Back on track!

I think we're finally back on track here in our house. Kate never did get the full blown stomach bug, but certainly had a cold (which no one else caught, amazingly). Kate was up a few nights coughing because of this cold, but seems to be back to normal now.

And normal for Kate apparently means not napping. Ever since last summer she was starting to skip naps. Then after she gave away her pacifiers, there were many more no nap days. We took to rocking her to sleep for naps if we thought she really needed a nap, since she would rarely lie down and fall asleep on her own. Then the rocking time was getting longer and longer. Then she was sleeping 11-12 hours a night, or even more. So I guess she doesn't really need naps like Anna did (or even still does sometimes). At least it gives us a big more freedom with our days and afternoons :)

Last week we tried to make up for not having many playdates the previous few weeks. We played with friends Tuesday morning, Thursday afternoon, and then Friday morning and Friday afternoon in addition to our other normal activities. The girls were both very excited to have friends come over to our house, and Kate was especially happy to get to see some of the kids her age again.

Saturday Matt took over for the day and I got to go to Milwaukee with some friends from church. Our plans entailed meeting at a park and ride at 8:30 a.m. and knowing that Milwaukee was our destination. That's it. We had a great time. We started off at the Milwaukee Public Museum (which we got into FREE because of our extended Children's Museum membership!), then went to an authentic German restaurant for lunch, and took a tour of the Pabst Mansion in the afternoon before stopping at Culver's on the way home for some tasty ice cream. Matt and the girls did just fine at home, with Matt even researching and making a crockpot BBQ chicken recipe, fresh bread, and veggies for dinner (which was waiting for me when I walked in the door :)

I wanted to mention two quick stories that have made us smile lately. First, Anna really likes to write these days. She comes home almost every preschool day with something from their writing center, and thinks it's great that she can actually write words and messages to others. Anyway, she likes to leave little "I love you" notes around the house for us. Sometimes the notes are on our bed; sometimes they are at the table; we never actually know where one might end up. With all of the random drawings and art projects that I've tossed this year, I've decided that these notes are going in a special folder to save for "one of those days" (probably during Anna's teenage years) when I need to remember finding an "I love you" note from Anna.

The other story was just how fun it is for Matt and I to be in the same room with Kate and Anna while they're playing and be able to eavesdrop on their play. They can be downright hilarious without really meaning to, and usually it's best for us not to join in with their play if we want to catch any of these moments. For example, this afternoon they were playing "house" with Kate being "Sara" and Anna being "Matt". "Matt" would tell "Sara" that he was leaving for a meeting and would be back sometime the next day, but that "Sara" could call him if he needed anything. Then "Matt" would leave the room (this was all going on in Anna's room) and within about 15 seconds "Sara" would start calling out "Matt! Matt!" with some random request about how the baby was crying. I think they even had a doll who was "Anna" and one who was "Kate". What made this so funny was the look on Anna's face whenever she heard Kate calling for her, and the fact that they kept it going for close to an hour. Crazy kids :)