From Frank to Frivolous

Home sweet(ish) home

2012-02-16T19:48:00.000-05:00

So, let’s talk a bit about our new place. As I probably mentioned on this blog, we have yet to sell our house in Charleston. Since we’re floating our mortgage and all the attendant bills in SC, we decided to rent an economical apartment until we either sell our house at a loss, rent out our house, or slit our wrists. Funnily enough, renting is the worst of those options. So, we ended up in an aging “condo” on a main drag in the community in which we want to live eventually, Shaker Heights. Don’t be fooled, it’s not a condo. It’s an apartment, a marginally renovated apartment in a building constructed in the 50’s, perhaps. It’s a two bedroom, 1½ bath, 1200 square foot space. Here are some of the pluses of our apartment: there are many closets and they are inexplicably huge. I say inexplicable because in other respects the space planning here is crazy, but the closets are enormous. With those and a storage unit we rented to house my books and bookcases and our food storage temporarily, we actually fit into our space, though only just. And the apartment is a steal, with all utilities included, and it’s right on the rapid line and walking distance to the library and a grocery store and indoor parking is also included.

Be sure to remember these pluses as I enumerate some of the minuses of our new home: the “kitchen” could more accurately be referred to as a nook; the furnace (which we supposedly control) is quite enthusiastic, and it’s usually 78 degrees in the living room; the halls smell like, umm, flowers in an old folks’ home?; there are loud, LOUD snorers upstairs whom I can hear over the noisemakers AND the baby monitors (I mean, we live right next to an electric train track and the train doesn’t wake me up but this person or persons’ snoring is that disturbing; the bedrooms, in contrast to the living room, are often freezing, so the poor boys are always bundled up at the beginning of the night and then whimpering with cold sometime later; and we don’t have a washer/dryer in our apartment and instead there is a coin-operated laundry up half a flight of stairs which I am allowed to use on Fridays or Saturdays…insert withering sigh here. I could go on.

In sum, what our apartment lacks in character, privacy, size, and convenience, it makes up for in location and cost. And, really, it’s fine, and we’re going to be fine, too, for the duration of our lease. Afterwards, whether we rent or buy in the future (and we’re leaning toward renting; see the loss we mentioned above), we’ll find a lovely place with lots of light and few smells and turn of the century architecture and a basement playroom and it will be fabulous. Until then, you can sleep on the boys’ bunk beds. They’ve even got mattresses now, though it makes no difference to Baby E; he’s still sleeping in the nice, cozy closet!

Back online again!

2012-02-15T19:43:00.000-05:00

Our trip here was mostly uneventful, but this is us, so it had to be just “mostly.”

First, our U-haul broke down on the morning of our departure so the husband started out a few hours behind us because he had to wait for a jump. Luckily, we were only going into North Carolina just north of Charlotte and we had planned a side trip to Ikea on the way, so we waited for him while eating meatballs and playing in the children’s section, which is a pretty good way to wait if you have too. He eventually arrived and we picked up the frame for the boys’ bunk beds, along with a few other odds and ends (of course!) and then headed to our hotel, which was lovely. I’d not stayed at a new Comfort Suites, but they are just the kinds of rooms for us, spacious, with a semi-separate living room/kitchenette combo, so lots of room to spread out to sleep.

The next day, our longest, we headed to the metropolis of Ripley, WV, though on the way we ran into falling snow in Fancy Gap, VA, which was very exciting for those of us who did not serve our mission in Alberta, Canada nor come of age driving in UT. So I was on the phone with the husband asking him what I should do in these conditions while trying not to be alarmed. I’m going to have to work on that while I live here in OH, huh? Our hotel there was a Quality Inn and Suites, and we wished the quality had been perhaps a bit more comfortable and smelled a bit less like smoke, even in our second room, but it was fine. The husband and the boys investigated the river running between our hotel and the freeway…and then fell into the mud. Did you know they have the same sort of red mud in WV that they have in HI? My unnecessary load of laundry got the mud out of everything except their pants, which I figured was pretty good, considering I had no stain remover. Apparently, my box of laundry detergent, stain remover, and our iron was the first casualty of our move. Where it ended up, nobody knows!

The final day, we headed into Shaker Heights, OH, which was the easiest part of our day. While we had 15 people or more show up to load the U-haul in SC, not to mention those people who graciously took care of the children, we had just one person show up to help us unload, so the husband and the poor retired bishop here (who is helpfully a very fit former wrestling coach who hikes the Appalachian Trail) unloaded the entire U-haul by themselves in the freezing cold while I corralled the boys who were wont to run out into the very busy street otherwise. They’re a little too used to living in a rural area, it turns out. At the end, when it was time to take the last batch to our storage unit, a few more folks turned out…but the U-haul died again. And then AGAIN the next morning! So after the husband got it started for a third time, he unloaded and stuffed everything away in the storage unit all by himself. In short, it was not our most successful move ever, but we made it and the husband’s back didn’t go out in the process, which was a tiny victory.

Now we’re here, relatively unscathed. And it snowed every day for a week after we arrived but not on the day of our arrival, and everyone keeps telling us what a mild winter this is, a sentiment that fills me with dread, but I’m ignoring those feelings with determination. Welcome to Ohio, ladies and gentlemen!

The unreported country

2012-02-05T19:29:00.004-05:00

Okay, where have I been? In a nutshell, I've left South Carolina, headed through North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia and ended up in Ohio after that leisurely drive. I have lots to say about our trip, our new digs, our new life, and more, but I'm currently caught in internet purgatory. It's as if I've lost a limb. I am crippled. And I'm not happy about it.

I've been forced to become a renegade WiFi guerilla. We all have, actually. Right now, the husband is watching the Super Bowl, I'm blogging/paying bills/catching up on email/finding a preschool, and the boys are watching cartoons in a friend's empty hotel suite, which he's not using because he's away on a family emergency. Earlier today, I was logged in in the church foyer trying to get some of that done in between We are media squatters. It's pathetic.

So, I have no time to fill everyone in at the moment and no idea when I might, but we need at least a BIT of catch up, so here's the Cliff's Notes teaser for what's to come: we all get a crash course in living and driving in the snow, we rediscover the quirks of apartment living, we meet our new friends (even though they don't know it yet), we look unsuccessfully for a preschool and a pre-K program, we visit at least one local attraction a week, we unpack and clean and clean and organize and clean some more. the husband starts his new job, and I go slightly stir crazy and buy an atlas. We laugh, we cry; it's better than Cats! I know, you can't wait.

But sadly, for all of us, you will have to, since the internet void continues unabated until ATT decides to let me out of my information void. And we all know how much I love me some ATT and how happy I am to have my superhighway leading straight to their door once again!

Preparations grind to a temporary halt

2012-01-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

Our lucky breaks continue: Baby E started throwing up in the middle of the night a few nights ago. I was reminded of a cross country trip we took once when I was little and a stomach bug raced through our car. By the time we got to our destination, my mother was in her nightgown, all the rest of her clothes having been thrown up on. I ended up changing E's sheets and pajamas 5 times that night and doing three loads of laundry. In the end, he ended up in a diaper on our bed with the husband, because I knew we had more of our sheets clean if we had to change another bed.

Then, yesterday, I threw up in church, during my Sunday School lesson (I did manage to make it to the restroom, thank goodness!). I spent the rest of the day passed out in bed, alternating between vomiting and shivering and shaking and sweating. It was awesome! Happy new year to me!

There is some good news: we did get approved for that condo, so we will not be homeless in Cleveland! Huzzah! AND, I won a fabulous carry-on backpack with detachable day pack and lap top bag from a contest I entered a while ago! I mean, it's something, right? Not quite a silver lining but better than vomit!

Preparations ensue

2011-12-28T14:03:00.004-05:00

So it turns out that packing for a big move and having Christmas festivities and doing all the things you meant to do earlier and trying to find somewhere to live in a faraway place does not result in time for blogging. Go figure! So, here are some highlights of the past two weeks:

Lil tries mightily to find a place to stay in OH. She is first dismayed and then completely annoyed by apartment manager after landlord after apartment agent who seems totally unwilling and ultimately unable to rent to someone that is not right there in front of them because she happens to live in another state and doesn't have money to go flying back and forth to Ohio just because "we don't usually do it that way." Listen, people, I am trying to give you money. I am trying to fill one of your innumerable vacancies in the midst of a recession AND in the middle of winter when no one else is moving here. I am trying to rent an apartment, for crying out loud, not marry your son or bear your children or fix your roof! As a result of all this inexplicable reluctance, it takes Lil much longer than she thought it would to find somewhere, though at present we have sent an application off for a reasonably priced, centrally located 1200 square foot condo with utilities and garage space included (huzzah!), so hopefully this problem will be solved soon (fingers crossed!).

After getting quotes from moving companies, we decide to do it ourselves instead. So we're U-hauling once again at the end of January with a move-in date of Jan 25th (we hope!). The husband will drive the truck, and Lil will follow with the boys in the Pilot. We are planning on taking our time, largely because the boys' tolerance of the car with no one to run interference is going to be limited, to say nothing of Lil's patience with the griping!

Lil and the husband decide to take the path of least resistance for Christmas and throw all the kids' gifts into gift bags instead of wrapping anything. The kids don't notice! Hooray!

The husband tells his staff he is leaving and warns his coordinators that more long term projects will be coming their way as he prepares for his last day, January 20th. He takes both the Friday before and the Monday after Christmas off for the first time ever, and Lil is both incredulous and happy!

We get Christmas cards out for the first time in a few years, though they left late--apologies to everyone who doesn't get them until after New Year's!

The packing begins! We start with the easy, the books, but Lil decides to be as ruthless as possible and get rid of (gulp!) even more books. At present, we have 24 file boxes of books packed, with a few more boxes of kid's books yet to pack. Don't be shocked; this represents a lean, mean fighting machine book total, in comparison to the 40 boxes we had in our last move!

The general purging reaches epic proportions. We start to make daily trips to the thrift store and the consignment store. We load up the church kitchen with free dishes and odds and ends from our kitchen which are up for grabs. (You know, like those heart-shaped ramekins that seemed like such a good idea at the time? Yeah, stuff like that!) Lil decides that in order for us to fit into our new apartment while we wait for our house here to sell, everyone has to reduce everything from one third to one half. There is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth from all parties including Lil herself.

The boys get sick. Baby E smears mucus across his face with the back of his hand for days on end. J throws up in the middle of the night the day before Christmas Eve and continued with stomach issues for days after that. Baby E appears to be cutting his two year molars. Both boys have fevers that keep reappearing and keep them out of sorts most days. It's all AWESOME!

We go to the James Island County Park Festival of Lights for the last time and let the boys ride both the train and the merry-go-round, make s'mores at the outdoor fire pits, and sit on our laps in the front seat of the car as we make our way around the park at 5 mph. They are over the moon about everything. We are a little bit sad to know this is the our last visit.

South Carolina rewards our disloyalty to the South by having one of the warmest Decembers on record, with highs in the upper 70s. At the same time, it is often just above freezing in Cleveland. Sigh.... Lil outfits the boys in boots for the first time, and we all leave the store in tears. We buy more long pants and more fleece jackets and pray for the best. We anticipate more days inside as we try to acclimatize. Wish us luck!

Why did I ever leave Ohio?

2011-12-15T14:58:00.002-05:00

Omygoodness, it's been so long since I last wrote. And I did write a post in the interim about our little trip to Cleveland for a job interview, but I neglected to post it. So now, here I am, out of the blue, announcing that we are moving to Cleveland at the end of January!

Hooray!

We are excited about the great new job and the new environs and the new everything, but right now we are up to our necks in preparations: finding a place to rent, getting our house here ready to sell, packing and purging for downsizing, gathering our long abandoned winter clothes, all while simultaneously wrapping Christmas presents and decking the halls. It's a busy, busy time!

Meanwhile, it's 75 degrees and sunny here today, and we're planning to go to the beach for some shell hunting after naps, to take advantage of every last bit of sun and warmth before they disappear or we do. Moving to Ohio will be quite a change for us, in so many ways. I was looking at the local parks and recreation listings the other night and found ice skating and hockey classes for kids J's age. Ice skating? Hockey?? Oy vey! However, the schools in the area where we want to rent and then buy, Shaker Heights, are excellent (they implement the international baccalaureate curriculum starting in Kindergarten); the job is a big step up in both responsibility and prestige; and we're ready for new escapades.

Stay tuned for what I'm sure will be some crazy stories as we pack up, leave, arrive, and unpack, then do it all over again!

I'm thankful for....

2011-12-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for my crazy, funny, ever-changing boys and my long-suffering husband. I'm thankful for curly hair. I'm thankful for my always helpful parents. I'm thankful for warm, sunny days in late November and early December. I'm thankful for Hulu. I'm thankful for our car. I'm thankful for teaching. I'm thankful for strawberries with lemon sorbet.

I'm thankful for J's expressiveness and for Baby E's comprehension. I'm thankful for turkey and stuffing made from scratch. I'm thankful for Skype. I'm thankful for great fitting jeans. I'm thankful for books and the time to read them. I'm thankful for this blog. I'm thankful for many blogs. I'm thankful for the Information Age. I'm thankful for the gospel. I'm thankful for thriving rosemary bushes. I'm thankful for garden fresh tomatoes eaten off the vine by little boys.

I'm thankful for story time. I'm thankful for bedtime. I'm thankful for rocking chairs. I'm thankful for my solid little house. I'm thankful for job security. I'm thankful for the patience shown to me. I'm thankful for sour jelly beans and sour patch kids. I'm thankful for canned pumpkin. I'm thankful for unexpected finds on Ebay. I'm thankful for daffodils. I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful for moments of clarity. I'm thankful for training.

I'm thankful for computers. I'm thankful for oscillating fans. I'm thankful for recipes that can be ignored. I'm thankful for aprons. I'm thankful for cell phones. I'm thankful for time-saving dried onions. I'm thankful for sales. I'm thankful for the color green. I'm thankful for sushi. I'm thankful for good TV on demand. I'm thankful for book reviews. I'm thankful for lemon grass and verbena. I'm thankful for Tazo passion tea.

I'm thankful for my mission. I'm thankful for my education. I'm thankful for Picnik. I'm thankful for public libraries. I'm thankful for capris. I'm thankful for plentiful pillows. I'm thankful for frozen mandarin oranges. I'm thankful for comfort. I'm thankful for white t-shirts that aren't sheer at all. I'm thankful for temples. I'm thankful for my ward. I'm thankful for friends both near and far away.

I'm thankful for tousled hair. I'm thankful for baby monitors. I'm thankful for strollers. I'm thankful for my in-laws. I'm thankful for wooden trains and tracks. I'm thankful for storage space. I'm thankful for fun trips. I'm thankful for sunset and twilight. I'm thankful for energetic children. I'm thankful for nap time. I'm thankful for preschool. I'm thankful for books on parenting. I'm thankful for digital cameras. I'm thankful for popsicles. I'm thankful for cordless drills. I'm thankful for my trusty rice cooker and my huge crockpot.

I'm thankful for the beach. I'm thankful for my office. I'm thankful for self-cleaning ovens. I'm thankful for ingenuity and creativity. I'm thankful for time to read magazines. I'm thankful for stories. I'm thankful for boys who love to listen to stories. I'm thankful for boys who will love to read stories for themselves soon. I'm thankful for prayers.

I'm thankful.

These are just a few of my favorite things, in no particular order, in honor of the season of thanksgiving.

Do you Pin?

2011-11-25T13:59:00.000-05:00

I'm usually not one to jump on the latest online bandwagon. My blog is relatively new, and I started it long after the blog craze had begun. It's still hosted by Blogger. I read all the blogs I read via their sites rather than an RSS feed. I don't have a Twitter account and don't see myself getting ever getting one (140ish characters? It takes me longer than that to sneeze!). I have a Facebook account I check VERY intermittently, and I now have a strict policy about only friending people I actually know and no one under the age of 18 (after some of my teenage babysitters started flooding my feed with inanity). I have never Stumbled anything or posted a video on YouTube. I rarely Like things. I had (have?) a Myspace account which was active for about a summer. I'm not Linkedin. You get the idea.

However, I did (just) get a Pinterest account, and I find the whole phenomena utterly fascinating. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about (perhaps my parents and in-laws?), Pinterest is basically a collection of online bulletin boards to which you can "pin" images from sites you visit to save for later. You can categorize and organize your own boards, view and follow those of other Pinterest users you know (first, those who happen to be your Facebook friends, then anyone else if you like what you see), or watch the pins of all the Pinterest users who happen to be pinning when you log on. You can repin things that catch your fancy to your own boards or simply "like" what you see or even comment on other people's pins. Some users even refer to the pinning they do to their own boards as "curating."

I've noticed some strange trends so far. One, there seems to be a disproportionate number of Mormons (women--I would venture to say that 80-90% of all users are female) pinning with abandon. How do I know this, you ask? Well, when uplifting quotations from people with names like Hinckley, Monson, Bednar, or Uchtdorf (the names of current and past prophets and apostles) keep reappearing every 10-20 pins you see in the general feed, you know something must be up. When quotations from The Proclamation on the Family appear as vinyl letter crafts on decoupaged wood, you start to get suspicious. When FHE (Family Home Evening) ideas start to get repinned left and right, it's clear that there are lots of LDS women getting their pins on. I can see the next ad now: I love Pinterest, and I'm a Mormon!

Two, I didn't think it was possible for any online activity to suck up more free time than Facebook, but Pinterest wins by a mile. At least on Facebook, you can claim to be connecting with real people and their real(ish) lives. On Pinterest, all you're doing is watching how folks surf the web and chronicling your own surfing habits. I'm pretty sure that the lives we see represented on Pinterest are far, far from real. I have a board about dream rooms that I am almost positive I will never, ever come close to replicating by any stretch of the imagination in any real house I own, but look at what good taste I have anyway, won't you? The identity one constructs on Pinterest seems by definition to be aspirational: these are the rooms/crafts/homeschool curricula/photographs/quotations/tasty treats with which I would surround myself, given limitless resources and time and, I would argue, often a completely different personality. Now, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to have a place where you can be the person you wish you were, but I do think that the social networking parts of Pinterest can lead to users feeling inadequate about their own lives as they peruse the completely fictional lives of others. In addition, Pinterest also seems to me to be heightening consumerism and heaven knows we don't need anything to help us consume more!

On the other hand, three, I've found that when I just want to decompress a little at the computer, the general Pinterest feed is just about perfect for helping me. I can see links from across the web, all over the place, on one screen. I can flit right past the things that leave no impression on me and head right for those pictures to which I respond for some reason or other. It's as if the work of curating the web has been done for me...though by whom, I'm not at all sure, since most of what I see is pinned by complete strangers.

However, four, I've found that Pinterest really doesn't work for me, personally, to replace bookmarking websites because of Pinterest's emphasis on pinning pictures. You can only pin an image (and it has be be an image of a certain size and resolution) from any given site. I would much rather pin, you guessed it, passages of text from websites. I most often want to remember and return to something someone wrote and often the kinds of online texts I respond to don't have any pictures to speak of (like my own blog, most of the time!). So they can't be pinned. Which means that, ultimately, Pinterest will only hold my interest for a little while, since the site does something nifty but that piece of niftiness is really kind of irrelevant to me.

Fifth, because there are women pinning most of the time, Pinterest seems to be deeply conflicted. On the one side, there are endless pictures of recipes for ooey, gooey concoctions involving chocolate and caramel and cheesecake and candy bars and peanut butter and what have you. On the other hand, those pictures are invariable followed by pictures of toned women in short shorts and sports bras, sweating through some insanely intense work out that begins with instructions like "100 jumping jacks, 100 crunches, 20 burpees, etc., repeated every day for 21 days to get abs like these!" Or you could just skip all the crazy desserts! The juxtaposition of these opposing lines of thought is jarring.

For now, I'm putting aside my ambivalence and have fun looking at pictures of sumptuous salads, fabulous green coats, enviably neat laundry rooms, snarkily captioned pictures of pets, quasi-inspirational quotations, and impossible crafts.

Wined and Dined

2011-11-19T13:42:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, a cute little family of four took a weekend trip to...Cleveland! The husband of said family had a job interview for a great job...that was in Cleveland. So our intrepid band of parents and toddlers/preschoolers winged away to visit the storied realm that is...Ohio....

We arrived under the best of circumstances: at night, on the coldest day of the year thus far, amidst snow flurries. Our preschooler asked, "Mommy, what is all that stuff blowing in the sky?" When told the answer, he said "Daddy will never BELIEVE it!" Once outside, on the way to the rental car at which we still had to install two car seats, J said "Mommy, the snow is blowing on my face! It's getting in my eyes! It's blowing everywhere!" Then as we were driving away after finally getting the car seats installed, he said, "Mommy, why are all the trees so spooky?!" He wasn't quite convinced that that's what happens in real winter, when the trees actually do lose all their leaves instead of just dropping a few in token observance of the change in seasons.

We finally made it to our hotel and had a VERY late dinner in the hotel restaurant because we were to exhausted to find somewhere else to go. I always wondered who actually ate in hotel restaurants; now I know! We managed to get both boys down in the same room, the living room of our two room suite (LOVE that!), a minor miracle, and then we crashed ourselves.

The husband woke up early and left for a long day of interviews. The rest of us got up a little later and headed out for a tour around Shaker Heights with our two guides from an executive relocation company. Who knew these people even existed? We were met with a tote bag full of area information, toys, crayons, markers, and coloring books for the boys, and water bottles all around. They also left us a great gift basket in the hotel room on which we nibbled before we hit the restaurant. Our tour included a visit to a local elementary school, which was impressive. The boys played outside in the cold on the playground for a little while until their hands started to sting from sweeping the snow off the slides. We ended our tour with lunch at a local restaurant where we met another mom and her two year old. Lunch was just what you would expect it to be with three kids under four and ridiculously large forks! J was most impressed that they gave him a triangle of bread dough to play with and later declared "Cleveland is good for little boys because they give you dough!" Okay then!

After we returned to the hotel, the boys went down for naps, though Baby E's nap was rudely interrupted when he threw up all over himself and his crib a little while later. After I got him cleaned up and back to sleep on my bed, I spent the rest of the afternoon until they woke up in the bathroom checking email! That night, we visited a huge and expensive mall that was close by and ate at the food court so we could get plain rice and veggies for Baby E. It must have been something he ate, because he was fine for the rest of our visit.

The next day, the whole family set off again with our tour guides, this time to see University Circle (where the hospitals are), Midtown, and Downtown. To be frank, midtown and downtown Cleveland are the picture of urban blight. I've never seen as many abandoned lots that close to a city center as I saw in midtown, and, for every open storefront in downtown, there were four empty spaces. However, I was impressed with the suburbs of Cleveland, particularly Shaker Heights and some of Cleveland and University Heights. We were staying in Beachwood, a tony neighborhood which we can't afford, but after our tour, we met with a realtor who took us to some homes for sale in the other areas, and we liked what we saw. Mostly. There was the house with a tree stump growing up through the foundation and plaster walls that were so rotted that I accidentally kicked a hole in one when I nudged it with my foot! Oops! Houses in these areas are old but many have been renovated. That said, they are still quirky, with many steps and doors and oddly shaped areas, bathrooms in unexpected corners, usually at least three floors plus basements in various stages of renovation. Visiting these houses was like playing a game of hide and seek from the rest of your party sometimes!

That night we went to Shaker Square and explored a toy store while the boys played on their train table, then headed over to a diner where the boys got to play on yet another train table. (Why doesn't every store have these??) The diner looked out onto the RTA line so the boys also got to see real electric trains, which was even more trilling than the train table!

The next day was Sunday, so we headed off to the local ward to check it out/conduct reconnaissance on the area. It's a young congregation made up primarily of medical/dental residents, law students, and the few doctors/dentists/lawyers who decide to stay once their training is over. Through divine intervention, we found the woman in the ward who used to be a realtor who took us right over to the map of the area and told us in explicit terms where we should and shouldn't live, which schools really lived up to their reputations, what typical housing costs might be, and when this particular market peaks (between February and June, when the old residents are selling and the new residents are buying). We also found out that the previous week the ward had fasted for new members to move in. Gulp. No pressure there! Moving right along....

After church, we headed to the airport for our flight home. We lucked out with our seating, and I had an empty seat next to me for both legs, so Baby E got his own seat each time, which was thrilling for him and a little bit of a break for my lap! Of course, both he and J napped almost all of the longest leg, so both the husband and I got to hold them anyway! Sleeping boys, extra seats? Easiest travel day ever! Huzzah!

And so ended the great adventure in Ohio. Now our cute little family gets to return to regularly scheduled programming and blithely ignore the fact that our lives (not to mention our climate!) could change dramatically depending on what happens in the next few weeks. Tra la la, I can't HEAR you! I'm way over here in Denial!

We, the explorers three

2011-11-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

Recently, we discovered a program going on in our city called Charleston Explorers. Apparently, this has been going on for over a year but since it's only really marketed to visitors to Charleston, as opposed to residents, no one I know has even heard of it. We ourselves only stumbled upon it during an emergency bathroom visit to the downtown visitor's center. But we're so happy we did!

Essentially, it's a passport visiting program for kids. Each participant gets a passport and a list of participating venues. Every venue you visit stamps your passport, you enter the stamps' codes online, and you receive prizes after you visit so many sites. We also got a pail and shovel for each boy just for signing up. Many of the venues are free or places we visit regularly already, like the Children's Museum or county parks. Since we started two weeks ago, the boys and I have already visited 10 places (even whilst sick), and here is what we've learned so far:

--Angel Oak is between 300 and 400 years old and absolutely irresistible for climbing if you are between 1 and 4 despite the many signs and stern parental warnings telling you not to do so.

--The North Charleston & American LeFrance Fire Museum & Educational Center not only has the world's longest name but ALSO a real fire pole to slide down! AND it has one of the most truly terrifying exhibits I've ever seen, a house that simulates all the fire hazards one might find at home, complete with red lights and smoke and blasts of hot air. Both boys wouldn't let go of my hands during this little demonstration!

--The Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is staffed by a VERY lonely ranger who really, really wanted to chat, even though my kids were fairly unimpressed by this house of one of the main crafters and signers of the Constitution. They did, however, like the large holly tree outside and the plentiful Spanish Moss.

--Palmetto Islands County Park may contain perhaps the most dangerous playground I've ever encountered: it is surrounded by swamps on two sides, has a 25 foot tall slide accessible only by an ambitious climbing wall, and boasts two kinds of spinning balance toys that started spinning so quickly on their own, with no pushing whatsoever, that both my boys were tossed to the (thankfully padded) ground in no time. Of course, they loved this playground with abandon and want to return as soon as possible!

--Fort Moultrie is NOT stroller accessible, no matter what the ranger says, and is filled with underground tunnels that made my (admittedly feverish) 3 year old so nervous he went running as soon as we got outside, only to get caught on an unexpectedly steep down slope that resulted in his falling and skinning a knee and an elbow. Ours was a short visit to the fort!

We have also discovered that many of the sites are not accustomed to visits from Charleston Explorers. As a public service, we've spent some time helping various places locate their stamps so future Explorers won't have such a difficult job ahead of them! If we're still here in January, we will combine this program with the Tourists in Your Own Town promotion run every year and perhaps get ourselves into some of the more expensive sites, particularly those elusive plantations and the rest of the historical houses, which currently charge far too much for a casual visit. But we still have quite a few no or low cost options left, so more adventures await us!

Bark stridently please.

2011-11-09T08:25:00.000-05:00

I'm behind on the second part of our Halloween update, but when you read this post, you'll know why.

One word: croup.

Yep, not one but both of the boys have come down with croup in the last week, in addition to fevers that have come and gone (very briefly) and then come again for over 10 DAYS. Ever been around a bunch of sickly tween gerbils? No? Well, neither have I, but I can only imagine that it's pretty much like my last week and a half: odd smells, lots of biting, violent mood swings, way too much urine, middle of the night hysteria, faintly damp environment (courtesy of the humidifiers and hot showers), barking coughs, etc., etc., etc. Wash, rinse, repeat. Again and again and again.

When I finally did take J to the doctor, when the cough first surfaced, and I was pretty sure we were into some new and dangerous territory, she immediately diagnosed croup and sent me home with some of the most vile tasting liquid (steroids for the lungs) I have ever been prescribed. The boys only had to take it once a day for three days each, but by the night of J's third day, he came to me in tears asking if he could "please oh please not drink the red medicine again in the morning, Mommy!" It was pathetic. The doctor prescribed a double dose of the medicine and told me to give it to Baby E as soon as his cough surfaced, IF it surfaced. I now think she was just making me feel better with that "if" since I'm pretty sure she knew it was only a matter of time.

