Usual

The Reentry Usual

As usual, reentry into normal life was a bit bumpy after our return home from Mexico.  Today is the first day I'm not exhausted and craving a nap.  I've also had trouble finding time and energy to blog.  Also as usual, since I haven't blogged in a while, it seems that nothing is worth blogging about.  Bah.  Whatever.  Bullet points it is. 

• We arrived home about 1 AM on Wednesday morning to find that we had no heat and a smoke alarm was beeping.  After fixing those two problems, the three of us all feel into a deep slumber. 
• Avery was thrilled to go to school on Wednesday.  I think she really missed her friends and her routine even though she didn't once ask when we were going home. 
• Wednesday afternoon, I napped for five hours straight.  Even for me, that is a lot of napping.  And it was out-cold napping, not fitful.  Yesterday, I napped for an hour or so.  That was fitful napping since Avery wasn't thrilled with the idea of quiet time for her while I napped.  Today, I hope for no naps. 
• Avery is at school today.  She wore her Halloween shirt from last year, which very much looks like a boys shirt.  I think it probably is a boys shirt.  However, instead of the tan cargo pants that I'm sure I paired with it last year, she chose to pair it with a fun pink and orange skirts, tights, and sparkly black shoes.  My little fashionista. 
• Avery threw up several times yesterday, didn't eat much of anything all day, and around 5 pm fell asleep on the chair in the living room, then moved to Turtle's bed and fell asleep there.  She is not the type to fall asleep unless it's bedtime, so she must have been feeling quite poorly.  However, she didn't have a fever and was happy as a clam this morning, so I kept our plan to have her go to school today.
• We managed to forget Avery's travel car seat at the airport.  I picked it up on Wednesday.  It would have been a piece of cake except that I made a wrong turn and ended up in long term parking rather than short term.  In the end, I learned it's just as easy to park in long term, though it's a longer walk. However, that walk is in the tunnel, so it's an easy walk. I also learned that the walkways in the tunnel don't move if no one is one them.  At first, I figured it was broken, so I didn't get on it.  The next time, I just kept going anyway and it started moving as I walked.  I haven't seen moving sidewalks do this before.

Watch that tone

Avery started her "why?" phase several months ago.  When she started asking why this and why that, she would do so with a curious, sweet tone.  In the past few days, that tone has shifted from sweet to whiny.  Me: "Avery, we're going to eat dinner now."  Avery: "Whhhhhhyyyyy?" as if I'm asking her to clean the entire house or some other such chore. 

Chilling

I took a few pictures in Mexico, but I don't feel like sorting through them to post.  I will, however, post my favorite.  I like it because I love how happy she is on the floatie.

Weekend

Wind Surfing & Kayaking

Yesterday afternoon, we all headed to the beach.  D decided to rent a kayak ($10) and Mike decided to try wind surfing ($20).  D took Avery out with him on the kayak and she loved it.  Of course, she seems to love everything to do with the water.  She'll play in the sea for hours.  And she has no trouble swimming all over the place with her swim vest on - even when she's in the sea versus the pool.  Since the water is typically quite calm here and it's shallow for quite some time off of the beach, we've become comfortable letting Avery explore on her own. We're in the water with her, clearly, but she can swim around on her own.  It's nice.

I tried wind surfing after watching Mike at it for a couple of hours.  I was pretty good at the balance aspect of it immediately, but pulling up the sail is something I couldn't do without someone helping me get it up.  I never got quite the hang of the sailing part of it, but I could feel that I wasn't that far off from getting the hang of it if I'd had someone explaining all the proper things to do.  I do wonder if they would have given me a smaller sail if I'd rented it, that is since I'm smaller and shorter.

 
Football

D and Vic & Mike are at a local bar watching the football game.  It's, I think, the only place around here that would count as a sports bar.  Avery and I joined them for lunch, but decided to head back to the casa since football doesn't interest either of us much.

Girls' Weekend in The Mexico!

