3/23/08 Easter Sunday

Easter today! We haven't really been Easter-celebrators, and in fact it didn't even occur to me to get the boys Easter baskets. It's not like they need more candy though, especially since we accepted a gracious invitation from the White family for an Easter brunch and egg hunt.

It also occurred to me this morning that I have nothing dressy for the boys at all. Not even non-jeans for pants!

The kids got right down to business, with Gina designating who got to ride the tricycle next via "Eeny Meeny Miny Mo." Julian only got a turn because I intervened, something I rarely do, but it's one thing for Gabriel to push his brother around in their own games, but not someone else's.


Of course, it was all over once Katrina caught sight of the tricycle.


Katrina was in fine form, happy as long as things were going her way, but increasingly demanding and screechy if things didn't. We were well into her naptime, so that explains some of it, but she wasn't much better after her nap at home. Dave and I both really had enough of her this weekend. We had lots of really fun cute times with her, but it takes 10 minutes of those to make up for 10 seconds of screeching, and the balance wasn't in our favor.

Incredibly, we got all 7 kids together for a pre-egg-hunt photo-op. I love how baby Declan is looking up at his second-cousins, like "whaaat?"


Good food, company, family -- exactly what holidays should be about.

And not headaches. I didn't think I had a headache today, but I keep feeling familiar signs of them. So I took a short nap this afternoon to fend it off.

And was tormented by a terrifying dream of driving and not being able to see, there was too much fog and rain and things being kicked up onto the windshield. I knew I was on the side of the road and was stricken with fear about running off a cliff and was still moving and couldn't think and didn't know what to do. I couldn't cope, couldn't overcome the overwhelming weight to pull my thoughts together as I careened into the fog. It felt like my life was over and I was just waiting for the inevitable crash that would take it.

I was rattled for hours after I woke up. It was so hard to shake off the sense of my world ending, and to believe that indeed I do have a future, and that my life is sunny and clear and colorful and filled with vibrant children. I'm not a depressive sort of person, but that sort of experience almost feels like I'm taking my first steps into a life of mental illness and rounds of drugs. Or is this all migraine-related? Or just plain old Freudian psychological fear and empathy for how my father must feel sometimes?

So going on a letterbox excursion at prime-dinner-making-time was essential.

I'd wanted to squeeze in a local letterbox somehow this weekend but now, some joyful utterly pure time with my boys was truly called for. Dave took Katrina to the supermarket (thank heavens for me, too bad for him, 'cause she was a pain there too), and the boys happily piled into the car for a little adventure.

One of the great things about letterboxing continues to escape us, which is finding new places to visit, because once again we went to a well-known familiar park: the BMX park! This letterbox had a fun clue, that included counting pavement squares, climbing a little down an embankment, and then pulling rocks aside to find it.


After we exchanged stamps, the boys played a little in the dry creekbed.


I felt a lot better, grounded and in touch with what's truly important to me. The boys' simple joy at being outside and hunting for something and watching the BMXers and running together and laughing made me happy and joyful too. And very sorry I'd worn slip-on shoes and couldn't chase after them!

When we got home, they even cleaned up the family room without much trouble. I set about making dinner, and my life was back to normal, which included instant blood pressure elevation once Katrina was back on the scene. I had some nice time playing with her before bedtime, but one just never knows what's going to set her off. I was all too happy to put her to bed.

In other news, we forgot to get Julian up last night to go to the bathroom. This morning, he was a little wet -- so little that he just wore his damp pajamas all morning until we realized it and insisted he get dressed. Two or three other mornings, he's been a little damp like this too, but that was with waking him up. He wasn't any wetter today without us waking him up. So I guess that's a little progress. This for sure though: he's done with night-time Pull-Ups.

Thank you to the White family for having us today (and our apologies to the city of Saratoga for Katrina's screeching), and to the Ryders for turning us on to the fabulously fun outlet of letterboxing!

