+ 5 - 5 | § ¶Life and Times
Look! It's Travis! And Brooke! Brooke and Travis! They're in town! Causing city-wide hemorrhaging of exclamation points! We got to meet them for breakfast this morning. Houston told me on the way there that he was not going to be talking to Travis or Brooke. I am still unclear as to why. He changed his mind about Brooke, though, when she started spending lots of time playing cars with him. Someone to crash cars with! What could be better? He continued his shy streak with Travis, though. He's crazy about Travis and talks about him all the time, even when it's been months since we've seen him. And he ran around once we got outside in the hopes that Travis would catch him and fling him around.
Katrina had no such qualms. She checked them out a bit at first, but pretty quickly warmed up to them and was soon lying on the floor under Travis' chair and popping up from under the table to see what Houston and Brooke were doing. Of course, she didn't have to run around looking for someone to chase her. As soon as we got outside, Juanito started showing off their newest trick. (And seriously...is that not terrifying? Katrina doesn't think so, though. To her it's hilarious.)
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 3 | § ¶Syrup
My aunt and uncle have a nice, big property with lots of trees. And several years ago, they started tapping some of those trees to make maple syrup. They've got a little house-looking thing called the "Sugar Shack," and some great big, um, things to boil the syrup in. See that smoking thing behind Katrina up there? That's one of the equipment things. But although they've been doing it for several years and live only 30-45 minutes away, i had never actually seen the whole operation in progress. Until today.
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 5 | § ¶Tired. And crabby.
I was tired today. And crabby. And annoyed that i was tired and crabby. And tired of the house being messy. And did i mention crabby? And tired? It was one of those days that i just have to hope is being completely affected by the fact that i'm pregnant, because otherwise i'm just a really annoying person. Even to myself. The day was not helped by Houston, who felt the need to question every little decision or statement that i made all day long.
Me - "We are going to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch." Houston - "Why?"
M - "You may sit at the little table or the big table for lunch." H - "Can i sit on the couch?"
M - "Please clean up a little bit before you get out the legos so that there is some space to play." H - "But i can find enough space to play without cleaning up!"
By the time i left for my class of doom, i was actually looking forward to it a little bit.
And now i must apologize for complaining at you all. But i will say that the day improved after 7:30 pm. Happily.
+ 6 - 4 | § ¶My little person
I woke up this morning with a huge headache. So even though i got plenty of sleep last night, i still ended up taking a nap for a long time while Juanito was home. Then, while Katrina was sleeping, Houston wanted to play in his room for a while, and i was all, "Uh, OK!" He played happily with his train set for a while, and then came and hung out with me in our room. He's becoming such a little person! I love that i can have conversations with him, and he's interesting to chat with! He's got opinions and ideas and everything! It's awesome. At one point, the baby started moving around, and i told Houston that if he wanted, he could try to feel the baby kick. So he put his hand on my tummy for a minute, and exclaimed, "I felt the baby kick me!" I'm not sure he actually did, but he was willing to just accept that whatever that baby's doing in Mommy's tummy, it's able to kick him now. So cute.
Incidentally, Houston believes that we are having a girl. I'm not sure why, but that was his decision, and he's sticking with it. I tend to agree with him, although i have no reason to believe that. Time will tell, i guess.
+ 5 - 6 | § ¶Morning people and the rest of us.
Juanito used that picture of Houston yesterday, but it's so cute it bears repeating. Plus i don't have any pictures from today.
So this morning my alarm went off, and i was lying in bed trying to will myself to get up and moving, when i heard Katrina start waking up. And within about a minute of rousing, she started singing a little song that she made up. Singing away in her cute little happy voice. Perfectly content to chill out for a while, playing with the dolls and animals in her crib, singing, and jabbering to herself. And it struck me that she is SERIOSLY a morning person. By nighttime, we put her in bed and she promptly curls up and goes to sleep. No hesitation at all.
Houston is exactly the opposite. More like me, really. In the morning, he wakes up and lies in bed for a little while before getting up. If i have to wake him up, he is SLOW to get moving. But at nighttime, he's Little Mr. Chatter. He loves having us read as many books as possible to him, he asks questions, he brings up random subjects to talk about. When he goes upstairs, he always has to bring a couple of cars with him, and before we leave the room we have to make sure to supply him with a few books to read. He stays in bed quietly, but doesn't go right to sleep. He reads, plays with his cars quietly and reads some more. Many times i've found him asleep with a book open on his face, where he dropped it when he fell asleep reading. Much like Juanito often finds me. (Except that i don't actually end up with the book on my face. More like my chest or the bed next to me.)
