Friday, Gabriel and I worked on his poster for "Student of the Week." They're supposed to describe their likes and dislikes, put in pictures, magazine clippings, drawings, and write anything they like about themselves. The teacher said other kids love seeing things about families and to try to include things about families.
Gabriel took this all very literally, and after picking some photos, could not be persuaded not to use ALL the photos I printed for him, nor to do any sort of drawing or decoration or write anything besides some likes and dislikes.
The most interesting thing was that we had to think hard to come up with a "dislike!"
Last night I got sucked into some overdue office work, so didn't have as much time as I wanted to play with making a caterpillar cake. Once again, it just looks so darned "homemade," but I guess if I wanted a professional appearance, I'd buy it.
I learned something about food coloring. The good stuff that comes in a gel makes for much brighter and more vibrant colors, but it gets all over everything, as I learned the first time I rinsed off the knife I used to pull some out of the teeny canister and eensy splatters I'd never have noticed without the coloring were everywhere. Black is an especially bad color, and it didn't even make the frosting very black, though it did a good job coloring anyone consuming it. From now on, I'll keep the frosting uncolored and decorate the cake with candies instead!
This morning, the boys were bent on planting seeds, and so dug a hole and asked me for some seeds. I cut up an apple and put seeds in cups for each of them and they "planted" the seeds. Then they just sat down and looked at the hole and talked together about how often to water the seeds! Our next-door neighbor got involved and gave them some flower seeds to plant too. Naturally, no construction project is complete without the ubiquitous helmets.
Dave scooted the boys out for a movie and a pumpkin-patch jump house (even Julian went in a small jump house for a few minutes!) this morning, while I enjoyed some time to finish up preparing for Katrina's party during a perfectly-timed baby nap. More on that in a few.
I think that counts! She's also pointing all over the place at....well, everything and nothing. So far we're never quite sure what she means, though clearly something is spinning through that baby brain.
Fascinating, this human language development thing. And it all starts with a "bah!"
Welcome Back Parents Night. Back to School Night. PTA Family Picnic. Chicken Dance. Fall Festival. Walkathon. PE Day. Library Book Day. Friday Folder. Weekly Homework. Reading Log. Sharing Day. Student of the Week. PTA donation. School donation. Class donation. Classroom supplies donation. Fall fundraiser. Volunteer Days. Halloween Parade. Parent-teacher meeting days. Reflections Program art contest. Early Tuesdays. Kindergarten Half Days. No school on Staff Learning Day....
Oh Lordy, revive me! And that's just from a few weeks for one kindergartner, at a relatively undemanding school (no required classroom aiding, for instance), and for me, a mom who's avoiding involvement as much as possible, unlike my Good Mom friends who volunteer and fundraise and pick up their children from school.
No wonder I feel like I have a day off tomorrow. It simply can't be done without Google Calendar.
Gabriel's school district is closed tomorrow for one of several special learning days for the teachers. Tomorrow's Staff Learning Day is to discuss three approaches to teaching social studies: text path, digital path, and active path. I am not making this up.
I had another day alone with Julian today, since Katrina was at Tonya's all day for the last time, a remnant from the summer. Or is it? I couldn't believe how much I got done today, much of which revealed how behind I've gotten on other things. This darned running habit so far sucks up all my baby-free time on MWF mornings. I'm not sure how "real" runners with full-time jobs juggle this; "real" runs take a lot of time. Maybe I'm just too slow. Anyway, I think I'll keep Katrina at Tonya's for another month, since we're on notice from our architect to start picking "finishes," which means flooring, sinks, countertops, windows, etc, now, and that's a lot of work, time and shopping. None of which mixes very well with an almost-toddler. Though Julian and I had a great time together most of the day, I wasn't a very fun date in the afternoon while I was on the phone with USAA talking remodel financing. He was grateful for the nap and I had a tough time waking him to go get his siblings.
Earlier in the day, as we were leaving the Y, he happily grabbed my hand and squeezed it and said, "I just love you SO much Mom!" Awww.
