Aunt Carole passed away last night. She died suddenly, in her sleep it sounds like, while visiting her sister in Florida. I guess, in the overall scheme of things, it's about as peaceful as one could hope. Just too soon.
Hayden's favorite bedtime book is the scrapbook of her first year. Every time we get to the baby shower picture with Uncle Fred, Aunt Ann, Aunt Carole and Corning she points to Corning and says, "Is that Corning?" I tell her yes, and she points to the beautiful music box he gave her when she was a baby, the one with all the clowns and bears that spin and dance on separate platforms while the music plays. She says, "Corning gave me that." I tell her yes. Then she asks why we don't see him, even though she's heard the answer a thousand times. I tell her, "Because he died." She always asks where he died and I always worry about my answer. If I say "the hospital" I'm afraid she'll be scared of the hospital, but since that's the truth that's what I say. I remind her that people start their lives there and sometimes they end their lives there too. Then she always asks why he died. I always tell her it's because people don't live forever; we're born, we live and then we die. I tell her that Corning was in his 80s, which is old, and he lived a long, great life. One time she asked me if children ever die. I told her it's very, very rare, but it does happen sometimes. Then, she turns the page and we move on to other pictures; other stories. She doesn't remember Corning at all, but I think she might remember Aunt Carole, since we just saw her a few months ago and she came to the girls' events. Still, she won't have the kind of long-term memories I'd want her to have. She won't know what an energetic, happy person Aunt Carole was. To know how much she loved family and how excited she always was to see the cousins, Mike, Beth and I (and sometimes Kevin) together at the Cousins Cookout, and how she loved watching all the kids playing together; the next generation. I don't think I'll take the girls to the funeral; they wouldn't understand it and it would be a lot for me to handle. But, I do want to make sure the cousins keep getting together at least once a summer if not more. Aunt Carole always made it happen and now it's up to the next generation. I just hate that we, the next generation, are coming up in the ranks now and wonderful people like Aunt Carole are passing away. I'm going to miss her.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Kaya Doodle 2012
And then there's doodle bug! My little monkey is 2 1/2. Major milestones of late:
She's in a big girl bed! The first night she was so proud of herself she did her happy hands happy feet all over the place (she spins her hands and feet around in happy circles). Then, she came out of her room at 10pm, toddled down the hall and announced that she wanted yogurt and cherrios. We put her back in bed. 11pm. Same thing. We brought her back to bed and told her if she wanted to keep the bar down on her big girl bed, she'd need to stay in there. Now, she stays in bed all night and if she needs us she calls. Unless we leave her door open, or open it in the morning to wake her up. Then, all bets are off and she bounds out of bed and out of her room toward her big sister's room with shouts of "Hayden, I wanna watch Go 'Aigo Go! You wanna come to Hayden?" Hayden is not quite the morning person that her little sister is, so she usually lays in bed like a little bug, rolled up in a ball while her sister spins like a whirling dervish around the room.
Other milestones: Kaya uses the potty now. Sometimes. She pooped in the potty for the first time on Friday. It was a national event. There was a viewing. She announced that "Kaya no scared of the potty". I'm not sure what caused the fear in the first place, she wasn't afraid of peeing in the potty, just pooping for some reason. But, I guess the fear has passed somewhat, but not enough for her to commit to the potty in earnest. She dabbles.
She's all about yogurt and Cherrios, broccoli, mac and cheese and anything "spicy". She even likes red peppers on pizza. Crazy. Totally in keeping with her personality. She's our little wild child. The joke is that when they're teenagers, Hayden will be the one to come in and say, "Mom, Dad, I totally trashed the car" and it will turn out she hit a curb while parking. Kaya? She'll lose a bumper and when we ask about it she'll say, "Bumper? What bumper?" That's our girl.
Kaya is obsessed with the idea of dance class. She went last summer and she loved it, but she's too little for "big kid" classes, so she dresses in a leotard and tights and goes to her big sister's class with her and dances out in the waiting room.
Other great loves - the swing. She announced that she can pump when she turns three. Until then she tries, but she really won't commit. Also, the idea of going on the "late bus" (the bus we pass on the way to school if we're running late). Riding her tricycle and watching "Go Diego Go". Oh, and counting...one, two, three, nine, ten.
