Life at the Batcave

So... I didn't blog for a while. Normally I'd be all about playing catch up. but there's a ton of stuff on FB, so I'm going to leave it at that.

Rutherford's gone, though. He went missing at the beginning of the summer. I think I miss him more than Gwen does. She's been asking for a new lion, and I may have to cave in and get one.

So. Summer here has been cool. Almost cold. We'vemanaged to keep busy, even though we really haven't gone anywhere. Mondays I've been going to water aerobics with Julie while Gwen hangs with Karin, Tuesdays have been the library until this month. I think we're hitting thebeach tomorrow. Wednesdays, we do our walk in Henry Cowell, Thursdays Gwen has swim lessons in Ben Lomond with Ryan and James, and Fridays are a bit free form. We haven't beent o the creek nearly as much, but we've gone a few times. We'll probably go more now that's it's getting hot.

Gwen is gorgeous and a real handful. Having a hell of a time getting her to bed right now. She's pulling out all the stops, whcih means once more we are letting her cry it out. She's bright and she's funny and stubborn as all get out. However, she is potty trained, hallelujah huzzah! She seems to be coming out of the mermaid/Ariel stage (although she did a serious Uturn tonight) in favor of all superheros, all the time. This weekend, she was Batwoman, Jim was Batman, I was Batgirl, and Julie was Batbaby. Jim was married to both of us, mostly because Gwen did not want any responsibility for Batbaby.

She's been a big fan of Batman for a long time, but she had told Mom that she wanted a WonderWoman costum for Halloween. Then on Thursday, after a truly awful day that I have to admit had more to do with my poor behavior than hers, we ended up at the consignment shop, where she promptly peed all over their carpetted play area. Yikes. So I had to buy something, and what I bought was this. The downside - she won't take it off. The upside? Well, I think Mom is off the hook (although we may need a Robin oufit for Julia, because how cute would that be?) And she lets us call her Gwen in public, you know, to protect her secret identity.

She misses school a lot, and so do I. I'm on the Board now, and I'm really looking forward to the new year. Gwen will have a completely new class, and I think she's going to do great. It'll be interesting seeing how Julie does on my work days. I think she's going to be getting into everything she can. Thank goodness for the Ergo. When she's on my back, I can't see what she's getting up to, for one.

Julie is a completely different kitty than her sister. She's quiet and thoughtful, but she has her on ways of letting you know what she wants. We tend to think of Gwen as the drama queen, mostly because she always has been. We called her the Lady Gwendolyn from a very early age. Julie's not dramatic at all. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her her own ideas. She just tends to be a little more agreeable about getting her way. She's got this toothless grin combined with the bunners wiggle that will charm the bejeebers out of you. She's babbling now, often at the top of her lungs. Her favorite at the moment is MAMAMAMAMAAMAMAMMAA. A couple of times she's stopped at Mama, though, so I'm calling it. She also made a vague gesture today that I'm choosing to interpret asthe milk sign. Because I can.

The two of us were sick this weekend, which totally sucked because we had plans. Parties, people. Plural on the parties, including James' 3rd birthday. James currently has a major crush on Gwen, and I really wanted to watch Jim watching James. Plus, all my peoples was there, with all of the kids, and Jules and I were stuck at home. But Jules kept sneezing great big baby germs everywhere, and I was basically warmed over Death on Legs, so no parties for us. Which meant we were alone for Julie's big moment.

She sat. All by herself! She is a sitting up baby!

(That's Chompers, by the way. The rest of the world call the giraffe Sophie,but we call her Chompers, because that's what Julie does. Chomp her.)

I'm not sure why I'm so excited about this. It isn't as if she's been staying where I put her for weeks now. She rolls all over the place. She's nearly crawling, and will be any day now. She and Gwen are opposites that way. Gwen sat much earlier, and then stayed there. She liked sitting. She'd play with whatever toys she could reach, and if she couldn't reach it, well, then, maybe she didn't need it. Julie would let herslef fall onto to her tummy so that she could navigate her way someplace else. But now she can sit. She is officially no longer a blobby baby. And her mama is officially happy about it.

