(Dec 2011) (Needs Pics) Sophia's 2nd Birthday

For Sophia's 2nd Birthday I had gotten 5 theater tickets to a children's theater in Snohomish that was supposed to offer singing and dancing in the seats, aisle and stage.  With the tickets came a DVD and a CD.  We invited Leo to come with us and he happily met us at the Theater. 

The theater was doing a Christmas production of Tim Noah's Thumbnail Theater and had a showing on Sophia's birthday in the morning.  So perfect we went into the renovated church to find the stage still decked out with Christmas decorations, a giant oversized chair, and fun chairs hanging all over the walls.  Because we were early to the play it gave Sophia and Padon a chance to walk around the stage and get really excited (there were Nutcrackers everywhere).  As the seats filled up it came time for us to sit down and Sophia just lost her s**t.  In a no bones temper tantrum, screaming and crying, I had to carry her to the back of the theater and sing the Christmas songs with her that Tim Noah was singing to calm her down.  At about three points in the play the children were invited up on stage and every time I would let her go to run down the aisle and climb up on stage.  She and Padon were really excited to do this but then would stand there with a stage fright stance, mostly just excited to be on stage.  The show hosts let me go up with Padon and Sophia, since they were relatively young, and I danced with them and danced them like marrionetts on stage.  But everytime it came time for the kids to leave the stage Sophia would collapse in another no bones temper tantrum.   Again I would whisk her off stage and back to the back of the room.  It was kind of embarrassing but I was struggling with the fact that she was crying because she was having such a good time that she didn't want to stop. 

Finally at the very end, and about to walk out because Sophia had, had enough of being frustrated and not able to do what she wanted in the theater, I told one of the stage hands that we were going to step out.  I had alerted the staff that we were there for Sophia's 2nd Birthday and that today was her birthday, in hope that they could do something special, but it was looking like it wasn't going to be possible and Sophia was at the end of her teather.  The stage hand was able to grab Tim Noah and Cyndi Lou (?)'s attention, and they had Sophia and Padon come up on stage.  They announced that it was Sophia's 2nd birthday and they sang her a rendition of Happy Birthday.  It was a sweet ending that came just in time.  I was tense that the whole process hadn't gone more smoothly, albeit excited that Sophia and Padon had gotten to sing and dance in the aisles and on stage.  Padon had been thrilled to learn that Tim Noah also knew Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

After the play we went to lunch at a local resturant.  Sadly they sat us in one of the quietest rooms, of this old house turned resturant, with only one other table of people (with not small children) and it made Padon and Sophia seem extra loud and obnoxious.  Leo seemed to just watch in awe with his under-the-breath "Okay..." muttered from time to time.  We managed to eat lunch with Padon exclaiming he wasn't eatting anything, and Sophia spilling her apple juice all over herself and her high-chair tray, and made our way to the car.  Leo presented Sophia, at the car, with her birthday present that just about blew her mind.  A plush kitten with a felt, pink, crown, inside a pink, kitten carrying, purse.  Padon was envious and we tiredly made our way home in time for Nap-time.

I'd like to think that the birthday was successful.  I'm happy to have Sophia's birthday party with family and friends in the summer and look forward to what we will do then.  I'm not sure yet.  Nothing jumps out but we have a lot of time to plan.  For now I'm pleased that, through all the tears, Sophia was excited to be at the Children's Theater, and that Padon had such a great time too. 

(Jan 2011) (Need Pics) Christmas 2011

As Padon gets older he is finally better able to understand his wants and desires.  This has greatly been enhanced with the addition of Netflix and his friends at school.  This year Padon really, really, really wanted what refered to as the Imaginex Samari Castle.  After visiting Greg and Billy Padon equally wanted the Imaginex Batman Cave too.  Luckily for Padon we help Walter's Dad, Leo, with picking out Christmas presents so it was a pretty done deal that Padon would get both.  We didn't lead on, however, that he would get both which backfired a little when we went to do Pickle Presents the day before we went to my parent's house for Christmas Eve.  Padon found the pickle first, in our tree, and with that received a small packaged present from us.  He excitedly said "This is the castle, maybe?!" and then said "This isn't what I wanted!"  when he opened the wrapping to see a fleece Spiderman blanket inside.  I tried to catch what I thought might end up being a downward spiral of dissappointment, and especially before we got to my parent's, where such a statement, I didn't think, would be very well received by my Dad.  I explained to Padon that this was just one of many presents to come but that he couldn't say that he didn't like his presents when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's.  I told him it was okay if he felt dissapointed and that if he really wanted to talk about it, I would be happy to talk to him somewhere quiet about it and he could tell me about why he was sad.  He seemed to understand and off we went to my parent's.

I think in a way this was one of the harder Christmas's just because there were new factors that we had never really had to deal with before.  Padon was so excited to get presents and I hadn't thought that Sarah might celebrate her whole families Christmas on Christmas day.  So silly.  We also split our Christmas presents in half so there are still a lot of toys to open at 2nd Christmas with Leo, which we had explained to Padon.  Padon still seemed to clue in on how Greg had more presents then he did but he did his best to manage the dissapointment, and struggled not to loose it when Greg received a sweet Imaginex Space Robot.  It was all a good lesson to learn on sharing but there is something about watching your kids be sad and dissapointed that make you remember being sad and dissappointed and I hugged Padon and reminded him again and again about 2nd Christmas, and how most people don't get to celebrate Christmas twice with two trees, dinners, and sets of presents, and that I loved him very much.  At the time it didn't really seem to help, but my Mom did, by wrapping a small plastic container of tiny plastic dogs.  It was really the act of opening presents that Padon really wanted. 

Sophia on the other hand noticed Christmas for the first time.  She loved the lights, loved unwrapping the presents and for the first time didn't need help understanding that the present was for her or how to open it.  She was in awe of Padon's Nutcracker and wanted to hold it too.  It was too fragile for her though so I gave her a Nutcracker Ornament that I let her hang on the tree.  The whole bottom layer of the Christmas Tree  is for Padon and Sophia to touch and look at and so she could take the ornament and hang it up again, with help. 

So cute, at Christmas dinner, at my parent's, Sophia pulled up her own sleeve and so proud of herself, yelled down the table to my Dad "Grandpa, Grandpa, I did it, grandpa!  I Did it!"  My Mom and Dad were talking to my Aunt Janet, Uncle Tim, and their two friends and didn't respond to Sophia who in response then started yelling down the table "Grandpa, where are you?  Grandpa, where are you?  I did it!"  Once I grabbed their attention they laughed and sweetly applauded her.

 

Sophia is so funny, too, to have started growling "Mommy!" and "Daddy" when trying to get our attention.  I think I do the same thing to her to be silly and when she does it to us, it makes her laugh and break out into a big smile.  She cracks me up and I love her to pieces.

 

2nd Christmas was also a success and with the giant Batman Cave which Padon guessed right away, because he wanted it so bad, made Leo the best Grandpa in the world.  I think it was the first Christmas that I baked the whole ham dinner with sweet mashed potatos, green bean cassarole, and peacan and apple pie, that everything come out on time and perfectly.  The kids were great and it was relaxing to be able to have Christmas at our house where their beds were just down the hall in case of naptime and a routine bedtime.  

