We had a lovely Thanksgiving. It really started on Wednesday, which was Sacha's first day of vacation after two 12 hour days of student conferences. Wednesday was also Mateo's very first parent-teacher conference. We schlepped over to preschool at 8 am and spent half an hour going through a three-page list of different developmental areas that he's working on. It was impressive! The preschool itself is not overtly academic - the kids play and speak Spanish and do art and science projects and go to the park and such - but I was impressed by the structure underlying what they do. Plus, it was fun to talk about how great our kid is with his teachers. Seeing the way they are with all the kids there, I'm sure the rest of their conferences were like this, too!
On Wednesday night, we started the Thanksgiving extravaganza with dinner at my grandma's house. This year's group of family and friends seemed especially congenial and a good time was had by all. We had two new guests this year - Apa and my brother's girlfriend - which was fun. I'm impressed with both of them for spending three lengthy evenings with all of us! Apa spent Christmas with us last year and we were excited that he wanted to come to Thanksgiving with us this year, too.
Thursday morning was the much-anticipated Turkey Trot, which my sister and brother and I have been doing together for at least the past five years, or more. I know we started doing it before we moved to Portland, so it must be at least six years, now that I think about it. We all competed in cross country in our younger years and so it's fun to all run together once a year. This year, I actually managed to keep up with them! I was very proud of myself and think our workout routine must actually be working! It was raining the entire time, but that didn't stop us.
Then we had our traditional coffee and pastries breakfast afterwards, which was a lot of fun. We covered topics such as relationships, children, careers, how we would survive in a post-money world, survivalists with bunkers in rural areas, and other fun things. There was a guy sitting next to us who was pretending to work on his computer while not-so-subtly eavesdropping, which was funny. The Turkey Trot is one of the only times in the year when just the three of us hang out, so I'm already looking forward to next year.
Thanksgiving dinner was held at my aunt and uncle's house. My aunt always puts together a feast of epic proportions and then refuses to take credit for it! It was delicious and staggeringly large, as always. The pre-dinner festivities were filled with lots of wine and snacks and shrieking children (ours, obviously). They had a wildly fun time playing with their cousins and all the adults in attendance. Or, Mateo did. Natalia went into her normal crowd mode, which is to bury herself in my or Sacha's shoulder and hold on for dear life like a baby koala bear. She is in a very, very shy phase right now!
Then, we had Friday, which was dinner at our house! My aunt and uncle graciously provided the food (leftovers from Thanksgiving) and we added some things and everyone came over and ate and drank and played Cranium. Again, I give mad props to Apa and my brother's girlfriend for voluntarily hanging out with us for the third lengthy evening in a row! The Cranium game is becoming something of an annual tradition, despite the best efforts of my father, who objected to nearly every move made by anyone. It was quite funny, although it didn't prevent his team from losing. Mwaaaa, ha ha!
Finally, to cap it all off, we all geared up and went to Zoo Lights on Saturday evening. The zoo was mobbed, so we didn't get to ride on the zoo train, but we did have a great time roaming around and checking out the lights. Natalia, like her brother before her, really loved the fish display and even started saying fish ("fis! fis!"). She's been learning tons of words lately. Mateo liked just about everything. And, when we were heading out, we ran into my brother and his girlfriend again. I have run into my brother in some random places (most notably in downtown LA when I was in college there and he was on a high school band trip and we just happened to both go to the same mall and bump into each other), so I guess it wasn't too surprising to see him there!
Anyway, that was the weekend. Whew! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and this year was no different. For all the love I have in my life, I am so, so thankful, and this weekend was a busy reminder of that. Now if we could only convince my parents and Sacha's parents to move here, we could continue the family carousing all year round!
Photos to come in another post...
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving
We are so very, very thankful for all our many blessings, today and every day. Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Mateo's 3rd birthday letter
Dear Mateo,
You have changed a lot since our last letter to you, and now that you're three years old, we thought we would write to you about what you're like right now.
You had your 3-year-old well-child visit at the doctor's office about two weeks ago. You love going to the doctor and spent the morning prior to your appointment peppering Mama with questions about what it would be like. Asking questions, particularly those including the word "why," is one of your favorite pastimes. You barrage us with questions from morning until you fall asleep at bedtime. You weighed in at 29.6 pounds and 36.5 inches tall, which are about the 27th and 20th percentiles, respectively. The doctor commented that you're at an average BMI, which is great! It's nice to have you be a bit more sturdy right now.
You definitely do seem bigger to us - taller and heavier than a few months ago. In fact, you've gotten big enough that it's no longer easy to carry you around for very long. Mommy and Mama did a lot of carrying with both you and your sister on our recent trip to the midwest and we were SORE when we got home. Whew!