I don't know yet what Henry is going to be like. But HEY! Speaking of Henry...guess what! He/she is starting to make his/her presence more obvious. Today the kicking started being more full-fledged. Hard enough that Juanito was able to feel some little kicks! Hurrah for ... uh... muscles!
+ 3 - 7 | § ¶She's so cold!
I left the house before anyone else was awake this morning (to go interpret at church), so the first time i saw my kids was at the Chinese restaurant where we ate lunch. The waitress carried Katrina back to our table, and showed her to me, saying, "Look! She's so cold!" I don't think Katrina was really cold at the time, but she was wearing only short sleeves and had bare legs, so i had to agree that she might have been a little under-dressed for the not-yet-warm weather. But she looked really cute, so i have to give Juanito kudos for picking out cute clothes. Even though they're not quite appropriate weather-wise.
After lunch, i had to go to work for the rest of the day, so i only got to see my family for a little over an hour. But Juanito got to hang out with our kids all day today, so you should really go see all the fun things they did. I was going to link you, but the weblog suddenly hates me again. So no link. Sorry.
+ 7 - 3 | § ¶Mold and spiders
I've had a couple of funny interactions with Houston in the past day. So i'll treat you all to them as well.
Houston asked me for some bread - of a very specific loaf. I was all set to cut him off a piece, when i looked closely and noticed a tiny spot of mold on it. I know (from my dad's 7th grade science class) that if there is any mold on bread, it's all bad. So i told Houston, "Oh, i'm sorry Sweetie. It's a little moldy." He immediately picked a different kind of bread and life continued. Hours later, as i was getting him ready for bed, he asked me, "Is my belly button moldy?" I said (trying not to laugh), "Nope. Not moldy at all." He thought. Then he asked, "How old will i be when my belly button gets moldy?" Hopefully never, dearie. Hopefully never.
Late last night, or rather early this morning at about 4:00 AM, Houston woke me up to go down with him so he could go to the bathroom. I groggily stumbled down the stairs with him, sat on the couch, and listened as he unzipped his pajama, opened the toilet lid, and prepared to pee. And suddenly, he FREAKED OUT. Seriously wigged out and started crying and running out of the bathroom. I threw myself off the couch and flicked on the light as fast as i could, fully expecting there to be pee everywhere. Instead, there was just a very frightened little Houston, pointing at the floor and panicking. His pajamas scared him, you see. In the dark, they apparently looked like a very large, scary spider chasing after him. So he slept in our bed the rest of the night. Those pajamas spiders can be dangerous, you know.
+ 5 - 4 | § ¶Mono
This morning we went to see the butterflies again. This time we met up with my mom and sister, and Juanito joined us too! We went earlier in the day this time, which meant it was busier and more crowded, but there were also a zillion butterflies flying all over the place. I've never seen so many butterflies flying around at one time there! I don't know if it was the sun or the time of day or what, but it was gorgeous. Houston and Katrina were a little unimpressed, though. Houston was interested in finding butterflies, but he was equally impressed by the roly-poly bug he found on a rock. It was Katrina's naptime, so she started out strong and slowly disinegrated into a mass of exhaustion.
i'm still talking...
+ 7 - 3 | § ¶It's a baby! See!
Clearly, Houston and Katrina are adorable, but since they get the main picture practically every other day, i decided that it was time for them to learn to share the spotlight with their new brother or sister. So there he/she is! See how cute! From this angle, it looks like a baby, which is great. From one angle, though, i swear our child looked like an alien. Or a skeleton. Or something non-baby-esque. But the little heart is beating away, and the little kidneys are functioning, and the limbs and backbone and brain are all there. So that's all good. The random guess the ultrasound person made was that baby is maybe 10 inches long. He/she definitely weighs in at 1 pound, though. The doctor (who is not my regular doctor, and for whom we waited an hour, just to have him say, "It all looks good.") says that baby is currently in around the 90th percentile, and is right on track for being another large baby. No cute little teensy newborn clothes for my kids. Throw them straight into those 3 month outfits.
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 2 | § ¶No one ever told me
I can't believe i have been a mom for 4 years, and i just yesterday figured out to put my child into a high chair to play with playdough! Suddenly, playing with playdoh is fun! Clean! Not horrific! We've played with it two days in a row, and i'm not even ready to hunt down the person who invented playdoh and give them a sound scolding! Houston is old enough now to stay by the table and contain most of his mess that way, but now Katrina can make a big mess on her tray and it STAYS THERE! I'm a little excited about this. New fun things to do until summer arrives.