 

(Nov 2011) (Need Pics) Life's So Good You Gotta Wear Shades

Walter and I have tried to be generic with out kids with the intention of allowing them to develope their own sense of self without us pushing them toward a feminine or masculine gender.  We bought Padon baby dolls, and Sophia action figures.  By the time Padon was almost 3 he was very adament about what he thought was the right boy thing to do, and Sophia at 2 suddenly became obcessed with accessories.  She is very particular about what she wants to wear, but bring on the hats, shoes, clips, head bands, necklaces, rings and bracelets.  She loves her baby dolls, most specifically Tiny Baby, loves to push her stuffed animals and dolls around in a little stroller, and wraps them in blankets.

She has also amazed me in her ability to talk so clearly and is so great about using manners and is good about saying "Oh, sorry, Mommy."  when she hurts me.  It is so amazing to me the differences in development with Sophia but I have to wonder if some of her ability to speak so well has to do with school and being a younger sister.  I'd like to give her some credit though and to say that I think she is just a very talented and smart little girl.

(Dec 2011) The Nutcracker

My friend Jen had wanted very badly to take her little girl to see the Nutcracker and wanted to know if I wouldn't like to come along.  Initially when she invited me her little girl, Mia was only 2 and Padon 3.  I knew Padon wouldn't be able to sit through the whole ballet and didn't want to waste the money when it might be better just to go the next year.  This year as December approached I brought up the subject again and Jen was all over it.  I wasn't sure how Mia was going to be able to handle it but I thought with Mia's maturity that at least we would be able to have a special day.  I had seen at Target that they had Nutcrackers for $10 and so I bought Mia a Clara Nutcracker and Padon, The Clockmaker Nutcracker (it looking the most like a Pirate).  They were neat because painted on their base was 2011, so if the Nutcracker lasted, they could be a keepsake of their first Nutcracker.

When the day came to go see the Nutcracker Padon and I dressed up, in similar dress outfits, and I wrapped the Nutcrackers, Padon completely unaware.  When we got to Jen's house to carpool to the ballet I handed the two kids their Nutcrackers to unwrap.  Mia liked her Nutcracker but Padon was enthralled!  I think Mia liked her Nutcracker more because Padon loved his so much and both kids went off to have a special lunch with their Nutcrackers tucked in their arms. 

We went to lunch in Renton at the Jimmy McCales Road House, where when you walk in the door you take a bowl of peanuts, and as you eat the peanuts you throw the shells on the floor.  Padon and Mia loved it and  Jen thought it was the perfect place to go for lunch.

After we went to the theater in Auburn.  Padon and Mia were excited for the Ballet to start and were enthral1led through the beginning.  Padon calling out to the dancers on stage "Where are those boys going?" as the evil brother is running around with his friends and Clara's Nutcracker, and said loudly as he clutched his Nutcracker "Oh, she loves her Nutcracker!  I LOVE MY Nutcracker!".  He was overall really good even as we got about half way through the second half of the play that was largely just dance.  At one point he whispered "This is really long!"  To which I replied "Yeah, I didn't realize it was so long (it was the first time I had seen it too).  I did just about die as I saw the now human Nutcracker come dancing on stage in his Ballet tights, large genital package protruding.  I'm not a prude by any means but I just didn't want Padon to yell out "hey Mommy!  I can see his penis!!!!"  Which, knowing my 4 year old, I didn't put it past him.  I was so relieved for the play to come to an end and we were able to go out to the lobby and meet the dancers.  Padon happily, and unshyly, posed with the Italian Dancers and the intimidating Clockmaker - Dosselmeyer.

Padon was so in love with his Nutcracker that it was a new best friend.  He watched the Nutcracker on Netflix six times, I think, before Christmas, slept with him every night, and had to take it to my Parent's for Christmas to show my parents and to stand it under the Christmas tree.  Surprisingly at the end of January, when we packed up our Christmas decorations, he let me pack up his Nutcracker for next year.  I think he will be really excited to see it again and I wonder if he will want to see the ballet again.  

(Feb 2012) (Needs Pics) Can you hear me now?!

So, when your kid is seems to ignore you with that way that they do when they are tired; instead of yelling "Can you hear me now?!" it might be worth while to take them into an audiologist. Turns out Padon can't hear low octives, really at all, but can hear high ones (tested by pediatrician). He had a whole talking conversation with Walter, while Walter mouthed his questions without making a sound; obviously reading Walter's lips. Crazy business! Initially Walter and I were very concerned that Padon might be deaf with a great gift to read lips but then he started questioning why we were testing him on whether he could hear us or not.  So he could hear.  We scheduled a doctor's appointment with an audiologist, per recommendation of his Pediatrician, and with their specialized equipment learned that Padon hears high octives like he has ear plugs in his ears and low octives like he has two ear plugs in each of his ears. When they did a puff of air on his ear drums, it should have registered as a spike on the graph, instead there was a flat line, meaning his ear drums didn't register it at all. The reason- too much fluid. His inner-ear registers fine; sound just can't get to them. Solution - ear tubes. And it also turns out that Padon's tonsils are very large and his throat small because of them. So large that the doc thinks he probably has sleep apnea and recommended we watch him for a couple weeks. When we go back for a pre-consultation for the ear tubes we will decide whether we will have his tonsils and adnoids also taken out. Wow! I'm a parent!


Follow up:  Walter and I decided after watching Padon that he didn't seem to really show the signs of true sleep apnea.  He snores like any small child we have seen and he isn't hard to work with or be around.  He has always been an easy to please kid and one who always wants to please.  Plus taking out his tonsils would have been a big surgery followed by pain and a lot of discomfort for a week or two.  We decided we would wait and watch him but still have the ear tubes put in and his adnoids taken out. We scheduled his surgery and the morning of dropped Sophia off at school.  Padon, with his Lightening McQueen Christmas Pajamas on, happily went tearing around the corner of the Surgery Center in Mount Vernon excited for his impending surgery.  That's my Padon!  He missed the slight incline to the door however and tripped falling hard into the pavement.  It scratched up his hands and bloodied his knee.  He came crying into the center, where the nurses thought he was crying about the surgery, but after learning that he was crying because he had tripped coming in and because he was so excited they laughed too, and smiled and offered him a spiderman bandaid.  Again tickled that he was in the Surgery Center with all attention on him it was really hard to get Padon to sit still on the gurney and to listen the the instructions that the nurse was giving us.  They removed Padon's shirt, had him putt on a kid size hospital gown, put a thermometer sticker on Padon's forehead, put grippy socks on his feet, took his blood preassure, and took his picture to remember the event.  Finally the Surgeon came in and introduced himself to Padon. And then totally impressed me by noticing Padon's blanket and without asking picked it up as he welcomed Padon to follow him, two of the nurses and the anestisologist.  Padon happily got off the gurney, took Dr. Riley's hand, and they walked away down the hall.  It broke my heart to see him looking so small, his hand looking tiny in Dr. Riley's hand, and Padon so trusting of the people who were about to operate on him that he didn't even need to say goodbye or be reassured.

