E-baby and I returned Thrusday from a nearly three week long trip to Texas. Most of it was a work trip for me. All of it was vacation for her, spending time with my parents. I took a few days off in the middle for some fun. In spite of having her routine completely in shambles, changing cities (and beds) every couple of days, and being cared for by people she doesn't see much of, e-baby was remarkably graceful. She is still the road warrior princess.
The highlight of the trip was the annual family reunion camping and eating in Kerrville for Easter. This year, SNG and I were not the only people staying in cabins. The family rented an entire loop of cabins and a giant screen shelter (complete with a KITCHEN!) and a couple of traditional campsites for the dog owners in the bunch. It is disappointing that the park forbids pets in the group shelter area, but it was otherwise a flawless weekend. On Saturday, SNG, kiltman and I were the "adult supervision" for a group of 13 underage cousins (and a few cousins' friends) who wanted to go to the river for a swim. E-baby couldn't resist the peer pressure and HAD to get in for a swim with mommy. Neither of us had swimsuits, so I in my gym shorts and t-shirt and e-baby in her Be Peace Now shirt and Pampers got in. It was COLD and long after the other kids had made like lizards to sunbathe on the shore, e-baby couldn't be coaxed out of the water for love or money. The only way we got her out was to (change her clothes and) go play on the nearby playground. Girlie loves playgrounds. She is really good with the slide, stairs and tunnels, and is learning to swing on monkey bars. Which, yes, does give me a heart attack. I let her play on the low ones but she is always trying to go on the ones that are 5 feet up in the air. She'll get way up on a platform and just REACH OUT INTO THIN AIR for a thrill. She also wants to slide down the fire poles. Sorry, kid-- not gonna happen until you're big enough to say "I think I broke my leg."
All my pictures are at work, so I'll post them next week.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Riverwalk
The day I met SNG, he was in a tattered pair of jeans and a ballcap. I was in flowered shorts and a white buttondown shirt that tied in the front.
I had just arrived at Dianaverse's apartment because her little brother, who had his first job and a new car, was visiting from Dallas where he had moved after graduation, and we were going to take him to San Antonio in his new car and let him drive it (from the description, I though graduation "from High School." Turns out it was graduation from college). It was Mardi Gras weekend in 1993. I was supposed to go to New Orleans that year and didn't end up going, and I was urgently trying to get out of a really ugly relationship with a guy who wanted more than anything in the world to be a cop. You know the type.
There in Dianaverse's doorway stood my rebound guy.
Fifteen years later, I'm still goofy for him, and this evening, when he arrives here in San Antonio, we'll get ice cream at the walk-up place that first mistook us for a couple, causing our friend PM to joke with Dianaverse, "Alphagal's going to be your sister-in-law someday." I couldn't have picked a better sister-in-law, but it's her little brother that I can't resist.
I love you, SNG! Happy Anniversary!
I had just arrived at Dianaverse's apartment because her little brother, who had his first job and a new car, was visiting from Dallas where he had moved after graduation, and we were going to take him to San Antonio in his new car and let him drive it (from the description, I though graduation "from High School." Turns out it was graduation from college). It was Mardi Gras weekend in 1993. I was supposed to go to New Orleans that year and didn't end up going, and I was urgently trying to get out of a really ugly relationship with a guy who wanted more than anything in the world to be a cop. You know the type.
There in Dianaverse's doorway stood my rebound guy.
Fifteen years later, I'm still goofy for him, and this evening, when he arrives here in San Antonio, we'll get ice cream at the walk-up place that first mistook us for a couple, causing our friend PM to joke with Dianaverse, "Alphagal's going to be your sister-in-law someday." I couldn't have picked a better sister-in-law, but it's her little brother that I can't resist.
I love you, SNG! Happy Anniversary!
Monday, March 10, 2008
c-baby and e-baby
My cousin Partner In Crime, her husband LeBon and their c-baby just left this morning after a 3-day weekend of rainy day fun, house-hunting, BBQ, visiting, singing, dancing and general merriment. It was even more fun that I thought it would be, since the girls took to each other right away.
It's funny that they get along so well-- e-baby and c-baby have very different personalities. But I guess it's like that with PIC and me, and with our own moms as well, and yet we've always been very close. I think that we're different in the ways that make a friendship interesting, and similar in ways that mean you always sort of know what the other is feeling in some situation.
C-baby is so sweet and cuddly, and mellow, and just the best snuggler you've ever seen. On Friday we went to the children's museum, and she was happy to play with the toys wherever she was. We parked in the make-believe grocery store and she played with plastic fruit. When that got too boring, we moved to the make-believe stage and she played with dress-up shoes. No muss, no fuss, happy to play with all the cool stuff within arm's reach. Contrast that with e-baby, Miss Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal for whom the "e" clearly stands for electron, who disappeared every time I blinked. I found her in the play car with a strange boy, in the postal truck with another boy, in the ambulance with yet another boy, at the scrapbooking table with 2 girls I'd never seen before, and at the dress-up table with a girl who was trying to be polite about it, but really wanted e-baby to get the heck out of the hat-basket, all the while dancing, a river of toys in her wake. Oh, how I love the children's museum, where the workers buzz around cheerfully, tirelessly picking up all those toys and reshelving them.