Tomorrow is ultrasound day. Five months already! Have i mentioned that i'm really worried about this baby? I am not enormous. With Houston and Katrina, when i was 5 months pregnant, i was HUGE already. See! So why is this child so little? Huh? Enquiring minds want to know.
+ 5 - 3 | § ¶BK again
I am so ready for warm weather. I am tired of staying in our house all the time. My kids are tired of staying in our house all the time. They are driving each other nuts, and in the process driving me nuts. So, for the second time in way too recent history, i decided that we were going to Burger King to eat today so that my kids could play somewhere else. Somewhere fun, where there are things to do other than decide that you want to play with the EXACT SAME toy your sibling is playing with.
So i called Karla, who recently pointed out in her post that she LOVES eating unhealthy, greasy food at places like that, and she agreed to meet me. Woohoo! We went to a BK that is pretty little kid friendly - no big scary tubes to climb through. It has a ball pit and a lot of easy-to-climb around areas. And we spent a good two hours playing and eating and chatting.
I love how easily kids make friends with other kids. Houston meets a new child and can instantly play with him/her, run around with them, and invent new games even though he might not know that child's name. I was watching Katrina when we were in line, and she was instantly drawn to anyone her size, gazing at them and sizing them up to see if she could play with them later. And while Houston loves to play WITH the other kids he meets, Katrina just plays near them for the most part yet. And yet, she loves to be with them. All the way home we were treated to "Bye bye Bemmer. Bye bye Babel. Bye bye Deke. Bye bye Rarra."
Oh. And while i was driving home, Katrina uttered the longest sentence i've heard from her yet: "Take a picture of Teeton in a car!" ("Teeton" being "Katrina" in this instance, although "Houston" sounds exactly the same.) And seriously, how can i deny a request like that? (Although i did wait until we were at a stop light.)
i'm still talking...
+ 7 - 4 | § ¶Questions
Houston was full of deep, difficult questions as i was putting him to bed tonight. It started out with, "Why do some people have lots of dirty in their hearts?" Because Judas loved money, see. And then we moved on to "What is a soldier?" and "What does war mean?" and "Why do soldiers kill each other?" and "Is Uncle Rick in a war?" and "Do we know anyone who is in a war?" and "Did Bops fight when he was a soldier?" After THAT whole truly difficult series of questions, he came up with "Why did Grandma and Grandpa's bunny die?" Which led to a whole conversation about why any animals die and what that means.
And i thought i was tired before i went up to put him in bed. Oh my goodness.
+ 3 - 7 | § ¶Way too long for the point
When i was a freshman in high school, our band was the first marching band our school had had since...i dunno, the 70's or something. The uniforms were truly horrendous. This is us. A couple of things to notice: This one is me. Notice how the beret is on my head as far back as it can possibly be while still staying on? That's presumably so that it doesn't squash my bangs, but in reality, my bangs were never much to brag about in the poofy department anyways. Notice how the guys have to wear the more typical marching band hats? That's because there weren't enough for us all, so they had to let the girls wear berets. At least they didn't have to wear the big stupid plumes that went along with the hats. What you can't see is that the uniforms are made from wool, which was unbearably hot, and they were slightly moth-eaten and smelled musty. Ick. But i digress. When i was a freshman, we had a marching band. Our band director decided that it would be prudent to practice marching by spending one entire class period standing perfectly still in the gym. No movement allowed. I'm not sure how far into the class period we were when everything started going black. There were warning signs i didn't recognize - sudden sweatiness, dizziness, difficulty breathing. But as i said, i didn't realize those were more than mere annoyances. I barely made it to the bleachers before everything went completely black. But i didn't actually faint. I think i was within a few seconds of fainting, but i didn't faint.
i'm still talking...
+ 2 - 7 | § ¶Who are you? Who-who, who-who
For some reason that i can't explain, i only got about 3 hours of sleep last night. I was lying down for much longer than that, but i just could not sleep. And then i'd finally fall asleep for a few minutes and wake up and be completely awake again. This is not normal for me. I am usually the person who could sleep though an earthquake. Yawn. So i expected to be utterly exhausted today, but oddly, i was fairly awake. Tomorrow i might crash...