During the next 45 minutes of Padon's surgery one of the nurses hung behind and talked to us about the surgery and what to expect after.  She said that children's brains become really dissoriented as they come out of anestitia and that it often causes them to cry, scream, yell, hit, and thrash about.  Walter was worried and I felt that sense of calm that I get when extreme situations arise, like when we discovered Padon had a 105.5 degree temperature when he had Rosiola Fantasma.  I just said O.K., feeling that I would just cross that bridge when I came to it.   She also warned us not to let Padon play vigorous sports because the hightened blood pressure could cause the insistions in his ears to bleed.  About this time they wheeled Padon in. 

He was still out but it was a matter of seconds before he started to stir and right away he started to move about like he really wanted to get up but couldn't.  He had an IV in his arm that they said didn't hurt him but I don't doubt if it wasn't very uncomfortable.  Instead of a straight needle it was a plastic tube but he was bandaged up pretty well and beside calling and calling and calling for me, his eyse unable to open, he was pretty pissed that the nurses and Walter were holding him down.  I was hoping that I would get to hold Padon, as my Mother had held me when I had had my ear tubes put in, but as Padon thrashed around, sobbing, and trying to clutch at the bandages on his arms I could see why it was best to keep him on the bed with the railings up.  Walter and I did our best to pet him, hug him, kiss him on the face and head, telling him again and again that were there and that we loved him.  Finally Padon came too completely but the anger about being bandaged and attached to an IV didn't.  The nurse wanted to be sure that were she to need to put Padon back under she could still give him a quick injection and he needed to be able to eat a popsicle before they could let him go.   The cold syrup of the popsicle helped his stomach also wake up from the anestisia and while he typically would have been all over the idea of a popsicle he wasn't having it now.  He adementally refused which surprised the nurse.  She then made a deal with Padon; that he needed to eat just half of the popsicle and she would take the IV out.  Padon took a little bit and she showed him how much more he had to go.  With his fists clenched down at his side, face bright red from frustratedly growling (I wondered if his ears would bleed per the conversation with the nurse) he took one angry look at her and ate the whole popsicle in three bites, down to the part she had marked.  We were all a little bug-eyed at that and wondered if he wouldn't get brain freeze.  Keeping up to her end of the bargin the nurse removed the IV, put a compression bandaid on his arm and we helped Padon put his PJ shirt back on.  We got the 'what to do after the surgery' paper work and Walter carried Padon out.  Padon just sobbed on Walter's shoulder and just about all the way home.  We got to Stanwood before he finally fell asleep, and when home we all climbed in bed and napped together for a couple hours until Walter got up for an appointment and I got up to make the snacks that Padon and I had bought at the store the day before.

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Padon slept for 5 hours which gave me plenty of time to make the jello and pudding he had chosen (surprisingly unenthusiastic flavors: chocolate pudding and cherry and orange jello).  He woke up cheerful, free of pain from his ear tubes and adnoids (supposedly adnoids don't have any nerves and Dr. Riley said he was glad to have taken them out because they had been very large and were a big reason to why Padon's ears had not been draining) and he said that thing seemed loud but that his head didn't hurt, just his knee (from falling). He was a little subdued all day but for the most part back to himself.

Padon layed on the couch and ate yogurt, pudding, and jello, and over all had a feast of soft and easy to eat food.  It was surprisingly anti-climactic.  Walter and I had built up in our heads how big this surgery was going to be with the tonsils and I had taken the whole day off work to be there for Padon, anticipating a day long snuggle while he cried in discomfort on my shoulder.  Happily he wasn't uncomfortable and he didn't need me.  I gave him one extra dose of Ibuprophin, also having bought a new bottle of Tylenol and Ibuprophin, but past that one dose he never needed anything else again.  I wondered to myself if I had blown it out of proportion but thought that it was better that I be prepared then not prepared enough.  My Mom had not been informed to what the Ear Tube Surgery might be like in the end and she was shocked by the tears.  It was a smooth procedure, for Padon, and one that I think he won't have too many bad memories about
I hope that if Sophia has to have Ear Tubes that it goes as successfully for her.  With Walter and my history of ear tubes, and now Padon, she probably will be getting them.

(Oct 2011) (Need Pics)Halloween 2011

I got Padon's Devil costume done in time for Halloween and I impressed myself by turning a 5T dress into a size 2T for Sophia.  At school Padon's age group got to have a Halloween parade and we excitedly put Padon in his Devil costume, cape and Devil horned cape and then remembered that the Josephine Center was affiliated with the Lutheran Church next door, and while they didn't preach about God in the classroom, we didn't want to offend.  Walter checked and they didn't mind and Padon gleefully went around class, without his Pitch Fork, slapping everyone within reach with his tail.  We didn't send Sophia with her costume, I'm not sure why, I think her class, because the kids were so young, were not participating in the parade.

After school was over I beat feet home to meet up with Walter and to take the kids to the Lake Goodwin Community Center for our first Community Halloween Party.  It was completely free and at the end I made a note to myself to plan to give them a large donation next year because it was so perfectly done.  They had musical footprints where every child ended up winning a cupcake, most of the games were suitable for all ages, and when they won a game they were given a token to take the pirate at the treasure table where they could pick any one of the many prizes on the table.  Sophia walked away excited with her bendy monkey, Padon with big bag of candy, and both of them with bellies full of cupcakes, punch, and popcorn.  

When we left Walter really wanted Sophia and Padon to have chance to go Trick-or-Treating, truly, door-to-door.  Having been raised a Jehovah's Witness for 16 years and been confused about what my religion was for another 5 years I still get an instantaneous pit in my stomach when it comes to doing things that were big no-no's like Halloween for example. The shyness is extreme and I felt teary at seeing my kids run up to the doors.  Like they were braver then I was and I was so happy to see them happy.  We drove through Stanwood and saw a group of kids go down a street near the Elementary school.  We parked our car, got out, and followed the group to discover a long street of well decorated and lit houses.  Padon and Sophia went to about three houses before both of them were running to the next excited for more Candy.  They had the Halloween bags that they made at the Pumpkin Patch after party and they were excited to get candy put in them.  It was so wonderful to see them happy and at the end of the street, we went down the next and then called it a night.  It was bedtime and had been a very good Halloween.

(Oct 2011) (Needs Pics)Pumpkin Patch 2011

Wonderful pictures of a day at the Pumpkin Patch.  We were able to share it with our good friend Jen Davis and her littler girl Mia, Jane, Jason, Sarah, Wayne, Greg, and Billy.  The highlight were the two bouncy houses and the sun came out just in time for pictures.

