catchy tune

Last night, we attended the younger children's school dance. Despite insisting that he did not want to go, and would not dance, Iain enjoyed running around like mad with his friends. Lucy's favorite moments would have been riding (dancing) on my shoulders and being swung around in circles (while the dance floor was relatively empty.

We all know Anna likes dancing. And so she enjoyed herself...except that the music was pretty loud, and the dance floor was pretty crowded. As a result, we left pretty early. On the way back to the car, she told me she wanted that 'catchy tune.' For a minute, I didn't quite understand. Or, rather, I thought that she was saying 'catchy tune,' but couldn't believe that could be right.

'Catchy tune?' I repeated. 'Yes,' she replied, in that tone of voice that says, 'what else would I have been saying?' like it's blindingly obvious. Ok, which tune? 'Happy?' I asked, 'the song from Despicable Me?' Nope. She shook her head. 'Catchy tune,' she said again, 'boys in a train.' Boys in a train? Then it dawned on me. 'The Macarena?' I asked. Big smile. 'Yeessssss!'

Heaven help us.

She's almost a teenager...

Anna is twelve. So she's into makeup, likes Monster High, and goes to secondary school (which would be middle school in the US--6th grade). After school, she usually goes up to her room for a while. When she re-emerges, she's wearing a totally different set of clothes. But she still plays with Barbies and lines up all her dolls and cuddly toys to play 'school.' And she still enjoys the 'How do dinosaurs...' book series, as well as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and all of its sequels.

One of the fantastic things about Anna being twelve and having a little sister who's two is the way they (sometimes) play together. This evening, I was reciting (not singing--I didn't grow up with it, and don't know the tune) 'Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear.' Suddenly Lucy turned to Anna and held out her hand, for Anna to repeat the nursery rhyme and the motions (that end with a tickle, if you aren't familiar with it). And so she did--over and over. She enjoyed Lucy's giggles as much as I do. Saying the nursery rhyme wasn't a chore, it was a delight for her as well as for her little sister.

Ah, maternal bliss. Don't worry. I'm sure it won't last long...

like this

Yesterday, I took Anna, Iain, and Lucy along to Thomas's football match. Usually he has two matches on a Saturday, one at 11:20 and the next at 12:30. The break between them is too long, and the others tend towards chaos. But yesterday it was just the one, at 11:20. Lewis had work to do, so I thought I'd take everyone out.

Lucy fell asleep on the way there. So when we arrived, I took a few plastic shopping bags (you know, the strong, reusable ones you keep in the car) and put them in my tote bag, so we'd have something to sit on. If I have to hold Lucy, I can't stand around for an hour, and the ground is always damp. Always. Of course, as soon as I put Lucy down on them, she woke up, and I thought we might be in for a lot of fussing. But no. We had a snack, then moved to where Thomas's match was about to begin.

Iain played behind us, and Anna found some stickers in my bag. Lucy happily stuck them to her top, and I actually watched Thomas play. I thought, as I looked around, 'this is what I thought it would be like...' Girls playing happily, Iain staying close, allowing me to support the team.

Of course, it only lasted about 5 minutes. Then Anna spotted someone's dog, and we never sat down again. But it was nice while it lasted.

'fashion paints'?

There are plenty of stories from our visit to the US this summer. Iain improved his swimming dramatically, Lucy discovered the joy of water wings, Thomas learned to handle a kayak, and Anna found that she likes crab. Consider this post the first installment of the 'holiday' series. Hopefully it will be cheering for all (not least of all, me) as the seasons change and our tans fade.

We vacationed on Tybee Island during the summers when we lived in Atlanta, so we were delighted to go back to somewhere fun and 'foreign', and yet familiar...and hot! Dressing for the day involved choosing which bathing suit to wear for the beach or pool. Wonderful.

One day, as Anna and I were walking back from the beach together, she insisted on 'fashion paints'. It wasn't the first time, either. The day before, when we were sitting at the table, she had said she wanted 'some of those paints'. Which paints? I asked. 'Those fashion paints', she replied. Fashion paints? I wondered. Some new nail polish maybe? No. That wasn't it. Clearly, it was something we had seen together before, but I couldn't figure out what. Eventually I said that she would have to point it out the next time we saw it. Patient girl!

Somewhere in the back of my mind, though, I must have been working on the puzzle. When she asked me on the way back from the beach, we rehearsed some of the same things. Then I remembered something we had seen and talked about: airbrush tattoos. Ah-ha! Which one do you want? CAT. She even knew that she wanted it on her leg:

Mystery solved!

lapsed...

so much for my good intentions. although I have failed miserably to update the blog, we finally got the house on the market last weekend. We have had some interest, but no offers. 