Mateo, you have changed and grown so much since your second birthday that it's hard to put it into words. You've always been a talkative guy and your abilities in that area have continued to develop over the past year. We need to start writing down more of what you say! This morning, I said (rhetorically) as you were swinging back and forth with one hand on the windowsill and the other on the couch, "Mateo, how did you get so big that you can do that now?" You said, "I just grew and grew and my bones got bigger and now I'm big enough to do it!"
One of your favorite things to do these days is to play pretend games. Any sort of game will do, although you prefer those that you make up, and those which require you to be some sort of character. You also just learned to play Hide and Go Seek, which you think is fun, but baffling. Other favorites include Toll Taker, in which you drive in circles around our dining room table and Mama or Mommy collects tolls as if you were going over a bridge, and Chef, in which you cook up lots of delicious concoctions using your kid kitchen and play food.
Age three has brought with it more energy than ever before, which is hard to believe. I think we could power a nuclear reactor with you! Your happiest time of day is definitely morning. You wake up at oh-dark-thirty, as my mom would say, but you do it so happily that it's hard to be upset. You wake up wanting to read and play with water in the sink and clomp around the house and all that stuff. We've tried explaining the concept of sleeping in to you, but it is totally foreign to you at this point! Someday, we will sleep past the wee hours of the morning again.
Speaking of sleep, you have lots of stuffed friends in your room and bed with you these days. Your favorites include two large stuffed bears, a lion, a tiger, and a panda. And Birthday Bear, who was Mama's Care Bear when she was small and now is yours.
Of all the things you like to do, I'd say reading books is still your favorite. We had your little preschool parent-teacher conference today and your teachers said the same thing. You love stories and being read to. You're starting to recognize some words on the page, which is really cool, and you love to recite books to us from memory. I remember doing this as a kid and feeling very proud that I could read like a big person, and I'm sure you feel the same way.
Of course, one of the biggest changes this year has been that you've started preschool. We're extremely pleased with your school and look forward to several more years of being involved there. In addition to telling us how well you're doing at school, your teachers mentioned that you can converse in both English and Spanish. We've noticed this at home, too, and think it's amazing. Mommy has done a wonderful job consistently speaking Spanish with you and it's starting to show!
Oh, and that reminds me, since you and Mommy both go to school these days - you now hold conversations on the phone. These can be either pretend or real, and sometimes both at the same time. A few weeks ago, I was putting clothes into the dryer and listening with amusement to your pretend phone conversation...until I turned around and realized that it wasn't pretend! You were talking to Mommy on my cell phone! I have no idea how you got the phone or how you called her, but you did both things. I felt a bit sheepish, but really it was quite funny and cute.
Finally, things are going better with your behavior lately (knock on wood, knock on wood) and with your relationship with your sister. We all went through a difficult patch this fall and we still have a close relationship with our friend the timeout, but things are going much more smoothly than they were. You seem to have remembered how to be gentle with your sister again, which is greatly appreciated by all! Case in point: she fell yesterday and you went right over and gave her a hug and kiss and some gentle pats, and she stopped crying! Sometimes, you two even play together for a few minutes. Hopefully this is the beginning of a great sibling relationship.
You've been sleeping like a champ and eating well and all that good stuff. You're in a good spot, kid! In this week of thanksgiving, we are so, so thankful that you are our son. We look forward to all the adventures this year will bring.
all our love,
Mommy and Mama
You have changed a lot since our last letter to you, and now that you're three years old, we thought we would write to you about what you're like right now.
You had your 3-year-old well-child visit at the doctor's office about two weeks ago. You love going to the doctor and spent the morning prior to your appointment peppering Mama with questions about what it would be like. Asking questions, particularly those including the word "why," is one of your favorite pastimes. You barrage us with questions from morning until you fall asleep at bedtime. You weighed in at 29.6 pounds and 36.5 inches tall, which are about the 27th and 20th percentiles, respectively. The doctor commented that you're at an average BMI, which is great! It's nice to have you be a bit more sturdy right now.
You definitely do seem bigger to us - taller and heavier than a few months ago. In fact, you've gotten big enough that it's no longer easy to carry you around for very long. Mommy and Mama did a lot of carrying with both you and your sister on our recent trip to the midwest and we were SORE when we got home. Whew!
Mateo, you have changed and grown so much since your second birthday that it's hard to put it into words. You've always been a talkative guy and your abilities in that area have continued to develop over the past year. We need to start writing down more of what you say! This morning, I said (rhetorically) as you were swinging back and forth with one hand on the windowsill and the other on the couch, "Mateo, how did you get so big that you can do that now?" You said, "I just grew and grew and my bones got bigger and now I'm big enough to do it!"
