pops

Does the sickness ever stop? The last two days have been spent caring for Ella. Fevers, coughs and clingyness have been on top of the list recently. After not much eating or napping, Ella turned a corner this afternoon after having Corns Pops for a snack. Through the sickness, the dancing has continued and she is even starting to say her own name! We hope its over for all of our sickness for a bit.

Tuesday, Weds and Thursday were fairly uneventful for us. Dawn had a flex day on Friday, but spent most of the afternoon caring for Ella. The hype around town this week has been the Vikings. They are in the division championship game tomorrow against the Saints. I can't say that I have been an "every-game watcher" throughout the season, but I have jumped on the bandwagon. If anything, it would be cool to live in a state where we have National Championship professional sports team.

As I mentioned in previous posts, the weather has been much warmer than normal. 30 degree temps with occasional light snow showers have been in the forecast the last few weeks. Today, we had rain believe it or not. Lets hope the chilling temperatures in the coming week won't make skating rinks out of the interstates.

Unemployment still lingers in the Springer household. Grandpa Hugh and Uncle Hugh are both on the search. Hugh Jr. is in the process of starting up his own consulting side project. It will be exciting to see what comes of the project. In his "time off", he has also been busy with writing songs for the community. One of the most recent tunes is called Fill Us Up...check it out. I hope he can continue this push and his voice and talent will reach many.

On another note, Gage isn't getting any better (I will spare you the details). Grandpa Hugh has been reading up on Cesar Millan's website (The Dog Whisperer). Gage likes to jump on guests and be on top of people when sitting on the couch. Apparently, it's a dominance thing. My first instinct was to go buy a training collar and train him that way. And, in true Springer fashion, I want to get the best of the best. Thanks to my bro-in-law who let me test his collar out, turns out it surpasses our current Gage budget. So, based on Cesar's input, by walking a dog, it teaches the dog who is in charge because they're are on a leash. I guess a fenced back yard doesn't do it in terms of wasting energy. So, since Monday night, Gage and I have been going on 20 minute walks around the neighborhood. If anything, he is more tired at night!! We will see over time if his tendencies go away, or he at least listen to my commands. If not, I may have to turn to the collar option.

Song: Bobby McFerrin - By the Sea

Memory: Now that Ella has been battling a cold and has been super clingy, I have to say that while you never want your child sick, it is nice to have the closeness of your baby next to you. Once this girl started to move, she has been anything but snuggly! Since she has gained this independence, I've tried to remember (this is Dawn now, btw) what it was like one year ago, when she was only 6 weeks old and totally dependent on us for even the basic things. What our days were like, what our nights were like! I was one week from going back to work (never do this, by the way...try more weeks off, like maybe TWELVE!), and miserable about the idea of it. About this time, we got into the habit of putting on classical music at night in her room, and sticking to a night time routine, although a newborn sticking to it is just lucky! The routine ultimately never 'stuck' until about 8 or 9 weeks, and sleepness nights were had by all...but, you never remember how tired you were...even in the exhausted sleep-deprived haze, you still only retain the little sneezes, smiles and even her little farts :).

All for now