Developments

I’m pretty sure I’m feeling fetal movement now, and not just uterus stuff. It’s still pretty vague and it’s definitely early yet, but a pattern is emerging so that’s why I think it’s Child Person Mark II. Typically in the late evening is when I can feel it and then it’ll last for maybe up to an hour. I’ll have to go back over my early posts to see where I was with Kirk when I first started feeling him. I know it was early for a first timer so I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if I’m noticing it early again now.

Mr. b has gone back to school. We’re still getting used to his new schedule and it’ll change again next semester. The biggest difference for me is that I’m doing the daycare drop off and pick up now. I’ve been taking the bus for so long I need to get used to the new timing. And I won’t be able to read as much. So far Kirk’s been really good about his daddy leaving at night to go to class. In the past he has pitched a fit when Mr. b leaves for band practice but he’s been very understanding about school. I don’t know what it’ll be like when I have a new infant to also deal with in the evenings but so far Kirk and I are keeping ourselves busy. We go on walks or do laundry or yardwork and then start the nigh-nigh routine. We can’t run errands though since Mr. b has the car. That’s going to also take some advance planning to adjust.

I spanked Kirk this morning. I know everyone’s got strong feelings on spanking but frankly, it’s been a long time coming. We’ve been threatening it for several weeks now as counting to three only works sometimes and taking away his toys or blankie only works sometimes and turning off his movies only works sometimes and putting him in time out only works sometimes. He’s a little brat and I was done. I was trying to get him dressed and he was actively fighting me, stepping on his diaper so I couldn’t get it up his legs, and punching and headbutting all the while. So I swatted him on the butt. It certainly wasn’t hard but it was enough to make him pay attention and he cooperated for the rest of the getting ready and was sweet to me at daycare drop off. We’ll see how long it lasts. I should have known I’d be the first to go there. We were just discussing how spoiled he is the other day, too. Some of that is generational of course and some is that we need to step it up. When Kirk doesn’t follow the rules we have been giving him choices: you can go to your room with the door closed or you can sit at the dinner table with us. I gave him two choices this morning: we could use teamwork to get his outfit on or I could hold him against his will and do it myself. That should have been his tip-off that Mama wasn’t gonna play games. And maybe it will be next time he decides to be a jerk instead of “I wanna be good and listen”.

We’re both feeling the need to nest already. It’s not the same as the end of term nesting but it’s real nevertheless. Mr. b cleared a ton of shit out of the basement last week and while it’s all just sitting in the garage now it’s making it easier to see what exactly needs to be done for cleaning and organizing purposes. I’m also desperate for craft projects. I have ideas for everything from framing prints to knitting to embroidery to rug making but I haven’t actually started any of them. What I need to do is make a pattern for my Halloween costume and go to the fabric store. I’m not sure if the DIY impulse is pregnancy related or seasonal. I do typically get a burst of creative energy in the fall.

Kirk has a new trick up his sleeve when it comes to delaying sleep after being put to bed. The interesting thing is that he does not get out of his bed at night – or even in the morning. He’ll sit up and play with Woody and Buzz and talk to himself or shout for us but he won’t actually leave until one of us opens his door. Which has been nice because we were warned up and down that the second he switched from his crib to his big boy bed that he’d be bugging us constantly. However, with the organization trend in the house, we put a short bookcase in his room near his bed and moved his toy stove over to the other side. He dragged the plastic kitchenette back to by his bed, placing it in front of the bookshelf. So now he can reach out and haul the entire thing right next to him and get at the toys that are stored within. Scammer. Smart little bugger! I don’t really care though. He fought going to bed last night with a declaration that he wanted to “stay up all night!” I told him he was welcome to do so: in his room, with the door shut, and the lights off. He was asleep within 20 minutes.

What's in a name?

