Silas is TWO!

I say this all the time. But it's real. How is it possible?

How is it possible that my kids are growing up so quickly? TWO! Silas is TWO! My little blonde haired, blue eyed boy.

Silas' birthday landed on the Thursday after Easter - so it has been a big week for him. We practiced all week saying "I am two!" and singing "Happy birthday". But until the party Friday where everyone sang to him, focused on him and put a giant cake (WITH FROSTING!!!) in front of him, he didn't really grasp it. And well, he maybe didn't really grasp it then either.

Silas is my rough and tumble one. He has to be to keep up with his brother and sister. As has been par for the course with my kids, he is a talker and advanced there. He speaks in 3-4 word sentences and uses a huge variety of words and is really moving along with conveying his needs and frustrations. He calls Skadi "KK", Leif is "Lay" and Odin is Odin. Lucky is "Ki-Cat". He has transitioned from mama and dada to mommy and daddy.

Silas has coveted every balance bike he has seen in the past few months, so we got him one. We have heard, for the last 4 days since he opened it, "I got a bike!" Poor beep beep (the farm ride on toy) has been cast aside in favor of a BIKE!

Silas' favorite things to do (aside from ride a bike) is to feed the animals. Odin's food dish is always overflowing, the Goldfish has plenty of food to cloud up his tank and Lucky gets fed twice a day - which hasn't happened in ages. But Silas is diligent in doling out the food - though heaven forbid one of them (Odin) decides to swipe something from him. That will definitely ruin his day.

His other favorite thing to do is "go outside". This is actually a very particular request though. He doesn't really want to go out into the backyard to play. He wants to go into the driveway and ride whatever convenient riding toy he has up and down the slight slope.

We are pretty convinced he is the smartest toddler around too. He counts to 10. No joke. I have no delusions that it is anything more than reciting what he has heard just like he does "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes". And probably the fact that we squeal with joy when he does it means he has learned that "I do this and it makes them happy" thing.

Silas is an excellent sleeper, sleeping through the night 90% of the time -  8:15-7am. He naps like the dead - 3-3.5 hrs usually. Eating... the child has an amazing sweet tooth. And kind of like me - once hungry, the attitude (normally happy go lucky) changes. Hangry.

Silas is kind of a solitary kid. He is wary of other kids invading his space and they better not touch the item he is interested in. He reminds me a lot of Skadi in mannerisms. He will bowl you over and isn't one to be bowled over.

He still loves his thumb and we love it too. Love not having to keep track of a pacifier. I am sure the day will come when we like it a bit less. But already he is to the point that he only sucks it when he needs to calm himself down, or at nap/bed time.

KK is his bestest friend in the whole world and she is amazing with him. She plays with him and engages with him and appeals to his dangerous side as she flies him around on beep beep or his scooter. Leif is an incredible help with Silas, gets him out of his crib, fixes breakfast for him, brushes his teeth, helps get him dressed, but isn't the one who is going to entertain him like Skadi does. All in all, both kids make for the best team with Silas.

Silas truly made our family complete. We are so blessed to have him. He is an amazing boy. I love his little kisses, his hugs, his learning and seeing the world through his eyes! I love you Silas!

On turning 37

I am not quite sure when I hit my mid 30's. I still feel as though I should be in my 20's. I have moved past that time in my life where I was sure I was still a teenager. An awareness of mortality and little beings that call me "mommy" did that for me.

37. How did I get here? (And if you are like me you are now humming a particular Talking Heads song.)

I remember when I turned seven. I was in the first grade and my parents invited all the little girls in my class for a sleepover. The things I remember... Anna (who my sister adored) got scared and her parents came to pick her up. All of our sleeping bags (many were Strawberry Shortcake) lined up. One girl wet her sleeping bag. Pancakes, pancakes and more pancakes the next morning. And we never did a birthday sleepover again. My sister got the short end of the stick on that one and this is one of the few things that I got, but my sister did not.

I remember turning eight. I turned eight on Jan 8, 1980 and I thought that was so special. We had a small party with about five girls and two boys who I was friends with. I went through the spanking machine. We rented a thing called a VCR and a movie, Xanadu. You could pause the movie and rewind it (we did this to watch the dance scenes over and over) and you could rewatch the entire movie as many times as you wanted. One of the boys, Dusty, bought me a weaving loom and I loved that and was going to make high fashion for all my dolls and someone somewhere might see them and I would be famous for my fashions. I also got my first Barbie that was all my own (I had my mom's old Barbies whose heads popped off from about 20 years earlier). She was the first Barbie with bendable legs and a princess. I wasn't much of a princess girl myself, but she was special and I still have her in near perfect condition (except for the one chewed foot courtesy of our dachshund Inga) in her original dress. I had a cake with red icing and for years after I got to hear details about Shannon's throw up from eating my cake with red icing. I was sure she blamed me.

