Our Prince Will Reign Supreme

Whoops - found this sitting in my Drafts, written January 11th:

We found out today [January 11th!] that we're having another girl!  This makes me soooo happy for a number of reasons.

Most obvious, there's the simple practicality of it:  We already have baby girl clothes and girl stuff, and two girls could share a bedroom together -- I'm envisioning bunkbeds.

Secondly, April of last year, there was a study commissioned by Faye Mingo of Bounty.com to investigate parents' believed best sibling combination for a peaceful homelife. The polling results from  2,116 parents surveyed = Two girls are unlikely to fight, will play nicely with each other, and confide in their parents, according to the study. Granted, this is NOT a rule, and even if it were, exceptions will always arise in any case. Yet, it does sound good, doesn't it?

Some have asked me, don't you want one of each?

Yes, we already have ourselves a daughter, but we do already have a son as well, even if the angel boy-O is not of my womb.  Foremost, beyond the practical reasons to favor two girls, I like the idea that our having another girl will allow the angel boy-O to be our one and only boy, our reigning prince supreme!

Yes, I knoooow, older siblings of step-family arrangements do, and often, have to deal with the reality that younger sibs may come along, be they of the same sex or not.  Comparisons can and will be made between any sibling arrangment as to the differences between their upbringing.  Children grow up and they survive it, but it can be a challenge no matter what to varying degrees.  I know this from my own experience.

It is my mere humble opinion that in my own experience it is easier to make LESS comparisons between siblings if and when they are of the opposite sex, because, well, they're not the same.

Overall, the image I have in my mind of our angel boy-O, grown older and taller, with a lil' sissy's hand held in each of his? This image warms my heart to the point I feel my heart might EXPLODE!  He is already such an awesome big brother to his lil' sissy, and now he will get to be the protector and prince for TWO little sisters.

Everyday I'm Shufflin'

I just love, love, love this video's concept, and I think these guys, in all their ridiculousness, are totally hilarious. It's great comic relief - - I'm sorry, but I just love this! And I cannot wait to set on the couch with laptop ready, video in queue, to share this with our angel boy-O when he's next in town. He's gunna die for this!

Miss You

I thought to write about this the night it happened, but it was too much.

Last Sunday night we had a Skype call with the angel boy-O. Our girlie had been asking about him throughout that entire day, and several times that weekend, she would pound her chubby hands, fingers splayed, upon his bedroom door while shouting his name. Every time I'd told her that he wasn't in there, three times letting her into his room so she could see he was not there, she would whine in response and hold out her hands, palms up and out, near her shoulder height, asking where is he?

The Skype call was timed 15 minutes before her bedtime routine was to begin, so she was already a bit tired and noodle-like, plus she'd spent most the day fighting an unexpected fever that had hit around noon. When it was time to end the Skype call and get her upstairs and ready for bed, she began to whine some as she was asked to blow kisses and say goodbye to everyone, which included her big brother, his mommie and his step-dad as well. She began to whimper as we encouraged her to tell everyone she loved them, and the angel boy-O expressed his concern as to what was wrong as she whimpered and whined away. I'm not sure if I remember this correctly or not --my memory is clouded by what happened next-- but I tried to explain for him that she's tired and hasn't been feeling well today, and she misses you a lot, and then her pouty bottom lip shot out, and with tears welling in her little eyes, she told him herself with her own tiny voice, simply put:

"Miss you," she said and then she began to cry... as did we all after that moment.

It was a darling and truly heartbreaking all at once. Poor lil' girlie, she adores her big brother so much. And poor boy-O, he adores and misses his baby sissy everyday. That's a good thing, but it hurts as well.

Ending the Summer

The angel boy-O returned to Utah the weekend of August 8th. That Sunday he left, his daddy was off to Vermont two days later for a week-long conference, and he returned just this past Sunday. So for the first full week spent without the boy-O, I was alone with just the girlie, and the resulting quiet in our home, it was excruciating. Yeah, the house is way too quiet without him.

I miss most watching the two cuties wrestling amongst the thrown couch cushions and pillows, with him eating her cheeks whenever he can get a bite, tickling her arms and leggies as she squeals and screams, trying her best to free herself and scramble away from him, and he chases her into a corner of the kitchen where, as she giggles like mad, he devours her ankles... and all this usually happens just as she's supposed to be settling down for bedtime.

Ever since the boy-O left, I've been wanting this summer to come to a sudden end - - please, oh puhleeze! I'm tired to being confined to air conditioned spaces!! I need some cooler weather and pronto, so we can get ourselves out of the house without it being limited to either a swimming pool or nothing more than runs to either Trader Joes or the nearby Target. I exaggerate, of course. We've managed quite well this summer to keep ourselves busy and out of the house, and this past week, without the boy-O and my honey-man, was not much different really. It was just too quiet. But I am tired of figuring out ways to get out of the house and to avoid the Vegas heat as well.

