Spartans heading to Motown

Great artical on espn.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- At 10 Sunday morning, the Michigan State basketball team reported for its walkthrough in a basement ballroom of the downtown Hilton. The ballroom is called Monument Hall. What the Spartans showed their coach in that room was a monumental focus on the mission to reach the Final Four in their home state. "They were locked in like they were in the army," Tom Izzo marveled. "I felt like saluting them. "I went from worrying about things to leaving there saying, 'We're going to win the game.'" Tom Izzo felt great about his team after the walkthrough.
A confident, driven Michigan State team did more than just win the game. It dominated the game. It so totally frustrated and demoralized Louisville, the NCAA tournament's No. 1 overall seed, that the Cardinals virtually quit on the court in the final minutes. In the stands, their roughly 20,000-plus fans did the same, fleeing Lucas Oil Stadium well before the final horn.
A high-octane team that scored 103 points Friday was held to half that amount in a 64-52 Spartans triumph that might be Izzo's personal coaching masterpiece. The guy has done an awful lot in his career -- this will be his fifth Final Four and he's won a national title -- but this season is arguably his best work. And this game might be the best of the best. Izzo began the season with a team many thought could reach the Final Four, then endured a steady succession of lineup-altering injuries and illnesses. In mid-January, a lot of people would have said the key to the Spartans' playing in Detroit would be forward Raymar Morgan. In late March, Michigan State thumped Louisville without a single point from Morgan, who played just 10 minutes and committed four fouls.
The Spartans didn't need him because so many other guys stepped up -- and because their coach armed them with a brilliant game plan. Even if part of it was an 11th-hour game plan. Izzo went into that hotel walkthrough with a modified strategy, different than the one he gave his players at practice Saturday. After some additional film study Saturday night, he tweaked the way the Spartans handled Louisville's vaunted full-court pressure. This is Izzo at his best: grinding away during the two-day NCAA tournament weekend turnarounds. Guard Travis Walton said their coach told them, "You get me through Friday, and I'll do my best to get you through Sunday."
Promise kept. Izzo is now 14-2 in the second game of an NCAA weekend. "He is coaching his butt off," said Michigan State's most famous fan, Magic Johnson, 30 years removed from his own NCAA tournament glory. "Kentucky, stay away." If Kentucky had any sense, athletic director Mitch Barnhart would camp out in East Lansing with all the money the school had and not leave until Izzo says yes -- especially after seeing what he did to the Wildcats' archrival. What they'd be missing in Izzo is a guy who deconstructed Louisville's half-court zone, gouging the Cardinals from the high post in the first half (Goran Suton scored 17 points before intermission) and on the backboard in the second (11 offensive rebounds). And locked into a half-court game, the Cards had absolutely no answer for the Spartans' air-tight defense. A team that often rode massive waves of momentum this season never scored more than four straight points.
Goran Suton carried the Spartans on the offensive end in the first half. "They weren't expecting us to be as good as we were defensively," Michigan State assistant Mike Garland said. "You could tell they were frustrated. The normal open 3 wasn't there, or the normal drive, or the normal pick and roll." Said Magic: "We didn't let them drive, and we didn't let them get any good looks at the basket." As the game wore on, Louisville steadily ran out of options and solutions. Its best player, Terrence Williams, made one basket in his final game as a Cardinal. It was an astonishing disappearing act for Williams, who sat out the final 4:52 of the first half and did almost nothing after the game's first 7:15. At that point, with Louisville leading 7-6, Williams had five rebounds and two assists. He finished with six rebounds, going 31 minutes and 28 seconds between boards, and four assists. His only basket was on an alley-oop dunk. Credit for taking him out of the game goes largely to Walton, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Despite giving away 6 inches, the rugged senior guard declared to his coaches Friday night, "I got Williams." "The job he did on Williams was incredible," Izzo said. When the game was over, the emotion of the moment overwhelmed Walton. He dropped into a crouch on the court, said a prayer, and cried into the Midwest Regional champion T-shirt he'd just been handed. If the Spartans had lost, he would have become the only four-year player in the Izzo Era not to have reached a Final Four -- a streak he did not want to see end on his watch. Michigan State staffers said Walton single-handedly demanded that his teammates approach this game with total focus. "I had pressure," Walton said. "Seniors had pressure. Our underclassmen had pressure to deliver this last class and get them to the Final Four so Coach can go on the road, anywhere he goes, and say ... 'You know what, I know you watched the Final Four on TV, I know you dream about going there. If you come to Michigan State University ... we're going to get you to a Final Four.' "And now he can say that to every person, look them in the eyes and not have to say, 'There was one player I did not get [to the Final Four].' ... Thank you, Coach, and our coaching staff." Travis Walton locked down Terrence Williams. It also was a glorious day for State's other senior starter, Suton. I was at Michigan State's midnight madness, and the coaches were more excited about him than anyone else after a dedicated offseason revamping his body and improving his shooting range.
Coming into this season, the 6-foot-10 Bosnian had made two 3-pointers in his career. He added 15 more in State's first 35 games this season. Then Suton went Pete Maravich on the Cards, busting three 3s in the first half. "Suton was definitely the difference-maker in the first half," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. In the second half, a little luck helped the Spartans break the game open. It took 27:10 for either team to take a two-possession lead. Michigan State pushed it to nine, but a Jerry Smith 3-pointer cut the margin back to six at 46-40. Then Kalin Lucas banked in a 3, and State's lead was never smaller than nine again. "I called bank," Lucas said facetiously. A couple of minutes later, a Draymond Green tip-in hung on the rim so long that the ball actually stopped, then dropped, and the lead was double digits the rest of the way. It was that kind of day for the Spartans -- almost fated for them to fulfill their season-long dream of a home-cooked Final Four. "It was just as big a win as our school has had because we're going to Detroit," Izzo said. "That's been a dream and a goal since the day they announced where the Final Four was in 2009." The fact that it is the 30th anniversary of the school's first championship doubles the kismet. And the living symbol of that championship was soaking it up on the court while the Spartans cut down the nets. "We get a chance to do it again," the Magic Man said with his famous smile. "Thirty years later."

