Virus, Virus....Go Away!

It has been a very long week for all of us. We have been battling a virus, and both girls are not themselves. Here are the gory details! Stop reading now if you don't want to know. :) Olivia has been battling a fever, vomiting & diarrhea. She was sent home from daycare on Tuesday because of a fever and was also gone from daycare on Wednesday. Jamie & I both caught the vomiting, but it only lasted about 24 hours for us while Olivia battled it all week. Violet was doing fine except for having diarrhea so she was able to go to daycare every day. They both also had very little appetites, which is odd because our girls love to eat. Olivia was very sensitive all week and spent a lot of time crying. We managed to all make it through the week in one piece, and both girls seemed to be improving on Friday so we thought we were almost to the end of it.

When we woke up Saturday morning, Olivia had regressed. She bawled constantly and also had some red spots that formed on her chest, so we decided we should take her in. The doctor said it was just a virus, and there was not much we could do except give her Tylenol and foods that would be easy on her stomach. We barely made it through the day because of all the crying, but we also felt bad because there wasn't much we could do. Jamie & I were supposed to go out on a date Saturday night while his parents babysat, but we called them and told them not to come because we didn't want to risk them getting sick. I was bummed that we had to cancel our date, but after the girls went to bed we had PF Chang's (Chinese food) takeout, which was a treat.

The girls had improved moods today, which made us happy. They both ate well and had moments where they were their usual selves. Today is my 30th birthday and Jamie's 34th birthday (yes - we share the same birthday)! My sister Terri pointed out to me that we have four people in our family, but only two birthdays. That is probably pretty rare. Jamie's sister Jill & her two kids stopped by for a visit in the afternoon. We had a nice time with them, and they provided some relief for us with taking care of the girls. We also received phone calls from other family members - thank you for all of the birthday wishes! We even got a "Happy Birthday" serenade from my sister Terri, her husband Aaron & their golden retriever Brinkley, who howled and barked in the background as they sang. It was quite funny!

Last weekend, Jamie went on an ice fishing trip to Red Lake with his brother Joey & brother-in-law Luke. They had a good time and caught several walleyes. My Mom came to spend the weekend with me with the girls. It was very nice to spend some time together, and with Mom watching the girls I was able to get some things done around the house. Thanks Mom!!

Both girls are really started to copy everything we do. Tonight when I was taking Olivia to bed, I told her to say "night-night" to Daddy, and by golly she said "nigh-nigh" about three times. They also mimic animal sounds. They know a fish sound (puckered lips), puppy sound (panting), and elephant sound (spitting all over) the best. Sometimes Olivia will do a kitty hiss. Olivia is walking all over the place. She wanders around the house just because she wants to walk somewhere. Violet still hasn't taken off with walking, she will go about five steps but that's about it. Hopefully once we get rid of this virus, they will be back to their usual selves!!

Welcome to 2009

Hope you had a Happy New Year! Our New Year's Eve ended up being very uneventful. We ended up staying home with the girls and watching a movie ("The Dark Knight") after they went to bed at 7:30. We couldn't even stay awake until midnight...how sad! It's tough to stay up late anymore now that the girls are awake by 6:00 a.m.

We spent January 1st through January 4th at home. Our daycare was closed on Friday the 2nd, so we made a long weekend out of it. We ended up not doing much, which was nice. Jamie went ice fishing on New Years Day with my sister Terri's husband Aaron, which he enjoyed. They came home in the evening with a bucket full of sunnies. The girls stayed in their pajamas all day...how lucky! We had to take the girls to the doctor on Friday morning so they could get flu shots. It was our quickest doctor visit ever. We had Jamie's aunt, uncle, cousin & family over for the Vikings game on Sunday. Too bad the Vikings didn't play well...but at least we had good company.

Otherwise, we didn't do a whole lot! We spent the long weekend trying to reduce the girls' pacifier use. The first few days were the worst, we had to endure some crying spells. But it got better as the weekend went on. Luckily, daycare is very good about honoring our wishes, so they are also trying to avoid using pacifiers. The girls went back to daycare yesterday, and their teacher said the girls would cry and point to where the pacifiers are kept...but the teachers didn't give in! :)

Violet has been standing quite a bit now, and she will take up to five steps on her own. Olivia wants to walk everywhere, so I think Violet is trying to keep up. They discovered our magazine rack over the weekend. They love to tear the pages into pieces. Before I knew it, we had magazine shreds all over our living room! They also like to push objects around as they walk...chairs, our organ bench, boxes....anything that will slide on our hardwood floors. They have also discovered the telephone. If you say "hello?" they will hold whatever toy they are playing with up to their ear. It is pretty cute, but I guess I am biased!

Over the weekend, both girls were trying to look out our dining room window, but they are just a little short to see over the window sill. When they went down for a nap, I heard a whole bunch of sawing and pounding in the garage. Pretty soon Jamie walked in with a little platform he built for the girls to stand on so they could look out the window. What a sweet daddy! The girls love it. Violet is very much a daddy's girl. She is constantly wondering where Daddy is, and saying "Dada" and "Dad." When the girls and I got home tonight, Violet kept pointing to the door and saying "Dad." I guess she was wondering when Daddy would be home! Olivia is quite the daredevil. She tries to do stunt riding on their plastic rocking horse. She will stand up on the seat and rock the horse...usually without hanging on!

Here are some pictures from our weekend at home.

Violet playing with a puzzle:

Olivia using a puzzle piece as a telephone:

Olivia doing stunts on her rocking horse:

New Trick

Here is a video of the newest thing the girls have learned.