Favorite book? "Are You My Mother?" read as "Are You My Mudder?" I read every word except "Mother" and she interjects with "Mudder". Super cute.
Other great loves: Dressing up the giraffe "Giraffee" "Leah" and "Aliah" depending on the day and the mood. Most of the time Leah is celebrating her fifth birthday. There's often cake.
She's in a big girl bed! The first night she was so proud of herself she did her happy hands happy feet all over the place (she spins her hands and feet around in happy circles). Then, she came out of her room at 10pm, toddled down the hall and announced that she wanted yogurt and cherrios. We put her back in bed. 11pm. Same thing. We brought her back to bed and told her if she wanted to keep the bar down on her big girl bed, she'd need to stay in there. Now, she stays in bed all night and if she needs us she calls. Unless we leave her door open, or open it in the morning to wake her up. Then, all bets are off and she bounds out of bed and out of her room toward her big sister's room with shouts of "Hayden, I wanna watch Go 'Aigo Go! You wanna come to Hayden?" Hayden is not quite the morning person that her little sister is, so she usually lays in bed like a little bug, rolled up in a ball while her sister spins like a whirling dervish around the room.
Other milestones: Kaya uses the potty now. Sometimes. She pooped in the potty for the first time on Friday. It was a national event. There was a viewing. She announced that "Kaya no scared of the potty". I'm not sure what caused the fear in the first place, she wasn't afraid of peeing in the potty, just pooping for some reason. But, I guess the fear has passed somewhat, but not enough for her to commit to the potty in earnest. She dabbles.
She's all about yogurt and Cherrios, broccoli, mac and cheese and anything "spicy". She even likes red peppers on pizza. Crazy. Totally in keeping with her personality. She's our little wild child. The joke is that when they're teenagers, Hayden will be the one to come in and say, "Mom, Dad, I totally trashed the car" and it will turn out she hit a curb while parking. Kaya? She'll lose a bumper and when we ask about it she'll say, "Bumper? What bumper?" That's our girl.
Kaya is obsessed with the idea of dance class. She went last summer and she loved it, but she's too little for "big kid" classes, so she dresses in a leotard and tights and goes to her big sister's class with her and dances out in the waiting room.
Other great loves - the swing. She announced that she can pump when she turns three. Until then she tries, but she really won't commit. Also, the idea of going on the "late bus" (the bus we pass on the way to school if we're running late). Riding her tricycle and watching "Go Diego Go". Oh, and counting...one, two, three, nine, ten.
Favorite book? "Are You My Mother?" read as "Are You My Mudder?" I read every word except "Mother" and she interjects with "Mudder". Super cute.
Other great loves: Dressing up the giraffe "Giraffee" "Leah" and "Aliah" depending on the day and the mood. Most of the time Leah is celebrating her fifth birthday. There's often cake.
No, really, now I mean it
I can feel the time slipping away and I know I'm going to wake up tomorrow and the girls will be in college (or out getting their first tattoo....or both) and I'll think, My God, where did the time go, and why didn't I document more of it? I guess the real answer is, because I'm busy living it. But still, I do want to embrace these moments as much as I can as often as I can. My "not so New Years, seeing as it's February" resolution is to update once a week. More if I can make it happen, but at least that will be something.
So, let's see...to catch up on the last year...sigh....
We'll start with Hayden:
We started worrying about some speech issues about a year ago when she still called herself "Aiden" (not all that great since 'Aiden' just so happens to be the most common Boys' name in the country right now). her best friend was "Ria" (rather than "Maria") and there were words we couldn't make any sense of at all, sometimes whole sentences. It all came to a head when she was trying to tell her daycare friends a story about having a popsicle for dinner and she kept calling it an 'opsicle. The kids were making fun of her and she cried about it on the way home. So, I called the Elementary school to make an appointment for her to see a specialist. As it turns out, One, she LOVES going to school to take tests and work with teachers (let's hope that sticks) and two, all it really took was taking her to talk to a teacher to make her want to work on pronunciation herself. Now she works on words all the time and she's getting MUCH better. Tonight's big accomplishment was "refrigerator". She's just a little rock star.