Sweet Sixteen

Sickness and all John and I still made it to Indy Friday night for our games. Grandma came on Thursday to take over for us. Thank goodness for Grandma! We left Friday morning around 11. Got to Indy and our hotel and hung out for a few hours. It was so nice to just have time with John. Everyone noticed him in red and me in green and made comments on what was going to happen if they played each other. About 6:30 we headed to the stadium. U of L played first. The Cards were on fire and played well. For that game we sat in the seats we had bought which were in the first row on the 4th level. Although we were up kind of high we were right at mid court and could see great. The area we were in was actually some kind of luxury area for the Colt’s games. State played second. Some U of L friends of John’s were not staying for the State game so they gave us their tickets. These seats were like 10 rows off the court. State’s game was a lot closer but it ended well. I was so excited. Jumping around and cheering like crazy. It was very fun. Friday night could not have gone better. College basketball is something we are both truly passionate about and it was really a dream that we got to see our teams play back to back in the Sweet Sixteen and they both won!

Sick girls

When John and I got the flu a few weeks ago, as time passed I thought the girls had missed it. Boy was I wrong, very wrong. Last Thursday (week and a half ago) Cami came down with a fever. By Tuesday she was still having fevers of 104 in and out. I took her back to the Dr and by that point she had an ear infection. Poor little thing. As Tuesday went on Av started to get sick. By Tuesday evening she had a fever too. All day Wednesday they both just laid around and were fussy with fevers. By Thursday I decided to take Av to the Dr. She had pneumonia and an ear infection. Poor thing was really sick. Av is much better now but still goes in and out of grumpy times. It is just taking a bit for her body to kick it. Cami is finally better and back to her smiley self. I was really worried I lost my happy baby. She didn’t smile for a week (other then at Daddy), I swear. She would not look at you and didn’t react when you talked to her. It was really sad. So after 4 trips to the Dr and 3 calls to the after hours doctors I think we are on the mend.