Saturday and Sunday SNG and I kept both the girls while PIC and LB looked at houses. I was relieved that c-baby took to me easily, and e-baby was an unstoppable hug-and-kiss-the-baby machine. C-baby was mostly OK with the affection. But poor e-baby, this evening she asked "Where's baby? Hug baby?" She is also asking for Eyore now.
Last night we went to dinner with some friends of PIC. They were just the most delightful couple and I hope we'll be seeing them again sometime. E-baby ate a big dish of macaroni and cheese (um, actually, it was c-baby's macaroni and cheese since e-baby had no interest in her pizza. See? c-baby is so easy-going that she let e-baby eat all her dinner!) and e-baby then smeared cheese sauce onto her face and into her hair, requiring a hair wash when we got home, which c-baby presided over. Today they flew all day home. I haven't heard yet, but hopefully the flights went well.
Oh, and PIC will appreciate this: e-baby asked for "huss-puppies" over dinner tonight.
It's funny that they get along so well-- e-baby and c-baby have very different personalities. But I guess it's like that with PIC and me, and with our own moms as well, and yet we've always been very close. I think that we're different in the ways that make a friendship interesting, and similar in ways that mean you always sort of know what the other is feeling in some situation.
C-baby is so sweet and cuddly, and mellow, and just the best snuggler you've ever seen. On Friday we went to the children's museum, and she was happy to play with the toys wherever she was. We parked in the make-believe grocery store and she played with plastic fruit. When that got too boring, we moved to the make-believe stage and she played with dress-up shoes. No muss, no fuss, happy to play with all the cool stuff within arm's reach. Contrast that with e-baby, Miss Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal for whom the "e" clearly stands for electron, who disappeared every time I blinked. I found her in the play car with a strange boy, in the postal truck with another boy, in the ambulance with yet another boy, at the scrapbooking table with 2 girls I'd never seen before, and at the dress-up table with a girl who was trying to be polite about it, but really wanted e-baby to get the heck out of the hat-basket, all the while dancing, a river of toys in her wake. Oh, how I love the children's museum, where the workers buzz around cheerfully, tirelessly picking up all those toys and reshelving them.
Saturday and Sunday SNG and I kept both the girls while PIC and LB looked at houses. I was relieved that c-baby took to me easily, and e-baby was an unstoppable hug-and-kiss-the-baby machine. C-baby was mostly OK with the affection. But poor e-baby, this evening she asked "Where's baby? Hug baby?" She is also asking for Eyore now.
Last night we went to dinner with some friends of PIC. They were just the most delightful couple and I hope we'll be seeing them again sometime. E-baby ate a big dish of macaroni and cheese (um, actually, it was c-baby's macaroni and cheese since e-baby had no interest in her pizza. See? c-baby is so easy-going that she let e-baby eat all her dinner!) and e-baby then smeared cheese sauce onto her face and into her hair, requiring a hair wash when we got home, which c-baby presided over. Today they flew all day home. I haven't heard yet, but hopefully the flights went well.
Oh, and PIC will appreciate this: e-baby asked for "huss-puppies" over dinner tonight.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
One Week Home, Three Weeks Away
One reason I haven't blogged much lately is that work has become ridiculously busy. When I get home, feed myself, feed e-baby, bathe e-baby, and spend an hour getting her to sleep, there's just enough time to chat with SNG for a few minutes, fall into bed, sleep awhile, wake up at 6am with a nagging need to get some work done, work until 7am, shower, get dressed, get e-baby fed, diapered, dressed, and back to daycare. Repeat, repeat, repeat. A couple of weeks ago she was fine with alternating between me and SNG putting her to bed, but this week it has to be mommy every night. It is sweet but frankly, I'd love to have that hour (every other night) to get some more work done.
For some reason, I like my job more when it's busy like this. It's not an unreasonable amount of travel, and while I'm in the office I'm running like mad. I'm a mad-running-fool so it works.
But tomorrow I'm taking a vacation day because my cousin PartnerInCrime and her family are coming to town to HOUSEHUNT! Yay! I am really looking forward to their visit and the 3-day weekend. Technically, they're coming to decide whether or not they want to relocate here, but I'm optimistic. The weather's supposed to be crappy part of the weekend, so I'm thinking of indoor things to do. There's a terrific children's museum that our one-year-olds will love. There's no point impressing them with shopping-- Raleigh is simply not on the map with regard to shopping, and they're coming from Seattle, which is one of shopping's minor capitols. Ditto for restaurants, unless you like homestyle southern cooking. Which, fortunately, PIC does.
On Tuesday e-baby and I will be flying to San Antonio and staying in various parts of central Texas for almost 3 weeks. SNG will come out for a week in the middle, to attend the annual family eat-bike-camp-and-dogs-in-the-woods only this year, dogs are banished to a separate area and we have cabins instead of tents but I'm sure there will still be plenty of bicycles and eating. This year, Kiltman will be coming with us, and I'm really stoked for the family to meet him. I just have this funny feeling that he fell off our family tree somewhere back there, as he's very clearly a Rhodes boy. Except, you know, without the guns.
