School Countdown

Tomorrow is "Moving In Day" at Fiona's school and she will stay for about 20 minutes, putting her things away in her cubby and getting a look at her new classroom. She goes to the local Montessori school, which was new last year and they moved to a bigger space this year (thank goodness). She is very excited and keeps asking how many bedtimes (the spell check says this word should be beatings)away her first day of school is (that's Wednesday).

I made a nice rich gelatinous batch of chicken stock yesterday and I made chicken soup for lunch for the girls--carrots, celery, zucchini, vegetable alphabet pasta, and shredded chicken. They inhaled the soup. They were so taken with this soup that it was very, very quiet. It's rainy and cool lately, so maybe it was just what they needed.

Last Saturday we went to one of Fiona's friend's birthday party (I hope I did not make a possessive error there or I would have to smite myself) and had a great time. They had a pinata and everything. We've been to 3 parties now where the whole class is invited---I don't know what those of us with winter birthdays are supposed to do. Our house will not hold all those kids and siblings and parents--and there are MORE kids this year! Egads. One of Fiona's friends (with an April birthday) just invited Fiona and some neighbor friends, so I guess that is ok to do...I just hate to leave anyone out, especially because Fiona actually likes each of her classmates (so far). There is one child she has this weird love/hate relationship with, but he has a very similar personality to hers. He is a very sweet, smart kid but he can be rather boisterous, loud, energetic, opinionated...hm, sound familiar? Anyway, she and this particular boy went frog hunting and he let her hold the frogs (which I was really impressed with). She held on to these frogs forever. I kept trying to convince her to let them go or give the boy a turn. She kept trying to kiss one of them (thankfully Sophia did not see this). She finally did hand them over and one of them was playing dead. We thought it was real for while but her friend told us that the frog was only playing dead. Whew. But from now on, less squeezing of the frogs!

After that we went to the Champlain Valley Fair! We met a friend there who has a son who is 6 and a son who is 18 months. Everyone loved riding the horses. Even the little ones got to ride, which thrilled Sophia to no end. I took Fiona in first and Sophia was inconsolable---so after that I thought it might be worth a try (I was worried it would be hard to keep her on) and it went brilliantly! Every time the horses stopped she signed "more". She had a huge fit when it was really time to stop, though. After a birthday party and a couple of hours of the fair (which is an hour away from us) they were both totally worn out (heh heh). I think Fiona would have liked to get to know the 6 year old better---I think they have similar personalities and suspect they would really get on well, but they live in upstate NY.

I Lost My Title

Fiona's been referring to us as "Rachael and Douglas" for a while now. This has happened before and it seems to come and go. I don't really mind but it does sound sort of odd to hear her say it.

If (I should say "when") Sophia starts imitating her, that will be double the fun.

I haven't really lost my title. If she's feeling tender or sleepy---then I am "Mommy".

Pluto is No Longer a Planet!

I suppose you've all heard this by now. It's all very exciting!

I don't have much else to say except last weekend we went to Bath, NH for the sole purpose of bacon: The Brick Store . Their smoked bacon is heavenly. We also got some of their smoked cheese and summer sausage and fudge. The fudge is a little too achingly sweet for me, but the cappuchino flavor was very nice.

Vitamins

Fiona loves to take her vitamins, even before they were dinosaurs. She also takes (sometimes) her fish oil capsules. She sometimes takes these "green" vitamins which amazes me because I think they taste awful.

We have these calcium chews for both the girls and they taste pretty good. Fiona wants so badly to like them, but she doesn't. I said to her: "They are supposed to taste like vanilla milkshake, you know" (as I am reading the bottle yet again). She said, "Too bad they don't".

The Versitility of Tang

Bacon and...Tang?

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Bacon Snack Bars

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 15 min
Makes: 12 servings, 1 bar each



1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 pkg. (2.8 oz.) OSCAR MAYER Real Bacon Recipe Pieces
4 tsp. TANG Orange Flavor Drink Mix
3 cups POST HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS Cereal, any variety



MIX sugar and syrup in large saucepan. Bring just to boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
ADD peanut butter; stir until well blended. Stir in bacon pieces and drink mix. Add cereal; mix well.
PRESS evenly into greased 8-inch square pan. Cool completely before cutting into 12 bars to serve.




KRAFT KITCHENS TIPS


Substitute
Prepare as directed, using 1 pkg. (3 oz.) OSCAR MAYER Real Bacon Bits.

Jazz It Up
Prepare as directed; sprinkle with additional drink mix.
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I'm trying to decide what's more horrific. I can almost see the bacon (for heaven's sake, is it so hard to cook bacon?) but...Tang? Why? Why would we want to "Jazz It Up" by sprinkling more Tang on top?

This got three stars, by the way. Someone supposedly actually made this.

I get that bacon is good with sweet things sometimes (coat bacon with brown sugar and cook at 500 until done) but TANG?

Maybe it's more horrific that someone actually thought something like: "I'd love to make a snack bar that is really unique. People sometimes eat them for breakfast, so a protein like peanut butter is a good idea. People also like to eat bacon for breakfast, so that will probably taste pretty good in there. Why not add some fake orange-y instant drink so it can be an all-in-one bar? I'm brillant!"

She Won!

A few weeks ago, the library ran a poster contest for its 100th anniversary in September. There was a category for Fiona's age group, so she did a poster for fun. I forgot all about it until just now when they called and told us she won her category!

She said, "I bet it was the glitter that did it".

Here, Mommy

Sophia likes to practice using the potty (by this I mean the big one, no one uses the red plastic potty I got...). Right now this means taking off the diaper (wiping her up if needed), putting her on the toilet, her saying "all done!" and then she likes to wipe and throw it in the toilet. That is her favorite part. So today I do this and it's just a wet diaper. I am running around doing a million things and it's a moment before I can put her on the toilet (she always wants to get right up and then the toilet paper and flushing and turning off the light and saying "bye bye" to the toilet and bathroom is a bit of a production). I come in and she is standing there and handing something to me.

She hands me two pieces of bowel movement. I know what they are, but I take them anyway. Believe me, I was weeping inside. I am just glad she handed them to me (she likes to hand things to us when she's done with them). She could have done much worse. Soooo...after I washed my hands and her, she took a nice soapy warm bath.

And by the way, if you are ever faced with ballpoint ink on your antique couch, blotting rubbing alcohol on it takes it out very nicely.

You've Got a Little...Um, Yeah...Right There...

Fiona is taking afternoon classes at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science---the same place where she (and I) got to hold a Madagascar Hissing Roach (which she did again today, actually). Monday they learned about worms and yesterday they learned about slugs and snails. It's great. It's right at Sophia's ideal nap time, so she has just been napping on the go. The problem is, Fiona is totally wiped out at the end of this class and Sophia is ready for action at the end of her class.

This morning we played with a couple of their friends and had a great time. We played on a playground (we had to do some searching) and then went back to their house. I unfortunately forgot the tube of sunblock was in my back pocket when we got in the car to go back to their place. I would not even have noticed except I picked up Sophia from her car seat and then put her down in the back of the station wagon to change her diaper and there was a vast amount of cream on her leg. I was perplexed and then noticed it was all over me and my shorts. So I took the excess cream and slathered Fiona and myself and Sophia. I think it was half the tube. It's also all over the seat. So. Don't sit on tubes of cream.

Her friend, Nick, was telling us all about this boy in their neighborhood who "isn't very nice" and nearly ran over himself and his sister Linnea on his bike. This boy was riding past us on the street while Nick was telling us this. Fiona responded (boy nowhere in sight thank goodness): "Don't worry, we'll just kill him later". I swear to you, this is a non-violent household and we restrict what they watch to avoid this sort of thing (well, and other things) but something must have slipped through.

It's Official

Not that there was any question of not going, but I just bought four (gulp) plane tickets from Boston to Dallas. We are going to take the bus from New Hampshire into Boston (about 2 1/2 hours). Fiona will be very excited but I think Sophia is going to not be quite so thrilled. Well, we'll see! She'll be a different person in 2 months. I am glad to have this under our buckle, so to speak.

I am not even sure if I've mentioned this, but we are going to my youngest sister's wedding in October (hence the plane and bus tickets)! Ellen Aim and Corinthian are tying the knot (and currently buying a house) and are having quite the creative wedding. We are all going in costumes (no, I do not know what we are going as yet) and I am making her cake, with the help of the talented Triana. I think the food there will be all desserts and I am not sure if I am helping with that. I'd love to, but I guess it depends on the kids and timing and whatnot. I plan to search through recipes to find my favorites anyway. The cake will be chocolate buttercream with a red interior. I am planning to dye a nice spongecake for the red. The plan as of now is to have cascading chocolate dipped strawberries on the outside of the cake. The wedding invitation was very unique. I would love to post it here. It was goulish and creative and very cool. I didn't show it to the kids, though.

So we had the Home Visit from Fiona's new teacher (Fiona goes back to school on the 30th)(Yes, I edited the date! It's not the 23rd--I can't tell my up from my down.) and Fiona gave her a tour of her room and OUR room (didn't see that one coming, so yes, look, we don't make our beds and, yes, they are just mattresses on the floor---don't mind the books all over the floor and the baskets of cloth diapers). I think it went well, Fiona has met her before and likes her. She had the teacher (named Kristen) read her a dinosaur book--which was a cool book which came with very tiny pieces of dinosaur bones to put together--and apparently (I forgot about this) it is a quite graphic dinosaur book where they talk about this T.Rex mauling some Triceratops in great detail. Kristen asked her if this book didn't scare her---to which Fiona said no, of course. She comes up with all sorts of ghastly "meat-eater" type of dinosaur stories. At least she didn't ask Fiona what she had for dinner last night. She could very well have said "cow muscle with leeks". (Doug made this incredible "silky beef with leeks" dish that all four of us inhaled. We finished it off with leftover blueberry buttermilk lemon tart from his birthday).

We Just Have Time for a Quickie

It's so hot and humid today. It's that Armpit thing. Level 5. We all just took cold baths/showers. The refrigerator is sweating which is gross.

