Ian's First Birthday Party!

We had a fabulous time at Ian's birthday party! The company was excellent, the spread was super-tasty, and Kristin and Nathan have a beautiful home. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of Ian, since we didn't bring our camera, but my dear friend Chuck took some wonderful photos of Rosie and Dash!

Dash found a balloon that was meant for Ian and didn't let go of it all afternoon:

Then Rosie ate some delicious cake (with a little help from me):

And Chuck took some super-fun photos of Dash and Rosie playing in my lap!

Actually, what makes me happiest is this photo, because it's of me and Rosie! I have so many, many photos of me holding Dash that you'd wonder if I had a daughter...

Happy Holidays!

A Dash update!

Hi baby boy!

You're almost 18 months old now and you just had your ear tube surgery two weeks ago. You communicate with us so well that we didn't really notice that you haven't been talking much. Hopefully now you will be adding to your vocabulary. So far, you say mama, dada, ball, olive (lali), cracker (cak), duck, woof-woof (for dogs & cats), more (mo), moo (for cow), and balloon (baaal). You know several hand-signs, especially for milk, more, head, want, banana, broccoli and apple. Your favorite foods are beans (all types), broccoli, chicken, olives, graham crackers (especially chocolate), cheddar, most fruits (especially banana and melon). Lately, you've been climbing on the furniture! You heave yourself up on the couch or ottoman, then move to a table and march around, happy as can be! We of course get you down immediately, but you pop back up as soon as our attention is diverted.

Love,
Mom

Weirdness at the office

Okay, this one isn't about the kids. Yesterday, I was almost the only one in the office and picked up a phone call in a co-worker's cubicle. While I was talking (to the cube's inhabitor), I glanced up and saw a pin stuck in the carpeted wall with a lion's head on it that looked familiar. I pulled it out and saw that it was a logo design that I created ELEVEN YEARS ago!!! The FBI is still using my artwork after eleven years? I'm keeping the pin; I don't think I had saved anything from that project, because I never felt that it was portfolio-worthy work. Anyway, here is my art that I found online, that the pin was based on:

Heh. 1995, staring at me.

James Kim. I'm incredibly saddened and uplifted at once.

I 've been overwhelmed by this story all morning as soon as AJS brought to my attention that the James Kim that's been all over the news as missing in the Oregon wilderness was not just some no-name-hapless-joe but was the host of a techno-gadgets show we used to watch! He was the smart, funny, on-the-cutting-edge, sweet young guy who would somehow manage to put photos of his daughter into his gadget reviews. He was only one year younger than me! And our children are practically the same ages! How could I not get all wrapped up in it? The story is fascinating and gut-wrenching. TV mini-series on the way....?

So here's my redux at what happened. 35-year-old James and 30-year-old Kati and their two daughters (4 years and 7 months) set off in their car from a Thanksgiving holiday on the Oregon coast, headed home to San Francisco. They were driving for hours and missed an exit, instead continuing onto a mountainous side road that wound far in the wrong direction from their destination and any inhabited area. They hit a snow drift, ran out of gas and were snowbound for 5 days before they became desperate enough for James to consider other options. They were running out of food and had no idea when they might be rescued, so James left his young family at their car and left to seek help. Here's an aerial photo of what this area looks like:



He was only wearing jeans, sneakers and a mid-weight coat, not adequate for wet, freezing weather. He had a lighter and an Oregon map, some extra clothes and supplies. According to the clues that searchers uncovered, James walked EIGHT miles in this wilderness and made it back to within a mile from his family when a SHEER CLIFF separated him from their location and he succumbed to the elements and died after being alone for four days. How horrific.

He left Kati with a pretty good setup, like a campground. They were able to heat themselves with the car's heater, then burned the tires when the heater gave out. Kati nursed both girls (YAY FOR BREASTFEEDING!!!) to keep their strength up. Kati and girls were rescued after nine days. Kati was seen by a helicopter pilot, waving an umbrella from her car. James' body was found two days later. God, I can't even imagine.

Dash's ear tubes -- done!

Hey, it's been a week since he had his tubes surgery, but I haven't had any spare time to post. Dash was a real trooper for the whole ordeal. We had to get up super-extra early on a foggy, dreary November morning and Dash didn't have any food at all since Midnight (about 8 hours total). He really didn't complain about it, though! He slept through the 45-minute drive to the surgical center (we had to be there at 6:30 a.m.) and while we waited in the lobby, he was well-distracted by the large fish tank, full of exotic fish.

They brought us to a consult area around 7 a.m., where Dash had to change into an awful, awful, get-it-off-me-now bright-yellow hospital gown and he continued to yank on it until he was taken into surgery. I had to put on a full bodysuit made of some kind of synthetic FedEx-bag-style fabric, plus a hair cover and a face mask. After a brief consult with the anesthesiologist and Dash's surgeon (including more papers to sign), they then took us to a secondary waiting area just for children, with a play area and lots of toys. All the other kids in the playroom got stuffed bears from their doctors, but I guess we didn't get one because Dash already had a bear from home? Whatever.

Dash was called for his surgery around 7:45 a.m. and I carried him in, put him down on the hospital bed. The nurses asked what name they should call him when the anesthesia wore off, so he would hear something familiar, maybe comforting. They asked me to hold his arms out of the way and try to comfort him while the anesthesia took effect (through a face mask), and then announced, "he's asleep!" which was, apparently, my signal to leave. So after a confusing couple of seconds, a nurse offered to guide me back to a consult room. I waited for about ten minutes while furiously typing text messages to family and friends to keep my mind off the surgery, when another nurse came to get me because Dash was done!

When he and I reached the post-op room, he was very disoriented and screaming, with eyes closed. But he quickly came out of it and let me know that he wasn't interested in sitting around. I carried him around the room while he stoically watched the other children scream. I was pretty proud of him for being the first child to settle down! One of the nurses offered Dash a drink, which he refused. Instead, he had noticed the refrigerator behind the nurses' station and pointed. And pointed again. I walked him over there and asked the nurses if we could come back there so I could figure out what he wanted. A nurse looked at him sweetly and asked, "honey, would you like some crackers?" She reached into a cabinet and grabbed a two-pack of saltines. With his treasure in hand, we went back to our seat and he stuffed entire crackers into his head as quickly as possible. I tried the water again, nothing doing. He made the :more: sign at me and pointed directly at the sad, empty, plastic Saltines wrapper. Verrrry clear, this one is! He ate about ten more Saltines (I swear!) then had some water.

Meanwhile, I was given an instruction sheet on how to care for his tubes, we were discharged and on our way. He slept on the drive home and as a treat, I stopped by Krispy Kreme to get us some donut holes (and coffee for me); I hadn't eaten either, thinking that it would only taunt Dash. I had brought some work home, with the mistaken impression that the surgery would leave Dash weak and sleepy. NOPE!!! As soon as we were home, he was practically bouncing off the walls, climbing on the furniture, and pulling books off of shelves. He ate a donut hole or two with me and I barely kept up with my little ball of sunshine-energy before AJS came to relieve me around lunchtime. Dash was amazingly happy and alert!

I do think that his hearing was affected by the repeated ear infections. Just in the past week, he seems to be responding a little better to verbal cues and is imitating us a little more. Yay! Here's hoping that he'll have a few more words soon. The sign language has been a great help, but of course, we'd like him to be speaking more. His latest new word is "duck"!

AJS got on "Best of Craigslist"!!

The Five Stages of Living in the DC Area:
Date: 2006-12-05, 5:38PM EST

Stage 1: Living downtown is the greatest! It’s so wonderful living in such a vibrant, diverse community. I love being able to walk to hipster bars, overpriced tapas restaurants, and leather furniture stores where the cheapest couch costs 6-months rent.

