a barking seal in the HOW-OWSE!

first of all, my dad just got out of surgery...12 inches of his colon were removed & b/c he had 12 days of antibiotics, it was not as inflamed as it could be, which means that the surgeon didn't have to put in a colostomy (or ileostomy?) bag. which is very good! so he is recovering & is on some intense drugs. wes & cal (my brother in law) were joking the other night that this will be the first christmas that my dad may actually get to 'see' santa claus (b/c of all the pain meds he is on). my dad is a jokester, he appreciated the laughter. (except i think it made his gut hurt). anyways, it's all good & it's pretty miraculous that he doesn't have to have a bag, so...god is good.

here is the newest fun for amelia: the exersaucer! while watching video of addy, we noticed that addy was in the exersaucer around 4 months & amelia can hold her head up way better than addy could at this age, so we gave it a shot. & she loved it...but amelia gets over stimulated very quickly, so she only lasted about 5 minutes. a good start, though.

it is funny how different they are, but then again similar in other ways. watching addy baby videos brought it all back...how little addy slept during the day (well, & night!), how she loved to be playing with things & not held a lot...she is NOT a snuggler at all. however, for millie, it's like this: amelia = snuggles. she wants to be held constantly & she doesn't like a lot of things around her, such as toys or lights. it either shuts her down (asleep) or makes her very very cranky. but addy thrives on that stuff...so interesting to this mama.

here's a shot of millie in the saucer for the first time. the thing she loved the most was the mirror. hhmm, we try not to raise vain children! ;o)

addy dancing with her doll (b/c i was with dancing with amelia) to christmas music. not having pants on is nothing new. i was going to post a streaker picture, but decided against it (it was an adorable butt shot, but...the internet is the internet). it was a true streaker picture...addy was literally naked & running through our house like a mad woman, trying not to get caught so she wouldn't have to put clothes on.

and now to today: we have a severely sick child in our house. addy has croup & a (bad!) ear infection. i was wondering why she had no balance the past few days...apparently that is from the ear infection. so she has to take antibiotics for the ear infection & a steroid for the croup. the ped also warned us that the croup gets worse at night & the 2nd & 3rd nights are usually the worst. great! looking forward to it...apparently we are also to take her into the garage (where it's cold, this will help her airways) if she's coughing a lot...another great thing i'm looking forward to. but she will still not take a nap today, with all the yuck that's in her body, you'd think she's be exhausted. not addy. energy still abounds. it's exhausting (esp when we're sick & stressed/thinking about my dad & such). next week i'm looking forward to a nasty nasty diaper rash for this adeline (always happens when she's on antibiotics, always). below the picture is of my 2nd attempt getting her to take a nap. there were 4 attempts today, then i gave up. (one in my bed, one on the couch, one in her bedroom, & another in her bedroom...what i wouldn't give for someone to send me to my room right now!).

amelia today...she is getting very frustrated at this moment (she chews on her hand when she starts to get upset). i think we had the kids out of order...millie, the snuggler would've had a lot more snuggles as a first born & addy, ms. independent, would've been a great 2nd baby. but i don't think we could handle two addy-style babies. (she perfectly fits the 'active/spirited' baby descriptions). amelia doesn't exactly fit into any of the given personalities perfectly. we're still trying to figure her all out... but we do know she's more cuddly & attached to her mama & daddy & isn't such an extrovert.

okay, now i must go entertain a very tired & cranky toddler...who has found the cookies somehow & gets a bit, oh, even more dictator-ish when sick & tired...oh my. i feel a kid free vacation calling my name (yea right).