Erik is in Utah skiing with the boys, and I have to say, it is not just the kids who are missing him. The dogs are kind of mopey too. And maybe even me a little bit. It's fun having Erin all to myself, or at least sharing only with Nanna. And Nanna brought Christmas cookies and made another batch of The World's Best Brownies. And it's not even so bad having to take out the recycling or bring in the firewood. But you know, it is kind of nice having someone else around who thinks that this crazy house and our wild kids are normal! Even Nanna, as used as she is to us, is clearly going through some adjustments. She keeps finding things that are out of place (if they even HAVE a place) and politely asking "Is this clean or dirty?" or "Would you like me to bring this upstairs?" I'm realizing that as much as I try to keep up the fight, Entropy is winning. Who am I kidding - the house is a MESS!

And the kids? They're totally crazy! In an absolutely wonderful way, but see this through the eyes of even a close family member instead of their love-blinded parents: it's bedtime, I get them upstairs, Alek turns out the lights, and he and Erin chase each other around the upstairs about a dozen times screaming "Choo Choo!!!!" until they finally bonk heads and start screaming. Nanna looked a little concerned. Like, wondering why I wasn't. But to me? This is NORMAL! This is just kids tiring themselves out before bed, isn't it? Or did I read somewhere that bedtime was supposed to be preceded by an hour of dim lights and soothing music? Good luck with THAT.

Don't even ask about the roast beef sandwiches (because it's Thursday) or the separate trip to the grocery store for chocolate milk because Arby's didn't have any and the line at Chick-Fil-A was too long. It made sense at the time, that's my only defense.

Come home soon, honey!

Alek writes "eleven"

Heather is . . . trying to think of something to write. Heather is . . . thinking that the cassette case to "Bat Out of Hell" doesn't make a very good ice scraper. Heather is . . . finding that all of her thoughts are framed in terms of Facebook status updates.

Along those lines:

Alek is . . .

Alek is having a busy month. In between learning how to read and trying to write, he's going to an intense training camp on "No whining." But mostly he's really an angel. An occasionally whiny angel, but really an angel. Never more so than when he's sick, apparently. One day last week when he was beset by a stomach bug, he fell asleep on the living room floor and I carried him up to our bed. I kept going back to check on him, and one time he wasn't there. He was kneeling on the floor by the potty, having just thrown up in it. "I kept it in until I got to the potty," he said. "I'll be OK, you can leave now. I'm just going to stay here." And he did, falling asleep on the bathroom floor and staying there for seven hours. If that's not angelic, what is? He got better, and bounced back to his normal exuberant, somewhat shy, and only occasionally unhappy self. Favorite toys from the magical Christmas continue to be Gold Thomas, Silver Percy, and Bronze Diesel (threatening the loss of these plays an important role in his No Whining Training), Hotwheels, Mack the Truck with Lightning and Sally, and many many feet of train track that take up the basement floor. He's back in pre-school as of today and it was a smooth transition from the holidays. Either our training camp is starting to help, or he was actually just happy to have a break from all that family time!

Is it paint, or is it lipstick, or does it matter?

Erin is . . .

Erin is undoubtedly a red-head. She is truly coming into herself as a person, following her big brother's lead in all things. She effortlessly makes her needs known with a combination of words, grunts, extremely pointed facial expressions, and genuinely distressed hand gestures. She is TRYING to sit on the potty at every opportunity, and is delighted with every single part of the process - taking pants and diaper off? Hilarious! Wiping? No problem! Flushing? Can't wait! The whole peeing thing? Well, that will come. It's early yet. Her best quote this holiday was:
"Erin, can you say Mama?"
"No!" and a little laugh.
"Can you say Dada?"
"No!" Giggle.
"Can you say 'No'?"
"Nuhh-uh!" and a big grin.

Christmas tent

Christmas is . . .

Over! Somewhat with regret - it really was a great holiday, but I don't know how Santa does it because Erik and I were tired enough just dealing with presents for two kids. As a first Christmas in the "new" house, and the first for the kids to wake up to on Christmas morning, it was worth all the effort. Even the trip to Toys 'R Us while I had pneumonia and a broken rib. But the antibiotics kicked in eventually, and by Christmas Day the weather was awesome and we had the perfect day to set up the new 6-man tent I got Erik.