Walking

I love to take walks. We walk everywhere in the spring, summer and fall. If the weather is above 50 and not raining we bundle and go. We walk to the park, Starbucks, Walgreens, dry cleaners, shops, bars (the few times we go), restaurants, library, Av’s school, and have even walked to Target before. In the fall and early winter we walk to see all the Halloween or Christmas decorations. We are very lucky to live where we do and to have great neighbors. They are not just neighbors anymore. They have become pretty much our best friends. They have 2 kids the same ages as ours and we all just have a good time together. Any free chance we get Marci and I load the kids into the strollers and walk. Av and Jackson are so used to it that they are good in the strollers. Plus they know when we get where we are going they get to play. They really enjoy the walks. The babies love it too of course. Walking with them is my favorite past time. I just wanted to make sure that someday I will look back on this and remember how much time I spent walking with the Shumans and how much a part of my life it was.

Sick Cami

Well the girls did not escape the Hoekstra sickness like I thought they had. Cami came down with a fever Thursday night. By Friday afternoon it was not getting better and I started to worry about her ears or something and since we were going into the weekend I took her to the dr. She looked awful. There was puss coming from both eyes and they were red, green snot from her nose and drool from her mouth. The Dr took one look at her and said “poor baby.” She tested positive for the flu. Since she is so young the Dr could not really do anything for a virus but did give Av some meds to keep her doing okay. The Dr said her fever would last 4-5 days. All weekend she had a slight fever but seemed better until last night. Even with meds in her, her fever was still 103.7. Scary high. By the time I could give her meds again it was 104.1 and it was not budging. She was like a limp hot rag on my lap. Sooooooo sad. We called the after hours Dr and they said as long as she was eating, her neck was not stiff, her fever was not 105 and she did not have a purple rash she was okay and her body was doing what it was supposed to be doing. We toughed it out but it was not fun. She ended up sleeping okay and woke up without a fever.

Going to Indy…baby!

Both of our teams made it through the first 2 rounds of March Madness so they will both be playing Friday March 27th in Indianapolis. It worked out just like it should! U of L plays Arizona first and then MSU plays Kansas. We will be there, John sporting his red and me sporting my green. If all goes well U of L will play MSU on Sunday. Obviously they both can’t come out of that game alive. May the best team move on to the final 4! Go State!

"I'm going to calculate -- all by myself!"

It's well known that kids say the funniest things and our girls are no different. Recently, Av is truly proud to do everything "all by myself!". And yes, the exclamation point is needed because it's with great conviction that these words are uttered everytime. So to the funny part...

This morning, Av was carrying her Sylvester and Tweetie Bird calculator around in her Hello Kitty bag (yes, the bags are still very popular), pulled it out and said "My calculator!" to which I replied "are you going to calculate?" and she said "Yes! I'm going to calculate all by myself!!!" in her sweet little southern accent.... I'm still chuckling. 

Sleep

I am trying really hard to discourage C from getting up twice a night to eat. That in it’s self sounds bad but think about it. She is almost 6 months old. Does she really need to eat every 4 hours??? Nope. I know that for a fact for several reasons. 1) Lately about once a week she sleeps 7, 8 or 9 hours before waking. 2) Sometimes when I feed her at 1am she makes it to about 8:30 sleeping and still does not want to eat right away when she gets up. 3) We have started the rice cereal and I am finally getting her to eat about a tablespoon a night. I know that does not sound like a lot but it is with her little belly. No matter what I do during the day-naps, no naps, long naps, short naps, bottles from Linda, nursing all day- none of it seems to help. I am pretty frustrated by it and I am determined to put my foot down and put a stop to it. I decided I would not feed her until 1:30am (6 hours after going to bed) and I would not feed her again until 7:30am (6 hours after that). I think that is pretty reasonable. The books and doctors say at this age she can easily go 6 hours. Last night she woke up around midnight and fussed* until I gave in at 1am and fed her. Then she woke up again at 6ish and fussed until around 7 then she fell back to sleep. Sleep she obviously needed because she slept until 8:40 when I accidentally woke her before I left for work. Which is just another example of how she does not need to eat. If she did, she would not have fallen back to sleep and sleep through the ruckus of Jack and his morning begging ritual and John, Av and I getting ready in the morning.

