1/19/08 Boys in a box

Good thing we have all these high-tech expensive toys around to stimulate kids' minds and imaginations. I'd hate to think a simple cardboard box could do the same -- what would the toy and battery manufacturers do with themselves? This cardboard box was a boat, a house, a hiding place, a tunnel, and something for Katrina to shriek at her brothers to shoo them away from today. It was one busy box.

Its final contribution for the day was to provide an incentive for the boys to get undressed quickly, so they could jump out of it and "surprise" Dad, eliminating one step of persuasion to get ready for bath. Not much of a surprise with the nonstop giggling, but, it served its purpose.

It was finally nice, warm, and dry enough for the boys to play outside, inexplicably with a little plastic tricycle. I brought Katrina out, and when she spotted the tricycle, I swear her body started to shake. She THREW herself into a complete fit, wrestling and wriggling and screeching, reaching for the tricycle, as if her life depended on it. I kicked the boys off (sorry), and then she latched onto it like it was her lifeline.

Mostly, she ended up pushing it around in circles, but it wasn't long before she was climbing on and off it herself too, and kicking her legs around in circles as if to pedal (but she's nowhere close to reaching). We had to time the exit carefully, making sure everything was in place before Dave whisked her off into the car.


My goodness, I've seen toddlers want a toy before, but even for Katrina, this was exceptionally insistent. Maybe she will be into BMXing after all!

Dave took her and the boys on an errand, a HazMat day, to drop off some old paint cans at the dump. Easy enough, everyone stays in the car, baby's entertained just by being out, boys never miss a chance to go to the dump (and most importantly, Mom gets a nap).

But then, Dave took all three of them to Target! On a Saturday, no less. I know lots of Moms who'd be nervous about such a venture, but it's just about unheard of for a Dad. He didn't think much of it, and didn't have any problems, the boys were very good "helping" find things. I'll take a little credit for that; the boys are very used to walking and (sort of) behaving themselves, while Katrina hangs in the cart. But mostly, they're just pretty (sort of) good. And Dave -- not bad for a Dad! It's nice to know every so often you're doing something right. I just wish I knew what it was.

The Target trip was to get more booster seats for the boys, since we're about to do the Big Carseat shuffle. Boys in boosters from now on, yay! Katrina will get the Britax Marathon, forward-facing. In two weeks, Gabriel will turn 6 and won't even legally need a booster, but of course he'll still use one, he's such a shrimp. I weighed him a few days ago with just pajamas and Pull-Up (argh) -- 37 pounds. Pathetic!

1/19/08

1/18/08 The Mayhem

Gabriel had school off today, so he went with Katrina to Melissa's today. She brought them both back home in the afternoon, along with her son 7-year-old Jackson, and they stayed for a little while.

Even though Gabriel and Jack had had the whole afternoon together, they hadn't tired of running like crazy, shouting at the top of their lungs, jumping on the furniture, wrestling, and full-out horseplay. Julian joined in the fray, and it was complete, total, ear-splitting chaos for a while, as only boys can make together. Yeah, yeah, girls can play hard too, but piling up, picking each other up, holding each other upside-down, shaking each other, pushing, pulling, racing, grabbing, pouncing, total all-physical rough-housing -- it's all boy. No tea party here. I love it. (It's hard not to imagine wistfully if baby#3 had been a boy too....)

I did get them to calm down briefly by having them sit on the couch and make faces for the camera. Meanwhile, Katrina, not in the slightest bit intimidated by all the rough action around her, pushed herself up to a stand and walked unsteadily across the rug, to the joyful delight of all three boys.


Jackson spends every afternoon with Katrina, and he adores her. He carries her, he plays with her, says he loves her, he's on her all the time -- in fact, Melissa has the same trouble keeping him from bugging her as I do with her brothers. Who knew little boys liked baby girls so much?!

As my poor friends have endured me complaining doggedly about, I just can't let go of this ankle problem. It reminds me of when my right wrist got so painful for a while, from motorcycling and from too much mousing, that I started mousing left-handed, cut back on riding and used a throttle lock whenever I could. It took well over a year before it didn't bother me all the time, and the introduction of right-hand-specific mice got me using the mouse with my right hand again. Persistent, gradual, achy sort of pain from too much use. Tendons.

So some targeted Googling today turned this up: Tibialis Posterior Tendinitis. It, and all articles on it I've found since, describe my ankle troubles to a T. Yeah, T, as in, Tendinitis. And, Tenacious. It's not going to go away easily. But, there are ways to prevent and treat it, and it's going to mean always keeping an eye on it and always backing off when it flares up. Of course, I'll let the doctor diagnose it himself next week, but until then, I'll Treat it Tenderly. I'd rather break my leg! That heals!


Before Melissa and the mayhem arrived, I had a few minutes alone with Julian, who only slightly willingly sort of posed for the camera. I was actually trying to get a good picture of his beautiful pout, but that's only going to happen candidly. Still, I love his smile even more.

It's actually a really bad picture. He's so cute in real life. And that mouth...!

1/18/08

1/17/08 The Upcoming Holiday

Julian announced at dinner tonight that Martha Luther King is coming on Monday.

A little slice of life here while I'm making dinner, though this is calm since I'm able to take video. Katrina trying to horn in on Gabriel's Snap Circuits, and he gently keeps her away, and succeeds in redirecting her attention to a book (I caught this scene at the tail end, she'd been trying for some time):

Hmm, I took that to illustrate her vocal disapproval of the restraint, but now what I really notice is how Gabriel handles her. He's actually smiling the whole time as he puts his body between her and his beloved Snap Circuits to keep her away -- believe me, Julian doesn't get this kind treatment!

Ironically, not much later after I took that video, both the piano and the Snap Circuits -- the two mainstays of entertainment around here -- got angrily confiscated to the garage after escalating through the whole ladder of heads-up/ask/tell/remind/warn/insist/timer/countdown/NOW/THAT'S*IT!* that the boys set the table.

Melissa said Katrina walked a lot more today, yay! It's still mostly a game, but more and more she's using two feet to get from one wall to another, occasionally taking unsupported steps inbetween. Could she be the earliest give-up-crawler of The Three? Oh, please yes!

I "walked" Katrina to get to the car, while she held one finger, and this was a daunting experience for her. She gets tripped up by plants in the way, uneven spots in the pavement, the slope of the driveway. But when I try to pick her up to expedite the process? Screeching, arm-flailing, back-arching, full-body-and-soul protest. NO WAY MOM, I'm gonna do it myself! Hey, I'm all for it.

Another random "accident" in the mini-potty tonight before bath too. A few more and it won't be so random anymore.

I went out for a Mom's Night Out tonight, something I haven't done for a while. That was great, so nice to catch up with other moms and be in the mom world again. Work has proven to be an odd source of calm and stability, but while I need some of that in life, it's never been my hallmark. It's nice to stay in touch with -- maybe even stay in -- the far more chaotic and less predictable kid life. Of course, hanging out with moms when our kids are in bed is the best of both worlds!

1/17/08

1/16/08 Katrina in the bathroom

Sigh. It's time. Every toddler at some point discovers how to flush the toilet and then becomes obsessed and flushes it again and again and again and SCREECHES when you block it or pull them away...ok, maybe not the screeching part. But, it's Katrina's turn for the Flush Phase. The flusher is now her new BFF*. But not before doing some damage to the carefully arranged bathroom cabinet.