Gabriel is Student of the Week in his class next week, so by Monday we need to put together a poster, with photos, magazine clippings, drawings, lists of likes and dislikes....it'd be fun except that I'm looking forward to Katrina's party on Sunday instead. It's meant to be small and simple and low-key, but I still plan to prepare some food and decorations and have fun trying to make a Kat-erpillar cake. And I'd have fun helping Gabriel make his poster too. Is too much kid fun in one weekend possible?
Gabriel wanted to pick up Katrina, so I put him in her arms and then took some pictures. He quickly found out that she's not all that much fun to hold, being squirmy and grabby and pretty heavy for him (about half his weight!). But he got a kick out of it and wanted to again right away. "I might drop her though...."
Still, I think these photos will go well on his Student Of The Week poster. Gabriel's teacher said kids love hearing about other kids' families, and the first thing Gabriel said was that he wanted to put a picture of Katrina on his poster. One of the CDC staff told me that he's been talking about her birthday next week too, and confirmed that he never mentions his brother! Even though my stress level and blood pressure go through the roof when all three are together (mostly because Julian kicks into Pest mode to impress Gabriel), something inside me feels more content, at home, complete, when I have all three of them together. When I have just Julian and Katrina, as I often do these days, it's like something's missing, like I'm just keeping busy until Gabriel gets home and life begins again for real. Of course, a 3-year-old and an almost-1-year-old is a pretty full complement of children, who deserve my full enthusiasm and attention to pre-toddler and post-toddler life. But with Gabriel in school, doing his own thing, sometimes it feels a little like we're hovering around the edges until he's back in the mix. Then when he's back, the circuit is complete, the ring is lit, the power is on. With his being in school, it's like he's the pulse of the family, as though his activities and schedule and ups and downs in the day and week drive the mood for the rest of us. Such as: a day off for him feeling like a day off for me. Katrina news: she likes pushing wheeled vehicles around now, and Gabriel is unusually generous about loaning her his beloved Passenger Train.
And, she's starting to point! We're not sure at what yet, but she seems to understand that us asking "Where's....?" in a sing-songy questioning tone means to look around and point randomly. It's a start. Well, semi-point, with an open hand, like her older older brother did, but much earlier, which means, right on time. Pointing is a distinct language-development milestone, and since her babbling and sounds haven't really moved much beyond the initial "blah-blah-blah," (again, like her brother), the pointing is a good sign that language is developing normally. And it's fun.
Heh, I couldn't resist digging this up. Two short videos of Julian at almost exactly the same age.
Julian's "vocabulary" at almost 12 months old:
Julian says Mama:
Even he didn't have much of a vocabulary yet, but his responsiveness, clarity and understanding of the back-and-forth of "conversation" almost shocks me now, as Katrina is nothing like that (not for talking, anyway, though she will get into a fine spitting contest if so invited). And he was a lot calmer, sweeter and cuddlier to hold! Oh my little angel, what happened?! Then again, who'd ever have guessed that we'd be saying that Gabriel is the easiest one of the bunch?
Oh BOY is it funny to stand up in a shopping cart at Target when Mom's back is turned and Mom didn't know you can do that. And then do it over and over again, guffawing and giggling the whole way, especially as you're about to dive over the side, making so hard for Mom to shop that she ends up grabbing the wrong size Pull-Ups because she doesn't dare turn her head for more than a second and then making her grumble something about dialing a cell phone while driving being easier and safer than shopping during your stand-up routine. Yuk yuk!
But it's not funny at all to have the cart's strap put around your chest so can't do it anymore. Then you cry and scream your head off and make everyone stare and tsk-tsk under their breath about what a Bad Mother that sour-faced impatient old woman over there must be, so Mom has to carry you and push the cart with one hand and steer it with nudges from her foot until she gets tired of that and puts you back in the cart and then you just pop up to a stand all over again. Bonus: you're so distracting and annoying that she can't keep track of your brother either and holds up the checkout line while she looks for him and forgets things and you wriggle out of her arms and grab the cart and pull it onto her foot while she's trying to pay and you grab the pen and the card and punch the buttons and then Mom's hair and earrings and think that's especially funny and send her into a harried discombulated frantic tizzy.
