The Budding Artiste

Bear has been loving "art" lately. Whenever she gets a chance she runs up to me and asks, "I do art?" This means pulling out her box with her crayons and glue and scissors and a quiet 45 minutes of her "creating." Her favorite part being when her work is completed and she runs up to show either Matt or myself her masterpiece. Before her work consisted of random blobs and scribbles, but lately her work is starting to take actual shape and form. So now for you, our blog readers, we present Bear's gallery of her latest artwork.



"Monster," 2008. Medium: Magnadoodle.



"Monster has Belly Button," 2008. Medium: Magnadoodle.



"Orange Fish," 2008. Medium: Orange Crayon.



"Daddy, Mommy, me and Baby and Sonja," 2008. Medium: Purple Crayon.

She really enjoys her "art." She's like a little Miro.

Thanksgiving Recap 2008

Busy weekends have a way of sneaking by in a mad rush. Thanksgiving weekend was almost "thankless" mostly because we didn't have enough opportunity to give thanks through all the busy-ness. So better late than never...here are our thanks:

Wednesday: We're thankful for arriving safely, despite the rain, traffic and 10 hours stuck on the road. We're thankful for a warm place to sleep and seeing Matt's family again.

Thursday: We're thankful for family gatherings. We're thankful for great-grandmas and aunts and cousins and dim sum. We're thankful for smoked turkeys and full tummies and ample relatives to watch over our happy children. We're also thankful for home-baked apple pie and ice cream.

Friday: We're thankful that Berkeley is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Sacramento. We're thankful for seeing my family healthy and well. We're thankful for fondue and artichoke and purple yams. We're thankful for B the dog, who put up with Bear and kept her company most of the day. (We're also thankful for Black Friday sales at the Apple store...hee hee)

Saturday: We're thankful for the newly renovated Science museum at Golden Gate Park which had Bear and Chipmunk exclaiming "wow!" from the moment we arrived. We're thankful for R and her forethought in getting tickets online weeks ago because otherwise we wouldn't have been let in. (By the way, I highly recommend it...super-cool exhibits for nerds like me).

Sunday: We're thankful for Sunday mornings, catching up with friends and celebrating soon-to-be parents. We're thankful for long afternoon naps and chances to bake with grandmas.

Monday: We're thankful for being able to come home safely, settle in and rest up from a long, fun weekend.

And some pics...

Ill Effects

My kids are ill again. It's becoming a little too common for my taste. They also have this knack for getting sick a week before we see the grandparents. Doesn't matter whether the grandparents are coming here for a visit or we're traveling to see them, they just have impeccable timing. And of course, now that Thanksgiving is fast approaching they seem to have caught another bug.

Bear caught the bug first. The fever was so sudden that it caused her to have another febrile seizure. And yes, I know it's a normal reaction to a sudden, rising fever for many young kids...nonetheless, it's still hard to watch. At least this time I didn't panic...just went down my mental checklist of to-dos (tylenol, lukewarm bath, lots of liquids, wait...). She was over the worst of it after a day of rest...

Next it was Chipmunk's turn (minus the seizure). He just felt warm tonight, so to be cautious I took his temp and the thermometer blinked 101.9 at me. So just to be safe, we took the same precautions and went down the fever checklist. Now he's sleeping, feels cooler to the touch, and I'm holding my breath because I know it's going to be a long night of wakings.

I know they'll be fine, they have strong immune systems, but every time they get sick my head runs through lists of questions usually starting with "Is it my fault??

I know I can't control what germs they come in contact with, nor would I want to be constantly covering them with antibiotic junk (not good!), but I start developing this itch every time they fall ill. It's the itch that tells me that my kids got sick because of something that I did or didn't do. I didn't clean the house enough. I didn't give them proper naps. I didn't wash their hands after letting them play somewhere. I let them eat that cheerio that fell on the carpet.

I know that it's not true, but I still think this way despite. Is this normal? Or am I the one that is sick?

Nine Months...

Well Chipmunk has now officially been outside the womb just as long as he's been in it, and I must say that it's quite impressive how much he's grown.

Weight: 21 lbs, 12 oz (70%ile)
Height: 29 and three quarters inches (90%ile)

All the doctor had to say was, "he's a big boy!"

Yup, he is a big boy. Oof.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry that we've been neglecting you lately. As much as we'd like to keep up and post our daily thoughts and adventures, it's just been hard getting to the computer to do anything besides mindless internet surfing (or computer games).

It's been busy. Mostly because now that Chipmunk is at a place where he's more content doing things on his own...playing, falling asleep, eating...I've been working more on those goals that I've left by the wayside since his birth.

So papers are finally getting organized, Bear is potty training and learning her alphabet sounds, I've been finding some time to read and to craft, we've been utilizing our local library, and Matt has been keeping himself busy, too.

The other reason we haven't had much to post is because well, life has gotten to a rather routine point. Our days are filled with organized naps and meals and I always said I didn't want to just write fluff. But perhaps now that the holidays are coming we'll at least have some trips and merry diversions to post about in the near future.

Until then, dear blog, sit tight. We'll catch up with you soon.

Sincerely,
Us

Our library visit

Today, at our visit to the library, Bear outdid herself. I couldn't stop laughing at her comments.

