Early Monday morning (about 4 am, to be more precise), Bryan propped himself up in bed and said, "Olivia, go back to bed." At first I thought he was talking in his sleep, but that's not really something Bryan does. Then I heard some movement, and a small voice said, "I went potty in the potty." I hopped out of bed and went to go convince Olivia that she was fabulously talented, but still needed more sleep. When we got back to her room, she began talking in a borderline-hysterical voice about a "clouda pillow." Noticing the abundance of stuffed animals on her bed, I assumed she meant "crowded pillow" and cleared some of them off. She still refused to get into bed, continuing to carry on about the "clouda pillow and the blankets." Maybe she was cold and needed another blanket? No. I finally convinced her to climb into her bed, but as soon as she got there, she started looking around on her pillow and under her blankets. Maybe she was looking for a specific blanket (she's been switching up the blankets she uses recently)? No. Suddenly, it clicked. "Clouda pillow" was "caterpillar." She must have had a dream about a caterpillar on her blankets. As soon as I verbalized this, she got noticeably calmer. We finally came to the conclusion that the caterpillar was gone (that was my contribution), and that she would be safe if she put her pillow on the other end of the bed (that was Olivia's contribution). Having flipped all of her bed parts around, she curled up under her blankets and went back to sleep. I went to bed, amused that caterpillars were the stuff of nightmares. I guess I can't talk much, though, because my parents used to have to chase chipmunks and dogs out of my room in the middle of the night.
Gretchen likes baths. It happened gradually, but she now enjoys sitting in the tub and playing with toys, especially if Olivia is present also. I'm not sure she'll ever like them as much as Olivia does, but she's content to be bathed several times a week.
Josef and Alison came to visit for our card club last week. Alison and I took turns training on my treadmill while Bryan schooled Josef in old video games. We also played cards, although it was a close thing. The night before our card club was scheduled, one of our couples called in sick. Since card club is dependent on a specific number of people, we began scrambling to find replacements. As it turned out, everyone we knew was already busy and/or unable to make it. Bryan finally found some people from work (who have been over for nerdier game nights before) who were willing to come even though they didn't know how to play euchre. One crash course later, we successfully started and finished a card club. :)
On Friday, the girls and I headed to MI for a week with my family. Jacob and I have grand plans to work on a hymn project for the church. I'm also hoping to get some psalm recording in with Justine and Josef. Mom is babysitting all the little ones for us so that we can get lots done. :)
Pictures:
The best toy in the house is the light on the Xbox:
Olivia sends a text message:
Olivia's new sunglasses, modeled by Olivia and Monkey:
One day I had to put diapers on all the babies so Olivia could put them to bed:
Olivia wanted me to take a picture of her. Then she wanted to take a picture of me (after a run, of course):
Some kids have a favorite blanket or a cuddly stuffed animal that they like to take to bed. Gretchen has gone down for multiple naps clutching a small plastic bowl that she stole from the kitchen:
I'm not sure what Auto Awesome was trying to do with this picture:
Yes indeed, we chased many a chipmunk out of your bedroom, down the stairs and out the door before you would go to sleep. And yes, you had to hear the front door open and close and us tell the chipmunks to leave. :)
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