All from a simple trip to Target! Imagine what you can do at Whole Foods now! Hee hee!
Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my....well, no. Full-time Moms often don't even get *that* far.
Got to get you into my life: Nurse baby, bug 3-year-old to get dressed, get breakfast into both of them. To the Y, home for snack & naps (mine & baby), shower, baby's up, lunch, pick up schoolkid, grocery-shop at Whole Foods, unpack groceries, get really really REALLY mad at 3yr-old for bothering baby for the millionth time, bake cookies, baby down for nap #2, get a few things done in the kitchen, scan schoolkid's school photo while starting emergency quick kid-dinner.
That's just the big stuff, not the picking up, emails, phone calls, laundry, putting things away, etc. When I'm 64, will it be easier?
Then sneak in a quick blog entry before dinner 'cause Mom's going out tonight to be a grownup and catch up with one of my best longtime friends. Who will be the victim of most of the cookies.
This is how I got dinner cleaned up tonight. Not to mention the opportunity to re-organize my mess of a Tupperware cabinet.
Gabriel said something so interesting today about a friend in school. There's a girl, Hadas, in his class who was also in his Kids Inc class, from Israel. Which explains why some weeks back he said he wanted to learn Hebrew. I asked him who he had lunch with today, and he said in his best well duh Mom voice, "Hadas, as I always do," then said that he helped her cut up broccoli and cauliflower from her hot lunch, using a "real knife."
I asked him if she speaks English well, since I thought I remembered from Kids Inc that she was a new English learner, and he said "Yeah!", then, "I especially like the sound of her voice."
I tried to probe him on what about her voice he liked, but he said it was too hard to describe (fair enough) and repeated sweetly, "I just really like her voice." (Oh! I'll bet I know now! He probably means her accent. Always assume the most literal interpretation.)
Gabriel and Julian got kids' Sudoku books for party favors last Sunday, and they both love them. I showed Gabriel how to do it, and he immediately applied his characteristic focus to the book, methodically tackling each puzzle one by one. (Julian doesn't understand it, but wants to and so asked Gabriel to teach him today!)
Gabriel understands the Sudoku rules, but describing them is a little harder:
(I know Bonne Maman will be happy about this, since she's a big Sudoku fan.)
Unfortunately, I was seething by the end of that video because Julian was flapping his Sudoku book on Katrina's head when she was trapped in the high chair. He has me on a hair-trigger now because he constantly bothers her: blocking her path, grabbing her hands, stepping on her feet, taking toys away. They did sort-of play together happily for a few minutes today, but she's getting to the point where she screeches when she sees him. Mostly, he's not trying to be mean, but he's menacing anyway and it infuriates me. I'm constantly sending him out of the room so that I can turn my head and know she'll be safe. Pest!
Leave it to Gabriel to turn around a great idea. He really, really, really wants Snap Circuits, so I had the bright idea to use them as an incentive to night-train. We told him that if he keeps his Pull-ups dry for 5 nights in a row, we'll get him Snap Circuits. He enthusiastically said "OK!" though I was silently skeptical.
So, last night around 2am, I woke up to hear Julian crying, and found Gabriel standing over Julian's bed, with Julian lying on his bed crying, something about pooping in his Pull-Up. Which he hadn't done, but I guess he was worried about it or something. I took him to the bathroom, where he cleared up his concern without incident.
But Gabriel's pajamas were soaked, and he didn't want to change them because he thought this meant that now he wouldn't get Snap Circuits! I talked him into changing his pajamas, assuring him that the deal was still in place, and he did so, but he cried sadly about Snap Circuits through the whole process. (In case you're new to Gabriel-land, crying sadly is not in his usual repertoire.)
Katrina's doing great with spooning food herself, though she consistently holds the spoon non-ideally, if you're an 11-month-old baby that is. And HEAVEN FORBID you try to turn it around for her! Oh, the calamity! The offense!
It helps to use the yummy Greek yogurt from TJ's that is so thick it doesn't drip.
(The pans down to her feet were an attempt to catch her wiggling her feet in delight, since she LOVES spooning her own food, but she stopped whenever I moved the camera.)