One of your favorite things to do these days is to play pretend games. Any sort of game will do, although you prefer those that you make up, and those which require you to be some sort of character. You also just learned to play Hide and Go Seek, which you think is fun, but baffling. Other favorites include Toll Taker, in which you drive in circles around our dining room table and Mama or Mommy collects tolls as if you were going over a bridge, and Chef, in which you cook up lots of delicious concoctions using your kid kitchen and play food.
Age three has brought with it more energy than ever before, which is hard to believe. I think we could power a nuclear reactor with you! Your happiest time of day is definitely morning. You wake up at oh-dark-thirty, as my mom would say, but you do it so happily that it's hard to be upset. You wake up wanting to read and play with water in the sink and clomp around the house and all that stuff. We've tried explaining the concept of sleeping in to you, but it is totally foreign to you at this point! Someday, we will sleep past the wee hours of the morning again.
Speaking of sleep, you have lots of stuffed friends in your room and bed with you these days. Your favorites include two large stuffed bears, a lion, a tiger, and a panda. And Birthday Bear, who was Mama's Care Bear when she was small and now is yours.
Of all the things you like to do, I'd say reading books is still your favorite. We had your little preschool parent-teacher conference today and your teachers said the same thing. You love stories and being read to. You're starting to recognize some words on the page, which is really cool, and you love to recite books to us from memory. I remember doing this as a kid and feeling very proud that I could read like a big person, and I'm sure you feel the same way.
Of course, one of the biggest changes this year has been that you've started preschool. We're extremely pleased with your school and look forward to several more years of being involved there. In addition to telling us how well you're doing at school, your teachers mentioned that you can converse in both English and Spanish. We've noticed this at home, too, and think it's amazing. Mommy has done a wonderful job consistently speaking Spanish with you and it's starting to show!
Oh, and that reminds me, since you and Mommy both go to school these days - you now hold conversations on the phone. These can be either pretend or real, and sometimes both at the same time. A few weeks ago, I was putting clothes into the dryer and listening with amusement to your pretend phone conversation...until I turned around and realized that it wasn't pretend! You were talking to Mommy on my cell phone! I have no idea how you got the phone or how you called her, but you did both things. I felt a bit sheepish, but really it was quite funny and cute.
Finally, things are going better with your behavior lately (knock on wood, knock on wood) and with your relationship with your sister. We all went through a difficult patch this fall and we still have a close relationship with our friend the timeout, but things are going much more smoothly than they were. You seem to have remembered how to be gentle with your sister again, which is greatly appreciated by all! Case in point: she fell yesterday and you went right over and gave her a hug and kiss and some gentle pats, and she stopped crying! Sometimes, you two even play together for a few minutes. Hopefully this is the beginning of a great sibling relationship.
You've been sleeping like a champ and eating well and all that good stuff. You're in a good spot, kid! In this week of thanksgiving, we are so, so thankful that you are our son. We look forward to all the adventures this year will bring.
all our love,
Mommy and Mama
Monday, November 23, 2009
Construction and other odds and ends
Behold, in the photo above, our children in the position they have been in for a week. Can you see the digger in the background? We had a friend and her son over on Friday for our weekly playdate and she said, "Every time I drive by your house, I see Mateo standing at the window and staring at the digger."
I hadn't realized it was quite so obvious to the whole neighborhood, but our lives have really changed since the coming of The Digger. It's probably leaving tomorrow, which is a total bummer, because it has been entertaining and fascinating for all of us for the last week. As with seemingly all construction projects, it is already behind schedule: it was supposed to be here for two days and it has now been nearly a week.
Today, the digger operator told me that today was their last day, but then they found something under the driveway ramp they were digging and that seems to have set them back. We think it was the remains of an old oil tank or septic system or something. The Digger has entered our lives to the extent that Sacha and I had not one but several separate conversations about exactly what had been dug today and what might have been found under the dirt!
Needless to say, a winter of construction bodes well for all of us. Especially since these guys seem to start work every day at 7 am, which is great for our crew of early risers. I feel bad for them that they have a nearly constant audience, but maybe that happens to them a lot?
In the absence of heavy machinery crashing and banging over the weekend (which the kids have slept through beautifully so far, by the way, and I am knocking on major wood as I say that), we did lots of stuff! Mateo and Apa went on a hike on Saturday morning while Sacha and I took turns hanging out with Natalia and going for our Saturday runs.
