pig tales

In his little cocoon

2008-04-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

I would sneak in and take a picture, but he isn't asleep yet. Instead I'll describe this.

Now that Josh has learned to talk, you'd think it would be easier for him to get his needs met. Except that before, when we tried to put him to sleep and he just cried, we would sigh and pretty much ignore him, figuring he just needed to "cry it out" a little, and eventually he'd fall asleep. Now he uses words - or at least, approximations of words that we can sometimes understand. Makes him a lot harder to ignore.

So his new bedtime thing goes like this. I set him down in his crib.

"Gancket!! Gancket!"

"Oh, you want your blanket?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, here you go..." laying his blanket gently over his curled up cute little body.

"AAHHHeeee!" What was that? Oh - Eyes? You want to cover your eyes? And I pull the blanket up so it totally covers his head and eyes. "Is that better?"

"Yeah. 'Night!"

I start to walk out...and hear: "Bahhhl! Bahhhl!"

Turn back and place his water bottle under his arm.

"Arrrrr! Arrrrr!!!!" Meaning: Arm. A few stray fingers have escaped from underneath the blanket. Must re-position blanket.

I have to admit I'm getting good at understanding these words made up almost entirely of vowels.

Anyway, when we are finally done, he is in a little blanket cocoon in his crib. "Bye bye!" he says cheerfully from under the covers, and I walk out the door. Nearly as soon as the door closes....

"Ganket!!! Ganket!!"

Altogether too many princesses

2007-09-27T17:12:00.001-07:00

Anyone who exists at all in the world of a preschool aged little girl these days knows about The Princesses. Not just the standard ones we all grew up with - Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, and Beauty. There are also Jasmine, Ariel, Pocahontas, and Mulan. Amazingly there is not yet a Little Red Riding Hood princess, but just wait and see - you never know what they'll do next!

In our house, Princesses run the show. They dictate hairdos and clothing and shoes, and often Gabrielle insists she must only wear one shoe because Cinderella only has one glass slipper. To get married. Because getting married is the other thing that fills Ellie's world. These days anyone who spends any time with her will know that she is getting married to her husband, Amy, with her friend Katrina, me - her flower girl, Josh, her ring bearer, and Ryan, her father of the bride, all in attendance. She'll wear a white dress and a white veil and Amy, her husband, will wear a black suit. And where is her husband Amy? "In Washington!"

Washington is where many things are right now. Her old preschool. Her old room. Her old microwave.

But I was talking about princesses. I guess it's not surprising in this princess overloaded home that Josh also enjoys wearing necklaces and slippers and scarves. He brushes Ellie's hair and talks on her pink cell phone with a radiant expression on his face.

And today, this man of only about five or six words took his love of princesses one step further. I suggested that the kids could watch a movie this afternoon. Do you want to watch "Lion King, Babe, or Cinderella?" I asked them. "EWWA! EWWA!" Josh replied, running over to turn on the TV.

Why I will always buy them french fries

2007-09-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

The other day we finally closed on our house, after what has to have been the longest escrow period in the history of the world. Typically, escrow is a month. But this one? It was seven weeks long. And not just any seven weeks - seven weeks of living with my parents! They are great parents, and great to put up with us for theh last three months, but we are definitely all ready for our own space.

Though I think the time at my parents' house has been amazing for the kids. It's a big change from Seattle, all this sunshine. It means long warm days and my parents have a great, wonderful, BIG backyard. The kids love the warmth and outdoor playtime and WATER time here. Did I mention they like to play in the WATER? Oh and DIRT! My parents have a planter with no plants, only dirt, and Gabrielle has taken to bathing in it. The good thing? They have also gotten the idea that clothing is unnecessary in all this sunshine, so at least the dirt baths have not meant extra loads of laundry.

Fortunately, our new house also has a backyard and so they'll be able to continue this new found love of water, dirt, and nakedness. So the day we closed on our house we were very excited and drove over after Ryan got off work to take a look. It was Big and Empty which I think when you are a kids is secret code for "Run wildly screaming and spinning in circles."

By the time they were done with the running and the screaming, the kids were pretty hungry, as were we. So on the way home we stopped off at Carl's Junior for some food. First let me say that my daughter who will eat two grapes and four bites of cheese and say she is done downed five chicken stars without even breathing because - well - they were chicken STARS. Then the stars were all gone and she began work on the french fries. I handed them to her one at a time. Accidentally - or rather, because I thought she wouldn't notice or care - I handed a particularly soggy one to her. She dangled it disdainfully in front of her face, watching it flop back and forth. "I don't want this one!" She said. Why? "It's too SWINGY!" Nothing gets by that girl, not even soggy fries.

A first time for everything

2007-08-29T19:25:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, to celebrate our fifth anniversary, Ryan and I left the kids with my parents and went to Carmel. Alone. Without the kids. Did I mention this was with no kids at ALL? This was the first time in their lives I had ever left them, barring the two nights I vacationed in the hospital while giving birth to the younger (thus leaving the older one - though really only for one and a half nights, since we left for the hospital around 10pm after Gabrielle was already in bed). And I think that's a darn good excuse.

Anyway, yes I did miss them and I did call home once. But just once. And I didn't miss them all that much.

Carmel was beautiful. The beach is amazing. The sand is white and so fine that when it slips through your toes you can't even feel it. The sunsets turned the sand purple and blue and the water an otherworldy green.

On our last day we went to Pt. Lobos, which is actually where all of these pictures were taken. (I somehow managed to NOT bring my camera down to the beach during either sunset, and the days were overcast and not particularly photogenic, though beautiful in their own way.) One of the places we "hiked" (and I have that words in quotes because if you think I was going on some long hike you are grossly mistaken. These were more accurately described as Walks on Trails. Nevertheless, the trails were rocky and the views were beautiful.) was called Bird Rock. And you can see why. It was looked exactly like one of those icebergs covered with penguins, except without the ice and the birds were cormorants, with an occasional seagull or pelican smattered among them.

It did feel good to need a sweatshirt for a change. After a few months in California, I am actually starting to miss those days that never go from misty gray to bright. I have yet to adjust to the constant sunshine, and thank goodness there is lots of shade in the backyard. We've only had one day of "rain" the entire summer - a slight drizzle but hey - and that was on the day I took the kids to the beach. Go figure.

Taking turns

2007-08-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

And another fine quote from my daredevil daughter.

Today at the playground, I showed her how to climb up this neat spiral thingie onto the playstructure. I made it look even more fun than it was, with lots of excitement and big grins and an enthusiastic "TA DA" at the top. Then I turn to her and say "Okay, now it's your turn!"

And she, with great conviction, replies: "Okay, now it's NOT my turn!"

Speedy delivery to the Statue of Liberty?

2007-08-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

"Hey. Hey! Mister McFeely can go in a helicopter and see the Statue of Delivery. Okay? Okay!"

This blog was dead

2007-08-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

We’ve been in the throes of moving from our house in Washington to sunny, golden California. Since we had no place to live when we got here, we moved in with my parents and POOF it was 1990 again and I was back in high school, sneaking off campus for lunch at Little Caesar’s pizza. Or something like that.

Since we’ve been here, we have:
Sold our house.
Bought a new house.

But here we are, 73 days 4 hours and 52 minutes later, still living with our parents since our house has not closed. Within a month, though, we’ll be moved! Into our House! With our own Stuff!

We’ve done some other cool stuff that being here in California makes infinitely easier than being in Washington – basically, we’ve seen people.

Ellie with Aunt Cindy in Sacramento. How lucky that she was visiting Grandma Carol the same weekend we were!