More photos of Katrina exploring the kitchen. She's a lot sneakier about it than her brothers were, but thankfully not quite as energetic or thorough as Gabriel was.
Ah, I forgot...the day started off with a longish run at Rancho San Antonio (a 7-mile route with moderate climbing), and it was positively glorious there today. It had rained, so the air was crisp and cool in the shade, but there were warm wonderful fresh breezes that carried a tiny hint of Indian summer. Part of me will never feel like I'm a Californian, despite living here for almost 20 years, but mornings like today make it hard to imagine ever leaving. Just me and the trail, the trees, the scurrying lizards, the sun and the sweet scents of the coming autumn...a wonderful peaceful spirit-lifting morning.
Today I took the boys to a triple birthday party, for Erin, Allison and Kate. Erin's birthday is only a few weeks after her twin sisters' birthday, so their parents combined it into one big mondo party.
And what a party it was! Lots of great kid food, a jump house, and the unexpected hit of the party: the fabulous face painter. At first, neither Gabriel nor Julian would have anything to do with it, but eventually, Gabriel decided he wanted it and waited patiently for about half an hour. Meantime, he chatted with other kids and hung out and had fun, so nothing was lost.
Julian almost went into the jump house, especially when he saw his new buds Kate and Allison joyfully and fearlessly bouncing around. I volunteered to take him in, he got his shoes off and I climbed in, but at the last minute, he bailed. He's never liked jump houses, even now, when he's pushing 4!
When we got home, Gabriel wanted to tell his cousin Aidan about his dragon face, so we practiced a new skill: phone manners. He called Dave last Friday, but first we rehearsed the routine, as we did again today. After rehearsing, he got the phone, turned it on, dialed as I recited the phone number (and today that included a little tutorial about area codes), and then prepared to talk...except that we mostly got answering machines. After leaving messages all around about his face painting, we got Aunt Laura live, and he was thrilled to tell her all about it.
This morning, Gabriel also helped me make Dad's scrambled eggs for breakfast. I let him do more and more things, realizing that I'm really underestimating what a 5-1/2-year-old can do. Some of what I have him do is inspired by hearing about kids younger than he is doing them (such as cracking eggs), and some of it is inspired by envisioning the day when Gabriel makes the scrambled eggs entirely on his own!! That'll have to wait until he can reach the stove though.
Meantime, he can get the eggs from the fridge, take them out of the carton, put the carton back, get a bowl, and (with me hawking over him), crack the eggs and open them and dump the contents into the bowl and throw away the shells. Then he can pour the milk in (next time he can measure it himself too), season the eggs, and mix it up with a whisk. I love his enthusiasm for helping me, and I love teaching him and working with him. We laugh a lot together. Who knows, maybe he'll be a chef someday! (And if he ever is, people will start to wonder who his father really is....)
I was glad to be outside today for a party, distracted and in the outside air, and without the intense effort of keeping a crawling baby from being stepped on. (Katrina had a grand time with Dad at home, including a trip to a nearby playground and about 50 trips down a slide, Dad reports.) For the 3rd day, I've been skirting a bad migraine, without too much pain yet, but with other symptoms that are increasingly disturbing: nightmares, sharp irritability, even depression. I went through many hours yesterday of feeling despondent and hopeless about my life, while at the same time knowing I don't actually see it that way. It's a little like what amputees report feeling with phantom pain in a lost limb: they feel pain in their missing foot even though they know their foot doesn't actually hurt. It's frightening to wonder if someday the feeling of depression will overpower the rationale.
Still, I'm grateful that having fun and being outdoors (which has a distinct physical effect) alleviates the pressure and strange feelings from a migraine, even if it doesn't make it go away. There are times, and today was one of them, that the instant I set foot indoors I'm struck with the pressure, as though I just dove 20 feet underwater.
Some photos from today.
Julian goofing, and the cake! Wow! Made by a woman in the 2004 group who is apparently starting a cake-decorating business, and, well, Wow!
Gabriel chatting with Erin before his face-painting turn; Erin is describing to him what she's going to get.
The Dragon Face! Note the forked tongue. Wow!
The Devil made me do it!
