No skating today, but lots of talking about it. I signed Julian up for a parent-and-tot ice skating class, starting March 7! This is the same one I did with Gabriel last year, that got me wanting to take lessons myself.
Here's a crummy camera video of Gabriel at his last skating class last year:
Funny kid comment of the day: Gabriel watched that video of him skating, and said, "That's when I was, like, completely 4!"
Katrina was just darling today, though she sure needed a lot of naps. Last night her first and only wakeup was at 2:30am, after going to bed around 7pm. Yay! Then she took a good solid morning nap, and I thought I had a good 2-1/2-3 hour window of awake time. As I got ready to take her to the Y, she was fussy and crying and not smiley, and as I was about to carry her out the door, she did that baby-burrowing thing that makes you think they're going to rub their noses off. Tired already?! But who can argue with the burrow? So I took her upstairs and put her down, and after about 5 minutes of half-fussing half-sucking, she went to sleep. Hukay!
I put Katrina in the exersaucer today for a few minutes, and then kept hearing a sudden sort of yipping sound. Turns out, she was quasi-laughing at spinning a toy on the exersaucer. It was so cute I tried to quickly capture a video, but she was distracted by the camera. Still, this video gives a few examples of her giggle (?), though she was doing it a lot more before I tried to capture it (the Heisenberg effect?):
I did an unusual thing tonight: took the kids to the Y after dinner, in an attempt to make a 5:45 hip-hop class. I missed the first half of the class, and enjoyed it even though a class at a fitness center isn't really the same as a true dance class. After the class, I ran on the treadmill, this time looking at distance instead of time. Then stretched and felt great, despite my growing guilt about the time: 7:15pm. What happened to a 6:30 up-to-bedtime for baby?
Turns out, she needed it. As I was leaving the fitness room, the Childwatch was on their way to find me. Katrina was a mess, all red-masked like a raccoon again, and absolutely beside herself. She cried pitifully the whole way home. Gabriel and Julian were having a grand time, playing together to my surprise, and very cooperatively.
Going to the Y: a good thing. Timing: still working on it.
2/23/07
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
2/22/07 Business Trip
Dave left this morning at what my old boss used to call "O'Dark Early" for a business trip, which meant I got to play single mom with all three this morning. Not so bad, once I persuaded the boys to get dressed.
I'm so lame with their breakfasts: cold cereal and milk, and that's it. But now at least I've convinced Julian that bits of banana in his breakfast is yummy. And it makes me feel better, if nothing else.
It was a rainy day today, with breaks in the clouds resulting in moments of intense sunshine. I saw a perfect scene from the office window: the magnolia tree in full bloom, brightly lit by sun, with a dark stormy background. By the time I got outside, much of the effect was gone...or did it just look different close up?
I think this was the 4th day in a row that for at least half an hour, all three kids were asleep at the same time. Of course, I don't "put" Gabriel down for naps -- he just does it himself.
Funny kid comment of the day: Julian decided to weigh himself, and pulled out the digital scale that I use to weigh things for shipping. He first said, "Mommy, it says Zero!" then came over to me and told me in a whisper, as though he were letting me in on a secret, "it doesn't work very well on the carpet." I went back to my typing, and the a few moments later, he announced, "Mommy! I weigh 30 hours!"
Since Dave got back late from his business trip, I took the opportunity to meet my mom friends for Coffee Night after skating. I took some extra practice time, since I juuust figured out how to do back crossovers without lifting my foot to do the crossing, and wanted to solidify it (ahh, extra weight on my heels!). This is so much fun.
I had a great skating class and practice, so was in a great mood afterward to meet up with my friends. It was so nice to talk about kids and family without any kids or family actually there! Good skating, good company, good cheesecake. Nothing like a good break from kids and family to make you look forward to kids and family again.
2/22/07
I'm so lame with their breakfasts: cold cereal and milk, and that's it. But now at least I've convinced Julian that bits of banana in his breakfast is yummy. And it makes me feel better, if nothing else.
It was a rainy day today, with breaks in the clouds resulting in moments of intense sunshine. I saw a perfect scene from the office window: the magnolia tree in full bloom, brightly lit by sun, with a dark stormy background. By the time I got outside, much of the effect was gone...or did it just look different close up?
I think this was the 4th day in a row that for at least half an hour, all three kids were asleep at the same time. Of course, I don't "put" Gabriel down for naps -- he just does it himself.
