a potty for me

Well, not just for me, but I have a brand new little potty. (Can you tell what kind of books we're reading at our house these days?) The first floor half bath is nearly functional!! CD worked so hard on it. Anything that pries his hands off the laptop keyboard for an extended period requires immense effort and is thus considered "hard work", but this would surely qualify under any circumstance.

This week CD removed the last of the wallpaper, followed by much patching and sanding of the walls. I must say they were smooth as a baby's bum before he primed them, and since I have a baby I know exactly what a baby's bum feels like. I'm talking smoooooth.

The color choice was simple. Which paint can containing one of the three shades of beige in the house is the closest to full? Oatmeal it is! It's the lightest of the three shades so I was trying to convince myself it will make the tiny room look bigger. Then, in a flash of shower brilliance just before CD started to paint, it hit me. The room should be the light green of the dining room. It ties in with the entryway rug, and the rest of the first floor, and looks great with the brushed finish accessories. And most importantly, we had plenty of it.

He put in the tile a while back, but it still needed grout. We didn't have enough so that accounted for one of many trips to Lowe's and Home Depot.

Now there is a new toilet, sink, and light fixture. The other necessary little accessories will be installed this week. The only thing left to procure is a mirror. Oval, square, rectangle? I just want a plain mirror. No little flowers etched on it, no fancy scrolls. I think I want oval but that may not be the best shape, since the light fixture is not completely lined up with the center of the sink. An oval may draw attention to that little defect.

CD ran into a small plumbing glitch with the sink but two little parts will solve it. We had plans for dinner with friends tonight or it would be done. If Home Depot didn't close two hours early on Sunday it would be done too.

One last rather important thing will be the door but it just needs a coat of paint on the bathroom side, and a little shaved off the bottom due to the thickness of the new tile.

Though I was annoyed we didn't finish it prior to Eleanor's arrival, as being able to pee without negotiating a large staircase would have been lovely, I'm glad it is just about done now, and I will overlook the fact that CD doesn't think the pedestal is there to hide the plumbing. Really. I will overlook it and stop googling pictures of pedestal sinks and noticing that the pedestals always hide the plumbing. Any time now, I will stop.

It will be immensely useful to have another loo when potty training begins in earnest. Maybe the novelty of a new place to "go" will hold some sway with Oliver. Yeah, I know, more wishful thinking.

It's been a long project, a lot longer than we anticipated, but that's par for the course.

I just hope when the new window arrives next week the installers will not undo any of the nice work.

g-whiz

Once upon a time, I won a starter kit of gDiapers. The biscuits Jason included were yummy too. (I won various things on four blogs during the second half last year. Two of the prizes never arrived, alas. DaddyTypes and NinjaPoodles made me kinda sad, but ever so happy and appreciative of the things that did arrive from JavisDavis and gDiapers.) I was pregnant and really excited to give the g's a try. Once Eleanor arrived and reality set in, thoughts of gDiapers went out the window. Then she was too big for them (size small) I passed them on to someone else about to have a baby. I just found out tonight that they didn't use them either and will be passing the kit on to someone due in January.

Anyway, I decided since we have the worm bin, and the compost bin, and we are recycling everything our city will take, even the stuff they don't take curbside but take at drop-off stations, it really was high time to give the gDiapers a try. The fact that Eleanor poops marbles, not mudslides, also made the idea slightly more palatable, so to speak. This decision had nothing whatsoever to do with this week's revelation that Julia Roberts is a gMum.

So far, so good. No leaks, no runs, no errors, and no complaints from the plumbing.

UPDATE, Saturday afternoon: Still no leaks but I did have a scary clog in the toilet today. Took over half an hour with my plunger friend to clear it. No doubt pilot error. Will compost more and flush less, I think.

UPDATE, Sunday morning: We had a leak. I'm experimenting with overnight placement of a second insert. What happens is half the insert is bone dry and the other half is soaking and squished so it no longer fills the liner. I will have to search the message boards and maybe call the gTeam for advice.

FFF - gobble gobble

Welcome back to Fabulous Food Friday. It was just the four of us for Thanksgiving so I didn't exactly go all out but the usual suspects were on the table (all at the same time! and nothing was cold!). There was a roasted turkey breast, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing (not cooked with the turkey and I confess, from a box), carrots, parsnips, and cranberry sauce. Oliver was especially taken with the 'snips, as we called them. I could not get him to try the potatoes or stuffing (he is perhaps not my child after all) but he liked the cranberry sauce and asked for seconds of 'snips. He ate exactly one bite of turkey.

Eleanor had turkey too, but from a jar. She did not seem at all disappointed. (Photo of Eleanor in her turkey bib will be posted later on.) Here she is in all her turkey glory.

turkey bib
Originally uploaded by clumberkim

I made a classic Weight Watchers recipe, pumpkin fluff*, for dessert. Not exactly traditional, but light and tasty. I used more spice, fresh ginger, and less pumpkin than when I made it for Halloween. It was a big improvement over that batch.

As good as Thanksgiving dinner was, I look at it as just a prelude. What I really look forward to is a turkey sandwich with cranberry chutney. And a little stuffing. I may have to break down and enter a store today to get bread. With my Christmas shopping nearly done, I was hoping to avoid all retail establishments.

Not food related but I have to send a Happy 33rd Anniversary shout out to my sister and her husband. Though she's only 10 years older she's got me beat in the marriage department by 29 years, not to mention three grandchildren, two of them older than Oliver. Wow.

* Pumpkin Fluff - Whip together 1 box of sugar free/fat free vanilla pudding mix, 2 cups of skim milk, 3/4 of a can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), and 1 container of fat free cool whip. Add pumpkin pie spices to taste and mix well. Chill at least an hour.

Last time I made this I used the full can of pumpkin and the texture suffered. I also added a tablespoon of fresh ginger this time. Both seem to have improved the final product.

It is easy to find alternate versions of this recipe. Fire up a little google and go crazy. Some even call for a mix of vanilla and butterscotch pudding mixes. I'm a little suspicious of the ones that don't call for milk but I haven't tried any of them.

catching up with the neighbors

I planted 65 tulip and narcissus bulbs this afternoon. In the rain and wind. My back hurts. Unfortunately, I have 25 more to plant. Tomorrow. In the snow.

a day without brown

Brown isn't doing it for me today. How will I get through the day without a UPS delivery? Perhaps the kitchen frenzy will keep me sufficiently distracted.

I am almost done with Christmas shopping, in an effort to not re-live the panic of two years ago, so the lovely brown truck has been visiting regularly. Let's just say I know my UPS guy is having varicose vein surgery, such are the in-depth conversations we have while I sign my name for him. He notices how big Eleanor is getting too. And thinks it's pretty hysterical that the diapers come from Amazon.com.

I've had great UPS guys before. When I was living in Massachusetts in the early 1990s my UPS man delivered to the whole (very small) town. He knew where I lived and where I worked, and always delivered my packages to the office. He brought only the small packages in to my building though. If a box was even a little big he would come get me and then load it into my car. And he was downright cheerful every.single.day. So is the guy who delivers to my neighborhood now, even with the varicose veins.

(At least one loyal reader is now horribly disappointed that the "brown" reference wasn't for her delightful Sussex spaniels. Sorry JT. Give those brown dogs a hug for me.)

sitting pretty

It's a whole new world now that Eleanor is sitting up on her own. Clearly she's enjoying herself. This was taken right before bed time, usually a very fussy time.

We are planning a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year. The cranberry sauce is made and the turkey breast is brining in the fridge (because it's much too warm for the garage).

I'm hoping to get my tulip bulbs planted in the morning, then cook. It's hard to imagine a life more exciting than mine. Blame it on NaBloPoMo. If not for that, you would have been spared this post.

splish splash

Major breakthrough tonight in the bath department. Eleanor had a happy bath time, the first one in many weeks. Now that she is sitting without support I turned her bath tub around and it seems to have made all the difference. She played with Oliver's bath toys (now officially "their bathtoys" but don't tell Oliver just yet), splashed, and generally enjoyed herself. Not a single tear was shed. I hesitate to say a good time was had by all but we seem to be moving in the right direction. Next bath, photos for sure.

