Wearing Out the Children

The girls demanded eggs, sunny-side-up, this morning. Luke, unable to intelligibly express his desire for food, figured he'd forage for himself. Off of Kate's plate that was sitting unattended on the table.

Uhhhh, SOMEone dropped an egg on the floor, Mama.

"Uh-oh! Uh-oh!"

Fffffttttt. It wasn't ME.

As it turns out, months of waking earlier than the mutually*-agreed-upon time of 7am finally took its toll on Kate.

After generously offering to make our bed, I found her sound asleep buried in pillows at 11am, explaining why previous requests for her to come swimming had gone unheeded.


Meanwhile, the two younger siblings were outside enjoying the "cool" morning (98*).

*Her father and I both recognize this as an acceptable wake time. Evidently, she was not party to this arrangement.

Operation: Pigeon

We have a bird problem here. Starbuck is useless in helping combat them. He's aggressive inside, but a weenie when outside, faced with actual birds. We decided to wait until we reached record-breaking temperatures to apply our new bird spikes, so as to maximize the discomfort involved. The children didn't mind so much, as their job was to stay inside and provide guidance and moral support. And to tell us which tools to use.

Future dentist.

Dad, you totally need to use this one.

Operation: pigeon is an initial success! There is still room for that pesky mockingbird to land on the owl's ear, so we'll have to wait to declare complete victory.

Afterward, we swam. Because we're setting records for heat here. Also, the boy one looks so stinkin' cute in his swim gear.

Mealtime staredown

I just finished downloading approximately 208 photos from my camera. It's been a long couple of weeks, and I clearly have not been keeping up with my technical obligations, to include (but not limited to): blogging, downloading photos, and email. I have also not finished writing thank you notes to all the wonderful people who sent gifts to Claire for her birthday. I am quite sorry about this last part; I do intend to write to all of you, hopefully soon.

Okay, so an update. I got antibiotics a couple of weeks ago, and took them faithfully. And then I started to get another infection. The doctor called me back before I had to go to the hospital again, thankfully, and prescribed me something stronger. It finally took care of the infection, but also wore me out dreadfully. I am just now starting to feel more like myself, and am trying to catch up on all the things I let slide in recent weeks.

We went back up to the mountain on Friday afternoon, the promise of nearly a foot of new snow incenting us to gather up our 400 items necessary for a hour spent in the white stuff. Claire cried this time again, but less so, likely because we let her wear her beloved princess pants instead of her snowsuit. On Kate and Tim's first trip down the hill on a REAL sledding device, they apparently tipped over, and Kate was disinclined to attempt further tobogganing.

Luke has found a new form of entertainment at meal time: dropping food off the side of his highchair. At some point during his meal, he will stare threateningly at you, and jut his hand out off the side of his tray, his eyes suggesting that he will indeed drop the bit of food in his hand, unless you...well, that's the part we're still trying to figure out. Everyone at the table says, "NO, Luke!" when he does it, and he stares tauntingly back at everyone. Then it's usually "bomb's away" as the food falls to the floor. Sometimes he'll put the food in his mouth and then everyone will clap. And then he'll take the food back OUT of his mouth, and the whole cycle starts again. It's very cute, but I'm starting to tire of the clean-up afterward.

Why he is willing to drop food off his tray is beyond me; the kid eats like he's a teenager, gobbling up nearly everything you put in front of him. Take, for instance, Valentine's day dinner. We took the kids to our local sushi restaurant, Luke in the stroller, Kate on her bike, and Claire walking and/or being carried by Tim. Luke ate what seemed to be 4 pounds of udon noodles, some coated in nori, a tempura shrimp and a tempura carrot, some abura age, half a bag of yogurt melts, and a cup of puffs. Although he wasn't playing his new game, a lot of food did end up on the floor, much to the dismay of the staff. At one point, our waitress asked me if I wanted a plate for him. Trust me, a plate would have been far worse. As a side note, Kate ate a bite of octopus sushi and LIKED it.

