No no no and the significance of 14

Cora was sick again this week, but was better by yesterday morning. Luckily, the only real symptoms seemed to be a high fever and a cranky toddler. She has been extremely fussy and whiny and likes to run around the house saying "no, no, nooo" in a way that B and I have to secretly admit is pretty cute. It hasn't reached that high pitched feverish NOOOO that I'm guessing she'll achieve during one of her more priceless phases.

But what wasn't so cute about the little miss the past couple of days was a tendency to always latch onto my leg like a koala bear and just cry and carry on without regard for any sense of decorum whatsoever. I mean, really, let's get it together people. Yesterday afternoon was one of those 'say what?' moments about my life these days: Cora was fever-free and our friends were coming over, so I was trying to clean the house and make a pot of chili, pick up some cornbread (making it from scratch was not an option--mixing flour and eggs together felt like high science) and wine and other chili-like amenities so we could have people over from our PEPS group. I don't mind doing it because I know how much I love going over to their homes to enjoy the company and conversation and good eats. But Cora was totally not having any of it, carrying on like I was causing her great personal pain. She clearly thought I was completely abandoning her preciousness by doing the dishes instead of reading her the 10th round of Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider. I can't blame her, considering that well, she's a toddler, and she was sick, and she's cutting a couple more molars, and she was probably feeling as cabin feverish as I was. But still. It made for a rough week.

This is sort of how it went:

Cora: Tap, tap, tap, SCREECH
Me: Hi Cora, how are you doing? Would you like me to sing you a song?
Cora: No, no, no
Me: Are you sure? I'd love to sing you a song. How 'bout the ABCs? A B C D E F G--
Cora: Nooooo!
Me: Would you like a snack?
Cora: No, no
Me: No? Are you sure? Ok, how about some rice milk? Does that sound good?
Cora: No, no, no, no
Me: Water?
Cora: No no
Me: Well, I'm sorry I can't pick you up right now because I am doing the dishes and the garbage disposal stopped working so I have my hand down the sink and I'm picking out soggy cheerios and cookie bits and green peppers and apple peel. So right now isn't a good time, I'm really sorry to have to ignore you.
Cora: SCREEEEEECH
Me: Cora, please use your words. Can you please say, "Mommy, can you please pay some attention to me?"
Cora: Mama, akibashi pees
Me: That was very well said. Do you want me to pick you up?
Cora: Yah.
Me: Ok, I totally will do that in just a second. Let me just wash and dry my hands and stir the garlic for a second.
Cora: SCREECH waaiiiilllll noooooo

As you can see, it was not a easy afternoon. I vacuumed and cleaned the toilet, sink, mirror, and tub with my little monkey on my hip. Chopped vegetables and defrosted turkey and said really inane things over and over again like, "Oh wow, look at you! You found a tupperware! How cool!" And then when she was looking at me like I was completely insane, I'd tell her that she was the love of my life, and she'd prance around the kitchen to the recycling cupboard and pull out all the paper and cereal boxes, then hold up the paper towel roll and beep in it like a horn "dooo dooo dooooo." I would tell her how impressed I was with her for entertaining herself and she'd roll her eyes and screech.

We ended up having an awesome time with our friends, though. We haven't seen them for awhile, having to bow out last time due to hives and a runny nose. Two families couldn't make it which ended up being rather fortunate because we could actually breathe and talk in our tiny house without tripping over a running child. We did the hokey poky in Cora's bedroom, drank wine, caught up, and played downstairs in the super cool cardboard fort I keep mentioning. I just felt thankful for having such a great group of friends that we've now known for over a year. I remember all of us sitting around in a circle, sleep deprived and puffy in the middle of winter with our two- and three-month-olds, sharing birth stories and trying to decide if we were really up for weekly meetings with strangers. Seeing Cora give the three boys kisses last night (the other two girls couldn't make it) when it was time to go, and her eyes light up every time she saw a fellow small traveler roll or bounce or laugh, I just realized again how much kids enjoy and thrive off the company of each other. I'm glad we have these friends.

This morning we just locked in a low rate for our refinance. It's a 30-year fixed and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the paperwork and appraisal and such goes through without a hitch. It's a relief to have it taken care of. We debated whether it really made sense to refinance considering the size of our house and our predilection for wanderlust, but in the end we decided it made sense to do it just in case.

I'm stumped on my story. After submitting the last two a few weeks ago, I've been trying to write about this marine scientist and I'm not that into him. I might scrap the story (or at least set it aside) and write about something else.

We have a three-day weekend ahead of us, and B and I celebrate 14 years since our first date on Feb 14th, the day Cora turns 14 months. I can't believe I went to the aquarium by bus with an 18-year-old boy and stared at the otters and talked about high school, and now I'm writing about parent groups and refinancing details. I think we're going to celebrate our 1st-date anniversary by painting the trim in our basement. Life is bizarre.