Baby E had his first dose Sunday morning, after the tell-tale cough was heard on the way to church. Nothing like getting two small boys and yourself all dressed up and prepared for church only to get to the parking lot and turn around and go home to cap off a particularly AWESOME week! After I gave the medicine to Baby E, which I accomplished by holding his arms down with my leg across his chest and holding his nose while injecting the stuff into his mouth, basically water boarding my baby, he wouldn't come near me for 30 minutes and kept spitting for long after that. Again, pathetic. Monday night, he began coughing so violently we ended up going to the ER where they said, "He has croup. And he's already on steroids. Tonight and tomorrow night are going to be bad. Thanks for dropping by." GREAT! Monday night was awful, as promised, with Baby E not sleeping for very long at all unless sitting upright with one of us holding him. No one but J got any sleep that night.

Today, Wednesday, both boys have coughs and, surprise, surprise, fevers, but the croupy cough seems to have left us, for now. J is feeling almost well, but Baby E continues to sleep with great difficulty and breathe very shallowly and laboriously. The medicine trauma is all behind us now, but both children will never forgive us, I'm pretty sure!

For some reason, I think (thought?) croup was one of those diseases like scarlet fever that we've got a handle on or a Victorian disease like consumption, that we now know is something we can treat. I mean, obviously this is not true at all in the case of croup, but I still felt so silly telling people what was going on, like I was saying the boys had come down with a case of bad blood or bilious fever or chilblain or something equally obscure.

Halloween Part 1

2011-10-31T14:30:00.004-04:00

We have had many festive occasions this Halloween, beginning with J's preschool Halloween party, of which I was in charge, along with two other mothers. We had juice boxes, snack mix, hot dog mummies, and chocolate cupcake owls, along with goody bags containing only two kinds of candy and lots of non-edible treats. Here is the best picture from that day:
As you can see, J is in a non-cooperative phase so getting a halfway decent photo of him doing anything is virtually impossible.

J wanted to be a ghost for most of October, and we even came to an agreement about how he could be a ghost without having a mask or sheet covering his face, and then, as Halloween approached, he decided he wanted to be a mummy instead. Behold:

Here he is doing his scary, mummy faces. I know, you're really scared! His costume consisted of off white fabric, a white undershirt, and white pants (shh--they were girl's pants from the thrift store), tea dyed to a suitably old hue. I ripped the fabric into strips and hot glued them (or, as J said, for some unknown reason, "Mommy glued them to my shirt using the scenery," his word for the glue gun) to the shirt and pants. The strips were supposed to go down his arms as well, but doing so and still being able to get the costume off and on (a must for our many parties) proved impossible, so we went with hanging strips off the shoulders instead.

A few nights before Halloween, while I was at a baby shower, the husband and the boys carved our pumpkins. And yes, that's Baby E that you see wearing no pants and sitting on our front porch. It was 80 degrees the day before, what can we say?

In part 2, we'll cover our church trunk or treat this weekend and yet another party before trick or treating tonight. Omygoodness, can you handle the suspense??

What a headache

2011-10-24T08:56:00.000-04:00

Frequent readers of my blog might not know as intimately as frequent visitors to my life that I have migraines. Back when I had my stroke, for quite a while everyone was convinced I was just having a "complex" migraine...until a later contrast MRI revealed a lesion on my brain. Ahem.

The migraines have gone all wonky since I first started getting pregnant, sometimes disappearing for months, sometimes reappearing for weeks on end, sometimes coming and going without any warning whatsoever. It's even less fun than you might imagine.

Right now, I'm in an unsatisfactory holding pattern, waiting to see the migraine specialist in November and attempting to treat myself with the help of a non-specialist neurologist right now. We decided, when last I saw her, to put me back on a medication I was using before I started trying to have kids, an oldy but goody med that was also used to treat depression (score!). I told her the dose I ended on, she said she would prescribe that medicine again, and we went our separate ways. And she did, eventually, get the prescription to the pharmacy...for half the dose I told her. And I thought, okay, perhaps she wants me to try the lower dose and see, and maybe that strategy will work, so who am I to question?

It hasn't.

Instead, my migraines have returned in all their glory for fairly regular visits, along with all their symptoms: the temporary partial blindness, the numbness in hands and face, the sensitivity to light and noise, and, of course, the headaches themselves, which now follow any one of the first symptoms within about 10 minutes. So, in preparation for my big meeting with Super Migraine Doc, I have decided to keep a record of when and where these migraines occur, with the goal of charting how frequently they occur and perhaps (fingers crossed!) determining some of the new triggers. Because what used to trigger a migraine before, stress of any kind, seems to be involved only half the time now. Yesterday, for instance, I am pretty sure I got one just because I forgot to wear my sunglasses while driving downtown to the library and then went abruptly into the parking garage and, as J says, BAM, I went blind. And then numb. It was AWESOME! Particularly given the fact that I was driving at the time...whoo hoo!

I know that some of the migraines are linked to hormones (the antics of which are a whole story unto themselves), some to exposure to light, and some still to stress. You'll note, as I have with despair, that avoiding those three things, hormones, light, and stress, is actually impossible. Unless one is dead. And that's not really a viable option for me, funnily enough. Some of it appears to be genetic as well, since I have siblings who all suffer from regular headaches of varying intensities. So there are a lot of triggers, is what I'm saying. I don't know if even Super Migraine Doc will be able parse all this out, but I am marginally hopeful. Because something has to change and right now my body chemistry seems like the best bet for that change.

You say potato, I say...

2011-10-21T16:57:00.004-04:00

Recently, we had Baby E tested to see if he qualified for early intervention for developmental delays. You see, he still isn't talking at all, really, and our pediatrician recommended testing earlier rather than later so that intervention could begin sooner, if necessary. The representative from the state run program called me and Baby E "passed" the initial Kafka-esque qualifying questions:

Does your child use more than 8 words besides Dada and Mama? He uses no words besides uh-uh and uh-huh, including Dada and Mama.

Does your child create two word phrases such as Mama go? Umm, he doesn't speak, as I just said, so no.

Does your child use three word sentences such as want more milk? Again, no...is this a trick question?

Does your child point to objects and say their names? Really, are we on candid camera? Did you not understand my answer to the first question? Do you yourself hear sentences using more than three words??

Does your child come to you when you call his name? Finally, yes.

There were other questions to which I was able to answer yes, but I answered no to enough of them to earn us a more thorough assessment. Yay??

That assessment took place over about 2 hours in a tiny, dinghy, sad little room at the local hospital. Baby E was asked to do all sorts of tasks, most of which he completed just fine, some of which were absolutely absurd things that I am pretty sure J still couldn't do, let alone Baby E. I must have had an incredulous look on my face at times because the interviewer said at several points "This is a four year old skill so don't go home and practice this with him." In response, I wondered A, why then were we using this skill to measure Baby E and B, did they really think I was going to go home and "practice" any of this craziness? Mostly, Baby E played with a toy bus they had in the room, putting all of his toys from home in the bus, as well as any new "toys" she gave him, patently refusing to play the majority of the games she tried with him. I kept wondering if this woman had ever had children, so out of touch did she seem with what I would consider normal toddler reactions to the activities presented. By the end, I was pretty sure that if he did qualify for intervention, the therapist assigned to us had better be a lot more on the ball or we were going to forgo services altogether, thank you very much.

In the end, it turns out we did not qualify. In the six areas tested, Baby E scored above 90% in five. In the sixth, communication skills, he was somewhere in the low 60s, but his score was not low enough to require intervention at this time.

So, apparently, Baby E gets a D- in being a typically communicating 20 month old, but we're going to let him squeak by this time and move on with the rest of his class. Again, yay...?

(Since we requested testing and started this whole ball of nothing rolling, Baby E has learned to say uh-oh, up, apple, cheese, shoes, and mine. He has also learned to sign--in addition to more and all done--drink, juice, milk, and water. He also made up his own sign for binky when he stuck his finger in his mouth and started sucking on it when I coaxed "Say bink!" Personally, I think Baby E is just waiting us out, waiting to see how long he can go without saying anything and still get what he wants. That and possibly he already talks to J in sentences when I'm not listening and they're in cahoots.)

Have we done (the) Charleston?

2011-10-17T12:27:00.004-04:00

Some days I can't believe how long we've lived in South Carolina. Has it really been almost 6 years?? Is our household really made up of 75% Carolina boys and girls? We've done a lot of the touristy things around here, but now it appears that Charleston tops Conde Nast's list of most visited American cities! Really, don't get too excited; let's consider who the Conde Nast consumer is, why don't we? The rest of the top 10 included Santa Fe and Carmel, so this is a pretty rarefied group.

However, I thought perhaps we should make sure we have done it all, all those things that bring these tourists to see us. Because you never know when we might pick up and leave some day! A quick perusal of some "what to do in Charleston" lists tells me that we'd done a pretty good job of hitting most of the recommended sites. Let's review those, shall we, and see how we're doing.

The Battery/Rainbow Row: There isn't much to DO here besides walk and enjoy the architecture and the water, but we've done that countless times and do enjoy an early spring or late fall stroll down in these parts. Our family pictures were taken in Battery Park, so we've even documented our visits! And we were just there last month for the Lowcountry Heart Walk.

South Carolina Aquarium: Until recently, J was a bit afraid of sharks, so we han't gone here much, but now he loves visiting, and we definitely recommend it to visitors, particularly those with children. It contains one of the deepest ocean tanks anywhere, and you can touch live horseshoe crabs! What more do you want?

Old City Market: This was once a slave market but now hosts vendors selling everything from sweetgrass baskets to Christmas tree ornaments to kitschy apparel to modern art. It's best, we've found, to visit the market on weekday mornings, before the rest of the tourists wake up or show up on the weekends.

The plantations: We appear to have been woefully inadequate in visits to plantations. We've spent time at Drayton Hall but have completely skipped Middleton Place Magnolia Plantation and its famous gardens and Boone Hall and its numerous festivals. We really need to get on the ball there, since plantation visits are sooo Charleston.

King Street shopping: Been there, done that every afternoon while I was working downtown at the College of Charleston, which borders King, more or less. The addition of an Apple store and still more high end boutiques has cemented King Street as a chic shopping destination if you're into spending lots of money.

Patriots Point: We spent our first fourth of July here...and vowed never to return, at least for that celebration. TOO HOT!! However, climbing all over the air craft carrier is fun but NOT for the faint of heart, those with any limitation on their mobility, and strollers. There are also other ships to explore, sometimes even a submarine (also not for those listed above), so it's worth a visit.

Museums: Almost every house in downtown is either historical or contains a museum or both. There is also an art museum, a children's museum, and a general historical museum. We've been to many of the notable houses and seen many more on various carriage tours, which we highly recommend as an interesting and stress free way to see downtown.

Forts: I've been to see Fort Sumter many moons ago, but we haven't made it there as a family yet. The Fort is free, but you have to pay a steep price for a boat ride to get to there. There are also other forts you can visit, such as Fort Moultrie or Fort Dorchester, which are much less well known, so if you really want to see where the Civil War began, Sumter is the way to go.

Churches: They don't call Charleston the Holy City for nothing. There are many, many churches downtown, almost all notable for being the first or oldest in the South or even in the United States. We have been in quite a few and the husband has even performed in a couple, so we will count ourselves as having seen a representative sampling.

Our Off-the-Beaten Path favorites: We love, love, LOVE the Serpentarium and advise all visitors to get there, especially on a day when they feed the snakes! If you're here around Thanksgiving or Christmas, you must also see the Holiday Festival of Lights at the James Island County Park. It is an impressive display of acres of lights in every imaginable holiday theme alongside huge communal fire pits for roasting marshmallows, a kiddie train ride, sand sculptures, and artwork by local kids!

Books, books, and more books

2011-10-07T14:21:00.005-04:00

It's that time of year again, my favorite of all times. What's that, you say? Halloween? Nah, I eat enough candy during the year. Fall? Or, as J likes to say, with perfect enunciation, autumn? I mean, I love the change in the weather (and it does change, even here), but that's not my most favorite part of this season. No, it's time for that BIG book sale, the Charleston County public library's giant sale that happens every year at this time. It may be my favorite part about living here, period. I LOVE going to this. LOVE it!

This year, I dropped J off at J the second's house a tad early (thanks, Dr. C!) and took Baby E. We got in line a half hour before it opened and were in about the 10th position, still inside building, which was my goal. I let Baby E run up and down the converging staircases in front of us for half an hour, which he thought was great! Then I lured him back into the stroller with yogurt covered raisins and strapped him in just before they opened the door.

And then the mad rush was on! We headed straight for the children's book tables, flipping through them at break neck speed, tossing the possibles into the bottom of the stroller (and, truth be told, into the other seat as well), and working our way through the many, many offerings. We sped for two reasons: one, the kids' tables get PACKED with in an hour or so, so much so that it becomes impossible to navigate with a stroller. And two, I knew I had only a limited amount of time for which Baby E would consent to be trapped in the stroller. I kept him supplied with snacks and board books and was able to score a HAUL! No, really, I got over 80 children's books for the boys! Come on, they're 50 cents a piece for paperbacks and $1 for hard backs. And some are new! I even had time to peruse some of the trade paperbacks and get some books for myself (along with a cookbook and a dictionary of Greek/Latin roots--because I am a super geek!). I was in heaven!

Baby E was a trooper! He lasted an entire hour, which included checking out and paying (which are staffed by retiree volunteers and goes by a little...bit...slowly).
I got as much as the stroller and I could carry comfortably, and we were back at the car by 10am. The husband is out of town right now, so the boys and I may head back to the sale if our plans for tomorrow drag a bit. Last year, J sat and read the whole time, but Baby E was still stroller-bound and did read books but kept throwing them down in disgust when they weren't ones he recognized. (He's very particular about what he reads, apparently!)

Oh, how I love the slightly musty smell of used and CHEAP books! It takes me back to visiting used bookstores and swap meets with my parents in Hawaii, and that smell is still the smell of my own bookshelves--I think even new books start to smell that way in very short order. It's the smell of minds at work!

Some TV Maybe's

2011-10-01T10:47:00.002-04:00

So, I've watched a little and amended my lists:

New Girl: The pilot was much too precious. The jokes were far too topical; this show will not fare well in reruns because the humor, even the sense of humor, is much too of the moment. None of the characters are very fleshed out, which isn't too surprising for a half hour show, but I wasn't left wanting to know very much more about three of the four, including the new girl herself. I also think I've decided Zoe is, in fact, annoying, particularly her character's penchant for creating instant theme songs for herself throughout the episode. The second episode was much, much better but still a little twee. The third episode had promise, but not enough. Verdict? Skip it.

Person of Interest: The first episode was violent, which I suppose is fine if that's your thing, but the main character's whispery voice was grating, and he's not all that sympathetic, though of course there is more to his back story than we got in one hour, but I really couldn't care less about finding out more about him. The man formerly known as Ben Linus plays a version of that same character, less ruthless but no less committed to some shadowy higher ideal. Verdict? Skip it.

Prime Suspect: I don't know; I kind of like it. Bello is fallible and idiosyncratic (I think she could lose the hat, though). All her fellow cops are people you've seen somewhere else before, all raspy boys' club boys reluctant to let her play in the sandbox. The next few episodes will tell whether Bello alone is enough to carry the show or whether the crimes show writing will be edgy and cool or trite and routine. But I have hope. Verdict? Watch it.

Revenge: I was sure this one was going to be ridiculous, but I find myself intrigued. The show has really high production values, as befits something set in the Hamptons, I guess. The lead is believable (and, surprisingly, relatable) as a woman on a mission to ruin those who ruined her late father. It's not a must see quite yet, but it's got potential. Verdict? Watch it later, on DVD or streaming.

Ringer: I was really wanting to like this one, but I could barely make it through the two episodes I watched. Sarah Michelle Gellar's twins aren't all that believable, nor is the filming (ohmygoodness, the fake sea scene was horrendous!). And what is with the names of these characters? Bridget is fine, but did you know that Siobhan was pronounced "Sha-von?" Yawn. Verdict? Skip it.

FYI, I've dropped Survivor from my play list. I think I'm over the repetitive challenges. And the contestants' self absorption is crippling to my psyche! BUT, the Sing-Off has not been disappointing. And there's a Mormon group again this season, this time made up of clean cut boys. If you're into acapella at all, you should be watching this one.

School daze

2011-09-28T14:50:00.000-04:00

Why is it I feel like I have to do well in preschool? It appears that school, any school at all, triggers in me the deep need to excel. I am paranoid that I will forget to put the parent/teacher "communicator" folder back in J's backpack or forget to pack him a lunch on Fridays or forget to take him to school altogether some day. Last Friday morning, I took him to school, which isn't my normal Friday routine (I have Friday afternoons, but J the second was sick), and I took J to his Tuesday/Thursday rather than his Friday classroom (they're different; don't ask). And when the teacher pointed it out, I felt like I'd just failed an exam. J? He was just a tad confused and happy to be in the right place once we got there.

It's pathological, I know, this compulsion of mine. It has something to do with my need to follow rules, though this need really only presents itself in school (and in my family of origin, but that's another post). Out of school, in the rest of my life, I'm more apt to flout regulations, particularly silly ones. In school situations, it's as if I've bought into the concept so thoroughly, most of the rules just seem to exist a priori. One respects the teacher's authority. One comes on time. One listens intently. One does one's homework. One completes assignments. One participates. I think some of my most consternating moments as a teacher came when students seemed incapable of following these kinds of rules. Who does that, I would think.

Sadly, now that I'm out of school (perhaps permanently--can you imagine?) and not teaching (most definitely not permanently), all these urges get funneled into the school situation at hand, my participation in J's preschool. I think I was wise not to volunteer to be his room mother so that participation is limited. I would drive everyone crazy otherwise, I know. But my favorite days right now are the ones on which J tells me how some other child was misbehaving or not following the rules and then shakes his head in disapproval. Huzzah! My sentiments exactly!

Bits and pieces

2011-09-25T14:28:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about s'mores lately. I noticed s'more friendly graham crackers in the store the other day--they're already broken into squares for you--and then we found s'more friendly marshmallows at Target--they're preflattened. Tell me: is making s'mores really so hard?? Sheesh!

We are deep into planning our Halloween costumes. This year things are more complicated than ever, since the husband has a few specific ideas for what he'd like us to be as a family, and J has some pretty definitive and conflicting ideas of his own. Darn that independent thought! I, of course, am voting for the kinds of costumes that do not require much work out of me, so whatever we end up doing, it will be pretty low key. I am no Maria von Trapp or Scarlett O'hara, making miracles out of my curtains with my trusty sewing machine! But I can do a bang up job with a glue gun and an iron!

The husband has been working like a dog lately, ever since before we returned from vacation, and it's been an adjustment for all of us. Since shortly after J arrived, the husband has been in charge of bath time. He gets to spend quality one on two time with the boys, and I get a half hour or so all to myself before we tag team scriptures, tooth brushing, stories, songs, the whole bed time routine. This has been a great system, but it only works when the husband's job is keeping semi-normal business hours. Now? Not so much. Sometimes, things still go smoothly and then there are nights like last night, preceded by truncated naps, punctuated by hysterical, irrational outbursts (the kids were pretty rotten, too), dogged by stubbornness, and concluded with tears only after many struggles to do even the most basic of tasks. On those nights, I wish I were a drinker.

Let me tell you about my genius toy rental program: Every few weeks, usually on some night when the husband won't be coming home soon and we have more time to kill, we take a trip to our Goodwill right down the road. It's your average location, with lots of clothes and housewares and a tiny toy section, but that's part of the genius! We go in, peruse the three little tables of toys, and the boys get to pick anything that catches their fancy. As I tell them every time we go, sometimes we find something we like and sometimes we don't. This decision making process is actually part of what I love about these excursions, because J has to weigh his choices carefully and think creatively about how some of the toys might be used with what he already owns. (E is a lot less discriminating, clearly, but then his personality is a lot more easygoing already.) The next great thing about all these visits is that nothing costs more than $1.99. So I'm totally happy with whatever they choose, and no choice breaks the bank. AND, when we're done with our toys, when they have lost their luster, when we realize that we have no real place for a giant purple Barbie beetle, for instance, we send all the losing choices right back to Goodwill, along with some of our other toys that we've outgrown. So the cost of my visit is really just a rental fee that covers an indeterminate length of use. And our trips to Goodwill are also exercises in cognitive skills AND eco-consciousness. Love, love, love!

J-isms return

2011-09-21T19:17:00.001-04:00

J has his own vocabulary, partly the result of his pronunciation, partly the result of how his mind works through the language rules he's learning. "Kepsup," "marshyellows," "motocycle" or "muttercycle" and "hamaburger" are some of my favorite mispronunciations. Here are a few more of his recent gems:

"E jumped on top of me and started to hug me. He was so hugafull, Mommy."

"I think it's tighted enough now."

"E is really getting his talks now! He said ow!" (Sadly, E is not actually talking at all, still, but J insists I just can't understand him.)

"I not!" (his protestation for just about everything. I've started saying that this doesn't even make sense. I not what? Then it's fun to see him try to turn that into a sentence. "Umm...I'm...not...going to do that!")

"Last day I crept out of my room, I crept down the hallway, there was no one cleaning, I crept into the kitchen, there was no one baking, I passed Daddy who said 'Go back to bed,' but I saw your room, I crept into your room, Mommy, and I found some pizza, and, before you know it, I was eating the veggie pizza, and it tasted mighty good." (None of this actually happened.)

Me--"J, why do you always pick the orange pegs?" J--"Because they're cute. I always pick them because they're so charming." Of course!

"If you would be so kind and wonderful, I would give you these tickle plants."

The phone call

2011-09-17T19:16:00.003-04:00

Can I just say again, for the record, how much I love preschool? J loves it too, of course, but I think I like it even more. So it was with much anxiety that I heard this message on my voicemail from Miss C, his preschool teacher: "Some things have happened this week and I wanted to check and see how J was feeling. Please call me back."

Here we were, just one week in, and already I was getting calls from J's teacher. Who knows what he did! I could only imagine: did he yell? hit? refuse to share? refuse to participate? throw a fit? all of the above? I was alarmed and instantly became some version of my earlier, less self-assured self when I called her back and she wasn't home. Should I leave a message? I should. How soon can I call her back? Is 8:30 am too early to call or just pointless since she's a teacher and already at school, certainly. How many times is too many times to call? At what point do I start to look like an unstable mother...or is she already sure that is the case, based on my son's behavior? After all that, I only called her back twice and left one message, a major victory I thought.

And then we talked. It turns out, J had been pushed several times at school, and she wanted to make sure he wasn't feeling like he didn't want to come back to preschool.

Me: Wait, what?

Her: Yes, several times, but not all by the same child.

Me: Did he provoke them in any way?

Her: Oh no, not at all. And he's such a sweet boy, he doesn't even react.

Me: Really?!

Her: Yes, but I am so worried that he might not want to keep coming and he's just so good in class. He participates in discussion and he always comes right when I call him to do his crafts. I really enjoy having him in class.

Me: Well, he's said nothing to me at all. In fact, I did see that one boy push him when we came to class yesterday [we arrived with J and his classmate J the second with whom we carpool, and this lone boy in the class pushed both of them when we walked in as I was chatting with the teacher and J the second fell down] and when he retold that story he skipped right over the part about his being pushed and kept focusing on the fact that J the second fell down. His younger brother, you've seen him, is a bit rough with him since he's so young and big, so maybe he believes that everyone who pushes you doesn't know any better.

Her: Well, I just wanted to let you know I was concerned and wanted J to be happy.

Me: Oh, he is; he loves coming. He's actually not a very passive child so I am sure if he were bothered, he would let everyone know about it!

And then we got of the phone. Later, when I was reviewing the conversation with J the second's mother and the husband, it occurred to me that perhaps I should have been more concerned that my child was being pushed randomly by other children, but in the moment, I was so happy he wasn't the one doing the pushing I was almost jubilant for the rest of the call! I did ask him about it later, but he just looked at me like I was insane and proceeded to tell me some intricate story about his travels in a toy car at recess. I've decided I'll just check in with the teacher at the end of next week and see how things have gone, to show I actually do care about my kid and then leave it at that because why make an issue out of something that clearly means so little to him?

(Did you see the part where she said he participates in discussion? That's my favorite part!)

Fall 2011 TV

2011-09-12T11:45:00.004-04:00

I did it: I let my subscription to Entertainment Weekly lapse. And I was perfectly fine...until the fall television season approached. Not that I didn't already know about the new shows that were coming and the fates of my old favorites, what I didn't know was WHEN. I could look it up online, of course, but that's so inconvenient! So I bought one issue from an actual (not virtual) bookstore, and here's my take on the fall, in case you care. (If you don't, I recommend waiting until my next post. Really.)

Must Sees:

The Sing-Off has FINALLY replaced drippy former Pussycat doll Nicole Whatshername with singer Sara Bareilles who actually has some acapella experience to go along with Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman, so the show I already liked has gotten even better.

I am still a huge fan of Castle, both the show and the character as played by Nathan Fillion. If you haven't been watching this show, go get the DVDs and catch up, not because it's a very complicated watch (it's not), but because you really should savor what's come before now.

Please, please watch Parenthood with me! I worry about this program's longevity, even though it's one of the more realistic (as well as entertaining) family dramas I've seen. It's got the guy from Sports Night and Lorelai Gilmore, for crying out loud! Why aren't you watching??

Survivor: South Pacific has both Coach (ugh but like a car wreck you can't stop watching) and Ozzie (best physical player ever). Who really cares who else is playing?

Fringe completely rocked my world at season's end, making Peter cease to exist, but they assure me that he'll be back, and his absence changes the dynamic between the other characters completely, so I am excited to see what happens next, mainly because I can't even imagine where the show can go now.

Once Upon a Time, there were two fairy tale shows going on (the other is called Grimm). This one seems like it will be the better of the two, with fairy tale characters "trapped" in the real world and the audience (and main character) trying to figure out how and why. Could be kitschy, but in a good way, and it doesn't premiere until October so there could be space for it on my watching calendar by then.

Speaking of late premieres, Bones doesn't appear until NOVEMBER. Are they kidding me with such an arduous wait? I am very tense about this show, since I love it so and don't want it to be ruined by the Bones is pregnant storyline. Me = tenterhooks.

Maybes:

Okay, I was already only watching Glee for the musical numbers, which I love, and for the absurdity of Sue Sylvester's antics. AND now, I am only watching to see the work of the winners of this summer's The Glee Project (which was, arguably, better than Glee itself), Sam and Damian. If that's enough for you, tune in. If not, I totally understand.

The husband calls Grey's Anatomy my soap opera, and he's probably right, but everybody needs a little soap! And really, last season was loose and much more fun and engaging all at once, so I'm interested in seeing what happens this season.

Person of Interest stars Ben Linus from Lost as a guy who (along with his peeps) can prevent crimes using high tech surveillance...and some serious paranoia. I don't know; it sounds like it could be good or a one trick pony. We'll see.

Listen, I love me some Maria Bello, and I liked the show of which Prime Suspect is a remake (a British drama starring Helen Mirren), but I'm not sure I'll be loving this show, but it's a possibility.

A Gifted Man has a wife alive in one dimension and dead in another...so they have just a few episodes to prove to me that this plot device will ultimately not be incredibly frustrating.

Post Mad Men, there are also two new 60s shows this season. I'm betting on Pan Am, if for no other reason than I love Cristina Ricci and Tommy Schlamme (The West Wing) is directing the pilot.

House may or may not have jumped the shark. Cuddy has left the series, 13 returned, and House was pretty freaking annoying last season. They have a very short leash left.

Terra Nova is about dinosaurs and humans, living together. Steven Spielberg is involved. I'm torn! And a little scared.

I go back and forth about Zooey Deschanel. Is she winsome or just grating? I can't decide, but I give most of her work a try anyway, just in case THIS might be the one that decides it for me. So I will watch a little of New Girl.

I watched a few episodes of Body of Proof last season, but then I drifted away....I'm not sure why...I think it was a pacing issue, perhaps...? Maybe they or I will work out the kinks this season.

Can I see Emily VanCamp, the perennial good girl from the likes of Everwood, as a Revenge fury undercover in the Hamptons? Hmmm....

Must Flees:

The Playboy Club, the other 60s drama.

NCIS Los Angeles has never been as good as the original (actually, I am not worried about any of the gazillion CBS shows I never watch. Turns out, my mother only watches those--and PBS!)

Free Agents has Hank Azaria, whom I love, but not much else going for it.

Desperate Housewives HAS jumped the shark. I'm betting they are all desperate for it to end.

Supernatural cannot beat its time slot competition, Fringe. That is a prayer, actually. It cannot, it cannot, it cannot!

Grimm loses the fairy race, at least on paper.

Charlie's Angels looks glossy and dumb. Kinda like the original!