Beth came over tonight to watch CSI (My first time watching it - and it is, indeed, a good show. Not utterly habit-forming, but good.) and work on photo albums. I finally today started Katrina's first photo album. Poor little second child. I decided long ago, with Houston, that i would put in enormous effort and do really good photo albums for my kids' first year, but after that, they just get pictures shoved into an photo book. So i figured i'd better at least START Katrina's book before baby #3 is born.
And also? I am unabashadly stealing Beth's title for this entry.
+ 4 - 6 | § ¶Circus!
Some of you might remember when we took Houston to the circus a couple of years ago. Today was a remarkably similar experience, except that we had two kids rather than one. And there was no bear (Probably because of that whole "bear bites off 2-year-old's finger" thing. Or the bear just had other appointments today.). But there were amazing feats and lots of fire and lions and tigers and elephants. There were also camels. My favorite animal was the 2-year-old camel who tried valiantly for several minutes to find the little box he was supposed to stand on with his foot. He kept putting his foot out, feeling around, and putting it down. And then trying again. So cute.
Houston sat on my lap and Katrina sat on Juanito's lap, and they both just stared for most of the performances. Both of our kids enjoy things fairly stoically. They just watch and take everything in and stare and stare. No shouts of glee or exclamations of awe. Just lots of watching with bits of occasional pointing mixed in. They both totally enjoyed themselves, though. On the way home and later in the day, Houston talked about what he had liked (the trapeze artists were his favorites, along with the guys who drive their motorcycles around that circle thing), and what we had seen.
They did have some clowns in the circus, but i have to say they are the worst clowns EVER! They are not even remotely funny. To anyone. I didn't hear anyone laugh. At all. But. During intermission, they have some different clowns, who i think are just local Shriners who volunteer to walk around. And those clowns cracked me up. Unintentionally, of course. The one clown had a hot dog on a leash, and tried unsuccessfully to convince Houston and Katrina that it was funny. Later, Katrina dragged me over to some other clowns. The first thing one of the clowns said to her was, "Hi. I'm a clown." Heehee. Katrina was enthralled, but didn't want them to touch her or talk to her. Eventually they gave up and just ignored her.
There was lots of fire. Every act seemed to want to include fire to make it more impressive. At one point, during some act, someone was finished with the fire and was carrying it away, but it was still burning. And Houston, from our seat way up in the stands, started trying to blow it out. He can't blow out the candles on his birthday cake, which is right in front of him, but SURE. He can maybe help in blowing out the dangerous fire down there 100 feet away (or more. Or less. I'm bad at distances).
Um. And a few last random pictures: of Houston, Katrina, and both kids.
Incidetally. Does "Saladin Shriner" make anyone else totally think of "Salazar Slytherin"? Or is that just me?
i'm still talking...
+ 7 - 2 | § ¶Peace
The past couple of days, Houston and Katrina have been getting along really quite well. Houston got a game (Mr. Mouth) for his birthday, and they both like to play that together. It's still a little hard for them, so they generally remove the top of the head and just practice flipping the flies straight onto the bottom of the frog-dude's mouth. The first time we played it, i was green, Houston was yellow, and Katrina was red. Apparently those choices were permanent, because whenever it comes out now, the pieces are divided up into Katrina's (red), Houston's (yellow), Mama's (green - even if i'm not playing), and "to be shared" (blue). Puzzles have come back into favor with my kids too, thanks in large part to the new USA puzzle that Houston LOVES to fix. So both kids fixed and fixed puzzles for over an hour this evening. Together! Without fighting! So i'm starting to have hope. Perhaps they will be able to actually play together nicely before Henry is born.
+ 5 - 5 | § ¶It's all about me
I think i'm going to start getting a complex pretty soon. Monday in class, four papers were handed back to us by three different people, and all of mine were accidentally given to random other people. Not one of them came directly to me. Today in class, another girl brought her husband, and our teacher asked, "Didn't you already bring a different husband?" And she was thinking about Juanito. At Crossroads (where i've been for 8 years now, mind you, and Juanito just started 2 months ago), i show up at work, and i am no longer "Karen." I am now "Juanito's wife." There are a couple of guys there who are calling me by names like "Carolyn" and "Kim," but then they'll talk at length about what a cool guy Juanito is. I ask you...which name is harder to remember, really? It took ME days to remember his name when i first met him. Sigh. I'm the amazing forgetable woman.
i'm still talking...
+ 2 - 7 | § ¶Twinkle
Many, many times a day, whenever she is happy or bored or concentrating on something, Katrina will burst into song. Most of the time, she sings "Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle star. How a la la la la are. Up aboba wolala...." She knows just enough words to make it totally adorable. The rest of the time, she just makes up ditties of her own.
