360

I stood in one spot and turned myself around. Here's each child as I rotated.

Liam, surprised.


Dash, walrused.


Grey, heavy-lifting (that boy is always sneaking outside)

Thumbs up?

It had to happen at some point, right? On Tuesday, we took Grey to the emergency room.


I had just remembered a box of vases, candles, and frames and spent a few minutes unpacking them. Liam and Dash must have moved one of the glass vases to the stairs. When I was in the kitchen throwing a few things away, I heard a thump and a crying Grey. Expecting Grey to have dropped something on his foot or something, I was quite surprised to find bloody hands! There was the glass vase, broken in several pieces. Who knows if it broke before or after Grey handling it.

I rushed him over to the sink, found the cuts, and saw that one seemed very thick with blood. I applied a whole lot of pressure while texting Sean, "Grey needs stitches." What a note to receive! I was contemplating how I'd keep the pressure while driving (obviously I couldn't). When I finally removed pressure, I quickly slapped a bandaid over it, which instantly filled. So I slapped three more all around it, which seemed to contain the blood. Thank goodness.

My head a-flutter, I got all the kids ready to go. I got Sean on the phone, who said to come to his hospital rather than the one nearer our house- he'd be able to come be with us. Grey had been understandably upset this whole time but once he stepped foot outside, the cries stopped. Not a peep during the 15 minute drive. And in the ER waiting room, he was all smiles!

We were in the hospital about 3.5 hours, mostly waiting. Sean commented how different it is being so busy as a physician in the hospital and being on hold as a patient in the hospital. Grey got upset when he was getting numbing shots, as would I. He also had to get some x-rays to make sure there wasn't more glass in the wound- he was a champ during that.

The incident happened just before I was going to put Grey down for his nap, so the kid hadn't slept yet. He finally fell asleep around... 4:30? He got about 20 minutes on my lap until they were ready to suture. Poor kid. Thankfully, for all procedures, they let Grey stay on my lap. But he still was not happy while being sown. I don't think his thumb was very numb because he was jerking back at every poke.


But it finally ended and now he has six lovely stitches to show off. They'll stay in for two weeks and then Sean can take them out. He's been doing well since Tuesday. It certainly still bothers him but doesn't keep him from doing much. He's already learning to compensate more with his right hand. He's definitely not sleeping well but hopefully that'll work itself out soon. I'm just really grateful that this whole thing turned out as well as it did. Specifically:
1) Sean switched with another resident to be at this hospital this month. Had he not, he'd be about 40 minutes away. I wasn't doing that with a bleeding kid in my car.
2) Sean's coworkers covered for him so that he could be there with us the entire time. It made it 10,000x better to have him there.
3) Grey was so happy for so much of the time! I was so impressed with his stoicism.
4) The injury could have been so much worse. My sister-in-law texted me later, telling me that a simlar thing happened to her at Grey's age except her finger was practically sliced off. She had to have surgery to repair it and still doesn't have full function in it. Stitches don't seem so bad!
5) Liam and Dash were wonderful the whole time. They gave Grey lots of soft kisses and loving hugs.

Frozen Falls

Once the weather got a teensy bit warmer, we took advantage of Sean not working and took a visit to the Minnehaha Falls. They's frozen!


There are stairs leading down to the bottom that have been roped off but most people were just hopping over to use them anyway. But they were coated in snow- with three little kiddies, we weren't going to risk that.


So we just admired it all from above.


I'm glad we went when Sean could join us, while Liam and Dash played in the snow, Grey had no interest in staying near, he had eyes only for one thing...


The puddles!


There's been snow on the ground his entire walking life, this really was his first experience stomping in puddles.


It was love at first splash. My favorite are his little shuffling mini-stomps.


Photo by Dash, featuring Mr. Nostrils the snowman.


Liam had a blast.


Dash had a blast.

Grey had a mega-blast. Maybe next time we visit, it'll be more than ice?

One + One Half

Hi, I'm Grey. Today I'm one and a half years old!


I love to do everything that my brothers do, like climbing and jumping and rolling playdoh and turning on the bathroom sink. I love not only dancing, but also clapping to the music and trying to conduct.  I don't say a whole lot yet, mostly variations of "momma!" but I do a pretty fantastic dinosaur roar and dog woof and monkey oo. I really like to wave. I love to be helpful, like putting things away for mommy and closing doors. I do most of my kissing with my tongue leading the way. Mom and dad think I'm pretty great.


Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go point out some birds and airplanes.

Catching Snow

It seems like most of the snowfall this winter has happened overnight.


When it does snow during daylight, usually it's been too ridiculously cold to venture out.


Makes catching snowflakes a rare opportunity.


How nice is it to walk around in the freshly blanketed landscape?


But not too long, because no one likes snowflakes in the face.

Phone and videos

Grey having a little potty practice sit.

We discovered there's still plenty of fun to be had at the local little community library.


Will dance for cookies.


You aint gettin' my cookie, pup!


All the Harper kids are like, "why's that baby screaming so much?" A fair question.


Spinning: two variations.


They do it funnier when not on cue, but still enjoyable.


Brotherly love.


They haven't quite learned the idea of "ready go" when recording birthday messages.


He's occasionally possessed.


He thinks he's so clever.


Every time he finally gets high enough to see what I'm cooking, he's all OO's. I love it.


This is Grey's first Big Camera video (he's done plenty on my phone) and I can't quite figure out if he's sitting or standing.


He desperately wanted a cookie for breakfast. Wasn't happening.


"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" has a special place in their hearts.


Cozy reading time. Ignore that terrible background noise- it's Sean's laptop fan. It's been like that for over a year. Maybe two? Don't worry, it bit the dust a week ago. yay.


Liam said, "it's batman!" Yep. He also cut out a snowflake yesterday that inexplicably looked like batman as well. Maybe he has an alter ego...

When it warms up.

It's finally starting to get warm. HALLELUJAH. It's been a brutal winter, the coldest here in 35 years. Our landlords keep apologizing for terrible welcome Minnesota has given us.


When it gets so miserably cold, all you can do is stay inside. And our basement playroom is frigid, even with a space heater. Pretty much the only fun we can have outside is pausing to kick the compacted snow out of the car's wheel well before hurrying inside.


But, honestly, it's not the chilly temps that have been so frustrating this season. It's all the sickness! I don't think there's been more than a two week span of everyone being healthy. I'd guess there's been more days with the majority of the family sick than not. New place, being stuck inside, all the sickness just brewed. We're so ready for spring.


But it DID occasionally get warm enough to venture outdoors. In which case we'd bundle up and play. We'd roll down the backyard slope.


And we'd take a break. Moving through snow is tough work!


The tire swing still works in the winter, doesn't it Grey?


Time for a snack!


And there's always time for a snowman build. Next up, hot chocolate!

Peekaboo Grey

He takes the "peek" part literally.

Valentine's in a box

One shining ray of Valentine love came in the form of a Valentine package from Mimi and Pompa! it was a small package that they impressively packed full of fun!

These spinners are in constant use.


Thread in the pin...


... and yank!


Make sure to enjoy it close up.


Grey loved his fancy, beeping, flip phone. He makes calls all day long. Such a chit chat.


Let's not forget the Hexbugs!


They're even fun on your head!


They're little rubber guys that vibrate, making them wiggle all over the floor like a much less disgusting cockroach. Oh the squeals that resulted! Nothing says Valentine's like vermin!

Happy Valentine's?

So, Valentine's Day wasn't awesome this year. It took it's downward turn when I tried to take a quick shower while all the kids were up. I returned to this:

Thankfully, it was washable paint. But that doesn't mean I was happy about it. Look at Liam's guilty smile. And Dash knowing he was in trouble. And Grey's legs! Let's take a closer look at the culprits.


Well mom must not be TOO mad if she's taking our picture, right? (I was)


If I look extra sweet, mom will take it easy on me. (Slightly true)


Paint tastes funny. Can you wipe my nose? (I did)


So after a bath (to say nothing of the paint sprinkled throughout the house that took all day to clean), we hurried to get our valentine's ready to share at our party. But it was a party that was cancelled because of a sick house and possibly? relocated to a library. We went in case other people showed up. No one did. BUT that meant we had lots of cookies to eat ourselves. Then I realized during naptime that we didn't have yeast and I'd have to wait until after Grey wakes up to go buy some. So the pizza dough got made late, which had to be allowed to rise. Meaning, dinner was very late. BUT our heart pizza was delicious nonetheless! It was just one of those high-expectation days that turned out otherwise. But still okay. You know?