A few of us have booked flights down here in March ... sans kids!  Friday through Tuesday.  Truth be told, I know I'm going to have a rough time when I leave Avery for that long, but I also know it's good for both of us.  I'm very, very excited. 

Heartburn, voice, etc

I've been getting heartburn lately.  I believe I'm also experiencing a form of acid reflux without heartburn.  Basically, since the laryingitis happened, I've noticed that I start coughing up phflem after eating, particularly if I've had a less than healthful meal (grease, etc).  Online research indicates that it's probably a form of reflux. In talking with Mike, who used to get heartburn often, I think my weight gain is the culprit.  I never got heartburn when I weighed less.  And now it's started to be regular enough to make me think it's not just age, but is rather something else.  Mike is in better shape now and hardly ever gets heartburn.  So there you go.  Perhaps the fact that heartburn is so damn uncomfortable will motivate me to get in shape when I return.  I have probably gained five pounds.  We've been eating horribly, as tends to be the case when we are around Vic & Mike - the four of us together does not equal health food.

My voice is still somewhat hoarse sometimes, but it's slowly getting back to normal.  I still feel as if it's not as strong as it once was, but I'm at least not annoyed by it anymore.  The annoyance was transferred to my coughing fits after eating.   

Tired

Avery quirks

Not a day goes by when Avery doesn't mention her birthday in some manner.  Just now, she was heading out to the pool with D.  She said, "Thanks for getting my googles, Dad.  I'm going to be three in December!" as if those two items are things that anyone would say in conjunction with each other. She's also quite pleased with the fact she can do the traditional sign for three with her hands (index, middle, and ring finger). 

For the past few nights, Avery has come up to one of us and announced she's tired and wants to go bed.  Then she actually goes to bed!  Unreal.  I couldn't believe it when she did this last night because we had friends over for dinner and there was a lot going on.  She knew there was cake we hadn't yet brought out, yet she still turned to me and said she was tired and wanted her night time milk.  I will be so happy if this trend continues when we're home. 

Happenings

On Thursday we took a boat out to Coronado Island and the white sand beach.  At one point, Avery announces she has to go potty.  D and I did rock, paper, scissors to determine who had to take her up to the composting toilet. I lost, so up Avery and I went.  She actually went this time, whereas last time when Nain took her up, she refused.  We must have the only preschooler on Earth who won't pee in the sea. 

Last night, we had our friends over for dinner.  They drove down here from Canada a few weeks ago, stopping along the way in wine country.  They arrived with five cases (that's 60 bottles) of wine.  We joked that good wine is in Loreto Bay as cigarettes are in prison.  Anyway, it was good wine and good food.  D roasted a couple of chickens and some roasted vegetables, I made fetticine alfredo (thanks for the recipe, Christie!), and Victoria and Mike made the best carrot cake and cream cheese frosting I've ever tasted.

This morning I woke to the sound of the mixer - a housewarming gift from Vic and Mike - making whipped cream for the freshly baked scones Vic made.  Needless to say, getting into my pants when we get home might be a bit challenging for me.

We've now finished the first season of Sons of Anarachy, which I very much enjoyed.  We started East Bound & Down last night, but I hated it.  My guess is we'll start True Blood tonight since I don't think we'll be able to convince Mike to go for the first season of Glee.

I have the afternoon shift today.  I hope Avery's in as good of a mood as she was in before she headed off to the pool!

Soy

Soy Sauce

I've mentioned before that I subscribe to The Big Picture blog by the Boston Globe.  Today's series of pictures is called Small Worlds.  It's from an annual competition held by Nikon to capture photography done at manification.  All of the pictures are aweinspiring, but a couple stand out to me.

#12 is of crystallized soy sauce magnified 16 times.  I'm amazing at how "Asian" it looks.  It looks like an abstract of Asian writing.  I'm sure if you read Chinese or Koren or Japanese, you'd probably think me crazy.  However, not being familiar with those languages, it just looks so much like characters to me. 

#16 is a snow crystal magnified 40 times.  How perfect it is.  Amazing. 