Stage 2: DC is a squalid cesspool, a third-rate wannabe capitol like Dakar or Isengard, full of hipster losers and youth violence gangs of rogue Uruk-hai.

Stage 3: Thank god I live in the suburbs! It’s so clean, the schools are great, and I don’t have to worry about being raped on the way back from Bed Bath and Beyond or having pennies thrown at my head.

Stage 4: Borf was right! The suburbs are a boring, sprawling wasteland of stripmalls, $tarbucKKK$s, and cookie-cutter McMan$$ion$. I read it in the Cliffs Notes to Foucault’s Madness and Civilization. $ma$h the $tate!

Stage 5: Go to Stage 1.

Here's the link to Best of Craigslist.

Ms. Focused and Mr. Speedy!

Sunday, we had a family birthday party for Rosie at my parents' house. It was mostly for Auntie M., who won't be coming to our double-scoop of a joint party this weekend for Rosie AND Liam. Auntie M. must be super-in-tune with Rosie, because once Rosie opened Auntie M.'s gift, she wouldn't look at anything else, or eat, or do anything but play with it for maybe three hours straight. My mom bought her some fairly pricey American Girl twin toddler toys, and she showed no interest in them whatsoever, until later, anyway.

The really FUN part of the evening was when I came to pick them up a few hours later, after they had been eating naught but chocolate ice cream and cupcakes. My little Dash saw me and ran at me with speeds previously unknown, powered by sugar and sleep deprivation. BOY LOVE CUPCAKE!! (And Grandaddy can't resist the puppy-dog eyes and the darling way he signs for :more:) He dashed, he shrieked, he giggled maniacally! And then he crashed on the car ride home, only to wake up just as he hit the mattress in his bedroom and then screamed bloody murder for the next hour. Until dinner, that is. Food calms the boy.

Rosie slept with her twins, who are now named "Rosie" and "Dash." She is enamored, and I will let her grandma know. We left the unicorn-land-of-many-chokables at her grandparents' house...

[RANT ALERT] sometimes it's the little things...

This is just me ranting, but I was just on the phone with my pediatrician's office to schedule a pre-op appointment for Dash's ear tubes (yes, he's getting tubes). When the call connected, I briefly heard the air in the reception desk area, was immediately put on hold without a greeting, then after less than a minute, disconnected. I called them right back and explained how I was disconnected to the receptionist and just got "[sigh] what were you calling about?" When I replied, "Okay! Someone hung up on me and I don't get an apology?" I got DEAD AIR.

Since I wasn't getting anywhere, I went ahead with scheduling the appointment, but brought the issue up again at the end of the conversation, because I was still upset about the poor treatment. The receptionist told me, "well, I don't know who you were talking to," and still refused to apologize.

My point here IS (and there is one) that this small rudeness reflects on the ENTIRE PRACTICE! not just whomever screwed up with the phone system. It doesn't matter WHO screwed up, it could have been anyone (even you) and sucking it up to YOUR CUSTOMER who is GIVING YOU $$$$ should be standard. WTF. How hard is it to say "I'm sorry for your inconvenience"?Seriously?

Voting makes me think of Douglas Adams

Take me to your lizard…

(Context: Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are discussing the huge robot that just landed in downtown London, killing people, doing billions of dollars of damage—and announced ‘I come in peace, take me to your lizard’)

"…It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see…," said Ford.
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?" asked Arthur.
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don’t people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn’t occur to them," said Ford. "They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?" "What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I’ll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They’re completely and utterly wrong, but someone’s got to say it."
"But that’s terrible," said Arthur.
"Listen, bud," said Ford, "If I had one Altarian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say ‘That’s terrible’ I wouldn’t be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin. But I haven’t and I am."

Douglas Adams, So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

AJS's surprise birthday party!

AJS's birthday is Nov. 5th; we made plans on the 4th to go duckpin bowling with the kids and Kelly's family at some lanes in College Park. What I didn't tell him was that I invited all his other friends and made it a birthday party! It was great fun, and he was really surprised.

I was amazed that most of the folks that we invited joined us, which made it an especially nice party.














The shocker for me was that Dash is an extremely enthusiastic bowler.

Here's Dash and me getting ready to bowl:


















Then bowling (he did knock a few pins down!):












And this is me, clapping at his bowl, while he is off, already getting another ball:

The family at Rock n Romp Halloween

The family at Rock n Romp Halloween
Originally uploaded by nylonthread.

We all went to Rock n Romp's Halloween bash in Silver Spring last weekend. It took us about an hour to drive there, due to traffic and general distance and Rosie slept most of the way. Rosie had been very excited about the party, because she could wear her pretty "snow princess" costume and, because we are well aware of her aversion to masks (screaming uncontrollably), we tried to prepare her for the hard fact that people would probably also be wearing costumes. Kellygo took photos for me, so thankfully, I have all the costumes documented! THANKS Kelly! Thea is trying to cheer Rosie up by giving her an attractive spider ring! Notice that Rosie is NOT reaching for it...

Well she did just fine until she saw what was apparently the most scary costume at the party—A TACO. For the next 30 minutes until we left, she spent most of our time crying and screaming, renewed every time the Taco was in her line of sight.

The rest of us were having blast! Our friends were there, we were enjoying all the costumes, the music and the fun crowd. Dash (in the Dash Parr costume), really had fun! He was dancing and clapping with the music (esp. The Antiques' cover of "Ghostbusters").

We were pretty sad to have to leave, but Rosie was just freaking out towards the end. Dash was trying to comfort her, in this photo. On top of the Taco, she was also terrified of a little girl wearing a Superman mask. So after driving an hour, we spent 1/2 an hour at the party (planned to spend 2 to 3 hours) then drove for another hour home. :-(

storing a profile photo

storing a profile photo
Originally uploaded by nylonthread.

how can I get this on my blog profile? IE won't let me, but I'm trying, darn it.

OKAY!! I figured it out (with kellygo's help)! Hopefully it'll stay put now.

By the way...

I did not go pumpkin picking this Saturday. We stayed in until 11:30 a.m., then I returned clothes at stores (took over an hour of driving, parking, strollering to store, returning clothes, back to car, etc). I dropped the kiddiewinkies directly at their grandfamily's house (what Rosie calls my folks' place) and zipped back home to whirlwind-clean our place for what amounted to a dinner-party-book-group. It's really never anything less when AJS is cooking.

I had so much fun! All our friends who came over brought stuff, had a great time in the backyard with the nice weather and ate the yummy food.

I want to ride SOMETHING!

rosiendashonnahorsie
Originally uploaded by nylonthread.

Rosie likes to be non-specific when she makes requests. For example, if she wants Daddy to let her eat chocolates, she'll say, "I want somebody to give me something brown to eat!" So, when she told me "I want to ride something!" when we were out for a walk, I really didn't have a good reference for what she meant. This photo is what she meant.

Dashiell and his overalls

These overalls that Dash is wearing deserve a post. He received them as a gift for his first birthday from some long-time friends of ours, who knew about AJS's long-time obsession with monkeys; they also bought a Hawaiian shirt for Dash, which is another AJS trademark, so I was tickled by the fact that they remembered these facts about Dash's daddy and was satisfied with the nice gifts.

However, just last week, I was up-close and personal with these overalls while Dash was wearing them and noticed that the little embroidered monkeys had little embroidered bongos that had tiny little embroidered NAMES on them! The names are about 1/8" high, but they are there. They say "NICK" and "NORA". Nick and Nora are a reference to a married couple from a series of stories/movies called "The Thin Man". The original movie starred Robert Powell and Myrna Loy and was filmed in the 1940s, I think.