Some more facial artwork.
Erin's best friend Maya, who it turns out knew Gabriel from Kids Inc. And, one of the twin birthday girls doing her best model-pouty-face (my favorite photo of the day).
Congratulations to the birthday girls' parents for retiring the Terrible Twos -- twice!
Out to dinner tonight, Aldo Italian restaurant in Los Altos, HIGHLY recommended. Then to Sonia's house for a Parent's Night Out with the 2004 parents, desserts, appetizers, chatter. Fun, food, friends. Also HIGHLY recommended.
Tonight we made a "pajama trip" to Redwood City to pick up Dave's car, and got to see a rare thing: thunder and lightning! Gabriel was thrilled and had all sorts of questions about what happens if lightning hits you, or the car, and thought we'd have to use flashlights when we got home. I wasn't crazy about driving in the dark and rain with all 3 kids in my car -- I so rarely drive at night these days! And those conditions reveal my slightly compromised eyesight.
But that wasn't the worst storm. This morning, I was walking down a city street and saw some sort of supernatural entity approaching, something that was going to strike me. I grabbed a tree, knowing that I'd get hit harder for resisting, and I was. I was surrounded by wind, mist, flashes of light -- and fear. Then the tree branch I was holding onto broke off, and I was swept into the air with a sickening lurch. I was being pulled from inside out as I freefalled toward the pavement....
....then I woke up with a start. Again. That was worse than the standard taking-a-final-exam-without-studying nightmare, which I'd also just had, with the twist of spilling soymilk all over my exam, and not even knowing what class it was for.
The image of hurtling toward great pain from the clutches of an evil storm haunted me all day. But I knew what it meant right away. This is a new pattern, but a consistent enough one now that it all points to: migraine alert. Disturbing, violent, terrifying dreams, something I haven't experienced since childhood, when the subway trains came barreling down the stairs at home in Brooklyn and carried me away.
And sure enough, the first few jabs of pain started as soon as I sat up. I took an Imitrex and went through the morning motions (including dropping Katrina off at Melissa's and going for a very short run at Fremont Older), then took as long a nap as I could before having to be Mom again. I can still feel the pressure and intense sleepiness, but it doesn't feel like it's going to be a bad one this time. I think the key is taking the Imitrex immediately, though I don't like to pull the trigger too soon since I really don't like how it makes me feel.
At least my children were relatively rewarding today, with the exception of one Julian meltdown before dinner. I succeeded in grocery-shopping and then picking up Gabriel from school this afternoon, though that meant Katrina didn't wind down for a nap until 4pm. The boys played (mostly) happily together outside until it started to rain, when Gabriel came in very excited and told me with great gravity that it was raining. So I told him to get the garage key, open the door and put away the bicycles and tricycles right away! He took this errand very seriously, as just like his Dad, protecting vehicles is of utmost importance. I just love that I can ask him to do stuff like that now, and it's actually a genuine help. Kids -- way cool.
After his errand, Gabriel described to me very seriously his working on his bicycle. He was SO sincere and likes trying to talk technical so much that I had to try to get him to describe his work again. It wasn't as good the second time, but here he is anyway.
Meantime, baby sister did a fabulous job tonight of feeding herself. I hawked over her to prevent a huge cleanup job, but she dug into her dinner of rice, broccoli and chicken with great enthusiasm, and succeeded many times in scooping food onto the spoon and actually getting it into her mouth. The times she did send food flying everywhere, she got the best reinforcement possible: unabashed peals of laughter from her brothers, which made her beam and smile and giggle and think Oh! Boy! I gotta do that Again!
As a comparison with her brothers at this age with the same skill (spooning and eating food):
Gabriel: not a prayer, no clue, refused to try. Julian: almost there, and delighted to accept help and learn how. Katrina: stellar efforts, but SCREEEECHES if you try to help her (like taking the spoon just to turn it right-side up again).
I didn't like running with a camera last week: it's distracting to stop and take photos, and it bounces around. But I'm sorry I didn't have one today. Fremont Older Open Space Preserve has one of the best views of the Bay Area I've ever seen (Hunter's Point), and it's pretty easy to get to. Today's filtered light and cloud formations, a precursor to the lightning storm that skirted us tonight, also made for good photo conditions.
