Other than frantic, demanding cries of MAMAMAMAMAMA when she sees me and Dan is threatening to take her away, we hadn't identified any other words in A-speak until now. So what's her first word? Book. Well, she pronounes it with a silent B, but she's definitely saying it. She's still not signing at all, even though we've been using sign language for "milk" and "more" for several months now.
While we can't wait until we can communicate with her better, it doesn't have the urgency it did when C was a baby. Besides her being the second (which means we (a) aren't desperate for conversation and (b) know that once she starts she may never be silent again), her more mellow personality means that if we don't immediately understand what she wants at any given time, we are unlikely to be threatened with potentially hours of misery. Right now she has a cold and a fever, and isn't all that pleasant to be around, but basically she's being about as demanding as C was on a GOOD day at her age.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
So C's gone for three hours a day now that kindergarten has begun, but somehow it's made our lives busier! He's needed a lot of attention for the past week; it's taking a lot of effort for him to adjust to school, and he needs us to be very hands-on while he's home. After his first day last Monday, he came home in a great mood and said he had a wonderful time- I think he was relieved that all was well after he'd been worrying about it for so long. We were thrilled and figured everything would be fine from there on out, but the very next day we could tell things weren't great. (This is C, of course, who only tells us anything that happens at school if we bribe him, and nothing would make him tell us something that was actually BOTHERING him.) We talked to his teachers and it turned out he had been disciplined, which really upset him even though it was done very gently (it wasn't even an incident the teachers thought twice about), and it basically ruined his day. And the next. And the next. This week is starting out all right, and we're hoping it stays that way. He's still super-whiny and needy and throws fits if things don't go his way, though, which (honest!) isn't like him. We've made a big point of keeping his homecoming after school low-key- I hang out with him and read a book while Dan and A are elsewhere (usually working and napping, respectively), but as soon as more people enter the picture it's all over. So we're still trying to find a routine that works for everyone.
Except for keeping us up all night, every night, A has been delightful. We went to a friends' for dinner last night, and she had a great time "talking" to their six-month-old. She was also exposed to a doll for the first time, one of the vinyl-ish semi-realistic ones, and we couldn't tell if she was fascinated or disturbed by it. It definitely made an impression, at any rate.
She tugs at the sleeves of long-sleeved shirts and gnaws on the toes of socks or slippers. We've only had to occasionally introduce these in the past few weeks, when the mornings are chilly, and I feel so sorry that she's going to be subjected to these indignities on a regular basis quite soon. (I must say that I am thrilled by the change of weather for myself, though. I'm done with heat and humidity. A few months of coolness-without-frigidness would be nice. Too bad we live in upstate New York....)
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
It's been a long time since this was updated because Dan went on a staff retreat to the Seattle area for several days, and the rest of the time we've been doing dumb stuff in the evening like figuring out how to fold shirts, researching backpack carriers for A(we have a framed hiking-type one and we all hate it; we went with the Patapum because several people said the straps shortened more than on the "new" Ergo- I am very thankful to the existence of message boards full of people who apparently think nothing of buying virtually every baby carrier on the market and comparing them), and figuring out just what the deal is with the edible tortilla decals that have been advertised on tortilla packaging lately. (Dan honestly thought that it was some kind of spoof.)
So Dan spent several days hanging out with adults and having fun, and wishing he were part of this community which, since we've left, is now full of babies and married couples who are in the same general life-place we are, and when he came home I was so tired I could barely stand and both of the kids were absolutely miserable and whiny. Welcome home!
C had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he weighs 41 pounds and is 41 inches tall. It seemed like he'd never break 40, and it means that he graduates from a harnessed carseat to a seat belt booster seat.
Our Teiva would be three years old today- imagining life with a three-year-old rather than a ten-month-old is hard. We miss you, little boy.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Old business: staining the deck. After Dan and C's trip to Pennsylvania for Opa's birthday, Dan pressure-washed the deck in preparation for staining it. And we waited a day for it to dry. And it rained. And we waited a day for it to dry. And it rained. Throughout this period, Dan would not allow anyone, including the dog, to step onto the deck for fear of getting it dirty again, so getting into the backyard was rather annoying.
Finally, we looked at the sky, decided that the gathering clouds would just have to blow by today, and got to it. The poor, mistreated deck, which had been neglected for several years even before we moved in, soaked up the stain like a sponge. We barely got one coat on it with the first gallon, which was supposed to provide enough coverage for two coats. So back to the store for Dan and A, unfortunately too late for us to start the second coat until the following morning. We still have trim to finish up, but we're done with the walking surfaces, so we're allowed to use it now. It does look better, but unfortunately due to the bad shape of the wood it still doesn't look especially good. We can at least count on it lasting a bit longer at least. Half-joking, I suggested to Dan that we start replacing the boards that need replacing with Trex plastic lumber, and eventually we'll have a new no-maintenance deck out there; he didn't seem to think the idea was too far-out. Will post photos soon.
This past Sunday was a traditional summer family-fun day of berry-picking at Indian Ladder Farms (blueberries and raspberries; the raspberries are eaten up and the blueberries fill our freezer), followed by a backyard campfire in celebration of the NWF's Great American Backyard Campout (which Dan had planned to participate in, but forgot until 7:30 p.m., at which point none of us were up for it). Dan baked rolls and we toasted them over the fire to make Brown Bears: rolls dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. They were excellent, and we told C he could have as many as he wanted. He was shocked. The rolls were so filling, however, he only managed 2 or 3. Will post photos soon.
Tuesday was Aunt Maureen and Uncle Gene's 45th Anniversary Celebration, with Aunt Jeanie as the Special Surprise Guest, a Re-Enactment of their Marriage by Puppets (and aren't we all puppets, really?), a Photo Video Chronicle of their Past, and of course Games and Refreshments. Will post photos soon.
A has been on an unfortunate sleep schedule for the past few weeks of waking up around 7, napping from 11-1:30ish, napping again from 5-6:15-ish, and not going to bed until after 10. (And then, of course, keeping us up all night, but that's unchanged.) We had her getting to bed around 8 for a few heavenly weeks, which is C's bedtime, and we then had some evenings to ourselves. No more, until she's able to go down to one nap a day I expect (currently not possible due to crankiness). But yesterday and today, Dan at least has taken advantage of the situation and gone out at night with her- yesterday to a Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace meeting, today to an outdoor movie. He'd been frustrated by our inability to get out to evening events for much of the summer, and now he can, a little bit. I'll be interested to hear how the movie went when he gets home- she's not usually a fan of hanging out in the dark- but I hope it went well.
