Christmas fun!

Maddy & Jack & one of Jack's new toys.















Putting together Jack's tool workbench. Maddy is very interested.

Maddy with a few of her new favorite toys.

The allergy saga continues...

Maybe it's not blueberries after all, but a food additive. Maddy was negative on the berry panel. Although Dr. P says that we should treat it as an allergy anyway since she develops hives and these tests aren't infallible. Maddy is also "slightly" allergic to milk and peanuts. She is not allergic to dogs and cats, which is good! Dr. P has no idea why Maddy would get hives with the fried chicken, although last Friday's reaction to grilled cheese now makes more sense. The current plan is to continue with the Benadryl & epi pen at school and home and play it by ear until the reactions get to where she wheezes. She did not want to subject Maddy to another blood draw for awhile, and said that the scratch test is not "valid" at her age. So we'll continue to play it by ear.

Catching up...

I just realized that my last post was 10 days ago!

Let's see, what's been going on...

1. Jack has had yet another ear infection.
2. Jack LOVES Christmas!! Especially the lights.
3. Maddy now has an epi pen due to severe allergies to blueberries.
4. Maddy had a RAST done to identify other allergies.
5. Maddy is talking more, although she's kind of rude. ("go away," "no no bite")

I still have some pictures from Thanksgiving to post! (And no new pictures for a while, Maddy broke our camera last week during one of her multiple doctor visits!)

As if there were any doubt

Jack has now learned how to burp at will. He is so very proud of himself! "Mommy, I burped!" Every time. He's a boy, all right!

What's so bad about sleeping?

They BOTH decided to wake up at 5 a.m. Usually they sleep at least until 6:30... most of the time, we have to wake Jack up out of a sound sleep. So why the early wake up call today? It was like a switch turned on-- they were WIDE awake. It was a complete party at 5 a.m. I'm sure I will never know why.

But I do know I need more coffee now.

Maddy's speech eval

Surprisingly, she did not bust out with 50 words during the evaluation. In fact, in the space of 2 hours she did not utter a PEEP until 1 hour 45 minutes in (and then it was all babbling/jargon except for a few recognizable "uh-ohs").

However, after a developmental eval and a separate speech eval (which were mostly play-based and based on my answers to questions about what I've seen/heard her do), she is generally at her expected age, or within the 25 %tile in some areas (like fine motor), which is not enough for services. They decided to adjust her age, since she was about 4 weeks early, so instead of evaluating her as an 18 month old (which she will be on Monday), they had her as 16 months, 23 days. Whatever.

So, the long and short of it is that her receptive language is in the average range (as a 16.23 month old), and her expressive language is at the 12 month level. We got a nice pat on the head, and were told that if by 24 months (when they stop adjusting ages for prematurity) if she wasn't at 40-50 words, to call them back and schedule another eval.

Hmm... that would sure be some language explosion, given that at 18 months she has 4 words. But again, fine. We'll play.

Hopefully I'll be updating this in 6 months to say that Maddy has met that goal!

Comedy gold!

Today at the suggestion from a parent, I set up a notebook in which my student can now "tell" on someone rather than come tell me every little bitty thing that happens that they don't like. It's titled "The Telling Book" and is located in a central location in the classroom. I told them, if what they need to tell me doesn't involve hitting, kicking, bad words or blood, they are to write it in the book. And that they do, albeit phonetically. However, I'm translating, and I think by the end of the year I'll have enough for a book which I will then publish and market (ha! I think to most people it would be hopelessly boring, but the earnestness of the students cracks me up). A couple of today's gems:

"C made a mean face at me."

"E coughed on me."

"Z called me a dino-wup." (This one I asked for clarification, and "dino-wup" was the best I could get out of what the alleged name was.)

Well, I tried

On the drive home, Maddy started vocalizing about something, and it sounded urgent. She sits directly behind me and I can't see her. It's also starting to get dark.

ME: Jack, can you look at Maddy? Why is she crying?

JACK: Mommy, I have farties!

ME: OK, Jack. But why is Maddy crying? Is she OK?

JACK: Mommy, slow down! You're going too fast!

ME: (Driving 55 MPH and in the slow lane of a 3 lane road) OK, Jack, I'll slow down. Is Maddy OK? What is she doing?

JACK: I don't know. Can I have french fries?

ME: No, Jack, we're going home and having dinner now.