I should mention in greater detail how we have been swimming a lot, indeed, which has been a lot of fun, but until recently, our sweet potato enjoyed running in circles around the perimeter of the pool more than she actually enjoyed swimming in the pool! Last week --and this week as well, which was a surprise to us, but that's a whole 'nuther story-- having no daycare service available because the girlie's preschool is closed for teacher development, I had a friend's teenage daughter watching her last Monday thru Wednesday. This girl is a swimmer --and a very good one- so I'd told her she could take our wee girl swimming in our development's pool if she wanted. I don't know what she did differently, but by last Friday, our lil' sweet potato became brave enough to try entering the pool without assistance, and was so no matter where I was in relation to her! So Saturday morning, off to Target we went to buy her a lil' hot pink Stearns infant life vest... I was hopeful, yet super skeptical seeing its lousy design, as was my honey-man when I'd called and spoken to him about it on the phone (he had no hope at all that it would work right).

The life vest was a total bust... my honey-man was right; I might as well drown her myself than have her wear one of those horrible things!! It situates her face right at water level!?! Hello?! Her first (and only) time wearing the blasted thing, I was reaching her how to float on her back, but as soon as she relaxed and let herself go, she got reeeally excited, and in her effort to get upright, certainly intending to clap a darling baby-hooray, the vest plunged her forward and downward at once, and she swallowed a bunch of water before I could lift her, and she burst into choking and hysterical tears.

Anyhow, I hadn't written here in a while because we've been busy with life, trying to enjoy the boy-O as much as we could before he was to return home to Utah. This post isn't terribly organized... jumping around here and there, leaving out tons of details/background. I threw my back out Sunday night in the same hour I'd laid our girlie down for bed and my honey-man returned home, and I'm on Lortab right now = I hate the stuff! Can't finish my thoughts (or sentences for that matter). The point of this post was to share the following: I miss our angel boy-O, real bad. I have to fight to not call him every morning and every night since he left.

I need to lay back down now.

P.S. I tagged this post with the "Blantant Product Blog" label, but in this case, it would be an ANTI-product plug.

Polkarama!

Before getting settled in for a new day at work --my last for the next week-- I was sure to check "Straight Outta Lynwood" made it on the iPod for the car, especially for the angel boy-O's enjoyment come our drive home from Yellowstone. He and I can sing all the words to "White & Nerdy" played on repeat, all that we want, no matter how hard my honey-man shall protest.

Heading North to Jellystone

For the past week now, the angel boy-O has been at an awesome summer camp up near Dubois, WY, of all places. This camp is, can I say, a totally kick ass summer camp. I'm certain he's having the time of his life!

The camp ends June 30th, so we'll be leaving town the 29th, at the crack of dawn, to head up north. After 10+ hrs of driving [RELATED TANGENT: I soooo hope our sweet potato girlie does okay in the car, as she's been such a fantastic lil' car traveler to date, but she's such an active busy body now, I'm afraid she'll go nuts confined in the car for that long, even if we plan take a break every 2 hours!], we'll overnite it in Bear Lake with my Grams. From there we'll leave EARLY, EARLY, the morning of the 30th, in order to drive up to Jackson, WY and then SE, down to Dubois to claim the boy-O by 11am. I'm certain we're all gunna lose it -the girlie too- when we get our hands on him!

Once we've gone through the whole check-out rigmarole and we've somehow added his pack n' gear to our packed-to-the-gills car, we'll return to Jackson for some minor grocery shopping and then we'll head further north through Grand Teton and into Yellowstone Park. We'd originally planned 5 days of camping, and the boy-O's mommie n' step-dad were to join us, but work schedules are what they are, so it's just us now, and with my new found concerns re: overnight camping in bear territory (and that's a WHOLE 'NUTHER STORY THERE!), and this being the girlie's very first camping trip, we've decided to opt for only 3 nights of camping. We'll be at the Madison campground, my 2nd favorite to Norris. Then we'll spend the boy's birthday back in Bear Lake with my mum's fam, and their valley's 4th of July celebrations, and by noontime on the 4th, we'll be staying in Ogden, UT with the boy-O's mommie's own fam, staying overnight there. We'll spend the 5th driving back home to Vegas... after we've gone to Hires in SLC.

And I'm certain that once we're home and all unpacked, I'll bawl, homesick for our UT and ID families... but let's not get ahead of myself, right?

Duplos Jackpot!

So our baby girlie has recently discovered Lego Duplo blocks - - I knew it'd be just a matter of time! So yeah, she's likes them a lot... So this afternoon, while she was napping, I checked both Amazon.com and Target for Duplo sets ... and oh boy! A basic blocks set of 80 pieces is listed for $20 - - and a 'building set' of only 71 Duplo pieces is listed for $39-46!?! And a 95-piece set with a building plate is listed for $85?!?

IMPORTANT FACT: Anyone who knows anything at all about Legos or Duplos knows you need more than 80 pieces to make yourself a Duplos house!

Well, ten minutes ago I scored a Lot of 410 used Duplo blocks for $28.25 on eBay, thank you very much! CORRECTION: FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DUPLOS!

And when they get here, I'll throw 'em all into a hot bathtub with some ammonia cleanser and I'll soak 'em, and I'll scrub 'em, and I'll rinse 'em, and after they dry, I'll let her at 'em! And her big brother is coming for Memorial Day weekend --he hasn't been here since Easter!?!-- and I can only imagine the Duplo creations he'll make for her! WOO-HOO!

Rainy Day

It rained today. No downpour, but a nearly constant drizzle throughout the day, and although it ruined our plans for a hike at Red Rock this morning, I enjoyed our having some weather here. Rain is rare thing in Las Vegas.