Then, Apa got back with Mateo and suggested that Sacha and I have a date! Right then! Spontaneously! Of course, we said yes. Thank you, Apa! And we proceeded to go to the mall. We're not really very mall-y normally, but this was a nice mall and Sacha needed some new pants and so off we went. We had a great, great time. I think it's pretty awesome that we've been together for nearly nine years and that we still have so much fun together. It also helped that it was a daytime date, so we weren't pushing our bedtime back by going out!
This is getting long, so here's the rest of the weekend in a nutshell: went to Pix twice, saw Sacha's cousin and her new husband, who were in Oregon on their honeymoon, and then saw our friends K and C, who have had some recent adventures that we got to hear about. We planned our second annual Xmas tree-cutting adventure with them for early December. Here's hoping for some better weather than we had last year, when it was freezing and pouring down rain!
In other news, I can't resist posting this photo of Talia, who is wearing the new shoes Grammy and Grandpa got her. I seriously covet them - I wish they made them in my size! She loves shoes and these ones will keep her tiny feet nice and warm this winter. Thanks, grandparents!
And, suddenly, here it is Thanksgiving week and Sacha's immersed in parent-teacher conferences. She's working until 8 pm today and tomorrow, which means long days for both of us. We're all looking forward to her having the rest of the week off, seeing family, doing the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning, and then stuffing ourselves silly for the rest of the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
PS: For all you digger aficionados out there, here's a gratuitous video of The Digger getting itself down into the huge hole it has dug. Try to ignore my random commentary!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Fresh air
I almost never post these days. Between teaching and time with the family, I guess I keep busy and when I am relaxing I tend not to think about writing. Overall, I think things are going really well. I was struggling with anxiety for the first two months of school, but I am finally feeling better. This week, I am actually starting to feel like myself. After struggling with going to school each day, I am enjoying teaching again! Yah.
Through all of this Alayna has been amazing. She has made going back to work full time so much easier than it would otherwise be. I don't know how she does all of the house things that she takes care of, but she is just a rock star in my book. She takes care of 95% of the house necessities, so when I am home, I can just be with the kids and my family.
On the kid front, this last weekend I went and bought some cute nighttime underwear for Mateo. They are waterproof, but are made of absorbent cotton. He is doing really well with them. In the last week, he has had three nights where he woke up dry! Go Mateo.
Natalia is starting to have more language. Sometimes I get a bit worried because she doesn't say that many words, but she really is starting to say things. She can now say/sign: mama, dog, cat, ball, shoes, apple, eyes, ba ba (binky), hat, train, baby, milk, car, go girl, up, yeah and a few other things. It is a relief to hear her starting to talk a little bit more. I know I was slow on the language front, and so it is nice to hear her using more words.
At school, I have made a few changes that I am happy about. I have learned this new way of teaching grammar that the kids and I love. This week we had a sentence smack down! The students learned about the subject and verb of the sentence and then got to perform the smack down and they were really excited about it (and finally seem to remember that every sentence needs a subject and a verb.) Now they are learning about FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet and so) and when they need to use a comma with those good old boys. (Sentence , FANBOYS sentence.) These ideas are all from this book called Mechanically Inclined.
In math I am really differentiating a lot more. I have five different math groups and students are doing a whole range from 3rd grade math to 6th grade math. I am just pleased with how well it is working and that the students all seem to be challenged, on-task and happy. They appear to like math time (and so do I). So far, this has been a great school year, even with all of my anxiety!
Through all of this Alayna has been amazing. She has made going back to work full time so much easier than it would otherwise be. I don't know how she does all of the house things that she takes care of, but she is just a rock star in my book. She takes care of 95% of the house necessities, so when I am home, I can just be with the kids and my family.
On the kid front, this last weekend I went and bought some cute nighttime underwear for Mateo. They are waterproof, but are made of absorbent cotton. He is doing really well with them. In the last week, he has had three nights where he woke up dry! Go Mateo.
Natalia is starting to have more language. Sometimes I get a bit worried because she doesn't say that many words, but she really is starting to say things. She can now say/sign: mama, dog, cat, ball, shoes, apple, eyes, ba ba (binky), hat, train, baby, milk, car, go girl, up, yeah and a few other things. It is a relief to hear her starting to talk a little bit more. I know I was slow on the language front, and so it is nice to hear her using more words.
At school, I have made a few changes that I am happy about. I have learned this new way of teaching grammar that the kids and I love. This week we had a sentence smack down! The students learned about the subject and verb of the sentence and then got to perform the smack down and they were really excited about it (and finally seem to remember that every sentence needs a subject and a verb.) Now they are learning about FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet and so) and when they need to use a comma with those good old boys. (Sentence , FANBOYS sentence.) These ideas are all from this book called Mechanically Inclined.