(BTW, Maddy is fine... don't know what the yelling was all about.)

The adventure continues...

Today was a school holiday for Veteran's Day. Just me and the kids on a Tuesday. I decided to be adventureous and take them to a movie... so we went to Madagascar 2. I was happy that I bought the tickets the night before online... the line was almost around the block! Seems I wasn't the only one who had this idea. Anyway, the theater was packed, but I did find 2 seats (assuming Maddy on my lap) up against the wall (to try to prevent Jack from running). We did get some popcorn and a drink, but they weren't too interested in that. The kids were really good for about the first 45 minutes. Of a 90 minute movie. For about 15 minutes I was trying to (unsuccessfully) contain both kids. Maddy was getting tired, and Jack wanted to roll down the aisle. Unfortunately, since the movie just came out a few days ago, the theater was packed. So, I had the pleasure of carrying Maddy and trying to remove a repentant Jack ("I'll listen! I'll listen!") from the theater. Once I got him in the lobby, he eventually calmed down. (I also had total stranger tell me, "Way to keep your cool, mama!" Uh, thanks?) How did I calm Jack down? I lied to him and told him the movie was over! Yes, Jack, the movie ends when they're trying to find water, and the next movie will be about them finding the water!

To ease the transition, I then took them to the McDonald's so they could run around the Habitrail (thanks, Caroline!). We got home by 12:30... Maddy was just about out and slept 3 hours, Jack has NOT napped and will be going to bed early!

Lesson learned? Take kids to movies with Erik or a friend :) They still need man coverage, they're too young for zone.

Maddy

She's getting her speech eval the morning of November 17th. However, she has been improving lately with some language-like behaviors. She has just started pointing at things this week. She also now gets excited when she sees Ginger and Strider and babbles at them when she sees them. The lady I talked to at Regional Center did remind me that Maddy is technically premature, so there would be some expected lag in development that should "catch up" by age 2. But as she approaches 18 months she still only has "mama", "no", "uh-oh", and "bye-bye" as well as some intermittent "dada." I'm quite certain that during the evaluation Maddy will totally start busting out with complete sentences and the evaluators will look at me like I'm an idiot for even referring her.

Bakobana!

While looking though Jack's papers from school this week, I came upon one that must've been from Tuesday. I wish I could scan it-- it has the presidential candidates names at the top. Barak Obama is circled. Then typed, it says "I voted for him because" and someone had written in (that I'm sure he dictated) "I can draw a picture of him." And below there's a huge red, yellow, and blue swirly scribble.

I'm keeping it for his baby book.

Some Halloween Photos...

Maddy prepping earlier in the day for the daycare Halloween parade. She is Tinkerbell.


There are no photos of Jack dressed up at his preschool because he refused to wear his costume. I personally think he didn't want to because there were 2 other Supermen in his class. When I asked him why he wouldn't wear it, he said he wanted to be a pizza. Well, no time to get that costume! He had wanted Superman and had the costume in the closet for practically a month. At least he did wear it for Trick or Treating.






Maddy found another Tinkerbell!



The neighborhood kids actually posing for a picture together (in reality they were all there for about one minute, we all just kept snapping in hopes of getting one "good" pic)... as one parent said, we were "rolling deep" this year.


Jack and some of the boys reacting to a "talking" Halloween porch decoration. They thought they were pretty brave!



Maddy getting the idea of what was going on... she only took one, even though she was offered one more. She just kept looking at the one in her hand and walked away.

Jack actually did about almost a block this year, as opposed to last year when we did about 5 houses and called it a night. Maddy did about half a block and we were home by dark. I was gone maybe a half hour with Maddy (Jack was out with Erik past dark!), and by the time we got back the candy bowl we left out on our porch was cleaned out!

How do they know?

I offer Maddy a piece of cooked carrot and I get the shaking of the head. I offer her a piece of cookie, she grabs it. How do kids know to have an aversion to veggies this early? How does she know the carrot is a vegetable and not an orange cookie?

He's 3!

How can he be this old? It just seems like such a short while ago that he made us a family. Now, he's a PRESCHOOLER!!!

What the...?!?!

I mean, I'm a big fan of the Polish Pope, but this?!?!

http://www.herrschners.com/products/product.aspx?sku=670219

Still here...