On the weather outside:

Bear: Exiting the library "Wow, whatta nithe(nice) day! Nithe, thunny (sunny) day outside."

When you realize perhaps there should be more visits to the library and less television:

Bear: Sitting outside by a water fountain "I see a quirl(squirrel), mommy! A quirl like on tv like on Curious George!"

On being sixteen:

Bear: Getting into the car "I want to drive the car, mommy. I want to drive home."

Me: You know, you're not supposed to drive the car unless you're sixteen years old.

Bear: "Sixteen? Oh, okay."

Hungry?

I just watched Bear finish two hard-boiled eggs, 1 bowl of cereal with milk, and a whole banana and then ask for more. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table Chipmunk ate a whole container of baby yogurt, a quarter cup of oatmeal, one egg yolk and then follow with a whole banana himself. Then he pounded the table asking for more, so I sprinkled the table with Cheerios.

Yes, I do feed them regularly.

People are always commenting on my kids' eating habits. Not just about how much they eat, but what they eat. My daughter would rather eat her salad than her slice of pizza. My kids could sit through a whole meal scarfing just broccoli and tofu. So when Bear asks if she can have a little ice cream, I indulge, only because I know it won't curb her regular appetite for things like celery and carrots.

I'm not complaining, especially since I've seen families who run after their kids with spoon in hand forcing them to eat something. It's just that I've noticed how much more I've been purchasing at the grocery stores and how much more often I have to visit these establishments just to keep up with their little bellies. Plus, what goes in, must come out as they say, and I often get the short end of the stick on that one.

One day I'll tell them about what good eaters they were as babes. I'll tell them stories about how strangers at restaurants always commented on how they loved watching them eat or at the amount of greenery that inhabited their plates. I'll tell them about how meals were no problem because they sat the whole time and ate. But I'll also remind them how blessed they were that they could get their fill on a regular basis and how blessed they were for never having to want.

In the meantime, I think I need to go cook. I'm running out of cooked broccoli.

Bear's Vote

While throngs of citizens around the nation are casting their vote for what is probably the most historic election that I've witnessed in my lifetime, Bear is sitting in her room trying to decide what shoes will adorn her tiny feet.

Carefully she pulls pairs of shoes out of her shoe drawer and inspects them. She makes comments here and there and tries each pair of shoes on. Then when she's finished she replaces her shoes carefully back into the red plastic drawer. And it goes on for an hour or so.

"Oh, wow! Nice shoes!"

"So pretty!"

"I like these shoes!"

"These my dance-y shoes!"

"Oh, shiny!"

In the end she decided on her "dance-y shoes," well, because they're "dance-y" and they matched her shirt. That's our little girl for you.

Next vote: Purses

Priorities

So we realized this week that we haven't taught Chipmunk how to do any of those basic baby things...oh, you know, like clapping hands...yet he already knows how to signal a touchdown. We have priorities in this household.

Pumpkin Aftermath

After you carve pumpkins, you roast the seeds!



After carving pumpkins the kids were too excited and riled up. So excited were they that naps were scarce that afternoon. After putting Bear to bed twice for her nap, I thought she was finally asleep. Nope. I found her a half hour later playing with her toys in the hallway. Sneaky. So napless and tired we headed out.



Bear did her usual Trick or Treating at the local mall amongst the throngs of costumed kids. "Twick or Tweet!"



Chipmunk was a little upset...perhaps because Bear wouldn't share her candy with him.

Then it was on to our church where they were hosting a "Children's Night." Bear ran around playing games to her heart's content. Chipmunk was a little tired, so he stuck to me like glue. All twenty-something pounds. Oof.



After we put our overtired kids to bed, I told Matt, "I'm so glad everyday isn't Halloween." Pooped.

Pumpkin Fun

We stumbled into the pumpkin patch this morning and the only rule I gave Bear was the same one my parents gave me: "As long as you can carry the pumpkin yourself, we can buy it." She picked out a small one, perfect sized that she could carry to the cash register herself.



She carried that pumpkin to the car, from the car into our home, and then all the way to the kitchen table. I opened it up and she cleaned out the pumpkin herself. Then she helped me pick out the seeds.



She had a grand ol' time squishing the pumpkin guts between her fingers. After a while she decided that she wanted a happy face on her pumpkin. I carved a face and then she added the "freckles."



Chipmunk made his own pumpkin, too...er, well he had a little help. He did however mention that he wanted Hoho the monkey on it from "Ni Hao, Kai Lan."



They're both very excited about getting all dressed up in their costumes and Bear is even practicing how to say, "Trick or Treat." What fun!

Whoosh!

That's the sound of time flying by.

October is in its last leg and I'm already starting to stress about the holiday season. Seriously. There's something wrong with me.

First of all, I don't deal with stress well...scratch that. I don't deal with the anticipation of stress well. See, we're not even there yet and I'm already starting to worry about travel plans and gift buying. It's silly, I know. But here I am wondering if Chipmunk will be needing a warm coat this winter.

Everyday I'm reminded about how quickly things progress. Chipmunk is cruising around our home. Bear is losing those babyish features and becoming more and more childlike. Another anniversary, another birthday, another set of holidays to travel and plan for.

Whoosh.

Perhaps that's also the sound of the last of my energy deflating.

Foiled Again

I don't sleep well. Never have. There's just something about me and sleep that doesn't mesh well, which is bad because, well...sleep is kind of necessary and good for me and so on and so forth.

