Last night, George had to work late so it was just three girls for supper. I made a Beef Skillet Dinner since it’s easy to do even if your kids are clingy (they were), fast if you’re hungry (I was), and stays warm nicely for anyone who wasn’t home to eat at supper time (George).

Breanna’s starting to eat a bit more at one sitting now than she used to. She’s been eager to try anything we might be eating and she seems to enjoy it, but she didn’t have a huge appetite. She still eats less at a time than Hayley did at a year, but she’s getting there.

Sometimes she is so dainty when she first starts out.

Of course that doesn’t capture the tomato all over her face and the pieces of pasta that missed her mouth and ended up in her lap, nor does it show the dish that she tossed on the floor when she was all done. But she did enjoy it and ate two servings.

Hayley, didn’t mind the meal even though it’s not her favorite. The biggest surprise of all to me was that she requested milk with it. Usually I have to coerce her into drinking it or at least dress it up by making hot chocolate, but last night she randomly mentioned that all her friends like milk and asked if she could have some for supper. Not being stupid, I immediately gave her a full cup and she drank it all before she was even half done her meal. Then she gave me her best supermodel “got milk?” pose.

Me? Oh I ate all the food on my plate. It may not be fancy, but it’s damn tasty and if there’s one thing I love to do, it’s eat.

Beef Skillet Dinner:
– 1 lb ground beef
– garlic powder, basil, oregano, etc to taste (whatever you like on your beef)
– 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
– 1 large can diced tomatoes
– 2 cups water
– 2 cups of any small pasta like macaroni, penne, etc.

Brown beef with seasonings, then drain. Add onion soup mix and tomatoes, then stir well. Add water. Bring to a boil. Add pasta, then mix together. Lower to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is done and most liquids are absorbed.

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Both girls are getting an Aquadoodle mat for Christmas. I’m not sure if it’s from Santa or George’s sister. I’m pretty sure though that it’s the one with Thomas the Tank Engine. Generally speaking, no one here is the least bit interested in Thomas the actual show, but the Aquadoodle itself is really neat, and Hayley loves trains. You can use one of the special markers to lay down a train track on the mat and the Thomas train will follow it. I’ve always wanted to get Hayley one of these so I’m looking forward to it. Now if only I could figure out what to get them individually from us!

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I noticed today that there are only 13 days left until Christmas. It’s hard not to notice, really. Hayley has an advent calendar so I always know the exact date by breakfast time, which is the longest I can hold her off from getting to that tiny square of chocolate. She also has the countdown calendar that we made together, and every day she peels off one more number, leaving us with X number of sleeps until the big day.

It’s getting redundant of me to say this every year, but I’m just not ready. Oh sure, the tree is up and has been since the U.S. Thanksgiving because I couldn’t wait any longer. We’ve been enjoying the holiday-themed shows on various television networks. We’ve watched our Mickey Mouse Christmas DVD, the Caillou Holiday movie, the cartoon version of the Grinch, and a really bad remake of Rudolph on video.

But me? I’m not ready. We still have so much to get. So far Santa has gotten the ball pit tent and an Aquadoodle set for the girls but we still have to get Hayley’s play vanity and the stuff to go with it, Breanna’s musical instrument, and one more gift from us to each of them. We also have to get stocking stuffers, though those are usually pretty easy thanks to dollar stores. And we haven’t gotten any gifts for anyone in our families.

I know what the holidays are supposed to be about. Too bad my nerves don’t understand that and are going haywire over how quickly this month is zipping by with so much left to do.

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I’m a little concerned that on the entire Toys R Us site, I didn’t find one single toy that really said “this would be an excellent gift for Breanna”. Who knew a second child would be so hard to shop for? I think the reason it’s so difficult is that we still had all of Hayley’s old toys. Breanna is perfectly happy playing with Hayley’s old kitchen and allt he toy food that came with it. she plays with the dolls we already have, the Little People stuff we have, blablabla ad nauseum. I keep thinking something musical, but what? My sister got her a xylophone, maybe we can get her a drum or something? Bah phooey. George said to get her an iPod so she can listen to music and dance all day. Hee.

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Not only did Breanna have her check-up today, it was also the first time that she had ever been forward-facing in the car. Interestingly, it was also the first time that she drove for that long without crying at all. Even when she got tired, she just yawned and closed her eyes, then went to sleep. She thought it was amazing to be able to really see things, and she laughed most of the way to the hospital, especially when I would turn around and she was able to actually see me.