Oh yeah. I'll drop it. Watch me. What are you going to do to stop me? Hmmm?

We went bike riding over the weekend. Claire LOVES her new bike.


We also went swimming on Sunday and Monday. It was sunny and in the high 60s, so we took advantage. Luke thinks swimming is the BEST.

Sigh

I haven't written in a week. I don't know what to write about. We haven't done much lately, as everyone has been sick, and I feel sort of all Gloom and Doom about this pending move and I'm not sure how to reconcile it. Also, I'm tired of moaning to all of you about our housing woes, but my children are bored to tears with it and I think Tim is, too, and it seems that real estate is the biggest single thing I have going on right now. So please forgive me, and/or skip this post if need be.

I've never been really sad about a move before. I've always looked at it with a sense of adventure and excitement: we'll live in a new place! We'll make new friends! We'll go to new restaurants! This time, however, is different, and I think it's mostly because of the kids (and the housing). At first I was all excited. Las Vegas! Still good weather, but a bigger city, cheaper airfares, etc.!

Then I started to realize some things. Like pre-school. The girls are both in this fabulous pre-school here that is uber-cheap, flexible, and the teachers are great. I called the school in Vegas that friends of friends recommended, and neither Kate nor Claire is currently qualified to go there. Also, it is very expensive, and not flexible. WHAT am I going to do? I must have a pre-school for them. MUST. For my sanity and theirs.

Add to this the fact that we will not be joining a traditional A-10 squadron. I don't think the squadron is traditional in any sense of the word, actually. It will be a great job for Tim, but I have a feeling the social structure is non-existent, which may be frustrating for me since I know no one there and since Tim will be gone a lot more than normal.

I think if we had a house to move in to, things would look a lot happier. We have not heard back on this latest house yet, although our offer has been in for almost 2 weeks. We are starting to see one of the major downfalls of dealing with foreclosures and short sales: you don't have a good contact to talk to or negotiate with. The banks handle everything, and since they are flooded with foreclosed homes, things take forever. For instance, remember that house we bid on the first time we went to Vegas 2 months ago? The greenbelt house? We just found out this week that we are now the only bidders on that property, and would we like to buy it? Of course, we are not so hot on it now, as we think the amount we bid is too high, and it is at the top top top of our price range. And it still needs appliances. It is pretty, and we could certainly live there, but I like the price of the new Oasis house better. I don't know how long we can stall on the greenbelt house, but we're going to push it to the limit because I also don't know how long we will have to wait to hear about the Oasis house.

We had Shayne, Reagan and Dane over for dinner last night, as they had to leave for SOS this morning and will return after we have gone to Vegas. The girls had a blast in the pool, swimming and splashing. At one point, I had to unlock the back gate for Shayne, so I left the girls in the pool alone. DO NOT freak out on me here, people. All is good. The back gate is right next to the pool fence, and Reagan had waterwings on. Kate did not, however, and thought it would be fun to swim out to Reagan at the exact moment that I was about to re-enter the pool area. Shayne and I watched in slow motion as Kate reached out to Reagan, and then realized that Reagan could not support her. I was sort of stuck in one position: not really fear; more like curiosity. I know that sounds crazy, but Kate has now had 2 years of ISR swim lessons and this type of situation is exactly why we have paid lots of money for the girls to learn to swim. Kate kept reaching for Reagan and then realization hit her that her plan wasn't working, and she flipped onto her back and floated for a few seconds. Then she flipped back over and swam to the wall. By then I was in the pool and planning my discussion about how we don't swim off the steps unless mommy or daddy is in the pool. These swim lessons have given us 2 great things: very good water survival skills for the girls, and for me, a sense of calm in the face of a pending water disaster.

Enough random complaining from me. What are you up to this weekend?

