Ana vs The Fireplace

We've been very lucky when it comes to our kids.

They didn't get sick (i.e. colds or flus) until after their first birthday.

And we haven't really dealt with injuries to either of them in the 18 months since they were born.

This changed the other night when Ana decided to get in a fight with the fireplace.

Our girls are surprisingly careful.  They crawl up the stairs one step at a time making sure both knees are on each step.  They go down the stairs or any step/ledge backwards.  They actually get on their hands and knees and crawl down each step.  Now that they're walking, they make sure they are holding onto something secure to balance themselves as they climb things.

Basically they're a parent's dream when it comes to safety.  Which obviously can't last forever, so I'm savoring it while I can.

So when my wife texted me this picture I was quite surprised:

Yes that is blood on her cheek.  Yes she is eating a popsicle to calm her down.

I asked what happened.  Apparently she ran into the house when they got home from a walk.  She ran right into our living room because that is where all the toys are, and she tripped into the fireplace.

They may be careful, but they're still toddlers and have the coordination to match.

Before you ask why we don't have the padded corner guards on our fireplace, we actually do.  We put them on there the moment they started standing.  The problem is they also like to pull those guards off and carry them around, so they no longer stick very well.  Ana just pulls them off at will.  She also climbs onto the fireplace, sits down and kicks the guards off.  So she did it to herself if you really think about it.

There was much crying.  I'm glad I wasn't there because I don't do too well with my girls being in pain.  But I'm also sad that I wasn't there to comfort her.

Besides the scrape on her face, you wouldn't have been able to tell that anything happened.  When I got home she was still standing in her crib having a grand old time and talking to her sister from across the room.

This happened two days before their 18-month doctor appointment, so Erin was freaking out about what the doctor and nurses will think about us as parents.  The doctor didn't judge (at least to our faces) and said that her scrapes and bruises were normal for her age.

The good that comes out of it: new nicknames.  Scarface or Tony Mont-Ana are both totally acceptable as far as I'm concerned.

Daddy Daughter Days

Grace has been sick the last couple of days.  It really only seems to affect her at night (we'll get to that later) because during the day she is in a great mood.  You wouldn't think she was sick at all until she starts talking and it sounds like an arthritic old man.

Needless to say I'm counting down the seconds before Ana joins her as a little sicky.  Because if one of them is sick both of them are sick.  Its inevitable when Ana insists on taking away anything Grace has and puts it in her mouth.  It really is almost like she wants to be sick like her sister.

We still found a way to have fun.

This is the first in my Safety First Series.  Ana has been able to climb onto the fireplace for some time, but she stopped doing it when we took all the Christmas decorations down.  Yesterday she decided she wanted to climb up there again.  Obviously Grace didn't want to be left out, so she was up there within a minute or two.  They got bored with it in about 5 minutes and were back to the floor again.

Safety First as we have baby races up the stairs.  Ana took this round, but Grace was determined to get her the next time around.

Safety First as the girls look down from the top of the world (or the top of their world at least).  Obviously I should be upstairs with them instead of downstairs taking a picture.  The gate is closed.  No big deal.  Erin is afraid that they will get their heads stuck between the bars.  I think she just remembers it happening on a Full House episode.  I also honestly believe their noggins are too big to ever fit through.

They've been picking up speed recently going from walking to running in a flash.  Grace also decided to wear a Christmas ribbon.  Not kidding.  She actually took it off a still unwrapped present and put it around her neck like a scarf.  I guess she likes to dress up when she doesn't feel well to make her feel better.

Of course Ana wasn't content to let Grace wear the ribbon all day.  She decided that it would look equally good on her, so she just took it.  This led to many tears and tug-o-wars throughout the rest of the day as the girls fought for it.

In order to distract Ana from stealing from her sister, I let her play with my iPhone.  It always serves as a good distraction to pop on the on forward-facing camera.  She being vain like her father can't take her eyes off it.  This is a picture she actually took.

The girls have started hanging out under the end tables next to the couch.  Every so often I have to remind Ana that she shouldn't unplug the lamp or play with the outlet.  But they seemed to enjoy hanging out in their secret fort.

As I mentioned above, the day spent with my sick little one was great.  Bedtime was another story.

Erin had people over from her Moms of Multiples group last night for a Moms' Night Out (or more accurately a night in).  So there were a lot of people downstairs and a lot of commotion to go along with it.  This made bathtime and calming the girls down extra difficult because they wanted to hang out with all these people.  They didn't want their bottles.  They had no interest in listening to a bedtime story.  And they certainly didn't want to go to sleep.

Grace cried and moaned while Ana jumped in her bed.  Grace threw her blankets and pacifier on the floor in a form of non-violent protest.  I tried to close the door to their room, but Ana could reach it from her crib and kept opening the door.  It was an hour and a half before they finally passed out.

Grace was up again close to 11pm because apparently she wanted to watch The West Wing with us.  She went back down relatively easy at that point.

But 3am is when the real fireworks flew.  Grace woke up fussy and stuffed up.  She cried and moaned and wouldn't calm down.  This led to Ana waking up and screaming.  We changed diapers.  Nothing.  We gave them bottles.  Nada (in fact Grace threw up for good measure).  I rocked Ana until she started to calm down.  When one was back to sleep, my job was done.  I had work in the morning after all, and I needed to get some sleep.  I was out again by 4am.  I couldn't tell you how long Erin stayed up, but they alarm going off at 6:30 felt like the blink of an eye.

So the day was once again good.  The night?  Not so much.  Now I'm trying to avoid my zombie tendencies.  Not like wanting to eat brains or anything, just drifting my way through an exhausted day.