I'm gonna buy me a...

Something major is about to happen in our family.  We’re adopting a dog!  His name is Freddie, and he is a Bichon Frise mix PDaniel found online.  He is currently in a shelter in Park City.  We went to visit him on Friday, knowing he was one of the breeds we were considering; his description on the website was glowing, and well-behaved, young dogs like him don’t show up in shelters every day.  So we went up to visit him.  He seemed like a very sweet dog, good-natured and loving, so we snapped him up.  He was still on medication for a cold, and had to be neutered, but he should be ready by Wednesday or Thursday for PDan to go and get him.  He is thrilled, and spent much of today rounding up dog supplies.  I'm glad, because the dog is his sole responsibility; I have enough people to take care of!

Dangerboy's birthday was last Saturday, and he wanted a Harry Potter party, just like last year.  Ended up inviting the entire neighborhood (almost) of children, as we have been known to do.  I think it was mostly a successful party…several kids asked to stay and play when it was over (roundly denied, we were so tired).  I dressed like McGonagall.  We played the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean game as an icebreaker, always a hit.  DB had requested we do a “Harry Potter IV party”, so we had a tri-wizard tournament: diet-soda-and-Mentos fountains to kick it off, then Quidditch, and obstacle course, and a dragon piñata for the three events.  PDan spent lots of time making the piñata, since I couldn’t find one to purchase.  Quidditch was played without brooms, with a soccer ball and a kid running around in one of my yellow t-shirts pretending to be the Snitch.  It would have been more of a success had the grass not been so wet because of sprinklers; several of the kids slipped spectacularly and got soaked.  The obstacle course was lame and last-minute, but the pinata was a hit (ha)!

The cake was another PDan creation: DB wanted the Monster Book of Monsters, so that’s what we made.  I did most of the prep work, and PDan did the creative parts.  Then all the kids went home, we opened DB’s family presents, he started acting weepy, we took his temperature, and realized it was 102.5.  Yikes!  He took a nap and some meds and felt well enough by evening that we all went to Brick Oven for dinner, but after a weekend of high fevers, barfing, and terrible sore throats, he is now on amoxicillin for strep throat.  Poor kid, that has got to be my least favorite illness.

Cookie-Nut funnies:

CN wants a chihuahua and a cat for a pet (not getting them, but oh well).  She wants to name the cat Popcorn; the dog, she wants to name Meat.  She has a stuffed cat she has christened Eyeballs.

CN was using a laundry basket, tied behind her neck with string, as a drum.  She was pretending to be marching in a parade (DB had one too).  Her string broke on one side, and she cried, “My drum is not working!”  She started dragging it along the floor by the remaining string.  “Now it’s a wagon!”  she despaired.  Then she giggled.  “I want it to be a wagon!!” she bounced away.  I thought it was a good example of CN’s flexibility and resilience.  (She can be stubborn too, though).

Last night, at dinner, she said she knows a girl named Guisie (“guy-zie”).  She said that she does not like Guisie.  When asked various questions about this girl,  it turns out the girl lives at Trafalga (local mini-golf place).  She has blue hair, is four years old, and eats bugs.  I asked her if she’d ever talked to Guisie.  CN:  “Guisie said, ‘Come here, come on and eat some bugs with me.’  I said, ‘No!’ and ran home.”  Guisie’s parents, friends, and brothers and sisters are of the same description, age, and disposition as Guisie herself.  This was all told very matter-of-factly, and rather offhand.  I think CN believed it her self as soon as the words left her mouth.  I almost did, too!

First of 2012!

We went to AZ for Christmas. It was mostly low-key…watched a lot of movies and Dangerboy played lots of video games. Slept in, etc. PDaniel's family is sweet and laid-back. And generous. We went on a couple of family outings…one to an art museum in Tempe and a gingerbread Whoville, and one to an ostrich farm and Picacho State Park, then out for Mexican food. The kids (especially Cookie-Nut) loved the farm. CN was scared of the ostriches, but she loved feeding the greedy goats and deer. One little donkey became her special friend. There was also a lorikeet aviary where the birds slurped up nectar from little cups we held for them and they perched all over us. DB’s favorite part was a hand-cranked conveyer belt he used to ship food pellets to a pen of goats in a big cherry-picker-type thing. He stayed there for a long time.

