The Great Pumpkin 2008

Just to clarify…I don’t typically allow McCanless to dress herself this crazy! (Well, for school anyway.) This week is Red Ribbon Week, a drug prevention/drug awareness educational program. (Equivalent to our D.A.R.E., if you remember that in school.) Today’s theme was, “It’s CRAZY to do drugs!” Kids wore crazy clothes and hair to school. McCanless LOVED today and was thrilled that I allowed her to wear her Christmas dress that she has been dying to wear everyday since we bought it! She completely and 100% dressed her self crazy today all by herself! I did her hair with strict instructions on exactly what to do. Mommy dressed up too, which McCanless thought was great.

As for Mary Clare, no excuse. Mel dresses her every morning, and his choices in bow colors don’t always work. Today, I let it go. Usually, I’ll re-dress her when I pick her up or at least change bows. Today, we had only one thing on our minds, and that was to make that big pumpkin of ours a Jack-O-Lantern before Halloween night!!

Mary Clare and her books…

Mary Clare loves to read and will grab a book first thing in the morning before heading toward any toys. (Hence, the bed head in the photos above. Oh, and on her cheek is the Halloween tattoo that refused to come off after rigid scrubbing!) She’ll open up a book, hold it up to me and say, “REEEEEEED.” She loves to point to the pictures and turn the pages herself.

Bath Time Fun

The girls love to bathe together but make a complete mess in the bathroom! The floor ends up with more water than the tub.

2008 THA Halloween Carnival

On Friday night, we suited up the girls and headed to THA’s 11th annual Halloween Carnival. It is always such a wonderful carnival complete with a witch DJ/host, all kinds of kiddie games, costume contests, a cake walk, glass dime booth, lots of plastic prizes and way too much candy!

There were a ton of people there, which is one reason why I didn’t get great photos! The girls were running in opposite directions, and even with Mimi, Nonnie, Kate and Daddy there to help out, it was complete chaos! I even forgot to “man” McCanless’ class booth for my designated parent time slot! (Whoops) Sugar, people, loud Halloween music and two grandmothers make for WILD Pennington girls! It also makes for a wonderfully fun night!

For Halloween, I’ve learned not to plan too far in advance when it comes to McCanless. Last year my plans for a Princess (McCanless) and the Pea (Mary Clare) ensemble flopped when McCanless decided to be Jasmine around 5PM on Halloween night. A costly decision, as I spend so much time and money on the perfect princess costume. The Jasmine costume we had in her dress-up trunk. Oh well, Jasmine and the Pea were just as adorable, but Jasmine, the Arabian Princess and the Pea just doesn’t sound as good. So much for trying to coordinate.

This year, McCanless has changed her mind at least a dozen times and we’ve been so busy lately, I’ve barely had time to think about costumes at all, much less about coordinating costumes. Last week, when I realized that the carnival was quickly approaching and the girls need costumes, I grabbed a couple of from Target. A brave move without McCanless there to approve! I was just hoping they would at least work for the carnival night! (McCanless is convinced that she should have two costumes.) McCanless LOVED the witch costume. Mary Clare even loved wearing her spider costume and looked so cute! (She wouldn’t wear the hat, which was a bit too small for my melon headed baby girl.)

Raised in a barn…

This morning as I was washing my hands in the faculty bathroom at school, I heard a loud knock. I said, “Out in a sec!” and continued on. I heard another louder, longer knock. Annoyed, I thought, this must be a student. Teachers always wait patiently. Another knock and I thought, okay, who is this annoying child, and what can I say to him or her at this “teachable” moment about politeness, as I also remind him or her that this is the TEACHERS ONLY bathroom. I quickly swung open the door, put on a stern teacher face and in popped a short elementary kid that was already pulling down her skirt and orange and black tights. The same orange and black tights that were the topic of yet another early morning argument at my house. Yes, it was McCanless. In the same orange and black tights that she pulled out of the dirty clothes to wear yet again but freaked out about how “tight” they were??!!

Sweet Mary Clare

It seems as though Mary Clare’s verbal skills have taken off this week! I’ve known for quite a while that she understands many words and phrases, but she never seemed to want to say much, until now. Her desired form of communication continues to be a point and a grunt, however, she’ll forget once in a while and shout out a word or two! She surprises me sometimes with a precisely clear word that I had no idea she knew! Last night McCanless was watching Noggin and a song about a duck was playing. Mary Clare pointed to the television and began shouting, “DUCK!” I’ve never worked with her on this one and I have no idea how she knew it!