In other bathroom news, CD is making great progress on our first floor half bath. Though we had the professionals do the three full baths in the house, we decided to talk the two half baths ourselves. And by "ourselves" I mean CD. I do the shopping and he does the heavy lifting. He has all the wallpaper removed (that was a joint effort and we have been working on it for months) and the walls patched and sanded. Tomorrow he will probably prime and maybe paint if we get an early enough start. From there it's relatively simple installations of the toilet and sink. After the wallpaper removal it will seem like a walk in the park. Photos of this too, soon.

princess of cups

After "son-day" it's only fair to follow up with a post about Eleanor. At seven months she is changing and growing and learning new things at a rapid rate. She is sitting up without support now, babbling like crazy, and sporting four teeth, with two more poised to appear any day now. Her hair is totally out of control. a bad hair day if ever there was one. It's not long enough to cut but just long enough that it never looks neat or even "organized".

Her latest giant leap forward is using a cup. I think we might be done with bottles, though she hasn't been seeing more than one a week for a long time now. Yesterday, after her late day meal of solids (I hesitate to call it "dinner" just yet), I had a few ounces of breastmilk in the fridge and decided to give it a try in a sippy cup. As usual, she took the introduction of something new in stride. Tonight was the same story, except she got excited as soon as she saw the cup, and she tried to help me hold it with one hand. Since she was holding the bottle sometimes already it may not be long before she is managing the cup all by herself.

In other food news, Eleanor had a small mid-day meal of yogurt today. I had been thinking about it but she kept trying to steal my spoon when I was having some so it seemed like a good time to give her a little of her own. That makes three meals of solids a day. Fruit and cereal in the morning, yogurt at mid-day, and veg and cereal (and sometimes chicken or turkey) in the evening. She also likes rice cakes and usually has one in her highchair while the rest of the family is having dinner.

Experienced moms will nod their heads at this cliche, but it really is going by much too fast. I knew it would, and as much as I want to meet the toddler and young girl she is going to become, I still want to hang on to her babyhood as long as possible.

his many colored days

It's son-day again and Oliver has provided me with plenty of material this week. Two of his buddies visited yesterday and it was great to watch them running laps around the kitchen and playing with trains. These are kids we have known almost since their birth and I have loved watching them grow up along with Oliver. I am also discovering just how much I enjoy having a house full of people, kids and adults. The kids gravitate to CD, and he to them. I'm afraid if we ever started a babysitting co-op CD would be the one the kids would always want to play with.

We are now plotting a possible New Year's eve gathering. Step one is finding a sitter and seeing if he/she will wrangle the children (three 2 year olds -- we'll keep the two wee babies with their), having them sleep at one house. And do it for a fee we can afford. Should that all come together, we'll start to think about what we actually want to do to celebrate the holiday. For me, going to bed early sounds good! I'm kidding, of course, but only a little. Champagne, then going to bed early....

The bruise on his head turned green yesterday. It's more yellow today. There's hope for getting a photo done in the next week or so, assuming I get him in for a haircut. It is still very short by nearly everyone else's standards but it takes little for it to become unruly. The kid is cursed with his mother's hair and shorter is definitely better.

School is going well for Oliver. At least he appears to enjoy himself. I remain less than enthused about his teachers but I have to admit he is learning. He has learned his colors since going there, as well as the many rules and routines of the classroom. I rarely had something that tangible before now. CD is spring boarding off the colors with his planet placemat and now Oliver is rattling off the names of planets by matching the names with the colors. I used to be impressed that he could name so many Red Sox players and what they do ("Manny hit da bat", "Papelbon pitch", etc.) but the planets? At two and a half? Such is life in a family of geeks.

if not for NaBloPoMo I would be sleeping now

Ah, sleep. Not much makes me happier these days. The kids are sleeping reasonably well these days. That means I usually have a fighting chance at five uninterrupted hours, six on a very, very good night. Still, it's not quite enough after nearly three years of operating with a sleep deficit.

I always aim to be in bed by 10pm but it never happens, for two reasons, both of whom are generally snoozing away at that time. It's complicated (like you didn't already know that). Eleanor needs feeding, usually between 11pm and 1am. She's inconsistent. If she hasn't howled by the time I am going to bed I feed her anyway. So if I went to bed at 10pm I would have to get up later anyway.

And reason number two, after a few days of waking up with wet pajamas and bed, I started changing Oliver when I go to bed. 10pm is too early for that to be entirely effective. He's inconsistent too, though. Some nights I remove a dry diaper and some nights it's pretty wet. We try to limit liquids late in the day but that isn't always practical, since he usually has dinner around 6pm and is in bed around 7:30pm.

Right now it's just after 11pm. Eleanor has cried out a couple of times but has settled herself back to sleep quickly. I'll go up and feed her, and change Oliver, and with any luck I will be asleep before midnight. And if I'm really lucky, no one will wake up before 6am.

This morning Eleanor slept in, but Oliver was up at 5am. He went back to sleep until 7am but the damage was done. Penguin and CD were both snoring when I got back to bed and I have always had trouble falling asleep with snoring around me. I can snooze through it if I'm asleep before it starts but once the spell is broken I'm doomed. Even when we had three Clumbers, I could sleep through all four of them snoring as long as I went to bed about an hour before the quadraphonic symphony of snoring began.

Now I have NaBloPoMo to worry about. I suppose it is giving me something to do between 10pm, when I want to go to bed, and 11:30pm, when I actually start moving in that direction.

Fabulous Food Friday: wildly boar-ed

Welcome to the first edition of Fabulous Food Friday, where I ramble on about the best thing I ate in the past seven days. Not much of a challenge this week, since CD and I were fortunate to have a table at the Late Autumn Beer Dinner at our neighborhood restaurant, Point Brugge. Since it is Fabulous Food Friday and not Fabulous Booze Friday, I won't go into too much detail about the different beers we sampled. Suffice it to say I would be happy to see the St Armand Country Ale and the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar again. The others were fine, just not over the top.

All of the food at this dinner was very, very good. It was a tough call between the soup and the entree but the wild boar was too amazing not to win out. The soup had a nice subtle kick, no doubt enhanced by the ale. The boar and its accompaniments were well-balanced and cooked to perfection. When I know a tasty dessert is coming I am usually eager to get to it, but not on this night. I was very content to linger over the boar and a little sad when my plate was empty. I managed to resist picking it up and licking it, but only just.

The dessert, by the way, was indeed yummy. The whipped cream was overkill. The only possible improvement might have been a little more ginger in the mascarpone, but then I always think more is better when it comes to ginger.

I was glad to be walking home. I needed the exercise and we had consumed enough beer to make driving out of the question. All in all, a great meal in a great spot.

magic bullets

Oliver's new school had a small discussion group for parents tonight. The topic was something like "developmentally appropriate discipline for ages 0-3". I suppose I was looking for "if you do a, your child will do b (and smile)". Well, not so much. I know there are no magic wands with this stuff. I just want Oliver to listen, do what he's told, and not laugh in my face or kick and hit me. Is that too much to ask?

The psycho-babble was kept to a minimum, thankfully, but I learned a whole lot of things I should have done before now. Apparently it's not too late, but we have a lot of work to do. I also know I'm not alone, which I nice, I guess. Somehow that doesn't really do it for me. He's still going to laugh in my face tomorrow when I tell him it is time to brush his teeth or get his jacket and shoes. I have to remember I can only control my reaction, not his action. I have to remember to always give him two choices, and not ask open ended questions. And I have to make him clean up after himself when he throws food on the floor. My brain doesn't always work fast enough but all we can do is try.

taking his lumps

It seems Oliver took a bit of a tumble at school today and landed on his face. He has a fat lip to go with the big lump on his forehead. As usual, he wouldn't allow anyone to put ice on either spot for very long.

Though I ordered our Christmas cards today, the family photo will have to wait a while. My PhotoShop skills are not up to snuff.

I think the smile is due to what I discovered seconds after taking this photo...a poop that was all the way down to his socks. This job really should come with hazard pay.

Old Navy strikes again

Against my better judgement, I went to Old Navy yesterday, after I noticed their "40% off all outerwear" signs. The signs were huge in the front windows. Once inside, there were more signs, absolutely freakin' everywhere in the store. I had purchased a fleece suit for Eleanor a while back and discovered she's almost outgrown it already. Knowing I can pass it along to someone else, I thought I'd pick up the next larger size. It was priced under $20 so with 40% off, it didn't seem painful at all.