Lullaby

Claire woke up this morning at 6am, crying. I rolled over, trying to go back to sleep. Then I heard her singing her lullaby as she tried to put herself back to sleep. It was absolutely adorable, even at 6am. Na na na, na na naaa... Then I tried locking us and the cat in the den so I could get some important stuff (blogging) done, and she meowed so loudly at the cat that Kate is now awake. So much for a free morning.

Yesterday's swim lessons went fairly well. Kate swam with clothes on as part of her final few sessions. Claire still cries like crazy, but her skills are getting better every day. Video to come later.

Max stands by as Kate starts the prop.

Kate and Max enjoy a snack of plastic fries before lessons.

Claire learns to float on her back.

So so so busy

Tim's parents left this morning to return to Oregon. They were slightly dismayed to find that it is only 53* there today. In contrast, they enjoyed sun and warmth here, and both even swam in our freezing (80*) pool.

We stayed busy while they were here. We went to the zoo, the children's museum, had swim lessons every day, and went to the water park. One would think that this would tire out toddlers, but someone (her name starts with Kate) is working on dropping her nap, which has another someone (ME) anxious and crabby.

Other happenings over the past week:

• Claire hit a growth spurt and a teething episode at the same time.
• Cheri's sister's plane crashed on takeoff in Africa, causing much stress for all. All on board are miraculously okay and are recovering in Nairobi.
• Tim and I realized that time in Arizona is getting short and we need to find a house in Vegas very soon.
• The house we wanted there is back on the market. Don't even get me started.
• Kate learned to lock all the bedroom doors in the house, much to my dismay.
• With four adults in the house to watch over the children, Kate somehow managed to find a glass jar, drop it on the tile, begin playing amongst the shards, while Claire tried to eat one of the bigger pieces, just as I came rushing around the corner to investigate the crash of breaking glass.
• Cheri went shoe shopping for the girls and they now have more shoes than I do. (Thanks, Mom!)
• Claire increased her vocabulary by at least 3 words a day.
• Tim and his parents put crown moulding up on our fireplace to hide the ghetto caulk and paint splatters.

Almost time for the water torture to begin again. Later!

Let the Tucson Water Torture begin

It's time for swim lessons again. Kate did pretty well today; there were some tears and some misgivings about having to get in the cold (mid-80s) water, but she swam and grabbed the bar like she's supposed to, and she even complied with Tracie's request to float on her back.

Claire hated it. Last summer she was a "survival only" swimmer, and just had to roll over onto her back until someone rescued her. This year she is going to learn to swim to the bar and hold her head up out of the water. She cried the whole time, with wide eyes that pleaded with me to save her. I have confidence that by the end of lessons in 6 weeks, she will be loving it like Kate did last year.

We finally heard back about the house we bid on. Our realtor called us yesterday after he spoke to the realtor selling the property. We did not win the bid, and had our agent not called the other agent on Sunday to check on the status of our offer, we probably still would not know. I am sad we did not get the house, because it was very pretty and nice and I loved the location (it was the greenbelt house), but I am glad we do not have to deal with that agent. Now we are back to square two. We have a better idea of where we want to look, but haven't figured out how or when we will get up there again to do so.

Tim's parents arrive tomorrow for a week, so we'll be out and about enjoying the sunshine.

The crazies go swimming

We had the pool up to about 82* earlier in the week, but then took the cover off for house-showing purposes. It's now down to the mid- to low-70s, which is freeeeezing. This did not phase Tim or Kate, who gleefully (and with purple lips) swam and splashed, respectively.

Earlier in the afternoon:

Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?

As you know, Kate started swim lessons in May. She hated them. Passionately. I thought we were doomed to have a daughter who disliked the pool immensely. After a month off, we're back at 'em, and she's a totally new girl in the water.



To compare, here's a lesson from June.

I don't know where to begin

My list of stuff to do is so long that I'm at a loss. So I'm blogging. Sounds like a good place to start, right?

