I had an odd 35-minute slice of time to use Friday morning, after dropping the bunch off and before our jobsite meeting. So I stopped by a nearby farmer's market, one I've been to once before but didn't have much time to look around. I really like the sense of hearkening back to a simpler time, in which everything is fresh, out for you to see, straight from the farm to a market. I don't know if farmer's market shopping is really greener, fresher, healthier, or cheaper, but it's far more pleasant and fun than Safeway -- even if this quaint scene is re-created in a mall parking lot right next to a major Interstate. After all, it is Silicon Valley.
My mission turned from food to photography though, as I found many delicious photo-ops. I still bought a lot though, partly out of guilt from standing there taking pictures and feeling like I should buy something. This is 3 minutes from home -- our real home. I should do this every Friday morning!
I bring the construction crew fresh-baked goodies every week. Today it was banana-apple butter muffins. They were gone in minutes. Sleepover tonight! Kids are all at Tonya's. Dave and I went out to a wonderful dinner at our new favorite going-out-to-dinner restaurant and actually had conversations!
I know you're all getting tired of this. I never get tired of tile.
We had a very successful excursion to the tile store again to choose tile for the living room fireplace. This time, we had a design already. This makes a ton more sense to me than choosing tile first, then doing the design. Derive the formula, plug in the data. That's how I think. Plus, with Dave there, it helped keep things focused (though I had to nix his preference for slate).
And it worked really well. We wanted Craftsman-y, but not dreary or depressing as Craftsman-y designs so often are. I love the tile we ended up with, and it didn't take all that long to settle on all the colors and accents. Big bonus is that we'll do the hearth in that stone-looking porcelain tile on the right, and save a bundle on granite.
And now that we're done with tile, I can move on to lighting, bathroom accessories, trim, doorknobs, appliances, bathroom countertops, interior paint colors, and many many other things you all are grateful are just there in your house and you don't think about them!
We got roped into these "official" school photos. It's unavoidable, but who can turn it down anyway?
These staged studio shots aren't my favorite, but the very same photographer who takes my very favorite shots (that look nothing like this) said he always liked these sorts of photos growing up. It's all part of the story. And, of course, I can never get enough photos of these subjects!
We're all looking very forward to seeing that favorite photographer soon! And his lovely wife!
(what's with this line that just appeared on this blog page? Blogger must have updated a template or something. That's annoying!)
Dad rode his motorcycle to work this morning. But not before our least motorcycle-fearful toddler had a sit.
No school or preschool today! I didn't mind a day off work with the boys, though they first had to do some remodeling-shopping. Julian reads a sign that says "This tub display is not a play area for children" as I picked up a tile sample.
I really wanted to do something fun this afternoon with the boys, and considered going to the Exploratorium. But that's an all-day trip, and we'd already blown some of the day with remodel-shopping and a trip to the Y. Hmm...what can we do that's fun? I was drawing a blank all morning, frustrated that there must be an obvious answer, and I'd really regret it later if I couldn't think of it until it's too late.
Then I had it! A stroke of genius. "Guess what, boys? We're going to do something really fun! You know what it is?"
"Letterboxing!" cried Julian.
OK, a different stroke of genius. That actually was an even better idea.
"Make cookies!" cried Gabriel.
I'm being trounced here. When is baking not forefront in my mind?
"Nope...I was thinking we could go ... ice-skating!"
Gabriel was excited right away, and lamented every red light that delayed his being on the ice by another 10 seconds. Julian wasn't so sure, and he did fine at first, but pooped out after about 20 minutes in favor of playing with the video game machines (without coins).
Still, they had fun together at first.
And Julian liked "fooling" me with pretending he couldn't skate, then skating away from me quickly.
I attempted to teach Gabriel forward crossovers, which is a laugh because I can barely do them myself, and certainly am in no position to teach them. Still, he was really game and really excited when he did some of them. Gabriel's persistence and determination and willingness -- when he finds something he likes that is -- never fail to amaze me. Gosh, I'm looking forward to having our lives back so we can consider things like skating lessons again. Julian asked today about going to the mountains so we can see snow, and I had to put him off again. I guess it's just as well that 2-year-oldness and remodeling coincide, as either by itself is a barrier to easy trips. (Yes of course you can travel with a 2-year-old, but it's a lot easier when they're older!)