Imagine my surprise when the price extended did not include 40% off. The darn thing is a full body, hooded suit with mitten cuffs and feet. It's fleece. If it's not "outerwear", I clearly don't know what is. What would one put over it? Kevlar?

Too annoyed to even argue, I bought the damn thing and resolved to look it up on-line. Nope, it's not "outerwear" on-line either. Once again, against my better judgement, I wrote to customer service and asked them why. Silly me, I expected a real explanation. This is what I got:

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Hooded Footed Fleece One-Pieces
for Baby not being part of our outerwear sale. We would like to
apologize for the disappointment you have experienced with our services.
Please know that our goal here at oldnavy.com is to exceed our
customers' expectations. We're sorry that, in this instance, we clearly
did not meet yours, and hope that you will give us another opportunity
in the future.

Sorry Old Navy, but that was your "another opportunity". Don't bother "exceeding my expectations". Try just not pissing me off, for a change. I'm really done this time. Fool me once, and all that.

my childbearing hips

According to New Scientist, a favorite publication in our house and the only weekly we get now that my subscription to Dog News has lapsed, curvy women have smarter children. The kids were pretty well set in the brains department from CD's genes alone but it's nice to know I am making a contribution. I'm not making much of a contribution to anything else these days, beyind my milk-making superpowers.

creature of habit

showing off his new mittens

[It's son-day here at Three Dogs and a Baby.]

A few weeks ago, after three mornings in a row of wet pajamas and bed I started changing Oliver's diaper when I go to bed. Though we use night-time diapers, they stopped doing the job. It was surprisingly easy to get him to groggily roll over, change his diaper in the dark, get him put back together and back to sleep. The whole thing has been taking just about 2 minutes and has not seemed to disrupt his overall sleep.

Last night around 11pm I heard some whimpering coming from Oliver's room. I first assumed it was the beginning of the shrieking from Eleanor but when I got upstairs I heard Oliver saying, "Change. In da bed. Change please." (He is very polite lately, even in his sleep. Two nights ago he asked, "George please?" when I went in to change him.)

He was barely wet but apparently this has become a habit. Not sure if this is going to work in our favor when he finally decides he is ready for the potty, but it's clear Penguin and CD are not the only creatures of habit at our house.

456

Blogger tells me this is post number 456. Seems kind of crazy to get this far and have nothing to say. Chalk it up to sleep deprivation. We had more shrieking last night from Miss E. Between the growth spurt giving her a bottomless pit of a tummy and a top tooth that still has not broken through, she's not a terribly happy camper. And when baby's not happy....CD generally snores right through it!

With the heat on in the house, Oliver's door is no longer sticking. This means he is suddenly able to escape from his room in the morning. For months, he wouldn't even get out of bed until I came in each morning. Now he's getting out of bed and opening his door. Fortunately, we have new gates on the stairs so he can't get into too much mischief.

More about Oliver tomorrow. I'm trying to be a bit more organized with my posting so Sunday will be Son-day. Watch for "fabulous food Friday" later in the week.

hat trick from hell

You had to know our near-angelic baby had lulled us into complacency that was bound to bite us in the ass eventually. Eventually is here. We've got a triple-whammy going on...teething, growth spurt, and a skill explosion. It all adds up to a screaming-instead-of-sleeping baby, and parents with nerves beyond raw. And just to make things interesting, Oliver's school had an in-service day today.

All of this is theoretical, but one top tooth came through after a night of shrieking last week. It seems like that tooth's next door neighbor is trying to get through next. (Just like Oliver, she is getting teeth two at a time. The difference is teething didn't bother him nearly as much.) The skill explosion is mostly related to sitting without support but she's also making a huge mess of rice cakes and saliva (so she's getting them to her mouth very successfully) and babbling to the point where "da-da" and "ma-ma" are discernible (though we know they don't mean what we want them to mean yet). Infant growth spurts are typically 3 and 6 weeks, and 3 and 6 months, so she's due for one of those too.

Last night she screamed from 4 to 5:30. CD and I both tried to get her to sleep, with absolutely no success. As a last resort I gave her motrin and she crashed. I was close to doing the same thing tonight but she finally relented for CD. I will not wait as long if the shrieking begins again after midnight.

swinging

Another picture from our visit with Aunt Suzy. Go to Flickr for a few more.

Oliver still doesn't like swings and I decided it was because I didn't introduce him to them early enough. We're not making that mistake again. This was Eleanor's first time in a swing and she loved it. Are we sensing a trend here? She likes just about everything....

long lost relative to the north?

Timmy and Eleanor are surely related.

bit of a draught

Today Eleanor and I went for a walk in the park with my friend and weight watchers buddy Liz. When I was working these lunchtime walks were easy to organize and we walked whenever schedules permitted. It's been months since we walked and nice to catch up. Eleanor's napping and eating were all out of whack today though, and she got extremely fussy as we headed back towards the car. She was in the Ergo carrier and I saw on their instructional video that it should be possible to nurse with baby in the carrier. Didn't really believe it but I was all out of ideas to distract her so I decided to give it a try.

It worked! However, since it was about 38 degrees and there were snowflakes in the air things got a bit, well, chilly. I had been wishing I had remembered gloves since the beginning of the walk so I was cold anyway. Next time I'll remember to make sure I'm wearing a nursing camisole to minimize exposure. Otherwise, I'd call it a success.

In other draught-related news, we're going to a beer dinner next week. Liz is coming too! Should be interesting, since we have not met each other's spouses. I have a feeling they will get on famously though.

small victories

There are a few snowflakes flying around today so it was time to break out a warm hat and mittens for Oliver. It was a struggle to get him to wear a hat last year, and never attempted to fight the mitten battle. Not so this year. He eagerly put on both the hat AND the mittens today. The hat didn't last long but the mittens were another story. I had trouble getting them off his hands. He had some initial difficulty with aiming his thumb into the right spot but I think he will master that in another day or so.

excuse me while my brain explodes

Between having a two year old with more than his share of "moments" the last few days, and a web project blowing up in my face, I feel entitled to a ridiculously short NaBloPoMo post today. I hear the only thing more "fun" than a two year old is a three year old. Will he be human again when he's four?

With any luck, tomorrow will bring better news. And if not, maybe it will at least be more interesting.

where is the GREEN sheep?

Pittsburgh has been having a little Australia festival for the past few weeks. We had tickets to see The Green Sheep today. It's an interactive theatre production from Windmill Performing Arts, aimed at ages 1-4. It was great fun and Oliver had a blast. Eleanor was not sure what to make of it but she indulged us anyway. If this comes to your city, I highly recommend packing up the little ones to see it.

Tomorrow is our last full day with Aunt Suzy. I think we are going to try a trip to the National Aviary.

geriatric forest friends

Today Aunt Suzy and I took Oliver to the zoo for a class on "Forest Friends". It was our first experience with the zoo's educational programs but will not be our last. Oliver had a great time. The class was just for two year olds, and was split into two small groups of about six kids each. It last just 45 minutes but they packed it with coloring, making a bird feeder (a rice cake on a loop of yarn to which the kids spread crisco and then coated it with bird seed -- we may try making our own later but with peanut butter instead of crisco), making a bunny mask, reading a story, and meeting some animals. It was an interesting collection of animal senior citizens, including an eight year old bunny named Cecil and a three and a half year old opossum named Maggie. Apparently the average lifespan of an opossum is about one year, two if they are lucky. Maggie couldn't see or move her back legs very well, but we were assured she was not in any pain and liked her appearances in zoo classes.

We arrived at the zoo a few minutes early so we visited a few of the animals. Oliver liked seeing the tigers but really wanted to see zebras (success!) and elephants (too far away from our class location). The male lion we saw treated us to a little "concert". It initially sounded like he had a hairball but the keeper told us he was announcing his territory.

Tomorrow Suzy, Eleanor and I are going to see the Chihuly glass exhibit at the Phipps and in the afternoon we are all going to see The Green Sheep. So much culture, so little time.

with minutes to spare

I warned you I was likely to get through this by the skin of my teeth!

Here's Eleanor's latest development, sitting! She's not quite there yet, but oh so close. The boppy is there for safety, until she's better able to balance herself.

