Rosie and Dash's Great-Great-Grandparents

Mariah Havens Daley and her husband Owen Daley are pictured here in this photo taken circa 1890(?). James and Bridget Daly emigrated from Ireland's County Westmeath in 1872 with their 15 children (including Owen) and settled in central Connecticut. Owen's son Edward is Rosie and Dash's great-grandfather, and father of Granddaddy Jim.

When I traveled to Ireland with Jim and Auntie M. in 1999 on a cycling tour of the southwestern coast, we took a side trip and did a bit of family history research. We actually met up with some Havens and Daly relations!

Here is another photo of Mariah Daley, later in life (the handwritten date on the photo's margin says 1922-3):

Dash loves Boo, too

This post is just a cute vignette, to get my mind off the more serious worldly (and personal) matters.

Back when we saw Pixar's Monsters, Inc. for the first time in 2003, we were amazed at how much Rosie looked like Boo. She noticed right away, too, asking, "Where'd the Rodie go?" (her name for herself) whenever Boo went hiding in the movie. So we bought her a Boo doll, which was quite a hit for her. For a while anyway; she got her face crayoned, like most of Rosie's dolls (and lately the furniture in her room: she is making it "beautiful" with colored markers and who am I to curb her urge to creatively decorate, as long as it's not an item I care about. But I digress.)

That Boo doll now lives in Dash's crib. He loves her. He carries her around and covers her in blankets (just as he sees Rosie do with her dolls). All his other favorite toys are birds (like our parrot?), but my theory on why Boo is one of the most precious of his toys is that it looks like his beloved big sister, Djo-Djo. (His pronounciation changes daily, that's the latest.)

A note from daycare

I love the messages we get from Dash's teacher Ewa at the bottom of his daily sheet. Here was today's:

"Hello Mommy and Daddy. Today NO! is my favorite word. I've been establishing my independence by playfully running away from my teachers when they ask me to do something. I am showing that I am very close to age 2!"

It's going to happen. This Sunday. I mean it.

On April 22, Earth Day 2007, we will have our playset assembled. Dammit.

A recap: our swingset was delivered on April 2nd, and we invited many of our friends over to have a playdate & assembly party for that Sunday, April 8th. And, I know, I could pay someone to do it for us or I could drop the kids with my parents and AJS and I could make a valiant attempt to do it ourselves, but some of the folks we know have powertools and WANT to use them!

The kicker is that the instructions require several tools that I don't own and the online description of two hours for assembly was off by four to ten hours. The printed instructions say "assembly will take two people 6 to 12 hours, depending on experience". THAT'S what made me call in the troops.

So, Sunday April 8th, it snowed. SNOWED! We still had everyone over. It was a fun time, AJS grilled burgers and we had an egg hunt for the kids. But nobody wanted to be outside building anything; it was just too wet and cold. Last weekend, we invited fewer friends over, but had to call it off again because very, very early Saturday morning, AJS came down with a nasty stomach bug.

I'm making the calls today. We will do this! By the end of this weekend, there will be swings, ladders, and a slide in our yard!!

Picture Day Today!

Today was yet another picture day at daycare. I picked out outfits for Rosie and Dash the night before (it was important to get prior approval from Rosie, to avoid the usual morning's outfit struggle), and even performed a hasty haircut on Dash in the bathtub. I hope the cut looks okay in the photos—it was a bit choppy. For the past year or so, I am the only one in the household who pays for a haircut. I've been cutting everyone else's, without any training I might add.

Rosie is wearing a cute top that I love (brown cotton with a pink panel and a profusion of glittery, faceted rhinestones) and gray swing pants also with rhinestones (both a gift from Auntie M.), and Dash is wearing a rugby shirt with wide white, green, and brown stripes and brown plaid pants. I'm counting on them having a photo together!

Anyway, when we saw Rosie's teacher for the first time this morning, she asked me, "It's picture day today; is Rosie wearing that?" Not a glowing reaction. However, when the next child arrived, she gushed and went on and on about how cute, how ADORABLE, the child looked in HER special picture day outfit. I had to look. It was a white t-shirt and a plain, black leather vest with denim jeans. I don't get it? Best I figure is that she was trying to bolster the child's self-esteem?

Reading about Virginia Tech...

I'm horrified and at a loss of words regarding the shooting deaths of the 33 students and teachers at Virginia Tech; I'm also with this commenter from the Situation Room blog on CNN:

Gun control laws aren't the problem. Please tell me, what's the current ideal body count to get CNN's patented 24-hour Bloodstained Hallway Coverage? Dead-end, no-life psychos all over America will want to be sure they've murdered enough innocent people to have their death in a hail of police gunfire properly glamorized. - Dave, Ontario

I don't know why yesterday's shooter did what he did. I'm more than a little worried that this guy is right in accusing the media of glamorizing the horror, encouraging others to join the fray. Look, do this and you'll get on TV!!

A note: AJS just told me that a woman he used to work with was the mother of one of the female students killed at Virginia Tech. My heart goes out to her.

Our tasty little man

When bitings occur, daycare is very careful to not let us know which of our children's "friends" did the biting. Their discretion is getting undermined by Dash, as he becomes more verbal every day. When we asked him who bit him (he's had two bites in the last week — that scrumptious boy!), he smiled and clearly answered, "Molly bite."

Not that we are thinking of retaliating at all; daycare has a biting-control process that works. I'm just amused that Dash is so forthcoming. :-)

Jimmy, as a toddler

Isn't this a happy scene? It speaks of youth, carefree summers, and fun times with family.

The little boy in the front, who probably isn't more than two years old, is my dad, Jim. His older siblings, Bob and Dot, are playfully supporting him on what is likely their front yard, circa 1943 in central Connecticut.