In other bathroom news, Katrina objected strongly to being sat on the mini-potty before her bath, just on principle. I grabbed a book, and her energy was instantly plunged into "boo? boo?" and pointing to the strange figures in a Dr. Seuss book and making sounds at them. Then, she looked down, pointed to her tummy, and said, "bee? bee?" Whaddya know, there in the potty was quite a substantial amount of "bee?". Goodie! I tried to praise her, but she was right back to the book. Eventually these random accidents converge into doing it on purpose.

Now if only the boys would stop having not-so-random accidents at night. Or even in their sleep! Yesterday, Julian insisted he was tired of naps. Today, he napped so soundly that he didn't wake up when he had to pee, and he came home in his emergency pants. Sigh.

Left work early and came home to exercise a little, as doing a pretend aerobics class in my living room is the only convenient cardio I can get these days. Too bad I'm such a lousy aerobics choreographer. But even a few minutes of movement does wonders for my mood, though much of my movement took on a suspicious resemblance to running.

Then it took just under an hour to go pick everyone up, and that was with the additional time of getting the boys to go pee (another bathroom reference) before getting into the car. They always have to go when I pick them up, which isn't a problem for the usual 2-minute trip home, but today I picked them up first, then made the trek with them to Melissa's to get Katrina. I didn't want to go into traffic for half an hour with them strapped down and unable to do The Dance to shake it off (until I get tired of the wiggling and order them to go stand in the bathroom) at home as they usually do. But even with that extra step, doing the pickups from home didn't cost me any extra time as compared to doing them from work, and the sanity savings of going home first is huge.

I'm getting too good at this though. Dave got home at 6:45, and I had all three kids fed, kitchen cleaned up, Gabriel had finished his homework, and Dave's dinner was minutes from being on the table -- without touching the kitchen until I walked in the door with all three of them. Pretty soon, we'll start expecting this level of efficiency!

I do find tiny optimizations in the strangest places though. Lately I've been wearing socks to bed, and I like to put on clean ones....so I figure, why not wear the socks I'm going to put on in the morning anyway? That saves me 12.5 seconds of taking off my sleeping-socks and putting on my day-socks!

Now if only I could learn to blog shorter....

1/16/08

*BFF: hip-speak, stands for Best Friend Forever

1/15/08 The Picture

Today when I picked Gabriel up from the CDC, a boy came up to me, steady eye contact the whole way, and handed me a brown paper. On it was a very nice drawing of Henry the engine, and written the name "Gabriel." Apparently this boy, who I've never seen or heard of, drew Gabriel a picture, and made sure it got home by handing it to me! His demeanor was so deliberate, not shy, not proud, just very directed. I made as big a deal of it as I could while Katrina was crawling around on the floor picking up chokables.

So Gabriel decided to repay the boy in kind, by drawing him a train picture. Gabriel put the boy's name on it (asking me how to spell it, as if I'll ever know -- I couldn't even say it!), then signed it "From Gabriel" above his name.

How sweet! Isn't this more the sort of thing little girls do? The kid seemed really, really nice. Gabriel said he was a first-grader.

Today I left work early to go home and tackle the huge stack of To Dos that just can't get done with kids around, or even after they're in bed. I had about an hour and a half (which normally I'd have spent some of at work running), then zipped back into my car for the mad pickup scramble. But it wasn't so mad at all. Even though I was "working" at home -- not paid work, but office sorts of things (not scrapbooking, unfortunately!), having that time at home before the dinner rush made a huge difference. I really, really need that transition time between work and home, it really energizes me and makes me look forward to dealing with the kids and dinner and homework and screechy baby all at the same time. I'll bet it'd be even better if I did some scrapbooking instead of filling out forms, writing checks and making phone calls.

But one phone call I made was to a sports medicine doctor who specializes in podiatry! I can't wait for my appointment next week. It gives me some hope. I notice I have more time during the week now that I'm not running, but so what? I feel like I'm losing touch with Rancho San Antonio -- I was there so often that I'd notice the foliage growing, the new moss spots, the leaves turning, the flowers blooming. It's going to look completely different by the time I get back there! I'll bet the creeks are even flowing at the canyon bottom.

I also made Katrina's 15-month pediatrician appointment today. "How old is the child?" they ask. "Errr....15-1/2 months?" I answer sheepishly. "Don't you mean you want to schedule the 18-month appointment?" "Err...no..." "Didn't she already have her 15-month appointment?" ALRIGHT ALREADY! Not only don't I take my kids to the park on the weekends like Good Moms I know, but I don't even make pediatricians' appointments on time! AGGH!

As if this baby needs to see a doctor. She is the picture of health, bursting with energy and life. BUT STILL NOT WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!! She did boost herself out of the little blue chair tonight and "play" walkies for a few steps, but that was it. She still doesn't get it that two feet is a perfectly reasonable way to get from point A to point B. WITHOUT pushing a footstool.

Then again, who needs to stand when I'm so busy rummaging around the toy shelf?


Whatever ailed her a few weeks ago, for a few weeks, is past, and she's in a great place: giggly and silly and full of fun sounds. She laughs hard with her brothers, but also doesn't hesitate to stand up to them or try to take something from them, which they take entirely in stride -- even when she crawls up to them with the express intent of pushing them away!

That reminds me, I saw a very, very unusual behavior for Katrina this afternoon as we were leaving Melissa's: she pouted and cried. Melissa was shocked too -- she never does that! Oh she cries, but pouting first, then sobbing sadly with tears streaming down her face is unheard of. Usually her crying is frustrated and angry and without tears, accompanied by flailing protesting arms, bordering more on a fit. But sad crying? She got over it quickly in the car, and by the time we arrived to pick up Gabriel, she was pointing happily out the window announcing "Boooo!" whenever she saw a bird.

Julian thinks I hug him too hard, so whenever he tells me not to, I ask him to show me how to hug him the right way. And he comes up and hugs me almost without touching me. Then I ask him to show me the wrong way, and he wraps his arms around my neck like a python. Then I tell him I'm still not sure, and to show me again, and he hugs me again. And again. I can't believe he still falls for this, but I'll milk it for all it's worth. Lots and lots of Julian hugs...nothing's better.

1/15/08

1/14/08 The I words

Gabriel's kindergarten class, like so many, does a Letter of the Week. They practice writing the letter in upper and lower case, and write and come up with words that start with the letter.

Last week, it was the letter I. Look at what Gabriel came up with for the first two 'I' words.

Then see how lazy he got for the other ones. His rendition of Iggy the Iguana isn't exactly inspiring either.

The sad thing is, many of his classmates probably did the same thing. Good going, Stevie, now that's marketing!

His poor, poor teacher.

1/14/08

1/13/08 The Piano

I got to sleep late this morning -- yay! Thanks, Dad. I needed it. I had a lot of wine last night.

I needed it. I'm seriously bummed about my failing ankles. I went for a short tentative run last Friday with the new Superfeet insoles, but around mile 3, my left ankle started to hurt. Later, both ankles gave me constant twinges and reminders of their inherent weakness.

But not all hope is lost. A friend at work is a serious runner, and she gave me the name of her podiatrist. She'd had serious foot problems that not only meant no running (and she's always in shape for a half-marathon), but constant foot pain too. She said prescription custom orthotics and other treatments gave her her life back. That's a strong enough endorsement for me. I'm calling the guy pronto! She and another runner friend gave me names of sports medicine doctors as well. So I have a lot of resources.

If I get through this, I will make a marathon my new goal. I had no ambitions for marathon training before, but now that faulty ankles might mean not even having the option, I'm going to make it a goal.

