What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?

Friends

You all know the answer to that one - it's "finding half of a worm". Rachel thinks that ladybugs are edible, so we've had to scrape some sad-looking ladybug remains out of her mouth.

Since last time, we've graduated from the first year of playschool (we're no longer a "young three") and Daniel was voted most likely to succeed. Well - sort of - the actual commendation thanked him for being social, but Sue pointed out that she really meant "most likely to succeed" - Daniel made quite an impression on his class. At the lunches we got to hear "Oh, that's Daniel - I've heard a lot about him", while with us Daniel took the approach that "what happens at playschool, stays at playschool".

Daniel and Anida took another ride in an ambulance and got to test the overnight facilities at Children's hospital after D had another seizure yesterday. Everyone is home now. Reducing it down to a one-line statement might somehow give the impression that this is not a big deal, or that we're used to this by now. We're not. It's an absolutely heart-stoppingly terrifying experience each time.

"I can't imagine" is the most common response we get, and here's hoping that none of you will ever have to do more than imagine the sequence of wondering if your child will survive, then whether they'll be OK, then whether these seizures will stop happening. I think I'll leave it at that - it's scary.

We'll be back soon, hopefully with some fun updates. There should be a fun trip in the near future, and summer is here already - that's bound to bring some fun times. Oh, and more Rachel-coverage, she got sort of neglected in this post and is definitely developing a personality.

Love, D.A.R.E.

There's Trouble in Capital City, and that starts with T

and that stands for... Timeout

Friends.

Reading this little online diary, you might get the impression that Daniel and Rachel can do no wrong. This is just not the case. In the last couple of weeks, we've had a dramatic increase in Daniel not listening, or testing his limits by deliberately not doing what we've asked him to. There's also been a marked increase in food aversion - the kid who'd eat anything suddenly says I don't LIKE it. And the occasional hitting of his sister. And so there are timeouts - three minutes on a chair by himself to think about what he did. Daniel does not like this.

As one of Eric's friends said when told about this - "thank goodness, he's a normal kid" -> and really, this is probably true. We never saw anything that resembled a "terrible two", and even the current state is only notable because it's so unlike him. As Garrison Keillor says "all of the children are above average"

Rachel has been in decent spirits, considering that she's teething again. The poor girl doesn't do teeth one at a time - she batches them up and is popping another 3 or 4 a the same time. So there were some sleepless nights.

Speaking of which, Rachel is now finally off the bottle alltogether. She gets a sippy cup of milk and some cheese at nighttime, but no more bottles. This is a good thing. She's also gotten into books. Until recently she wasn't too excited about them, but now she'll make the sign for book and demand to have 3 or 4 stories read to her at night.


Daniel's concept of time has really advanced pretty significantly in the last couple of weeks. For a long time, anything that happened in the past was "yesterday", but now he knows about "last week", "2 months ago" and "when I was little" among others. He also knows about the days of the week "On Friday, I will go to Playschool" and about events that are scheduled to happen. He doesn't always get the details right, but he's showing a much greater understanding of time. "Yesterday, you said that I could have big waffles today" - yeah, I guess I did say that. Note to self -> kids hear everything, remember everything, and can remind you of everything.

We took the bike trailer for a little ride the other day, and went over to the beach on the other side of the state park that's right next to our house. This was a popular excursion - the ride was exciting, the beach was a big hit. Rachel was just giddy wading in the water, while Daniel thought that maybe it was a little too cold.

Daniel's first year of playschool is coming to an end this week, with end-of-year parties and an evening celebration on Friday. The experience has been good for him, and he'll be going back in the fall. This summer there will be lots of other activities. Some travel, some visitors, some undetermined activity. It'll be fun.

That's about all for now.

Love, D.R.A.E