Bigger news, however, is that Anna was recognized this week for outstanding progress by the Council for Exceptional Children. 

She was very pleased--I can't remember when she last cooperated with a photographer. And of course we were very proud of her. She has come a long way in her years of preschool, from hardly talking at all to offering descriptions and requests, and expressing feelings. 

I will endeavor to post more regularly; certainly when there is news about the house, I will make it known!

Anna gets ready

At least it looks like she's ready to go out--shopping, perhaps?! One hates to ask. What isn't obvious from this distance is that she's got those sandals on the wrong feet. All this to show that she is really getting back to her usual self. She still doesn't like getting undressed at bath time, and protests, "I got hurt!" To which one can only say, "Yes, you certainly did."

We have no idea how long it will take to wean her off the TV. She was allowed to watch TV constantly in the hospital, and has been allowed rather a lot of 'screen time' since coming home. Slowly, we're reducing her hours, if for no other reason than that the Doodlebops are driving us absolutely mad! More time at school this week will help, as will her steadily increasing energy and interest in the usual range of things.

Anna is home

Anna came home today! She's recovering well: on our walk today, she and Thomas were their usual silly, giggly selves. I hope to post some cute photos of Anna on a wagon ride with Iain this morning at the hospital, but as I wasn't the photographer, it will have to wait. I did want everyone to know, however, that Anna is out of the hospital and doing wonderfully. She has her post-op checkup next week, and we expect that will go well also. She has come home on a couple of medications, which is a challenge, since Anna hates taking medicine. We're working on creative solutions, and hoping she's not on the medication long!

Life is returning to normal (the usual chaos, that is) at the Ayres household. Thomas and Iain may get their share of the spotlight again soon. Iain's big achievement of the week: learning to drink from a straw. The third child just has to keep up, I guess! Look for more news and photos in the coming days.

Anna's recovery

Good news: Anna was moved from the cardiac ICU to the stepdown unit today. She is still groggy, but has asked for a drink and watched some TV. Lewis will stay over with her tonight, so he's in for hours of Bob the Builder. We still hope to be home Thursday or Friday. She can receive visitors, but she isn't particularly interested in anyone but Dad--and Bob the Builder, of course!

Anna's surgery 3

Anna is recovering in the cardiac ICU. Her surgeon was pleased with the outcome of surgery and estimates a day or two in the ICU. After that, she'll be in a room in the cardiac stepdown unit, where she will spend a day or two. We look forward to her moving from the ICU, so that she can have a visit from Thomas, who is understandably anxious to see her. If everything continues to go well, Anna will be home by the weekend.

Anna in surgery

Anna has gone into the operating room, just in case anyone's checking regularly. There is a computer in the waiting room, so I will post updates. It will be a few hours...

New surgery date

We have just heard from the hospital that Anna's surgery will be Monday morning. This is good news, since we have all been thrown a bit by the postponement and not knowing when the operation would take place. Fortunately, it seems that she is the first patient on Monday morning--we just hope that it remains that way. I did have one photo from pre-op, but it's on my phone! Anyone who knows how I can get the picture from the phone to the web is welcome to email me with the information!

We will keep you updated! Thanks to all for your concern and prayers.

After the party

The day after Anna's birthday and party, cupcakes and balloon lingered. Iain got his chance to smear cupcake everywhere--I see it as a foretaste of things to come on the 5th of October--and Anna proved once again that she doesn't miss much. The photo of Iain and the cupcake speaks for itself, but Anna's balloon shot deserves comment. I wanted to get a photo of Anna with her "happy birthday, Princess" balloon, so I pulled it down from the ceiling and was about to hand it to her when Thomas reached for it. I asked him (Anna was looking at the television, apparently paying us no attention), "Are you a princess?" He promptly replied, "no," having become quite insistent on his boyhood and non-princess-ness lately. But Anna turned to me at the same moment and said, "yes," and reached for the balloon.

In other news, Anna had her six-year-old well check today. She's doing fine, measuring 39 and 3/4 inches and weighing 39 pounds. So, she still can't ride on all those amusement park rides that require riders to be 40 inches, but she can still get a free ice cream at Bruster's. Being not quite 4o pounds means she stays in the carseat for now! We will post the schedule for her surgery on Friday after her pre-op visit tomorrow.