Weekend Happenings

Tonight I find myself tired (and why am I up writing a blog post rather than going to bed?) but content. This weekend we attended the children's Christmas program at our church. It was snowed out twice in December. Okay, so we didn't actually attend the full program. We went for the first fifteen minutes, when the preschoolers sang Go Tell It on the Mountain and Away in a Manger. Here's our little lamb trying to reach her tail:

I spent much of the rest of the weekend rearranging furniture. Does anyone else do that for fun? It's a contagious habit. I caught it from my mother-in-law. Sometimes it becomes quite serious, moving beds and dressers and sofas and such. This can result in exhaustion, backaches and severe eye-rolling, all on the the part of my husband. This weekend I presented with only a mild case of bookcase rearranging. My husband only had to move one piece of furniture for me, one of the larger shelves, and I moved the others around until I was satisfied with their placement. Good times.

How was your weekend?

Golden Days

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

~Robert Frost

These newborn days are going by oh, so fast.

Life Today

In my kitchen:

• Cranberry Cornmeal Biscotti
• Trader Joe's Panettone
• Liberally Decorated Sugar Cookies
• Cinnamon Bread

On my nightstand:

• Deconstructing Penguins by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone
• Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
• Seams To Me by Anna Maria Horner
• Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen, Ed.D.

On my to-do list:

• so many thank you notes
• so many birth announcements (it's not too late, right? She's only ten weeks old...)
• wrap, wrap, wrap

On my mind:

• my brother spending his second consecutive Christmas in Iraq
• anyone in the Seattle area who is without shelter in this bitter cold weather
• friends spending their first Christmas away from loved ones, in a foreign country, where Christmas is not celebrated

The Comings and Goings of a Two Month Old

While her activities have not been as varied as her sister's, the Little One has been quite busy herself. Mostly she has been doing a lot of this:

Being super cute.

The Comings and Goings of a Three Year Old

The blog has been quiet, I know, but life has not been. Here is a glimpse of what our three year old has been up to these past few months. (In reverse chronological order.)

Her first "gingerbread" house.

Sorting the Christmas ornaments. What, you don't wear a fairy/angel/princess/ballerina costume while you decorate?

Thanksgiving hugs with her cousin.

Helping Grandpa rake the leaves...over and over and over again.

Ready for the Pumpkin Party at preschool.

Growing Up

Here she is, our little Sunday school student. She was so excited to go to the "big kids' room".


I thought Elise might be a bit hesitant to say goodbye to us when we dropped her off at Sunday school, being in a new room and all, but she was fine. She walked right in and began to play. Child-sized chairs pulled up to a table full of Playdough certainly didn't hurt.


After church, our entire congregation gathered on the lawn for a balloon release. We do this each year at the beginning of the school year. We sent more than 300 balloons to the sky yesterday.

Elise released my balloon at the appointed time. She kept hers.

It was a great day. Elise brought home her first Sunday school papers - torn pieces of paper glued together on construction paper to make the sun and the moon. I believe her class is learning about the creation of the world. I might have to frame those papers.

Comings and Goings

What a lovely couple of days! On Thursday I got a call from a dear friend whom I hadn't seen in a long time. She was calling with the wonderful news that she would be in town on Friday. Nothing could have made me happier! So, of course, we got together on Friday, along with a couple other friends. It was a short visit, but lovely, and I was thrilled to find out that she'll be back in town shortly. You know, many of my college friends moved away after graduation, and there were two in particular whom I missed sorely. One of them moved back last year. The friend I saw on Friday is the other. I wonder what it would take to get her to move back? Hmm...

Andy and I began today with no particular plan in mind. I decided to go through Elise's clothes, pack away the ones she has outgrown, that sort of thing. At one point I went downstairs to find a particular bin in the closet under the stairs. What a mess! So I started going through it, labeling bins, cleaning out bins, etc. Andy and Elise came downstairs, Elise to play, Andy to help. We worked hard. Finally Andy pointed out that it was 2:30, we had not eaten lunch, and Elise had not taken a nap. Oops. We remedied those situations and I think we are both very happy with the work that was unexpectedly accomplished.