Family Guy, how I loathe thee, still. I'm not even linking to you, vile thing that you are.

Easy does it

2011-09-09T14:13:00.000-04:00

The first day of preschool has come and gone. J was a model child, not crying or putting up a fuss, participating gamely when asked, "reading" calmly by himself, and generally having a great time. He left happy but famished, since they only had "goldy fish and grum crackers" for snack, and he is used to grazing all morning, but I had brought cold pizza in the event this was the case, so both boys munched contentedly on the ride home. He brought home a certificate of completion of his first day and the first of what I am sure will be endless art projects, black beans glued into the shape of the first letter of his name above the line "my name is the first gift my parents gave me." Awwwww. Though, technically, in many cases, I would argue that life might be the first gift, but let's not get technical, shall we? It's a religious preschool, so today, his first Friday, "we went to the temple." Turns out, he meant chapel, which he noted had colored windows and was really good for singing. They sat on the "stage" and sang and heard a story about Noah. J was happy as a clam to participate, since he has already learned that participation gets him brownie points both at home and at school, AND this just the sort of thing they do in Nursery at our church, though he was a little miffed that he didn't already know the song they sang, and I didn't have the heart to tell him I am sure he will not be familiar with most of the songs at chapel since many of our Primary songs are not your usual Presbyterian standards.

While J has been away, Baby E and I have run some errands (on the first day, we also tried to avoid getting soaked by a sudden monsoon. We failed but were by then in our own driveway, thank goodness). On the first trip to a store, when we got out of the car and I put E down to hold his hand until we got to the carts, he looked back at the car perplexedly and stopped walking, waiting for J to appear. In fact, he has done something similar every day, such as running into J's room and then coming back to me frowning when he can't find him there. J, on the other hand, has started saying things like "No babies allowed!" So they appear to be handling their separation in appropriate albeit opposing ways! They haven't been apart for any major length of time since I went to my grandmother's funeral and took only Baby E, and he was just about 5 or 6 months old then.

I've been amazed at what I can get done with just one child again! I can see the floor in my office again, all the calls I've been meaning to make I have finally made, and our newly revamped emergency kits are almost done! I've also started letting Baby E watch the accursed baby signing DVD since he is apparently not going to talk any other way any time soon, and he finds it endlessly entertaining, just as J did. I find if I put him in his high chair and let him watch it at a very low volume, I can busy myself around the house such that I am able to hear him but not the insipid songs. Huzzah! Everyone wins!

Yes, I'm THAT mom

2011-09-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

Recently, while he was sitting in my lap and I was chatting away happily with my parents on Skpye but apparently not paying enough attention to him, Baby E bit into a glowstick bracelet. And then he started yelling. Really loudly. And crying. Just as loud. I turned to him, saw the bracelet, and said "Is this broken?" at which point I touched it and put my finger in my mouth. And my mouth caught on FIRE. I signed off and immediately Googled "infant ingestion of glow stick" and followed the instructions given:

--wash out mouth with wet wash cloth
--give child liquids, preferably milk or water
--ignore glowing mouth
--call poison control because some people are allergic to the glowing fluid

Check, check, check....really? Poison control again?! For those of you keeping score, this is now the THIRD time I have had to call for Baby E. I really didn't want to but I felt compelled to do the responsible thing, so I did. This time, they didn't even ask me my last name or address or anything...because that information is already. On. File. Oh, fabulous. How convenient. That makes three poison calls and one case of salmonella, all logged in the county's system. Wait, is that Child Protective Services knocking at my door? Better go clean the kitchen, no?

Less than 24 hours later, J and I were at the computer looking at pictures of menorahs (the word had come up in a book we were reading and, since it was a very funny book, J thought "lighting the menorah" was just some funny, made up phrase, and his uproarious laughter every time we got to that part was striking me as disrespectful, blasphemous even, so we were learning what a menorah was). Baby E was at the table just behind us, eating popcorn, something he has done numerous times already with absolutely no problems. He routinely chokes on tortilla chips but popcorn? No big deal.

However, suddenly he started snuffling oddly, and, when I looked at him, his eyes were watering and there were strange red marks on his upper lip. As I stared at him, trying to imagine what was making him react in this way, it slowly dawned on me that he had had the last of the popcorn...and I was pretty sure there were quite a few more unpopped kernels in his bowl when I gave it to him. I picked one up with a sickening thought and said to him "E, did you put one of these up your nose?" He smiled, said "Uh huh," and grabbed it out of my fingers and tried to put it up his nostril with practiced ease. GREAT!

A few minutes later, a kernel mysteriously appeared in that same nostril. Yay! Then another. And another. Oh, crap! Eventually, he snorted out a total of four. When I called him in a panic, practically out the door on my way to the hospital, the husband said we didn't need to worry unless one got into his lungs and got infected...a possibility I hadn't even considered. Thank you!

This kid will be the death of me! It doesn't matter if you have him on your lap, for crying out loud!

It's almost time

2011-08-31T12:11:00.003-04:00

The first day of preschool is coming up, and, while the husband is having some strange reactions to having a child old enough to be in school of any kind, I am at least as excited as J, if for no other reason than getting started means an end to the preparatory steps.

We received a packet with with 6 or 7 forms to fill out and several letters letting us know what other items we needed to bring with us to our orientation, a total of 13 separate things. This packet was infinitely frustrating to me, mainly because there was no comprehensive list delineating our responsibilities. Instead, everything was scattered throughout the paragraphs, topsy turvy, in a most maddening way. I wanted to walk into the office when I arrived and say "here, let me help you rewrite your materials and streamline these infernal communications, making all our lives easier." Instead, I resisted both that and the urge to volunteer to be room mother, largely because the responsibilities included coordinating all the other parents/volunteers, which promised to be even more maddening. I did volunteer to help with "funnastics" one Thursday, largely because it was one of the few activities to which I was welcome to bring Baby E. Can I bring the younger brother to field trips (of which there are three) and class parties when I am in charge of them (we had to sign up for two of those)? No. Umm, okay, sure.

Madness aside, orientation was illuminating, particularly the information about the carpool line, an extremely complicated method for getting children out of school at the end of the day. Luckily, in some ways, this is very laid back program, so J will only be there three days a week for three hours a day, and I will only have to deal with the pick up line twice a week because we're carpooling off the island with another family. J's teacher seems sweet and patient, exactly the kind of person you would want to be with your child, and she sent a bag of treasures home for J which he loves without end already, so he's happy to go meet her now. We have an hour long trial run on Thursday (E is not invited once again), and then school starts in earnest on Tuesday.

The husband keeps asking me what I am going to do with all my "free" time, and I keep resisting the urge to punch him and instead guffaw heartily in his direction. Free time? I'm planning on using my hours with just one child (which are hardly free) running errands and completing tasks that are impossible with two. Most preschool days will be even busier than they are now! In the meantime, J will finally learn that "eleventeen" is not a number (unless you're some indy rocker, which he is not), how to form the elusive "J" in his name, why lowercase letters are not just a story his Mommy made up to make him mad, and (hopefully) how to play better with others. Looks like we'll all be busy!

Finally, a request: any good ideas for a preschool Halloween party?? And please, no treat bags are allowed (because we certainly wouldn't want THAT for a HALLOWEEN party, now would we?), and one kid is allergic to peanuts. (His young mom signed up to be the room mother--huzzah!)

The storm that wasn't (for us)

2011-08-27T16:07:00.003-04:00

We began this week engaged in some serious hurricane speculation. Early on, I made the decision that if it looked like we were even remotely poised to get hit by Hurricane Irene, I was taking the boys and driving to points north, west, or northwest. Eventually, I settled on Greenville, SC, in the far northwest corner of the state, about three and a half hours from here. My requirements were simple: I wanted to drive no more than four hours because I couldn't imagine driving alone with the boys for much longer than that, given their recently demonstrated inability to sleep for long periods in the car. I wanted to get to a place where there was something to do once we got there, because my plans meant we would be away for at least three days (more on that later). And I wanted a place with a pool because, hurricane notwithstanding, it is still ultra hot around here in the dog days of summer. Oh, and I was hopeful that the place I chose didn't have a history of getting hit by hurricanes after they ravaged the coast. Greenville fit the bill, though only barely meeting my "something to do" criteria...though really, this is the case with most of South Carolina, truth be told. Sigh.

Anywho, as anyone who has lived in Charleston for 20 years will tell you, Hurricane Hugo looms large in the collective imagination here. Charleston suffered a direct hit, evacuation ran amok, and the recovery was long. If you get them alone, most of those who lived through the hurricane will tell you that they should have evacuated if they didn't, that the immediate and lingering aftermath was horrible (as in no running water for TWO WEEKS!), and that it was one of the worst experiences in their lives. However, in groups, some sort of insane PTSD bravado kicks in and longtime residents will start to downplay the storm, advise against evacuating, and cheerfully proclaim that most hurricanes are no big deal. These are the same residents who tell you that downtown rarely floods, perhaps just once in a blue moon, even though I personally saw it happen (and waded and drove through the flood waters) no less than six times each year while I was working downtown.

I'm not buyin' it.

Here's my take on hurricanes in the South: they can be scary. Evacuation plans never work very well. When services go out, it can be a long time before they are restored. AND, last but not least, on a more personal note, if a hurricane is slated to hit here, my husband is required to report to his hospital immediately and then stay through the first 72 hours of a disaster until he is relieved by another team, if the members of that team can make it in. In other words, when a major storm hits, I will be alone with the boys. So I have decided to leave long before an emergency evacuation order is given to avoid my nightmare scenario of sitting in immobile traffic with a toddler and a preschooler in tow when a disaster strikes. My research for this hurricane revealed that a hurricane watch is issued at least 36 hours before landfall is expected. I plan to leave then at the latest, before mandatory evacuation orders are given or a hurricane warning is issued, usually 24 hours out. My hotel room was reserved, my map was ready, the car was loaded with extra water, and my bags were ready to be packed with clothes and supplies.

But then, the storm shifted (to hit those poor Outer Banks, which seem to have a hurricane bull's eye on them, and as yet undetermined additional points north). And all we got was a tropical storm watch, which actually resulted in an overcast day with a little bit of wind and some rain, but no more than our average summer torrential downpour, at least not where I was. But I was prepared, having gotten our supplies in order, including the all important D batteries for our battery operated fans. I was even Holly Homemaker and did almost all our laundry, put a roast in the crock pot, and made banana bread just in case the power went out.

Sadly, Irene has and will affect others, and hurricane season is LONG, lasting all the way to November 30th nowadays, so I am sure our saga is not over for this year. But when one does chug its way into Charleston, you can be sure where I'll be: somewhere most decidedly NOT here!

Home again

2011-08-21T11:37:00.004-04:00

We made it home from our vacation relatively unscathed, though our trip was not without its hurdles. J balked at our TSA inspection, declaring that he was NOT going to take off his shoes or walk through that doorway. He was most upset when I declared right back that not going through and not taking off his shoes was NOT an option. He fought me anyway, which meant that I ended up sending toddling Baby E through screening first, by himself, then pushing J through, and then following quickly after to stop them both from running away. Then I asked them both to hold onto a pole supporting the lane barriers while I set up the stroller next to them. By the time I'd done that and turned around, approximately 30 seconds later, Baby E was lying flat on his back with J on top of him crying, "He was trying to get away, Mommy!" Sigh.

Our flights went better than I had expected, though J continued to be less than cooperative. Fitting all three of us in the airplane bathroom several times was quite a trick, and I'm sure the people in the Houston regional air terminal thought I was the worst mother in the world since I let them run around and chase each other LOUDLY during most of our layover, but I wanted at least one of them to tire himself out. My strategy worked: Baby E went to sleep very soon after takeoff, and J was so tired he finally consented to watch one of his DVDs quietly for most of the flight. We had a super healthy lunch in Houston of chicken nuggets and hamburgers and donuts so greasy the boys wouldn't even eat them. I didn't think it was possible for my children to refuse donuts, but I stand all amazed!

The most noteworthy part of our travels were the t-shirts I made for the boys. Those "If Lost, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx" shirts caused quite a stir wherever we went. People complimented me on them repeatedly and many asked me if that was my real phone number (who else's would I put?), if I had made them myself (these were not professional looking products, believe me), and if I sold them (what?). The boys never got away from me, so I never had to put the shirts to the test, thankfully, but they definitely helped us stand out in a crowd. If I make them again when they grow out of these, I will choose dark blue or black t-shirts--white was really not a great color choice for toddlers and preschoolers!

Sadly, we brought back some sort of crazy sinus infection with us. Since we returned, both boys have had mucus literally pouring out of their noses and EYES, which has basically grossed me out, and I'm not very squeamish about bodily secretions, believe me! Baby E also has an ear infection which he has had for some time, apparently. I guess I should just have a standing prescription for antibiotics every time we fly, since his ears seem to react badly to air travel. And both boys have fevers. It appears that the infections in their sinuses have somehow affected their balance or equilibrium, since I have spent the better part of every day since we've come home consoling one or the other of them after they've fallen for no good reason or run into a door frame or tripped over their own feet or walked into a wall. It's been a fun homecoming all around, folks!

All I ever wanted

2011-08-09T15:39:00.006-04:00

We are deep into a long-ish vacation (but the husband is home now, so the house is protected) and things have been going swimmingly--literally: we have done almost as much swimming these past few days as we did in the beginning of the summer. We began our tour with a short visit to see the husband's parents. The last time J saw Grandma Beth, he was, umm, let's say less than loving! I was overjoyed that this time he settled right in and decided he was quite happy to play with his grandma. Baby E was a little more skittish, but, as with almost everything in his life, he was willing to buy into whatever J was doing. We got settled and helped the grandparents pack up all the necessities for the next leg of our journey, a trip to Bear Lake. Packing the food for all the meals for 23-ish people for 3 days that had to last through a 2 hour trip was quite a challenge to even my well-honed packing skills, but we all persevered and got the entire back of a Ford Explorer, the space under two car seats, and the trunk and back seat of a Buick Century packed to the gills with food, clothes, coolers, and other tidbits.

Then we set off for the lake, which was TONS of fun! There was the swimming, of course, but also horseback riding, playing, eating, t-shirt making, bonding, four-wheeling, eating, talent showing, sorbet making, gaming, and eating raspberry shakes, all taking place in a luxurious condo (two floors! two bedrooms! a kitchen! and still, somehow, Baby E ended up sleeping in the bathroom--but you know he loves it!). We did everything but actually get into the lake, the result of some stormy weather when we arrived. The boys got to spend some time with their older cousins (perhaps more time than the cousins wanted, since some became de facto baby sitters at times), we all got to relax and recharge and refresh, which is just what I want out of a vacation, at least part of the time. Many thanks to those who planned the whole event and bought all the food and subsidized our visit--we had a ball!

After our time at the lake, we headed back to the husband's home of origin for a little more time with him until he had to fly back to our home and get back to work. Then the boys and I spent a few more days with Grandma Beth, during which time we visited an amazing children's museum and spent some more time with the boys' great Grandma Van and great Uncle Bruce.

Next, we drove south to stay with my parents, where we are now. So far we've gone to Kangaroo Zoo, jump castle nirvana, in the midst of running numerous errands and making fun purchases for both me and the boys. On the docket for the rest of the week, we have a visit to not one but TWO dinosaur museums, the requisite pilgrimage to Ikea, some cupcake gorging, another little family trip north to Lava Hot Springs, and lots of playing outside and picking tomatoes since it's not so blooming HOT here. J has settled right in here, too, though his behavior is suffering a bit from his father's absence. Baby E, on the other hand, is more withdrawn and a bit unsettled, as evidenced by his return to night waking since we've arrived. He cozied right up to my mom, Grandeur, but has taken a bit longer to get cozy with my dad, Grandest (yes, that's what the grandkids call them; can you tell I come from a literary family? I come by my English degrees honestly, folks!). We're here a few more days, then it's back to the other grandparents' and we fly out from there.

In all, we'll have been gone 20+ days, and the boys will have slept in 4 different places, and met in person about 30 relatives. I'd say they've done pretty well, all things considered!

E-I-E-I-O

2011-07-20T18:30:00.000-04:00

An update on Baby E is long overdue, don't you think?

I used to say that Baby E was my mellow child, but apparently he was just waiting until he could walk to express his true personality. While perhaps not as volatile as J, Baby E is certainly opinionated, even though at present he can only make himself understood using a series of babbling syllables and intricate facial expressions. Like J, Baby E is resisting speaking in words, though this time around it's not nearly as worrisome to me. Unlike J, Baby E is nonetheless extremely verbal, "talking" and singing in his babyese all the time, particularly when in his car seat. I'm convinced he understands 95% of what we tell him (though he chooses to listen to perhaps half of what we say), so his receptive language capabilities far outstretch his speaking abilities. He can follow multi-part instructions (if he's in the mood) and readily uses the two signs I have taught him, so he would probably say more if I could stomach listening to the inane baby signing time music again...but alas, I cannot.

Baby E is a dancing machine. He loves to bop his head side to side to music, any music at all, and his patented dance move of stomping his feet up and down makes him look like a baby boy version of Tina Turner. Baby E particularly loves to dance to incidental music, the kind on commercials or piped into stores, so he is often moving and shaking at seemingly random times, since he will invariably hear the music before anyone else with him does.

Baby E has a well honed and precise sense of humor: anything his older brother does is HILARIOUS and warrants outright laughter. The best his parents can get out of him is a husky "heh heh" when we do something particularly outrageous. He is extremely ticklish, especially on his tummy and his neck, though there are few places in which tickling won't elicit giggles.

Baby E probably thinks J is schizophrenic, since his older brother alternates rapidly between saying things like "Oh, Baby E, you are so cute! I love you! You love me!" and then, in the next instant, "Baby E, NOOOOOOO! Don't touch my (train, car, guinea pig, chair, food, dinosaur)! ARGHHHHHAAYYYYY! Mommy, he is getting my stuff!" Fortunately, Baby E can give as well as he gets, and he has mastered the art of grabbing and running away VERY quickly. Baby E has also become quite adept at taking back things that have been taken away from him and ostentatiously frowning his displeasure in J's direction. Indeed, Baby E's disgruntled, exaggerated pouty face is truly a sight to behold. If you want to experience it for yourself, just appear at our house any time between about 5pm and bedtime; he'll be sure to put on a show for you many times during his afternoon explosions.

Baby E continues to be very fond of most food, particularly anything sweet. He adores popsicles, mandarin oranges, yogurt (except blueberry), strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, pears, ketchup on anything, hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese. He is my adventurous eater, who will still try anything I give him and eat most of it. That said, we were happy to see that at his 15 month check-up, he had not gained any weight for the first time in his short life! Huzzah! He is still in the 95th percentile for height and weight, of course, but at least his walking and running is having some impact on his (still quite expansive) waistline! As it is, he wears 24 month and 2T clothes, even some 3T pajamas, so he is still my big little boy!

After a targeted push to get formerly book-averse Baby E to like reading, he now has a voracious appetite for (specific) books. He loves to read stories at bedtime and nap time and will often appear at other times during the day carrying one of his favorite books, looking for a lap to climb into. Because he has come relatively late to literacy, he has to be introduced to new books very slowly, preferring instead to read the same few books he finally accepted, but we're not complaining, since even this constitutes a huge step forward for him. This was the child who would NOT ever sit still for even one page of a picture book, let alone a whole story. The first day we made it all the way through The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I wanted to throw a party!

E is a physical boy. He doesn't know his own strength and has wounded all of us more than once with his demonstrations of "affection." He loves, LOVES to play outside, and our sweltering summer, when outdoor play can only really occur at a few specific times, angers him on a daily basis. Of course, when Baby E is outside, he is eitehr running into the street or picking unripe tomatoes, so we have to monitor him closely. Like J, Baby E turns bright red and sweaty after any time at all in the heat, so we are always pushing liquid on him. When he wants something, he's particularly excited by, like a popsicle for instance, he will stamp his feet up and down rapidly and hoot. Baby E's only spoken word is a sing song "uh huh," but he really doesn't need to talk much given his expressive antics. When Baby E doesn't want something, like another bite of dinner, he will turn his head as far away as possible and push the offending item away with his hand. When he wants a drink of water, he goes and finds the nearest empty cup and bring it to the nearest adult to fill. He's very pragmatic that way, actually, using props to communicate what his language skills cannot.

J and Baby E look nothing alike and their personalities are very different from one another, but they enjoy each other's company (most of the time) and are enjoyable to be around (most of the time)!

Packing Frenzy

2011-07-07T19:28:00.002-04:00

We're traveling in the future (uh uh uh, Internet, I'm not telling when!), so I have been in trip preparation mode ever since we bought our tickets. I can't help it; trip preparation is a compulsion for me! And since I am determined to fit all of my stuff and the boys' stuff into one carry-on and one piece of checked luggage for as long as possible, planning our packing is essential. But I'm convinced that all my anxiety over packing and planning has repeatedly resulted in relatively worry-free travel once we actually leave, so I'm letting this particular obsession run free!

A few years ago, after we had J, it occurred to me, as I was writing yet another list before we left on a trip, that things might go much more smoothly if I typed up a master list and then edited it for each trip and then edited the master list after each trip as I discovered things I wished I'd had or could have skipped bringing all together. So I did just that.

Right now, my master list consists of three major parts: what goes in my carry-on, what goes in my/the boys' checked luggage, and what we want to do when we get to our destination. I save a copy for each trip we take, editing as we go, depending on the season and where we are going. I also make changes as our kids age and certain items leave the list for good (like bottles, for instance. Yay!). Before our trip, I print out a copy of the newly revised list, use it as a checklist for packing, and then throw it into my carry-on, so I can refer to it during our trip and re-use it as a checklist for repacking when we leave. It's also come in handy when our luggage has been lost, because we can tell them exactly what was in our bags.

In addition, long before we even start packing, I hang a reusable shopping bag on the back of the door to the closet where we keep our luggage. Then, as I'm cleaning or organizing (or, you know, looking desperately for something else!) and I come across something I know we might need on our trip, I just drop it in the bag. "Oh, that's where the kids' headphones ended up." Into the bag they go. "Oops, we already had an extra travel package of wipes." Into the bag it goes. "That new DVD for the boys arrived today." Into the bag it goes. By the time I'm actually ready to pack, this bag is usually full. Not everything goes with us every time, of course, but it's convenient to have everything I MIGHT want in one place as I get ready.

Finally, we reach the military precision exercise I call packing. My strategy for both me and the boys is the same: lots of dark colors/neutrals with one predominant color so everything coordinates. And as few pieces of clothing as we can get away with, particularly if we will have access to a washing machine at our destination. And no more than two pairs of shoes per person, one of which we will be wearing. I told you, I am serious about fitting us all in one suitcase! We even bought new luggage recently to make that task easier.

I also feed my obsession because, well, it's fun to "beat" the airlines or at least give them as little of my money as possible!

Sorbet or the highway

2011-07-03T14:38:00.005-04:00

We have never had an ice cream maker. As a person who has often violent reactions to dairy products, it just always seemed like a ridiculous idea to own an appliance designed to make a food that would just mock me with its creaminess.

However....

Our friends recently got an ice cream maker and started making the yummiest sorbets I've ever had, and it dawned me that, duh, one can use ice cream makers to make SO much more than ice cream!

Thus, because we are nothing if not followers, we went and got an ice cream maker of our very own. We were even, umm, considerate? and bought the same model as our friends AND an extra bowl, so between us we have three bowls, for three batches of frozen goodness all at once, should the need arise. (These are very good friends, and we share like that!)

So this holiday weekend, we have embarked on making our first batches. We began by toying with the idea of making Lemon or Lemonade sorbet (I even saw someone suggest Tazo Passion herbal tea lemonade, and I am loving that idea, thank you very much, Starbucks!) and Watermelon Sorbet (I had some our friends made and liked it, even though I am NOT a watermelon fan), or some combination of those two (anyone for Watermelon Lemonade??). We also had bananas, blueberries, grapes, and a few strawberries in the house, so we were not at a loss for fruit combination possibilities. We settled on Watermelon and Lemon, straight up. Two plain sorbets, so we could try out our machine. And guess what? Success! The husband made the watermelon version VERY watermelony, like a frozen melon, so he loves it. The lemon recipe was call "tart" lemon sorbet, but I find it just has an intense lemony flavor that is certainly not overpowering or overly tart. This first round we learned some valuable lessons: one, get the sorbet mixture as cold as possible before you add it to the ice cream maker, to speed the freezing along and make a smoother product. Two, be careful when washing out an ice cream bowl that is filled with freezing gel since it will freeze the wash water on contact. And also a damp towel. Oops!

On to round two, our more adventuresome flavors. This time, we made Basil Lime sorbet and Coconut Milk sorbet. Ahh, heaven! You smell more than taste the basil and the herb complements the tart limes to create a taste sensation, as they say. The color is a tiny bit off putting, I will admit, after you blend all the basil into the lime, but it tastes so good, who cares? And that brings us to our most successful flavor by far, Coconut Milk sorbet. This dessert calls for two ingredients: canned coconut milk and sugar. Done! And when you put the mix into the ice cream maker, magic happens. The coconut milk has such a high fat content (I actually used one can full fat and one can lite coconut milk) that it doubles in volume and transforms into this silky smooth, creamy concoction, halfway between sorbet and soft serve ice cream. Delicious!

After our sorbet forays, for there are sure to be more, we are headed into frozen yogurt territory. I am especially excited to try all these recipes that use Greek yogurt and funky spice and fruit combos. Yum......!

Panzanella

2011-06-28T20:10:00.003-04:00

Summer being officially here (and then some--hello 105 heat index!) means that we are busting out some of our favorite summer recipes. Last night, we had panzanella, Italian bread and tomato (and a lot of other things) salad, made with our own basil, some heirloom tomatoes (not ours, yet, but soon), and many other good vegetables. Wanna try it yourself? Here's the recipe, which I can claim is original, seeing as how I cobbled together what I liked from a gazillion recipes (though Ina Garten's salad was a big inspiration):

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 loaf sour dough or italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2-3 large tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
half of 1 red onion, roughly chopped
fresh basil if available, chiffonade
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a very large and deep skillet (a wok works nicely). Add bread and salt and stir over low heat until lightly toasted.

Combine bread with vegetables and fresh basil in a large bowl.

Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour over the bread and vegetable mixture until you reached desired saturation. Serve immediately.

Notes: This recipe is forgiving. Last night I used assorted small sweet peppers in place of the red and yellow pepper and a pint of heirloom and yellow pear tomatoes in place of the large chopped tomatoes. I also zapped my chopped onion in the microwave for 30 seconds because it was VERY strong, and I like a sweeter onion taste if it's available. Next time I might even try Vidalias, since I'm in the South and all. I always cut my bread into generously sized pieces with the crust on, mainly because I can never wait long enough to get the recommended day old loaf, so my bread starts out quite soft and never gets very hard, though some people prefer to make this salad with croutons. You can toast your bread cubes in the oven instead of on the stove top if you like, but you will have to be careful either way that your bread doesn't burn. I like a lot of dressing, so I usually make a double batch and then pour whatever is left over on chicken. Once assembled, this salad tastes like summer, as far as I'm concerned. Fresh basil is not essential but sooo worth it if you've got it, of course. Yummy! Baby E loved every bite and J ate everything but the peppers, so it was a success for both old and young this time around. Hooray!

The living is easy-ish

2011-06-24T12:06:00.005-04:00

A busy few weeks have passed us by. Summer began in earnest around here, with heat indexes above 100 to prove it, so we have been running around doing all sorts of fun activities....

Swim lessons have continued and now J is able to maintain himself horizontally in the water and dog paddle a good 10-12 feet before needing to come up for air. I suspended Baby E's lessons after it became apparent that J was going to need all my concentration and Baby E was happy to be in the water with me while I helped J but totally against staying on the side without throwing himself into the drink and two little boys crashing into the pool at the same time is simply too much for me to handle, not surprisingly. So E will be a little less of a water baby this summer. In the meantime, we went to a pool this week that had a slide, and J discovered a new activity he adores, sliding into the pool and swimming to Mommy, over and over and over again!

We've been attending some of the events for our local libraries' summer reading program and reading along dutifully to earn our summer prizes. Baby E gets read to for about half as much time as J, for multiple reasons including E's penchant for going to sleep without much coaxing, the relative length of his books, and his much shorter attention span, which means he earns prizes much more slowly than J. But we have until the end of July to read to both of them for 30 hours each, so I think we will make it, but only just in E's case. So far the boys have seen African drumming, assorted tidal/marsh creatures from the Aquarium, and heard stories about other sea creatures. In the weeks to come, there are many more events we plan on catching.