Funny kid comment of the day: Julian decided to weigh himself, and pulled out the digital scale that I use to weigh things for shipping. He first said, "Mommy, it says Zero!" then came over to me and told me in a whisper, as though he were letting me in on a secret, "it doesn't work very well on the carpet." I went back to my typing, and the a few moments later, he announced, "Mommy! I weigh 30 hours!"
Since Dave got back late from his business trip, I took the opportunity to meet my mom friends for Coffee Night after skating. I took some extra practice time, since I juuust figured out how to do back crossovers without lifting my foot to do the crossing, and wanted to solidify it (ahh, extra weight on my heels!). This is so much fun.
I had a great skating class and practice, so was in a great mood afterward to meet up with my friends. It was so nice to talk about kids and family without any kids or family actually there! Good skating, good company, good cheesecake. Nothing like a good break from kids and family to make you look forward to kids and family again.
2/22/07
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
2/21/07 Katrina's carseat
No more infant seat!
Today I installed our old Britax Roundabout for Katrina. I should probably get another cover for it; it's the same old denim cover I got for Gabriel. It's so faded it's white now.
She LOVED being able to see out the windows, and play with Gabriel, and I LOVE how much easier it is to get her in and out of it. Plus now I can use my regular stroller, the same old Graco CityLite, which is a zillion times easier to control than the Snap-n-Go caddy for the infant seat. One tiny step away from babydom!
I had a chance to talk to Gabriel's teacher today, and commented that we'd entered the lottery for an alternative elementary school that has a flexible classroom format. That might suit Gabriel well, who's strong in certain things and not so much in others. She said he's definitely interested in math and science. "Art and drama? Forget it!" She also said he'd do fine in kindergarten socially, emphasizing that he sticks up for himself. "Defend" was the word she used. Gee, how big a part of kindergarten is that? Especially at Collins?
This evening, I had fun playing the Music Together CD for, and with, the boys. I showed Gabriel how to follow along the words to a song in the music book, which he loved doing. I was very surprised when he was able to read most of the words in the song "Roll Over:"
There were five in the bed
And the little one said
Roll over, Roll over
So they all rolled over
And one fell out
He has trouble with words like "there" and "they" (and apparently I do too, since I can't offhand name the parts of speech that they are). I'm pretty sure he mostly recognizes the words, and isn't really phonetically reading them. But he picked out the song titled "Kookaburra," certainly not a word you come across in typical book reading, so there's some "reading" going on. Writing on the other hand...
The boys were very cute sitting with their songbooks, turning the pages and trying to match the words to the song playing, looking at the pictures, pulling out instruments for the play-along. Katrina was tired and grouchy at the time, needing constant holding, but she was sufficiently distracted by the music and our singing, reading and some dancing (of course).
Speaking of tired Katrina, she had two naps today. The morning nap was greatly delayed by an OB appointment I had this morning, but the afternoon was was fairly normal. Still, by 5pm, she was tired. I managed to keep her up and happy until about 6:30, which I'm targeting for an up-to-bedtime. It went perfectly, she was happy in the bath, and very ready to go to sleep. Yay!
This morning I had a dream that at my annual OB appointment today, my OB told me that the strange cramping I've been feeling was because I was pregnant. AGGGH! That nightmare happened last year!! Not this time. No answers on the cramping though.
A cloudy afternoon made for a perfect photo-op, though Katrina needed a nap and wasn't quite in the mood. Not to mention, getting her brothers to cooperate is quite the challenge.
Who can blame Katrina for this worried look?
"MOM! HELP!!"
I need a professional! That goes for lots of things.
2/21/07
Today I installed our old Britax Roundabout for Katrina. I should probably get another cover for it; it's the same old denim cover I got for Gabriel. It's so faded it's white now.
She LOVED being able to see out the windows, and play with Gabriel, and I LOVE how much easier it is to get her in and out of it. Plus now I can use my regular stroller, the same old Graco CityLite, which is a zillion times easier to control than the Snap-n-Go caddy for the infant seat. One tiny step away from babydom!
I had a chance to talk to Gabriel's teacher today, and commented that we'd entered the lottery for an alternative elementary school that has a flexible classroom format. That might suit Gabriel well, who's strong in certain things and not so much in others. She said he's definitely interested in math and science. "Art and drama? Forget it!" She also said he'd do fine in kindergarten socially, emphasizing that he sticks up for himself. "Defend" was the word she used. Gee, how big a part of kindergarten is that? Especially at Collins?