I did get the floors cleaned yesterday, which gave me much satisfaction. That feeling of accomplishment is now gone, however, as I take inventory of every horizontal surface in the house and find them all covered in mail or clean laundry, and see that my hope of crossing more stuff off my list this weekend dwindling. We've only been home a week, right? I guess it's not that bad. But my Monica instincts are so...strong...and it's making me crazy! The disarray is truely giving me heart palpitations.

We found out that we are off the VML. We thought we'd be moving by May of next year, but the Air Force has extended us and we are now in the next VML. That likely means a move over the summer of 2008. Personally, I'm hoping for Europe. But I've been hoping for Europe since, well, 2000, when we got engaged. North Carolina, Korea and Arizona have not quenched that desire to live in Europe. I'm not picky. I'd take England. I know it's not technically Europe, but it's sort of closer to it than we are here. Or, I'd take Italy. Or Germany. Hell, I'd take Hungary. Come on, people! Send us to Europe! Please.

We went to a birthday party this afternoon. I don't have any pictures. This is because it went kind of like this:

Arrive at community pool where party is being held. Try to entertain a toddler while your husband holds the baby. Swim in the pool with the toddler because it's so damn hot out that it's miserable if you're not in the water. Second guess your idea that 2 kids in the pool would be too difficult, and feel really guilty when your baby looks really really hot. Spritz her with the spray bottle you brought and hope that cools her and her father off. Notice that it does not seem to help. Get out of the pool and try to appease the baby while your husband goes to get food for the toddler. At 5:15 when the toddler is mostly done with her meal, say good-bye to your husband who has to go home and get ready to go to work (Go Lightning Strike Force, woohoo!). Nod in agreement to all your friends who point out that it's Saturday. Try to corral the toddler who is now wandering about in a heatstroke daze, dangerously close to the pool. Also try to keep the baby cool since she never got to swim and cool off. Put the baby in the stroller, hoping that errant toddlers won't feed her red vines while you chase the toddler around the far end of the pool. Glance back at the baby and see another toddler try to take her toy from her. Watch her start to cry. Try to herd the toddler back to the other side of the pool so we can take care of the baby, and have some cake. Thank your friends profusely when they offer to hold the baby. Finally get everyone into the car to head home, where life is a lot easier.

I'm a drama queen, I know. It really wasn't that bad. But pool parties with 2 kids and 1 parent are really just not fun. Period.

My goal is to sleep in tomorrow. I know it's totally unrealistic. But you have to have goals. Tonight, my goal is to finish the bottle of Petite Syrah that is on my kitchen counter. I think I might accomplish that one.

Mayhem

Left alone for approximately 2.4 seconds, Kate sunscreens the patio and her hands.

Hey, y'all!

Craziness. Insanity. Frenzy. Hysteria. These words describe my last 2 days. I still am not packed. Well, I am packed. But I am the only one who is packed. All of Kate's clothes are on my bed, some of Claire's clothes lie next to them; their suitcase lies at the foot of my bed, empty. There are toiletries on the guest bed, along with some (I now notice as I look over) of my clothes that I failed to pack in my suitcase. The kitchen is a disaster with dinner dishes scattered over the counters and table, and I believe there is still a load of laundry in the dryer. Instead of doing what I ought to be doing, I am sitting at the computer blogging and drinking a glass of cold Sauvingnon Blanc from New Zealand. I am trying not to think about all that I need to do tonight and tomorrow morning.

I am trying to think of all the things that have been going on for the past few days to make life so crazy. Well, besides the fact that I'm trying to pack for 3 of us for a month, for weather that will be strikingly different than what we are used to. We are going to Oregon. Yes, it is almost July, but it won't be 110* there (thank GOD), and we might well freeze at night. Really. It gets quite cold at night in Oregon, even in the summer. Add to that the fact that very few people there have air conditioners so you cool off your house by opening all the doors and windows in the morning when it's 50* outside so that by the time it's 90* that afternoon, it's still bearable in your home. But, I digress.