So it always amazes me how something that it so necessary and so vital is the hardest thing for me to do sometimes. I lay awake at night listening to the various sounds of our neighborhood and the thoughts swirling in my head, so that come morning I'm super tired and just not the best caregiver to two kids. So I try napping, but those naps seem to just mess up my schedule even further. It's a vicious cycle.

Yet, the internet is plastered with articles about how getting a proper night's sleep is important and could even save us money.

So tonight I had it planned to go to bed earlier (earlier, not early - baby steps, please!). I had a good start. I finished watching Project Runway, managed to get in my bedtime routine, read a little and settle in for the night.

And yet it's 1 am and I'm still up (and writing a blog no less!) and my little Bear is laying on our couch listening to the sound of my typing after shuffling into our bedroom and crying because Chipmunk was whimpering in his crib.

I'll just have to try again tomorrow night. *Sigh*

October Is In Full Swing!

I actually got an early start on costume-making this year. I figured that with two costumes to put together (and my shotty tailoring skills), I better not procrastinate.



Matt finally got his little jedi. I vetoed his "St@r Wars" votes the last two years for Bear, but this year he got his wish for Chipmunk.



This was the first year we let Bear choose her own costume. Even before we could come up with some suitable choices she decided she would be a "pink PIN-cess!"



She picked out her own fabric, too. Pink and shiny.

Oh, and we can't forget the little friends...

From 2008

From 2008

Looks like October is in full swing!

A Little Hello

Hello! I know it's been a while since we last posted. Just been busy. That's all. Nothing major. We're still here, and we're glad that you've stopped by.

Bear says hello. She is sorry she hasn't had much time to spend with you. Her schedule has been jam-packed with play dates, birthday parties and more play dates, but she hasn't forgotten about you.



She wanted to tell you all about her bicycle and how she hopes to learn to ride it someday. She's also been taking good care of her brother and taking the time to sing songs loudly wherever she goes.

Chipmunk also says hello. He is sorry that he hasn't had the opportunity to tell you what he's been up to. He's been busy crawling around and learning how to pull himself to a standing position.



About 2 weeks ago he had an epiphany and realized how much fun it is to be him. He enjoys his car rides, loves playing with his sister (crawls after her screaming with glee), and enjoys eating all his meals. His mom thinks he's a completely different baby sometimes. So he's sorry he hasn't had time to post, but he's been busy enjoying life.

So hello to all of you out there! We hope you are all well, too.

Medical Mystery

Matt went to bed last night after dosing himself with some Nyquil trying to shake off the chills. I managed to put Chipmunk to sleep despite his head congestion and inability to breathe through his nose. Bear woke up at about 10:30 whimpering on and off because she was having trouble with her stuffy nose and couldn't comfortably fall asleep again for hours

Me? I'm quite well.

It's a medical mystery to me. I'm always healthy and my family is wheezing up a storm around me. I get the least amount of sleep, too. If anything, I should be the one who is sick all the time. It doesn't make sense to me.

My optimistic friends always tell me, "what's wrong with that? That's a good thing because then there is someone to take care of the rest of the family." True. If I was sick with the rest of them, I'd still have to take care of them all, just feel miserable while doing so.

I was sick a lot as a kid. Perhaps that has something to do with it. It got to the point where people stopped taking care of me because I already knew how to take care of myself. Whenever I came down with something, I got the, "oh she'll be fine-she's always sick" response, whereas my sister would complain of a stomach pain and they were plotting which route to take to the hospital. Then again, she just didn't get sick that often. Now she gets sick everytime she hangs out with my kids. Go figure.

So for the next couple of days and nights I'll be taking care of my family. I just hope after they're healthy again, they'll let me sleep for a couple of days.

Mommy in Distress

It's been a rough day with Chipmunk. He caught a cold and is having trouble sleeping. At one rough moment in the day, Bear ran up and said, "Mommy, I come rescue you, okay?"

Sweet kid.

For the Smiles

I've decided that putting in the effort and taking our kids on special outings is beneficial for the whole family. The kids get to take in some culture, fun and some fresh air. The parents get that warm fuzzy feeling inside when they see the tremendous smiles on their kids faces.

This week we went to the County Fair. Some highlights:

Bear's First Pony Ride



We were standing by the pony ride deciding where to go next, when Bear turned to Matt and asked, "I ride pony?" Uh, okay.

Seeing all the Animals



Her favorite was by far the bunny ("pet bunny like Curious George?" she asked). She also got to pet a bearded dragon, see some turtles, ooh and aah at the baby farm animals, and visit with some tarantulas at an insect display.

Hanging Around



Chipmunk was dying to get out and move around. Unfortunately, the fair doesn't have too many places for babies to stretch their legs. He had to settle for riding in the sling wrap with me. I can't tell you how many times people stopped to say hello to Chipmunk. He got more attention than some of the displays we visited.

Fried Foods

When at the fair, you have to eat fried foods.



We stuck with funnel cake. but deep fried artichoke hearts and deep fried cupcakes did pique my interest. Gotta love that fair food!

Trains

Once again, Bear rode a train. A carnival train, of course.



There was this really neat model train exhibit, too. It was impressive and I wish I had gotten some pictures of it.

Ah, the County Fair.