After the pumpkin patch we went back to our house for an after party.  As well as having hotdogs and a Jack-o-lantern shaped cupcake cake I had made some trick-or-treat bags out of white fabric and put in Elmer's Glue the words Trick-or-Treat.  The kids then, covered in smocks I put together, painted with Acrylic Paints ( of which Sophia painted in her hair, and some how sprayed our antique hutch; we got it out thank goodness) ll over their bags.  After the paint dried I soaked the bags in water which caused the glue to swell up and with Jane and Sarah's help we rubbed the glue off leaving the painting on the bags with the words "Trick-or-Treat" in white on them.  They came out great and the kids loved them.  They then got to pick out two pieces of ribbon, any color they liked, of the kind that I had pulled out, and I thread them through the hem to act as handles.  It was great and a harvest tradition that would be nice to keep up.

(May 2012) A Conversation In the Life of a Stay-At-Home Dad

Padon: Um, Daddy. Um, I got a good idea. I sink, could I have sum whip cream on my cucumber pleeeeease?

Daddy: Whipped cream on your cumcumber slices, really?

Padon: Yeah! I sink zhat would be a good idea.

Daddy: Okaaay, because you have an awesome daddy. Let's see if we even have whipped cream.

Padon: Yaaaaaay. I know! I know! We do have sum. It's right here! (opens fridge, moves pesky bottles of salad dressing and ketchup out of the way, points at whipped cream bottle)

Sophia: Yeaaah. Coomber. Coomber. Coomber. Dadhyee. Dadhyee. Dadhyee. Dadhyee. Coomber? Coomber?

Daddy: Yes, Sophia. You can have some cucumber too.

Sophia: Coomber! Coomber! Dadhyee miiiilk, miiiilk, miiiilk? Dadhyee? Mo miiiilk?

Padon: Sophiiiaaaah! You want whip cream on your cucumbers?

Sophia: Yeaaah!

-end scene-

(Feb 2012) Nightmares

Padon has started to have bad dreams.  One night we were driving up Fire Trail Road and I looked up, through the windshield, to see Bats flying in the sky, swooping in and out, catching bugs.  It was so cool, and I enthusiastically told Padon.  This prompted nights for bad dreams for Padon about Bats in his room that were flying around with red eyes and who were eating Walter's face.  We took the friendly looking stuffed bats down from the edges of his curtains and told him that there were no bats to be scared of.  That bats weren't mean.  Weeks later he kept telling me about the bats outside his window trying to get in.  I looked out his window to assure him that everything was fine, to lean back, close his curtains and see for the first time the embroidered shear blue bats sewn on his curtains.  I knew they were there but they were so cartoonish it never dawned on me that they maybe the bats he was talking about.  I said "Padon are you talking about these bats?"  to which he gave me an exasperated "Yeah, Mommy!  That's what I been talking bout!"  I promptly turned the curtains around.  This lead into their being Monsters in his room.  We do have mice in the house, and in the coldest part of winter, what sounds like roof rats.  Worried that if I explained this to him, it would start a whole new set of nightmares I told him that it really was nothing, and that I wouldn't let anything happen to him.  I then made the mistake to let him watch a movie on Netflix called Little Monsters.  A movie about a monster that lives under Fred Savage's bed, you learn that the monsters really are nice and lead a fun inter-dimensional life.  This prompted Padon to plead with me, one night, to lift up his very heavy full size bed and box spring so I could let the monsters out.  I had just affirmed that the monsters were real.  I then introduced the air freshener technique that I had seen on TV once, where you walk around the room spritzing Air Fresheners while saying "Monsters, monsters, go away.  Monsters don't like monster spray."  Theis seemed to help a little but by then Padon seemed to clue in on all the attention he was getting from this and how much longer it took to go to bed.  Not to down play his nightmares, which were real, and were causing him to wake up screaming in bed (heck, Walter's face was being eaten off by bats!!!).  It took probably 6 months for the every day talk of no there aren't monsters, no there isn't anything hiding outside, bats are wonderful special animals, I used to want to have one as  pet, and no you can't sleep in our bed again.  I hear 6 years old is an age for nightmares.  I wonder if it will get much worse.  I think that maybe life stresses have something to do with it.  It's tough business growing older.

(Nov 2011 - June 2012)Things Learned At School

I was so apprehensive about my kids going to and being in child care but it has turned out to be much better than I would have anticipated.  In some way it still hurts my heart that I'm not the one teaching them all the songs that my Mom did and that I'm not there painting with them with paint and glitter, or making clay to bake in the oven.  But with Josephine they get to go on field trips to the big playground on Camano Is., every day is a learning experience with Padon following a preschool/ kindergarten curriculum, and Sophia learning her shapes, colors, and how to properly sit and eat at table.  The social skills that we wanted for Padon went through the roof and where he would only play with us at the play ground before, he now seeks out other kids to play with. Sophia talks and talks and talks and the staff has been hugely supportive.  With Sophia they send home daily reports on her progress, how she ate, what her mood was like, and include little personal notes about her day.  They hug her when she falls and put her hair up in pig tails; which as much a little girl as she is, she loves and won't let you take out at bed time.  Padon's teachers are open to suggestion and work with us to fill the gaps in what we're not able to provide as working parents.  Both Padon and Sophia have become more territorial about their things, and Padon has come home with phrases like *In a sing-song voice* "All be your best friend...." and "you're a poopy face!"  Padon learned that his body is his business and no one else's, and vice versa, as Walter was informed that Padon announced to the Pastor, that comes to the childcare weekly, that he liked his penis, as the other kids were noting that they liked his shirt, and shoes, and pants, etc. Sophia counts to 12 with an enthusiastic "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, a lemon, 12!" and seems to have orange as her favorite color.  I'm so proud of my kids and so glad that they get to go to Josephine three times a week.

(Sept 2011) Life Lesson #3 - You can't trust everyone -Banner War

I want to say that Padon has a great grasp on the idea of money.  He was motivated to be potty trained with pennies and nickles and, when shopping, seemed to understand that we couldn't get [the item] at the store because we didn't have enough pennies, and would complacently leave the store; no whining or pleading.  When he reached about 4 1/2 we started introducing the idea of paid chores.  We like this idea better then allowances.  Padon had saved up quite a bit of money.  $15 we found out one day after he tried to show me his crab bank and open the door of the bathroom at the same time.  The crab bank ended up shattering on the floor and the money ended up counted and placed into a zip lock bag.

Along came Autumn War and we told Padon, if he wanted to, he could take $5 of his own money to spend as he would like at Merchants Row.  He was super excited, but as we walked down Merchants Row seemed apprehensive to just spend his money (I so hope this is a life long skill).  He finally found a flashlight that looked like a tiger and when you squeezed it, it roared.  What 4 year old wouldn't think that was amazing.  And I knew, from seeing them at the store that it was a $12-$15 flashlight.  And at the "oh, you're a kid!" discount he got it for $3 and went home with $2 in his pocket.