Where was I. Ah, yes. Mayhem. Claire has pink-eye. Still. I took her back to the doctor yesterday because the erythromycin wasn't doing the trick. Turns out she has a staph infection (not MRSA) and the strain is resistant to that ointment. Now she's on tobramycin drops, and I think she is getting better. But her eye is still red and slightly puffy. I might have to take her back in tomorrow before we leave if it doesn't look better. Yahoo. On a separate note, the pediatrician called me today to see how Claire was doing. I almost dropped the phone I was so surprised. I love off-base medical.

Before I forget, McLaren's stats for 5mo:
16 lbs 13 oz
25.5"

Kate is supposed to finish her swimming lessons this week, but she's not ready. Tracie says she needs another few days. Of course, we are leaving tomorrow, so those lessons will take place next month, (hopefully) right before Claire's morning lessons. Tracie wants me to get in the water with Kate tomorrow to see how Kate does with me. Also, my babysitter is in Mexico so I will have to take Claire to the lesson (it's only about 97* at 10am) and try to keep her happy (and cool) while I swim with Kate.

We got a new car seat for Kate. My main requirements were that the seat be super comfortable (her little butt is going to be in it for 4 days straight), and that it converts to booster seat. The best one I found was the Safety First Intera. I am currently having second thoughts about this seat. Not good, considering when cleaning up for book club the other night, I threw the box away. So. We put (read: Tim put) the seat in his car, as we are driving it to Oregon (tomorrow). I have an Outback, he has an Acura sedan. My car: sits high. His car: sits lower. As I drove Kate to and from her swim lesson this morning, I noticed that I could barely see her in the back seat behind me. I can't tell if this is just the fact that his seats are lower or what. I had to strain my head to see the top of hers. I also noticed that she can barely see out the window. This could make for painful driving up I5. Also, the seat belt on the car seat. I am not pleased with it. It seems really short. Like when you release the shoulder straps to get your kid unbuckled: there is hardly any slack. And likewise, when you go to tighten her shoulder straps, there is only about 3-4 inches of strap to pull. Not much leverage. The buckle part also bothers me. It's the same one that the Eddie Bauer and Cosco seats use, and is not the same one that I am used to (we have all Graco right now). It seems like it sits really low to the seat, so it hits her chubby little thighs, and I am pretty sure she is not a big fan of it right now. And, since I threw the box away, and since we are leaving tomorrow, it seems that we will learn to deal with these problems because I don't see that we have much of a choice. There is the booster part of the seat that we could add back into the car to put her seat up higher, but that will put her feet right behind the driver's shoulders and I have a feeling that she'll have fun kicking the driver the whole 22 hours we are driving.

And then there's McLaren's new car seat. It's Kate's old one turned around so it is rear-facing. And it doesn't leave much room for the front passenger. After Tim installed it the other night he informed me that he'll be driving the whole way. I really hope it's not that bad, but I fear that it is.

Let's not even discuss the fact that Tim went in at 8am this morning and is flying tonight so he won't be home until at least 10:30...and then there is a change of command at 0800 tomorrow.

I'll leave out the rest of the craziness of the past 2 days and let you get back to whatever it was that you were doing before you clicked on over here. I am taking all my camera hook-ups, so I hope to post photos on the blog, along with stories of course, once we arrive. Until then, happy 4th of July!

Bad parents all around

We had a weekend full of bad parenting here. We started out by taking our 2 young children to a nasty swap meet in near-100* heat on Saturday morning. Then we brought them back home, and I left them with their father for 2 hours while I got my hair done. When I came home, I found this:

Yo, Ma, look at me.

Rocky McLaren.

Granted, her eye looks like it is swollen shut not from the fall into the coffee table, but from her eye infection, but still. That bruise on her forehead? Not caused by pink-eye.

Then, while swimming that afternoon, Kate tried my beer. She did not like it, even though it was a tasty micro-brew. In my defense: Tim was starting the grill around the side of the house, I was in the pool, and Kate was on the patio. Not in my defense: I failed to put my beer out of the reach of Kate, and I left my child alone on the patio.