This evening, I had fun playing the Music Together CD for, and with, the boys. I showed Gabriel how to follow along the words to a song in the music book, which he loved doing. I was very surprised when he was able to read most of the words in the song "Roll Over:"
There were five in the bed
And the little one said
Roll over, Roll over
So they all rolled over
And one fell out
He has trouble with words like "there" and "they" (and apparently I do too, since I can't offhand name the parts of speech that they are). I'm pretty sure he mostly recognizes the words, and isn't really phonetically reading them. But he picked out the song titled "Kookaburra," certainly not a word you come across in typical book reading, so there's some "reading" going on. Writing on the other hand...
The boys were very cute sitting with their songbooks, turning the pages and trying to match the words to the song playing, looking at the pictures, pulling out instruments for the play-along. Katrina was tired and grouchy at the time, needing constant holding, but she was sufficiently distracted by the music and our singing, reading and some dancing (of course).
Speaking of tired Katrina, she had two naps today. The morning nap was greatly delayed by an OB appointment I had this morning, but the afternoon was was fairly normal. Still, by 5pm, she was tired. I managed to keep her up and happy until about 6:30, which I'm targeting for an up-to-bedtime. It went perfectly, she was happy in the bath, and very ready to go to sleep. Yay!
This morning I had a dream that at my annual OB appointment today, my OB told me that the strange cramping I've been feeling was because I was pregnant. AGGGH! That nightmare happened last year!! Not this time. No answers on the cramping though.
A cloudy afternoon made for a perfect photo-op, though Katrina needed a nap and wasn't quite in the mood. Not to mention, getting her brothers to cooperate is quite the challenge.
Who can blame Katrina for this worried look?
"MOM! HELP!!"
I need a professional! That goes for lots of things.
2/21/07
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
2/20/07 Katrina's life with brothers
Yay! Two naps today for baby, one morning, one afternoon -- and a long one at that. It was delayed by a trip to Target after picking Gabriel up, but another breakthrough occurred during her nap: Katrina woke up about 30 minutes into it, much much too early, but I couldn't get upstairs right away. She made sounds like she was going to cry, fussed, sucked, fussed, sucked...then she went back to sleep. BACK to sleep! Yay! I could hear her sucking over the monitor. She's really got the hang of self-soothing it now.
As a result, she woke up at 5:00pm, instead of starting a mondo nap/bedtime then, so she actually had a normal(ish) bedtime. I can't express how ecstatic I am to have a baby who's now so easy with naps and bedtime. And, I'm very glad she's in her own room, so that Dave and I can buzz around our own room at night without disturbing her. It just wasn't fair to ask her to sleep and have the TV and lights on.
As I painstakingly go through every scrap of clothing of mine, the boys', and Katrina's (no mean feat since we were given a roomful of stuff), and arrange what little I'm trying to keep in dressers and closets, I decided I need a system for getting rid of things. Inspired once again by Kristi, I set up a bin marked Outgrown. The first time I put something on Katrina and see it really doesn't fit anymore, straight into the Outgrown bin it goes. What did I used to do, put it back into a drawer?? I guess so!
I already have numerous bags of outgrown newborn clothes to either give away to friends (the cream of the crop), take to the Smiling Frog (the brand-name stuff), or give to Goodwill (Target & Wal-Mart items). Hats, socks, receiving blankets, crib positioners, all sorts of baby stuff: GONE.
This morning I was upstairs nursing Katrina, with Julian playing downstairs, and I heard a man's voice coming up the stairs: "Hel-lo? Anyone home?" Our general contractor, here to meet a City of Sunnyvale inspector for a final inspection. GEE, a little advance notice would be nice. Too bad he didn't walk right in as I was switching sides -- a good flashing might have taught him a lesson! And this from a really good contractor.
Fun kid comment of the day: Julian this morning complained about his sodden cereal: "It's FOGGY!"
Milk-soaked cereal notwithstanding, it was overcast this morning, so I snuck in a rare photo session with Julian and Katrina. One of these days I'll get all three of them again!
Here's a cheesy camera video of Katrina's life with her brothers. She was happy practicing sitting up, but dare I turn my head with this mayhem, let alone go into the kitchen to make dinner?! No shortage of entertainment in this house.
What a different life from the first baby. For all of us.