Just continuing to recover from the kindergarten "Pumpkin Patch" field trip last Wednesday.

More kindergarten...

I will have to clarify some of my vocabulary with the kids tomorrow. Currently, if a student is not behaving optimally, I will ask them, "Do you think your parents would be impressed with the way you are behaving right now?"

Earlier today about 10 minutes after the dismissal bell, one of my students ran back in the room. "Mrs. Bruvold, I have to find my jacket!" she announced. We looked outside on the rack and in the room. No jacket. "But Mrs. Bruvold, "she wailed, "My mom is in the car waiting and she will be impressed if I don't find it!"

(The jacket was on the playground at the tables on which we eat snack.)

The pumpkin patch!

We went Saturday night with Grandma & Grandpa who drove down for the weekend. The kids had a blast-- Jack on the rides, and Maddy running around all over the place! Plus, we all got ice cream afterwards. So what if they missed their bedtimes for one night...

Catfight!

I think that teachers should be taught in teacher education classes how to keep a straight face when presented with certain situations. Today we had:

• 4 year old girl catfight! What started it? "V said a mean word to me!" What happened? Was it an accident? "No, I hit her with my hand like this!" Both girls got sent to the office.
• "K made me pinch myself!"
• "V didn't want to sit next to me on the swings!"
• "M pushed R on the carpet!" Are you hurt? "No." Was it an accident? "Yes." So the problem is...?
• Student raises hand. Student is called on. "I forgot."

Today we also had our first Fire Drill. At least half the class, even though they were prepped for it, still wanted to know where the fire was.

This evening's entertainment

While Erik and I watch the debate, Jack is watching vintage Mickey Mouse episodes on Youtube. Hmm... I think Jack is having more fun. (Maddy is just wandering around and getting into everything.)

Poor baby...

Jack started vomiting about 2 hours ago. I suspect some icky ranch dressing on some chicken nuggets. He's even been bring water back up! He's sleeping soundly at the moment, nothing left in him to throw up.

Maddy is ok so far... hopefully it's food-related and not a virus!

It's official!

My baby starts preschool on October 28th!!!

PBS & coupons

Erik relates this story from today's bedtime routine: Jack at one point informs Erik that we need a new TV. Erik asks why. Jack's reply, "Because there's a coupon!" Yes, there are PSAs on PBS informing viewers that they will need new equipment for the digital broadcasting starting in 2/09, and they provide information about "coupons." Jack has interpreted this as coupons for whole new TVs! At least Jack's not demanding a TV in his room, which he will never have as long as he lives under our roof.

Semantics

We thought it was "reading a book." Jack has decided that it is "talking to the book."

"Talk to this book, Daddy!"

I guess she has enough teeth...

Maddy bit me today! I could even see the tiny, tiny teeth imprints on my arm. Here's to hoping this phase is a short one!

Hypochondriacs!

I've got to find out if it's just my class. They want to go to the nurse for everything! New shoes that are rubbing? They need the nurse! Rug burn? They try so hard to find a little bit of blood and point it out to me! Trip on the playground? They cry! Like they're... four years old or something! (Ok, so most of them are, but...) During the second week of school I took my class out one afternoon to play soccer. Big mistake! They seriously thought every time a ball hit them that someone else was doing it on purpose! Today a girl bit her own lip and every five minutes would announce that it hurt, even after several trips to the water fountain to get a drink. And this is both the girls and the boys!

I'm not completely cold hearted. If they claim to have blood which I cannot see, I let them go the sink and get a wet paper towel to put on the "wound." 99% of the time that fixes the issue.

ETA: I did have a chat with our school nurse. Apparently this is common at this age, and not just isolated to my class :)

My perpetual quest

Since I am determined that my son grow up and be versed in African-American culture/role models, I made him watch Chris Rock on Larry King this evening. Well, Jack is still colorblind... he didn't pay attention at all. He just wants to watch Superman! OK, Jack, but how will you understand the cultural viewpoint(s) of people who look like you and will expect you to be like them because of they way you look? Oh, that's right, you're only 2 (almost 3!). Well, I'll keep trying. Plus, Chris Rock is hysterically funny. We're TIVO-ing the HBO special on Saturday night. I haven't made Jack watch The Black List (also HBO) yet, but that's next on the list. At least Jack DID recognize "Ackobana" on the cover of Ebony a few issues back! And he does recognize him when he sees him on TV.