Last night McLaren had some peas for dinner. Okay, she had quite a few peas for dinner. Apparently they did not agree with her, and I found her this morning lying in a crusted pile of pea goo. I think she spit up all of the peas. I felt really bad because I had absolutely no idea that it happened until I got her up this morning, and there is no way she could have spewed that many peas without crying. We are officially turning off the swamp cooler at night and turning on the AC. The cooler is really nice, but it's also really loud, as referenced above.

Then, this morning, after McLaren's emergency bath, I was pulling the clean laundry out of the dryer and noticed both of Kate's blankets were in the pile. That explains a lot about why she was talking in her room last night until nearly 8:30, when she went to bed at about 7:15. Neither Tim nor I will be getting the parent of the month award for June.

To leave you with a more positive mental picture, here's Kate walking in Tim's sandals.

I Never Thought it Would Happen

Kate hardly cried at all during swim lessons this morning. She started out whimpering a bit, but then gave up on it and just started talking and swimming. I'm still in shock. All weekend she wanted to show off to Grampa and Aunt Jessica in the pool, and I guess now that is carrying over into lessons. We'll see how tomorrow goes. This is week 5, and next week is her last week of lessons. By now she can swim a little on her stomach while looking for the edge of the pool or a step, flip onto her back so she can breathe, and then flip over onto her stomach again so she can propel herself to the side.

So tired after playing with Daddy.

McLaren is dissatisfied with the meals around here. For instance, I just got done feeding her. This meal consisted of milk and then a course of oatmeal and rice mixed together, with some apple juice stirred in for sweetness and flavor. I'm pretty sure more of it ended up on her than in her. She hasn't gotten to the point where she can grab the spoon yet, but she spits the food out and then smears it all over her face with her hands. She is still falling for the whole Mommy's eating the cereal, so you should eat the cereal charade, but I don't think that will last long. It probably didn't help that as I was feeding her the oatmeal, I was enjoying the last piece of All American Chocolate Cake from Costco. I swear that kid can make me feel more guilty than a cat in a birdcage. She just sits there in her big highchair, watching me take bites of chocolate cake, sighing once in awhile for effect. Her big eyes follow the fork, back and forth, plate mouth plate mouth. Where's my cake, Mom?


Not that she's hurting for food, mind you.

Ankle, what ankle?

And a Happy Father's Day it was

McLaren loves books.

Tim told me last night that he had a very relaxing weekend, which was good, considering there were 3 kids in the house for 2 days and at least one was crying at least once an hour. I guess that is pretty good, given that all 3 kids are under 2. My dad and sister and her family spent lots of time with us, swimming, eating, chasing Kate around, tending to infants and just relaxing. We have finally come upon summer here (no more double digit daytime highs for the next 3 months, at least), so we didn't spend much time outside except to grab a beer from the cooler or go swimming. We did enjoy sitting outside in the late afternoon heat (cold beer helps) for a short time on Saturday before heading inside to cool off.

Kate has taken to calling my dad 'papa' instead of Grampa, which is so cute. She has been saying 'bye-bye, Papa, bye-bye duh-duh' (Jessica is duh-duh) all morning.

Wearing Mommy's sandals.

McLaren is now able to pull herself up to standing from sitting on a pillow. You sit her down, offer up your fingers for her to grab onto, and gently pull her up. Voila! Standing baby. She can even hold the pose for a few seconds before her wobbly legs go all accordion on you.

Kate & McLaren made a card and a gift for Daddy for Father's Day.

The first printed installment of the blog, all 214 pages.

Tim's on nights this week, so he's at swim lessons with Kate right now. McLaren is asleep, and the house is quiet. I'm sure that silence will be broken at any minute when they come home, but for now, I'll enjoy my coffee and the peace.

He's Back!