OK, so what's new in babyland?
Oh, this blew me away. E-baby can count to 2, with her words and her hands. And she can identify the color blue. Most of the time. I'm not sure whether she understands the idea of numbers, even small ones like 1 and 2, but the blue thing seems to be right on. Oh, and her teacher mentioned that she's the only kid in her class who can tell them, clearly, when she wants something to drink. So I guess the other kids just follow her and when she asks for water, they point and grunt and get water too. Girlie is her Tuti's granddaughter.
For some reason, I like my job more when it's busy like this. It's not an unreasonable amount of travel, and while I'm in the office I'm running like mad. I'm a mad-running-fool so it works.
But tomorrow I'm taking a vacation day because my cousin PartnerInCrime and her family are coming to town to HOUSEHUNT! Yay! I am really looking forward to their visit and the 3-day weekend. Technically, they're coming to decide whether or not they want to relocate here, but I'm optimistic. The weather's supposed to be crappy part of the weekend, so I'm thinking of indoor things to do. There's a terrific children's museum that our one-year-olds will love. There's no point impressing them with shopping-- Raleigh is simply not on the map with regard to shopping, and they're coming from Seattle, which is one of shopping's minor capitols. Ditto for restaurants, unless you like homestyle southern cooking. Which, fortunately, PIC does.
On Tuesday e-baby and I will be flying to San Antonio and staying in various parts of central Texas for almost 3 weeks. SNG will come out for a week in the middle, to attend the annual family eat-bike-camp-and-dogs-in-the-woods only this year, dogs are banished to a separate area and we have cabins instead of tents but I'm sure there will still be plenty of bicycles and eating. This year, Kiltman will be coming with us, and I'm really stoked for the family to meet him. I just have this funny feeling that he fell off our family tree somewhere back there, as he's very clearly a Rhodes boy. Except, you know, without the guns.
OK, so what's new in babyland?
Oh, this blew me away. E-baby can count to 2, with her words and her hands. And she can identify the color blue. Most of the time. I'm not sure whether she understands the idea of numbers, even small ones like 1 and 2, but the blue thing seems to be right on. Oh, and her teacher mentioned that she's the only kid in her class who can tell them, clearly, when she wants something to drink. So I guess the other kids just follow her and when she asks for water, they point and grunt and get water too. Girlie is her Tuti's granddaughter.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Dallas, PA
We had some sad news on Tuesday night. SNG and Dianaverse's grandmother passed away. It was not unexpected, but it's always sad to lose someone you love. So SNG, e-baby and Dianaverse will be flying up to central PA on Friday morning, and Friday evening after class I'll be flying from DFW to Harrisburg, renting a car, and driving to Columbia, arriving around 1am. We'll all fly home together on Sunday morning. Although the circumstances are unhappy, it will be really nice to see family that we very rarely see. E-baby has never met SNG's cousins. I'm pretty sure she'll give them all big sloppy hugs and kisses. Or at least, she'll give their children big sloppy hugs and kisses.
Right now I am blogging from a Doubletree in N. Dallas, and I just got back from dinner with three dear friends from SNG's college days and their four kids, who were SO GOSH DARN CUTE I could have eaten them up. Even when they got grumpy and tired they were irresistible. At one point the restaurant was transfored into a 5-and-under dance club. The oldest of the girls was gracious enough to let me join in the dancing fun, even though I'm too old to be cool. Oh, it was great to see their parents, too. :-) I wish SNG could have been there, and he's going to have to just come out with e-baby some time for a visit.
After dinner I ran into a Kroger for some soymilk and came out with a double issue of People magazine. Hey, did YOU know that Angelina is pregnant again? And that people wore beautiful dresses to the awards recently? Now I can read all about it! I haven't read a serious trash magazine in probably a year, and the first thing I did was rip-rip-rip out all the pages with ads on both sides. After I hit publish on this post I'm going to plug my brain right into the backside of the collective unconscious and find out who's breaking up and who has a crazy voodoo lifestyle. I can't wait.
It's the perfect end to a perfectly lovely evening.
Right now I am blogging from a Doubletree in N. Dallas, and I just got back from dinner with three dear friends from SNG's college days and their four kids, who were SO GOSH DARN CUTE I could have eaten them up. Even when they got grumpy and tired they were irresistible. At one point the restaurant was transfored into a 5-and-under dance club. The oldest of the girls was gracious enough to let me join in the dancing fun, even though I'm too old to be cool. Oh, it was great to see their parents, too. :-) I wish SNG could have been there, and he's going to have to just come out with e-baby some time for a visit.
After dinner I ran into a Kroger for some soymilk and came out with a double issue of People magazine. Hey, did YOU know that Angelina is pregnant again? And that people wore beautiful dresses to the awards recently? Now I can read all about it! I haven't read a serious trash magazine in probably a year, and the first thing I did was rip-rip-rip out all the pages with ads on both sides. After I hit publish on this post I'm going to plug my brain right into the backside of the collective unconscious and find out who's breaking up and who has a crazy voodoo lifestyle. I can't wait.
It's the perfect end to a perfectly lovely evening.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
E-baby is getting better after her most recent illness, although my head is still packed with goop. Tomorrow I'm flying to Dallas, which hooray is only one flight, but boo is still flying with a headcold (ahem-- flu!! with head congestion!!).
