week(3) 2013

Week 3, January 13 - January 19

I'm going to try something new, which is to keep most other posts isolated to a single topic. I've struggled with that in the past, but I do think it would make it easier to read, for me and other people. To attempt to achieve this, but still maintain my need and desire to blog the mundane (which I do so enjoy going back to read x years later), I'm going to blog that in a weekly post. We'll see how it goes. Who knows if I'll bother to add. This may be the only post since I'm not great at sticking with these things.  Here goes. I tried breaking it down by day first, but by topic seems more readable. I'll be experimenting with various formats, I'm sure. You'll be patient or just not read.

Abbie

Abbie and I, along with Mom, attended a controlled puppy socialization playgroup. It was very interesting and well worth the money I paid. I bought a punch card for at least 4 other groups, so we (Abbie & I) will be going to those. --- Sunday

Abbie and I walked a total of 2.6 miles. In the morning we did a cemetery walk. In the afternoon, while Avery was in her dance classes, we walked around the neighborhood near the studio. Abbie is such a good walker. It's a much different experience to walking challenging, pulling dogs.  --- Wednesday

I was able to attend another session for the controlled puppy socialization playgroup. This time, I went to the <25lb group. The first session was with 25-50lb puppies. Abbie wasn't quite ready for that yet. She's not fearful exactly, but she's underconfident. This playgroup was even more beneficial. I find it amazing that, by the end of the session, all the puppies are in the same room, off leash, and quite calm with each other. Abbie even played with a little black lab puppy who was much more confident than she. While I obviously don't yet know how these playgroups will affect Abbie's personality or interaction with other dogs, I will definitely seek out this type of group with any other puppies I may have in the (distant, distant) future. --- Friday

Avery

Avery did her second violin lesson in order to decide between taking violin lessons or piano lessons. She has been requesting both. Summary: the violin teacher was sick, sent her brother in her place, he didn't have the right size violin for Avery, since he was to be her piano teacher anyway, he did some piano lessons too, Avery chose piano lessons. Weekly piano lessons will start on Friday.  --- Monday

Avery and Henry have both progressed quite far with their swimming. It's rather awesome to watch.  --- Tuesday

Today I watched Nolan after school. First, we all hit Burgerville since I'd not eaten. Next we went to New Seasons. There was no race car shopping cart available, so the kids had to settle for being in the main part of a regular shopping cart. As I pushed them around shopping, they pretended it was a pirate ship and they were hoisting sails, etc. I gotta say, they have the lingo down better than I do. After the grocery store, we all went to Pet Smart with Abbie. And finally, before heading back to the G house, we took a quick walk in a park with Abbie.  --- Thursday

I realized that Avery's shoulders were well above her shoulder straps. It's been this way a while, but I kept forgetting to ask my resident carseat safety expert (RHG) if that meant I should switch her to using the car seat belt versus the built in harness. Anyway, yes, it does. So I disassembled the car seat, removed the straps, put it back in the car, and presented Avery with her new buckling system: the car's seat belt. She was quite excited. And it's nice that she can now fully buckle herself in and out. She was able to do everything except release the bottom buckle on the harness of the seat (it is a really strong button you have to push just right). Another milestone. --- Thursday

Avery's first official piano lesson! After not even wanting to sit next to her teacher, David, during the trial session, she kept saying all day, "I get to see David!" She seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, remembered where middle C was, as well as how to identify all the other C keys on the piano. We'll see how it goes. --- Friday

misc

The Gs did a brunch date. Mimi slept the entire time. I sat by the fire playing on my phone while Avery, Elise, and Nolan played upstairs requiring very little effort on my part. That is an ideal babysitting session, tyvm.  --- Sunday

