$100 Sneeze

Yesterday, we paid $100 for Clara to sneeze. Well, actually, that was our co-pay for the trip to the Emergency Room on a Sunday evening after all other methods of trying to get the thing out of Clara's nose didn't work.

Yup. Clara stuck something up her nose. And it didn't come out easily.

Apparently, on the drive home from the Ethiopian restaurant last night she took part of the wet wipe, folded it neatly into a tiny square, and put it up her nose. Then promptly panicked because she couldn't get it out. The lovely advice nurse on the phone walked us through trying to get Clara to blow it out (she sucked it in further) and trying to get Zach to blow it out by blowing into Clara's mouth (she screamed and kicked). She said we could try waiting until the morning, but only if we thought Clara wouldn't put her fingers in after it and push it up further. I didn't think Clara could keep her fingers out of her nose, so I opted for the ER.

After an uneventful hour in the waiting room with a very subdued Clara, we were taken back and Clara was sat up on an exam table. The doctor peered up her nose and saw... snot. So he got a swab and started swabbing the snot away, which made Clara do a few little sneezes. The doctor tickled some more, and with one giant sneeze the neatly folded wet wipe (now covered in a lovely layer of snot) came flying out. It was surprisingly large!

And not so surprisingly, Clara literally skipped out of the hospital. After we paid the $100 co-pay. I guess we should be grateful that we didn't have to pay the full cost of the visit, though!

Soccer Girrrl

And on Sunday, Molly joined her first Soccer team. She had no interest in soccer until recently, when suddenly she really very strongly wanted to be part of a team ("A real soccer team"). And in competing ("I want to play in real soccer games!"). Which is great. Except that sign-ups for all the local leagues was in May. I contacted the two most popular ones and they were full. But when I saw how disappointed Molly was that she couldn't play until the spring, I contacted all the other teams that were a reasonable distance. One responded, and we went to our first practice on Sunday. I had no idea what to expect, but it was great. The coach is very mellow and their number one goal is for the kids to have fun.

Molly was ecstatic when we went shopping for cleats & shin guards on Saturday. She was a little tentative as we waited for practice to get started. But once it was underway, she was clearly having a great time. Now she just wants the uniform already!

Clara Bikes!

And on Thursday, Clara took off pedaling with no training wheels. Nona and Opa were lucky enough to witness the event. By the weekend, she was unstoppable on her bike and went all the way to the grocery store with Zach. This is Clara using the ramp outside Molly's classroom to master starting, turning, and zooming while we waited for Molly's class to be dismissed.

Clara the Dinosaur!

On Wednesday Clara started her last year of preschool. They call that class the Dinosaurs, and they spend most of the day upstairs, separate from the younger kids. She's thrilled. And I am thrilled to find out that one of Molly's previous teachers, who had left to take care of her newborn twins, is back to be Clara's teacher! What a way to end her preschool time.

Here she is hamming it up for the camera on her way for her own first day of school:

Santa Monica Sunset

Santa Monica Colors

I couldn't resist trying for a family portrait in front of this fabulous yellow wall. The kids thought otherwise. Oh well.

Santa Monica Sunday Afternoon

Sunday afternoon we went for a bike ride (Molly was a superstar dodging all the crazy traffic on the bike path!), found a truck in the playground to play with (Molly still seems to magnetically attracted to them, in spite of her denying that she likes trucks anymore), and hung out with Dave Bell.