This afternoon we came home and found a gaggle of kids 3-6 years old playing in the neighbor's yard, and e-baby joined right in like a champ. She rode the tricycle and the rocking horse, chased the kids on bikes, pet the dogs, squealed at the cat, pushed the wheelbarrow and the babydoll stroller, tried to stand on the scooter (tricky business, that one) and splashed in a puddle. It was great. The bigger kids were really gentle with her and shared their toys nicely, and her friend from across the street (a boy who is the oldest of the bunch) kept an eye out for her to make sure she was included the fun. We kept her out way past her dinnertime, and by the time she came inside, her great mood had given way to low blood sugar and for the next hour it was meltdown central. Somehow we managed to get a couple of bites of spaghetti into her mouth and she was OK after that, but still really clingy.
I'm looking forward to the trip to D and catching up with some old friends.
I just realized I haven't posted any pictures in ages. Soon. I'll get some up on Flickr soon.
This afternoon we came home and found a gaggle of kids 3-6 years old playing in the neighbor's yard, and e-baby joined right in like a champ. She rode the tricycle and the rocking horse, chased the kids on bikes, pet the dogs, squealed at the cat, pushed the wheelbarrow and the babydoll stroller, tried to stand on the scooter (tricky business, that one) and splashed in a puddle. It was great. The bigger kids were really gentle with her and shared their toys nicely, and her friend from across the street (a boy who is the oldest of the bunch) kept an eye out for her to make sure she was included the fun. We kept her out way past her dinnertime, and by the time she came inside, her great mood had given way to low blood sugar and for the next hour it was meltdown central. Somehow we managed to get a couple of bites of spaghetti into her mouth and she was OK after that, but still really clingy.
I'm looking forward to the trip to D and catching up with some old friends.
I just realized I haven't posted any pictures in ages. Soon. I'll get some up on Flickr soon.
Friday, February 22, 2008
A Tale Of Two Snotties
It was the best of boogers, it was the worst of boogers.
E-baby has begun to recover from her Frank McCourt symptoms*. This is the 3rd cold she's had in a row, and I'm starting to think it's something on our end that's causing her to get reinfected-- because it's also the 3rd time in a row I've caught her cold. I am a compulsive hand-washer but also a compulsive baby-kisser so who can say what caused it all. Maybe those babies just spend all day licking each others' faces at daycare.
Caution-- this paragraph contains graphic medical content. She woke up Monday feeling lethargic, but that was the only symptom. She'd nearly recovered from cold #2 but I knew something was wrong. Tuesday she had dark green nose trails, like forest colored caterpillars oozing from her head. Tuesday evening I noticed some stuff in her eye and tried to wipe it out, which might have made things worse, because by Wednesday afternoon both eyes were oosing green caterpillars too, and they eventually crusted shut and the lids were nearly purple from being swollen. It was painful to the touch and she wouldn't let me near her with a warm washcloth, tissue, anything. SNG took her to the doctor who prescribed an oral antibiotic, 2t twice a day for 10 days. He was right that we'd NEVER get drops into her eyes. E-baby calls the pink medicine in the mouth syringe "Baby's Treat." Actually it sounds more like "bay-bee-thh cheet- Mmmm!" I'm so glad it was cherry flavored and not spinach or listerine or something. I fully expect her to get sick of it by day 4 or 5.
I started taking Airborne on Wednesday night, but by Thursday afternoon I had the same lethargy that e-baby seemed to have on Monday along with a sore throat and chills and general body aches. This one? Not a regular cold. Definitely a flu. So much for that flu shot I got last Fall. I seem to be holding it mostly at bay with Tylenol and airborne. Since the last 2 colds I had also coincided with air travel, and (of course) next week I've got to fly again, I really don't want a head full of crud. Ascending is OK, but it's those descents that make your head explode with pain.
The good news is that the antibiotic is helping e-baby a lot. Her nose went from dark green to clear in about 24 hours, and by this morning the eyes had stopped oozing. She even went back to daycare today. Fingers crossed that she's actually getting better, and it's not just that she has blocked tearducts...
SNG needs to boil all our toothbrushes and bedsheets. Oh, and he has not caught either of the last 2 things.
* If you haven't read Angela's Ashes, you might not have caught the Frank McCourt reference. In it he describes working for a coal mine/delivery service as a youngster and having chronic conjunctivitis, causing his eyes to be described widely as "two piss-holes in the snow." Sorry if the colorful language offends-- it is literary so that makes it OK, right?
E-baby has begun to recover from her Frank McCourt symptoms*. This is the 3rd cold she's had in a row, and I'm starting to think it's something on our end that's causing her to get reinfected-- because it's also the 3rd time in a row I've caught her cold. I am a compulsive hand-washer but also a compulsive baby-kisser so who can say what caused it all. Maybe those babies just spend all day licking each others' faces at daycare.