3/23/08

3/22/08 Big Bunny Fun Run

2008 Big Bunny Fun Run 5K!














Las Madres 2006 Spring Fling and Egg Hunt:





3/22/08

3/21/08 The Engine

I perused our garage shelves with dismay, piled up high with toys that either need to be given away or put back into circulation. This Radio Flyer engine that Uncle Ronan sent the boys (fully assembled for maximum impact!) some years ago popped out and cried, "I'm the perfect height for Katrina!"

You bet your red booty. Naturally, she loves it. And she can reach the ground and push it around!



I had a nice time alone with Katrina after dinner when I took her with me to pick something up at the supermarket. I couldn't do anything at home anyway, since she was being demanding and picky. She likes it when I push the shopping cart fast, or bounce her as I sing "Riding In The Car" from Music Together. She had a much better day today -- still isn't eating up to par -- but is on the mend. Just a few minutes of her being fun, funny and laughing makes up for many days of being pretty darned difficult!

Last night I woke up several times and remembered dreams that made me uncomfortable all day. Like the one in which I'd shot someone, and was casually concerned that I needed to disassemble the gun and throw pieces of it in different rivers, and that I forgot to do it and was carrying it around in a knapsack while walking around the city with my mother, my childhood friend Patty, and carrying Katrina. "Darn," I thought, "I forgot when we crossed that last bridge." Sort of like, "Darn, I forgot to take out the garbage." Never mind that I shot someone! Then a bus almost ran me and Katrina down, and I was annoyed that we hadn't gotten hit.

Pretty twisted! But when I got to work this morning and felt nauseous again, it started to come together. Black pessimistic mood, lethargy, disturbing and semi-violent dreams, uneasy stomach, and oh yeah, headache pain. All adds up to: migraine. No wonder life was gloomy yesterday. Unfortunately, like postpartum blues, it doesn't really help to know the depression is artificially induced, you still experience it. It seems the Seasonique magic has worn off. Time to find some new magic.

How about this for a start:


3/21/08

3/20/08 Not the usual Thursday

Thursday...usually my favorite day now, right? Especially today since I decided not to go to work . And this Thursday was even more special, since I had a Mom's Night Out scheduled, with a fun twist: a book club (we read The Distant Land Of My Father, by Bo Caldwell). AND, I planned to run today -- I have to, if I'm going to run in the Big Bunny Fun Run this weekend. What a great day for me!

Sort of. First, Katrina was unbearable in music class. I still have no idea what her problem was, but at first she was so clingy that she wouldn't even let me clap my hands. She'd grab my hands and put them firmly on her tummy, making it very clear exactly what I was allowed to do. Standing up and dancing, forget it. By the time the instruments came out, she put her hands against the wall, almost looking like she was going to hit her head against it, wouldn't come near me, and only cried and cried. It got disruptive, so we actually left early. What a shame, this was our last Thursday class!

Then, with trepidation, I went to Rancho San Antonio, to do a short 2.5 mile run. I was almost nervous as I carefully stretched first -- would I be able to do this? I was so happy to be out in the sunshine and the trees, with a slight bite in the air. But physically, I felt listless and flabby and out of shape. And very paranoid -- each footfall made me wonder what I was doing to my ankles. Would I pay dearly for this later? It was such a far cry from the ecstatic, energy-filled, powerful runs I'd been doing just a few months before. It makes me realize what great condition I was in...and what poor condition I'm in now. (The good news is that my ankles aren't any worse than the usual buzzing I feel after any workout.)

And then I didn't really enjoy my time at home alone, either. Turns out, knowing I'm only going to be at work for a few hours makes work a lot more tolerable -- fun, even! Logistically it makes sense to skip a short workday anyway, because of all the driving, but I missed the contrast. And didn't get far enough on our taxes for missing work to have been worth it.

Skating with Julian was fun though. I attempted to wean him off the snowsuit and started him in jeans first. Nope, he wanted the snowsuit, which meant peeling everything off and starting all over again. Blah! But he has so much fun in his class, and he's really great to be around when it's just me and him, and he is full of questions and delighted observations and comments. I realized I hadn't laughed or smiled all day until I was with him for 3 minutes and he made me laugh.