Speaking of chronic problems, something you might all have noticed missing is constant complaints about migraines. Since starting the "Seasonique" pill, I've had one day of a mild migraine in 2-1/2 months, and that's it. A "prodrome" feeling here and there (the irrational sleepiness), but no more days and days of oppressive pain. It could also be the drastically altered sleep schedule due to work, but I doubt it. Clearly whatever torments the vascular system in my head is hormonal.

But enough about me. Let's talk about the kids! I'm happy to report that Katrina has been really fun, and funny, lately. Dare I say, even, delightful to have around? That's a big leap! She's been playing very happily, finding joy in the simplest things, often involving motion. Pushing footstools is a favorite, but so is climbing into anything that rocks or moves, like this little rocking chair we got from the Doudna grandparents some years ago.


Another fun thing she does, fun to her anyway, is lie on her back and just play, kicking her legs around like she's an upturned cockroach.


Today at Whole Foods, she was getting tired of waiting and it was approaching naptime, and she let out some of her characteristic protest screeches. Every time, people around us jumped, and twice, someone twirled around angrily to see what was causing this piercing racket, and then settled down when they saw it was just a baby. Even when she's in a really good place in life, she lets her opinion be known LOUDLY and PAINFULLY.

I thought Gabriel's interest in the piano would have waned by now, but it only seems to be accelerating. He skipped book-reading tonight in favor of practicing, though he's already memorized most of the songs in the book, plus one I showed him (Happy Birthday). He makes up his own a little too, and I'll be darned if I don't hear him play something very close to the opening sequence in the Eagles song "Desperado"!

But most of what he does is along the lines of Mary Has A Little Lamb:


If he's really interested in piano, I'll happily put him into lessons....but I will not be happy about having to bug him to practice every day. So whenever he asks about piano lessons (every 10 minutes or so), we talk about practicing. I tell him stories of when I took piano lessons and never fooled my teachers that I didn't practice all week, until just before the lesson. I think it'd be great if he really wanted to play -- and it doesn't have to be now, we can try also when he's older and more likely to practice.

Who knows, maybe I'd take up piano again too if I can't run. Sniff.

1/13/08

1/12/08 The Afternoon Out

Dave and I met with our most excellent kitchen designer this afternoon. I'm psyched. Really psyched. Most of the details are done, down to the silverware drawer. I can't wait!


Then we went out to dinner. Tangerine cheesecake with raspberry compote. Mm-MM!

This morning Gabriel observed that Bear (his beloved stuffed teddy bear of 2 years) is getting smaller.

1/12/08

1/11/08 The Giggles

Busy night, getting ready for kitchen designer meeting tomorrow.

Do I starve my children?

I went appliance-shopping again (gah!), and was struck by a conversation I seem to hear every time I'm there, about placing the fridge and microwave in the kitchen so that kids can grab snacks easily. Quite often, the conversation is about little kids who can't reach things in fridges yet.

Do I starve my children? They never, ever get snacks for themselves. Indeed, they hardly ever snack. If it's been a long time between meals, then I'll make them something, but that never involves the microwave (and often involves coercion). What "snacks" have to be heated? That's cooking!

When they're older, they probably will want to make their own snacks, but by then they'll be able to reach things themselves. Heck, Gabriel makes his own cereal in the morning now. What am I missing? I swear the skinniness is genetic, I don't underfeed them, but snacking so far isn't a big part of their fooding -- certainly not enough that I need to take that into account in the kitchen (though it happens it would work if they turned into snackers).

Speaking of eating, as Katrina chowed her way through a wide variety of carbs, her brothers wanted to play. Usually I shoo them away, but she was almost done, and they were all having a great time. Gabriel was letting her "bite" his nose, and Julian somehow gets her to scratch his teeth (which makes for much duller video). In any case, it was a nice moment of the boys swarming their baby sister, as opposed to the other 99% of the time when it's relentless and annoying!




What is life like when you don't plan to up-end your kitchen?

1/11/08

1/10/08 The Call

Julian had something he wanted to call Uncle Ronan about on his "iPhone," (a wooden block), but once he was on the spot, it slipped away.



Gabriel made this cute "snowman soup" from a gift packet his teacher gave all the kids, which was a package of hot chocolate, with marshmallows, hershey's kisses, candy canes for stirring, and a little poem. A nice little reminiscence of the holidays.

I went to REI after work today in search of Superfeet insoles, which several runners have told me they never run without. It appears my feet pronate (fall inward at the arch) somewhat, and this could be causing my ankle problems. Funny, I never had feet or ankle problems from years of dance, with shoes that have no support whatsoever. I'll run on the insoles tomorrow and see.

But do note: the World-Wide Conspiracy Against Size 6-1/2 is alive and well -- what size range do you think was missing in the Superfeet insoles for women? What else?! I had to get a men's version.

I got really, really lucky. For one, it's been raining a lot this week, coinciding with my ankle recovery. Perfect. For another, I lost track of time at REI this afternoon, and panicked when I saw it was 5:25pm when I was checking out. I knew I'd have to call Dave immediately and beg him to go get the boys, because 35 minutes to pick up all 3 wasn't nearly enough (even though I was only a few minutes from Melissa's). Turns out, when I got in my car and put on my headset, Dave was calling me to offer to pick up the boys. Whew! I think I used up a year's worth of karma on that one!

Dinner was courtesy Trader Joe's and reheated leftovers. So many kitchens now have two ovens...but on major re-heat days, I often need two microwaves. Is that ultra-super-spoiled or what?!

Katrina was in an exuberant mood tonight. Boy, when she's happy, she really pours it on. And when she's not...oh brother. Today when I picked her up, she saw me and started twisting her torso back and forth with her arms out -- a full-body pushing-away of the arms to object to my interrupting her book! She recovered, and made the most adorable baby sounds in the car, clapping when a song was over. Then at home she was full of squeaks and giggles as she pushed around footstools. No progress on walking though.

I was glad to see my children tonight. I had an intensely stressful evening last night, and today as well (handling some of my Dad's affairs), and it was a relief to be brought back to earth with the familiar ins and outs of children ("put your shoes away!" "pick that up RIGHTNOW!" "go finish your homework!")...no, mostly it was being with them, talking with them, humoring Julian's phone calls, stepping around Katrina and the footstools in the kitchen. Everything they do, even the annoying things, is striving toward making their own mark, growing, learning, embracing the world with a fresh perspective, with energy and eagerness, full of joy and optimism and promise. This is why I had kids; to stay in touch with the future, to be surrounded by youth and its surprises and delights. Sometimes it's staggering to think how deeply I love them.

1/10/08

1/9/08 The Misunderstanding

I have a new one-tolerance (as opposed to "zero") policy with Gabriel abusing Julian: one incident gets one warning, then one more, he goes straight to his room. I don't bother verifying; Julian's scccrreeeeEEECH of pain, preceded by Gabriel's bloodcurdling scolding (gee I wonder where he gets that from), is enough. They fight over Julian's piano, overall a good thing -- Gabriel loves to "learn" to play the songs and memorize them, but when Julian tries to play with his own birthday present, it often comes to blows.

Tonight, Gabriel got sent to his room for a second offense, and is so often the case, it didn't stop there. While I was making dinner, I had to run up the stairs numerous times to check on unsettling noises. One time I found two boxes of toys scattered about his room, and I told him he had to clean them up now....then realizing the impracticality of enforcing "now" (I had all four burners going on the stove!), I changed my story to that he couldn't go downstairs until he'd cleaned them up.

A few minutes later, he was downstairs. I was furious -- I hadn't let him out yet! I dragged him up in a rage. But his outraged-innocent response was genuine: "You said I could come downstairs when I cleaned it up!"