In 2007, Grandaddy Jim takes Rosie and Dash on weekend walks to a local Alexandria park and focused on giving them a solid social foundation with extended family connections. Having several generations of relatives around was something taken for granted when Jimmy was growing up. I'm very grateful that my parents are available to my children and are so willing to visit and care for them. It's pretty uncommon these days.

Thanks, Dad and Mom!

Dash ADORES "Dju-Dju"

At 22 months, Dash wants to do everything that Rosie's doing. If she's painting, he wants to be painting, too. If she's hiding in her room, he wants to squeeze right next to her, giggling, until somebody finds them. It only gets frustrating when Rosie becomes annoyed by all this love and attention and begs us to "take Dash away!" But otherwise, I know she is just as enamored of him!

Dash came up with his version of Rosie's name, which sounds something like "Dju-Dju." It took us a while to figure out that he was trying to say Rosie, go figure. When I asked Rosie what she thought of being called Dju-Dju, she said, "I like it! It means he loves me."

Happy birthday, sis!

It's my sister's birthday today & she'll be, um, continue to be 21 months younger than me!

I wish you the chillest b'day today, Auntie M. Hope your spa adventure is everything you envisioned.
:-)

if today is your birthday... click this link.

Cool Cookie!

Hey, I discovered this new magazine that looks just darling!

It's a cute little mag for "smart, sexy, stylish" moms, which of course is a club I want to join.

My subscription card is in the mail.

(and it doesn't have anything to do with the 2.5 yr girl pictured in the promo who is named "Dashiell")

Thanks! To all my devoted fans... (Kelly, that's you.)

Yay! I was nominated! WOO!

In light of this, I think I'm going to try to step up my content...

For a sickie, he's got energy.

Last Friday, I stayed home with Dash because he had a fever recorded on Thursday and daycare won't let kids back in till they're fever-free for 24 hours. Despite the fever, he was otherwise symptom-free, which lasted through the weekend and ended early Wednesday morning, when he hurled Tuesday night's dinner all over his sheets. Bleagh. A quick cleanup, two more rounds of hurling, fresh sheets, new pajamas, and a trip to the laundry room later, I was back in bed by 4 a.m. We dressed both kids for daycare at 6:30 and headed in, hoping that it was an isolated incident, but more hurling happened on the car ride. So, AJS stayed home with Dash yesterday.

According to AJS, Dash was cranky, didn't eat all day, but was otherwise symptom-free. Again. He even became cheerful when AJS took him down to the creek across the street to toss rocks in the water. (Who doesn't love a satisfying ker-sploosh!?) After I came home, Dash and Rosie started the silliest antics, prompting AJS to record some video of them singing at the top of their lungs and dancing/spinning in the kitchen. I'm sure there's some great footage of my butt, because they were right behind me while I was doing dishes.

Dash is back at school today, despite grand protests this morning. He's really figured out the power of "NO!" Here's a transcript from this morning:

ME: morning, Dash! let's get you a fresh diaper.
DASH: no! no! no! no! (swatting at me with his closest hand)
ME: all right, now let's get your pajamas off.
DASH: no! no! no! no! (trying to pull pajamas back on)
ME: okay, now it's time to get your morning clothes on!
DASH: no! no! no! no! NO!!! (pulling new clothes off as soon as I get them on)
ME: all dressed! let's go see Daddee now, okay?
DASH: da. (think of the Russian da, here, like "yes", sweetly, with a smile.)

cherry blossom walk (that was nicer than AJS thought it would be!)

Color me surprised when AJS volunteered to go on a family outing to *gasp* downtown D.C. *eeek!* to view the Cherry Blossoms and see the Kite Festival on Saturday, all the while intermingling with the hordes of tourists and otherwise repellent examples of humankind. Even when we lived in D.C., he would avoid any type of ethnic festival, chili cook-off, or large gathering like a pestilence and virtually refuse to leave the house.

Then, I learned that our dear friend Mel, who has been very unavailable for the last several months had agreed to meet us there, along with her dog, Walter. So, AJS was not going to miss this fleeting opportunity!

The only way this would work for AJS was to get to D.C. before 8 a.m. so we could get a parking spot and so avoid the other repulsive congregation of the unwashed, the Metro. We found a space just in time at one of the Hains Point area parking lots and have an easy walk to the Tidal Basin. Another sacrifice that was necessary for this to be a workable outing was NO STROLLERS. In order to navigate the sidewalks that are choked with tourists mesmerized by the beauty of the fragile blossom petals, walking in slow motion, taking photos in the middle of thoroughfares, we would have to allow our children to walk or carry them. This worked out to mostly carrying them.

It was truly a beautiful day! The weather was sunny and brisk, the blossoms were in full, white-and-pink fluffy loveliness, and Dash and Rosie were in good moods. We saw the signage with the silly safety mascot of the festival, a beaver named "Paddles" who advised that we refrain from picking the blossoms. Hee! Oh, so badly drawn...


As we walked through the Jefferson Memorial, Dash cheerfully circumambulated the statue (at high speed), pointing and yelling "MAN! MAN!" Thankfully, most of the other folks there seemed to find it endearing (except when we were in their camera's viewfinder). Rosie chased him around or wandered on her own path, taking in the views, watching the paddleboats make their way across the water.

From there we walked to the FDR Memorial (well at this point, AJS and I were personal transports), where Dash also yelled and pointed, "MAN! MAN!" at all the statues of Mr. Roosevelt. Rosie got up close and personal with Fala, while AJS took some nice video of her gently patting her bronze, spiky fur. Dash and Rosie both enjoyed the waterfalls, which I found to be serene and violent at once as they crashed over the geometrically carved stones; I wondered if this effect was considered by the architect/sculptor?