So the science museum summer camp thing is going well. It's quite a drive to do every day and of course they nap in the car and awake refreshed (if sticky, but at least we have car a/c now) while I feel like sleeping the afternoon away. Sophia loves being able to play at the exhibits on her time table instead of Fiona's and having all my attention. Fiona gets to do neat things in class and take walks outside. There is this awkward hour between 9 and 10---the dropoff hour and the time the museum actually opens for visitors. Yesterday we ended up just driving around and today we went to the Hanover Co-op.

Doug made these incredible spicy Hunan noodles. He's made them before but it's been a while (We neither of us have any energy at the end of the day, so he is heroic for making dinner. I think I would make...cereal).

I got Doug's birthday present (Aug 5) and it's so hard not to give it to him so he can enjoy it immediately.

Portsmouth, NH

Hopefully I am not going to regret this, but for the next 5 days we have to leave the house at the cheerful hour of 8 AM so Fiona can do the summer camp at the Montshire Museum of Science. She loves this place (which is why I'm driving an hour and back each way) and what better close to summer than spending every morning there for an entire week? Now, you may be thinking, 8 AM, that's nothing! Hell, I used to leave for work at 3 AM. The challenge, you see, is getting everyone and everything in the car BY 8 AM... really more like 7:45 that first day just to make sure. I'm one of those people that is either just a little bit late or way too early. It sucks, but there it is.

So we went with Doug to Portsmouth, NH for another business presentation. Portsmouth has a lot more going for it than Latham, I have to say. We were also in a very nice hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn . I'm not really picky these days, I like to think. A/C, TV, bath/shower, clean floors and we can get by. Our room had a microwave (didn't use but I brought popcorn just in case and YES I know how to make REAL popcorn---bugger off!), a coffee maker (eh), and not only clean floors, but very clean floors. The beds were soft, white and filled with pillows. The staff was downright friendly. The kids loved the buffet at breakfast. There were minor flaws, but I would stay here again in a heartbeat, even if I had to pay for it (well, we did pay for the 2nd night). We didn't walk much that morning because Fiona just wanted to watch TV in the A/C. That was about as exciting as that time she and I were stuck in a motel room when we had the outside of the house scraped and painted (we have lead paint out there!) and she was about, what, 18 months?, and hadn't seen much TV at that point and wouldn't have except I was sick as a dog so I just left it on all morning and let it eat her brain. Teletubbies are four minions of Satan and Bush except I can actually follow what Teletubbies are saying if I haven't had more than 4 hours of sleep.

Right, where was I? Right--we stayed in the room also because Fiona had a "tummyache" (god DAMN those creatures, I almost wrote "tubbyache"). So even though I got the car down (unfortunately, there is only valet parking) for the baby carrier (no stroller) we walked for about 10 minutes and then we sat, glazed in our clean room. Doug came back for the afternoon and I can not even remember what we did except finally walk around. We also braved the pool which is hard with two young girls who do not know how to swim---and the 21 month old has No Fear of water At All.

The next day was better (except the car still didn't have a/c but it does now after we gave them a lung and $600) because we went to The Children's Museum of Portsmouth. Now, looking at it, it just looks like a nice old house. I'm telling you, it is very cool inside. The yellow submarine was the biggest hit (Fiona still loves Yellow Submarine and the Beatles; it's just that John is no longer the focus of her adoration). There were all these neat little details there that made you (the adult) want to play there all day. We also went to the beach to look at whatever sea life we could find and jump along the rocks (there was a "real" beach there but the water was so cold...however, people were swimming there--I'm going to guess these were native New Englanders who have family here going back several generations when the water was probably even colder in July).

Depsite the heat, we went to the outskirts of Boston to Stone Zoo, where we've been a few times before. Many animals were hiding or were missing except for the cool jaguar and her cubs. They were right next to the window. At this point, our girls were the most wild animals at the zoo.

NY Trip

Sunday through Tuesday we went to Latham, NY, which is just outside of Albany. Doug had a presentation which went, of course, very well. I got to see him in his suit, which is always a real treat.

Those were the days of really high temperatures (high of 97) and it was bloody humid, so I can quote (with some glee) Ellen Aim and say that in our un-airconditioned car (it will take $600 to fix it because we have to replace the parts...which still seems freaking high to me) it was definitely "Armpit Level 5". I was hoping we could wait until next summer to fix it, but we really need to take care of it.

Anyway, Latham was pretty uneventful. The hotel had a nice trail where we saw tons of bunnies which Sophia loved to chase back into the high grass. They were very cute with the white fluffy tails. The pool was shallow (hooray!) and we had a couple of frog visitors. That was the highlight of the trip for Fiona.

Doug took the next day off and we went to a very cute botanical garden in Massachusetts called the Berkshire Botanical Garden. They had a children's garden amoung other fabulous gardens. We also went to the Berkshire Museum that had a dinosaur display and a bug exhibit which was really a gallery of bug artwork. It was really neat. It was also not airconiditoned so it was really hot. Sophia loved the museum and raced around the entire building. She is really talking now and saying things like: "Where is Daddy?" "Where is Fiona? (fe-nah-nah)" "That's Sweety!" "That's mine!" "Give me that!" "You!"

Fiona is at a birthday party today for her friend Juna and Doug took her there. I was going to take Sophia grocery shopping but she fell asleep in the playpen while I was taking a shower. That has never ever happened before, but I have wished that it would happen. Now I am waiting for her to wake up! She wakes up at 6 am which seems to early for her, but she doesn't usually go back to sleep. She ends up taking these really early naps instead. She's been asleep for a bit over an hour now. We may not go to the farmer's market today! Oh well, the blueberries aren't ready yet anyway.

Things I am Glad Not to Witness

So let's review the pet population up until a certain ghasty moment which I will relate. We had two frogs named "Cutie Cutie" and one parakeet named "Sweety Tweety". The bird is fine, by the way. Oh, and the aquarium of three (yes, three, now...I hope Doug took the latest casualty out of the freezer...) fish. The frogs we raised from tadpoles (we just bought them). One of them grew really fast and seemed very healthy (I guess). The other took forever to change into a frog and when he was finally a frog, was much smaller than the now Big Frog.

Big Frog and Little Frog seemed to live in harmony, eating and swimming, and...whatever frogs do. These are frogs that live in the water, by the way. One night before bed, however, Doug looked into the frog home and said "Rachael? Can you come here for a minute? How many frogs do you see?". Sure enough, there was only ONE frog in there. There is no way the other frog escaped (I looked to be sure). Big Frog's belly did seem quite...bulky? We told Fiona. She was sad and distraught. She was sure he had gotten under the bookcase (I looked again) but even if he had, he would still not be with us. She is ok with it now. I thought they were supposed to be friends, but I guess something was not quite right. We could get a free frog for a new friend (the people we bought them from say they LIKE to have company) but as Doug says, maybe we had better not. Now that the one and only Cutie Cutie has gone down this dark path, maybe he's developed a taste for his own kind.

Medium: Wet Dirt

The other night was such a lovely night. Doug watched the girls, king superhero Aragorn-like manly man who can wear tights that he is, and I took a bath with a Golden Slumbers ballistic, had a nice glass of port, and turned off the lights (it was still somewhat light outside) and listened to the rain. I'm ok with rain if it happens at night. And, really, it's the other way around. Aragorn wishes he were more Doug-like.

'Course it rained during the day, too, and that I didn't like so much. I mean the ground had just barely dried.

Doug has taken the car in so the a/c will be fixed. We're going to somewhere near Albany, NY for a couple of days, so that will be nice. Unfortunately, the car also has all of our sunblock and swimgear in it. Nothing like being stuck at home (we can't use the little Honda) with no sunblock! Argh!

Ok, I have a bottle I can scrap the lotion out of. This is why one can not have too much sunblock. I've blocked off the driveway and we're going to try to paint with mud. I'll bring the camera and we'll see how this goes. We don't normally play out front b/c of said driveway (it's sort of steep, but ok if you stay at the top, and it's hard to see from the street b/c it's behind a hill), so we'll see how blocking it off goes (people like to turn around in our driveway...we don't get a LOT of traffic but we get more than you would think for being on a dead-end street). It's being blocked off with the Honda, by the way.

Another Ice Cream Post

I'm eating Godiva's Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Praline ice cream. Sorry, Ben and Jerry. This is amazing. I almost never buy chocolate ice cream (I'm just weird that way) but this is REALLY good. Do what you have to do to get some.

I'm eating it before dinner---I used a friend's recipe for a quiche she entered in a contest. Please vote for it here! :) I didn't make it exactly like that (I always change something) but it's close enough and it smells divine (it's baking now).

Well, it wasn't ME!

So Fiona has a bit of a shiner. She and Sophia head-butted Sunday (Sophia is fine) and Monday she had a purple bruise under her eye (it hurt when it happened, but apparently it feels just fine now). Today it's purple and yellow and brown and it covers the area under her eye. I took her to the library yesterday and took her today to the grocery store. I think we are getting some looks (covert looks) but I could be paranoid. An older lady came up to them in the grocery store all smiling and cooing and then asked Fiona if her sister had given her a black eye. I laughed and said, well, in a way she did.

She didn't really look at me or talk to me. Maybe official people will be showing up on my doorstep this week.

Whine for a Rainy Day

So this Sunday, we're accompaning Doug on a work trip to Albany, NY. I'm searching for things to do with kids on a Monday morning. Even a playground would work really well.

I finally made an appointment to get the Subaru looked at because the A/C no longer works. I thought we could tough it out, but even in Vermont the car gets very hot. No one likes driving on the highway with the windows down (I'm also afraid of someone tossing something out of the car. Now I suspect I understand the Mystery of the Lone Shoe on the side of road...).

The weather has finally been co-operating and we've been enjoying warmth and sun. Today looks like a rainy day and I have no idea what to do with two small kids on a rainy day. One, yes. Two, no. Sophia is not really into arts and crafts--unless you include their culinary value. I can only play so much hide and seek. Maybe I'll just go outside in the rain with them. We could adventure to the Montshire Science Museum but I am feeling a bit under the weather. It's an hour away and with two explorers, requires hardy and intense supervision. I was wondering when it would rain again. The ground is actually dry (was) and we can't have that!