(Along these lines, we visited his future preschool on Tuesday afternoon and it does appear to be quite diverse (Asian, Indian, Hispanic). Although I think Jack's the only AA. But it's not all white.)

Legoland...

Maddy was too short for any rides (hard to believe!), & Jack was ok for the 36" ones but didn't make the 40" ones. That didn't matter, though, because Jack's favorite thing was the splash park at Pirate's Cove, & Maddy's favorite thing was the play area at the Castle. They were both completely exhausted on the drive home. We woke Jack up after an hour so he'll still go to sleep on time (well, crossing our fingers on that one).

Another Kindergarten gem...

"Mrs. Bruvold, C was in China and met my mother before I was born!"

What!??!?!

"Water-pops"

How Jack refers to Otter Pops. Heh!

Ouch!

After having only 2 bottom center teeth for a few months, Maddy now has FOUR coming in on the top center, and 2 MORE on the bottom. Ouch!!!!!! Infant Tylenol/Motrin is her new best friend.

Grandpa and his tribe of left-handed grandchildren...

We're 99% certain that Jack is a lefty... he eats (fork & spoon use), writes (well, scribbles), throws, and now cuts left handed. And now we're suspicious that Maddy is as well... we've noticed her a bunch over the past few months using both hands, but now 2 nights in a row I've seen her eat and pick up toys left handed. This should make my lefty dad very happy! :)

OK...

The Solo Parent Experiment, Part 2. Last night went well. Can we do another? Erik won't be back until at least 7:30 p.m. Fingers crossed... so far we've gone to dinner at Wahoo's, a stop at Gepetto's for a ball for Jack, and one last stop at Jimbo's. Jack & Maddy have been wonderful. Only 2 more hours until bedtime!

So far, so good...

I'm here flying solo with the kids for 2 days while Erik is in Denver.

We've been home for about 45 minutes, the kids have eaten (Wendy's chicken nuggets, don't judge me!) and are calmly playing with trains/watching Lilo & Stitch.

2 hours until bedtime. I think I can do this!

Ahhh.... kindergarten

A few of today's gems:

"Mrs. Bruvold, E almost hit me."

"Mrs. Bruvold, I was singing a song in my head and I didn't say the words."

"Mrs. Bruvold, today my snack is on top of my lunch."

"It's an onion." (One little girl's contribution to "sharing" time this morning. No wonder no one could guess what was in the bag!)

Maddy...

This morning at the daycare drop off, a cute little girl, L, toddled over and waved and smiled at Maddy. What did Maddy do? Stand there and scream at her until her face turned red! What is that about?!?! So Maddy's favorite caregiver and I tried to model nice behavior like waving back, but Maddy was having none of it. Maddy is usually so mellow, it was shocking to me. At least she didn't hit the girl.

I don't usually do drop off, so I hope this was an isolated incident! When I pick up, she's always playing nicely with other kids.

Maybe Maddy's just not a morning person, like her mommy?

Pinch me!

The kids are asleep (not just in their rooms) by 8 p.m. for FOUR nights in a row! (Sunday & Monday night they were asleep by 7:30!)

We actually got to watch Fringe last night!

Are we getting our lives back? Did I just jinx us?!?!

My Daughter, The Nun?

Today was the first time I brought Maddy to church since she was born. Yes, I know she's 15 months.

Maddy loved it! She loved the music, the singing, she would yell out when the priest was talking! I wish I had a camera then, because she was having a great time! She made a couple of little girl friends (10 & 19 months) and they would wave at each other and peek-a-boo at each other around the chairs.

Of course, she's still a toddler... around the 45 minute mark (of the mass, really she was there for an hour) she got super restless and we had to leave because she was really yelling (toddler boredom, I think, she had plenty of cheerios & apple juice during the mass).

Maddy news!

After holding steady at 2 teeth, there is a recognizable front-left tooth that is about halfway out! Maybe she'll have a set by the time they're due to be replaced by permanent teeth?!?! Well, this sure saves on toothpaste...! :)

Pictures from Sunday & Monday

Maddy & Uncle Don taking a walk (Maddy's wearing her new shoes!).

Uncle Les, Aunt Anita & Maddy hanging out.

Daddy & Jack on the merry-go-round at Seaport Village.

Maddy liked the merry-go-round!

P.S.