The sun went down almost two hours ago, and the house feels cold right now. I'm feeling thankful that I had the idea to bring out our flannel bedsheets from the linen closet this past Saturday night. The boy-O flew home today, late afternoon, so there's a severely subdued mood about our home tonight, as usual the day he leaves us, but our baby sweet potato girl went down for bed without a peep nearly an hour ago, and once I post this lil' post of blather, I'm looking forward to heading upstairs to take a nice, hot bath while I read my latest Brazelton childcare book on discipline. I plan to hop into bed, into those flannel sheets, by 9pm.

I'm so grateful for our home and our good health and our good fortune, and for all our friends and family. I'm grateful for our life together and all that we have and enjoy. I wish we had more time to enjoy it all.

I don't feel psychologically ready for this week to begin. I don't even want to think about tomorrow. The weekends always fly by way too quickly, especially the ones during which we have the angel boy-O. I miss him already.

Busy Weekend Planned with the Boy-O

The angel boy-O flies in tomorrow around 5:30pm, and we've got a fully packed weekend - - nothing super major, but it's gunna be non-stop.

As soon as he walks in the door tomorrow night, we'll have dinner on the couch with a dvd - - one of his favorite things to do... always involves lots of microwave popcorn too! Saturday, after what will be a big breakfast at home, we have plans from 10:30am until 4pm. We'll then be home for dinner, and thereafter, the boy-O and his dad will be spending some father-and-son time together at a 7pm UNLV basketball game. I could be wrong, but I think it may the be the boy-O's first college arena basketball game ever. Sunday morning, we have a brunch date with friends, followed by a mid-day movie matinee. And my sister will be joining us for dinner around 5pm that Sunday night. And Monday morning, we'll be meeting friends at Red Rock for a morning hike followed by a picnic lunch together. We'll then have to get the boy-O to the airport by no later than 1:00pm in order for him to fly out on time around 3pm, headed back to Utah.

This weekend is going to fly by, I know it. Always happens, but it always goes too fast when the angel boy-O is here.

We Can't Help It: We Miss the Boy-O Horribly

Man, I can't wait for Thanksgiving week to get here, dammit! We miss our angel boy-O sooo badly - - Tonight, after dinner, cleaning up around the kitchen, as my honey-man washed the cooking pans and dishes, it just hit me so hard that I yelled out loud at the ceiling that I miss him so much.

Late last month, I'd written over at our family blog that I wasn't going to write anymore about how much we miss him:

"...At the beginning of the October month, [the boy-O] had a 'fall break' from school, which allowed him to fly into Vegas on a Wednesday night and stay through to Sunday afternoon. IT WAS SOOOO WONDERFUL to have him for more than just a couple nights!!! We REALLY, REALLY loved having him for 4 nights and THREE WHOLE DAYS plus half of Sunday - - And of course, we were totally heartbroken when he had to leave us, as usual...

I'm not sure we're ever going to get used to the pain we feel when [the boy-O] leaves. We basically miss him all the time, and for the few days following his return home to [his mom n' step-dad], we actually feel a bit under the weather. It's emotionally and psychologically challenging, gotta say. I think that from now on, it should go without saying that it's ALWAYS hard to let him go EACH AND EVERY TIME, but that's the way it is, and I'm just not going to write about it or mention it anymore."

After the summer's over, we go month to month with one chance per month to see him, and each time we see him, it's just sooo freakin' bittersweet - - long enough to serve as a refresher as to what we're missing out on each and every day, yet never long enough to build upon any kind of family routine or to influence his daily habits. It's hard to find a good balance and the right attitude to take when it comes to our ability, or rather, our inability to parent him and be a family. And for me, it's hard to find my role in it at all, especially now, as he sees how involved I am with his baby sister and makes his own comparisons, although we've tried repeatedly to explain she's a dependent, needy little baby, and she does live with us everyday, so her life is about living with us, etc. etc. Hard stuff.

Man, this is such a loaded subject, I don't know where to go with it really, especially here, blogging, so I'll stop and leave it at this: I'm very happy the angel boy-O will be here for Thanksgiving. Although we saw him in UT for Halloween, he hasn't been to our home since that first weekend of October. It will be wonderful to have him here, sleeping in his bedroom, singing in the shower, getting popcorn all over the couch, hanging on the open refrigerator door, playing with the kids in our development, riding his bike with his dad... and to spend more than a flash-in-the-pan weekend together.

57 Inches Tall

We had the angel boy-O with us last week from Wednesday thru to Sunday, and I gotta say, ooh my, he's growing up so, so, so well. Other than a few struggles come mealtime --par for the course when it comes to this kid-- we had a grrrreat time!

Thursday, the boy-O spent his morning watching The Incredibles in his dad's office, and then he spent about an hour n' a half over at my office, before he and I were to go claim his baby sister early from preschool. While I had to wrap up a couple work items, he sat at my desk and watched music videos via Yahoo Music. He first asked to watch "Circus" and he thought it was someone else, and was all impressed that I knew it was Britney Spears (now that was a funny moment). And when Beyonce's "Single Ladies" queued up next in line and began to play, he was all excited that he recognized it as the song featured the week before on the TV show, Glee, which we had actually seen as well, but only because it was after So You Think You Can Dance, which is the only TV show I ever make any successful effort to remember to watch, which means I may manage to catch it once or twice in a month. [SIDE NOTE: Oh, that reminds me! When the angel boy-O got in on Wednesday night, we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and we all watched So You Think You Can Dance together. We also managed to consume 4 bags of microwave popcorn between the 3 of us!] After Beyonce, I had to pump in my office with the door locked, so he then hung out in the office next door with one of my staff and I set him up with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Beat It" videos. He was delighted.

