Shenandoah and the Solo November 6, 2011

We’ve had a bunch of stuff going on that I’ve been wanting to write about but I forget to do it all….

• Last weekend, my parents visited and Patrick and I had planned to go camping in Shenandoah National Park. Had being the operative word. We got up there and the trees were beautiful. We went on a long hike past some waterfalls and then we got kind of turned around and ended up doing a much longer hike than we had intended to do. By the time we got back to the car, it was snowing. By the time we got to our campsite, it was snowing harder. We didn’t have our air mattresses because we had thought they were in Charlottesville, but I guess they were at home. The campground host came by and told us the weather service had revised the forecast and they were predicting a foot of snow! So we left.
• Our friends Bonny and Scott visited.

With FDR's Dog

We had so much fun with them. First we played some Settlers of Catan. We ate some delicious hummus (which Seamus will eat as long as it’s called dip and not hummus), baba ganoush, and pita. On Friday when they were here, we went to Eastern Market, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Supreme Court, the FDR memorial, and the new MLK memorial.

• Patrick’s been in Albuquerque the last two days. I’m on my third day of having the boys full time by myself. I was very worried about the time change, but we seem to have weathered it okay so far. We’ve been walking to parks. We went over to Del Ray and walked around and my friend brought her baby over and we went to the park and played with a fire engine. It’s been fun, mostly. Last night for dinner we had guacamole, salsa, chips, cheese, crackers, and grapes. Very well balanced. Aside from that, I hope Patrick’s having fun and accomplishing a lot in ABQ. Seamus, when P told him that he was going to New Mexico, thought about it and said, “I want to go with you.” He really misses NM and his friends.
• Gilbert does a few physical comedy things. He’ll bend dow and put his head on the floor if you tell him to do a headstand. He alternately stomps his feet if you say Dance! And he also says hot, bowl, and spoon.
• Seamus started playing with Liz’s phone the other night. She has some kind of cupcake making app that he loved.

Registering a Car in Virginia August 3, 2011

Is a giant pain.

First you have to have a car.

Then you have to get inspected, injected, infected, and ne-glected. Or not. Actually you do have to get and inspection, but before that, you try to anticipate any problems with the machinery that the inspection will turn up.

We got new tires for the Mazda. And a new windshield. Cause apparently, it’s safer to drive around without a giant crack along the driver’s line of sight that reflects a lot of sunlight. Did you know that people will come to your house to replace windshield glass? I guess they’d also do it at your office (or as S says, “Oppice”).

P made four trips to the DMV. An insurance card with your address is not acceptable for establishing residency. FYI.

It’s been a long process, but we now have VA plates on both cars (incidentally, on both the front and the back!)

Here’s How the Day Goes July 21, 2011

With P in Grand Rapids at a conference, I’ve been flying solo with the boys for oh, 37 hours. It is not so bad, but I suspect that’s because they’re napping at the same time and P’s dad comes over to help with dinner/bed routine.

Yesterday was a day in the house because we were waiting for the Verizon tech to hook up the internet. Then it was too hot to do anything else. I used kitchen projects to entertain the boys. Lasagne and hummus. Went pretty well until Seamus wanted to touch everything I was putting in the lasagne. He’s had a couple of time outs now for not listening. It’s probably not the parenting ideal because it’s so general and a less defined rule than I would like, but so be it. There are things we can’t take away from him. For instance, if he’s playing with a key and jabs me or something else with it, I take it away. If he’s turning the power cord for the computer off, then I can’t take it away or put it somewhere else. Blah. Not interesting.

We went to a really cool park today that was close by. It comes on the heels of reading some article in the New York Times about “Can a Playground be too Safe?” I was intrigued by the article’s contention that we as a society have taken all the thrill out of a playground in the hopes of keeping children safe and keep them from falling and fearing heights. The article suggests that a fall actually helps overcome a fear of heights. I was excited to discover that this playground had two really big slides. (Read the article, then you’ll understand about the progression kids go through of pushing themselves to be daring and at the same time knowing their own limits.) We climbed up to them and Seamus studied them for a while and then proclaimed them too big to go down. BUT! He did want to try the zip line bar this time, after he was so scared of the monkey bars last time, so I got to see this article play out right in front of me. At this park, there were an astounding number of push toys, cars, ride on toys, and dump trucks. (I assume they were donated by individuals, not the city because some of them were in great shape and some left something to be desired, like another wheel…) He wore himself out by 8:30 am, so I ventured to Springfield without a GPS. It was a success.