It's funny, our contractor is away this week, but more importantly, so is his office manager, who keeps after me about delivering finish selections on time. So the pressure is off for the week. But instead, it's replaced with something far, far worse in remodel-land: the dreaded lull. I've forgotten all about this with our extremely efficient contractor. I experienced it at length with our upstairs remodel, including a nearly 4-week downtime while the gestational clock ticked away. This lull isn't really a lull at all; in fact I exchanged email with the jobsite foreman today to get some measurements for a side entry door. Still, I'd rather have the complete pressure.
Still, we do have to have something of a life. I told the boys today about something really fun we have planned: we're driving to L.A. for Thanksgiving! This is how the boys felt about it when I told them:
I hope Laura and Ryan feel the same way after seeing this!
And while we didn't make it letterboxing, we did make cookies, at Gabriel's request. I had the boys do just about everything. Much as I marvelled earlier in the day at Gabriel's persistence in skating, I marvelled again at Julian's fine motor skills. For things like scooping cookie dough and dropping it onto a cookie sheet, he's critically younger than Gabriel, but still better at it.
Back to the grind tomorrow. I really really liked the no-school days!
On the way home from picking up the three today, Julian was quiet for the first few minutes, then during a lull, he said clearly, "Mommy, you know what we learned about today? SPACE!" Then he clarified, "In circle time, not in science class."
I immediately turned down the radio and asked him to tell me more.
"We learned about planets! Mercury, Venus, Earth. We're on Earth."
I asked him if he could remember the next planet, and gave him a not-so-good hint: it was his Halloween costume two years ago. "Mars!" he declared. I gushed with fascination, genuinely.
Then Gabriel interjected assertively, in his slightly condescencing tone: "What about Pluto?" And Julian answered calmly, "Pluto is no longer a planet." His air of confidence actually shut up his know-it-all big brother!
"It's a star now." (I'm not sure that's true, but I wasn't about to interrupt my astronomy lesson.)
"Mercury is made out of liquid."
I know I'm repeating myself, but you have to see how sincere and clear he is when he offers these little "science snippets." Julian often talks just to talk, as many kids do, but these moments aren't just to hear the sound of his own voice. There's something special going on. The sparks are flying in his head. Or maybe that's just my pride.
Katrina, meantime, is picking up a very stereotypical girl behavior: BOSSY! It's hilarious, this tiny little body speaking in such a STERN and LOUD voice, "Thas' e-NUFF, SHJU-YAN!" You can almost see the flames coming out of her eyes as she stares down the unfortunate target of her admonition. "NO PUSSS-in, BAY-AL!" (No pushing, Gabriel!"). Will this always be so cute? Many of the manifestations of her strong personality aren't.
For today, I was happy to "space out" with Julian before Katrina brought me down to Earth.
We went to the house today to do some measuring and checking medicine cabinets. I found a photo-op with all three on the front porch, but since Katrina was munching on a pancake, I didn't really try for a good photo (I don't like food in photos and I hate plastic bags in photos!).
In fact, I almost tried to get silly outtakes. Somehow, I ended up with a bunch in-between.
It felt good to take photos on our own front porch again.
Spent all night writing up all our trim selections in the house. For most remodels, this is a three-liner: "use this for the baseboard, this for the door casing, and that for window trim."
For us, it's never that simple. Many, but not all, of our windows will look like this, a basic "Craftsman-style" window trim. Every room is different. Every room has at least one unique feature.
The trim selections were supposed to be delivered last Monday, and it still needs all sorts of checking to see how/if things will fit. It's late. It's incomplete. And I spent much time today working on it instead of doing things with the kids. But it's a necessary -- if insufficient -- step toward shaking off REMODELING as the dominant force in my life.
Gabriel spent much of the day writing a comic book. Julian spent much of the day pestering Gabriel. Katrina spent much of the day tearing apart the family room and scribbling in books. Nothing's cuter than when she bursts into the room and blurts out, "HI BOISE!!!"
Gabriel's classwork today included a section called "Problem Solving - Reasoning: Number Sense." It has two drawings, one with 4 apples and one with 5 oranges. The instructions say: "Draw each group with 1 less. Explain how you know there is 1 less."
Gabriel's explanation:
"because the derections said!"
(No genetic tests needed. This literal boy is most definitely his father's son.)
Then apparently his teacher corrected him, because he added:
"No, because four - 3 = 1."