Hmm! Busted on a language subtlety. I meant he couldn't come back downstairs until I said so, as was the case to begin with, but now there was an additional condition: he'd have to have cleaned up the toys. But he took it to mean that cleaning up the toys was all he'd have to do to earn himself the right to go back down. (In retrospect, that'd have been a good exit strategy, if I'd thought of it.)

As it was, I had to give him an apology, a hug, and then a stern warning about pushing, kicking, pinching, scratching or generally injuring Julian again.

It struck me again how ordered Gabriel is: being banished and then dragged up the stairs didn't make him cry, but the injustice had him nearly in tears. This is why, at least for now, asking him what happened when there's a problem is effective. When he's innocent, he really acts it.

(As a side note: much brother-bashing goes on around here ignored, that's just part of life. But there are blatant offenses on one end of the huge gray zone called "boys will be boys," and those are punishable. I've seen handprints, teethmarks, red welts, long scratches and countless other Gabriel-inflicted injuries on Julian over the years. I look forward to the day when Julian is bigger and heavier than his brother and gives him a sound beating-up, but I'm losing confidence that'll ever happen.)

Speaking of troublesome...Katrina! Actually, she was full of wiggles and giggles this morning, just about jumping out of her skin with laughing and raspberries and overall silliness. But she's started genuine tantrums too: throwing herself on the floor and flailing her arms if she doesn't get her way (like having crayons taken away when she starts to throw them).

When I picked her up from Melissa's today, Katrina had her whole heart and soul wrapped up in this book, and I had to plan carefully to pick her up and go, because I knew she'd throw her whole body into a fierce protest. Fortunately, she and Melissa have a "game" of Melissa "chasing" Katrina as I carry her to the car, and that turns her energy from furious to joyful.

I keep telling myself that if she's going to turn into a Gabriel, that's overall a good thing. Or will be in another 2-1/2 years. Meantime, I could use some guidance from William Safire.

1/9/08

1/8/08 The un-sick day

Melissa called me at work today to tell me Katrina was acting very strange, and not good. Lots of clinging, crying, screaming even...and cuddling. Cuddling?! She must not be feeling well! Katrina even fell asleep in Melissa's arms, after refusing to take a nap, then woke up about 15 minutes later screaming. After last week's fleeting fevers, and Saturday's inexplicable screaming fit, it was time to be seen.

One thing I love abour our pediatrician's office is how reliably we can get last-minute appointments.

One thing I really don't like about our pediatrician's office is how we have to wait so, so, so long in the examining room.

I called at 10:30am, got an appointment for 11:30am, arrived at 11:25am. We were checked in immediately by the nurse, weighed and partially undressed Katrina. Doctor will be right with you. Uh-huh. So we wait in the examining room. The small examining room. Baby playing on the narrow examining table, Mom standing vigilantly in front to keep her from diving off. No toys. Cold floor with paper clips and who knows what else on it. Low drawers, garbage cans, rolling footstools -- all sorts of stuff crawling babies can get into trouble with.

A tormentuous and aggravating and exhausting 40 minutes later, the doctor shows up, and spends five minutes with us. No ear infection, lungs clear, all looks OK. Indeed, Katrina had mercifully been in a great mood, and amused herself pulling on my work badge and playing with a zipper on my vest. We're not supposed to feed them in the rooms, but we'd been there a long time, and Cheerios that Melissa had thoughtfully sent along with us bought me another 5 minutes.

Note to self: from now on, ask the nurse if we can wait in the waiting room, which is spacious, has toys, windows, a fish tank, carpet, comfortable chairs and magazines for bored moms. Why do we have to spend all that time entertaining half-dressed toddlers in the cold examining room? It's torture!

With a onesie and diaper, Katrina weighed 20 lbs 5 oz. It's carseat turnaround time!

I actually didn't mind too much having to take a day off work, though I wish I could have worked a little more. Katrina was in fabulous shape all afternoon, being silly and playing very happily and generally exhibiting the good side of her joie de vivre and energy.

She ate a ton of dinner and then spent the balance of the evening pushing around this little wagon and screeching at her brothers when they dared stand in her way. The boys engaged in the new order around here: Gabriel and the Snap Circuits, Julian and the little (now horribly out-of-tune) piano.

The catch-all for mysterious baby ailments is "teething." I guess that's all we have to go on.

1/8/08

1/7/08 The Ankles

I was hoping to run into another contractor at work today, who comes in sporadically, and who is a very serious runner. If he was there, I hoped to have an opening (as he's often tied up) to ask him if my painful ankles, worse this morning, were a common running injury. Not only was he there, but I had the opening: he hobbled in with a cast -- broken ankle! He twisted it on a rock while running and actually broke it.

Some Web-surfing and talking to him about ankles says that there is hope: gel orthotics and shoe inserts that conform to your foot, sports medicine doctors, certain types of stretches, and knowing when to lay off can all help. I found today that my ankles were the least bothersome after sneaking to the back loading dock and doing a few weights exercises, including lunges. If the answer is movement and stretching, I'm all for it.

Katrina was in a dazzling mood this morning, and also when I picked her up this afternoon, full of raspberries and squeaks and giggle fits. Melissa reported that she wasn't like that all day; crying after falling and hitting her forehead and refusing to practice walking after that. That is most decidedly not like Gabriel.

She was downright violent in rejecting her second course of dinner, one I know she likes (spaghetti). But she downed the whole thing after I brought her outside and let her point at things in the dark sky and watch a pickup truck park on our street. That reminds me of having to feed Gabriel on the front porch when he was a baby, taking advantage of the outdoors to distract him.

And it reminds me that I never had to do that with Julian. I can thank Katrina for making Julian's babyhood seem idyllic, even though his babyhood coincided with Gabriel's twos-hood, the worst, and so not idyllic, period of our baby-raising lives so far. But there was a reason I called Julian "Angel Baby."

Gabriel has been so focused on Julian's piano and the little music book that yesterday he was practically begging me to sign him up for "real" piano lessons. The way he tackles the music book reminds me of his foray into Morse Code, like he likes translating symbols. I'd toyed with the idea of signing Julian up for some sort of music class, but Gabriel? Hmm! At the moment, none of them have any scheduled activities; I'm reluctant to make the commitment when our lives are due to turn upside-down in a few months.

Besides, I'm selfish, and right now with work overwhelming my weekdays, the weekends have to work around my trips to the Y and running. My ankles may have a different plan though.

1/7/08

1/6/08 First Steps

FINALLY! Some real actual steps, not just foot re-positioning!

Katrina did this a few times tonight, and I was able to get this on video because of the telltale impish joyful expression right before she attempted some walking steps, like it was a game. "Dum-de-dum, maybe I'll just try out this walking thing for the heck of it, not like I need to or anything, no hurry." More and and more, she wants to carry things around, leading to more walking attempts, but tonight for the first time she focused on the walking itself, just as a fun thing to do. Exactly like Gabriel.

Speaking of steps, a dreadful thing has gelled for me: ankle pain. It's consistent now when I run, and was enough today to deter me from lengthening my route at Rancho San Antonio, something I never back down from. I'm already doing everything right: excellent new running shoes, soft trails (especially with all the rain we've had), stretching carefully before and after a run. These measures have held off lower back, hip and knee problems, all of which I've been expecting, but ankles? I'm not daring to get bummed about it yet. What on earth would I do with myself if I had to give up running?