My Favorite Bear Moments (Spoken)

Bear runs into the kids section at a local bookstore and sees a book with a stuffed unicorn next to it.

Bear: Oooh, wow, Goats!
Me: No, those are unicorns.
Bear: Oooh, wow, CORNS!

Bear gets stuck on a staircase that has a landing in the middle that you can either take another set of stairs back down or take a set to the upper floor.

Bear:(sobbing hysterically) I got lost on da hill, mommy!

Bear converses with the doctor when we take Chipmunk to see her.

Bear: Hi doctor! Baby hurt foot...fix it! Ummm, maybe bandage.

Bear tries to console Chipmunk when I step away for a minute

Bear: Okay, Baby. Good boy. Mommy right back. Here play Sonja...Hey! Don't! (Yells) Moooooommmmmmy! Baby eat Sonja! Now dirty! Needs bath. ("Sonja needs a bath" is what we tell her when Sonja mysteriously goes away and comes back clean a minute later)

Bear singing "Where is Thumbkin?" when she thinks no one is looking

Bear: Where is pumpkin? Where is pumpkin? How are you? How are you? Na na na na day sir. Va ma na ma dank you. Wun away. Wun away.

Bear is getting irritated with her brother playing with her toys and runs over to grab whatever toy he is playing with

Bear: Aaaaaiiiii-yaaaaa! Baby! Not yours!

Yeah, I'm guessing Kai lan has something to do with the last one. I'm a fan of "ai-goo" myself (Korean interjection - for those of you who don't know)

Most of the reason I'm recording these here is because I don't want to forget those little sayings that make me laugh from day to day. I hope that when she gets older I can return here and show her how silly she was at the age of two.

Little Friends are Hard to Find

Sometimes you just don't know what will become your child's best friend and comfort. Bear has her Sonja. Sonja is the ragged, gray, fraying love of her life. It would devastate her if she were to ever disappear. It was disheartening enough to watch her cry after Sonja fell in a mud puddle. Because of this, and here's our little secret, we actually have two Sonja dolls. When Bear started becoming attached we luckily found Sonja still available at our local toy store. So we took the advice of a friend and started alternating Sonja dolls unbeknownst to our little girl.

Recently, a friend of ours found another Sonja doll and gave it to us to use somehow. So now our count is at three, but one of them is pristeen. I guess we could wash it a few times, run it over with the car, drag it through a sandbox to give it that timeworn look and throw that one in the mix, but for now we'll keep it shiny and new just in case.

Chipmunk has a little brown beanie bear that he's been becoming attached to. Whenever he gets his hands on it, he shoves the little brown nose into his mouth. When he's tired, he rests his head against the belly and in bed he rolls his arm around the tiny bear body. So we decided that perhaps we better look for at least one other. I think Matt just ordered three of them. Sounds crazy, I know, but we had to do quite some searching for this little brown bear. According to it's maker's website, it's RETIRED! So I think he figured that we bite the bullet now instead of searching later for a retired toy bear.

So that's our secret. We've got multiples.

Shhh...don't tell our kids.

Baby Got Toejam

Once again we visited the doctor today. It seems Chipmunk's big toe on his right foot is marred. We think his toenail snagged, ripped and eventually it just got infected. This lead to an ingrown toenail and our poor little Chipmunk has to take some antibiotics and undergo some foot-soaking treatments as we pray it will mend. If not, he might have to go see a foot specialist, who will probably have to do a minor surgery on his toe.

Yup, his poor little toenail is jammed in his poor little toe.

Poor baby. You should see him wince whenever his toe is grazed.

From 8/31

Trapped

It's official. We have movement. Chipmunk is combat crawling his way through our home and quickly invading areas of which we haven't re-childproofed. So we've resorted to blockades made of toy bins, chairs and the existing couches. Which makes me laugh at myself because before Bear was born, I was adamant about not having to cage in our child. Yet, once we found our crawling infant getting into places where dirty shoes lie or near electrical equipment, that notion was quickly reneged, just without the fancy gate. So Chipmunk has his little play area and all the more dangerous toys are located outside the "fence."

Now that he's getting some exercise, does this mean he's going to lose his Buddha like physique?

Parking Spot vs. Dignity?

Today the kids and I had a great morning at the Farmers' Market. We saw some friends, bought some fruits and vegetables, played at the playground and took a nice stroll in the sunshine. After changing a diaper and then feeding Chipmunk, we got ready to leave.

Packing the car is no easy task. Both kids need to be buckled in and made sure that all is comfortable. The stroller needs to be disassembled and packed back into the crowded trunk. All diaper bags, purses and such need to be placed back into the car and then last of all, I need to settle in before driving away.

All the while this was happening a young man in a sedan waited patiently for my spot. I felt bad for him having to sit there and wait. But I guess once you commit to a parking spot, sometimes you really want to see it through to the end.

Just as I was about to pull out, a woman in her SUV with what looked like a 4 year old sitting in the front seat (unsafe?) decided to try and swoop into the spot at the last minute. I felt bad for the young man in the sedan so I pulled back into the spot and tried to wave the woman in the SUV to leave. She instead pulled in further.

So the sedan man pulled up next to the SUV lady and told her calmly but firmly that she was unfairly seizing a spot that he so patiently invested his time into. The SUV lady looked at him and didn't respond. Since this debacle was happening at my back bumper, I couldn't leave, nor did I want to lest the SUV lady got her way.

