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Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving 2005

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, despite our fifth preschool cold making its way thru the family. The Sunday preceding T-Day, Katherine complained of a sore throat and sported a 101 fever on Monday morning. She stayed home from preschool both Monday and Tuesday, which was grueling for Patty and me, and missed her stone soup exercise at school.

On Wednesday, I kept both kids busy, playing lots of board games/puzzles and taking the kids to the local shopping mall for Katherine’s haircut. That evening, Sharon and Jamey arrived to the delight of Katherine. “Hi Uncle Jamey…we’re going to make pie!!”

It was a pretty low key day, which was great, since the preschool cold was making its way thru the house. (I managed to fight it off after several days with only a nice residual cough.) We went to my mom’s house for hot pot, pumpkin pie and cheesecake.

Friday: the family trooped to the local mall for posed pictures. Steve also went nuts and made a full turkey dinner!

Saturday: we took the kids to a local photographer for b&w pictures, to Chinatown for noodles/groceries and then my mom’s for a birthday dinner (yes, mine).

Sunday: we went shopping again for my birthday gift (grin) and then went to an informal dinner out with Steve’s parents, grandfather, my mom and the kids.

The girls were exhausted with all the excitement, taking full afternoon naps each day starting Sunday and thru today as well.

Allison’s developments

Allison now has another reason to be cranky. Her second bottom tooth started to cut through early last week! Poor kid didn’t want to be put down. Everytime I would put her down she’d yell at me and fuss until I picked her up. She didn’t want to sleep at all, and we finally resorted to Children’s Tylenol to help.

Allison has a new endearing trait…shrieking. She seems perfectly happy but screeches at us. Both Patty and I swear that we’re going to lose our hearing at this rate. Steve claims that Katherine did this as well, but I must have blocked this out.

Behind the Mirror

I went to visit Katherine’s classroom today with Steve’s mom. We observed for over 90 minutes watching the children go thru a “work cycle” and then hit circle time. Great news is that Katherine’s concentration and ability to work in the Montessori environment is much greater. There were some pretty funny moments…visiting the snack table periodically to see if she could grab a spot, having to revisit her work area four times to finish cleaning up, and watching the teacher and other children dancing (trying to figure out the movements). Her classroom participation / work is really night and day compared to late September…which is great.

2 Month Checkup & 4 Shots!

Allison has been growing up a storm. She measured 22″ (0.5″ growth) and 9.5 lbs (over 1.5 lbs increase). She’s a bit shorter than Katherine at 2 months – at 50% height and 25% weight. Her pediatrician looked her over and pronounced her in great health. We’re still waiting for her chirping, wheezing to go away entirely. Mom and Patty think that it’s letting up and less severe, but I really can’t tell anymore.

The toughest part of the checkup were the 2 shots in each leg and the aftereffects. That evening, before Steve arrived home, Allison just melted down for 30 minutes crying and crying. The next day she urped once with my mom, another time in the afternoon and then once more after her bath. Yes – vomiting is a side effect of the vaccinations. ๐Ÿ™‚ She also melted down for another half an hour that afternoon at a friends home. I’m so glad that vaccinations are over for the next several months.

Summer Camp

The fourth of July was eventful. Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jamey came to visit from Boston. Katherine was sooo excited. She took them to the Museum of Flight and raspberry picking. They showed Katherine how to make yummy pies.

The most apprehensive part of the weekend was….summer camp! Katherine headed off to 4 days of Montessori preschool just down the hill. As she put it, “I only cried a little bit.” Despite our description of preschool, she was under the impression that I would stay at school with her. The first day I walked her down to the little classroom and watched as the teacher told Katherine where to find the bathroom, the snack table and the pets. A few minutes later, when the teacher was showing Katherine one of the tanks, I gave Katherine a kiss and told her that I’d be back soon. Apparently she cried a few times that morning because she wanted me to play with her there. As I pulled up to pick her up I saw the children hold hands, cross the little walkway two by two to the gated playground. Poor Katherine had a tear stained face and was first in line with an older girl. I arrived at the gate to find Katherine standing a few feet away “Mommy!!” On the way home she told me “boy told me to go away. I covered my eyes with my hands and cried.” I asked the teacher about this the next day to find out if there were sharing issues to learn that Katherine had been watching the children work on their projects – and that not all were comfortable with that. This was a great opportunity to teach Katherine a coping skill although it was too bad to see her sad about this experience.

Thankfully, Katherine still wanted to go to school the next few days – with a few tears here and there during the morning. The last day she clung to me, and the teacher had to carry her crying down the stairs to the classroom. I talked to the teacher afterwards who said that she needed to work on putting things away, but did extremely well given that she never had been in daycare and that she had no accidents during the week! Needless to say we’re working on consistently putting project materials and toys away.