Caution-- this paragraph contains graphic medical content. She woke up Monday feeling lethargic, but that was the only symptom. She'd nearly recovered from cold #2 but I knew something was wrong. Tuesday she had dark green nose trails, like forest colored caterpillars oozing from her head. Tuesday evening I noticed some stuff in her eye and tried to wipe it out, which might have made things worse, because by Wednesday afternoon both eyes were oosing green caterpillars too, and they eventually crusted shut and the lids were nearly purple from being swollen. It was painful to the touch and she wouldn't let me near her with a warm washcloth, tissue, anything. SNG took her to the doctor who prescribed an oral antibiotic, 2t twice a day for 10 days. He was right that we'd NEVER get drops into her eyes. E-baby calls the pink medicine in the mouth syringe "Baby's Treat." Actually it sounds more like "bay-bee-thh cheet- Mmmm!" I'm so glad it was cherry flavored and not spinach or listerine or something. I fully expect her to get sick of it by day 4 or 5.
I started taking Airborne on Wednesday night, but by Thursday afternoon I had the same lethargy that e-baby seemed to have on Monday along with a sore throat and chills and general body aches. This one? Not a regular cold. Definitely a flu. So much for that flu shot I got last Fall. I seem to be holding it mostly at bay with Tylenol and airborne. Since the last 2 colds I had also coincided with air travel, and (of course) next week I've got to fly again, I really don't want a head full of crud. Ascending is OK, but it's those descents that make your head explode with pain.
The good news is that the antibiotic is helping e-baby a lot. Her nose went from dark green to clear in about 24 hours, and by this morning the eyes had stopped oozing. She even went back to daycare today. Fingers crossed that she's actually getting better, and it's not just that she has blocked tearducts...
SNG needs to boil all our toothbrushes and bedsheets. Oh, and he has not caught either of the last 2 things.
* If you haven't read Angela's Ashes, you might not have caught the Frank McCourt reference. In it he describes working for a coal mine/delivery service as a youngster and having chronic conjunctivitis, causing his eyes to be described widely as "two piss-holes in the snow." Sorry if the colorful language offends-- it is literary so that makes it OK, right?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Oh for goodness sakes...
I feel like all I ever post anymore is "I have been meaning to post something but busy busy busy blah blah blah excuses-cakes."
Well, I am still busy busy busy blah blah blah excuses-cakes. I will post something more --- um, hopefully-- maybe-- I dunno -- tomorrow? -- this weekend?
The truth is that it's late winter, not much is going on except that SNG, e-baby and I have taken turns being sick almost nonstop for I don't know how many months (gotta love daycare germs), this morning e-baby's eyelids were swollen and puffy and now she looks like Frank McCourt, I've been CRAAAAZY busy at work, and the whole world is standing between me and getting a decent workout. That might have something to do with why I haven't blogged much lately.
But I'm in a great mood because five boxes of Girl Scout cookies were waiting at my desk when I got to the office this morning. Best of all? They've gone back to the REAL cookie names. What the heck are Samoas? Caramel DeLites, I love you so.
Well, I am still busy busy busy blah blah blah excuses-cakes. I will post something more --- um, hopefully-- maybe-- I dunno -- tomorrow? -- this weekend?
The truth is that it's late winter, not much is going on except that SNG, e-baby and I have taken turns being sick almost nonstop for I don't know how many months (gotta love daycare germs), this morning e-baby's eyelids were swollen and puffy and now she looks like Frank McCourt, I've been CRAAAAZY busy at work, and the whole world is standing between me and getting a decent workout. That might have something to do with why I haven't blogged much lately.
But I'm in a great mood because five boxes of Girl Scout cookies were waiting at my desk when I got to the office this morning. Best of all? They've gone back to the REAL cookie names. What the heck are Samoas? Caramel DeLites, I love you so.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Another quickie
You just have to see the pictures of Dianaverse's dog Daisy and her loverboy, the neighborhood tomcat Singer.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Honestly, I've started several posts and had to run off and do something else before I could finish any of them. I will finish one of them soon. But for now, I just wanted to say I have nothing to say.
Nope, that's not true! I have an e-baby update: she has started using 3-word sentences with subject-verb-object structure. Today she said "Baby go outside!" and "Baby got teeth!" She also loves to tell us what belongs to whom (mommy's shirt, daddy's shoes, baby's jacket, baby's mommy, baby's bike...). As you guessed, she calls herself Baby.
Nope, that's not true! I have an e-baby update: she has started using 3-word sentences with subject-verb-object structure. Today she said "Baby go outside!" and "Baby got teeth!" She also loves to tell us what belongs to whom (mommy's shirt, daddy's shoes, baby's jacket, baby's mommy, baby's bike...). As you guessed, she calls herself Baby.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Ummmm
I have nothing to say, but that's never stopped me before.
I decided I wanted to learn to create wikis, so I made one at work. It was easy. It is useful. It is a good way to share information with colleagues worldwide. So then I decided to make one for myself at home. Then it occured to me, what the heck will I do with a wiki?
You might never see the personal wiki unless I come up with something clever to do with it, but I will let you know if that happens. Up next... a Sharepoint site! That I have nothing to put onto! Woo!
I got back from Hartford last night. SNG kept e-baby awake for me, and she was in the tub when I got home. She did a little splash-splash of joy and swam a victory lap before sticking two fingers right up my nose and saying "Mommy-MINE!" She was right, of course.