Tim arrived safe and on time on Friday afternoon. The girls and I headed to the squadron to pick him up from his vacation (Vegas + No Kids = Vacation), and Kate greeted him somewhat coolly. She wasn't all that sure about this guy getting in the car, but she warmed up to him after not too long. Lots of playing and running around being chased by him helped. Most of yesterday was spent in the pool or playing 3-card monte, a game Kate really enjoys. Tim puts a ball under one of three pails and moves them all around and then she tries to guess where the ball is. She's getting better, but still hasn't mastered the fact that when a ball goes under the blue pail, it isn't going to show up under the white one. We'll keep at it.

McLaren has been practicing her coughing. Her favorite time of day to do this is at approximately 5:52am. Lucky for her it's a cute cough, and it's her newest way of talking to us, so we don't mind so much.

I Think I Know What the Problem Is

Teeth. I can just now see one of Kate's lower eye teeth coming in. I imagine that is what is causing so much grief around here. I hope so, at least, 'cause mama can't take much more of this!


I think we are having a breakthrough on swim lessons, though. Yesterday afternoon we swam and Kate didn't want to get out of the water again. But she also kept wanting to come to me (I'm the evil one who makes her swim to the step, so she usually doesn't want anything to do with me). I believe she might be getting more confident in the water and is now wanting to show me how well she can swim. Also, she didn't cry at lessons this morning until she actually got into the water. This is a big improvement over last week when she would start crying as soon as she saw the house from her car seat.

As for me, I'm still working on the sleep thing. The cat is hereby evicted from sleeping in the house at night. He woke me up at 2am, wanting to go outside. After I had let him out, I noticed that it seemed rather warm inside, so I turned on the swamp cooler (it was 75 and stuffy) and headed back to bed. Probably around 4am I started having dreams about how chilly it was and that I hoped the babies were warm enough. I didn't wake up from these dreams until 5am when I noticed it was freezing (65). So, up again to turn off the cooler and cover up McLaren. Kate was on her own; I know better than to go into her room when she's sleeping. There is a very good chance she will wake up and if she does, well there's no going back to sleep for awhile. After all that, the girls did sleep in until 7am, so that was a nice bonus. Just a few more days until the weekend and Tim will be home to tend to early-rising children! Woohoo!


Okay, time for a quiz. Who is who?

Video Update

Kate says 'hi' to her Daddy & tells him she misses him, and swims to the bar during swimming lessons.

Icky Bins and 'Tucks'

Kate has a fascination with garbage trucks. I'm not sure how it started, but she loves to hear the 'tucks' drive up and pick up the 'icky bins'. Tuesday is our day here, and Tuesday mornings are candy for Kate. First the recycling trucks come and pick up the icky bins at the end of our driveway, and then sometime during breakfast she can hear the garbage trucks rumbling down the alley behind our house to pick up the communal dumpsters. She cranes her neck around so she can see behind her, over the back wall, as the truck's arms reach out and lift the canisters into the air, dumping their contents into the belly of the truck. Then she claps. "Icky bins! Icky bins!" It's really quite charming.

Almost 2 weeks ago now, my sister graduated from dental hygiene school, pretty much at the top of all of Arizona's classes. My dad came out to visit, and he got to spend time with all three of his granddaughters.

Kate's swimming lessons continue, and she is getting better each day. She now cries the instant she sees the pool from her car seat, as opposed to last week when she didn't start crying until I actually handed her over to Ms. Tracie. So, no progress there. But the swimming part is going great. Also a bonus: she is tired out afterwards and either takes a really long nap, or goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps for 12 hours straight. I think it's worth the money just for that.

Mexico

Awesome. Mexico was fab-u-lous. We spent 4 days and 3 nights at the Casa Blanca resort in Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco to those who think Rocky Point doesn't sound very Mexican), enjoying the sun, pool, beach, margaritas, and Mexican food. It took us about 4.5 hours to drive there from Tucson, including stops for the kids, and we arrived around dinner time on Saturday. Rocky Point is becoming quite a destination for those living in Phoenix and Tucson because it's so close, and I think we've become one of those statistics: we'll be there again (I hope) in August or September for a few more nights of beach life.