I would like to get out of the house, though, because I really think something has died in the basement. I loved the idea of a basement as a kid. I have to say I'm over it.

What's Your Favorite Ben and Jerry's Flavor?

I thought it was going to be sunny today so I took the girls to the Ben and Jerry's factory. (I think the playground is the third picture, it's a short slideshow). They have a playground there (and, naturally, ice cream).

Fiona had the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, Sophia had the (entire cone of!) triple caramel ice cream...and I had the key lime pie ice cream, which Fiona preferred to the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Sophia was a royal mess, but happy. I inevitably got chocolate caramel blobs on my fairly new shirt.

The playground is clean and stable and we had it all to ourselves for a while, then the big kids came, and my girls gravitated towards the sand box. It rained off and on while we were there, but it was still fun. With all the fracking rain we've been having, you'd think we'd at least see a rainbow today because of the bright sun mixed with copious amounts of rain!

Thick Creamy Goodness

Liberte

This is the best yogurt I have yet to eat. You will never go back to Dannon or those atrocious "whipped" monstrosities.

We like it sprinkled with a bit of Kashi's "Seven in the Morning" cereal on top. It's not called that anymore, but we still call that. It's something like "Seven Golden Nuggets" or something. I hate refering to food as "nuggets".

Oh, here it is. "Whole Grain", not "Golden". They're still "Nuggets". Ew.

Downward Dog

I am so proud of myself. I actually dragged my post childbirth butt to yoga class! It's even right here in town, so I don't have to schlepp to the "Big City" (of about 8,000 people, 20 minutes away). It was a good class. I even have a friend in the class. You don't get better than that.

And now for the Way Too Much Information part of this post. Really, I'm warning you. If you have kids, it's pretty tame, but if not...well, it's hard to say. I can't remember if I'd be horrified reading the upcoming or just revolted.

I was shocked to discover that Sophia apparently ATE some crayons while we were drawing yesterday. They have been eating a lot of strawberries and blueberries and so I have been changing a lot of diapers. The last one not only was, well, dark blue, but technicolor. Bits of yellow, red, and blue. I told you she eats everything. She also likes rocks. You can see why I don't like to let her out of my sight. Ever.

Doug has taken the girls out while I was in class (which I why I am typing at 8 PM at night) to stomp spiders at the arcade. Both girls love to do this. They are not really spiders, just these red lights that you stomp on when they light up and you get points. Fun for all.

It has been raining so much this month. It rained again today. A friend of mine said it has rained 20 out of 27 days this month and that is double what we usually get. Hard to enjoy the summer when all it does is rain. Apparently, it's making things very very hard for the farmers here.

I think Fiona and I may be marching in the Fourth of July parade with the Montpelier school. I don't usually do parades, but we'll try it. Maybe it will rain and be cancelled.

Hello, I'm Rachael

..and I'll be your personal day planner.

That is what I feel like on some days. It hit me yesterday as I was serving breakfast to the girls (which means I was dumping cereal into their bowls---hey, it was whole grain antioxidant-rich cereal). I was talking to them like this: "Ok, so we'll have breakfast and then we'll dress for the day. We'll go to Gryffon's house to play and then we'll have lunch. Then it will be Sophia's nap time and we'll play blocks and dress-up. When she wakes up, we'll have a snack and then go on a walk and toss pennies in the fountain. When daddy gets home, he'll take out Sophia and you and I will meet Hannah at the pool and then go have creemies. Yes, the dirt dish is an option on the menu (note: it's crushed chocolate cookies with fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream and chocolate sprinkles and a gummy worm and WHOA it's much bigger than I realized). At the end of our day, we'll bathe (oops, that itinerary item got neglected), read some of your favorite books, listen to soothing music, and sleep in our pillowtop mattress bed."

Ok, so, I didn't say all of that, but after a certain point, I felt like I could have. She would lose interest about halfway through that. I could add things like: "Breakfast will consist of lightly sweetened wheat flakes mixed with oat crusted wild blueberries, served with local organic 2% milk. Yes, it's rBST free. An option of sliced peaches that I bought a huge bag of because you normally eat all of them in one day will be available. You may choose to lose all interest in peaches at this point. That is your option. Your personal day planner will find a use for those quickly softening peaches in a crisp or a pie or something. Or maybe the fruit flies will just take over."

"Snack will consist of a conveniently located box of crisp (well, they were before we had all this rain) apple flavored whole wheat organic crackers. (I know! They are still bad for your teeth and therefore will be served with ice cold local water (ahem, tap) from a suitable drinking vessel.) Lunch will be roasted organic peanut butter served with wild blueberry jam (it's not organic, but I think we'll live) on local whole grain and seed bread. If you decide to sleep through lunch, chef will still be available to provide lunch after you wake. Dinner will consist of orecchiette pasta that you selected earlier mixed with organic tomato and basil sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. (This is a departure from your usual plain pasta because this combination "tastes like pizza" and "smells so good!"). Drink choices at all meals are local 2% milk, local water (hee hee), or fruit juice of the day--one meal only, please."

"Chef is available at all hours if you would desire something more and substitutions are not only accepted, they are expected. Due to the season, snacks of local strawberries and blueberries will be provided at all hours of the day. Please do not get them on the furniture."

Blue Sand Blues

Nothing is more exciting than sand in your child's diaper and in your bed and in---everything. You know this as a parent. It's even better if it's really in the diaper. As in, oh, that was yesterday's second breakfast.

Now imagine this sand is blue and you're taking it up a few notches to "what on earth was I thinking?" fun.

Then imagine your toddler, who has a beard of blue sand, getting into the bird seed and pouring it all over your dining room hardwood floors. I am still picking seed out of my toes even though I did actually vacuum the floors.

Sophia has so many new words and signs I've sort of just stopped keeping track. She can sign "potato"--she loves the apple of the earth--and can say "strawberry" quite clearly.

Fiona misses her friends and I took her to the public pool to meet one of them and we happened upon another classmate, too. The swimming thing was really becoming something I could see myself doing often, but now it seems the rain is back again. I even found a place for swimming lessons.

Fiona has a new parakeet and his name is "Tweety Sweety". Or maybe it's "Sweety Tweety". He seems very calm and even lets her stroke his belly.

A Small Brag

Fiona had her first dental X-rays today. After some inital hesitation about being alone in the chair (it really was small potatoes) she got three x-rays done happily. She thought it was very cool. She tried really hard to be still for her cleaning, too (which I can see is difficult---I can almost see waves of energy coming out of her body). Her four temporary fillings are holding in nicely. So nicely, in fact, that I finally relented and will now let her have gum (the only sugar in it being xylitol). You can see her front adult teeth in the X-ray. They are so big! It is really neat. Foreshadowing. The big girl teeth.

I took the girls to Silver Lake with a friend and her son and godson and while it was a lot of work for me, we had a great time. Unfortunately, my shoulders and back got pretty sunburnt. You'd think at 33 I would no longer get sunburns. At least the girls did not. I forgot how annoying sunburns are. No blisters, just pain.

Doug is my hero and sent me out to eat by myself. I don't normally like eating out by myself, but I brought along Last Child in the Woods and had a good time. I had some pretty good calamari, some very nice house-made gnocchi (a tad too much Parmesan...or was it Asaigo?) with fabulous vegetables (snap peas, asparagus, haricot verts, carrots--all very fresh) and some Italian Zinfandel that didn't really make a huge impression with me, but it was all relished. I wanted dessert, but I was just too full. Next time, no calamari, but definitely some dessert. Maybe even somehow a side of Doug. I ate at Conoscenti's.

Events I Must Record for Posterity

After browsing my neglected blog, I realized I left out two disgusting events that I simply cannot forget about (and, of course, must share).

Sometime this early spring, when the snow had just melted and the grass was mostly brown and the crocus was up, we were playing in the yard. I noticed a couple of deer dung patches (the deer come pretty close to the house, especially in late winter/early spring). The girls are busy digging and drawing and walking and climbing. I was doing something with Fiona when I noticed Sophia with something in her hand and it was making its way to her mouth. It was a deer dung patch I had missed. I let out some abnormal screech (which amazingly got her attention) and no dung was consumed. I think it had been in the grass a while, but still. When I say she still puts everything in her mouth, I mean it. Everything.

The other event was on Easter. They opened their baskets and Fiona enjoyed her chocolate. She didn't eat it all (some of it is sitting next to me right at this moment) but she didn't eat breakfast or lunch or dinner unless I missed it. She did say her tummy hurt, but she has said that before and she seemed fine otherwise. That evening, while Doug was on the computer with Fiona and I was bathing, she barfed all over him and herself and the floor. A huge pool of chocolate vomit. Sophia immediately came over (it did smell strangely of chocolate), slipped, and fell right into the pool of chocolate vomitus. Doug got them all cleaned up and then told me about it. He is a rare one. So I missed it all. The laundry smelled strange, though. Amazingly, we all still like chocolate. She was fine after that. I think I will insist on some sort of breakfast before we find the baskets after this.

Parenting in the Rain

After getting soggy in the past few weeks, I've decided we can't live somewhere where it rains all the time. At least not somewhere where you are yearning for the warm sunny weather after a long winter.

This weekend---finally---is supposed to be warm and "partly cloudy". It is going to be EIGHTY degrees Farenheit! I don't know what we will do, but it will involve mowing the dandelion yard of darkness.

Fiona is continuing to thrive at school. She has two tadpoles that are slowing growing their limbs. Even when they are fully grown, they are a type of frog that lives in the water. At that point we just get a bigger container and different food. They are really cute. She caught some "beatles" (I have no idea what they actually are, but there are a lot of them this year) and we tried to feed them, but they just recently expired. I tried to get her to name them John, Ringo, Paul, and George, but she didn't understand why. (The tadpoles--both of them---are named Cutie-cutie by the way). Actually, I was showing her the first word she wrote (she's writing quite well now and reading along with it): "John" and she was totally perplexed. "Who is John?" she asked. So fickle.