This morning we had a late big breakfast -- and look who joined us at the table! Katrina was grouchy and difficult again this morning, but strips of English Muffin kept her calm for quite a while, aided by much distraction from brothers very happy to have her there. I really hope this impending walking improves her outlook on life, because right now she has way too many periods of being impossible. But alas, such is life with crawling 15-month-olds (well, two of mine, anyway, one of them was never impossible).

I went to Trader Joe's after running today -- me and 100,000 other people. The lines went into the aisles at every register (and it still moved pretty fast), and the workers were scrambling to keep the shelves stocked. My cashier exclaimed how busy it was, and I heard myself telling him the answer: Next week is a full workweek, school's back in session, and we're all here stocking up. Batten down the hatches, the new year is blowing in for real now!

1/6/08

1/5/08 The Party

Another wet, windy, miserable day! I love it.

I took The Three to the Y this morning, where one Childwatch lady exclaimed at just how well Katrina walks when she's pushing something around. Yeah, no kidding! She's 15 months old today. It's time, girl!

Then I took Julian to a little birthday party for one of his buddies from Tonya's. I thought it'd be nice to have some time alone with him, but mostly, I yakked with other moms while he played with the birthday boy (who refused to join the group for photos). I was struck by how the one girl there was so calm and quiet, and stuck close to her mother. It was fun, and Julian had a great time.

I'm mad at his friend Kyan's mom though, because she and her family are moving to San Diego this summer (that's Kyan in the orange jacket next to Julian). Not only am I going to miss her, but it sounds like paradise down there! Julian loves Kyan's mom, always giving her hugs and kisses, and he talked all the way back from this party about how he can't wait for Kyan's party. Kyan is a really sweet little boy; when he was a baby he'd crawl right up to me and sit in my lap, and I fell permanently in love with him.

Katrina had just gotten up from a nap when we got back, and she was an absolute disaster. I've only ever seen any of my babies in a state this bad a few times, and they were always sick. I have no idea what's wrong, though the recent slight fevers make an ear infection suspicious, though she showed no other signs of one.

And when she's unhappy, she is downright violent, flailing both arms at me with all the might her tiny limbs can muster. I tried taking her for a drive, since usually that busts her out of tantrums (oh god, can I use that word already?! aghh!), but she cried and screamed the whole way. I abandoned my plan and took her home -- it was too nasty to be out driving anyway.

Still having no idea what to do, and tiring of the relentless abuse, I gave her some Motrin, then let her suck water out of the dropper again and again. Anything for a few minutes' break from the crying! Then I took her into her room to get her satin blankie, just to comfort her, but she practically lunged for the crib. OK, whatever! I put her down, and she was calm, if not entirely quiet, for about two hours.

Then she was great the rest of the evening, and ate five containers of leftovers I had in the fridge as MREs* for her (mashed potatoes and broccoli, butternut squash, cream of wheat with banana, spaghetti, couscous and spinach, then yogurt).

It was interesting talking to the mom of the one girl at the party today. She mentioned that she had to get home, because her husband couldn't put their 2-year-old down for naps; and she'd also mentioned that her older daughter, who's almost 5, gets up at 4 or 5AM, which means mom is up too. By that measure, I'm really spoiled: the boys get up and usually don't bother us (though they've been waking Katrina, which is almost the same thing); and since 4 months old, anyone can put Katrina down.

It makes me think back to all the guilt that Dr. Sears and Mothering magazine lay on me about rocking and nursing babies to sleep -- what if my first baby had been like Katrina and just didn't do that? And frankly, doing those things with the first baby had lots of nice warm moments, but on balance, my memories of the whole sleep thing are painful almost to the point of bitterness. For every warm sweet "bonding" moment, there were hours of pacing a crying tired baby around in the middle of the night, and months of frustrating chronic sleep deprivation. I know it works well for some families -- certainly co-sleeping and no cribs and nursing to sleep did for my sister's family -- but next time a new mom expresses any angst about their baby learning to sleep on their own through some carefully monitored crying, I'll be all for it. I reject the guilt! And so does ornery Katrina, who now actually laughs sometimes when we walk in her room at naptime, thrilled to be lying down with her blankie.

Another event: we made to 15 months, but that's it. I'm done nursing. No more going through the motions; Katrina's hardly nursed for weeks now. I guess I'm supposed to feel sad about it, but now I'm wondering why I didn't stop this farce a long time ago. Another minor source of anxiety and conflict gone! Life improves step by step! And speaking of improving life step by step....!

1/5/08

*MRE = "meals ready to eat", for military troops

1/4/08 The Storm

Nasty, nasty day! Perfect to curl up in front of a fire and read a book. Yeah, right. Gabriel's field trip was cancelled, alleviating my fear-visions of hearing about a school bus full of young children blown over in the storm....shudder.

I left work early and went home and engaged in some therapeutic scrapbooking (among other things). Cheaper than Prozac! Hmm, maybe not, this is scrapbooking we're talking about. I've been feeling a powerful urge to document and create photo memories lately; it comes in waves.

Then I braved the storm to go rescue my exceedingly silly daughter, who was in a terrific mood. Since it's Friday, normally I'd ask Melissa to bring her home, but I couldn't in good conscience ask Melissa to drive in this mess. She happily gobbled down some of Gavin's Favorite Turkey Burgers, making her signature guttural dinosaur sound when she threw a few pieces just for fun.

Great evening until a piercing, ear-splitting shriek from Julian triggered some nasty spears of pain in my head, a double earache, and a residual pounding headache. That kid...the best migraine-trigger there is (though I've been migraine-free for two months!!). I was completely ready to throw him outside into the storm if he did that again. Man!

Julian did have to go outside to take his shoes off, since they're always full of sand from Kids Inc. Dave said he should take them off on the back deck, since then the sand falls through the cracks. Gabriel piped in, earnestly and urgently, "No! Those aren't cracks -- it was built that way!"

1/4/08

1/3/08 Back to it

Not so bad today. I thought it'd be a lot worse, though I missed Katrina.

When I picked her up, she was fussy and clingy, hands warm. At home, checked her: another slight temp! Depending on she's doing, Melissa said it was OK to bring her there tomorrow, if she's only a little under the weather.

Incredibly, it took me only an hour and 5 minutes to do the big pickup runaround today. And that's with rain, which notoriously slows down traffic.

Back at home, after a few bites of dinner, she pulled it together to play on this chair, standing up out of it -- then she took a step or two! Or was it just catching her balance from a stumble? In any case, looks like she'll make it to 15 months old and still be squarely a crawler.

Gabriel, for all his nonsense about not wanting to go to CDC Camp, had a great time at their field trip to the Tech Museum today. "It was awesome!" he said. It must have been, because he even told us about a few things he did there. He liked the earthquake simulator the best.







Snap Circuits continue to be the main driving force in his life at home. He's gone through most of the circuits in the book, and now he's trying to make up his own, and loves talking about them. He even puts them away when he's done because he doesn't want Katrina to get into them.

(I shamelessly play the Baby Card on the boys: "You'd better put that way, or Katrina will get into it!")

Julian has found new pleasure in being the First one to -- get this -- set the table! For the past week, Julian has set out the placemats and napkins and forks for dinner. I don't have the energy yet to make up chore charts and enforce them (not with Katrina demanding every scrap of spare attention as I'm preparing dinner), but I am making progress in getting the boys used to the idea that they have daily jobs. And not ones that earn them treats or privileges, though treats and privileges will be taken away if they don't do their chores (this is a family, not a democracy). In any case, for the moment, Julian is working for praise, and he can have all of that he wants.

Is it really Friday already tomorrow? Yay!