Our annual membership to the children's museum has come in handy as the temperatures have risen, as has the fact that the museum is now opening up at 8 am for early risers. We generally head straight for the art room to get our painting out of the way (and onto the drying racks) and then spend a great deal of time in the golf ball room (where you can roll golf balls on all sorts of tracks and contraptions and learn about momentum and gravity and pulleys and the like) and the water room (where you can float your boats through myriad watery obstacles and learn about irrigation, rain, and water power at the same time). We usually end up in the castle room after eating our sack lunches, where I let the boys run themselves ragged careening through the secret passageways and hurtling up and down the stairs in the turrets. Today it was a bit milder outside, and we got to explore their gardens and old fashioned hand pump they use to water them. We have already made back our investment for the membership and then some--huzzah!

Then there have been some much needed trips to the dentist and the doctor for everyone, relatively mundane trips, though somehow the dentist managed to completely mess up a nerve in my tooth and damage my gums while filling a cavity, but that is all supposedly temporary...and the neurologist I finally went to see told me that the conventional wisdom is now that heart surgery has absolutely no effect on one's subsequent stroke risk after the first event. Umm, awesome? Or awful? Or, just, odd? So it's back on a preventative regime for me and back to ignoring that tiny little strident voice in the back of my head that is now saying "Your stroke risk is now EXACTLY THE SAME as it was when you had the stroke?? WHAT????!!!!" This neurologist also said I needed to see a migraine specialist pronto and referred me to one...whose next available appointment is in NOVEMBER. Good thing I'm not in a hurry or suffering migraines 2-3 times a week, right? SHEESH!

BUT, besides all that health stuff, summer has been fun, fun, fun so far, if ridiculously, terribly hot. As the husband said, the kids must feel like they live on the surface of the sun some days. Don't we all!

Berry good

2011-06-20T14:58:00.001-04:00

We went blueberry picking for the first time this summer. In the past, picking blueberries has been a fun but HOT endeavor, with the continually changing challenges of ever growing babies and toddlers and now preschoolers. This time, we went in the evening, on one of the hottest days so far this summer, which I thought was going to be a total disaster. I dressed us all in our lightest clothing, brought lots of water bottles, and hoped for the best.

And wouldn't you know it, the best happened! It was warm, quite warm, but there was shade, for the first time EVER, so picking wasn't terribly awful and even fun this time around! You see, picking blueberries, for me, is a complete labor of love. I don't actually like blueberries all that much, really. I mean, I can handle them in muffins and the occasional cobbler is alright, but I don't love them, really. On the other hand, the husband LOVES blueberries, as does Baby E and even, once in a while, J. So I go and pick buckets full (or half full depending on how tired I am) every summer and then freeze them and use them in dishes all year long.

Have you ever picked blueberries? It is VERY labor intensive. Blueberries, as you know, are tiny and grow in small bunches, with different levels of ripeness mixed in. It's fairly time consuming to pick them and virtually impossible for anyone younger than three to do so (believe me, we've tried). In over an hour, I picked almost, ALMOST a gallon of berries (I just couldn't quite fill my bucket all the way full, darn it), with the help of J, who picked a cupful in that same time. For my gallon, I paid $8. I know, I know, you are now calculating how much money you would spend if you bought a gallon of berries at the store, where they are only sold in pints. I know, I know, it's a TON of money! So you see, it's a FRUGAL labor of love, the very best kind!

Since then, we've had blueberries at most lunches, blueberry muffins with streusel topping, and assorted berries with whipped cream for dessert. The rest will go into the freezer to be pulled out at will for the next year. And yes, they do keep that long and are fabulous!

Aqua babies

2011-06-14T12:35:00.003-04:00

We are a swimming bunch this summer. J is taking evening lessons 4 times a week for the next month and a half and Baby E will join him in a week for a month of similar lessons. Both boys are also taking lessons twice a week in the mornings for the next three weeks or so. All of which means we are all in the pool an awful lot, particularly by my standards. I really don't like to take more than one shower a day, but chlorine has a way of forcing me in, as does making lunch or getting the kids ready for bed in a wet swimsuit--yuck!

Once again this year, after a day or two of fear, J has become utterly fearless in the water, which makes lessons with him very difficult. At least this year we have discovered that he can stand with his mouth above water in the three feet depth, so if we can just get him to put his feet down when his bravura outweighs his skills, we know he won't drown. This is small consolation as he hurls himself off the side and then turns around under water and tries to "swim" back to the side "all by myself." Or when he acts like he's going to jump to me and then runs down the side of the pool and jumps somewhere else entirely, making Mommy sprint through the water, discovering swimming speeds of which she didn't know she was capable! We have also discovered that with water wings and a pool noodle or even just with a pool noodle alone, J is fairly self sufficient in the pool...at least until he gets bored and jettisons the noodle for some unforeseen reason and starts to drown. It's exciting times, if you get what I'm sayin'!

Baby E, on the other hand, is content to hang inside a small inner tube and float around as long as someone is near him, which of course we always are, unless we are diving to the bottom of the pool to save his brother from himself. I think E will enjoy his own lessons, but we shall see how well I can handle both of them at the same time since they are both in the same Water Babies class right now. Next year, J graduates to Aqua Tots and must be alone with the instructor, and I will get to spend time alone with E, but for now it's two on one in the pool. More excitement coming soon!

Bananarama

2011-06-07T16:10:00.002-04:00

Once every few days or so, I get a little bored with our lunch options, so I make something different. Usually, this means we have the same foods, but I arrange them into the shape of a face on J's plate, and then he eats twice as much as he usually does. I know, I know, I should do this more often, as his skinny bones will attest, but I've only got so much in me, people. Believe it or not, food styling was not in my previous training!

This week, I had another of those urges, so I decided to make a banana caterpillar. It is very simple, which I why I decided to try it, and involves slicing a banana, reattaching the slices with peanut butter, adding pretzel legs and antennae and raisin eyes, and sprinkling it all with coconut fur. I've included the exact picture I modeled mine after below, which I found in one of my two kid cookbooks.

It turned out great, actually, and the caterpillar was accompanied on the plate by fruit roll up mushrooms (which sort of looked like logs, which is what happens when I try to do something without a picture) and little mini grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches made using mini waffles, which were delicious. J loved the caterpillar...but refused to eat it. I eventually got him to eat ONE slice, which he declared "not bad," but that was all. E hasn't had a lot of (any??) peanut butter yet, so he couldn't eat the rest so I had to, making me wish I had used lowfat PB instead!

My poor caterpillar was the victim of my son's fickle eating habits, which he inherited from his father. When we were first married, I would go buy groceries, guesstimating based on our consumption in the past week or so what we'd need for the next week or so. Let's say, for example, that I ate yogurt three times and the husband two, so I'd get five containers of yogurt. But then the husband would decide he LOVED yogurt and eat one a day and then ask for more, so the next time I'd get 10 and he'd eat one a day, and the next time I'd get 10 and he'd eat...NONE. This happened over and over with all sorts of foods until I realized my husband has cravings in cycles, and there is virtually no way to predict what he will like eating at any given time. It turns out, J has adopted his father predilection for cyclical eating. For example, he will eat bananas for weeks on end, then declare himself through with them for months until he has another banana eating urge.

I thought we were in the time of the bananas. I was wrong. But it was cute, regardless!

What precedes the miracle?

2011-06-06T13:56:00.002-04:00

Why is it that I can rarely get my own kids to sleep at the same time and then only with incredibly intricate machinations and yet when I'm babysitting two more kids the same ages, it was a piece of cake to get all four asleep with in half an hour of each other?

I suppose it helps that the little girl who is visiting has been told repeatedly all day that her mother will not come quickly if she doesn't take a nap (thanks Becca!) and that she woke up her little brother from his morning nap after only half an hour. Yay for me, sad for the morning babysitter!

I suppose it also helps that J missed his nap altogether yesterday (curse Sunday!) and then crashed during bedtime stories...only to wake up frantic and delusional in the middle of the night, needing to go potty and then be soothed by Mommy lying next to and eventually in his toddler bed until 3am.

I suppose it also helps that some undetermined time before I left J, Baby E's Tylenol wore off (curse those interminably cutting teeth!) so that when I got out of J's room and away from his noisemaker, I heard blood curdling, inconsolable screaming coming from E's room, at which point I gave up, picked him up, and brought him into bed with me where he soon feel into a restless sleep that left both of us tired this morning.

I suppose all this helps, but it's such a price to pay! The relative economics of this situation are beyond me!

And so it continues

2011-06-02T13:20:00.002-04:00

Ay de mi, I am back into the throes of the preschool decision making process! When last we left me, I had made a decision on a local (as in on my island local) presbyterian daycare/preschool. I went to pick up their paperwork this week and they had raised their prices. The cost was already pretty exorbitant, since they make no distinction between the daycare and the preschool prices, so I would be paying the same price whether J went to school for 5 hours or 20 hours week. And suddenly, that price seemed untenable.

So then began the scramble, because, of course, now I am in the weeds, since I should have done all this legwork back in February when I went through all this the first time! Luckily, a few well recommended places still have a few openings (as in two per place) in their three year old classes. And, since I have thrown out my must be on the island requirement, we have a few more affordable offerings than before. Which means that this week I have been rushing around to program after program, three so far this week, with at least two more to go. I've also shanghaied my very busy friend into letting me sign her daughter up when I sign J onto whatever lists I put him on, so we can carpool off the island is possible. Luckily, she's left all this to even later than I have, so she's willing to do whatever we can!

But now the choices are starting to blend together. And how does one decide, anyway? Based on the size of the playground? the enthusiasm of the director? the kinds of toys in the classrooms? the qualifications of the teachers (okay, yes, I know that one is important)? the evident organization of the program? The costs are similar, within $10 in either direction, the program durations are identical, the parking and drop-off systems more or less complicated, and the "enrichment" activities comparable. All the facilities are clean and bright and colorful, cheerful beyond reason...I am having information overload!

But, decisions must be made, so we are soldiering on. Baby E and J are confused by all this visiting rooms filled with toys for them to play with, but they are enjoying the change of pace...for now! Let's hope their patience doesn't run out before we're through!

A reading request for the preschool set...

2011-06-01T15:13:00.003-04:00

We are library people. The boys and I go at least once a week but often more frequently to one of three branches that are close by. We attend story time when our nap schedules allow. We have a special sturdy canvas bag to haul home our 20 or 30 books and DVDs. We participate in the summer reading program (which starts tomorrow!). We go to multiple programs throughout the year. We are HUGE devotees of the annual friends of the library sales. We love libraries.

But lately, our library visits have been a bit of a struggle. J gets distracted by the books, which is a good thing until he complains about the books I end up selecting for him while he wanders around looking at one or two books in great detail. Baby E is more and more mobile, as in climbing up on chairs and then climbing up on computer or study tables AND more and more vocal, as in loudly expressing his dismay at being confined in the stroller as an antidote to the climbing. So I rush between them, picking out books because of their covers (which is less of a sin with children's books, I've found) or because they have any of the words "dinosaur," "dragon," "train," or "apple pie" in the titles or, failing all that, randomly. I get flustered, they get annoyed, and our trips are less than enjoyable.

So, I've decided that what I need to do (besides tie Baby E to a chair) is come in with a plan, a list of 5-10 or so books I want to try to find in the alphabetized stacks, and then I will pick up 5-10 books near those, so we leave with some good choices and some random choices. Which leads me to the point of this post: any suggestions?? Here are the books we have enjoyed most so far, to give you a sense of our reading habits: Curious George, old and new; the Frances books by Hoban (if you're not familiar, go get these right now! Sooo good); Dr. Seuss, old and new, big and little, fictional and non; and our current faves, the Berenstain Bears.

And what about you, my tiny band of loyal readers? Any go to options? Any must sees? Any beloved authors we're missing? Any books I should put on my quick look list? Do tell, do tell!!

And then there's the rest of my life...

2011-05-26T08:36:00.000-04:00

I read recently in an article that one of the things that bugs flight attendants most is when people change babies right there at their seats on the tray tables. Their contention was that it's not sanitary and there are changing tables available on the plane. To which assertion I say um, duh and uh uh! I mean, yes, it's not sanitary to change a diaper anywhere, really, but one does what one must. And really, airline employees are complaining about hygiene on planes? I think that ship has sailed, folks, to mix metaphors egregiously. And I've been on many planes where there are no changing tables whatsoever, so then what do you do? Sheesh!

All of this is by way of set up for a recent adventure, during which, while I was in a dressing room of my local discount emporium trying on some much needed shorts with both boys, Baby E had a blowout of epic proportions. I'm talking out the back, through his shorts, down his legs, everywhere. So, since I was half dressed and already in a place that had a convenient bench and I had my diaper bag/purse with me, I changed him right then and there, on top of a plastic shopping bag from the previous store, which I then used to dispose of the diaper and handful of wipes it took to get him even close to clean and to wipe down the bench just in case. And after all this, the dressing room attendant practically had a FIT when I came out, huffily telling me, among other choice nuggets, "we HAVE restrooms, you know!" Actually, I did know that. I also know that you frown on half naked women wandering through your store carrying a veritable pile of wriggling, unhappy poop and dragging along his loudly uncooperative older brother, so I chose the lesser of two evils.

All of which is part of my rant for the day, against people who treat mothers and their children and their biological needs as some sort of personal insult or cosmic error or insufferable and eternal annoyance. Would I rather not be up to my elbows in excrement in the middle of a dressing room? You betcha. Would I rather be standing by a lovely changing table than changing my child on the floor/a bench/my lap/the closest flat surface? Of course. Would I enjoy not having a child who happens to have all sorts of gastrointestinal distress going on right now? For sure.

BUT. These things happen. They do. Even with the best planning, the best preparation, this sort of disaster is unavoidable. And I really appreciate it when people feel that their role in this situation is to exacerbate the problem by passively or aggressively confronting me and treating me and my kids and all the other mothers and kids out there in occasional similar situations like, ahem, crap. Women and children and their needs are a fact of life people. Nay, they ARE life. So please, please, cut us some slack and get over us!

Style my life

2011-05-24T10:11:00.001-04:00

Today is a departure from this blog's usual subjects, though it does go along with my living lighter plan for the summer. I've been thinking a lot about fashion or my lack thereof lately. I'm no fashionista or even an aficionado, but I do like to stay current, despite my stay at home mom status. But every fashion blog or magazine or book I read recommends clothes that are at once both too expensive and too impractical for my life, which has led me to a manifesto of sorts. Here are my 10 Style Commandments (with commentary, of course).

1. Dress the body you have NOW, not the body you wish you had.

Once upon a time I was very, very thin. I was also very, very sick. Then, I got better, more or less, and I gained weight, a lot of weight. I lost some of it through hard work and Weight Watchers, then gained it all back and then some with my first child, then lost some of it again, finally, and now I am at a stable weight I can maintain with my normal diet and lifestyle. Am I super thin? No. Am I happy where I am? Yes, though it's taken me a long while to get there. I've gotten rid of all clothes that are smaller than my current size, because they were just mocking me. But I have friends who refuse to buy clothes in their size because they know they will lose weight eventually, but, in the meantime, they are so miserable and their closets just make them feel badly about themselves EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's just not worth it!

2. Ignore sizes. Contrary to popular opinion, size does NOT matter.

Women's sizing is so subjective. Becoming fixated on size makes you crazy! In one visit to TJ Maxx, I'll walk out with something in a Medium, a Large, and an XL. In some stores, I can only buy XLs, even double XXs. And don't get me started on numerical sizes, in which I an comfortably fit into anything from an 8 to a 12 depending on the style and brand. Just ignore them, please!

3. Know your measurements (your REAL measurements).

Your best option, therefore, is to know your measurements. If you're afraid to measure yourself, and it can be complicated to do by yourself, measure a pair of pants, a skirt, and a shirt that fit you. Knowing your measurements is particularly helpful for ordering clothes online, which can be a lifesaver when you're short on time and mobility, like me.

4. Get the wardrobe essentials you need for your lifestyle.

I love Stacy and Clinton from What Not to Wear, but their recommendations are, in a word, ridiculous for someone like me. I adore Tim Gunn, but many of his 10 Essentials are just not workable for my life. The same is true of virtually every "wardrobe basics" list out there. So I ignore them. I have a closet full of great skirts that I wore every day while I was working. Now, not so much. Now, I wear jeans, the darker, the better, and t-shirts, the more disposable, the better, and maxi skirts when it's hot, the airier, the better. Some day this will change again, but not now.

5. Buy what works in multiple colors or lengths.

I have finally, FINALLY found a type of jeans that fits the quirks (and rolls!) of my post-baby body. I am in the process of buying as many pairs in as many washes and as many lengths as I can afford so I can toss all the rest. The same is true for shirts and pants other than jeans. Skirts and dresses are a bit more distinctive, so generally this rule doesn't apply to them.

6. Embrace color and pattern.

One of the wardrobe rules a lot of people live by is that black is slimming. Others believe neutrals are versatile, so you should populate your wardrobe with them. Both are true. But both are also so BORING!! Who wants to live like that, day after day?

7. LOVE it or toss it.

This is a hard rule for most of us. We all have things in our closets that we like in theory, though not perhaps in reality. Or pieces that look okay on us but not great. Or items we wished we loved but we really don't. Get rid of them. They can fool you into thinking your wardrobe is more workable than it really is. And they can waste valuable real estate in your closet!

8. Alter, alter, alter.

This one is new for me but a hold over from the past. Make it work! If you can't do it, give your things to someone else who can hem, take in, alter, and change your less than perfect clothes into clothes you want to wear.

9. Do your homework.

Discover what looks best on your body type. Think about which brands consistently work for you. Inventory your wardrobe. Have an acquisition plan. Budget.

10. Work with what you have (and lose what doesn't--see above).

This is one of the easiest rules to explain but perhaps the hardest to implement. I'll be the first to admit I fall into a rut with my clothing, wearing 20% if that, and pulling out the same combinations over and over. I have good pieces hiding in the back of my closet, things that fulfill the other rules but never see the light of day. I have stacks of accessories, bins of scarves and bags, even some jewelry, though that's not really my thing right now, what with the little hands pawing all over me. I'm getting rid of most of these accessories and pulling these clothes out and wearing them or moving them on to Goodwill.

Reality wrap up

2011-05-22T13:59:00.001-04:00

Man, there has been some quality reality out there lately. Now, I know, I know, reality TV is not a bastion for high caliber writing/narrative. I get that. Heck, I embrace that! But, that being said, there has been a lot of reality wonder out there this season. My two current favorites are Shark Tank and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Can I just say I LOVE both these shows? Shark Tank makes me both cringe for some of the delusional souls out there with hair-brained business ideas AND cheer for the folks who really do have something brilliant and get the help they need to go forward bigger and better. And don't even get me started on the interplay between the sharks themselves! The occasional appearances this season of Mark Cuban and Jeff Foxworthy have added a whole new layer to their exchanges. (Mark Cuban is kind of a scary shark, yall. He is absolutely ruthless, shocking even the other sharks, and seems to like playing with the other sharks' minds more than the business deals. It's clear some of them hate him, by the way.)

Then there is Jamie Oliver taking on the LA county school district...or at least trying to mightily! Again, if you have a school-aged kid, you should be watching this program and taking notes and thinking about your own kids' lunches. If you have preschoolers like me, you should be watching and being afraid and thinking about what the heck you are going to do when they get to school!

Then there's the reality that has me on the fence. I can't quite decide how I feel about The Voice, the latest American Idol wannabe hosted by Carson Daly. The premise is gimmicky: celebrity judge/coaches pick a team of 8 singers blindly, based on voice only, then coach their teams through various rounds until someone wins. While the "blind auditions" sound exciting, it turns out the pool has already been narrowed down to some really good singers, and there isn't much excitement in the "competition" between the judges and the episodes are way too long and need some judicious editing. BUT, and this is a big but, the talent so far really is good and the judge-coaches are kind of fascinating, except for Christina Aguilera, who is not at all fascinating. The others are man of the pop culture moment Cee-Lo, country music male vocalist of the year Blake Shelton, and (my favorite) snarky-smart Maroon Five front man Adam Levine.

And then there's the ugly. Ya'll know I like me some Celebrity Apprentice, but the craziness of this season is actually getting a little wearing. Gary Busey is clearly CRAZY (as in traumatic brain injury crazy, sadly), but Trump was fixated with him for far too long and kept him around past his prime. Meat Loaf, though I love him, came off as a bit too crazy himself during his epic angry meltdown (at Busey, surprise surprise). Mark McGrath left much too early. And the women! No one could stand up to all talk and no action Star Jones. Sooo tedious. And the women just kept losing, with a few notable exceptions (Marlee Matlin love once again!). It's all to tiresome. And don't even get me started on Trump's extracurricular birther insanity and possible run for presidency and related shenanigans! Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing the decline of Western civilization right before our very eyes.

I think it's about time we all admitted that the Redemption Island twist on Survivor did not work. It seemed like a good idea until one poor guy got sent there in the beginning and never left, even after returning back to the game and being sent back a second time. Even so, I like the predictability of Survivor. Every episode is the same: editing to show intrigue, challenge, fall-out, tribal council. Done. You can watch this show while doing just about any three other things, which I appreciate. And I actually think that this time, for the first time in a long while, the person who deserved to win, who really did outlast, outplay, and outwit everyone else, did, in fact, win. Go Boston Rob!

New new new

2011-05-20T14:47:00.001-04:00

We got a new computer. It was actually a semi-spur of the moment decision in response to a longstanding problem. You see, my old dell was, well, old. In computer years, it was practically dead. In dog years, its continued existence was a miracle. The dinosaur had long since succumbed to one too many viruses and hard drive wipes and just old age. It was, as I told the husband when he idly asked me about getting a new computer, a glorified paperweight.

That was all he needed. In a few minutes, we had a spanking new machine on the way, and now it's here. And it's like the future has arrived in my living room. This computer, just your average workaday machine now, wants me to log on using facial recognition software. This screen is a touch screen. I can use my fingers to open and close windows if I want to (which I very much don't, right now). There are all sorts of nifty features in terms of file management and visual organization, some I can't really even describe.

But, as the husband will be the first one to tell you, while I am not a Luddite exactly, I do chafe a little at some technological advances. I like technology, don't get me wrong, I just don't like technology for tech's sake, and I don't like to use space in my brain learning new ways of doing everything with a machine all over again every few years. Sigh.

So, I will not be using my touch screen much, and I will be making my mouse a little less smart (it's smarter than me right now), but I will be enjoying our new media capabilities, and I will be logging in using my face. And we will have a working DVD player and sound system in our living room once again. Huzzah! So thanks to the husband for setting it all up and working out all the kinks and suffering this techno-fool gladly!

Clean, baby, clean

2011-05-18T14:46:00.000-04:00

Things have been in a state of upheaval for a while around here. First, we were sorting through things for the yard sale and storing those items to be sold in the front room. Along the way, we cleared out our one huge storage closet and added shelves in an effort to let the closet function as a storage area AND as a closet once again. Once that project was done, we set about reorganizing the baby’s room to make it more workable as a guest bedroom, now that the guests had somewhere to hang their clothes when they came to visit. Next, we began rearranging the great room, as we call it, the large, multi-purpose room in our house, to take advantage of the fact that we were going to have a working computer/media center in that room and needed to add one more purpose to its already heavy load. In the midst of all this, we’ve cleaned, decluttered, purged, reorganized, tossed, boxed, stored, labeled, moved, donated, and shifted more stuff than I could have imagined we had. We made almost $200 between the yard sale and the kids’ consignment store, and all that was leftover we sent to a church youth yard sale, where they, in turn, made almost $900. So we’ve seen fruit from our labors.

And yet.

And yet, I still feel like we still have too much garbage in every single room. I still can’t find space for everything else we have. I still feel a little overwhelmed by our surroundings. I still feel like we haven’t gotten rid of enough stuff, but I can’t quite decide what else should go. I thought that post yard sale I would feel lighter, perhaps, or at least more in control of our surroundings. But no. Still.

Which leads me to my new goal for the summer: by the time we take our vacation at the end of the summer, I want to have a place for everything and everything in its place. Starting today, I am going to pick out and find a home for or toss/donate five to ten items every day until I feel like we’re back down to a reasonable amount of stuff and our house feels, well, lighter! I’m beginning with overused and heretofore often hidden surfaces, particularly our much beleaguered, constantly cluttered dining table and the never uncovered bookshelf at the foot of our bed. And, most importantly, I am not going to use my office as my get out of jail free space, the place where I put everything that doesn’t have a home until I can figure out what to do with it or forget about it entirely.

So. Today’s items include an old bottle of bubbles on top of the microwave (we opened it and blew some this afternoon), an Every Day Food magazine that’s been circling around for over a month (I went through it and took out those recipes that I could imagine myself making under my actual everyday circumstances--there weren’t many—and tossed it, and three or four stacks of mail that had accumulated in three or four different places (we REALLY need a mail system, but my little destructicons have laid waste to every recycling and mail organization plan I’ve tried so far). Tomorrow I plan to (start to) tackle that bookshelf and start a box for the husband’s papers, which I know will just fill up and then one day disappear, but at least I will have a central place to put them. And I will be checking in here periodically to give myself some sort of marginal accountability. Ooh, ooh, I know, so exciting!

Shopping without dropping

2011-05-01T20:34:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things to do is shop the post-holiday sales for non-holiday items at 50-75% off. And my two favorite holidays for post-shopping are Christmas and Easter.

Don't get my wrong; I pick up my share of holiday paraphernalia, of course. Last week, I got my supply of plastic eggs for next year, as well as egg decorating dye. I also got some Easter candy, but we won't be saving that until next year but rather eating it slowly until the next candy holiday comes around. And at Christmas, I finished my collection of unbreakable ornaments and got a few other items for my (mythical? hopeful?) advent calendar.

But I also love to get things I can use for other purposes. I posted earlier about how I got many of J's birthday decorations after Christmas because I handily chose a red, white, and blue theme, and all the red holiday decor worked right into my plan. This year, after Easter, I picked up a huge butterfly shaped sandwich/cookie cutter (for making PB&J so much more exciting!), purple plaid cupcake liners (I can think of any number of events to which these would add a welcome note of whimsy), spring colored tissue paper for gifts bags, and a new cupcake pan, with cover for transporting, all for half off. What's the difference between this Wilton cupcake pan and the one I bought in January when I decided my previous pan was kaput? One cost 50% less than the other. Otherwise, identical. In the past, I've gotten green dish towels after Easter, in colors that match my kitchen rug, an egg-shaped chip/dip dish that has come in handy too many times to mention, and lovely spring-colored bowls I have used throughout the year. This year I wasn't able to visit as many sales as I have in the past, with my less than patient dynamic duo in tow, but, even so, I was happy with our conquests.

Sadly, now begins the long post-holiday shopping drought. 4th of July? Everything is way too kitschy, usually, to be of much use to me. Summer provides luau supplies which I always seem to need every year, though the selection is always random. Halloween is sometimes useful for getting Halloween decorations and, lately, for stocking up on pumpkin items for my pumpkin obsessed preschooler. Thanksgiving merchandise would be nice to have sometimes, particularly some of the fall colored serving dishes, but there is never really a set time for "fall" items to go on sale. And then it's Christmas and Easter again and time to score!

Oh, and celebrate the reasons for the seasons, of course! Here's hoping yours was both a holy and a happy day!

Lights, camera, action

2011-04-26T13:59:00.004-04:00

They're here, and they're not horrible (unfortunate double chin on my part notwithstanding!). As with anything we undertake, we learned a lot about what to do and not to do for next time, but for our first endeavor, I thought we did better than expected.

Lessons learned: We need more distractions to help the little ones focus, distractions of our own making, not the dogs/birds/cars/squirrels at the photo shoot. We need much more preparation beforehand to help the kids understand what their roles are. We are most definitely not ready for anything more formal than these, at least for a few years; casual works for us! We should not lean on park benches until the very end of our shoot. And we should all wear brown next time!

The worst of times, the best of times

2011-04-23T08:19:00.002-04:00

We had an eventful evening Thursday night. The husband is singing in the choir for our Easter services, and I was slated to sing in a quartet with him, so the whole family trundled off to a midweek nighttime rehearsal. The boys were bathed early and came in almost pajamas, and the plan was for them and me to hang out in the nursery during choir practice and then for us to join the husband afterward for our quartet practice.

So, off we went. We played for a while, the boys and I, with the toys in the nursery closets, which are kept locked during the week but can be opened with a set of keys hidden *shhh* behind the picture frame. The closets are filled with lots of fun and new-to-us toys, and there's the added bonus that, once opened, the closets provide Baby E with hiding places at his level in which to play. Like J when he was this age, Baby E loves cabinets, closets, anything with doors that open and shut behind which he can hide. He was in heaven in these closets. That is, until J closed the door behind Baby E...and suddenly the keys wouldn't unlock the door! These are old locks, meant for doors into rooms not doors on cabinets, so they have a mechanism that, when moved, means they can only be unlocked from the inside. And somehow that mechanism got moved, either when I unlocked them or when J fiddled with them or when I fiddled with them to get them back the way they were, some time in there the locks got locked.