The other big news about Julie is her food. She's been on solids for almost 2 months now, and I was following the same pattern I did with Gwen. I've also been pureeing food like crazy: peaches, nectarines, plums, mangos, sweetpotatos, aspatagus, peas, and pumpkin are all stashed in my freezer. I introduced foods carefully, 4 days apart, just like the chart said to. I gave her a spoon to play with. And my happy little passive baby was having none of that, thank you!

First she squawked at Jim while I was out. I didn't think too much of it though - it could be hard for me to tell when she was done, too. But then it happened again. And then it happened with me, 3 meals in a row, and then the light clicked on.

This baby would like to feed herself, thankyouverymuch, and she'll have what the rest of us are having ifyoudon'tmind.

I'd run across the term babyled weaning in various blogs, but I hadn't really paid much attention to it. Because Gwen did just fine, you know? I didn't need to learn anything different. Besides, wouldn't she choke? Now I've been googling BLW like crazy (although it isn't weaning in the sense that I'llstop nursing her. It's more baby led feeding.)I offered her some finger food, and the kid went nuts. Ever since then, she's been happy as a clam - unless I try to spoonfeed her. So this morning I made extra oatmeal with raisins,vanilla and cinnamon. I tend to make it thick anyway, and I spread it out on a plate to cool it off some more. Then I broke it into pieces and gave them to Julie, along with cut up peaches, bananas, and blackberries and raspberries. Lunch was steamed carrots, plum, and a cheddar cheese stick. Dinner was a teething biscuit and, a Costco pizza crust, plus a little of Gwen'shot dog bun. I'd been cutting up her food into very small pieces, but everything I'm reading says to give them stuff they can hold onto, so I branched out a little more. It's really all about putting her incontrol of what she eats,and she is loving it.

I will admit that I'm a little nervous. My other book, which the rest of my posse used, is adamant about waiting until certain months to introduce certain foods. This stuff says to just throw it all in there until there's a problem. Really? I am nervous. I'm also doing it, because look at that face. She'll sit there for an hour, working on getting food into her mouth. She gags a little, which is normal. Especially with the cheese, since she was intent on getting as much as she could into her mouth at one time. But she's learning. Gwennie never ever choked. Julie hasn't either, even if she gags here and there.

Julie likes blackberries. Can you tell? Here's another difference - Gwen got fed in her Bumbo for a long time, because she was dinky and it was easier. Julie is dinky, too, but Julie mad the Bumbo move because she ws busy twisting around and dumping stuff over. High chair for you, missy! SHe doesn't seem to mind.

So that's us. For the moment, anyway. Beach tomorrow, hiking with our pals on Saturday, Jim's company picnic, and then it's Labor Day.So the weather will finally get hot.

Gwennieism of the Day

Standing in front of me, facing outwards, while I'm putting on her tights:

Mama, I can't do this while you're breathing down my neck.

No, I don't know where she picked that one up.

March Goes Flying By...

Technically, this was in February, but there you go. We went to see Disney on Ice in my brother's schmancy box seats at the Shark Tank. Adessa and Keidi came with us, and we all hung out watching Mickey and the gang.

The girls definitely looked liked princesses, and were very excited. Adessa said that Minnie would be very happy to see her. Gwennie kept jumping up and down, saying, "Look, Mommy! It's Ariel! It's Ariel!"

Quick side note: Gwen still vastly prefers the name Ariel to her own, and Jim has now morphed from "Handsome Prince" to "Eric" (or really: Hansum Piiince to Aaay-ic.)

Julie mostly watched the Moby Wrap or the inside of her eyelids. She wasn't impressed by the seats at all. But the girls thought it was great. They could see everything, and there was room to run around during the intermission. Added bonus: I scared the concierge with my awesome breastfeeding skillz after the show. First time I've done that with this kid.

We had a great time. Gwen decided Tinker Bell was even cooler than Ariel, but since she really hasn't seen Tink since then, Ariels returned to princess supremacy. I have been hearing good things about the Tinker Bell videos, though, so those may be in our future. (Although, y'know, in Peter Pan, Tink? Is not so nice. Kinda weird to have this whole re-do of her. )

Then we sat around and watched the baby in her funny clothes for a while. She's grown out of her little peapod bunting now.

My girls are still great friends. Gwen started story time with her baby sister.