The boys: Alexander and Josh, the two toddlers, playing in Los Gatos.

Gabrielle and Dana in Santa Cruz. The girls had a blast at on the rides!

Here's proof that little Ellie actually DOES have a daredevil spirit hidden inside that quiet exterior. This ride was surprisingly fast!

Josh was too little for the rides but he did love the sand.

Time for an update

2007-05-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

So much going on, so little time to blog. That's ok, but I think it's time for an update.

Gabrielle

For the last month or two, Gabrielle declared herself a bride. Every day she needed to get married. And this required a certain uniform: red dress, purple necklace, red veil, pink sandals. And when these items needed to be laundered she cried and fretted and FINALLY agreed to wear a different color dress and veil for the minimal time needed to do a wash. We sometimes snuck a wash in during the night while she slept. This past week we had a breakthrough and three of the five days she wore DIFFERENT CLOTHES which was extremely exciting.

Josh

Josh will be one in two days.

He has four teeth which he uses with fantastic skill, to eat almost anything we put in front of him. Including things perhaps not best eaten, like tanbark at the park or dirt.

He is easy and happy and curious and energetic - all excellent qualities! I do wish he'd slow down enough to sleep past 5:30 in the morning, though. Or take a nap without protest. Yes that would be nice! Still, he's so much fun.

Mommy 007

2007-04-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am a super spy. I just slipped one of Gabrielle's little toy mirrors under Josh's door to see what he was up to. And the little sneak is sitting in his crib, quietly playing with his pants, which he has removed from his body! He is supposed to be alseep, a little angel in osh-kosh, but instead he is a little monkey who refuses to nap.

Those three magic words

2007-04-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I decided this was it, enough already, it was time for Potty Training.

The first day we had many accidents - the location of one of them as yet undiscovered. Maybe it all soaked into her socks - I will continue to believe that in blissful ignorance.

The second day things improved quite a lot. And now, Monday, she is doing really well at holding it in and going in her potty - IF I remind her. I was actually coasting along thinking maybe she was already totally and completely trained. She was a genius. I was a potty training pro. And then I heard the magic words: "I DID IT!!"

But.
It was coming from the living room.

Slippery flippery

2007-03-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Why I keep thinking of wrestling a pig in big pig puddle of mud I don't know, but I will tell you that changing Josh's diaper now officially takes all the strength I have and usually about twelve tries before he is done. Simply try to set him on his changing table and he arches his back so that he is supported by the back of his head and the tips of his toes. Then he does a very practiced crunch-flip and is up on his tummy, lunging for the edge of the table. Next up on all fours - then standing, holding the side of the changing table (thank goodness this particular style HAS a side). Meanwhile I am holding him by his waistband with one hand and fishing blindly in the shelf below for something, anything, to distract him. Maybe this new item will buy me a little time, and maybe not. Sometimes it just takes brute force. But I have never seen anyone twist so completely around while his arm and shoulder are pinned down, and often I simply let go because I do not believe anyone not named Gumby can or should rotate 180 degrees and I don't want my kid to be the first to get stuck that way.

The sweetest

2007-03-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

You know she's really tired when she puts herself to sleep at 5:30 on a Saturday night. Still wearing her pink mittens.

The 15 hours of sleep helped Gabrielle feel happy and chipper the next day, though, and we headed off to Gasworks Park on Lake Union.
It was a great day.

On the drive home, Gabrielle decided she finally understood the concept of full names. She informed us that HER whole name was Gabrielle Kenna Rountree. When we asked what Josh's whole name was, she thought a moment, and then replied: "Joshua Grandpa Blair Rountree."

Helping himself

2007-03-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

Josh is such a person! You play music, he bounces and dances. You chase him, he crawls away laughing uproariously. (You try to put him to bed, he screams and cries, but hey that's not new).

He also is trying very hard to feed himself. Give him a spoon and he'll dip it into a bowl and make chewing faces. He hasn't quite figured out the dip-mouth maneuver, so it's more like a dip, grab with the other hand, smear all over yourself. Ryan has always had trouble with this stage, so it was a lot of fun watching them the other day!
The picture does not convey the messiness that Ryan survived. But do notice the margarita on the table next to him - I think that helped him get through it!

In like a lion

2007-03-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I woke to a beautiful sunrise over a completely whitewashed backyard.

The view from my bedroom window:

My neighbors heading off to preschool. We had some shouted dialog as I hung out my window snapping pictures, including me surprised their school was open since Gabrielle's was closed. Well guess what - 15 minutes later they cruised down the hill (slowly, since it was sliiiipery) and Christy called to tell me that yep, theirs was closed too. Oops!

Cute frizz

2007-02-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

Gone fishin'

2007-02-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

I am learning a great deal from Josh. Apparently, Gabrielle was indeed blissfully easy. I used to think all the babyproofing paraphanalia they sold was a bunch of marketing hoopla. Yes, poke those things into your plugs so your kids don't electrocute themselves; yes, put gates at your stairs; yes, move knives to higher ground. But seriously, do you need to block off your VCR? Put baby locks on every cabinet, drawer, and door? I didn't think so, but I am starting to realize that was just because I had Ellie.

Last week, right before Ryan went out of town for six days (of course), Josh decided to open all the cupboards in the kitchen and pull out any pots, pans, and mixing bowls he could find. And our kitchen just doesn't have enough storage to move everything breakable or potentially painful up out of his reach. Not to mention that his reach is getting remarkably high - he can now reach some table and desktops (including this one). So when Ryan got back it was latches on the cabinets.

Then yesterday I found him playing in the toilet water.

Um, oops

2007-02-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Overheard at my mommy's group today:

"Uh oh, I think I just stepped on your baby!"

Oops. Lucky for us it wasn't my baby.

Nothing is safe and he keeps on growing

2007-02-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I closed the door to this room while we were in here. The day before, Josh had been playing with it (because who needs toys when you have doors! Open! Shut! Open! Shut! OOOOOOOOWWWW!) when yes, he shut his fingers in it. Josh looked up from the telephone he was playing with (Not a toy phone. A real phone. He has yet to call 911 but he has made several other mystery functions activate on the phone and who knows what he will do next. And did you notice - again, not a toy? Why do we even have toys?) and zoomed over to the door. He then proceeded to stand up against the door and, holding on with one hand, reach up for the doorknob. Like he knew if he could just get those extra 7 inches he'd be set. I mean, what baby knows how to work a doorknob? Mine. He knows. We're so busted. We're going to find him in downtown Seattle in about a week and I think you can get in trouble if your 9 month old hitchhikes to downtown Seattle on their own. Sheesh.

Speaking of which, he is exactly 9 months today! Which is starting to sound alarmingly like one. Year old.

Ok holy crustaceans, he is now standing up holding on to the top of this desk as I type and pulling important papers down onto the ground, where I know he intends to eat them. Is nothing safe? He is way too tall!

Bubbe pants

2007-02-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

This morning in celebration of her friend Amy's birthday party, Gabrielle wanted to wear her hair up in braids "like a ballerina." In her ballerina movie that's the way it's done, anyway. So here it is, braided and stuck up with bobby pins.

Later today when she saw this photo, she kept talking about what she was holding in the picture. "What's that? Bubbe pans!" I couldn't figure it out at first, and she repeated...but with a slight alteration: "BUBBE PANTS!"

Ohhh, of course. Bubbe pants. Bobby pins.

Yet another example of how the world sounds to a three year old.