When Banner War come along we said he could have another $5.  Again he proudly went to Banner War with his money in his pouch.  As Padon was walking into Merchants Row he passed a Bard playing a guitar and singing.  At seeing that people were dropping money into his guitar case Padon really wanted to give him money too.  I thought this was a nice thing to do and learn, and I said "If you give him money you are showing him that you are thankful for the lovely music he is playing but Padon, you don't have very much money.   Only give him a little, he doesn't need a lot for you to show him you are grateful.  I handed him 50 cents of his $5 - he really wanted to give the man a whole dollar, and as Padon gave the bard his 50 cents I made a point to tell the gentleman that it was Padon's money, that he really wanted to give him his money because he liked his music so much, and the man was so touched.  Kitty-corner to the bard was a merchant that had wood swords, shields, stuffed, animals, and a number of shiny bobbles and kid attracting things.  I always felt stand-offish about this merchant because I felt the toys were over priced and she had, a couple times, tried to sell me on a stuffed sword, with chew toy attached, for way more money then it cost to make or put it together.  You don't sell another seamstress a crappy sewn toy.  Of course her booth captured Padon's eye and it was his money.  He was very taken with her plates of plastic jewels, iron pyrite, and necklaces.  She also had a plastic pirate gun, much like the one above, but even more painted, and the handle was molded like a parrots face and beak.  You could cock the hammer and when you pulled the trigger it snapped forward with a shooting sound.  Padon was in love!  The gun, was, however, $12.  I didn't think he gun was worth $12 (I didn't learn until much later that the gun was a Disney Land Pirates of the Caribbean Gun that they no longer make and was indeed a rare find).  I didn't tell Padon I didn't think the gun was worth $12, what I said was "Oh, well Padon you have $4.50, and that gun is a lot more than that."  The vendor latched onto the fact that he didn't have the money for the gun and said to him, taking the gun out of his hands, "You have 5 dollars, I tell you what, you pick out three of those dragon tears (plastic jewels) and two pieces of gold (iron-pyrite), and one of those pirate necklaces (he had been eyeing them too).  He happily followed her suggestions (his head and shoulders standing just above the table).  I started to see where this was going, and was at a loss.  I have to tell Padon a lot that he can't get things (and not because we don't have the money, because he would like A LOT of things everywhere we go shopping), and this time I told him he had his own money to spend as he liked.  If I told him he couldn't buy anything then I would be "that Mom".  He wouldn't understand why I wasn't giving him the respect to make his own choice (even though he was only 4) and I would have been the ultimate kill joy.  I was totally pulled between my want to let Padon have this moment of spending his "own" money and being his Mother.  By then the gal had pulled out a red fleece pouch with a leather bit hanging off the side, put Padon's new finds in it, tied it up for him and said, "okay, now give me $4" and as he did, she handed him the pouch and said "and this is yours."  It was one of those slow but too fast processes.  He took it just happy, not satisfyingly happy, and said "now I want to get the gun!"  She said "Oh, but you can't.  You don't have any more money and I don't want the batteries to go dead."  If you could have seen his face drop.  Feeling a renewed dislike of this SCA charlatan I got down on Padon's level and said come on Padon, you got some really cool things.  I guided him out of her tent and then got down on his level again, a little farther out of her ear shot.  I said "Padon, I'm really sorry you weren't able to get the gun today.  It was a really cool gun but it was lot of money and while you did get some really cool things I think that she went about it in the wrong way.  She shouldn't have had you buy something without giving you a chance to think about it.  I tell you what, let's go show Daddy your treasure.   I think he will think it is amazing, because you really did get some cool stuff!"  Feeling a little better about what he spent his money on and wanting to show Walter, I could feel the tears in my eyes, and still do while I write this post.  How dare that woman just take a 4 year old's money!  She didn't know that he already had a developed sense and value of money but she has such a distant sense of customer service.  She treats you like a dollar sign and a number.  I managed to catch Walter before Padon did, told him the whole story, and with Walter's heart hurting for Padon as much as mine, he got down on Padon's level and perfectly ooooo'd and awwwww'd over Padon's purchase.  He helped Padon put on his necklace, tie on his new treasure pouch, and applauded him on such a fine purchase.  Padon bounced off to the playground with renewed confidence, and with Padon out of ear shot I made sure that Medelstead knew what the vendor had done to Padon.  They too were surprised and disgusted.  I hoped that this would pass on to others and hurt her business a little.  Children's toys aren't all about getting money out of the parents.

Still not wanting, though, to loose the value of saving for something you would like, Walter and I impressed upon Padon that if he saved his money, he could save enough to buy the gun next time he saw her.  He was very excited to do so and we introduced the chore of taking out the garbage with Walter for $1 a week.  I look forward to Padon being able to walk into her booth and to buy the gun.  It will definitely give him the opportunity to decide whether he really wants it or not.  Oh, being a Mom is hard.

Sept 2011 - (Still Need Pics)Getting Ready for Halloween

This year we went to the fabric store to pick up fabric for Sophia's costume.  I just new she had to be Alice in Wonderland with that beautiful blond hair and blue eyes, and who could get over those chubby legs.  I had a pattern, from my Mom's old pattern stash that was two sizes too big but I felt confident that I could redraft the pattern.  Buying a new spring dress pattern with puffed sleeves and apron was surprisingly hard to find and I wasn't too keen on buying a new $15 pattern for something Sophia may wear only once.  The Halloween decorations were 75% off and so we made a detour down the accessories aisle.  Padon, for the 1st time, was all about the masks.  And strong latex smell, really scary faces, and all, wanted to wear all the masks, one after another.   Sophia was a little into it but one her face was covered, or something was on her head, would begin to whine saying "off, off..." I got some great pictures through it all.

Best of all the accessories, to Padon, was The Devil Pitch Fork.  So glorious in Padon's eyes it needs to be prefaced with 'The'.  He really, really wanted it.  I said "Padon, this Pitch Fork is for a Devil costume.  Let's take a look at the costume before you decide.  Because I don't want to buy you the Pitch Fork unless that is for sure what you want to be for Halloween.  I didn't really mind him having the Pitch Fork but I knew that the Pitch Fork would be just another "sword" and I probably would get hit with it and I wanted the futuristic poke and smack to mean something more than it was on sales for $3.  We went to the pattern section, and front and center was a Halloween pattern rack that had a 4 pack of patterns, strangely that held the combination of angel, panda, dragon, and devil.  I showed Padon the devil and he was in cloud 9.  I told him we would come back the next week to buy the fabric and Pitch Fork with my coupons, that turned out were good for the following weekend and not that current weekend.  It was a long week for him but he was just excited when we went back to get the Pitch Fork.  Second to the Pitch Fork came the Devil tail and Padon was just sure he had the best costume.  I love when making him things brings such huge satisfaction for him.  It makes me feel so special.  

Woah Baby!

So I realized tonight, while I was driving home in the car with Sophia and Padon, that what I had been hearing Sophia say was "Woah, baby! Woah!" She had been doing this for about a week but my brain just wasn't registering it. This time we went over some rail road tracks fast, cause that's how I roll, and Sophia said "Woah, baby!" It was so cute and so her thing! And then I realized that she was doing her best two year old rendition of ABCs only she would interrupt herself to say "Ouch! You stabbed me!" She did this probably four more times before I stopped her to say "What did you say?" She was so funny. Her personality is so uniquely her own. Including her copy-cat finger pointing (supposedly I point when I'm making a point), her pushed out bottom jaw and cocked back head; like what are you going to do about it!, and her "no mommy, no!" when she things that I have crossed the line. She definitely marches by the tune of her own horn and enjoys it immensely. I hope I can always respect her creativity and personal expression; when positive of course.