The kids did great. I'm amazed at how well Kate adjusted to sleeping in the pack 'n play in a room that was not her own. It probably helped that she didn't nap on Saturday (at all) on the way there. She was out by about 6:45pm that night and slept in until 7:30-8am the next morning. I was afraid that her lack of nap that day would cause all kinds of problems, but she was great. Claire shared a room with her (sleeping on a towel on the floor on the other side of the bed from Kate) and also slept like the proverbial baby. Woohoo! Of course, having 2 sleeping children at 7pm means you can't take walks along the beach at midnight, but let's face it, we were asleep by then anyway.

McLaren & Jen.

Kate loved the pool (it was very kid-friendly, with an area that was about 1.5' deep for her to run around in), and even enjoyed playing in the sand on the beach. She loved running about in the condo and on the deck, but didn't want to walk on the grass. She's still not sure about that stuff.

We went to dinner at La Curva on Monday night in Rocky Point, and Kate got to experience a Mariachi band, burritos, and fried ice cream. I think she was a big fan of all three.

Kate goes swimming

It was an eventful weekend. Not all good events, mind you, but eventful nonetheless.

Saturday was baby shower day. I left Kate home with Tim while I went to Deborah's and Darci's baby showers for several hours. At one point after I had been gone for awhile, I heard Tim calling on my cell and excused myself to answer the phone. He casually asked if I was done and when I might be coming home. I told him that I would be home within the hour, and he mumbled something about there being an 'incident' and that I should be sure to ask him about it when I got back. This piqued my interest, and I wondered what might have happened in my short time away from. Since I was missing the gift-opening and Kate sounded like she was having lunch, we hung up and left it at that.

Upon arriving home, I found both Tim and Kate in different clothing than they had been in when I had left. This is not unusual, but it caused me to ask about this 'incident' that had happened. Apparently, they had gone outside to play. Kate was on the patio with her toys, and Tim decided to do some pool maintenance. He was brushing out the pool when he heard a kerplunk and saw that Kate had snuck in behind him before the gate to the pool had closed. And she had fallen in. To the pool. Fallen in to the deep end of the pool, head first, fully clothed, into that freezing (70*) water. GAH! Now me, I would have freaked out. Maybe Tim did too; I wasn't here to witness it. But I guess he was close enough to her when she fell that he was able to drop the brush and grab a foot. She came out holding her breath, face scrunched up. I bet! That's one cold pool! The temperature probably helped her not breathe in while she was under. He cradled her, trying to warm her up and stop the shrieking that began soon after she was out of the water, and brought her inside to get her into some warm (dry) clothes. After her lips returned to their normal color, she started rubbing her belly telling him that she wanted a bath. Apparently she didn't like the one she had and wanted a real one.

*****

Update: the pool is 60*, not the steamy 70* I had thought. Brrr.

*****

Dropped to save Kate.

Which leads me to the next story....bath time on Friday night. Tim does bath time whenever he's home because it's hard for me to lean over with this big belly and give Kate a bath that she feels is fun enough and long enough. We do things a little differently, Tim and me. Me, I like to remove all of Kate's clothes while we're in her room so they can go right into the hamper. I leave her diaper on until right before she goes into the tub, just in case. Tim, sometimes he varies from this routine. For instance, on Friday night, he thought it would be okay to take Kate's diaper off before the bath was ready. Kate loves this. I think she likes being free from all restraints; no itchy diaper, no clothes, no shoes. Freedom! She went tearing around the corner down the hall (she does move fast, see above) to come show me that she had broken free of all bonds and was naked as a cherub, when wham! splat! wahhhhh! Tim and I both came racing down the hall from opposite ends to find out what had happened. See, we have tile floors, and when they get wet, they get slippery. Baby peeing on floor makes floor slippery. Baby falls. Baby screams. Daddy learns why we don't remove diapers until just before we put baby into tub.

Naked baby makes puddle.