To last night's post... he had a #2 accident 15 minutes after I posted last night. But, still! A good day!

He used a public bathroom!

And all we had to do was pay him 2 quarters!

He's obsessed with Erik's change counter, and wanted some quarters. We try not to give them to him since we don't want Maddy to come upon them and choke on them.

We had been trying to get him to use a potty all day since we went up to Long Beach with MIL to visit Jack & Maddy's Uncles & Aunt. Finally, at the restaurant, Jack demanded "TWO quarters" and then went potty with Daddy. So we paid up!

So far today, no accidents from 7:30 a.m. to now (8:35 p.m.). Wow! Are the end of diapers in sight?!?! (We'll try PT-ing Maddy at 2, so a little while to go there, but still...)

Finally, what I have been waiting for!

Today we bought Maddy some "real" shoes since she is a walker now! She is now the proud owner of sneakers and dress shoes! Maddy and I are now embarking on a glorious path of mother/daughter shoe shopping/bonding! :)

My nearly potty-trained boy!

He still refuses to use public toilets. but at least he's staying dry when we're out! Today we were out from 10:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and the boy stayed dry!

Small steps, I guess: home toilet--> school toilet--> public toilets??

(The picture is not related to potty-training, it's just what the kids were doing this afternoon on a hot/muggy day.)

Survived BTS Night!

After 15 years of special ed , I was pleasantly surprised by Back to School Night. The parents politely watched my PowerPoint. They looked through the handouts. They asked nice questions. They even made some suggestions, which, to my surprise, were completely reasonable. Several asked how they could volunteer and HELP me! A few volunteered to be a ROOM MOM!!

This General Ed thing just might work out!

A parent even brought me more paper today--out of the blue! She just thought I might want it!

Almost a milestone...

Tomorrow night will be my first "real" Back to School Night! Thank goodness one of my fellow teachers has given me some guidelines on what to talk about. Another teacher told me that I don't really have to say anything, except that I adore their child, since that's all they really want to hear in Kindergarten. Well, of course I like my class...

But they want me to fill an hour? I don't think I know that much about kindergarten!

Jack

He apparently now thinks that because his sister is walking, he can now tackle her. Nice. Maddy is understandably not on board with this new theory of his.

And thought I'd mention...

That Maddy is really improving in the walking department! Just when I was sure she'd need Physical Therapy (yes, I am a paranoid after teaching special ed for 15 years), she is now walking about 50% of the time. Just. Very. Slowly. And. Carefully. Most of her excursions at home center around trying to follow Jack, which is awesome :)

We also think she is saying, "Jack." It sounds like "AH! AH!" But we're pretty sure. We also think she is saying, "Dad." That one sounds like "DAH!" And of course she continues to say, "Mama." However, our pediatrician who is very understanding of my paranoia has given us a referral to the Hope Infant Center because the fact remains that she is delayed for her age. Dr. P does assure me that when Maddy is 2.5, we won't be able to quiet her. But I'd still like her seen. Why not? Hope Infant Program is a county program, my tax dollars at work. Might as well take advantage of it!

A Breakthrough?????

Jack is still wearing pull-ups at night... but... this morning he used the potty, wore underwear, and was out of the house on errands with us from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dry! Didn't want to use public bathrooms. We told him at 1:00 that he HAD to use the potty, and... he did! So he's still wearing underwear! He even took them down and up by himself! Maybe he can just wear shorts for the rest of his life...

Kindergarten!

All day kindergarten wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the lunch period. It's like organizing a herd of cats and making sure that they either 1) Eat at least some of the gloriously well-balanced lunch packed for them by their parents (full of items that require an adult to open of course) and not fall off the lunch table (wouldn't have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes...), or 2) Choose from a mind-boggling choice of 4 school lunch entrees, successfully get through the lunch line in the right direction and then sit down and actually eat it.

A duty-free lunch, my ass. (However, this is a significant improvement over the previous RSP lunch period, which was NON-EXISTENT.) I am hopeful, though, that the kids will learn the system by say, April. Luckily, we are blessed with an amazing support staff that is dedicated to helping these kids learn it. I am so lucky to be learning general ed here!

Wow!

Jack earned himself a Dove Bar today! He was dry from 7-2:30, and then from 2:30-5:45, and up until now! Wow! Way to go! He just very well might get to preschool at this rate!