What else? Oh, did I mention we joined Netflix? We have the $5 a month plan that they only offer so they can say "starting at $5 a month" in their advertisements. We can only have one video at a time, up to 2 in a month, and if someone else wants the DVD instead, we have to hand it over right away or get beaten up before they take our lunch money. We've watched the first 2 3/4 seasons of the "new" BBC Dr. Who series and I want the rest of season 3!! Netflix hasn't sent it yet and we've waited a long time. I'd complain, but I kind of get the feeling that Netflix hopes we'll go away and join Blockbuster.
And now I'm going to bed because it is Friday night, I'm brain dead and we're going hiking with Zen and Season first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!
I decided I wanted to learn to create wikis, so I made one at work. It was easy. It is useful. It is a good way to share information with colleagues worldwide. So then I decided to make one for myself at home. Then it occured to me, what the heck will I do with a wiki?
You might never see the personal wiki unless I come up with something clever to do with it, but I will let you know if that happens. Up next... a Sharepoint site! That I have nothing to put onto! Woo!
I got back from Hartford last night. SNG kept e-baby awake for me, and she was in the tub when I got home. She did a little splash-splash of joy and swam a victory lap before sticking two fingers right up my nose and saying "Mommy-MINE!" She was right, of course.
What else? Oh, did I mention we joined Netflix? We have the $5 a month plan that they only offer so they can say "starting at $5 a month" in their advertisements. We can only have one video at a time, up to 2 in a month, and if someone else wants the DVD instead, we have to hand it over right away or get beaten up before they take our lunch money. We've watched the first 2 3/4 seasons of the "new" BBC Dr. Who series and I want the rest of season 3!! Netflix hasn't sent it yet and we've waited a long time. I'd complain, but I kind of get the feeling that Netflix hopes we'll go away and join Blockbuster.
And now I'm going to bed because it is Friday night, I'm brain dead and we're going hiking with Zen and Season first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Sad News, Happy News
First some sad news. Dianaverse's dog Daisy has been diagnosed with Addison's disease. Daisy's a very sweet dog and has been a great friend to Dianaverse and to e-baby. Please send some healthy dog vibes her way.
And the happy news- Happy first birthday, c-baby!! We are sending you lots of love and virtual birthday cake!! I can't believe it was only a year ago that I was walking around Macy's pillow department and got a call from your mom that It Is Time. I am so glad you are one of our girls and e-baby, SNG and I love you very much!
And the happy news- Happy first birthday, c-baby!! We are sending you lots of love and virtual birthday cake!! I can't believe it was only a year ago that I was walking around Macy's pillow department and got a call from your mom that It Is Time. I am so glad you are one of our girls and e-baby, SNG and I love you very much!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sixteen Months and The Nixon
E-baby turned 16 months old yesterday, and I haven't done one of these What's New posts in a long time, so here's what the Queen of Everything has been up to the past two months or so.
As I started on this, I realized that there's no way I can begin to list all the stuff that's been happening with this child. A friend told me that at 15 months, all sorts of new cognitive and social processes come into play. I probably had to know that for a final exam once upon a time and immediately drowned the knowledge in a margarita at a Scott St. party. This is definitely an exciting time. Four months ago SNG and I watched an infant shift to a toddler. Now we see a scientist, an explorer, a chef, a veteranarian, a rock star. It makes me wish I could videotape every cute thing so I could return to it someday and remember how funny these times were.
* Language: She picks up new words like they were M&Ms. Between the sign language and the spoken, she can say or sign around 80-100 words, and she understands much more, but it is hard to estimate at this point. The only trouble is that you can't always understand what she's saying, and sometimes she gets a little confused. Example- she learned the word and sign for snow the other day, but the next day pointed at a bottle of ranch dressing and said "snow!" Apparently the lesson learned was the color white = "snow."
* Fine and gross motor coordination. Spoons, forks, drumsticks, buttons, knobs, and other things that were kind of tricky to manage a few months ago are getting much easier now. Bigger tricks like climbing a stepstool to reach something, climbing onto furniture, and playing on the slide are also getting pretty easy for her. That means I've got to be careful not to put anything tempting up on those fun-to-climb bookshelves. The greatest barrier to success now is that pesky gravity.
* New games:
Lots of role-play. To me, the most noticeable change this month has been in the role-playing behavior. E-baby feeds her dinner to the stuffed animals that share her table. She puts them to bed and she tells them "night night!" She shares her pacifier with them, and they have their own blankets. Bigger dolls hold and rock their baby dolls to sleep. Smaller dolls go for rides on small toy cars. Bikes and boats drive all over the coffee table, and they go "vroom!" If I seem sad about something, she brings me a toy to make me feel better. I'm sure that it's related to the "lying to mommy and daddy" trick as well, since these are all aspects of developing empathy and understanding the perspective of other people. To me, that's the most fascinating part of the last few weeks.
Copycat. If I take a bite, she takes a bite. If I take a drink, she takes a drink. If I jabber on the phone, she jabbers on the remote control. If I go around the house picking up things, she picks up things.