Mexico Happenings

Vic & Mike arrived yesterday.  They seem to be pleasantly surprised with our little community and casa.  I don't think they were expecting much since I try not to oversell the place.  We went into town for dinner last night (Christie & Mom - we ate at the same restaurant we had lunch at before taking Christie & Henry to the airport).  It was delicious and Avery was quite content to watch the iPhone through dinner, a necessity since she was a good hour past her bedtime.  That hour really matters now that she's not napping during the day. 

My afternoon shift starts in five minutes.  D has a conference call for work during it, so Avery and I will head to the beach or pool for sure during that time.  Vic and Mike have headed into town on their own to do some grocery shopping. Vic wanted to explore, so it seemed better for them to head off on their own.  And they're cooking dinner for us tonight.  Sweet!

Avery and I made Vic a birthday cake (her BD was Monday) yesterday morning and it turned out quite well.  I was most pleased with it.  I didn't make any frosting, but it's moist enough with the sour cream I put in it to do without frosting. 

Tomorrow we have a boat trip to Coronado Island planned as long as it's not too windy.

I think Avery is feeling the attention diversion now that Vic and Mike are here.  When we were driving back with them from the airport, there was a lot of chatter in the car with the four of us catching up.  Avery was watching and listening.  When the adults would laugh, she would laugh, too.  This is a move she's repeated during other moments, even though I know she's not getting the joke.  I made a mental note of it and we're concentrating on making sure she feels included.  I'm sure it's an adjustment for her.

They have started building the feature in our exterior courtyard.  We thought they'd be putting in a fountain there, but it looks like it's going to be a planter with a large tree in the center and then surrounded by flowers.  I would prefer the tree the fountain since the shade is more functional than a decorative water fountain. 

Patching

Avery's patching is going better.  She resists putting it on slightly, but not too bad.  She has no issue leaving it on, but there's still prodding to get her to take it off. However, it doesn't hurt nearly as much since we put a very, very small amount of lotion on her face first and that reduces the adhesion enough to eliminate pain, but still allow it to stick (enough) to be effective.

Drawing

Milestones

Every once in a while, I actually read the "your child at [insert age]" article sent to me by babycenter.com. Today's linked to skills mastered by the average 31 - 36 month old. Avery's in the advanced category for all ages listed for most skills. The skills she's not quite there on are related to drawing. She can sort of draw a circle, but most of the time she keeps going around and around and it's just a hot mess really. She is no where near a stick figure. I am not shocked by this at all because she has so little interest in drawing or coloring. She can hold the crayon or marker quite well, it's just the activity itself holds no interest for her. Don't get me wrong. I'm not worried about this at all. Different kids like different things. I just find it interesting.

I also don't think she's doing every other foot when going up and downstairs.

I have commented to friends several times that I don't get why it takes kids so long to master their colors. Given one of the milestones is knows ONE color, clearly it's a universally challenging thing for kids. Avery, by the way, is not blue-yellow colorblind. The day after I did the post stating how sure I was that she was blue-yellow colorblind, she identified yellow for the first time ever. That was the only color she was, for whatever reason, struggling to remember. She's got it down pat now.

Neighbors

After dinner last night, Avery wanted to play ball. The three of us went into the exterior courtyard next to our house and sat down to toss the ball to each other. A neighbor's gate was open and eventually the temptation of the ball was too much for their 5-month-old puppy who ran out to greet us when no one was looking. That resulted in us meeting three sets of neighbors. We're not good at meeting people who are not introduced to us. Hell, we're not good at maintaining relationships when people are introduced to us. Now if I can only hang on to their names and commit them to memory.

TV

D and I brought down the DVD's for the first season of several TV shows. We finished the first season of Breaking Bad, then dutifully ordered the next two seasons so they'll be at our house when we get home. We started Sons of Anarchy last night. I'm enjoying that one, too.

Friends

Vic and Mike arrive this afternoon! It'll be fun to have them here for the rest of our visit. We've already book a boat trip out to Coronado Island for later this week. We're planning to dinner out tonight, so that should be fun.