The other day we went with the cousins to see the Muppet movie again, which we saw over Thankgiving. It’s pretty funny, and the kids enjoyed seeing it again. The songs are my favorite part…they’re by Brett from Flight of the Conchords, the one and awesomely only parody musical sitcom. Both Muppet movie and Flight of the Conchords (disclaimer--the latter is a solid PG-13) I highly recommend.

It snowed this morning. I went to go pick up our Bountiful Basket (-o-produce) and what should I see but K shoveling the snow off our front stairs. It warmed my heart. (K’s our neighbor kid…one of DB’s older friends. Has a reputation for mischief, but really a good kid.)

Kid quotables:

DB (refusing to get a haircut): “I want to have a beard and be hairy like Uncle L.” (Uncle L has long Jesus-like hair and a beard).

CN, after watching the movie preview for “Tintin”: “That’s a great boy because he has to do a really brave job!”

CN: “But Jesus doesn’t love Santa Claus.” Why not? “Because Christmas is Jesus’s birthday, and he wanted presents.” But did Santa bring Jesus presents? “Yes!” So I’m confused, but somehow the whole birthday/present/Christmas/Santa relationship has her confused too, I think.

We were in the car, talking about a trip to the zoo that she doesn’t remember:

CN: “So you lift me up and I see the elephants?”

Me: “Yes.”

CN: “But I can’t see my eyes.”

Me: “That’s right, we can’t see our eyes, except in the mirror.”

CN: “But I can see your eyes! And I can see all the things that I can see! Anyways, I don’t like the sun.”

Me: “Why don’t you like the sun?”

Clara: “’Cause it’s sunning in my eyes!”

Anne to the Rescue

Last week the bambini and I flew to Utah to visit family. We had a good time--the kiddoes ran around with their cousins; we visited "the bouncy house place," Pirate Island (it's in Orem--a cross between the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Chucky Cheese's), both McDonald's and Del Taco's playgrounds; we played in a tiny bit of snow; the grownups got lots of sweet toddler hugs, and a good time was generally had by all.

Then the inevitable occurred, which was that (most of) the kids got sick. It started with Cookie-Nut's cough and fever (she was also teething, I found out later). I got up with her in the middle of the night our last night there, and had just settled back into bed when I heard a strange noise, which I eventually recognized to be a cough, a barking, hacking cough that sounded like a braying dog. I was lying there, wondering foggily what to do, when the bedroom door opened, and in walks Dangerboy, tears streaming down his face, gasping for air, his voice wheezing as he tried to take breaths. He was terrified.

And so was I. Is this croup? I thought. But where did this come from? I remembered he'd been coughing a little during the day, but nothing serious. I remembered two things--the Anne of Green Gables episode where Diana's little sister Minnie May gets croup and Anne saves her, and what I'd read in my "What to Expect" book about treatment for croup, which I'd read in my paranoid days as a new mom.

I'd always wondered why Diana's parents left her with such a sick little sister, but now I realized that croup could come on with no warning at all. My book said that you could try taking the child into the cold night air, so we tried it, but after a few seconds of cold coughing, it didn't seem to be working fast enough. Anne instructs that water be boiled, lots of it; and I remembered that my book said you could sit them in a steamy bathroom, so I put the shower on hot and had DB sit on the edge of the bathtub. I gave him a puff of albuterol just in case it would help, and tried to call PDaniel.

No answer. No answer again. And again. (He's a sound sleeper) DB kept coughing. I tried to call a nurse at Kaiser, but they wouldn't help me because DB's not insured through them (arghhh!). He currently has no insurance, scarily enough. I was imagining astronomical ambulance bills, then the dreadful cost of NOT getting him the help he needed, when finally I got ahold of an urgent care nurse at Bristol Park.