We all ran across the grassy field and then I carried Dash up the steep steps at the Lincoln Memorial. Again he had an opportunity to yell at The Man, although by this time of day (9:40?), the tourists were quite thick at this popular site and we wandered down to rest at the less-populated reflecting pool. Rosie and Dash tried to locate rocks to hurl in and make ripples; hopeful ducks occasionally glided over to see if we'd feed them. Another baby that was ahead of us toddled waaaay too close to the edge for my comfort, but set a bad example for Dash, so both her parent and I struggled to keep our toddlers from dumping into the drink as they barreled ahead. We passed them, as the wee lass distracted easily and my boy can be focused, once on a path. As we headed toward the Washington Monument, a loudspeaker started playing music to announce the kick-off of the Kite Festival.

We were crossing 17th Street as a quavering, older, female voice, possibly of Japanese origin, came on the PA, launching into our National Anthem. As soon as we crossed, I took a call from Mel, who was nearby and wanted to establish a meeting spot. We had been pointing out the different kites to Rosie and asking her what they looked like; Dash just pointed, except when he saw Elmo and then couldn't stop talking about his beloved little red monster. I recall there was a pretty well made upper-half of a soccer player (torso, head & arms) reaching for a soccer ball that was the kite's tail! There were some speedy and tricky stunt kites, some beautiful birds and butterflies, and plenty of scary pirates, spidermen and sharks. The wind was very strong, so many, many kites were in the air.

Mel and Walter appeared and we walked with her all the way back to the car, which seemed to be soooo very far away, especially since Dash was cranky, trying to twist out the carrier. He fell asleep when we were almost to the parking lot. Mel tried valiantly to catch up with me, but I was tired and concentrating too much on walking and my aching shoulders to really keep up my end of the chatter. I learned that she's enjoying her new job, is considering leaving her second job, is doing consulting work for her previous job, and also that academia is calling to her: is another degree in the making?

We drove to an Irish pub in her neighborhood, and while we were in the car, Walter gave Mel and AJS happy-dog kisses, then looked expectantly into the back seat, where kisses weren't welcome. Sorry, Walter. At the pub we learned that they served deep-fried tater tots and that the waitress was indulgent enough to give our kids slices of cheddar cheese and crispy bacon (no bread, please) for their lunches. Sorry, no milk. Mel tried to advise Rosie that once you pass 22 years, you'll want to cut back on the bacon and cheese unless you know a good cardiologist.

After parting ways, I fell asleep in the car, then dropped the kids off at my parents' house for a few hours. I went back home, took some Advil, crawled into bed and took a serious nap. Oh, I didn't mention that on Friday afternoon, I took a turbo-step aerobics class? I was tired. But it was a nice outing overall!

Feng Shui is a good idea

A tenet of Feng Shui: rearrange furniture in rooms regularly; this helps release the good chi and disturb the bad wa.

In reality, this is a recommended plan because when moving heavy dressers periodically, you also disturb nasty bug colonies, such as, say carpet beetles, that take up residence under furniture.

Ick.

BTW, despite all the information on the bug-page linked above (they eat dead skin and animal fibers), I am 99% certain that these bugs have been biting Dash on the head over the past few months. I don't know what else would have been causing the bites and I usually found the beetles in the carpet or on the wall near the head of his crib. Ew.

House & Buffy: connected?

So, a couple times a week I stay up late to watch T.V. while I fold laundry. Right now, I'm primarily watching House M.D., Gray's Anatomy, and Bones. Particularly in House, I've been noticing that several actors who were regulars on the Buffy/Angel series have been cast as patients on House. Of course Bones has David Boreanaz as a main character, so I see plenty of him, and I think that Gray's Anatomy may have had a cameo or two by Buffy ex-pats.

In this week's House, the main patient was Marc Blucas, or "Finn", reprising his role as a sickly military-type. Other actors I've noticed from Buffy: "Glory", "Andrew", "Warren", "Dawn" and that's all I can think of right now.

Does this mean I'm a geek? More importantly, does this mean that one of the producers/casting directors for House liked the Buffy series?

Whaaaa? Odd photo find of the day.

I know that if Dash finds a sock, he'll put it on his hand and start dusting the T.V. (I have no earthly idea where this idea occurred to him, truly.) Now, if I gave him a sponge on a stick, like this little fellow has, would Dash try scrubbing a U-2 Dragon Lady? I do not know for sure, but he'll likely never have the chance to demonstrate.

Just to get an idea of the surface area this boy will have to swab to get this plane clean, here are the specs for the U-2:

Length: 63 feet (19.2 meters)
Height: 16 feet (4.8 meters)
Wingspan: 105 feet (32 meters)

Okay, yes, this is a photo I came across doing work-related research, but isn't it silly?

Equipping playtime

For the last several days, Rosie, Dash and I have been making a daily trip down the street to my neighbor's yard for some quality trampoline time! Rosie loves to see Emily, who at 9yrs, is the youngest of the three children who live there. We all scamper over to their yard, get Emily's attention (and I feel slightly badly that I'm dragging her away from her homework), and go out back to flop around on the trampoline.

Both kids really didn't like the bouncing at first, but now are addicted! Rosie likes to jump and fall (slapstick, with legs in the air), where Dash is just happy to giggle and run around at high speed. Something I've noticed yesterday about how the three are interacting: Rosie worships Emily and yells to her, "Watch me, Emily! Watch me!", while Emily is much more interested in Dash, calling with arms outstretched, "Give me a hug, Dash!", and Dash ignores Emily and just runs to me. Is it human nature to want to attract someone whose attention is elsewhere?

Also, I haven't told the kids yet, but our new playset is being delivered on Monday!! I'm sure that we won't even be able to think about assembling it untli the weekend, but how exciting!!!