The next party I remember was the year I turned 16. Without telling my mom I went around and "invited" or suggested to my friends that they come to my house to "hang out" that evening. I didn't have anything planned other than going out to pizza with a couple of friends that evening. Little did I know but my friends were in cahoots with my mom and she had thrown a "surprise" birthday party to me. When we got back from dinner I was glad to see that all the people I had told to "stop by" were there! It didn't even dawn on me for a little while it was a surprise party. That year my stepmom and dad drove my present down - 100 one dollar bills rolled up and tied to a small tree. It was my own personal money tree.

Then there was number 17. I was dating Greg then. My mom invited Greg over for dinner and we opened gifts later. I had wanted a pair of pajamas that weren't so much little girl pajamas anymore. I wanted satin pajamas. My mom picked out a pretty pair of green satin pajamas (boxers and a tank top) for me. I was so embarrassed when I opened them up in front of Greg!

21. Oh birthday 21. Knowing I went to college in a party town you might assume birthday number 21 was a big whopper. It wasn't. I had recently broken up with Scott. My relationship with Scott was all encompassing and I didn't have other friends to party with. Scott and I still lived together and so he (my ex boyfriend) took me to The Rio Grande for dinner and margs. I had one margarita legally and was good for the night. If you have had Rio Grande margs, you understand.

31. I was fairly new in my job as a post-doc and had been at the lab for about 8-9 months. There was a tradition that you bought and brought in donuts on your birthday in my building. I bought a big box of donuts and did like everyone else did in putting a sign on them saying, "Happy Birthday April" and plopped them in the lunchroom. I never heard another word. Not even my mentor came to my office to wish me a happy birthday. I went by the lunch room early that afternoon just to see if the box of donuts was still full and that was why no one had come by to wish me a happy birthday. There were three craft guys I didn't know sitting in there chowing away at their donuts from the now empty box. "Someone left donuts!" they said. "I did," I replied. "Oh," they said, "were we supposed to eat them? Shouldn't leave them sitting in a lunchroom if they aren't for everyone." I replied softly, "that's fine, you can have them". Since that day my expectations for my birthday from people I work with has been nil.

37. My family and my online community rocks. I had a long list of wishes on Facebook and my two forums. My mom called me. My sister called me and my dad called me. My MIL bought me an awesome Smartwool sweater that I love. Skadi woke up happy and was easily pliable with clothes after she picked out her outfit (short sleeves) and I suggested a sweatshirt - her favorite Alaska sweatshirt - to go over the top. Leif practiced singing me Happy Birthday this morning, but only for practice not for reals since we didn't have a cake. AB moved the kids' easel to where I would be certain to see it and wrote a big Happy Birthday message on it for me. I bought a pumpkin spice latte and hot cocoas for the kids on our way in and even remembered the sippy cup for Skadi. She talked about "cocoa" all morning long. We got home and after the typical nightly routine AB gave me my gift - a moonstone ring from Sundance and then cake. We blew out the candles umpteen times and then ate my delicious Baskin Robbins cake. And now my husband is waiting for me to come watch Top Chef. Can't ask for much more than my birthday with those I love most.

I am fine with my 30's. 30's are a good and happy place.

40 might kill me.

Four

I usually feel as though I have lots of insightful thoughts on my kids birthdays. This year all I can say is "Four? When did this happen?"

...

Four?

Are we sure?

2008-2004...

Yep, that's four years old.

Leif thinks it is quite funny to tell me he was three yesterday, he is four now and tomorrow he is going to go to kindergarten, ok?

He doesn't know how real that feels.

Four?

Are we still sure?

I have to admit I am not mourning three. Maybe that is making me less insightful on the subject.

It has been a rough year with Leif and I am just now seeing a different little boy emerge. I routinely said, "terrible twos? What are you talking about? How about terrible threes?" And I meant it. Leif pushed every boundary, struggled with friendships, struggled in his preschool room. Nothing seemed to come easy and I frequently found myself at wits end.

