Judecorp.

I have my moments when my child is not sleeping because we've changed the clocks or whatever but on a daily basis I am reminded how blessed I am to have the child I have, because she really is amazing and awesome. Blessed, I tell you.

Yesterday afternoon, our pediatrician practice's website announced that they would have an H1N1 vaccine clinic tonight and was opening the vaccine to all children 3 and under. (Previously it was available to chronically ill children and children under 5 with asthma.) The clinic was from 5:30 to 7:30pm and Jen was going to aim to get there around 5:15pm. You can imagine where this is going.

It was a three-ring circus over there. The traffic was backed up waaay past the pediatrician office, the parking lot was full and people were walking from other parking lots down the street, there were kids and parents everywhere, having to wait outside, packing in the place, etc. They gave out numbers and said they would serve up to number 104, and Punk was number 82. When I got there around 6:30pm to give Jen some backup, they were up to number 30.

Punk rocked the house. When I got there, she was in a jam-packed waiting room and was quietly sitting on a chair coloring a magazine with a pencil. Then she rocked on the rocking chair. Then I took her outside and she threw mulch around until I got too cold, and then she willingly came inside again. Then she went back to the magazine and the pencil. By the time they called her number, it was about 7:10pm, and then she got her temperature taken, then waited a few more minutes, then got the nasal mist (which she had never had before). She completely cooperated with the mist, itched her nose a few times, and asked for a sticker. We left at 7:30, and got home at 7:40.

Typically she eats dinner around 6pm, has a bath at 7 and is in bed at 7:30. She did not throw one fit, she did not act out at all, and though she scarfed her dinner we managed to make it without any meltdowns. I am so proud of her and so impressed with her ability to keep it together. She really is amazing. God, I love her.

~//~

At one point this one girl was throwing big pieces of sidewalk chalk into a metal bowl and it was making this awful CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! noise, and Punk is all, "Mama, what is that sound?" and I say, in sort of a passive-aggressive manner, "The girl is throwing the chalk into the bowl and it is making a very LOUD noise," and then added, "And that's probably a no-no." The woman next to me started laughing and said, "I think you're right!" and then told me she was a teacher and ran a tight ship. Aaah, waiting room bonding in a cattle call vaccine clinic.

We spent the weekend in Washington DC seeing folks from the IVP. It was a very good time. Folks came from as far away as Australia and Ireland. Makes our little trip seem like nothing at all.

It was an exhausting weekend because Punk insisted on waking up before 6am every morning. I am hoping it was because it was light in the room and NOT some new trend. BUT, she went to sleep on her own for naps and bedtime every night, and never went to bed later than 8pm. She even slept through an evening of MANY screaming and running toddlers and preschoolers. I was shocked.

Got home to find out that my grandfather does indeed have cancer and it is indeed terminal. But isn't everything terminal when you are 91? No idea on the timeline of things, which irks me because I am a super planner. Also, he still has not told my grandmother and is waiting until at least she is out of the nursing home to tell her. (So if you are my cousin and you are reading this, SHHHHH!)

I think having a child who goes to bed early and gets up early kind of isolates you in a social setting, because we were so exhausted so early and were going to bed by 10pm, and therefore missed a lot of adult fun. I hope people liked us anyway. We got to share the guest rooms area with hopemcg and meglett, arguably two of my most favorite people, and their delightful daughter. So there was that.

( Mama brag, feel free to skip. )

And now? Vampires and bed.

( A list for my own record. )

She is amazing and awesome. Also, she is getting really freaking tall: