Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ssshhhhhh

"Party girl" Lily may try to emulate my social butterfly of a mother, but Anna seems to be more like hers. Yours truly.

While Lily was off raging it up at her friend Katy's house during Wednesday's snow day, Anna and I were kicking it at home. I tried to get a head start on the mountain of dishes that have taken up residence in my kitchen sink, so poor Anna was stuck in the exersaucer for a bit. One minute she was wildly jumping and "talking" loudly. The next minute she was asleep. Sound asleep. Sitting up.


Perhaps Noah will have to warn her future significant other about how lonely Saturday night's are when your wife falls asleep on the living room couch exactly 10 minutes after you put the DVD in to the machine. Of course, that's after he warns every living creature that walks on two legs to stay away from his baby until she's at least 40!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Dinnertime at the Zoo

I'm constantly amazed by Anna's RAPID progression (far too rapid if you ask me) through the baby stages. I'm sure this is common for younger siblings. I mean, Lily only had two grown-ups to learn from so it took all of 12 months to potty train her. But Anna...well she has a four year old to learn from, so she's hitting milestone after milestone before I can even blog about it!

The latest in our world is food. Real food that is. While we still have to be extremely careful about foods in an attempt to outsmart those evil allergy devils that are lurking, Anna is allowed to partake in much of what we're eating ourselves these days.

Is she happy about her transition from jarred purees to finger food? Y.E.S. Yes, yes, yes!

In fact, it's really the only thing that quiets our very talkative (and LOUD) baby. I've never seen someone enjoy herself so much.

Tonight's menu -- orzo and roasted chicken. I had more fun watching her than I did eating myself.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Still Life

Truffula trees in water By Lily (18x24)

When asked what activity she wanted to do this winter, Lily was emphatic. Swimming? No. Didn't want to get wet. Gymnastics? No. Not in the mood. Music? No. No reason given. What she wanted to do -- and what she asked for for weeks -- was art.

Um...talk about genes. Nature vs. nurture? I guess in this case it's both. One of Lily's first books was a children's story about Picasso and Matisse -- with a slight barnyard twist. When Pigasso Met Mootise. And then, of course, there's my mother who missed her chance at an art prodigy with me; I'm sure she's been channeling creative energy at Lily since she found out that I was pregnant!

So I signed Lily up for a Dad & Tot art class through Arlington County, which was an adventure in and of itself (classes, especially in the winter session, are full within an hour of the online registration opening). Apparently I neglected to tell Noah to wear his painting clothes, so he did come home with a few red splotches on his absolutely favorite jeans. But that's not as bad as last winter when I told him that parents were supposed to be IN the pool with the kids during swim class. And reminded him that pool rules stated you have to shower first. So he showed up with Lily, on the first day of class, dripping wet in his swim suit, to find all the other parent "escorts" bone dry in their business suits. Oops. I guess I hadn't read the fine print on that class registration confirmation...

Week 1 of "Operation Artistic Endeavor" was a big success. Topic -- still life. Most favorite moment -- finding the super sparkly gold paint before any of the other kids. Next week -- clay creations.

And I don't know you about you, but I think that Lily might actually have gotten my mother's talent. Or maybe it's just because I'm her mother, but I was impressed! I mean, I can actually tell what it is. Not bad for four.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Peace Out Mr. Bush!

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, ggggoooooddddeeee-bye!

Sayonara.

AdiĆ³s.

Ciao.

M'asselema.

Hatahana.

Ta-ta.

Au revoir.

Cheerio.

Vaarwel.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hail to the Chief



This insanely incredible day in our nation's -- our world's -- history started off on a less than incredible note. It started with a trip for Anna and me to the pediatrician's office. With three visits in the last week, I think that I deserve my own reserved parking space. At least parking is free; one of the benefits of suburban living for all you urbanites who claim you could never move across the river!