Gilbert is walking. Or taking multiple steps. Kid is fearless. He also is hilarious trying to share his food with Seamus, us, and then popping it back in his mouth. He also does this funny thing where if I lay him down on the bed to swaddle him (yes, hahaha, I’m still swaddling an almost toddler, because it works!) he’ll start laughing delightedly and try to crawl to the head of the bed. Gil likes soft stuffed things more than S ever did, and he makes a point of grabbing them, burying his face in whatever it is–stuffed animal, blanket, pillow, pile of laundry–and cooing and laughing. He then rolls around, and sometimes he’s not even sleepy when he does this little dance.

Totally unrelated factoid: I’ve seen and talked to a lot more Eastern Europeans here in 2 weeks than my entire time in New Mexico.

Internet is Hooked Up! July 19, 2011

That is cause for celebration. And bad parenting. I got totally distracted by the internet today, only to discover that Gilbert was sitting behind me calmly eating incense. Oops. Lesson not learned. A few minutes later, I was still distracted, and I discovered that the boys are going to start ganging up on me. It’s inevitable. They had taken apart a pen and were chewing on small choke-able pieces (Gilbert) and doing body art/modification (Seamus). Mischief is easier when there are two. It did allow Seamus to start in on his favorite phrase of the moment, which is, “Oh good God, Gilbert!” He yells it. Loudly. In public. And private. Luckily it sounds more like, “Oh Dood Dod Dilbert” because Seamus’s Gs aren’t really in yet.

Why all the bad parenting you ask? It’s 97 degrees here, Patrick is on his way to Grand Rapids, and I have low tolerance/motivation for wrangling two boys outside in the heat and bugginess. And ahh, bliss, they are both sleeping now, for their simultaneous naptime.

Our house is doing the trick for us. We have two largish (very relative term) bedrooms, so Patrick and I share one and the boys share the other. I think they like sharing as I catch them talking to each other sometimes when they wake up. Seamus has serious friend deprivation going on. After a long conversation about where all his friends were, he told me very seriously, “Seamus doesn’t have any friends. I need new friends. Have to buy them at the store.” The upside is that he’s enjoying Gilbert’s company more and recruits him to play games. Today, after using the big potty (as opposed to his little potty) Seamus went into their bedroom, where I had stashed Gil in his crib to thwart his toilet-touching aplomb, climbed up in G’s crib and announced, “I pee peed in the big potty, Gilbert.” I guess sometimes you just have to tell someone.

The best thing that’s happened to us is that we have all this time to just be a family, with the exception of P’s departure this week.

Casualties of the move:

1. All of our plastic bowls. Can’t find em.

2. All of our nice glassware. Not broken or lost, but totally impractical for this small house and small hands.

3. The two Netflix discs I had. I found them!!! In my pump bag.

4. Our bank accounts.

5. Some sanity, but that’s returning.

6. And S is right. It’s hard going somewhere without all your friends.

However, we are lucky that many of our friends live in this area. I’ve learned to play lawn golf thanks to Liz and Ramon. I went to baby’s baptism, thanks to my friends Dan and Kathy and their cutie baby Finn.

Oh yeah, and we have a super small kitchen. But that doesn’t stop us! We made fresh pasta last night, cobblers, bread, and more!

Anti-DNR Post June 28, 2011

The blog is gasping for air. We will resuscitate.

Whew.

We’ve been in Charlottesville, VA exploring farmer’s markets, grocery stores, walking trails, lake beaches, and other exciting places. The boys are making leaps and bounds of progress, despite the uncertainty in which house we’ll be sleeping in tomorrow night, not to mention all next year.