Anyway, to tie up this anecdote, here's the kicker: the original book entitled "The Thin Man" was written by Dashiell Hammett, a crime-fiction author whom Dash is named after. So, not only does this pair of overalls have his daddy's favorite monkeys on it, but it has a reference to his daddy's fave author as well!!!

This Saturday Looms...

I am suddenly a little leery of all that we have planned for this Saturday, which is creeping up on us. Not enough to cancel anything (yet) but circumspect. First, I'm taking the two wee ones to a farm destination to pick pumpkins around 10 a.m. I'm intimidated by this checklist on the Cox Farms website. It seems to assume that I am trying to lose my children? Next, several friends and their children will be coming over for our monthly book group meeting around 4. I'm hoping that AJS will have the food cooked and our place will be reasonably clean by then... And then! I asked a co-worker of mine to come by to hold down the fort in the evening, because we are planning to go to a party about 2 miles away that starts at 9 p.m. The kids usually are asleep by 8, so she should be just able to watch tv in a quiet house, right?

Man, wish me luck. I'm tired already just thinking about it.

photos from our end-of-summer beach trip

I took the kids to Rehoboth at the end of September along with my sister and dad. My dad was THRILLED to be introducing his adored (and only) grandson to the Atlantic, one of his great childhood loves. You can really feel the elation in this image of them both. However, Dash was a little circumspect about the crashing waves; he was a good sport, but it was hard to be sure whether he was enjoying himself.

Here's a photo that Auntie M. took of me and Dash, playing it cool.

And I can't leave without posting Auntie M. with Rosie and her freshly created unicorn, Vella (most creatively named by Rosie, herself). Vella was "born" at at Rehoboth store (most certainly a chain) called "Wacky Bear Factory". Woo.

yet another blog about the kids...

I have another webhost where I've been putting tidbits in about the kids, but I'm really not that thrilled with the look of it and find that, really, I'm getting 90-day notices that my site will be shut down instead of actually posting. So, here goes for actually posting. One of my plans is to move some of the info/photos over from that site and put them here. Because I've NEVER had a notice from Blogger that they are shutting my site down, and I have a couple of blog titles here that I haven't posted to in literally years (but can't bear to delete them).

Today is picture day at the childcare center and I spent a significant amount of energy this weekend (and need I say $$?) buying them clothes worthy of a professional photo shoot. The background for the photos is a academic-look, with dark wood, earthtones and leather-bound books. So, I bought them crazy-bright colored outfits with clashing patterns that have brown backgrounds. Hopefully, it will be cute. I took a pic with my camera this morning; maybe someone can help me decide whether the combo is adorable or vomit-inducing...

About vibrant neighborhoods...

Here is one of AJS's typical rants about DC complainers:

Well, that's the thing about living in a vibrant neighborhood.

You can't switch the vibrancy "off light" like a light switch. I think it's a riot that you have people moving into condos on 17th Street in Adams Morgan and they're shocked, shocked! to hear noise coming from nightclubs. Same with those who move into condos above K Street in Georgetown and complain that there's, like, this noisy freeway in their backyard and try and get it torn down. These people could move to a farm and complain that everything smells like manure.

9/18/2006 12:34:00 PM

I was working for a trade association near the World Bank in DC

When one of my coworkers told me that a plane had hit the WTC, my response was “You know, I just watched a documentary about air travel and they said that pilots rated the JFK airport in Manhattan as the scariest in the nation - someone probably missed the runway or something.” Obviously, I have no idea where things are in NYC. When the second plane hit, we were all just glued to the television, trying to absorb the info. I had the odd vision of how all the post-apocolyptic science fiction shows that I ever saw - you know the ones I mean, that have cityscapes with bombed-out skyscrapers and uninhabited tall metal buildings with holes in them—were wrong. When those buildings collaped, it was horrifying.

When the third plane hit the Pentagon, it was a shocker because my mom was working there that day!! I told a few co-workers who asked, “oh my god, are you freaking out?” But, strangely, I didn’t have any worried feelings about her: my immediate response was, “I really think she’s okay and just having the adventure of her life.” We all ran up to the roof to see the black smoke that was visible from our nine-story building.

After a while, management told us that we could go. Since I lived in the city, I offered to take two of my co-workers back to my house so they’d have a base until the Metro opened back up. As we were leaving the crazy building manager told us to stay in the building because the next step in the terrorist attack was going to be bio-warfare—they wanted everyone to be out in the streets! We ignored him, I retrieved my bike (I used to be able to bike to work; sigh), and we started toward my house. I must have had 5 or 6 people offer me cash for that bike while we walked!! All cars were at a standstill. Only pedestrians and cyclists were making any progress.
I finally heard from my husband around 11 a.m. —he worked near my parents’ house in NoVA and just decided to hang out there until things cooled off. I didn’t hear from my mom until around 3:30 p.m. She and a bunch of coworkers were in a training room when they heard a loud noise which they all assumed was a bomb. The lights went out and one guy (who has since received a medal) took charge and told them all to follow his voice and stay close to the floor. They eventually found their way, joining others along the way, to a Pentagon exit and decided to walk to the National Airport Metro because nobody really knew what was going on and of course the Pentagon Metro was closed.

When they arrived at the airport, of course the Metro was closed there too, and they had found out that it was a plane that had hit, not a bomb. They were all lost and confused about what to do next and how to get home, so a few folks wandered back out to the GW Parkway. A chartered coach bus stopped for them and asked if they needed help; after they told him where they had come from, he offered to drop each and every one of them off at their doors, no matter where they lived, at no charge. That’s why I didn’t hear from her until later.

My mom had a friend who left her purse in the room where the training was; she never was able to retrieve it. To this day, my mom wears her purse everywhere and doesn’t put it down unless she’s inside a house.

There have been a lot of memorials at the Pentagon over the last few days. I wish everyone who is still suffering from the effects of that catastrophic day can find peace.

Fate strikes again!

Happy birthday, Ms. Nylon! Here's your birthday horrorscope:
IF TUESDAY, JULY 18TH, IS YOUR BIRTHDAY

Be ready to move at a moment's notice because changes will happen so fast over the coming 12 months that if you are not on the ball someone else will get the benefit of opportunities that should have been yours. There won't be time to analyze the situation before making a decision. Think fast, act fast and, above all, be first.

Oddly enough, I just started a fast-paced job, so this horoscope is really hitting home...

Happy Birthday to "the Guv'nor"

Happy birthday to Dash! Cancer's Birthday Reading:

You'll do very well this year, speaking out to large groups of people. Be careful what you say. You might be elected into office.

Our FL trip, from the perspective of a baby carrier

Dash is at least 22 lbs now (1st birthday next week!) and I've got him in the hip carry position in my wrap. Earlier this month, we were traveling with the two kids and our flight was cancelled. While we waited over two hours for the airline to release our luggage (and gate-checked double-stroller!!), I carried my beefy little guy in the Maya wrap the whole time as he wanted to be bounced, rocked, or slept in it while we waited. We traveled from 9AM that day and didn't get home until 4AM the next morning. He was in the carrier for over five hours total that day. The only resultant issues on my part were heat rash all over my torso, due to an inadequate A/C system on the plane/airport and carrying a sleeping heat generator on my side (he's like his father -- as soon as he drops off, he starts to heat up and sweat). My back was just fine!! And the Maya wrap fabric is strong but very light -- it contributed very little to the heat issue. A great option that I discovered on my trip: using the wrap as a tether!! If you run the rings on the Maya wrap down the fabric so they snugly wrap around your child's torso, you can hold the end of the wrap and let your child toddle around without running off. Fabulous!