Tomorrow promises to be a memorable day. Tomorrow Elise will start Sunday school. At our church, the nursery is provided for children from birth until age two. At the beginning of each school year, the two year olds move up to Sunday school. Tomorrow is the day. I'm excited, and I think Elise will really enjoy it...and I'm just a little bit sad, just because this is yet another sign that my baby isn't a baby anymore. She can "read" (she has it memorized) the entire Curious George book that we read each night at bedtime. She "reads" it to me now. I just sit there, completely delighted and completely saddened by her growth.

Adventures in parenting

Last week was a challenging week in the realm of parenthood. For whatever reason, Elise could not sleep. She did not take an afternoon nap for three days in a row - in a row! - and only slept for 30 minutes or so on the other days, and she slept fitfully at night, taking hours to fall asleep, waking up during the night, and getting up early in the morning. This meant that I got very little done last week and that Andy and I got less sleep than usual as well. And let me tell you, a sleep-deprived toddler is not a happy toddler. She also wasn't eating much last week, which had us concerned. It was a trying week.

This week has been like butter. "Smooth...like buttah". Yeah. She sleeps eleven or twelve hours at night. She's taking three hour naps in the afternoon (unusual for her). She's cleaning her plate at mealtime. She happy and energetic and engaging. We ran errands yesterday and she was a little saint. It is wonderful. And a good thing, too - last week I did not know how I was going to make it through the year.

Yesterday in particular was a good day. Elise topped it off with two adorable antics at bedtime. We were saying bedtime prayers. Usually we just let Elise pray with whatever words she chooses, and right now her prayers consist mostly of "thank you". Last night she had her eyes tightly shut and prayed, "Thank you [for] Daddy's truck. Thank you car. Thank you...church. Thank you...umm...my binkies. Thank you...umm...thank you..." At this point she peeked around her room, apparently trying to find something else to thank Jesus for. I guess she didn't find anything that particularly inspired her. She closed her eyes again and said, "The End!"

A moment later, as I was tucking her in, we found that Lambie was not in the crib. Lambie goes pretty much everywhere with Elise. She's not completely addicted to him - she can go to sleep without him - but she definitely prefers to have him there. So Andy and I did a quick house search for him. He was not there. We checked the car. Nope. We checked the obscure places where Lambie has been found in the past - hidden corners, the bathtub, that sort of thing. We could not find him. Then we remembered that Elise had taken Lambie outside with her earlier in the day. At that point we had to find him because we didn't want him to get all wet and dirty and potentially mildewed overnight. So off I went to search our backyard. I don't think I had ever before been in our backyard after dark. It was really, really dark. We have a motion-censored light, but for whatever reason it decided to stay on for all of three seconds at a time. I went into the darkness and Andy stayed next to the light, jumping around to get it to turn on. Then we came to our senses and got a flashlight. I wandered around the yard for a minute or two, looking around the toys, the shed, all of the places that I remembered Elise playing. Then I found him. On the patio, lounging in a lawn chair, looking as though he had been waiting for his umbrella drink for hours. Even in her excitement over playing outside (Elise loves to play outside), she had thoughtfully made sure that Lambie was comfortable in his own chair before she ran off to play.

Those two things made my night. Right now Elise is "reading" a grocery store ad, and she just told me that it was a great story. "Really?", I said. "Yes. It's really, really fun!" was her response. Gotta love those great, fun artichoke ads.

Fall is here.

So it seems. We woke up this morning to a cool, foggy, drizzly day. My feet are cold (and yes, Andy, I am wearing socks) and I have all the lights in our living area on. It's dismal without them. I would imagine that summer will make an encore performance, but only to give us closure so that we may turn our attentions fully towards autumn.