Gilbert is really trying to walk. He took a first step at P’s dad’s house over the weekend. He’s been standing for a while, but this time, he lifted his foot and moved it forward. He also said “Ba” for ball. He says, “Bye bye” consistently when I hang up a phone or the little frog toy says it. He’s eating a ton, and we’re (finally) back to getting him to (mostly) sleep through the night. With the developmental leaps some some set backs. He has perfected pitching a fit every time he gets near his carseat. As in stiff as a board, screaming, will not bend his knees. He loves the pool, but he really only wants to swim with me. I tried to pass him off to someone and he made the worst Merritt sneer at him when I took him back. He’s willful, that one. Teething trouble hasn’t helped. I count four teeth breaking through right now.

Seamus is using complete sentences, sleeping in a big boy bed, and wearing big boy briefs all the time, except at night and long car rides. He, too, though is going through some unfortunate behavior. Every now and then, I’ll be sitting near him and he’ll look up and yell, “No, Mama. No mama sit.” And he doesn’t want me around. I’m cool with it (as much as can be expected) because I’ve heard it’s a part of developing independence, but we’re working on asking nicely. Other times he’s loving and funny, puckering up for kisses, and looking for people’s bellies to flubber. He did Gilbert’s this morning to general hilarity.

P and I spent the better part of Thursday and Friday looking for houses to rent in Arlington or Falls Church. I’m hoping we hear on this one soon because it’s only 3 miles from Marymount, 3 miles from Patrick’s dad, and there is an adorable little toddler park two blocks away. It’s also walkable (sort of, about a mile) to Orange Line Metro, and it’s right on the bike path. Notice I have said more about the location than the actual house. The house is small, but cute–the best part is no stairs for the boys.

Speaking of bike paths. Check out this website on biking the C & O canal. 330 miles without traffic from Pittsburg to DC! I really really want to go!

Now I have to go write 5,000 words on La Llorona.

Things I Miss Part One June 14, 2011

Lots of folks have asked if I’ll miss New Mexico. And the answer is some things. We’ll of course miss our friends, sunshine, and green chile. But mostly we’re excited to go East.

However, moving means packing up a bunch of stuff so you don’t have access to it. We really do have simple needs as humans: for instance, I’d be happy with a kichen with a coffee pot, a good bread knife, and food. You don’t need much else.

There are some things I miss.

1) Cloth diapers. I thought we were going to save them out so I’d have them to use at my parents’ house. Somehow they were buried (in the mountain, omg, of boxes that went into the 24′ truck!).

2) Our wine opener. I haven’t opened what you’d call a lot of wine here, but the bottles I have opened would have been easier with the fine waiter’s corkscrew.

3) Bad Dog, Marley! This book was driving me nuts, so I packed it. Now I kind of miss reading it. Go figure.

4) Fast (wireless) internet. At least dial-up works, but it’s 2011. When will Simpson Co get with the program? Prediction: not soon. I also need wireless to download stuff to my Kindle–a device that remains awesome, and I’m glad I have it with me or it’d be on the list.

Pile it On! June 10, 2011

We’ve dropped off the face of the earth. Or more precisely, we’ve entered a zone where the internet is slow, the kids are busy careening around one big room, and the end it always in a couple of days. Let me explain.

Two weeks ago and some we were on our way to a big New Orleans wedding. Super fun! There is the way stuff is supposed to work out—and then there’s the way things actually work out. The wedding had lots of highlights. I sat next to John Lithgow on the plane (story to come), I met lots of great people who I hope to stay in contact with in DC, I caught up with some old friends, and the boys swam in the hotel pool every day. My brother stopped by for a visit, Patrick and I had coffee and beingets in the French Quarter, we at several meals at Harbor Seafood, we had excellent food and drink everywhere, and well, two really amazing people promised to spend their lives together, and we got to be there to celebrate with them!

Things started to unravel before we got there. My parents air-conditioner went out on the way to New Orleans. That was going to make for a long, hot drive back to Franklin. So we opted to leave at night. As those of you who correspond with my father already know, I “hit the wall” that night and was not able to fulfill my end of the driving obligations. I did pretty good while I had Chex Mix to eat, caffinated Vitamin water to drink, and Dad to pick an argument with me. But all of that has a limit. So we recovered for a while.