Another favorite thing for Katrina to do is to imitate. Mostly pictures. So reading books is no longer a "sit and read" experience. It is now a "look at the picture and try to do the same thing" experience. Whatever pose the guy in the picture is making, Katrina will look at it, hop to the floor, and strike that pose. I blame "From Head to Toe."
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 3 | § ¶Blustery
Today was a very blustery day. The kind of day that makes Houston and Katrina shake their heads and run and shreak with glee. (Especially Katrina, who has LOVED windy days ever since she was a little baby.) My main encounter with the windiness today, though, was while i was driving. My little KIA is not really designed the same way, say, a semi-truck is designed. It's more along the lines of a shopping cart. Y'know how shopping carts get blown all over the parking lot on windy days? Yeah, that's what my car was doing while i was driving. It wasn't just plain windy, though. It was blustery. The key difference being that i never knew which direction the wind would come from, or when it would strike. So the drive home from Lansing was a little bit like an amusement park ride - "Whoa! Almost went off the road with that gust. Woo! Practically blown into the lane on the other side now." Very exciting.
+ 4 - 7 | § ¶In Retrospect
In retrospect, maybe we shouldn't have gone to church. My first clue should have been when i arrived home at 4:20 to find Houston lying on the floor asking to go to bed. I'm a little dense, though, and was tired, so i was all, "HEY! I'll go lie down and take a nap with you!" I brought him upstairs, and within moments of lying down, he was asleep. My second clue should have been when we woke him up 45 minutes later to go to church and he was furnace-like. But that's not altogether uncommon...he's a hot-blooded little boy. So i figured he was just warm from all the blankets on our bed. I carried him downstairs, and he wimpered his way to church, where Juanito carried him from the car to the nursery. But still..."Well, he's just a slow waker-upper, y'know." I really should have known when, after returning home, we sat down to eat dinner and he chose to instead sit on the couch and wimper through the whole meal. But i'm a little slow, see. So i didn't realize that he was sick until i sat down next to him and thought, "Huh. He's still a little warm." That's when i took his temperature and realized, "Ah HAH!" A fever. Finally, the poor child got some Children's Advil and some sympathy from Mommy. And now, poor little Houston is now sweating in his sleep, and hopefully will feel better tomorrow.
+ 2 - 7 | § ¶Sleepy
I think that the baby (Henry, remember?) must be growing a LOT the past couple of days, because he's sucking all my energy up! I am SO tired. I was at work today, and at one point i was sitting in a room with one kid who was just sitting there doing nothing, so i was reading my book, and i had to totally fight to stay awake. I was doing that whole head jerk thing...y'know, when you're trying to stay awake but you keep falling asleep and then your head starts to fall down and that wakes you up so you jerk it back up really suddenly and feel like an idiot? Yup. That was me. I was altogether happy that no one was watching me, because when i see people do that, i laugh at them a lot.
After fighting to stay awake at work, i drove home through the absolutely gorgeous weather we're having today, all psyched up to go for a walk with the family. When i got home, though, Katrina was sleeping. Thinking to just rest while she was napping, i curled up on the couch with my book...and totally fell asleep. Juanito suggested waking up at one point, but i just couldn't drag myself out of my sleeping state. Sigh. What a waste of a gorgeous day. But it felt good to sleep, though.
Um. And one last thing. At work today, everyone was gushing about how cool Juanito is. After the twenty-thousanth time a kid told me, "Juanito is cool!" I said, "Yes. I know. That's why i married him." And the kid looked at me and said, "You married him because he's cool????" Like that's the oddest thing he'd ever heard. Now i ask you. Do you really want to marry someone if you think he's not cool? "Yes. I married Bernie. I realize that he's a total dork and there isn't a cool bone in his body, but still. I like him ok."
+ 4 - 6 | § ¶Butterflies
The butterflies are back! (At Meijer Gardens, that is.) We went to see them for the first time this year. I'm sure we will go many more times. Or at least a couple. Both Houston and Katrina were quietly enthralled, and wandered around in search of more butterflies. Houston kept pointing them out and begging me to take pictures of them. Katrina just watched and pointed a lot. Last year it was easier to let Houston wander and just kind of pull Katrina with us. This year, they're competing for where to go next. Houston wanted to see the butterflies flying in the plants. Katrina wanted to see the ones in the hatching station, where she could practically touch the butterflies on the other side of the glass. Despite being hectic, it was fun, though. We were supposed to have a huge group there, but due to circumstances, while we were in the butterfly room there was just us, Beth, and Diana, which was fun too. Well, us and a lot of other people i don't know. At one point, Houston started doing this weird belly thing, which had Beth and me in stitches. Katrina wanted to get in on the action too, but most just pointed out her belly button to everyone. Um, and two more pictures. One of the three of us, and one of my favorite butterfly, which, when it's open, looks just like an owl.
i'm still talking...