Playdump.

When you're a parent, you learn about being flexible, because kids have their own agendas that often conflict with yours. When you try to coordinate with other parents, this gets compounded. For example, for the second time, I tried to organize a lunchtime playdate with four former coworkers (I know, "former coworker" just adds to the flaky mix) who all have children under two. They all live in NoVA like us, so it seemed to be a great idea! Nobody was available for the first date I tried to organize, so I thought I'd give it another shot. We all agreed on a date two weeks out, Saturday March 24; I had a book group meeting scheduled, but I thought that I could be flexible about their schedules if they were all available that day and so I bowed out of the book group. To make a long story short, nobody showed up. Again. AND, we didn't make it to the book group because AJS already drove out to PG County that morning to see his mother and didn't want to make another trip. Aside from that, we had all sorts of partially prepared extra food in the house (to accomodate our assumed guests: 8 adults and 4 kids) and didn't want it to go to waste.

Just to assuage your curiousity, here are the excuses: family one had to go out of town unexpectedly; family two had a sick kid, coughing and tugging her ear, so a doc appt interfered; family three, um, wife had to work (? lame.); family four, well, just forgot, haven't been checking emails, haven't been checking phone messages. And, we didn't even get a day's notice from them. AJS started shopping and cooking for the lunch the day before.

AARRGH. I think I'll let somebody else organize next time.

Dash's first sentence!

Well, if you don't count that it doesn't technically have a verb, he managed to string these three words together to get AJS to do his bidding:

"Nuk, pleesh, Daddee?"

What a cutie. But, we do need to wean him off his paci pretty soon—he's pretty much an addict. Sometimes he tries to fit two or more nuks in his mouth at the same time.

On to marketing: I'm a Board Member at the kids' daycare, and we're having a book sale with Usborne books, which really has a great selection of quality books! Dash and Rosie especially have enjoyed the touchable "That's Not My [insert possession here]" series. All sales at the Usborne Booksale link (specific to our CDC) support the Center's fundraising efforts.

Where did Rosie get her curls?

This question has come up many a time, since, for those of you who know AJS and I, we both have very straight hair and Rosie has curly-curls.

Here's a 1940s era photo of my Uncle Bob and Aunt Dot at a Connecticut swimming hole. Later in life, Dot wore her hair very short, so I didn't know it was curly; however, this old photo may reveal at least one genetic source of curls!

Well, really, I just wanted an excuse to post some old family photos that I scanned. :-)

1913 Sears House $683?!?

I just received this bit of clip art in an email today. This kit house was something unique and amazing. Sears Roebuck & Co. would send you the materials so you (and hopefully some well-trained friends) could build your own house. For $683 1913-era dollars.

I'm not a CPA, so I have no idea how that values out in today's money, but I don't think there's anything like this in 2007. It sounds like somebody's fantasy fiction.

In College Park, MD, my SIL's inlaws owned a Sears kit house that I think was just sold recently(w/i the last 5yrs)—it was in an historical register. I visited there once around 1998, but wasn't aware of its significance at the time; it looked and felt like any other two-story, single-family home.

Hangin' out

Well, part of my wish for the warmer weather came true yesterday: the landscapers came and cleared out all the leaves and dead brush; then, AJS and I drank some wine spritzers (woo!) and sat on the deck while Dash and Rosie frolicked in the yard. Dash was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time! They both played in the little house (which will need to find a new home when the playset comes) and slid on the slide. We supervised from the patio chairs. I am so glad they are becoming less dependent on us! (Yikes, will I regret saying that later?)

After reviewing the landscaper's work, I noticed that there were some grasses that were sticking out from an area near a cement walkway and wondered why the lawn crew hadn't cleared them. On closer examination, I found that said grasses were full of a large amount of dirt (about six square feet), most likely moved there by some extremely industrious ants. When I decided to get a trowel and move the dirt, I found that I had two very interested helpers! Two more trowels were found, but after a while, Dash scooped a shovelful of dirt into my shoes and we were done. On a related note, I was disappointed to discover that all our raspberry bushes had been completely removed, despite my specific direction to save them. [A phone call to the landscapers revealed that the bushes were not salvageable, i.e. completely dead, so we'll have to replace them. 3/16]

Maybe I'll actually try to plant more things this year, so we can eat what we grow. Important lessons for the kiddies!

NEW PLAYSET!!!

This is the playset that I just purchased today, online! I'm not sure of the delivery date, but the weather is getting warmer around here and I am itching for a nice playset with SWINGS! For some reason, swings are a hard thing to locate around here—local parks just don't have them. Liability issues maybe?

Anyway, I know Rosie and Dash and all of their friends will love it! Here are all the features:

Two playground-style swings, an 8-foot wave slide, ladders, monkey bars and a lookout tower
Front ladder doubles as a rock climbing wall with bolted-on handholds
Canopied, 4'-high playdeck is 54"L x 18"W
Setup dimensions: 17'L x 7'9"W x 8'4"H (Allow 6' safety perimeter around playset)
Easy Setup in 2 hours estimated time when 2 adults participate in construction
Includes pre-assembled ladders and floor panels for easy set-up
Fort Assembly has Pre-Drilled Holes
Safety handgrips at top of ladders provide added security
Customer is required to drill some holes for hand grips and to mount ladders and slides
Angled leg design increases stability
Set includes stakes to secure the play set into the ground after assembly

AJS got a write up on "Five Bites"!

Five Bites on Friday
For this week's installment of Five Bites, the mind behind monkeyerotica.com offers the top five sandwiches in DC.

