Where's a Camera When You Need One?

Today, e-baby had her first trip to the dentist. She was cautiously optimistic about the whole thing, and sat on my lap on the chair at first, watched a little Barney, rode up and down, and took a little tour of the "treasure box." After that, she sat in the chair by herself while the hygenist counted her teeeth, looked at them with a mirror, and brushed/flossed them. It was very, very exciting, but she was a little shy. When the hygenist put on her mask, it was "Oh, no, lady-- keep your face right where I can see it, thank-you-very-much."

After her checkup, they let her pick a toothbrush and a prize from the treasure box. She chose a shiny-silvery plastic set of fairy jewelry: a tiara, a wand, a ring, and a bracelet. She tells me that now she is a real fairy.

After the dentist, we continued an old family tradition of going to Wendy's for a frosty. They serve the same delicious frosties and apparently they also play the same music as they did in 1979. Fly Robin Fly, Slow Ride, the disco version of Beethoven's 5th symphony. We spotted not one but TWO fire trucks out in the parking lot while we were eating. On our way to the car, we stopped to look at one of them, and a REAL fireman came out, gave her a sticker, let her sit in the driver's seat and turn on the lights, showed her around the inside of the fire truck and (ahem) admitted that no, they don't *really* have a fire dog named Sparky, he's just a dog on the sticker. Still, it was teh AWESOME. The fireman's name was David. He was probably just waiting for lunch. He is our hero.

It was so much fun that she didn't even cry when I took her back to school for nap-time. When I left, she was bragging to her teacher about the fireman and the truck.

If you'll pardon the cliche, seeing so much stuff through the eyes of a child makes the whole world seem like it's coated in sugar and spice.

Oh, and the title of this post? I didn't have my camera or my phone, and there were probably a hundred Kodak moments. So instead, I got a picture after we got home so you could all see the fairy jewelry. And e-baby's latest shoe-fashion statement.

Weekend gardening projects

A few weeks ago, e-baby and I planted a ton of seeds: sunflowers and clover from her & Jambuca's Easter baskets, 2 packets of columbine (one is a double columbine, which I'd never seen), a packet of black-eyed susan vine, and a packet of shasta daisies. We used the peat pellets in a little tray-greenhouse thingie, and all but the columbines are sprouting. The columbine will take another week or 2.

Today I transplanted all the seedlings (now clover & sunflowers- they're already potted in their final home). And since the greenhouses are empty, I got more seeds: 2 kinds of nasturtium and 2 kinds of sweet-pea, both good for salads. They should sprout in about 2 weeks.

SNG took down all the boxwood shrubs out font, so we can till and replant with azaleas and, well, flowering plants like columbine, black-eyed susan vine, daisies, nasturtiums & black-eyed peas. He also fixed up my bike with a crazy new handlebar, which I love in spite of it looking dorky.

E-baby: STOP TALKING!
Us: Why, sweetie?
E-baby: Because I have a question
Us: OK, what's your question?
E-baby: Why?

It's the little victories: walked to&from work, did a lot of work, got both kids bathed in peace, did pilates & arranged tomorrow's jogging clothes-before 10pm.

Purpled for Maddie

This is the first I've been logged in from a real computer and so I have finally purpled up my blog the best I can figure out (I am still HTML-challenged). If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say I'm purpling for Maddie, it is to honor the memory of a beautiful, sweet baby girl who left the world much, much too soon. I have enjoyed reading her mother's blog for the past year or so, since Maddie was a few months old, and it feels like I knew her in a way. I had told people about this blog I liked to read with the adorable, itty-bitty little girl who endured against all odds. It was an unthinkable tragedy that no parent should ever have to go through.

In a few weeks, PIC and I and our families will be walking in the March of Dimes' March for Babies, in memory of sweet Madeline. We are raising donations for the cause, if you want to help. No pressure, just figured I'd put it out there.

Just Some Pictures

The latest pictures, especially of my new wheels for commuting to/from work and daycare, are here.

Because Blogging from my Phone is the Only Way to Blog

Thank you Mail-to-blogger feature! The only time I can steal for myself is while feeding Jambuca, so i'm typing with one thumb while the fingers of my other hand tousle the little guy's hair as he gazes at the lightbulb behind me and gulps like he hasn't been fed in 2 hours (which he has).

Last week went really well, and (except for still being sleep deprived) I feel pretty much back to normal at work. I've been able to walk to work a few times, and I have a mat in my office to do pilates at lunch. It's the right combination of crazy-busy tight deadlines and going to daycare twice a day to feed the baby. Big yen, big yang.

In e-baby news, Big Headline, girl is starting to eat vegetables besides canned whole green beans (no other kind will do. (Knock wood) Recently she has eaten corn on the cob, asparagus tips, baby bok choy, and spinach. Here's the catch- she will only eat these foods raw. It's a little odd to see a 2-yr-old with a raw corn on the cob and a tiny head of bok choy, but meh!

Actually, I inadvertently tricked her on one of those- she thought I called it Baby Bop choy (Barney the Annoying Dinosaur reference) but why correct her? Frosty the Snowman also had a corn pop pipe, or so I'm told.

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures of the kiddos and our Easter morning antics. I tried to post a picture from my phone and it was all stupid because of Sprint's picture mail thingie. I'll repost it later.

Last Weekend Before Working

This was the last weekend before my maternity leave ends-- never to have another week of maternity leave again, ever. Since we're sure that we've got all the children we want to have, I keep getting sentimental about the end of each thing: the last size NB diaper, the last time the fleece snowman footies will ever be worn...I know it'll go like that until they're off at college-- the last kid out of my house. I'm already getting empty nest syndrome, and the oldest isn't in preschool yet.

This weekend has been rough. If you're following my tweets, you know that e-baby caught some sort of terrible stomach bug with a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, the whole nine. So far she's the only one with it, but I don't discount someone else catching it in the next couple of days. My mom has taken to calling e-baby Typhoid Mary (in an affectionate way, of course) and I catch everything she brings home from daycare. Stay tuned, I might be doing the lose-weight-quick food expulsion diet.

Other than that, we got an Easter Tree today and decorated it. It's white and hairy, about 14 inches tall, and sort of spindly. Any excuse to make ornaments and trim a tree with a toddler is a good one, and since the Easter Bunny leaves treats under it, we decided to get a fur tree.

I guess the only other things I did this weekend were address the baby announcements (watch your mailbox!) and finish up the taxes. It was a near-perfect tax year with the amount due to the feds almost equal to the amount due back from the state less the cost of Turbo Tax. Those little victories keep me going.

SO I'll be back at work next week, part-time for a week and then full time again. But if e-baby doesn't start looking healthier, I might not be there so much after all.

Two Months? For Real?

I just can't believe it's been two months since Jambuca was born. It feels like it's only been a couple of weeks. Maybe a month.

At the same time, though, it's as if he's been here forever. I can't quite imagine the world without him, any more than I can imagine the world without e-baby (Was there ever a world without e-baby? Must've been boring).

With 2 months comes reluctant independence as my parents went home on Tuesday, and I'll return to work on Monday. I feel more prepared to return to work this time. But I also feel like I could do this baby thing all the time if I had to. But, um, I think e-baby would have to keep going to daycare. Two-year-olds. Heh.

Jambuca is changing daily and right now is getting more interested in people. He smiles and laughs, and is ticklish under his chin. He coos to me in baby conversations, in addition to his usual grunts, squeaks, and moans. He is still the noisiest baby ever, but he doesn't cry very loudly. Now if he'd just sleep longer at night.