Sophia's words and signing are continuing to grow. The latest is "thirsty". She says it at the same time she is signing it. She does that for all her signs actually: "help" "cereal" "cheese" "banana" (although banana sounds like something else--sort of like "nana" but different). The only one she doesn't say is "more". But she signs that a lot. She is playing more and more with Fiona and obviously adores her (so far, it seems to go both ways). She calls her "Fee-nah-nah" or "Nah-nah!". She is finally signing "Mommy" and saying Mommy. We were both Daddy for a while. Sometimes I am still Daddy, but at least he is sometimes Mommy. When we go to pick up Fiona after school, they are almost always on the playground. Her classmates love Sophia (she's "the baby" but she isn't the only baby) and Fiona is very protective of her. She will sometimes stand in the middle of the playground and announce Sophia her sister is here and they need to be very careful and not hurt her. She is fragile. That does not seem to apply to Fiona, but Sophia seems to love roughhousing with her (it just makes me really anxious). That is where the "more" sign comes in a lot. They laugh a lot together.

I have been watching LOST (a TV show for those of you who don't know---I didn't for a while) based on a friend's recommendation. Since we have no broadcast TV, I have been downloading the episodes off of iTunes. I haven't looked forward to a season finale in a long time, but I am very excited for this one.

Wah-Wah

Right now, our kitchen trash can is being used in the bathtub. It's maybe a little less strange if I tell you that the bathroom is right next to the kitchen. No? It's the only way we can keep Sophia from throwing toys, clothes, and assorted non-trash things away. It's still not foolproof. If the trashcan is moved to the bathroom floor, I find bath toys in it.

"Wah-wah" is what "water" sounds like when Sophia says it. Yesterday, we met friends at the playground and there happens to be a shallow river next to it that has some sand, but mostly rocks. It is very, very cold. I knew this without touching it, but now I really know. Sophia was entranced by the moving river. She wanted to go right in. The cold didn't really seem to bother her and she proceed to soak her mittens in it. Fortunately, she only went in up to her snow boots, but she was very determined to check it out. Back on the playground, she looked back at the river and wistfully said, "wah-wah". We also rediscovered the swing. She was grumpy and upset about leaving the water, but the swing made everything happy again. She proceeded to coo.

Fiona has a bad cough, which only shows up at night, and therefore keeps her up, so she stayed home from school today and is spending the afternoon sleeping. Poor thing. It's the warmest day of the year by far and very sunny. I think it got above 60 F or darn near close. Sophia and I went on a walk (Doug is home sick as well) and found the ducks in the river. I even took pictures. My goal this summer is to take lots and lots of pictures. The ducks were a big hit. She said "ducks!" "birds!" "wah-wah!". She made the sign for birds as well. She sort of makes the sign for water.

Random Blithering

Tomorrow it could get as warm as 65 F. 65. I must get the pool and the bathing suit out tonight. I want to bend over and weep tears of joy.

I just finished watching Season 4 of Enterprise. Which means that I just finished watching Enterprise. Just as I was getting into it, I learn they only made four seasons?! How can that be? Star Trek is supposed to have several seasons. Not four. I feel cheated.

Signs of Spring

I took the critters out yesterday for a romp and we found crocus coming up! I am a little too excited about it.

Foreseeing the Fever

Well, the doctor visit was not grim. Sophia did not cry the entire time. I wonder if it was because we unexpectedly had a different doctor or if that was a coincidence.

This doctor, however, recommended that we give Sophia Tylenol any time she has a bad cold. The kicker of this is, we didn't know she was sick until after the seizure. The idea is to prevent a fever so she doesn't seize. I try to foresee hunger, bathroom breaks, boredom, cold, heat, sun protection, battle of wills, sibling clashes, and sleepiness. Foreseeing fever? No, that I can not do. Sophia was normal feeling before the seizure and hot afterward.

See, this is what happened:

Sunday morning, we woke up and made our way downstairs. Doug went to the kitchen to start breakfast and I went to the laundry room to do laundry. All of the sudden, Doug is urgently calling to me. I go in the kitchen and he is holding Sophia. She is very still and staring straight ahead. She start to seize (shake) and turn slightly blue and her eyes roll back. That is when I called 911. They've asked me how long it lasted, but I don't really know. The guy on 911 was great, very calm, and the ambulance and volunteers were there very quickly (they are just down the street). I think 4 people showed up. Maybe it was five.

When she stopped shaking (before help got there), she had this eerie cry like I've never heard before. Then she went into a deep sleep. She would still grip your hand, but she would not wake up. They recommended taking her to the hospital after seeing how non responsive she was. I went with her in the ambulance. That was when we noticed she had the fever. She seemed to get hotter during the drive. The hospital is 20 minutes away, but it seemed much longer. The fever only went up to 101.7 F.

As you know, it all turned out well, but it was terrifying. I kept thinking that because she wouldn't wake up, she was brain damaged. I thought it might be meningitis (it wasn't, her neck wasn't at all stiff). I have this problem of thinking of the worst possible scenarios. I can act all cool and decisive in a crisis, but I am thinking the worst. Afterwards, I am a gooey wet mess.

I am hoping that was our first and last experience with seizures.

In other, more fluffy news, I took Fiona to see Curious George a few weekends ago, and I have to say it was pretty cute. Very age appropriate (she's 4). I really liked the soundtrack.

A Potato Throwing Event

Sophia has spent the last 10 minutes throwing potatoes into the bathtub. It's fairly entertaining. Boom! Boom! Boom! While she tosses them in, she sings a little song as she goes back and forth between the cabinet where she got the potatoes and the bathtub.

She woke up yesterday making the sign for cookie. I said, "Well, we can't have cookies for breakfast. How about a banana?" I made the sign for banana and she made the sign back! She also has started singing "Daddy" which is no surprise.

Today she has a well-baby checkup, which I am dreading. The last two (at least the last two) trips have been grim. She cries anytime someone comes into the room. The examination is done with her in my arms. That part is ok, but the crying is traumatic. She is due for a shot today and I am paranoid, more so than usual, of side effects, given that she has already had a seizure. She has never even had a fever from a vaccine, neither of them has had any sort of reaction, but I worry anyway.

Boots!

One of Sophia's favorite words is "Boots!" (with the !). She will put the snow boots on (eh, they aren't that dirty) and clonk around the house.

Another favorite word is "Daddy". "Daddy" has come to mean all that is good and wonderful in the world. Of course she says it when Doug comes home, in a gleeful voice. She also says it when I appear at the end of nap time, when I come to take her out of her car seat, and other such instances. I think the only time she says "Maaaa MEEE!" is when she wants more food. She has gotten very insistent about nursing, and makes the sign for milk while saying "eh eh eh eh". That may be because of the antibiotics---she is not eating as much as she normally does, and is nursing more (let's just say I have to change diapers and clothes more often because of the antibiotics).

I didn't get the chance to remark how well Fiona did at the hospital when we left for there frantically via ambulance and car. After her inital worry, she found the hospital adventure exciting. She loved the juice and cocoa in the patient "kitchen" area. She frequently said she was bored, but she did not really act out. If this had happened while Doug had been at work or had been out of town, I would really have had my hands full!

Bravery is...

changing your very mobile, very kicky, very squirmy toddler's diaper while she is wearing snow boots.

Sophia is growing in a million different ways--she seems to pick up a new word an hour and is determined to put on her own coat and boot for inside wear. She wants to brush her own hair, her own teeth (she just sucks on the toothbrush) and she likes to screeeeeeeech. She's 17 months.

Fiona doesn't like the screeching, and she thinks Sophia is just too loud. Fiona, at 4, is not exactly quiet--unless she is in the car, and then for some reason, she speaks very softly. So softly that I don't know she is speaking to me until she starts having a small fit.

Bravery is also surviving a febrile seizure. We had our first taste of what that is like last Sunday. It happened to Sophia about 830 AM. I won't go into the horrific details of what it's like to watch your baby having a seizure, but we did take an ambulance to the E.R. and were told they are fairly common and harmless. If she has another one, they do want to see her again, however.

What I'm Listening To Today

Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling For Soup

The Lyrics:

BOWLING FOR SOUP LYRICS (from azlyrics.com)

"Ohio (Come Back To Texas)"

She said she needed a break
a little time to think
but then she went to Cleveland
with some guy named Leelan
that she met at the bank

There's nothing wrong with Ohio
except the snow and the rain
I really like Drew Carey
and I'd love to see the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame

So when you're done doing whatever
and when you're thru doing whoever
you know Denton County will be right here waiting for you....

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
Before you lose your accent
and forget all about the Lonestar State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway

I think I made a mistake
Its not that easy to take
She went to make a deposit
then she cleaned out her closet
Guess I'll sit here and wait

For her to come back home (I'd wish you come back home)
it shouldn't take very long (so long so long)
i bet she misses the sunrise
and misses the fruit flies but i could be wrong

So when you're done doing whatever
and when you're thru doing whoever
you know Denton County will be right here waiting for you....

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
I bet you missed your exit
and drove right on thru the Lone Star State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway

Troy Aikmen wants you back
Willie Nelson wants you back
NASA wants you back
and the Bush twins want you back
and Pantera wants you back
and Blue Bell wants you back

I got a premonition
I'm taking a petition
and the whole state's gonna sign

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
Before you lose your accent
and forget all about the Lone Star State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved

Come back to Texas
Its just not the same since you went away
Before you lose your accent
and forget all about the Lone Star State
There's a seat for you at the rodeo
and I've got every slow dance saved
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway
Besides the Mexican food sux north of here anyway

Meme Courtesy of Lone Star Ma

Four Things Meme

I have been "tagged", apparently, and although this is not the sort of thing I normally do here, I thought, well, what the heck.

Four Jobs I've Had

1. Cashier: I was the cashier at Long John Silver's for a year in high school. My tag said "Seaman Apprentice". Guess what got old faster than that job?

2. Herb/Vitamin salesperson: I started as a cashier at Nature's Harvest in Tampa, Florida and then moved up to this job. I learned a lot about vitamins and supplements and herbs and enjoyed this job except for some strange customers and dismal hours.

3. Lab Assistant: I worked in a molecular biology (botany) lab during and after working there as the dishwasher (Hey, I was a dishwasher in a restaurant, too, but that was totally different. They didn't have autoclaves.) It was really interesting, but I don't think I was very good at it. I loved the people I worked with though, and I met my husband that way.