1. The Big G Man at Mangialardo and Son

2. The reuben at Deli City

3. The roast beef at Hodges Sandwich Shop

4. The Ahab burger (bacon, bleu cheese and mushrooms) at Sign of the Whale

5. The New York strip sandwich at Stoney's

Have a top five you swear by? Or just five great things you've eaten recently? Five Bites is your opportunity to tell Metrocurean readers which dishes you're enjoying around town. Send your list and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean@gmail.com.
Posted by Amanda at 10:53 AM

BTW, that's monkeyrotica to you.

Quote of the day

I belong to a designers' listserve where there was a discussion today starting with a designer who wanted advice about what sort of digital camera she should buy for an important client shoot of a home's interior. She thought she wanted a fish-eye lens and maybe a wide angle lens, but she really didn't know much about cameras.

A witty designer posted this quote:

“Amateurs worry about gear.
Professionals worry about money.
Masters worry about light.”

Heh. But seriously, if it's that important, HIRE A PROFESSIONAL.

AJS got fan mail for this quip on DCist.com...

"Increasingly, high home prices, declining public services, and serious congestion issues are pushing individuals and families out of suburbs and back into cities."

Because in DC, home prices are going down, public services are improving dramatically, and congestion is no longer an issue, he said, while waiting in gridlock on M Street on his way back to his $800 mil Foggy Bottom efficiency condo having waited in line at DMV for 4 hours.

You dcists always get the primo reefer. Who's your supplier?

Show of hands: If the District were going to blow up the Reeves Center [pictured] to make way for a multileveled Costco with a parking garage, how many would show up to protest and how many would offer to donate dynamite?

[17] Posted by: monkeyrotica

March 5, 2007 1:44 PM

A follow-up to the choking incident

So, if you recall, dear readers, back in January, a "friend" from Rosie's class tried to choke her over a trivial incident. I was informed by the daycare director yesterday that the boy's behavior had not improved adequately over the past month-plus, and he had been disenrolled. Whew.

AJS can take his boxing gloves off now! His first response when he heard about the choking was, "can I punch the kid out?"

Dash tells knock-knock jokes! And the snowlady.

Well, almost. We were trying to get him to tell us his name for Rosie this weekend, but he just kept saying "na--na". Before committing to this as his name for Rosie, I remembered that Rosie and James Michael, a neighbor, were telling each other knock-knock jokes and Dash may have overheard. AJS investigated this theory, asking, "Who's there?" to get the satisfying answer of "Dad-da!"

Rosie and I made a snow-lady yesterday! Dash almost helped, but really mostly stood there crying to be picked up. Rosie and I had a great time, though. The lady had the traditionally tri-segmented snowball body, with oatmeal-raisin cookies for eyes (thanks to AJS for repurposing those tasty cookies, Kelly!) and a carrot for a nose. I gave her stick arms, a red berry scarf, and a black wool hat; AJS gave her a curved-stick smile. And Rosie didn't want to go back inside, despite the wetness, a thoroughly chilled mother, and dwindling light. Fun times.

Thinking about nicer weather...

Even though we're just in a mini-thaw and there's plenty of winter-weather to come, I'm starting to think about springtime, playing in the backyard with the kids, and making our yard a nicer place to hang. It has a lot going for it, so far: excellent multi-level deck with built-in slide, a large grassy area, a patio set with a canopied gazebo, a kamado grill, a kiddie swing, and a small kiddie playhouse (a super-basic version of this).

What it desperately needs is more regular yard care (so weeds aren't growing through the kiddie playhouse), maybe a mosquito magnet, a less-dilapidated sandbox (or at least new sand), and a playset with more activities for our growing kids. Something like the Little Tikes playset my neighbors have, I think.

I just recall many, many times during last summer that I didn't go outside because there were too many weeds, too many mosquitos, and lack of fun things to play on. I'd really like to while away the summer evenings while sittin and sipping wine with AJS on the deck while the kids wear themselves out on the playset, KWIM?!?

Hey, Bulldog!

Yesterday's mini-vignette: Rosie says, "Hey daddy, listen: it's the Submarine song! [singing] You can talk to me, you can talk to me-ee, if you're lonely you can talk to me! [trails off, comes back strong] You can talk to me, you can talk to me-ee, if you're lonely you can talk to me!" [repeat until insane]

And so, now what's in my head and won't go away? The worst thing is, I'm horrible with remembering lyrics, so I can't remember any other words to this song, either...

Happy Birthday Rowan! And Dash is a sweet, demanding boy.

[portrait of Rowan, courtesy AJS]

Today we went to Rowan's birthday party, where we all had a great time! A rockabilly-style musician played kid-friendly music and all the kids (and some parents) were rocking out to it. He calls himself "Uncle Rock" and used to play for the Fleshtones, from what I understand. Dash was just mesmerised by "Uncle Rock" and would just walk up within 5 to 10 feet of him and stare (as with yesterday's event, my kids didn't really participate by dancing or following along with others). Again, excellent cake!!! At the party, Dash found a juice box with Elmo (a latest favorite) pictured on it and I found him shortly afterwards expressing his love by giving the icon fervent kisses. What a sweetie!

After we were home, Dash crashed out for a few hours and when he woke up he called for Dad-da! Dad-da! He and I met up with AJS in the kitchen, but Dash wasn't interested in a hug. He looked at AJS, and pointed at the oven, saying without words, the OVEN. NOW. COOK FOR ME. And then wanted to monitor the entire cooking process to be sure that his food was on its way. What a darling boy!

My kids aren't joiners...(neither is AJS)

We just came back from a "Gymboree" birthday party for a classmate of Dash's. Rosie warmed up to the place right away, surprisingly, and we were more shocked that Dash (Mr. fun & happiness) was clingy and took his time before trying out the play equipment. AJS was horrified when an employee came out, put on some loud music and organized everyone to sing along and follow choreographed hand movements. When they brought out the clown, it took all of my persuasiveness (and calculated evasion) to keep him from bolting.