Baby kisses

2007-02-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

I get so much love from Josh. First he looks at me with those big not-blue but some unidentifiable color eyes. On hands and knees, because that’s how he travels, he zooms over from wherever he is in the room and climbs up me until we are face to face. Then leans in, booger nose looming large and mouth opening wide in a sweet smile, and CLAMPS MY CHIN IN HIS JAWS. Yes clamps. Yet he does it with so much sweetness that I am quite certain he is confident that this, yes this, is what a kiss is. After all, I’m sure it feels great on his tingling teething gums. And I’m his mom, the source of all goodness. But unfortunately my chin is feeling a bit bruised and abused this evening, so I may have to let him know that no, actually, that’s not quite how it’s done. But thanks for the thought.

The way things sound

2007-02-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

Gabrielle loves music, and when she sings, she stays remarkably on key. She's always been good at that. Probably better than me. However, I'm starting to notice that maybe she's a bit lazy about the words to the songs with which she serenades us. For example, this morning she belted out: "Froggy the snowman was a jappy happy soul!" She later sang it correctly, too, so it's not that she doesn't know the words; she's simply too caught up in the sheer bliss of music-making to be bothered to get them right.

She also had an interesting Sesame Street revelation today. This morning, the letter of the day was Q. She looked over at me and said, "Q, 'kwuh,' like in CWOCK." Well, yes. Sort of.

The things we learn from books

2007-02-01T17:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we went on a tour of a new preschool. This was a fancy preschool which actually is an entire K-8 private school, and which believes it makes sense to spend the same amount on your child's elementary education as you would on college. At an ivy league. Starting when they are four. But since it seems that nearly all the other options around here are parochial schools where preschoolers attend chapel each week and come home singing how Jesus loves them, we felt obligated to check it out. I just don't think the teachers at the church schools would understand if she tried to explain that her Jewish athiest parents did not want her taking communion...or something.

Luckily there are a couple community-center preschools around as well, which I am also investigating. So far, it seems that the difference between the fancy-pants private school and these other preschools is mostly the tuition. It just wasn't that great. And in fact, when we'd toured the less expensive options Gabrielle had jumped right in with the kids to play, while at this one she hung back and literally clung to me. In fact nearly pulled my pants down. That's never a good sign.

So after that outing Gabrielle was very excited when I proposed a trip to the zoo. She immediately listed off all the animals she'd see, based on her favorite Eric Carl book of the moment: Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear? She'd see: "Elephants, and Lions, and a Giraffe, and Flaminguins (I believe that is the official name for Flamingos+Penguins), and a Polar Bear!" I just smiled and told her we'd see what we could do. Our zoo simply doesn't have Polar Bears (not to mention Flaminguins) but I figured she'd get over it.

She did! She had a great time. Both kids did. The only thing was...after we saw the giraffes towards the end of the day, Gabrielle turned to me with great enthusiasm and asked: "But where's the pink walrus??"

The fickle, fickle tastebuds

2007-01-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

After weeks - nay, months - of arguing, pleading, demonstrating, negotiating; basically, doing everything in my power to convince Gabrielle that fruit is delicious and will not explode in her mouth, yesterday she became very upset that we were actually out of grapes.

What? Those grapes you sampled four of individually, rejecting each one with a grimace and leaving it sitting on your plate like a tiny tooth-marked bowling ball? Yes, those same grapes. The ones you finally decided you could not get enough of and ate even the somewhat squishy ones at the bottom of the bag.

Princess Ellie and her haircut

2007-01-27T13:49:00.000-08:00

I'm still floating a bit on mommy pride at my daughter's behavior at the hairdresser's yesterday. Oh I know, it's just a haircut. But the experience was just so wonderfully blissful, so happily painless, that I feel bubbly. Yes, it is a small thing. But it seems I am a person who reacts to small things on either end of the spectrum as if they are, well, big things. So there.

Gabrielle has also been truly taking to heart the whole ballerina thing. I bought her a video about becoming a ballerina, and I have never seen her dance so long or with such energy. And then when it was time for bed, she clearly showed renewed determination about keeping her ballerina shoes on, so I think it helped!

Night two

2007-01-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

Night two of the Denis Brown Bar. Night two of sleeplessness for me. The two are not related, as far as I can tell, though maybe they are since part of me is listening for her call. Gabrielle still seems ok with it, though definitely less excited than before. The thought of a whole year ahead of us with that device strapped to her makes both me and Ryan feel just sick. I'm not sure why. I guess it makes her look like there is something really wrong with her, when actually it is so minor and not a big deal.

Or Not

I spoke too soon about two things. 1) Josh sleeping through the night. Not tonight. He woke at 3 and cried until 4:40. I even fed him at 3:30, thinking that would put him back to sleep. Now I know - don't feed him, it doesn't do a darn thing. 2) Gabrielle accepting the db bar. She was up at 11:30 in hysterics until we took it off. She did keep the shoes on, so that's better than nothing. I really want to be able to have the bar start working its magic, as much as I hate to see her in it.

Ballerina shoes

2007-01-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

Last night, I lay awake wishing I could just fall asleep. I remember this stage of sleeplessness. You're past the baby-up-every-few-hours zombie stage. In fact, the baby is sleeping for the most part through the night. Yet sleep eludes you. My theory is that your body is so used to functioning on ridiculously small amounts of sleep it doesn't know what to do with all the extra rest and feels over-energized.

I'm thrilled that our sleep-through-the-night plan for Josh seems to have worked so far, but he does still wake up at the crack of dawn. Actually, before dawn, since dawn is still occurring at a very unreasonably late hour. And since I'm not falling asleep at a decent time any more, those 5:30 wakings are tough!

Gabrielle's sleep has been great lately, but it, too, could do anything in the next few days. She is wearing her new "ballerina shoes," which are connected by a bar and are heavy and lumpy and feel totally bizarre I am sure. This is a Denis Brown Bar; a device which is designed to push and pull on her developing tibias to help them rotate back out to a normal angle. For probably a whole year. Amazingly, she slept fine. Instead of freaking out when we put them on her, she seemed kind of excited. Admittedly, I didn't have them at the steep 60 degree angle prescribed; we'll work up to that. When I was reading her a bedtime story, she peeked under the covers at her ballerina shoes and grinned. And then this morning we watched ballerina movies on YouTube and I ordered Angelina the Ballerina as well as another ballerina book and a ballerina movie. Can you tell I'm going full out on this ballerina thing? Well, it seems to be working so far!

Josh wants Mommy!

2007-01-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Whenever Josh gets in her space in some way - either by playing with one of her toys (or one of his toys which she thinks is her toy, since up until now Josh was too little to take it away from her), pulling her hair, or invading her privacy as she gives herself a pretend haircut in the bathroom - Gabrielle now calls out her new favorite words:

"Josh wants Mommy!"

And you wouldn't believe how many times she can repeat those words...on and on until Mommy (having tried repeatedly to reason with her that the teething ring really is okay for Josh to play with) swoops in to pick him up and rescue her from his babyish talons.

All snowed in

2007-01-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

Last night Ryan was just about to be my personal hero and save me a trip to the grocery store, as we were out of many essentials such as baby food and milk and corn chex (Gabrielle's food of choice at the moment). And then he happened to look out the window just as our neighbor, driving down the hill toward home, spun out, bumped the curb, spun again, and knocked down our mailboxes. Needless to say, Ryan decided not to venture out after all.

I got to play granola mom and whip up some homemade baby food which actually smelled a whole lot better than the jarred stuff, but which Josh had to work a bit harder to eat up since it wasn't as finely pureed.

This morning Ryan did head out to the store (because we really, really did need milk and also who knows how long I could keep the homemade baby food coming and Josh is a hungry boy) and then again to work. Hopefully he'll be done before it is dark or too cold, and won't have any trouble!