4. Cook/Assistant Innkeeper: I was the "chef" at a bed and breakfast inn (there were 11 rooms, so it was big for a B&B, but small for an inn ...). I was the only cook there (except on my days off) but I got to design the menus, keep inventory, make some lunches and a couple of dinners (those were my favorite). I enjoyed cooking there a lot, and I also enjoyed working behind the innkeeper desk. 99% of our guests were really pleasant and interesting. I had fabulous bosses, as well. I only left to bear and care for an infant! That is a good job, too.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over & Over
1.Serenity
2.Totoro
3.Any of the LoTR movies
4.Yellow Submarine. That is mostly out of my control at this point, though.

Four Places I've Lived
1. Denton, TX
2. Tampa, FL
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Austin, TX

Four Places I've Vacationed
1. Montreal, Canada
2. Rochester, MN
3. Bar Harbor, Maine
4. Seville, Spain

Four of My Favorite Dishes
1. Single Pebble's "Mock Eel" (it's shittake mushroom)
2. Doug's fried chicken with biscuits
3. Doug's hamburgers
4. Thanksgiving dinner

Four (Non-Blogger) Sites I Visit Daily
1. www.lalecheleague.org
2. www.cursor.org
3. www.lush.com
4. www.nytimes.com
(none of these are daily, but non-blogger ones I visit frequently)

Four Places I'd Like To Visit
1. Denton, TX
2. Austin, TX
3. Petaluma, CA
4. Tampa, FL

Turning 33, 4 and Going to Montreal

Last week, I turned 33. Yay. Fiona likes to remind me that next year I'll be *34* and then *35* and counts up to "thirty TEN"! I tell her that number is 40 (40?) and she proceeds to count up to some ungodly number and I try to forget we are talking about my age.

Fiona turns four this Thursday and she tells everyone that we are going to Montreal for her birthday (which is true). We're going to visit the Biodome , stay at a Holiday Inn in Chinatown (which we've been to before and it was a great experience), shop in Chinatown, and hopefully go to a LUSH store for the first time. Hopefully dim sum will be had! We are all really looking forward to it. Montreal has fabulous food.

A Shrew!

Alas, Fiona is sick. She has this wicked cough and she has missed three days of school. She isn't happy about this at all -- she was working on a project Tuesday and wants to go back and finish it. It is her 5th little booklet. Her first three were about shapes (one is a quatrafoil ... ooo ) and the 4th about continents. They are punched out shapes, one per page, with the word underneath. She loves making these. I hear this one is about letters.

So this is the second winter we've relied on a case of blueberries in the freezer to supply us until spring. Last year they took us well into summer. This year they were gone two weeks ago. Sophia and Fiona really, really like them. I am not sure Doug and I had any.

Sophia is definitely walking now, but she will say "up" if she want you to take her. Fiona loves helping her walk as well.

The most exciting thing that has happened this week is that Doug had an interesting early morning encounter with a small animal. He was working on the computer at some ungodly hour and heard something dropping gradually down the stairs. The computer is right in front of the stairs. The stairs are dark. He goes to investigate and nearly trods on this small animal who obviously cannot see well. He gets a box and puts this animal loose in the basement.

Now. After some asking around and some searching, he's decided it was a shrew. I can tell you if it were me who nearly trod on a small animal in the dark, not only would I have screamed like a teen in a horror movie, I would have somehow thrown it out into the bitter cold. Unless I passed out. He knew it wasn't a mouse or rat, but wasn't sure what else it could be. It was sort of mole-like.

I want to know how it got on the second floor. Where did it come from? It was obviously going down the stairs, not up.

I am hoping this was a very strange occurance and won't be happening again. I will also be very cautious coming downstairs at night as well.

So it's Been Ten Years

I also have neglected to mention that last Christmas was our 10th wedding anniversary. It is sort of amazing it has been that long and yet sometimes it seems longer -- in the sense that so far we have been "married without kids" for a longer period than "married with kids" ... and it seems SO long ago that we did not have our children with us yet.

I feel extremely fortunate to have found someone who is such an excellent mate and father and person in general. He loves me and he wants to be with me. It's an amazing combination. He is my true penguin.

I love you, Doug. Thanks for the many wonderful years and the many more to come.

Mommy has Watery Eyes

I do remember something that happened in the past weeks, now.

Doug took the girls out for a night at the mall and they came home with a little something for me. Fiona was very excited about it. It was a necklace from Claire's -- those necklaces that have a charm on them with a half a heart and the other necklace has the other half. These said "mother" and "daughter".

Now if we get angry at each other or grumpy, we're supposed to hold up our necklace and show the other. Sometimes we fit them together (goofy sci-fi type noises help here). I was very touched. Ok, it was Doug's idea, but it was still great.

She hasn't actually worn it in a couple of weeks, but I haven't taken mine off.

Happy 2006

So we indeed have 3 1/2 molars now in Sophia's mouth.

I believe we have mentioned Fiona's beloved backpack--obviously a common word around here and a coveted object because Sophia can now say, quite clearly, "backpack".

We've moved the computer downstairs into the foyer. This has the benefit of being more accessible (and in the fall one can actually use the computer without being assaulted by wasps and flies) ... and maybe I will actually be able to get my thoughts down more quickly. I come up with all sorts of musings while doing dishes, driving, nursing ... but then I sit down to the computer, ah, finally, ... and ... I am completely at a loss as to what to write.

Fiona got an extended Christmas from her Grandpa Brown and her Auntie Alex ... Alex got her a Magic School Bus DVD (the body one) and it is very cool. I won't say how many times it has been watched already (bad mommy!). I have very mixed feelings about exposing kids to video so young (can you tell?) but GOSH the quiet is sure nice and now that she's nearly four, she does obviously learn things from it. Even Sophia learns sign language from her DVDs (That is more interactive, obviously. Mom and Dad have to watch or there is no point to it).

Walking and Singing

I apologize for the lack of updates around here, but now that the um, joyful, time of Christmas is over, I should be able to get back on track here.

Both girls got quite a nice stash over the holidays. Fiona loved all her goods...one of her favorites is this plastic glow-in-the-dark skeleton that you put together. She carries him around everywhere (along with her friend "Backpack" that looks just like the one on Dora...sigh...that was a pick-up from Claire's a few weeks before Christmas...). He falls apart, of course, because he's a puzzle, so I am always putting those hip bones back on.

She also got this Hello Kitty camera (thank you Auntie Maggie!), which she loves. We love it, too. Imagine having paparazzi in your home. It's like that. We tell her to at least make sure her subjects have all of their clothes on. All of them. It's a "film" camera (she keeps calling the canisters "batteries") so we have two rolls, nearly three, to develop soon.

Sophia has taken two unassisted steps!! She has been "walking" now with our hands for a little while. She has also been keeping me up a lot at night and is so so oh so grumpy in the morning. I hope there is a molar for all of this misery.

On the last day of school before her week of vacation, her school had a Holiday Party. It was at the library in the storytime room, which has a bit of a stage in front of the windows. And there was our girl, right in the middle, belting out all of the songs (with added expressive arm movements). There were a gaggle of grandparents and parents there, so the kids were a bit in the spotlight. Many of them did not sing (I sure wouldn't have...) at first, but mostly everyone warmed up after a bit. I got a lot of comments afterwards of the ilk of "she's going to be an actress when she grows up!" or "she sure isn't shy!" or "she knows what she wants"...you get the idea. When watching her interact with the other kids, I get a bit of "She sure knows how to stand up for herself!". All the parents also got a CD of the kids singing at school...and one can clearly pin point Fiona's angelic voice in the crowd (there are 11 other students).

Sophia got these two Signing Time DVDs (thank you Auntie Alex and Auntie Maggie!), which I am not able to watch all the time (Mommy hides in the Special Room, don't you know), so Fiona has been teaching me the colors. Sophia's favorite sign is "food". She has done "milk" once. "More" is another big favorite.

Fiona can now also write her name (after months of "John"--which she now has a letterset of--thank you, Auntie Alex! and a few days of her best bud "Max"). She can clearly recognize some words and is asking how to spell, well, everything. She will read words and spell them out and ask what they say...sometimes she will try to sound them out.

I hope everyone had a great Winter Holiday, and may 2006 be even better. Like maybe Bush will resign...Cheney goes to jail...something of that nature would have us dancing in the streets!

Naptime Zen

My daily challenge during the week (well one of) is to get both girls down for a nap. Quite by accident, I found the key to this without any arguing, wailing, or angst...

The key is to tell Fiona that we have to put Sophia down for a nap---which is totally true---and when she asks if we can "skip nap" (meaning her nap, of course)...it is essential to say yes. So far (and all of this could change any time) this means we eat lunch, we read a few books, we snuggle in bed---Fiona wrapped around my back---and Fiona is asleep instantly (although sometimes I have to urge her to "pretend" to sleep so Sophia copies us). Sophia is full of energy after nursing and screeches and laughs and bonks into me affectionately (I pretend to sleep with one or both arms over my face) and babbles and plays. Sophia will do this from 15 to 45 minutes. Fiona sleeps on. I am not tired; I can not nap even though I frequently have insomnia in the middle of the night. Sophia bonking around makes me crazy if I don't practice thinking of something else or concentrating on my breathing, or something. Usually, as soon as I stop noticing her activity...she is snuggled into my head (nothing like baby butt in your face) sucking her thumb. She typically sleeps about 1 hour max...sometimes less, sometimes more...if I am lucky, I can get to her before she finds Fiona (who is usually still sound asleep)...if I am not lucky, well, you know.

So one hour to do correspondence, bills, phone calls, cleaning, laundry.

Or watch some Desperate Housewives. You know--whatever has priority that day...

Still here

Sorry for the lack of posting...it's that time of year!

School is going well for Fiona, Sophia is full of personality and is not yet walking, but has a look in her eye...

We have a completely unadorned tree waiting for decoration. I have wrapped what presents I've gotten so far, but what is sucking up all my time are the edible things I make for Christmas, which I'm hoping to mail to family before Christmas...not to mention the photo Christmas cards...