Picking Fruit

It’s been a great summer for picking fruit. After our first strawberry adventure, the girls and I took the grandparents strawberry picking. Then, over the Fourth weekend, the entire Chang family went raspberry picking at Remlinger Farms. Allison stayed in her car seat with a blanket hanging over it for shade as she sat below the bushes. Katherine ran up and down each row, picking raspberries, putting them in her little cardboard box. Occasionally she would drop her box of fruit and we’d hear her loudly exclaim “Oh no…I dropped my berries!” After filling a box, she’d find Jamey and dump them into one of two cardboard boxes. The raspberries tasted GREAT, and I made some pretty tasty freezer jam. We had enough left over to freeze at least 5 or 6 pounds of fresh fruit.

Learning to Swim

Katherine is now a regular at the community center pool where my mom lives. She’s learning with Patty how to blow bubbles and kick in the water. The pool is zero entry which means that she can run into the “small pool” and then splash around. Typically she’ll then get out and demand to go into the “big pool.” Our goal is for her to be a lot more comfortable in the water – hopefully we’ll get there by the end of the summer!

Allison Sarah Bush, Day 2

Day 2 for Allison. Last night Allison slept well for a newborn, waking up every 2-3 hours for “check-ups” by the hospital staff. Steve and Christine got a decent night’s sleep, all things considered. We’re tired but not exhausted.

It’s all coming back to us. We experienced a lot of firsts for Allison today: wet and dirty diapers, breast feeding, yawns, sneezes, fake smiles, turns to the light, etc. The second child is just as rewarding as the first. We missed a lot of “firsts” with Katherine as we were exhausted. It also gives us the opportunity to relive Katherine’s birth and Allison’s own growth plan.

Christine is recovering well from C section delivery. She’s been detached from all of the cords tying her down and is able to move around the room pretty well. Christine and Allison are mastering the art of breast feeding, every child has their own eating preferences.

Steve is spending his time in support of Christine and Allison, posting pictures to the web site and trying to tie up loose ends at work. He’s looking forward to finishing the open items in his parental leave transition plan so he can enjoy spending quality time with Christine, Allison, and Katherine. The people at Pure Networks have been fabulous in picking up any unresolved tasks.

Katherine visited Allison at the hospital today. Grandma Chang and Patty have been taking care of Katherine at the house. Katherine has missed mom and dad dearly and was really excited to meet her new baby sister. Dad met Katherine in the lobby and spent some quality time with her before bringing her back with Patty and Grandma Chang to the room. At Toby school, Katherine stood up during circle time and declared to all that she was a big sister now. Patty and Grandma Chang gushed with pride.

Katherine literally gazed at Allison in awe. It was a beautiful sight. She’s truly a proud big sister and will nurture Allison through her growing years. As a parent, it’s truly amazing to see the sister bond start to form. Katherine will be a great big sister.

Grandma Chang couldn’t wait to hold Allison. She beamed with excitement for new new granddaughter. As a parent, it’s rewarding to see the joy a newborn brings to the lives of extended family.

Nanny Patty patiently waited her turn to hold Allison. We are truly blessed to have Patty as a caregiver. She’s shown great love and guidance for Katherine and helped Christine and I raise a well adjusted child. We’re looking forward to Patty’s help in raising Allison as well.

Mom and Allison are asleep as I write this. I’m publishing it now without Christine’s editorial approval so this entry may be improved later when she wakes up and reviews. ๐Ÿ™‚

Catching Up on Family Events

Our family blog is woefully out of date. I’ll also try to catch up on family events, not just Katherine developments, given everything that is happening.

December was a very busy month….

  • Our family flew to DC to help my mom finish packing and move to Redmond. Katherine learned how to use a camera and got into all sorts of things – packing tape, bubble wrap, etc. We got back to Washington just in time to spend a few days with Steve’s parents before New Years!
  • Steve was working hard getting ready for the launch of his product at CES among other activities.

January was even crazier…

  • Steve went to CES (see his blog entries), caught the crud that’s going around, which developed into a bronchial infection just in time for our vacation!
  • Steve, Katherine and I went with the LeVines to Oahu and Maui for a week. The trip was long, even traveling first class, and the passengers behind us told us about how hard it was to travel with their 4 children years ago. (Hmmm…) Katherine and Sid played on the beach. Steve and Eric learned to surf. Steve caught a sand crab, which we didn’t get a picture of unfortunately. Katherine developed a strong appreciation for sea creatures and learned all about sting rays, sharks, dolphins, etc. The trip back was more hellacious since we got in at 1AM, but in all the trip was well worth it. We learned a ton about how to and how not to travel with Katherine to a vacation destination, just in time for #2.
  • Our radiologist confirmed that #2 will be a girl. ๐Ÿ™‚

Our focus in February is on pre-schools and getting ready for the next child.

  • Steve and I have gone to six open houses so far for preschools and I’ve submitted 3 applications for next September. Fingers crossed that plan A or B pans out for next year.
  • Katherine is growing up so fast. She now sleeps thru the night in her junior bed. We moved her stuff to the old guest room this weekend, so she has her own room. I’m also weeding thru Katherine’s old baby stuff and figuring out what we need to do before May.
  • Katherine just started gymnastics class and she’s fearless. She loves the balance beam and jumping into a foam pit that the gym uses to teach equipment to more advanced kids.