I was almost dreading picking up Katrina, but she was in pretty good shape. She ate most of a turkey burger at home, the first protein she's had in days. Her eating has been way, way off since this tummy thing, maybe that's why she was so grumpy in music class today. I couldn't spend much time with her, as I needed to get everyone else fed and get things ready for tomorrow so I could go out for my wine'n'cheese book club Mom's Night Out.

That saved the day though, it's always nice to be with other moms and *talk* about your kids instead of actually *be* with them (if you detect a twinge of guilt there, you're right). I don't get it. I want to work, but I don't. I want to be with my kids, but not too much. I want to run, skate, swim, dance, scrapbook, cook, read, write -- what, am I only happy doing things alone? I'm a mom, a wife, an employee, a homeowner -- this is no time to be channeling my inner hermit! I'm by no means alone among mom friends in trying to balance it all, but most of them seem to be struggling more with the how, not the why.

3/20/08

3/19/08 Nothing!

Last night, I ran 1/2 mile on the treadmill. And today, my ankles felt....nothing!! I'm trying not to get too excited. I've entered the Big Bunny Fun Run this weekend, the 5K that started it all last year, ankles be damned. Ironically, I was in better shape to run 5K last year than I am this one -- and I'm not talking about the ankles! The extra 5 lbs or so I'm carrying doesn't help.

Julian keeps asking who the Katrina is we keep hearing mentioned on the radio. "Does she live in Norlans?" I told the boys the whole story about hurricanes and naming them, but Julian still wants to know if Katrina's house is still there.

My brother turned up the most remarkable video on YouTube today: Vintage Sesame Street - Squares. Remarkable to us, because my sister, brother and I recorded voiceovers for this animation, and its companion Circles and Triangles as well. I can't say exactly what year, but my brother was old enough to talk but not old enough to talk well, so he'd have been about 3, so, 1970 or so (poor kid, story of his life, drowned out by his two older sisters). They almost certainly recorded multiple children doing play-by-plays, and some of the voices in this animation clearly aren't us (including, ironically, the one with the Brooklyn accent! "dawghouse"), but some of them could be. We all three remember the dog coming out of the box, and we remember seeing it on Sesame Street once and being so excited -- that's us! Though we probably didn't catch on that most of the voices, and perhaps all of them, aren't us). A little glimpse of our past!

3/19/08

3/18/08 Bicycle blues

I went home after work today, for a few stolen minutes before tackling the fray. It's a cleaners night, which triples the chaos and nonstop work around here.

Right as I was about to leave for pickups, Melissa called. Katrina had pulled a bicycle down on her head and was bleeding a lot. I quickly revised my plan of picking up the boys first and drove grimly to Melissa's, forming a plan as I went along. Call Dave to pick up the boys. If Katrina needs stitches, take her to Los Gatos Community (where she was born). Call Dave again and tell him to take the boys out to dinner. This is standard fare for the Ryder family, but none of our kids have ever been to an emergency room!

And our streak continues. Katrina was fine -- she just got bonked hard in one spot on top of her head, from some sharp object on the bicycle.

The bicycle belongs to a 10-year-old girl who's my height, so it's no small kids' bike. Melissa saw Katrina making a beeline for the bike parked momentarily in the driveway, but wasn't able to catch her before it toppled. I assured Melissa it could just as easily have happened here and it was fine, as she was very upset! She had to experience someone else's baby bleeding and crying a lot.

When we got home, Katrina went straight to our fenced-off utility room and screeched for this little push-wagon. Apparently her experience didn't put her off from wheeled vehicles at all, and I have every expectation she'll continue to go straight to any bicycle or tricycle she sees!