Fiona has started really expressing an interest in spelling. She will sit there looking at a sign or a book and try to spell and sound out the words. Her teacher has even noticed this and is encouraging her but not pushing her (you can't really push Fiona anyway). I think we are perhaps at the threshold of reading and I can't think of anything more exciting than finally being able to read!

Revelation

So we pick up Fiona from school...on the way home, Fiona says to me: "When Sophia and I grow up, there will be FOUR big people living in our house!"

I say, yes, I suppose so (mind not really grasping this concept, however).

She then says, "Man, that will be so crazy!"

Sock Sale

It's actually a huge event here in Northfield that takes place over a couple of weekends (last weekend and the next). The last thing I need in the world right now is socks (I mean, we went last year, and that should hold us for at least 5 years...), but we went because Fiona needs (make that needed) socks, and well, since we're here, let's get some more socks for the big folks...

For more information about the Cabot Hosiery Mills, click this link.

I love that something like a sock sale is headline news here. I really do.

Jack-o-lantern displays, sock sales, and quilt festivals. This is small town.

And the Mommy Award Goes to....

So Fiona takes another one of those late 2 hour naps (4-6 PM). I was trying to get Sophia down to sleep (she was acting tired but as soon as we hit the bed, she says, "Wheee!" (yes, she actually says this) and practices her standing skills. She likes the falling down part as well.) and I turn over to ask Fiona if we should just read a book and Fiona is snoring. Oh well.

She comes downstairs and I carry her over to Doug. She is thrilled to see her Daddy and he scoops her up. She asks me if she can have a marshmallow. I say ok. I'm a softie after a good nap. We go look at the marshmallows and she wants to hold both the large marshmallow bag and the small one. She then asks, "Can I have one of each?". Still as soft as a marshmallow here, I say yes. She says, "What a mommy I have!"

There is a Pile of Wood in the Driveway

Let this be a lesson...buy wood in the spring! Just do it! We have been trying to find a seller of wood to have on store for the winter...at the last minute, as usual, and a bit more urgently due to the forecasts of costly woe for the heating oil season...and what you would buy right now would be unseasoned wood, so it's not really for this winter, but nice to have nonetheless. We do have wood, but I am not sure it's enough for the entire winter. We have been very lucky with the weather and hardly even use the heater, but you never know how long that will last! We got one cord and it wasn't as expensive as I feared and the seller was actually a seemingly cool person.

He came up to the door and talked to Doug while I wrote out the check...Fiona, of course, was very talkative as usual (the man was wearing a measuring tape in some sort of pouch and she was admiring it--she loves measuring tape). The seller has 2 daughters himself and Doug said something like "Every man should have a daughter". The seller remarked that the world would be a better place if that were so. It seemed like a bonding moment to me.

Does this mean every woman should have a son? Possibly not, but I wonder....

Curse of the Walking Wasps...

The weather has been incredible. Sunny, not too cold, not too hot. It's been ideal. I guess because we have not had a hard freeze the flies and the wasps are still here, but very clumsy...the wasps walk around on the ground (EEEEKKK---not good for crawling babies!).

Last weekend was fabulous. We went out and shot off some model rockets and invited one of Fiona's friends and his family. He loves rockets and this was his first time to really see it. It was so much fun. Then I took Fiona to see Wallace and Gromit's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I was worried that it might be too violent, but it wasn't too bad. I loved the movie and Fiona had a great time!

It's about 3 weeks until Thanksgiving and I should start thinking about what to make. I know there must be the Very Big Apple Pie (15 inches). That is about all I have right now. Dry brining a turkey. I toyed with the idea of having just pie...but turkey. I need turkey. I need lots of vegetables. Biscuits. Some sort of cranberry relish or sauce. Potatoes. DRESSING! That isn't optional. Maybe the next day, but then we're off to a Single Pebble!

A close friend of mine is going to a Rick Bayless cooking demonstration tonight. Drool! I can't go (it's in California, after all), but she is having my Rick Bayless cookbooks signed for me. Nyah-nyah.

Sophia is now pulling herself up to stand...and letting go. She gets this triumphant look on her face (includes a big toothy smile) and then she goes down on her bum. She still looks quite pleased with herself.

Doug says that Sophia said "Fiona" (and pointed at her) the other day when they were at Claire's. Claire's is like a small diva shop. It was slow, so Fiona went in, tried on some tiaras and some stoles and some purses and strutted about the store. She put everything back just the way it was. She loves to chat up the sales clerk, too.

It figures that I would stay home all day and every day and she would say "Fiona" while I was not there.

Pomegranate and Pumpkins

Ahhh, nap time sanity. I ponder trying to eliminate the nap and achieve earlier bed time status for Fiona, but then real life happens...

Halloween was lots of fun. We took Fiona trick or treating for the first time. Sunday we dressed Fiona up in her frog queen costume and Sophia in her purple dragon costume. We took them to Shelburne Museum for the first round of T and Ting and we carved a pumpkin (that was THE pumpkin for the year, I'm afraid). Monday we went T and Ting in downtown Montpelier where we got the bulk of the candy stash. People are very very generous with candy. Even to the point of offering some up to the 1 year old Sophia. Please do not offer my 1 year old a gummy worm! She has 6 teeth. Then we went to Ellie's Farm Stand for the 28th? annual 1000 Jack o lanterns display! We usually just drive by due to the hellish location and traffic, but we got out this time. It's quite a sight! They must be very very good at carving by now.

Now what do I do with all the candy?

I also got Fiona a skeleton balloon from the grocery store that she had been coveting. She carries him everywhere and he is as big as she is. He was .99 -- I guess because I bought him on Halloween.

So the big favorite food around here right now is pomegranate. Sophia pants for the little seeds. She looks like she is shoving rubies into her mouth.

It has been unseasonably warm here--yesterday near 70 F! Today is cooler by 20 degrees, but I hope that means winter will be kind this year. OK, I know it means nothing, but I can hope! Unfortunately, that means the cluster flies and wasps are back. Shudder.

Fiona still has an intense interest in the body. We bought her a very detailed book of the body. By that, I mean the book is full of shrunk down posters full of labeled body parts--muscles, bones, organs, etc. I can't pronounce most of these words. She likes looking at them, so I do what I can. We also started this Mother Goose program for 3 Saturdays---all free---10 books. It's sort of an introduction to science through literature. This afternoon we are planting peas in different locations (inside, in clear plastic cups) and monitoring them. She is very excited about it; it was the first thing she said when she woke up this morning.

Some Menu Items from Hen of the Wood

I finally brought the menu upstairs, so here I go. I'm not posting the whole thing, but some selections so you all may drool...

Starters:

Roasted Winter Squash and Pear Soup
Pumpkin Seed Oil and Nutmeg

Crispy Fried Oysters and Salt Cod-(if I can resist the pork belly, I'm getting this next time)
Lemon, Parsley and Aioli

**Slow Roasted Niman Ranch Pork Belly**
Local Parsnips and Cider Jus

Braised Hen of the Wood Mushrooms
Country Bacon & Pinot Noir

Entrees:

**Smoked La Belle Farm Duck Breast**
Sweet Potato Puree, Vermont Cranberries, Toasted Hazelnuts

Niman Ranch Pork Shanks
Stone Ground Pumpkin Polenta & Pete's Farm Greens

Grilled Ledgend Farm Venison
Herb Roasted German Butterball Potatoes, Braised Pears & Sage

Baked Butternut Squash Lasagne
Chestnuts, Vermont Ricotta & Wild Mushrooms

______

So that's a "taste" of the menu...I left some things out like the Caesar salad with crispy capers and the Cavendish Farm Quail only because of time and space...the dessert menu has lovely sounding items like pumpkin pots de creme, pecan tart, apple and fig crisp...and of course there is the cheese menu with gems like Jasper Hill Farm's 'Bailey Hazen Blue'(raw ayrshire milk, aged 4-5 months, rich dry and crumbly) and Cobb Hill Farm 'Caerphilly' (raw cow's milk cheddar). The *** items are what Doug and I ordered.

Bitchin' in my Free Time

Today I was so productive that I actually wrote a letter to Applebee's to complain about our dinner last night. I know, I know, it's *Applebee's*, but we normally have good luck there bringing the kids. The food is edible and I will admit that I like a couple of the dishes. Last night the service was so horrendous and the food was, so, well, strange (all I will say is "Cilantro Pork Bowl"---only available in my area right now, luckily---'course I was the one who dared to order it...). You know you have too much time if you can bang out a complaint letter. Every time I do one of those, too, I think "If only I could write *positive* letters as well--that would make a difference, too, and make someone feel deservedly great". I guess I just like to bitch too much. In a nice, respectful way, of course.

Doug took the girls out for pizza. I think I'm going to read! It came to my attention that I have a copy of The Last Unicorn, which I have yet to read. I could at least start it tonight--in a nice hot bubbly bath!

I'll have leftover Pasta Bolognese for dinner...and some chocolate, of course...

We Have Two Cars Once Again!

It's not the timing belt. The engine was flooded. Whatever, the car is fine and Doug is picking it up now. I don't know how much it is, but it isn't much. Whew! I don't understand how the engine got flooded, and I thought that was something that went away after a while (I tried to start it again much later in the day and it still didn't work).

That's the last time I take the tow guy's prognosis seriously.

Today Fiona went in to school an hour late because the public school district was having kids come in two hours later. It did snow last night, but not much. If they regularly do this, for wimpy snow, it's going to be a real drag. So because of the one car and because we live 20 minutes away, Doug took Fiona into work for the first time (I mean during his working hours). He said it went as well as can be expected. No tantrums, though.

Beautiful Butter Baby

I don't know why I bother buying Hallowe'en candy early. I absolutely do not have the willpower to leave it alone. Neither does Doug when he discovers my stash.

Yes, CANDY. I know I should buy little boxes of organic raisins or spiced nuts or whatever, but this is the one time of year I actually buy whole bags of chocolate from companies I would normally boycott, I'm sure, if I looked more closely at the small print on the back.

I think we are supposed to get rather a bit of snow tonight, but it's started to snow already. I didn't even notice except I happened to look outside and it looked like a lot of white rain and way too quiet.