Upshot: my baby was locked in an unlockable cabinet! After I made sure the keys no longer worked, I beat the land speed record into the chapel, motioned frantically to the husband to come at once, and ran back. By then, Baby E was beginning to cry, not liking all the darkness. He was less happy still when the husband arrived and shouted to the sister who followed him out to go get one of the men who had been carrying a toolbox with him that evening. Meanwhile, I pried the door open a crack at the bottom and shouted for J to get Baby E's binky, which I squeezed in to him, which helped to calm him down just a tiny bit as the husband used a screwdriver, pliers, and a hammer to take the hinges off the door, which he managed to do in what seemed like an agonizingly long time but really took just a few moments, with Baby E gripping my fingertips, all he could reach through the crack in the door, the whole time.

My blood pressure has never gotten so high so quickly nor has it taken so long to come down. There was much hugging and clutching and thanking and sighing. We quickly cleaned up with mess of toys we'd made and then headed for the chapel to watch the rest of choir practice. I was having a little PTSD about staying in the nursery, truth be told!

Then, while we were waiting/decompressing, I was walking with Baby E up the aisle toward the husband, and I let him stand on his own holding onto the side of a pew, as we have been practicing of late, and he suddenly let go...and took off walking! At least 10 steps or so, all on his own, unprompted, lurching and laughing but completely upright and propelled in the direction of his daddy. Incredulous, I scooped him up and took him back to where he had started, set him down...and watched him take off again, walking as if he'd been practicing in secret and was just waiting for a dramatic moment in which to unveil his new talent. He repeated this new feat multiple times over the night and has walked in short spurts every day since, so I guess it's official: we have a walker!

Perhaps while trapped in a small dark space all alone, he thought to himself, "I think I need to be able to get places on my own because who can trust these yay-hoos who are supposed to be protecting me?!" Hmmmmm.....

New J-isms

2011-04-14T14:50:00.000-04:00

J and I are engaged in a heavy academic load around here, and I thought it was time for you to see evidence of our daily work, because we're so proud.

Flattery 101:
--"Oh Mommy, you're so magical" after I produced candy unexpectedly.

Anatomy 103:
--"There's something in my nose like mustard." And, indeed, there was. He'd missed his mouth.
--"My tummy is making my stomach hurt." Yes, that could be bad.

Astronomy for Beginners:
--"The moon is not broken anymore!" Apparently, the crescent moon was very worrisome.

Improvisational Music:
--"I made up a little hum: dum, dumpily dum. Dum, dumpily dum."
--"Deck the halls with bells of holly...and ham!" This was in our Southern culture section, of course.

Logic 305:
--"You need to wear this hat, Daddy, not me. It does not spell J; it does not spell E. It spells U!" There's no arguing, is there?
--"I need a nickle because my name is Nicolas." This was a joint project with Improv Music because he was singing this little ditty to himself.

Haute Cuisine:
--"I want to eat some of those poodle nut things." He meant peanut butter noodles with chicken and broccoli.
--"Something so hard you can't even chew it is living in here!" This was yelled after encountering a piece of bone in his barbecued rib meat.

Special Topics: Noir in the Nighttime:
--"I heard footprints coming down my hallway!"
--"Mommy, I heard bump and thump and roar!"
--"I was listening and I heard bump and thump and CRASH!"
--"It's hard to fall asleep when there are so many noises in your head." Clearly, J is getting an A+ in this class!

In addition, J is doing all sorts of independent study on his current obsessions, which include "head hammer" sharks, carrying bags around (often Mommy's bags but sometimes his own backpacks) filled with treasures, dinosaurs, dragons, and cookbooks. He has two little dog-eared cookbooks we got from the dollar spot at Target at Halloween, and he carries them everywhere and even sleeps with them often. His current favorite before bed activity is to read through "his" cookbooks and then read through "my" cookbooks. His favorites of mine are one about Jello and one about popsicles, both of which are lavishly illustrated. I tell myself I am raising a little foodie, even though he won't eat grilled asparagus. (Never fear, Baby E eats enough for both of them!)

Sadly, one subject we are not studying is how to look at a camera and smile, as the following shots will attest. Sigh. Education suffers long!

Hello world, are you still there?

2011-04-10T14:52:00.004-04:00

Oops, it's been almost a month since I last posted. Can we agree that it's been egregious? Okay, done. Let's move on.

Well. So much has happened in the last month or so. First, happy just barely my birthday to me! Yes, it's true, I had a birthday this week and it was lovely, in a grown-up sort of way. My parents sent me a great package, with my favorite make-up and a fabulous green shirt and jewelry and a vintage cookbook. Amazingly, as I've gotten older, my parents have gotten even better at getting me gifts, and they were pretty dang good at it before! My in-laws sent me another package with a cute journal and some fun money and some seasonal books and DVDs for the boys, which was a present for me, really, because it kept the boys occupied for much longer than I would have thought. Again, a great gift!

The husband's gift to me was a family photo session we had on Saturday, in the early morning, at the Charleston Battery. After an hour shoot and 275 shots, we are all fairly confident here is one workable posed family shot. But we have lots of great candid tickling pictures! We appear to do those best, since J steadfastly refuses to smile on command or look at the person taking the pictures and no amount of cajoling will make him. Baby E was all smiles, of course, but also all drool and, unfortunately, all snotty nose, so there was lots of wiping. At some point in the middle of shooting, he also got his shirt mysteriously dirty, so we have no idea how any of his pictures will look in the end. We will have the digital results by the end of the week, so I will have some to post. Stay tuned!

After our hopefully successful shoot, we went out for breakfast at the Early Bird diner, our favorite retro hippy dive. I had my always outstanding curried scramble (eggs, potatoes, and veggies) with fruit, the husband had a southern-inspired scramble (more of the same with country gravy instead of curry and sausage) and the boys had enormous pancakes and my fruit. Everyone left full and happy!

And I got lots of calls and emails and Facebook comments from my family and friends, even some I hadn't heard from in ages, which was nice. All in all, a great birthday! I like these low-key grown-up birthdays. So easy!

Mini vacation recap

2011-03-18T14:51:00.001-04:00

We went on a mini vacation this weekend to Hilton Head Island. Not so much news there, really, but our last mini vacation as a foursome, last September to go apple picking in NC was fun but an unmitigated DISASTER when bed time rolled around. This time, we were forewarned and prepared or at least as prepared as we could be.

Our problems were these: J can sleep in a toddler bed but not so much in a big person's bed, so he needs a crib or pack-and-play, as does Baby E, of course. Last time around, we had a crib in the room but mistakenly assumed one of us could sleep with J and put Baby E in the crib. In fact, what ended up happening was the opposite: I slept with E and J ended up in the crib after a harrowing evening of not sleeping. This time, we brought our pack-and-play and asked for a crib in the room, so everyone would have a nice little place to sleep.

J and Baby E are also not able to sleep together in the same room right now, both being rather loud sleepers prone to nightmares in the case of the former and brief but loud crying jags in the case of the latter. So we set up the pack-and-play in the bathroom and stationed the crib all the way across the room and set up noisemakers for both boys. It worked like a charm, with the one small exception: the pack-and-play was exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, the same size as the space between the toilet and the door and the tub and the counter. So once it was up, the bathroom was completely off limits for the night, which meant that we all took a few late (and some really late) night trips downstairs to the lobby restroom but it was worth it for uninterrupted sleep for Baby E. In fact, he slept better there in his warm, slightly damp, pitch black cocoon than he has in weeks in his own room. I think we're going to get some window darkening shades for him soon!

While vacationing, we visited Island Playground, an indoor play area with jump castles, real castles, and all sorts of balls and toys; the Sandbox, billed as a children's museum but really a more diverse play area, with a life-size cockpit and pirate ship and all sorts of arts and crafts, not to mention a toddler area with its own play structure; Stacks Pancakes, where we had lots and lots of yummy buttermilk pancakes and fruit and J discovered that he likes breakfast sausage ("It's a little sour but I like it, Mommy!"); the Main Street Cafe, which served fabulous gyros and HUGE kids' cheese sandwiches; Rita's Water Ice for custard and mango water ice, of course; a children's consignment store (more on that later); and, of course, the beach AND an outdoor pool AND an indoor pool, where Baby E went under for the first time and J treaded water on his own, with the help of a water noodle. Our resort (we were staying with the husband while he went to a conference) was located inside a development dotted with ponds and marshland, so we also go to see many and large alligators, turtles, and birds of all sorts during our drives around town. It was fabulous!
Our first visit to the beach, at night.

Shots from the Island Playground.

More beach time, during the day.

Scenes from The Sandbox, in the cockpit of an airplane and on the toddler play structure.

The only downsides were packing related: I planned on the right number of outfits for Baby E but somehow forgot who I was planning for so I brought four or five bottoms but only three tops...? Um, duh! And I wasn't planning on his getting a little GI sick while we were out, ruining even more outfits. So, we had to visit the consignment store to get a few extra outfits. And the husband somehow forgot to bring any jeans or casual shirts, which meant he almost ruined a pair of khakis and wore his pajama shirt lots and lots around the hotel.

And my last quibble was our resort. The location was great, right on the beach, but the place was, in a word, filthy. Oh, and unsafe! I put Baby E down on the floor to change his diaper, and he came up covered in dirt and hair. Someone else's black hair. And the balcony was covered not just in dust but dirt, and there was a used cigar out there. And I found a huge spider in our blankets. Worse, we were on the fourth floor and the space between the railings on the balcony AND over the interior courtyard were so big, J could get his whole body through them. He showed me he could, much to my terror, while we were walking by the courtyard on the way to the elevator. I almost lost both boys in my haste to grab J while holding E! I mean, I can cover outlets with duct tape and bring a toilet lock or lock the bathroom door or tie up all the loose cords, all of which I did, but how do I block the railing on the balcony or over the common courtyard?

It's that time again

2011-03-07T08:45:00.003-05:00

It should come as no surprise that I'm a bit of a reality TV lover, the cheesier the better. Thus, every new edition of Celebrity Apprentice is a special joy! This season has a delicious mix of crazy, talented, and crazy talented. And some past reality "stars" just as icing on the crazytown cake, like Richard Hatch (first winner of Survivor, he of tax evasion infamy) and NeNe Whateverherlastnameis of the Real Housewives of Atlanta (she of the big attitude and big, ahem, personality). These two are just here to make everybody else angry, of course.

But there are so many other juicy characters to add to the mix.

Craziest? I'm going with Gary Busey (he was a walking meltdown on Celebrity Fit Club) and LaToya Jackson (who is just a fruitcake and appears to be a bit dim).

Early to fall? I'm going with the current Playmate of the Year Hope Dworaczyk (really?), Dionne Warwick (who seems well meaning but not cutthroat enough), and Jose Canseco (based on his track record on the Surreal Life).

Sleeper agents who will probably show unexpected talents and could win? Mark McGrath (this guy is secretly really smart, as we learned on Rock and Roll Jeopardy) and Lil Jon (because my new motto is don't discount the rappers, yo!).

My favorite cast member? Marlee Matlin because she is just so dang awesome and the gods really must be crazy if she doesn't win! Meat Loaf is also someone I'm looking forward to watching because, well, he is just always entertaining.

Best confessionals? So far I'm going with Lil Jon, Lisa Rinna (she's already talking about knives in her back pocket), and NeNe (that's her other role).

Most annoying cast members? Hatch, Busey, and Star Jones (goodness, I really dislike her).

Wild cards (besides the obvious wild stars)? John Rich (the country stars as a whole perform remarkably well on these things) and Niki Taylor (one never knows what other skills models have).

Stay tuned! Fireworks sure to ensue....

Out with the old

2011-03-03T07:08:00.005-05:00

We've gone on a bit of a spending hiatus around here. You see, recently we had to switch insurance carriers and our new plan has a deductible, whereas our last didn't. It's not very high, but it's a chunk, particularly when you have two children with birthdays early in the year, who have also been sick several times already this year, so you combine well visits with sick visits and prescriptions and an unmet deductible and you get a budget hemorrhage. Oh, and there are annual licensing and membership fees for the husband's job (there was a mad dash this week to find all the documentation for the continuing education credits that are a crucial part of the licensing requirements). And, well the aftermath of Christmas still looms in the background. Hence, we are done spending for a little while except for essentials.

Which means this is a perfect time to talk a little about a grassroots money-making venture: a garage sale!

My current garage sale plan actually began a few months ago, in December, after it became clear that there was a possibility that we might be moving to Baltimore in the near future. (NEWSFLASH: we didn't get the job, so we're in Charleston for the next few years at least.) I decided to use the impending move as an excuse to purge, either in anticipation of a move or in preparation for a sale. I began sorting, editing, and collecting stuff in boxes and bins around my house, and I've been doing so ever since. At this point, I've got enough for quite a sale, and I'm not done yet. Today, I tackled a new part of the kitchen, the dishes. I have, it appears, some sort of dish fetish. I have WAY too many plates, bowls, cups, and glasses, and don't even get me started on the number of serving dishes and mixing bowls and assorted kitchen implements. But right now, I have less, since quite a bit of stuff has been shuffled into yet more boxes in my living room. My purging is accompanied by my "helpers." Here's one of them now, moving things along in the kitchen cabinets:

Besides the kitchen, I've sorted through baby clothes and my clothes (though I could probably do that again, perhaps twice), books (I know, gasp!), household items (everything from heaters and shelves to table clothes and picture frames), and toys. I feel I'm doing pretty well, but there is always more to do. Along the way, I've reorganized my pantry, my linen closet, and the storage closet in the office, but the rest of the office looms large, as does the storage closet in the guest room. I have tried to bring the husband along with me on my little organizing binge, but besides finally getting him to sort through his shoes (at which point he threw away 6 pairs, I think), I have had little success. The husband likes to think he only owns essentials, but then you open any random bin of his and find, oh, I don't know, some random stress ball from a drug company or papers the origins and importance of which are long since forgotten. So we've got some work to do there, though not perhaps in preparation to sell anything...unless you're just really into stress balls!

My goal with all of this is to finance a set of bunk beds for J's room. He is really not pleased with his toddler bed and will fast grow out of it anyway, so I want to be able to get bunk beds in the (forlorn) hope that some day my terrible sleepers will be able to sleep together. My secondary goal is to have a place for everything and everything in its place, at least for one shining moment. Right now, part of our clutter problem stems from the piles of orphan objects around our house, objects that have no permanent home. (The other part of our clutter problem is that we don't like to put things away. But that is another battle for another day!) Here are some more shots taken while "we" were cleaning J's room You see how much respect he has for the bed as place for sleeping!

The end of the world

2011-02-26T15:54:00.000-05:00

I've had a request from one of my two or three faithful readers for a pop culture post. It's been ages since our last one, so we are certainly due. That being said, I must say I've been largely disappointed with the television so far this spring, so, instead of boring everyone with a dull-ish recap of some duller programming, I thought I'd share my latest "Sheesh, I am old; you kids get off my lawn!" moment combined with another "Oh, and by the way, the world is going to heck in a hand basket" moment.

Last night, I was driving home from a women's meeting at church (wherein I tried Zumba and the results of combining my general lack of coordination with a fast, Latin-inspired aerobic dance would have been hilarious had they not been so very, very sad), I was listening to the radio. Generally, I am a strict NPR listener, leavened occasionally by kids' music CDs when J requests them. But tonight I was feeling like I could skip the news and commentary...and they were replaying a program I had already heard earlier in the day. Ahem. So I turned to music and heard these lyrics, which I have now ascertained are from Bruno Mars (??) and their (his?) song Grenade:

'Cause what you don't understand is
I'd catch a grenade for ya
Throw my head on a blade for ya
I'd jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya, Oh, oh,
I would go through all this pain,
Take a bullet straight through my brain,
Yes, I would die for you baby
But you won't do the same

Is anyone else as dismayed by these lyrics as I am? I mean, we've all heard the "I'd die for you" sentiment in pop music before, but these sentiments seem so much more...harsh. Violent. Unnecessarily so. This song doesn't make me sure of the singer's affections so much as it makes me want to call a suicide hotline. For him, not me. But maybe, I thought, I'm just out of touch (okay, not maybe). Let's just listen to the next song, which is sure to be better. Next up was Avril Lavigne's "What the Hell":

You say that I'm messing with your head
All 'cause I was making out with your friends
Love hurts whether it's right or wrong
I can't stop 'cause I'm having too much fun...
All my life I've been good but now,
woah, I'm thinking what the hell
All I want is to mess around
and I don't really care about
If you love me, if you hate me,
you can't save me, baby, baby
All my life I've been good but now,
whoa, what the hell

Umm, what the heck? First of all, how old is Avril, like 10? And "all" her life she's been so "good" she can't stand it any more, so she has to torment her significant other by messing around with someone else because it's soo much fun? Again, I can't see this song as some anthem of independence or rebellion so much as a sad, sad commentary on the current state of teen life.

But I wasn't willing to give up so easily, so I turned the channel, right past my 80s station (because all those songs are about love and more love) to another current-ish station...where they were playing Lady Gaga's Paparazzi. SIGH. Don't even get me started on Lady Gaga as Sign of the Apocalypse. Let's just take a listen to the lyrics, shall we:

I'm your biggest fan
I'll follow you until you love me, Papa-paparazzi
Baby, there's no other superstar
you know that I'll be your
Papa-paparazzi
Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine
Baby you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me
Papa-paparazzi

Again, the trope isn't a new one, "I'll make you love me," but the imagery seems so sinister to me. Stalker-esque, if you will. Or am I so out of touch that the paparazzi now has a positive connotation, because everyone is so invested in getting their 15 minutes of fame in whatever way possible? Probably. And that is even sadder, I think.

At this point, I turned back to NPR, deciding that relistening to a story on the current failure of Japanese students to choose to study math and science as much as before was better than these offerings. I also decided never to let J and Baby E listen to anything written since they were born and for some years before, because that's a totally rational decision.

And then I yelled, "No, really, GET OFF MY LAWN!!"

Helping you all go green

2011-02-25T12:23:00.005-05:00

My friend Betsy over at Eco-Novice is hosting a giveaway. If you're interested in taking baby steps toward becoming greener in your everyday life, you really should visit her site, which is all about going green gradually. If the step you want to take is using reusable bags in lieu of disposable plastic (ziploc) bags, then you really should visit her site now and enter her giveaway for all sorts of handmade reusable bags from various Etsy vendors she has vetted herself. Then you can feel all sorts of virtuous both for visiting a green site AND for supporting handmade work! Everyone wins!

A word about Eco-Novice: I went to school with Betsy, and we both left with similarly developed penchants (or, one could argue, compulsions) for research, thorough, meticulous, exhaustive research. While I have channeled most of those urges into various frivolous pursuits (read just about any blog entry here to see what I mean), Betsy has channeled her skills into living a greener life and documenting her results, both successes and failures. She's also turned her relatively new blog into a bit of a cottage industry in the process, which makes her one of my heroes. Wanna know about making bread in a bread maker versus making it from scratch and why the latter is greener? Wanna know which kind of cloth diaper combination works the best for heavy night wetters? Wanna know some lazy and cheap ways to be green? Wanna make your own DIY cleaners? Betsy's your girl! (Though our college training would make us both quick to point out you really should refer to a mother of two as a woman, not a girl, thank you very much!)

So go! Visit and become a little greener. And if you win her giveaway and I don't, I promise I will only be a little bit miffed!

Happy Birthday, Baby E!

2011-02-23T21:11:00.006-05:00

Baby E turns one today! Hip hip hooray! My big happy boy is a whole year old!

And now, a few words in honor of Baby E's nativity....Baby E, in what some have assured me is typical second/younger child fashion, is a much more even-keeled child than his more volatile brother. E's favorite activities lately are eating, smiling, laughing, and interacting with anyone who looks his way. He recently made up a game in which he yells something at a person nearby, waits for them to respond, and then giggles uproariously until he decides it's time to yell at the person again and start over. He can keep this sort of thing up for hours, if you'll let him. Baby E's current dislikes include sleeping through the night (he WAS a good sleeper at one point and is still a champion napper, but a round of illnesses has left him wanting to be cuddled throughout the night), not being able to keep up with his brother J, and the evening hours between dinner and his beloved bath time.

Baby E's most salient features are his size (still large and in charge), his ready smile, and his curly brown hair. He is a charmer, always flashing his smile at any and everyone and basking in their attention. He is also quite loud, perhaps in hopes of competing with an older chatterbox. E's temperament is much more calm than his brother, but when E gets upset, he doesn't hesitate to let us know, often vigorously. He also likes to joke. E's favorite joke at the moment is hurrying away as soon as anyone calls his name, looking over his shoulder and laughing the whole time. Actually, he is quite an independent child, who is already playing on his own and with others. He thinks nothing of scooting off to explore parts known and unknown on his own.

Yes, E is a scooter. He has and still does eschew crawling, preferring to motor along on his tush in his own brand of motion. He is also now cruising around holding on to furniture, and he does occasionally push from his tush onto all fours, so we're holding our breath to see which comes first, crawling or walking. His motor skills help him in one of his other favorite activities, finding ways to kill himself. I swear that E has some sort of death wish! With this child I have had to call poison control twice already to discuss something he ingested, and I am constantly fishing all sorts of inedible tidbits out of his mouth. The other day I found a penny in his poopy diaper. When did that go down, I wonder, and how many more will I find? I have also had to put locks on the toilets and the bathroom doors to prevent E from hurling himself headfirst into the potty, as he has attempted to do numerous times already. His current way of courting death involves watching and waiting for the screen door not to close all the way, so he can scoot out onto the front porch and then hurl himself headfirst down the brick stairs! This kid is relentless!

Despite his penchant for danger, we have come a long way this past year, particularly in the past few months, during which we've seen him take huge developmental strides. Besides learning to stand up and sit down and scoot, in the past two months or so, E has also taught himself to clap, wave bye bye, and point to his tummy. Over the past year, he has cut eight teeth, to which he added two new molars this week. He has also learned to devour macaroni and cheese and as many solid foods as we will let him have and any others he can swipe from J's plates. E likes just about every food, though his favorites are meat of any kind, whole peas, pretzel sticks, mandarin oranges, and strawberries. He does NOT like apricots, thank you very much, and he's not so sure about mangoes or avocados. He loved drinking the dregs of J's juice boxes until he scratched his cornea with a wayward straw last week and was banned from juice boxes until he develops a bit more motor control! And he's a big fan of sippy cups but prefers to hold them exclusively with his mouth and teeth and then let the contents pour down his neck in lieu of actually swallowing them.

All in all, it has been a great year with E. He is a fun baby, a happy boy, a born entertainer with a thick skin and sunny disposition. He is so much fun to have around, and I'm happy he's come to live with us and share his funny little personality. I love him bunches and bunches!

Happy, happy day, Baby E! Here's to many, many more!

Mangia for gratis

2011-02-17T16:57:00.000-05:00

I've been filling my hours with my sickies (never-ending sinus infections and, most recently, roseola and a scratched cornea) by completing various research tasks during their naps. When I tire of the preschool rigmarole, I have been investigating the kids eat free options nearby. An idle observation from a friend, my noticing a new kids promotion at a local barbecue, and the realization that both my boys are now at an age where sharing my food is becoming an increasingly less satisfactory option led to my current quest, and along the way I've learned quite a lot:

1. There are more of these options available, at more places, than I would have thought. Yay!

2. That said, there used to be many, many MORE options available, but kids eat free/cheap options seem to have been some of the first victims of the recession. Boo!

3. It is incredibly difficult to find comprehensive listings of these promotions. There are a few websites that list offers, but the websites out there hardly overlap at all in the information they provide. And the individual restaurants' websites, almost without exception, do NOT list these deals. Curious.

4. I've been calling each location I did track down to confirm the details of each offer, and I've discovered that many employees have no idea what the rules are or the night the offer occurs and have to ask coworkers or supervisors, which makes me nervous, because, as I said, there is no written evidence of these promotions to be printed out and brought along.

5. Most unexpectedly, I've had the strangest feelings of guilt mixed with shame as I've called these places to get the details, which is probably part of the reason more people don't take advantage of these offers. You feel vaguely bad about getting something free even though it's the restaurant's choice to make such a program available. I am now systematically quelling these feelings so that I'll be able to breeze in and feed my hungry boys for free any night of the week.

6. And there are, in fact, deals every night of the week. My list excludes Sundays because we don't eat out that day, though there are several places that offer Sunday night meals as well, but every other night of the week is covered by at least one establishment. Yippee!

7. Some of our favorite restaurants are included, such as Home Team and Melvin's barbecue joints and Moe's Southwest Grill, but so are some local places we've never tried, such as Cibo's Pizzeria, Gilligan's Seafood, and Michelangelo's Kitchen. I look forward to expanding our restaurant repertoire AND spending less money overall!

I'm now in the process of assembling all the info into a handy chart, organizing the offers by days of the week and including complete addresses and phone numbers for on the fly confirmations that offers are still in effect. I think I might even laminate the finished product and leave it in the car. I know, once again, you wish your life was this exciting, right??

Dante's got nothing on this

2011-02-11T15:55:00.001-05:00

We have entered the 10th circle of hell: getting into preschool. Oy and vey, people, this is such a fun process!

When J turned three last month, I began to think idly about maybe perhaps enrolling him in a part-time preschool so he could have some interaction with someone other than me and learn a little in the process. So, naive little me, I contacted a few local preschools, just to test the waters. And I unknowingly opened a huge can of worms!

What a circus! Now, I know this is an even bigger deal in other places, with even higher stakes, but I live in a relatively tiny little town where we have very few options. There are a handful of "academic" preschools, though many of them turn out to be either not-so-glorified daycares or so expensive I can't actually look at the prices without choking. The other options are all religious preschools, connected to and run by local churches. So I find myself in the odd position of trying to decide to which other church's program to send my son, IF they have space for us. Right now my best hope is to end up on the wait lists for the programs we like and wait and see.

In the meantime, all this visiting of preschools has made me nervous about where J is right now in comparison to all these other letter-identifying, circle-sitting, well-behaved little boys and girls. ACK! So there's the added pressure of feeling like the longer we languish on these wait lists, the farther behind he will fall. Which pressure/feeling I know is RIDICULOUS, but I can't help it! Oh, I know, I could do something productive like teach him the things I fell he's lacking, but we all know teaching the under 15 set anything more than the absolute basics is just not my forte. I chose my profession for a reason, people!

But doesn't he look like a fun kid to have around! Now if I could just convince someone else of this fact!

Dinner is served...again

2011-02-06T16:22:00.002-05:00

It's like all I'm doing lately is cooking or something! I suppose that's an improvement from my norm of not cooking at all, right? My latest discovery is Our Best Bites, "tips, tricks and tastes from two real-life [Mormon] kitchens. Once again, I stumbled onto them from a non-Mormon site, which is good news for the Mormon gals, no?

Today, I made their Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos...sort of. Of course! Here's their recipe, in case you're too lazy or uninterested to click over (though I recommend you do--I took out their editorial comments so if you want the real deal, you should):

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese
small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

And now for my changes, in order:

I used red instead of green salsa because we had it on hand. I used dried grated onions instead of onion powder and I really didn't measure, just shook. I nixed the cilantro because, well, blech. I added more green onions because they're so tasty. And now for the big switches! I used leftover shredded pork pot roast from earlier in the week, but I didn't have two full cups worth, so I supplemented with some leftover rice. And I used about half as much grated cheddar cheese to cut down on the dairy content. AND, the Best Bites women also recommended using flour tortillas for a change of pace, which we did. Voila, pork taquitos with homemade guacamole (my own recipe: avocados, chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions, lime juice, and salt, quantities vary widely depending on my mood)! Sooo good!

There's a debate going on right now on some recipe websites about whether or not you should include all your changes/additions/subtractions to a given recipe and then go ahead and rate the recipe despite all the transformations you did. A VERY vocal minority say doing so shouldn't be done, but I, for one, LOVE all the extra info from real world cooks and I assume you do, too, or else this post has been such a bore for you! If you are one of those unlucky readers, will some gratuitous cute boys pics make up for your wasted time? I hope so!