Josh is getting to be so big! Today he is starting to pull up on things if they are low enough - more like a push-up, actually. His sleeping is still going well - he slept through the night again tonight (the past two nights he didn't quite, but he settled himself down both times so we figured it was all part of the learning process). So mama's feelin' good.

Without the evil eye

2007-01-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

There is a superstitious side of me. It's probably an old Yiddish great great great grandmother speaking through me: ken ayina hora (trans: without the evil eye - "Not to jinx it"). Despite my fear of jinxing it, however, I must report that Josh slept from 6:45 last night until 7:00 this morning.

It may be he was simply exhausted from the previous night. I had decided he really did not need to eat during the night and was waking simply for the love of seeing me, which was flattering but entirely unacceptable. So I let him cry it out. And cry he did. Every hour, for nearly the entire night. I finally fed him at 4:30 in the morning and then he slept until 7, so that was actually his longest stretch of sleep. So last night I expected some improvement, but was not expecting the miracle I got!

This morning he woke up singing "Da da da Da DA da da" and very happy. Upon being picked up, he promptly grinned and - one of his new favorite things to do - stuck his finger up my nose.

The longest and shortest two weeks

2007-01-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure how, but our trip to California somehow managed to be both incredibly long and short at the same exact time.

The first week we spent with my side of the family in the Bay Area. Days were filled with...um...well not a lot. But then again Gabrielle was busy throwing up and my mom's house was a revolving door of visiting family members, so staying put was pretty much the best thing to do. Ryan and I did manage to get out without the kids twice, which is, I think, a record and very thrilling. And we had quality time with all three of my grandparents, as well as some family friends I hadn't spent time with in, oh, 17 years or so. The week was over pretty much before we realized it.

Ryan had the dubious honor of being the first person ever to open Christmas presents in my parents' house. After a few hours of all of us, including Ryan, completely and utterly forgetting that it was indeed Christmas. Little Josh-alarm had woken us at the ungodly hour of 4:30 in the morning and refused to realize it was still night time, so we were all a bit groggy. At any rate, as Jingle Bells and other Christmas music wafted through the Christmas-virgin ears of our kitchen, Ryan opened a few gifts and we munched on chocolate chip pancakes and had a little celebration.

By the time we headed up to Sacramento in our rental car Gabrielle was doing much better. We had a remarkably easy drive up - no screaming and crying in the car! No "mommy don't talk to me! Turn music off!" that we had become so accustomed to. And Josh slept most of the way which was, of course, perfect.

The one annoyingly ridiculous thing that happened on our drive (other than the three wrong turns we took before we finally got on the right freeway: the freeway we'd taken countless times before when we lived in Palo Alto) was our run-in with the Benicia Bridge. A toll bridge. Usually there's some cash between the two of us, but between buying a bottle of water at the airport and candy at the movies, we were plumb out. And the toll had gone up to $3 - it was, in fact, about to bump up to $4 - which really didn't matter to us since all we could come up with was $.35. No problem, right? They must have a way to take ATM cards or something. Wrong. The guy didn't utter a word, just wrote down our license plate number and handed us a notice that we would be receiving a ticket bearing a $25 fine - plus the $3 toll. Sheesh.

Of course, we were in a rental car. And the rental car has our address down as 61 Bird Street, which it most definitely is not. However, they do have our credit card number. So now we'll need to call them and figure out how to take care of the ticket.

Anyhoo. We made it to Sacramento. There, we spent our days shuttling from place to place, while also coordinating gatherings of many people at our home base (Ryan's stepmom's house). We had two belated Christmases with many, many more gifts than either of my children need or even wanted to open. Josh liked the paper. Gabrielle liked the ribbons. They would have been happy with paper and ribbons. But that's okay; I think the grownups had been anticipating these "Christmas morning" moments ever since we announced we were expecting Gabrielle back in 2002. She finally cared - just a little - even if it was only about all the ribbons she could put in her hair.
The kids had a blast meeting their new cousins, and so did we. We also managed to get together with good friends to celebrate the New Year, and Gabrielle was psyched about that because she could join their daughter for a rousing viewing of "Let's Move!" with the Curious Buddies - silly little puppets who dance and do yoga. Again, the week flew by.

And then it was time to leave. We counted - door to door it took us 9 hours to get home, what with driving to the airport, returning the rental, an hour delayed flight, etc. Not too impressive considering we could drive to Sacramento in 11 hours, actually. Maybe we'll try that sometime.

Gabrielle, Josh, welcome back to your Purple Door (somewhere during those two weeks Ellie began referring to home that way, and I kind of like it). Let's stay put for a while!

Locomotion

2006-12-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot - Josh has started to really truly crawl! And by that I mean when he is up on his hands and knees and starts to move, he moves in the direction he intends to, rather than its opposite. This evening (after Ellie awoke from her 4 hour nap, feeling much better but still in the dumps poor thing) he crawled right up to her and tickled her tummy and then gummed her foot. She smiled for the first time all day.

The ups and the downs

2006-12-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

We made it!

We are here in sunny California. And yes it is actually sunny! Cool-ish, but beautifully clear.

The flight went fairly smoothly. In fact, we had some amazing airplane karma: first, all that fear about waiting in the parking lot on mile-long lines was unfounded. We caught the shuttle from the long term parking without a hitch and checked our bags. Then - and this is the amazing karma bit - as we trudged to security, two kids in strollers and two carry-ons in tow, the security guard told us, "why don't you take the express lane." Express lane? Hurrah! We bypass everyone as we zip to the x-ray machine. We remove four jackets, three pairs of shoes, a laptop, keys/wallet/sunglasses, and last but not least we extract two kids from two strollers. We make it through! Then we manage to stake out a table right by the floor-to-ceiling windows and Gabrielle gets to watch planes, trucks, and Santa (yes, he zips by on a truck) as we eat some lunch. Finally we become slightly bored with that area (heck, we got to the airport three hours before our flight) so we stroll on and discover an honest to goodness play area, where Gabrielle and Josh both get to stretch their limbs. Eventually it is time to board the plane and go. That all goes as expected: Gabrielle cries and squirms and is miserable during takeoff and landing, but the rest of the flight is fine. Josh is a little champ and barely utters a sound, just hangs out with us the whole time.

We have had a bit of extra drama here at my parents' house already, though. First of all, Gabrielle's car-terrors are back. Or whatever they are. Started on the way back from the airport. She cried pretty much the whole time, and whenever one of us tried to have a conversation she would shout for us not to talk to her. Not that we were talking to her. We tried to ignore it, thinking it would pass, but no such luck.

Then yesterday we went to visit some friends - just me, my mom, and the kids. This time we still got to hear lots of "Mommy no talk to me! Bubbe no talk to me! Nobody talk to me!!!" But the cherry on top was when Josh started making funny raspberry sounds, happily cooing to himself.

"Josh no make funny faces! Josh NO MAKE FUNNY FACES!" Oy.

Turns out there may have been a reason for her grumpiness. Last night she woke up at 2am with throw-up all over herself. Today we've had a couple repeats. She's napping now, so hopefully she'll feel much better when she wakes up. Honestly? I'm just glad this didn't happen on the plane. Now she can sleep, watch movies, and relax, and we can all just chill.

And off we go

2006-12-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we head down to California. While we are all very excited about seeing so many family and friends and about being away from the daily grind for a remarkable two weeks, the getting there is going to be quite an ordeal.