I knew that Anna was sick, but I didn't realize just how sick she was. With a raging infection in her left ear, and oxygen levels below 90% thanks to her wicked cough and awful wheezing, we narrowly missed a trip to our local emergency room. 2 hours, 2 nebulizer treatments and 1 teaspoon of oral steroids later, we were released with strict instructions to neb her every 4 hours. And to drive home quickly so that we didn't miss any more of the pre-swearing in live coverage!

With Lily clad in her "Obama is My President" shirt, and Anna sporting her "I drool for Obama" bib, we were all set to experience this moment in history from the comfort of our living room. Hey, we might be a mere 6 miles from the swearing in ceremony, but we were warm AND had some of the best seats in town thanks to MSNBC. Unfortunately, high definition TV isn't kind to some people, including several who jumped out at us from the TV screen today.




Since we weren't heading down to the Mall to experience Obama-mania live, I decided to make our home-based celebration a bit more festive by buying an Obama cookie for Lily. Which she could eat right after the word "elect" had been officially removed from after HIS name. But I apparently forgot to mention that part to Noah. So this is what I discovered at 11 a.m. when I got back from the post-pediatrician's office pharmacy run... (Um, cookies for breakfast??)


And this is what I discovered on the kitchen counter after Noah ran a few post-swearing in ceremony errands. A box of three fresh gigantic Obama treats!



Official counts are not yet in, but guesstimates have the crowd numbers just south of 2 million. Which is mind-boggling. Even for a city as large as ours.

Today was an indescribable day. It was an amazing day. A day that has changed our historical landscape worldwide. Today is a day that while Lily and Anna may not remember in detail (or at all -- hence no overwhelming guilt at not making the FREEZING trek to the Mall), it is a day that they experienced. A day that they celebrated. And a day that they'll learn about in their high school history class. And for my girls, hopefully today means that the thick glass ceiling that hangs above our heads just got a little bit higher.

PS -- we got our party started on Sunday, "gettin' jiggy" during the amazing Lincoln Memorial concert!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Leave it to Beaver

Or leave it to Lily. She's in a huge "I can do it by myself" phase right now. She prides herself on doing things -- anything -- by herself.


Bonus if she's not asked to do it (a rare...extremely rare occurrence).



SUPER bonus if it's not something she's supposed to be doing. Like going through my china cabinet. Or, apparently, "styling" the baby's hair.



Recently I had put Anna in her crib so that I could go answer the phone. It was a safe place to leave her for a minute. Or so I thought.


When after a few minutes I realized that the house was pretty quiet, I knew that Lily had to be up to something. For sure. And disappoint me she did not. Although I suppose it could have been worse. MUCH worse. Thankfully she got a spray bottle and brush and not, oh say, a pair of scissors. But I've got to say that the final "Leave it to Beaver doo" left a lot to be desired!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Twilight Zone

Back before you got married -- if you're married -- when you were dating someone, did you ever wonder what your life would be like if you two ended up together? Where would you live? What would your kids look like? Come on...admit it. Who DIDN'T wonder that!

Well I need wonder no longer. For today, when I took Anna to the pediatrician's for her 9 month appointment, I saw my ex-boyfriend. Only he was a she. In bobby socks and patent leather mary janes. And she was about two years old. Honestly, it was one of the weirdest experiences I have had lately...heck, ever.

When I signed in for our appointment -- early, hoping that they would take me early (as if!) because I had a critical client conference call exactly 50 minutes after Anna's appointment was set to begin thatI had to BE HOME for -- I noticed a familiar name in the parent column on the sign-in sheet. And while I won't divulge the name on this blog, it's not exactly "Jennifer Smith" or "Sarah Jones" or something leaning towards more common. It's not impossible that more than one person exists with this combination of first name and last, but the likelihood that there are two of them in the DC metro area isn't great. I would say that the likelihood is in the low single digits.