The edges of time zones are interesting in that the light is extreme to early or late. On the eastern edge, you get more morning light. As I mentioned, my parents’ house is more or less, one big room. All the light comes in early. Gil hasn’t slept past 5:30 but once. So we’re all kind of tired, including him. Yes, we’ve been at my parents’ house for almost two weeks. I mentioned on facebook that my parents are teaching the boys bad habits. I’m hesitant to say what all those are, in case someone is looking for tips on teaching my children things that irritate me.

So I went back to ABQ to load up the moving truck with P. The hours on the plane by myself were pretty sweet. However, they did lose my luggage and somehow messed up my reservation, so since I had some time, I called customer service and scored a few vouchers. I also read much of the Mary Matalin & James Carville book, All’s Fair. Review to come, if and when I finish it.

The moving went slow. How on earth did we have so much stuff accumulate in five years? Oh yeah, we bought a house and had two babies. We slept on our mostly empty house’s living room floor Friday night. Saying goodbye to our wonderful neighbors was kind of sad. So was saying goodbye to our friends. On the road on Saturday. We made pretty good time, despite the fact that we were driving a 24 foot truck and towing a car. Until the tire blew on the car trailer. Three hours later we finally left Erick, OK. The tire truck driver had his daughter with him. She was cute and talkative, about five years old, but she was wearing a diaper that needed to be changed. We were pretty freaked out by that.

Driving the truck at night is super scarey. P was exhausted. We had inquired about an hourly rate at the Days Inn in Erick…but we decided against it. The woman quoted us a price and then when we were leaving asked how much we were looking to pay. I’d not heard of that before. Bargaining for a room in the US? Sounds like Romania to me. We ended up at a nice little place in Clinton, OK.

The next morning was MOTS (more of the same). Nothing eventful until Nashville, when I almost killed us due to very BAD signage on the Nashville freeways. Just hot, humid, and boggy through the deltas.

Unfortunatley, my parents had to work on Monday, so we got up early and worked on the truck. Got a few things unloaded, and very quickly and successfully reattached the trailer, but getting it out of the driveway turned into a bigger challenge than we could handle. That’s what tractors are made for, I guess. P dropped the trailer at the dealership in Bowling Green and was on his way.

Until Huntingdon. Very exhausted, he picked up a green handled dispenser and unwittingly put gas in the diesel engine. So he spent two nights in West Virginia. Wednesday, he got to Charlottesville, unloaded the truck, and reloaded it with some of his mom’s stuff to go to her new place. Tonight he flys back to ABQ to pick up our other car, clean up the house, and tie up any loose ends. I feel bad for him, because he’s only gotten to see the boys for a few hours in the last two (coming up on three weeks) and they’re getting so funny. He’s handling the least fun aspects of a move. Soon though, I hope we’ll all be able to relax.

I’m glad I got all this off my mind. Now I’ll be able to tell you all the stuff the boys have been doing, more details on the wedding, and some thoughts about my classes starting in the fall. Someone (Malcomb Gladwell?) says when something bad goes wrong, you can pinpoint 7 things that lead up to that event, that if any of them hadn’t happened, the event itself might not have happened. Can you find 7 things in this account? We feel pretty lucky that it wasn’t worse. And if P had kept going to C’ville until one in the morning, he might have encounterd something worse. As our favorite singer/songwriter reminds us, “It could always be worse!”

We’re Off May 24, 2011

We’re moving the boys this week. And in the middle of it, we’re going to a wedding in New Orleans.

Up until recently, Gilbert had been a calm, sweet baby. Teething has thrown him for a loop, and we’re starting to get a window into his personality. Seamus would never have been in danger of going head first off the couch, because he stops when he gets to an edge. Gil doesn’t even seem to notice there is an edge. Gilbert attempts to stand on his own, letting go after he pulls himself up on furniture. He’s reckless and fast, and wow! we have to watch him so carefully! He’s also funny, trying to make us laugh. He follows Seamus relentlessly, spurring a new phrase by S, “No! No share with Gilbert!”

Seamus is pretty patient with him though. However, he was laying on the chair the other day reading his book and Gil came up to him. It looked like a flash into the future. S is also doing well with his potty learning. Except he has discovered that at night, he can ask to go, and he gets to get out of bed one more time…

Here are some cute moving pictures of the boys:

These are photos of the boys 2 years and 8 months!