The poor kid is just one big bad hair day right now. The clips are cute and stay in her hair nicely, but I'm not sure they improve the look. I think we are just going to have to wait a bit for the hair to get a little longer and decide what it wants to do. The bald spot in the back is growing in very, very slowly too.

halloween

Let's get this NaBloPoMo hoe down started with the obligatory halloween photo of the kids. Eleanor is a lot happier than she looks, and Oliver has.no.idea what is about to happen. He's a trooper though and by the third house he had his "trick or treat" and most importantly, his "thank you" down pat. The most difficult thing was when people wanted him to take more than one piece of candy from their basket and I wanted him to take just one.

All in all, it was a grand success and we had a great time. CD even seemed to enjoy handing out candy to all the kids. Our neighborhood was a popular one. One of our neighbors reports handing out 250 pieces of candy! I know we were over 200 but my records are not very precise, due to some pre-holiday sampling. Just for quality control purposes, of course.

anatomy of a blogger's panic

OH SHIT!!!! I mean damn! No, that's not it.How about Oh My Stinkin' Heck? Nope, it's been done. FUDGE! NaBloPoMo starts tomorrow!!!

I had this grand plan to have four or five or thirty posts done or nearly so before November 1, so I could avoid my usual deadline scramble. I'll be organized this time, I told myself. How hard can it be?

Less than 12 hours to lift off and I haven't got SQUAT in reserve. With Halloween tonight and my sister arriving tomorrow you know the odds are high I will be able to report a similar condition tomorrow. Halloween pictures will bail me out, but still....

So tell me, internets, are YOU ready for NaBloPoMo? Are you really a glutton and doing NaNoWriMo? Or have you gone completely off the deep end and decided to do BOTH?

[At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you are a regular reader and haven't got a blog, do it NOW!! Jump in with NaBloPoMo and leave me a link in the comments. You read me. It's only fair that I should know every detail of your life too.]

I'm thinking about doing this too. How hard can it be? Bwaaaaaaa

Thanks Nana!

Oliver really likes the new pillows Nana made for him. They looks great in his room and create a nice cozy space for reading. Click on the picture to go to Flickr for a few more pictures of Oliver and the pillows.

Behind the pillows you can see a little bit of the denim paint effect that is below the chair rail on three of his walls. (Chalkboard paint is on the fourth wall.)

And if you look very closely you might spot a Clumber doorstop!

let me spell it out for you

Last night, around 2am, I woke up feeling absolutely awful. Severe pain in one breast, accompanied by chills and total body aches. I called the doc, who I adore, and his machine pointed me at the on-call doc. As a solo practictioner, he likes his nights and weekends and I can respect that. I should have recognized the red flag when I had SPELL m-a-s-t-i-t-i-s, for the service. I didn't do much better with mr. on-call doc. His assvice was to take some tylenol and come in to the office on Monday. As an after thought, seconds before hanging up, he asked if I was breastfeeding.

I took some advil and tried to sleep. When I woke up I realized what an idiot I had been and immediately called my OB practice. They called me back a few minutes later and prescribed an antibiotic. It was a doc I didn't know but there was no need for spelling lessons. She asked all the right questions, determining I probably didn't have an abscess, and got right down to business. That probably had something to do with the number of women in labor she was handling, but I really didn't care.

One dose of the antibiotic, a little sleep, and some oatmeal, and I am starting to feel nearly human. Next up is a shower, feeding Miss E, who hasn't bit me in two days despite having a second tooth peeking through, and more sleep. If all goes well, I'll be able to watch some of the Red Sox tonight. Rest assured, however, my live blogging days are probably done.

10-20-30

Tara tagged me for this meme. It's a tough one!

10-20-30 (you're supposed to write about where you were 10, 20 and 30 years ago and then tag 5 more people to play along)

• 10 years ago - I was 31 and had moved to Pittsburgh from Walla Walla, WA about a month before, along with my Clumber Spaniel, Chewy. Chewy and I had been together about three months but it felt like a lot longer. My new housemate had just moved in to the house I was renting. He was kind of cute but didn't talk much. His name was CD.
  
• 20 years ago - I was 21, and I was about half way through the first semester of my last year at Williams College, a senior at last. Senior year was mostly great. I was surrounded by a lot of good friends and I finally had my academic shit together. Not much else was together, but that was a huge step for me. I was starting to apply for jobs and starting to amass a vast collection of rejection letters. Since I was not applying for investment banking jobs, the whole Black Friday thing was somewhat lost on me. People were playing a lot of REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine)".
  
• 30 years ago - I was 11. Sixth grade, my first year at middle school. It was hell and I have tried very hard to block most of the memories of the next seven years or so. I seem to recall driving to Connecticut a lot.

I'm not sure I have five readers with blogs of their own, especially since I can't tag Tara! If you are reading this, and you have a blog, consider yourself tagged. And if you don't have a blog, consider it high time to dive in! Use this meme to get started. Please leave a comment and link when you complete this meme.

live blogging game 2

I'll begin with a disclaimer....I haven't live blogged before. You may wish I never do it again. And I'm really not sure I can stand one more night with Tim McCarver. Has there ever been a more annoying sports announcer? He gives me new appreciation for "Remdawg".

James Taylor singing the national anthem was a really nice touch. Cool guy and a fan. I'll be taking my bathroom break during the seventh inning stretch. Would love to hear Take Me Out to the Ballgame. God Bless America done by Boyz II Men is more than I can take.

8:32 Not an auspicious start for Schilling. I'm really tired of hearing, "He's not the pitcher he once was." Shoot, he's about a year younger than me. So depressing.

8:35 Foul tip by Matsui. When Oliver hits it is either a home run or a foul tip. This is a step up from everything being a home run. I'm working on teaching him about ground balls.

8:39 Okay, Schilling isn't quite as mobile as he once was, I'll concede that.

8:41 Colorado draws first blood, going up 1-0. I could easily slip back into the pessimistic fan I used to be.

8:44 It's too bad we have to see the same commercials over and over throughout the baseball playoffs. If only it could be like the SuperBowl, where the adverts are an event all on their own. Maybe they should call this "live ranting".

8:46 Thanks for the fairly lifeless lineup, Dewey. I kind of liked "Todd My goatee is better than Youkilis' Helton".

8:54 I have such a bad feeling about this. That strikeout makes me feel slightly better. Time for more take out.

8:57 Now I feel a lot better. (It was the out, not the food.) Yorvit named his son Yorvit too. I'll bet that's one we don't see much of on the Social Security list.

9:04 Ouch indeed. I hope Drew can shake it off.

9:16 That's better. Schilling seems to have settled. And I do love that ad with Big Papi.

9:25 Still looking for America's free taco. Why don't they just call it America's free heart attack?

9:27 RISP?

9:28 Ah, Runners In Scoring Position

9:29 Huge foul ball at Pesky's pole from Ortiz. Huge.

9:37 If this keeps up I'll be in bed before midnight. As attractive as that sounds, I really wish they had saved a few runs from last night.

9:44 Drew has clearly shaken it off. That slide by Lowell should be a sign that Ortiz should sit for game 3. Love ya, Big Papi, you know I do, but sitting makes sense. The altitude won't make you run faster.

9:46 Bullpen antics....doesn't anyone remember Bill Lee and his hibachi? This isn't new. I like it, but it isn't new.

9:50 Free tacos for everyone courtesy of Jacoby Ellsbury's stolen base. Knock yourselves out, kids.

10:02 Nice quick inning, walk not withstanding, for Schilling. My kind of boring.

10:07 Not a peep from upstairs. Eleanor is trying to drop nap #3 and it's helping her sleep longer at night.

10:08 Sorry Todd. You're both kind of ugly but Youkilis has the better goatee.

10:10 McCarver can only manage one word of agreement with Buck when he says good things about Schilling. Then he finds a way to remind us, once again, that he's not the pitcher he used to be. Dead.Horse. Leave it alone, for fuck's sake.

10:14 I wish Manny looked happier. Oliver would try to cheer him up, if he were awake.

10:16 Lowell doesn't look happy either but he's Mr RBI and there are two on.

10:17 Thank you, Mr RBI. Goodnight Mr Jimenez.

10:26 These pitching changes are really what stands between me and my bed.

10:33 It bears repeating.....Tim, you never say anything when the Red Sox are playing well. You can't bear to say anything positive about them. Get over it.

10:35 Masks are good.

10:36 Taco bell tacos are bad. I think the CEO of Taco Bell just wanted an excuse to go to the games.

10:37 Schilling to shilling. Tim made a funny.

10:42 I'll go out on a limb and say that is not the last we'll see of Curt Schilling in a Red Sox uniform.