One good thing came out of this: I followed up with part of my plan, which was to call Dave to ask him to take the boys out to dinner after picking them up. Why didn't I think of this years ago?! It's a lot of work picking up the whole house on cleaner's nights -- that's what restaurants are for! He took the boys to Gumba's in Cupertino, whose management has changed recently and has gotten great reviews from my mom's group. And he liked it!! Dave, that is. The boys, easy. Dave, not so easy. Julian had ravioli, pizza and lasagna.

Meantime, I had a nice time with Katrina alone, and got to do some deep cleaning of toys and junk in relative peace. She was in pretty good shape, other than not eating a whole lot.

This evening is best summed up with the cliche: win some, lose some.

3/18/08

3/17/08 The Trouble

I wouldn't go so far as it call this stomach flu, but Dave, my and Katrina's tummies are still under the weather. Melissa brought Katrina home at 2pm today, which worked out since Dave was home anyway, and I came home soon after.

At least we finally got Katrina to eat something, some dry cereal, but only because she was outdoors. But once she spotted the tricycle, food time was over.


Meanwhile, Julian rode his bicycle on a slalom course he set up, while I chatted on the phone with my sister.


Katrina not only lives and breathes by the tricycle, but she likes playing with her brothers' helmets too. We do have a little baby helmet, she should play with that one.


Gabriel got in trouble again today at school, but for a reason that's actually pretty funny: what kid gets in trouble for singing "Pop Goes The Weasel" in class?!

Here's an excerpt from his teacher's email.

Gabriel has begun singing, loudly, all the time in class (and I mean constantly). I have ask him not to sing in class, unless we are singing "as a class". (I'm glad he is singing in music class though, as some kids do not like to sing.) I am not sure he is always aware that he is singing, but I have a feeling he is. Anyway, can you please talk to him about not singing in class, as no one can focus on their work.

In case you are wondering what he is singing, it is songs like "Pop goes the weasel" and other nursery rhyme type songs.

Any time he defies the teacher it's serious, but I had to dig a little to act serious when talking to him about it tonight.

He continues to be fascinated by the piano, now trying to transpose simple songs into different keys -- but I'm not sure if encouraging his music interest would help this singing problem! He can sing loud, and he likes to sing, and that's great, but he does need to learn when not to. Especially when his teacher says to stop.

Pop Goes the Weasel. Leave it to Gabriel to turn that into trouble.

3/17/08

3/16/08 Daycamp Day

Whatever Gabriel had last week has now travelled to Dave, me and Katrina. It falls short of stomach flu, but for the grownups means many trips to the powder room, and for the baby it means numerous changes of clothes and lots of crying.

So, my grand plans for today of going to the Y and letterboxing were foiled. I made up for a bit by doing a little exercising in the backyard (before my tummy troubles hit) while Katrina and Julian played. The time outside, even though it was windy and chilly, did us both good.

I spent some time going over the plethora of daycamp options at the Y, and that's just at the Y. All the Parks & Recreation departments have daycamps (though there's overlap), then the countless private sources too. Even the choices through the Y are overwhelming for first-graders, and Gabriel expressed interest in at least six of them. He made it easy though, as he was unwavering in wanting to do Lego Engineering and ice skating. Ice skating?! Hukay! Julian's choices were more limited, but all good. He chose Lil' Chefs (awww), and then I chose Lil'Kickers for him too (soccer).

Despite how bad I was feeling, I drove to the Y to sign them up. It's only March, right? But things in Silicon Valley can be competitive, and the Lego Engineering camp for Gabriel was a prerequisite for many other Lego camps, so I'm sure it's popular. I was right. But, we did get spots in all camps, including Ice Skating, which is even more popular, and almost full already!

The Y no longer offers the Pee Wee daycamp that Julian did last year, so I'm glad he did it then. It was the highlight of his life, to hear him talk about it, but being 4 gives him new options. I hated telling him he had to wait until July though!

I think I found an option for Gabriel's piano lessons today, which is going directly to the school through which the (full) Parks and Rec class is offered. I've got to sign him up, he is so excited about piano and music.