We enjoyed our Labor Day weekend, the unofficial time to mark the changing of the seasons. I began a new cross stitch project (much to Andy's annoyance; I still have not finished the one he bought for me 4 1/2 years ago). We canned pears. We made the most delicious triple-crust peach cobbler - the kind of dessert that keeps cardiologists in business. So good. We finished the long weekend with a birthday barbecue for a one year old friend. It was there that Elise got a taste of paradise - the bouncy house. She wents nuts over it. Have I mentioned that my daughter likes to jump? She does. "Like" is a mellow word for it. She loves it. Jumping is her preferred form of ambulation.

And now my thoughts are turning towards the holidays. What will Elise's Halloween costume be? Will we travel? What events do we want to attend and which can we skip? What should we make for Thanksgiving dinner? Which gifts will I make and which will we buy? How early should I send a package to my brother in Iraq? Should we introduce Santa Claus this year? How will we observe Advent? And so on and so forth. I am frequently an indecisive person, and I have recently learned that too many undecided decisions stress me out. This usually happens when the decisions to be made are over insignificant things. For example: if we have a variety of errands to run and would also like to go out for dinner, the decisions may involve what kind of food I am in the mood for, which restaurant would be most likely to accomodate a toddler well, what gift we should get for an upcoming baby shower, what store would be most likely to have that gift, what restaurants are close to that store, whether we should invite friends to go to dinner with us, what Elise should wear, etc. Little decisions, right? Insignificant decisions. But throw them all at me at once, and I have a very difficult time sorting through them. Each one feels heavier than it really is, and I find myself putting way too much thought into them. Since I realized this weakness, it has been easier to deal with it. Now I try to remember that the "problem" could be solved by simply making a decision and not worrying about it. My response used to be (and too frequently still is - sorry, honey, I really am working on it) to get irritated and defensive. My husband would ask for my opinion and I would say, irritably, "I don't care. Whatever. You decide." Very immature of me. So I'm working on it. And what better opportunity than the holidays. There will be a million decisions to make, and most of them will be relatively insignificant. I will try not to give myself (and my family) a headache by stressing over where to put the peppermint candle or which ribbon goes with which wrapping paper.

And now to find warmer socks...

18 months and counting...

Last Saturday was Elise's 18-month birthday. Eighteen months. She's not a baby anymore. I guess technically babies are considered to be people who are twelve months of age and younger, but there are some baby traits that hang on after that point. But now...not so much. Elise is learning to run, talk, feed herself (with utensils!), navigate stairs, and climb. She's learning how to use good manners and how to be patient (although those lessons are significantly more difficult, it seems, than the lessons of physical skills). She is beginning to recognize numbers and letters - only as objects, not concepts, of course, but still... She acknowledges the difference between an accident and wrongdoing. She remembers things. For example, she has this little Baby Einstein DVD that we sometimes let her watch, and there is a part where objects ("food from the farm") slide onto the screen from various directions. She points to the empty space where the next object will go, before the object appears, and sometimes will say the name of it before it appears. She is showing signs of being ready for potty-training. Yep...my little girl is growing up.

Having an eighteen month old is very tiring. I read this excerpt from On Becoming Toddler Wise by Gary Ezzo, M.A. and Robert Bucknam, M.D. "There is no question that a toddler's mom is a tired mom, and for good reason. The emotional and physical energy needed to supervise an energy-packed tot can take down the most physically fit mom....Never so beautiful does this child look to his weary mom as he does when he closes his eyes in sleep." Just reading that was a little bit encouraging to me. It made me think that I'm not the only mother who is worn out by caring for a toddler. (My thoughts are with Beth now, caring for both a toddler and a newborn!) But at the same time, having a toddler is so much fun. I've never been around anyone who finds such joy in discovery as a toddler. Everything is interesting to her. I love watching Elise grow and learn. I love hearing her say a word for the first time. I love watching her dance. She is a bundle of energy, it's true. She is curiosity on legs. She keeps me busy. But she is so precious. Tiring as this job can be, I wouldn't trade it for anything. (Right now, Elise is sitting in her booster seat, having just finished a snack, and she is going through all the animal noises she knows. I have no idea what prompted this recital, but it's awfully cute.)