The past few weeks - embarking on age four - seems to be a new world for Leif. He is calm, friendly, one of the more "easy" kids in his new class according to the teachers. He tries not to hurt feelings, he likes to help, he doesn't use "bad language" (though lets us know of every transgression of ours, anything from the TV, or whatever he has heard on the playground). He is starting to enjoy art and amazes me with the things he knows. I have a new little boy at age four.

Milestones (or my brag book):

-Leif can write his name. (Though he is lucky his name is short and comprised of various curves.)

-He can count to 100 and is getting better about recognizing two digit numbers. (Though in counting he sometimes forgets 15 and has to occasionally be reminded which -0 number comes next after forty.)

-He knows most all the letters and associated sounds and is learning to tell you what letter a word starts with by sound (this is very hit or miss).

-He can spell Skadi's name and recognize it as well as a few friend's names, like C's name and the fact that it is very similar in spelling and sound to cat.

-He has become mildly obsessed with soccer and we have learned he is pretty good at kicking a ball. He can hit his sister dead on nearly every attempt... he now has a soccer goal to practice with instead.

-He recognizes street signs (I was surprised to hear him say, "that sign says yield mommy".)

-Leif loves to cook, particularly break the eggs (I did find a small bit of shell in my crepe the other morning though... I am blaming AB.)

Fire Station birthday pictures

The cake... pre-slide

Inside the fire station

Checking out the fireman in his uniform

Guess who is driving?

This picture cracks me up... I had finally gotten most all the kids lined up - with lots of help - and snapped the picture when guess who popped up out of my lap?

Happy first birthday Skadi!

Happy Birthday Beaner!

Skadi's first birthday was on Sunday. It flew low under the radar given it was also Easter. But knowing this was likely to happen, we held her birthday party with friends on Saturday the 15th.

As a gift from us, Skadi received a swing for our pergola. She loves to go out and swing and thinks that is just great fun. While inside she will point out the window at her swing and whine, wriggling her fingers in a fashion that says, "bring that to me or me to it".

She received a number of books and other toys for her birthday. One of her favorite items is her Little People Noah's Ark from grandpa. She loves taking the top off, putting the animals in, pulling the animals out, putting the animals in... you get the idea.

I finally have a child who loves Little People! I can give into my whims without feeling guilty that the toys will go unused! She has just started getting into her Little People house as well that she received for Christmas (also from grandpa). Her other favorite is her rocking chair that arrived this evening. The biggest issue there is keeping her brother OUT of the rocking chair so she doesn't start screaming. Because while she wants to use all of his toys - she is none too willing to share her new coveted item.

One year old. Truly it seems like just yesterday I brought her home from the hospital. Now she is interactive and vocal.

I used to think Skadi would end up being "quiet", but lately I am not so sure of that. She likes to "sing" along when she hears things... even the coffee pot grinding beans has a tune for her and she humms along, "Mmmmmm!". And she has recently become "the talker" at daycare or at home where she will look you straight in the eye and start jabbering in her own language, pause and wait for you to answer. She is vocal at home... as long as her stiff competition is keeping his mouth shut.

She has said "mama" for a few months. Then came "ki-ca", which is "kitty cat", though AB denies it. He refused to let her second word be in reference to "that cat" instead of him. "Dada" was next and is a frequent declaration, probably moreso than "mama" now since... well, since she is ALWAYS in my arms. She rarely has to ask for me. She also says "hi" and "bye bye".

She is working on her first molars and so this weekend she was rather tempermental and not happy unless she was in my arms.

Skadi is standing very well by herself, and today divulged a secret to me... she has been walking 4-5 steps at a time at daycare. They told me this last week, but I refused to believe it. *My* daughter wouldn't dare hide something from me. It was some other little red haired girl in the room... they were seeing things out of the corners of their eyes. Then today on my mid-day visit, she turned around and walked away from me, all the way over to grab onto the swing.

My jaw dropped open. She smiled in her coy fashion and crawled back to me. I told her then her secret was out. Then she got up and walked over to one of the caregivers just to twist the knife a little harder.

Today they announced to me that with nine babies enrolled in the infant program and Skadi now officially over one year old, they will be bumping her up to hang with the big kids instead of opening the second infant room.

I know she will be fine. I really do adore the teacher in the next class up. But what it means to me is that she isn't my tiny little baby anymore. *They* are going to start using the "t" word in referring to her...

Toddler.

