Life is never boring, right?

Today was our first day back to regular routines after Christmas break. It went pretty well. We all made it to school on time, I managed to cross a few things off of my to-do list, Abby took 2 good naps, I made a really great dinner, if I do say so myself (Chicken Satay with peanut dipping sauce.)

However, 2 of my daughters challenged me today. First, it was Katherine. She refused to nap, which was really fine, she was happy to play while I made dinner, and was not too whiny. Once dinner was made, I sat down to play with her. She wanted to do her new Zoo puzzle (Thanks Gram!) So we put it all together, and sat together talking about it. After a bit I told her I really liked the giraffes and asked her which animals were her favorites. She thought about it for a long time. Then, she looked at me with a twinkle and said, "Mommy, my favorite thing here is ... YOU!" and she climbed into my lap and gave me a huge hug. My heart melted and she could have asked for ANYTHING right there and I would have given it to her.

2 hours later, after Maggie was home, and they had created a HUGE mess in the family room, I asked them to clean it up before dinner. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth. There was outright defiance. Maggie did her part, but Katherine only created a bigger mess. She was threatened with the loss of TV (she'd been waiting all day to watch a show) As I engaged in this battle of wills, I thought to myself "What happened to the sweet little girl of 2 hours ago?" ARGH! Just life with a three year old, I suppose!

Lucky for Katherine, I was also trying to get Abby settled to eat her dinner. And Abby's challenge trumped Katherine's. After I put her in the high chair, I reached over to push her sleeves up (to minimize the mess) She started crying, and after I tried a few things to stop the crying, I realized that she wasn't moving her left arm. I took her out of the chair and had Chris look at it with me and we both cam to the same conclusion - her elbow had popped out. Having been through it with Maggie a few times, we were pretty confident in our diagnosis.

So, I put her into her snowsuit, and into the car seat, and headed over to the ER. I LOVE this ER, it's never busy and always friendly and fast. We got in and settled and it seemed like she wasn't in as much pain - had she fixed it? No, she just wan't using it as much. But, somehow, before the Doctor/PA could come in, something happened and it was better. Was it the nurse moving at around? Was it her eagerness to play with the TV remote/call light? (so eager that she pushed the call light to summon help from the desk) Who knows. But when the PA came in, she said, "This is a cured baby!" and she sent us home. Abby was all smiles for the rest of the night.

Life is never boring, Indeed!