We hosted our third annual clothing swap on Saturday! This time, since we had it later in the year and the weather cooperated, we were able to have everything outside, which was decidedly more pleasant than having dozens of people crammed into our house. There was a lower turnout than usual, possibly because everyone was enjoying the weather elsewhere, but we still had a good time and encouraged people to rid their closets of many many unused clothes. (And I grabbed a few torn or stained pieces to use as fabric for the quilt I'm going to make someday....)

And on Monday the Roomba arrived! We charged it up, set it to go in the living room- and A burst into tears. A hates the Roomba with a passion. The rest of us, though, think it's pretty cool, though C is the only one who's been able to watch it in action for any period of time. Our house isn't very roomba-friendly- it has trouble climbing onto our very-thick area rug in the living room, and our radiators are at exactly the right height for it to get stuck under- but once we have a chance to play with it a little bit, I think it's going to work well. (It crawled under a table in C's room that hasn't been cleaned under in perhaps 2 years, so if nothing else it's removing major dust sources.)

I'll have C take a picture of it soon!

Cadao! 

Today sucked too, but the Roomba's supposed to be here Monday. (What does my excitement about that say about me?)

So it was shaping up to be a pretty good day today. A was happy and C went off to school. I found that the three sets of baby clothes I was selling on E-bay, which had each only been at 99 cents four hours before the auctions' closings, had ended up selling for a total of more than $30. (Apparently no one even bothers bidding until right before the end of the auction now.) A took a nap and in the first 20 minutes of her nap (after the first 20 minutes we have to go back to lie down with her or she won't stay asleep) I got the dishwasher filled and running, picked up the kitchen, and got dinner going in the crockpot. She got a good nap in and we walked over to preschool, where the kids were erupting their homemade volcanoes. Normally she starts screaming as soon as we walk in the door there, but she was cheerful and happy the whole time despite the roomful of kids and parents.

Then C had a playdate after school with Daphne, who lives within walking distance of our house so is a friendship we definitely want to cultivate. A's happy inside for about five minutes. Then the kids ride their bikes around for a while outside, and she's happy watching them do that for about 10 minutes. Then we go back inside and nothing will make her happy- in or out, up or down, wrapped up or loose. I put her in the sling and try to get her to sleep. (I haven't successfully gotten her to go to sleep in the sling for two weeks, but it's worth a try, right?) No go. I need to bring her home so at least Daphne's mom doesn't have to hear her shrieks anymore. I'm already frustrated and annoyed (and got no sleep last night, and probably should have eaten more lunch), and then C refuses to stay at Daphne's house if I'm leaving. "Daddy will come pick you up in 20 minutes." "No, I am going with you." So besides rejecting Daphne, leaving now includes getting on the bike helmet, reminding him 20 times to ride to the SIDE of the road, and taking the road the whole way instead of a backyard shortcut. A is screaming the entire time, and spits her preferred pacifier in the dirt, so I have to give her the one she doesn't like. She cries louder. We pass a mom and son walking by and she smiles in sympathy. A screams until I get home and hand her to Dan, and she immediately settles down.

So now I'm annoyed with both kids and it's still only 1:30. Luckily Dan took both of them off my hands so I can recover and convince myself to be a grown-up again. (Do I have to? Will he not notice if I just go to bed for the rest of the day? Will there be a time when taking my kid to see another kid is unlikely to end in disaster?)

We just ordered a Roomba! Our old vacuum broke, and we are convinced it is going to be better than the Jetsons' Rosie and keep our house very clean. We're soon going to have a crawling baby, so we don't want to have as much dog fur floating around. Now the fur adds to the ambiance and all, but it's kind of gross when it sticks to already-wet hands and the hands go back in the mouth. (Not that we ever saw that happen with C or anything, because when we had a working vacuum, we were Masters of Cleanliness.)

Hmm, what else? The leaf-sucker truck came today!

(Signing off now, before it's too late. This is part of my goal to update more often, instigated by our friend Dani pointing out to us that it takes less than five minutes to post SOMETHING.)

C's in the green coat (and the greenest kid in the bunch, I'm proud to say) 

first day of spring (note the bike waiting for it's turn again) 

Spring has Sprung

And yesterday it was at least 70 in the sun. So why is there snow in these pictures? Because I’m behind on things (as if this is news to anyone). The one taken out the window is from the first day of spring, and shows Sarah and Cadao putting together a cold frame that her parents gave us. It now helps keep lettuce seeds cozy at night. We also put together a bird feeder to celebrate the new spring—another christmas gift—and the songbirds are just now finding what the squirrels discovered 3 weeks ago, that there’s a new food supply… Our garden is at least finally started, though in addition to the lettuce, there is only spinach and some peas thus far.

We have managed to rake almost all the leaves left over from fall; another 2-3 hours and we should be done with that task! The leaves and a lot of wood and branches are by the side of the road, waiting for the "leaf sucker truck" (like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book), and the yard waste truck, both a service of the town.