2/20/07
As a result, she woke up at 5:00pm, instead of starting a mondo nap/bedtime then, so she actually had a normal(ish) bedtime. I can't express how ecstatic I am to have a baby who's now so easy with naps and bedtime. And, I'm very glad she's in her own room, so that Dave and I can buzz around our own room at night without disturbing her. It just wasn't fair to ask her to sleep and have the TV and lights on.
As I painstakingly go through every scrap of clothing of mine, the boys', and Katrina's (no mean feat since we were given a roomful of stuff), and arrange what little I'm trying to keep in dressers and closets, I decided I need a system for getting rid of things. Inspired once again by Kristi, I set up a bin marked Outgrown. The first time I put something on Katrina and see it really doesn't fit anymore, straight into the Outgrown bin it goes. What did I used to do, put it back into a drawer?? I guess so!
I already have numerous bags of outgrown newborn clothes to either give away to friends (the cream of the crop), take to the Smiling Frog (the brand-name stuff), or give to Goodwill (Target & Wal-Mart items). Hats, socks, receiving blankets, crib positioners, all sorts of baby stuff: GONE.
This morning I was upstairs nursing Katrina, with Julian playing downstairs, and I heard a man's voice coming up the stairs: "Hel-lo? Anyone home?" Our general contractor, here to meet a City of Sunnyvale inspector for a final inspection. GEE, a little advance notice would be nice. Too bad he didn't walk right in as I was switching sides -- a good flashing might have taught him a lesson! And this from a really good contractor.
Fun kid comment of the day: Julian this morning complained about his sodden cereal: "It's FOGGY!"
Milk-soaked cereal notwithstanding, it was overcast this morning, so I snuck in a rare photo session with Julian and Katrina. One of these days I'll get all three of them again!
Here's a cheesy camera video of Katrina's life with her brothers. She was happy practicing sitting up, but dare I turn my head with this mayhem, let alone go into the kitchen to make dinner?! No shortage of entertainment in this house.
What a different life from the first baby. For all of us.
2/20/07
Monday, February 19, 2007
2/19/07 A holiday?
There is no such thing as a holiday for full-time moms. Today was very much like other days -- Dave even went into work!
But Julian went to Tonya's today, and all day. Whew.
Or was it really Julian? Dave dropped off Julian's evil twin, fussing and protesting as usual. But in the evening, Dave picked up a sweet, helpful, funny, generous, charming little boy handing valentines out. What happened?
Tonight was Spaghetti Night and Thomas Night, when the boys have to clean up the whole family room before watching their one half-hour of video a week. As per usual, they putzed around cleaning, and I had to set a time at which Thomas started. When that time is reached, I start the video and close the TV doors. They miss as much of it as the time it takes them to finish cleaning up. If they miss the entire half hour of Thomas, then they go up for bedtime without video, and the remaining toys in the family room go into the garage. They know this routine well, and miss the first part of Thomas just about every week.
Funny kid comment of the day, spoken while cleaning up the family room with Thomas playing behind closed doors, by Julian to Gabriel in what he thought was secret: "I don't like Mom!"
Last night, Katrina took what I thought would be a short nap, starting around 5pm. But she didn't wake up until **11:30** ! Was that a nap or a super-early bedtime? Answer: neither, because, not surprisingly, when she woke up, she was starving, then after nursing, she was in a fabulous, cheery, well-rested mood. I played with her a bit, gave her a bath, and wondered if I should have woken her up sooner. Mercifully, she went to bed at 12:30am, and woke up once more around 4am to nurse.
Tonight: same thing. I put her down around 5pm, when she was absolutely beside herself with eye-rubbing, swollen eyelids, a red raccoon mask around her eyes, crying, burrowing her head. I was expecting a short nap, but now, at almost 8:30pm, she's still asleep. But tonight, I'm waking her up before it's my bedtime. Come to think of it, her screaming, protesting, fighting brothers will probably take care of that during their chaotic bath-bed process.
Gabriel's pre-K was closed today, so I had him and Katrina all day. Not having to pick up Julian at 12:30pm allowed us to go to the Y after Katrina's morning nap, where I made the most of my 50 minutes. I almost looked forward to running on the treadmill. I never thought I'd say that.
Later in the afternoon, I had fun sitting down with Gabriel and playing Travel Blokus, a gift he got for his birthday (from the Engels, I believe!). It's a little more complicated than I thought, but to my surprise, he quickly understood the rules. He'd been playing with it on his own, by putting the square pieces down on the grid in various patterns, and I assured him there's no reason he couldn't keep playing with it like that. "You don't have to follow the rules if you don't want, Gabriel," I told him. He looked at me with wide, sincere eyes and said quietly, "No, I want to follow the rules." Silly me.