The highlight of the afternoon, IMO, was the cake! The birthday boy's parents are N'Awlins transplants and they had an authentic Mardi Gras King Cake for dessert... Oooooh, heaven!

Both kids really enjoyed the running around and climbing on soft play shapes; despite not participating in the sing-a-longs, they did have a lot of fun. We were not the first to leave, but may send regrets on the next invite to a Gymboree event.

Valentine's Day. Gotta love it!

Yesterday, daycare was closed, the roads were nasty and icy (no plows in our neighborhood), so AJS and I had quality time with the kids and could watch them under a microscope. Dash is now a week shy of 20 months and Rosie is 4 years, 3 months.

Rosie likes to have animated playtime, where she makes up dialogues between her toys; I've been wondering about some of her catch-phrases, like, "his eyes were bigger than flashlights!" or "then, we'll have to slice off your head"? (Me: shaking head.) She loves to play with Dash and we hear a lot of "c'mon Dash!" and "follow me!", but we also hear a fair amount of "get Dash away!" One of her favorite shows on Noggin is "Little Bear," which we watched yesterday. There was a very sweet episode in which Little Bear was making drawings of all the things he loved about his mother, and during the show, I got plenty of hugs and kisses! One of the special favorites of Little Bear is Mother Bear's chocolate cake, so we spent some of the afternoon making guess what? Chocolate cupcakes. Yummy.

Dash is picking up lots of new words. Using "please" is something we've been drilling into Rosie for months, and while it's not sinking in much with her, Dash has started to say "peesh" which is the cutest. Other words are mom-ma, dad-da, duck, car, up, on, off, book, boot (all shoes), boown (balloon), booboo, BYE!!! (at top volume), ree (read), baish (water), moo (milk), laliesh (olives), heesh (cheese), caak (clock), cack (crackers), cowk (chocolate), haaiiee (in a whisper, means quiet), Momo (Elmo), Bawa (Dora), and a few more that I'm not remembering right now. Somehow, a name for Rosie hasn't materialized. Maybe since she is available for him most of the time, he hasn't needed to identify her with his words?

Yesterday, Rosie and Dash had several campouts (lights out, flashlights on), colored and painted together, and watched a little television together. Later on, Rosie and I went to her grandparents' house for some one-on-one playtime with Grandma. Quite a busy Valentine's Day. Romantic, though? Not by most definitions.

Counterpoint, in a fashion

During college, I began to be frustrated with the dating scene. And, it may come as a surprise to my parents, but I was becoming aware that my dad worked with several young men, good-looking, well-paid engineer types who were single, and also had contact with the upstanding well-educated male children of his colleagues.

After some frustratingly bad dates, I started thinking, wouldn't all this be easier if there were arranged marriages? My parents could identify a good match for me, I'd be set financially (potentially), and I'd have much less worry and effort to put into the whole soul-mate-searching thing.

Then, I put that out of my head. I had the right to marry whom I wanted, and I ought to exercise that priviledge! I found my life partner, and later this year, we will be celebrating 10 years of marriage, 15 years together.

I'm saddened that the government isn't allowing a random selection of Americans (10%?) the same choices and options that I have.

Freedom to marry week

If you know me at all, you know that I don't pay much attention to the politics stuff, despite living in DC and metro area. So, this just comes straight from the heart.

I married who I wanted to marry. If somebody had suggested to me that I couldn't marry my chosen, I would have been righteously pissed off. The fact that people are doing just that today does upset me a great deal. Are we in the dark ages? In India or other third-world country, with
arranged marriages? Just where do all these people come from, that they think they have the right to keep other human beings, Americans even, from pursuing happiness? Married couples have different rights to benefits than singles; why shouldn't any couple who are living together and committed to each other get those rights and benefits? Seriously?

I don't think it's right or fair. I could say more, but I know that I'm not being terribly eloquent here and I haven't read other essays or brilliant rhetoric on the topic to bolster the range of my argument. So let's just hope that I do just that and if I post again on this topic, I'll have something more, um, thought-provoking to say.

Weird incident of the day

I was wearing my 1960's-era vintage faux cheetah coat to work today, mostly because it's warmer and longer than my regular coat. And because it was so cold, I decided to ride Metro for one stop instead of walk the exposed 15 minutes across the pentagon reservation.

Anyway, as I was walking down the escalator onto the train platform, this guy was giving me an odd look that made me wonder if I knew him. As I passed him, he muttered, "can't breathe!" and then hawked phlegm loudly and acted like he was going to spit on my coat! (I'm pretty sure he kept it in.) Gross.

It's faux, dammit! Get a clue.

Who does more?

AJS and I are working parents and both feel like we are contributing equally to the household; wait, I think we actually both think we are doing MORE than the other. But, because it's been on my mind a lot lately, and I do think it's worth having on the record, here's my take.

AJS daily/weekly/periodic tasks:
packing breakfasts & lunches
driving our carpool weekdays
grocery shopping/meal planning
ALL THE COOKING ALL THE TIME (gold star!)
taking bagged trash & recycling out
shoveling snow
washing cars
mowing the lawn

Nylonthread's daily/weekly/periodic tasks:
dressing the kids
putting both kids to bed
diapering Dash (every diaper)
washing dishes
laundering clothes
feeding/entertaining/bathing the parrot
bathing both kids
picking up after kids
paying bills/budgeting
driving on weekends
bagging trash for garbage day
cleaning all of the house
arranging for babysitters
shopping for kids' clothing
filing mail & paperwork
cleaning birdcage
taking parrot to vet
handling investments
weeding & watering plants

Shared tasks:
entertaining the kids
taking kids to doctor's appointments
picking up prescriptions/administering meds
shopping for household items

Now I grant that while AJS's task list is shorter, many of AJS's tasks are daily and time-intensive, albiet my longer list has its share of daily items, more items are bi-weekly or periodic. Still, is it even? Hard to say. My guess is that we'll still both think that we are doing more than the other.