Fiona has an intense interest in this board game "Operation". You know the game. You try to take out little pieces from the body without setting off the buzzer. The game states that it is for ages 6+. So she understands it's too old for her right now, but she talks about it every time we go to the "little mall". (HAHAHA - this proves that everyone really does have a website. It even makes it look like a real mall. Those of you who know of Golden Triangle Mall in Denton...this mall makes that one look like--maybe not Mall of America, but like the Galleria or something).

Sophia still likes to eat. We went sledding in our introductory snow last weekend and while she had fun, when we stopped she noticed all that cool white stuff next to her and decided that it was time to eat. Right now big favorites are ice (thanks to Sobo! Sophia starts going UH UH UH frantically when you open the door...but there are other delights in there like blueberries and peas...) and butter. She l-o-v-e-s butter. She sees the golden stick in the dish and does her UH UH UH panting thing or her "THAT!!!" combined with pointing. Give her a piece of bread with butter and she picks off the butter and eats it. The toast is either eaten or tossed onto the floor.

A Pet Peeve

On our "Nature's Path" Organic Heritage Bites cereal it lists "evaporatied [sic] cane juice" as an ingredient. I have to admit the phrase "evaporated cane juice" annoys me anyway, but at least spell it right.

You know it's a real pet peeve when you somehow find the time to try and photograph the ingredient list of a cereal box. It wouldn't focus on the words, so it isn't here.

If you're like me, you will now be on high alert for typos in my blog...

I Foresee a Long Dark Cold Winter

We're trying to decide if we can get along with just one car...the Subaru. The Honda's timing belt is likely what went out. Doug thinks that will be at least 500 bucks. It is a 1994 car, with over 200 thousand miles on it. It has served us well. It is also pretty rusted.

Ugh.

When it Rains, it Snows

Ok, so far we have a garage door that Doug had to dismantle (it came off the track because we were using it manually due to a 3 hour planned power outage that we--I--thought was on a different day); so we have an open garage right before winter. Let the squirrels come on in! (One did that and got in our crawl space and lived under our downstairs bathtub. Nothing like taking a bath with a large creature scratching around under you!) Now Doug's car won't start. It was making a strange noise when I took Sobo to a Single Pebble, but then it stopped making Strange Noise.

Wonder what the third surprise will be?

Guess I Won't Be Mowing the Lawn After All

I woke up to SNOW! Not a little bit, either; I can't see any grass.

I thought it was just supposed to rain.

This Week in Review

Well, Sobo is gone :( and we already miss her. Her leaving coincides with Fiona's school having 3 days off so this has been a weird week. It's been nice having her home, though. We went to the library where she picked out some books and played with the Crayola "coloring book" on the computer. She goes up to the desk and asks for the disc herself and while she is there she notices a "body book" on the return shelf. This "body book" is one of a series--we have the one about the whole body courtesy of Sobo--the one on the shelf was a book about the brain. She was so excited she ran behind the desk and asked if she could check it out. She doesn't mind there are no kidneys in it.

Friday we got to go over to Gryffon's house and play and they both had a marvelous time. Sophia played with toys and Gryffon's brother Gabriel tried to play with the big kids (I think Gabriel is about 17 months old, Gryffon is the same age as Fiona). Sophia LOVED the baby swing outside. Then we got to eat Thai food with Doug and his work collegues. I love the food there but it is stressful because Sophia is always unhappy at that time of day and is tired.

Wednesday we had the parent teacher conference! Fiona is indeed doing very well in school. Colleen's first comment was that Fiona has a lot of energy. Fiona is doing better at using her words instead of screaming (she is at home, too, but OH she still screams) and better at using her words when people invade her personal space, which she is very protective of---interesting because she is not really aware of *other* people's personal space. So, ok, I know all that already. She says her fine motor skills are fantastic--she is doing embroidery shapes and drawing shapes with the metal inset shapes---stuff that Colleen normally does with the 4 and 5 year olds. Fiona is well liked and is very social---definitely more of a leader personality than a follower. Colleen likes that she stands up for herself instead of playing victim.

I wonder if these are characteristics that last or if 3 is too early to tell?

Hen of the Wood

I would provide a link, but their web site is not quite up yet.

Amazing!

We both started with slow roasted pork belly with a cider jus and pureed parsnips. Great combination of flavors.

We both had the smoked crispy duck with sweet potatoes, Vermont (!) cranberries, and toasted hazelnuts.

Instead of dessert, we had the cheese plate with some local cheese. I brought home a menu and I'll post more details later. I have Sophia on my lap.

They did not actually have hen of the wood mushroom (also known as maittake)---it has been too warm. There is a dish they serve (a starter) with hen of the wood and bacon.

All the menu choices sounded delicious. I could have happily left it to the chef to pick. It was all very local and seasonal.

It is a little sad to see Mist Grill go (they just closed and Hen of the Wood opened in its place) but at least another good restaurant is taking its place.

We had a 2001 Clos La Chance Zinfandel. It was a pretty good match, fruity but not at all cloying and with some vanilla and a great finish.

One Door Closes, Another Opens....

Doug and I are going to a new restaurant nearby called Hen of the Woods (like the mushroom). I don't remember if the chef or owner (or both) is from the restaurant Smokejacks but we love(d) Smokejacks, which is in Burlington--and therefore too far away. We often ate there pre-children and it's not the sort of place I'd take kids now. Tonight, my mom is watching the girls and we are going to eat dinner alone! Conversation will be had! I can look and talk to my man at the same time! So the restaurant has to be close and we are going early so it's easiest on Sobo and the critters...I am very excited.

Heck, I want to eat at 5 anyway because I could go to bed at 8 pm these days....

NECI is closing the NECI Commons restaurant in Burlington. I am sad because it's the school I went to, and that restaurant gets good exposure there. To be honest, though, the last few times we (tried) to go there, the service was abysmal. The first time we ate there, it wasn't bad. We felt neutral about it. The pastry case was very nice to look at! I never attended the Burlington campus, but it did look plenty, plenty busy.

Serenity

Thumbs up!

It was kind of depressing, though, it made me bawl (Yes, yes, you heard me, I cried during Serenity. You should see me with pregnancy hormones...). One part pissed me off.

We did like it, though, and got to see the preview for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. That looks exciting!

It's Farmer's Market Saturday

Unfortunately, it is also pouring rain and it likely to keep doing so. Rain never stopped me before, but trying to select produce with two small kids is hard enough on warm sunny days...

I'd definitely say we're at peak leaf now, and we are certainly at peak visitor capacity...picking up Fiona downtown ("downtown" makes me laugh given the size of Montpelier, but there you go...) at lunchtime is very interesting. Lots of people, no parking.

Only a week and a half or so of mom time left...I want to hyperventilate thinking about it...no more day time help and company!

I forgot that Doug leaves for Las Vegas next weekend, so no chance of a date then. Unless we go during the week, our one and only date is today. Well, until next time we have help ;) One date a year...could be worse.

Sophia's birthday is the 18th and since I am up at an unreasonable hour I have been rereading her birth story. We got her a fish puppet for her birthday (a puppet in the store she kept trying to...kiss? eat? lick? I gathered she liked it...) and decided that maybe she should "give" Fiona a small present since that is the day she became a big sister. Also, I think Fiona is having a hard time...she seems to get jealous of Sophia and with Sophia moving about more and more, communicating, expressing will, likes, dislikes, she seems more and more like a competitor than a helpless baby. I did go out with just Fiona for a sundae and I try to get her alone out on a trip once a week, but some weeks it is really hard. Fiona was "aggressive" at school today...er, yesterday...with some pushing involved. I have seen her do this, and it doesn't happen often. Usually she is tired or hungry or feeling under the weather. We had the discussion (again) about not being aggressive, not touching other people's bodies without asking, using your words....I wish I could have been there, though, to have a complete picture.

Sophia does say "mama" and "dadda"...but yesterday Sobo and I heard her clearly say "yogurt". Sophia LOVES food. You have to give her whatever you are eating. You can't hide it. She will take it. She grabs the yogurt spoon and stuffs it into her mouth. Sobo says it's like raw meat for a tiger. Sophia, no longer content to wistfully gaze at Fiona eating her after school snack in the car, will "ask" Fiona for a piece of her snack. Fiona--sometimes on her own, sometimes with encouragement--will share, but I try now to give Sophia an apple to graze on. Sophia loves apples. I found some just her size. She clutches them with the intensity of a security blanket.

And finally, an article about Vermont and delicious fabulous cheese...

In the Land of Leaves, Seeking Cheese

Jeepers, Peepers!

Ah, yes, it's that time of year in Vermont when the tall, tall tour buses come rolling into town. The license plates are a lot more colorful (Vermont license plates are just green. That's it. Green. With white numbers/letters.) and I think I have seen every state since living here. I should keep track. I've even seen Hawai'i!

Doug tells me "foliage is 10 days behind this year" which I am going to guess he heard on the radio as I'm pretty sure he's not making detailed observations on peak foliage year after year...it is pretty outside, but kind of muted. I wouldn't really call it vibrant, at least not yet. Sort of rusty, if that makes sense.

Ah, to be in the food industry at this time of year once again!

We have done our apple duty and picked half a bushel of apples which I am making into all sorts of things. I do have to make a freaking huge apple pie for Thanksgiving because I have the pan for it, so I must use it (thanks to my friend Ana's mom!!!). I have a recipe for a 12" pie...this is a whopping FIFTEEN inches. Wooo hoooo! My friends Kendra and Jeff will be here and we will be very happy. I wonder if we should just have a dinner of pie, actually. I mean like a pie buffet, of course, not just one pie even if it is disgracefully huge.

We still have wasps and now, yes, the cluster flies are here. Yuk.

Grandparent Magic!

So Mom is here and she's been helping me with some house projects---things that are just impossible with two babies (or one!). I feel so productive! We are making curtains for the back room and during our many excursions to JoAnn fabrics, I found out they have rug liner by the yard! Who knew? I didn't. So now all our rugs finally stay in place. While she is here I am really hoping to paint at least one room. Doug finished the drain outside (a project that has been going on 2 years) since I had help watching the girls on the weekend.