random

• Having Abbie has made me fall in love with my sweet ride (aka my minivan) all over again. It's so easy to get her in and out of the crate in the back. I can easily take her everywhere without dealing with a mess. I can fit all three kids (Elise, Nolan, and Avery) in the car along with her crate. So nice. I do love functionality. 
• We're in the midst of vacation planning for the year. We already have a long weekend trip to Cabo booked with the leadership team at D's office (sans Avery) in late February. I've never been to Cabo despite its relative proximity to Loreto. Our annual Vegas trip is, as always, on our radar, hopefully for July. We're also going to join Vic & Mike & Bear in the US Virgin Islands in April. I've never been there, so I'm quite excited to see someplace new. I'm also hoping to go to Loreto in May, but that may be pushing it a bit. I doubt D can join us for that trip, unless he works from Loreto part of the time. What to do with Abbie during these trips is the question. Ah well, it'll work out. 
• D is in Colorado for the weekend. I am so bored. I'm trying to think of how things would be different were he here. The answer is not much, but I wouldn't be bored. 
• My friend and neighbor, and mother of Lily, had her third baby girl yesterday. New baby! They named her Sadie Jeanne. She looks like a combination of her sisters. I can rarely see parental resemblance in babies, but siblings stand out. Funnily, I sent her an email that very day asking, among other things, when she was due. I thought for sure it wasn't until end of February. 

Apology

Dear Nolan, 
For the past several weeks, I've been not-so-silently cursing you when I wanted to wear my glasses, but could not because you hid them from me. Turns out that you didn't hide them from me. I hid them from myself. I put them up high so you couldn't reach them to hide them from me, then forgot where I put them. I'm sorry for the false accusation. I do, however, maintain we wouldn't have this issue if you would just stop being attracted to everything I don't want you to touch. I realize I now sound like Avery and Elise ("I said NO THANK YOU Nolan! Stop touching my toys!"). I look forward to you aging about a year so you'll keep your adorably grubby little hands to yourself.  Thank you.  -- Auntie Megan

Cameo
There's a new Silhouette machine. The Silhouette Cameo cuts 12" across versus the 8" my Silhouette SD cuts. I want it. I have no need for it. I want it. Even if I did let myself buy it, I couldn't get it soon. It's out of stock. So now not only do I want it and can't have it because I have no use for it, but I can't have it because it's not available at most stores yet. I really have no idea why I love a machine that cuts things out so much. But I do. I love it. I love making things with it. I love watching the precision with which it cuts. I love having it.

Solver

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Hide & Seek (written Thursday, 9/22)

Avery and Henry - who is staying with us whilst Mama & Papa go to a soccer game - are currently involved in a cutthroat game of hide and seek.  I'm impressed they seem to be following all the rules and taking turns without any prodding from me. 

Now they're playing policeman.  Avery is wearing her underwear and the tie that Christie made for her.  In case you're wondering how they play policeman, let me explain.  Avery pushes around a stroller while Henry rides behind her on the ride-on-train.  When they come to the aid of an injured person, me, Avery asks where I'm hurt.  I say my elbow.  Avery then turns to Henry and orders him to "get the bandaids!"  Then Henry dutifully retrieves imaginary band aids from the train.

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Problem Solver  (written Thursday, 9/22)

I am a problem solver.  

• For years, I've been annoyed that the closet on our main floor has a massive amount of wasted space near the ceiling.  I finally decided to have a rod installed just below the 12' high ceiling in the closet.  I also bought a shepherd's hook.  I now have our extra, lesser used coats stored up there.  The shepherd's hook just hangs from the rod, so it'll never be lost.  It works quite well.  I'm most pleased with myself.  

• I pick up the G kids every morning to take them to school along with Avery.  RHG and I discussed that neither of us wanted to do a horn honk when I arrived, so for a while I would just text her when I arrived.  This worked perfectly fine, but that did not stop me from implementing an even better system.  I bought a wireless doorbell, had RHG plug the receiver into an outlet in her house, then I keep the doorbell in the car.  I then ring it when we arrive.  It's entirely unnecessary, but I love it still.  

• Avery received several magnet play sets as gifts at Christmas.  I've been struggling with a way to keep all the darn things straight.  After several attempts at various organization efforts, I had the handyman install three magnet boards in the basement to hold all the magnets.  They're not easily visible to Avery and her friends. 

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Pink Eyes  

Both my eyes appear to have pink eye.  I noticed both eyes were suddenly bloodshot last night.  I never have bloodshot eyes.  I woke with a small amount of gook in my eyes.  They aren't still all red.  Based on my Internet research, I think it's viral pink eye.   Annoying.