*Fussed, when I say she fussed it means she cried in and out, sometimes harder sometimes no crying at all and sometimes just complaining. In no way was she ever close to hysterical. I don’t want anyone to think I left her hysterical for an hour. I would go in immediately if she was hysterical. John did go in once to try and put her back to sleep but it just makes her mad, real mad. He came back and said, "why did you send me in there?" heheheh That was the only time she really cried hard.

Wish me luck! I will win this battle.

Green Day

Happy St. Patty’s day!! We had a very nice day yesterday that included a lot of green. Both A and C sported their green, and looked mighty cute I must add. We walked to Starbucks and to the park with our neighbors. Some other friends met us there too for lunch. It was so pretty outside. My day was a little different then how I used to spend St. Patty’s day. It did not include any day drinking or green beer. Although I have not done that in years I will never forget the St Patty’s day I spent at Harpers with Christine. Boy did we have fun that day, but since my girls will be reading this some day I will not go into details. Instead yesterday included a green tea party, we made green rice crispy treats and read some St Patty’s day books.  I was very excited thinking Av would love to make the rice crispy treats but she wanted nothing to do with it.  Too busy playing outside.  I had also planned on giving them a green bath (got that idea from a magazine and no it would not dye them green….supposedly) but the night kind of got away from me and I forgot. Av being the princess she is, liked the rice crispy treats but wanted them fed to her. Hehehehe she didn’t like the stickiness of them.

Speech

Avery has been receiving speech therapy pretty much since she was born. Until she was 3 we were in a program called First Steps. Therapists used to come to our house or to her school each week and work with her. Now that she is 3 we are part of the public school system. So each week I take her to a speech session with a therapist in the public school. She is in this therapy with two other 3 year olds. The other two kids can articulate the words they know better then her but her vocabulary is better then theirs, so it kind of works out well. So far she is VERY shy at speech, so shy she does not talk at all and I find myself saying things like, “I promise she does talk.” Miss Amy (therapist) is very good though and very understanding. Av lately though, has started to come out of her shell. Last week she named every color on the rainbow correctly when Miss Amy asked her and a bunch of animals including a flamingo. She knows concepts too, like which object is bigger or some opposites. Almost every day she does something that makes me stop and think, “how does she know that?”

Cereal

Last night was the first night that Cami actually got any of her cereal, I think. Not every spoonful came right back out. I actually got the amount (teaspoon maybe) of cereal I made, into her. She slept better too. Only awake once and she has not done that for close to a week now. So let’s hope that continues.

Visit from Pap and 'Aunt Anne'

We had a really nice weekend. My sister and father came for a visit, unfortunately my mom had to work so she was not able to make it. We didn’t really do all that much, but it was nice to all just spend time together. My girls really took the weekend and bonded with my dad and sister. It was so neat to sit back and watch. From Avery being my sister’s little shadow all weekend to Cami giving my dad the biggest gummy bear smile when he rescued her from her nap. My girls were definitely spoiled by a lot of love and attention. They are lucky girls. The weekend also included all the must haves-spinach dip, Graters, cocktails, cooking yummy dinners and shopping. Suzanne and I also took Av to the zoo for a b-day party (happy 3rd Grant). Even though it was cold and rainy we had a great time eating huge chocolate cupcakes at 10am, meeting/petting a chinchilla, a hedgehog, a rabbit and a lovely roach, and Av’s fav the carousel ride. Pretty much her whole class was there, including her teacher so it was fun to see Av interact with her school friends.

Worlds Colliding???

John and I are huge college basketball fans. I LOVE this time of year. I guess you can see John does too by his last post. From filling out brackets to watching college basketball all weekend, it is the best! Last night was Selection Sunday. I made John DVR it, so I could watch and take it all in, once the kids went to bed. So for the eight years I have known John I have been dreading the day State plays U of L. I knew it would happen eventually and this year it just may. They are in the same region on the bracket. They each have 3 games to win before my worlds collide. Since I am a State fan in Louisville it is harder on me. Everyone here is insane over Louisville. I feel the same way only about State, not Louisville. Last night, John had a brilliant idea; he bought tickets to the games in Indy. So next weekend hopefully John and I will be there live to see Louisville play State. It will be my first night away from Cami. It has taken something this huge for me to relinquish control and share her and I can’t wait! I better not have jinxed it by writing it. I am just so excited I can’t help it.