I LOVE SNOW!!

This morning was a wonderful change from most mornings with Rosie. The usual scene is: I wake Rosie up, she whines about wanting more sleep, she whines about wanting to wear a different outfit; outright cries about not being able to bring favorite toy X to school; you get the picture. Also, put in mind that we wake her at 6:30 a.m. which, in a perfect world, is much too early.

I woke her up today by saying, "Rosie, it snowed last night! You wanna go and see?" She popped right up, smiling, and said, "I LOVE SNOW!!" She hopped out of her room and happily greeted AJS, who was shoveling outside the front door.

Kenmore ovens use shatterglass!

And, why do I know this, you ask? Well, under the most understandable circumstances, AJS accidentally dropped his freshly made, lovingly toasted, eagerly anticipated sandwich face down on the floor, which in turn caused him to grab the closest large object and throw it. This was of course after making sure no small humans were in range, I'm sure. In the sandwich's case, it was a metal stepstool which connected squarely and at close range with our stove door. Crash! Smash! Neatly cubed glass. (Well, with pointy shards, too.)

The replacement costs $214.97 directly from Sears; I found it elsewhere online for $147.62. We won't be using the oven until this weekend, at best. :-(

Better late than never?

Here are photos of Rosie and Dash from their, um, October 2006 photo session. I know, I know, where have they been? I think the proofs showed up in November, then pics arrived in December, then I was handing them out to relatives, and I finally brought them into work to scan them in January, so, now it's February and they're scanned. Whew!!

I almost didn't buy this print of Rosie and Dash, mostly because Dash looks half-comatose; but then I DID buy it because he looks half-comatose! It just makes me laugh so much every time I look at it! I crack up and think, couldn't SOMEBODY have helped him shut his mouth? or pulled his socks up? In one of the proofs, Rosie was actually helping hold him up. The teachers told me that he was about to go down for a nap when they pulled him for the shoot. He's dead tired, poor little guy...

And Rosie just looks gorgeous by herself!

you already knew this, but it's official...

Choking is not okay

Firstly, Rosie is okay.

Rosie's daycare just called me today to let me know that another child choked her this morning. The way they described the incident is that Rosie was quietly reading a book and a boy in her class demanded it from her. She was still reading it, so she said no. So, he choked her!

The director explained that the teachers, the parent, and he were all in lengthy meetings today to discuss how to handle this, because apparently this boy has had other aggressive physical incidents.

I asked if the child was pulled from school for the day and no, he wasn't. Apparently, each time this child has acted out, he has told his mother that he was provoked first, even though his teachers and other observers (there was a parent in the room this morning) did not see any
provocation. Each time, the mother believed the child instead of the teachers, the director or other observers. Provoked or not, choking is seriously anti-social behavior!

I understand that this would be a hard situation if it was my child was choking other children, but parental denial is not productive. We have worked with Rosie on the few, minor hitting incidents she's had; she knows that if her teachers tell us about any hitting or being mean to a
friend, her at-home priviledges are revoked (snacks, TV, etc.). Nothing has been reported to us for months.

I'll be following up with this to see what will be done; the next step is disenrollment for the choker. I feel badly that Rosie still had to be in school with him all day after he attacked her! Poor Rosie.

Happy birthday Kelly & Heather!

I wish you both the most excellent of days! And it sounds like you had a kick-ass celebration in NJ! Rock on and keep living large!
xo, Ms. Nylon

Dash and Rosie, each at 18 months

At Dashiell's 18-month appt (on 12/27/06),
he weighed 24 lbs, 14 oz (40th%)
he was 32 1/4 inches tall (50th%)
and his head was 19 inches around (65th%)

When Rosie was 18 months (5/27/04),
she weighed 26 lbs (75th%)
she was 32 1/4 inches tall (75th%)
and her head was 18 3/4 inches around (90th%)

We like to eat. Mostly.

Despite the idyllic dinnertime scene that these photos convey, dining in our household can be a stressful time. Of course, Dash eats most anything and AJS cooks fantastic, sometimes exotic, fare (many of my friends would love to have such a cook at home!); it's Rosie that usually turns things sour.

We are trying ways of expanding her menu -- she is super-picky and only eats a few select items. I can't remember the last new food that she has tried. What you see her eating is plain spaghetti and edamame, which are some of Rosie's staples.

The rule is that we offer her a small selection of foods and from them, she must have at least one starch, one protein, and one vegetable. Lately, our tack has been to threaten to take away privileges (TV, books before bed) if she doesn't have a balanced meal. She, in turn, negotiates with us, telling us that if we give her kisses and hugs, she'll eat, and then says that she's full if we don't give her a fourth serving of rice (without tasting any chicken). Sigh.

I'll let you know if we have any breakthroughs!

The importance of trivia

A post on an acquaintance's blog prompted a memory of how necessary it is for the brain to become sidetracked. In 2001, I lived, worked, and played in DC. A few days after 9/11, all our friends were completely freaked, depressed, or just drinking heavily. For some reason, amongst all this horror, an email thread between several of us sparked a ridiculously trivial question: do blue foods exist? Many bizarre, goofy, wonderful arguments later, everyone latched on for dear life and came away feeling much better. Here is the only excerpt that I saved (because it was a brilliant contribution by my dear AJS):

See, we still haven't refined our distinctions of either "blueness" or "foodness." Do we exclude man-made comestibles? If so, we have to exclude the cheeses because they don't occur naturally without some manipulation on the part of a sentient being familiar with the black art of curd fermentation (viz, the cheesemaker). Similar situation with the Kool Aids and blue curacaos and the blue part of the tricolor Bingo Bomb Pops they sell on the Mall in the summer.