+ 7 - 2 | § ¶Little Mommy
For her birthday, Katrina got a little pack of doll diapers from Beth. She opened them, said, "Diaper," looked confused, and moved on to the next present. So yesterday i showed her how to use them (incidentally, she just got them on Tuesday...i didn't wait a full month before helping her use her present), and she instantly launched into full-on mommy mode. She has spent the past two days undressing baby, taking off the diaper, using her little container of wipes (into which i put one ripped into three pieces and now dry) to carefully wipe the baby's bottom. What amazes me is that she does such a good job of it! I realize that she's been having her bottom wiped since birth and all, but i think she could do a better job than some men i know! She's, like, a pro! She still has problems getting the diaper and clothes back ON, but that's not really important, is it? What IS important is that Baby may NOT wear her diaper when Katrina is going to sleep. If the diaper is on, Katrina will repeatedly say, "Don't want it diaper!!" until i call up that, "Yes, honey. You may take baby's diaper off." Then all is right with the world again.
And while we're on the subject, Katrina also does a fine job of putting her baby to bed - covers it with her blanket and everything - and giving her a bottle. When baby has finished the bottle, Katrina happily fills it again with her tea pot. Who knew babies drank tea? Not i.
So i was watching her today as she carefully wiped her baby's bum, helped me put the diaper and clothes back on, and fed baby the bottle. And then i suggested, "Maybe baby is sleepy." So Katrina happily snatched baby up by the back of her clothes and carried her face down to the bed, where she then tucked her in carefully. Apparently we've got everything down except for the carrying thing.
+ 6 - 4 | § ¶Aquatic
Houston's second cousin Hannah's birthday is about a week and a half after Houston's birthday, and they are the same age. So for the past couple of years, we've celebrated their birthdays together. This year we decided it would be fun to go to the aquatic center (really cool kiddie pool) and play there. So we met at Burger King just down the street to eat dinner and yummy cupcakes. Turns out! That BK has a playland! Woohoo! Who needs to eat when we can PLAY? In fact, Katrina chose to play rather than eat a cupcake at all, and all Houston ate was the sugary topping thingy and a couple of finger-swipes of frosting. What's up with our kids not liking cake? Not that i'm complaining, but WEIRD!
And after about an hour there, we headed just down the road to the aquatic center, got all situated in our bathing suits, and went out to the pool area with two excited kids. And then? I spent the next half hour kicking myself for not just staying at the BK playland. Katrina needed to be held AT ALL TIMES, and even then she was not exactly happy with the situation. Houston cried and begged to "go away from this place." Ok. So normally, i am not a mom who forces her kids to get involved. Honestly, i'm not. But in this particular situation, there were two little thoughts i kept having..."We paid $12 to be here, and darn it! You're going to have fun!" and "Seriously, if you'd just TRY it, you will enjoy yourself. I promise." Finally, with Houston begging me to let him just stand on the dry ground, i told him, "Fine. If you go down the slide one time, then i will go and sit up there with you." He hesitantly agreed. He went down the slide. He survived. And then we went to dry ground. And then? A miracle happened. He found a ball. A stupid, little ball. And that lured him into the pool. He threw it. He chased it. He fell down. He discovered that getting your face wet is NOT the end of the world. And suddenly, he was a fish. He was running all over, letting himself get splashed, actually ON PURPOSE putting his face under the water (part way), playing with other kids. And i sighed a huge sigh of relief that i hadn't chosen the worst place ever for his party.
So. Here are some more pictures of the party. This is the group that we went with. My brother-in-law Eric was also there, but he was taking the picture. And my parents and my cousin Jen's parents were also at BK, but they didn't go to the aquatic center. So there were a lot of us. It was fun. Here's Hannah and Jenny. Jenny is my cousin. Hannah is her daughter. They're cute. This here is the birthday kids. They're both FOUR now! Unreal. Here's a picture of Juanito, Katrina, and me. Notice how Katrina is still being held. She never - no, NEVER - let us put her down. And see how happy she got when i finally took her out and wrapped her in a towel? I'm sure she was thinking, "YES! Finally! I don't have to be terrified by that stupid water anymore." The odd thing is, last year she was my water baby. No fear at all. And, finally, Houston and Katrina.
i'm still talking...