And Doug and I may (I dare not say it out loud!) go on a date Saturday to see Serenity!!!! (A movie based on the TV series Firefly.) We both really love the TV series and I've heard fabulous things about the movie. Oh my scrod! A movie! Alone with Doug! Too bad we want to really see the movie or we'd just neck in the corner ;)

Speaking of Doug, he is making two purple dragon costumes for Sophia and Fiona. Sophia's is well on its way and it is hella cute.

Yesterday I got my first flat tire and despite being coached on how to change a tire more than once, I found myself utterly clueless how to proceed (I'm more of a hands on kind of gal---watching how to do something is not at all the same as doing it...). Thankfully, the FedEx man (trumpets blare) helped me out, as did a couple of parents from Fiona's school. Yes, this happened right in front of Fiona's school...NOT in the middle of "Somewhere isolated and scenic, Vemont". Whew! I really should get a cell phone. Our car insurance is utterly useless for this sort of thing, so this reminds me to switch insurance companies. It's been one annoyance after another with them (State Farm) and, really, I just don't think they are a good fit for us. I at least need a phone number for someone who can take my car, not someone who can replace my tire AFTER I get it there. I knew that myself. Ok, really, I need to learn how to change a tire myself! But with two small kids in the land of Long Winter, I want something more. So thank goodness for location and the presence of Sobo (my Mom...Sobo is a Japanese word for Grandmother) who watched the girls.

Sobo is also the magic dish and floor fairy. I don't know what I will do after the 22nd when the dirty dishes don't magically become clean! It is also just nice not being alone all day. Well, I'm not alone, but I am. Maybe you know what I mean.

When I can sit and read, Brain, Child (the magazine) has a very interesting looking article on the Motherhood Revolution (or the Revolution that is yet to come, I should say). It's a great magazine, all around.

Rambling Wasps

Sobo (my Mom) is coming today! We are all very excited but wishing the house was a bit more organized...

It's clearly fall because the wasps are back. They hover outside our upstairs windows on the south side of the house...they keep building nests outisde and inside our attic! We have those juice traps, but really, I don't think they're looking for food (well, the traps aren't working, so that is my brilliant conclusion)...I think they are looking for a place to burrow into for the winter. Like our attic. I actually would be ok with the outside, but they come into our study, which is right below where they like to build nests. Ok, so obviously, our attic is perhaps too "open" and I know our ceiling in the study needs to be redone. In the meantime, Doug goes upstairs and sprays poison on them (at dusk) and we have those useless traps. This happens every year and we usually just swat them as they come in the study. They don't seem very aggressive (thank goodness) and they get slower and groggier as we get into fall. Maybe next spring we will work on the ceiling...or something...

Soon we'll see those fun loving cluster flies!

When Sobo is here, I am hoping to get out to this nursery I like and get some great tulips. I just have to find the time to make a bed and plant them...with compost! We are finally composting (and I don't mean the kind where we just threw the apple cores in the woods and let them rot or get eaten...) and we have some nice dark moist goodness ready to use...

And this just in....Sophia is pulling to stand! She does it every chance she gets! I don't need to tell you how cute it is ;)

Fiona had her dental appointment yesterday. Fortunately, her temporary fillings are holding up well and there are no new cavities (she had 4 found at 26 months). She has some deep grooves in her molars, so we worry about more cavities...We are talking about getting the "real" fillings in soon (I say soon, but I mean 6 months or so) and perhaps getting an x-ray in December (Decay is possible under the temporary fillings since they are not a perfect seal. Hence the "temporary" name). She did very well. It's becoming easier. We had to miss school, though, since they only see kids 6 and under in the morning.

Also anxiously watching Rita...wanting my family and friends to stay safe...especially my Corpus Christi friends :(

Shrimp, yes. Dolphins, no.

"Mmmmmm. I can't wait to eat dolphins!"

This is what Fiona said after she and I were "talking" to Sophia...imitating her gleeful, high pitched squeals and babble. I mentioned that Sophia sounded like a dolphin, which prompted Fiona to think of eating them...hey, it was just before lunch time.

So, I say, well, we don't eat dolphins. (Obviously, this is really confusing.) Of course, she asks me why. Why don't we eat dolphins? Well, honey, besides the fact that talking about eating dolphins makes mommy uncomfortable, it opens up that whole "Why do we eat some animals and not others?" It's not socially acceptable, for good reason, in my humble opinion, to eat dolphins. They are intelligent and sort of like pets. We don't eat cats and dogs (ok, I mean the USA, ok?). So, then, we only eat animals that aren't smart? Hm, I don't think that's right either. Maybe dolphins just don't taste good. This is all going through my head very quickly while I try to think of an answer.

We had just pulled into the parking lot (for lunch) and I was tired and it was raining, so I think I said something succinct like, "We just don't eat dolphins".

Oh well.

No Blueberries Were Killed in the Making of this Oatmeal

One of Fiona's latest inquiries is if the food in front of her was killed by people. She has no problem eating said food, she just wants to know (I made a beef stir fry with snow peas and shittake, and sure enough, she picked out just the beef). This morning she asked me if the big plump organic blueberries in her oatmeal were killed. She also asks if things are dead...I showed her a picture of a dish of shrimp and asparagus with grits and she asked me if the shrimp were dead. Yes, those are dead shrimp. (Mmmmm....I have to admit, it's not exactly an appetizing menu description: "Dead Citrus Shrimp with Roasted Asparagus and Cheddar Bacon Grits").

She is also fascinated with the body. It started with wanting to know where all that food went...what it did when it got there...and what it all means, anyway. So in addition to wanting to know about the previous life of her food, she wants to know if it's good for her bones (2 weeks ago), good for her kidneys (last week and now), and good for her fat.

I should explain the last one. She is aware of soda now (we don't carry it in the house, but we let her have some out now and then for a treat...a very small amount!). We also talk about why we don't really drink it much. So, she asks, "What is soda good for?". Doug replies that it is good for the adipose cells. I don't even remember what adipose cells are, but he tells us those are the fat cells. So she will randomly state now that soda is good for FAT (emphasis hers). I hope this is not awkward later....

We have gotten some books about the body at the library and we go through them every night. The kidney pictures are her favorites.

Sophia now has six teeth (as far as I know) and is enjoying time alone with me every morning. She is getting quite good at following Fiona everywhere... She is also totally falling in love with her Daddy. When Doug comes home, she laughs and crawls over as fast as she can to him. Last night, she woke up (quietly) at 4 AM (sigh) and tried to snuggle into me over and over (this means crawling up to me and letting her body fall on my face as she turns...so her back or head (ow) is in my face...) BUT she also crawled over to Doug and gave him the same treatment. She's sort of a mix of bear cub and bull.

Tastes Like Medium Rare

That is Fiona's latest phrase that she repeats continually throughout the day....

She has tried to cheer up a friend at school by putting a chair next to hers (said friend was at the window, waiting for her mom :( )and sitting down and saying "Now you don't have to be sad because I am sitting next to you and I am your friend!"

Sophia is sleeping better now. Fiona is sleeping a bit better--for a couple of days she was congested, but I think it is subsiding. I guess that comes with the territory of schooling....

Sophia is so pleased that she is mobile. If she wakes up before Fiona (for nap time) and I don't get there first, she will go over to Fiona and crawl all over her, laughing. So far, Fiona doesn't mind. Sophia is also pleased she can follow me. If only she would stop pretending to be the human vacuum cleaner....

There is this actual "Yellow Submarine" at the hobby store. Fiona pants every time we visit and last time, the owner said it just sits there and we could have it for half the price. So now Fiona is the owner of a Yellow Submarine replica! She is quite pleased.

Day Two

Another exciting day of school! I am so relieved that it is working out well for us and she is enjoying it. I feel very lucky.

In all this excitement, Sophia's crawling has taken on new dimensions. She can go FAST. She is pushing up on her legs. I think she is so thrilled with this that she has decided that she must work harder and longer at it...meaning that she isn't so interesting in sleeping right now. She can now go after Fiona on the bed and will climb all over her which makes them both shriek with glee. This is cute, but at night it can get a little, well, tiresome. She also does this knarly thing where she wakes up at 2ish and is awake until 5ish. She's not unhappy (well, she's not thrilled, either, because mama isn't playing at 3 a.m.) but she is quite awake. Quite.

The First Day

The official first day was yesterday. I walked Fiona to the door (after taking her picture :) ) from the car and she went right to her teacher and disappeared into the classroom. Not even a look back at poor mom, ha! So....I walked back to the car and Sophia and I wandered the streets of Montpelier for an hour. We went to pick Fiona up, and I got a big MOMMY! :)

I took her to the library to wait around a bit so we could see Doug for lunch and we ran into Hannah, who is in her class. Hannah and her dad went right up to Fiona and she said "Fiona!". Fiona went up to her and hugged her. I find out later that in class Hannah was a little sad (but did ok, I guess it was just that initial drop off...I know I was definitely a little sad!) and Fiona was concerned. Fiona also said that she was not sad at all; she was happy and excited!

I only know about that last bit because I have been emailing her teacher with questions because email is so easy and talking to them before or after class is just not a possibility, really. So far I LOVE her teachers and Fiona seems to like them as well. Her teacher has said that in class Fiona is very friendly and seems to have a very happy spirit (a happy sleepless spirit, I would like to add). Fiona did not talk much about school (I suspected that would happen) but played "school" all afternoon. I know she looked at some books, but that is all she said she could remember doing....hm...


So it seems like the important things about school are going to be ok...I say important because it isn't perfect. If you try to park anywhere but the street, like if it's raining, for instance, someone tells you that that is THEIR space, by god (in a sort of nice way, but still rather bear-like). See, the school shares a space with dentists and psychologists (have had the most trouble with one of these...) and I guess also two of the spaces are for "tenants" somewhere. ALL of the spaces have signs or numbers for offices but not for the school. Never mind that no one is parking in this space more than 5 minutes (there really is no space to linger, the whole pick up and drop off is very in and out here). As I have said (I think) this school is new and this location is temporary. I just fear that it will only get more interesting when we have piles of snow everywhere! In the grand scheme of things, however, it is really a minor annoyance.

Hopefully the upcoming days of school will be just as fun for her!