Speaking of which, Erik is doing great too - he's sitting right next to me here watching a really strange movie ("Jumpers") but you'll have to check Facebook if you want to know what's going on with him - it's how I usually find out!

Unbearable cuteness of being . . . in the cupboard

For Alek, the game of pretend started when he got in the little yellow car one morning and said "Bye bye, I'm going to work" and I noticed tonight how all of his "pretend play" is essentially still automotive. The cup in the bathtub is a car. The bump on the bottom of the bathtub is a speed bump. His legs are a rollercoaster that the cars are going on. When he tried to introduce the concept of a "bad car" this afternoon, I told him he needed a police car to keep them all in line. Five minutes later, sure enough, all the cars were lined up on the rug and there were no more "bad" cars because they were "all lined up." Right now Alek is crawling on the rug pushing his cars back and forth and occasionally announcing their status ("he doesn't want to stay!") or making "brrrrrrrrrr" car noises as he loads them on his car carrier ferry. (Just to give you the proper mental image, he is still naked after bath - clothes cannot compete with cars in this house.)

We went to Disney on Ice last night and the highlight of the show was the appearance of 'Mater and Sally and Lightning McQueen - all within the first 10 minutes. The rest of the show was therefore quite a let down.

I tried to get Alek to watch Cars a couple weeks ago, and after 30 minutes he decided he would rather run out in the driveway and BE a car. He stopped to get his tires changed, he went off road, he raced me around the circle. So much for fears that movies make kids more sedentary - not this kid, apparently.

Alek and Erin discovered pretend in different ways. Alek still won't sit down and have a "tea party" but I have a feeling he will have to soon . . . and Erin will just have to provide a tire changing station when she sets up house for her "baby," if she wants her brother to stop by.

Erin has just figured out the joy of pretending. She holds out her pinched fingers and says "num?" (as in "nummy num!"). Daddy responds with delight. Mama responds with delight. Even Alek is excited, and states that she is eating cake. But for some reason that Erin can't figure out, the dogs are NOT enthusiastic about her pretend "num". Eventually, she stops chasing them and goes upstairs, and the dogs go back to licking the mighty delicious kitchen floor. Better the chance of a miniscule residue of real food than the promise of pretend cake, I guess.

"Erin, can you say Daddy?"

"Yes"

Clearly, comprehension is improving with her vocabulary. Her favorite words are "No" and "Mine", but she can now say "Mimi" and "Nana" and "Poppie" so she's not entirely the self-centered critter that she was a couple months ago, when all she wanted to say was "Dada". And "Oosh". While her first word was two syllables ("cheesestick") we have yet to hear a repeat.

Erik had a great day with the kids today (so he tells me; I was at work and have to take his and his Facebook page's word for it) - the first day After Nanny. Alek helped Erin down the stairs by holding her hand, and then Erin wanted to hold Alek's hand during their whole adventure walk, but Alek couldn't because "his grapples were stuck, the button was broken." As a safety backup, Erin wore her bike helmet for the entire trip.

I did get to see the kids at breakfast, which was a treat. Erin sat in my lap and ate Cheerios, naked and wrapped up in her pink blanket (jammies off, new diaper for those who were wondering). I kissed Alek goodbye before I came downstairs, and when he came down 30 minutes later and saw me in my jacket, just getting ready to go out the door, he asked me why I was home from work already. But he took it OK when I explained I was just heading out: "Oh, OK, bye bye, love you Mama." No big deal to him, which was a big deal to me - he's getting so grown up! Of course now he's asking for me to come upstairs and cuddle with him before bed. So big, but even big kids are still kids. On my way upstairs now!

I asked Alek to clean up his toys tonight. He picked up two little cars and headed upstairs, leaving the rest of the cars and his train scattered on the floor. Erik asked him what he was doing, specifically, "Alek, what are you doing up here?!?".

"I had an idea," Alek said.

"What idea?"

"Mama can clean it all herself."

Huh. Has it started already?