Chipping away at moving back in upstairs, half of which is done with one hand while I hold baby. It's going to take two carloadsful, of my substantial wagon space, to clear out the numerous bags of clothes I'm giving away. It reminds me of viciously pruning the roses yesterday, clearing out the undergrowth. Ahh.
2/19/07
But Julian went to Tonya's today, and all day. Whew.
Or was it really Julian? Dave dropped off Julian's evil twin, fussing and protesting as usual. But in the evening, Dave picked up a sweet, helpful, funny, generous, charming little boy handing valentines out. What happened?
Tonight was Spaghetti Night and Thomas Night, when the boys have to clean up the whole family room before watching their one half-hour of video a week. As per usual, they putzed around cleaning, and I had to set a time at which Thomas started. When that time is reached, I start the video and close the TV doors. They miss as much of it as the time it takes them to finish cleaning up. If they miss the entire half hour of Thomas, then they go up for bedtime without video, and the remaining toys in the family room go into the garage. They know this routine well, and miss the first part of Thomas just about every week.
Funny kid comment of the day, spoken while cleaning up the family room with Thomas playing behind closed doors, by Julian to Gabriel in what he thought was secret: "I don't like Mom!"
Last night, Katrina took what I thought would be a short nap, starting around 5pm. But she didn't wake up until **11:30** ! Was that a nap or a super-early bedtime? Answer: neither, because, not surprisingly, when she woke up, she was starving, then after nursing, she was in a fabulous, cheery, well-rested mood. I played with her a bit, gave her a bath, and wondered if I should have woken her up sooner. Mercifully, she went to bed at 12:30am, and woke up once more around 4am to nurse.
Tonight: same thing. I put her down around 5pm, when she was absolutely beside herself with eye-rubbing, swollen eyelids, a red raccoon mask around her eyes, crying, burrowing her head. I was expecting a short nap, but now, at almost 8:30pm, she's still asleep. But tonight, I'm waking her up before it's my bedtime. Come to think of it, her screaming, protesting, fighting brothers will probably take care of that during their chaotic bath-bed process.
Gabriel's pre-K was closed today, so I had him and Katrina all day. Not having to pick up Julian at 12:30pm allowed us to go to the Y after Katrina's morning nap, where I made the most of my 50 minutes. I almost looked forward to running on the treadmill. I never thought I'd say that.
Later in the afternoon, I had fun sitting down with Gabriel and playing Travel Blokus, a gift he got for his birthday (from the Engels, I believe!). It's a little more complicated than I thought, but to my surprise, he quickly understood the rules. He'd been playing with it on his own, by putting the square pieces down on the grid in various patterns, and I assured him there's no reason he couldn't keep playing with it like that. "You don't have to follow the rules if you don't want, Gabriel," I told him. He looked at me with wide, sincere eyes and said quietly, "No, I want to follow the rules." Silly me.
Chipping away at moving back in upstairs, half of which is done with one hand while I hold baby. It's going to take two carloadsful, of my substantial wagon space, to clear out the numerous bags of clothes I'm giving away. It reminds me of viciously pruning the roses yesterday, clearing out the undergrowth. Ahh.
2/19/07
Sunday, February 18, 2007
2/18/07 Lost post!
WAH! I wrote so much yesterday, musings important to me, and somehow none of it got posted, or even saved. Wah wah wah!!!! I can't imagine what happened.
Well, here was yesterday's photo, anyway. Katrina hanging around outside while I hacked away at my sorry roses.
The subject was "Lockdown" because Katrina's naptimes and bedtimes have gotten so reliable. I now have a baby I can simply "put down for a nap." Yay! And lots and lots of musings about the guilt and the joy, and the guilt about the joy.
That'll teach me. I learned decades ago to save my work frequently. Tut tut.
2/18/07
Well, here was yesterday's photo, anyway. Katrina hanging around outside while I hacked away at my sorry roses.
The subject was "Lockdown" because Katrina's naptimes and bedtimes have gotten so reliable. I now have a baby I can simply "put down for a nap." Yay! And lots and lots of musings about the guilt and the joy, and the guilt about the joy.
That'll teach me. I learned decades ago to save my work frequently. Tut tut.
2/18/07
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