Katherine Developments

Katherine is talking like a little person these days. Today while in her car seat, she recited the days of the week and months in the year. According to her calendar, her birthday is in February and the months of June and November don’t exist. Also, there are only 5 days in the week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. She’s trying really hard though. ๐Ÿ™‚

She’s also picked up different songs that she changes at whim. She recently started singing the Old MacDonald song, “EIEIO”, where the farmer has a chicken that says “moo,” and all sorts of other non-farm creatures. Other favorites are John Jingle Heimer Schmidt and the Bingo song – repurposed to sing about Katherine and her dog Bisco.

Katherine loves to crack jokes. After the December Tiny Tots concert, she will say that Mama plays violin and Dada plays the sippy cup! Sometimes, he plays the trombone or tuba. She finds ridiculous ideas funny and just starts to crack up. For instance, Steve was reading a book about a girl who has diarrhea among other troubles and is moody (learning about emotions). Katherine just laughed up a storm tonight – and I don’t think she has any idea what that is!

She really started speaking in full sentences right before the holidays (5, 6, 7 word sentences), and her verbal skills are continuing to progress. She asks “Why” all the time. Tonight, she asked “Why Santa in sleigh?” She’ll keep asking until she gets an answer that makes sense. Along with this is her attempt to reason or negotiate with me and Steve and do Everything Herself (ex. “Me [insert verb] myself”).

Key areas for development are still around sharing and resisting the urge to grab toys from others when she’s excited and a bit of stranger anxiety when she’s not with a primary caregiver. We’ll keep working on it.

More ABC progress

Ironically, Katherine had a big breakthrough with her ABCs with her Aunt Sharon…over the phone. I called Sharon, after Katherine said she wanted to talk to “Ayee.” Katherine promptly said her entire ABCs, excluding M and N. She said R, not forgetting TUV. I guess childraising is about small victories. I think we’ll have the ABCs down in a couple weeks – not bad for just 2 years old!!

Big Girl Potty

Katherine’s cousin, Kevin, visited yesterday afternoon. We had a small resource constraint when both children decided that they had to go “pee.” So, I put Katherine on her new potty seat on the “big potty” and told her not to go anywhere. I accompanied Kevin upstairs, unlocked the potty and made sure he washed his hands. As we headed downstairs, I heard a big bang and FLUSH. Katherine had gone pee, wiped herself, jumped off the potty, pulled off her little seat, dropped the toilet seat and then flushed everything. She’s growing up so quickly, and is starting to object to diapers – wanting instead to wear undies during the day and at night.

Horse Jackets and Fog

Katherine has amazing comprehension and retention these days. On the way home from the grandparents houses, we pass by a horse farm that often has the horses wrapped in blankets. We’ve talked about it, and Katherine understands that the horses get “cold” and need “jackets.” Today, as we buzzed down another road, I asked her what animals we would see at another farm. She said “horses in jackets.” We’ve also talked about fog and she explains that “foggy…hard to see.”

Katherine’s Play Weekend

We spent much of the weekend with Katherine’s playmates. Friday evening we rode thru the watershed and ended up at a local restaurant for dinner. It’s funny to note that Katherine hadn’t been very excited about eating a quesadilla. However, once Audrey started eating her quesadilla, Katherine stuffed at least half of her down. Steve also ordered Katherine a side of guac, so she spent much of the dinner double, triple dipping chips in her guac. We also headed over to a nearby park, where the girls zipped down the slides and ran around in general. Katherine definitely wanted to imitate Audrey, deciding she wanted to sit in the choo choo rocker just like her friend. Needless to say, Katherine slept very well this weekend – all through the night no issues. ๐Ÿ™‚

Yesterday, we visited Queen Anne, where we rode with friends to the fish ladder and then to lunch down in Magnolia. Katherine was not terribly psyched about the trip, as we cycled along roads with cars. Biking behind Steve, I heard her say “out out out out…” for a good minute before squawking and then resignedly sucking her thumb. She got a big kick out of the fish “jump jump” and walking with her friend Sid. We then got back in our bikes, ate a leisurely meal (Katherine was on a tear with her food), and then cycling back up the hill. That was rather painful after lunch but we got Katherine back in the car by 2:00 for a super late nap.

Today we went to a park in Mercer Island where we spent an hour. I guess Katherine got more sun and heat than we thought because she slept 2.5 hours and woke up very hot. After she ran around for a while, we went to a friends’ house for dinner. Katherine was very much beside herself, and wanted to be held all afternoon. She didn’t want to eat and didn’t want to play. We left early and tried to cool Katherine down with a cool bath (hated it). Steve ended up holding her for an hour and I convinced Katherine to eat some corn on the cob and drink juice before she fell asleep out on our bed.