Uno

Long Stint

For a few reasons, our division of Avery duty got a little off schedule such that the person who is on duty does the afternoon, bedtime routine, then the morning shift the next morning. This is good when you're off duty, but more challenging when you're on duty. Perhaps we'll try to get back on the original schedule, but not until I've enjoyed by off duty stint which starts ... now!

This morning, Avery and I mostly stayed around the casa. We made BD cards for Henry and Aunt Victoria, whose birthdays are both today. We played some form of a Dora inspired game on the roof terrace with the strollers. I still can't figure out what exactly the troll bridge guy was paying us for as we crossed his bridge, but Avery was the leader, so I did as I was told. When the Dora inspired game became too dull to continue (for me), I decided to bring up a pitcher of water and some cups. Avery loves to dump water on things, so that kept her busy for a while. A rare glimpse of Megan Creative Mom surfaced when I realized we could dip our fingers in the water and draw pictures on the cement floor. When we tired of that, Avery decided to take me outside the casa to "paint" out there. She pushed her little stroller and I pushed the larger stroller. Both were empty, but that didn't seem to bother Avery. She told me just where to park it and exactly where to sit and exactly how to play properly. I would call her bossy, but as I infamously (in my own mind at least) once said to my mom when she called me bossy, "Where I come from, that's called leadership."

Uno, dos, tres, ...

I keep forgetting to note (at least I don't think I noted it) that Avery can count to ten in Spanish. We didn't teach her, so I think she picked up from watching Dora. It's possible she learned it at school, but I highly doubt it since they've never noted this in their summary of activities. She often counts things in Spanish rather than English now, which I find intersting.

Potty

An Avery quirk that I've been forgetting to put in the blog so I wouldn't forget is her tendency to carry her potty to a particular spot for use. This is particularly prevalent after she's gone to bed. She'll get out of bed, take the potty that is kept in her room into the hallway, put it at the top of the stairs, then proceed to use it. It is both amusing and odd to come up the stairs to find a full potty sitting there waiting to be emptied.

She likes to move the potty around down here, too. Mostly she moves it into the center of the interior courtyard.

Grateful

Best trip yet

I must say, so far, this is the best trip we've had down here to date. It feels as if we have the perfect storm of elements to make it so. First, we have enough of the comforts of home. Plenty of towels, socks, housewares, etc. Next, we have a routine down for where things go and have a place to put things during the daily must-do tidy up routine. Next, Avery isn't napping during the day which is making bedtime total cake. It's 7:05 and she's fast asleep. Finally, we've reorganized some of our outdoor furniture so that our reclining chairs are now up in the viewing tower. Since the viewing tower has a solid roof - as oppossed to the roof terrace that has a pergola on it - there is always a good chunk of shade available. We also have a ceiling fan in the viewing tower to keep air circulating. Avery and I read up there for a good hour or so today. She read her books, I read mine. The view of the mountains is actually the one I prefer, as opposed to the sliver of the sea we can see from various angles.

Our 4-hour divisions of Avery duty are also working out so well. It means that the one who is not on duty has zero guilt about doing whatever - napping, sleeping in, reading, watching TV, computer time, laying by the pool, whatever - and the person who is on duty has no expectation of doing anything but playing with Avery, so there's no resentment of the off-duty person. We should have done this from the get go!

Today, I had the 1-5 shift, which is the hottest shift. I was concerned because I didn't think we could just go walk around without roasting. However, when Avery was done with her lunchtime movie break, she promptly explained to me that we needed to go to the beach to finish our sandcastle. I loaded up two bags with everything I could possibly need for the beach or the pool, then headed over to the beach. I figured when we were done on the beach, we'd hit the hotel pool, rather than the community pool, since it's right by the beach. In the end, Avery and I spent a couple of hours just floating in the sea. The water was so warm and totally clear. It was some of the most enjoyable beach time I've ever had. We decided then to go get some ice cream from the store, but got sidelined when Avery saw other kids playing in the hotel pool. I turned around and got her all suited up in her vest to play in the hotel pool. I think she was just too tired to really engage, so we only stayed for ten minutes before she asked to go. We walked back to the casa where I literally had to prod Avery to go to the store for ice cream. Turns out, the store isn't open on Sundays anymore, so no ice cream. That's when we came back and headed up to the viewing tower for another lovely couple of hours in the warm breeze.