1/3/08

1/2/08 The Sick Day

Oh brother, what a night. I haven't had one like that since Gabriel was a baby.

I thought Katrina would be the problem, though her temperature was gone by the time she went to bed. But it was Julian who kept getting up and saying his tummy hurt, and then he'd run to the toilet and prepare to throw up. Then he'd practically fall over from sleepiness, and then trot anxiously back to bed. I'd stay with him in the bathroom, then tuck him back into bed, and a few times stayed with him in his room until he settled down. Repeat this scenario about 15 times, resulting in less than an hours' consecutive sleep for me. At one point, he complained that his ear hurt too.

Then around 3:30am, Katrina woke up. She was making happy-chatty noises, but I was so on the alert for Julian that any sound had me springing out of bed. She woke up twice more, once crying at 5:30am. I checked her, found her blankie, and put her back to bed.

Since I'd already resigned myself to skip work today, I slept as late as Katrina would let me, which turned out to be until about 8am. But when Julian woke up after 9am, he seemed to have made a full recovery! After a hearty breakfast, he cheerfully went to preschool/daycare.

Gabriel, who slept through the whole thing, went to CDC Camp, which is childcare covering non-school days that are work days for most parents. Except those with sick babies.

What sick baby? Katrina had no temperature today, though she was grouchy. Then again, she's often grouchy anyway. I took her to a lovely park where two other mom friends were going today too, and was all set up to have a nice gabfest, but Katrina had other ideas. She kept crying and pulling on me, wanting to be picked up, then squirming out of my arms.

She had some fun though, showing new interest in her pal Dylan. Aren't they cute....Dylan happily climbed and crawled around this rock and the sand and play structures, being the sweet and happy and easygoing baby he is.


Well, that was the fantasy. This was the reality. I bailed and took Ms. Fuss-Fuss home, where she got a so-so lunch and a nice long nap.


(Indeed, Dylan is the third 3rd-baby I know who fits that 3rd-baby stereotype of being the easiest. I'm waiting for some of these patterns to hold true: "The second is more outgoing and confident and develops sooner because they have to be to keep up with the older sibling." Bzzt. "The third is the most easygoing, go with the flow, because of all the activity around them." Bzzt. "The first..."-- oh, god, never mind.)

But even with a relentlessly demanding baby today, I liked the variety in my day. I liked being outside on a beautiful day. I liked exchanging snippets with other moms between attempts at buoying Katrina's mood. I liked working on small projects a bit at a time, even if the most I actually accomplished was replacing a light bulb. I liked starting dinner early, being able to stop and start and not be on such a critical time path. Katrina's fussiness forbade any momentum-gathering, but the time pressure wasn't there. Dave's fighting a cold, so he came home early and picked up the boys, and we were all sitting to dinner at 6:15pm. And, dinner included a yummy stuffed chicken that took some time to prepare and an hour to roast. Just not possible on work days.

I don't know, grass is greener? Since when do I feel that I should relish every moment of babyhood? Doesn't being pulled in 100 directions and having to drop what I'm doing at any given time drive me crazy? Did I enjoy my full-time-Mom day so much because I know I'm going back to work tomorrow? Or have I really crossed over, truly put my career side behind me?

I mulled over these questions in the back of my head as I got Katrina ready for her bath. She was suddenly in a great mood, so I played with her on our bed for a while. She made up a game in which she puts her head on the bed and looks out between her legs, then sticks her hands out and wiggles her fingers. Then I'd tickle her behind her knees and she'd tumble over laughing. It was so fun to see her giggling and being silly, and I stretched it out as long as I could. Then she crawled onto me, I thought to start a fuss, and I'll be darned if she didn't put her arms on my neck and give me a kiss! If that isn't a big clue to the answer, I don't know what is.

1/2/08

1/1/200*** 8 *** !!

Happy New Year!

And it was. A beautiful crisp day, perfect for BMXing.

For some reason, Julian couldn't be persuaded to ride on the bumps today, though he loved racing up and down the stop-start plateau.
Other bikers and observing Dads were impressed by his ability, since his eensy bike really stands out. Some other kids much older and bigger than him struggled to get up to the top. It doesn't take long for any kid to learn though.

I say observing Dads because Moms watching are about as rare as girls riding the course.

Bigger older kids than Gabriel also have bikes with smaller wheels than Gabriel, and I see those bigger kids hop on and off with great ease, and they need to do that sometimes to handle a sudden stop on a hill. But Gabriel absolutely can't be persuaded to use a smaller bike now.

He can barely touch the ground, but that's not the problem -- he can't easily hop on and off as you need to for BMXing. Ah well, all in good time.

(Anyone who knew me 6 years ago knows that I was an avid motorcyclist and advocate for short beginning riders. In time and over many miles, I overcame the beginner thing, and that's how I overcame the short thing and learned to handle tall motorcycles without having my feet flat on the ground. It brings me back a little to see my sons stretching to reach the ground, though when they're full-grown, they will have the height and strength I never had.)

On the way to the BMX park, I saw a decked-out motorcyclist on a brand-new shiny-red Kawasaki, clearly geared up for a fun ride. I'm almost certain this rider came from the court next to our house, and the rider looked decidedly female (full gear makes it tricky to tell). I think it was our serious-cyclist neighbor three doors down. It makes sense; interest in two-wheeled vehicles often crosses over. My heart sailed and sank all at the same time as I saw her tooling down the street, full of promise and anticipation of the twisty trashy mountain roads ahead. I WANNA GO TOO!

But you have to walk before you can run -- or ride, as the case may be. Katrina practiced being walked around a little, but she seems to have hit a wall with actually doing it herself.


Then again, her reluctance might have been explained by rosy cheeks and a burning forehead after her nap. 101.1 fever, great.

More importantly, her appetite was off and she was obviously uncomfortable and grumpy. Still, she showed no noticeable decline in energy or attitude, but as is typical of her, she reached her limit suddenly and then crashed hard. She was almost screaming when I put her to bed at 6:45pm. No sad whimpers from this one, it's ALL ON.

I can't say I'm entirely heartbroken about not going to work tomorrow, even with a sick baby at home.

1/1/08

12/31/07 New things on New Year's Eve

This morning while I took a nap (really, an extension of nighttime sleep), Dave took The Three to run an errand for me, and while "walking" Katrina outside, he decided to run them on another errand: Katrina's first pair of shoes!

It helps that there's a really good Stride-Rite shoe store in the half-vacant mall nearby which has really good service. So Katrina got some good shoes, unlike the $8 jobbies I always picked in 20 seconds for the boys at Target when they were babies. They said she has "petite" feet (surprise), size 3-1/2W.

They are really cute, and don't seem to hamper her pushing footstools around. When she's supported, she walks really really well - she just doesn't seem to get that she can do it herself.

Hmmm...what happened here? Or rather, who happened here?

One unexpected, believe it or not, side-effect of Katrina's name is that referring to her path of destruction as a "hurricane" just isn't funny. Even "tornado" is pushing it. (Unexpected? what am I, stupid? Hello, Katrina? Well, in my feeble defense, when you're pregnant with what will be an innocent gooey little newborn, it's easy to forget that they'll make messes that are naturally described in storm terms.)

Already breaking the no-shoes-on-beds rule.


Katrina's latest thing is kissing things: Blankets, stuffed animals, pictures of animals in books. Here she is sizing up Julius the monkey, orienting him just so and insisting on eye contact before he gets the ol' smackeroo.

