Wild Weeks

Well, since the last illness and the birthday, we've had a busy schedule it seems. Erin started preschool (yes, we decided to keep her out of kindergarten ... for a myriad of reasons, but mainly, because she has the rest of her life to be in school, and we don't want to force her to be there yet, and as the youngest in her class, we didn't want to put that stress on her). She attends the Lawrence Arts Center arts-based preschool program. It is wonderful! She has brought home so many paintings and discovered so much already! You'll have to ask David about his new favorite children's song ... clue: it involves all the children singing "Where is TallMan?" and demonstrating together - priceless. Miss Allison and Miss Miriam are wonderful, and the environment of the classroom is so great! This teacher/mommy is very excited! I would be excited to teach there, if I ever wanted to teach preschoolers! She has already had her first sick day -- she caught another round of the stomach bug, and actually came down with the fever about an hour after returning from the first day of school. The need for a bucket arose later in the evening, and continued through early morning. The fever hung around for 3 days, which was unpleasant, and a bit scary, as she started to get very weak. I had to carry her from the potty to her bed once because her legs wouldn't work. However, all is right with her world again, and she had a great time at school on Monday.

Over Labor Day weekend, we were busy, with household purging, new furniture in the upstairs living room (YEAH!), grandma and grandpa Gerstenkorn visiting overnight, and a picnic (well, it really wasn't a picnic, because we stayed inside, but we ate picnicy food, and had a fun time!) with our friends from church (also, we had a leadership team meeting, but the eating was more fun!).

Avery is getting to be a real clown these days. She's trying really hard to take part in family conversation, with more than just grunting. We cannot understand many of her phrases yet, but she is very intent on saying some words instead of just squawking or whining or grunting. This is amusing, but perhaps the funniest is her attempt at humor. During dinner, when someone at the table is telling a story, she bursts out with this fake laugh, dips her head, and shakes her head from side to side, as if enjoying the punchline. It is hysterical, because we all start laughing, and then she really starts to giggle, but continues with the head shaking/dipping. I think she is going to be the funny one in our bunch. What a ham! She has also developed a love for shoes, and has a pair of pink shiny shoes that cause her to dance. This is also entertaining. She seems to like punk music, and flowy female vocals as well. Today she did something very gross, and I am worried about the outcome. We had "Saucy Chicken Casserole" last night for dinner. Before I ate my chicken, I did a quick "fat check" to remove any big pieces of that before eating it - one of my worst feelings: biting into meat that has a bunch of fat, always makes me gag. Anyway, sorry, that was an icky description. Okay, after dinner, I tossed the scraps into the garbage, and it was rather full, but I didn't take out the trash. Today, during a renegade trip to the kitchen garbage can, Avery discovered the remains of the chicken, and put all of it in her mouth. When I picked her up to change her diaper, I smelled something that wasn't diaper-related, and asked her to open her mouth. She obliged, and I found the chicken. I was pretty grossed out, and after digging it out, called Grandma G, the nurse, and asked her if I should be worried. She gave me the number for poison control (I guess that answer was yes), and I called them. They told me not to worry, but just watch for signs of food poisoning, and if she has those symptoms for more than 24 hours, see the doctor so she doesn't get dehydrated. Hopefully, all will be well, and her digestive system will take care of any bacteria she ingested.

Okay, just wanted to give a little update. Hope life is going well for all of you, and know that I enjoy reading your news!