Today I am gathering the plethora of things we need to bring - from carseats to clothing, baby blankets to bibs. I have a giant mountain growing in the computer room, and so far it's almost entirely clothing for the kids. You just never know what you will need. Will it be cold down there? Everyone tells me so, but then again the people telling me are used to shivering in 60 degree weather, which frankly would feel warm to us right now. Then again, I know my parents turn the heat off entirely at night, and poor Josh can't use a blanket so he will need seven layers of pajamas just to stay above freezing. So all in all, packing is a puzzle all its own, and once I am done I will need a sherpa to carry my bags to the airport.

Ah, the airport. First we will drive to long-term parking and hope a parking angel makes catching the shuttle to the actual airport a breeze. Then once we get there, not only do we get to wait in the Disneyland-style lines which, I am told, may extend out of the building into the freezing - or at least well below the 60 degrees I spoke of before - parking lot. We get to do it with two potentially very cranky children and our mountainous luggage.

Then the two hours in the airport (well, perhaps less, since part of our two hour wait will have been spent in the aforementioned parking lot line) waiting to board the plane. Ah, the joy.

Last time we flew, Gabrielle finally realized that we were actually up in the air, in unfamiliar territory. She did not like it. She cried, horribly, the entire take-off and landing. I think a lot of the problem was the engine noise, since once we reached our cruising altitude things improved considerably. Lately when we talk about flying and try to get mentally ready, if I remind her that it is noisy she tells me, in no uncertain terms, "No."

No? Actually, yes.

Oh I am so looking forward to this flight tomorrow.

Resourceful in times of draught

2006-12-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

Gabrielle and Josh got some little toy boats for Chanuka. Josh, of course, could not care less at this point, but Gabrielle thought they were pretty cool. Yesterday she tried playing with them in a bowl of water in the kitchen. Let me point out that this is a girl who needs a new shirt any time she accidentally gets her sleeve wet while washing her hands, or drips some water down her front when attempting to use a non-sippy cup. Somehow, these boats helped her transcend her need for dryness, since she was sitting in a large pool of water, wetness soaking through her pants and wicking up her sleeves, for a good long length of time. Not to mention the slipping and sliding when she got up to go get her ducks.

Anyway, ducks and boats afloat, she disappeared for a moment and returned with a little bottle with more water in it. I thought to myself: "where could she have gotten that water? She doesn't turn on the faucet by herself yet!"

So I asked her to show me...although I had an inkling.

Sure enough, she led me to the toilet.

When I told this story, my brother in law called her resourcefully brilliant and outside of the box. I complimented him on his glass-half-full (albeit of toilet water) kind of attitude.

Dueling holidays in a digital world

2006-12-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

In the living room we are playing Christmas music on Ryan's iPod...here in the computer room we have Radio Hanukka on XMradio.com.

Though neither one is currently playing Alvin and the Chipmunks, which is what Ryan actually wants to hear.

Politely impolite

2006-12-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

My three year old has developed an attitude.

The other day she was watching Cinderella. I told her I was going to take a shower while she watched. However instead of immediately absconding to the bathroom, I finished doing a few things in the living room first.

"Mommy go away!"

Holding in a laugh I asked, "What did you say?"

"Mommy go away!" with a little shove. What? I know I should have stopped everything right then and administered a time out, but I needed my shower. On that morning, shower trumped discipline.

"Ask nicely, please."

"May mommy take a shower please."

An unlikely Tinkerbell

2006-12-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Ellie had a Princess party to go to, but it was Josh's patience as I forced him to don wings and pose for endless photographs that was most impressive. Both kids were darn cute, though!

I love art

2006-12-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday at Gabrielle's preschool I was handed one of her art projects from the previous Thursday to take home. It was a snowman. The kids had been given paper cutouts of snowmen, with all sorts of fun things to glue on them - cotton balls, colored paper shapes, buttons, etc.

I would scan this snowman in and post it here for you to see in all it's glory...but then all you'd see would be white anyway. I was a bit baffled; I thought perhaps she hadn't made a snowman and I'd been given one to bring home for later. But then I looked closer.

Many, many dots of elmer's glue, all over the paper.

Tooth ticklers and other delights

2006-12-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Gabrielle is blissfully propped in front of Mister Rogers (the one where he visits the dentist) and Josh is, for the moment, quiet in his crib. (See me spit over my left shoulder to stop the jinx pixies from hearing that). So here I am to report back on yesterday's dentist visit.

When it was time to leave for the dentist, Gabrielle dashed into the hallway, got my coat (which was hanging on a doorknob) and brought it to me. We headed out, and talked again about all the fun things we'd get to do - ride in the chair, brush teeth, etc.

Then we got into the dentist's exam room. She did fairly well - I was certainly prepared for worse. Although she was nervous and on the verge of crying, she stood there and watched mommy go up and down in the chair (not ready to ride it herself). She touched the polisher (a.k.a. tooth tickler) with one tentative finger, and said "ah" with her mouth cracked open. This was all for the hygienist. Oh and let me just mention that the hygienist had the brilliant presence of mind to, in the midst of friendly conversation, ask her if she used a pacifier. HellOOO? Let's remind her of the one security device that mommy and daddy have recently yanked from her, nearly breaking all three of our hearts, shall we?

Then the dentist arrived and, I must give him credit, he was great with her. He was gentle and sweet and I think she felt she could trust him. He even got to clean her teeth some, and she did great; she held her mouth open for him for quite a while as he scraped, which can't have felt normal to her.

When she was all done, everyone praised her heartily and she got to pick a prize from the toybox. I think she was very proud of herself. I know I was proud of her!

On the way home, I asked her what the best part of the dentist visit was. Her reply: "Best part dentist is TOY!"

The mommy phase

2006-12-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

I feel that I would have more to say if my arms weren't so often full of baby. Big, heavy, throw-your-back-out baby. Twist and squirm and jump if you even try to sit on the couch (or, gasp, in front of the computer) baby. Josh has gotten into a mommy phase that is greatly impacting my ability to accomplish anything at all! Along with the crying at night (which is still going on and which, it seems, is simply a "mommy I want to hug you at all times and no mommy you don't need to sleep Ever Again, you need to stay here with MEEEE") there is the fussing when I set him down on the floor, fussing when I set him in the highchair and turn away for 12 seconds to get his food, and fussing in any one of the numerous baby-holding contraptions which have taken over our living room. And yet when I approach him from the far distant place called the Bathroom or the Refridgerator, the light in his eyes and big happy grin that greets me...well I won't be a sucker and say it makes up for everything, but it sure does help.

Today is Gabrielle's big dentist appointment. Not technically her first - I brought her in once before for a concern I had - but the first official checkup for the big Three Year Old. She is so excited! I told her we'd go after her quiet time, so now she can't wait to go have her quiet time - even though her appointment is not until 4:30.

Despite all the enthusiasm, please do not be shocked if I come back here tomorrow to report that she cried the whole time. That would be my Gabrielle.

What about the pipsqueak?

2006-12-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

And what has little Josh been up to these past few weeks, you may ask? Well, not sleeping, that's for sure! It actually seems that most of the time he's been awake has been spent either feeding him or trying to get him back to sleep, since he has been nearly as cranky as I have.

He has, however, learned to stand up pretty well when propped up on a toy or the couch or your knee. He also enjoys scooting over to the bookcase and emptying the bottom shelf of books. Once he learns to pull up on things by himself, you can bet he'll be emptying the next two shelves up. I wouldn't be surprised if he quickly climbs to the top shelf to clean it out as well! (Kidding, mom. Well at least I hope I'm kidding!)