She also "braved" her little sister when Julie got her shots. I'd like to point out that when Gwen got her first shots, I had Jim there for support, and I still cried. This time I had Gwen and Julie to deal with, and I couldn't cry because I've been trying to convince Gwen that shots aren't that big a deal. She announces every time we see the doctor: "I don't have to get shots today!" Her last few appointments have been for ear infections, so he was able to comply. We were at the doctor's a lot last month. Julie had blocked tear ducts, Gwen had a double ear infection (and allergies, it turns out. Dang.) and then Gwen had a weird unexplained fever that I had checked out because of the ear infections. Plus, Jules is still seeing the OT for nursing issues. We're doing much better in that department, but there's still room for improvement. I've been to the eye doctor (my eyes have matured, it seems. I need pregressive lenses now, yippee for me) and I also had some poison oak on my face and ahem, close to the milk supply checked out. And no, I don't know how I caught it there. But it sucks, I can tell you that.

I just like this shot of Gwen.

Then, something big happened. Something very exciting in the Land of Gwen. A big, big deal.

She started ballet.

It's just a small class, taught by Keidi's 14 yo neighbor. There are only 4 of them in the class - Adessa, Gwen, another 2 1/2 yo from Mt. Hermon, and Keidi's foster-niece. They dance in the downstairs foyer, and we sit on the steps and watch. But oh, these are happy little girls!

Gwen's a little disturbed by the fact that her ballet slippers are white rather than pink, but other than that, ballet class is the best thing all week. She'd go every day if she could. I think I'm going to be watching a lot of these classes throughout the years....

I am so lucky.

The Daily Conversation

G: Mom, can I see Julie?

M: Ok, come look at her.

J: Hi, Gwennie.

G: I want to hold her!

M: Ok, go sit down. Be careful with her.

J: Uh oh.

G: Look, Mom, I'm holding Julie!

M: (fiddles with camera)

J: Um, Mom?

G: Oh, Mom, Julie is soooo cute!

J: Mooom!

G: Mom, I love my little sister!

J: Phew. I love you, too.

Nursery School!

Gwennie and Julie on Gwen's first day of preschool, Feb. 8.

By a stroke of sheer luck, and email connections, we found a school for Gwennie. It's a true parent-ed co-op, the kind my grandmother used to run oh-so-many-years ago when I was a preschooler. In fact, I've heard Teacher Maggie and Teacher Dara say the exact same things to parents that my almost 90 year old grandma says to me about my darling daughter. (Don't talk about her right in front of her, she is still listening, etc.) I heard about the school on a Wednesday, visited it on Friday, and started her on Monday. Then I went to storytime on Thursday at the library, and talked to a bunch of women who had been on the waiting list for the school at one point or another. I guess it can be hard to get into, because it's very small.

Gwen goes 3 times a week for 2 1/2 hours, in the afternoon, which is helpful for us non-morning person types. I stay and work one of those days. It's completely experiential, play-oriented environment, with no formal academics at all. Which is exactly what Jim and I were hoping to find. Gwen will have plenty of time for all that when she's ready. Right now, I want her playing with magnets and smooshing playdough ingredients together, and dealing with other kids. And listening and learning from other adults, and being away from me. (What? It's an important lesson.)

Her first-day outfit is very professional, don't you think? She's still big into the princess dresses.

And the goofy. Still plenty into the goofy.

There's about 12 kids in her class, with a good mix of boys and girls. She's one of the youngest, which is a switch for her. It's been interesting to watch her try to integrate into the girls' groups. She's going to do just fine, although she did come up to me on Wednesday in the playyard to tell me she wished Adessa was there. She missed the Valentine's party because of an ear infection, but she was thrilled to get her Valentines on Wednesday. And she's already been invited to a birthday party for this Sunday.

I've been caught up in the moment - the scheduling can be a little difficult, timing Julie's feedings and making sure Gwen's had lunch before school starts (we shoot to get out the door at 12, so she has to eat much earlier than we normally would.) She's taken to sleeping later - it's 8:30, and she's not up yet - so I'm kind of doing a brunch snack thing. Plus, life with a baby, even if she's not a newborn anymore, is kind of a whole series of logistics anyway. So it hadn't quite hit me until I was typing all of that, that I've begun to launch Gwen into the world. That she's about to face social challenges - and successes - that I won't be there to manage. Which is a good and necessary thing, but oh wow. My kid has a class list, and gets invited to birthday parties for kids whose parents I don't know. I've been calling her "Little Person" since she was born - now she's really turning into one. She's going to make friends that I haven't picked out for her! Based on the kid, not whether or not I like the parents! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

But wait - I get to run errands with only one kid - one snoozy little kid who can't get out of her carrier - this afternoon. I think it will be ok.