10:46 I really want to hand McCarver a bat and let him try to hit Okajima, since it's all about the head jerk and he has it all figured out. (Head, jerk....Kim made a funny. Or maybe she's just getting a bit punchy.)

10:55 Duty calls. The presence of the boobs is required upstairs. So much for my 7th inning stretch bathroom break.

11:18 I'm back. Just in time to see Okajima smoke another one. Did you miss me?

11:20 Uh oh...now I need to leave again. And let me reiterate, there's only one song appropriate for 7th inning stretching (and Oliver would sing it for us if he were awake).

11:24 If you Google "Jacoby Ellsbury has just won America a free taco" this blog is the second hit.

11:28 Once again the announcers behave as though Papelbon is the only "unique personality" to ever inhabit the Fenway bullpen. The list of nutjobs is long and distinguished.

11:40 Okajima leaves with a smile on his face. His work here is done. On to Papelbon.

11:46 Holy moly. Papelbon dodges a line drive then picks off the runner to end the inning. I really want to be horizontal but this is too good to leave. The guy McCarver picks for league MVP falls asleep at first base...priceless.

11:50 The last time I heard Sweet Caroline was a couple of weeks ago at Trader Joe's. The lead staff must have been imported from Boston. Very similar rendition to that of the Fenway faithful.

12:00 I really should be asleep. A small person is likely to be playing my song in just a few hours. The only mystery is which one. Three more outs.

12:05 98 mph oh.my

12:07 Just one out left.

12:08 97 mph is just as hard to hit as 98.

12:09 Game over. Papelbon for President.

bad ass and friends

That packaging is exactly what it looks like, a diaper. And an unbleached one too. The box also contained a hand-written note. I suppose with product names like these they are going to go way over the top on customer service. Go read their site www.leastlikely2breed.net It's hysterical, as in root-beer-shooting-out-your-nose hysterical.

I will report back once I've had a chance to take them for a spin. I did take a whiff and they smell divine.

way too pleased with herself

Eleanor no longer stays were I put her. This photo was taken yesterday, after I put her on a nice blanket in the living room and ran upstairs for a minute or two. When I came back she was out in the entryway, about fifteen feet away. I emailed the babyproofer immediately. We seem to have skipped over getting gates on the main stairs.

She's rolling in both directions now. And if that wasn't enough of a skill explosion, she's just about sitting up on her own. Yesterday morning her limit was about two seconds of unsupported sitting. By dinnertime that was up to around 20 seconds. She is also trying to get up on her hands and knees, though I don't think we will see crawling for a while longer.

I think a next door neighbor to the tooth may be getting ready to appear too.

child grows, mum oblivious

Oliver has been afflicted with a nasty diaper rash for a few days. Really, really icky. Worse than anything he's ever had before. Thanks to the internets and the fact that one can fine a picture of absolutely anything, I diagnosed it yesterday as yeast and began treatment with some clotrimazole we happened to have lying around. Ahem.

Despite being a second generation "Dr Mom" I'm not as comfortable with my skills as my own mother so I took him to the doc this morning. He said to Oliver, "Your mom is really GOOD!" He gave us a script for more cream, with a little steroid chaser.

Oliver has yet to complain about this rash. His clumber-like stoicism continued when it was time for his flu shot. Barely a whimper. Tough kid. He even watched the needle go in. Not sure he's related to me.

But the biggest surprise was that he's grown 7 cm in the last six months. If I had not seen the tape measure myself I would not have believed it. (I know...I should have taken a picture.) And that was without shoes. He still fits into his 18-24 month baby gap jeans, and they fit him better now than ever. He's a 2T or 3T from the waist up so that's where most of the new-found length has landed. He not only looks like my dad, he's kind of built like him too.

For those keeping score at home, or thinking about a Christmas gift in the clothing realm, he's 90 cm and 33 lbs. We won't have to buy anything extra for our trip to Florida in January and I probably won't have to buy him any new shorts next year but he will likely have outgrown all but the largest of his summer shirts by then. It will be interesting to see if he makes it into the size 100 Hanna Andersson winter pjs I bought when we were in Maine last August.

unexpected things one can compost

You may recall we embarked on a worm composting adventure a few months back. Partly out of environmental consciousness and partly out of a desperate need to amuse a 2 year old, we got a worm bin. It's been going well. So well that I decided we should probably try regular composting again. I tried a few years back but things never got cooking. Adding the magic, "make it cook NOW" additives had no effect. My guess is that the green to brown ratio was off but I really don't know what was wrong.

Yesterday I went to composting class. It came with a free bin, a pretty cool looking one too, though it does look a bit like the love child of R2D2 and Darth Vader. The instructor made it all sound a little too easy but fall makes me happy and thus, overly optimistic.

I learned a lot in class, including some unusual things that can go in the compost bin. I had no idea dryer lint and dog hair were compostable. The rule we learned is as long as no animal products are involved, it's probably okay. For example, leftover toast with margarine is okay to toss in the bin. With butter? Disqualified.

With a little luck, we will have lovely compost to add to the planting beds in the spring. Or we'll have a smelly mess to clean up.

cold enough for hats

Fall makes me really really happy. It's been warm this week but one day last weekend it was cold enough for hats. Eleanor looks like she's dressed for the arctic but we really just walked to a neighborhood restaurant. (I live in a neighborhood! With restaurants!)

half a year

Eleanor was six months old on Tuesday. She's tipping the scales at 19 pounds now, and my back and neck are really feeling it. We've been trying to go for a good walk every day since I am back on the Weight Watchers wagon, and I am remembering why I had to stop carrying Oliver in the Baby Bjorn when he got much past 20 pounds. But with Oliver, 21 pounds was on day 272. What Eleanor weighs now, on day 185, Oliver got to on day 216. Not that we're comparing....

In any case, I bought an Ergo carrier today. I tried it on, with Eleanor, all the while worried she would hurl all over the store sample. She didn't. (Hit the bib instead! Woo hoo!) The relief was almost instantaneous. The weight was on my hips instead of my neck. Once I get better at fastening all the buckles and straps I know I am going to like it a lot. Thanks for the recommendation, Tamara!!

So, more about the six month milestone. She's still a very easy baby, taking good naps and sleeping well at night, and being generally good-natured the rest of the time. She loves solid foods and hasn't rejected anything. She makes a face when I give her yogurt so that's off the menu for a while, but she is happy to eat everything else we have tried and complains when the bowl is empty. I'm struggling with trying to find a good time to add a second meal of solids. I have tried a couple of times but she has returned a fair bit of the meal shortly thereafter. Mostly, she just wants to sleep in the mornings. Further proof that she is her father's daughter.

Eleanor is not yet sitting up without support but she is trying to crawl, giving us more good reason to stop comparing her to Oliver. He was sitting up but didn't crawl until sometime in December. I doubt we will see actual locomotion from her for a while, though she's rolling in both directions now.

She has learned her name too. And perhaps the most astounding bit in my mind, we've been breastfeeding for six months now and not a bit of formula. (We tried that first night home from the hospital but she would not take it.) I have an impressive stash, at least to me, of milk in the freezer. That's my security blanket. I still have nightmares that I suddenly produce no milk but even when I know haven't had my usual water intake Eleanor seems to be satisfied. I make milk. What's your superpower?

a whole bunch of randomness

1. Eleanor is sporting her first tooth. It appeared a few days ago. I'm a lazy blogger. The drooling she has been doing for months, making us think teeth were immenent, continues unabated.

2. Aunt Flo returned the same day. Coincidence?

3. I might actually like beans. As previously blogged, I had progressed from loathing to mild dislike of beans. Last night I had the Beans and Greens at Pino's and I think I fell in love. Granted, everything is good if you put enough garlic on it, but this dish was lovely. I can't wait to go back and have it again. (The "Italian Fries" are also worth checking out. Pino's neighbor, Point Brugge, is known for their fries. These are tasty rivals. Must eat more of both to make a final decision.)

4. Pino's could turn out to be our favorite place. We put both kids in the double stroller and walked there last night. It's family friendly, nearby, and the food is great. I like Point Brugge a lot but it's a little more spendy and I'm slightly less inclined to take the kids. One negative on Pino's....the rather surly person who seated us noted that none of the straps on the high chairs work. She seemed to hope we would go away after hearing that news. Fortunately, our waitress liked the kids and did not seem the least bit bothered by them. There were three other tables with kids, all of them louder than mine.