Once we got to the preschool, I showed him all the rooms in his sister's wing of the school, including the "stroller parking" room and her playground. I also showed him her crib there, and all the lil' cubbies they use for her for this and that. He got to meet her head teacher and a couple of the assistant teachers as well. When we were leaving, nodding with sound confidence, he declared the facilities were excellent. He was most impressed with the fingerprint scan required for entrance into her school. That night, we had a great dinner with uncle Jim and aunt Radeane - - I had to improvise with the breading for the pork chops. I had everyone taste them and confirm first that they were undeniably delicious before I revealed the mystery ingredient, graham crackers... I usually use Keebler's Club crackers.

Friday night we went to see the Toy Story double feature in 3D - - yeah, and lemme' tell ya, that was crazy! We were at the theater from 7:30 until nearly midnight!?! The best part was when they explained how the intermission would be handled, and my honey-man realized for the first time that we would be seeing not one movie, but TWO! Our baby sweet potato girl managed to stay awake for the first 40 minutes, and then, thankfully, she slept the rest of the time. And the boy-O, well, he was thrilled outta his mind, from start to finish, and as soon as we walked in the door, back home, he went straight upstairs, brushed his teeth, threw on his pjs and was out like a light.

On Saturday, the boy-O slept in until 10am, and I made a ginormous breakfast for the fam. My sister had been invited, but she scored a nasty infection by that time and had to pass on the offer. At 12:30pm, I had a baby shower to attend with the girlie, while the boys went off to play tennis together. For dinner, we had friends over and ordered from Pizza My Dear - - ridiculous name, yes, but their food? Oh my dear, oh dear, their pizza is sooo good! The "My Big Fat Greek" pizza is our favorite!

By Sunday morning, our sweet potato and I had both come down with something new - - both with low grade fevers. Before that, and some awfully bad wind sweeping through the Vegas valley, we had had plans to go hiking in Red Rock Canyon. Instead, we all laid low that morning, and the boys played some more tennis, and we all had lunch together before the boy-O had to catch his flight back to UT.

Somewhere in all that, he and I played Othello one time while I prepared dinner (must have been Friday night), and he and his dad played chess (think that was Sunday). And all throughout the weekend, he sang to his lil' sissy, and he even read to her a couple times, and he kissed and hugged her almost constantly, and he was sooo dang cute, I didn't want to let him go.

Oh and my favorite moment during his stay was when I made a quick run to Target to buy a booster seat, and I'd called home to ask my honey-man a question... See, I had heard an NPR broadcast earlier in the week about booster seats and the importance that kids under 80 lbs always use one when riding in a car. According to the NTSB, booster seats reduce the risk of injury by 59%, and because my family has lost TWO family members to fatal car accidents, I take accident statistics and car safety very, very seriously. Well, the angel boy-O weighs only a slight 62 lbs right now (he actually lost weight over the last 2 months), and he ain't terribly tall neither, so I was on a mission to purchase him a booster, and the poor lad was not at all thrilled about it.

Before heading to Target, I had tried to verify the height limit for booster seats via the NTSB website, but was unsuccessful, although I was pretty certain the boy-O wouldn't meet the limit anyhow. Once I got to Target, surveying allll the available booster seats they had for sale, the noted height limit was listed for five of the product descriptions. So, I called home to ask my honey-man to measure the boy-O's height, but without telling the boy-O what we were up to. Now, the angel boy-O didn't find this odd at all... maybe because we almost always measure his height when he comes to stay? And often in the past, I've called asking for his waist or inseam measurements when I've been out shopping for his clothes? [SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: He's a great lil' clothing shopper; real patient, not too picky, nor is he demanding at all; all very no-nonsense about it. It's actually a very satisfying experience. It's just that, well, sometimes he gets really side-tracked if we're in a store selling anything else but clothes, sooo, sometimes it's simply easier to go without him. And so far, whenever it happens, he's not at all insistent that he come along. END OF TANGENT] Anyhow, not until after my honey-man confirmed his height, did we tell him why I needed to know... He measures 57" tall, and the height limit for a booster seat so happens to be 57 INCHES, and so, I then told him I wouldn't be buying him a booster seat after all, and oh boy, was he soooo relieved! When he got home to UT, he even told his mom about it! Purty dang cute!

Sicky Baby

Late Wednesday night, our lil' girlie woke up in the night with a super stuffy nose, but once we had her humidifier running, she managed to sleep 6 hours straight. By this morning , however, it became official: Our lil' baby sweet potato girl has her first cold. Her eyes have been watery, she's sneezing here and there, coughing whenever laid down flat. Her nose began to run an hour ago and we now have a light fever of 99.9 registered on the thermometer... and this is all in time for her big brother's first weekend stay in Vegas since his new school year began in UT. Lovely.

She was with me at work today... we had a very productive day together (heavy sarcasm).

She'd been in daycare for 2 weeks and already, she's sick!