She casually told me to put him next to the shower, exactly as I'd done, and said that croup is actually swelling of the larynx (who knew?), which could be brought on by a virus or dry heated air (the air in Utah is very dry). By this time, thankfully, DB's coughing had slowed. By the time I hung up, he was sleeping on the couch, and my poor Granny was awake, wondering what in the world was happening. I put DB back to bed--then CN woke up, and refused to go back to sleep until noon the next day. Sigh.

I told my Utah cousin and her husband about it, and they said it used to happen to their daughter all the time; they just take her outside until she stops coughing, no big deal. Anne used ipecac, but apparently this just makes you throw up, and probably doesn't help the underlying problem. But the steam would have worked. So now I know, and you do too!

We were indoors all week, fight a nasty case of what the pediatrician said yesterday was most likely RSV. I got it too, in the form of a devious head cold that's left me unable to smell or taste anything. What with RSV, our vacation, and hand-foot-and-mouth the week before, DB hasn't been to school in three weeks! His mind is fried on television! Wahoo!! And this is Cookie-Nut's third bad cold since Christmas, not counting aforesaid hand-foot-and-mouth and a sinus infection. We are sooooooooo ready to be back among the land of the living.

But, we're feeling a bit better now. Please, please, please, let us get back to boring old everyday life again! And soon!

Note: I just read on Wikipedia about croup, and it says that inhaling hot steam hasn't been "shown" to be effective in treating croup. It says steroids are better, but it seems as though there's a lot of common wisdom that says a hot shower does the trick. Of course, if the croup is severe, and the child starts to be lethargic or is turning blue, then it's a 911-emergency. Just sayin', because you never know what you'll read and then remember later on.

Valentine's Eve

Dear Mom,

We're doing OK. Cookie-Nut is mostly normal, just has a runny nose and a yucky cough. Oh, and Dangerboy had a bad dream last night--in the fallout, CN woke up and refused to go back to sleep. It was about 3:30 AM and she was up for the day. She had a long nap earlier, but is sleeping quite restlessly now, she's just so tired. Hope we're not in for another long night!

There are so many sweet things about her age (19 months): How she says new words every day; how she brings me little things like dandelions and rocks as if they're so amazing; how she spins in circles just for the joy of falling down. We love her impulsive hugs and, occasionally, even little bites of love or frustration. But one of the not-fun things is definitely all her opinions with very little rationality.

I remember how nice it was when DB was three and could understand things when I explained them, like, "Everyone else is asleep, it's dark outside, mommy is really tired and you are too, so let's just lay down and see if we can go back to sleep." She didn't buy it for an instant! The funniest part was when I was lying next to her, trying to set a good example of "sleeping" and she just kept bonking her head into mine: Bonk. "Ow!" (Giggle.) Bonk. "Ow!" (Giggle.) But the rest was just maddening!

Her latest word is, "Yeah?"--which is actually really nice.
"Cookie-Nut, wanna try some watermelon?"
"Yeah?" It sounds like a question, but we know what she means.

"Cookie-Nut, you wanna go to the beach? "
"Yeah?" And she means it.

"Cookie-Nut, you want some ice cream?"
"Yeah? Yeah!!!!"
"Cookie-Nut, you want some canteloupe?"
"Moe!" (That's how she's been saying "no.") The best part is that she doesn't even think before she says it--she knows exactly what she wants right away.

In other news, I played for a bunch of flute students at a festival today, and thus filled out the holes in our budget for the month. A lady from the ward watched the kids while PDaniel worked on his job talk (he's at his professor's now discussing it with her) and went to get his hair cut. No time for Valentine's day this year, but hopefully we'll get to go out when he comes back. This afternoon PDaniel blew up the big beach balls from DB's birthday party a couple of years ago and they played outside while CN and I picked flowers from ice plants and squirted the leaves at each other. Then I took them both to the beach, where DB collected bamboo sticks that washed up in the storms and I tried to keep CN out of the water.