+ 3 - 6 | § ¶Birthday boy
Four years and one day ago today . . . I was hugely pregnant. And when i say hugely, i mean hugely. I was freaking enormous. Big enough that the doctor looked at me and said, when i was 8 months along, "Huh. If you haven't delivered yet in a couple of weeks, maybe we should induce." And thus it was that two weeks before my due date, i was on the waiting list for the hospital. They were supposed to call me sometime after 8:00 am on March 6 to tell me to come in and get induced. They didn't call. Finally, sometime in the afternoon, i called them and said, "Uh...my husband has this film festival thing where his movie is going to be shown. Do you think we should plan on going to that or not?" They were all, "Sure, yeah! Go ahead. We're busy here." So we went. And then we went out for dinner/dessert afterwards at the Olive Garden, where i kept checking my cell phone obsessively, going, "Why aren't they CALLING???" And finally, at midnight, they called and said, "Well, you might as well come in. We're not going to get any less busy."
And so, baby's birthday became March 7 rather than March 6. And baby turned out to be Houston, who came out looking like he was three months old, and who was seriously a gorgeous little baby. But since i posted a million pictures last year, i'll just refer you back to that.
I keep falling into this trap of thinking, "Y'know, Houston hasn't changed that much this past year." But then i think about what he really was like a year ago, and there are some areas of significant growth. Besides just getting taller, which he totally has. He has started to learn to read, and when the mood strikes him, he totally sounds words out really well. He can carry on whole conversations, and is trying hard to figure out humor. He's become Mr. Chatty on the phone (when he feels like talking). His attention span is suddenly longer, and he actually enjoys reading books that don't have pictures on every page! (Seriously, i've been waiting with bated breath for this milestone. Every few months since he was like, 2 months old, i've been hauling out chapter books and fairy tales to see if he'd listen. And FINALLY! The time has arrived. I threw a little party for myself. There was chocolate. And confetti.) His personality is becoming more and more clear. Most of the time, i heartily approve of the personality he displays. It's only when he does mean things (like today's episode of pulling off one of Katrina's socks, grabbing her blanket, and hiding them behind then couch, then feigning innocence when she wept) that i become a bit exasperated. He asks questions about things all the time, from, "What does wrinkles mean?" to "Were Grandma and Grandpa ever little kids?" He's expanded his interests from things like rocks and sticks to things like geography and sticks. The sticks (well, and the rocks, to be honest) seem to be a constant interest.
So, as i was saying to Juanito just yesterday, three sounds like a small child still. Four, on the other hand, seems like a little boy. And truthfully, that's what he is. It's so fun and exciting. And so sad. For me. Not for him.
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 3 | § ¶Henry
That picture was taken about one minute after this picture. Why is she crying? Well. I took a pair of scissors away from her, because she was totally ready to cut her hair off with them. And, i'm sorry Katrina, but you are not allowed to make those kinds of decisions just yet. Nope.
I decided that today i am going to talk about baby. Baby doesn't have a name yet, mostly because we just can't decide on one we like. So we'll just call him/her...uh...Henry/Henrietta. Because apparently our child is 92 years old already. So Henry (that could be short for Henrietta) enjoys kicking my bladder. A lot. When i'm not pregnant, i NEVER use public bathrooms. I can hold it for hours. Today, while i was out for dessert with Beth (where i got a non-chocolate dessert...odditude), i used the bathroom at Arnie's twice! And then came home and immediately had to pee again! What's up with that? And. A list of weird things i've craved recently:
- Chicken breast, blackened - mostly odd because i don't like chicken, but also because what kind of a weird, specific craving is THAT?
- Plain spaghetti. Just plain. Nothing on it. I haven't eaten that since i was...i dunno, two?
- Egg and cheese on toast. First of all, i swore off eggs a few months ago after throwing them up. But furthermore, i have never liked cheesy eggs at all. It's icky.
- Dried beef. The kind you can only get in Orange City, Iowa.
Let me point out that these cravings are doubly weird because with my first two pregnancies, i never had any cravings at all. Except for the one time when i was pregnant with Houston and we were in the church parking lot, waiting to be on our way to my parents' house, and i decided i needed grapes RIGHT NOW! But that's the only time.
