What's Little and Cute, and Better than a Baby Doll?

On Monday mornings when I do the bulk of our laundry, I am impressed again with the differences between 5-7 year old girls and 4 year old boys when it comes to the number of outfits they go through. While Micah has to be made to change out of his playclothes before putting on pajamas (More than once he's gotten ready for bed and appeared back downstairs with bulging legs and middle due to the playclothes under his pj's. It's so much work to take clothes off apparently.), I am constantly trying to monitor the girls' changing outfits and make sure they came out of the "not-so-dirty" stack rather than fresh out of their dressers. I've told them they can change as often as they like as long as it's dress-up clothes or from the playclothes basket where we stick clothes not dirty enough to wash, but not fresh enough to go back in the dresser. Somehow their laundry basket still gets ridiculously full each week, spilling over, in fact. I guess part of it comes from my being overly cautious about germs when we've been out in town or to the doctor's office. The clothes worn there go straight to the dirty clothes and they get to pick out another outfit. And Lissy starts out with various layers of pj's on at night because here little silky nightgown/slip is so pretty and girly (and one must look pretty and girly, even for bed), but too cold to be worn by itself. That requires it to be put over a shirt, and then of course you need pants. But sometime during the 15 minutes before she falls asleep some pieces get shed and lost in the covers or under the bed. I do make them fold their own clean clothes (I help a little with the difficult ones) and put the away. Camie seems to be catching on to the cause and effect of changing often=more folding.

I have a friend whose oldest three children are boys, and she's commented that she's made it a rule that they have to check with her before changing outfits. But, being boys, they don't really change just because after lunch they like the blue shirt better then the grey one. Her 4th born is a girl and is 2 1/2. I'm just waiting to see if she's as easy to keep in one outfit as the boys are. I've heard other moms of boys say that constant clothes-changing wasn't a problem in their family...until the girl was born. Then, as soon as the little thing learned how to get her pants and shirt off she was trying on new outfits, changing shoes, dressing up, etc.

And today our oldest discovered something maybe even better than changing your own clothes: changing your little sister's clothes.

Camie and Cassie were upstairs while I was on the phone with Grandpa Morris. I could hear Camie talking to Cassie as she wiped her face and arms with a washcloth (not sure why), then it got quiet. I walked quietly upstairs the way my mamma used to when she lived here and I was a little girl playing at something a little too quietly, and I peeked in Cassie's room. Camie was holding up shirts for Cass to choose from. I started to tell her not to change her clothes, but thought, "Why? It's one outfit, Cassie's is probably wet from the face/arm washing, and this is great that Camie's learning how to take care of her little sister." Besides, I remember going to a friend's house as a kid and loving to pick out clothes for her little sister and dress her.

A few minutes later, Camie escorted her model downstairs and told me Cassie "forced her" to put those clothes on her. I think that meant that Cassie was a little opinionated about which ones went on her, not that Camie was disinclined to dress up her own live "doll".

And she looked adorable. Camie had brushed her hair and put a bow in it. I usually keep Cassie's hair in a little ponytail on top of her head or on the side just to keep her curls out of her eyes. So to see her with it down and brushed so nicely made her look like the two-year-old she's about to be. It was sweet to see these two sisters together: Camie, loving being the big, older sister, and Cassie thrilled to have the attention.

Camie let her wear the bead bracelet I'd made for her (Camie) from a bracelet kit Mam gave her to keep her occupied during her two-week recovery. I felt a little weak when I saw "10,000 BEADS!" written unapologetically in large letters across the front of the box. Only one major spill has occurred so Matt and I figure we're down to about 8,000. A much more manageable number.

She reminds me of her cousin Claire in the picture above. I think it's the forehead and mouth, for those of you reading this who know the cousin.

Such a big (and terribly cute) little girlie.

Camie gets to watch extra movies since she can't swim or ride bikes or anything fun like that while she's recovering. She and Cassie were enjoying one together while Micah and Lissy swam.

This was taken a few days ago. I bought popsicles to try to give Camie something to swallow without hurting her throat. It's a good thing I bought a big box, since the other three like them too.

I'm a sucker for pictures of kids taken from the back. That's convenient, because usually they are walking away from me by the time I manage to get the camera out. But I love how they're so little next to those giant doors.

Just hangin' out together....eating big sister's popsicles.

Thanks for praying for Camie. Today was the best day she's had. She was able to eat even better, and wasn't so cranky from the pain. Still using pain medicine throughout the day and night, but hoping to cut that back soon. We go back on the 19th (Cassie's birthday) for a checkup. Praying she'll get the go-ahead to run and play to her heart's content.