Julian tonight at dinner: "Beautiful frogs are always poisonous!" Yesterday: "Carrots are good for your eyes."
This sort of thing is all he ever says about school. But these "science snippets" are no idle comments; they're delivered thoughtfully and with great sincerity.
Katrina tonight: "IwantcouscousIwantcouscousIwantcouscousIwantcouscousIwantcouscousNOCOUSCOUSNOCOUSCOUSNOCOUSCOUSNOCOUSCOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Can you tell at which point I set the couscous in front of her?)
Tonya, having raised 3 girls, makes some mean ponytails: though my dear girl was hardly cooperative about a photo-op.
Tonya, having raised 3 girls, probably doesn't know much about Captain Underpants books. Want to keep your boy VERY BUSY and inspire new levels of disgusting potty talk? Get an irresistable Captain Underpants comic book. Especially the one with the talking piece of poop. b-LAH!
Katrina's latest phrases:
"Tha's e-NUFF -- JHHHSHHUUUUU-YAN!" ("that's enough...Julian!") "Bye boise! Bye boise! Bye boise!" (boys, as in brothers).
No end of funny silly interesting sweet gross kid-talk around here. When offered at less than 150 decibels, it's great fun.
Last night I had a dream that I was standing in a house on the beach and watching waves come close, getting bigger and bigger. Then the waves were huge, far taller than the house and they were going to wash us away! But it wasn't a house, it was more like a department store. I rushed up to the second floor, then Dave and I were driving quickly away from the approaching wave, stopping quickly to pick up socks and other clothes for the kids. Whatever I happened to grab would be what they'd have to live with for many years, as we tried to survive after the calamity.
Being overwhelmed by huge waves? Survival mode? Desperate times ahead? No one needs Freud to analyze this one! Clearly, I have a "little" anxiety.
Still, this is nothing like the terrifying nightmares I get around migraine-time. Though nowadays I almost always feel something I've come to associate with migraines, I haven't had more than a day of a full migraine for about two weeks now. Good, because I just don't have the time.
I'm making steady progress on all the numerous items needed to order or choose for the remodel, but I'm increasingly frustrated with myself that I let it get to this. I knew at the very beginning of this project that I'd have a great deal to do, and told myself numerous times to get everything done way ahead of time, so I could sit back and relax and watch it all get built. No last-minute mad scrambles. Well guess what. It's a last-minute mad scramble. They seem to follow me (ahem)....yeah, yeah, that's the ticket, it's not my fault at all.... No Freud needed to identify that denial!
Katrina picked this book this morning to insist on bringing into the car with her, and to screech furiously over if either curious brother dared venture near her prize. I wonder if she'll be inspired or put off someday by knowing that I rode motorcycles seriously for 10 years? (And still might again.) Oddly, I'm not nearly as nervous about her getting into bikes as her breakneck brothers. Fine, call me sexist.
An astoundingly busy difficult but productive day in remodel-land. Somehow, even though all three bathrooms tile had been chosen and laid out, it still took almost 3 hours to set up the order with a tile designer at the tile store. Countless items needed clarity ("this cap should match the field, it should be Alabaster") or minor correction ("this piece doesn't come in any of the Earth Blend colors,") or changes ("this cap costs almost $10 for a 6-inch piece?!?!!?"), and many other details that would come to light when the tile setter goes to put the tiles in place. But I think we got it down pat. Why can't I be like normal people and just pick ONE tile and say "put it in the bathroom" and that's that? No, I can't resist a beautiful border or a niche detail. I love tile.
Then I went to the kitchen designer's store to finalize the kitchen backsplash, niche, and family room fireplace. More tile. This was fun and easy, and I'm excited about how this will look, though it's quite different than my original vision.
The last bugaboo: the living room fireplace area. How will that work?
But this afternoon, the answer arrived in email, from our architect/interior designer: I'm blown away, this is beautiful. The tile pattern is perfect, Craftsman-y without being overly heavy. Gabriel says it looks like it has eyes.
And finally, our fireplace will have a mantle! A fireplace must have a mantle!