To that end, we're trying to decide whether to put her in half day or full day Kindergarten. Everyone says full day is the way to go, but she just seems so little (Well, not little exactly, she's practically 5 feet tall already) and the idea of having her there all day just seems so "big kid" for my little girl. She's just growing up so fast!
What Hayden is into:
"A Very Young Everything" - I gave her my old copy of "A Very Young Dancer" and she's been an addict ever since. We read that book all. the. time. That was a gateway drug to "A Very Young Rider" and then I got her "A Very Young Skater" for Christmas. I just went online and ordered "A Very Young Gymnast" and "A Very Young Circus Flier" to complete her collection. I love that she loves those books. They're black and white, kind of grainy, quite verbose, and yet she loves them. Just like I did when I was her age. It's so neat to see the parts of her that are so much like me.
She's also into coloring my students' quizzes. They take vocab quizzes every Friday and to kill time they draw pictures on the back. If she chooses their pictures to color they get extra credit. So, of course the kids all angle to see what she's into so they can hedge their bets. Lately? "Tangled" "Disney On Ice" and anything related to ducks, specifically mallards. I know, right?
Disney On Ice comes from the fact that we took her there a few weeks ago (my mom and I) to see 100 Years Of Magic. She was enthralled. Mouth gaping open every time a princess hit the ice, just in awe. The one tragic mommy mistake of the night? I didn't get her a program. She didn't have anything to show her daddy and little sister who didn't go. One night I felt so guilty I couldn't sleep (I know, what does this say about my future as a parent?). At 1am I was online trying to find a program to buy. No luck finding a program, but I did find a link to Disney on Ice Dare to Dream a princess centered show in Boston. So, in the middle of the night, rather than ordering a program, I ended up getting tickets to a whole new show. That will teach me to pony up the $20 for a program.
What else is my little monkey into right now?
Her bicycle (with training wheels) and her scooter
Her blue Bunny (always and forever)
Stripping down as soon as she gets home and putting on costumes (sometimes for ice shows, sometimes for ballet recitals), always with the comment, "Mommy, you sit there. You have to be Nutcracker quiet." Nutcracker quiet is the highest level of devoted silence. It comes from the annual trip to see The Nutcracker, where Hayden sits stone still for an hour and a half, completely engrossed in the Nutcracker. Same thing watching the Seattle Ballet version (stage and costumes by Maurice Sendak) on the tv. She'll watch the whole thing start to finish, completely enthralled.
Dancing. What she lacks in natural gifts perhaps (like her mother) she makes up for in sheer love (like her mother).
Skating. She took lessons for four months. 20 minutes into the first lesson she was on her feet with no aids, and by the end she could go backward and forward with relative ease. So amazing to see. Her favorite part? Playing on the stands after class. Seriously, we could have saved $200 by just taking her there and letting her run up and down the bleachers. But, now she can skate too as an added bonus. Highlight of the skating season? The class where I managed to put her skates on the wrong feet, have her helmet on too loose so every time she looked down it fell into her eyes and dress her in tights that gave her a weggie. Poor kid kept looking down to check her odd feeling skates only to have her helmet slip down over her eyes, to be left blinded picking at a weggie on the ice. These are the moments you just can't capture on video.
What else is my girl into these days?
Bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter (at the same time. Ick). Yogurt and cherrios (there is no other breakfast) and mommy's "fuzzy water" (seltzer). But only in a big girl cup. Oh, and only big girl forks for her. Gone are the days of anything that seems babyish. At all. Oh, and broccoli. Always a hit.
I know there's so much more....but at least I've captured something of a snapshot. Now, onto Kaya Doodle.
So, let's see...to catch up on the last year...sigh....
We'll start with Hayden:
We started worrying about some speech issues about a year ago when she still called herself "Aiden" (not all that great since 'Aiden' just so happens to be the most common Boys' name in the country right now). her best friend was "Ria" (rather than "Maria") and there were words we couldn't make any sense of at all, sometimes whole sentences. It all came to a head when she was trying to tell her daycare friends a story about having a popsicle for dinner and she kept calling it an 'opsicle. The kids were making fun of her and she cried about it on the way home. So, I called the Elementary school to make an appointment for her to see a specialist. As it turns out, One, she LOVES going to school to take tests and work with teachers (let's hope that sticks) and two, all it really took was taking her to talk to a teacher to make her want to work on pronunciation herself. Now she works on words all the time and she's getting MUCH better. Tonight's big accomplishment was "refrigerator". She's just a little rock star.
To that end, we're trying to decide whether to put her in half day or full day Kindergarten. Everyone says full day is the way to go, but she just seems so little (Well, not little exactly, she's practically 5 feet tall already) and the idea of having her there all day just seems so "big kid" for my little girl. She's just growing up so fast!
What Hayden is into:
"A Very Young Everything" - I gave her my old copy of "A Very Young Dancer" and she's been an addict ever since. We read that book all. the. time. That was a gateway drug to "A Very Young Rider" and then I got her "A Very Young Skater" for Christmas. I just went online and ordered "A Very Young Gymnast" and "A Very Young Circus Flier" to complete her collection. I love that she loves those books. They're black and white, kind of grainy, quite verbose, and yet she loves them. Just like I did when I was her age. It's so neat to see the parts of her that are so much like me.
She's also into coloring my students' quizzes. They take vocab quizzes every Friday and to kill time they draw pictures on the back. If she chooses their pictures to color they get extra credit. So, of course the kids all angle to see what she's into so they can hedge their bets. Lately? "Tangled" "Disney On Ice" and anything related to ducks, specifically mallards. I know, right?
Disney On Ice comes from the fact that we took her there a few weeks ago (my mom and I) to see 100 Years Of Magic. She was enthralled. Mouth gaping open every time a princess hit the ice, just in awe. The one tragic mommy mistake of the night? I didn't get her a program. She didn't have anything to show her daddy and little sister who didn't go. One night I felt so guilty I couldn't sleep (I know, what does this say about my future as a parent?). At 1am I was online trying to find a program to buy. No luck finding a program, but I did find a link to Disney on Ice Dare to Dream a princess centered show in Boston. So, in the middle of the night, rather than ordering a program, I ended up getting tickets to a whole new show. That will teach me to pony up the $20 for a program.
What else is my little monkey into right now?
Her bicycle (with training wheels) and her scooter
Her blue Bunny (always and forever)
Stripping down as soon as she gets home and putting on costumes (sometimes for ice shows, sometimes for ballet recitals), always with the comment, "Mommy, you sit there. You have to be Nutcracker quiet." Nutcracker quiet is the highest level of devoted silence. It comes from the annual trip to see The Nutcracker, where Hayden sits stone still for an hour and a half, completely engrossed in the Nutcracker. Same thing watching the Seattle Ballet version (stage and costumes by Maurice Sendak) on the tv. She'll watch the whole thing start to finish, completely enthralled.
Dancing. What she lacks in natural gifts perhaps (like her mother) she makes up for in sheer love (like her mother).
Skating. She took lessons for four months. 20 minutes into the first lesson she was on her feet with no aids, and by the end she could go backward and forward with relative ease. So amazing to see. Her favorite part? Playing on the stands after class. Seriously, we could have saved $200 by just taking her there and letting her run up and down the bleachers. But, now she can skate too as an added bonus. Highlight of the skating season? The class where I managed to put her skates on the wrong feet, have her helmet on too loose so every time she looked down it fell into her eyes and dress her in tights that gave her a weggie. Poor kid kept looking down to check her odd feeling skates only to have her helmet slip down over her eyes, to be left blinded picking at a weggie on the ice. These are the moments you just can't capture on video.
What else is my girl into these days?
Bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter (at the same time. Ick). Yogurt and cherrios (there is no other breakfast) and mommy's "fuzzy water" (seltzer). But only in a big girl cup. Oh, and only big girl forks for her. Gone are the days of anything that seems babyish. At all. Oh, and broccoli. Always a hit.
I know there's so much more....but at least I've captured something of a snapshot. Now, onto Kaya Doodle.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Resolution Fail
Okay Rocky, this time for sure. I really do want to get better about keeping up with this blog, at least once a week, just to have a record for myself if nothing else (since, let's face it, nobody is reading this anymore since I update so infrequently). For starters, what's up with the kids?
Hayden: She has two Bostons. A close Boston and a far Boston. The far Boston is near Harper's house in California, and you have to take a plane to get there. She spends most of her time at close Boston. In close Boston the downstairs is outside and the upstairs is inside. She has several babies, the oldest, Lisa, is almost three (The name Lisa comes from an episode of Care Bears that she was obsessed with for a while). Speaking of obsessions, Hayden is obsessed, completely obsessed with babies being born and crying. She'll watch documentaries of childbirth, youtube videos, anything. In a pinch she'll watch shows with babies on them (Rugrats etc.) but given the choice she's all about the actual birth process. Who knows, maybe there's a future in the OB there somewhere.
Other obsessions: Blue Bunny (of course). She knows she has two now, but she doesn't care. Her tricycle, which she rides at break neck speed around the house. Inside the house, just to be clear. Play Dough. Of course. Who doesn't love that.
As for Kaya: Obsessions: Play dough (to eat, not to play with). "Mia Mia" kitty at Heidi's house (as in, "What did you do today Kaya? " "Mia Mia!" (For the record, the cat's name is "Milo". He was Mia for about a week before they found out that she was in fact a he.) Purple Monster Monty, her purple blanket bear thing that she can't be without. Her bottle and her songs at bedtime. She gets "ABCs" which she knows most of, "Twinkle Twinkle" (her obsession) "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (which she can't resist doing the hands to, even though it means putting down her bottle) and "Circle Game", my personal favorite. When I finish the songs she puts down her bottle, gives me a round of applause, and then picks the bottle back up again.
Foods: Both love pizza and as long as they make it they'll eat anything on it (green olives, anything). Hayden loves brocolli, and anything she can dip in anything. Oh and yogurt, we should own stock in Stonyfield Yogurt we go through so much of it. Kaya loves anything her sister loves, and water in a special cup.
Books: Hayden: Angelina Ballerina, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, pretty much anything else
Kaya: I Spy, Bear At Home, The Wheels on the Bus. (She sings the song...so cute!)
That's it for now, must go to bed, kids will be up too soon!
Hayden: She has two Bostons. A close Boston and a far Boston. The far Boston is near Harper's house in California, and you have to take a plane to get there. She spends most of her time at close Boston. In close Boston the downstairs is outside and the upstairs is inside. She has several babies, the oldest, Lisa, is almost three (The name Lisa comes from an episode of Care Bears that she was obsessed with for a while). Speaking of obsessions, Hayden is obsessed, completely obsessed with babies being born and crying. She'll watch documentaries of childbirth, youtube videos, anything. In a pinch she'll watch shows with babies on them (Rugrats etc.) but given the choice she's all about the actual birth process. Who knows, maybe there's a future in the OB there somewhere.
Other obsessions: Blue Bunny (of course). She knows she has two now, but she doesn't care. Her tricycle, which she rides at break neck speed around the house. Inside the house, just to be clear. Play Dough. Of course. Who doesn't love that.
As for Kaya: Obsessions: Play dough (to eat, not to play with). "Mia Mia" kitty at Heidi's house (as in, "What did you do today Kaya? " "Mia Mia!" (For the record, the cat's name is "Milo". He was Mia for about a week before they found out that she was in fact a he.) Purple Monster Monty, her purple blanket bear thing that she can't be without. Her bottle and her songs at bedtime. She gets "ABCs" which she knows most of, "Twinkle Twinkle" (her obsession) "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (which she can't resist doing the hands to, even though it means putting down her bottle) and "Circle Game", my personal favorite. When I finish the songs she puts down her bottle, gives me a round of applause, and then picks the bottle back up again.
Foods: Both love pizza and as long as they make it they'll eat anything on it (green olives, anything). Hayden loves brocolli, and anything she can dip in anything. Oh and yogurt, we should own stock in Stonyfield Yogurt we go through so much of it. Kaya loves anything her sister loves, and water in a special cup.
Books: Hayden: Angelina Ballerina, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, pretty much anything else
Kaya: I Spy, Bear At Home, The Wheels on the Bus. (She sings the song...so cute!)
That's it for now, must go to bed, kids will be up too soon!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
And the goal is....
The goal is to actually update this blog more than, say, every year or so. Maybe if I could figure out how to link it to my Facebook page I'd be more motivated....add that to the long list of things to figure out...
The long list of things to figure out:
Why the drawers to Kaya's dresser won't close
How to give Kaya a time out that doesn't end with her laughing hysterically and me looking at the ceiling to keep from doing the same
Whether or not I'm missing precious bonding time by not staring lovingly into Kaya's eyes as I give her her nightly bottle, and instead using that time to read People Magazine over her head
If my children will be somehow warped by thinking that their mother only wears sushi print pjs
If it's okay that I could easily care for a family of four for over a week with only what's on the floor of the car.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
So, it's only been what, a half a year? What's that in the overall scheme of things? Let's see...what's been happening?
First, the milestone stuff: Kaya crawls, cruises and claps. She also points, says something resembling "dada" and something I pretend is "mama" even though it's more like "mmmmm". I take what I can get. She's super cute and in almost every respect a really easy baby. She goes to sleep without a fuss if I stay in the room. If I leave, she cries, but as soon as I come back, she flops down and closes her eyes. She doesn't do the "cry till you barf" routine that Hayden was so famous for (thank God!). But then, we don't really test it either.
As for Hayden, she's 2 1/2 going on 12. She says, "That would be AWFUL!" after announcing the most likely looming disaster (As in, "If I jump, I fall. That would be AWFUL!"). She's able to carry on real conversations now and she can understand some subtlties that we don't always think about. So, we have to be a bit careful now about what discussions we have with her in earshot, unless we're okay with hearing them repeated in any situation.
In terms of "baby book" style memories...for postarity, here's Hayden's bedtime routine:
7:30 - get pjs on "All by myself".
Ride around the house on her tricycle in her pjs
Make a bottle. Yes, I know.
Ride to the bedroom on her tricycle with blue bunny on the handlebars and bottle in hand
Read a book. Current favorites: Richard Scary Around Town, Are You My Mother, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, The Little Engine That Could
Drink Bottle
Go Potty and Brush teeth. (This can take anywhere from ten minutes to a half hour)
Go back to the bedroom and shut off the lights.
Sing "ABC Song", "Twinkle Twinkle" "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and, for the grand finale "Baby Beluga"
Kiss goodnight and go to sleep.
Average light's out time: 8:30pm.
First, the milestone stuff: Kaya crawls, cruises and claps. She also points, says something resembling "dada" and something I pretend is "mama" even though it's more like "mmmmm". I take what I can get. She's super cute and in almost every respect a really easy baby. She goes to sleep without a fuss if I stay in the room. If I leave, she cries, but as soon as I come back, she flops down and closes her eyes. She doesn't do the "cry till you barf" routine that Hayden was so famous for (thank God!). But then, we don't really test it either.
As for Hayden, she's 2 1/2 going on 12. She says, "That would be AWFUL!" after announcing the most likely looming disaster (As in, "If I jump, I fall. That would be AWFUL!"). She's able to carry on real conversations now and she can understand some subtlties that we don't always think about. So, we have to be a bit careful now about what discussions we have with her in earshot, unless we're okay with hearing them repeated in any situation.
In terms of "baby book" style memories...for postarity, here's Hayden's bedtime routine:
7:30 - get pjs on "All by myself".
Ride around the house on her tricycle in her pjs
Make a bottle. Yes, I know.
Ride to the bedroom on her tricycle with blue bunny on the handlebars and bottle in hand
Read a book. Current favorites: Richard Scary Around Town, Are You My Mother, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, The Little Engine That Could
Drink Bottle
Go Potty and Brush teeth. (This can take anywhere from ten minutes to a half hour)
Go back to the bedroom and shut off the lights.
Sing "ABC Song", "Twinkle Twinkle" "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and, for the grand finale "Baby Beluga"
Kiss goodnight and go to sleep.
Average light's out time: 8:30pm.
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