We only had to wait about 15 minutes, most of which was because we were early for our appointment. Hayley passed the time by going to the Second Cup in the hospital and getting a muffin with her grandfather. Meanwhile, I chatted with a mom of a 6-month-old who seemed overjoyed that I, like her, see nothing wrong with giving a baby some lightly seasoned food, making your own food instead of using jarred stuff (which Breanna never liked), and letting them try things that not everyone would give someone that age. I guess other people had been giving her a hard time. In between our chats, Breanna alternated between patting her baby on the legs, and running up and down the halls. She was very social, smiling and preening at everyone that stopped to ooh and ahh over her.

Then it was time for her appointment and the social pleasantries were instantly dropped. Part of the problem was that she had been so enthralled by the drive that she only fell asleep when we were exactly two blocks away from the hospital. Since she had woken up at 9 am, she hadn’t napped yet so by 1:30 she was tired and not interested in being prodded. She was very upset to have someone that she doesn’t know measuring her, listening to her heart, and sticking a light in her ears. Also, the doctor was a very lovely Muslim woman who was dressed in the typical headscarves; Breanna is not fond of people wearing anything on their heads, and actually doesn’t even like it when my hair is wrapped in a towel after my shower. Between the scarves and the doctor’s tools, Breanna was totally not impressed.

By the time we went to weigh her, she was somewhat ballistic and wasn’t interested in co-operating by sitting on the baby scale (why they keep those out in the hall I will never know, because it means that all these babies are always crying in full waiting rooms). We tried but quickly decided it would be much better to just go back in the room and weigh both of us, and then just me, subtracting to get her weight. She still wasn’t happy because then the doctor had to hold her while I adjusted the scale for my weight, but at least it was faster.

After that, I got her dressed except for her pants and calmed her down while the doctor went to locate a nurse to help her with the shots. I had just fed her and gotten her quiet when they came back ready to stick needles in her poor thighs. Still, I was surprised that she didn’t react that badly. She sat on my lap facing me in case she wanted to nurse (she didn’t, she wasn’t interested at all what with two strangers hovering over her and wiping her legs down with alcohol), and when they injected her, she looked up at me and cried but she stopped as soon as the bandages were on.

Overall, despite her unhappiness, everything went really well. She measured in at 29.5 inches, her head circumference was 18.7 inches, and her weight was about 24 pounds, possibly a few ounces more. She’s pretty steady on the 75th percentile for all three. The doctor was pleased to hear that she’s enthused about trying any type of food and assured me I didn’t need to worry that she doesn’t eat big meals. She also said that although it’s great that I’m still breastfeeding (she is too, with 17-month-old twins!) that I can go ahead and try milk if I want since she’s doing well with cheese and yogurt. She is also the first medical professional who has actually told me that there is nothing wrong with letting your baby sleep beside you at night in bed. I never felt that there was, but having a doctor tell me that was awesome. She said she works at a breastfeeding clinic and that not only do a lot of the mothers do it too, she also recommends it to mothers who have a hard time because of being overtired. Thus, she is now my new favorite person!

She was pleased as well with the milestones and Breanna’s development. She was impressed that Breanna has been walking since shortly after nine months (though she said she was glad her twins didn’t start that early, hee), and thought she was doing fine with other things. She agreed with me that there’s no concern about whether Breanna’s words are actual words, as long as we know what they mean and she uses them consistently (for instance, she doesn’t say hi, exactly, but she waves and says “haaa”, kind of like a little southern belle). Breanna also follows simple instructions like “get that” or “give that to Daddy” when she wants, and she points when she wants something, so that was all right in line with normal development.

I had a good giggle when I was asked about her hearing. There is definitely nothing wrong with Breanna’s ears. If she’s in the living room, even with music playing or the television on, she will come running if she hears me open either the fridge or the dryer. Every time, without fail. She can most definitely hear.

Knock on wood, the vaccinations didn’t seem to affect her, at least not yet. She had the MMR and a meningococcal vaccine as well. She was also supposed to get the chicken pox and Prevnar but I wasn’t sure about the chicken pox yet. I asked if we could think about that one so she said to come back at 15 months for the Prevnar and then I could have more time to decide on the other. Also, because Hayley never had the chicken pox vaccine and because I’ve never had the vaccine or actual chicken pox, it would be recommended that all three of us come in for it so I’ll be doing some research into that.

In any case, I didn’t give her any pain medication right away, watching to see how she would react. She was fine. She slept on the way home and other than some sleepy crankiness, she seemed perfectly okay. I did give her some Motrin before bed just in case, so that I can hopefully avoid having her react badly at midnight. Here’s hoping that all goes well tonight, although it can technically bring about side effects for up to 8 to 10 days. Whee!

At least, after all that, I now know that there’s a good reason my arms get tired on the clingy days; it’s because I’m carrying around a 24-pound baby!

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