Skadi is a really amazing eater. I am going to say this again just because it is not something I have ever been able to say with my other child... Skadi is an amazing eater. Though my MIL does argue with me that my son does eat amazingly well... at least compared to his cousins! (This, of course, made my day and has been etched permanently in my head in that there is something my kid does better than his cousins! No competition, you know.)

Skadi is a meat eater. Leif was not - he was/is carb boy. Skadi will eat her carbs, but give that child chicken or beef, or as we discovered at our friend's house on Sunday - ham and she chows. She will carefully sort out and pick out the meat out of a pile of food in front of her. Give her a dinosaur chicken nugget - whole - and the child is in heaven as she giggles while holding it. Then she will eat it and usually a second one too.

Another difference with food is even if she doesn't like something, she continues to eat it. You might get a funky face with every single bite, but she will eat it!

She started some whole milk this weekend and had her first sippy cup of 50% strength apple juice. She was indifferent towards the milk and thinks that apple juice is the bees knees. (Not surprising.)

Skadi loves to give nice, big, open-mouthed, sloppy kisses. She responds with a "kiss" everytime someone says "kissy" and sticks their lips out. She loves giving kisses to everyone, though Leif is her main target and his kisses come without warning or solicitation. This morning she crawled up while Leif was on my lap and went full on into his face planting a big kiss on his lips. She thought it was hilarious.

And Leif, thankfully, did too.

Skadi has one hero in her life right now. Mommy and daddy, they are fine. But put Leif in front of her and she howls with laughter. She does everything she can to keep up with him, play with him, and to be his shadow. On Easter at our friend's house, the kids were going up and down a small plastic slide. Skadi wanted to be part of that in a bad, bad way. Every few minutes, we would slow down the preschoolers so that she could go up and slide down. It was utter pain and misery for the kids to slow down for her, but at least then she felt involved. Next year she will be right in the mix!

Skadi will start at the other school in June and we are very anxious for this. We are supposed to be picking her teacher, but might resort to requesting her name goes in the hat for the draw between the two teachers. Truly, either teacher would be great and we just keep waffling between the two. Picking one, in my own mind, is the same as rejecting the other. And I just can't do that.

Skadi is one year old. How did this happen? I know it sounds cliche, but it has gone way too fast.

I have a lot more confidence this time around. I care a lot less about what other moms think. I never thought that two would be so hard. Yet I never thought parenting the second would come so easily and naturally. I have spent way too much money on cute clothes in the past year... quite likely more this coming year. And I have been amazed at how love isn't divided, but grows with the addition of another child.

Happy birthday Skadi!

36

That's me. 36 today.

I remember when my mom turned 36. I was graduating from high school that year and she had a moment of melancholy (among many moments of rejoicing I am sure) and I told her, "you can still have another!" She laughed at me.

Though at the time that moment didn't stick in my mind, I remember it now. How different we are in so many ways (that being one, I have a 9 month old at 36 and she had a high school graduate), but also very alike in so many ways too. I wonder what my daughter's life will be like when she turns 36?

I am not one to hide from my age... yet. I am proud what I have done with my years. And whenever I need that bounce I pull out my CV and read it and look at my kids. There are very few things I would change.

Today was a good day. We woke up to snow on the ground and as soon as I checked to make sure we DID actually have work today (ok, I was being overly optimistic with checking, but you never know, they have cancelled work for less before).

Leif was agreeable this morning and easily pliable with promises of "cow chocolate milk" and pumpkin bread from Starbucks courtesy of grandma's gift card to me. I had the pumpkin spice latte and my own piece of pumpkin bread, because I was NOT sharing on my birthday. And Leif is a piggy boy when it comes to Starbucks pumpkin bread.

We followed the very slow procession of cars into work. I am a big proponent of driving to the point that one is comfortable driving in adverse conditions. And I do realize that growing up in Colorado and driving a 1979 Mazda RX-7 in the snow for six years does give me certain powers that normal mortals don't possess... but come on!

I had a nice day at work. I am getting used to the idea that I am going to be managing a very large project where the PI was my former team lead and is currently one of the team leads in my management line. Gotta love matrix management. And I am shuffling that with the proposal that is due on Friday. That will be the remainder of my week as well.

I cooked beef stroganov for dinner tonight. One of my favorite, quick weeknight meals. I mean seriously, what can be better than roux, sour cream, good tender beef and mushrooms? AB wrestled with the kids... literally. Skadi was fussy and Leif was a little turd most of the night and making us nuts. But that is what little 3.5 year old boys do, right? Make us nuts? My daughter will never do such a thing.