On the beach, I realized that I will almost definitely miss these days and the current stage of our community very much, particularly when development finally does ramp up. Yes, there's a torn up road to navigate. We don't have many amenities within walking distance. During the weekdays, you still hear a lot of construction noises. And everything is in a constant state of change since the community is still trying to right itself since the original vision was abandoned with the bankruptcy of the company. However, even given all that, I think what we've got here is a very unique experience. It was a Sunday on a public beach and we had no issue finding chairs or a palapa for shade. There was almost no noise from the other parties on the beach, but enough activity to not seem weird. There were several dogs running on the beach, but the dog owners (some Mexican locals, some gringo homeowners/visitors) were responsible and easy going. The pool at the hotel has been redone since the hotel reopened six months or so ago. It's nothing fancy, but it feels solid and clean. They have all new furniture with plenty of shade and cushions. You don't have to pay for any of it. I feel welcome there as a homeowner (versus a hotel guest) and there's no questioning of our "right" to be there. My favorite part: no blaring music! I will rue the day when hotel management decides it needs to blare music. I have little doubt it will happen, but for now, it's just lovely. We have our own little piece of paradise at this moment in time, even though it's come along a path that isn't what we'd envisioned. I'm grateful for that. And it's wonderful that it's here when Avery hasn't yet started school since I imagine these years will be the ones during which we are able to spend the most time down here.

I also remember a trip down here before our casa was done. We were in the process of completing our homestudy and application to enter the pool for adoption. It was a great trip despite some logistical challenges (power outage, water outage, tropical storm, etc). I remember hoping that we'd get a chance to enjoy our casa just once before a child arrived. This afternoon, as I was sitting in the calm, warm sea with Avery floating nearby giggling and splashing, I realized that this place is what it is to me precisely because of Avery. I'm not sure Childless Megan ever would have embraced it in the same manner that Mother Megan has.

I try not to think of the money we paid for the casa, the furnishings, and the continued maintenance of it, because when I do, I go through an opportunity cost exercise: where else could be be vacationing with that money? What other things could we have done in Portland with that money? However, in the end, I'd honestly take a trip down here over a trip to the fanciest all-inclusive resort in Mexico. I'd rather come down here for a week than head to a hotel or a rental house in the States, if only because it now feels like home. It has a quality that rentals and hotels don't have for me. It took me a while to get to this state, but I'm here. And I'm damn grateful for it. For all of it.

Beach

Beacheriffic

Avery and I made not one, but two trips to the beach today! The first was during my 4-hour stint of Avery-duty this morning. Avery and I headed down there with her bucket and shovels with the intent of building a sand castle. However, I didn't do a survery of the tools she opted to bring in her bucket, so we were missing the necessary molds to make building a castle easier. We ended up collecting sea shells and rocks and tossing them in the water. Since the water was very calm, we also waded into it to retrieve sea shells from the sea floor. I did not properly estimate the depth when going after a particular sea shell and ended up with waist high water. Not so much an issue when one is wearing a swimsuit, but a little odd when wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Not to worry, though, I got the elusive shell! Avery, of course, quickly chucked it back into the sea.


Our second trip as an impromptu visit to the beach as Avery and I were walking around after dinner. After reading Sara's latest post on things she learned from Sara during the planning of Love Life 5K, I said, "Yes!" to Avery when she asked if we could walk along the beach as the sun set. Actually, first I said no becuase I didn't want to get my feet dirty again. Then I thought better of it and figured why not? We had a good time. I tried to show Avery how to throw properly, but I think she needs Pop Pop to help her with the mechanics. Maybe you'll join us on our next trip down, Dad?