In math I am really differentiating a lot more. I have five different math groups and students are doing a whole range from 3rd grade math to 6th grade math. I am just pleased with how well it is working and that the students all seem to be challenged, on-task and happy. They appear to like math time (and so do I). So far, this has been a great school year, even with all of my anxiety!
Adoption
In contrast to when we first became parents, when we knew almost no one with kids, and to a couple of years ago, when we knew almost entirely straight families, we now have a fairly even mix of lesbian families and straight families in our group of friends. It's great! We're still searching for those elusive gay dads, so point them our way if anyone knows any!
Anyway, we have some good friends who are a lesbian couple and in our same position vis a vis how they came to have kids. In other words, one of them gestated and birthed one kid and the other of them did so for the second kid. One of them and I were chatting sometime recently about fertility and such and got to talking about adoption.
We both agreed that, had getting pregnant not come relatively easily for us, that we would have adopted, although I guess you never really know until you're in that situation. I've always felt pretty sure about that, though. Then, one of us said, "well, I guess we do have some experience with adoption, since we had to do it for kid #2." And then there was a pause as we both realized that we actually both HAVE adopted for real. As in, in the traditional sense of adopting a child that is in no way genetically related to us.
It was kind of shocking for both of us, because it really doesn't feel that way. In my mind, Natalia has always been mine and sometimes I forget that she didn't actually come out of my body. I sometimes think of the night she was born and holding her little foot while they were suctioning her and then being up nearly all night with her that night while Sacha recovered from the birth marathon (and of all the other moments we've shared over the past 16 months), and of how bonded I am to her. Then, I wonder about the people who ask us (infrequently, thankfully, but it's not uncommon) if we don't each love the child we gave birth to just a little bit more? Um, no.
Anyway, to me, (although I was and am exceedingly grateful to be able to adopt Natalia and be her legal parent) the adoption was more of an expensive legal technicality than anything else. So, it was a funny moment with our friend, going from discussing whether we would theoretically adopt or not to realizing that we already have!
Anyway, we have some good friends who are a lesbian couple and in our same position vis a vis how they came to have kids. In other words, one of them gestated and birthed one kid and the other of them did so for the second kid. One of them and I were chatting sometime recently about fertility and such and got to talking about adoption.
We both agreed that, had getting pregnant not come relatively easily for us, that we would have adopted, although I guess you never really know until you're in that situation. I've always felt pretty sure about that, though. Then, one of us said, "well, I guess we do have some experience with adoption, since we had to do it for kid #2." And then there was a pause as we both realized that we actually both HAVE adopted for real. As in, in the traditional sense of adopting a child that is in no way genetically related to us.
It was kind of shocking for both of us, because it really doesn't feel that way. In my mind, Natalia has always been mine and sometimes I forget that she didn't actually come out of my body. I sometimes think of the night she was born and holding her little foot while they were suctioning her and then being up nearly all night with her that night while Sacha recovered from the birth marathon (and of all the other moments we've shared over the past 16 months), and of how bonded I am to her. Then, I wonder about the people who ask us (infrequently, thankfully, but it's not uncommon) if we don't each love the child we gave birth to just a little bit more? Um, no.
Anyway, to me, (although I was and am exceedingly grateful to be able to adopt Natalia and be her legal parent) the adoption was more of an expensive legal technicality than anything else. So, it was a funny moment with our friend, going from discussing whether we would theoretically adopt or not to realizing that we already have!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Digger day
I lamented to Sacha yesterday afternoon that I didn't know how I would make it through the winter without succumbing to the temptation of extremely germy play options like indoor play parks and OMSI and such. "What will I doooooo with them?" I whined.
We had just spent the morning with a newish playgroup, ripping one of the members' houses to shreds and witnessing some difficult behavior from the other kids in attendance. "We're going to be in the house all winter loooooong..." I continued. Then, the chaos of the day began anew and I was distracted by other things.
Meanwhile, there has been this vacant lot next to our house for the last couple of years. We received a notification when Mateo was an infant that a house would be built there, but then the housing market tanked and nothing ever happened. And, by nothing, I mean NOTHING. The lot was overtaken by weeds that grew to be taller than Mateo.
Recently, a crew of men came and disassembled the fence that borders the alley next to our house, but left abruptly in the middle of the project. We think they were actually stealing the wood. The half-up fence added a charming element of, well, trashiness to the whole scene and finally pushed me over the edge into filing a complaint with the city. I submitted the form online two days ago, so I'm sure it hasn't even been processed yet, but nonetheless...