More good eats

2011-01-30T15:53:00.000-05:00

I attended an impromptu birthday party the other day and was asked at the last minute to bring "a sweet treat without chocolate." I perused one cookbook (my no bake cookie collection--soo useful) and got lemon curd on the brain, but then I decided I wanted to do lemon curd thumbprint cookies if I could find a recipe that wasn't too complicated. Oh my, are the recipes for thumbprint cookies complex? If you want, you can take hours making them, with several "firings" and complicated filling regimes. However, I was successful in locating the kind of recipe I wanted, simple, straightforward, and delicious. And here it is, along with my additions (did you think I wasn't going to make changes??):

Thumbprint Cookies

¼ cup butter, room temperature (or margarine, which I used)
½ cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp milk
¼ cup cornstarch
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup pecans chopped finely (optional)
lemon curd or jam

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together butter, sugar and salt. Beat in vanilla, milk and cornstarch. Stir in flour and pecans if using until just combined.

Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and make a shallow indentation with your thumb. Fill indentation with a bit of curd or jam.

Bake tarts for 12-13 minutes, until cookies just start to brown.

Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 2 dozen.

The party guests declared them a success, and the husband loved them, though J, after expressing all kinds of enthusiasm for "lemon bird" decided in the end he really didn't like them after all. Typical!

The tale of the squirrel

2011-01-25T10:40:00.007-05:00

One night, a few days ago, I woke up in the middle of the night to hear a sound I can only describe as something eating its way through a huge bag of potato chips somewhere in my room. I sat up in bed, the sound kept going, I hit the husband to wake him up, and stage whispered "There's something eating something in our room!"

And then the sound stopped.

A little context is probably in order. I have a history of VERY vivid dreams. Since I've been married, I also have a history of night terrors, seeing things that are not there but being totally sure they are, even though I'm not fully awake. So the husband, after hearing nothing, simple encouraged me to go back to sleep because I was imagining things. And even though I was SURE I wasn't, I've been wrong before. AND, I've been horribly sleep deprived of late, including on that night, so it was totally possible I was hallucinating. By the next morning, I was pretty sure I had dreamed the whole thing.

Until a few nights later, when I was up, actually and fully awake, and I heard the sound again. This time I did not wake up the husband but kept listening, trying to pinpoint the source, and stayed awake LONG after the noise stopped because I am terrified of the kind of creatures I now suspected were living in my bedroom. The next day, I made the husband help me clean out every nook and cranny in our room, looking for a hidden food stash or **gulp** a nest, but we found nothing, nothing chewed or shredded and eaten. Curiouser and curiouser.

Then, a day or two later, I was chatting on the phone with my MIL and I happened to look up...and saw a pile of insulation in the heating vent. AHA! That's exactly what I said, actually, AHA, and I proceeded to tell her the story of the mysterious noises and I started to get an idea of what must have been happening and I was about to state my conclusions when I happened to look behind me. And there, sitting on the bed, staring at me with a horrified look on his face, was J, who had been playing quietly with his dinosaurs, until his mom started talking animatedly about the thing living in his ceiling!!! So immediately I said, with great gusto, "And that is how I know we have a squirrel living in our roof!"

And the myth of the "squirrel" was born. We made up a story about a squirrel looking for warmth, missing his mommy, accidentally trapped in our ceiling. We called the man to come catch the squirrel and send him back to his house outside. While we were waiting for the man, J told the story of the squirrel again and again, to anyone who would listen and many who wouldn't, eventually putting himself in the place of the one who heard the noises and figured out it was a squirrel. And when the man came, the man who said, helpfully, "I mean, I like rats, but there's a time and a place for them" even after I had repeatedly and loudly mentioned the squirrel who was missing his mommy, my talking confused J enough that he stuck with the squirrel story.

And then we sent the husband up in the attic to "check on the squirrel," and he came down with some "trash" that he carried in an empty diaper box. The husband at last pronounced us squirrel free, and we celebrated the squirrel's return to his family.

Now all we have to do is send someone up to repair the damage our squirrel did to our heating system, helpfully during the coldest month of the year. Gimme an R, gimme an A, gimme a T. What does that spell?? Squirrel!
All of the boys, calmly eating chicken quesadillas, New Year's Eve, 2010 BS (Before Squirrel)

Party like it's 2011

2011-01-23T08:37:00.006-05:00

We had J's birthday party, at long last. Note to self: if you must schedule a child's party for 10 days after the actual birth date, don't mention anything to that child until one or two days max before the Party...or deal with the wrath of an undeveloped understanding of delayed gratification! Ooooops!

That little "hipsup" aside (as J says it), the party was a success. We carried the airplane/airport theme through to the decorations (red, white, and blue streamers and balloons), airplane food (individually packaged snacks and small drinks), and entertainment (airplane coloring pages, candy airplanes, and a "sky lounge" card table tent).

The kids had fun eating on the floor and watching Jacob unwrap his presents, lavish ones provided by very generous friends and grandparents. I was amazed at how much he got. Once again, we overbought for him ourselves and those gifts are not still tucked away in the closet.
We only managed to get a few shots of J looking even close to directly at the camera. Here's one right before the doorbell rings announcing the first guest. After this, it was all go go GOOOOOOGOGOOOOGOGOGOGOGOO until he crashed for his nap after everyone left and he had played with all his toys numerous times and had a "candy picnic" on the floor with the husband while I was putting E down for his nap. Can you say sugar rush?

Hard days and nights

2011-01-21T15:18:00.003-05:00

We've been sick as dogs around here this week. No, maybe sicker than dogs, since I haven't seen too many dogs with gobs of green goo streaming from their noses with abandon for days on end (you're welcome for that). J got it first, and we knew whatever it was was sure to be contagious since the allergy meds he's on make it virtually impossible for him to have an allergy attack right now. No, we knew it was a virus of some sort, and we were all soon to be sharing it with him. Baby E was next, and it hit him harder than J, with a fever and a cough and a sore throat and general miserableness. The husband came next, with a deep down chest cold, and I finally succumbed, with many of the same symptoms as everyone else, only my symptoms were/have been compounded by sleeplessness as I've sat up with E to keep him upright enough to breathe and slept with/comforted J when he's woken up stuffy and unhappy. The husband did help out one night, but then E's fever raged out of control, and he couldn't find the Tylenol, so he had to wake me up before my shift to find it. Since I was already up, I took over with E and the sleeplessness continued.

We've discovered that E likes to pucker his lips when he's sick, so he looks like some sort of pathetic Kewpie doll with sick eyes. J, as we already knew, gets even more fragile and emotional when ill, so you can guess the success of our 3 year old visit to the dentist this morning--he allowed the brushing, completely balked at the flossing, and was in tears by the time the exam was over. Hurrah! I am fine-ish, but the lack of sleep is giving me a kicking migraine, so tonight I am planning on crashing with my pal Percocet so that I will get some quality sleep before the first child wakes back up.

Right now, they are both finally asleep, BUT J had a meltdown before his nap and insisted on sleeping not in his room but in E's room on the guest bed, so he's in there, and E is in on my bed, since his crib is out, and I'm up since both boys are now sleeping in somewhat precarious places, given their tendencies to flail about during their sleep, and I'm not sure my carefully constructed pillow fortresses will keep them in. So more not sleeping for me.

Never fear, I have lots to do to occupy my time! J's birthday party is upon us this weekend, so there are some tasks to do for that, and the house needs to be cleaned and recleaned between now and then, of course, and somewhere in here I need to find the bottom of huge pile of stuff on my dining room table so we can actually put the party food somewhere. Oh, and laundry and bills and dinner and all that, too. La la LA, so much fun, I can hardly STAND it! You wish you were me right now, don't you? Come on, admit it!

Good for what ails ya

2011-01-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

I have made a lot of rice recently, to go along with chili (I also made cornbread, good Southern girl that I am) and stir fry and curry, etc. But I've had a lot left over, more than enough to support the leftover main dishes, so I decided to make some rice pudding.

Originally, I was going for coconut rice pudding, but the canned coconut milk I thought I had turned out to be a can of coconut solids, not something edible (it had been there a LONG time, I guess). But then I had coconut on the brain, so here is my recipe (entirely original, after consulting 25 other recipes and not finding one exactly right) for Hint of Coconut Rice Pudding:

2 cups cooked rice (I used Jasmine rice, yum)
1 1/2 cups milk (fat free Lactaid, of course)
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used a combination of golden raisins and crasins)
2 teaspoons vanilla (or so--I really didn't measure this...or anything else, actually)
1/8 teaspoon salt (I read that a "dash" is really 1/8 teaspoon, so there you go)

Combine all ingredients in a pot and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches your desired consistency. Done. (My desired consistency is fairly dry, not at all soupy.)

If I were a good blogger, I would have punctuated this post with stunning photos of my ingredients and mouth-watering finished product, but I am a bad blogger. Sorry! Use your imaginations instead! Here, let me help: I am now eating the pudding (which has turned a lovely shade because of the vanilla and raisins) out of my sons' yellow bowl from Ikea. Go!

True random story: Once upon a time I worked in the bakery of a large restaurant. Among other dessert items, we served "rice pudding," which was really, as far as I could tell, whipped cream with rice in it. I think it might have been topped with a sauce of some sort as well, maybe mango? Anywho, it was, not surprisingly, not too popular. It was a random choice, anyway, in a sea of pineapple upside down cake and guava cake and the like. So, every night, there would always be these glasses of rice pudding leftover (we served it in cut glass goblet-like glasses, for some reason), which I got to eat. And I did, frequently, even though it was the most un-rice pudding like dish on the planet. What is was was SWEET, the perfect end to a day spent making desserts and then setting a gazillion tables and then dealing with spoiled tourists and then slinging dirty plates through a hot, sloshy kitchen.

My current rice pudding is the perfect end to a week of sick kids and sick parents who all need some comfort food. Sigh!

J is turning 3!

2011-01-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

Today you are 3 years old! Happy, happy day! We had the breakfast of your choice this morning: scrambled eggs, ham, toast with honey, and chocolate milk. We had the birthday banner up, and you were confused as to why the cupcakes on it only had one candle each. Luckily, there were three cupcakes, so you were mollified quickly. We went to the Children's Museum, and you loved the ball room and the water tables but were afraid of the 6 foot replica of a shrimp hanging from the ceiling over the model boat. It was a good day, even though it was freezing.

Two was a hard year for us, I think. You became more emotional, as did I, and you spent a lot of the year pushing against restrictions while craving, even demanding routines. At the same time, you learned so very much: how to sing, how to ride your tricycle, how to cook, how to imagine, how to joke, how to say your ABCs, how to go to the potty, how to build a train track, how to dig in the garden...the list really goes on and on. You're still a work in progress, but your progress comes so fast some days it seems like to wake up not knowing how to do something and go to bed an expert.

This year you began to show off an inventive mind. Case in point: we have long read a story to you about dinosaurs (one of many, MANY books we have on your subject of choice) which also discusses other early animals, such as the 13 foot moa, which is now extinct, or, as the books says, "in other words, there are no moa." Recently, while potty training, your daddy asked you if you were done and you looked up at him and said "In other words, there are no moa." You are a verbal DJ, reusing and remixing everything you hear from books or videos and incorporating it into your own speech in creative ways. Just today you have been telling me "Happy news of the year, Mommy!" Your verbal fluency warms the cockles of your English teacher mother's heart!

This year you also met your little brother and though his existence has changed your world dramatically, you are sweet with him, teaching him to hug and walk and play with your toys...sometimes. You still call him "tiny," even though he weighs almost as much as you. I hope you will continue to be as good for his self esteem!

Right now, you have many obsessions: dinosaurs, macaroni and cheese, watermelon, Winnie the Pooh and Curious George, swings, and trains. You also love to draw; you're in a monochromatic phase right now and believe that all your drawings are letters to Santa. In fact, you believe that Santa brings birthday as well as Christmas presents, which is one of the reasons he still requires lots of letters. Today, when I suggested that perhaps it was time to get rid of the gingerbread house from Christmas, you told me you would write Santa and tell him to come get it tonight with his reindeer. Apparently, Santa's duties are many! Today, I also went through some of your baby clothes, getting ready for a garage sale, and I picked out a few of my favorite outfits of yours to save. But I have to say, while I loved baby you, of course, I am more fond of you now, when we can see who you are becoming, hear you learning to be the person you will be, and, hopefully, help you come the best version of yourself.

Right now, I love your unruly hair, your mischievous laugh, your ever growing Southern accent, your eager run up to the stand to get Daddy after Sacrament meeting, your reluctance to wash your hair, your stinky feet, your endless requests to "play on the floor" or "play on the bed," your tendency to walk on your toes, your unsolicited "I love yous," your endless retelling (and embellishing) of stories, your willingness to hug, your ticklish tummy, and your sweet tooth, among many, many other things! Happy Birthday, Toddler J! My blogging birthday present to you is to refer to you only as J from now on. You've made it through the baby and toddler stages with aplomb, to you've graduated to new nomenclature. Like many of the gifts we give you, you won't know about or appreciate this one for years, but that's the fun of these gifts, no? My live birthday presents for you will appear at your party. See you then!

Love, Mommy

The joke's on me

2011-01-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

The other night I was putting E to bed. Which, for now means holding him with music on in the background and randomly zoning out after he finishes his bottle until he calms down and/or falls asleep AND J has reached the "quiet" time in his bedtime ritual. This last part is key because E would and does go off to sleep quickly and well EXCEPT if he hears or sees J, because big brother is just too dang much fun! So. We kill time at night.

This particular night, I was listening to the music, trying to identify the artist (it's Pandora.com, so I could do that with a few clicks) while absently handing E back his bink which kept falling out of his mouth. After a few minutes, I heard what can only be described as a baby chuckle. I looked down and E was staring up at me, bink in the process of dropping out of his hand, waiting to see if I would keep catching it. He was doing it on purpose the whole time, the little stinker, and just couldn't contain his amusement one more second. Once he realized I was aware of what was going on, he started tossing the bink more energetically and laughing uproariously every time I had to bend to pick it up. I think we were witnessing his first independent joke, people! How funny is that?

Here's a shot from bath time, just because.

Chugga chugga, choo choo!

2011-01-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

We had heard that there was this train museum in our local mall, but it seemed so improbable that we hadn't followed up until one cold day this week sent me there in desperation.

And not only was there a museum (which was tiny and kind of sad, really), there was the meeting place of the local model train association. And by "meeting place," I mean huge space where they have all these trains set up all the time and where they all congregate for a few evenings a week and show them off to, as far as I can tell, a clientele that consists exclusively of little boys and their moms and other siblings dragged along for the ride (hello, Baby E!).

This place was amazing for so many reasons. One, the train spreads are quite elaborate, with the trains running on very long tracks, of course, but also trolley cars and regular cars and even circus/midway rides that actually move. The little old members of the club (almost exclusively male and retirees) wear matching chambray shirts and engineer hats and are positively giddy about showing off their little villages. There are also different sized trains and villages, all helpfully labeled so you know the difference between O and N tracks (bigger and smaller, as far as I can tell--the labels weren't really THAT helpful). One village had a midway, as I said, and another was a seasonal Santa's village with a Polar express (and a random Amtrak) zipping through.

Two, they've rigged the tables with buttons (think old school buzzers) that control all sorts of things, from the movement of trolleys and midway rides to horns and whistles to some of the little people in the towns through which the trains are rushing to some of the trains themselves. Some can be operated by kids and some need to be pressed longer by moms to get the full effect, but the little old men were quick to tell me which were which, fairly vibrating with glee as they encouraged J to push as many as he could, as many times as he wanted. The tables are a bit tall, tall enough that J could see into them but not over them, but they have also installed stools throughout the place to make viewing and pushing the buttons easier.

Three, it's free! Oh happy day; free outings in Charleston are few and far between, let me tell you. Southern culture doesn't come cheap!

Four, the train museum and club hangout are open in the evening, so we went there to while away some of those "Daddy is out of town" hours and had a great time. All right, J really had a great time, E was entertaining himself by endlessly tossing a book out of the stroller for me to retrieve, and I was jumping back and forth between stroller and button pushing, but we all were occupied!

All in all, it was a fun evening, followed by a quick trip to Target (I FINALLY found a black pencil skirt that actually fits!) and dinner at the mall (though Baby E almost choked to death in Target, which was NOT fun, what with all the vomit on the floor and turning blue and all. Oh reflux, how I long to be rid of thee!).

Christmas recipes 2010

2011-01-03T08:24:00.005-05:00

I did more cooking for Christmas this year than usual, almost all of which was successful, so I wanted to share some of my recipes, if for no other reason than I need to remember them myself for next time.

First off, I ended up making three loaves of Coconut Lime Banana Bread, following this recipe pretty closely. I do double the amount of glaze she recommends and add more lime juice, and I like to glaze the loaves more than once, the last time while on a platter instead of a rack so the glaze soaks into the bottom of the bread as well. If you like lime and banana, you will LOVE this bread, which is tangy and moist and sweet and topped with the most amazing coconut topping (I also use more than the tablespoon of coconut the recipe calls for, opting instead to cover the whole loaf with an even layer of coconut). Warm it's divine; cooled to room temperature, it's like candy! Yum!

Then I made cornbread stuffing from a recipe basically in my head: I made a batch of corn muffin mix in a 9x9 pan and put it aside to cool. I like corn muffin flavor over cornbread for this because it's sweeter, but I actually used the muffin mix because I had gotten some for free from my friend and needed to start using it up. Next I sauteed in butter (okay, margarine) a large onion, chopped, with three stalks of celery, chopped, and two small apples, peeled, cored, and chopped. I seasoned the vegetable mixture with a little poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, and a dash or two of ground ginger (I could have added more of this, I think). Then I crumbled the corn bread into a bowl and added about a bag and a half of boxed stuffing mix (not the cornbread variety, just plain old turkey stuffing mix) for texture and flavor, though I could have done the same with crumbled old bread and more poultry seasoning. To the crumbled bread I added the vegetables and then mixed the whole with quite a lot of chicken broth. As my mother advised, make it just wetter than you would actually like it to be when you eat it, which is what I did. Into the oven at 350 for 35 minutes and voila, more yumminess!

And, of course, the strata I mentioned earlier. I followed the recipe pretty closely, though I used cheddar cheese and fat free lactaid milk and more bread than it calls for, covering the entirety of my 9x13 baking dish.

And, as I also mentioned earlier, Cranberry-Caramel Chex mix (with no nuts and the addition of white chocolate chips for color), candy cane dipped pretzels, and various kinds of pretzel turtles. All fabulous and yummy!

I declare the holiday baking season a success!

Potty time

2011-01-01T08:18:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! Nothing like starting the new year with potty mouth!

So we (finally) started potty training in earnest last week. We had sticker charts with star, dinosaur, and birthday stickers. We had the promise of dinosaur toys. We had friends and family ready on the phone and Skype to praise progress. We had not one but two new training potties standing by along with an insert for the big toilet we already had. We had brand new big boy underpants and pull-ups by the dozens. We were ready!

And it was AWFUL! By the end of a VERY unsuccessful week, J was in tears every time he had a bowel movement, screaming at me in terror not to "stop my poops, please! Please Mommy, please!" It was, as they say here, pitiful, bless his heart.

By week's end, I was desperately scouring the internet for book recommendations and planning a trip to our local library to check out every possible potty training book they had (when in doubt, research!) and every happy children's book on potties to shower on Toddler J as part of a not so subtle PR campaign for my bereft child. We had made zero progress and, I felt, were probably scarring Toddler J for life with all the negative associations going on. We had had few successes and many "accidents" of epic, smelly proportions that left both of us crying for diapers and one of us scouring more surfaces than should ever be involved in any such endeavor.

And then Monday came. And, somehow, by a miracle of timing, we were able to make some progress and poop in the potty. And, somehow, by a miracle of cognition, J realized that so doing could earn him a dinosaur. And, somehow, by a simple miracle, J decided he could, in fact, do this thing without screaming and crying and combat. By the middle of the week, he was running in to tell me he needed to go and rushing off right after to get his dinosaur prize, pleased as he could be. We're doing things in "sessions," not all at once, to keep the pressure off, but I think we will be lengthening our sessions and moving ahead much more quickly now that he is on board.

Of course, we have had one small problem that remains: the dinosaurs we have been giving him are from Target's dollar spot. They were meant to be prizes for a week of progress but, in desperation, I offered him one when we had made any progress at all. And now, I'm stuck, because he wants one every time and I think we need to stick with what's working for at least two weeks or so, but I am fast running out of dinosaurs and Target no longer stocks them. Oops! Enter Amazon, of course, where they not only sell all kinds of collections of dinosaurs for relatively cheap, they even have similarly sized dinosaur skeletons, and J has recently become fascinated with fossils, so these are also a perfect prize. The whole endeavor will end up costing us more than we planned, but can you really put a price on bathroom independence?? I think not!

Easy as one, two, three

2010-12-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

Happy almost New Year, everyone!

Today we're going to talk about lessons learned from Christmas 2010:

1. Having Christmas at home, just our little family, was actually quite festive and fun. We missed our extended families, of course, but it was so nice to get up and open gifts on our own schedule at our own pace (i.e. all J's gifts, then all E's, then all the husband's, and then all mine, much later) and spend lots of time admiring and playing with one another's gifts.

2. 3 years old is still young enough to appreciate fewer gifts. Because of the grandparents' largess and thoughtful aunts, there were gifts galore, so many, in fact, that J got bored with opening presents, and I spirited away half of our gifts to him behind a chair, and he didn't even blink. Hello, birthday gifts!

3. What children like is a huge mystery, even when they've been very clear about their likes and dislikes all year long. Yes, the T-Rex that roars was a hit and the Kung Zhu pet has been rolling around the house non-stop, but the play-dough machine (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) and the train DVD (thanks Grandeur and Grandest!) have rocked his tiny little world! And the Kung Zhu pet is actually more popular at this point with Baby E, who seems to think it is actually alive.

4. Strata is an awesome Christmas morning choice! Yummy! This one is great because it calls for relatively little cheese and just milk, not cream, so I could use lactose free (and fat free) milk and still eat my own dish without getting incredibly ill. Huzzah! Actually, I think I'll do a Christmas recipe post soon, since I ended up making quite a few dishes, all of which were hits, which is a first (except for the green bean casserole I made under duress, but I had very low expectations for that one and will never make it again anyway, so we're just going to ignore it).

5. Potluck holiday dinners are the only way to go. As with Thanksgiving, we had a potluck dinner. We made stuffing, banana bread, and brought a Marie Calendar's razzleberry pie (my favorite!). We also had spinach salad, turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, and assorted other desserts. But we only had to make some of it. I will never go back to making it all on my own unless we move somewhere where we have absolutely no friends or friends who don't understand the joys of potlucking (though such people would probably never wind up friends with us anyway, most likely!).

6. Christmas decorations, even those very carefully chosen, seem to spiral out of control once you have kids. We started the season with tree ornaments, a nativity scene, and stockings, period. We ended with an advent calendar, a bell wreath, 6 tabletop trees, new stockings (because of the new addition), more ornaments, a new nativity scene (a present we'd hadn't opened last year), and assorted other decorations. I'd never really seen the reason behind decorating my house until there were kids around who were wide-eyed at every Christmas scene they saw in someone else's house, making me feel all sorts of maternal guilt. As ameliorating this particular guilt just entailed shopping, I was right on top of shooing it away! And everything came from discount stores, online deals, or after Christmas sales, so I don't even feel very bad about packing away 4 boxes (!) of holiday stuff.

7. Christmas with kids is FUN! Sign me up again and again!

Christmas/Birthday

2010-12-25T23:20:00.001-05:00

(Don't miss the new video in the previous post!)

I was going to type "I know the goose got fat and all" but then I remembered two years ago, when I alluded to that same rhyme and many, many readers thought it was my subtle way of saying I was pregnant, which I was/am not, so instead, let's begin this way...

I know it's just past Christmas, but ever since I realized that all my Christmas shopping was behind me and most of the wrapping was done, I mentally moved on to other equally pressing matters, such as Toddler J's upcoming third birthday. His birthday happens in early January and will forever sneak up on me if I get caught up in the Christmas rush, so I decided earlier this week to start thinking about what we were going to do for his party.

First, I asked J what he wanted to have at his party. "Airplanes" was his definitive and oft repeated reply. It could be worse, I thought. And off I went to the web to do some research/get some ideas. OY and VEY, my friends, I implore you, NEVER do this! this way lies madness! After looking at a few parties like this one or (Lord have mercy!) this one, you start to feel like the most inadequate mother on the planet and you haven't even made plan one at this point! You know you're in trouble when you read the sentence "PS – yes, that airplane suspended in the air is a cake!"

After I recovered from the shock of all this and came to my senses, I found a few more sites with much more reasonable ideas and began to see the kind of party I could pull off, with a little help from PowerPoint, Oriental Trading Company, Dollar Tree, and the craft store. Details as the party moves from planning to execution. Suffice it to say for now, I am actually planning on having favors for the first time in my life. I know, crazy!

Next, guest list. I asked J who he wanted to come to his party. He immediately named our good friends' two daughters, S and J, ages 8 and 5 respectively. Umm, okay, and who else? Becca (their mom). Right, and who else? What about your friends from nursery? Oh, H can come (a little girl whom Becca also watches). And who else? H's Mommy and Daddy. Okay, and what about J (another girl from nursery)? Yes, J's Mommy and Daddy can come, too. So, apparently, my child thinks all our friends are actually his friends, which is either tragic or convenient. I'm going to go with convenient for now! I'm thinking maybe 4-6 kids and parents, some of whom will hopefully be his age!

On to food. Airplane food and cake, of course! I've already found snack-sized cookies and crackers and will soon locate little water bottles. We're going to have a cake that is blue like the sky with airplanes on it, because I'm not interested in learning how or paying someone else to make an airplane shaped cake!

More as it happens! Stay tuned!

T'is the season (now with video!)

2010-12-19T12:16:00.002-05:00

We had our church Christmas party last weekend. It was a great success, even though I was unnecessarily worried on the organizer's behalf. Having run the show for the last few years, I know how difficult it can be to pull off, so I was happy to see things work out. The food was great, the desserts plentiful, and Santa came to town. What more could we ask?

J participated with the children's group in singing Jingle Bells...sort of. Here's a a video in which you can see his brand of participation. Halfway through, after some coaching by the husband (who is also a star of the show), you can hear him start singing, if you listen very closely, following the beat of his own drummer. Apparently, group singing is a skill he has not yet learned. Who knew?

J was also very excited to see Santa. I asked him what he wanted for Christmas while we were in line, so he could be ready to tell Santa, and he said "a special toy." Done and done! Whew! (In contrast, the older girls behind me were asking for pogo sticks, much to their mothers' chagrin!) He wasn't afraid at all but was all smiles about the visit with Santa.
J has been loving the whole Christmas season, especially the lights. Our town has some very committed decorators, including three houses down the road from us who have built a life sized creche and covered every inch of their houses, yards, and trees with lights. Every time we drive anywhere at night, we see more and more homes who are going all out, and J gets more and more excited, even if he sometimes misses the point: "Look, Mommy! There's Santa and his dog!" Umm, I think that was supposed to be a reindeer, but whatever! I think after all this buildup, Christmas day is going to be overwhelming. We've already decided to put off going to see the professional light show until after Christmas, just to help him cope a bit better. And he's still only gotten half the full anticipation experience, since we haven't put out a single wrapped present under the tree to save him from the temptation to unwrap them or E to eat them. As it is, seeing his very full stocking hanging up is almost more than he can bear!

Choco-lot

2010-12-16T09:54:00.001-05:00

The husband's office Christmas gifts totally took me by surprise this year. I had completely forgotten the 12 or 13 presents we give to the rest of the management staff each year and certainly hadn't remembered that we usually give them out around the time of the office Christmas party...which is today! Ooops! So, on Monday, when I made this realization, I decided we needed to do something that met the following requirements:

--It had to be cheap (hello, recession!).
--But it couldn't look cheap (hello, pride!).
--It had to be fast (I was running out of time quickly).
--It had to be festive (these are holiday gifts, after all).
--And, most importantly, it had to be kid friendly, since my little toddler "helper" was bound to be right by my side the whole time.

Inspired by my sister's post which reminded me of these little beauties, I decided we would do an assortment of pretzel candies. First, we made pretzel turtles with rolos and pecans. J unwrapped all the rolos, tasted the pecans after I toasted them, and sampled the pretzels liberally. Here he is helping in his pajamas. No smiles; he's working!

Then, we made candy cane chocolate pretzels, which are just as easy as the turtles. Take small pretzel twists, dip upside down into melted white or milk chocolate, then dip into crushed candy canes. J did all of this all by himself. A perfect toddler friendly treat! We learned a lot as we dipped, such as less chocolate is more and pulverized candy cane is really the best, but, regardless, these taste great, "surprisingly refreshing" in the husband's words. Finally, we returned to the turtle genre and made double chocolate pretzels, which were square mini-pretzels topped with a Hershey's hug, which we then melted slightly and topped with a green M&M (of course). I would have liked to have gotten a more excited flavor for these, either the mint Kisses or the mint M&Ms but these were nowhere to be found and the peanut butter or coconut M&Ms weren't available or didn't come in holiday colors. Add ribbon, cheap cellophane gift bags, and a gift tag and done and done!

