Too much?

Annike, at age 2-years old, the day the movers came to pack up our Ann Arbor home.

First things first . . .

A big yay to Per and Kathy (Lars' bro and SIL) on the birth of Camille Elizabeth yesterday!

A big yay to Em, Brooke and Sanna (http://namethatmama.blogspot.com/) on the birth of their new baby as well.

Next . . .

My sister and I are still pregnant. Yay to us for keeping our buns in the ovens.

Maggie did not get eaten by a coyote. She sitting in her Lazy Boy recliner by the window with a fresh bow on her collar, smelling like flowers after her afternoon appointment with Leslee, her crazy groomer lady. Yay to Maggie for surviving could've-been coyote assault.

Now my problemo . . .

I can't decide where I'm coming from, if this is an emotional place in my heart, if it's for real, if it's not a problem. You may recall, Petra was ill last weekend which may be influencing my perceptions. In fact, I'm sure it's a big part of it. Okay, so yesterday I was watching Petra at gymnastics and I noticed she was yawning quite a bit. She also looked pretty pale. Then I noticed that her legs and belly looked thinner and that her leotard (size 5) was a bit loose where before it was very snug. It's not unheard of for a child to have a thinner abdomen after the flu and subsequent poor appetite, but her legs too? Petra has clearly been losing weight. At 7-years old I really don't think that is appropriate. I thought seriously about walking into the gym and just pulling her out, it didn't seem meaningful to have her there, especially with a substitute coach, when she was pale and yawning and struggling on the skills. I gave her the "are you okay" look and she gave me back a smile with an emphatic thumbs up. I left her in the gym, but second guessed myself. After gymnastics, she was supposed to go straight to an hour long soccer clinic by our home. I had brought all her soccer stuff, but told her it would be her decision. When we got in the mini-van after gymnastics I told her I thought we should go home, but she insisted that she was fine and that she really wanted to go to soccer. I agreed to take her, but gave her some strict terms for participation. With her school schedule (lots of homework), a very physical second grade teacher who has them run daily (a good thing, I think), her gymnastics, and a soccer team that requires up to 4-practices a week and up to 2-games a weekend I think Lars and I allowed her to get in too deep. My sense is that without her recent flu, she could have probably handled it, but I am very concerned about how she'll cope now. My new plan is to limit soccer practices to 2 a week. Sunday games are done for the season, I think. But, I've also decided that as her mother, I shouldn't listen to my daughter. If she looks pale and tired, I'm going to grab my little girl and take her home no matter how many cute little thumbs-up she gives me. End of story. She needs to eat more and rest more. She needs to spend less time on homework (she's a bit of an overachiever and will not go down without a fight). I'm going to start next week by talking to her soccer coach and gymnastics coach and her teacher about this. They're gonna have to deal, but they're all reasonable so I don't think it will be a difficult discussion. I don't think homework at 7-years old is all that relevant or even 100% on every spelling test, and it's easy to lose perspective when your child can do back handsprings, but sometimes you just have to step back so you don't get caught up in the excitement of having a child with a cool talent.

The rest thing will have to begin tomorrow because each of our little ones has a friend sleeping over tonight. They're insatiable. Petra seems fine, though.