This morning, a huge digger showed up on our street. Then, a man in a car came to consult with the digger operators and rolled out a sheaf of papers that were clearly house plans. I know this because Mateo and Natalia and I were staring down at the scene from our window. Then, awhile later, the digger operator got into the digger and turned it on and proceeded to raze everything in the vacant lot. Weeds? Gone! Fence remants? Snapped like toothpicks! Overgrown blackberry vines? Crushed and hauled away. This thing will supposedly be here for two days, digging out the basement or foundation or whatever. Then, hopefully, a new house will be built!
All I can say is thank you to the universe for solving two of my problems in one fell swoop.
1. Kids in need of entertainment got a digger delivered to their door and the promise of a whole winter of home construction that we can watch from our window (How will they nap with all the banging and crashing, you ask? Let's not think about that right now...).
2. Adults in need of a vacant lot being cleaned up (and a nice, new house being built on it to improve the neighborhood and their home's value) are finally going to get some action. Wahoo!
Here are some photos.
Before:
After:
Enthralled kid and friend:
PS: I'm sure the city inspector for nuisance complaints will, in about 10 days, come out to do an inspection for our complaint and wonder what the heck I was all upset about!
We had just spent the morning with a newish playgroup, ripping one of the members' houses to shreds and witnessing some difficult behavior from the other kids in attendance. "We're going to be in the house all winter loooooong..." I continued. Then, the chaos of the day began anew and I was distracted by other things.
Meanwhile, there has been this vacant lot next to our house for the last couple of years. We received a notification when Mateo was an infant that a house would be built there, but then the housing market tanked and nothing ever happened. And, by nothing, I mean NOTHING. The lot was overtaken by weeds that grew to be taller than Mateo.
Recently, a crew of men came and disassembled the fence that borders the alley next to our house, but left abruptly in the middle of the project. We think they were actually stealing the wood. The half-up fence added a charming element of, well, trashiness to the whole scene and finally pushed me over the edge into filing a complaint with the city. I submitted the form online two days ago, so I'm sure it hasn't even been processed yet, but nonetheless...
This morning, a huge digger showed up on our street. Then, a man in a car came to consult with the digger operators and rolled out a sheaf of papers that were clearly house plans. I know this because Mateo and Natalia and I were staring down at the scene from our window. Then, awhile later, the digger operator got into the digger and turned it on and proceeded to raze everything in the vacant lot. Weeds? Gone! Fence remants? Snapped like toothpicks! Overgrown blackberry vines? Crushed and hauled away. This thing will supposedly be here for two days, digging out the basement or foundation or whatever. Then, hopefully, a new house will be built!
All I can say is thank you to the universe for solving two of my problems in one fell swoop.
1. Kids in need of entertainment got a digger delivered to their door and the promise of a whole winter of home construction that we can watch from our window (How will they nap with all the banging and crashing, you ask? Let's not think about that right now...).
2. Adults in need of a vacant lot being cleaned up (and a nice, new house being built on it to improve the neighborhood and their home's value) are finally going to get some action. Wahoo!
Here are some photos.
Before:
After:
Enthralled kid and friend:
PS: I'm sure the city inspector for nuisance complaints will, in about 10 days, come out to do an inspection for our complaint and wonder what the heck I was all upset about!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Cellist
When we were in California this past summer, we spent an afternoon visiting one of my mom's childhood friends. They were close friends while growing up in the northwest and then amazingly ended up living in the same town as adults. This friend and her husband had kids much later than my parents did, so they are just in high school and college now. Anyway, they always invite us over when we visit because they know how much we (and the kids) love to admire the flock of chickens they keep in the backyard!
However, my mom's friend just happens to work in the field of classical music and she and her children are all accomplished musicians. What does she play, you ask? Well, the cello. Mateo's most favorite of all the instruments, excepting possibly the guitar. He used to bring it up frequently when he was into introducing us all as various members of a quartet.
And, it just so happened that my mom's friend had recently decided to start playing the cello again after a long hiatus and so had a cello just lying around. Which she let Mateo play. I wish we had had a video camera, because he was absolutely over the moon with excitement...and did manage to make some sounds with the bow on the strings. It was pretty funny and cute - this two-year-old trying to play a full-sized adult cello with a whole crowd of adults gathered around oohing and ahhing.
I bring this up because my mom just sent me a photo and it brought back the memory of that afternoon. Here's our little budding cellist:
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Veteran
We're sending out happy Veteran's Day wishes to our favorite veteran, Apa! He served in the Navy when he was fresh out of high school and has some amazing stories to tell. Thanks for your service, and for everything else, as always. We love you!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Journeying
We got back last night from our big adventure. It was quite a trip! From the flying to the hoteling to the weddinging and familying, we had lots of highs and lots of lows and not a whole lot of sleep. However, now that I am not trapped on a plane with our two wiggling, kicking, crying, toy-throwing, MANIC children, I can say that it was worth it. One of those things we're glad to have done despite some traveling woes. Anyway, here's how it went.
