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.