Survive and Advance...

No, it's not March Madness time yet. But this is the theme for today around the Herman house. Dale left home around 11 this morning (I shed a few tears as he walked out the door, leaving me with a helpless infant and a sometimes-defiant toddler!). As he asked what we were going to do today, I responded with "Make it through the day!", not even trying to feign enthusiasm.

Since I brought up the world of college sports, let's talk briefly about that... This October marks the first time in a really long time (since I've known him, actually) that Dale hasn't started talking about Carolina basketball yet. Let's just say that in past Octobers, football season has pretty much left the Tar Heels behind in the standings... But this year, as of today, we are 5-1 following a huge victory over Notre Dame yesterday. So Dale is again fired up about football, and basketball will have to wait until, potentially, January!

Enough about that, though. So we've had a pretty good day here. Aside, that is, from the broken Frankenstein Halloween decoration that Ivie dropped down the stairs (after trying to bring it upstairs with her) and the immediately-thereafter throw-up session from Macie, which came RIGHT AFTER her twice-weekly bath (so she got 2 baths today).

Ivie is starting to understand emotions. This afternoon, we were outside playing basketball (breaking her in early!), and she, without warning, went to the edge of the driveway, sat down, got a pitiful look on her face, and said, "Mommy, I sad." I asked her why, and she said, "I miss my Daddy!". Awwwwww. What am I supposed to say to that? All I could do was give her a hug and tell her that Daddy would be back tomorrow. (This story will make her daddy both happy, because it means that she talked about him while he was gone, and sad, because he doesn't like to be away from his little girl any more than she does.)

Now, of course, Ivie also asks for her daddy at other times. Like when she's being scolded by Mommy. Without fail, if I get frustrated or upset with her, and she sees that look on my face, she will start whimpering and say, "I want my Daddy!". These times, she's not nearly as cute...

After her 5 pm feeding tonight, Mac threw up again. Ivie witnessed it, as we were in the kitchen (the only place I can nurse Macie and still keep an eye on Iv). She stood next to the mess, and said, "Mommy, Macie spit in my house!" over and over. Yes, clearly, she did. And clearly, Ivie didn't like it. Neither did Mommy.

So it's now 6:45 pm, and Ivie's had an early bath and is in front of the TV watching Max and Ruby (yes, Noggin again). Mac slept through the bath, which eases part of my concern about bedtime. The plan for tonight is to put Ivie down first, hopefully while Macie sleeps. Although, as I type, Mac is waking up. So maybe MACIE will go to bed first while Ivie watches television. Who knows?!? But remember, all we have to do tonight is...

SURVIVE AND ADVANCE!