Then I ate way too much ravioli for dinner.

Well, it looks like this letter turned into a journal entry, so I guess I'll post it and then go switch the laundry.

Hope everything is well! Not too much snow, I hope?

Love,
Chris

PS, thanks for the sweet Valentine's "card" too--I really do like that one! :)

A Day in the Life II

Today, I:

• Hacked most of the fat off a roast and put it in the CrockPot (yuck).
• Carpooled Dangerboy and one of his friends to and from preschool.
• Did four loads of laundry (our laundry room is not in our apartment--lots of lugging back and forth).
• Did the morning dishes (no dishwasher).
• Made rolls (from scratch).
• Made three sandwiches for a picnic.
• Forgot the sandwiches, ate emergency-pack energy bar for lunch (pretty yucky. I think my car emergency supply could use some rethinking-the kids didn't even want them).
• Played with the kids at the park.
• Put Cookie-Nut down for two naps.
• Taught two piano lessons.
• Played for a 2 1/2 hour kids' music theater rehearsal.
• Ate dinner.
• Put Dangerboy to bed.
• Straightened up the living room.
  
• Watched Glee.
  
• Folded all the laundry and put it away.

I did not:

• Eat breakfast sitting down.
• Practice the piano for upcoming flute recital.
  
• Put Cookie-Nut to bed (thanks PDaniel).
• Do the dinner dishes (ditto).

Today was unusually busy and tiring, but writing it all out doesn't make me feel as accomplished as I thought I would. Hmm.

Summer #1

Well, summer is almost over--no,no, it's really not that sad; there's something to be said for having places to go (preschool) and people to see (preschool buddies). But it would be truly sad if summer 2009 were over and we had no record of it. So here goes:

In June, Grandma Wendy paid a visit, yay! and we all went to the beach. Oh, I think we saw Monsters vs. Aliens too. We liked. Here's the beach:And here's a little alien:
Just kidding. Actually, Dangerboy devised some earmuffs for the night the fire alarm went off repeatedly at bedtime, for no reason. It's fixed now, hallelujah.

A lot of our friends moved. They are truly missed (read: We're screamin' bored!). I don't have pictures of all of them (Palmers, you left before we could get back!), but here are a few. Dangerboy still talks about Tiger Lily almost every day. "She loves me," he's been heard to mumble when things aren't going well:
Don't forget to check out the Faded Paper Figures new music video on MySpace. (John, above, is a member. Brooke rocks too, I've heard her.) They were a featured band there, ya know. I'm featured in the acknowledgements of their first album, having introduced the band members to each other (and forgetting that fact until the album came out). Yes, I'm bragging. When one has so few claims to fame, one must make the most of them.

I'll be back with more summer...

Happy Birthday Cookie-Nut!

Cookie-Nut's birthday was on the 8th. So smiley, so curious, so amazing. The day after this, her first birthday, I left her alone for a minute and came back to find that she'd used a small chair to climb onto another chair, up to her booster seat, and was standing on the arm of her booster seat with her hands on the counter (presumably ready to climb up there!). So scary. Today she got into the toothbrush drawer again and PDaniel found her sucking on a tube of toothpaste...had to call Poison Control just in case...she's fine, of course, but Dangerboy was not this climb-y or into things. Gonna hafta watch this one. (BTW, Poison Control is going away in California. Gone the way of budget cuts. What is this state coming to? This seems like a pretty basic service to me.)

And she is soooooo loud! On July 4th we went to Ruby's for dinner. PDaniel stepped away to take Dangerboy to the bathroom (which turned out to be a messy experience, yuck) and she let out a screech of displeasure that literally made the whole restaurant fall silent and look our direction. As in, "What are you DOING to that child?" I paid the check as quickly as possible and skedaddled. (PDaniel went back for shakes, of course).

(In other July 4th news, we went swimming with our friends, braved the ward breakfast, and tried, with extremely modest success, to view the fireworks at Huntington Beach. Maybe I'll write more about that later).