I sort of hope it rains tomorrow. I like rainy days. And two, I hope it gets it out of its system for an outdoor party we're looking forward to on Sunday.
Another nice day alone with Julian, though they're soon to end since Katrina's Thursdays at Tonya's will last only through September.
First we went to Rancho San Antonio to resurrect our old hikes with mom friends -- and kid friends! Photos at the end.
Then to home to pick up Dad, then to Redwood City to drop off Dad's car at the Subaru dealership.
Home again, lunch, Bed Bath and Beyond, then to Aidan's house so I could chat with Aidan's mom about her new kitchen. Meantime, Aidan and Julian played Foosball and watched some Smurfs, though Julian was terrified of Aidan's two big friendly dogs.
Then home again, played some Lead Belly, hung out, then the big scramble to pick up the other two. The second Gabriel was home, Julian turned on the Brat switch and was banished to the living room for bothering Katrina. My blood pressure goes through the roof as soon as Katrina's back around, and the boys are bugging her. What a difference from the day alone with just Julian -- it's amazing how much easier it is with one kid!
Still, overall the evening went well. I think. 'Cause I went out to yak with my mom friends and have coffee and cheesecake!
Julian had a great time at Rancho this morning with Allison, Kate and Andrew. First, the Farm, looking at animals.
Climbing on a tree trunk.
The Bossman. Julian made up games and got Kate and Allison to follow him or imitate him in stopping, starting, sitting and general silliness. I think he really liked playing without being bossed around by his older brother!
Andrew and Kate and Allison making up their own games on the logs.
Boy, you leave your baby for just a few hours and poof -- something changes!
Katrina went to Melissa's this morning, allowing me a nice relaxed run at my favorite -- well, only -- park. When I picked her up, I got a few nice surprises. To start, she didn't cry when she saw me. That's a first. She's stopped crying when I leave her in the Y Childwatch, but she always cries when she sees me again, and same at Tonya's. Not this time.
Melissa told me Katrina had had a good nap, a good lunch, and a lot of fun playing, laughing, reaching out and giving things to Melissa, and was very cuddly. Cuddly?!My girl? Are we talking about the same baby?!
But most significantly, Melissa noticed two teeth poking through on the bottom. Sure enough, there are the tiny stubs of teeth! I swear I didn't see them yesterday.
Melissa also gave me a written checklist report of her naps, eating, diapers, etc., just like in full-service daycares. While I don't need that anymore, not being a paranoid first-timer, I still appreciate it. Other than driving back home in the morning in rush-hour traffic, I'm delighted with the care Katrina is getting. (I've known Melissa pretty much as long as I've known Tonya; they're friends and Melissa has helped Tonya many times, has trained to be a preschool teacher, and now is starting her own family daycare.)
But, so much for patting myself on the back for picking up Gabriel so many days from school. Four days in a row, Katrina hasn't taken an afternoon nap. One of those days was Sunday, and that could have been a fluke. But the weekdays this week, she hasn't either. Today, I was determined to get her down for an afternoon nap, and did so, at about 2:15. Which meant: no picking up Gabriel.
Now that I think about it, no wonder. I was picking up Gabriel right before her nap, so she got the intensely fun stimulation of all the parents and kids at the school, not to mention the joy and energy of being with her brothers together again. Then the hullaballoo of getting everyone into the car at school, and out of the car again at home. Plus, 3pm is on the late side anyway, and she gets a second wind. I might as well have been injecting her with caffeine!
Here she is today right after her afternoon nap, happy chatty:
I'm not sure what to do. Not picking up Gabriel from school meant that at 5pm, Katrina was just waking up, and Julian was still asleep. He hasn't napped in days and it shows, so I let him go (he woke up just shy of 6pm, and he still went to bed without trouble at 8:30!). But when I have a chicken roasting in the oven, baby is entering her highest-maintenance neediest time of the day, and 3-year-old is taking a much-needed nap, I really really really don't want to haul everyone out to go get Gabriel. Luckily today Dave was able to get him before 6pm, but I can't count on that every day. I've got to fix this!