We cleaned up and put the kids to bed and both are headed that way here shortly too. I am not returning a single call tonight either. My family is great... they are the ones that will always remember your birthday and never fail to call. (Not pointing fingers or anything at any other families, I am just saying...) They are really great. Though I wonder what planet some of them came from with statements like, "well you are probably out partying it up for your birthday" left on our answering machine.

No actually, we were putting kids to bed. (How do I show emphasis on "were"?)

No I am kidding... mostly. I love them all and I am so lucky to have family that remembers my birthday and puts it into action by calling to let me know they thought about me. That is the best thing ever and truly I am blessed to have this.

This weekend we will be partying it up a little more... AB is smoking a prime rib for me... all me. Truth be told he was happy when I gave him the go ahead, he was hoping to have a second go at the smoked prime rib to redeem himself for the ever so slight things he wants to change. Usually I opt for seafood on my birthday and we do a bouilliabaisse (however you spell that) or a cioppino. But my mouth waters for that prime rib from Christmas and I relish the chance to sort through our wines and pick out a match. I told AB I wanted to drink more of our good wines this past year and we are succeeding there.

Thanks all for your warm wishes on my birthday!

Birthdays on the cheap

So we got this Sundance gift card... I went window shopping today with an e-mail to AB open to provide links to him. I love their big thick silver rings like these two in particular... Love them.






AB... notsomuch with the love for the big thick rings... he thinks my fingers need something dainty for some reason.


So my goal was to only provide links to those to him and hope he doesn't deviate... it is taking a chance, but it is Sundance and I love everything there, so if it was dainty, I would still love it.


Then I clicked on the "Shoes and Bags" tab.



HAD to have it. HAD to. You will understand why.


Regularly $295 on sale for $99... and then we have the $50 gift card courtesy of Mr. Redford and all. They were practically paying me to take it.


Nope there wasn't any letting AB make the decision... my birthday present was set as I reminded him how $49 compared to a Coach purse.


He got a 1.5 hour hot stone massage scheduled for Saturday in exchange.


Oh and that hot stone massage? Apparently we paid twice at some point earlier and never noticed it... or something... we had a credit for one 1.5 hour hot stone massage much to our delight.


Now THAT'S the way to do birthdays!

What every three year old wants for his birthday

I asked Leif what he wanted to buy A for his birthday on Saturday?

He gave it some good, long thought...

"I want to buy A cheese for his birthday," Leif told me.

Gifts for a three year old

How awful is it that it is 5 weeks from my son's third birthday and I haven't any idea what to get him?

Ok, so I have a couple ideas, and as of today, I ordered them. Toy Story the double DVD Deluxe set and a metal Tonka tractor thing for $15 each.

He is all about transportation vehicles right now. And if they haul something (dirt, lots of people or a bed full of nearly anything), all the better. He has a dump truck that is about the freakiest thing ever. My dad sent it to him with the caveat that if he didn't like it, to give it away, no offense taken. The little boy who had it before was scared to bits by it. Truth be told, it scares me. It is a yellow dump truck with a head on top and glowing red eyes, and it speaks. And it is very nearly Leif's favorite toy right now. I might like it a little more if Leif quit bringing it into the house full of dirt.

I perused the toys the other day at Walmart where I went to pick up AB's Father's Day present. Nothing jumped out at me. Partly because everything looked so flimsy. Partly because I have this ideal in my head that Leif will tell us what he wants (so far he tells us he wants a birthday cake for his birthday). And partly because Leif was with me and the few things he did want... I just bought (a trio of gardening tools for $1.97, a squirt gun for $1 and a Matchbox fire truck), which AB later chastized me for.

The best score this week was a wooden rocking horse at a garage sale I drove by for $15. After K made one for C, AB kept talking about doing the same. Not surprisingly it hasn't happened due to the huge number of other projects I have had AB tackling over the last year or so. Leif loves it. AB says we should have saved it for his birthday, and he might be right, except that he will so quickly grow out of it at this point that I want to maximize his use. (Not like we won't have another little being who will grow into it far too soon.)

I am trying to resist the urge to go overboard for his birthday. To take advantage of this year when all he wants is a tractor that digs in the dirt. Yet, I can't help but think he "needs" more. I will squash that urge... after all, he is getting a big, not so inexpensive birthday party.