Archives for August 2005

Katherine, Steve and I headed to Montessori Children’s House this morning for preschool orientation. Like summer camp, Katherine kept saying this morning “I don’t want to go to preschool.” We convinced her to get into the fast car. But upon arriving at school, Steve informed me “we’ve got meltdown!” Katherine had a teary face as we approached her new teacher and classroom. I promised her that we would get a treat, a very small ice cream cone, after her orientation. This seemed to appease her, and the teacher assured us that she would get us if Katherine didn’t calm down soon.

As we sat thru orientation we could hear a couple children screaming bloody murder nearby “Mamaaaa, Daddaaa” Steve kept saying “that’s not Katherine, right?!!” Funny enough the teachers said that crying due to separation anxiety subsides after 5-10 minutes – as the child continued to scream at the top of his lungs 30 minutes into the orientation. 🙂

We approached the playground gate to pickup Katherine. She came running up with a bunch of other children and informed me “Mama, Mama, I cried only a little bit!!” She insisted as we headed home that we get our special treat today and that we shouldn’t wait for Dad tomorrow. We then spent the next hour getting a new pair of school shoes and a small chocolate ice cream cone with sprinkles at the local mall. As we talked, we had a conversation like this…

Christine: “Katherine, if you’re a good girl at preschool next week and listen to mommy, we can get you a costume next week for Audrey’s princess birthday party.” (Kids are supposed to dress up for the party.)

Katherine: “i want to get a ballerina costume!” (I have no idea where this came from. How did she hear about ballerinas?)

After polishing off our cone, we headed over to a toy store to check out costumes. Katherine riffled thru a rack and pulled out a pink leotard with feathers and sequins (ack!)

Katherine: “I want this dress!” (with a dual death grip on the hanger)

Christine: “Katherine, remember we’re going to buy this next week!”

Katherine: “We buy this NOW. We put this away with my swim suit in closet and get out next week!” (Yeah, right)

Christine: “Katherine, please let go. We’re not going to buy this now!” (Prying her little hands off the hanger).

This culminated in me carrying Katherine out of the store and assuring her that the store would NOT run out of ballerina / princess outfits next week. I told Steve what happened, and he was very proud of her ingenuity. Go figure.

A Very Placid Baby

Allison continues to be a very placid, happy baby. Yesterday we had four children over for a playdate. Amid massive screaming Allison hung out on my shoulder and was very calm. I put her in her crib for her late morning nap and checked in 10 minutes later to find her squirming around but making no noise. I then popped her in her swing and she slept for 1.5 hours. She’s a total trooper.

Our bottle training has paid off. Kudos to Patty, Steve and my Mom for enduring a couple weeks of screaming then crying before daily bottles. Amazingly enough, my Mom gave Allison a bottle yesterday, as I sat 2 yards away, and she gulped it all down. Patty is now taking care of both girls, taking them for walks in the Chariot, and feeding Allison bottles as I run errands and get out of the house. It definitely feels like we’re in the next phase of babyhood where it just gets easier and easier.

Second to Last in Line

For those of you familiar with the Game, Steve and I played this week with 3 friends from Madera – my freshman dorm. The net is that we got smoked by a bunch of fast teams, but had a great time hanging out. One major epiphany came as Steve lined up by age with perhaps 10 or so other gamers for a pre-game exercise. He was second to last and second oldest in line barely. Yes – we’re getting pretty old for this game stuff. This was reinforced a couple days ago when our 15 year reunion class book arrived. Can you believe it’s been 15 years since we graduated??!

Playing this time was a bit hairy with the kids but we did it. Patty agreed to watch the kids and bring them to Bellingham for our opening ceremony and first evening. Then she would bring Allison to a couple meals on Saturday for feeding. I pumped other times during the weekend. We got some really interesting looks as we hung in the lobby the first afternoon with the kids and ate dinner with them before the evening festivities.

The irony of this Game is that I had been running 3-4 times a week for 10 weeks to get in shape for this event. My one key physical moment? I had to do the limbo the last morning. My back is still protesting. 🙂

The good news – The garage bay for the mini-van is almost clean. You can now walk thru the den without stepping on anything. And, we’ve returned just about everything to where it needs to go.

We just need to get thru our first week of pre-school and Labor Day and the summer will officially be over. In some ways, it’ll be a bummer not to have the flexibility of summer. On the other hand, I’m looking forward to having a more structured day for Katherine and having her learn social and academic lessons at school.

I’ll post more news early next week as our pre-school adventures unfold.

Our family visited Cannon Beach this past week. Katherine and Steve “chased waves” and flew their kites. I spent most of my time getting sand out of Allison’s hair and clothes. 🙂

The trip to and from Cannon Beach was uneventful with Katherine watching several movies in the car. True to tradition, we stopped at McDonalds for a couple meals – only happens once every several years.

What else? Katherine played with her friends digging in muddy sand and running through the waves. On our last day, she and Steve explored the tide pools. We bought firewood and s’mores package from the resort and stayed up until 9PM roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Allison was a total trooper, snoozing under umbrellas on the beach and getting sandy every time a child would play too close to her or the wind would blow under the umbrella.

Getting bigger and growing up

Allison is growing up so quickly. She spends 10 or 15 minutes at a time on her mat batting her toys. She also is content to lay on her tummy, occasionally raising her head or legs. With some assistance, Allison can rock herself and flip onto her belly.

Last night she slept 9.5 hours – what a trooper! I woke up at 4AM to see her rustle, wave her hand around, finally get her thumb in her mouth and fall back into a deep sleep.

Putting Allison down for naps is getting easier. Whereas she would have previously woken up and cried, now she can console herself with her thumb. It’s a wonderful thing.