My oversized, puffed-up head (thanks to Kelly)

I just wanted to store this quote from Kelly somewhere, because I didn't want to lose it and this is a good a place as any. She just made my year with this one:

Ms. Nylonthread is the queen of seeing the bright-side without being cloying. She's the empress of the silver-lining reality check. She's the goddess of the good-time, and we're all so very lucky a Ms. Nylon exists. (Not that she doesn't have a dark side, too. His name is AJS.) (HA ha hahahahahaha!!)

About 1 child vs 2 (rose-colored glasses? check.)

I may be deluding myself, but I feel like I'm being a better parent with two, because I'm *not* totally focused and beamed in on Rosalie. I don't think she really benefitted from our parental-hovering-weirdness while she was the center of our world. We're a lot more relaxed about her going off on her own and don't freak out so much about the little stuff. (And she seems to have fewer long-lasting, screaming meltdowns now that she has to consider how they affect her darling Dash.) Sure, she gets less attention from us than she used to, but isn't that good preparation for how things are? Sharing, waiting your turn, playing nice with others, and delayed gratification are all necessary, valued habits that develop straight from having a sibling.

When do babies start entertaining themselves?

My friend Jeff's wife is expecting and told me that they weren't planning to arrange for daycare because his wife (who is a full-time, self-employed sculptor) works from home. Yikes! I had to call Kelly and tell her about this naive thought, so we could chuckle knowingly ;-). We once were that unaware ourselves!! Ah, those blissfully carefree days...

Kelly said she clearly remembers the day when I excitedly called her to tell her that I was doing dishes and *15 whole minutes* had passed before I noticed that Rosalie wasn't demanding my attention and I found her playing alone in her room! Our daughters are 1 year apart and Rosie had just turned two. At the time she was saying, thank god, it really does happen!

Mother's Day, revisited

Looking on the bright side of Mother's Day, which is worth it (not in any order):

1. I have a lovely new watch; a gift from AJS
2. Rosie made me a neckace and bracelet of multicolored beads that she insisted I wear all day (and proudly told everyone that she made them by herself)
3. Kelly bought me *LOTS* of plants and Rosie and I planted them
4. Dash danced to everything
5. We hung out with 5 wonderful friends and 4 of their kids, ate their food and made chocolate chip cookies
6. AJS makes me laugh
7. AJS made me a breakfast omelette and coffee
8. Rosie loved Kira's dress and did pirouettes in the grocery store because she felt pretty
9. Thea cheered up after sitting in my lap and hugging me for 5 minutes
10. AJS did a load of laundry, took the recycling out, and unloaded the dishwasher
11. Rosie and I baked muffins together while bread baked in the breadmaker
12. I read a few more chapters in a good book while Dash napped
13. I watched part one of Grey's Anatomy's season finale!
14. Dash loves everybody and gives them happy smiles
15. Rosie did her best to keep Dash from eating more than a small amount of Molly's cat's food
16. Thea, Mia, and Rosie had squealing good fun chasing each other around Molly's house and hiding from Todd under the furniture
17. Liam was so happy playing in Molly's lap that he looked like a caricature of a happy boy
18. Mark has awesome new knee-high leather and metal superhero boots
19. Rosie knows to say, "calm down, Daddy" and it works
20. AJS and I agreed that despite all this, Mother's Day isn't all it's cracked up to be, and should stay indoors when the next one comes around.

Rosie's first visit to the dentist

Rosie had her first dental appointment Friday morning and did great! Well, not at first, really, but eventually! We brought along a baby doll, which in retrospect was genius. All the tools were tested out on the doll first. Hah! Rosie was timid about the whole visit and I really did my best to smooth things over. When she didn't want to sit in the big exam chair, I offered to lie down myself and she could sit on me. She almost balked altogether at the cleaning until the hygeinist offered her a new Ariel toothbrush. Hooray! She let her brush her teeth with the Ariel toothbrush and the ice was broken! All tools were allowed in the mouth. It helped that Rosie could pick her favorite color (blue) from the plastic tips available, and her favorite flavor (purple grape) from the special toothpaste. Mr. Thirsty, a blue vacuum tool, was a subject of chatter for weeks afterward.

I think we were both put off by the singsongy voices that everyone in the office put on. It was annoyingly creepy to me, but I thought, well who knows, maybe they know what they're doing?Thank goodness we made it through and all 20 of her teeth are fine.

The good and the brain-dead

Well, Dash has been walking for almost two months now and he's getting really good at it! Which means that while he's still in the infant room at daycare, he looks and acts like a very short toddler (throwing off prospective families who tour the center). So, I talked with the center director and they'll be transitioning him to the toddler room on May 15th!

This center has only been operating for two years so far and they told me that, at 10 months, he is the youngest child in their history to move up so early. But everyone agrees that he's ready. His best friends are turning one and moving to the toddler room so we think he would be sad without them and bored with only babies around. Not to mention, such a mobile child could potentially be a hazard to really young babies (he's very sweet with them though).

On to the brain dead. I was putting away some winter woolens in our cedar closet that holds seasonal items and clothes for specialoccasions and came across something shocking. Taped to the plastic garment protectors that cover some of my most expensive evening dresses was -- get this—a beebee gun target. With holes shot through it. And holes shot through the plastic garment protectors. *&^@$#!! Ever since we moved from DC (guns illegal) to Virginia (guns legal) AJS has been buying, repairing, and eBaying beebee guns. So, he was testing one of them out and shot from across the basement into the cedar closet. He was NOT even thinking. Do guns make men turn into 10 year olds? AAAArrrgh! Luckily I don't think there's hardly any damage to the fabrics (many dents in vintage velvets), but OMG.

Backyard BBQ connections

It's funny what a small world it is -- yesterday at our bbq, two of my friends (in their early 40s) were/are both drummers in punk rock bands and they were bonding like schoolboys! I knew that they were both drummers in the back of my head somewhere, but I was compartmentalizing them (John= neighbor, builder, father of three; Todd= Kelly's husband, real estate assessor, father of two) and forgot to mention the important stuff when I introduced them: drumming.

It was a nice, relaxing, beautiful day. We were lying on the grass with the sun shining down and all our kids running circles around us.

At a springtime party

Dashiell had a great time at this party, which was a farewell for his little friend Luciano at daycare! That orange item in his hand is a carrot that he held for almost the entire event. There were many, many other kids there and even a moonbounce! Rosie was very leery of the moonbounce and only tried it once the other kids got tired and cleared out.

Dash loves Ms. Jacinta

Dashiell did the sweetest thing when his teacher, Ms. Jacinta, picked him up this morning. She was just lifting him up to eye-level, but he collapsed with his head on her shoulder and his arms around her neck. Then he lifted his head up to look her in the eye and collapsed into on her shoulder again. She practically teared up and asked, "Dashiell, are you giving me a hug?" I think that was just what he was doing!!

What a sweetheart.

Ms. Jacinta is also the teacher who nicknamed Dash "the guv'nor" because of the take-charge attitude he has in the Infant Room. Of course, he rules the place!

Storytelling skills in development

AJS was trying to convince Rosie that she needed a bath and told her that if she didn't let mommy wash her hair, then dirt and bugs would grow in it. So, then what happened? She was idly talking about her bath to her teachers the next day and I get a call. Apparently, Rosie said that she had a bath because she "had bugs in her hair" and when the teachers asked her if her daddy used "special shampoo," of course she said yes! Ah, lice scares. A laugh riot.