The Ariel influence

2006-12-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

A new development in Gabrielle's hair-combing saga:

After watching The Little Mermaid, she has switched to combing her hair with a fork.

Three years old

2006-11-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Gabrielle, you are three today! For the first time, you understand the concept of your birthday. Or at least, you knew a party was coming, and you were excited about getting presents and a cake. And – equally exciting – a dentist appointment (scheduled for December 11th). What a big girl.

This morning for breakfast you downed your chocolate chip pancakes with gusto. You opened a few presents - the most exciting being the $3 snow globe from mom and dad. All morning, you have carried it around with you. When Bubbe and Grandpa called to wish you a happy birthday, you were quick to tell them both about the delicious pancakes and your new snow globe.

Your all-time favorite thing at the moment is to stand in front of the mirror pretending to be Cinderella (singing while combing your hair) or pretending to get a haircut. Or both at the same time. You don’t use scissors, thank goodness, but your assortment of hair combs and brushes is impressive.

Your ability to thrive on two types of food on any given day is amazing. A week or so ago we discussed the fact that you might very soon turn into a puffin bird. That day, all you’d had to eat was Puffins cereal and three slices of cheddar cheese. On Thanksgiving you refused all the dinner foods (having had a satisfying lunch of Frosted Mini Wheats only a few hours earlier) but by dessert time you were hungry enough to down a bowl of ice cream (surprise!).

You are still fairly calm and gentle most of the time, although you do have moments of wild silliness. You can run up and down the hallway squealing, or climb mom and dad, or run in circles in the living room until you are dizzy. You have become a bit more mischievous and are testing your limits more, which I know is healthy though it's tiring for your parents. All of a sudden our careful, quiet girl has climbed up onto and fallen off her dresser (twice) and out of her booster seat (also twice).

We are always overjoyed to see you with your brother. You are quick to go to him when he cries - often beating me to it. And when he sees your smiling face he lights up! You are immensely patient when he pulls your hair or swats at your face, just laughing, even when it must hurt a little. At night you give him a pat, a kiss, and a hug, and "a nighty night night to you. I love you SO much, Josh!"

We are so proud of what a big girl you have become!

Let it snow

2006-11-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Every year when it snows even just the slightest bit, we Californians get giddy with excitement. So far it has happened at least once each year we've lived here - just enough to enjoy it, without being bogged down by things like shoveling and snow tires.

The funny thing about Seattle is that although it snows about every year, no one is quite used to it. The city shuts down. Cars are abandoned. This is mostly due to the fact that it doesn't get as cold as other places; it hovers around freezing, with snow melting and then re-freezing to form ice. It took my friend's husband eleven hours (yes, you heard right - eleven) to get home from work. Another friend's husband, who works very near Ryan, took 4 hours to get home.

That would have been Ryan! However, we had the good luck to decide that for once he would play hooky - we would go to the snow!

We headed about 20 minutes northeast of us, where there was even more snow than at our house. Now here's the funny thing. The whole way there, Gabrielle was crying and wanting to turn around. We finally figured out she was afraid to step on the snow! Somehow the brave, inquisitive girl from the previous day (see the picture above) had gotten nervous. So here's what we ended up doing on our snowy outing:

Gabrielle did end up having a great time, she just preferred to view the winter wonderland from the comfort of the stroller.

And little Josh? Well, he enjoyed himself just fine.

Cooking for Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

First of all, I am not a cook. However, this year for Thanksgiving we are getting together with some friends, and I am bringing a few key items (while she takes care of the hard stuff, like the turkey).

So I'm boiling yams this morning, and each time I walk into the kitchen I think, "Josh must need his diaper changed; smells like baby poop in here!"

Apparently, my son eats an awful lot of Gerber sweet potatoes!

A natural with chopsticks

2006-11-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight we brought home sushi. Gabrielle thought the "chocolate sticks" were really cool and clicked and clacked them all through dinner, while munching on sandwich crackers. (She did lick some vegetable tempura, which I consider to be a major accomplishment.) She also quite enjoyed her sake. So did mom and dad.

Ah, Cheerios

2006-11-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

Ah, Cheerios.

What fun, yesterday, to see Gabrielle discover for the first time that she could put them on the tips of her fingers and poke them into her mouth.

Six months old

2006-11-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

Josh, you turned six months old yesterday! It really has gone by quickly - you've become such a big boy. Still a baby, certainly, but no longer a newborn by any means.

You have finally started sleeping through most nights. Thank goodness, as your sister has decided to do the opposite. You roll like a champ. I can no longer put you down and expect you to stay in one place for more than five seconds, which is good for me - keeps me on my toes. You can sit up for extended periods of time before flopping backwards. When you do flop you rarely even cry; you just roll over and find something else to look at.

You are full of curiousity, reaching for things - toes, hands, toys, food - pretty much whenever you are awake. You are still trying to crawl, and get up on all fours but usually move backwards rather than forwards. Soon you'll figure it out and will be scooting all over the house nonstop! In fact, I set you down with some toys in your room in order to write this little letter. I left you sitting there, happily playing. Heard a thump - you were now lying on your tummy, still happily playing. Now I hear some sounds (pthththt, hnff, cough...) that are surprisingly nearby...let me go see.

Ah, yes, I was correct:
You are such a happy baby. You smile at everyone, particularly your parents and your sister. You adore your sister and she is great with you. Love that big toothless grin!

Double geniuses

2006-11-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight Ellie was playing with a toy that, when you push it, plays the melody to You Are My Sunshine. I knew she liked music, but I never imagined we had a brilliant lyricist in our midst. Tonight she changed the ending ever so cleverly:

"...oh I GAVE my PAcifiers away!" and then at the end she threw in a little bonus: "To babies!"

Meanwhile, Josh has figured out the following sequence of events to propel himself forward:

Up on all fours - rock rock rock - dive - shoulder roll - reeeeaaach - and back up on all fours.

A very sleepy girl

2006-11-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

I think today reached its peak around 3pm, with Gabrielle dragging her exhausted body along the hall floor, moaning “Mommmmmmyyyy! Mommmmmyyyy!” I kid you not. Dragging. On. The. Floor.

The whole day was pretty much a blur of exhaustion – hers, not mine this time. Finally, at 4:15 in the afternoon, after many attempts at sleep (in her room, in the living room, on the floor, on the couch, with mommy, with a book…you get the picture) she crawled up onto the spare bed. When next I looked at her, she was out cold.

A typical encounter

2006-11-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Say we are in line at a store somewhere. I'm patiently waiting my turn.

From behind me I hear a grandmotherly: "Well Helloooooo!"

I look down at my kids. Josh is grinning. Gabrielle is grinning.

The Lady: "And how old are youuuuuu?"

Josh grins.

Gabrielle says: "I two!" I look at her expectantly. "And a half!" (Fingers held up to count, though how you show two-and-a-half with fingers I'm not sure).

I say to her, "Gabrielle, when will you be three?"

"Go to dentist! Get new snowglobe! November twennyNINE!"

I then explain that she excited to go to the dentist because Mister Rogers goes, and that she gets to go once she is three. Also that she broke her old snowglobe and will get a new one for her birthday. Lady smiles patiently. Looks over at Josh.

Josh grins. Lady coos. I pay for our things.

"Okay, say good bye!"

"Bye!"

We walk out, Gabrielle walking nearly backwards to keep watching her new friend.

As fate would have it

2006-11-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

I have never been so happy for Gabrielle to have a cold.