An Angel Boy-O n' Baby-Related Brainstorm

I am sooo behind on all the baby-related blogging I've been wanting to do. As for our private family blog? -I'm TWO MONTHS behind. Blak. Granted, no one's making me do this, but blogging is like journaling for me, to help me work through stuff and to remember. In an attempt to catch up some, I'm gunna rack my brain and write out some tidbits as they come to mind:

The boy-O repeatedly sets himself up for a baby-mauling, for instance, placing his face within the grasp of his sister's reach... he loves it when she grabs his nose and holds on! And solely for the sake of his sister's amusement, he deliberately offers his hair for baby-pulling. He says she has a "death grip," and has tried several times to let her hold a finger of his for long enough that it will turn purple.

Sometimes when the boy-O couldn't find a binky fast enough, he'd instead offer his sister one of his fingers and then he giggle and laugh at how strongly she could gnaw on him and drool all over his hand.

Although he repeatedly expressed enthusiasm to learn how and actually asked to be taught at least twice, I never once had the boy-O even attempt to change one diaper. I realize now this was a mistake, as it would have been easier to teach him now, while not only his enthusiasm for her so strong and new, but while she'll still lay there mid-change, and her breastfeeding-only diapers are pretty inoffensive. Next we see him, I'll be sure to have developed a diapering tutorial for him and to take him up his diaper-change offers.

During the first of the two times the boy-O and I had remembered to watch "So You Think You Can Dance," he'd been told to run get his jammies on during a commercial break. While upstairs, he went into our bedroom to check on his sleeping sister, where he then loudly whispered "HI" into her baby monitor's receiver and scared the crap outta me so badly, I screamed. He thought it was so hysterical, he nearly passed out from laughing so hard.

The angel boy-O became quite popular in our development this summer, with several kids coming by each day, asking if he could play. It was grrreat! One child in particular would come by and be told the same thing as the day before, "He doesn't come home from summer camp until 5:30pm or later." She would always show up again at 5:30pm, sharp.

One night not too long ago, post-Montreal trip, my honey-man was working hard to console and reassure my new-mommie-going-back-to-work insecurities, and the boy-O must have heard enough from his bedroom upstairs to know something was wrong. He'd gotten up and was sitting at the top of the stairs, hidden from view, listening. When the tears began to flow, he revealed himself, quickly coming down the stairs, eager to offer me hugs and kisses. He told me not to cry, and not to worry so much. He also told me to not be so hard on myself, and to know that he thinks I'm doing a wonderful job as a mommie, and told me I'm the best step-mom in the world. And he melted my heart, like he has so many times before.

Although we've been enjoying (bwah-ha-ha!) 3-digit temperatures for weeks now with the freak exception of the past couple of gloriously, blissfully cooler days, the pool's temp never reached high enough for the baby girlie to join the boy-O's swimming excursions. He wanted so badly for her to go swimming with him. Two days after he left, the pool reached 90 degrees, finally baby-friendly. What awfully bad timing! And btw, her swimsuit is so cute, it's criminal.

The day before the angel boy-O was to leave, I took him and his sissy to get their picture taken together. The results are sooo killer cute = WHAT A FREAKIN' UNDERSTATEMENT, and no, I AM CERTAIN I'M NOT BIASED HERE. Since then, I now proudly refer to the two of them together as my darlings. In no particular order of importance, here's a few details from the session: 1) For their first pose together, the boy-O sat on the floor, cross-legged, with his sissy in his lap, ans she was delighted, and he was so proud, and I was so vehclempted at the sight of them captured for print. 2) I had them both barefoot for their pictures. 3) During the baby-girlie's solo shots, the boy-O served as the her spotter, sitting off to the side, waiting at the ready if it be necessary to save her from nose-diving out of the chair in which she'd been placed. There's one proof in which you can see his jean-clad knees to the left of her. 4) At one point during her solo, she was refusing to pull even a grin for us. The boy-O and I were singing and dancing behind the photographer, really working it to illicit a smile, to no avail. For one of the proofs during that time, you can see a bemused look on her face, absolutely unimpressed with our efforts. 5) And for the boy-O's solo pic, the photographer asked him to say 'booger' just before taking what wound up to be my absolute favorite solo shot of him from the session.

I went to see Julie & Julia with my sister and one of her best friends last night. Baby-girlie has been to a good handful of movies now: Disney's Earth, Up, the 3rd Ice Age, and the latest Harry Potter. She's a good lil' movie-goer, really, she is! She usually lies in my lap doing one of three things: 1) watching the movie, 2) watching my face lit by the movie, or 3) sleeping. This time around, for a first, before the wee one conked out, she decided she'd add to the movie dialog, blowing raspberries during the first 15 minutes of the movie. My sister assured me she was not too loud, only too cute. Yes, she began blowing raspberries this week, and the week before that, she began gurgling. She is such a drooly girl - - she can soak through a bib in an hour!