Neighbors would be nice. We actually have a neighbor just a few houses away, so close the baby monitor would probably work from there, who also has a daughter at Collins kindergarten (not in Gabriel's class though). But I have no idea what the mom's schedule is, don't remember her name (one of those elaborate and lovely Indian names) and pretty much have only talked to them at Halloween. The house across the street sold recently, but I've never seen who moved in there. I think they have kids since I've glimpsed a tricycle in the garage.
Are we doing the right thing by staying here? Sometimes I wonder. But how do you find something as nebulous and intangible as "neighborhood" and "community?" Well, for how, our little community of three will have to do. And you know, our new neighbors might appreciate a welcome wagon visit from us.
It's nothing short of miraculous when I accomplish as much as I did today. Not only did I trim Julian's fingernails, but I actually changed a light bulb. A 3-way one, no less! That's probably worth more than grocery-shopping with all 3 kids after picking Gabriel up from school. It helped that I relented and let the boys ride in one of those car carts, despite numerous past bad experiences. Though it was super heavy with all 3 kids in it, it worked well. The boys didn't fight, and they stayed put the whole time. As we were loading up the car, I realized why: Gabriel had strapped him and Julian in, and they couldn't unstrap!
Later in the afternoon, I attempted to put Katrina down for a nap. While she was still chattering away, Betsy arrived with her clan'o'3, taking vengeance on me for pawning off so many baked goods on her. (I was the lucky recipient of some Mexican Monkey Cake, which was fabulously rich and moist and .... fabulous!) Ironically, Julian had just been saying this morning that he wanted a playdate with Gina. And here she was! The boys and Gina had a grand time playing together, while Andrew doggedly worked on Julian's bicycle.
Eventually I brought Katrina down too, and she just loved playing on the deck, watching the other kids and interacting with Dylan (all of 6 weeks her junior) as much as babies their age interact.
I had to give up on Katrina's nap, after 45 minutes of chatter and 15 minutes of crying. This worries me. I'm OK with her dropping one nap already, but not if her only nap starts at 10am. 12 noon is too early for a baby her age to wake up and then make it all the way to bedtime, though actually, she sort of did. I had to bail on a plan for us all to go to Tuesday dinner, and she was ultra-high-maintenance from about 5:30 on. Fortunately, Dave took the boys to dinner, and I got a little quiet time after putting her to bed.
This morning worked unusually well though. I took Julian and Katrina to the Y, worked out for just about an hour, then brought them home for Katrina's nap, and mine. (For 4 days now a migraine has been looming, but hasn't materialized...I'm never sure when the floodgates will open!) Julian played quietly downstairs for the better part of two hours by himself! I'm glad and guilty about that. Then, lunch, Gabriel pickup (early on Tuesdays), Trader Joe's, and home. If Katrina really is shifting to one nap a day, then her nap will conflict with both Julian's and Gabriel's pickups. Argh!
I see lots of moms with sleeping toddlers in strollers going to pick up older children at school, but I just can't see that happening. They must have some other help or support, 'cause even when Katrina is at her best, she can be full-on demanding, especially in the evening when I need my hands free the most. I shudder to think about making dinner while she's overtired. The other parents waiting at Gabriel's school recognize her now, and always tell me how happy and friendly she is. And she is, making eye contact with anyone she can, beaming at them and showing off. But this happy behavior is easily matched in amplitude with screechy, miserable, demanding behavior later. Despite appearances, she's not the mellowest most easygoing baby in the world. (I think Dylan is in the running for that honor.)
Someday this will all seem so far away and remote. I'm way overdue for an update with my high school friend Andrea, who I believe sent her oldest daughter to college this month. College. And here I am fretting about kindergarten! Then again, working life around toddler naps isn't a foreign concept to Andrea, who remarried and had a baby at age 43 also, just like me. I should call her, so she can remind me that really, enjoy it, it does fly by.
Meantime, I'm just happy the uplight floor lamp in the living room works now.