Yesterday on the ride home, I had a headache and mentioned it (cuz Rosie was talking non-stop and kept asking for things). So then, Rosie said she had a headache and "I need to hold my head so it doesn't crack open and the bleed will get everywhere all over the car." Yikes! I blame AJS for his very descriptive reasoning for not running out in front of cars, i.e. "the cars are TRYING to hit you, so if you see one, get far out of its way." The imagination on these kids --- wow.

Nine Month Checkup

Dashiell's nine-month checkup was last Wednesday, on March 22. It was a quick one, since Dash is hitting all the milestones way ahead of time. He weighed in at 19.5 lbs and hit 25th percentile for weight and height and his head circumference was 35 cm, or 50th percentile (big head!). He had one shot in the thigh (waaaah!) and when I told the doc that he was eating homemade foods, he immediately ordered an anemia test (?!? no confidence in my cooking?). I also told his doc that I was a little concerned that Dash has been gagging on solid-solids, only eating soft purees and he recommended an Occupational Therapist. So, since that sounded a little overboard to me, I sat him down with some chopped spaghetti, cheerios, crumbled muffin, and chopped canteloupe and watched him carefully. He did great!! One less thing to worry about.

DASH IS WALKING!!

He took his first steps at daycare today (March 10th) and walked to me when I picked him up! Now the real bruises and bumps start and I guess we're going shopping for some Stride Rite hard-bottom shoes this weekend... I can hardly believe that he's walking so early—he's only 8.5 months.

Party disaster

We took the kids to an adult party in Baltimore last weekend celebrating my friends' 15th anniversary. They have 2 large dogs, no kids, and mine were the ONLY children there, since the party started at 7:30 p.m. (or maybe, nobody else was a parent...). Later on I was feeling pretty good because it was past 9, the kids weren't crying and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was wearing Dash in a sling and basking in all the partygoers who came by to coo over him.

Meanwhile, AJS and Rosie were off entertaining themselves the whole time (they are a pair of non-joiners) when Rosie threw up all over the stage they were playing on (it was in a warehouse space for an artists' gallery). AJS said she'd been eating lots of potato chips and he was spinning her around to ring-around-the-rosy.

I apologized profusely to our hosts and we practically ran out of there. It wasn't until we were almost on the highway headed south back to Virginia that I stopped to think that it would have been civilized to offer to clean it up... Yeesh.

Making baby food

I've been pretty excited about how making Dash's food is going! (Especially since I hardly ever cook.) We're hardly using the jar stuff that we bought anymore—it's like emergency food now. I've been making big batches of food on the weekend, then freezing it and portioning it out during the week. I made a "chicken casserole" for him yesterday that he loved. I also made a pear and prune puree for his breakfast. There's a sweet potato/broccoli/carrot medley that I'm going to try next and maybe some beef, too.

These are the purees I've made so far:

1. butternut squash and pear (gone)
2. fish and veggies (gone)
3. potatoes and spinach
4. red lentils
5. chicken and veggies
6. pear and prune

Again, with the cuteness

Rosie has been roughhousing with Dash a little more than usual, but it seems to be more about her wanting him to interact with her. Like, he might be playing with a toy by himself and she wants him to play with her, so she'll knock the toy out of his hands and yank him around into the position she wants him to be in. He's usually not too happy about it. She will also playfully knock him on his back and push on him to try to roll him (singing "rolly-poly!"), and I get upset if she's pushing directly on his belly, but that's fairly benign. I'll be keeping my eye out for anything more aggressive.

Many times, though, Rosie will be doing her own thing, walking around, and sweet little Dash will just follow her! She goes into her room, he's crawling along behind her. It's awfully cute. This past weekend, we had to break out the gate for the bottom of the stairs—Rosie taught Dash how to climb! He was as usual following her around and she started up the stairs, saying, "c'mon Dash!" And as we were watching he made it up two steps! Before then, he was only pulling up on the bottom stair. Our little guy is getting into everything—his other favorite thing now is opening and closing doors and cabinets.

Valentine's Day didn't go as expected...

It was Valentine's Day and I took the day off work with reservations at a spa for a full Day Of Beauty. I had the whole day, so I scheduled a massage, a MUCH-needed haircut, manicure, and pedicure at a trendy Mazza Gallery salon I hadn't been to since before Rosie was born. Just as I was leaving the house, trying to figure out the best route to take from Alexandria to Upper NW DC, I got a phone call from daycare that Dash, has blood in his stool. YIKES!?! I cancelled everything, breathlessly sped to him at 80mph. His freaked-out teachers had saved the diaper for me to take to his doctor; it really didn't look like blood to me—it was reddish-purple—but they insisted that I take him.

We get an appointment about 2 hours later (the ped's office was closed for lunch) and I was informed that it was not blood; the purple BM resulted from Omnicef, a strawberry-flavored anibiotic, that he was taking for an ear infection. AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH. I got a note, whisked him back to daycare and wasn't able to salvage the ruin of my day off. I really needed that haircut! But, I was thankful that my son was healthy (clenching teeth).

Standing unsupported

AJS was videotaping Dash while he was crawling on top of him yesterday (his videos are usually very close-up, complete with little hands grabbing at the lens), and told me that Dash let go of him and stood unsupported for about 15 seconds on tape! Of course, when he tried to show me the footage, he couldn't find it, but WOW!!

I haven't seen him standing, but know that Dash has been very busy with pulling up on everything and cruising around the coffee table and the couches. He also pushes a wheeled toy around while walking behind it very well (if it starts to move too fast away from him, he stops and pulls it back in using his arm/upper-body strength). The daycare teachers tell us that he is pushing the cribs around in the nursery along with the big kids.

I got that baby-tether back from Kelly over the weekend. We may need it any day now!

Chinatown Plushies

We saw the Chinese New Year parade this weekend. Rosie was so excited to see the parade that it was all she was talking about all morning. However, the parade designers decided that for this year's parade they would have the entire Chinese Zodiac represented. As soon as those people (plushies?) dressed in full-body animal costumes came close she was screaming to get down off AJS's shoulders and get away from them. AJS was bruised for weeks from the heel-kicks. She was okay with the dragon dance once I explained it to her—when there was a story involved (dragon chasing sun, wants to eat it, drums beating to scare dragon away), she was able to enjoy it. Dashiell just took it all in from his stroller.

Hooray for purees

I've been experimenting with making my own baby food for Dashiell. After a rough start (with lots of gagging and puking), Dashiell has started to enjoy my cooking! His first hated food was my sweet potatoes, then the awful avocado, then the too-thick fish-veggie combo. He enjoyed the butternut squash/peach combo from the start (thank goodness, because I made A LOT!). And he really likes any kind of fruit, especially applesauce, banana, mango or pear. This weekend, I tried another recipe with potatoes and spinach and glory be, he ate it! Last night, I revisited the fish puree and found that it really was too thick so I heated it, added some liquid, then pureed it some more and he finally found it swallowable. Whew. We need to work in some thicker foods but he seems to be showing resistance to textures right now. Hopefully he'll be interested soon enough.

Rosie loves Dash

So far, Rosie has ADORED Dash from when she first saw him in the hospital. It's just the cutest thing ever. She forgives him immediately for yanking her hair and gently chastizes him for playing with her toys (and will hand him one of his toys instead). Her favorite thing to do with him is to "make Dash happy" which is to get in his face and imitate me making goo-goo noises at him. Hilarious to hear my nonsense words coming out in her high-pitched voice! There's been a few times when Rosie was "giving" Dash his toys and being too enthusiastic about it. She'd be throwing them in his direction without looking and winged him in the head. I *know* she was just trying to help, so I tried not to be TOO angry when I yelled/explained that she needs to be careful around her brother. They have to learn somehow, you know? It's not all sweetness and light, but I'm just doing my best to show them how to be good siblings to each other.