5. Putting kids in the double stroller last night required hats and a blanket for Eleanor. It's fall and this pleases me beyond measure. Nothing makes me happier than a crisp fall day. It's all downhill from fall (winter is okay, spring is icky, and I really don't like summer) so I will enjoy it for as long as it lasts, which is never quite long enough. This year it took forever to arrive.

6. Fall is the time of pumpkins and such. I picked up a few when I went to lend a little moral support to Tara yesterday as she exhibited her amazing cards for the first time. The greenhouse had the cutest little mini pumpkins, no bigger than about 4 inches in diameter. Irresistible. We kind of ignored Halloween last year. It was raining and we closed on the new house that afternoon. This year, I'm really excited, more so than any other year in Pittsburgh. We have great neighbors with kids and will do the trick or treat thing as a group. We also expect to have a great crowd of kids showing up at our house. The only bad thing is that one of the adults goes with the kids and the other stays home to distribute the candy. I want to do both! With the official trick or treat hours of 5:30 - 7:30pm, perhaps we can switch roles at the halfway point.

7. More fall fun....planting bulbs! When I saw the neighborhood last spring I realized I have a lot of catching up to do in the tulip department. After a solid week of serious bonding with the White Flower Farm website, I bought a good assortment of pinks and whites, with a mix of early, middle, and late bloomers. Now I just have to get them into the ground in an optimal configuration. This is going to involve measuring and graph paper and pencils (and erasers!). The last time I did that, a few weeks ago when I planted the hosta bed in the backyard, I put the new plants in backwards. No, the roots were not pointing up, but I had four varieties, three plants each, and mapped out little triangle configurations for the planting. Then proceeded to put them in with the triangles pointing in the wrong direction. I dug them up and did it right a few hours later, but what a gardening moron I am. I probably should not be trusted with tulip bulbs, but the squirrels will probably eat half of them anyway.

so disappointed

I've been a fan of the Tour de France a long time. Even through all the doping scandals, I have remained a fan of cycling and in awe of many cyclists, especially those on Team Discovery. Though the team is officially disbanded, I am still interested in what the team members are up to. Or I was until this from Levi Leipheimer. It appeared in Sports Illustrated. I won't be reading that anymore either (curse them for putting Papelbon on the cover too).

I have worked for years to educate people looking for a dog on how to find and evaluate a quality breeder. To advocate never buying from a breeder is incomprehensible to me. I agree there are a lot of unethical breeders out there but to paint them all in one stroke is grossly unfair.

I'm too disgusted to write any more on this topic.

nine years ago, I ate the five bean soup

It's been nine years since the first date with CD. I didn't know it was a date at the time, though my much smarter subconscious probably had a clue. When my then-housemate asked me to dinner I assumed it was to celebrate the release of Mulberry 1.4, an important update in spite of being a dot release. (For the full historical timeline of Mulberry, not our relationship, go here.)

We walked to a restaurant called Sweet Basil. It's now gone from Forbes Ave and thus sparing us any overly-indulgent nostalgia, having been replaced by at least three other establishments since then. Though we had shared the house for a year, I did not know CD well, other than knowing he liked my dogs and didn't have much to say otherwise. Though I am all too accustomed to them now, silences were painful for me then so I undoubtedly babbled on and on about nothing. Food was a welcome distraction, so much so that when CD ordered soup, I jumped on board too. Never mind that it was five bean soup and I really hated beans then. (We've progressed to mild dislike now.) I don't remember much else of the meal.

What I do remember was wondering if it was a date during our silent walk home. It was raining softly, but not enough to be bothersome. Quite nice, really. I remember thinking, "If it is a date, he will try to hold my hand." Um, not a chance.... Somehow, probably by the weekend, I figured out it really was a date after all. I have more email that seemed to be worth keeping from him during the month of October, 1998, than just about any other month before or since, most of it painfully adorable. The rest are jokes about beer.

search engines gone wild

What is it with the Germans? About once a week I get a hit on this blog from a search for "naked ballerina" and it's almost always from Germany. I think there was one time it was from New Jersey, but the rest? All German. Is there something you all would like to share, perhaps over some beer and bratwurst? I would really like to know.

Today's highlight is a hit from "pushing out baby from butt pics". Um, no. 'Roids were us there for a while but I did not, in fact, push either baby out my butt. Both exited from the hoo-ha in the usual fashion. Ask CD. I think he even peeked with the second one.

I get a lot of action from "preauricular tags". I didn't realize how often this birth "defect" occurs. I hope my story about Oliver's tags makes parents feel better. There are always hits from all things having to do with babies pooping, or not pooping, as the case may be.

And to "tile project while pregnant" I say it's his turn to do some of the heavy lifting. You could do the tile, but I suggest a nap, or at the very least put your feet up and cuddle with a nice pint of Ben & Jerry's instead. This is a good time to outsource.

road to hell redux

Way back when, I mentioned we had until March to get a minivan. It was what I like to refer to as a "worthy goal". Things got delayed a bit but at last, the day has arrived, minivan day. We finally settled on the Kia Sedona. I got over my hatred of the Toyota Sienna, but not the price tag. A fully-loaded Sedona with every possible option, with the exception of DVD, is about 12k less than a comparably equipped Sienna with all-wheel drive. I can get over it by telling myself that the traction control technology has improved and maybe I won't miss the all-wheel drive I have enjoyed for the last ten years. If global warming continues, we won't get snow in Pittsburgh anyway. (It's supposed to be 88 here today. It's October, for pete's sake!!! Enough with the heat and humidity already.)

I'm really excited about a few features, like the two driver memory on all the seat settings, including the adjustable pedals. I have dreamed about having this. We are a one vehicle family (except for the next month or so, before we have to give back our leased Subaru Outback) and we are not the same size. Thus we have to adjust the seat and mirrors all.the.time. Not anymore. We have to get everything just right ONE TIME and then tell the car to remember. Yeah, I know, what are the odds? I'll get back to you on that.

The sunroof also makes me happy. I haven't had one since my one and only "cool car". I had the cutest little white Volkswagen Golf that was also loaded with options. It's the only car I really fell in love with and had to have, though I didn't really need a new car at the time. All I need is a sunroof and some driving music to get me back to 1990 and my much younger self. We'll see if that still works when the sunroof is attached to a minivan. At least this sunroof does not require a crank handle like the Volkswagen. (Still miss that car, even if it was a stick. You don't want to know how long it took me to conclude I was not a bad person because the fear of rolling back on hills far outweighed the coolness factor of driving stick. I think I just needed to turn 30 or so.)

Leather will be nice. We've never had that in a car. The heated seats were not negotiable. Subaru hooked me on those and there is no going back. I think we'll be able to get two dog crates in the back without removing the second row captain's seats, though we only need to fit one right now. The third row, which splits 60/40, folds flat.

Dealers are extremely motivated right now. We had hoped to get a 2008 model but dealers have too many 2007s on the lot and will not get the 08s until the 07s are mostly gone. Our lease will be up before that happens. The good news is we got about $4k knocked off the price.

All told, we couldn't beat the insane number of features, the safety ratings, the warranty, and the price. I'm very sad to be leaving Subaru. If they made a minivan, I'd be first in line to buy it. (Please don't tell me to look at the Tribeca. It is NOT big enough. Not even close.)

good news from across the pond

Wallace and Gromit are returning to TV!! This will please a number of people in my household. Much as I love "Cracking Contraptions" and all the rest of the W&G videos it will be nice to see some new material. I wonder how long it will take to reach this side of the pond.

great lunch, mom

A little note from Oliver's new teacher was in his cubby yesterday. "Great lunch, Mom!" My greatest fear about this new school has been packing Oliver's lunch. For the first few days I went with hummus and pita (or pita chips), carrots, and honeydew melon. I decided it was time to branch out when the small thermos arrived so yesterday I packed macaroni and cheese. Apparently, it was a big hit. We'll try tomato soup later this week.

I found this incredibly cool apple hack when I was searching for ideas. I tried it yesterday but the teachers didn't notice it in the fridge. They found it this morning, but state regulations required them to throw it away. They did say it was not brown though. I put another one in his lunch today.