While I do know her name, I have never met the woman who married my ex. Thankfully. Because this means that I haven't seen him in ages. And that's a good thing. I had no idea if I was sitting next to her, would pass her in the hall, or would miss her entirely. But when I saw the little girl, there was no mistaking it. Totally biazrro; she looks exactly like her father. Hands down -- a thousand times over -- my kids knock the bobby socks off of her. Is that too awful to admit out loud? My kids are WAY cuter than his!

After recovering from this bizarre encounter, I made it through the appointment AND made it home in time to call my client while sitting in front of my computer. With about 12 seconds to spare. Poor Anna had to play in her crib -- with the bedroom door closed so as to muffle any cries that could potentially (and did) erupt -- while I was talking to a pretty important executive from a very big company about incredibly complicated and technical things. What a day.

And to round out the bizarreness, I was floored when they put Anna on the scale today. While her weigh-ins have been nearly identical to Lily's to date -- except for their birth weights, but they only differed by 3 ounces -- Anna weighed in today at 20 pounds 1 ounce and measured 29 inches. Lily, on the other hand, rocked the scales at 23 pounds 1 ounce, and only 27 3/4 inches, at her nine month appointment. Anna is long and "lean," at least by Israel baby standards!

Anna @ 9 months (thankfully her nose is a bit better today -- this picture, though, is from her 9 month "birthday")

Lily @ 9 months -- my rolly polly baby

Monday, January 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Loly!

We wished that we were in Kentucky today to help celebrate Lois Anne's (AKA the famous LOLY!!) birthday, but we're all stuck in Virginia going to work and school. How boring.

Since we couldn't be there in person, Lily decided we should send a video greeting.

So, to all of you out there, Internet, please help us sing!



Lots of birthday hugs and kisses, LAP. We LOVE you!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

You Should Have Seen the Other Kid...

For the second time now, Anna's face has had a tragic encounter with our living room floor. Unfortunately for her, the area rug that we have by the couches isn't a nice fluffy one but a thin tapestry-type one that's more for show than, clearly, comfort. Especially for noses.




This time it happened on Noah's watch. Amazingly, he and Lily were sitting right next to Anna on the couch. We still don't know how this happened. Suffice it to say, she's fast. And now on probation -- she's no longer allowed to be more than 3 inches off of the floor unless she's totally strapped in. This kid can't be trusted. And neither can we.


Especially at this time of year, I fear that she'll get teased. Rudolph the Red Nosed Baby...

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Holiday Highlights, Part Deux

Since poor Lily had been a fairly good sport, putting up with two sick parents for much of the week, I decided to drag my infected sinus, pink eyed self out on a little kiddie-centered outing. And where better than a spot we'd never been before...but had often talked about...the Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport.

Lily was thrilled when she heard about our destination; off we went. Anna napped in the car as we drove the half hour to the airport. Lily talked. Nonstop. About how she was going to ride in an airplane once we got there. Because Nettie told her that you could ride in airplanes at this museum. Lord I hoped this was true!

We arrived at the "free" museum (they get you with the $12 parking fee) without a hitch, thanks to my handy friend Ms. GPS. For those of you who haven't been there, it is a stunningly beautiful building in the landing path of international flights bound for IAD (Dulles Airport in FAA speak). Off we went to find a plane...any plane...to "ride" in.

The museum is housed in a large airplane hanger-type building. There are dozens of planes, from all ages, that scatter the lower level as well as at least that many suspended from the ceiling. Lily and I were both stunned by the sight when we first entered the building. We immediately ran down the ramp, practically capsizing Anna's stroller in the process, off in search of the plane. We were in great shape until we got down to the bottom of the ramp. Lily froze. In terror. I have never seen her react like that to anything -- my child is not exactly the timid type -- but she was paralyzed by fear. Afraid that one of the planes was going to fall on her head. Not even astronaut ice cream could make her feel better.