Cruising!

We saw this past Sunday, on Kelly's birthday, that Dash is "cruising"—he pulled himself up to the seat of a child's plastic chair and then walked with it as he pushed it. We were all kind of stunned, while he was screaming with excitement, grinning like crazy!

I'm torn between being excited that he's growing and doing so many things and wanting him to stay little and cuddly. Lately, when I pick him up to hug him, he just twists and twists as I'm walking so he won't miss out on anything that he could possibly be seeing. I've been holding him close with one hand around the back of his head so he'll stay still and I can get a good cuddle in.

Dash vs. Lanna at seven months

My parents had a photography studio take a triptych of photos of me when I was seven months old. About a month ago, Auntie M. was looking at this the triptych and asked our dad, "where did you get those photos of Dash?" and she was serious! It took a bit of convincing to get her to believe they were pics of me. This experience inspired me to have a professional try to recreate the triptych with Dashiell, since he's pretty much the same age right now. Here are the photos of me:

Even though Dash had a bruise on his forehead the day of the shoot, the photographers went ahead and took photos -- they said, "it's okay, we have Photoshop!" Which is really giving Photoshop a lot of credit IMO, but I hope they know what they're doing. It was a light-purple and yellowish blotch on his left upper forhead. It's more greenish today. Here is how the proofs looked:

An additional pose we tried was to a "Lou Reed" homage portrait -- a friend of ours gave us a velvet underground banana shirt for Dash and put on a pair of Rosie's sunglasses, so he was "waiting for his man" with a grungy step ladder they had in the studio. I thought it was so cute!!

Fatboy!

Dashiell's six-month checkup was January 12th (yes, I know he was actually seven months) and he is now just a few oz shy of 18 lbs and is 26 inches (50th percentiles)! Quite the solid little guy. His head circumference got 75th percentile, but I can't recall the exact measurement. AJS's favorite nickname for him now is "fatboy"! The doc didn't have much to say, since things are going pretty well and we're hitting milestones, etc. He didn't get his shots because he had a temp (99.6 degrees), had a nasty cough, and a goopy runny nose.

While I had him at home this morning, despite being under the weather he was crawling around like a little crab and pulling up on everything—the couch, bookshelves, entertainment center, laundry baskets, me, his sister, you name it. They tell me at daycare he's always in the middle of the action when the other kids are off getting into stuff AND has been pulling up on cribs and pushing them around (they are on castors and a linoleum floor). I'm amazed that he's doing so much!

The night before his appointment, he woke up around 2 a.m. and just didn't want to go back to sleep. It seemed like he was really interested in trying out his new skill: he pulls himself up to his feet in the crib, lets go with one hand, pivots carefully, then sits down and starts over. Whew. And Mommy had to be watching, because if I left him alone, he would start crying again. After about 4 visits like this, I finally just let him cry himself to sleep and I really have no idea what time that was, but he was back up at 5 a.m. Thank goodness that doesn't happen often!

Life in the String household

Well, my lifestyle has shifted since we have two kids. I do so much housework it's like I'm a fiend, but I can't ever get the big stuff done. As soon as we're home from work, I run to the dishwasher and unload/load it, then run to the laundry machine and unload/load it, and by that time it's time to have dinner, so I feed myself and the kids, clean up after dinner, put dirty dishes in and run the dishwasher, then run downstairs and turn on the laundry, then fold clothes while I watch one episode of Dora the Explorer with Rosie. Then I give Dash a bottle, change his diaper/pajamas and put him to bed while AJS puts Rosie to bed. I might have time to read a little or watch one TV show before I go to bed.

The mornings are a flurry of getting everything loaded in the car for daycare, dressing everyone, feeding the kids and the bird, and getting on the road. Am I the most boring person ever? We only socialize with other people who have kids now and a girlfriend and I were celebrating when another couple we know told us they were expecting (they're "in the club").

Diaper rash & first tooth

The amoxicillin has given Dash a raging rash. A girlfriend suggested that I try Burt's Bees diaper ointment, and since I had a tube, I tried it. The herbal smell was so strong that I decided to stick with the Boudreau's Butt Paste that we normally use. If it's still bad in a day or so I'll try pure zinc.

The poor little guy has been screaming bloody murder & some diaper changes require both AJS and I holding him down and he still manages to almost wrestle himself off the table along with the diaper, the changing mat, and anything else he can reach with his feet and hands. He's torn the edging off of the window screen. The changes are taking 3 or 4 times as long with having to retrieve everything on the floor, trying not to get kicked or punched in the face, and attempting to cover his rash with ointment.

He's also cutting his first tooth! I've been attributing the diaper rash to the amoxicillin, but would cutting a tooth have anything to do with it? I've been giving him Tylenol all weekend, because he seems like he's in so much pain.

Sickie & more on starting to sign

After just one day of amoxicillin, Dash was up to his usual hightened cheerfulness!! When I got to daycare yesterday afternoon, I was wearing a leather jacket and his socks were off—I picked him up and those sticky little feet of his started climbing my coat. I wasn't prepared, but managed to keep hold of him before he was up to my neck. So active!

With the signing, I noticed parents & kids using it when Rosie was in early daycare and bought a set of flashcards. We didn't really try to sign with Rosie, though; the flashcards disappeared (behind a dresser) and re-emerged after she was getting pretty verbal. I dug them out again when Dash was a newborn and looked for signs that I wanted to start with.

I've been trying out: milk, more, food, all done. Next, I'm planning to add mommy & daddy. There is a workshop I'd like to try for teaching your baby to sign and is just on a weekend morning. More info is at http://www.tinyfingers.com/ .

Ballerina gift

On a very sweet note, Rosie got a wonderful Xmas gift of a pretty wooden cut-out of a ballerina (painted nicely) with metal dots in strategic places, a stand, and a selection of multi-colored *magnetic* tutus, pointe shoes, and tiaras. It's a fantastic gift for a little girl!! She was playing with the ballerina last night and I heard her say my name. When I responded, she said, "no Mommy, my ballerina's name is Alanna!"

I got kind of choked up... I mean, who didn't ever want to be a pretty ballerina?

Homemade baby food, need to get on it!

I was pretty successful making Rosie's baby food; she was especially fond of the sweet potatoes. I just baked them till they're soft, mashed them well with fork or masher, and strained them. One thing that was a big no-no was to put the sweet potatoes in a food processor or a blender because the fiber would combine to make a glue.

My book recommended processing most of the foods with a device called a "Mouli" which we went ahead and bought back in 2003—it grinds the food fairly gently. I lent it to a few friends after Rosie phased out of the purees and now I have it back. I have a veggie medley recipe that we used until Rosie got sick of it at 8 or 9 months. It was a combo of sweet potato, carrot, and broccoli.

So, I've got my Mouli and I have a potato ricer, so I need to start making baby food for Dash already, darn it.

1st ear infection & starting to sign!

Well, it's certain. Dash has his first ear infection. He had a fever yesterday, was sleeping quite a bit through the day, and the daycare ladies told me that he cried every time they tried to put him down, so I suspected.

Also, an interesting development: last week, I was feeding Dash some green beans and would occasionally stop to make the =more= sign and ask "more?" One of the times I stopped, he CLEARLY made the =milk= sign more than once, so I quickly mixed a bottle and he happily slurped it down!! He's made the =milk= sign several times since then and I try to follow up ASAP to let him know that he's communicating.

We dropped his mattress down, too, because he's been pulling up to his knees and on one occasion, to his feet!

Xmas 2005, glad it's over

Our Christmas started out hectic, but as soon as we left the house it got better. AJS even threatened to stay at home while he sent the rest of us off to my parents' because we were getting so stressed out. AJS HATES, hates to be late.