This morning, I dropped Katrina off at Melissa's house for the first of many MWF mornings. Getting there wasn't so bad, but getting back meant rush-hour traffic. It'll take some time to tweak the route. Then, Julian at Tonya's all day, Gabriel at school/CDC all day, meant Dave and I had the morning to ourselves for our annual anniversary day off together. We had a nice relaxed breakfast, then walked around downtown Menlo Park collecting business cards for restaurants for future dinners out. I counted no less than four, maybe five, upscale baby/kids' stores in downtown Menlo Park! After picking up Katrina, we attemped one outing with her, to a kitchen remodeling place, to get an idea of what's available for countertop surfaces. She didn't last long, but I did see a desk area with a monitor that I can well envision in our new kitchen/family room, for "family central." I want that!
Gabriel got sent to his room for the rest of the night after dinner, for being excruciatingly rude ("You make my dinner RIGHT NOW Mommy") after being sent to the living room for hitting Julian. That didn't get him out of his homework though, so Dave set him up with his homework in his room, sitting on a laundry basket and leaning against a shelf.
An hour later, I checked on him, and he was just finishing up his homework -- the entire week's worth. He'd read the instructions on each page himself, and just plowed through and did it. It wasn't until I after I started telling him how great that was that I realized the danger: I hate to give him the impression that homework is a bad thing and that it's something to get over with! Well, he'll figure that out soon enough.
Unfortunately, his obnoxiousness continued into the bed-bath time. I don't even need to know what he did to deserve this, but he lost his bedtime story. While Dave was reading to Julian in another room, I heard impact noises from upstairs, and found Gabriel hysterical in his room, hurling sharp-cornered plastic grid pieces at his door, making numerous deep triangular gouges in the expensive new wood door. This is at least the third time he's done this, so you can well imagine that his rear end now has a few gouges in it too.
I tried making sour cream mashed red potatoes for dinner tonight, based on a watching a few minutes of Quick Fix Meals on Food network tonight. No one liked them except me, and I don't like mashed potatoes! They were actually really good, I thought. Sigh. Another cooking experiment down the drain. Well, Katrina might come through for me tomorrow, I saved some of them for her (she'd already had dinner and so didn't try them). Yesterday I tried making omelettes for the first time, with some success. Dave liked them, Julian tried them, Gabriel took a few bites, and Katrina finished the rest.
The boys were being unbearable at home this morning, so by early afternoon, when Katrina was up from her morning nap, it was time to get them OUT. Dave agreed, and joined us for a hike at Rancho San Antonio. I was actually thinking of going somewhere else, but figured that a double jogging stroller and walking 5-year-old didn't make for ideal experimental conditions. Besides, Gabriel remembered our hikes and wanted to see Coyote Trail.
It worked; I was so glad to see Gabriel running off a lot of steam, and his enthusiasm for the views and seeing things around us was contagious. Of course, he was bent on knowing the numbers: how many miles we'd gone, how far a hill was, how fast we were going.
Then Julian wanted to run also, and surprised me with his energy for running, since usually he peters out pretty fast. Katrina didn't cause much trouble, as long as she had a water bottle to suck on.
Julian was so tired later that he was absolutely impossible; the tiniest thing setting him off, getting into total meltdowns and then unexpectedly falling asleep on the living room floor, to where he'd been banished for a while. Many days he doesn't need an afternoon nap, but if he goes too many days in a row without one, this sort of thing happens. He went to bed early without a bath, willingly.
This has been the best weekend I've had in a long time, and that's with having spent a lot of time with the kids....indeed, I daresay because I spent so much time with them. Katrina's been charming lately, still demanding, but really funny and cute and not too fussy; and I get a nice lift from doing active sorts of things that are fun for little kids to do too. I guess there's a lot more of this in store for us!
Katrina modeling Dad's hat.
Butt-Buster Bluff (the "tail" end of Coyote Trail's steep starter hill)
At one point, both boys got tired enough that they both wanted to ride, so for a short distance, the jogging stroller held all three! (Watch that wheel Gabriel....I want grandchildren someday!)
Then, Julian wanted out and took over for a while.
Ah, my funny little boys. How I do love them.
Today is also our 7th wedding anniversary! Who has time to itch?!