Housekeeper. She will throw away anything we ask her to. She loves to blow her own nose (which is bizarre and funny), throw away the tissue, and tell me "thank you!" She learned this trick awhile back, but now I can tell her to throw away anything I give her and she'll oblige.
Animal noises. She can imitate the sounds of cows, horses, dogs, cats, sheep, and I forget what else.
Body parts. She can find any body part on herself, any person, or any toy. And she might decide to find your nose-- waaaaay up in there--- when you're in the middle of a nose-free activity, like paying at the grocery store.
Monster in the closet. She stands in the closet and says Boo! over. and over. and over. and over.
CRAZY face. E-baby has started making this maniac-neck-muscles-tensed-lower-teeth-bared face that probably all toddlers eventually learn. It sometimes comes on with such intensity that she'll shake a little. It's the most hilarious thing EVER. She does it just to make us laugh, usually when I ask her if she's cold. It makes me laugh so hard I snort.
The Nixon face. If she's suspicious of a person or of a situation, she gives The Nixon. She has become famous at daycare for the serious intensity of this face, but it was her Grampy who coined the term "The Nixon."
About 2 months ago I was having trouble keeping track of all the new words and signs she was using, and I didn't want to forget when anything funny happened, so I started keeping 3x5 cards in the kitchen to make note of anything new that was happening. In the last few weeks she's changing so fast that I can't even keep up with the cards.
Perhaps the only people who will find this post interesting are the grandparents, but this blog is as much as anything a way for me to keep track of things that are happening for posterity. Or for posteriority, as I like to say. Right now e-baby is sitting next to me having a complicated and serious conversation with the iPod cable. I'd better make sure they keep it peaceful.
As I started on this, I realized that there's no way I can begin to list all the stuff that's been happening with this child. A friend told me that at 15 months, all sorts of new cognitive and social processes come into play. I probably had to know that for a final exam once upon a time and immediately drowned the knowledge in a margarita at a Scott St. party. This is definitely an exciting time. Four months ago SNG and I watched an infant shift to a toddler. Now we see a scientist, an explorer, a chef, a veteranarian, a rock star. It makes me wish I could videotape every cute thing so I could return to it someday and remember how funny these times were.
* Language: She picks up new words like they were M&Ms. Between the sign language and the spoken, she can say or sign around 80-100 words, and she understands much more, but it is hard to estimate at this point. The only trouble is that you can't always understand what she's saying, and sometimes she gets a little confused. Example- she learned the word and sign for snow the other day, but the next day pointed at a bottle of ranch dressing and said "snow!" Apparently the lesson learned was the color white = "snow."
* Fine and gross motor coordination. Spoons, forks, drumsticks, buttons, knobs, and other things that were kind of tricky to manage a few months ago are getting much easier now. Bigger tricks like climbing a stepstool to reach something, climbing onto furniture, and playing on the slide are also getting pretty easy for her. That means I've got to be careful not to put anything tempting up on those fun-to-climb bookshelves. The greatest barrier to success now is that pesky gravity.
* New games:
Lots of role-play. To me, the most noticeable change this month has been in the role-playing behavior. E-baby feeds her dinner to the stuffed animals that share her table. She puts them to bed and she tells them "night night!" She shares her pacifier with them, and they have their own blankets. Bigger dolls hold and rock their baby dolls to sleep. Smaller dolls go for rides on small toy cars. Bikes and boats drive all over the coffee table, and they go "vroom!" If I seem sad about something, she brings me a toy to make me feel better. I'm sure that it's related to the "lying to mommy and daddy" trick as well, since these are all aspects of developing empathy and understanding the perspective of other people. To me, that's the most fascinating part of the last few weeks.
Copycat. If I take a bite, she takes a bite. If I take a drink, she takes a drink. If I jabber on the phone, she jabbers on the remote control. If I go around the house picking up things, she picks up things.
Housekeeper. She will throw away anything we ask her to. She loves to blow her own nose (which is bizarre and funny), throw away the tissue, and tell me "thank you!" She learned this trick awhile back, but now I can tell her to throw away anything I give her and she'll oblige.
Animal noises. She can imitate the sounds of cows, horses, dogs, cats, sheep, and I forget what else.
Body parts. She can find any body part on herself, any person, or any toy. And she might decide to find your nose-- waaaaay up in there--- when you're in the middle of a nose-free activity, like paying at the grocery store.
Monster in the closet. She stands in the closet and says Boo! over. and over. and over. and over.
CRAZY face. E-baby has started making this maniac-neck-muscles-tensed-lower-teeth-bared face that probably all toddlers eventually learn. It sometimes comes on with such intensity that she'll shake a little. It's the most hilarious thing EVER. She does it just to make us laugh, usually when I ask her if she's cold. It makes me laugh so hard I snort.
The Nixon face. If she's suspicious of a person or of a situation, she gives The Nixon. She has become famous at daycare for the serious intensity of this face, but it was her Grampy who coined the term "The Nixon."
About 2 months ago I was having trouble keeping track of all the new words and signs she was using, and I didn't want to forget when anything funny happened, so I started keeping 3x5 cards in the kitchen to make note of anything new that was happening. In the last few weeks she's changing so fast that I can't even keep up with the cards.
