction." Looks like another trip to the pediatrician is in order.