Potty Training Update...

Sort of. Supposedly Jack held it from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., but finally did go in the potty at school. Yay! They wore him down! He then came home and immediately went outside to play with the neighbor kids... only to run inside without telling anyone and then peeing on the floor, after doing #2 in his potty chair. Well, how do you reward that?!?!?

I survived Kindergarten!

At least for one day! Luckily, the first day was a minimum day... so far, so good! The other K teachers here are amazingly awesome and are so supportive, I am so lucky! This is SO different than special ed, in a good way!

I'm way too tired to write more, though. Another day for that!

Dry for TWO hours!

Jack wore underwear this evening at his request (his Lightning McQueens, if you must know) and was dry all through a trip to Carvel & Borders. We asked him frequently if he needed to go to the potty, but he said he didn't have to. Once safely home, he went pee-pee on the potty (at parent request, but still...)!

Our only worry now is that he's not generalizing potties... last Thursday at daycare he wore underwear, but would not go on their potty and told the folks there that he would go at home (!). Of course, he couldn't hold it for 8 hours there and peed through 3 outfits. And even when he is home, out of the 3 potties available, he prefers just one of them.

ARGH! He needs to be at least day trained by 10/25 or no preschool!

I will be ready by Tuesday

Well, I have to be! The kids will show up!

Got my class list today. A couple of interesting ones: a little PEPP-er who may or may not have some issues. Plus, a relative to a kid I had in RSP a few years ago, but I don't know if my teammates knew that. Other than that, the group has just as much luck being OK as any other class.

Now, one last decision... do I introduce the letters in alphabetical order, the order of Handwriting Without Tears, or a fancy research-based order? I am leaning towards the HWT.

What was I thinking?

As long as I keep repeating, "No more IEPs, no more IEPs, no more IEPs..." I should be OK!

Right?

Busy weekend!

This weekend was the 20th reunion of Mt. Carmel HS Class of 1988. I was really on the fence about going, but after seeing some friends I regret not going to the actual event. I still did see the people who were important to me. We had a kid-friendly get-together on Friday afternoon. I did go to the "Icebreaker" event the night before (and we got a babysitter! and we lived!) and then went to breakfast the following morning with some friends. So I do feel that I did see the people that I really wanted to see. Of course, because I am a complete dork I didn't have my camera handy. Hopefully, I will be able to beg photos off Caroline, Christina and Susy :)

Memories...

My screen saver is a slide show of all the pictures in my computer. Recently found this one:

Who IS that little dude?!?!?

Whoo-hoo!

My principal came through: good-bye special ed! I'll miss the people but not the ridiculous workload and expectations!

I'll be kindergarten teacher come August 19th!

Ack!

@#$&** Splash Park is down again! This time, there's a note on the HOA webpage that it should be back up this week... but of course they neglect to say exactly when... well, at least the multi-story play area is interesting to Jack. (And Maddy, but she likes to get in the way of the other kids by standing on the first rung of ladders and then just hanging out, like her job is done. Having to repeatedly move her is always fun.)

I guess we'll be painting more bird houses tomorrow!

Poor Maddy!

Earlier this week Maddy was out and about in the back yard (following Big Brother Jack around) and got by 4 adults to touch an electric grill that was up on a stand. Luckily, Grandpa was the quickest thinking among us and got her away, so she just had 1st degree burns on a few fingers of her left hand, and 2nd degree burns on one of her right fingers. The nurses and PAs (Danielle, Pat and Cindy) at the Mercy Urgent Care in El Dorado Hills were beyond great with her. They gave her Otter Pops to hold and eat to distract her while they took care of her burns. She got both her hands wrapped. In this picture the left had come off, but she still had the right one on for a while. She was given a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine, but I'm fairly certain Walgreens forgot the Codeine. Poor baby was up until at least 1:30 a.m. (Or: maybe she's resistant to codeine? That would be interesting!) Shout out to my mom, who stayed up with me and even went with us on a car ride up and down US-50 to try to get Maddy to sleep!

Maddy's doing a lot better now, her left hand looks good and the blisters on her right hand have subsided.

Well, we made it!

It was nice to see my folks & SIL. Unfortunately my brother had food poisoning and wasn't available. The kids were beyond excited to see Grandma and Grandpa (Jack now acknowledges that Grandma's house is also Grandpa's). It was also wonderful to have a night off and stay child-free in Incline Village on Wednesday night. (My dad has some awesome pictures of Jack playing in the waves at Lake Tahoe on Thursday!)

