It really pains me to watch Sophia suffer with an allergy whenever we are hit with a high pollen count.  It came without a warning in the middle of the night.  She tossed.  She turned.  She kicked her blanket in frustration and annoyance.  She sniffled.  She coughed.  She ANNOYED ME ALL NIGHT (she sleeps in the same room with us).  And I'm a light sleeper, so it pissed the shit outta me (I get super cranky and bitchy when awoken) and I told her to get out of the room and sleep in the living room (Phil slept with her).  I realized later in the day that the pollen count was 11.7 out of 12 today (www.pollen.com).  Beautiful weather like today can seriously fuck up my day.  Instead of having the windows and balcony door open, we have to shut them and turn our air filter or air conditioner on.  I FUCKING HATE SPRING (and summer and fall) and the way it controls Sophia's health.  It's horrible and mean and exasperating and all that.  Until you have children, you have no idea how it affects you in an indirect way.

 

***

 

Phil picked up a double jogger stroller this past weekend.  After our late afternoon nap, we headed out to the West Side Highway and jogged our way up to Chelsea Piers.  We ended up going to the Chelsea Market for dinner (I was dreaming about NE Clam Chowder in a sourdough bread- mmm).  Since we were stuffed from eating, we couldn't jog back so we walked back home.  Took us a good 45 minutes and O was not a happy camper after sitting in the stroller for a long period time (she normally doesn't sit in it that long).  We will have to tweak the workout plan since it cuts close to her bedtime.

 

***

O is one helluva funny child.  A very high tempered, impatient child, yet very affectionate, friendly and outgoing baby.  Whenever she sees Phil, she automatically wants a hug and kiss from him.  And if he doesn't give her the time of day, she will get very vocal about it.  She'll wave at people while standing in line to pay for groceries.  She wants to be entertained and wants an audience.  Very different and very opposite from Sophia. 

 

***

 

In some ways, Sophia's wait list at the school of our choice is probably a blessing.  Our sister in-law works for another local public school nearby, got permission from the principal to allow us to register Sophia at their pre-k class.  I couldn't be more enthusiastic about it since I met the teacher.  Apparently she remembers me growing up and knows my father (everyone knows my dad!) so that's a good sign (I think).  She seems nice and caring, which is very important when it comes to Sophia's sensitivity.  Her classroom was designed to have an indoor amazon- lots of science stuff (not my forte- more of Phil's!).  Not sure if we plan to continue to keep her there for K-5, but we'll see.  Right now, the master plan is to find her a home come September.

 

And to make matters worse, we would need all the proper paperwork and identification to enroll her there- original birth certificate, passport, insurance cards, etc.  Guess what- I LOST THEM ALL after the first school we applied to (I had them all in a manila folder)!  Not sure how or where or if I've misplaced it somewhere in the house.  At this point, I've given up on tearing the place down, so I've reordered everything.  Oh well.  It's so not like me to be irresponsible. 

 

Anyways, gotta hit the hay.  It's no wonder why I don't post these days.  So tired from work, so tired from home.  All I want to do is channel surf and stare at the TV aimlessly.  Yawn.

Some interesting sites I've come across lately:

 

-Do you really know your 50 states?  Prove it here.

-Like French food?  Read Chocolate & Zucchini.

-Into maps?  Check this pretty cool site.

-Have kids and you enjoy making crafts?  Highly recommended site.

-Do you like to shake that rump?  And your child too?  Take yourselves here.

 

 

We flew down to Norfolk, VA and rented a very spacious Murano car (if we had money, I'd get this in a flash, but for now we'll contend with a tight and small Honda).  Flight was quick and easy (only 48 minutes!) but the drive to Norfolk to Outer Banks was a killer.  Olivia was whiny and practically in tears most of the way but Sophia slept a good portion of the drive (O slept on the plane).

 

Weather was fantastic- in the 70s!  We went walking on the beach with our bare feet, seashell combing and freezing our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.  Also had good food made by Phil's sister.  My two girlfriends joined us with their children a couple of days later.  With eight children and six adults, chaos ensued.  O got the stomach virus and barfed for 24 hours.  Next day she was sneezing non-stop which only meant it was a matter of time before we all caught her cold (S got sick on Thursday, Phil on Friday, me on Saturday and some of the other kids got the sniffles).  Before you know it, the weather also changed and it was in the freakin' 40s!  (It also snowed on Saturday morning, but we left Friday, smart decision by Phil!)

 

S was still battling her allergies when we were in NC.  We even schlepped the nebulizer with us.  Didn't seem like it's working because at one point, her cough would often wake us up in the middle of the night (it drove me to another room to fall asleep in!).  It is very frustrating to not know what allergies are causing her body to flip out.  At this point, it looks like we'll be moving to Arizona, Nevada or even San Diego.  None of those choices sound appealing to me.  NYC is my home.

 

Because we abandoned our flight back home (it was a $99 special with a stipulation that we are to return home on Tuesday), we drove back home in the rental car.  Hit traffic on the Washington Beltway (f'n sucks!).  We managed to get home at 10p.  S didn't barf once and actually behaved (maybe once or twice she was annoying me with her LeapPad toy).  O was a bit cranky because she wasn't feeling well and because she wanted to sleep in her bed.  I actually had room to sit comfortably in the backseat. 

 

First thing we did when we got home- ordered cha siew haw fun (roasted pork with wide noodles) at Noodletown (watch out for those nasty ass bitches at the register).  It's always been a ritual to order from there after vacationing for several days without Chinese food and MSG. 

 

Trip was fun indeed, up until the girls got sick.  Always fun to spend it with S+O's cousins.

 

***

 

Now that we're back, there doesn't seem any sign of either kids getting better.  O still has a dribbly nose but inherited some kind of froggy throat sound (phlegm gathering in her throat).  S caught some weird ass stomach virus that O had last week.  She threw up twice today.  And I have a bit of tickle in my throat and feeling a bit congested.  UGH.

 

Wah Wah Waaaah.