Perhaps the only people who will find this post interesting are the grandparents, but this blog is as much as anything a way for me to keep track of things that are happening for posterity. Or for posteriority, as I like to say. Right now e-baby is sitting next to me having a complicated and serious conversation with the iPod cable. I'd better make sure they keep it peaceful.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tucked Away For Winter
Starting around Thursday or so, the weather reports have forecast all kinds of winter weather for Raleigh, with the most likely devastation arriving today. Yesterday we were warned about Friday night rain followed by 1-3" of snow Saturday morning, followed by highs around 30 and lows around 10. This would result in lots of black ice on the roads until the temperatures rise above freezing again, which is forecast to be Monday or Tuesday.
In North Carolina, if winter weather is forecast, the schools close a day early in anticipation and there is a mad rush on the grocery stores for bread and bottled water. Three years ago, in a very poorly planned midday closure of the schools, frantic parents and, well, everyone else, sat in traffic for upwards of 12 hours to go a few miles to get their kids from school or just get home. This was primarily because of panic by the schools and local employers, because the minor snowfall should not have sufficed to wreak that much havoc. In fairness, there was a terrible snowstorm about 8 years ago that knocked out electricity and most options for transportation for over a week, leaving people in hotels with no food because the restaurants had run out or the workers couldn't get to the hotel to prepare it, and that was only forecast to be a couple of inches. Then there was the ice storm about 4 years ago that took down power lines and trees leaving behind $millions in damages and electrical outages for over 2 weeks in some areas (I hesitate to admit that we had power back within 12 hours. Oh, living on the hospital's power grid was so nice). There was also the miserable pair of F-hurricanes (Fran and Floyd) in the 90s made clean water hard to come by for a lot of residents. You can't blame people for taking precautions.
Still, it seems to be a teensy bit reactionary that people just clear the shelves of milk, bread and water and stand in long long lines every.time.snow.is.forecast. Heck, even people in Austin were less concerned about forecasts of ice and snow. Well, OK, snow is never forecast in Austin. Ice and sleet.
So back to my story. Yesterday we were low on dishwashing detergent and powdered buttermilk (don't ask), but knew better than to try to hit the grocery store the night before a forecast of 1-3" snow. Instead, we ate breakfast and scuttled out the door at 9:00 this morning to get our groceries (luckily we keep 5 gallons of bottled water in the garage, since the grocery shelves were, in fact, cleared). SNG and I agreed, if we were going to be holed up indoors for 3 days, we'd better make soup and bake some sourdough bread. So chuck is on the counter burbling away with his fresh lunch of flour and water, and I'm hunkered down over a hot bowl of chicken-vegetable soup with wild rice and fresh rosemary. It is still raining, but little chunks of snow have mixed with the rain. It's 35 degrees and I still have my doubts that anything newsworthy will happen. Chuck should be bread-ready in another 2-3 hours and by then perhaps we'll have some pretty snow that I can take a picture of.
Edited to add:
Edited again to add:
In North Carolina, if winter weather is forecast, the schools close a day early in anticipation and there is a mad rush on the grocery stores for bread and bottled water. Three years ago, in a very poorly planned midday closure of the schools, frantic parents and, well, everyone else, sat in traffic for upwards of 12 hours to go a few miles to get their kids from school or just get home. This was primarily because of panic by the schools and local employers, because the minor snowfall should not have sufficed to wreak that much havoc. In fairness, there was a terrible snowstorm about 8 years ago that knocked out electricity and most options for transportation for over a week, leaving people in hotels with no food because the restaurants had run out or the workers couldn't get to the hotel to prepare it, and that was only forecast to be a couple of inches. Then there was the ice storm about 4 years ago that took down power lines and trees leaving behind $millions in damages and electrical outages for over 2 weeks in some areas (I hesitate to admit that we had power back within 12 hours. Oh, living on the hospital's power grid was so nice). There was also the miserable pair of F-hurricanes (Fran and Floyd) in the 90s made clean water hard to come by for a lot of residents. You can't blame people for taking precautions.
Still, it seems to be a teensy bit reactionary that people just clear the shelves of milk, bread and water and stand in long long lines every.time.snow.is.forecast. Heck, even people in Austin were less concerned about forecasts of ice and snow. Well, OK, snow is never forecast in Austin. Ice and sleet.
So back to my story. Yesterday we were low on dishwashing detergent and powdered buttermilk (don't ask), but knew better than to try to hit the grocery store the night before a forecast of 1-3" snow. Instead, we ate breakfast and scuttled out the door at 9:00 this morning to get our groceries (luckily we keep 5 gallons of bottled water in the garage, since the grocery shelves were, in fact, cleared). SNG and I agreed, if we were going to be holed up indoors for 3 days, we'd better make soup and bake some sourdough bread. So chuck is on the counter burbling away with his fresh lunch of flour and water, and I'm hunkered down over a hot bowl of chicken-vegetable soup with wild rice and fresh rosemary. It is still raining, but little chunks of snow have mixed with the rain. It's 35 degrees and I still have my doubts that anything newsworthy will happen. Chuck should be bread-ready in another 2-3 hours and by then perhaps we'll have some pretty snow that I can take a picture of.
Edited to add:
Edited again to add:
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