(Disney photos on "MobileMe")

October caught me by surprise several times. Not the least of which was by ending so soon! I felt like I lived iCal deadline to iCal deadline. Speaking of which, we now have at least 5 calendars to keep track of, between Erik's work, my work, my classes, Alek's pre-school, and whatever time is left-over for anything else. Erin's 18 month check-up somehow got squeezed in at the end of the month (in the "Erik Frederick Calendar", and we were stunned to find out she weighed in at over 28 pounds. Just when I was thinking that she now weighed more than Alek, we found out he was up to 30. We felt like we had to scramble to come up with 10 words that she knew (we counted "Baa!" and her infamous quack-like-a-duck sound) and then the next day she started saying Yes, no, Uh-uh, Spoon, Bowl, Moon, Mine, Me, Alek, Rock, and all of a sudden she can caw like a crow. And when you ask her where her other shoe is ("Oosh!") she shrugs her shoulders and kind of waves her hands around. Alek is full of surprises, too - he just about stunned our pediatrician into silence by reading the halloween sticker on the window that said "Boo" (we could tell she didn't quite believe us when we said he was starting to read already!).

You never know what you're going to get when you mix Alek and Erin together right now - like watching them chase each other around the upstairs at bedtime, crash into each other and . . . this time they bounce laughing to the floor. The scene played out 30 minutes earlier in the kitchen and Erin out of nowhere hurled a sippy cup that clipped Alek in the ear, leading to much sadness for all. They kind of love each other I think - lots of hugs and kisses when we tell them to, and even on their own sometimes.

Alek on his first monorail ride

Which made our trip to Disney World kind of a wild card too . . . but finally, a successful vacation! More pictures are up on my "MobileMe" web page (because it's so much easier to pull them all together in iWeb). It was truly a magical trip. Nanna got to take both her grandkids into the Magic Kingdom and show them "It's a Small World", and we all got to ride the Grand Prix race cars in Tomorrowland about a dozen times. The Caribbean Beach Resort was a lot of fun, and the kids loved all the various modes of transportation that we had to utilize - buses, monorails, ferries, strollers, planes, it was all good.

And finally, Halloween - the real deal. A whole week of Erin the Ladybug, staying up late to make Alek's costume, getting to watch him as Thomas the Train in the Preschool parade, carving a jack-o-lantern, trick-or-treating, bonfire and marshmallows, and making pumpkin soup . . . we tried to make to most of it.

Pictures coming soon!

Heather's MobileMe web page.

I was playing around with iWeb '08 a couple nights ago and had some fun putting up pictures of the kids. As with most things on a Mac, it was super easy and effortless. This does not mean you can expect more pictures of the kids, just that when I do get around to putting them up, it will be easier on my end. As always, anyone reading this knows where to find us and can usually find a way to satisfy their grand-parental urges without waiting for me to publish an update!

Elkton, MD (August 23 - August 28, 2008)

I insisted on calling it a beach house, even though Erik had rightly pointed out that it was in fact no where near a beach. It was near water, though - the convergence of the Elk River and the Chesapeake Bay. And there was sand. Hence - it was a beach house! Whether or not it was a “vacation” depends on your point of view. For what it’s worth, we had a lot of fun and the kids LOVED it! Here are some pictures from the week.

Erin and Jack trying to play "together"
Exhausted Alek, falling asleep during his snack.
CJ & Dani making their yummy chicken-feta burgers.
Auntie Oates' tattoo.
A-woo!
Bouncing on and in the dinosaur pool.
A view of the water.
Erin in the Play Hut.
See, I told you there was sand!
H and Alek in the very shallow, muddy water.
Eating lunch at the National Aquarium. No kidding, there was a mother sitting behind us who was feeding her kids a homemade lunch with grapes and carrots. We ate ice cream.
They wouldn't hold still, but we got a couple good shots of the dolphins.
Alek watching the dolphins underwater.

I came home at 4 pm and thought I was on top of things. Erik was on his way to Vermont for a "Guys' Weekend" so Tonya had stayed late. The kids were both still sleeping, miraculously. I cooked fried chicken breasts, spaghetti, and corn-on-the-cob, all by the time the kids woke up. We played in the driveway, ate dinner (yes, Alek ATE dinner - green pesto and all, though he had to shut his eyes to do it), and had some banana-blueberry-pudding for dessert. Then the true test of pseudo-single-motherhood came and my walls crumbled - bedtime.

