Mara is doing better. We're still not sure what exactly happened or why she had the seizures, but she seems to be slowly but surely recovering. She's responding to commands and her name, is moving around pretty well and may even be regaining her eyesight in her left eye. If she continues to improve, she may even come home on Thursday! Woo-hoo! Thank you for the prayers and concern. Our puppy will most likely have to be on some medication, but she's going to come home and that's all that I want.

I have enough stress going on right now thankyouverymuch. Along with our puppy drama, we've also decided that we need to find our cat, Tigger, a new home. Tigger has never done well with children. He used to hiss and hide from Salix and Acer when they were smaller. And he did the same thing with Annika. Then as Annika got bigger and rougher with him, he started swatting at her with his declawed front paws. We've repeatedly shown Annika how to pet nicely and we're constantly disciplining her for being mean to the cat (pulling fur and tail), but she's two and it's going to take her a while to learn. I think Tigger has had enough though because this past weekend he bit Annika. It wasn't hard enough to break the skin but Kris and I took it as a warning shot. One of these days he's going to bite her for real. So, yesterday I sent out an e-mail to some family and friends to see if anyone would be willing to take Tigger. My brother, Mathias, jumped at the change. He adores Tigger, always has, and his roommate agreed to let Tigger live with them. I'm so happy. Tigger will be much happier with Mathias. I'm just really, really sad to let my kitty go. I know it's better for him, but it's still sad.

And then, of course, there is the stress of going back to work. I go back on the 30th and I've already broken down a few times when talking about it. I'm hoping this time is easier than it was with Annika but I know there are no guarantees. We've got all the logistics planned so it's really the emotional hurdles that I now have to navigate. I even cried at ECFE today when talking about it and that was with strangers practically! I just don't want to leave my babies. I want to stay home with them. Ok, so getting away to Target or a some other errand occasionally is nice, but those are breaks, not a full time job! I will still be working from home on Wednesdays so at least I only have to leave them two days at a time but still my heart hurts just thinking about it. Thank God I like my job and my co-workers. I just can not imagine going back to a job I hated!

Yesterday we went to the park again. This time Annika made a friend and they played chase and tag for a while. I think the key to this was the other little girl was there alone so they both needed someone to play with. I was happy to look up from my book (I was on a bench holding James while Kris played with Annika) and see Annika shrieking with joy on the tire swing while Kris swung her and her friend around.

Today was ECFE class. I took Annika this week and we had a good time. First we planted some seeds in a cup which we then forgot at class. I hope they were keeping them and we can pick it up next week! Then we played with some animals and puzzles before circle time. Circle time is when we sit in a circle and sing songs. After cirlce time the kids wash hands and have a snack and the parents leave for parent education time. After snack the kids do other craft activites and have play time while the parents discuss different topics. Today's parent discussion topic was supposed to be brain development but there was so much chatting and other discussion going on that we never got to it. Maybe we will next week. I talked about my stress. It was hard for the other moms to understand, of course, since they are all stay at home moms and obviously I'm not. They don't really know what I'm going through. And we filled out some questionaires. One of the moms asked about ECFE class for next fall and what the kids should register for. I told them we were trying to get Annika into preschool and the instructor and all the other parents agreed that they too thought Annika was advanced and ready for preschool. It is so great to hear other parents/educators tell you that your child is smart. Of course Kris and I think she is but we really have no one to compare her to on a regular basis. So, we'll see if she gets in or not. She's still on the waiting list since she won't quite be three as of September 1st. James stayed home with Daddy while Annika and I were away. I was happy to hear that he slept most of the time and then drank a bunch from his bottle. Thank goodness he'll take that! That's one less thing for me to stress about!

Speaking of the smart thing - Annika can now count to 100 practically! OK, that's a stretch, but she can play the game where if someone says 1, she'll say 2, they say 3, she'll say 4, etc. She for some reason skips 13, 15 and 19 which she didn't use to do - weird. But if the person gets to 20, she'll respond with 21 and the counting continues. She doesn't know what comes after 29, 39, 49, etc. but if you give her the next sequence, she'll continue the counting. I'm thinking we should get out some blocks or letters or something else we have in massive quantity so we can actually count objects. Maybe that will connnect the concept of counting to, say, 50 and the game of saying the numbers. This morning Annika also put 2 and 2 together and said Brianna and Madalyn's mommy are both Michelle! She knows they're not the same person but connected that they have the same name. I think that sort of reasoning and logic is another sign of her intelligence. I am just so proud of her!

James has a new nickname, courtesy of Annika. When Kris and I decided on James, we thought we could call him JD for short. Well, James just isn't a JD to me and I haven't been calling him that. I just cal lhim James, as does Kris. We really didn't have a nickname for him. Annika, however, has taken to calling him Jamesy. It's only when she's referring to him affectionately though. Otherwise he's James to her too. I think it's adorable. Jamesy!

And James is growing and developing so fast! Yesterday I noticed that James was actually playing with the toys hanging from his bouncy seat instead of just staring at them and hitting them accidentally. He had purpose in his movements yesterday! And he smiles up a storm now. He's especially happy in the mornings when he wakes up. I love this time with him and then get sad that I'm going to miss most of those in a couple weeks. And James is so strong! He can lift his head so high when he's laying on his tummy. He's almost at a 90 degree angle sometimes! Annika rolled over right after her 3 month birthday and James might be just about on that schedule too.