Best Valentine's In Forever

It has been a very long time since we have celebrated Valentine's Day. For a while it was because of cost and it is a holiday very close to Walter and my wedding anniversary and so it passed by as any other day. This Valentine's Day I came home to the house smelling delicious of butter, shallots, and white wine. A table laid out beautifully with our red table cloth, votive candles lit, our wine carafe with a nice bottle of red wine already poured into it, wooden roses and a complimentary red vase, beautifully sentimental card from Walter that made me cry, and a wonderful Willow Tree Sculpture titled "Together" and had a man holding, what one would assume to be his wife, in his arms. At the end of the table were Valentine's Padon and Sophia had made in school and two Valentine's Day cards from my Mom to Padon and Sophia. Sophia ran from the living room to the back door to greet me and hugged and hugged me, so excited to have me home. It was so indicative of a day smothered in hearts and love.

We sat down to a herb Havarti cheese fondue dinner: broccoli florets, grapes, dried tomato stuffed olives, baguette, and sauteed chicken cubes cooked in white wine, shallots, and butter for dunking. The kids were open to the new foods but mostly stuffed themselves on the dunkables without the Havarti cheese which was great for Walter and I because it just meant more for us.

By the end of the dinner we were all stuffed and Padon reminisced about how it was like Thanksgiving, it was so special. He then got down, very excited to open his giant paper Valentine heart and to proudly take out the candy so he could then pass out this valentine candy to us as his Valentine's Day present to us. It was so very sweet and I told him how special it was that he was sharing these wonderful gifts with us. I had come home late because I had stopped to give a friend a Valentine's Day present on the way home and by the time dinner was over it was already 9pm. The kids had some much loved 'nekid time', put on PJs, and went to bed. Walter and I stayed up a little later watching Portlandia, drinking the last of the red wine, and very full and sleepy went to bed ourselves.

It was a really special and wonderful Valentine's Day that just made me love my family so very, very much. What a great bunch we are!

You're Okay With a Letter Too!

So Walter says to Padon, "Padon you're A-Okay!" Because, of course, Padon was wearing a sweat band on his head; go figure. And Padon said back, with the same amount of gusto, "You're Okay with a letter too!" It took us a second and then we laughed until we cried. Would life be as funny without kids?

Corn on the Chob

Latest, make you giggle under your breath, phrase from Padon is Corn on the Chob. Very excited to see that the corn has been growing so well in the farms surrounding our house, Padon has been very talkative about it. Walter very neatly explained to Padon the process that a farmer goes through to plant and sow corn, what happens when it is harvested (I believe they watched a combine moving through the fields, harvesting), and Padon came home telling me all about the corn on the chob and how he just loved to eat corn on the chob. I tried to correct his pronounciation in which he turned to me irritated, and corrected me, that it was called corn on the chob. It took a bit, and a correction from Walter (go figure) and now Padon tries hard to say corn on the cob. Walter and I did like hearing about the corn on the chob, however, and both agreed it was a blog worthy phrase.

Sophia's Wreath

Awe, the things you can get done on a vacation! I finally got Sophia's wreath done! I kind of wish I had done this for myself with my wedding rehearsal bouquet. I had saved a lot of the ribbons and decorations from the gifts and flowers that Sophia received, when she was born, as well as just about all the gift bags, and had also purchased silk flowers commemorative of the real flowers she and I had received. For the last (almost) two years all these things have been sitting in Sophia's room, on her table and in a vase on her bookshelf, and finally, last week, I got the ribbon tied, the flowers glued, the bags cut into flower shapes, and everything assembled on the wreath! I'm pretty stink'n proud of myself and Walter couldn't stop saying "wow!" It came out as great as I hoped. I hope Sophia will always think it is special. Right now she loves the butterflies (a.k.a "buff-fly!") and birds (a.k.a "ducks" or "boop" or "ba").

Sophia's Sweater

When I was still pregnant with Padon my Aunt Barbara came to visit and gave me three little bags of fiber - one natural, one purple, and one red, a book on spinning and knitting natural fibers, and a little story book about a lamb who tries to dye himself with berries. It was a super sweet gift as she was giving me something for a hobby that I absolutely adore! Padon was born and the fiber didn't get carded and washed; it just seemed to get lost in my stash. I didn't forget about it, though, it was just that there wasn't really enough there to make a complete sweater and the quality of fiber wasn't one that you would typically put against a baby's skin. Finally in 2009 I got my act together and carded and spun the purple and the red, and at the fall Spin In, at Weaving Works, purchased a pound of Merino/Tussah blend (delicious!) called Daffodil and picked out the most adorable hooded sweater pattern. It took me almost another year (it is freak'n hard to spin with little kids around) to finish spinning the Daffodil and to get the sweater knit.

I had heard that a pound of fiber equaled a whole sweater but, what does that really mean? If you were to spin a chunky weight yarn then you most certainly won't have the same amount of yarn that you would if you were to spin a fingering weight. I typically spin what is referred to as worsted weight and it turned out for a size 24 mn sweater that allotted enough yarn to knit the sweater body, one sleeve, hood and all of the other sleeve except for half the cuff. What the!? it was significant enough that were I to bind off the cuff and say "eh, just wear it!" you would be able to tell that the sweater sleeves were lopsided. Knowing I needed to make a trip to Weaving Works or my friend's yarn shop, I opted instead to embroider the sweater, as-is, with the red and purple from my Aunt, and a bit of hand spun green that I had gotten in 2005 in a silent auction. It turned out great!

Walter knew of my estimated fiber to yarnage debacle and in a feat of great heroism attempted to find the fiber for me. First he grabbed the sweater forgetting that the soft fluff of the fabric had been hand spun by me and attempted to find another skein of yarn at Weaving Works. The gal that was trying to help him became significantly less helpful when she learned that I had probably not bought the yarn from them, but would have been immensely helpful if she had bothered to really look at the sweater and put two and two together; there for asking - "um does your wife spin?" To which the resolution would have been "oh! we totally have this fiber against that back wall in that plastic tote!" Instead she sent Walter sadly on his merry way, in a blind search for my friend, Claudia's, yarn shop; he didn't find it. Walter came home silently defeated but through some round about questions was able to get out of me that the sweater was hand spun by me and that Claudia's shop, Main Street Yarn, was in Bothell. He again snuck off to find the elusive fiber and went to Claudia's shop to find that they were sold out of the Daffodil (it rocks!) but that they would order him some more. He looked through their fiber curio cases and picked out two ounces of a really nice sea blue merino/tussah blend and one ounce of cashmere/tussah blend. I love the thought of what his face did when the cashmere/tussah rang up in the register. Both fibers are hard to process and so you pay for the hard work to create this scrumptiously soft fiber. Later I found that that price was $10.50 an ounce. Thank goodness he only got one ounce. He came home proud of his purchase, albeit disappointed that it didn't include the Daffodil and presented me with this incredibly heart felt Mother's Day present.