The second photo was from Cadao’s field trip about a month ago to 5 Rivers Environmental Ed. Center, a few miles away. They learned about maple sugaring, and it was actually Cadao’s idea to hug the tree (one of the answers for what we can do to help trees/make them feel good). I’m proud of him for suggesting it, and pleased that his classmates were willing accomplices. I wish that most of them would still have that sentiment for the natural world when they get older.
Well, it’s 10:30 and therefore way past our bedtime… Alyra is sure to wake any moment now for the next stretch.

-Dan

easter dinner 

laughing like a big person

Yes, our blog still sucks; what can I say. Unfortunately, this picture is what our family really looks like most of the time, so I need say no more about lack of updates.

C had been "off" for several weeks; acting depressed and whiny, falling asleep during the day, avoiding interaction with anyone at school, that sort of thing. This last week he's perked up, and we don't know if it's because he's no longer sick, because the weather has finally gotten nice, or because he just snapped out of it. We'd been seriously thinking about spending the month of August in Seattle to let Dan reconnect with his friends and coworkers and to allow all of us to escape the heat of the summer, but C's moodiness was making me think we should avoid major changes like that (especially right before starting kindergarten). Now we don't know again- so should we plan a big garden or not? Start looking at family-sized tents or not? Decisions decisions-

Another family of friends is moving away from the area, bringing the total groups-of-friends-we-really-got-close-to-who-have-moved-away to five now. Dan suggested that we consider moving to Ithaca, the destination of the family most recently abandoning us,before I reminded him that if we were going to move away from our home and my parents, we would definitely pick someplace with better weather than central New York. We're sticking with Delmar for now.

A is five months old tomorrow! She's been rolling over for about a month now, is "talking" a lot more, and is trying really hard to sit up. Today I had her strapped to me while C and I kicked a ball around the backyard and she found the game hilarious. C said, "She's laughing like a big person now!" She was truly giggling, instead of just the quick squeaky inhalation-laughs she'd been doing before.

C riding Tye 

Florida

We had a great trip to Florida, visiting a high school friend and her husband in Punta Gorda. Their 12-acre lot, which also houses two horses, six goats, three dogs, two cats, and assorted ducks, peacocks, rabbits, fish and reptiles, still shows some evidence of August’s hurricane damage but is in much better shape than some of their neighbors’- as we drove around, we saw many homes still roofed in blue tarps, piles of debris that used to be houses along the side of the road, and condemned buildings with names of delinquent insurance companies spray-painted on the sides.

Escaping the cold and snow was good for all of us. Alyra liked being outside without being bundled up in 10 layers, and was especially fond of watching the fish and peacocks. Cadao wore himself out so much that he sometimes fell asleep in the afternoon, even though it’s been almost 2 years since he stopped taking naps. Dan and I both appreciated being able to wear shorts and t-shirts, and since our excellent hosts cooked and cleaned and drove us around and entertained Cadao, we had a wonderful vacation.

It was interesting to see Cadao interacting with other adults without other kids around. It helped him push his own boundaries a little bit. When we went to the county fair, he said he wanted to go on the roller coaster; I think he thought we’d say no. But when Mala was popping him next to her in the car two minutes later, at which point he most likely would have changed his mind and hopped out if Dan or I were taking him on, he stuck it out. He also mustered the courage to ride her horse and tractor, despite obvious misgivings. Having new people around eased his usual shyness, so that when Mala’s parents and four of their friends came over, by the end of the evening he was comfortable enough to plop himself down on the couch amidst them to watch TV. (An Eric Clapton video. I asked him if he thought he’d be able to play the guitar that well someday. He said he already could, of course.)

Coming home was hard not only because our vacation was over, but because our plane into Albany had a problem with the landing gear. It ended up resolving itself before we landed, but we circled the airport for half an hour or so while we tried to take deep breaths and figure out how best to protect our kids in case of a landing problem. Then we finally gather our luggage and get home to find that our furnace has gone out and the inside temperature was 35. (I shudder to think what we would have come home to if we’d been away another night- not only burst water pipes, but potentially burst radiator pipes as well.) We sent Cadao to sleep at Nana’s and snuggled in bed with Alyra to keep from freezing while the house warmed up. (It took about 8 hours, which was actually better than I’d expected!) So we’re spending this weekend trying to get ourselves back into our regular routine-

going for the grin

Thursday February 10th

Well, we thought the sickness was over, but no- Cadao had a relapse on Monday and again missed school; I’ve been mobile but had no energy or appetite; and Alyra got it on Monday too- luckily, in her case, it only lasted 24-ish hours. Cadao complained of his stomach hurting again before bed tonight, and I’m really really hoping it’s just because he also has had no appetite and his stomach just feels weird because it’s been empty. Ugh!

Alyra’s been smiling more, and is most likely to if we sing, in tribute to Harry Belafonte, "Alyra, Alyra, Alyra, She take me money and run Venzuela." She also likes mourning dove calls and trumpet noises. We do not question her preferences and make fools of ourselves to see the grin.

