I started this blog today because I am at home sick. It's one of those things that I always want to do and never have time, so here you go.
I had some sort of massive horrible allergy attack that started while I was sleeping last night, or trying to sleep rather. So this morning I went to the doctor about the cough that I have had for a week and she said that I have, you guessed it, allergies... I live in Austin, so that's really not a shocker to anyone that has ever lived here. The nurse gave me an allergy shot, the first I have ever had - and that totally bummed me out since my allergies seem only to have worsened with age. hmmmm. The "bummed out" feeling may have arisen also because moments before the shot the docter gave me some Allergra D samples and told me that they would definitely help me feel better. Then on her way out of the doctor's cell of doom, she poked her head back through the door and cheerfully let me know that "Oh, you won't get much sleep on those. You will get a lot of cleaning done, but not much sleep. Ha! Byeeeeee!" and she closed the door behind her. I would have expected a lot more sympathy from a doctor that's a mother of two young children... but alas, no. Now I get to look forward to feeling like crap for a while longer and none of the relief that comes with sweet, sweet sleep. Great.
So as I cough between sentences, I wanted to let everyone know how the family Greathouse is doing. Jason is good, tired today because he had to got to work at 4 in the morning because he is on call this week, but good beyond that. Other than feeling a little under the cedar tree, I am good. Work is busy and good and I am enjoying my new bustling branch. I have a lot of great staff there that support everything, so on days like today when I can't be there, I have every confidence that they are doing just fine. I hope that doesn't mean that they don't really need me... crap!
Anyway, it has finally stopped raining in Austin. It rained for a couple of months at least, and has been the wettest summer in history. My lawn looks fantastic, but my kid is going a little bananas from not being able to go outside. Our neighbors with the kids and dogs have completely moved out and our life is peaceful again. Unfortunately they had left the dogs here while they had moved out and it was raining constantly. Not a pretty picture. We were sad for the dogs because they only got one visit a day to be fed and watered and then they were lonely and wet and howling and barking. Fun. They have been gone now for about a week (just as the rain stopped I might add) and we are haaaaaaaappy! So, we will probably have some new neighbors soon.
Dylan is doing great! She is rapidly learning...everything. She mimics almost every word we say so Jason and I are having fun trying to remember to not say things like "crap" and "groove thang" and such. In the last couple of weeks we have discovered her desire to help. One night, week before last, I was getting dinner ready. She was freaking out, in normal fashion, because she was hungry and wanted to eat at that very moment. Desperate to finish the meal and get the table set without having to ask her not to whine every three seconds and tripping over her in the kitchen, I asked her if she would put some napkins on the table for "Daddy and me?" I handed her two napkins and was going to be quite pleased if they even made it to the table. I turned back to the stove to finish things there and noticed how long she had been quiet. It had been at least 10 seconds... I joke, it had been about 30 seconds. So I turn around to investigate what calamity has befallen the napkins and I see that she is standing near Jason's chair "playing" with the napkins. There are no pieces hanging from the corner of her mouth, so I turn back around to my own tasks. I finish what I am doing and when I turn around to face the dining room table again I see that Dylan has put one napkin next to Jason's plate. She is headed to my side of the table and she proceeds to set one (whole) napkin next to my plate. She is about 20 months old, so as I recover from shock she is running towards me. I fumble for something else to give her to put on the table. I hand her the bread and ask her to put that on the table as well. She takes it and puts it next to Jason's plate, also amazing because I don't eat bread with dinner and he does, so I always put it next to him. I hand her the butter wondering how much damage she could do with a fork if I gave her that and decide against it and she gets the butter to the table safely. I hand her one of her plastic plates and she put that on her high chair tray and ditto with her spoon. Jason and and I were standing there in awe staring at her. She's not usually in the room when I set the table and I didn't tell her where to put anything. She's 20 months old!
My brain at this point is struggling with the possibilities of this whole concept. I am wondering how far I can take this. Can she tote laundry yet? Separate whites from colors? Can she grocery shop!?!? Okay, so not quite yet, but I struggle too because it's going to get pretty hard pretty soon to challenge this crazy smart kid. I know it's just a table setting, but it's pretty amazing - oh and I have proof of it's sheer amazing-ness too! The women that take care of Dylan at daycare thought that it was "amazing" and they are officials! (Maybe not quite "official" but a pretty great panel to judge this kind of thing since they deal with these munchkins all day.)
So about a week later we are in the same place, Dylan and I. I am making dinner and she freaking out because she's hungry and it's just allllllmost ready... translation to 20 month-old baby is... "blah, blah, blah, blah blahblahblahblahblah, blah." So I ask her to do the napkins and her plate and spoon, and then I ask her to put spoons on the table for Mommy and Daddy for our pot roast. She takes the spoons and put one square in the middle of each of our napkins. Seriously?? Cool! So, she's done and dinner is ready. I ask her to go get Daddy and tell him that dinner is ready. She runs (like full-on sprint) into the living room to get Jason. She runs over to him on the couch and says "Daddy, come, sit!" and runs back to the kitchen to his chair at the table. She pulls out his chair and starts pounding on the cushion saying loudly "Sit, sit, sit, sit!" We were speechless again. This is all new and it's so cool! She is just awesome.
So we are going to be delving the depths of her helping abilities for the next couple of weeks, I am sure. Can she clean out the pantry? hmmmm.
I will be posting again soon, as I do actually love to write. Also, I have discovered as of late, I don't remember anything, so I really do need to write it down somewhere for posterity.
Disclaimer: All spelling and grammatical errors are due to my illness as I am usually perfect ;)
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