A couple months later I had picked up the Daffodil from Claudia's shop, spun it, and finished knitting the sweater. What a feat! I was dying to share pictures of the sweater with my aunt and to let her know that I had finally finished but I needed buttons and it was another month before I had made the trek to JoAnn Fabric and found the most perfect Dragonfly buttons.

I put the sweater on Sophia, on a warm, early September day, while she was wearing a tank top, and at first she kept grabbing at the sleeve, saying "Off, off. Stuck!" but in the end, started smiling and laughing at me finding it funny that she was making it difficult to take a picture. I was struggling to take a picture of her without Padon in the back ground and was able to snap a couple good ones before he still managed to get himself in the shot and I screamed way too loud at him in the back yard; ruining the moment for everyone. With the nice shots that I did get I have sent an email to my Aunt Barbara and I think she will be touched at the how nice the sweater looks and that I thought of her. She did ask me about the fiber once before and I sadly had told her that I had not spun it yet. I think she thought then, that maybe it wouldn't happen. I'm so glad that I get to show her that it did, and that I was able to make a special keepsake for Sophia to pass onto her children, if she has any.

4th Annual Warren Holiday - Long Beach, WA

This year we chose to go to Long Beach, WA for our 4th Annual Warren Holiday. About 4 hours from home it wasn't too far away but far enough that we reserved a hotel room and stayed for three days and two nights. The prospect of going away for a trip was exciting and a release from work for me.

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As we drove into Long Beach we passed a restaurant called "The Crab Pot". We had allocated enough money to have one nice meal and thinking of "The Crab Pot" in Seattle we decided how could we not spend our special meal at a place that didn't have crab or steamed clams. We went in and the staff had a surprising air about them; like they were irritated with our arrival. They tried to hold off on giving us a high chair, on the reservation that a family of 6 was coming and needed a high chair, and they were bluntly courteous. I'm was all for the other family having a highchair too but the gals attitude was, well the highchair is reserved so you'll have to figure something else out. My attitude was YOU figure something else out. Needless to say she realized quickly that there was no way we were going to sit our 21 month old Pia on a standard adult chair and she went and got us the highchair.

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When the food came we realized we had been dooped (sp?). This was not THE Crab Pot but another crab pot where the crab was over cooked, soft, and there were no extras like potatoes, corn on the cob, and craw fish. We did get the steamed clams, which were good, but for the price it was very underrated. We walked away sharing our two crab pots and steamed clams with Padon and Sophia and paying $106. While waiting for Walter to pay the bill Padon, Sophia and I went next door to check out the live crab tanks and another gal came in and said abruptly "are you just looking or do you want to buy anything?" I said we were just looking and she said "Fine", irritated, and walked back out of the room. I highly recommend not eating at this restaurant if you pass through Long Beach, WA.
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After dinner we found our room at Coastal Inn and Suites, an incredibly affordable Motel in the heart of Long Beach, and ventured out to see the sites before it got too dark. Walter thought it would be nice to go out to the ocean even though we wouldn't be staying too long and was eager to see the kids faces. Stupidly it never dawned on us how freak'n hard it would be to push or even pull a stroller across the soft dry sand, but Walter was determined and he got it all the way out to the water. Small note: you can see Sophia in the picture but there was no way we could pull that stroller with Padon in it too and so he had to walk which he was a little disgruntled with :).

It was beautiful and I was eager to take pictures of the kids profiles in the sunset. It was freezing, however, and we didn't stay too long, knowing we would be back the next day and for the whole day.

The next day we woke to a really nice and warm day. We packed up all our beach gear: towels, sand toys, lunch, swim suits, sandals, and diaper bag, and ventured to walk to the beach. We stopped at a store to buy Padon a kite, since the previous weekend had been a big kite festival. Surprisingly the kites weren't cheap but we still got Padon a neat Star Wars Yoda kite and he was really excited to fly it. Once on the beach it was perfectly warm in the sun. The wind off the water brought the temperature down but not so much that you couldn't sit in the sun in your swimsuit and bask. Sadly, Padon wasn't in the mood for picture/portraits and so many of the pictures I was able to get of him and Sophia at the ocean were from behind. I really wish the picture below could have been of them both facing me. It would have made a beautifully framed picture.

Sophia was stink'n cute in her bathing suit. It had been surprisingly hard to find a little girl's suit that fit her from crotch to shoulder and then around her chest and once one was found I was eager for her to have the opportunity to wear it a lot. She wore this super cute bikini for her birthday as well and her deliciously chunky thighs were adorable in it.

With all picnics come some special treats and I finally got a cute picture of Padon and his pleasure of juice pouches. The simple things that float a four year old's boat.

After lunch we assembled the kite. The wind was perfect for it and Padon enjoyed the concept of the kite but mostly enjoyed watching Walter and I fly it while he tried to tackle the very long tail that had Star Wars emblems down the various segments of it.

Soon after lunch Sophia crashed on one of the towels for a needed nap and I took the opportunity to go ride the waves. When my family lived in Upstate, NY we would travel to Long Is. to see my Grandmother and would often go to the Atlantic Ocean and "ride the waves". I really enjoyed it and was really looking forward to going to the ocean on this trip because there would be waves to ride. Considerably colder then the Atlantic, I still ventured out into the water and worked my way up to chest deep. Down the way from me were a couple teenage girls attempting to do the same thing, but in wet suites, and I quietly applauded myself for the insanity to attempt it without a wet suit. After a bit I was numb enough (I believe the Pacific Ocean doesn't go about 56 degrees) to feel like the water was kind of warm and I rode and rode the waves. It was great! I looked past the brown scum floating on the water, mentally missed the white sand of the Atlantic, and had a great time. Walter watching me from a far, smiling at himself that his crazy wife was off over excelling again, and loved me. As I was getting tired, and my throat sore from the salt water I couldn't help but swallow, Walter arrived with the kids who wanted to see the water, but were quickly done with it because it was really cold. Walter laughed at me with how cold my skin was to the touch. The only sad thing about reliving memory lane was at some point I lost one of my 12 gauge spiral earrings that I had waited a year to get. They were one of the few things I could wear at work that was very me but still appropriate for corporate life.

Some where in this timeline Walter and I also took a nice long sun nap while Padon played quietly in the sand. I had slathered us all up with sunscreen, with the exception of Walter who felt he didn't need it; that his Mediterranean skin would protect him. This is a foreshadowed statement for later on in this blog entry :).

After Sophia woke up from her nap we packed ourselves up and made our way back to the hotel room, to drop off our stuff, and to venture out to shop in the long strip of kitchy tourist stores. I really wanted to go to a very well known ice cream parlor that boasted 56 flavors and they didn't disappoint. I don't remember what the kids or Walter had only that I had black licorice and a sour rainbow of sherbet that strangely complimented each other and tasted fantastic! And best yet, the black licorice ice cream didn't disappoint and dyed my teeth, tongue, and lips a lovely shade of dark gray. I so love black licorice ice cream!