It's tacky to talk about money, but I feel the need to "express." We just got hit with another massive bill, one that included over $50,000 of "extras" not included in the contract. Half of it was necessary, unexpected framing things, but half of it comes from electrical extras and my insatiable appetite for flexibility. "Can we run TV cable to this corner?" "We'll need an outlet up here too." "Oh, those switches will block furniture, let's move those to the other side." Ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching. Electrical especially is very hard to know how it will add up ahead of time. We still have many, many expenses coming up (just today my kitchen designer told me it'll cost $7000 just to install the cabinets!?!?!!) and we're going to top out our line of credit. OK, we had a plan for that, which was to dip into long-term savings. Except there's a whole lot less of that than there was a few months ago.
So I'm starting to get freaked out. But this is good -- I work well under pressure, and I'm now paying scrutinous attention to costs, making lists and planning for the remaining biggies. I've organized things so that our cashflow is completely under control, and positive, as it wasn't exactly a few months ago (au revoir Monsieur VISA).
Shouldn't I have done this from the beginning? Sure, and I was, but it's really difficult when the framing carpenters show you all the unexpected things they had to do, and you have no idea what that really translates to, and your house won't pass rough inspection if you don't -- you can't possibly say "NAH." And there's a lot of "it makes sense to do this now while everything's open." But the finishing materials are easier to contain. That living room fireplace and mantle won't be cheap, but I'll make sure that none of the tile costs $10 for a 6" piece.
I've had to take so much time off work, and will moreso, this month. But it'll cost us far more if this project falls behind.
Is it bad luck when this black Kat crosses your path?
Observe this sweet playful scene of Julian and Katrina playing together, until he ventures into typical brother tactics. He'd have gotten pummeled by Gabriel for this.
But don't be fooled, dear reader. Notice the shift in reaction: first the characteristic screech of protest, then the quick glance to Mom...and then bursting into very convincing tears, far exceeding any actual injury or fear. The tears lasted a matter of seconds, after Mom investigated and didn't buy the act. However, notice how Julian anticipates getting into trouble, as usually he's immediately blamed for Katrina's crying. And you can see why!
Maybe black Kats are bad luck, at least for older brothers.
Thanks to our suddenly seasonal weather, Gabriel put on long pants for the first time in months. Did I say long? Talk about highwaters! And as usual, they still just barely stick to his skinny rear end. Many of them are wearing out at the knees, too.
This is the part of the year I dread the most -- scouring the earth for pants long enough and slim enough for Gabriel. This world opens up a lot when the kid can operate a snap and a fly. So I took Gabriel (and Julian tagged along) to Kohl's in the hopes of finding something that would work.
First, lunch for the bunch.
I've just learned that books, especially unfamiliar ones, are a great way to keep the boys under control in the car, and when we're out places. They're both really good anyway, but if there's any opportunity for antsy, bringing books is a huge help. They were both so engrossed it was all I could do to get them to look up walking into the store.
After much trial and error, and one complaint to the manager that many Lee jeans' snaps are hard for me to operate, let alone a 6-year-old who waits for hours until it's a true emergency, we came away with 7 pairs of size 5-slim jeans that will probably work. Julian sat and read patiently while Gabriel tried on at least 10 pairs of jeans -- every size 5S there was, and a few 6Ss just to verify that they're still far too big, and long.
Then we shopped briefly in the toddler girls' section, as Katrina really needs long-sleeved shirts. Leave it to the boys to turn "2T" into "tooty" and "4T" into "farty"! They had a lot more fun picking cute shirts for her than jeans for Gabriel. They sure have oversweet syrupy-cutesy tastes though.
Speaking of oversweet, the boys haven't said "boo" about Halloween candy since the big night. Not one word. And their candy bags are in plain sight, too.
Halloween night, I let them each pick 5 pieces of candy from their bags, and they had to sit at the dining table to eat it. And that was still too much -- Julian didn't finish his Raisinets, and both were complaining of tummyaches and lay down on their beds for a while afterwards. Even still, aren't normal kids supposed to gobble it all down and throw a huge fit if they can't and beg for more the next morning? Well, if Katrina is anything like me, she won't take her eyes off the loot for a second!
Maybe Gabriel needs more candy to fill out his Slim jeans!
I've been waiting for a rainy day for months! I love the idea of curling up in front of a fireplace with a good book. Even though the reality of that is completely lost (hello? 6, 4 and 2?), I still like the idea.
I'm entering the next emotional stage in remodeling: regrets -- suddenly being struck with things you wonder if you shouldn't have done differently. It's like just getting on the road for a big trip, and your mind (well, my mind) instantly starts taking inventory of what you left behind. It's like I just can't be happy without having something to regret. Should we have done fixed showerheads instead of bar-type? Shouldn't we have done complete grilles instead of one row on the sliding doors? Should we have put the kitchen closer to the backyard as our architect had originally suggested? Shouldn't we just have moved?.