Mimi

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Mini Mimi & Related Babysitting Adventures

That's what I've decided to call RHG's new, huge (10 lb 4 oz!) daughter: Mini Mimi.  Isn't that just clever.  I didn't ask RHG's permission before assigning this nickname to her already nicknamed daughter (real name Miriam, nickname Mimi), but I liked it too much to ask permission. Due to Mini Mimi's arrival, we had the G kids from Sunday afternoon through this morning.  All things considered, it was quite easy.  The G kids were easy; it's more a matter of how Avery's going to handle the additional beings in the house.  She was just off a weekend without us, so this go around was a bit tougher than usual for Avery. All in all, I survived in one piece and have energy to spare.  Always a good thing.  Monday was my crowning achievement since I was on my own for a vast majority of the day with the three kids. I managed to:

1.  Get the kids to preschool orientation on-time (and we didn't even need to be on-time - damn it! wasted effort!) with D's help
2. Take the kids to the mall to get Avery's glasses adjusted
3. Take the kids to the grocery store to get food.  This was when I discovered they don't really make carts to carry three kids.  My original thought was to have the girls ride in the back of the cart together and have Nolan ride in the front, however, then where would I put the actual food?  So then I had the girls ride in the race car shopping cart and I had Nolan help me push the cart.  This actually worked fairly well.  
4. Take the kids home and get all three down for a quiet time simultaneously.
5. Take Elise & Nolan to the hospital - Elise for big sister time and Nolan to go home with his grandpa.  Then I took Avery to her first private swimming lesson. 
6. After swimming, I picked up Nolan from his grandpa's house, drove to the hospital, took Nolan and Avery up to see RHG, Jay and Mimi, then left with the three kids to go home. 
7. Cooked and served dinner to the kids.
8. Put all three kids to bed before 7:30 and before D got home. 

All this is a great reminder as to why I love, oh so love, to have just one child! 

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New iMac

This is the first moment I've had to really play around with my new computer. There's not a whole lot new to play with since it's just a newer, better version of my old computer, but it's fun to get things organized nonetheless.

I just discovered the new text replacement/substitution feature with Lion (the latest Mac operating system).  It basically replaces my need for the TextExpander application that I bought a few years ago, but not completely since I can't seem to get it to work with Firefox.  Annoying.  Might be user error, but still annoying.

I'm trying to make the conversion to Google Chrome as my browser rather than Safari.  So far, it's not too painful.  I found that Blogger still doesn't work the way I want it to in Chrome. Oh the irony.  (Google owns Chrome and Google owns Blogger, but Blogger works better in Firefox for me).  Normally I could let this go, but it's too annoying, so that's why I'm using Firefox for the sole purpose of blogging. This is all very fascinating, isn't it?  I do have my reasons for documenting this stuff in my blog, but I will spare you the details. Right now I'm discovering something is seriously messed up with Blogger, at least the way I typically use it.  My formatting is all jacked up.  Will have to change formats I think.

D didn't know that I use the number pad and the page down and page up buttons a lot, so he opted for the smaller keyboard for the computer.  This is making things a bit more challenging.  I didn't realize how often I used those things.  I also have only the backspace button, rather than delete and backspace.  This is my biggest stumble at the moment.

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Mom

My mom arrives for a 2-week visit tomorrow!  Avery is quite excited.  I haven't actually talked about this visit much, so when I told her today that Nain was coming she about flipped out.  Tonight as I was putting her to bed, she explained what tomorrow would be like.  It involved a lot of Nain playing with her: "And then Nain will play with me in my room, and then Nain will play with me and my cash register ..."

We are planning to look at the house we have a bid on that is still dragging on and on, but we're also looking at a number of other houses in various neighborhoods.  I'm glad Mom will be able to see the house we put the bid on before it goes forward (if we even get it), but I'm also glad she didn't fly out to see it originally.  I would have been so annoyed if she'd paid the money for a flight to see it and then to have it still sitting here undecided when she was scheduled to come for a visit anyway!  