The Kiss (short):


But I accidentally captured a moment I only realized later is interesting, since it's otherwise a boring video. Katrina reaches for a (covered) electrical outlet, and I give her a gentle admonishment. Then she looks right at me, clearly understanding, and bites Julius in protest!

Then she throws herself down on the bed and pretends to be doing something else, but her glance back at the outlet tells you she's playing some sort of game. I don't need this passive-aggressive cr*p already!

It reminds me very vaguely of what is still my all-time favorite video clip, when my nephew Aidan was 23 months old. He's eating cereal, and deliberately tests my sister by banging his spoon on the bowl. Aidan looks right at her and makes certain she's noticed his infraction ("see that?). He knows exactly what she'll do (take the bowl away), and says as much, then even does it for her. It's fascinating. His testing is much more benevolent than Katrina's quiet lashing out, but they both have an element of "oh YEAH?"

(No preview pane on this Quicktime movie, but it works.)

It also strikes me how well he was speaking ("I'm going to see Scout," (their cat)) and how well he was pedalling a tricycle, and he wasn't even two. And so polite!


Katrina loves climbing into the cradle that Grandpa Jim made for Gabriel when he was born. She stands up in and rocks it, which you'd think would really test the stability of a non-walker, but, no problem! She even puts a blanket over her head?! (Ever tried to balance with your eyes closed, or put your head back while standing on your toes on one foot? A dance exercise, and not an easy one -- what you see is very important to your balance.)


Though it looks like she could fall out at any moment (and you can see where I move suddenly to catch her if so.) She also makes a whole lot of cute-baby sounds.

Poor Julian....said he wasn't feeling well at dinner, then lay down on the couch and fell asleep "reading" a book. Pull-Up and straight to bed for him.

Too bad, because Gabriel got to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas on YouTube (separated into chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3). We tried to buy the DVD on Christmas Eve, but, predictably, Borders was out of them. But duh, how retro (DVD? buy?!) -- why didn't we think of YouTube?

Gabriel was full of adorable questions tonight at dinner, as timing worked so that I had some time alone with him in the dining room. He wanted to know why cookies are called cookies, when they're not using in cooking (I didn't get into the finer points of cookie-crumb pie crusts). I told him that in England, they call cookies "biscuits." "Biscuits!" he said with surprise. Then, "What language do they speak in England?"

Since Julian had already gone to bed, I decided it was high time to teach Gabriel to take a shower! Other than having some trouble with the sticky shower faucet and the heavy shampoo bottle, he did great and was an eager student. (When does the modesty switch get flipped for boys? It won't be long before he doesn't want his mommy to see him naked anymore!)

Hmm, I wonder if I'll wake up around midnight to the sound of firecrackers and wonder what that darned noise is about, as happened last year? The sure mark of an old fuddy-duddy parent!

12/31/07

12/30/07 The Wish

This morning, I went to downtown Los Gatos to finally pick up my new running shoes I'd ordered (because I had to special-order size 6-1/2, of course, confirming the World-Wide Conspiracy Against Size 6-1/2). The kids needed to get out, so despite some genuine leaving without Julian, he pulled it together in time to join us (shoeless at first).

As we were driving, Gabriel was playing with Katrina, fawning over her as he often does. Then he said happily, "This is great Mom. I SO wished for a girl. And my wish came true!"

Once I got my running shoes, I couldn't resist a little detour to Williams-Sonoma, which proved to be fruitful for the kids. Samples of freshly-baked lemon-poppyseed muffins, marshmallows and jellybeans went over very well! (In the end, I left without the All-Clad steamer insert and saucepan I'd gone to check out -- the steamer insert looks perfect, but I just don't know where I'm going to store another saucepan.)

Then we checked out the Los Gatos farmer's market, where I got some dates and some Hachiya persimmons for a persimmon-ginger coffee cake recipe I'd like to try. Hachiyas are "persimmon non grata" in grocery stores these days, so they were quite a find. The kids all had a great time running and being strolled along the sidewalks of Los Gatos. Gabriel especially was fascinated to hear that all three of them were born in there (though not at the farmer's market, can you imagine?!).

A cold front moved in fast while we were there, so we hightailed it home and stayed mostly burrowed in for the rest of the day. Except for a short run at Rancho for me; I haven't run for a week, and it really showed. I had a hard time keeping myself going on a 6-mile run with moderate climbing; a far cry from the much tougher and longer route I did last time. Ah well, some days are like that.

It was fun today going out with all three of them on Sunday morning, reminding me of the habit I had with the boys until I was so sick with Katrina's pregnancy. And now, Katrina doesn't need a nap AT 10AM RIGHTNOW like she used to, so it frees up the morning. In fact, in general it seems like she makes big leaps in maturity every day. In some ways, having 3 kids is harder now than it was when she was a baby, but it's more fun too. I think I'll see that multiply when she's old enough to really interact and play and enjoy doing things together with her brothers on their level. Or beyond it!

12/30/07

12/29/07 The Game

Somehow, in the past few weeks, I've heard from three moms that their oldest two children play board games a lot together (coincidentally, all 3 pairs of siblings are brother-sisters).

Gabriel and Julian already play a great deal together, it's hard to imagine how they could play together *more* -- but I've never introduced board games to them. So, I got one for them for Christmas, not anticipating how many others we'd get, but the more games, the better!

I actually wanted the classic Candyland, but The Learning Game didn't have it -- I guess it's not "educational" enough. I got what proved to be a poor substitute, another candy-based game called "The Lollypop Game." Actually, since it is so simplistic, it's a good choice for an introduction to board games -- to learn to take turns, understand the object of a game, the concept of a spinner, that one person wins. Gabriel has played some games at the CDC, so he gets it, but Julian needed some introduction.

Once I played one round with them, they were at it together for over an hour! This was perfect, since it was too rainy and wet for the BMX park today, and they were pretty much stuck indoors. As we all were. Dave and I were feeling sluggish today, and Dave is fighting a cold.

But by 4:30pm, the game was wearing off and the boys were getting punchy. Everyone needed to get out. Some longtime friends of ours were holding a housewarming party tonight in San Francisco, something I resigned myself to missing since our regular sitter is out of town and I hadn't looked into another one in time.

But hmm, on second thought -- a party, at someone's house, in the city! I love excuses to go to San Francisco -- I haven't been there since I was last pregnant. Katrina had woken up from a sound nap around 4pm, so the timing was unusually good. The boys got a hasty dinner, we packed up the Kat'n'kaboodle, and off to the city we went!

To my amazement, at this grownup party in a very small house, everyone we know from our mostly child-free circle who has kids was there, for a total of six girls and three boys. So after a few no-running admonishments, the boys had a fabulous time playing with the other kids. I had a great time poking around our friends' new house, and just being in the city again.

Though Katrina's crawling makes her a serious liability in a crowd, she lights up with so many people around to impress. She insisted on having her hands held to be walked around, and almost let loose into a trot a few times, giggling joyfully. I tried to take a break from this once, but she pried both my hands off my knees and pulled me, insisting on being walked around. Whenever she sees her brothers running together ahead of her, she flails her body and laughs and acts like she's going to jump out of her skin after them. By all means, baby! Walk it! Chase them!

On our way back from the city, she fell asleep in the car -- so soundly that she actually rested her head on my shoulder as I carried her upstairs, and only started to wake up as I entered her room. I didn't even change her clothes, just put her right down with her blankie and she went right back to sleep.

But darnit, I'd meant to get a photo of her today, because she's wearing a stunning purple ribbon-lined sweater from Aunt Laura and Uncle Ryan. Hmm, I guess I can take the photo of it all rumply on her tomorrow morning!