Yesterday Ellie's nose started running a bit. We headed out to the drug store for a remedy, but the pharmacist lady said that the children's Sudafed, while decongesting (no that's not a real word, at least I don't think it is) effectively, often gets kids wired. After the previous few nights, the last thing I wanted was a kid hopped up on nasal decongestant! So I declined and opted for the less potent but potentially sleep-inducing Benedryl.

When it got close to bed time I offered the magical medicine. Gabrielle loves medicine. She slurps the stuff down like candy - most of the time. This time she took one eager swallow and then, confused and saddened, pushed it away saying "no!" So I guess the makers of children's Benedryl need to work on their syrupy goodness. Anyway we managed to sneak the remaining dose into a glass of milk and thus into our daughter.

And wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, by about 7:00 pm she was in her bed, asleep, without any complaints. Even more amazing - she stayed there until 7:00 the next morning.

And tonight her cold was even worse. I joyfully laced a glass of chocolate milk with the stuff and watched with glee as she gulped it down. One half hour later she was out for the count.

Having spoken too soon

2006-11-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

I was feeling proud. And maybe a little smug. We had fought the pacifier battle and won. Or so it seemed.

But then after several very successful paci-free nights, something strange began to happen. First, Gabrielle woke up at 1am. Then 2am. Then talked and played in her bed but didn't fall back asleep till 4:30 or so. Then the next night she woke around 1am and cried on and off until 3:30 or so.

But last night...I don't think it can be beat. She cried from 7:30-8:30, 10-11, and 2-3:30. And not just any cry. This was the saddest, most hysterical, most heartbreaking sound I have ever heard. We tried to ask if anything hurt, but she was beyond words. We gave her some tylenol just in case. We discussed (halfheartedly, I'll admit) a trip to the ER. At 11pm I picked her up and headed out to the car in the hopes that she'd fall asleep in her carseat. But once outside she found her words and said, with a wimper, "I want to sleep in my purple bed!" So back in we went. She did settle down and sleep for a few hours. At 3am we tried her light on; this worked for a short while. Finally at 3:30 I lay on the floor next to her and we both passed out.

And of course - since, as we all know, siblings are in cahoots when it comes to matters of sleep-deprivation torture - Josh awoke bright and early at 5:30.

I've gotta give it to Ryan. He really helped out last night, yet still managed to head out to work to put in a full day. I, on the other hand, feel my brain is like mush and can barely keep my eyes open.

Speaking of Ryan - in the midst of the craziness last night, he confessed that on the way back from school (kindergarten, I hope!) he'd get in the car and the very first order of business was to pop it back in his mouth.

So I suppose it will come as no great surprise to hear that last night he asked, "so...do we have any pacifiers left in the house?"

The New Yorker

2006-10-31T12:47:00.000-08:00

Ryan left this cartoon on my desk this morning. Hm.

[from the October 16, 2006 issue of The New Yorker]

Water babies

2006-10-30T06:18:00.000-08:00

While we seem to have more or less conquered the bath wars with Gabrielle (she will take a bath and love it, as long as we don't use a cup to rinse her hair...instead we must wet a washcloth and little by little coerce the soap out) she clearly is happier on land.

Yesterday we went to a pool party for a friend. It was at an indoor pool that is about as perfect as you can get for a toddler: padded, shallow, and full of toys. Our big girl cried when she saw it; cried when we put her suit on, and cried when I tried to get her to walk onto the ramp leading into the pool. Eventually she found a duck inner tube that she wore for the duration (while sitting about 2 inches of water). By the end, she let her dad carry her around with toes touching the water, and even put her hand in one of the geysers they had in the pool. Oh, and cried when it was time to leave.

Josh was a whole different story. This was his first time ever in a pool, and he loved the water: laughed when we swirled him around in it, laughed when we tipped him back to get his hair in it, and just had a blast. He fell asleep pretty much the instant he was dry.

For the books

2006-10-29T14:07:00.000-08:00

I think I should put a couple more milestones in here, as I'm clearly lapsing on the actual baby books under the assumption that I'll be able to print these entries and save them later...

October 28, 2006
Josh crawls. Yes, it is more of a combination army-crawl (head low, crawling on forearms) and downward facing dog yoga-crawl (butt up, pushing with toes). But the point is he moved. Forward. On purpose.

October 29, 2006
Josh sleeps through the night for the fourth consecutive night. I mean really through the night, not the measly 5-6 hours that supposedly "counts" to the baby-book writers. That means that he did it for the first time on October 26th.

Oh yeah, and in pacifier news: Gabrielle is still doing great. She doesn't seem troubled by the lack of pacifiers at all, and proudly tells us every so often that she gave them to the babies. Hurrah!!

Baby food for one and all

2006-10-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

If you know me well, you have heard me talk about Gabrielle and her eating habits. She is so picky, some days she will eat nothing but crackers. Some days it's veggie bootie. You never know. She might like something one day and abhor it the next. But one thing's for sure: if it's a fruit or a vegetable, she won't eat it!

This leads to another thing you'll have heard me talk about if you are at all in the know: Gabrielle's poop. Or lack thereof. She is even on prescription medication because if you've ever seen her struggle to get a poop out you will know how horrible and sad it is, and how you would do anything in your power to make it easier. Of course, if she'd just eat some fruits or veggies now and then she'd be fine. One week she went on a Cracklin' Oat Bran kick and that was great too. But Cracklin' Oat Bran is now out of vogue and she won't go near the stuff.

A couple weeks ago I started giving Josh baby cereal. So a few days ago, I decided it was time to try some other baby foods. I started with strained squash. You can see Josh's initial reaction in the photo. (It did seem to grow on him, though, and he ate it like a champ the next day.)

In a moment of mommy brilliance, I did it when Gabrielle was in her booster seat eating plain cheerios and chedder cheese.

"I want some squash too!"

"Ok, I'll put some in a bowl for you." I put some in a bowl and give her a spoon. She polishes it off.

"More squash, please!"

Wow! Then the next morning, at breakfast time:
"I want some more squash!"

"Well, honey, we will have some squash later. Right now we are trying carrots."

"I want some carrots!"

Mommy takes a bow.

I know it won't last, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. And hope that when Josh begins eating raisins and chopped up fruits and other healthy things, it will make those foods seem just as delicious to Big Sister as strained carrots and squash do right now.

We did it!

2006-10-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

Things went surprisingly well with the Pacifier Elimination last night. She went down pretty well and slept through most of the night. At 4:30 am I was awakened by a door opening and a little pitter patter. This has never ever happened before - even since she got her big girl bed she has called me in to get her up in the morning. I went into the living room and found her sitting on the couch, crying a little. Some milk stopped the crying. But no amount of putting her in bed, lying down with her, bringing her into the big bed, stories, or cajoling could get her to go back to sleep. It was just morning, as far as she was concerned. And as a matter of fact by the time I gave up it was 5:45 and Ryan was up so it really was morning, though much earlier than I would like to be awake!

Still we made it through the first pacifier-free night without too much trauma so I am happy. Plus Josh slept through the night for the second time in a row. Hooray for Josh!

Vanished

2006-10-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

It's really gone!

Today was supposed to be the very last day of the Pacifier. But this morning it disappeared! You may think I took it away in an underhanded attempt to speed up the process. But no - I looked all over for it and Clear Yellow is truly gone. And I was not about to bring back Clear Blue from the mysterious land where pacifiers go.

So we had a serious discussion. Those babies really wanted the pacifiers, and it is with them. In thanks, the babies gave her a My Little Pony with pink brush and comb. So far so good. Wish me luck tonight!

And in closing, today's best quote thus far:

“There’s mommy’s big tushy.”

Ah, thanks.