I explained to Gabriel last week that Three Blind Mice is a round, and was sort of able to demonstrate the concept with the electronic piano. It's hard to demonstrate with one person, and he didn't quite seem to get it, but, whatever. Today the boys were talking about Spanish songs, so I put on my first, and still favorite, Music Together CD and sang along with my favorite Spanish song, Des Colores. They were both riveted, and Gabriel followed the words and music in the music book for the whole CD. As the CD played through, suddenly Gabriel burst into the office, where I was, and announced excitedly: "Mom! Mom! Come quick! The song 'The Bells of Westminster' is a round!" I was downright moved by the spark and delight in his face at his discovery.

I can't keep missing work, but my, and several other tummies around here, might have other ideas.

3/16/08 The Family Bed?

I can give myself a pass for blogging on a Saturday night, especially when I'm in the throes of a monstrous headache. But I had a moment worthy of noting, at least to me. So here goes.

Last night, I tried taking Prontalgine, an over-the-counter headache in France, that has caffeine and codeine, among other things. Hmm, codeine: sleepy; caffeine: wired. What's going to win?

I was up all night long. Not headachy, but irrepressibly wired. Finally at 5:30am I fell into restless sleep, and had no trouble getting back up at 7:30am to take care of children. One of whom woke up in dry underpants.

Katrina was miserable all morning, crying and grumpy and clingy and refusing to eat. I took her out for a quick errand, distracting her, but back at home, it was more of the same. At 10:30am, I was ready to crash'n'burn, so Dave took over, and I lay down for an essential nap. We had an appointment with our kitchen designer this afternoon, and I needed to be in good shape.

Dave came to wake me at 12:15, and then lay down with me for a few minutes. Then Gabriel appeared, and I invited him onto our bed. Soon Julian joined too, and I had a wonderful magical long moment of snuggling up with all my boys. I held Gabriel close and talked to him about doing things together, held his hand, and was completely absorbed in him. We did this all the time when he was a baby, but not so much now that he's 6. We talked about the summer and I told him about ideas I had and things I did yesterday....then I made the mistake of telling the boys an embellished story about when I was lying in bed with Dad this morning, listening for them, and then P U -- Dad farted! Oh my, nothing gets little boys laughing harder than fart stories. They howled with laughter when I said I had to fan the quilt and guffawed uncontrollably at my gross-out sounds. That was an animated ending to a nice calm half hour together, but it was time to get up to get ready for our appointment anyway. I glowed all afternoon from the fresh memory of holding my sons so close.

Peggy dealt with toddler grumps the rest of the afternoon while Dave and I met with our kitchen designer, shopped for lighting, went out to dinner, then shopped for TVs. Peggy reported that Katrina was fine outside, playing with a tricycle, but was clingy and grumpy otherwise. Another bathworthy blowout didn't help, and further explained her lack of appetite.

I'm still dealing with waves of full-on migraine, like dozing briefly in the car and waking up thinking I'd left my swim cap on, from the pressure around my head. If the pain returns full-force, I have mixed feeling about taking more Prontalgine: it was very effective in making me spin in circles -- but it also gave me a much-needed respite from the scourge of the migraine! I want to be in good shape to enjoy my children tomorrow...or at least deal with a miserable grumpy toddler again if need be.

3/15/08

3/15/08 Swim'n'Scrap

A planned night out to scrapbook! Does it get better than that?

Yes, if it can be done without a migraine. I can't believe this is back. I went swimming first in the hopes of mitigating it, and it helped at the moment, but I was still swarmed with dizziness, waves of nausea and feeling like the air around me is so heavy I have to push it aside. Fortunately, scrapping and chatting distracted me and made for a nice evening.

Julian broke his streak this morning (woke up wet), perhaps because Dave got him up to pee last night pretty early. Tonight we'll try waking him up later and see how that goes.

3/15/08

3/13/08 Thrilling Thursdays

OK, so today wasn't thrilling, but it was the only alliteration I could come up with. And it was a very nice Thursday.