But what of the naturally occurring blue foods? Using Mlle. Wyman's trialectic, if it's blue on the vine, bowl, and fingers, we should consider it a blue food. But therein lies a faulty syllogism.

For the moment, let's pretend you're Professor Peabody and you've just set the Wayback Machine for April 1789. You're trapped on board the life raft of the H.M.S. Bounty with Captain Bligh, and he just so happens to have a gangrenous blue-inked tattoo of the word "blue" on his left buttock. And for the sake of argument, let's say he's got the word "point" tattooed on his right buttock, to remind him of his favorite species of oyster. This, the result of a bar bet gone horribly awry.

Everybody on board, even brave Little Pip, is slowly starving to death. Now, by La Wyman's rationale, the captain's left buttock could be considered "blue food," in the sense of being edible (albeit revolting); being tattooed the color blue; turning blue from gangrene; being a written representation of the word "blue," and blue in the sense of involving full frontal (or in this case, rear) nudity. And I can say without hyperbole that this is the most ridiculous argument I've ever made.

Have I told you how much more fun this is than actually working?

New Year: 2007!

This weekend was fabulous, excepting a few blips. On new year's eve, I took the kids to Kellygo's house for a combo birthday party-new year bash. It was a fun evening! Once there, I set the kids free to play with their friends (thank god they're up to that now!), baked brownies, drank wine and chatted with other adults. Highlights: Dash somehow tipped over a bottle of blue-raspberry syrup from a shelf in the kitchen and the blue juice shot across the floor into the dining room (freshly painted a bright orange), splashing several guests and the wall that was a good 20 feet away; Rosie kept herself surrounded by Thea's plush horses at all times; and at one point I scanned the room to catch Dash standing behind Lila on a chair -- I had no idea that he could climb on a chair! He has since tried this new skill at home. New year's eve with my friends and our kids is at 7 p.m., (to make tots' bedtimes) and for years now, we have been practicing a Panamanian ritual with grapes, wishes, jumping and kissing as the ball drops. Kelly explains this ritual in more detail on her blog. AJS spent the day hanging out with some highschool buddies; he was home by 6:30 p.m. (must have been a blast, recounting old times).

On Wednesday, I had ordered blinds (yes, how boring, I know) and AJS picked them up on Friday. Monday, hoping to have new window treatments for the new year, I squirreled the tots away with my parents and planned to be drilling and mounting for the rest of the afternoon. So, after reading instructions, getting out the proper implements of destruction, and removing the voluminous, yellowish-greenish jaquard drapes that came with the house, I learned that the hardware kit was missing some necessary components. Aaauuuggh. Now the very large front window has no covering. Whatever, we're not privacy freaks. It'll have to wait till next weekend.

And a bit of slapstick: while Dash was with my parents, my dad strapped him into a stroller before taking him on a walk. Then, he went to look for something in his car? the garage? That's when my mom stepped out of the house to shut the garage door and noticed that Dash's stroller was rolling down the driveway! Screaming, she ran out of the garage to get him -- forgetting that she had just hit the button on the garage door, so -- WHAM!! Smack in the middle of her forehead and she's down! Meanwhile, with all the screaming, my dad caught on to his grandson's predicament and saved the boy before he was in harm's way. My mom's fine; she had a lump and some redness. But, it was hard to keep a straight face while she told the story. :-)

Rosie's 4-Year Checkup

At Rosie's 4-year checkup, she weighed in at 38 pounds and is 40.5 inches tall. She was on the scale by herself, which is pretty normal, but since we were at the doctor's office, she made it traumatic by reaching for me and crying.

The doctor was impressed by her vocabulary and her balancing skills and was able to take her blood pressure (94 over 58) and tested her vision (20/30). She started the hearing test, but halfway through was done with the whole appointment and we didn't get a good reading.

She likes yoga and gymnastics at school, and I'm planning to get her into a dance class as soon as possible!

Xmas Joi de Vivre!

Despite having an ear infection, throat infection and possible RSV, Dash was awfully perky over our holiday weekend. Before bedtime on Friday, his temp was 103.5, so I got him in to see his doctor first thing on Saturday. We met one of his classmates, Lizzy (see the cutie in #11), in the waiting room with _*surprise*_ RSV symptoms, too! We visited Lisa, my sis-in-law, that morning, but cancelled our plans with friends that afternoon, to keep from infecting their kids with the dreaded RSV. Auntie M.came over that evening to bake gingerbread cookies with Rosie while Dash napped (after throwing blocks across the house and climbing on the furniture) and gave me a chance to do dishes, sweep, and pick up our crazy house. Whew! I also baked oatmeal craisin cookies that turned out darned well, I must say!

Christmas was at my parents' house, as usual. I think the day went perfectly! We left for "gromma's" after Dash's nap, opened gifts (woo!) and had some lovely roast! The standout Xmas gift was from my mom--she bought Rosie another American Girl doll; this time it was "Jess", a doll with a Japanese-American heritage. She even has a Japanese middle name, just like Rosie! My mom bought the doll's "hair care kit" so we could curl Jess' hair so we could make her look more like Rosie. Auntie M. painstakingly did just that! Bless her heart. She loves her niece. Dash was just happy to run around, throw balls and terrorize Groucho, my parents' cockatiel.

After wine and pie, AJS had a long nap. And I let him sleep. Merry Christmas, baby!

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. :-(