And we're still 4 months and many, many tens of thousands of dollars away -- quite early for second-guessing and regrets!
Then I'm oddly comforted by relatively minor decisions. We were forced to replace the floor of the front porch (the old one was damaged). Seeing the new one, we just decided last Friday not to paint it, but rather, to clear-coat it. It's vertical-grain fir, and it will make the entryway stunning. Not very farmhouse-y, but beautiful.
Well, what the heck, while I'm looking at pictures, here are a few more. Sheetrock is up! It completely changes the house.
Remember walking through the old swinging door in the dining room, into my dysfunctional cave of a kitchen?
Now look. This hall has become one of our favorite things in the house, and it was suggested just a few weeks ago by our next-door neighbor. The arched entryway was going to lead to a built-in bookshelf, but we switched that bookshelf area with a door entering the guest suite. The original design made a lot more sense until you actually stood in the space, and our architect agreed happily. It now leads straight through the guest room into the West yard, which we had limited access to before.
Hang an immediate left (from photo above) and you enter the new kitchen (through the open entryway on the right in the photo below). This is the view of the new kitchen with your back to the backyard. You'd be amazed how difficult it is to come up with a tile design for that oh-so-central arched niche! If you're me, anyway.
Our guests will be very comfortable with a bench in the guest shower, and two niches to set all their doodads into. White wire shower holders are permanently vanquished from this house! I'm insane about built-in spaces, and showers without ample places to set things down drive me crazy. The guest suite isn't just out of the goodness of our hearts, though, lest our far-away family feel pressured to negotiate crowded airplanes. The local demographic strongly favors additional living quarters for multigenerational families. We didn't do it just for resale, but that helped justify the decision to add a bathroom here.
Standing in the kitchen, this is what I'll look out at much of my time. Of course, it'll be painted, and our contractor (left) and his electrician (center) won't be there. Actually, the electrician isn't a subcontractor, he's an employee of the company. Many of the guys working onsite are direct employees. I like the extra contact and control and investment you get from that. The electrician in particular takes pride in his work and has grown to like our house, and us I think, so it's more than just a faceless jobsite to him.
I wasn't going to spend any time blogging tonight. But that never works. Looking at photos of our work-in-progress helps relieve anxieties about things we should have done differently. It reminds me that it's our home, that we'll live there again someday, and it's more than just a serious time, energy and money sink. I spent most of the afternoon cooking, another new comfort, that makes me feel at home wherever I am.
And the first rainy day back in our new house will be spent curling up in front of one of the fireplaces with a good book...7, 5 and 2 notwithstanding!
Despite feeling intense pressure to complete many remodeling tasks, I was not going to miss Julian or Gabriel's class Halloween parties or parades today.
First, Julian's class party. Allison didn't seem to mind having this ball bonked on her forehead.
The whole (pre!)school gathered together to perform several songs. I was impressed, the teachers did a great job preparing them. From the outside, this seems so hokey, but when your kid is in there, it's the most adorable thing you've ever seen.
(Julian is all the way on the left.)
I stayed as long as I could before dashing off for our weekly jobsite meeting.
I wasn't going to be late to Gabriel's party! I arrived just as the boys were done changing in the neighboring 2nd-grade classroom, as the 2nd-grade girls changed in Gabriel's room.
I'm happy to report that by first grade, the plethora of princesses gives way to witches and other characters, only for the boys to take over with single-minded costume ideas. All five of these Spidermen are in Gabriel's class.
This girl unwittingly demonstrates Gabriel's lack of stature in his class. So far, he doesn't seem to notice, even if she does stand a full head taller.
The scene at the school: grades 1-5 do a costume parade. Gabriel is on the right of the leftmost blue post, with the tall girl behind him.
I just couldn't seem to get a photo of him without this girl in it. She was always right behind him. Hmmm....
And again.