When Walter was little he and Dad Warren would go play mini golf. When we found a mini golf course in town it was a great opportunity to share that experience with Padon too. It wasn't all Walter hoped it would be, however, and I think it had a lot to do with how old Padon was. I wonder if they went and tried again next summer if things wouldn't be different. Mostly Padon just wanted to climb on the obstacles that were just his size. They did enjoy going in the Arcade though and played and played the games, collecting tickets. Padon was so excited to trade his tickets in for a necklace, bracelet, and 5 pieces of candy. They also rode the Carasele together, Padon got his face painted for free, and over all Padon was so excited to experience this town that was proving to be fun at every corner. We made sure to stop in a Hallmark-ish store so Sophia could pick out a souvenier and she picked out a plush monkey that quickly became one of her most favorite toys.

When we got back to the hotel room I felt a little tickle on the back of my leg and scratched it and felt the instant flame of a too-be lobster red sun burn. I was totally taken back. I had sprayed the kids down liberaly and then had done myself. Had I asked Walter to spray me down I may have not missed the back of both legs, and a portion of the side of both legs. My left leg was the worst and by the next morning both legs were displaying 2nd degree burn symptoms. Walter too was sunburned, all over his back, face, shoulders, and arms, but had the characteristic 1st degree "don't you dare touch me!" burn. I on the other hand had the suck in your breath, try not to cry, hobble to the bathroom, wimper at the site of a chair or getting out of a chair, burn. The kids were so shocked by my reaction to the cold Aloe Vera gel on my legs when we got home that they wouldn't go near my legs for two weeks; Sophia waving her hand in front of her body saying "Don't touch, don't touch". I hadn't been this burned since my Sophmore year at WSU and it was just as miserable as I remembered it. I spent the next week with burn cream and bandages wrapped around my legs as they healed.

I had to forgo the massage I had planned for this week that I had taken off but I really didn't want to pass on the train trip we had wanted to take Padon and Sophia on. By the end of the week the swelling had supsided enough to allow me to walk short distances and that was enough to get us to the bus station. Walter and I had hoped to take Padon on the train from Everett to Tacoma but as the Amtrak train ticket 'guy' (what do you call them?) said, "This isn't Europe!" and we couldn't get tickets for a family of four or at all for that matter to go on the train anywhere at short notice. Feeling deflated but appreciative that we didn't need to spend $50 per person to take the short distance ride to Tacoma, it dawned on me that I loved taking the light rail in DC and that Padon probably would be just as pleased with that as he would the Amtrak. So we hoppped on the 510 Sound Transit bus to the Seattle Bus Tunnel and caught the Sound Transit Light Rail to the Sea Tac International Airport.

It was what we hopped it would be. The kids loved it, loved looking out the windows, and watching the people get on and off. Moral did start to break as we passed by lunch and nap time and Sophia started slapping and bucking because she wanted to walk around the train. She was thoroughly pissed that I wouldn't let her down and in an angry, get even, moment she went to tear (no exageration) the glasses from my face as the train braked. My back was mostly to her so as she fell backwards off the seat she was standing on, I couldn't turn around fast enough to catch her as she fell inbetween the two seats and smacked her head on the seat in front of us. She sobbed, angry that I let her fall, because I wouldn't let her down, and would only let Walter hold and comfort her. The looks I got from the other passengers down graded my Stellar Mom rating but at that point I too was very hungry and irritated and hoping my point was made about why she couldn't walk around the train. A trip to the Denny's across from the airport remeeded our sour moods and spirits were boosted.

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As we made our way back to the Light Rail Padon pressed his forehead against the bridge railing to look down on the cars passing by and gave himself a little temporary tattoo. It was the funny that we needed to get us home.

Sophia crashed big time on the ride back to Seattle and on the walk back to the bus stop. Overall it was a nice way to end our 4th Warren Holiday. We had accomplished a lot and we had made a lot of good memories. We had some great quality family time and that is what the holiday is all about!

Because I Have To!

Oh ma gawd! We have reached the stage where those other parents were! Those parents in the elevator that whistled through their teeth at the thought of new babies and toddlers. The ones that made tisk-tisk faces when they heard Padon was two and three years old. Only I didn't understand because my two year old was awesome! My three year old, through 2/3rds of the year, was stellar and I didn't get it. I was also patting myself on the back for having obviously birthed myself some awesome kids and for having such a wonderful family. Well we're there. We are now the parents ignoring their kids in the store when they are going "mommy, mommy, mommy..." Those parents that make you wonder why the mom doesn't reply back and think to yourself how you would handle the situation better were you in that mom's shoes.

I am the mother, now, that says "don't pick that up, put that down, that's yucky, don't put that in your mouth, do you hear my words?, are your ears broken?" I'm the screamer and sometimes hitter, and I wonder where I lost myself. Well I do know; but I had thought until now that I was better then that, that it wouldn't happen to me. You'd think after 4 years of parenting I might have caught on to how silly that thought was.


The days of cute, photogenic poses are gone. The days of complete devotion to me are gone, and have been replaced with a willfull, contrary, bossy, tattling, and independent individual. Don't get me wrong. I am glad to see Padon voice his opinion and to show what his likes and dislikes are but what kills me is the act of being contrary to just be contrary; to fight me on putting on his pajamas just to see how far he can take it and if the rules still apply. This is often harder and longer lasting for me because Padon gets more continual reinforcement with Walter then he does with me.

Instead of the toddler that just said "no, no!!" he now makes up excuses about why he shouldn't, or sometimes should, do something. With my latest horrendous sun burn, he now uses that as an example, saying that his legs will hurt too much if he has to walk alongside the stroller, instead insisting that he must be crammed in the one toddler size SUV stroller with Sophia. He says that his stomach hurts at night in an attempt to not go to bed and has recently even been able to make himself cry. I

My latest bain is the "Because I have to!" phrase. "Padon you can't go with me to Claudia's yarn shop because you will be bored to tears and not let me get anything done." (Ok, not literally in those words) "But I have tooooooooo!!!!!!" says Padon with a painful whine. He supposedly has to jump on the bed, play with Sophia's toys, or wear the dirty pj's at the bottom of the laundry hamper too. It has also been very difficult for me to adjust to the barage of questions to which he interrupts your answer to ask another question. When I get super frustrated and tell him I don't want to talk to him anymore, because if he really wanted to talk he would let me talk back, he gets kind of quiet and says "but I still like you."

This is all an amazing transition for me. I have realized a lot of my frustration really stems from my long commute and from being over tired during the week. It is really hard to give undivided attention and patience to someone, when you have just gotten home, someone is already crying, and you have just sat down on the toilet. It's just fabulous to have an audience for that and then be told that your bottom is big. Privacy please! At least he does still give me big hugs, lovely kisses, and tells me he "so loves" me. It helps recharge that love battery.