Oh Baby!

See, I gotta stop saying what's up next with the blog. Because then I get myself into a hole where I don't want to post because I haven't written the post I think should come next, and then I don't write anything at all. It's the perfectionist in me coming out.

So. Someday I will write in full detail about the day that Julie came home, because seeing my little girl waiting to meet her baby sister is a moment I will always treasure.

The Crocs, not so much. But they were the only thing I could shove on my poor swollen feet.

The fact that the first thing Gwen did when we got inside was run to find a blanket to spread over Julie's car seat was pretty priceless, too. Of course, this shot of Gwen sharing her magazine is a classic. Someday, I'll download the video of that day off the Flip, and you can watch the whole thing, complete with my postpartum self blubbering in the background.

Gwen is officially great with her little sister. She loves having a baby around, and loves to introduce her to everyone. "This is my baby sister named Julie!" she pipes, at all hours, to her daddy, to the neighbors, to all of our visitors, and to her little friends. "My baby sister!" Named Julie!"

She asks for her like that, too, although that's fading away now. Mostly she says, "Mama, can I see Julie? Can I hold her?" This was Day 1:

This was week 3.

We're home, except when Jim is at work. Which is a lot, admittedly. Which is a damn good thing, except when it gets to be 6:00 or 7:00 or bedtime. Even then it's still a good thing, I just have to remind my hormone-soaked exhausted self why that is. We're home, and I have the family of four I always wanted. And when I'm not hormone-soaked and exhausted, I have these shining moments of pure happiness. Julie's soft and sweet and oh so tiny. Gwennie's big big big and dances around the house singing. I have two beautiful daughters.

I'm more relaxed with this baby, except when I'm not (the umbilical cord thing freaked me out a bit. Gwen's fell off in the NICU, so I wasn't all that involved with it. Julie's got all goopy before it finally fell off, and I was sure it was infected or something. It wasn't.) With Gwen, it's a different story, and relaxed is not the right word at all. Annoyed, maybe, on a good day, and it can go downhill from there. But that's a whole other blog post, right there, and I'm not promising to write it.

Signing off now, to get the big kid to sleep before the little one wakes up again...

On Any Sunday Night*

The Superhero Ballerina Princess is playing soccer when she hears a call for help! Someone needs rescuing!













"It's my cousin Batman! I have to save him!"

*As narrated by Gwen herself

Three!: The Birthday Party

My little party-planner-in-training came into her own this year. She was very excited about her party, from her theme (Princesses, naturally, and we picked her dress out weeks in advance.) She loves the dollar store, and picked out her plates and decorations and the all-important party hats. And her own tiara. We are big on tiaras in our house.

We needed chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles for our guests. I made the cupcakes, but Gwen was all about the sprinkles. Pink and purple sparkle sugar, and pink sugar balls that crunched in everyone's teeth. She even let Adessa help, which meant that the sprinkle distribution was ... a little uneven, shall we say? But the cupcakes were still pretty.

The kids had a great time playing around and wearing their hats. No, really, Ryan's having a blast.

And Elvi got to play with Baby Eliana. You know she was happy.

Then we sang the song (see the end of the last post) and ate the cupcakes and then, oh yeah, there were presents. Lots and lots of presents. (I should be writing thank-you notes right now, actually.)
And then the party was over, pretty much. Until this happened:

This is the new princess dress that the Brauns gave her for Christmas, complete with matching gown for our cross-dressing lion. He's a very good sport, you know.

And then this happened:

Those are the lacing beads from Adessa. Rutherford is helping.

And this:

Which pretty much summed up how Gwen felt about the whole day.

November so Far

We went up to Scot and Kathleen's cabin (which is really a very nice house, but still - vacation home in the woods=cabin to me) to hang out with Uncle Ed last weekend. It was a long drive with plenty of traffic, but once we got there, it was nothing but relaxation.
Gwennie played with blocks.....

