4/13/08 The Open House

I took Katrina to an open house this afternoon -- not for her, obviously, but to convince myself one last time that we're doing the right thing by not moving. This house was very unusual, with a huge lot right on a creek, with beautiful views and in a nice location. Also, I know the realtor, I met her at my first Las Madres playgroup, and she's expecting her third baby. She sells real estate with her mother, who I've met and like. So I also wanted to say hi.

But the house itself...I'm ready for an upgrade. Indeed, it'd be a step backward from what we have now, in terms of all the "finishes." Stuff I never even knew existed 8 years ago, but now, a vinyl bathroom floor or aluminum windows jump out at me. I didn't make any observations aloud while other potential buyers were milling around, instead extolling the fabulous virtues of this house.

Not that any of this bothered Katrina, once we were there. But first, man was she was !!Oh!!MAN!!P-O'd!! when I put her in the car, because I intercepted her on her way to the tricycles. WHAT a fit! But she likes new experiences, and liked it when I let her out of the backpack to chat with my friend. To my surprise she sat right down and got to work on the buckles.

After some time, it became remarkable to my friend and her mother that this young toddler was so focused, and I launched into my usual explanation that that's standard fare for Doudna babies.

But a new behavior emerged too: showing off. Katrina started getting really silly, walking around and making faces, putting her head on the floor, making eye contact and giggling, grabbing my hands and trying to lead me places or rolling on the floor and laughing. This while I was telling my friend that she doesn't fit the "easy" third child thing:
"Oh brother, can she ever put up a fuss..." teeheehehehee! "She doesn't recover from setbacks well..." blblbll-hah hah! "If something doesn't go her way, she can be awful...." WHEEE!!!! She wasn't supporting my case at all. "Yeah, too bad she's so unhappy," cracked my friend's mother as Katrina jumped out from behind my legs with a "boo!"

Julian sometimes amps it up around other people, but that's recent. Gabriel never did anything like that at all. This was the Katrina show, with her front and center, and us as the unwitting audience.

And when we got home, she was reunited with the driving force in her life.

During dinner, another first: Katrina played in the backyard by herself, and for a really really long time: "mowing" the lawn, pushing tricycles around with her feet, hiding in the playhouse, chasing "boOO?!" (birds). We could see her outside from the dining room, mostly, but still, this is a big step into kid-world for her, as playing outside all evening is SOP around here. Dave and I both dreaded bringing her inside, knowing it was going to be ugly (and it was).

It's supposed to cool down to normal April weather here, but I was thrilled with the unusually warm and summery weekend. Julian summed up summer's advantages: "Because then I can wear T-shirts and don't have to roll up my sleeves when I wash my hands!" Just my kind of thinking.

4/13/08