Over the past week, zee baby-girlie has been aggressively reaching after Otis - - I believe I've mentioned already that Otis is the only one of our two cats who ever comes within her reach. More often than not, whenever she's made a move for some kitty contact and she succeeded, she simply places a tiny hand on Otis, slowly patting and brushing him with her fingers. Not too long ago, she did manage a baby-fistfull of tufts from his undercoat, but she hasn't done anything more notable than that one time until today. Yup, not until today... Today, as she was gently patting away at his rump-end, Otis decided to change position. Raising his backside first, about to stretch, her little hand slid down his back and toward his head, and she nabbed his right ear! I'd always been so concerned about watching her with his face and whiskers, I plumb forgot about the ears! Almost as soon as she had deftly closed her little hand about his ear, I'd forced my thumb into her fist to release him. Thankfully, after years of "baby-proofing" the kitties, Otis wasn't too alarmed by the ear grab, although it was more like a scrunch. As he' whipped his head around in response to the sudden crunch of his ear, he seemed more surprised than anything to see it was her. And she squealed with pure baby delight!

Things To Remember for Next Summer

I first began this post last Monday, intending to simply type up a list of the things we must remember for our next summer with the angel boy-O for next year, so that we can hopefully settle into a routine from the start, and not wind up spending/wasting so much of our time with him trying to establish a routine, just to have him leave once we've finally got it all settled. Instead of a list (which I still need to make), I wound up writing this:

This past Saturday, my honey-man had to drive the angel boy-O back to his mom and to his new life, living now in Ogden, UT. This had been his third summer spent with us in Vegas. A few have already asked why he's left already with August only beginning, but he needs time to reacclimate before his new school year at a brand new school begins, and to spend some summertime with his mom n' step-dad too.

Not too unlike the 2 previous summers, just as we all were getting on the same page with a solid routine going, he had to leave. I'm not sure if we'll ever get used to that aspect of his summer stays. This summer was the best effort thus far though, in that the boy-O had matured over the past year, making it an easier go, plus we remembered a bit more of what hadn't worked before, so there was less of a struggle when it came to making things happen. Plus --and this is a big plus-- the reality of having a needy baby sister gave the boy-O a fabulous chance to step out of himself --he's an only child, remember-- and to focus upon her needs and to experience the joy of helping and witnessing the growth of such a tiny person. And take that chance and run with it, he did!!! Ahh, gosh, it totally chokes me up. He was soooo good with his baby sister and he loves, loves, loves her so! And she adores him! Just ADORES him! As I'd shared before, he'd been the only one who could make her laugh (and she's still only laughed once for me). Yup, having the angel boy-O leave us this time around, it has got to be the hardest, most tearful summer's end yet for me. Knowing our time was nearing an end, as soon as we were in Montreal (17th thru the 27th), my honey-man and I, we were both taking turns tearing up on almost a daily basis, anticipating the inevitable separation from him come July's end.

While we were in Montreal, there was one evening the boy-O had made up a darling song and dance for his lil' jellybean sister and she giggled and glowed and squealed with delight as she watched his every move! He performed the lil' number he'd created for her at least 5 times. After he had sweetly held her face between his hands to gently kissed her checks and forehead goodnight, and I'd been given my goodnight kisses as well, I had to leave the house and go cry outside where no one could hear me, so sad the two darlings cannot be together all the time. I'm going to have to finish this later... I need a box of tissues. And it's 2am now.

Resumed writing on Wednesday the 5th: Our first summer in Vegas with the angel boy-O, man, oh man, that was a brutal summer, from start to finish. It wasn't all bad, no, but it was an enormous emotional rollercoaster! My honey-man had just moved to Vegas, and I was wallowing in insecurities, worried it would be a move he would surely regret by the summer's end. We only had the boy-O for 5 weeks, and I'm certain now that the boy-O was dealing with some deep-seated anger directed toward his father for his split life living between divorced parents. Plus, for the first time, my honey-man knew he was about to begin living his life without seeing his son for weeks and weeks at a time.

I cannot stress this enough: the emotional tension was high, high, high that summer of 2007. Unless we really make the effort to think long and hard about it, our minds draw a blank as to what else we did with him that summer... I know he and I painted his bedroom, of course, and we went hiking in Red Rock Canyon a few times and he had a couple horseback riding lessons. He had pirate-themed birthday party in Burbank, which I missed because I was in Europe. Of course, this here is a drastically oversimplified version of that 2007 summer, but overall, the summer is remembered as an awfully frustrating, painful, and tearful time for us.

Our second summer was almost a 100% improvement upon the first in that not only did we have more time together, we used the time more effectively, planning trips and activities and outings, eager to make good memories with him, to last us through the months to follow, during which we would see him so little. It did really stink though when I threw my back out and then wound up in the hospital for a week - - almost the month of July was a bust! Nevertheless, the summer was less stressful and we were better prepared for how painful it would be once it came time for him to leave us.

This summer though? It's easily been the best yet. We'd learned a thing or two from the first two summers, experiencing far less trial and error this time around, definitely. Over the eight weeks' time together though, we still weren't truly able to establish a routine until he was about to leave. That's why I'm hoping a list of pointers may help us next time around, to reduce the adjustment time involved.

Anyhow, the best thing about this summer was watching the angel boy-O with his baby sister... the absolute best! I am so proud of him. He was such a fabulous big brother to his baby sister. He was an excellent binky manager, quick to seek out her binky if she was cranking and in need of such comfort, and he'd retrieve her binky whenever she (or we) had dropped it. In no time, we found him doing what we do: Whenever the binky drops and a sink for a rinse ain't handy, he'd pop her binky intp his own mouth to 'clean it off' before giving it back to her. He was also her backseat traveling companion, always buckling up in the center seat beside her carseat. There was a few times he'd marvel over how startling it was to discover she was quietly staring at him after waking up during a car ride, and always breaking into a smile once he'd notice she was awake. On our car trip to Utah and back, he sang and talked to her, he fed her bottles, and he managed her drooly chinny-chopper, and he always let us know whenever she slept or woke up, or burped, tooted or did a number in her diaper.