I took Gabriel with me from school, then to a bookstore where he picked out a few books to read while I ordered bathroom vanities. He picked out two Captain Underpants books, and had his nose buried for hours in them. Not a peep from him while I ordered three bathroom vanities, then re-ordered one when I discovered a too-long lead time. The boys love Captain Underpants books, though I'm not crazy about all the dinner-table potty-talk it motivates. Is this a boy thing? Are there any girls into Captain Underpants? I sort of have my answer, as little sister immediately demanded Gabriel hand over the book when she saw it, and cried and screamed angrily in protest for about 10 minutes in the car. 10 very loooonnnnng minutes.
Then of course, the BIG payoff: trick-or-treating! Our borrowed neighborhood was buzzing with groups of trick-or-treaters and numerous houses lit with Halloween decorations and friendly neighbors. Our home neighborhood, on the other hand, is like a graveyard around Halloween time. Hmm, which one has that right?
Katrina lasted for exactly one house, which unfortunately had an attractive fountain, and she "expressed" her Opinion, with the usual vociferous vocals and my refreshed football-hold skills, about abandoning the gurgly little pond. Fortunately, we were only a few steps from home, where I unceremoniously dumped her on Dad, who was manning our rapidly emptying Halloween candy giveaway basket. Then the boys and I methodically cleaned out the rest of our neighbors.
This Halloween was a very welcome break from the stress and pressure of keeping our project on track. And the best-kept secret in the scrapbooking world is that Halloween is the most fun event of the year to scrapbook. I'm not missing this one!
A birthday song for Cousin Remi -- coming from an unexpected source. He worked hard practicing this!
4 is great! I wonder what it's like knowing that your youngest is headed to kindergarten next year. Seems so far away and so close at the same time. Happy Birthday Remi!
Oh, painful, painful. I thought we were all set on the kitchen niche design, but apparently some of the accents I/we picked are too Italian-Villa style, cute as they are.
What do I know for style? And do I have the nerve to stand up to people I'm depending on making this all look right, and who do know about style? Can I insist on sticking to something wrong? Nope, I don't have the b*lls. Those accents aren't Craftsman-y, to be sure.
So, back to the tile store again today, with patient Anna the kitchen designer. All I had in mind was a simple design for the arched niche above the cooktop, a focal point, without a specific bullseye, but nothing fancy or concrete. This should take 10 minutes! But not when I'm on the job. Nope, it gets turned and twisted and mangled into a 2-hour ordeal, and in the end, the poor kitchen designer is more confused than I am.
At least these are the colors we'll use (not the darker rectangles or the (sniff) carved ones); just the olive green and the lighter cream color.
And I'm supposed to deliver all the tile choices and layouts tomorrow. The pressure to deliver the many overdue and outstanding choices is intense -- I'm in genuine peril of holding up the project. But tomorrow is Halloween. I have two costume parades to attend, and I'm not missing those under any circumstances.
The mom of two schoolmates of Julian's commented that her girls tell her from time to time about playing with Julian. Nice to know, because he volunteers nothing about other kids and little about school itself....except for one thing: science.
"If we throw those things away then the sun will get so hot and burn up the earth." "Sound travels in waves and then it reaches your ear and you hear it." "The badder gets all full of pee and then you have to empty it." "French fries are a fat food." "You eat food and then it goes down a tube to your stomach, but I forget what the tube is called."
It intrigues me that these are the things that he talks about. Occasionally he'll mention something about a classmate, like one whose shared "Indian sweets," but if he says anything at all, it's usually a fairly well-thought-out statement about the earth, body, nutrition or whatever he's been learning about. And much of it is from his regular class; only specific things (like body parts) come from the Science Explorers class.
Ironically, Gabriel's homework isn't driving us as crazy lately, because it's past the dorky introductory stuff. It's been a lot more straightforward, not as open-ended, with clearly defined tasks. We all like that a whole lot better. Not that I'm opposed to searching around the house for real-life examples; I think that's great -- sometimes. But for as much homework as he gets, it has to be independently performable. The past two weeks, it's all been about adding coins and very basic time-telling, both of which Gabriel is very well versed -- thanks to his allowance, and numerous clock timeouts in his room when he was younger!
I heard an actual conversation today between Julian and Katrina. She repeats everything she hears, and she declares and observes things all the time with increasing grammar. But for the most part her conversation hasn't been much more interactive than automatically saying "No!" to everything. Today, however, she and Julian just about discussed things in a book she brought in the car. He pointed out things in the book, helped her count flowers, talked about the characters' names. She asked questions, tried to count, and also pointed things out or made comments about things he pointed out. It was very sweet.