He reasoned again and then the SUV lady pretended not to speak any English. What?! In any language you should get the point when cars behind you are blaring their horns and the person in the parking spot is waving you to move on. I was apalled at the gall of this woman, and even more baffled by the example she was teaching the four year old in the front seat.

The young sedan man then graciously backed off, and the SUV lady, to my chagrin, got her spot. Why oh why do people do things like this? It's just a parking spot for goodness sake!

So SUV lady, if you're out there I have to ask, was it worth it? Was it worth teaching your 4 year old to lie and treat others with disdain? Was it worth causing grief to that many people? Was it worth trading your dignity for a parking spot? Because you know, when that upstanding young man gave you the spot despite all you did, he showed that he had his head in the right place. He earned my respect and proved his dignity. You, on the otherhand, well...I have nothing nice to say, so I just won't say anything at all.

Last to Bed

It's late. I know. This is just how it always is. I'm always the last to bed.

I just need to decompress after each day, and it seems that the length of decompression increases with each child added to the family. So I end up staying up late even though my body so desperately needs the sleep to function the next day.

That's just how it is with introverts. It's nice to be with other people, but afterwards it's even nicer to just be by yourself.

So I read, or blog, or even sew for an hour or so just to unwind before settling in. Then I go about the house, pick things up, turn off lights and head off to bed. Even before I step into our bedroom I detour into the kids room and watch their sweet little faces as they sleep.

Then once I feel that all is well, I'll climb into bed, tuck myself into the covers, and close my eyes. And it's those moments before I fall asleep where I replay my day, analyze my actions, muse in appreciation and sometimes have creative swirls that develop into ideas and plans.

Then after all is said and done, I finally sleep.

Empty Tank

Chipmunk got his official 6 month weigh in today.

19 pounds, 9 ounces heavy (75%)
28 and a half inches tall (95%)
Working on tooth number 7, 8 and 9

Just as Bear did, Chipmunk has been getting some nice nicknames, too.

"Tank" "Little Linebacker" "Man-child" "Bubba"

He's been night-waking the past couple nights...a lot. The doctor concluded that he just wasn't getting enough to eat. I was just feeding him the proper amount according to the books. She said I needed to double it! So poor kid has been starving and going to sleep on an empty tank.

So when we got home I doubled his meal portion and he gobbled it right up! Now he is happily napping on a full tank.

Myself!

Bear's latest rant usually involves her doing things on her own. She'll tell me, "no Mommy, I do it myself!" It's cute, but it reminds me of lessons that took me 30 years to learn...

I ran for student body president when I was in 5th grade. One of the things I wanted to do was fold a bunch of origami cranes and use them as handouts for my campaign. After folding a couple, I found it was too big of a task. My parents and my sister ended up helping me fold hundreds of cranes only after I cried in frustration. I remember my mom telling me, "why didn't you just ask for help?"

Chemistry was never my best subject (probably why I became a Biology major instead) and I remember how frustrated I was with my homework. I think I gave up half way down a worksheet because it just didn't make any sense...plus I had it in my head that my Chem teacher was nuts and didn't teach us a thing about how to work the problems. Instead of asking for help, I failed that chapter. Again I remember my mom helping me with the next chapter and asking me, "why didn't you just ask for help?"

In college I spent more of my time studying trying to learn how to work things on my own rather than use office hours to visit and discuss things with my professors, which probably would have been more beneficial. As a teacher I spent too much time muddling through trial and error rather than asking my colleagues for the best way they found to teach certain difficult concepts. Even when I'm toting around 2 kids and having difficulties, my first instinct is to try and find a way to deal with it on my own instead of simply asking a friend for a hand. That's just the way I am and I know it's not always a good thing.

Even my friends and family are keen to my problem. I often get told, "because I know you won't ask for help..." Of course I wonder if it's pride, fear or just plain stubbornness that makes me overburden myself so.

So it tickles a nerve within me when Bear makes her declaration to do things "Myself!" Of course, I always let her try because I love that she wants to learn, but my 30 years of "should-haves" always pushes me to tell her, "okay, but if you need help, just ask, alright?" And you know what? She does.

Yum Yum in the Tum

Avocado is yum. It makes a great face mask, too!

That's A Sport?

I'm sorry, but I don't understand how synchronized diving is an Olympic sport. Can anyone explain to me why they add this to the official roster but take away baseball and softball?

Food, Glorious Food

Here's Chipmunk getting his first few bites of rice cereal.



He's been waiting for this day for a long time.



Ah, finally. Real food at last.

In Over My Head

With 2 kids in tow, VBS is here again and I'm back in the crafts center leading 120 kids to glue, cut and color. It's been...well, it's been interesting. Perhaps I'm just a little bit crazy...especially since I've left my almost 6-month old in the care of a 14 year old. And I felt totally crazy as I was running from the crafts center to feed my kid quickly before the next group came in for instruction. Add on the stupidity that I've been feeling lately (I actually addressed someone by her husband's name today...how? I don't know) and somewhere I've found myself completely in over my head.

At least I feel like I'm floundering.

