04.27.2009 -- Credit Unions

I learned something new about credit unions yesterday--and no, it's not that they should be subjected to the same taxes as banks...

Apparently, if you attend the annual meeting, you stand a good chance of winning a door prize. At the one local meeting, they gave away a Wii. Forgive me, but this is the only door prize that I can remember for sure. There were a lot though--and of the same caliber. In addition to door prizes, I have it on good authority that there are often fabulous refreshments. Refreshments like gourmet cupcakes. Who doesn't like a gourmet cupcake?

04.24.2009 -- Hopping Game

Got this idea from this web site. Fun!











If you are one of the more observant readers of this blog, you may notice that Lucy's bangs are considerably shorter now than a few days ago... When her Aunt Rebecca asked Lucy why she cut her hair, Lucy apparently said, "I wanted to see if my mom would get mad.... ....and she did!"

04.23.2009 -- Hola, Chair!

This is a picture of Gabe's first time in a high chair. No, I'm not feeding him solids--I just figured that it might be a good spot for him to practice sitting without toppling over. Gabe is playing with a toy that Lucy picked out for him before he was born, when they both fit nicely while I rocked her before bed.

Today started out okay... Got Lucy to pre-school on-time without resorting to the car. This made her happy. (I like the walk, too, but am less vocal about it.) And that was the end of the smooth-ish start to the day. Instead of cleaning up while Lucy was gone, I did some re-arranging of things that are normally stored, etc. While this is productive in one sense, usually it just feels like a waste of time. These things have to be done, however. And now Gabe's warm-weather, big-boy "wardrobe" is good to go.

Although I enjoyed time out of the house at a group lunch at a nearby park, the rest of the day has been pretty blah. I am sick. Just a cold. Poor little Gabe has got the same thing. As for me, I've been doing everything I can think of to shorten the life of this illness...except sleeping enough. Sleep has been coming hard the past few weeks. Connection? I think so.

This is perfect, because only a week ago, I was giving wellness tips to a friend, Caleb. (Interestingly, the Brewer's yeast that I was crediting my wellness to RAN OUT just before I got sick.) I now have more.

04.20.2009 -- It's Okay, the Maid will Clean Up the Stinky

This morning, in the tub, Lucy plopped a squirting rubber frog on Gabe's tummy and very sweetly declared it to be his. "It's okay if he spits up on it," she said. "It's okay if he bites it, I don't need it any more."

Then Gabe noticeably added a little of his own liquid to the tub.

"It's okay if he pees on it," Lucy said, and gave me her biggest grin.

This is good... I am always happy to hear Lucy launch into her "it's okay" proclamations. I'm no doctor, but I have noticed enough concern with cleanliness on her part to make ME a little concerned at times.

Lucy, once in a while, will initiate her own little tidy-up session. This does not worry me in the least. I talk these episodes up for days. These make me happy.

What has me a little worried are the not-infrequent times when she is deeply, unwaveringly interested in getting her hands clean immediately (with a wet napkin, if a sink is unavailable).

It could be nothing, but just to be careful, I've been working on making her bear having dirty or sticky hands for a while. For example, if we're in the car and she's got hands which she wants to clean, sometimes I make her wait five minutes until we get home. I know. I'm harsh--a "Mean Mommy," as Lucy would say.

Here's a "Mean Mommy" story: Today on our first hike of the season, Zoe found a "stick." This stick was a branch that measured about eight feet long. This was a problem, as the trail was only about four feet wide.

When Zoe has a stick, she becomes a bit of a menace. Her cute and usually welcome attentiveness on the trail is threatening when she comes back every few seconds or minutes (depending upon the speed of the hikers) wielding a weapon with substantial mass and more than enough pointy parts to inflict pain.

Today, Lucy told me I was a "Mean Mommy to Zoe" when Zoe wouldn't leave the stick: I chucked it into some brush making it irretrievable. Lucy said this with a little pride in her voice. It makes me wonder about her point of reference.

Sometimes I can figure out where her ideas come from, sometimes I can't. Usually, if I can figure it out, it's a relief.

At a friend's birthday party on Saturday, Lucy was with a group of kids and one of the moms stuck around long enough to receive a play assignment from Lucy. I wasn't there, I just got a little heads-up from the mom (Polly) after it went down.

"Lucy's so cute," said Polly. Polly then waited politely for me to respond.

"I was downstairs with the girls and she asked me if I wanted to be the maid." Polly looked at me with a fantastic smile as she watched for my reaction.

Whaaa? I was a little shocked.

I ran through possibilities in my mind until I found the answer that saved me: "My Fair Lady." I said, relieved. "Have you ever seen that show?" Elitism averted.

This morning in the tub, Lucy was interested in lathering me up. She had scrubbed my knees and shins and was working on my feet when I suggested she wash in-between my toes (why not?). She pushed one finger between two of my toes then made a little face and told me that "the other maids will do that," and that she only does one. Then she informed me that "sometimes we wash people when they're stinky." If you don't know what Lucy's point of reference might be, you haven't watched "My Fair Lady" lately.

Gabe Update:

Gabe's latest projects are sitting unassisted and crawling. He's making good progress on both. Sitting is something he can do for anywhere from a few seconds to lots (of seconds), but he tips over too easily to say he's got it just yet. Crawling: he's up on his knees often enough these past days, and rocks a little before he dives forward. He's persistent! It's hard to say which he'll be able to do consistently first.

Gabe still likes to practice standing and is a bit of a chatterbox at times. I've noticed him say, "Maamaa" a couple of times when he's frustrated and Brian's holding him. He's handed directly to me and gets to nurse promptly. The kid's a geeeenious! ;)

Also of note: he is so happy! He's got a little cough and runny nose right now. I also think his teeth might be bugging him--notwithstanding, he is still a happy, happy boy. We love him.

04.13.2008 -- Officially

love this landscape - stopped just to take pictures

and this, the other direction (but the light was better seconds before)

blue, green, gold -- pattern, perspective and texture

i now know how big a party coloring eggs can really be! thanks, LL!

wild-man Gabe unleashed at the annual boy scout fundraising breakfast

enlarge this picture to see how Gabe is enjoying the conversation as much and Grandma...

"Mom, can we come here every day?" glasses from the teddy bear

"my friend, Emma"

Favorite story from the weekend:

. . . . . Grandpa was, perhaps, not the world's most patient man.
Apparently, one of his coping mechanisms when he was
(impatiently) waiting for the family, was
to go out to the car and honk the horn.

Grandma, interrupting Grandpa's exit to
the car, one inspired day, handed the
baby to Grandpa and told him, "You get the baby ready
and I'll go honk the horn."

No more horn honking!

Lucy and her egg-colorist

the "girl with the flowered dress" in her restaurant

the new bike

I officially can't sleep. Also, officially, it's still the 13th of April, although there is no way that this post will be posted until it's officially one day later. But I have a lot in my head tonight, so I may need to have another date available before tomorrow. I've found that it's unsatisfactory to post with the same date twice.

Facebook. If you don't know what Facebook is all about, don't worry about it. Skip to the next paragraph. I keep thinking of status updates, yet most of them are unsuitable for one reason or the other. Mostly they're too ambiguous or strange or personal. You know, I have a reputation to uphold. (ha.)

I haven't added to my blog for two weeks! That might be a record of some kind. What's going on? Spring has sprung. Spring break, and Easter and a billion (lovely) family functions happened. For the past ten or so years, Spring Break has been relatively meaningless. HOWEVER, this year, I decided to treat it with respect. Because of that, Lucy and I and (maybe) Gabe had more fun than usual last week.