It's Parent Night at the school tonight. I'm looking forward to meeting more people at the school. I felt very connected at the old school and even served as the classroom parent rep to the Parent-Educator Committee. Now I don't recognize anyone at drop-off and pick-up time and don't feel that I belong yet. Oliver, fortunately, has no such issues. And people I don't know already know him.

Oliver's favorite teacher from the old school is coming over to babysit. We haven't seen her since she left the school a couple of weeks before we did. He's been talking about it for two days and can't wait to see her. As for me, I'm looking forward to dinner out with CD. We thought about trying a new place but it looks like they may be closing by the time we get there.

addendum to yesterday's PSA

I should add that just because you're using an RSS reader, you are not absolved from making comments. Today would be a good day for that.

Read this for more info on the The Great Mofo De-lurk 2007.

public service announcement

This is aimed at those of you who have not yet discovered the wonder that is the RSS reader. Yeah, I'm talking to YOU! Gabriella, Donna, Tamara, a few others who I'm sure would prefer not to be named, and a few more whose names I don't know.

Hate typing "three dogs baby" in to Google every day? Or choosing the link from your bookmarks and discovering I haven't written anything today (or this week, or this month...)? Then the RSS reader is for you. It will show you a list of all the blogs you read, just like bookmarks. But if you ask nicely, it will show you only those blogs with posts you have not read. This technology stuff....pretty amazing!

There are lots of RSS readers to choose from, and I've tried a bunch, but the only one I have liked enough to continue using is Google Reader. To get started, click here. In the upper left part of your screen you should see the word "more" with a downward pointing triangle. Click on it and select "Reader". If you need more help, drop me an email.

take me out to the ballgame

It was the pathetic and pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates' final game of the season but it was Oliver's first game. (Eleanor went to an afternoon game earlier in the week.) He got a free glove, which he insisted on taking to bed!

Fortunately, Oliver knows a bit about a pretty good baseball team that resides in Boston. He will tell you he likes Manny, and Manny hits the ball. He may ask if Manny is okay, after seeing Manny get hit by a pitch on tv when we were in Maine last August. He will also tell you that Varitek catches and Papelbon pitches. When CD went to Boston a couple of weeks ago he thought daddy was going to see Manny.

Click the photo to go to Flickr for a few more pics from the game.

Door Sign for Eleanor

Door Sign for Eleanor
Originally uploaded by clumberkim

As with Oliver's sign, Aunty Tara did all the heavy lifting.

When we first bought the new house, every door in the place (and I do mean EVERY door, except for the closets) had a bizarre brass door knocker. I should have taken photos. They were all different, and equally odd.

I have been enjoying my pristine doors but saw these lovely door signs. Then I choked on the price. I consulted Tara and she concurred we could make something similar for a lot le$$. That sent me on a trip to the craft store, where my ideas morphed into something entirely different. Tara improved my ideas further and I am thrilled with the end result.

Door Sign for Oliver

Door Sign for Oliver
Originally uploaded by clumberkim

I am not at all crafty. Thus, I needed a great deal of help from "Aunty Tara" to accomplish a little sign for Oliver's door. I am responsible for selecting and procuring the raw materials and painting the background only.

one is silver and the other gold

Oliver completed the week at his new school in fine style. I got a glowing report (written, daily reports! including how lunch went and how long he napped) from his teachers, noting the smooth transition into the class and how much the teachers and other children are enjoying him. He isn't talking about his new friends yet but he clearly likes everything about his new school.

We had a great afternoon with some friends from his old school. I didn't tell him they were coming until I picked him up, mostly because I didn't know exactly who would appear. He was bouncing off the walls, to the extent possible when strapped to the baby barcalounger, the whole drive home.

It was great to see the kids and their parents (and a baby sibling and a grandma too!). In spite of my best efforts to the contrary, a few of my martha-esque tendencies reared their ugly head and I made cupcakes. There was a small, unfortunate incident while I was trying to decorate them involving a faucet but the cupcakes mostly survived and I was reminded, yet again, that I am not Martha after all.

yep, she's a house

Eleanor went to the doc for her five month weigh-in and a shot today. We're a little late but the stats continue to be impressive. After being just over 17 pounds at 4 months, she is now tipping the scale at 18.7 pounds. She only grew a centimeter and a half though. Depending on which chart you consult, she's around the 96th percentile for weight and 73rd for length.

As for the shot, she whimpered for about two seconds and never got to full-fledged crying. She'll be giving her brother a run for his money very, very soon.

Speaking of her brother, Oliver has spent two shortened days at his new school and is settling in nicely. All reports from his teachers and the boy himself have been positive. Tomorrow he will stay for his usual day, including lunch and nap. By far the scariest thing for me is having to pack his lunch. The school provides snacks in the morning and afternoon but not lunch, unlike our previous school. He always ate well there. Vegetables even. The variety and quality of the food was most impressive. Now I have to worry about him eating, since his favorite thing yesterday is likely to become loathesome tomorrow, and about his teachers scrutinizing what I pack. There are practical problems as well. They will refrigerate, but not heat. They do not cut food. And perhaps most worrisome of all, the kid has yet to master the straw. He blows instead of sucks. (That should send my hit count into overdrive.) Apparently this is completely different from what all the other two year olds his lead teacher has encountered do. He isn't getting the concept that he should do just what he does with a sippy. I am sending a milk box (thank you Trader Joe's, for putting 2% organic in shelf-stable boxes!) and a cup, with the hope they will encourage him to try the straw, but put it in a cup if that doesn't work.

Since we are going for full-on intimidation, as I was poking around for lunch ideas and containers and lead-free lunchboxes and such, I found way too many sites showing off insanely beautiful bento box lunches. It just took me over half an hour to pack up hummus, pita chips, carrots sticks, and melon. I can't begin to imagine how long it takes to pack something like this. Shoot, there's even "BentoTV". I'll take a picture if I ever pack anything worthy of a photograph. Don't hold your breath.

lost and found

Love, love, love my little bluetooth gizmo. (Had to do something with the $100 peace offering from Uncle Steve.) I don't always have a hand available for the iPhone so it's really useful. That is, until I realize it was in my ear a few minutes ago and now it is not. And the only things I have done in the previous fifteen minutes are play football with Oliver in the backyard and put Eleanor down for a nap.

After spending half an hour searching the backyard, all the while fearing it was underneath Eleanor in her crib, I finally got my answer. My fear was correct. Fortunately she didn't eat it.

moi? uber cool? not in this lifetime

These things are clearly not to be trusted. Found at So Anyway.

piling on

As the year of living rejectedly continues, I was not selected for yet another job I interviewed for. It wasn't a full-time job, and frankly wasn't going to be enough money to warrant being terribly upset, but it's just.one.more.thing.

I'm hearing back from a few of Oliver's buddies about our invitation for Friday. Four no, one yes, and one maybe. (UPDATE: Five no, two yes, three maybe.) Some folks are traveling but it still makes me a little sad. He won't care. One buddy, eight buddies, it's all the same. The more the merrier, but one friend is fine in his book. Less cupcakes to bake for me. Since I am a total glutton for punishment, we may have to try again during the October in-service day at his old school.

Speaking of school, we had the home visit from his new lead teacher. It was fine but she doesn't like dogs. This bothers me, no doubt more than it should, but I am not at all sure I can entirely trust someone who doesn't like dogs. I don't trust all "dog people" but this is a woman clearly VERY uncomfortable around dogs. Can't wrap my head around that at all. Let's hope Oliver loves her and thrives in her care because it's going to take all that to win me over.

y'all come

I may have lost my mind but I just sent an email to all of Oliver's friends from his old school, inviting them to stop by on Friday afternoon. The school has an in-service half day so we hope to reconnect with lots of his buddies. We have seen a few of them since the new school year started (without Oliver) but he misses all of them. Now I just have to make sure the house is in order, some cupcakes are baked and frosted, fruit is cut, etc. Nooooo problem. Yeah, there is no "may". I have lost my mind.

I can now refer to the "old school" since Oliver has a new school! We visited on Thursday and accepted a slot on Friday. He will start sometime this week. The lead teacher is coming for a home visit tomorrow, and I'm finishing up the paperwork tonight. He loved the school, due in no small part to the big pink dinosaur out front and the view from his new classroom, which includes a gas station that in the process of being torn down. All it takes for this kid is a digger and a crane. He's hooked. The big slide on the playground didn't hurt either.