In general, he was "our informer," often giving us play by play commentary as to whatever she was doing or whatever he thought she was doing; the two were not always the same thing. For instance, he was always very concerned about her breathing: "Um, I'm not sure she's breathing. She's not breathing! Are you sure she's breathing?" He was also her 'good morning' cuddler, eager to see her first thing after getting up for the day, before he'd even hit the bathroom or get dressed. He was also her director of evening entertainment, and, and, and... Crap -- he was? That's exactly why his leaving Vegas this time around has been so hard: I'm already refering to his presence in his baby sister's life in the past tense -?!? He was this, he was that... because he's gone now. We won't see him again until Labor Day weekend... she won't see him again until Labor Day. It makes me so sad. I had anticipated this would be hard, but I had no idea just how deeply gut-wretching it would be. I think that may be because I really had had no idea how perfectly the two babes were going to connect. By the time he was leaving, if she could hear his voice, she'd bend and twist her little body about to see where he was at. The other night, I was watching a video of the two cuties, and she heard his voice and looked about, trying to find him, and I burst into tears. I hope we find a way to keep the two connected. Right now, I miss him so badly, it's been hard to talk to anyone about it without choking up.

And my honey-man? Ahh, I can't go there. I'll leave it at this: We're both very sad right now.

Giggles and Laughter Ensue

Last night the angel boy-O and his lil' sweet potato sister shared their first bath together. We had her set in her lil' pink bathtime lounge chair with the angel boy-O siting in the tub directly in front of her. As he poured the first bucket of water over his dry head and the water cascaded down and off the ends of his hair, something magical happened that we hadn't yet ever heard before: Our baby sweet potato girl let out a squeal followed by GIGGLES and LAUGHTER! And we all looked at one another, all wide-eyed, and then we all freaked out, totally delighted! ~ She laughed! And promptly thereafter, the boy-O was trying again and again, most valiantly to elicit the same darling response from her, just as cute!

A New Adventure: Car Trippin' to Utah

We're home from our Utah trip spent over the 4th of July weekend, and lemme' tell ya, our baby girlie was such a trooper! Really, I'm not kidding! She was such a guhoood lil' traveler, both the way up there and all the way home, and for the duration as well. Of course, it was not possible without the truly invaluable help of her loving big brother, our angel boy-O! He was totally rockin' awesome! He kept her well entertained, also sweetly helping her fall asleep whenever she needed some gentle coaxing, and he fed nearly every 'in-the-car-on-the-go' milk bottles to her. Yup, I'm pretty sure it was because of the cheery and persistent efforts of the angel boy-O, that our drive to and from UT was a success! Not until we took the exit ramp that leads to our home, for the very last 5 minutes of our trip, did our baby sweet potato girl ever squawk even once during the entire 6.5 hour long drive back to Vegas!!! oh and yes, we did, indeed, make excellent time! We only had to stop twice; once for lunch via a Carls Jr. drive-thru pick up window and the other time to gas up in Beaver... Although I did have to monitor my honey-man's speeding --he thinks he's racing in the Indy 500!

Anyhow, I've gotta say that although the next time may be different, it's quite encouraging for us that our first drive to UT with the wee one went so well, as once this month of July comes to an end, the angel boy-O will be returning to live with his mommie again, but not to California this time... instead, it'll be Ogden, UT. We'll have greater reason than ever to head north!

Yup, Utah. I think I real briefly touched upon this news a few weeks ago... *deep inhale* And here it goes, reality: This move will not only finally bring the boy-O sooo much closer to his mom's family --literally within blocks!-- but it will, we hope, also provide him a more active lifestyle with greater exposure to his own peer-group and awesome recreational opportunity [TRANSLATION OF "AWESOME RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITY": Hiking, rock climbing, camping, mountain biking, fishing, all kinds of water sports, the general great outdoors and SKIING! --grrreat emphasis on the SKIING!!! (and we're soooo jealous!)]. Such aspects of this move will be invaluable for his personal and psychological growth and his physical development. Consequently, we're THRILLED about the potential UT holds for him!

At the same time, however, this move will certainly make it more difficult for us to see him. Yeah, no matter how I try to work it out in my mind and my heart, it just will. Whether our baby girlie is an angel in the car or not --and honestly, she might not be so swell next time around, traveling without her big brother beside her in the backseat-- we just won't be able to make the frequent 2 and 3-day weekend trips to UT like those we'd made to Los Angeles so often before with relative ease. The greater driving distance to UT amounts to just enough of a time difference that it will no longer be possible for us to hop in the car after a full day's work on a Friday, and still make it to our destination well before midnight, especially come the winter months when there will be snow and ice to contend with. Flights will be more expensive too, as unaccompanied minor fees apply. Plus, a flight will now require greater effort and significantly more time to coordinate, as Ogden's over an hour away from the SLC Int'l Airport when one considers the probable after-school/late afternoon traffic they'll encounter on the interstate drive down to SLC. Getting the boy-O to the Burbank Airport had involved a mere 10 minute drive... those days are over.

