At home one afternoon. Lena sorting beads, Amy at her desk, a rare photo of the photographer.

What the baby does...

...she sits up! One day (last Sunday) she figured out to hold out her hand to the side to balance, and then she was off! All in one day, she sat upright instead of slumping forward, suddenly having gained the confidence to do so, now she knew how to regain her balance.

And TOYS! She is so into her toys. She gets excited with old favorites and new ones. Of course it's chewing on them that she loves the most.

Tigger and Tigger

Erica wearing her winter overcoat Tigger suit.


That tongue poking out means, pretty obviously, 'I wanna suck that!'


Tigger is my friend.

Black Tuesday and White Wednesday

It snowed today! It only just stopped actually, at 11am. It's a good thick covering, great for making snowmen or snow queens, only Amy can't go to school today. She and Lena have the 'flu. Hence the Black Tuesday, I hated yesterday, I was so stressed out! Wooried about Erica's breathing again, irrational but unstoppable. Kanji took the girls to the hospital. I was relieved that I didn't have to take Erica to that den of germs but anxious because I like to be the one in control when it comes to medical affairs. Kanji is too much of a Yes man. I didn't really want Tamiflu - but he got it, and I got so upset! Then he arrived home with them with a slew of other meds as well, in case the 'flu brings on Amy's asthma or Lena's Perhaps-asthma. I just don't get giving them a bunch of cough medicines and mucus minimizer and what-not. If it's asthma, just give them asthma drugs! A preventer and/or a reliever. A cough is a symptom of asthma, not the illness itself, surely just relieving the cough is not enough? I know things like excessive mucus can bring on asthma, but still, why not give them an asthmas preventer then????

It's this kind of thing that makes living in a foreign country so frustrating and stressful at times. You just feel like no-one has any common sense.

....oh, well, it was just all too much! A black day. I was clock-watching at 11:58 thinking, "the sooner this day is over the better" even though nothing was going to change from that time until morning!

Now the kids have gone to Baachan's for the day to help try to keep Erica 'flu-free. I haven't touched the girls since they came home from the hospital, and they haven't touched her since Sunday night when they first started feeling ill. That's been really hard, because I'm a huggy mummy, especially when my kids are sick. I told Amy yesterday that I wanted to hug them both so bad, but I couldn't, because we have to do everything we can to try to keep Erica from getting ill. She understood, but got a bit teary-eyed as well. At least they have each other, and now their father, who is coming down with something too. And Baachan to fuss over them. I sent them away all bundled up against the cold, with a pot of vegetable soup, which Amy had asked me to make yesterday, and a DVD player and a bunch of DVDs. They think the guys working at the Stand might like Grease, so they brought that.

I'll probably pick them up after dinner, in the meanwhile, me and Erica have a big long day to ourselves to fill! Easier, cleaner, but she misses playing with them! She can't figure out why no-one will play with her, and not even Daddy will cuddle her. At least she's used to it being just her and me most of the time.

Catch-up

I just called mother, but she's out. Later then. We will go shopping in a moment, the girls don't want to come, they want to babysit themeselves, but it's still too soon, I think. So I shall drag them with me and do two days' worth of shopping. Amy is sewing, and I promised to wait until she is done. Erica is on her tummy, happy to be with her sisters. Lena is wriggling around managing to do absolutely nothing as usual.

I went to the AFWJ convention last weekend, more about that later too. Erica's had enough, or rather, the girls have left her and she's annoyed. I just set her up with one of their dolls, that's keeping her happy. She all hands! She's always grabbing whatever I have in my hands, usually I can see it coming a mile off as she's rather slow to get coordinated, but sometimes she sneaks up on me! I hold her in my left arm, so I can use my right, which leaves her stronger left hand out front. She always grabs my wallet when I am paying for my groceries. She actually really likes riding in the supermarket strollers, but she's always had enough by the time we come to pay! I put her back in the stroller yesterday while I paid and packed, and she managed to reach for a rubbish bin and started to eat the bin liner while I was busy packing. And when I hold her on my knee to eat (cos Mums aren't allowed to eat in peace, you know) I have to clear an arc in front of her. She is no longer happy gazing outward, staring in fascination at the curtains or the fridge. She MUST be facing us, she twists her body round to see what I am doing, what I am EATING - she is fascinated with food. I have tried a few things in her mouth, but she is still poking out her tongue in response, so she's not ready yet.

She's moving toward a saner night schedule, not that I was bothered much by the midnight to midday schedule, it had its uses! Now she is going down about 8pm, wanting to stay hooked onto her boobie for ages, which is neat, cos then I sit up in bed and read to the other girls. So that's come together nicely. Then she sleeps until a little earlier in the morning, more like 8 or 9am. So I can do less in the morning, but eventually we must move towards SLEEPING at night and being AWAKE during the day, so it's all for the best. We are getting into a routine of having dinner first, then bath, then straight to bed.

Lena has been having dramas this week. She finally lost her first tooth!

.... much later on, after Princess Diaries II, shopping, lunch and Harry Potter 5...

Lena also had a major drama this week nearly killing her finger. On Thursday I picked them up after But Biting Bug class (which is a whole other story!) she complained of a sore finger. I looked at her finger and its tip was wrapped in selotape. I quickly cut it off - it was white and cold to the touch. I got the selotape all off, it was pretty tightly wound, amidst her complaints of pain. Once the tape was off, it hurt even more as the blood began to recirculate, and it swelled up to twice its size. I thought she had put it on a few hours earlier, but as I talked to her, I realized she'd had it on for over a day. I remember her getting the tape out of the cupboard - I'd told her to make sure she put it back, and was happy when, a little while later, I saw it returned to its rightful place, but it never occured to me to ask what she was using it for, I just assumed it was for paper. Turns out she was concerned about her nail. She bites her nails really badly - down to the quick almost, and until it starts to hurt. She herself is getting worried about it, and she thought that if she covered it, it would stop her biting it and hurting. I think she got the idea of using the tape from all their games with their dolls, when they 'get injured' and Amy doctors them with tissues and selotape.

Well, after a night of worry, with Lena the most worried, all was well in the morning, it was just a little swollen and sore. She'll never do that again!