Spent the day with my lovely family A.J. spent most of the day with beads again. He tells me this evening that he has the perfect plan to stop eating out so much. Yeah? His answer? Spend all of our “dining budget” on freshwater pearls that he can string into necklaces and sell at a profit That kid has big dreams, I tell you!

Had a nice impromptu gathering in the living room being entertained by Gin Bear, who was up a little late, and the dogs. Gin loves to put stuff (anything: dog toys, food, strings) on her head, and then, she just looks so proud. Also, anytime you laugh lately, she does. It’s absolutely adorable.

We’re off to Charlottesville tomorrow. Alan and I are going to take Ginny and talk to the psychologist who evaluated A.J. while my sister and her girlfriend take the older kids to Chick Fil A to play while we’re there. I’m sort of dreading it a little, as A.J. had a bad experience last time he was there, which was probably both his fault and the doctor’s. I don’t know what this means anymore, as I doubt, because of trust issues, that we would actually use this guy for any therapy. I guess it’s possible we’d see someone in his practice, but we’ll see what he has to say. It doesn’t feel as important as it did a month ago to have The Diagnosis, but I also know that, like so many other things, those feelings cycle depending on how hard a time we’re having. I guess it’s a good sign then, that things are a little better.

Well, I’m zonked. I got my writing in. Now I want to relax and go to bed. Hasta manana.

Lily’s been sick since last Saturday. She seems finally to be getting better, but it’s put us through the ringer. With a bad bug and some bad timing, it turned out to be a very stressful experience for all of us. Fortunately, though, it seems to have turned out all right.

Last Saturday, during some typical climbing around play, Lily fell and hit her head. That’s pretty normal for a mobile baby or toddler. What made it unique this time is that in the afternoon, after a 2-hour nap (she’s mostly finished with naps), she threw up. Then, she threw up again at 5 in the morning Sunday.

Because we and the nurse call line knew there could be a slight chance that the fall and vomiting were related, I took her to the emergency room, where they checked her out and did a CT scan. She did so well with everything, and the results were all clean. When by Tuesday she wasn’t better and was increasingly lethargic, I took her back, as her nurse practitioner thought they should redo the CT scan in case something new had developed. Again, from the CT scan, blood work, and fluids, everything was normal. It was so scary, though, to see her without a bit of energy, spending most of the day staring into space or fading in and out of sleep. It’s not normal for a 2-year-old.

Also, no one else in the house seems to have caught this mystery virus, so I still wonder if this didn’t somehow result from that bump on the head. I may never know.

Starting Wednesday and through today, she’s had more and more energy in the mornings and later into the day, so she seems on the mend. However, she still seems to be having a bit of insomnia, as she barely slept last night and seems to have trouble staying asleep tonight (she went to bed at 6 and has already been up once but fell asleep again when I put her down on the couch). I hope she continues to get better, as my nerves can only take so much J

On another note, I finally bought the domains longtermbreastfeeding.com and longtermbreastfeeding.org. I’ve been working on a book project on and off for about 4 years and recently decided to change it to a web site, something that I can add to gradually. I hope to have articles from my “book,” along with useful information and support forums. I’m using SiteSpinner to build the web site, but it might take a little while since I’m just learning to use the software. Hope it’s not too long, though! I’ve already taken long enough getting this stuff out there!

This comic in today’s Washington Post got me thinking or rather stirred up some old feelings. I keep a journal. or a number of them, not too regularly, but over a long period of time. I’ve recently gone electronic via the program The Journal, but not everything in my journal gets posted to my blog. There is a huge difference between a personal, private journal and an internet blog. I’ve had a bit of trouble adjusting to that.

You write a journal generally for an audience of one: yourself. Or you might write it for future generations (I keep one for each of my kids detailing their formative years and little milestones). You can say just about anything as long as you’re comfortable saying it to yourself or your family. But you know what they say about the internet: don’t write in unless you are comfortable with EVERYONE reading it. On a blog, you have to be careful. You are a lot safer as an anonymous blogger than when appearing as the one-and-only you. Especially if parents and in-laws might be reading!

Some of the most effective bloggers I know personally manage to share as if they were writing a newspaper column rather than a diary. Lunzy at www.lunzygras.com is such a blog. I know Lunzy personally and would never guess that such a humorous wit was in there (no insult intented–it’s probably because I don’t get much time to actually converse with her with my kids running around like wild animals or clinging to me like baby monkeys). She’s got a real touch for finding the humor in the every day and for keeping it real.

Other bloggers are more serious but still as effective, but I guess I just am not comfortable with that level of personal sharing online or worry that the members of my family might come to regret it.

So, as I ponder this, my blog might change more to reflect less of my family life and more of my opinions of the world in general or whatever. I just have to tap into my narcissistic side to realize that maybe other people might find some parts of my life as funny as I do or that they might care about what I think.

Got opinions about what a blog should be? Let me know. I can use all the help I can get!

Three kids with teeth coming in at once! Can you believe the luck? A.J.’s got some of his adult incisors coming in, Lily’s cutting her 2-year molars, and Ginny is getting her first teeth as well. She cut the first one on April 5. She’s going to have to stop sucking on my chin and fingers soon. That tooth is already sharp!

Speaking of firsts, Ginny also pushed herself up to sitting yesterday and now seems to have it down (or should I say up?). She may have done it once or twice before, but now she’s definitely got it. I’m surprised she’s not crawling yet.

On another note, I think we’re going to start doing school again at a certain time during the day. It seems like the only way to remember to do things like practice speech and guitar chords and get working on that science fair project, etc. Left to our own devices, we tend to just let the day take us where it may, which is fine sometimes but not others. Maybe we’ll just do it a few days a week. I’m not looking to do “school at home,” just to make sure we take advantage of our time together. I also would like more of a chance to do crafts, etc., with Lily, and this should help.