12/29/07

12/28/07 Katrina's mess -- and not

A cold, rainy, windy, decidedly indoor day. I took The Three to the Y, then to Whole Foods, then home for good.

The boys were surprisingly good and calm today, given how they were stuck inside most of the day. They both love Julian's new piano, and have been figuring out how to "read" the music book that comes with it, which has color-coded letters for notes to play simple songs. Gabriel's worked half his way through Old MacDonald, and was very pleased that he didn't even need the music book anymore for that song, so he said. It was fascinating seeing his moment of discovery that music can be memorized.

I expected Julian to be interested in the piano, and he is, but am really surprised by how Gabriel's taken to it. I guess I shouldn't be, since as Betsy wisely observed, "reading" music appeals to his sense of order. So I asked Gabriel about piano lessons , and he said, "you mean like on a Bonne Maman piano?" "Yup," I told him. "Oh!" he said with excitement, "that kind has eighty-eight letters!"

Katrina had only about an hour of inexplicable grouchiness today, a big improvement. I've really been enjoying playing with her on and off today, though of course on her terms. Sometimes she just wants to bop around pushing her little wagon, other times she insists on attention. It's so funny reading her a book -- it's not good enough to sit her on the floor right in front of me, she has to climb up and sit on on my leg, and absolutely cannot be dissauded from that pose. I've liked going in and out of her world numerous times today.

I thought I'd try giving her a bowl and spoon with a highly desirable food in it today (applesauce), with the hopes she'd be more motivated to spoon it herself and not throw the bowl. I called it right on the throwing (for once, she didn't), but the spoon quickly gave way to sucking handfuls of applesauce off her little paws. It was very cute, and I didn't mind the cleanup job at all.

Sometimes if it's close to, but not quite, bathtime and Katrina needs a new diaper, I'll let her go "al fresco" during the in-between time. Dave's gotten her used to sitting on a potty upstairs, so I thought I'd try it downstairs too. She was so funny smiling sitting there that I had to take some pictures.

But she kept putting her hands into the potty, foiling my photo-op, and then I realized why: she went! This is the second time this week. A complete random accident, but that's how it starts. I made a big deal of it, and I don't think she knew why, but she's learning that something about sitting on the potty can be a big deal.

(She really wanted to splash her hands in it, and I did let her touch it once, just so she made the connection, though she protested fiercely when I whisked her to the sink!)

I really, really, really look forward to her walking for a new small reason: then we can lose the snap-at-the-crotch onesies which hang down and get in the way when a baby's bottom is exposed, complicating potty-training.

Walking, potty-ing...I can see these major milestones in the distance, marking our steady march out of babyhood. I feel like I should be sad about that, but I'm not at all. Indeed, it almost frees me to see other babies and be genuinely swept away by how adorable they are and feel no angst whatsoever. It almost gives me a twinge of looking forward to being a grandmother!

12/28/07

12/27/07 Belated Birthday

Finally...Julian got to open all his birthday presents tonight, after a good dinner. He was pretty good about it, appreciating each thing before tearing open the next. I've got to learn to make sure Uncle Ronan's gifts are opened last, because things like a remote-control helicopter are a tough act to follow!

I had a surprisingly good day with all three alone today. This of course was made possible by a trip to the Y and their marvelous Childwatch, but also, Katrina was in much better shape than she's been the past few weeks. Still demanding and outraged if something doesn't go her way, but played very happily for a long time with many things.

I swear, she thinks that robot from Uncle Ronan is a doll, the way she chases it around and almost tries to hug it, right before pushing it over. She's getting downright possessive of it, screeching or scolding her brothers (with this new sharp "DAH!" sound and a pointed finger) if they tried to rescue the hapless thing. Gabriel is very generous with letting her play with it though.

Gabriel is still in Snap Circuit heaven, though he also spent a significant part of today outside. The boys did a lot of downtime playing together today, just what holidays are for.

With misgivings, I pulled this little wagon out for Katrina. She loves it, and right away pushed it all around, then tried to climb on it. She can't quite flatfoot it, but she's in the right household for that! I just have to make sure her noisy big brothers don't get a hold of it, or it'll get rammed into things (note that it's already held together by duct tape).

Rain predicted tomorrow -- we're going back to the Y.

12/27/07

12/26/07 The Birthday Bust

I sort of wished this morning that we had one more day between Christmas and Julian's birthday, just to have a little more breathing room. Turns out, I got that wish. Julian didn't eat well today (never a good sign with him), fell asleep before dinner, and was lethargic after barely touching his plate. He threw up a little before going to bed, so we didn't even attempt present-opening or leftover cake. Poor kid.

We had cleaners coming this morning, and for once, the logistics worked perfectly. Dave took Katrina with him to the airport to drop off Laura and Ryan (sniff!), giving
me the crucial time to pick up before the cleaners arrived. Normally it'd take me a few days to recover from Christmas and guests, but I was shocked into doing it in one hour.

While the cleaners were here, Dave took the boys to the BMX park, and I took Katrina to the Y. She held out because of a micro-nap she got in the car on the way to the airport, normally a disaster, but it worked perfectly this time. I got her home when the cleaners were almost done, and after a picnic lunch in my bedroom, she took a sound nap.

She even had some happy gurgly moments this afternoon, an increasing rarity in Katrina-land.

One highlight was this talking walking flashing robot toy that Uncle Ronan gave Gabriel for Christmas. Julian would have been terrified of this when he was Katrina's age, but she thinks it's funny!


She wanted to play with it, though Julian managed to protect it from her probing little paws. Notice how she screeches at Julian's interference and practically orders him to leave her alone with it!


Gabriel was so sweet and helpful this morning during my mad scramble to pick up clutter and laundry and prepare for the cleaners. He carried stuff up and down the stairs, put things away, and kept asking me what else needed to be done. He was clearly proud when I hugged him and told him I could never have done it without him.

But later, we had a horrible blowout. As usual, they start simply enough, then escalate. This time, I insisted he wash his dirt-coated hands after playing outside, and he made a goofy face at me. I laughed at him, partly because his face was funny, and partly to see if he was being silly or defiant, and hopefully to disarm him if the latter. Bzzt. Wrong answer Mom. Laughing enraged him, and he spit at me, twice, then after being sent to his room for 5 minutes and not allowed to bring his Snap Circuits with him, he swatted his hand toward my face. More insults, more threats, more defiance, more refusal. Every infraction added more minutes, and he still wouldn't go to his room until I threatened to put the Snap Circuits away. Then he slammed the door and throwing stuff at the door was next. Dave and I both went in to warn him against throwing, and Gabriel said to us with bloodchilling venom, "I think it's time you both left!" I did leave, as Katrina was screeching at some or other obstacle downstairs, but he kept it up even after a spanking. Eventually the episode fizzled without him ever backing down. He fell asleep and slept well past his sentence, woke up all sweaty and disoriented, and reached to me for a hug and asked me for a dry shirt like the little boy he is, and that's how it all ended.

Fortunately, these episodes are increasingly infrequent, and we recover from them more quickly, but they're always a stark reminder of how far he'll take things. I'll abandon laughing at him as a defusing strategy though. I was glad we were back to being buds tonight.

Katrina's latest trick is to climb onto a footstool, survey her domain from all fours, then realize she's stuck and scream at the indignity of her predicament. It occurred to me that this common baby trick is a little snapshot into the differences between the personalities of our three children. All three got stuck on top of footstools. Gabriel worked at it until he found his way down. Julian cried. Katrina screams.

Tomorrow, all three all day all alone!

12/26/07