Cadao is diligently making valentines and is looking forward to adding ribbon-bracelets to the hearts he’s already cut out and decorated. His friends may find his color choices unusual, but they may not notice. He made a, let us say, less-than-attractive-in-the-conventional-sense bracelet from a pipe cleaner and orange paper to decorate a birthday present for one classmate, and when Dan saw the kid the following week at preschool, he was told, "The bracelet doesn’t fit!" Dan let him know that it was ADJUSTABLE, while silently snickering, knowing that the bracelet not FITTING was the least of its problems-

Sarah rescues the blog!

Sunday February 5th

A few months ago, Dan said, "I’m going to start a blog!" I said, "Are you sure that’s a good idea? You’ll never update it after the first month, and then no one will check it anymore; how about sending mass e-mails instead?" He said, "I’ll keep it current! It’ll be fun!"

Well, that didn’t really work out as planned apparently, so I guess I need to jump in. C and I are getting over a nasty stomach virus, and we’re hoping the rest of the family doesn’t get it. He missed school Thursday but seemed all better Friday, and we had friends over for dinner. (We’ve been trying to get together with them for 2 months or so, but illnesses have caused multiple cancellations.) 20 minutes or so after they arrived, C puked on the dining room table where we were all enjoying our meal. They left quickly. We were sad. We were even sadder when I started getting sick at 3 a.m. I spent Saturday in bed while Dan took care of the kids (though C spent several hours in bed with me reading and playing I-spy and whining and falling asleep at 6:30). Thankfully, I’m more mobile today and C seems healthy, and we’re all looking forward to preschool tomorrow.

A weighed in at 10 pounds, 5 ounces at the doctor’s last week; she’s quite tall for her age (90th percentile) at a whopping 24 inches. I pulled out some clothes in the next size up for her today when I was going through boxes in search of sunhats for our end-of-the-month trip to Florida; now she’ll be better able to stretch her legs.

C has been remarkably nice to her in the past week: trying to entertain her and make her feel better, singing songs about how much we love her, bouncing her bouncy chair After he got sick we realized it was probably fever-induced and won’t last. He has been very into numbers lately and spent quite a while today telling me, "When I’m 8, A will be 4. When A is 8, I will be… 12. When A is 10, I will be… 14." He understands the concept of 48 being made up of four tens and eight ones. Knowing nothing about early childhood education, I’m not sure how to effectively teach him more about math, and my creativity has reached new lows in the past year. I do want to take advantage of his current interest and ability so I guess I’ll be looking up teacher resources at the library.

welcome A! 

A Maple Rain! 

cozy as a bedouin - she likes the sling sarah made... 

2 hours old 

Please join us in welcoming

A Maple Rain! (We pronounce her first name ah-LEER-ah)

She was born Friday, November 12, 2004 at 7:42 a.m.
as the first snow of the year fell outside the window.

She weighs 7 lbs 5 ounces and is about 20.5 inches long.

Now we need to try and adjust to having two children around, and remember how to take care of little babies again...

Halloween...

C thoroughly enjoyed Halloween, thanks in part to the fact that they hyped it up for about 3 weeks at preschool beforehand..

After debuting his flower costume at the Town's party the previous week (see 10/26 entry), his class had a parade and party at school. In addition to C's costume of course, one of the other most original costumes was a boy dressed as an "ice cream man", complete with foam core ice cream truck (had a window, rolled on wheels...). They paraded around the school building along with the three other classes several times, much to the delight of the throngs of parents, grandparents, etc. gathered to watch (i.e. videotape) the event, then brought the fans with them back to the classroom to break the ghost pinata the kids had made. They each had two whacks with a big, decorated stick when their name was drawn (or 8-10 whacks in rapped succession in a couple of cases--the teachers tried to intervene but then thought better of getting in the way of the a 4 year-0ld wielding a big, decorated stick). C was up to bat third, and several of the parents were surprised at the power one little flower could display with his hits. The big kid with the bad rep., Colton (see previous entries) was the one to knock down the pinata/break it open, but the teachers let the other kids pummel it on the ground so everyone had a turn before the loot was divided up (luckily nothing breakable/semi-healthy inside to damage like popcorn or pretzels; just lots of sugar...) C had a great time.

On Halloween afternoon we joined our neighbor friends Richard, Tammy, Tristan, and baby Rowan ("R2T2" we call them) at a friend’s party for a while, then went Trick-or-Treating. C loves Trick-or-Treating (what’s not to love about free candy!), and is more polite than most of his peers, saying "Happy Halloween, Trick or Treat… Thank you" at each house like I taught him. He filled his ghost bag on a stick with candy until it was too heavy to carry any more… When we got home and I was out walking Paco (and C and Sarah were eating dinner) some secret Halloween deliverer dropped off a bag for C with his name on it, a pink flower decoration (must have seen his costume), apple, homemade cookie, candy, sticker decorations on bag… Any information leading to the identification and thanking of this person will be much appreciated!

***

He said tonight (11/14) that he wants to be a rabbit next Halloween, so maybe the cute/innocent costumes aren’t gone forever yet for him!