It has been awhile since I last blogged, and a lot has happened! Shortly after the election, we embarked on a holiday whirlwind that has just about wrapped up now. We had Thanksgiving and Hanukkah and Christmas all here at home, which was nice for all of us. During the Christmas seasons in particular, we got to see our families, we ate good food, we all opened lots of gifts, and we had lots of good time together as a family. Especially in light of the shootings in our area and across the country, it has been especially nice to get two weeks to spend time with our kids, each other, and our families.
I have been unable to get the Newtown events out of my mind, but I don't have anything very coherent to say about them that hasn't been expressed elsewhere. Having small children and a spouse who is a teacher made it all hit very close to home. My only hope is that some kind of forward progress on gun control will come from this.
On that happy note, I thought I would write a quick round-up of some of the events of the last year that I'd like to remember, and some things we have been up to lately.
As has been the case with the last several years, we have had a big year! This time last year, we had just sold our old house and were settling into our new one. I was schlepping the kids back to our old neighborhood twice a week for preschool, which was fun for no one! We were all glad to see that routine come to an end, as much as we loved their old school.
Then, we had the summer, which was glorious in every way, complete with satisfying travel, lots of family time, lots of dinners outside on our patio, kids playing on our new play structure, and all sorts of other experiences.
We were sad to see the summer come to an end, but happy to start new routines for almost everyone. Mateo started kindergarten, Natalia started a new preschool, and Sacha started her first split class at a new school. It has been a big adjustment for everyone, but everyone is thriving. And, I am enjoying having alone time with Rosie two mornings a week, and time with the two girls on the other mornings. Somehow, I feel like I am running around more than ever, even with Mateo in school all day, but it is all for a good cause.
Among the satisfying things about our new neighborhood is that we have found a church we really like. We had been searching for some kind of spiritual home for years and hadn't found anywhere that drew us back. When we moved here, we noticed that there was a progressive-looking church on the corner just two blocks away, but we didn't do much other than notice it. Then, one day, when Sacha was floating (another new experience for her this year) she felt inspired that we should check it out. We did, and we loved it right from the beginning. We have been back just about every Sunday since then, and it has become a beloved part of our weekends. Rosie seems to feel at home in the nursery and both big kids are liking Sunday school there. We have found the pastor to be inspiring and the rest of the congregation welcoming and friendly. It is especially nice to feel explicitly welcomed as a same-sex couple/family, and to see other gay people and families there.
It has also been really nice to live so close to my grandmother, who lives just about half a mile from us. We have enjoyed spontaneous get-togethers and being able to walk to her house. And, the kids love it when she drops by to bring them treats or Advent calendars, or just to say hi!
We have had an eventful holiday season in a couple of ways that I haven't mentioned yet. First, following Rosie's lead, we have gotten her just about completely potty trained! With our older kids, we worked with them on the potty pretty much starting at birth, and they were both using the potty full-time when they were about 18 months old. With Rosa, I just didn't have it in me to manage getting her used to the potty while also dealing with the older two, so we decided to just do diapers (and disposables at that - gasp!) while she was little. However, she has been increasingly showing signs that she is ready, so we decided to take winter break, while we were both home, and see what progress we could make.
As it turned out, she was completely ready. She had several accidents in the first week, but then she hit her stride and has been dry for at least the last four or five days, including naps and nighttime. We are sooo proud of her and happy that this has worked out so well. We have even been on several outings, including going to the zoo, where she kept herself dry. I have a lot of confidence now that I can carry on with this after the school and work routine starts up again. Go Rosie!!
Finally, we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Yarn, about a week ago. Over the course of several days, she went from acting normal to just sitting on the heating vent in the bathroom all the time. Then she began to act disoriented and from there it was a quick downhill slide. A trip to the emergency vet confirmed that she was in bad shape, and that she had gone completely blind. They didn't know why, but suspected a blood clot or brain tumor. Poor baby :( By the next day, it was absolutely clear to us that she was suffering and that it was time to let her go. Thanks to the recommendation of some friends, we were able to have a vet come to our home and gently put her to sleep.
We all loved Yarn very much, and the kids did particularly. When we were in Europe this summer, we went to one of those Locks of Love bridges in Paris and my sister got the kids some locks to put on the bridge. We asked them to think of their favorite person in the world, so we could put their name on the lock, and they both immediately said, "Yarn!" We got Yarn as an adult cat, so we knew that we might not have her for very long, but were hoping she would live to a ripe old age. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. We are thankful that we got to have time to snuggle her at the end and say goodbye. It was especially hard for Mateo to process all this, and we are all pretty sad about it. We will miss you, Yarn!
On that note, I am going to wrap this up. We are planning to enjoy our last couple of days of break, celebrate the new year coming, and then get back to our regular routines. Happy New Year to all!
