It started last Friday, when Katie and Adam dropped off Boopity Boop so they could go to an out of state wedding, where Adam was doing Best Man duties. We had the girls all weekend, until their parents returned on Sunday afternoon.
Our friends, Ed and Jen joined us for dinner. IT was a pleasant enough evening to have drinks out on the deck with a fire in the chimnea. Josie came over to hang with her nieces for awhile and Zack was home, too, so we got to socialize a bit without me chasing the toddlers the entire time. I think we had brats but the truth is, it was so long ago and my life was so clogged with grandkids that I'm not really sure I remember Friday night. I do recall that it was fun.
I've moved two tall bookcases into the little bedroom where we set up the pack-n-plays for the girls to sleep in when they visit. Not two minutes after I put them down for the night, I heard crumpled paper noises. Boopity had taken two hardcovers off the shelf she could reach, removed the dust jackets, tossed the books on the floor and was entertaining her sister with origami made from the paper covers.
I have since re ordered the shelves so that the kids books are on that shelf. I also moved the pack-n-plays out of arms' reach of the shelves.
The girls sleep very well, once they go down. Boom usually falls asleep within minutes of being put to bed but Boopity fights sleep. So we watched 'That's Entertainment!' until Boopity consented to bed.
I no longer try to contain them in one room. I put the gate across the stairs so they can't get up into my office, which is strewn with super fun and completely dangerous items and compounds but as long as the bathroom doors are shut tight, I let them roam the first floor. The worst thing they do is toss all the DVDs onto the floor of the porch. They enjoy emptying the kitchen cupboards, too so I've got a baby lock on the one cupboard with detergent in it. I don't mind if they throw tupperware and pots and pans around. Who doesn't think that's fun? They also love to help me load and unload the dishwasher. Of course, I haven't been able to teach them the difference between loading and unloading, so I try to save that chore for when they're in bed.
Boop still doesn't say much; she will occasionally call me 'Nana' but her preferred method of communication is still the point and shriek. Boopity is the spokesmodel of the duo. She demonstrated her mastery of everyone's names at the dinner table. Later on, after their baths, she handed me a diaper for her sister and said "Boop's diaper." She has a hard time with the 'D' sound but it was perfectly obvious what she said.
That made it all the more heartbreaking when she woke up screaming at 1 a.m., screaming "Diaper! diaper!"
Sure enough, she was suffering from a blistering diaper rash. Her bottom had been clear and pink when I'd put her to bed but she'd wet through her diaper, jammies and sleep sack. Once I had her clean, dry and protected, I wrapped her in a blanket and held her in the recliner until she'd fallen back to sleep.
Apparently, blankets are no longer used in cribs. Instead, parents put their babies in these nifty, warm, zipped up sleeping bags. It's pretty cool, since a baby who kicks off their blankets can't really pull them back on but a baby zipped into a warm jammy-sack is zipped in for the night. But it's not so cool when you don't have any extras and one kid is prone to wetting through her diaper every darn night. I plan on making a few fleece sacks to keep here for just that event.
Boopity seemed to do well with the blanket but the next afternoon at nap time, when I tried to put a blanket in Boop's crib, she was so outraged, she threw the blanket, her bottle and both her pillow-pets into her sister's crib.
Over all, we had a terrific weekend together. I took them out side both afternoons. It was cold out and they had no mittens, so we didn't stay out for very long but they loved it. Especially on Sunday, when we had snow! The first snow of the year, which happened less than six months after the last snow of the year. That's a short interval, even for Minnesota.
The girls loved the snow! they wandered around the back yard, saying "Wow!!" Once they have snow pants, mittens and warm boots, they'll be set for a long, fun winter.
After Adam and Katie picked the girls up on Sunday, I had to pack my bag and head to Ty's house, where I was spending the next two days helping out there.
Megan is feeling better than she was two weeks ago, but she's still too week and sick to, say, drive the kids to school. Ty had a work thing that would keep him downtown very late at night, so I went to take charge of the kids. Megan's Mom has been spending a ton of time there, taking care of everyone but every once in a while, she has to go home to deal with her own life.
I got the kids off to school in the morning and picked them up when it was over, made dinner and did whatever Megan needed. She's on a drip 24 hours a day, so she's not dehydrated, like last time and it's all at home, instead of the six weeks she spent in the hospital with Babalouie.
This will be my 5th grandchild and so far not ONE has been the result of a normal, easy pregnancy.
On the other hand, the results of all these traumatic, problem laden pregnancies have been spectacular!
Xena and Babalouie were helpful and in great spirits while I was there. We watched movies after dinner and they did as they were told, mostly. They played together very nicely for the most part. I got some painting done while they were at school. I did a quick sketch of the view off their back deck on Monday afternoon. It was gorgeous and sunny but windy and cold.
We all had a lot of fun hanging out together but I'm looking forward to spending a couple of days in my office, working in the peace and quiet.