~~Rose

The Many Loves of Cassie Hope

Cassie loves her Dora pajamas. Cassie loves Lissy. Cassie loves matching Lissy in her Dora pajamas. Cassie loves my white robe that has become "Ro-ro", her blankey. Cassie loves sleeping in Lissy's bed. Cassie loves sleeping in Lissy's bed with Lissy and Ro-ro. The end.

Bye Bye Tonsils

(Sorry about the rambling, long paragraphs. Blogger won't let me seperate them into small paragraphs for some reason unless I've got pictures inserted.) Today was a big day for Camie girl. She had her tonsils and adenoids out and did amazingly well with the stress of it. I was afraid she might start crying (or sobbing) when I would have to leave her to the doctor's care, but she only got a little teary-eyed. I, on the other hand, after watching her be rolled away skipped the waiting room and went straight to the bathroom where I was on the verge of bawling, but choked it back. I was fine (crying-wise) after that, but was very eager to see my girl and it was a long 30 minutes before the doctor came out and told me she was done and did fine. About 5 minutes later a nurse came and got me because she was waking up and crying for me. The anesthesia was just starting to wear off and her poor head felt drunk. She would cry, then sleep. After a 30 minute nap she woke and her eyes no longer had that wild expression, although she was nauseated and in pain. She got to nap with me in my bed (that's a privilege for our kids) and watched a lot of movies. She is still in pain, but we're hoping that the prescription medicine will work better for her than the tylenol has. I gave it to her 2 hours ago and she's still awake, at nearly 11 pm. Hoping for a crash soon. :) On the up-side, she did feel like eating a little bit. And she gets to sleep in Mamma's and Daddy's room on a pallette. That's a big thrill in this house. That meant a little shifting around to keep others happy so Micah fell asleep with Lissy, then I moved him back to his bed in his and Cassie's room. Here are all 3 girls at SIX FIFTY in the MORNING. Camie and I had to be at the hospital at 7 am (glad it's only a few miles from the house) so we were up by 6:35. Felicity woke up at 6:30 and was hungry and I found out later went in Cassie's room and woke her up because F. was too scared to go downstairs by herself. Mom came over before Matt left for work and watched them and Micah for us. I videoed a lot, to document the day and keep her mind busy. While we were in the waiting room I said, "This is Camie's big day!" She looked up and said, "Camie's horrible day." We played tic-tac-toe on the new notebook Matt and I had given her in a bag full of activity gifts. We gave them to her after naps on Monday, the day before her surgery. She was so excited and sweet as she pulled out each thing. The nurses put her at ease right away by letting her pick out a teddy bear, giving her a coloring book, colors and stickers. She liked the ocean-themed hospital gown, and the potty was a hit. It pulled out from under the sink and had a giant black button on the front of the counter to flush it. We waited for about 45 minutes, videoing and taking silly pictures. I had brought her toy cat along with her for comfort, so she ended up with two stuffed animals in bed with her..

Nice picture of the two of us....and her favorite potty.

Matt really liked this one when I showed him all the pictures we took. I just turned the screen around so she could see herself and took random pictures. I've often said if you give this girl a mirror and a recorder, she'll keep herself entertained for a long time.

More silliness

Whit, her nurse came in and chatted with her a minute. He put this hairnet thing on her and then she matched all the doctors and nursers. Whit said he knew she liked his and just wanted to look just like him. :)

Again, watching herself on the screen. She was trying not to smile for some reason.

And this is the poor, sad face I saw when I came in the recovery room. She hasn't smiled a lot since either, but when she does I'm struck with the change it makes in her face. I told her I'm going to spoil her for a few days while she's sick, and that made her smile. :)

Matt and I have speculated that the hardest part for her of this recovery might be the fact that she can't talk. She can, but it hurts so she does it very little. I told Matt we'd better watch out in a few days when she is able to talk again. She'll have several days' worth of words built up. Meanwhile we're perfecting the art of reading pantomime, facial expressions, sign language and deciphering drawings and random letters that are her attempt to sound words out.

Here she is in our room with the coloring book and markers Aunt Jessica gave her. Of course Aunt Jessica doesn't forget anybody, so she got the other two big kids their own coloring book/marker sets, and a pink fuzzy bunny for Cassie because Cassie kept trying to adopt Camie's new purple bear.

Please pray for our girlie. She has trouble swallowing so drinking is hard, and eating is harder. We don't want at return trip to the hospital because of dehydration, so we're keeping a cup by her all the time and making her sip as much as we can. Two weeks is the estimated recovery time for this surgery. We all need your prayers. :)

~~Rose