Scot and Uncle Ed played cribbage. I wanted in on that action, but the timing was never quite right. Which was fine. I'm over on the couch, hanging out with my belly-baby kicking the bejeebers out of me.
(Can I just say once more how much easier this pregnancy is than the last one? I was completely done traveling by this point with Gwen. Trips to the mall were too much for me to take. This time, I'm planning on Thanksgiving in Sacramento. And boy, I hope I haven't jinxed it.)
We didn't do anything huge or too exciting, but it was really great to see my uncle. I don't think I've gone this long without a trip to see the Rabago clan since I was travelling in 1990. I miss everyone. So just hanging out, checking out movie trailers on the Internet and playing cards was a real treat. One of my favorite things about the trip?

This. It isn't as if Gwen doesn't know Uncle Ed (he's been there from the day one, after all) but 11 months is a long time when you're not quite three. But she wasn't shy with him at all. He's "my uncle, and mama's uncle. He's my family!" and that's all she needed to know. She walked right up to him with her favorite Max and Ruby book (the beauty kit one, no less) and demanded he read it to her. Priceless look on his face for that!








She's a snugglebug, that girl.












Gwen loves to visit her Auntie Kathleen and Uncle Scot, because they're so silly.

The hardest part of the whole weekend for the girl was the trip home. There were lots of tears, and lots of requests to stop by the beach on the way. Clearly, we need some work in the geography department.







Luckily, the next day'snature class was at Natural Bridges. We took a hike, did our project, and visited the monarch butterflies. After the class, Gwen and I headed to the beach. The weather's been getting cooler, so I was careful to dress her warmly for the hike. Didn't do such a good job remembering clothes for the beach. And since she is newly enamored of the ocean itself, we stripped her down. We had a great time. It was sunny and beautiful, and somehow the ocean doesn't seem so chilly when the air's a bit cooler.

She's so pretty, my girl.















Other favorite Gwennie tricks, besides the "yes, she dooz!" phrase that pops up frequently:

-kissing, splodging and generally loving on her sister in my belly. She can't wait to meet her, and I can't wait to see the two of them together.

-Calling her Daddy her prince. Today, specifically, he is her Mermaid Prince, because she is Ariel. I am not allowed to call him anything else, and she corrects herself if she forgets.

-The Mermaid Prince just walked by, wondering which pajamas to put on her. She chased him down, yelling, I want to make my choice! Th'at's my opinionated little person.

-She's still shunning her bed in favor of a "nesty" on the floor - a king sized quilt that she wraps around herself.

-Baby Jaguar has become Baby Lion's big sister.


Ok, so go back and look at the pictures so far. Because the latest thing we did in November so far? Just this morning, in fact?



We got my baby her first real, more-than-bangs, haircut. Doesn't she look grown up? (And yes, I saved a ringlet.)

Halloween!

The most common view of Gwendolyn- whoops, I mean Ariel- on Halloween night.

















Seconds before the camera actually took this shot, my child was the most ethereal, beautiful mermaid you've ever seen.

















We met up with Ryan and James at the Clark's house to go trick or treating. Ryan had a tiger costume, and James was a bat with big eyebrows. It was a little hard to see his costume, until we asked him to show us his wings. Then he was absolutely adorable. This was our second house, and you can see Ryan was a little confused. But really, how many other times do you ring the doorbell and not go in?



There was this one, too, with a shot of the belly:


After we trick or treated all around a very long block, during which I managed to trip my daughter twice by stepping on her tail, we headed up to the Senkos' party. Gwen, I mean Ariel, threatened to fall asleep on the way there, but showed her true party colors once we arrived. MacKayla the princess was there, too.


Huh, the thumbnail of this shot looked so cute. Now it looks kind of... evil. I'm pretty sure no princesses were hurt during this photo.











And then they danced.













In the end, Gwen had to be dragged kicking and screaming away from the party, because both of her parents were exhausted. Gwen would've partied on, because if you ask her if she likes a party, she'd say, "Yes, Ariel dooz. Happy Halloween!"

Glamor Girl

2009. The Summer of the Princess (or Ballerina) Dress.

Gwen got a bunch of beautiful hand-me-down dresses from Rachel and Karin, and she lived in them this summer. Getting her to put on a pair of shorts was a major undertaking. Over the months, it took me a bit to realize that I should take some pictures of her in them.

This one is her favorite.

The accessories are important, too - check out those shoes! And that scarf!