Cards are flying high -- girls join Cardinal bandwagon

As a child growing up in Louisville, KY, there's one important thing to learn -- college basketball is REALLY important and the University of Louisville Cardinals are THE team to root for. Though Av and C are only 3 yrs and 5 mos. respectively, it's an important lesson for me to teach them that Cardinals are good, Wildcats are bad. And before all of you start crying "What about Michigan State?", don't worry, I also encourage rooting for the Spartans except when they play the Cards (uh oh, that could be this year). So, Avery has plenty of Card gear (was wearing her pink jumpsuit with Cardinal bird on jacket and pants yesterday) and C isn't too far behind. 

You may think, "is this really an important post?" (and Melissa isn't home so she will probably think it when she reads this and sees pictures of T-Will next to C-Mille), but it's important for when the girls grow up and see how insane their dad is about watching 18 year olds chase an orange ball around. Granted, they will be as insane about it as I am, but at least they'll know the roots. Go Cards -- it's March again in Louisville and the Cards have a #1 seed (hopefully) and a team that could go a long way in the tournament. AHHHHhhhh I love spring. L-yes.

Nursing

Every night I nurse Cami before putting her to bed. Av has started sitting in the room with me and nursing her monkey. She has to be sitting on the bed exactly like I am. Propped up on 2 pillows and with her legs in the same position as mine. She sits there pretty quietly ‘nursing’ her monkey for bedtime. It is the cutest thing ever. Here is a pic of her nursing her baby Camille.

Day at the zoo

Yesterday we spent the day at the zoo. It was a perfect day sunny and pretty out and the girls just had a great time. I love spending the day with them and to do it outside on a beautiful day just makes it that much better. Getting to see the zoo through your children’s eyes is really cool. I love seeing the excitement in Av’s face each time we go she loves it more and more. To see the confusion wonderment and delight in Cami’s face is equally cool. We didn’t take Av to the zoo until she was older it is too bad I wish we had. Avery runs walks or will ride on the stroller while there. I am so glad we got the stroller we did. She can hop on and off whenever she wants and when she does ride she does so standing up. No sitting for a busy active toddler. Our zoo is a big loop on a big hill. At the bottom of the hill is a nice park and that is where we had lunch yesterday. They even have wooden rocking chairs to sit and relax on. After her lunch Cami slept in the stroller while we finished off the zoo. I played a chasing game with Av to get her to walk up the hill instead of riding. I was trying to get out of 30 extra lbs to push up the hill. I am so lucky I have the job I do and am able to work part time and be a stay at home mom part time. For me it is the best of both worlds. Avery loves her school so much and has become so confident since starting school. I think it has made such an impact on her and I am glad she has a place where she is 100% comfortable and can be more independent there instead of relying on mommy for everything. Avery has been through a lot in her little life and I think she is somewhat shy because of it all. I am just very thankful she has her school and all the people who love her there in her life. Wow how did I get so far off the zoo topic???

The Tongue I have been talking about

Cami achieved the impossible….

She got her foot into her mouth. She is so chunky I didn't think she could do it, but she proved me wrong.

Monkey

Within the last few months Av has grown very fond of monkey. Monkey is a brown soft puppet. He is not stuffed like a normal stuffed animal. Not sure what monkey has that her other toys don’t have but boy is monkey her most beloved item. Monkey goes everywhere with her. So far (knock on wood) she is very good about holding onto monkey and not putting him down places. Really he does not leave her hands. We try to limit where monkey goes but we are losing that battle. He goes to school with her but stays in her cubby all day long. The minute I get to school to pick her up she says, “Monkey.” She is kind of old to just now be developing a security item although monkey came along right after Cami came home so it must have something to do with that. Monkey was actually a gift for Cami from John’s cousin Ingvild. I insisted on washing monkey on Sunday after he spent the day at the park with Av on Sat. Boy was that a hard 1.5 hours for her. She kept going to the washer and calling for him. Monkey does not have a name, just monkey. He is that cool, like Madonna or something.