I know we'll all work hard to make it work out somehow, just like we did when my honey-man made the move away from L.A. to Vegas, but these simple to-and-from UT logistics are already daunting... Makes me cry and I can't blame the new-mommie hormones this time. I don't want the end of this month to ever come, and I know my honey-man feels the same, ten-fold.

Back from Grammy & Popa's House

Just got back Thursday night from Iowa after staying with my parents for what was my baby girl's first ever flight and her first ever visit to her grandparents' home... annnnd it was my first time back home to Iowa since 2005, and my first non-November or December trip to Iowa since '99. Yeah. Anyhow, we've been trying to get back on Mountain-time for the past couple days and to catch up with some things before this next week begins (a week that will most likely kick my bummy due to THIS HERE).

The month of June has been flying by, the fastest of them all yet! *sigh* My honey-man tells me it will only get worse. The angel boy-O is here with us for his first two months of summer, since June 4th, and I cannot believe we only have 6 weeks left with him here. July will be worse than June for sure! One of my best friends will be here with her two girls, arriving Tuesday night, plus, we'll have family in town all this next week until we leave for Utah for the angel boy-O's birthday and our 4th of July holiday, July 2nd thru to the 7th or 8th. I hope to spend most of our time there with my paternal grandma, who's health has taken a serious turn for the worse: terminal pacreatic cancer. Don't get me started on that - I can't take it right now. Thereafter, once we're home from Utah, we already have set plans for 5 of the 8 nights we'll have before we'll be leaving for Montreal the 17th-27th. The angel boy-O goes home to Utah the weekend following our return from Montreal. Oh, yes, that was not a typo: Late last night, his mom and step-dad arrived in Ogden, UT with a moving van containing all their belongings. More on that later.

Anyhow, I need to write about my Iowa trip, but I haven't managed to do so with this post just yet, and I'm really tired. Our baby girlie woke up FIVE DIFFERENT TIMES last night. I think it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Several Posts in the Making but Mah Baby Be Wakin'

I do have several posts under construction right now, but lately, unless her daddy is around to woo her to sleep with his mad, magic 'jello head' skillz, my lil' wee one prefers to fall asleep on me, which has never posed a challenge until this very week. Whenever I move her tiny sleeping form over into the Boppy or the bouncy chair or her bassinet or her Pack n' Play --you get the point-- no matter where I try to leave her for her nappy now, she almost always wakes up after the transfer either within that very minute or 5 minutes later!

Sooo, today, in order for her to get some decent nappy time, this morning I had her swaddled, placed in her Boppy on top of the dryer (while it was running on the 'fluff' cycle), while I folded our clean laundry... and just five minutes ago? Well, I actually resorted to the vacuum cleaner. Yes, the vacuum cleaner. I laid her in her vibrating bouncy chair, popped her binky in her mouth and turned the vacuum cleaner on about a foot n' a half from her head, roaring away. I kid you not, she was out in less than a minute!!! Nevertheless, I let the vaccum run a full two minutes before shutting it off.

She's fast asleep still, so I'm writing this post real quick inbetween mouthfuls from I bowl of cereal I hope to inhale in entirety before she wakes... And if I'm lucky, I also hope to make some more progress with my packing for this weekend in L.A. if she remains asleep.

Yup, we're venturing off to L.A. to see the angel boy-O, who's been involved with the production of a play since January (and it's not a school play - - he's been performing with Equity actors and the like!), and this is its closing weekend, so it's our last chance to see him in action! Sooo, off we go, baby in tow, to L.A.! Wish us luck with the car trip and babe.

Shit - she's waking up! ohh - wait... wait...

*sigh*

Nope, we're still good!

I Feel So Wicked!

We were off to LA again this past weekend to take the angel boy-O to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood as our Christmas gift to him and each other as a family. The boy-O's been singing along to the original broadway cast recording for over a year now, since I'd seen Wicked in London last year. Even my honey-man, who's not big into musicals, he had "high hopes" for the evening! We were lucky too that we made up our minds when we did, just in time to score tickets (and good seats!) before it sells out ~ The last showing of Wicked in LA will be January 11th!

And so, did Wicked in LA meet our expectations?

We all had a WONDERFUL time and the angel boy-O couldn't have been more freakin' adorable! He got to see the clarinetist do his warm up in the orchestra pit and several of the other musicians warming up. He was absolutely fascinated by the spotlight operators, and all the rigging, totally awestruck by the stage presentation and the knock-your-socks-off singing. And at the end of the show (although I don't want to give it away for anyone), he was so thrilled with the ending. He loved it! It was quite a treat - -

I am absolutely certain he'll remember this year's Christmas present from us for years to come!

Written July 16th: "Zero Appetite AND Chronic Nausea ~ Yippee!"

This post was written late in the afternoon on July 16th. Later on, we found out it had less to do with my being pregnant and more to do with an unknown kidney infection that about to make itself known the following morning...

It just took me and hour and 16 minutes to choke down a single Kashi Crunch bar, and every single bite, I felt like I was gunna throw up. I have new found empathy for the angel boy-O's inability to eat any of his meals with much enthusiasm nor interest due to his lack of appetite caused by his ADHD meds.