Despite being a pain in the rear end last night, Katrina was delightful, and delighted, at music class today. I'm still looking for the quintessential music class photo, but it escapes me.


Then this afternoon, I got to take Julian skating. We practiced for about half an hour together first, and this time, I didn't have to make up games to get him to skate without thinking. He apparently enjoyed our games so much that he brought them up himself: "Mommy, let's go skate to the cat now!" "Mommy, let's go find the flag!" You can tell I was really stretching; this skating rink is pretty dingy and doesn't have a lot to distract an apprehensive kid. His favorite game is when I tell him, "No going faster than me.....heeeyyyyYYY!!" and acting all put out when he skates away from me.

I love how he laughs and seems to completely enjoy it, and it makes me glow inside to know that some of that is having the time alone with me. As much as I get a secure, if not relaxed, feeling of having all three of them home with me together, the real highs are the times I spend alone with each of them. Perhaps those times are all the higher because there are three, but for the same reason they're also rarer.

Julian's also doing much better in his class, getting up, pushing off the wall, and skating across the rink when called upon to. And, he really seems to like it, he's engaged and listens to the teachers.


Julian got two party invitations yesterday, for the same weekend. I was really confused when I saw they were for different days, in different places, at different times, but for the same kid? After studying the invitations for a few minutes, I decided that he must indeed have two classmates named Maayan, with birthdays in the same week. What are the odds of that?

And, best of all, Julian was dry this morning! Who knew night-training could be this easy?! Gabriel makes it seem like a complete impossibility. Julian's far from done, but he's well on his way. Go Captain Underpants! Err....I mean, don't Go!

3/13/08

3/12/08 Number 34

I had a brutal, splitting headache all night and all day, one of the worst non-migraines I've ever had (there is a difference). Still, being woken up numerous times during the night with intense headache does not make for a good day.

Somehow, despite the merciful time change letting us all sleep until 7:30, we all got up "early" today and jumped back into the routine, headache notwithstanding.

First, the morning news: Captain UnderPants Julian was dry!! I'm beside myself. Even if he goes backward and bedwets for another year, this is still the most success at night-training the Doudna household has ever experienced. Dave got him up at 11:30pm to pee last night, and I think we'll keep doing that for a while until his morning dryness is well-established.

I stuck out the headache at work for 7 hours, then left to go home. Dave called me right as I was leaving: Gabriel was complaining of a stomach-ache. So I went right to pick him up, then Julian, and asked Melissa to bring Katrina home. Angel that she is, she did and spared me 30 minutes of annoying driving.

Katrina was really, really grumpy, even for her, and wouldn't eat. The one place she didn't cry or screech was outside, where I got her to half-heartedly eat some of a banana. But as soon as she caught sight of the tricycle, that was it. Then she'd play with the tricycle endlessly, saying "sih? sih?" when she wanted to sit on it and couldn't figure out how. Making dinner was impossible, and I finally gave up on multitasking until Dave got home.

So I felt deserving of another shot at tonight's Zumba class. I slammed dinner on the table and then ran to change, realizing it was already 7:06. I had to be at the Y by 7:15 when the passes get handed out! Without even tying my shoes or stopping to kiss my bewildered boys, I sprinted out to the car and took off. Incredibly, I made the green on the one long light, got the last parking spot in the lot, and ran inside....only to see a long line filing past the front desk, where passes were being handed out. I anxiously joined the line at the end. "Number 20!" the lady handing out the passes called...I couldn't count ahead of me, but I hadn't even rounded the corner yet. "I'm handing out number 30, 31, 32, 33--" that was the lady in front of me...one more person...no wait, that's her friend just talking to her -- "Number 34! That's it, class is full!" And I stood in shock, holding a plastic card with the number 34 on it. "OH MY GOD!" I heard myself call aloud. I MADE IT! I felt the same rush I do when I win an eBay auction in a blistering bidding war at the end. I was now one of the privileged, one of the Anointed Ones.