Anyway, for Cookie-Nut's birthday, we went to Wild Rivers, a water park here in Irvine. Cookie-Nut had fun, I think. Her favorite part was the section with the fountains that came out of pipes and the ground...meaning we probably could have gone to the Spectrum Mall and she would have been just as happy. And we went in the evening, when it was cheaper, so it was kind of...cold. But Dangerboy had a blast and would love to go back, even though he could only ride the tiny waterslides. He and his daddy loved the wave pool too. (Sorry, we didn't get any pictures--should've got a waterproof disposable).
Then we came home and had cake. Cookie-Nut was pretty tired, but since we presented her with the whole cake, she mustered enough energy to dig in. She poked it a lot first, though. With one finger. :) It was a pretty boring-looking cake, if tasty--some random organic white cake mix from Sprouts (I ran out of time), with homemade lemon buttercream frosting. I could eat that stuff with a spoon! And did!

She opened presents in the morning--she got books, yay!

Anyway, in tribute of Cookie-Nut's birthday, here are some things she has come to be able to do since I wrote last:

• Walks well
• Says "uh-oh," "hi," and "flower" (wow-wow)
• Signs: bird, dog, cat, bear, more, all done, fish, drink, milk, and music
• Has shrieking contests with her brother--they've started to play together
  
• Rolls a ball back and forth with me
  
• Tries to put on clothes over her head (she did it once but cried)
  
• Readies herself for diaper changes (basically comes and sits down on the diaper mat)
• When she wants to be read to, she brings you a book, throws it down on the floor, and sits on you.
• All her first-year molars have come in!

She's really growing up, no? This first year has gone so fast.

Easter fun

I don't think I've posted about Easter yet--alas, what a procrastinator's journal misses. We went to Arizona; it rained on our Easter egg hunt, but Dangerboy had a blast nonetheless; PDaniel and I had a fun dinner-and-a-show date (Wildflower Bread Company, then The Merchant of Venice by Southwest Shakespeare Company); DB and Cookie-Nut ran wild with their fun cousins, uncles, and aunts; Cookie Nut took her first steps; I went prom dress shopping with Bonnie and the girls...all that we could ask for in an Easter weekend. And more.

And here are some pics to prove it:
In a moment of weakness, I got way too excited about buying my first daughter's first Easter dress. So I bought two (on sale, of course). Here's the other one.Not the greatest picture (we were in a hurry--late to church as usual), but cute, right?

Christmas Images

Our first actual Christmas tree (thanks, Gardener!)

Sleeping next to Cookie-Nut; being almost asleep and then feeling her tiny fingers on my cheek

Listening to the perfect high-school tunes, chosen by Shaun, the king of recorded music, as we wrapped gifts Christmas Eve

"Rock n' Roll McDonald's!" during Christmas Eve dinner. Later, Dangerboy singing it (somehow, it became funny)

Later, pillow-reminiscing with P. about about the music that used to remind us of each other before we were married (me: "Kiss Me" by Harry Connick Jr.; him: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"--interesting)

The sweet taste of LOTS of dairy-free cookies my mom so lovingly made for me--thank you Granny Westwood for that raisin cookies recipe!!

Dangerboy in his snowsuit--blue pants, red sweatshirt, red-white-and-blue scarf. Pink cheeks. Blue Eyes. Blond hair. Why did I not get a picture??? (Oh yeah, because he wouldn't let me)

Being tackled by P. while wearing my snowsuit--the strange feel of rolling in snow but being perfectly warm. Why did nobody ever tell me how great snow pants are??

Cookie-Nut in the arms of Mom or Dad, in the rocking chair by the fire

Granny Lois' hands, holding the seashell I found in her garage

Snow, a foot high on the stair rail

Dangerboy, so excited about presents!Dad, P., and Shaun endlessly shoveling the driveway (esp. Dad). (Broken snowblower, alas)

P. looking so awesome and at home in his snow clothes, sledding in the front yard with Dangerboy and Shaun (this picture is either of Shaun or Dad though)The boys in their snow cave
Tears over nachos with P. and John at Gringos

Playing with Magnetix at the Samuelsons'

Cherie's insane theater!!

