I've posted about my grandmothers before. They're both 89ish, both as healthy as can be expected, a little high blood pressure, but nothing out of the ordinary. My father's mother, my Nana, drove herself into a ditch this summer, and therefore has lost her independence. She had a frontal lobe bleed.

She's not taking this lying down. She has left her assisted living home in Texas, and headed back to Florida (was determined to drive there, but from what I've understood, she gave in and flew). She no longer owns her home there, my uncle and aunt do. We're not sure where she is, and what she's doing.

On the other hand, my maternal grandmother is just winding down. She sleeps more, feels tired, gets dizzy, can't hang out at family gatherings for very long - spent a couple of hours with us on Christmas Day, and that was pretty good for her.

One will go out with a bang, and one will just switch out like a light - probably in her sleep. They've led long, healthy, full lives. I love them both, but I will not mourn their passing when the time comes. I will enjoy them while they're here, and celebrate the lives they've lived when they're not. I'm not sure either of them are going to be HAPPY living too much longer - although it's tough to say. I hope for them that they live up to that point, that brink of happiness, so that their last days are joyful.

This will be hardest on my girls, though. They adore them, and don't understand completely, despite our brushes with death this past summer.

Piper came down not ten minutes after I hit "post". Chloe was down about half an hour after that, and Phoebe joined them within about five more minutes.

They're happily playing with their stocking toys now, I'm sucking on a cup of coffee, and we're waiting for Phil, and daylight.

It's five AM. I've been up for an hour. I can't even blame the kids... they're snoozing away. Santa came already. But I had the breakfast stollen rising in the fridge that was bugging me, and I needed to get in the oven. I really wanted the tree lights on for the kids when the woke. *I* was excited for Christmas, because we're hosting my parents this year, instead of running back and forth between our house and theirs (their house is currently under construction).

Phoebe has reached the point that I remember as a child - so excited you can't sleep. So excited you're literally bouncing up and down inside. Piper is excited too, but was already so tired, nothing could keep her from sleep. Chloe is at the age where, with the help of two older sisters, she GETS it, and has been talking about Santa coming for days! This is the "place" where Christmas with kids totally rocks.

We watched this great online program all day, NORAD tracks Santa. You track him all over the globe. Santa sightings are reported by Navy officers, complete with 3D CG images - showing major sites in each of the locations as Santa flies around it (i.e. the pyramids in Egypt, the Eiffel Tower in Paris). Piper was really into it this year, because so many of her preschool classmates travelled internationally this year. So when Santa was in India she'd yell "Santa just hit Arthi!", or over Germany "Santa just hit Yannick!". Phoebe got in on this action as well. We downloaded GoogleEarth for this event - as they had terrain images to go alongside the wider map on the website. It was way wicked fun, helped really build the excited, and, shhhhh, don't tell the kids, but it's educational too!!!

Chloe, at 2y + 4mos, isn't quite expected to go in for cleaning yet, but when I took the P's to the dentist, she sat in the chair and let them look at her teeth, see what molars she had, and briefly discuss her chipped front tooth.

Phoebe, with all four adult top and all four adult bottom teeth in is now headed to the orthodontist for a consultation about her teeth crowding.

Piper, no major milestone there.

But I am concerned with the flouride treatments (note that I'm still upset that flouride is in our drinking water, as it digests into hydroflouric acid), which they started this time. I know Phoebe can spit it pretty well, but they did spot flouride on Piper, and I'm not sure she did. I don't use flouride in their toothpaste either, since often they still swallow it.

I'm also concerned about the frequency of x-rays. I have no evidence to back this up yet, although my pediatrician mentioned it as too much, and if she mentions it, I definitely take note... I'd been concerned already, though. So it's time to do the research before the next appointment, when Piper will be "due". I don't think she needs it - they've confirmed that all the adult teeth are present and prepared to erupt. That should be all they need at this point.

I'm spending time reviewing the tactics for working with a dyslexic child, the sheet given to me by Phoebe's principal, and one of the bullet points is standing out.

23. Make certain that the student's knowledge of a particular skill is being assessed rather than the student's ability to read directions, instructions, etc. Reading directions, instructions, etc., to the student can increase success.

Do I think this has anything to do with the essay that Phoebe wrote and was graded a zero on? Perhaps that she struggles to understand directions? You bet I do. It was something noted in her meeting by myself as well as this year, and last year's, teachers.

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On a crazy note, this AM, Phoebe had a total meltdown. She put off her math fast fact studying too late in the week, to the point of having to do it the morning of the test. She freaked. So, we're still working with her frustrations. It is hard, we know she can do the math, SHE knows she can do the math, but when she loses it over struggling to read it/focus on it, she shuts down.

The positive? We have two weeks to work on reading and math. (**wrings hands evilly, "BWA ha ha ha ha"**)