After a half-hour wait (which I made use of in the crowded fitness center), I finally got to take Eva's Zumba class. It was totally worth it. I learned this years ago in dance classes: the quality of teaching makes ALL the difference. That woman can move!

No amount of dance training can teach you Latin-style if you haven't done it. I looked like a serious white boy, unable to loosen up where it counts. Years of dance class helped a little, as I know how to re-sync with the teacher and where to stand to best imitate. But most important, I know humility and that no one's looking at me, especially with such a knockout teacher. I was especially impressed that she seems to have a touch of the same tummy affliction I do, diastasis rectii, meaning, "you done had too many babies, honey, no six-pack for you," and when she moved with her astounding combination of precision and fluidity and energy, her bellybutton wiggles and jiggles -- and she doesn't care. Now that's cool.

It was interesting that the ladies who stood out in the class overall had a little more oomph in the roomph, if you know what I mean. Stick-straight-skinny so revered in ballet just doesn't cut it in Latin, you need curves.

When I got home, I peeled off every stitch of clothing I had on and put it straight into the washer. And my headache was long-forgotten. Now that's a class.

3/12/08

3/11/08 The First Ride

It's a big moment for motorcyclist parents to take their child on their first motorcycle ride (usually just a push with the kid in the front seat in the backyard). Well, Katrina's first ride came from somewhere else: on a tricycle, on Gabriel's lap.


She looks so calm, but she cried LOUD and HARD when I had to take her off!

It might be an even bigger moment for the kid to do the riding themselves. In fact, I got the idea to put her on the tricycle with Gabriel because she very clearly wanted to ride it herself, and it was a way of putting off the problem. But, I underestimated Gabriel, and he very gladly gave up the tricycle for his little sister (then promptly bullied his little brother for the scooter he was riding).

Katrina really, really, really wants to ride something. She makes a beeline for the bicycles in the garage, and no matter who's got the tricycle, she goes right over to it and puts up a huge fuss to get it. And an even huger one when it's time to come inside. She can just barely reach the ground om this tricycle, and succeeds in very slowly pushing it around, though the slightest bump or hill stumps her.



Gabriel had a temperature today, so I had to keep him home. I wasn't at all heartbroken, having a day at home alone with him. I took him to work so I could get my laptop, and in theory do some work at home, but of course that didn't happen. Gabriel is the best, and least demanding, sick kid there is, but I still interacted with him a lot, and then we ran some errands together.

It was intriguing that Gabriel was so aware of the time and what was happening at school. "It's noon, lunchtime!" "In 3 minutes, it's recess time." "Right now, the whistle is blowing." I know he's ordered, but really.

We talked about school, and he said they weren't doing reading groups anymore. He also said they didn't go on a field trip that I know they did, so he's a very unreliable witness. I couldn't get out of him what happened to the reading groups, as he turned the conversation to other subjects. "My favorite is math," he said, then went on to tell me who was good at math and who wasn't, but he couldn't say why. Naturally he claimed he was really good at it, but I wouldn't acknowledge that without him telling me why.

And so I started the parent-brainwashing, drilling in what I really believe: what really matters is how hard you try. I told him that even if he is good at something, what's really important is that you work hard and ask a lot of questions. In truth, I do believe he's inclined toward math and science, but so what. Motivation, interest, dedication, work, resourcefulness, inquisitiveness, all matter a lot more, and that's true if you're a mathematician, a writer, a musician, a professional BMXer, a Mom, or anything. Sure, a few extra IQ points come in handy toward the Nobel Prize, but let's get through K first.

Julian did great last night! I heard him get up this morning and go right to the bathroom. He was dry! But....wait a minute, he was wearing his "emergency pajamas." We put an extra pair of pajamas and underpants right under the nightlight in his room, in case he's wet. Apparently, he made use of them last night. His wet pajamas weren't that wet, just a little, so he must have woken up when he realized he was going. Then he changed into the dry pajamas and underpants, put the wet ones into the laundry basket, and went back to bed! We never heard a thing. That, to me, is huge success, since he handled the situation, all on his own!