Besides that it's just been a crazy week...It's been emotional as I've been hearing about multiple painful events happening in the lives of my friends. There was a joyful wedding that I got to help celebrate. A goodbye party for my sister and a tearful send off as she drove off to her new home far, far away from here. A reunion with friends and catch up, seeing some visitors from afar who I haven't seen in over a decade, a quick visit for the kids with grandma and then headlong into a busy, busy week of VBS, all after barely recovering from our trip to Lo-Cal (as a friend of mine has dubbed it).

I won't even go into what's on our plate for next week.

But ya know, it is what it is...and despite my hopefully temporary insanity, it's being done and what I thought was going to be impossible with two kids, has moved into the category of somewhat doable. I'm there, I'm leading crafts, and so far neither of my kids have turned their heads to me and said, "you're such a terrible mom and I can't believe you're dragging us around like this!" Bear actually ran up to me in the middle of the day and gave me a quick hug and then ran off to join her little friends in a game of hot potato with the "big bouncy ball (she said with a face full of glee)." Chipmunk even managed to nap for over an hour despite the noise and many distractions.

It's been a validating experience. Despite a few of my fumbles (miscalculating numbers of craft supplies and forgetting my classroom management style) we made it to Wednesday of which I was imagining all hell breaking loose on Monday.

So I'm in a little deep, but thank God for that snorkel (um, metaphor). That's what seems to be keeping me going.

In Need of Brain Food

The hardest thing I've been dealing with since Chipmunk has been born is this feeling of stupidity day in and day out. It's an "oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-that-slipped-my-mind" kind of stupidity. I used to "tsk" at people who I thought were lacking common sense, but you know what, somehow I've found myself right there, being that of which irks me. I used to pride myself for being organized (mentally, not physically) and being able to remember the lists of things I needed to accomplish. I was the go-to person in our house when things were lost. Somehow I always knew where things were.

These days, I am constantly slapping the heel of my hand to my forehead because of something else "stupidity" made me do.

I know, I know...I have two kids. I have an excuse for being scatterbrained, or at least that's what people tell me...Or they say, "but you just had a baby," like that's supposed to make me feel better for the fact that I said "Ooops" one too many times in a 24 hour period.

It's not just the dishes(count is at 8 now), it's the shopping trips where I take written lists with me and I come home with only 75% of the list because I forgot to look at the bottom of the paper (yes, the lists were written by me). It's the way I search the house up and down each day for my keys and find that I already retrieved them and put them in my pocket. It's when I change one of the kids diapers twice because I thought I changed the other one first. Stupid, stupid, stupid (currently hitting forehead with palm).

"I feel like I can't do anything right," has become my number one complaint to Matt these days. This being said as I've forgotten to pay some bills, bumped the car into a pole, or burned dinner to a cajun crisp because I thought I turned the burner off when I actually didn't.

See? Totally lost it. And it's driving this semi-control freak a little batty.

So please, if you see me and I've become the clueless woman walking down the street with toilet paper stuck to her shoe, just kindly slap me upside the head and tell my brain to "wake up!" I do miss her.

Joy

Ah. The joy of 2 kids. Other parents have been warning me that the time will come when Bear and Chipmunk won't be like this...but rather fighting over toys, over food, over everything.

Let's just enjoy this for the time being. I'll deal with the fighting when it comes.

San Diego 2008

Apparently this is becoming an annual thing.

On to the picture show...

After feeling like we were never going to get there (big, bad accident - jammed for 20 miles) we finally arrived, a little frazzled sitting in a car with one complaining toddler and one crying baby. Thus our weekend began.

The zoo was our first stop.





It was a little chaotic traveling with about 13 kids, but somehow we made it around the zoo. If you ask Bear about her favorite part of the zoo she will probably tell you about the "Pah-das (Pandas)" or the "Jee-raffs (Giraffes)."

My favorite part was visiting the Security office, asking to use the phone, and leaving Matt a message that sounded like this, "Hi, uh, I don't know where you are, my phone is dead, and I'm in the security office with Chipmunk who pooped, by the way, and needs a new change of clothes." Matt came to our rescue 20 minutes later. As we were changing Chipmunk, a couple of women walked by, pointed at our naked baby and laughed saying, "oh my gosh, that looks like the baby in the email!" It's unfortunate that I knew which email they were talking about.

The next day, I stupidly forgot the camera, but had a blast with some good friends who live in San Diego (Thanks again!). Matt on the other hand spent his day elsewhere.

Sunday we went to Sea World. Bear was excited because all week we told her how we were going to have breakfast with Elmo. She seemed a little nervous when we got there though.



She was okay in the beginning...



But after a while, those larger than life characters started to freak her out.



Here's Bear climbing up onto the table to avoid getting hugged back by Elmo.



With some tears, but okay with Zoe.



Not too happy with Grover.



Absolutely unhappy with Ernie.



Chipmunk on the other hand was quite happy.



He was a little annoyed though that Daddy wouldn't share his food with him.

Bear was fine once all the characters took their leave. So the rest of the day she was happily telling us all about dolphins and whales that "Spyash." We made sure to visit the turtles more than once (because she kept asking to see them) and cooled off in the Polar Bear exhibit (Boy was it hot that day!). Chipmunk decided to take a 2 hour nap in the wrap sling while Bear played in the kids play area.

We closed our weekend the way it began (stuck in traffic - listening to crying and complaining) and now we are home and all excited about sleeping in our own beds again. Until next year!