Next year, I'll plan ahead and have an assortment of flavored chocolate on hand to do these again, because I am in love with how the little assortments all turned out, and with a preschooler and another toddler in the mix again, I think these will be just right for us once more!

How being a bad mother got me mistaken for a terrorist

2010-12-13T12:56:00.003-05:00

It's been (un?)seasonably cold around here lately, temperatures below freezing, which, for us, is virtually unheard of. Among other realizations having to do with my children's total lack of appropriate cold weather gear, I've come to realize that having kids in the winter, real winter, takes MUCH more time than I'm used to. I thought I had this leaving the house with two kids thing wired, but all the extra accessories has meant getting out the door is a 20 minute affair, minimum. I've become even more of a hermit than usual as a result and am even more loathe to get the kids out of the car when we do leave.

Case in point: I went to the post office last week to mail Christmas packages to my family. As I drove past the post office, I saw that every single parking space was filled, which meant there would be a huge line inside and controlling my kids was going to be a trial and a half while we waited. So, I chose the path of least resistance and drove right past the post office to the UPS store in the next strip mall. This sleepy little store was deserted when I drove up, so I parked right in front, parallel to the strip, left my car running with the hazards on, and said to Toddler J, "Mommy will be right in there, 20 feet away, and I will be back in 2 minutes. You will be able to see me the whole time." To which he shrugged and said "Okay" and went back to reading his dinosaur book. Baby E, meanwhile, had fallen asleep on the way over, so he slept blissfully on, yet another reason not to get everyone out of the car.

I went in to the store and things were going smoothly, until my cashier decided it was really better to repackage my two boxes into one, and then she had to delete the first transaction but didn't know how, then she got the address wrong, then she had to reprint, and suddenly my two minute errand was stretching on and on. I kept looking outside at the car, watching J, who would look up from his book periodically and glance at me but then go back to reading.

As the woman's incompetence continued to spiral out of control and more and more customers and additional cashiers arrived, I must have gotten increasingly fidgety, because all of the sudden, the owner stopped in front of me and said sternly, "you look nervous." I motioned outside at the car and said "my kids are out there" and looked back at him. When I saw his expression, I realized that one, he wasn't questioning me idly, two, he was standing an inordinately large distance away from me, and three, this man genuinely thought I was about to go postal on his establishment or was shipping a bomb or worse. I laughed lightly and repeated myself, nervously mumbling something along the lines of "just the kids out there, nothing else going on, hahahaha, just don't want to leave them in the cold too long..." resisting the urge to say something like "And no, I'm not mailing anthrax" since I was pretty sure that wouldn't help the situation. He nodded curtly and walked away but kept his eye on me the whole time I was there, another several minutes because of his crappy cashier.

Moral of the story: mail your Christmas packages early! (What, you thought it would be something else?? Silly!)

Decking the halls

2010-12-08T10:16:00.006-05:00

We trimmed our tree this week, during one of Baby E's naps. At first, I was bummed because I didn't get any pictures of Toddler J while he worked, but that was before I realized that tree (re)decorating is going to be a daily event at our house this season!

Luckily, back when we first got married and had to decorate a tree, I decided then and there I only wanted to buy unbreakable ornaments. I didn't know it would be so long before we had children, but I knew that when we did have them, I didn't want to be fighting them every Christmas. Turns out, this was a brilliant move, because now I can walk around the house, devil may care, and not worry when I hear ornaments dropping off the tree with regularity. Toddler J has been VERY excited about decorating and just can't control himself, so he rearranges constantly. We actually do have a few breakable ornaments (many from my parents that were on our trees as children, ironically) but they are still in their boxes and won't make an appearance for several more years.

Our only design rule is that all ornaments have to be at least 2 feet off the ground, to save them from Baby E. We did leave him the set of fleece snowmen hanging on the bottom branches, which he promptly ripped off the tree the first time he saw it. They now lie in a sort of snowman graveyard (or its it purgatory?) underneath until J throws E a bone and rehangs them every once in a while. E spends most of his time trying to reach those ornaments that are just...out...of...reach. He's very determined but so far unsuccessful. It helps that he can't stand, of course!

So, tree trimming shots forthcoming, but here are some tree buying shots (why yes, I have discovered photo effects; so much fun!):

Baby E time

2010-12-05T12:49:00.001-05:00

Time for an E update!

E is still growing. At his recent 9 month appointment, he was close to 29 pounds and 29 inches, still 97th percentiles all around. At his last ENT appointment, he elicited oohs and ahhs and comparisons to everyone's older grandchildren, nephews, and sons. He wears 18 month clothes generally and 24 month sleepers and he's fast growing out of those. At least he's a cute HUGE!

E has also become more mobile, finally. But, like the independent boy he's proving to be, he disdains crawling in favor of sitting straight up and scooting on his tush, moving himself by pulling forward on the ground with his feet. Surprisingly, he's pretty fast now that he's been going for a few weeks. It's opened up a whole new world for him. Put him down (and he'd really prefer that you did, thanks), and he's off, chasing J around the house (even when J isn't interested in running), finding new places to get into (the laundry room is a favorite, as is the pantry) and new things to eat (he will put ANYTHING into his mouth, so we've upped our sweeping game around here to compensate).

Baby E is also very responsive, babbling back when you talk to him, matching your tone when you match his, and laughing when you laugh. Or, more precisely, laughing when J laughs. E thinks there is nothing funnier than his older brother and, thankfully, so far J thinks E is pretty great, too. J always runs in to help me get E up from his naps, shouting "E! We're so glad you woke up!" J's also good for E's self esteem, since he still refers to E as "so tiny" and "our new baby." And E loves, loves, LOVES his daddy. The husband's been away for a business meeting and tried to call us on Face Time, the iPhone's answer to Skype. It was great to see him for J and me but torture for E, who couldn't understand why daddy wasn't picking him up and started crying inconsolably after about a minute. It was a short call!

Having two kids, while filled with even more moments of insanity (bad dreams and night wakings at the same time, anyone?), is fun. They are now just able to play together, which means they can occupy themselves for chunks of time, which is blissful, in that I can take a shower or wash some dishes once in a while. Funny how now that seems like nirvana!

More J-isms

2010-11-29T21:11:00.004-05:00

So my week of gratitude idea flopped royally: the husband was gone most of the week, the boys and I all got sick at various times, and I cleaned the house a LOT because I decided to host Thanksgiving for 8 adults, 4 kids, and 3 babies under 1. So, umm, while I was and am thankful for much, you will just have to infer most of it.

I can, however, tell you that today I am thankful for Toddler J and his ever increasing ability to speak. I am not a good mother to babies, I have decided. I don't talk to them enough, don't stimulate their growing minds with quality offerings, don't feed them literally and figuratively with choice morsels, etc., etc., etc. BUT, while I may still not be a particularly good mother, I am a much happier mother with a talking toddler. Reason, while still in its early stages, has finally returned to my house, and we are all the better for it. While J's pronunciation is, shall we say, quixotic, his ability to express himself and articulate, more or less, his needs, has improved our interactions dramatically. Talking to someone WHO CAN TALK BACK and, just as important, wants to talk back, really is the bee's knees, my friends, whereas babbling on to a baby just made me crazy. As a bonus, now I am sure that Baby E is getting much more exposure to language than his brother before him (though that lack of exposure certainly doesn't seem to have stymied him much after all). So, some recent gems...

After dinner at Chick-Fil-A: "My balloon is going to get out of my car and say 'How dark it is!'"

While trying to get said balloon on his own at the counter: "I was hanging on a big shelf and no one would hear me."

After I asked him why he couldn't do something one day: "It was too big a job for one little boy."

On a warmish day after a cold spell: "This is the hottest day in five years!"

When explaining himself: "I are freezing so I needed just one candy."

A frequent plaintive request involving his younger brother: "Can we read on the couch? And you make E. not grab the book?"

While looking over my shoulder at a recipe in a women's magazine: "We need to make these cookies with candy in them. I think you will like them a lot."

After finding a pad of paper on which I often write shopping lists, while bustling around the room: "Where is the library? Where are the houses? We need to buy all these numbers."

Later, while still carrying that same pad of paper: "On my shopping list I have food: oranges and eggs and food. I need to go to the dollar store."

As you can see, one of the results of this increase in language has been a little light shining on some of my own habits, which is entertaining, if a tad frightening. For example, J has taken to telling E "You're driving me NUTS" whenever E tries to swipe a toy. Hmmm, I wonder where he heard that? J also expresses himself VERY dramatically. When something isn't operating correctly, he moans "This is NEVER EVER going to work." When he is told to apologize for misbehaving, he says emphatically "I am going to NEVER do that again!" And he begins almost any story by telling you the bad part first, as in his description of a trip to a dinosaur museum. Even now, a month later, when telling the tale, he begins "And I didn't want to leave! But we had to go and I didn't WANT to! And we saw a T-rex with big teeth and a long tail and funny ears and there was a skeleton and it was big and there was a picture of a stegosaurus and a head of a dinosaur I did not know very well....etc." AND, perhaps most telling of all, J never met a story he didn't want to tell, again and again, ad infinitum. Does any of this remind you of anyone???

A week of gratitude, Day 1

2010-11-18T15:54:00.006-05:00

Thanksgiving is a week away, so, here, in the spirit of the season, are a few of the things we're thankful for this week, from the ridiculous to the sublime.

DVD players, playing all our favorites: Charlie Brown, Pink Panther, Caillou, Veggie Tales, Max and Ruby, and all gazillion episodes of The Land Before Time (seriously, how many ARE there of these?).

Our local county park with its newly renovated playground and its fabulous annual festival of lights, complete with merry-go-round and fire pits for s'mores.

SC weather: it's 65 degrees and sunny right now, thank you very much!

Craigslist. Anyone want a slightly used set of Pfaltzgraff Ocean Breeze dinnerware, service for 8?

Oversharing 101

2010-11-17T10:13:00.000-05:00

Warning: The following post is about all things GI. Leave now if you need to.

As some of you know, I've been struggling with an ongoing digestive problem, perhaps stemming from my ill-fated milk consumption in Guatemala, perhaps stemming from a generally messed up GI system and bad genes. But lately, I thought things were looking up. I no longer had amoebas, I could tolerate some dairy, the offending gall bladder was excised, I was no longer pregnant or planning to become so, and I figured my system would slowly start to heal. I was wrong.

Since having my gall bladder removed, I've been to the ER not once but twice, once for excruciating pain of unknown origin, and once just last month, for uncontrollable vomiting. After the first trip, I returned to my GI surgeon in late summer, who ordered a battery of tests (and then lost the results) and referred me to another kind of GI specialist, whose first available appointment was mid-November, which was then changed to mid-December. Aggravating.

And then I ended up back in the hospital, and I got really angry. Well, first I was really, really sick, but then I was angry. And I kept calling this new specialist's office until I finally got someone new and sympathetic and resourceful, who rescheduled me with another doctor for an appointment last week. Do you hear the heavenly choruses singing? My plan was to arrive at the office with printouts of all my test results, with all the questionable results highlighted, so we could avoid wasting "well, let's review your case" time and necessitating yet another meeting.

And yet, still, we wasted time, and the doctor was late even though his office called and asked me to come in early...so I could wait for him for LONGER? And after semi-listening and giving me lectures about physiology in virtual baby talk and poking my tummy a bit, he decided I had...wait for it...IBS. Umm, Doc, that's doctor talk for "we have no idea what's wrong." But he was so sure of his diagnosis, he was ready to prescribe me...wait for it again...anti-depressants. Umm, Doc, that's tantamount to saying "we have no idea what's wrong, but we're pretty sure you're imagining things" and that's just plain insulting.

Upshot? No resolution and still in GI limbo. LAME!

Boy talk

2010-11-15T07:56:00.001-05:00

Oh, the joys of these boys! E is teething interminably and now is waking up consistently in the middle of the night when his Tylenol wears off. He either goes right back to sleep as long as he is cuddled up with me OR he really needs second dose and then stays awake for 45 minutes until it kicks in and/or exhaustion wins. Either way, both of us have been having a string of sleep-deprived nights. SIGH! And just as he and I are spending all this quality nocturnal time together, E has become even more enamored of the husband, crying out the minute he sees him and protesting loudly when he is not being held by the husband if he's around. Twice in two days the husband walked into E's room where I was hanging out with the boys after E's nap and surprised us, and the next day, E was visibly disappointed when I showed up to get him with out bringing Daddy along.

Meanwhile, J is becoming a bit of a handful. He has been taken out of nursery or we've been brought in for both of the last two weeks. The first time, the husband was called because J was standing in the middle of the room screaming uncontrollably. We think it had something to do with not wanting to share a toy, but when questioned, J told the husband he was yelling because he "missed Daddy." Today, J was taken out just a few minutes early, but still, and told me he didn't want to share a train (though when he told the story to the husband later, he changed his tune and said he "just missed Mommy and didn't want her to miss him." Where does he get the spin from, I wonder?

Sadly, J's problems are multiple: he is napping less and less and fighting harder and harder not to sleep; he is asserting his own authority more and more; he still struggles with sharing, obviously; and he is addicted to candy (Thank you very much, Halloween. You and I are in a fight.). Oh, and potty training is imminent. Yay!

But they're so cute, despite it all!

Home sweet home

2010-11-05T21:32:00.001-04:00

As you may have guessed from the preceding letters, we just got back from a family vacation to UT. I didn't post at all while I was gone, in a fit of paranoia after last vacation's robbery, but our house weathered our absence well, and we are all home now, though we didn't all arrive at the same time.

You see, we went for the husband's grandmother's 99th birthday celebration (Hi, Grandma Van!). It was a grand affair, with good food, lots of cousins, and the decorating of edible haunted houses. (Toddler J has never been a part of this annual event, but he caught on right away. Imagine gingerbread houses made out of chocolate graham crackers and slathered in chocolate icing affixing all manner of candy and creepy crawlies and cookies and even actual branches to the outside and you're on the right track.) The husband's schedule meant he could come for the weekend, but then he had to return home while the boys and I stayed a while longer to enjoy both sets of grandparents.

Highlights of our visits included, in addition to the haunted houses, trips to the aforementioned Kangaroo Zoo, the real Hogle Zoo, and the Ogden Treehouse, seeing a huge pumpkin patch, visiting numerous playgrounds, pumpkin carving, outlet shopping, and the consumption of more chicken nuggets than Toddler J had ever seen. We had lots of fun, Baby E's ears and J's fever and stomach virus notwithstanding (though I could have done without his throwing up on my head in bed). The weather was great, with snow and even cold holding off until really the last two days we were there. We also got to see cousins and aunts and uncles galore, play with lots of quality toys we don't have at home, and be the center of attention for a good 10 days. I even got to make a pilgrimage to Ikea (where only the fact that I was flying home kept me from buying out the place) and a fabric store and, of course, we visited the LDS distribution center to stock up on the essentials.

On top of all that, our anxiety producing solo trip home was actually quite painless, with just a minor bit of confusion involving the shuttle bus and a gate mix up at O'Hare. The boys performed like traveling champs, both sleeping at some point on the plane and both managing not to ruin their clothes or mine while amusing themselves endlessly with stickers and plastic cups.

All that said, we were/are very happy to be home. The boys still haven't gotten over the fact that Daddy appears here EVERY SINGLE DAY, though their cases of hero worship began long before we left, of course. Pictures from the actual vacation forthcoming, as soon as we work out a little uploading issue, but, in the meantime, here are some shots from the day we were packing to go:

Here we are trying on our winter hats.

And here we are taking a break from all that fashion with a little wrestling!

Letters from my vacation Part 3

2010-11-02T15:58:00.005-04:00

Dear Shade Corp.,

I am so very sorry that you are going out of business. I had heard the rumors but couldn't believe they were true. I couldn't believe that the very first (or at least most famous) modest undershirt company was throwing in the towel, especially now, when modest clothing sites and lines seem to be taking off in a certain segment of society. I mean, I could have told you that charging $20 a pop was perhaps a bit steep, given the $10 quality and that foray into pants and dresses was simply misguided, but hindsight, right?

But I must say, I was DELIGHTED to stumble upon your warehouse sale, tucked into a nondescript space behind Kangaroo Zoo (What? Not familiar with the jump castle paradise for the younger set? Pity.). I had received cryptic hints of its existence from my mother: "Ummm, your sister went to some outlet store around here somewhere...and then your sister-in-law went, too...they may have been selling clothes, yes, but where could it be...let's drive back here and look!" Amazingly, we found the sale, and it was the fastest $20 I spent while on my vacation. So you were mostly sold out of the smaller sizes. I'm an XL in your ridiculously tight shirts! And the fact that the already low prices had been knocked down to $2 each for the "larger" sizes was just a bonus! So you had a strange assortment of colors. That's my favorite shade of green; I bought two!

I know you must be sad at the turn of events (though your warehouse checkout folks were remarkably chipper, truth be told), but I am uber pleased to have found you.

Wishing you luck in your future endeavors,

Me

Letters from my vacation Part 2

2010-11-01T11:55:00.003-04:00

Dear Random Urgent Care in Pleasant Grove, UT,

While on vacation recently, I noticed that Baby E seemed to be sleeping less and less and pulling on his ear more and more, so I headed out your way to get him checked out. See if you understand why the following conversation made me crazy:

Them--"Because you're out of state, we're going to have to charge you the full amount right now. I'm so sorry!"

Me--"Fine."

Them--"I mean, you have Blue Cross but it's not based in Utah, so it won't take long to get sent to your insurance."

Me--"Fine."

Them--"Don't worry; this will all get worked out quickly, okay hon?"

Me--"Fine."

Them--"So as soon as you're done, we're gonna have to charge you the full fee, okay?"

Me--"Fine."

Cut to post visit (during which we found out Baby E had a double ear infection--happy trails to you!):

Them--"I'm so sorry, but that's going to be $100...."

Me--"Fine/"

Them--"Like I said, this should happen quickly. If it doesn't, here's a number to call. I am sure your insurance will cover most if not all of this, so don't worry, okay hon?"

Me--"Fine."

Now, I know there are upset people out there, particularly those who have a need to use urgent care, but I am clearly NOT one of them. All I said was "Fine," because it really was fine with me. I was going to pay whatever it cost; I wasn't worried that my insurance would or would not cover it; I had money in the bank enough to cover that and quite a few other charges should the need arise; I realized I was out of state going in or else I wouldn't be visiting an urgent care in the first place. So just tell me what I need to pay and bill my insurance and leave it alone, okay? Save your conciliatory escalation language for someone else, yeah? It will save us both a lot of time!

Best wishes in your continued urgency,

Me

Letters from my vacation Part 1

2010-10-28T16:56:00.003-04:00

Dear TSA,

I understand what you are doing, and I support you, really, I do. But I don't understand your, and I use the word loosely, logic.

On your website, you state the following:

When traveling with your infant or toddler, in the absence of suspicious activity or items, greater than 3 ounces of baby formula, breast milk, or juice are permitted through the security checkpoint in reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary, if you perform the following:

1. Separate these items from the liquids, gels, and aerosols in your quart-size and zip-top bag.
2. Declare you have the items to one of our Security Officers at the security checkpoint.
3. Present these items for additional inspection once reaching the X-ray. These items are subject to additional screening.

Fine, I did exactly this. I separated out my baby food into a gallon zip-top bag and alerted officials. In Charleston, my items were then taken out and scanned individually with the little wand and the tiny squares of cloth, I was asked whom I was traveling with, and the husband was then patted down...? Okay, fine, but why the husband? Makes no sense, if the baby food is really the suspicious substance. But whatever, this little escapade took very little time, even though it left my 2 1/2 year old wandering around behind security by himself since the husband was holding him at the time he was told to step over for further inspection, and I was holding the baby and gathering up our things just then. No big deal, just a tad aggravating.

Cut to two weeks later, when I was traveling home alone with the boys. In Salt Lake, I did exactly the same thing, letting the officials know about my bag of baby food. I have a very healthy 8 month old who eats between 4 and 6 jars of baby food a day, so I had packed 3 along with 2 individual containers of applesauce, which could double as emergency rations for Toddler J in a pinch. In addition, I was using some tiny frozen juice boxes to keep Baby E's antibiotic cold (more about his double ear infection later!), which could also double as J rations when needed. This troubling package got all of us sent to a glass room for a pat down. They let me continue to hold Baby E but barked at Toddler J both when he tried to sit down in the chair in our little glass room and when he wandered over to the door while I was being examined. Because it's TOTALLY reasonable to expect a 2 1/2 year old stand still in an aquarium room for an indeterminate amount of time, however short the duration.

Pat down over, I was released to collect my things, which I did, putting E in the stroller and holding onto J's hand while we got our shoes back on. But where was my bag of baby food? The man who took it was gone, and no one else told me anything until I finally flagged down a man in a suit with a badge, whom I assumed was some sort of supervisor. He directed me to another area where my food was being scanned. And when I say scanned, I mean meticulously, painstakingly slowly, with some sort of device being run slowly over every single surface of every single item in my plastic bag while I stood there holding J's hand and pushing E back and forth, hoping he would forget that it was time for his bottle. Many minutes later (who knows how many, but long enough that we were all antsy), one of my containers of applesauce was deemed suspect and tossed without a word. Just one, not two.

In the meantime, I was told I would need to be patted down. But, I said, I just was, over there, in that glass room. Do I need to do so again? Who did it, they asked? Umm, some woman? I said. A woman with dark hair and a ponytail? (I thought it was a miracle I remembered that much, honestly.) What? they said. Who? Her, I exclaimed as she walked by, randomly. Did you examine her, they asked. Yes, she confirmed. Did you do a thorough exam, for someone who has questionable items, including her legs? Umm, no, she said. So she told me to let go of J and put my arms out and get patted down yet again, this time including my suspicious legs.

Eventually, we were done and off. But, sheesh, the whole process took so long and was so arduous. And really, I don't understand any of it.

Yours in confusion,

Me

Chopsticks

2010-10-11T07:19:00.000-04:00

One of our afternoon excursions was a visit to the local Asian(ish) grocery store (I say that because there's also a row of Latino products). This establishment is a new addition to the area, and while it's not exactly close, in North Charleston, it's the only one of its kind, so we're happy it's here. J refers to this store as the one with the bad fish smell, and he's right. The store is quite utilitarian, BUT they have products a transplanted Hawaiian girl like myself can't live without, like mochi crunch, seed, and frozen manapua (if you don't know what any of that is, you probably wouldn't like it!). In addition, we buy assorted necessities not readily available elsewhere, like coconut milk in bulk, assorted canned curries, won ton wrappers, and the best authentic sauces money here can buy.

On this visit, we scavenged around, looking for anything new or different, especially bento accessories (of which there were none; foiled again!). We tried to have a bottle in the little eating area, only to be booted because we weren't ordering food, which seemed a little much to me, but I was willing to leave and assembling my stuff...until it turned out we were having a translation problem and the woman only wanted to know if I was planning on ordering and didn't care if we sat there or not. We used the bathroom, which unaccountably smelled like mothballs, only "smelled" is too tame a word for what happens to a six by six foot space when you put a jar with at least a hundred mothballs in it under a toilet! We sampled random chewy candy, in berry and apple flavors, which was sweet but not sweet enough to be marketed to your average American.

Oh, did I mention it was raining outside? Buckets! We spent a LONG time at the grocery, because it was simply too wet to even think about going outside with the two kids. Eventually, there was a small lull when the downpour became a shower, and, even though this wasn't ideal, I had to take my shot. The fish smell did not, surprisingly, fade into the background the longer we were there. Once in the parking lot, I fed E and let J most of the rest of the candies and then climbed into the front seat to avoid getting out in the once again torrential precipitation.

Never a dull moment on our little adventures. Or, many, many dull moments. I'm having a hard time telling those apart these days!

Books and bread

2010-10-09T08:25:00.003-04:00

We are deep into our month from heck. By next week Friday, the husband will have had 5 trips in 30 days, which means he has been gone a LOT. The kids and I have developed a sort of routine for the days he's gone, most of which centers around doing things in the late afternoon, to distract us from his after work absence and to psych myself up for the solo ordeal of bath and bedtime.

Yesterday, our trip of distraction was a visit to the Charleston County Public Library annual book sale. I LOVE this event! It's two football fields of books on tables with great prices and great selection. 1.00 for hardback and .50 for paperback kid's books--you can't do better! Last year, I took Toddler J, but it was a bit of a disaster. He was too old to want to stayed strapped in the stroller and too young to sit in a corner and read. Yesterday morning, I left J with his favorite babysitter and took E on a whirlwind tour of the children's books. At 7 1/2 months, he was much more amenable to sitting quietly while Mommy rushed around, picking up books left and right.

And pick them up I did! Last year, my focus was board books, but we have enough of those. This year, I knew we had some favorite authors and characters to look for. I ended up getting lots of books about Babar, Curious George, the Berenstain Bears, and Winnie the Pooh, not to mention books by Dr. Seuss, holiday books, books about animals, and lots of great books about DINOSAURS, of course.

But did I go to the sale just once? Oh no, we all went back in the afternoon! Toddler J was great this time, running ahead of me, picking out books, bringing them back to Baby E, even letting me get some trade paperbacks for myself, something I hadn't had time for in the morning (1.00 a piece!). Next we walked across the street to the library (to check out DVDs, of course; we had plenty of books!) and then headed over to a nearby bakery for something to drink. Charleston is ranked as one of the country's most walkable cities, and I suppose it is, IF you live downtown and IF you have a really rugged stroller (which we do!) and are feeling particularly intrepid (which we were!), so we got to the bakery despite reaching where the sidewalk ended on our way. Once there, we got Orangina (yum), day old bread (sourdough boules), and, what Toddler J gasped when he saw the pastry case, "little cakes" (three layer chocolate brownie cheesecake ganache, selected by J himself--good genes!).

Good food and LOTS of books! It was an awesome afternoon with the boys!

Fairy tales can come true

2010-10-01T08:20:00.005-04:00

Toddler J recently had a fantastic encounter.

No wait, maybe mythic is a more accurate term. And no, I am not talking about his meeting with the Chick-Fila cow, who showed up at story time at the library yesterday and brought all the preschoolers chicken biscuits, because, of course, what goes better with stories than fried chicken at 10:30 in the morning?

No, I am referring to his mystical, magical encounter with...wait for it...the Binky Fairy! At our trip to the dentist, the dentist, her hygienist, the receptionist, the guy who cleans the toilets, basically everyone and anyone who was there told us we had to get rid of the pacifier and, wasn't it fortunate, they believed in the Binky Fairy! She would come in the night and take away all the binkies and leave a HUGE surprise and J would officially be a Big Boy!! HURRAY!!

Easy for them to say. On the other hand, I was ready to get rid of the binks and decided this method was as good as any other. So I started the campaign.

Step one: get and stay SUPER excited about the prospect of the Binky Fairy appearing. I mean REALLY excited. Really, reallyreallyreallyreally. Oh, the enthusiasm! It exuded from every pore. I was the Enthusiasm Fairy, for crying out loud!

Step two: take Toddler J to the store and discuss what kind of prize the Binky Fairy might bring. He was into the idea of getting a big prize but very reluctant to consider losing the binks. But then we saw the green dragon. And suddenly, he was more into the idea!

Step three: find the dragon for cheaper online. The Binky Fairy is not made of money, folks. She is a bargain shopper. She's got a lot of kids to placate! Luckily, I found it (Lalalala Amazon), but while I was on the hunt, I also found a car shaped like a triceratops skeleton. The head and the ribs open up and hold things. Omigosh, a car shaped like a dinosaur that you can fill with things?? THIS is what my dinosaur and container obsessed child needs. So I got both. Because I'm a sucker.

Step four: bite the bullet and initiate the plan. Decide on a Friday night and enthusiastically prepare J all week and then hope for the best. (At one point, he said seriously "Mommy, I don't want a dragon. I want...ummm...I want...a...dinosaur car!!" Done and done. Don't mess with the Binky Fairy, son!) Try to find all the binks in the house and curse the fact that your child has hidden caches somewhere you can't uncover. Hope he's forgotten about them. Come in Saturday morning and gush about the presents the Fairy left and how big a boy he is. Play with the dragon (which walks and roars on its own and is STILL less exciting than the car) and have the husband gush and have other relatives gush over Skype and the phone throughout the weekend. Wait for the other shoe to drop.