Dangerboy and Brian N. running around the house pulling strings of gold plastic beads: the next generation of friends

Christmas fun (I'll post more later, I hope)

Poem

The Life Before

It is Saturday. I am cleaning the back porch, rag in hand,
dusting down an old rocking chair, a table, easel. I turn over
a folding cot, springs rusting, frame bent; creak it open
and start wiping the grit from the inside. Then,

a cluster of spiders. I’ve caught them mid-sentence.
They don’t run for cover, just watch me sideways.
The mother is the stillest. Her brown legs spread three inches across.
She was born here, in the half-light, the warm decay.
Now her young are piled around her, white, each large as a thistle head,
but fragile—I’ve already crushed some—legs as fine as the hairs on my arm.
I could easily wipe them all away, wash my rag afterward, still—

“Come see,” I call to my son.
He doesn’t hear me. He’s watching cartoons,
getting over a fever. His cheeks are pink
and his damp hair curls at his temples.
My husband is next to him, dozing,
his feet up on the coffee table. One hand
rests on the book turned over on his chest.
His other arm holds my daughter,
her small fingers opening and closing
on his skin. Her lips open as she sleeps.

So I lift the cot over the side of the deck, lean over and blow.
The mother catches the wind first and wafts down into the grass.
Two more breaths and her children follow in clumps, like dandelion seeds.
I brush the cot down after them.

Inside, my family rests together.
It is not an unusual Saturday.
I shake out my cloth.

Our Lil' Blessings

So last week we headed to P.'s family's house to have Cookie-Nut blessed, surrounded by family; many of P's siblings were in town, and his brother, who will be serving a mission in Washington State, was ordained an elder during the same meeting. It was really nice...we did both blessings after sacrament meeting in a little room witnessed by primarily family, and P's bro and I both got to bear our testimonies (surprise!). Both blessings were lovely, though DB was noisy through the ordination and Cookie-Nut cried through most of the wonderful stuff P. was saying. Oh well, at least she looked cute...my mom's talented friend Joy made the dress. Thanks Joy!

Litany of thanks

Having a baby is certainly a very humbling experience. Here are some of the many things I've been thankful for. (I'm writing them down to remember them; not to gloat, because I've done NOTHING AT ALL to deserve them. That's what's so humbling):

An almost completely uncomplicated pregnancy.

Easy access to healthy food.
Easy access to clean water.
A safe place to live.

An amazing sister in law who took care of DB and I while P. was gone.
An attentive husband who came home in time after all.
A bright, well-appointed hospital room.
My mother at home taking care of Dangerboy--the knowledge that he was safe and happy while I was gone.
A quick labor; no time to get really exhausted.
My almost-epidural.
A safe, sunny-daytime labor and delivery.
A caring, well-trained midwife.
A nursing staff that cared for me without complaining, though they were extremely busy and tired.
A hospital staff that attended to all my most intimate and embarrassing needs without seeming disgusted.
The inexplicably wonderfully cheerful janitor who cleaned my room.
A bed for P. to sleep on.
The four hours of sleep in a row we got that first night.
Health insurance.

A healthy baby.

A husband who is home for the summer, cooking and cleaning and holding his children.
A son who loves his sister madly.
A daughter who sleeps and eats well.
A dad and brother who drove 770 miles to meet their new family member.
A mom who left her family for three weeks to take care of mine.

Friends and family who banded together to provide drawers and drawers of clothing for my new baby.
Ward members who brought in dinners, one who was even a complete stranger to me.
Neighborhood moms who let DB play at their houses, giving us a break.
SoCal weather.
A speedy recovery.

The four of us.

Month in review

Not all these pics are the greatest quality ever, but I like 'em. And the fam wants to see pictures of Cookie-Nut, so there you go.