Rest, Fluids, and...

try on various head accessories and Mama's reading glasses!  Beatrice visited the doctor and came away with a diagnosis of the flu and a recommendation for some time away from school.  Despite a near constant cough and dripping nose, she is chipper and pleasant as can be.   

I can't even fathom how parents cope with a child who is seriously ill, because it just kills me to have her even this miserable, especially since she doesn't feel bad for herself or complain. Not one bit.

Sweetie girl.

Dance Show Weekend

Beatrice's dance studio put on their winter show "Through the Eyes of a Child" and she was in a skit in which the girls entered in their robes, then walked through an imaginary castle and danced around as princesses in all their glory. Beatrice has been under the weather with a cold on and off for weeks now, and of course last night if flared up so she spent much of last night's stage time coughing, but she was a trooper.  We couldn't take pictures during the performance itself, so these will have to do.  I especially love the ones of her and Sula before the show today.  Apparently my little girl has a pet pony now. And we wonder why our dog is on Xanax.....

Lady in Red

Last night, while drifting off to sleep in our bed...

(Bea gets two "sleepovers" a week with us, which is five fewer than she'd like and one more than I'd like.)  Here's the conversation as she drifted off between the two of us last night, cradled in her Daddy's embrace:

me:  Beatrice, I know you love sleeping with Mama and Daddy, but do you know who loves it even MORE than you?
Bea:  who?
me:  Daddy
Bea:  no, I love it GOODER!
me:  I don't think so, your Daddy just loves our family sleepovers
Bea:  But I love them TWELVE!
Anthony:  I love them A MILLION!
Bea:  I love them THIS WHOLE LIFE!
Daddy:  Wow, Bea, that is a lot.  Good night....
(5 minutes later, as she's breathing deeply and I assume is asleep)
me (whispering): Anthony, how sweet was that?..."I love it 'gooder', 'twelve', and 'this whole life"
Beatrice:  YOU NEED TO BE QUIET, YOU'RE INTERRUPTING ME, YOU GUYS STOP INTERRUPTING AND GO TO SLEEP!!

Wrapping up Vacation

Sometimes I can measure how much I'm enjoying an event or moment by the number of photos I do NOT take, and Christmas 2012 was one example.  There wasn't much documentation of the holiday, either because I was relaxing, too busy, or couldn't make the way to my camera in all the craziness of having, for a few days anyway, ten people in our house! Anthony's sister and family trekked up from Maryland on the 26th and stayed until the 30th.  His folks arrived the 27th and just left today.  It was really great to all be together, a very rare thing indeed.  So,  I didn't photograph Beatrice performing Jingle Bells any of the numerous times on the piano, nor did I photograph her eye infection and drippy nose which has plagued her for days, nor her racing around the house or playing madly with her cousins, or loving up her Lolo and Lola. I also didn't catch the great visit with the Fulco "kids", the symphony or dinner with Quynh, Matt and Lucy snuggling up with Sula, or even of Bea playing with her beloved presents. But here are a few:

 Bea and Sula anxiously await the Brodeur clan for Christmas Eve dinner:

Christmas morning, aka "Carnage."  For memory's sake, Santa brought her a few sticker books, a treasure chest full of fancy dress-up clothes, a flashlight, her own stationery and envelopes, and a bag full of chocolate gold coins, to name some:

Her dress-up clothes have been a hit all week, especially with her and 7-year old cousin Linden:

                         We snapped a Foronda family photo before the Dirksens headed out:

                                       Lolo and Lola with their four grandchildren:

              We had a white Christmas, but just barely, then a "real storm" on 12/30:

                I always had a shovel and rake my size as a kid, and Bea does too.  If only she could learn that the snow goes from the driveway to the grass, not vice versa!

                                                         First snow angel of the season:

                        Bea loves nothing more than to throw herself face down into snow and start eating it:

That's it, and to make up for a lack of photos, here's the first of 2013 before bedtime tonight:

Happy New Year indeed.  Bring on 2013!