First, it's Day 4 of a migraine. Today was better, but still oppressive. Julian came to my defense this morning when Katrina was doing her piercing high-pitched shrieking: "Shh, Katrina! Mommy doesn't like that!" Then Gabriel surprised me when I asked him not to make a loud sound, and he said, "Geez Mom, it's been like 3 days!" Why would he know that's a long time for a headache? He's never had one! (and it's been 4, not 3). I try not to complain to the kids about having headaches, but I also don't want them to think I'm always like this. There is a reason.
One strange new thing about these long migraine bouts is the violent and disturbing imagery that flashes through my head as I'm falling asleep. It's scary in a kid-scary sort of way, like a weird evil double leprechaun staring at me, or a big greasy black crow, or being atop rafters in a skyscraper and about to fall off. When it wakes me up, I coach myself to think about something much more benign, like exactly where to place a garbage pull-out cabinet in my future new kitchen!
But enough about that. Today I had just Julian and Katrina, and wanted to take them out this morning. But Katrina was edgy, and I called it right by staying home until she took her morning nap at 10am.
Meantime, she and Julian played together -- yes, together! -- in the family room. This was a very heartwarming scene of them playing with Mr. PotatoHead, each in their own way, but most certainly together, as I cleaned up in the kitchen.
I tried to capture some video of Katrina bopping to Sesame Street, but as soon as she saw the camera, she launched into show-off mode and started crawling toward me. You can see a split second of bopping at first, then her noisy crawling. But the funny thing I didn't even realize until seeing it later: Julian trying to inject himself in the background. Goofy kid!
I had some nice time alone with my sweet middle child today, though it'd have been a lot nicer without the relentless searing pain through my head (oops, there I go again).
I embarked on a rite of passage today, an annual ritual which will be with me for another 18 years, something akin to the running of the bulls: I did my first back-to-school shopping! Oh God!
Gabriel's kindergarten orientation last June included a list of requested donated supplies for his classroom. Katrina and Julian in tow, I diligently searched for, mostly found, all items (including 36 glue sticks?!) in the huge "back to school" section at Target, which was swamped with throngs of other mothers toting other toddlers and similar lists. (Note that I didn't buy one pencil or notebook for Gabriel, as his utterly inadequate kindergarten orientation materials didn't include anything about him.)
As I was checking out, I was starting to get stressed and frantic because Katrina was getting increasingly edgy, grabbing things, making lots of "I'm about to melt down" noises, plus trying to get everything into the cart. Julian was off looking at the photo center's screens as I paid and gathered my loot.
Or was he?
Next thing I knew, a lady approached me holding Julian's hand, and Julian pointed to me saying, "There's my Mom!" She told me he'd been outside. !!!! Yikes! He couldn't have been out there for more than a few seconds, but still. I felt self-conscious and false scolding him; that's really more my fault. Still, I'd been having lots of trouble getting him to stick with me, so I did give him a stern lecture, and later, a stern talking-to by Dad. His explanation was that he went outside to look for me, but he obviously knew where I was since he led the lady right to me.
Any notions I had about taking my poor cooped-up children to a park after Target were squashed by a grumpy, screechy, wiggly baby. Home, snack, and nap it was.
I hear a New Yorker (wearing a Mets shirt, Ronan!) caught Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball yesterday. Too bad, 'cause guess where Gabriel is going tomorrow: to a San Francisco Giants game! He missed the record-breaking game by one! Can you imagine if he'd been there?! Well, he'll be there tomorrow, and now, every homer Barry hits is a new record. Gabriel was very, very interested in what a "record" is, and was riveted when he heard that it involved competition and numbers!
Tonight, Katrina had the same exact dinner as everyone else: beef medallions, a harvest grain mixture, and cauliflower, cut in baby-sized pieces straight off my plate. She got some soy yogurt too; I'm never sure if the tiny bits are enough in quantity, and she's certainly not too old for mushy-food. But she didn't blink when I gave her straight cauliflower. She knows exactly what to do with a sippy-cup too, unlike Gabriel who didn't "get" sippy-cups until he was 16 months old. I'm thrilled about her food flexibility. So far I've managed to escape food issues with all three.
(Poor Dave...as I type, his Mac is completely hung up and won't even boot. Ah yes, the Mighty Macs, the infallible, foolproof, idiotproof, antithesis of Windows -- that can be completely hosed by a 3-year-old playing with the login dialog screen!! Stevie, have I got a QA guy for you!)
8/8/07
No comments:
Post a Comment