She certainly understands how to communicate yes and no. I’ve watched Mel pick up at least 30 different toys/snacks/babies/etc. showing her each one and asking her if this or that was what she needed. (Talk about wrapped.) She shook her little head to every item until he finally got to exactly what she wanted. She smiled and nodded yes. I think Mel would jump through hoops to make her happy. I thought he was going to jump out of the car tonight when she finally called him, “DA-DA.”

She is growing so quickly I can barely keep up! She is still a Mommy’s girl and loves to be held, although she’s extremely independent. She loves carrying her baby dolls around, something McCanless was never too fond of. She will walk around the house and dig into everything, leaving a trail behind her. Her kiss is a wide-open slobbery mess and she loves to blow kisses. She has a dainty beauty pageant wave and says, “HAY” to everyone, even strangers like a true Southern Belle. She is such a busy body and always wants to see what is happening. When Emmie barks, signaling a visitor, Mary Clare drops everything and runs toward the front door just to see who is there. Her books are among her favorite toys and will walk up with an open book and say, “REEEEED.” She loves to play with phones and holds them up to her ear as if she is talking to someone. She laughs at her big sister often, who is still her hero, but annoys her like crazy. She is definitely a passy lover. We are in it for the long haul. She loves music. When she hears music, whether at home, in the grocery store, or anywhere, she immediately starts to sway her head and begins to “MC dance” waving her arms and twisting. In the car, she will point and whine until she hears music. I get at least one comment on her adorable, fluffy cheeks everyday. She is a very trusting and content child. She is a tough little cookie that can hold her own.

October 2008

The girls and I were in the yard on Sunday afternoon waiting on Daddy to get home. They absolutely love playing outside and have the best time on the swing. I thought they looked so cute, I just had to grab my camera! (I promise I didn’t pose my little 4-year-old model…she just does that in front of a camera!)

My two, very different girls…

Sorry, this video is sideways. (I held my camera sideways as I filmed.) I can’t figure out how to download them for the web and rotate, and I always seem to forget this when I grab my camera. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this video, I just find it funny that Mary Clare seems to ignore her big sister. She is wandering in and out of the playroom as McCanless does her thing, which is loud and obnoxious as usual. Mary Clare stops a minute, and unfazed, continues on. She is too funny!

Nothing like ice cream on the first chilly night of Fall!!

Hopefully not an annual event…

I’ve decided that Mary Clare wants to be a doctor for Halloween. Last September and October, she was admitted to the hospital for 1-a UTI, and 2-heart catheterization and this year, last Wednesday, she decided to get a bacterial infection and drop her O2 stats for yet another overnighter in the hospital. I guess the pea in the pod costume didn’t cut it for her last year.

All things considered, she is a healthy baby (as healthy as a baby with a half of a heart can be, I imagine) and aside from 2 major open heart surgeries, has had very few doctor and hospital visits. When she does get sick, she does it all the way. All or nothing. Which I’m learning more and more everyday is how my husband and my girls approach life.

Personally, I feel that the wonderful nurse practitioner that saw her at our doctor’s office during night clinic overreacted just a wee bit. Sure, no one likes to see O2 stats drop in the low 70′s, but when they start in the low 80′s, the norm and below norm should alter. I took Mary Clare in because she was running a fever. I didn’t even bother to check it with a thermometer, I could just tell she was sick. (Mother’s intuition thing.) I don’t even think we have a thermometer, now that I mention it. She did have a 100 fever once the nurse checked. After Tylenol, and before the practitioner checked Mary Clare, she was feeling much better and fever had dropped. However, once her O2 stats read 71, it was all over, to the ER we headed, practically shoved out of the door by the nurses. Mary Clare had her rosy complexion, as usual, and wasn’t in any distress, obviously. But who am I to argue with a medical professional? We also stayed in contact with Dr. Forbus, Mary Clare’s cardiologist in Charleston. He seemed to think she was fine, just wanted a chest x-ray to rule out other possibilities. He was off but didn’t hesitate to answer his cell and talk to us and to the doctors here in Hartsville.

In the long run, I’m very glad that doctors are extremely cautious with her, my delicate heart baby girl. She ended up having a bacterial infection and nothing more. After a load of antibiotics, a night under a croup tent with oxygen for the both of us, IV fluids and lots of tests, we are home and she is fine. Overreactions are better than under reactions, I suppose. It was a long couple of days and she is back to her sweet self, plundering and rummaging through the house non-stop. She didn’t even skip a beat when Mimi and Bapa came to visit this weekend.

McCanless still has yet to decide what to be for Halloween. I imagine it will change at least 20 times before the big day. As for Mary Clare, I’m not taking the hint just yet. (Unless she springs another ER visit on me within the next couple of weeks. I’m praying that won’t happen.) Remember, I only have a couple of years of chubby bugs and pumpkins before she insists on dressing herself in glitter make-up, plastic heels and princess costumes.