Nothing for Eleanor yet but she naps a bit more than Oliver and gives me some better blocks of time to spend on looking for a job. I may even squeeze in a bit more blogging. I have a somewhat grand (for me) plan to do more product reviews. Can I call that "looking for a job"? I know, it's a stretch. I really should just suck it up and apply to one of my favorite "big blogs" like ParentDish or Strollerderby. 2007 is shaping up to be the "year of living rejectedly" so one more round really should not scare me.

screwed, for the very last time

I really should know better than to try and shop on-line at Old Navy. I have had problems with them before, though I never have issues with The Gap's site. They must not have the same web wranglers working on both sites.

So on Friday night I was trying to place an order before midnight, when the 15% off sale and free shipping offer were set to expire. I had my cart filled by 11:55pm and was set to check out. Then I logged in and my cart was suddenly empty. Argh....okay, so I refilled my cart and it was 12:05. No discount and no free shipping. I was too tired and probably not thinking clearly because I decided place the order anyway and send an email to customer service. I was hoping they would fix the problem, thus not screwing others in the future, and perhaps, out of the goodness of their hearts or their desire to do the right thing, extend to me the discount and free shipping I would have received if their site was working properly.

Here's the response:

Thank you for your e-mail. We apologize for the difficulties you have
experienced on our site. Unfortunately, we have been unable to recreate
the problem you described. Please know that we are unable to apply any
discounts or promotions to orders placed after the offers have expired.
Please accept our sincere apologies for any disappointment this may
cause.

Yeah, well, please know I will be unable to shop at sites that don't work or with companies who don't believe in making things right when their systems fall short. Fortunately there are plenty of alternatives.

bed head, Eleanor style

Like her daddy, she's not exactly a "morning person".

wild wild life

It's been an interesting few days. Friday it all fell apart really really badly and since then I've been putting it back together, a little bit at a time. Once or twice a day it falls apart a little again. Then I stop crying and move on. There's a nose to wipe, a boob to whip out, someone (besides me) needs a hug or something else only Mum can provide. And Mum is there. All.The.Damn.Time.

There have been plenty of opportunities for me to gain perspective lately, should anyone think I am pissing and moaning about my own problems a bit too much. Two friends have had loved ones pass away, much too young in both cases. My next-door neighbor, who I had not had nearly enough time to get to know, also died this week. It turns out we shared the same birthday but I had to read that in the paper. And just in case you happen to be in need of a little perspective in your own life, go read this. Keep the tissues handy. Things could definitely be worse.

So onward and upward. We're on to plan B, or maybe H, but we'll call it B for now. For the first half of the plan I started calling schools and day care centers on Monday morning. Our first choice might have a partial-day spot for Oliver. I have a tour scheduled for tomorrow so I will know more soon. They don't take anyone younger than two. Our second choice, a place that could take both Oliver and Eleanor, is completely full. I dropped off waiting list applications today and toured their renovated infant/toddler space. They said "keep in touch."

The second half of plan B involves trying to find a job. Tough to do while caring for two children full time so that's why the first part comes first. Ideally, some part time child care and a part time job will fall into place and mesh perfectly. Yeah, I know. Stop laughing. Let a girl dream a little. It's been a rough week.

It would help if I had a clue what I want to do. All I know for sure is what I don't want to do. It's a start, I suppose. I have a friend who is interested in jumping into the crazy world of starting a business and has mentioned doing something together. I would absolutely love to make this leap and get a little giddy just thinking about it. Stay tuned....

CD is in Boston this week, returning on his birthday and with luck, in time for dinner and a little time with his children before they go to bed. May the airline gods be with us. The kidlets and I will try to bake a cake Friday morning but I'm not optimistic that will work out. Fortunately, there is no shortage of bakeries around here.

Here's the short list of what hasn't been going well since he left, though most of them are largely resolved:

• Penguin had a bit of digestive upset, resulting in her needing to go outside nearly every hour Sunday and Monday nights, and requiring a bit of a bum clean-up each time she came back inside. She is now over whatever the problem was, thanks to a bit of Flagyl.
• Eleanor seems to be transitioning to a new schedule and it has taken the last few days to sort it out. That too seems to be working now, though we're still hitting a bump or two here and there. She is loving solid food and has tried sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and apples, in addition to rice and oatmeal cereals. She is always annoyed when the bowl is empty.
• Oliver has been having fun, tearing around the neighborhood with the big kids in the evening, resulting in two skinned and bloodied knees last night. He was very brave, shaking it off, and taking off at full speed, until he saw the blood all over his shorts. He's fine but this is exactly why I bought red washcloths for the kids' bathroom.

Tonight I hired one of the neighborhood teenagers to watch Oliver and Eleanor so I could have a little break. It was a mostly great two and a half hours, except that during a very nice phone call with a Clumber friend Oliver accidentally bopped Ellie in the head with his plastic tee-ball bat. She cried a little and he cried more, to the point where only Mum could help him down off the crying and hyperventilating ledge. He was having nothing to do with the sitter putting him to bed so I did that, too, before fleeing the house. The sitter will get another chance on Saturday night.

The rest of the time was filled with a trip to Trader Joe's and the gas station, and 15 whole kid-free minutes at Starbucks. As I was driving between stops I switched the radio to WYEP just as one of my favorite Talking Heads songs was starting. (At least one of my nieces will be disappointed to learn it was not Psycho Killer.) I did what any self-respecting 41 year old would do. I rolled up my windows, cranked up the volume and sang along. (Everyone in the neighborhood should be very grateful that I am not yet driving my dream car.) For those few fabulous minutes I was back in college again, entirely unencumbered by children or other responsibilities. Thanks Tania!! The dj happens to be a friend and this was the first time I have caught one of her shows - a very happy accident!

Back to reality now. There's a hungry little girl upstairs in her crib, looking for a late night snack from her Mum.

catch-up, ketchup, toe-MAH-toe, whatever

Before getting back to regular blogging, a few updates are in order. August wasn't the black hole it appears to be.

I had a job interview in early August and it seemed to go very well. Unfortunately, August is a crappy time to try to get a bunch of people together to make a hiring decision. As of today, I'm still waiting, fervently hoping they are not stringing me along. Why? Because this is week three of being a SAHM to two kids and it is kicking my butt. My patience is shot before Monday is over. Oliver asks about his teachers and friends and it just makes me want to cry. I feel like I have failed him, failed to keep him a school that is beyond amazing, ripped him away from all of his friends and teachers, completely failed as a parent to give him the best start possible. And failing to give Eleanor that same start too.

I've spent the last three weeks glued to phones and email, waiting for word on this job. I'm not sure there is enough chocolate in the world to get me through even more waiting. Though I've been back at Weight Watchers for a few weeks now, losing eleven pounds, that success is now in serious jeopardy.

In one of my many efforts to keep Oliver amused, we've started worm composting.


This is a photo of the moment after I dumped the worms in our bin. Oliver was standing next to the bin, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. When asked what lives in our garage he proudly announces, "WORMS!!!" and will tell you that they are eating our garbage. In spite of my suckiness as a parent, he's an awfully cool kid.

Our other house still hasn't sold. I haven't planted a St Joseph yet but it's becoming clear that I should. Maybe we'll try to rent it if there isn't a sale by October.

We had a great time with CD's brother's family, visiting from England. We managed (barely, due to Eleanor's grumpiness and propensity to hurl) a photo shoot with all four of the kids on that side of the family, ranging in age from 15 to 3.5 months.

Thanks to the smart and pretty Mir and an ad on her blog, I had the Essure sterilization procedure last week. It was so easy! I don't remember any of it, came home very soon after I woke up, and was absolutely fine to take care of two kids for the afternoon. May all the colonoscopies in my future have anesthesia exactly like this. After the HSG test in November, I will not have to think about birth control ever again. Ever. Again.

The trip to Maine warrants its own little retro-blogging post. Maybe tomorrow, if I manage to get two kids to sleep at the same time.

yum, I think

Eleanor had her first taste of cereal tonight. I thought we would wait until she turned 6 months in October but all the signs pointed to her being ready now. She grabs for food, is sitting up with support, and is exploring with her mouth instead of pushing things out of it.

She seemed to like the rice cereal but made a lot of interesting faces. I think the texture on her tongue was what she found most curious.

Like Oliver, she had her first cereal in the bouncy seat but her "meal" was al fresco, on the back porch. I hope she tolerates the rice better than Oliver did. He did better on oatmeal and barley.