Mustard Poop

2006-10-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who finds breast milk poop gross? It seems that most people say “it doesn’t smell” or “it doesn’t smell bad” – neither of which I find true.

I also strongly feel that poop should not be mistakable for a condiment, just in case (as my cousin found out one tragic afternoon) you accidentally miss a spot while washing your hands and then go to prepare lunch. And then find some mustard on your hand which you, being a busy mother of 3, quickly lick off.

Thankfully we are introducing solids now and will soon enter the world of surprise packages. Brown, yellow, green, orange…maybe even purple or blue…these will all be possibilities when we change the baby's diaper for a while. Ah, the suspense!

A Modicum of Success

2006-10-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Interesting. Last night when I reminder her, “four more days until we give your pacifiers to the babies” I got an unexpected response.

Through sad, sad tears, she plucked her (clear blue) pacifier out of her mouth and handed it to me, saying, “For the babies!”

I tried to explain that she could still use it for four more days, but she clearly was ready to hand it over. Especially when I added she’d get a little present in return. (Am I making this as complicated as I possibly can? I think so, especially when you factor in the star chart I am planning if after few days without pacifiers she is still having trouble.) She then had us help her search her bed until we found Clear Yellow. Aha! She thinks she gets to keep one while giving one up! I see.

It was actually a rough night. She woke up twice, crying. I’m not sure why. I wonder if she was having nightmares about giving up her precious pacifiers.

This morning I gave her a little present and she said “For giving pacifier to the babies!”

I said, “That’s right!”

She plucked her Clear Yellow out of her mouth and handed it to me. Knowing this was a foolish act on her part, I said, “No, you still get to use your pacifier for three days. Would you like to put it up here on your dresser?”

“Yeah.”

Five minutes later it was back in her mouth. But I think we’re making progress.

Reality sets in...

2006-10-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday
Me: "Gabrielle, you're getting to be such a big girl! And pacifiers are for babies, not big girls. So in five days we are going to get all your pacifiers, put them in a bag, and bring them to the store so they can give them to the new babies who need them. Okay?"

Her: "Okay!"

Today:
Me: "Ok Ellie, in four days we are going to gather up all your pacifiers and bring them to the store, so that the lady can give them to the babies, since you are such a big girl now and pacifiers are for babies. Right?"

Her: Face crumples. Tears come to eyes. "Noooooo! My clear pacifier!"

And to top it off:
Me, on the phone to Ryan: "Well I think she gets it now. This morning when I told her four days till we give away the pacifiers she got really sad. It's breaking my heart!"

Ryan: "It's breaking my heart to do this to her! I had a pacifier till kindergarten!"

Isn't is supposed to be the father who is unmoved and stoic, knowing it is all for the best, and who comforts the sobbing mother while physically restraining her from giving in? Who will force me to stand my ground after we take the pacifiers away??

Dude.

An uncanny resemblance

2006-10-22T02:12:00.000-07:00

Is it just me???

Goodbye, sweet binky?

2006-10-22T01:51:00.000-07:00

It is 1:45 am. For the umpteenth night in a row, Gabrielle has woken up in teary misery looking for her pacifier. When she was a baby we'd sprinkle 9 pacifiers all around her crib. By morning there were usually six on the floor, one in her mouth, and two in the far corners of the crib.

Those were the good old days. Back then, we had 9 to sprinkle. Slowly they disappeared into Pacifier Black Hole. Also slowly it became evident that not just any pacifier will do; it must be a clear one. Some days it has to be a clear-with-yellow-handle one, in fact. And as we only have two clear ones and I refuse to buy more, finding them in the middle of the night becomes more of a challenge.

So...tomorrow we start the countdown. I think. 5 days till the pacifiers go away. I am 90% sure I'll have the guts. Ok, 60%.

A Baby's Guide

2006-10-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

A Baby (Boy's) Guide to a Fun Morning
By Joshua B. Rountree

Preparation:
1) Be certain you wake your mommy up at least 4 or 5 times during the night. This makes her tired. Creates slow reaction time and funny faces.
2) Check your outfit. Are you wearing the one and only sleepsack that fits you? Good. This one is nice and cozy, especially when freshly laundered.

Action:
1) Poop while mommy is holding you. She loves that! She will slowly get up and walk into your room with you.
2) Now, when you are lying on the changing table but before she gets anything cleaned up, poop again. Yeah! This should cause poop to squirt out the back of your diaper and up your back. Mmmmm squishy. Also cause mommy to get a 2nd fresh clean diaper for you, and ensure you get your sleep sack nice and dirty so that it must go into the wash instantaneously.
3) While mommy is cleaning your frontside, be sure to pee. This will get your hair nice and stylish: the "wet look." Even a wipe can't take that away from you. It also ensures a bath sometime in the near future.
4) Ok, now mom will have to sit you up all naked (remember the poop up the back to your armpits?). While you are sitting, pee again! Now you got your changing pail, the floor, and mommy's arm. Good job!
5) Mom will finish your back and remove dirty pjs and lay you down on something fresh and clean. You know what to do...
6) Yeah!! Pee! Straight into the air! Hooooray! Sprinklers!!!
7) Now!! Poop!!!! Wahooo!!! Is there a diaper under you?? NO! Because remember you got mommy nice and tired so she didn't remember to put one there quickly enough!
8) Ok, good job! An excellent beginning.

Now what will you do for the rest of the day???

My Shadow!

2006-10-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

My Shadow, My Very Own Shadow!
(It's only a shadow. Yes, but it's all mine)

My husband thinks I have some magical brain that can remember lyrics to songs and dialogue from musicals (That was Peter Pan, in case you are not as magical as me). He doesn't realize that on endless drives down to LA or up to Lake Tahoe, pretty much the only thing that could keep dear Sister and I from tearing each other's hair out was to sing along to Annie. Or Oliver. Or Peter Pan. Oh how my parents loved it. But I digress.

Like the famed Peter Pan, baby Josh found his shadow in the nursery this morning.

Josh is 5 months old. This morning, like any other morning, he woke at 6:30. He ate and then did his usual happy head-bobbing thing while looking at me, the most beautiful thing in the room. Then he glanced over and found something even more exciting...a thing on the wall. It was gray. It bobbed. In fact it bobbed exactly when he bobbed! Then he tried a little sideways dive. It dove with him! Big grin. For 15 minutes (an eternity in Baby Time) he sat on my lap, stared at the wall, and dove or wiggled. Then, just like Wendy did, I gave him a kiss.

Beginning

2006-10-20T15:46:00.001-07:00

I've done it! I've started a blog. Entered the digital world. I am so proud.

I am Rebecca, mom to two little squirts in the rainy-yet-lovable town of Edmonds, Washington. In a previous life I was a graphic designer.

The main reason I wanted to start a blog was to have somewhere to record things like this:

Today (actually, this was a month ago. But I had no blog and therefore no where to write it except in an email to my husband.)

1) G's only acceptable t-shirt is cookie monster pj top
2) pigtails must be rubber banded in the back (making 1 pony tail) so as to avoid swinging in face and reminding of bugs

And this (from today. Actually today.)

So Gabrielle [sweet adorable nearly-3-year-old daughter] has a thing about "yucks." Bugs, hair, fuzz, etc, all cause varied levels of panic. Well today we were in the living room, and she says "I go look in the mirror."

I say, "ok, bye!"

She scampers off to the mirror. All of a sudden I hear "YUCKY!!! Yucky yucky yucky!!!" so I go in there. She is cowering, her eyes covered with her hands.

"Where is the yuck?" I ask.

"Yucky in my nose!" comes the reply. One tissue and bugger-swipe later, all is well in the world.