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Crafty

I have grand plans, grand plans I say!, for some fabric boxes for a new table I bought for our great room (kitchen/living room).  I bought fabric.  I bought the boxes.  Now I just need to do something with it.  I have energy and I have motivation, but I'm lacking a bit in time right now.  This is a new feeling for me since usually it's the exact opposite for me.

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Swimming, Gymnastics, Dance, and Soccer

At the moment, I'm at risk of being one of those over-scheduling parents.  Not because I believe I need to keep Avery busy, but because, well, it just sort of happened.  I'm working on getting all of Avery's activities for the fall lined up and ready to go.

She's all set for dance classes through the end of the year.

She's taking private swimming classes for the next two weeks. I'm going to see if I can get her signed up for semi-private lessons when we return from Mexico in late October.  The swimming lessons are less for her enjoyment and more because I really want her to learn to swim.  It'll just make Mexico trips easier.

She's signed up for soccer on Monday mornings before school starts for the day.  This one was a bonus.  I had been looking for a soccer class for her to take once school starts, but I couldn't find one that worked with our schedule.  When we went to preschool orientation, we found there's a program that comes to the school on Monday mornings to do soccer with the 3-5 yo kids who are interested in it. It's an additional fee to the soccer program, but I'm happy to pay that as it's reasonable and another opportunity for her to get some exercise. 

Finally, I'm registering Avery for a session of gymnastics at a new dance & gym center opened recently.  The gymnastics teacher is the same one who started out with Avery and Elise in their current class at the community center.  There was some sort of falling out and Teacher Jackie is no longer with the community center (there's a new community center director and a lot of the staff has left as a result, so it's not just Teacher Jackie who had been there for 29 YEARS!)  I love Teacher Jackie as does Avery, so since Teacher Jackie will be at this new center, we're going to head on over there to give classes a whirl.  Technically, the class is for 4-6yos, but Avery has permission to give the class a try for a few weeks on a trial basis.

It also occurred to me today that Avery might really enjoy karate or tae-kwon-do or one of those types of things.  She likes to kick and talk about fighting and loves to watch pirate shows. Right now, she has two days with no activities other than school, but I've not yet scheduled swimming.  I will keep at least one day open for rest and playdates, so maybe this is a potential 2012 activity. 

High

High self-esteem day

Friday was a day to strengthen my self-esteem with a number of events (written on Friday):

• D just asked me how to do something obscure in Excel and I was able to recall from my many years of Excel devotion from way back when exactly what it was called.  Minor, but nice. 
• When I had my friend &amp; neighbor's daughter this afternoon, she had three minor fits at the grocery store.  With each I calmly stood my ground.  During the third one, she actually got down in the middle of the produce section and started crying.  I continued to stand my ground and was able to calmly bring an end to the fit without giving in one little bit.  I had about ten people watching me as this fit went down.  A  woman (60-ish) came up to me after it was over and commented how well I handled it.  Excellent. 
• I got a number of things done today and this makes me feel good. 
• Finally, Avery is starting to understand the new reward system I started a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted to give her an incentive to do things like tidy her room and set the table without me asking her to do them.  So I decided to tell her she could earn two tickets if she did a task without me asking her to do it and one ticket when she does it when I ask her to.  She has, predictably, said no to performing a task I ask her to do.  To get around this, I tell her that the choice is do the task and earn a ticket, or I still make her do the task, but she earns no ticket.  It only took one time of her having to do the task and getting no ticket for her to realize she should take the one ticket deal.  Anyway, I thought it wasn't getting through to her that doing tasks without being asked would rewarded.  However, in the past couple of days, she's taken the initiative to do a few tasks. 

Sushi & Gelato

D and I took Avery and the G kids out for sushi and gelato tonight.  Considering we were out to eat with a 4, 3, and 2 yo, it went very well.  Best part was by the time we got home it was immediately time for bed!

Beach Trip

Elise earned a reward of going on a beach trip with a friend.  She chose to take Avery.  As long as G3 stays put, Avery will be off to the beach with Elise and Jay tomorrow for the bulk of the day.  In the evening is our date night.  Nice.

Update on Sunday: Avery had a great time with Elise and Jay at the beach.  And given the time, the Gs just kept Avery straight through date night, which meant that D and I had from 11:30 - the night free!