Since the visit was headed downhill, and fast, I knew that I had to find something for her to ride in. Since, contrary to the tales my mother had told her, you cannot ride in a plane at the museum, I had to figure out a Plan B. Even faster. So off we went to the simulators, where the woman selling tickets promised me that one of the rides was appropriate for a four year old. And a baby. And only one parent between them. $14 later, we were headed for the machine and a six minute "ride" in an "airplane." I'll spare you the details, but about 45 seconds in to the simulator ride, I had to hit the emergency stop button. The three of us emerged, Anna clinging to me for dear life, Lily a pale shade of green, and me sweating through my clothes. Please heed my warning and DO NOT believe salespeople who are likely incentivized to sell unsuspecting moms tickets to their NIGHTMARE of a machine. It is most certainly not appropriate. For women, children, babies or lunatics either.

The McDonald's McCafe saved us. Sort of. Lily wanted to go home. Immediately. I think most of the people there knew that she had had enough.



The following day was our last for vacation. Where had the two weeks gone? Since Noah and I didn't think that we could hear one more "I'm BBOOORRREEDDD!" we decided to pack it in and head to the Baltimore Aquarium. Surely fish would be a bigger hit than airplanes.


They were. Sort of. Anna was completely enthralled by the exhibits. She barely blinked during the dolphin show.





Lily was a bit more relaxed at this museum than she had been the day before. We actually got a few smiles out of her, although we weren't permitted to take any photos. "Don't even think about it!" was her warning. A reflection, here and there, was about all Noah was able to sneak.

At four, she's even learned the art of "talk to the hand."

But that's ok. Perhaps Lily will warm up on her next trip to the Aquarium. Or the one after that. After being tortured by a bored preschooler during her winter vacation, I decided to get a family membership to the Baltimore Aquarium. Because Winter is long. And it's just January. And there's no way that we're going to make it to Spring with Lily climbing the walls in Arlington. Charm City -- I hope you're ready for Madam Lily!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Here She Comes!

Today was a big day. For the first time in 3 years and 10 months, I drove to work today by myself. No little person in the car with me. No one cooing from their carseat. No one complaining about this schoolmate or that one. But, also, no one to talk to. No one to sing to me. I was totally on my own because, for the first time, both of the kids are now in "school" close to home. No more going downtown for them.

Because I was in the car by myself, I was no longer able to hop on to Rte 66 (HOV restrictions don't lift until 9 a.m., and that is one $500 ticket I don't think I'd be able to argue my way out of!). By changing Anna's daycare, my commute and garage also changed. And this is coming from someone who isn't a big fan of change...

I think that half of the expected 4,000,000 people have arrived early for Obama's inauguration. Perhaps they heard that he moved to town over the weekend so that his kids could start school today. I don't know what it was, but traffic was a NIGHTMARE. Oh how badly I wanted to hop on to that lovely (and usually traffic free) HOV highway!



By all reports, though, Anna had a fabulous first full day at her new daycare. She had two nice, long naps. She ate well and she officially started crawling. For real this time! Not scooting on her tush. Not wiggling on her belly. She's now up on her hands and knees and moving faster than I would like. And proud. Boy is she proud of herself!



Seeing her smiles and listing to her squeals more than made up for my awful commute this morning. Now if only tomorrow could be a little bit better...

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Holiday Highlights

There's so much to say about our holiday adventures... Too much to say. And too many other posts that need to be written. So before I just throw in the towel and move on to things more current, I thought that I'd "cheat" just a little and post a pictoral timeline for you. Lily's holiday concert, on the other hand, deserves a posting of its own. With video. THAT I do promise you. Later, most likely, than sooner...but you will have it before too much longer. It was a stitch, and you deserve to see AND hear it!

In the meantime, I will give you my photos to narrate what we did over our two week hiatus from life. It's hard to believe that we've been away from school/work for two weeks. I can't believe that we will all rejoin our real lives tomorrow.

As much fun as we had over the past two weeks, I am yet again reminded about how incredible important -- SO. VERY. IMPORTANT. -- schedules are to children. And since schedules are the first things that are abandoned on vacation by 99.99 percent of civilized individuals -- Noah and I included -- Lily is just about climbing the walls right now. Two weeks of no routine = a very hot and bothered four year old. Who has forgotten how to speak like a normal human being and now immediately slips in to the W.H.I.N.E. Which I hate more than cleaning up vomit or poop.