Sunny spring weekend

The weather was so nice this weekend. I think we all had cabin fever. After I picked Avery up from school on Friday she never even made it into the house until bedtime. When we got home her bff Jackson was outside and those two just played and played. This year they are playing better together and now that they are older they can be in the fenced in backyard while I am in the kitchen and I can still see them and hear them. Our house came with a ‘fort’ and this is the first time they have been big enough to use it. They were up and down the ladder of the fort more times then I can count. Of course they had to have their dinner in the fort as well. After getting Av and Cami in bed John and I were able to sit out back around the fire pit with our neighbors. It was a very nice night. On Sat. Av was back in the fort by 8:30 am. We played all morning outside and had a picnic lunch in the park. Avery got to help Jackson fly his kite. She loved it, we will have to get her one soon. After naptime we headed back to the park to meet some other friends and to cook out. Av got to play with Caroline, Sayree, Neena, Sophie, and Sidney. Cami seemed to really enjoy all the outside time too.

What a lucky mother I am

I just cannot tell you how much I love and adore my two girls. They are just so neat. Everything they do amazes me. Cami is like a sponge. Just soaking up the world around her. The more you talk to her the happier she is. She gets on her belly and waves her arms around and lifts that head and she just kind of looks like a turtle with her long neck and head. That is the only time you see that neck though, due to her chunkiness. Her rolls have rolls. I have never seen so many chunk rolls in the bum-bum area. Her cheeks on her cute little face are solid. It is amazing to me how she can be so chunky off of just milk. She is turning 180 in her crib and can now make her music play by herself. Her tongue is constantly out too.
And Avery, she is something else. She is just so happy and loves life. She wakes up happy and goes to bed happy. We never have to fight her to go to bed, or to do anything really for that matter (other then brushing her hair). Pap-pap and Grandma got her this polyester little kid couch for Christmas. It folds out into a bed and has Snow White and a few other princesses on it. She loves the darn thing. Boy does the Jack hair just love this couch also. The hair gets into the lovely polyester material and you can’t get it out. About a month ago we were having company over so we hid the couch. It just looks gross. It was in our basement in a storage area under the stairs. Avery recently found the couch after it being gone for a month and once again she is obsessed with it. She sits on it, lays on it and puts her babies on it. Constantly. She wants it sitting next to Cami or in whatever room we are in. It travels to all 3 floors of the house with her. She throws it down the stairs by herself but we have to carry it up for her. She even sleeps on it, in her crib!
I love seeing Av and Cami together too. Cami just lights up when Av walks into the room. I know being the younger sister will have challenges but watching Cami watch Av makes me think Cami is lucky to be the little sis. How boring life must have been to Av when she was a baby. She didn’t have a cool big sis to watch, just boring old mom and dad.

What a mother will do for her baby….

expose herself at work twice a day. That’s right folks, twice a day I head to a little conference room on the second floor, lock the door, let it all hang out and connect myself to the milking machine. I know I am alone and the door is locked but there is still something uncomfortable about being at work with your shirt up and your bra down. Just seeing how happy it makes Cami when she attaches herself to me (warming her nose as Miss Linda calls it) makes it all worth it. It is remarkable to me that I am able to fully sustain her right now. It makes me so happy and I love doing it. Kind of sad I missed out on it with Avery but so glad she was still able to have my milk.

Sick Hoekstras

Well there is never a dull moment at the Hoekstra house. On Monday I came down with the flu. No fun. I left work and went home to crawl into bed. Luckily wonderful Miss Linda stayed with Cami until John could pick up Av and get home. Then he went off to the grocery store by himself with 2 kids (the first time he has taken them both anywhere) to get me some soup. Tuesday John was sick; I was better but nowhere near 100%. Both girls were very good and we all just stayed home together. Other then not feeling well it was a nice day. We were able to strictly enforce Cami’s naps (hard to do when you are not home) and play as much as we could with Av. We read books, played with play dough and worked on a take home activity for her school. (homework already?!?! we had to decorate a Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat, hat) So far (knock on wood) both girls have avoided the flu. Av has a really runny nose and Cami is stuffy but otherwise pretty good.