Nappage

After a family lunch at the pool bar at the hotel, D took over for his 4-hour stint. He and Avery headed to the pool while I headed in to take a nap. I love, love, love to nap in our casa. There's something about the brightness of the sunshine outside and the whiteness of the sheets and then stillness of the day.

Community Goings On

As we were walking home from lunch, a homeowner friend of ours heard my voice and popped up onto their roof terrace to invite us in for a chat. It was good to catch up. We also learned that the guy who sold us our casa, who left the company years ago and is also a homeowner, was in town just for the night. So tonight we popped over and paid him a visit after dinner.


We learned there's a rush to get many of the custom beach lots completed since they'll be closing down the road that gives access to these lots. Once that road is closed, I imagine the cost of construction for the remaining lots will be considerably more.


We also learned that they'll be renumbering the casas. Appparently it's to enable the ambulances and emergency personnel to actually find the right casa since the current numbering scheme make no sense at all. You'll find a house in the 100's next to one in the 500's and then jump back to the 200's.

Birthfamily

Avery's aunt, her birthdad's sister, just friended me on Facebook! We haven't met her or Avery's paternal birth grandmother yet. She expressed an interest in meeting Avery and us, so hopefully we'll get to meet them soon. I love that Facebook makes these sorts of connections so much easier to establish. It doesn't build a relationship, but it definitely makes the logistics of establishing one easier.

Butterflies

Butterflies and Beauty

As we drove into an alternative entrance to our community down here (meaning one we don't normally take), we noticed there are a lot of yellow butterflies here at the moment. It's beautiful to see them flying in such numbers.

When we first came down here, all I noticed each time was the trash on the sides of the roads and the dirt you see almost everywhere outside of our community. Now, I barely notice either of those things. I seem to only notice the things I love about this place. And I notice the things that have changed, like very few stray animals. I love that! This is due in large part, I think, to the efforts of a charity that gets a lot of support from our community's homeowners. It pays to pick up the strays, spay or neuter them, then releases them.

Along the lines of beauty, the landscaping in the community continues to mature beautifully. Just since May, some of the plants have gotten noticably larger and fuller. The walk through the casas from and to the pool is very close to the dream we bought into.

Perfecting The Mexico

Apparently, Henry's term for Mexico of "The Mexico" is sticking around for a while. I think this is my fourth (maybe more or less - the trips are getting jarggled in my head) to our casa. It's starting to feel more like our home than a place we visit. I know where to put things to increase my comfort level. For example, my medication is kept up on a ledge off of the kitchen area. And I keep the key cards (which I'm absolutely terrible at keeping track of) on the ledge across the kitchen. Having a place to put all these things such that I know where they are helps it feel less like a hotel and more like a home. That is key to my enjoyment.

Avery in the community center

I unpacked my entire suitcase almost immediately upon arrival. Doing that helps me get situated, too. Avery saw me open the suitcase and before she even saw her swim suits, she asked if she could put one on so we could go to the pool. I knew that was best so she could get out some of her energy before bed, so we quickly headed over to the pool. I bought Avery a new hat for this trip since she really resisted putting on the other hat I'd bought last time. This new hat is so stinkin' cute. Add to that her very trendy looking prescription sunglasses and the adorableness that is any toddler in a swimsuit and you've got a bundle of, well, adorableness.

There was an older woman at the pool when we arrived. Avery acclimated to being back in the water in after a couple of minutes and was chasing Daddy in the pool. She yelled over to the woman, "Do you want to play with us?" It was so cute. Can you tell I think my kid is cute?

Avery went right to sleep - waking up at 4 am and taking only a 30 minute car seat nap will do that to a kid - at 7:30 tonight. I did, too. And that, my friends, is why I'm blogging at 3:45 in the morning. D is also awake since he fell asleep about 8:30. That early morning flight is a killer.

However, it's totally worth it to hear Avery say repeatedly, as she did tonight, "What a great day!"