Two-year-old Tassia

Tassia has been 2 for about 2 weeks now. I've been wanting to write a bit about what she's like, but unfortunately, what with all of our illnesses, I haven't been able to. So, now that we're mostly feeling better, here goes:

Tassia was very excited about her birthday cake. In fact, at every meal once the cake was made, she would swivel her little head around and ask, "Tata cake où?" and once it was located, "Tata cake, please?" to which she inevitably got a yes reply, which is how we ended up eating cake for breakfast... She's so funny when she runs. She seems like she leans really far one way then the other, with her arms slightly out from her sides and, as often as not, her mouth open and her tongue hanging out. She often answers her sisters propositions with a cheery "D'accord, Nina!" and recently she insists on telling everyone Sybille's middle name. She's dubbed her "Petite Paolina."

She and Franklin are still inseparable. Recently, she's started calling him "Baby Kain-kin," holding him like a baby, and this afternoon she even pulled up her shirt to nurse him "comme petite." She now says that she loves things, only she says something like "nam", so we're not sure if it's "love" or "aime", but the sentiment is definitely there. She loves to find the picture of the fall of Jericho in their story Bible. When she gets to that page, she says, "Keep walking. Keep walking, but they won't fall down!" (Someday, we'll actually show her the VeggieTales video!) She likes to participate in church. She's mastered the "Amen, Amen" response, although she's never actually used it the right time, much to everyone's amusement.

She often takes her cues from Alina, and wants to do everything her big sister does, like walk on top of walls, climb ladders and slide down slides. Hopefully, this won't ever get her into trouble. But, she sometimes will say, "Tata bébé", crawl in my arms, and want me to hold her like a baby. So, she's in between big girl and baby, and we're all loving every minute of it.

Tassia's story

Tassia and Alina really like this show with two little claymation cats named Mia and Mio.  Often, while I am brushing their teeth, I will tell them a story about these two cats, and it always begins, "Once, Mia and Mio were walking in the forest when..."  Well, the other night, Tassia felt the need to prompt me: "One time, Mia and Mio walking porest..."  It was the funniest thing ever.  Until tonight.  Tonight, I started, "Once, Mia and Mio were walking in the forest" when she said, "No!  Grandpa!"  "One time Grandpa was walking in the forest?"  "Yeah!" Tonight, the story was about Grandpa walking in the forest.

Down again (III)

Never thought this subject would be a three-parter.  Did I mention we took Tassia BACK to the dr. on Monday?  She woke us up overnight with a high fever, and apparently has strep.  Here's hoping I'm not going to have to go back in a day or two with the same thing...   The fun never stops.

Down Again (II)

Fourth dr.'s visit in 10 days. Results:

I have an ear infection. And pinkeye (more on this later). And a super-sore throat with swollen glands. And a fever that comes and goes. And a stuffy/runny nose. And a cough.

About pinkeye: When the dr. diagnosed Tassia the other day, he said she had a conjoncti-something-or-other. Some French medical term that meant nothing to me. I did actually say the word "pinkeye" to myself, but with the craziness, had had no time to actually look it up. So, we've been treating her for this conjuncti-thinggummy, scrupulously putting drops in her eyes 3 times a day like the dr. said. It wasn't until this morning that I had 5 minutes to look up the darn word in the dictionary, and then on the internet since it wasn't actually in my dictionary.

Pinkeye.

OK. Suddenly, I have lots of associations with this word. It means something to me. The most prominent association being "HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS!" Now, I figured that whatever this conjucti-whatever was, it was probably contagious. I had tried to be careful to wash my hands before and after cleaning her eyes, not using the same washcloth for her and Alina, etc. Could I have used more precaution? Maybe. It's true that there's a difference between "probably contagious" and "HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS", which are words the dr. never used in his diagnosis. So, Tassia's symptoms are cleared up, but I have it now. Along with an ear infection and a whole host of other unpleasant symptoms.

The most annoying thing, besides wanting to crawl under a rock and hide there? Having to explain to Tassia 5 or 6 times a day (with no voice) that no, in fact, I can not read her a story. Especially when she so innocently says, "Read bunny book, please?" and, to my negative reaction, "Please, happy read."

Plus, we're supposed to see a new family from church tomorrow. Not sure I'm up to it, but REALLY don't want to cancel. Again. (They had invited us over for a few days after our car broke down, and so we had no transportation to get there.) We could use your prayers.

Down again

Results of our 3rd dr.'s visit in less then a week:   Alina:  the doctor said her ear infection seems to be cleared up pretty nicely, and that, since the antibiotics apparently caused her to itch all over, she can stop taking them.  We're left with hacking cough and runny nose.   Tassia:  the eyedrops he prescribed should, in 5 or 6 days, make her stop waking up with her eyes matted shut.  Still dealing with hacking cough and runny nose.   Me:  I do not have an ear infection and didn't even run a fever today, but I most likely won't have a voice tomorrow.   I'm not sure we can handle any more excitement.

Tassia's 2!

Here is Tassia on birthday morning. Notice the ever-present Franklin, and the new birthday-present backpack. Here are the Constantini sister gangsters. Beware!

I was going to ask Tassia what kind of cake she wanted, but Alina beat me to it. Of course, when someone asks you, "Do you want a chocolate cake?" how can you say anything but yes? So Tassia got a chocolate cake. When I asked her what color frosting she wanted, her answer was black, so this is what she got (the M and Ms were extra).

" Tassia blow, but don't touch! (OK, OK, I'll help you blow, otherwise we'll never get to eat this cake!)"

I think it was a hit.

A Smile for Friday

A Picnic

We've had almost summer-like weather here for the last few days, and so we've been enjoying our back yard! Here's showing how we haven't gotten it all mowed yet. Pongo thinks he's a tiger! Even Chessy got some picnic action going!

Someday I'll teach Tassia what it means to sit like a lady!

Surprise!

This morning while I was dressing the big girls, Sybille suddently started fussing from her bed.  I went in to get her and found her...on her stomach!  She rolled over for the first time and there was no one there to see it.