Light bulb (Av)

Anytime anything is not working at the house Av says “my dadda fix it.” She truly believes, as she should, that dadda can fix anything for her. Last time grandma and pap-pap were in town pap-pap changed a light bulb for us at the top of our stairs. EVERY night now on our way to bed Av turns that light on and says, “pap-pap fixed the light.” She is cute. Just wanted to let Pap-pap know that Av thinks of him every night.

She passed the test (Av)

People...you didn't think enough failing thoughts. Av passed the last growth hormone testing. Not by much but she did pass. Insurance considers everything above a 10 passing. The first test she got a 11.5, the second 5.25 and the third 10.7. Normal really is 20-30. We know she is growing though so we are just going to keep watching it. We may have to do all this again someday. For now though we are just going to let it go.

ER (Av)

Last night instead of spending the night having dinner with friends as planned we spent it in the ER. No fun, but thankfully everyone is fine. I was trying to get us all ready and Av was running from me because she did not want her hair brushed. She was being silly and she really thought she was funny. I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me and sat her down to do her hair. She started crying and said her arm hurt. I of course kissed it and rubbed it to make it feel better. Usually that works like a charm but last night she was not buying it. We gave her some pain meds and put ice on it. After sitting with her for 45 minutes she would still cry every time we tried to get her to use it. It was her right arm. I started getting flash backs of when my sister was little and broke her arm. So I did what my mom did. Got out the candy. If she would not use it to get candy, you know something is really wrong. Several M&M’s later from her left hand, off to the ER we went. This whole time in the back of my head I was thinking, “gosh, are they going to think I beat my child?” I felt really bad for hurting her, but really knew that I was not overly rough with her and didn’t really do anything I had not done a 100 times with her. At the ER the nurse suspected right away that it was “nurse maids” elbow (in kids under 4 the tendon can come out of place). She was right. The Dr spent 2 minutes with her and was able to put things back and made her feel 100% again. I think in her head she was sure it was going to hurt forever and was just going to use her other arm. After he fixed it she was at first hesitant to use it but after she did she seemed very surprised it was fine. The Dr asked her if she was all-better and she said “Yeah!” in a high pitch happy squeal. It was cute. They give her a sucker and a little stuffed dog and she was happy as could be.

feet, cereal & all over her crib (Cami)

On Wednesday when I got home from work Cami was laying in her play gym and had her feet in her hands. I got so excited, “she found her feet, she found her feet!” It was cute. So far she is not obsessed with them but I don’t think it will be long. She also has not gotten them to her mouth. Not sure she will be able. She has so many rolls on her little body it just does not seem possible she will be able to get her foot to her mouth. We will see.

We also started her on rice cereal. I am willing to try anything to get her down to one feeding a night. So far she is not a fan. Every bite I put in eventually comes back out. She did sleep really well this weekend for me though. 7:30pm-7:30am only getting up around 4!!!! It is not the cereal though; there is no way she is getting enough to make a difference. I bought peas for her to try last night but she got out of it (trip to the ER, more on that later).

She is also never in the same place in her crib as where I put her down. I remember Av doing that but thought she did it earlier then now. It is cute though, and when I ask her and make a big fuss about it she looks proud of herself. A big gummy smile. She is my little gummy bear. She also likes to stick her tongue out when she smiles.

Updates on posts from last month

• As hard as I try Cami is still getting up twice a night to eat (around 10:30 and 5)
• We still have to tape Av’s diaper on and she thinks we do it just to make her laugh
• Av still has not slept in her bgb
• Av and I are no longer butting heads, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are putting her to bed earlier (they are both in bed around 7:30, it is great to have time with John again)
• Av does not still watch Charlie Brown daily. Now it is a Mickey Mouse Christmas DVD that has a song on it that I constantly have going through my head. Think we can delete the 5 Charlie Browns we have on our DVR???
• Cami still has not giggled
• The new sleepers have worked wonders