Step five: look incredulously at your child later on that weekend when you look over your shoulder in the car and see he has a bink, even though you thoroughly cleaned the car to prevent just such an occurrence. When asked where he got it, Toddler J said "In the garden." Oh, of course, the garden! The only other flaw in our plan, besides the garden cache, was the fact that J wanted to sleep with his new finds, in lieu of his binkies. Hmmm, now why didn't I realize that this might happen? Duh! Now, which to allow into bed, the spiky dinosaur or the pointy dragon? Two evils, much?

Step six: allow yourself cautious optimism when you make it through Sunday without a meltdown.

Step seven: nod knowingly when Monday nap time disintegrates into a screaming, sobbing mess as the loss sets in, finally.

Step eight: wait out the rest of the week with held breath and then, at long last, throw away the last of the pacifiers and declare the Binky Fairy visit a success. Sigh. Loudly.

No, not my Binky!!

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh, alright.

Baby love

2010-09-27T17:49:00.004-04:00

It's time for a Baby E post, isn't it? In the last two or three weeks, E has taken some enormous cognitive and physical development leaps, coming more and more into his own. He can now sit up on his own, has been able to do so since before our trip to North Carolina, and likes to play with toys, as long as you put them in reach. His favorite "toys" are silicone cupcake holders, his rubber-coated metal baby spoons, his brother's wooden stacking train toy, and his own pacifiers. Yes, he is spoiled!

E is very vocal, much more so than his brother was at this age. He likes to sing to himself in the car (where he gets to play with an actual toy, his beloved caterpillar, a gift from Aunt Karen and Uncle Doug) and hoot while standing in his exersaucer. He laughs easily, particularly at any and everything done by Toddler J. Baby E already has a clear case of hero worship, I'm afraid! J insists that E is talking to him, and he very well might be when I'm not around; you never know.

Baby E looks less and less like a baby every day. He is now a robust 25 pounds and is wearing 18 month clothes pretty consistently. He eats twice a day, two full stage 2 containers of baby food augmented with cereal each time, along with as many baby rice crackers as I will give him. He really, REALLY wants to eat whatever we're eating and thus adores his rice crackers, because they look a lot like our food. I can't wait until it's time for him to eat cheerios and the like. He already has five teeth, three on top and two on bottom, but there is evidence of quite a few more just about ready to come in, at least on the top. I would feed him more, and he would eat it, but his reflux continues to plague him, and his system just can't handle as much food as he would like.

E is a champion sleeper still, sleeping through the night with very little protest in the night. Left to his own devices, he would sleep until 7am, but, sadly, J wants to get up any time between 5 and 6am and usually yells enough to rouse poor E. He will go right back to sleep if allowed to snuggle with one of his parents, which is nice, because I am going to do everything in my power to prevent yet another insanely early riser from dogging my mornings!

Tomorrow is E's surgery to correct his tongue-tiedness (or Ankyloglossia, to be more precise). He will be under "light" general anesthesia for a little while but should be able to eat as soon as he wakes up, which will be good, because he is not allowed to eat before his 7am surgery. Wish him luck!

Toddler J speaks again

2010-09-21T17:27:00.002-04:00

More J-isms from the last few weeks:

Happily, after being rescued from falling off the back of a bean bag chair: "Mommy, you're a good helper."

Excitedly, while wandering around with either the husband's motorcycle helmet on backwards or a stocking cap on his face, usually while bumping into walls or trash cans: "Where I going?? Where I going?"

Definitively, after a nap: "I was just sleeping, Mommy. I was just resting my legs under the blanket."

During sacrament meeting, when another child yells loudly, the noise echoes off the cement walls. Twice now, the first time with lots of concern, the second time much more off-handedly: "There's a boy trapped in the wall!"

Plaintively, when trying to get me to stay in his room after lights out: "But I love you, Mommy. Please don't go! PLEASE stay with me!"

Enthusiastically, when greeting Baby E after one or the other wakes up from a nap: "Who is it? Baby E!" (I always say to them "Look who it is?" when they greet each other at times like these.)

Confusedly, after finding a small dinosaur toy at a restaurant: "What is this?" (It's a dinosaur.) "Can I eat it?" (No, it's not food; it's a toy.) "Oh...how WONDERFUL!"

During one of his VERY early morning playing sessions.

Apple(s) of my eye

2010-09-14T09:49:00.005-04:00

Where does the time go??

A little while ago, we took a short family trip to NC to go apple picking. It was our first overnight car excursion since Baby E arrived. As far as excursions go, the trip was a success. As far as overnights go, well, umm, we learned a whole lot for next time!

We went to Sky Top Orchard in Henderson County, NC, about 4 hours away. We left at noon, taking advantage of the kids' nap times, and, while Toddler J only slept an hour, Baby E slept for over two, which was great. We stopped at a mall in Spartanburg for a mid-afternoon bottle and snack and stretch-our-legs activity. J found an old coin operated rocket that was rickety enough that it moved/shook on its own when he jumped around in it, so he was amused for half an hour or so while E ate. We then took a short detour to a dollar store in the mall to find ibuprofen and a book for bedtime stories (the two things I forgot), exactly the sorts of things you expect to find in a dollar store, though why there happened to be one in this mall is beyond me.

We stopped a short time later at our hotel. We stayed in a perfectly serviceable Days Inn in Tryon, NC, a town that contains a grocery store, a few restaurants, a hotel, a gas station, and a laundromat, as far as we could tell. The one playground turned out to be broken down and all the shops closed at 5pm, as the husband and J discovered later that evening when they went out to find something to do. Luckily, a malfunctioning water fountain provided enough amusement!

Then began the longest evening of our life. Bathtime and stories when swimmingly, but things derailed after that. We had a crib provided by the hotel but thought J could just sleep on one of the queen beds blocked in with pillows on one side and furniture on the other and Baby E could sleep in the crib. How wrong we were! The freedom of the big bed was just too much for J, who got up and out and then, once I was sleeping with him in an attempt to engender calm, he simply could not close his eyes. He talked, he sang, he ranted, he rolled, he flopped, he cajoled, he connived, he bargained. Eventually, fed up, the husband picked him up and dropped him unceremoniously into the crib, at which point he cried for 10 minutes... and then went right to sleep. Meanwhile, I had gotten Baby E to sleep (and managed to keep him there during the crying) on one side of one of the beds, so the husband fell into the other and we all finally slept like the dead.

The next morning, we got up late, for once, enjoyed our complimentary breakfast, and set out for the orchard, 20 minutes away. We arrived around 10 am and immediately began tasting apples so we would know what to pick. The place was perfect, the weather cool, and the apples low to the ground and close. In addition, it turns out that this orchard is, as the husband characterized it, the Disney of orchards, so they provided playhouses and playgrounds and picnic tables and a tractor pulled "hay" ride and fresh cider donuts and cider slushies and a petting zoo and animal pens and a duck pond and pretty much every apple product you could imagine. We picked almost a bushel of assorted varieties, ate half a dozen cider donuts, had a picnic lunch from home, and left at about noon once more, toting lots of apples and two very tired boys. This time, both slept for two and a half and three hours, respectively, which was fabulous.

Success!

Pain, insane, bane, strain, entertain

2010-08-25T13:54:00.007-04:00

Life is conspiring against me. It seems bent on not allowing me to blog. If only that were the result of too little going on, instead of too much!

Last Saturday I spent the bulk of the day in the emergency room. If I hadn't just had my gall bladder out, I would have said I was having another attack, all sorts of excruciating abdominal pain that would not let up. A big dose of morphine later, I felt much better, but that's not really a feasible strategy for dealing with the ongoing pain on a daily basis. Plus, all my labs and ultrasounds came back normal, so we never did figure out what was/is wrong. So, it's back to the gastroenterologist for me (I'm giving up on spelling for this post--sue me). She is recommending a salmonella test, just in case, and perhaps a special test that sends a camera down into a duct that opens into my pancreas that might be spasmodic...or something. Who can keep track of all the possibilities? She also mentioned pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, all while rushing to assure me she didn't think that was the problem. Listen, what do I care what suggestions you raise? I'm not afraid of suggestions; I just want to find the problem, whatever it is. Finally, she left me with a pain med prescription, which I will definitely be using, if the last few days are in indication of what's in store for me. UGH!

Meanwhile, Baby E has decided he just doesn't like to sleep between 3 and 5 am, thank you very much, though he is a perfect sleeper the rest of the time. Umm, not sure what to do with a thoroughly awake and perky little talkative munchkin in the wee hours of the morning. There's nowhere to hide in my house with him where we don't run the risk of waking up someone else. Oh, and I'm not to fond of being awake, myself. The only one who seems perfectly at ease with the predawnness of it all is Baby E!

Toddler J is headed to the dentist, finally, and the prospect fills him with all kinds of fear. I think he takes after his Grandeur in that way. I put it off as long as possible, longer, actually, but he fell and ripped up his gums and now must be seen. Wish us luck. And also lots of nitrous oxide!

The husband continues to job search, not because he has to leave his job but because he doesn't, making now a perfect time to look. We've stumbled upon some intriguing positions but it's still too early to tell about all of them, so I'll just say we've been looking at houses in places around the country, which is sometimes a fun activity and sometimes thoroughly depressing. And I've been thinking about ways to pack up and stage our house in case we have to sell in the near future. Most of this is premature, pie in the sky thinking, but it keeps us occupied...and only a little stressed!

And this week is our church luau and talent show, organized by yours truly. Back in December, when we thought about having an end of summer activity in addition to our annual Christmas and Halloween shenanigans at church, it seemed like a great idea. Right now, it seems like a whole lotta work. Today's tasks include making an ocean scene and palm trees out of paper for decorations on the walls, inventorying paper goods, figuring out what to do about our "missing" (aka "stolen") table cloths, finalizing the talent show line-up, and making the programs. Tomorrow's tasks include sending reminder emails about the food and buying a half a bushel of tomatoes for my lomi lomi tomato salad--yummer! We'll see how it all turns out.

And here is E, sleeping somewhere else besides his bed, during some other time than night.

It's all about J

2010-08-10T11:58:00.005-04:00

Here are some recent J-isms:

After a discussion about eye color: Mommy and Daddy have eyes just like me. Everybody has eyes just like me.

While smiling winsomely and tugging me in the direction of his bedroom: I love you very much, Mommy. You a nice mommy. Read the book??

During pretty much any song anyone sings, except before naps and bedtime but including during church: No, not that song. Sing Jingle Bells!

While looking out the car window: I see birds flying overhead.

After I came upon him suddenly one day: Mommy, you apprised me!

Upon finding any package outside the front door: Look, a present a me! (He almost always uses "a" instead of "for" and often in place of "to." It's a very Spanish grammatical construction that makes me smile every time.)

After waking up very early one morning, in response to my questioning why he was awake: I hear a noise out my window. I hear bunnies and frogs out my window. Don't worry, Mommy, nothing gonna happen.

While reading a pop-up book in which mice fall into various colors of paint. The mouse in the purple paint is hidden inside the paint splatter, so J pulls the splatter apart and says: Heh-whoa, wittle mouse! (L's are hard.)

When not wanting to stay in his bed for a nap: Mommy, I feel better now! Out, Mommy, out! (Most likely because I tell him he'll feel better after a nap when he has a tantrum.)

At any point when he feels the need to inject a little drama into the situation: What's going to happen?! said with huge eyes and in a very deep, loud voice, so you know it's serious!

Last night when I announced it was bath time: I actually don't need a bath, Mommy.

When he's bored of his portable DVD player: Let's watch something on your big aputer.

At any time during this sizzling summer that we go anywhere, as soon as he's buckled in his car seat and I sit down in the driver's seat, with all the feeling he can muster, from the depths of his soul: WATER!!!

The end

2010-08-05T08:38:00.002-04:00

Another of the reasons there has been yet more radio silence was a quick but not entirely unexpected trip I made to Arizona last weekend for my grandmother's funeral. The husband observed that with her death, his grandmother is now the only remaining grandparent on either side, meaning she was my last living grandparent and my children's last living great grandparent on my side. Gebby, as we called her (the result of a cousin's early mispronounciation of Grandma), was not your milk and cookies grandmother. She was a flamboyant woman who spoke her mind, read voraciously, and wore, exclusively, every conceivable shade of purple in every possible combination. When I was young, we were very close. I spent many days and nights at her house, often by myself, sans my many siblings, eating Lucky Charms, playing I'm thinking of and 20 Questions, going for walks, singing songs, and generally feeling like I was a lucky, lucky girl with my own private playmate.

Sadly, as I got older, we grew apart, most likely because, for a while at least, we were too much alike, both too sarcastic, too unyielding, too certain, too quick to say everything on our minds. But last year, for Thanksgiving, we got the chance to go back to Arizona, where she lived most of her life, and introduce Toddler J to Gebby. She won J over with cheetos and sang her signature song with him, Little Dog Jack. He won her over by knowing the actions and interjecting "bow wow" at the correct time. That was the last time many of my siblings got to see her before she died, though we were all able to come to the funeral, even those who live in Japan and Venezuela. Though he never got to meet her, Baby E came with me to the funeral while J stayed home with the husband. The cross country flight and funeral combination seemed too daunting to tackle with the terrible two year old, so I was grateful the husband could take some time off work to be with Toddler J.

The funeral was quite nice, actually, as far as funerals go. I sang with all the other grandchildren and even a few greatgrands, but I spent most of the service outside with Baby E, who was happy to attend but really, really wanted to nap most of all. At the good suggestion of my youngest sister, I bought and wore a purple skirt in her honor (which turned out to be fortuitous since E threw up all over my sister's black skirt before we had to leave and she ended up wearing mine). There was a short graveside service, but E and I and the rest of the very young great grandchildren and their mothers spent that time in cars because of the extreme Arizona heat. The rest of the time there we spent with the ever dwindling numbers of my immediate family as various brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews made their ways home. E and I were the last to leave; my parents dropped us off at the airport on their way out of Dodge. We even lucked into a traveling companion, one of my cousins who was on the same flight with us to Atlanta and then at the next gate over, on his way to Norfolk.

I was glad we could come though sad we needed to, but Gebby lived a good life, on her terms, something for which we should all hope.

Your chicken or mine?

2010-08-02T10:16:00.003-04:00

The road to blog silence is paved with good intentions.

First, the happy E updates: last Thursday, E got his second tooth, the other bottom front tooth, and then last Sunday, he rolled over for the first time! Hooray!

Unfortunately, the bad news is that all this fun and excitement has been followed by two consecutive nights of sleeping for less than two hours, despite hopeful doses of Tylenol, and we're not exactly sure why. We did, finally, figure out the cause of his stomach sickness from last post. Here's how it went down:

Last week I got a call from DHEC, the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. Apparently, I hid my surprise at this development pretty darn well because the nurse said "oh, it sounds like you were expecting my call" after I greeted her cheery introduction with what I thought was a confused "yes?" And then things went like this:

Umm, no, in fact I wasn't expecting your call, but how can I help you?

Well, when we see results like these, we have to follow up with the family and investigate what might have happened.

Results like what? I have no idea why you're calling...

Oh! Oh...well, it turns out the little E has salmonella, so we're following up since we don't want an outbreak, and we'd like to find the cause if we can.

What?! Salmonella??

Why, yes, so let me see...do you have a turtle? an exotic pet?

No and no.

Does E go to day care?

No, he stays home with me.

What kind of formula do you use?

Parent's choice.

Have you had or been to a barbecue lately? Handled any raw meat? Cooked with any eggs?

Umm, yes, yes, and yes. Listen, do I need to be worried here? Does my son need antibiotics or quarantine or to be put in a bubble and taken away from me?!

Oh, no no no, in these cases we usually don't find the source but we like to try in any event. And if he's feeling better, he has probably just fought it off on his own. However, salmonella can "shed" into the feces for up to three months, so be extra careful with diaper changes and around other children and the elderly during that time, okeedokee? Great! Lovely to talk to you!

And then I curled into a ball of self recrimination!

The worst of times

2010-07-18T19:33:00.003-04:00

It's been a trying week for Baby E: on Sunday last, he came down with a high fever, which was untouched by Tylenol and lasted the whole night. At the same time, he contracted a horrible case of diarrhea which left him incredibly uncomfortable. By the time we reached the doctor's office that Monday morning, he had a severe case of diaper rash and was just miserable, staring up at me in disbelief each time I had to change his diaper and wailing inconsolably after each change. This from the child who rarely cries, so his reaction was doubly pitiful. The doctor prescribed a concoction of nystatin, hydro cortisone, and zinc oxide and took some stool samples, just to be sure.

And then followed a week of sickness. E was eating about half his normal intake, which for my jumbo-sized baby is highly unusual. He was still smiling but spent most of the days in a sort of pathetic haze. His sleeping at night was erratic at best, and he returned to eating twice a night, something I thought we'd left behind. Eventually, the diaper rash got so bad he was bleeding to the touch, so we called the doctor again and got additional instructions, which included rinsing him with warm water after each change, leaving him open to the air as much as possible (they recommended, in light of the diarrhea, just putting him down naked on a garbage bag. Umm, no.), and putting double the amount of this creamy mixture on him. By yesterday, he was finally starting to heal just a bit, but it had been a long slog.

In the meantime, he got his first tooth on Thursday! So on top of all this mess, he was busily cutting a tooth. AND he has grown too large for his infant car seat, which he JUST go used to, so he's been upgraded to a giant, plush new Britax Marathon, which is all well and good, except that he HATES it, so every car trip has been a trial. THEN, his intrepid parents took him to a minor league soccer game this weekend where the noise was just too much for him and that, combined with the arduous car seat made the ride home just one long, 32 minute crying session. FINALLY, today, I put him down to sleep on the pew at church during our first meeting and Toddler J managed to kick him in the head not once, but twice! Like I said, a hard week, but he has been a champ through it all, with very little drama (unlike what we could expect from his older brother in a similar situation, I'm sure!). He is such a good natured child, one hates to see him suffer since he would really rather be laughing!

Polished Gunmetal

2010-07-05T08:21:00.000-04:00

So, yes, as I alluded to in my last post, we finally took the plunge and did it: we bought a new car. And not just any new car, a 2011 Honda Pilot, dark gray exterior ("polished gunmetal" is the official name), gray interior. I know! Look at us, all grown up and buying new cars, not inheriting them from our parents or finding them on Craigslist! But it was time: with two car seats, we couldn't even fit one additional passenger in our sedan, and our stroller was a tight fit, too. Modern parenting requires a large vehicle, sadly.

Lessons learned while car buying:

1) Taking kids along for test drives is a great idea. You can see how your life will really fit into a vehicle, how your car seats will work, how far away the kids will be, etc.

2) On the other hand, taking kids along to discuss inventory, pricing, and credit checks is almost the worst idea, second only to taking kids along when you actually go in to do the paperwork to make the sale. We did both. It was horrible.

3) If there is even the hint that you might want to trade in your old car, clean it out before you go in because you never know when they will say "well, why don't we just take a look at it?" and then come back in with a firm trade-in offer. Ooops! You mean cheerios and a box of tampons aren't what you were looking for?

4) Buying a new car involves almost as much paperwork as buying a new house. It's shocking, really, the trees that died just so I could drive out of there. And MAN, does a lot of upselling go on when you are finalizing the deal! Even more shocking!

5) Turns out I have latent OCD about cleanliness when faced with a brand new vehicle, something that never, ahem, bothered me before. I have become the crumb and dirt Nazi, purchasing seat covers for the second row of seats to protect against the car seats and to protect the backs of the driver's and passenger seats from children's dirty feet and shoes.

6) Buying a new car also makes one (read: me) paranoid about security, in a way that having someone break into my house never did, funnily enough. The only part of the upselling that I was sold on right away was LoJack, because if someone cared enough to rob my very modest looking home, I was sure they might be tempted by my pimped out ride!

7) Though, of course, this being a new car but still a car within our budget, our ride is not very pimped out. Shocking, too, how many extras you COULD get along with your new car if you wanted. We got the basic, basic, BASIC model, which still has more bells and whistles than I have ever had, but I think our dealership was shocked at our modest aspirations. The only option I am even vaguely wishing we had now is a running board, because the car is so tall I literally have to jump out!

So far, we have loved this car. Last night we headed over to some fireworks with some friends of ours and filled it to its 8 person capacity and everyone was comfortable and happy, which is all we ever wanted!

Another country heard from

2010-07-03T16:33:00.002-04:00

Oh my, it's been ages since I last posted. And there have been good reasons for this (lack of) development, honest, but none really all that blogworthy. And I am planning some changes around here, here meaning in both my virtual and my real worlds, so that has been taking up some time, but really I have just been slacking and once the regular posting slips away from you, it's hard to get back on the wagon, because then you (or me) are caught in the perpetual cycles of "So Much Guilt Over Not Posting" and/or "Need Something Momentous to Happen to Justify Posting Now" and/or "Too Much Has Happened Now to Catch Up" and/or...you get the idea.

But wait, what's that I see up ahead? Is that...I think it just might be...it IS! A fresh start! Huzzah!! Let's just put all this behind us and move on, shall we?

What about some updates on the kiddies? J is an emotional roller coaster, so volatile I can hardly handle him some days, literally. (And yes, I mean "literally" for those of you who care--often he is in such a tizzy he won't let me pick him up. Unheard of!) At least he's learned that sometimes yelling "I need a nap" in the midst of one of his meltdowns results in almost immediate relief. He often gets up from naps now and greets me with "I feel better, Mommy." J continues to thrill and chill me with his love of all things aquatic. He practices "swimming" with the husband and taught himself to dive on his own, though really all he's doing is a slow drown most days. He loves the new car (oh, yes, did I forget to mention that? see what I mean??), calling it "the tall, tall, TALL car" and holding onto his car seat and yelling "Hold on, E" or "hold on, dinosaur" or, today, "hold on, other drink" when we go around on and off ramps. J's sense of humor develops daily, amusing everyone who hears his whimsical pronouncements. He's a crack up to be around; talking children are SO much more fun!

Meanwhile, E is growing. Nope, that's it, nothing else, just growing. The child is HUGE! At his 4 month check up, he weighed in at an impressive 19 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 26 3/4 inches. As the doctor said, we are not worried about him because he is both big AND tall, 98th percentiles in both, but his head measures in the 50th percentile so he will undoubtedly slim down. I sure hope so! As it is, he's in 9-12 month clothing and fast on his way to being able to wear some of J's current duds. He's a happy boy, smiling lots and sleeping lots, though the latter in maddeningly erratic ways: three nights ago, he slept from 8pm to 4am, then we had a night of eating twice, which hardly happens now, then a night of not wanting to sleep in his own bed for more than two hours at a time, and then last night he slept from 9-ish until 4am again. But even this confusing cycle is SO much better than how J was sleeping at his age that I can only complain a teeny, tiny little bit!

So, as I mentioned, changes both real and virtual afoot. More on them to come in a timely manner. I promise!

2010-06-15T14:01:00.000-04:00

Is there anything sadder than an out of tune ice cream truck?

Ready or not, summer is in full swing here in the Lowcountry, which means steamy nights, steamier days, and creative ways to escape the heat. And also, apparently, new to our neighborhood, summer means the ice cream truck cometh.

I have a sort of love/hate but mostly hate relationship with the ice cream truck. First, it's out of tune, which is just too much for my ears to take. It also appears to have a flagging battery, adding, um, whimsical rhythm to flat note, the result of which is something to hear. Second, it invariably comes in the afternoons, during Toddler J's naps, and while he is a MUCH improved sleeper, sleeping through the tinny, meandering, and variable volume of the ice cream truck is still a tall order. Third, I live in fear of the day J realizes this is an ICE CREAM (!!!) truck and begins throwing fits after awakens him. For how can our little demure cones of vanilla frozen yogurt compare to drumsticks or bottle rockets or whatever other complicated, day-glo treats that might be for the offering?

Finally, I can't shake my associations with the ice cream truck in West Philly. In Philadelphia, in our borderline unsavory neighborhood, by day the ice cream truck sold ice cream. By night, it sold marijuana. That's right, the ice cream melody at 11pm could signal only one thing: pot for sale! They did a brisk if brazen business and, one assumes, had a fairly successful business model since they could supply weed and conquer the munchies all at the same time. Granted, it was odd to hear an ice cream truck at night...in December...on streets where no kids lived, but apparently local law enforcement had bigger fish to fry. Or they, too, enjoyed a good yogurt pop!

The case of the missing cucumber

2010-06-13T06:52:00.002-04:00

Toddler J has developed a fixation with cucumbers.

The husband has a thriving garden, and the cucumbers have come in already, so they have been harvesting daily, so his enthusiasm is understandable...somewhat. But what he wants to do after harvesting is carry these cucumbers around for hours at a time. He will walk up to one of us and say "Hold it the cucumber" with a sly little smile. But that's all he really wants to do. I think he feels a little proprietary about them and likes the fact that it's so cold in his hands in our hot climate, but other than that, I am not really sure what the attraction is. And my thought was, hey, it's a cheap toy, what's not to love?

Until we lost a cucumber.

Today my mother-in-law left and amid the packing and taking to the airport and the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, we all forgot to keep track of the cucumber, which was, we discovered later in the afternoon, lost. How long, one wonders, will a fresh from the garden cuke last in an air-conditioned house in the summer? And when and how would we know it was no longer as fresh as it might have been?

Fortunately, we finally discovered Mr. Cucumber on the beside table (of course! Where do YOU keep YOUR cucumbers?) that night. So we are now being a little more vigilant about our cucumber dealings. But it's impossible to resist a two year old who only wants a cucumber to make him happy! Anyone know of any cucumber GPS devices?

Swim, baby, swim

2010-06-12T13:30:00.001-04:00

After a week of "swim lessons" with various people (Becca, the husband, and me), here is what Toddler J has learned:

--He does NOT like to blow bubbles.
--He LOVES to jump off the side of the pool.
--He likes going up and down the steps or the ladder for as long as you will let him.
--He likes to "swim," which for him means dunking himself under the water and kicking his legs while in your arms until you pull him up or he drowns, whichever comes first.
--He likes to do things on his own timetable, but he likes to do all the exercises someone teaches him.
--He is not a fan of being "helped" in the water by strangers, even instructors.
--He learns best by demonstration, preferably by someone only slightly older than he is.
--He is NOT afraid of the water.
--He is REALLY not afraid of the water.
--Did I mention J is not afraid of the water?

J's comfort level in the pool went from marginally tentative but excited to completely at home in three sessions. During our third visit, a new instructor watched him dunking himself and pushing off of me and trying to swim away on his own and said "You have a totally different set of problems here than all the other mothers. You need to come up with ways to challenge him since he's clearly not afraid and watch him really closely because he WILL just walk into the pool whether you are there or not." Fabulous!

So, we are muscling through with our Toddler Fish and attempting to keep him from drowning in his own enthusiasm. Umm, yay?

Boys in brief

2010-06-09T14:14:00.003-04:00

J sentences for the week: In his bed--"Me upside down. How me get that way, Mommy?" After dessert--"Me all full. Me eat two ice cream cones." After eating Target popcorn--"Lots of popcorn a me. Me all full up." While watching Mickey Mouse run to catch someone--"Paster, Mickey, paster! Go really past!" In the car going around an off-ramp--"Hold on, E! Mommy go around past!" Daily--"Change my poopy diaper, Mommy. This a yucky poopy diaper." While sitting on the bed chatting with his brother--"Holding E's hand. E touching my leg. How you did that, E? E such a good boy. E nice boy. Big hugs for E." Endearingly, to his grandma--"Not stay forever!" This last is evidence of J's TERRIBLE bout of the terrible twos, which he has conveniently demonstrated for all his grandparents but one in the last two weeks. He withholds affection, disobeys, throws tantrums, and generally make the grandparents happy they live elsewhere. Nice, huh? I LOVE this behavior. But at the same time that he is a pill with others, J affectionate in the extreme with Baby E, which counts for (a very little) something. Finally, J is the master of seeing what others do not: he sees turtles in the shapes of water spots under the car and notices that a piece of watermelon is shaped like a train engine.

E antics for the week: E now laughs, a lot. He is especially fond of times when you put lotion on his cheeks. He has also settled into a somewhat normal routine, eating twice per night but often going 5 or 6 or 7 hours between feedings in the late night. He has also been mostly cured of waking up at 3 or 4 am regardless of hunger, which is nice. E loves to eat and still struggles to go more than 3 hours between most feedings. His roly-poly body reflects this love of food. E is also a very content child. After eating (and burping right on cue), he will sit and smile and gurgle and coo very determinedly at you until it's time to sleep, then cry a little and go to bed (preferably on his tummy, shhhh!), then wake up and make a distinctive "Wah!" sound until someone feeds him. He had a tendency to look/droop to the right, so we are working on forcing him to look left so he doesn't stick with that forever. He is a BIG boy, like his brother, straining in his 6 month sleepers already. Thank goodness for rompers, the outfit of choice for the thick of thighs!