Pulling up/ Superman

It took a while, but things finally turned a corner this week - thank goodness! Daddy got better and went back to work on Tuesday, Mommy did 7 extra loads of laundry to work on decontaminating the house, and - with the house no longer being a sick-ward - everything got a whole lot better. Oddly enough, Daddy's strep test came back negative: apparently his horrible sickness over the weekend was a (non-H1N1) variant of the flu virus. (!) I am grateful that things have improved! Being overwhelmed with everything is no way to live.


The kids were absolutely thrilled to have Daddy get back to his regular self, and had a blast roughhousing and playing games with him.


This weekend, Alex took over with the kids and I finally got a chance to work. Saturday, they took the trains down to pick up our clay from Family Clay Day and played at home. Sunday, Daddy took Kiana on a walk as far as the ice would let them around the Cloisters while Aidan watched Yo Gabba Gabba (one of his new favorite shows). I managed to finally send off a couple of book chapters that have been hanging over my head for months, so that was a big relief for me!


Here are some highlights:


AIDAN:
- At school, Aidan and his friends have recently been obsessed with an "I'm Going on a Bear Hunt" song. Every morning when we drop him off, they demand that Miss Nana turn on the soundtrack (again and again and again), and they race around and around in in a circle chanting along with the words. When they get to the part where they say, "it's a bear!", they all speed up, start laughing hysterically and falling over themselves, and race around the circle even faster. It's hilarious to watch! Aidan loves it!
- Quotes:
* [Aidan in the bathroom with me somewhere else in the house]: AIDAN: "Mama! ... Mama! ... Mama!" (ME: Yes, Aidan?) AIDAN (once he's sure he has my attention): "I need PRIVACY!"
- [When I was pretending to sit on him, while he was hiding under a blanket]: "Mama! No sitting on your beautiful boy!"
- "Mama! I REALLY want to be a REAL superhero! You know who I want to be? SUPERMAN!"


KIANA:
- Kiana pulled herself up for the first time on Sunday! Around one o'clock, Daddy was playing with Kiana on the floor, and she pulled herself up, first with him and then with the couch, and then pulled a North America puzzle (that was on the couch) onto Daddy! Then, a couple off hours later when I had taken the kids to a playdate at Christa's, I put Kiana in Ollie's bed, and she pulled herself up again in Ollie's bed! So exciting!
- Kiana is getting *very* good at scooting, and is getting all over the place quickly now. She also sits up so well that I hardly ever worry that she'll topple over.


- Daddy has started doing cup games with Kiana that she loves: she likes it when he builds towers with them, and also when he spins them on wooden floors, and also when he puts a toy or something in between two of them and shakes them like a rattle. It's a whole new adventure!