The 2nd Floor is Always Better...

I don't remember who (it might have been my mom) told me that 2nd floor apartments are always better. As I've lived in various places, I'm beginning to see why.

1) The 2nd floor is SAFER. It's mostly the apartments on the bottom floor that get burglarized. One time while living in San Diego a neighbor was telling my roommate and I about how some random guy broke into their livingroom window (on the 1st floor)and walked upstairs into their bedroom in the middle of the night. They woke up, the husband yelled and the guy fled. They theorized that he was looking for some apartments with females(scary!)...we always made sure our livingroom window was closed and locked after that.

2) The 2nd floor has LESS WILDLIFE. During college I lived on the 5th floor of our on-campus apartments. The only wildlife we had in our apartment was Cocoa, the hamster who liked to escape and greet us at the door. It was much too high for ants and mice. Meanwhile, downstairs on the 1st floor my future husband was setting up glue traps and spraying bugs that would crawl in from the nearby canyon.

3) The 2nd floor (if it's the top floor) has LESS NOISE. When you live below you tend to hear a lot more noise. Living on an upper floor, you forget how much the people below you can hear. Our 5th floor apartment during 2nd year of college was smack dab below a bunch of rowdy boys. Their bathroom was right above our bedroom...sometimes in the middle of the night, my roommate and I could hear things we really didn't want to hear...Gave new meaning to Eine Kleine NachtMusik.

4) The 2nd floor has GRAVITY. Okay, so all apartments have gravity, but when you have a leak on the 2nd floor, it runs downstairs. Case in point.

5) And finally, the 2nd floor is FARTHER FROM THE GROUND...and farther from sewage leaks! I know, yuck, right? Apparently, gallons and gallons of sewage have been blocked and pooling underneath our apartment. Ugh. They cleared the blockage and the sewage has moved on, but the smell still lingers a little. Ew! Perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to complain about the crazy van man and his incense. We could use that sandalwood smell right about now.

***Update: So the plumber came back and poured bleach all over the place. The sewage smell is gone, but man, the bleach smell is overpowering. I've got the world's worst headache right now from the fumes. That can't be good.

Sibling Love

This picture sums up the relationship between Chipmunk and Bear these days. Bear has this proud "little mama" look like she's actually helping her brother out by patting his head and telling him in a high pitched voice, "good boy, little baby!" Chipmunk just looks like he can't wait for the day where he can do unto his sis what his sis has done to him. Ah, sibling love. Ain't it grand?

Lessons Learned

Curiosity is a good thing, right? I've been trying to tell myself that even though in the back of my mind I know what happened to the cat.

Bear has been quite curious lately...she's apparently following too closely after her television idol, Curious George. I find myself putting out fires (metaphorical, not real, thank goodness) and surveying the damage to make sure that (1) no one needs to be rushed to the hospital and (2) the damage isn't permanent. It's getting exhausting.

Some of Bear's curiosities:

- Finding out what happens when you stick things in keyholes. I've had to pry a few things out.

- Finding out what happens when you take things apart...like our camera tripod...she managed to unscrew a few pieces where it just fell apart when I picked it up one day. We're still looking for some pieces...

- Finding out what happens when you push buttons...anywhere. We all know what happened to our DVD player. She's also been leaving lights on in our car, turning on the vacuum unplugged (so when you plug it in...), reprogramming alarm clocks to go off in the middle of the night, recording random things on TiVo, and changing preferences on Matt's computer.

These are all relatively, minor though. Some more recent occurrences have had me a little more on edge lately.

- Climbing onto unsturdy boxes in order to explore what's hanging out where she can't see. I tend to hear the aftermath of things crashing to the ground (Lesson Learned! It hurts when you fall and things fall on top of you).

- Putting cds and dvds into the vcr and frustratedly ramming them in while yelling, "don't work!" (Lesson Learned! Breaking the VCR and the DVDs isn't a good thing)

- Climbing under our car in order to get to the other side (Lesson Learned! You get your clothes all dirty and mommy freaks out when she finds out where you were).

- And this morning...coming up to me with a gaping hole in her pajama shirt, of which she announced, "cut scissors...fix it!" (Thankfully, she only cut the shirt and not anything else...phew!...although she was a little sad because it was her favorite shirt - Lesson Learned! Don't play with scissors because sometimes the damage can't be fixed!)

Of course, when all of this happens I always ask myself, where was I when all of this happened? She's so sneaky. She actually waits until my back is turned, when I've stepped away a couple of minutes, or looked in the other direction before she runs for some forbidden object. Even when I put things away, she watches me to see where I put it and comes for it later.

Diabolical, I tell you. Or just curious...

Utterly Incapable

Today I hit my breaking point...literally.

I broke my 7th dish since Chipmunk was born.

I've been saying we needed to make more room in our cupboards, but this is not what I meant.

It's things like this that make me feel so utterly incapable.

Apparently, parenthood just has a way of doing that.

Sigh.

Summer Breezes

Summer is hot. Summer is fun. Summer is busy...

Summer continues to breeze on by...

Bear has been taking an art class. Her favorite pastime in class is using the scissors. Perhaps it's because we don't own any kiddie scissors at home so she's been deprived that she makes a bee line for those colorful plastic cutters. Occasionally she'll glue, but most of her artwork just has this fringe around the outside where she went scissors happy.