But before I digress too much, let me highlight our holidays...

We started the 2008 holiday season a little bit early, celebrating Hanukkah with our cousins before they left for Florida. So while the rest of the world had yet to light one candle, we joined them for night four.

And as diligent as we were sticking to the dates on the calendar (what's a date, anyway...), the girls were delighted with their very "Jewish" nutcracker gifts!

We then had an awesome "Christmasukkah" celebration at my father's house on the 24th -- even Uncle Alfie was in town! -- with an early dinner so that we could hit the road for Vermont. We left at 8:15 p.m. and had 9 hours of driving ahead of us. You do the math... Yes, Noah drove all night long.


Not 20 minutes in to our late-night drive-a-thon and Noah realized that of the 12 million things that he had managed to pack in to and on top of the car, the one item that had been left behind was Anna's pack 'n play. Which, sadly, was something that we couldn't live without. Even more sad was the discovery that none of our friends in Vermont still have theirs. Hugh buh-mer!

Since it was Christmas Eve and we knew that no stores would be open on Christmas Day, we took a 45 minute detour to a GPS-found K-Mart somewhere just outside of Baltimore (in hindsight, yes, we should have gone home to get ours when we first made the discovery....oh well, hindsight is 20/20), 1 hour before it closed for the holidays. I'll save my editorial comments for another less public means of communication, but suffice it to say it was a cultural experience. Can't remember the last time I was in a K-Mart (don't forget that "Tarjay" is one of my favorite stores), no less one in "the hood." But I did manage to find one pack 'n play that passed my mommy-test, and after regretfully shelling out $75 for it we were back on the road.

We arrived in Vermont at 5:45 a.m. I still can't believe that we made it without stopping to sleep in some nameless hotel somewhere in the middle of nowhere. But we did make it. Noah was the driving hero. The kids slept for most of the trip. Sort of. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but so did I.

6 hours after we arrived we landed in the ER. Somehow Lily's elbow came slightly unaligned when I was helping her to her feet while getting her dressed. I can now say without hesitation that as awful as it is to see your child in pain, knowing that you, essentially, caused that pain is SO. MUCH. WORSE! Clutching her arm against her, Lily kept looking at me and, through her tears and sobs, asking me why I hurt her. Oy, GUT WRENCHING GUILT. I think that my heart hurt more than her elbow. Thankfully, though, it slipped back in as easily as it slipped out. While we were waiting in the ER for the doctor. On Christmas morning no less. Now THAT was a miracle!



We didn't let our early fumble ruin the trip. We had great fun with family -- Aunt Sara made the trip from NYC, making this the first time that the entire family had been together in a long, long time! -- and with friends. Lily was completely in love with the snow. And, of course, the post snow playing/sledding hot chocolates.



I think that Lily is an addict. A snow addict. We had a hard time getting her inside.


Snow angel in the making...

Snowball fight in the making...


And through it all, Anna slept...


We returned home a little early, which sadly meant that we weren't able to go see our New Hampshire friends, but with sinus infections (Noah and me), pink eye infections (Anna and me), and bouts of wheezing (Anna), I think that we were ready to get back to our own house.

Amazingly, in the blink of an eye, the second week of our two week vacation disappeared. I don't know where it went. It probably snuck by us while we were consuming two bottles of eye drop antibiotics and one Z-pack; using 7 large boxes of Puffs plus Lotion; doing 12 loads of laundry (not an exaggeration); and dealing with one bored four year old.

I wish that we hadn't been sick for the holidays. But, then again, I can honestly say that I'm well rested and, amazingly, relaxed. I got to spend 2 nice, long weeks with my family. And as stir-crazy as she is, tonight Lily told me that she was happy because she loves being around us. Just when you're ready to toss them to the curb with the recycling....god I love that kid!

 
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