Part I: Planes the First and Second
As we could have (and did, actually) predicted, we were all in various stages of colds by the time our plane took off on Thursday morning. Our children were both veritable rivers of snot, which was actually good because they weren't all congested and hence their ears did fine on the plane. I was starting to feel sickish (but not nearly as bad as I would feel in a couple of days) and Sacha was still in pre-cold land.
We flew to Denver and then on to Detroit from there. Let's just say it was less than fun. I don't know how other people have kids that will just hang out on a plane and look at their dvd player or play with a cup for an hour or whatever, but those are not our kids. Our kids go nuts on the plane. We brought many things for them to do and they played with each for about 30 seconds before attempting to throw it or rip it or whatever. We did have some peaceful moments (and I am talking 5 minutes max) where one or both were engaged in an activity, so we were glad for that.
Here we are in happier times, right after boarding the first flight.
Really, the only thing that got us through this part of the trip was Bena.dryl. Until recently, I was vehemently opposed to drugging your kids on the plane, but I am not anymore. It is a mercy to everyone. We just gave them enough to calm them down without knocking them out and that helped both of them take some semblance of a nap. Not at the same time, but still, it was something! And so, eventually, the two flights crawled by and we made it to Michigan in one piece. Whew!
Part II: The Family
After being met by Sacha's mom (who had just arrived) and one of her uncles, who had driven out to meet us, we all schlepped out to another aunt and uncle's house. They are the parents of the bride, who is Sacha's cousin and who lived with us for almost a year when she lived in Portland. In fact, we inadvertently introduced her to her fiance, who was the best friend of the gay law student who rented a room from us at the same time that Rachel was living with us.
Anyway, Sacha's family is wonderful and we were thrilled to see everyone again. From the moment I met the Michigan crew (7 or 8 years ago? We are coming up on 9 years together in December, which is pretty amazing...), they have welcomed me with open arms and made me feel right at home. Mateo and Natalia got to meet lots of new relatives on Thursday night and this continued throughout the time we were there. They got lots of attention and Mateo ate it up. Natalia was glued to one of us for most of time, but that was okay.
One thing I particularly appreciate about Sacha's family (and mine, too, for that matter) is that they treat Mateo and Natalia exactly the same. They don't give more attention or gifts or anything to the one they're biologically connected to. They just give both of them lots of love. It is really the best gift they could possibly give to our family.
Anyway, the family connection was the highlight of the trip. We got to see the bride and a little bit of the groom and lots and lots of loving relatives. And, we spent lots of quality time with Sacha's parents. It was nice for us all to be away from home and have no obligations other than spending time with each other.
Part III: The Hotel
We stayed in a nice hotel in the middle of a large commercial office complex. Thanks to Mateo's insistence on getting up between 6 and 7 am despite the time change, and to both kids' needs for something to do at all times, we explored nearly every inch of the place. Here we are in the early morning, looking out at the sunrise from the elevators on our floor. I tried to photograph our reflections, without much luck, but it's still kind of a cool photo.
We ran around in the lobby in our pajamas...
...charged up and down the stairs, learned about revolving doors and automatic doors, played in the pool, stared at people in the workout room, checked out the parking garage, visited the really awesome atrium in the building next door...
...and put our fingers (and, in some cases, mouths) in places that they were not meant to go. Two examples of this: Mateo learned the hard way about not pushing the "help me now!" call button in the elevator and then, a few days later, was caught by his Mama in the act of licking a mirror in a public restroom. EWWWW. I was actually taking a picture of him at the time, because it was so cute the way he was looking at himself...and then suddenly I realized he was about to lick. Bleck.
Part IV: The Wedding
The wedding was the catalyst for the whole trip. We've been to quite a few weddings by this point in our lives, but this one was a whole new experience for us. Sacha's cousin and her now-husband recently converted to orthodox Judaism. This had caused something of an uproar in the family and we weren't sure how things would go once we got there. We were pleasantly surprised to find that, by and large, people put away whatever opinions they might have had and just focused on celebrating the bride and groom and the love they obviously have for one another.
The wedding and reception made for a joyful afternoon/evening. The crowd was a mix of people from their family and friends and their new religious community. And, there were lots of new and interesting things happening throughout! Here's Mateo with the bride:
Here's part of a pre-wedding ritual called bedecking, where the groom is sung and danced to the bride after not seeing her for a week. The groom puts a veil over her face and then everyone proceeds to the ceremony from there. The bride sits on a throne...
...and a group of men comes in singing loudly and dancing the groom up to the bride. It was very intense!
I can't speak to the service itself, as I spent it at the park next door with the kids, to avoid the commotion they would inevitably cause inside! But, Sacha says that it was mostly in Hebrew and Aramaic and involved lots of symbolic movements and blessings and such. The kids and I had a great time at the park, by the way, although I had to laugh that we were romping around while dressed to the nines. Here are some photos of them in their fancy outfits:
Here they are running to Mommy as she came to get us after the ceremony. This was such a sweet moment:
I can, however, speak to the reception. It was fun and actually got pretty wild at some points. There was a partition down the middle of the dance floor, so that men and women danced separately. There was a LOT of dancing, especially in the beginning when the bride and groom entered and were immediately swept up into a joyous dance of lots of people holding hands and moving in concentric circles. This was nearly every woman in attendance packed onto the dance floor:
The other thing I didn't know about orthodox weddings is that the guests are expected to entertain the bride and groom, so there were some different stunts and little performances by various guests.
Needless to say, Mateo thought this was pretty awesome. He danced with us on the women's side and with his Poppa (Sacha's dad) and uncles and male cousins on the men's side. Here he is, trying on a yarmulke, and then with his cousin and uncle below.
As the night went on and the dance floor got more sparsely populated, he wandered around dancing and gaping at everything around him.
See Mateo in the background? He had just narrowly escaped being leveled by one of the dancers' shoes as the circle whirled around:
Even Natalia, who was very shy for most of the weekend, seemed to enjoy herself. We got to sit with Sacha's other cousins for dinner, so we caught up with them and got to meet some of Rachel's friends and generally had a lot of fun.
Part V: Planes the Third and Fourth
Yesterday afternoon, after a post-wedding brunch at the bride's parents' house, we went to the airport. We were all exhausted and the kids were overtired and the last last last last LAST thing we wanted to do was get on a plane. Especially since the flights were longer going home. But, we made it through. Even though I forgot to pack the benadryl in our carry-on. Oh, what am I saying. Not carry-on. Carry-ONS. We had so much stuff that I was like a pinball going down the plane's aisle to our seats, bouncing off one side and then the other!
However, we did make it. We tried to just take it moment by moment. And both kids did take naps again, so that helped. And we spent a lot more time walking the aisles with them, which probably helped lessen the screaming episodes. Overall, I think the flights home went better than the first ones, but we were so tired that it all pretty much evened out. This was a low moment:
Now we are home and hoping to not see a plane again for awhile. The kids and I had a lovely morning with our Tuesday playgroup at the arboretum, which was a great way to return to our normal routine. We're glad we took the trip and also very glad to be back!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Travel
We're leaving tomorrow for a trip to the midwest for a family wedding. Two or three of us are fighting off colds and we're all crossing our fingers and hoping we avoid the piggy flu. I did score the H1N1 vaccine for Mateo today, when we visited Kai.ser to pick up a prescription and found that they had expanded the priority groups that could get vaccinated, so that was good.
We'd appreciate any good travel karma anyone can send us! Our kids tend to get what I call plane-crazy when we fly - the only thing either one of them wants to do is bang the tray table up and down 300 times or kick the seat in front of them until we all go insane. We're stocked up with snacks, a portable dvd player, books, clothes, and basically our entire house stuffed inside two suitcases. I'm even bringing swimsuits for the indoor pool that the internet tells me our hotel has. We'll be back next week, hopefully in one piece, and regularly scheduled blogging will resume then.
Here's a video of Mateo in the airport from the last time we flew as a family. He was very interested in the Alaska/Horizon plane we flew on and, even now, when a plane flies overhead (which is often, as we live under a popular landing route for the airport), will say "is that an Alaska/Horizon plane?"
We'd appreciate any good travel karma anyone can send us! Our kids tend to get what I call plane-crazy when we fly - the only thing either one of them wants to do is bang the tray table up and down 300 times or kick the seat in front of them until we all go insane. We're stocked up with snacks, a portable dvd player, books, clothes, and basically our entire house stuffed inside two suitcases. I'm even bringing swimsuits for the indoor pool that the internet tells me our hotel has. We'll be back next week, hopefully in one piece, and regularly scheduled blogging will resume then.
Here's a video of Mateo in the airport from the last time we flew as a family. He was very interested in the Alaska/Horizon plane we flew on and, even now, when a plane flies overhead (which is often, as we live under a popular landing route for the airport), will say "is that an Alaska/Horizon plane?"
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