Well, except the windsock which was supposed to have fringe...which she happily snip-snipped.

July 4th we spent the day with some of my longtime friends (minus one who we missed terribly)...We tried to get some good pictures of the kids together...but if you know anything about taking pictures of multiple kids...it just never works out...especially with five of them...

At night we went to view the fireworks. Bear enjoyed her corn...



...and Chipmunk was a little fussy, at least until the fireworks started and then he was mesmerized for the whole half hour show.



Until next post...summer will continue to breeze on by.

A Thin Line

Fun and torture have a thin line drawn between them when you're a parent. Sometimes you have to carefully weigh your options before and ask yourself, "will we have fun or is this going to be more trouble than it's worth?" That's what we ask ourselves every time before venturing out.

This past weekend we went to our annual church retreat. After throwing half of our worldly belongings into the car and driving a little ways, we ended up on a local university campus unpacking into a dorm room. We ate meals in a cafeteria, crowded with people from other on-campus events, and spent most of our time walking from one place to another to make sure we made it to events mostly on time.

With two small kids in tow we made sure to come prepared. Naps were short or non-existent, mealtimes were chaotic making sure all were fed properly, and my mind was racing with lists making sure we were appropriately ready for all things.

Sometimes there were meltdowns and bouts of inconsolable crying. We witnessed falls and spills that resulted in bruises and bumps. There was separation anxiety, rebelling against the unfamiliar and constant complaining and whining.

So was it worth it?

Absolutely.

Although the moment we came home we were cleaning up oodles of poop that the kids stored up over the course of the weekend, we had a weekend of wonderful memories...the great conversations we had with old friends and new friends, the smile on Bear's marker covered face as she showed us the picture she created, the wiggling excitement of Chipmunk as we ventured from one place to another, learning and reflecting and being refreshed...

There's just something about coming home and realizing that we actually made it through the weekend. Even when you're standing over the sink oxy-cleaning playdough stains from shorts and pondering how to put sleeping schedules back in order, you have to smile and be thankful for the joys that outweigh the trouble.

4 and a half months

Chipmunk still amazes me with his massiveness...

17 pounds 13 ounces (95%ile)
26 inches long (90%ile)
2 teeth (and 2 more on the way)



Whoa.

Bear's Latest Antics

...roaming around our home flapping her arms yelling, "Cockle Doo!"

...singing medleys of all her favorite sings..."Twinkle, twinkle, little dar, how I know my ABCs, Itsy pie-der falling down, Where thumb-pin, here am, E-I-Ooooooh..."

...purposely pushing her brother while he is propped up in a sitting position on the couch and then innocently asking, "oh what happened? Brudder fell down?"

...pointing to the moles on my arms, saying, "mommy hurts" and running to get a wipe to apparently try to wipe the spots off.

...when asked where Chipmunk's chin is she says, "here, here, here...three chins!"

...coming out to the livingroom after her nap and poignantly announcing, "I woke up" (Yup, it took her a whole month before she figured she could get out of bed herself).

...sitting at the dinner table and roaring like a dinosaur, laughing her head off and saying, "oh no, dino-door (dinosaur) table!"

...running up to Chipmunk speaking in a high squeaky voice, "Hello Baby [Chipmunk]...good boy you! Eat milk! Pay(play) toys!"

...while climbing stairs, "Yook mommy, I up-ping da stairs!"

...spinning, spinning, spinning until she runs into something, laughs and says, "whoa diz-zee."

Thoughtless

Tonight I was blessed to escape for a few hours and spend some time sans kids, sans husband. It was girl night. We ate, chatted, and ate some more. We caught up, we laughed, we enjoyed each other's company and I lapped up every precious minute.

I had a problem though: my words were rather incohesive. There I was, my first real adult conversation after giving birth to Chipmunk, and it was like my thoughts and my words weren't coordinating. Plus my thoughts were going every which way. It was like I didn't know how to think properly either (which may be true since I haven't had a good think session in ages). So I would say something, but realize that it wasn't what I was trying to convey...or I would have trouble piecing together words to match the thoughts in my head.

They say you lose brain cells with every pregnancy...I think I lost the ones connecting thought and speech...or I'm just out of practice since I've been in baby/toddler world.

But thanks...to you ladies who forbeared through my stammerings and brain farts. Not only did I get to laugh again but I got to feel normal again...and I know that will refresh me for days to come. (Thanks to Matt, too, for putting the kids to bed)

The Early Bird

Or should I say Early Chipmunk?

I'm beginning to settle with the fact that Chipmunk is just an early riser. Because of that, he's also early to bed. I hear that's normal. I just didn't know that.

Bear is apparently a late bird. I thought that was normal. She used to wake up at 9 am in the morning. Before Chipmunk was born, she started waking up around 8 am. I thought that was early.

Then Chipmunk comes along and wakes up at 6 am. Everyday. 6 am. I have to put him to bed around 7:30 at night...and only that late because I want him to at least see his dad for 5 minutes before we put him to bed.

6 am. I can't get over it. I know it's normal for most kids...It's just so weird that I have to entertain him for an hour and put him down for his first nap before Bear even gets up for the first time.

Speaking of which, perhaps I should be going to bed sooner, too. Time to log off.