Ah, just the thing you want to hear when you sit down to write an entry: “OHHHHH I PEEPEED ALL OVER MY FLOOR AND MY PILLOW AND MY BED!” Thanks, Addie. You’re a peach. (She didn’t peepee all over everything. She spilled a cup of pear juice. I wonder how weird the world would be if adults made mistakes like that– confusing bodily functions with food.)

I took her over to visit Riley and Preston yesterday, and so I could hang out with Erin. She is pregnant-pregnant. I keep half-forgetting they’re expecting till I see her, and then I’m like, THAT’S RIGHT. The new baby thing! Riley and P have been fighting ear infections, and I debated whether we should go over. The infections weren’t contagious, and we were only visiting for an hour or so. Surely Addie wouldn’t pick anything up in that time. Of course, this morning, I saw Addie playing with her ear and she sighed, “EW I GOT BOOGERS IN MY EAR-ED,” and– yep. Return of the leaking eardrum.

Thanks, Winter Illnesses. You’re a peach.

I’ll probably take her in to the doctor’s tomorrow. I know already what they’re going to say and prescribe, and that I’ll be shelling out $40 to hear and do it. The leaking is EXTREMELY slow, unlike the first time, so I’m kind of hoping it’s just leftover. I never thought there would be a day when I was hoping for leftover ear drainage, or thankful for spilled pears in a bed, but I guess that’s what parenthood turns you into. A person who grasps at straws. Heh.

Tara came over yesterday. My mom said as she was reading my blog she was like, “Who are all these new people? Where do you find them?” Jason finds them, actually. I send him to a building with cubicles and a break room, and he intermittently brings the fun ones home. Tara works in the lab at his building, and she was waiting on a broken machine to be fixed. Their company does gene sequencing, and I guess without the proper equipment, she was just hanging out for the night. We’d been talking about playing Rock Band together, so J called to make sure it was okay (and that the house was clean, and everyone was dressed), and they came over with a pizza. We only played a little Rock Band. We spent most of the time talking. And by talking, I mean TALKING. They walked in the door at around 5:30, and Tara left at around 11:30. She is SO sweet. Jason actually joked about her moving in with us, because she’s looking for a new room to rent. If we HAD more room, I’d consider it. I really don’t think she’d be getting that great of a deal being stuck in Addie’s toddler-sized room and subjected to screaming peals of laughter every morning at 7. Plus, you know. Jason couldn’t maintain his professional facade anymore. It’s tough to keep that up when you’re playing Fallout 3 in your boxers.

Tara said our kids were “not scary”, which meant a lot to me. I knew exactly what she meant. There ARE some scary kids out there– even as a parent, I’ve run across a couple that kind of gave me pause. And I’m sure the vast majority of children seem like that to non-parents. So I’m glad my kids are nice and not terrifying. She also recognized the blood mutation that Addie has when we were discussing it, which was major Awesome Points in my book. (My book is full of various nonsense; including Things I Should Have Said But Didn’t Think of Until Later, and tallies of Awesome and Not Cool points.)

Not much else has been happening around here. Elias has a field trip coming up, and he got a notice sent home about ordering yearbooks. I was on the phone with Michelle when I read it, and I made this high-pitched dolphin noise. It was a squeal of pure majestic joy. My mouth would not even form words. Michelle laughed so hard, and then practically choked on her lunch when the next part happened:

BECCA: Oh, I can’t wait!, I’m going to see his little face with all the other kindergarteners– HEY. What’s the problem over there?

MICHELLE: What is it?

BECCA: Hold on. [muffled crying, shouts] Okay, Addie, please put your underwear on. This is a picnic, not a nude beach. You’re really upsetting your brother. He’s losing his appetite.

Michelle was like WHAT, and then I had to explain to her that I made them a picnic inside a tent but they knocked the tent over, then Addie went to the bathroom and took all her clothes off and came back and Elias was sobbing because he said she was ruining their meal by being gross and naked and Addie was indignant, standing over their sandwiches with her hands on her hips, yelling I LOOK GOOD OKAY! I LOOK GOOD!

“Oh my God,” Michelle said after she caught her breath. “Your house is amazing.”