Estate Sale

On the way home from soccer today, Avery and I happened upon an estate sale.  So we popped in and I ended up buying a telephone chair/table, you know, because there's nothing like buying furniture for antiquated technologies.  Next up: fax table!

I plan to eventually (ha! in Megan-terms, that's like 4 years) refinish the wood so it's a darker colored wood, as well as reupholster it.  I just like it because it's unique.  Since I moved the chair that was in my office into the living room, I've been wanting a replacement.  I was just going to buy a cheap IKEA chair, but saw this and figured what the hell.  Plus, it's got a little nook below the table where I'm quite sure Avery will have a ton of fun putting things.

TV

I have been on a Seinfeld rerun kick.  I have no idea why.  I'm loving it, though.  Between Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, I'm cracking up all day.

Oh, and if you're not watching Suits, you should be.

Hipsters

D and I spent our aforementioned free time on Saturday while Avery was at the beach shopping for our costumes for Partiamo, which is the name of the annual company retreat with D's office.  The theme this year is hipsters. Time will tell if I have the guts to wear my hipster costume.  I am not one to dress to standout and my outfit is quite loud.

Fallout

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Timbers Game & Timbers Game Fallout

Avery did awesome at the game last night.  She was engaged the whole game according to D, she could describe her favorite part of the game (watching D wave a big flag), and she was still wide awake when they got home at 11 pm.  She fell asleep about 11:30, I think.

In the lobby of D's office building before the game - I wish we'd had a real camera for this picture.  So cute.

Avery did not do awesome today as a result of said very late bedtime.  My friends (you know who you are) looked at me a bit incredulously when I said Avery was going to the game despite the late start time.  Originally, that was my reaction too when I found out the start time.  D pointed out it wasn't that late and she's been up that late before without dire consequences.  With time, it became a given in mind that she'd go, which was why I said to the aforementioned incredulous friends, "Late nights every once in a while don't seem to impact Avery."  Yeah, half of that is true.  The night part of it; the next day part of it, not so much.

So today was just awful.  Avery was either exceptionally sweet and adorable, or a complete nightmare throwing fits over nothing - and she'd turn on a dime between these two states. Unfortunately, the distribution was something like 10% sweet, 90% nightmare.

Avery is still going to go to the next evening game, but I will 1. ensure that I'm mentally prepared to deal with the fallout the next day (e.g. not scheduling a playdate I then have to bail on) and 2. maybe I'll pick up D and Avery from the game to expedite their arrival home.  Something like that.  We'll see.

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Poop

My stellar day with Avery was only just topped off when the three kids (G date night) were in the tub together.  Nolan pooped in the tub.  D is out for the night, so I had to manage poop fallout on my own.  Ew.  I don't know how long they'd been sitting in the tub with poop as I was busy tidying up the bathroom and closet before I noticed something odd floating there.  I quickly escorted Avery and Elise into the shower, then transferred Nolan into the shower.  Next, I fetched bleach & fishing implements (read: slotted spoon and a large bowl).  First, I rescued the toys from the poop-infested water.  I put those in a sink of bleach water.  Then I scooped the poop, then I let the water drain, then I washed the tub completely out, then filled it back up to the top with bleach water, then I ran the jets just to be aggressive about it.  I'll probably end up cleaning that sucker another few times before I can bring myself to use it again.

Elise asked to sleep in Avery's room, so I dragged our extra twin mattress in there.  I haven't given them the chance to sleep in the same room in quite some time, so it'll be interesting to see how they do. Update: as of 8:20, they're still awake, but they're being fairly quiet and I'm lacking any motivation to do something about the talking.

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Go figure

Fortunately, before Avery's complete meltdown this morning around 10 AM, I managed to make both banana bread and the meat sauce for tonight's dinner.  In the banana bread, I substituted brown rice flour for regular flour and guess what?  Best banana bread I've ever made.  Not "good for gluten free" bread; best bread ever.  Go figure.

The meat sauce was made for the kids to have spaghetti tonight.  I made myself brown rice to mix in with it.  Guess what?  I actually prefer it mixed in with brown rice versus eating it with pasta.  Go figure.