I watch these interactions and marvel at how this must shape her. She's never known life without her older brothers, and they dominate her environment. No one makes her laugh harder or scream louder. She has Gabriel as a guide, and Julian as a playmate. What a lucky, lucky girl.
OK, OK, you're probably all getting tired of hearing -- literally -- of each tiny incremental step Gabriel makes in the long journey toward piano proficiency. His playing in this clip is very amateurish, but Dave and I were both blown away when we heard hime playing it. Other than a few minutes of direction from his first piano teacher (one lesson) months ago, we've never heard him play this. He worked hard on Monday, a day off school, to figure this out from the pre-programmed recording in the piano. I had to sneak up on him to get this clip though.
It brought tears to be eyes to hear this beautiful piece, haltingly played, but still coming from the fingers of my firstborn boy.
It's staggering. SO much time is needed -- even if I took two weeks off work, I couldn't get everything done that needs to be in order to prevent delaying the project.
As it is, I just discovered that a nasty old aluminum window we'd decided to replace got put back because I hadn't ordered a new one, it fell off my radar entirely. And we haven't even found what sort of door/window to replace the dining room door with.
The living room fireplace has been demolished! Now I have to pick a slab (granite, maybe!) for the seat, and some sort of tile to go around it. We'll have a cabinetmaker make a mantle and some shallow built-in bookshelves along the sides.
Insulation is up - we have walls! They're fuzzy but do an amazing job of changing the feel and sound of the house completely.
Picking tile is such a guilty pleasure -- there's so much beautiful stuff to be had, so many gorgeous colors and textures and patterns. I'm not sure I can pass up this cute swirly design around the family room fireplace (not the living room fireplace in the photo above).
Katrina...unbelievable. She's been lasting a lot longer when we get home now, so more and more her dinnertime has overlapped with everyone else's -- a terrific trend. More and more she rejects her old standby foods, but she's just started to demand -- not request, but DEMAND -- food she sees on my plate. Fine with me! Today it was cauliflower. She'd point to it and ask again and again and again, then when I'd put the fork up to her mouth, she'd push it away, deeply offended, and venomously spit out, "DON'T LIKE THAT! DON'T LIKE THAT!!" Then she'd demand it again, and we'd go right back around. In the end, she did eat a few bites of it, a big step. I don't know what goes through her head, but I do admire the little bugger's spirit. When she doesn't look like she's about to pop a vein, that is.
Driving to pick up Julian and Katrina this afternoon, I heard an NPR story about a stabbing victim in an Angolan jail. Gabriel was horrified: "Oh my GOD! He didn't live past 23?!" I thought OK, he has to know about bad things at some point in his life, and tried to explain the story to him in soft terms. The idea that someone would kill someone else on purpose was a new one to him. As usual, he took it in stride.
The next story was about Jennifer Hudson's nephew's body found in an SUV. I squirmed. Maybe this is just a headline. "He was found shot along with his...." OK, not liking where this is going "...her nephew Julian was 7 years ol...." CHRIST! Stop already!
Another party this weekend. I brought Katrina, not sure how she'd do at a popular inflatable-play-structure place that really doesn't work for 2-year-olds, but she had a great time bopping around. Julian, who wouldn't go into jump houses at all until a year ago, had a fabulous time. I really like seeing him enjoy group settings without his domineering older brother.
The cake is always the crowning event, especially this cake. Another stunning creation from a 2004 Las Madres mom.
Though I still reel on and off from migraine symptoms today, at least the dark cloud of depression lifted. I went running this evening on some levees bordering salt ponds on the outskirts of the bay, and it really struck me how normal that felt, and how very good normal feels.
I'm getting out of the habit of cleaning up dinner right away. Instead, I've been going into the family room and finding Katrina hidden deep inside the layers of mess, and just hanging out with her. She (usually) happily chats and includes me in her world of coloring or reading or playset play, and I enjoy the focused time with her. I have such a love-hate relationship with age 2, but it's a full-on love affair with her.
Usually these little clips are at least somewhat, if not entirely, prompted by me. But not this one! Bonne Maman, Gabriel requested I take this video so he could tell you what the chords are in his duet. We rehearsed this once so that he'd face the camera and not cover his mouth with his hands, and demonstrate the chords he's talking about.
Darn this distance; it'd be so nice for the two pianists in the family to live closer to each other. But thank goodness for video and the Internet.