We were planning on getting to my parents' by around 10 a.m., but didn't arrive till 11:45 because, I don't know, it was just difficult to wrangle all the gifts, the kids and all the gear you need to spend the day somewhere else. AJS was handling the kids while I did EVERYTHING ELSE. And, it seemed that as soon as I started one thing, he would yell about something, so I'd drop what I was doing and start something else, and so all my stuff was in half-finished pieces all over the house. I wrapped/labeled all the gifts, fed and dressed the kids, got all of Dash's food & bottles packed up, re-dressed Rosie because she had a potty accident, somehow managed to shower and put on makeup while Dash napped, packed up all of the spare clothes and gear in case of more accidents, fed the bird, and on and on until I was about to cry.

I told AJS that it would all be just fine as soon as we were in the car and on our way, and sure enough, it was!! The kids were so cute all day. I already got all the gifts I wanted ahead of time, so I wasn't expecting anything. The kids got plenty of gifts and I hope my family was happy with what we gave them. I'm kind of glad it's over, you know? There are so many expectations about this holiday and stress and disappointment involved when expectations are unfulfilled.

Slept through the night!!

Dash didn't wake up ONCE last night!! He SLEPT THROUGH 10 HOURS straight!!! That's a major first for us. I had to wake him up to feed him this morning. He must have really needed his sleep. And TMI: The poor guy woke up this morning without any nostrils—they were caked over with snot! Ewwww. Seems like lots of kids are getting colds around this time of year.

Struggling with pregnancy weight

I keep trying on my size 4 clothes, hoping that maybe, miraculously during the night, the weight redistributed or something. Even this morning! Like a pollyanna, I put on a size 4 skirt that still has at least 2–3 inches before it will zip up. However, I did manage to—very tightly, with jumping—fit into my Old Navy size 6 stretch jeans!!

I don't know what size I'm at right now—it's probably between an 8 and 10. Most of my work clothes are between size 2 and 6, but I'm managing it somehow (elastic waists!). I can't fit in some of my suitjackets because my upper arms are too thick.

Okay, blah, blah, whine, whine. I'm joining the gym today! Since I wasn't going while pregnant, I cancelled my old membership. There's a gym at my new office that's only$18/month and that just can't be beat (my old one was $60/month). The trick is that you have to work in the building.

YES!! That's the stuff.

Last night, I fed Dash some peas and at the first mouthful, he threw his arms up in the air and waved them around, like, "YES!!" and continued to throw his arms up for the next few spoonsful. I guess I *was* taking a bit long to phase in vegetables... LOL

And, over the weekend, AJS was holding Dash so Rosie could play "doctor," giving Dash "medicine" with a little spoon. An empty spoon. The poor darling was leaning forward with an open mouth for the spoon and then looked so bewildered and disappointed when there was no food in it that I laughed so hard I was crying!! Ah, we should have had the vidcam out.

Dash is weaned; a rant at boob-nazis

For good or bad, 50% of mothers in the United States today begin formula feeding at their child's birth, and by 6 months, 70% are formula feeding. If your child is nursing at six months or nine months or even a year, big CONGRATULATIONS!! are due both of you. You are in a small group of 30% who are able to keep breastfeeding going in the U.S.

My decision to wean my son and switch to formula was NOT lightly made. My daughter was exclusively breastfed until she was nine months, and I found that it was an easy transition. However, with Dash, it really was a struggle to produce enough milk to keep up with his demand. I was working and pumping in both cases, so I don't know what changed (my age?). So this time, I altered my diet, I took vitamin supplements, I took galactagoges, I had consultations with lactation consultants, I spoke with and emailed La Leche League representatives but despite all my efforts, my supply kept dropping.

There were also nosy people in my office who asked me once or twice a week, "so how long are you going to be pumping?" or "you've really been at that pump long enough, don't you think?" Comments like this really stressed me out. Also, Dash was getting bottles all day at daycare, so when we swiched to the boob at home, it wasn't always his favorite thing, which was stressful for both of us. When Dash was five months old, in a 10-hour period I only expressed 5 ounces at work, and I knew that was it for me; it wasn't even enough to fill one bottle and he was taking 4 to 5 bottles a day. I did some informed research and found what I decided was the best formula to start him on. He still nursed upon waking and before bed until right before he reached 6 months, then he rejected nursing entirely and I gave it up. I WISH we were still breastfeeding. It was so convenient, a wonderful way to bond, and inexpensive. But it didn't work out like it did with my daughter.

Moms, please, let's attempt to be supportive of all the hard decisions that we make as moms! Parenting is hard enough without being attacked your peers.

Let's start babyproofing...

Lately, Dash has been very busy experimenting with different ways to move around. He pivots around on the floor, with some forward scooting; he rocks back and forth on his knees, sort of pre-crawling moves; he's been "swimming" on his belly, which is a full-arm waving and kicking move while balancing on his belly; he jumps and bangs his arms while in his saucer; jumps and dances while we hold him; and jumps and spins in his johnny-jump-up. He loves to find/go after a toy, bang it around, and then throw it; or alternately, chew on it for a while. All this busy, active behavior is very different from Rosie's. I remember that I was worried if she'd ever learn to jump... to this day, she's not much of a jumper, she never throws things, and is more of a thinker/observer than a doer. I guess we need to get busy babyproofing the house (we really didn't need to with Rosie)!!

Liam's birthday!

Liam, Thea's brother, was born on November 18, 2005! He was 8 lbs-14.7oz, quite a big boy. We are all so happy to welcome him to the world. YAY! Congratulations to Kelly and Todd!!

While their family was recovering in the hospital, I got a new tattoo the very next day! Here's a photo of my tattoo design, which was inked on my right calf:

Rosie's three!

Rosie's birthday is today, and what did we do to celebrate? We took her to a cemetery, of course! Well, that's not exactly what was planned for her specifically, but she takes a great photo in one!

We are in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown. AJS's ancestor, RAdm Cornelius K. S...g is buried here and I was taking photos of his memorial for the S...g geneology group. AJS and the RAdm are 1st cousins, five times removed.

Rosie's 3rd birthday party

Rosie and AJS have birthdays that fall very closely, so for the last two birthdays, we've had a joint party for them, my darling Scorpios. We had a yummy chocolate cake and a tiara for the birthday girl. The boys in the picture are Nick D., Nick H., and Thomas D., neighbors of ours.



Coincidentally, both Rosie and Thea were dressed in Chinese silk that day! They looked fabulous, if not too happy.

Four month checkup!

Dashiell's getting so big! He went to his 4 month checkup last week and weighed in at 13 lbs-12 oz (25th %ile) and is in the 75th %-le for length. He impressed his Doctor with his hand-eye coordination by ripping her glasses off when she leaned over to check out his ear. He's doing very well and based on the doc's recommendation, we started him on solids last weekend.

Yesterday was the Fall Festival at the childcare center and I volunteered to do facepainting on the kids. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, otherwise I would post some cute pics of Rosie with a ladybug on her cheek. I do have some photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes, however.

TBA is on his way!

Kelly's baby shower was so much fun! The part that tickled me the most was that her family was late, because they had the time wrong. Bob gave them a call and found they were just hanging out, waiting for Thea to finish her nap, not realizing we were already there, ready to party. Daria had a fabulous spread and set up activities for all of us and the kids. We made iron-on onesies for TBA and used fabric paint to fancy them up.


I think all the kids had a fun time, too!

Rosie was painting while Dash tried different fingers to chew, good times for all.

Checking in on Dash

Hi Dash! It's Mommy.