Other than those weird things, though, Henry is just chugging right along. Little (but firm) kicks. Causing my tummy to grow at an alarming rate. No longer making me sick, though (thanks, baby!!!). So all is well. Just weird.
+ 1 - 7 | § ¶Chocolate, presents, and tummies
This morning, Juanito brought the kids downstairs about 10 minutes before i came down. When i stepped off the last step coming down the stairs and looked around, i was immediately greeted with a somewhat guilty expression on a very chocolate-covered face from Katrina, who was also, incidentally, letting Graham lick the chocolate off her fingers. Where did she get the chocolate? Well...see this picture? Look closely at the left side of the cake. Yup. That's Katrina's handiwork.
Katrina then displayed some more very 2-year-oldish behavior when i was dressing her by completely refusing to wear the dress that i put on her. The second it was over her head, she threw a fit, tried to rip it off, and screamed until i asked her, "Do you want to wear a different dress?" Then she sobbed, "Yes!!" And all was fine again. That's my first experience with one of my children actually really caring what he/she wore.
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 5 | § ¶Walk
This afternoon was really sunny and beautiful. So when Beth called and asked if i wanted to go for a walk with a group of fun people, i signed right up. What i didn't realize was that i was deceived. I thought it was going to be warm out. But it was COLD. So i dressed my kids in their coats, and as a precaution threw on their hats. But no mittens, no scarf. Houston didn't mind. He has his own little internal furnace. But poor little Katrina was freezing. Every once in a while she would hold up her hands to me (bright pink), and say, "Ow!" in a very confused way. Like, "Um, i didn't actually do anything to hurt my hands, but for some reason they really hurt." Poor little girl. I tried to put my mittens on her, but she didn't like that. Luckily, Karla is more prepared than i am, and she found an extra pair in her stroller. (Thanks, Karla!)
The walk was really fun, though. Regardless of the cold weather. We walked through a park, down to the playground where we played until Sep and Katrina were both totally shivering and Houston said, "I'm ready to go now." And i took lots of pictures, some of which are really cute. So here they are: Karla, Beth, and S, Diana, Z, and S, Houston, B and Karla, Katrina and Beth, and Z .
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 4 | § ¶Early
As we were driving home at around 5:30, Katrina fell asleep. At about the same time, Houston asked me, "When we get home, can i go right to bed?"
These strange events caused me to simultaneously dance a jig and worry about what in the world is wrong with my kids??? Katrina's sleepiness was understandable...she had chosen not to nap, despite being exhausted. Houston, on the other hand, doesn't nap, and NEVER actually asks to go to bed. He's usually pretty agreeable to going to bed, but actually asking? Nope. So we ate dinner, during which Katrina wimpered and yawned but didn't actually eat any food. And then it was off to bed. Katrina was in her crib, zonked out, with a fever of 100 or so by 7:00. Houston was tucked in and read to by 7:45. And then i had to go up and remove a bug for him at around 8:00. But not a peep since.
I like nights like this. Hopefully the morning will not come equally early.
+ 8 - 3 | § ¶Oops
I spent most of today blowing my nose. And coughing. And occasionally complaining that my head was going to explode, which several times prompted Houston to ask me, "What does explode mean?" Probably because he knows what "explode" means, but he can't imagine that that's what i mean.
But tonight Beth came over and babysat (THANK YOU, Beth!!! You're the bestest! Um..and thanks for washing dishes too!) and i got to go out with a few other people from Mops. (Notice how i avoided saying "ladies" or "women" and just went with "people" instead? Also notice how many times i've used quotation marks already?) It was very fun. Linda and Karla both went, so i spent most of my time talking to them (especially since i was on the corner and they were surrounding me), and i like them, so it was great. Hurrah for nice people!
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 2 | § ¶Wonderings
This morning i had a moment of crystal clear understanding that Katrina cannot possibly be my child. She woke up at 8:30 and started singing. Cheerfully. First thing in the morning. I didn't get up right away, figuring that she was happy anyhow. 45 minutes later, Houston woke up and called from his room, "Mama? Where are my cars?" I told him they were downstairs, and he was quiet for another 15 minutes before asking me to bring him some more books. He wakes up in a more normal way, at least. Wake up. Get your bearings. Read quietly in your room so you can get past feeling grouchy because morning has arrived too early yet again. Katrina is, in our family, a freak of nature. Wake up, sing, play happily in your crib, sing, play happily again? What's that about?
Not that i'm complaining, mind you....
i'm still talking...