Katrina wasn't feeling so well this afternoon either, though you can see by the tricycle pictures she made a miraculous recovery later in the evening. I really hope I can go to work tomorrow...sort of.

3/11/08

3/10/08 The nerve!

I had my follow-up appointment today with the sports medicine podiatrist. He echoed something the physical therapist said too: my ankle problems might not be in my ankles. Boom. Really? The initial injury certainly was, it had all the earmarks of tendonitis, though today the doc summed it up as "shin splints." And the initial pain has basically faded away.

What's left is some odd buzzing and tingling sensations, punctuated by pangs, sometimes painful, always uncomfortable, and they shift around a lot. This isn't characteristic of tendonitis, but it is of an irritated nerve. Could this be related to my tricky sacro-iliac joint? So, I have a referral for a "physiatrist," a doctor with a more overall body view, to investigate further. I've been meaning to see someone about my back anyway, since I'd really like to start cycling. But before I set foot on a pedal, I want to have a team in place in case my back goes doy-yoing again and disables me for days.

I guess it's good news that my ankles are OK, but bad news that something else is strange. Indeed, even as I sit here, I notice the buzzing and weird sensations, while sitting. That's not tendonitis, and it's not ankles. Sitting doesn't bother ankles, but it can affect backs. The fact that I'm working now, and hence sitting a whole lot more, could be part of this.

Last night, we tried a wake-up experiment with Julian. Dave woke him up around 11pm (old time), got him to go pee, let him drink some water (! well, Julian asked, it's no time to get into a fight!), then back to bed. And he was dry this morning! First time! Nowhere close to done, but it's a nice start. That was in Pull-Ups, but tonight, he's going to try underpants.

We're making a huge deal of it, and Julian's soaking up the attention. But the fanfare isn't just for his benefit. I have this far-away hope that his un-pressure-able brother will want to join in the fun. The direct approach won't work with Gabriel, but there's a very small chance that he'll be piqued....nah. That's just not Gabriel. Well, if we can cut our Pull-Up bill in half, that's a big improvement.

No remodeling progress, we're still waiting for construction drawings and permits. Every day of waiting is slower and slower and more and more painful!

3/10/08

3/9/08 Yardwork

The boys had a great time this afternoon outside with Dad doing yardwork. Katrina and I joined for a while too, and she loved sitting in some recently weed-whacked grass and piling it up.


Under Gabriel's watchful eye, that is...sort of. She's safer climbing down off this wall without his "help." I guess I shouldn't be surprised that both boys are very aware of the danger of her toddling toward the street, and if they see it, they both run to stop her.

I went swimming this morning, for the first time in months. It felt great to be back in the water, but it doesn't have the athletic punch that running does. As an overall feel-good exercise, nothing beats it though.

When I got home, I felt energized and in a good enough mood to take all three right out to hunt for another letterbox. This time, an easy one in a nearby park that we know well, but it was still fun to find. Gabriel liked decoding the "clues," though really, a "clue" is something like "pass by the device that allows you to talk long distances." Then again, I wasn't sure he'd recognize a pay phone!

After finding the letterbox and exchanging stamps, the boys played "boat" for a while on the playground, shooting at sharks.

Watching them, I thought about a piece on NPR I'd heard recently about how kids' play has become toy-oriented, rather than activity-oriented, as it used to be (Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills). They had no props other than was attached to the play structure, and all their shooting and pulling each other out of the water was done with pretend shark-guns and pretend ropes. Is this really so rare now? Kids at playgrounds do this sort of thing all the time. In any case, on top of letterboxing, it all amounted to good clean fun.

Then the yard cleanup and hanging around outside. More good clean outdoor fun. It was beautiful today, with no hint of lingering winter chill. T-shirt time!



I sure wish blogger would fix this photo upload problem. [ Later note: I can upload if I do them one at a time. What a drag! ]

3/9/08