We got a late start, which never helps. Then Erik called at 7:40, and how could I NOT answer the phone for Dada? Erin got a little derailed by playing with the phone, and by the time I got it away from her ("Dis! Dis! Dada!!!"), it was almost 8 o'clock. I had to kick Alek out of the room so she would settle, and that got him crying. Yelling at him, it turns out, did not help - I knew this, of course, but recognized that my patience was already wearing thin. This is not a good sign - Erik doesn't come home for three days. It will be three days of Mama practicing her best to be patient.

Alek finally calmed down long enough to get Erin in her crib, but she did the immediate rejection - lie back calmly with thumb in mouth, then bounce up in outrage when her back hits the mattress. She got one do-over with extra cuddle time (still not sure this is a good trend - she's starting to expect it, and I think she tricked us into this by being initially consolable) and then it was time to cry it out. Now this at least is easier with the second child - all through "The Very Lonely Firefly" and "Fly High, Fly Low" she cried, but 30 minutes later she seemed to settle down.

By then it was after 8:30 and Alek was still resistant to the thought of going to bed, but he too let me tuck him in once and walk out the door before the crying began in earnest. "I'm still a little scared!" he was wailing. We turned on all the lights in the hall and my bedroom, I covered him in magic Mama kisses, and I got as far as the laundry room before I heard the screaming again. Now this is something that NEVER seems to get easier with the first child - maybe because there is no good way to contain him, and if I ignore him he just comes and finds me. Maybe because his excuses are clever - "I have to pee!!!" says the child in Pull-Ups, and parents will do anything to accommodate.

I got his Pull-Up back on and sent him to his room alone, but this was immediately followed by more screaming. I did my best to ignore him. It turns out he had stubbed his toe on the water bottle on his floor. Again, he's a very clever tactician - a semi-legitimate injury to justify coming to find Mama again. I follow him to his room and dig deep inside to find comforting things to say, when all I really want to do is go let the dogs in and lock up the house because I don't like being alone in the house at night either!!!! But I cover him with more magic Mama kisses (they keep the dark away), threaten to lock the door if he gets out again, and start going through a soothing list of things that make him happy: playing with his trucks, jumping on the bed with Erin, eating popsicles, going to the park with Tonya, etc. etc. and I get to "lying down with Mama" and he says "Let's try that one!" I laughed, and he knew he had me. He giggled and said "Let's try that one again!" So I conceded defeat, lay down with him for a few minutes, and it really did seem to make him happy, because I finally got to leave and here I am writing this.

What I notice more and more (in the periods between obligatory parenting chores) is that Alek really became HIMSELF around the age that Erin is now, and it is amazing to watch her blossom in a completely different way. I look back at pictures of him at 15-16 months, and all I see is the Alek of today peeking out, same smile, same mischievous look in his eye, same stubborn and relentless energy. Erin has to express herself differently than Alek did - she has no interest in words other than "Dada" and "Dis!" (not even "Cheesestick" and "Day doo", although we do get an occasional "Dall Done"). So she points. Very . . . pointedly. When she wanted me to pick her up, and her blanket, and get a book, and her milk, and sit down with her in the rocking chair, she did it all with "Dis!" and "Unh!" and precise darts of her finger in the relevant direction. "Mama pick me up" is expressed by actually poking me HARD in the chest and looking up expectantly. "Take me to the chair" is accomplished by her squeezing your side with her legs, like kicking a horse in the ribs, and leaning her center of gravity out so far in the direction she wants to go that you are obligated to follow. And there is no doubt what she means. If you happen to guess wrong, there will be immediate feedback. It is tempting to see her still as the baby, but when I remember how much the Alek of 16 months is just like the Alek of 39 months, I realize that the Erin of today IS Erin the little girl, just without a vocabulary.

Even though bedtime was a little . . . antagonistic, it is a treat to be the one putting them both to bed and waking up with them for once. I can say that because this really has been Erik's territory. (In case you wondered, honey, YES I do appreciate you!) The hardest part about being here alone with them is just that even when they're asleep (finally), I still feel outnumbered. I don't know why the battle metaphor keeps coming up - especially since I seem to put myself on the losing side. Honestly, they find ways to trick me all the time, but I AM still the MOM, after all. Sometimes, I convince myself, giving in strategically is actually a way to win in the long run. Someday I'm sure they'll let me know if I was wrong.