It's exciting to think of what the next six or twelve months may hold. I'm in no hurry for that time to pass, but I am looking forward to seeing Elise grow and learn even more. Last night, as I twisted in my car seat for the 100th time (so it seemed) to reach Elise's fallen book and give it back to her, I commented to Andy that it will be so nice when Elise is able to do that on her own. I then immediately chided myself for the comment as I realized that I was wishing away a most precious time. I know that someday soon I will be helping Elise pack for college, or will be watching her walk down the aisle towards a man who will be the object of her highest affection. And today will just be a fond memory, and I will be wishing that I had it back. So I won't wish it away while I have it.

How to make yourself feel like the worst parent EVER

On the day Elise was born, that wonderful, blessed day, she was given a small stuffed lamb. I loved it immediately. I'm not sure if that is because it is actually adorable - I think it is - or because in my euphoric, new mother, drugged state of mind, I loved everything. Regardless, the lamb - "Lambie" (original, eh?) - won me over immediately.

Elise loves stuffed animals. She has about twenty of them. A few days ago she opened a package to find a new stuffed puppy inside, and she actually squealed in delight. But Lambie is special. Lambie goes everywhere with Elise. The other animals are played with and hugged and are sometimes privileged enough to share a car ride or a nap with Elise. But Lambie is always there. Which is why we took him with us when we went to Portland this weekend. Which is where he still is. That's right. See, Lambie is such a constant companion to Elise that he did not get packed into the car this morning along with everything else, because Elise was holding him while the car was being packed. Somehow, though, while the goodbyes were being said, Elise dropped Lambie, and we drove back to Seattle without him. We knew that this wasn't good, but we didn't think it was quite this bad.

When I put Elise to bed tonight, she immediately sat up and looked on either side of herself. Then she went down the entire line of animals that live in her crib, picked up each and every one of them, and looked beneath them. She scooted down to the end of the crib and picked up the folded blankets, looking under them. She looked under the little pillow. I knew that she was looking for Lambie, but I didn't say anything. She then crawled back to the head of the crib and peered down through the crack between the mattress and the frame. I let her look for a minute, and then I said, "Okay, Elise, it's time to lay down". She scooted back to the middle of the crib, looked up at me, and said, "Mammy?" (which is how she says "Lambie"). My heart melted. I didn't know what to do. She was not upset, just curious and looking for her friend. She repeated, "Mammy? Mammy?" I said, "Oh, honey, Lambie's not here right now." Her response? "Mammy, peez. Peez. Peez." She has just recently learned that she will not get what she wants without saying "Please" ("peez"). (We're still working on understanding that saying "please" does not automatically entitle her to the requested object.)

Elise's sweet little spirit shone through when she stopped looking for Lambie and calmly laid down. I sang our usual bedtime song, tucked her in, and left, and she went to sleep as usual. I was glad that she did not have any trouble falling asleep without Lambie - I don't want her to be that dependent on a stuffed animal. I know that a few nights without Lambie will not hurt Elise in the slightest. But it sure made me feel terrible! When I relayed the story to Andy, he immediately went online and found a store that sells Lambie. I had to talk him out of buying one and having it shipped overnight. My sister will be here on Friday and will bring Lambie with her. I think we can make it until then.

I hope so, anyway.

Iloyo

No, I haven't learned or created a new language.

Elise's vocabulary is rapidly expanding. Her new favorite word - or perhaps just my favorite of her new words - is "dishes". We have a couple shelves of china in our dining room, and over the last several months I have identified the china as "dishes" whenever Elise points to them and asks what they are. ("A-dat?" has been her most frequently spoken phrase for months.) A few days ago, as I was working at the dining room table, Elise walked up to me, pointed at the china, and said, "shishes". She had to say it a few times before I caught on. Since then it has been refined to "dithshes".

The phrase that had us confused the longest was "Iloyo". She kept saying it, over and over, and we couldn't figure it out. Then one day she said it in response to what we said. Have you figured it out? Iloyo. I Lo Yo. I love you. Isn't that sweet? She is saying, "I love you"!

Iloyo, too, Elise.