You're almost four months old! So far this month, we traveled by plane to Connecticut on Oct. 7, your first plane trip! You did great. You were a perfect traveler on the flight out, but cried some on the flight back (my ears were popping, too, so I think the 2nd plane flew much higher than the 1st). We traveled with your sister Rosie, your Auntie M, and your Grandaddy Jim and spent most of your time in my lap (although your Grandaddy was holding you a lot, too). AJS stayed home to take care of Weegee and visit with his friend, Alan. Grandma needed to watch Grandaddy's bird, Groucho, as well as Auntie's cats, Riijah and Zita.

All of your relatives were very happy to meet you! We were visiting to celebrate your first-cousin-once-removed Eric's wedding to Sandra. We spend most of our time visiting with your great-aunt Judy, great-uncle Bill, and your other FCOR Chris. At the wedding reception, you were quite the popular little gentleman with the older ladies! Your FCOR Teressa held you the longest, along with many other relatives. You showed everyone how you like to try to talk, stand up, and smile all the time.

You love to flip over on your belly and grab onto toys and fingers. Lately, you're trying to do a sort-of crawl, which is like an inchworm: up on the elbows, butt up, scoot forward on the knees, and push the elbows forward. You're moving around more that I'd like at four months with that maneuver! You're sleeping on your belly and getting much better at keeping your pacifier in your mouth. Your daddy and I think you're a sweet, happy, good-natured little guy.

Love you!
Mommy

Dash, Rosie, and I flew to Connecticut with his Auntie M. and Granddaddy Jim for my cousin Eric's wedding reception over the Columbus Day weekend. They did really well on the flights, although I don't think Rosie liked the security at the airport much -- those conveyor belts and metal scanners were scary. Dash was very popular with my relatives and was passed around to most all the ladies! I'm glad that Rosie has been able to visit with my side of the family, if only once a year. It's nice to know your relatives. I hope we'll be able to continue visiting with Dash, too. Rosie and he have a couple of 2nd cousins that are close to their ages. I know I couldn't have done it without Auntie M.and Dad there to help -- thanks so much to you both!

Why Dashiell?

For those of you who don't know this story, I'll let you in on how we picked the name Dashiell. Foremost, we were looking for a relatively unusual name that had some meaning to either of us. Dashiell made the short list, being the name of a crime-fiction writer whose work AJS enjoys, Dashiell Hammett (writer of "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man"). Some other names we were considering were: Orson, Jasper, Harold, Ronin, Riordan, Kane, or Vaughn.

Anyway, one evening, AJS brought home a DVD of "The Incredibles," the animated Disney/Pixar movie, and while we were watching it, the mom says to the son, "Dashiell Robert Parr, you are an incredibly competitive boy. And a bit of a showoff. The last thing you need is temptation." And we both looked at each other and said, "that's it! His name is Dashiell!"

Dash:me, Rosie:AJS, assigned

AJS and I have pretty much been working things out so that I'm Dash's primary parent and he is Rosie's primary parent, on the occasions that we need to separate and neither of us are willing to take on both kids. It's working all right, except for when AJS needs to hold Dash, Rosie gets very jealous and wants him to hold her, too. This weekend, I took a yoga class at Pure Prana Yoga Studio and my mom watched Dash; AJS took Rosie to his mom's. He told me that she was crying for her brother all morning. How sweet! It's my dad's birthday today. Happy birthday Dad!

Dash & Jack: BFF?

Yesterday, Dashiell and I met the newest baby on the block, Jack Alexander! What a cutie. He was born August 31, and is just about the same size that Dashiell was. Jack has two older brothers, but we hope these two will be fast friends as they grow up together, two months apart in age. Jack lives about 5 doors down from us, and his next-oldest brother is close to Rosalie's age (although he's got wayyyy more energy than she does). Congratulations to Kurt and Leslie!

Alexandria's Irish Festival

A Washington Post photographer took a photo of AJS with Rosie! The four of us met Grandaddy Jim at Alexandria's Irish Festival in early August. I was carrying a sleeping Dash in a sling while AJS gave Rosie a better view of the Irish dancers by letting her sit on his shoulders. For hours afterward, Rosie kept talking about the dresses the dancers were wearing -- so pretty! Of course she wanted us to go out and buy her one right then...but only dancing girls wear those types of dresses, Rosie.

Baby Dashiell, born June 22, 2005!

Dashiell James was born on June 22, 2005, on a full moon and the first day of Cancer. The moon was a bright orange color and was strange-looking on our 15-minute drive to the hospital. After six hours of unmedicated labor (two of them in the hospital) and 35 minutes of pushing, he quickly came into the world at 5:23 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and had an Apgar score of 9! He was very vigorous, punching at the neonatal nurses, and when he was brought back to me, he latched on firmly and had his first meal. His big sister, Rosie, wanted to hold him when she came to visit and did a superb job of it. She just got very upset when the nurse came in to take "her" baby away for tests! She continues to adore him and is a wonderful big sister.

We were in the hospital for two days and then I came home with him for eight weeks before I went back to work. His Auntie M. was a great help! She came over almost every day and held Dashiell and helped me do chores around the house. We took Dashiell on walks and to my chiropractor visits (my back went out of alignment during his birth) and even took him to the pool! He went to Ethan V's third birthday party at four weeks old, and to Keri B's PhD party at six weeks. His own debut party was August 13th, 2005 and we celebrated with lots of AJS's barbecue and many guests.

Since he started at his childcare center, he has learned to flip over onto his belly (at eight weeks!) and has been laughing. He is a happy boy who smiles and coos often. We love him very much!

Phone call to Auntie M

From Auntie M:

Last night when I talked to Rosie on speaker phone, she told me "Rodie's eating." She sang itsy-bitsy spider and twinkle twinkle little star for me. I told her I wasn't feeling well (tooth) and she wanted me to go back to sleep. She picked up the phone so she could say a special "bye bye auntie."

She is very sweet!

Rosie's reading list

Along with the princesses books Rosie likes, AJS and I dug up some of our favorites from when we were tykes such as "Miss Suzy" (a story about a squirrel who gets kicked out of her tree house by a gang of nasty squirrels—mine) and "Too Much Noise" (a story about an old man who complains, but gains perspective through wise advice—AJS's). She's been watching favorite Disney/Pixar movies like Beauty & the Beast frequently, but also likes Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, Peter Pan, and also a good find: Schoolhouse Rock. My mom plays her Barney & Little People videos while she visits at my parents' house.

She's a real chatterbox with us and at daycare, but I noticed when I spent Thanksgiving at my parents', she is very quiet and focused with them. I think they are so attentive to her every need that she doesn't feel it's necessary to vocalize over there? She spends a few hours with them every weekend.

Thank you, Auntie M. & Kelly

I told AJS about my pregnancy last night and AJS didn't take it too well. Okay, he said he felt like he was about to throw up.

Auntie M sized up the situation this way:

"AJS will come around. He was so scared before, remember? He's just a grumbler by nature, so he needs his grumbling space. And he's such a good daddy. Rosie will love a sibling!"

Here's Kelly's take:

"I was really hoping AJS would keep his sh*t together, especially since this can't come as a complete surprise (hm?) and since Rosie is just about the cutest, sweetest, most charming bundle of 2-year-old EVER. But it is a big thing, a big wonderful thing, but yes, a big thing."

So empathetic

So, we were driving with Rosie when AJS started to go of on some rant about how he's "doomed" and "a failure" and "everything he touches turns to crap" (I understand this is verbatim from his father's rants).

From the backseat, sweet little Rosie held her arm out toward him and said,

"Calm down, dad-dee!"

What a little darling! He forgot what he was saying immediately and thanked her for calming him down.