(At the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.)



We did learn something very important, though. A 2 year old and a 1 year old are not at their best sleeping in hotel rooms. I think when they're older it'll get better. (Even if it doesn't, please don't tell me that. I want to believe the fantasy right now.) For that reason, we powered it home Friday, driving about 14 hours (including stopping for meals and a nice excursion to see the Bishop Creek).

(At the Little Farm in Tilden Park.)

More later, Maddy gets her own post for all she had to go through!

Gone Fishin'

We'll be in Sacramento for the next week visiting "Grandma's House" (and yes, Grandpa lives there too. It's just how Jack refers to going to visit)... hopefully we'll get some updates in this week.

(This pic is from our last visit in November.)

"Black in America"

I watched a good part of it last night (and TiVo'd the rest so I can review it at my leisure... hm). Some of it I watched with Jack. He, however, still doesn't seem to realize that he's a different color than the rest of us, so he didn't really care.



Sometimes I am so confident that I can raise a good biracial man. Sometimes, like when I watch these shows, I doubt myself. Is everything really this horrible out there? Sure, Jack (and the rest of us) do get our shares of looks when we're out and about. We've even gotten a few comments ("Are they siblings?" "Yes."). However, we haven't had to address the "N-word" (at least to our faces that we know of). After hearing that Black parents start talking to their sons about how to interact with the police at age 12 (6th or 7th grade), that got my attention.



We can't be so naive to think that we never will have to address this, but I hope we still have a few years to go!



One of my current "comfort books" at this point is "In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories" by Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda. The authors interviewed 12 Black/biracial adoptees adopted by white families. These kids generally did well. So it can be done. (There's also a follow-up book by the same authors, interviewing the white families of the kids profiled in the first book. Also very awesome.)

Just more stuff to think about.

There is a God!

The 4S Splash Park (a.k.a. Pioneer Park) is back open and working! It opened 7/4, but then was non-operational a few days later. But today... yay! I took J & M over there around 1:30, got back home at 3:00, and J was asleep by 4:00. Maddy, on the other hand, has decided she wants to watch Y&R with Mommy. Which is just fine.

Photo Experiment Part 2

Photo Experiment Part 1

No repeat today

Maddy decided to psych us all out today and not walk at daycare. Either she is not really ready, or this is all part of her Master Plan for World Domination. Tough call.

It's so hard not to compare the two (M and J). Jack was crawling at 6 months, walking at 11 months, had his first teeth at 3 months. M crawled at 10.5 months, first teeth around 12 months, walking...?

I need to take my own advice when complaining about special ed parents: Just celebrate what they can do!

The first of many?

We had our first call to Mall Security today... missing toddler at North County Fair!

Jack and Maddy were at the play area near Sears, as we were leaving I was buckling Maddy into the stroller and... off ran Jack, no shoes, up the stairs and out of sight. Since I had M with me, I asked the nearest kiosk worker to call mall security to report the missing J.

They found him in under 5 minutes. He appeared scared as the security guy walked him down the stairs. He told me he wanted to ride the escalator.

The rest of his mall trip was in the stroller with the seatbelt on!

Seriously!

Is my child so different that he wants to night train first? Today at 3:30 a.m. "Mommy! I need to go potty!" Again, Erik was a saint and took care of it. But seriously! Why can't he do this the normal way!

(Shaun confirmed for me that I am indeed a bad mommy for encouraging him to pee in his diaper when it's not convenient for me. Hee hee!)

Maddy news as well

This is actually from last Wednesday. I picked her up from daycare, and the teachers said, "If she started walking, would you want to know?" Uh, yeah. Turns out she took about 8 steps at school. I did see her take a few there. She's been taking a few a day since then. She's not that enthusiastic, though. She'd much rather crawl. I still don't know why she chose there to start. She only goes to daycare one time a week, and that's they day she decides to walk?!?!

5:15 a.m.

"Mommy, I have to go pee pee."

"Can't you just go in your diaper?"

"Mommy, I have to go pee pee."

He was determined. So we got up, Erik got the potty seat from downstairs, and our lovely son peed on the potty at 5:15 in the morning. The pain of potty training.