Kirk has declared it: he is to be called Buzz. As in Buzz Lightyear. From the Toy Story movies. He’s been referring to himself as Buzz and his daddy as Woody for quite some time now but I’ve finally been added to the mix. I am Jessie. We suspected that his daycare buddy was Woody in his father’s absence but K says that the other day he instead declared himself Mermaid Man, the weird Adam West type superhero from Spongebob. Apparently Buzz and Mermaid Man got in a fight over a rocket and Buzz came home with some nice scratches on his cheek.

Kirk is ridiculously excited about his choice of Halloween costume this year: Buzz Lightyear. We haven’t actually purchased it yet because c’mon, it’s still September. But apparently he asked yesterday if he could go to the Red Grocery store just to look at it! I think we’ll have to cave and buy it this weekend. I have no problems with him getting some use out of it before trick-or-treating.

In other news, tomorrow is our 11th anniversary. To celebrate, we are completely overscheduled and will not be able to spend any alone time together. Yay?

Nap Time!

If we ever required proof that Kirk still needs a nap, we got it this weekend.

I often wonder at what age kids typically start either taking shorter naps or dispense with them altogether. Presumably they then have an earlier bedtime to make up some of the difference. But it’s always been a mystery to me when that begins. Oh I know, all kids are different. But even so there are some generalities that can typically be found.

We were all invited over to the neighbors’ house on Saturday for their son’s 5th birthday. While chatting with an alley neighbor, the mother of another 5 year old, I learned that her son still needs a nap and takes one at school everyday. That made me feel a lot better. At least I know that we’ve got some time before we have to wean Kirk off them altogether. And lord knows I love napping with him – or at least at the same time as him, depending on how squirrelly his is.

The birthday party was scheduled to start at about the time that we would normally put Kirk down. But since it was only two houses over we figured we’d just bring him home when he started to show signs of needing to go. Yet that’s the thing. Lately Kirk hasn’t shown the typical tiredness signs. He just suddenly snaps and then it’s a screaming fit of crazy insanity. And that’s exactly what happened, for all the party guests to see. He was playing as-nicely-as-can-be-expected-these-days with the other kids for a couple of hours and then as soon as we wouldn’t let him have a second piece of birthday cake, it was all over. Completely madness.

Of course his diet that day may have contributed. We won’t be winning any parenting awards. Breakfast: Coco Puffs; lunch: one bite of bun, birthday cake, ice cream; dinner: peanuts, fruit & cereal bar. Yeah, we rule.

What's my Tell?

I went out to lunch with a colleague last week. After learning that I’m preggers, he claimed that he could “tell”. He said it was something about my face. Huh? Then again, I remember Mr. b saying something similar about a customer a year or so ago. So maybe it’s a guy thing? Or maybe it’s the so-called “glowing” that I just can’t see in myself?

No matter what, as soon as I tell someone that I’m knocked up they glance down at my belly. Do they think it’s going to be magically huge and they just hadn’t noticed? I guess it must be a reflex of some sort. My other theory is that it’s because I work with guys now. When I was pregnant with Kirk, I worked in a very small group of all women and one guy. Now I work in a considerably larger group and I’m one of only three females. So the vibe is definitely different. I guess I’ll end up coming out to the majority of them that still don’t know later this week when we go out for drinks with a former co-worker. Or rather, I’ll join them at the bar and have a Coke. Ooh, maybe instead of bringing the baby in to show off while I’m on maternity leave, I could demand that they all take me out and buy me drinks some night!

Weekend Labor

Mr. b was in Washington DC the whole long weekend. We didn’t get to go in July (original plan was to leave the reunion early and spend a couple days there) and I told him he could go for his birthday. He didn’t believe me. But then, after discovering low airfares and cheap hotel rates due to being the weekend in between the DNC and RNC, well, he was off!

So Kirk and I needed to make sure we stayed busy in his absence. I get burned out on full-time single parenting anyway and I figured it would be even worse with the first trimester effects still showing up on occasion. Though thankfully not as often as I move closer and closer to that magical second trimester line. I arranged to go over to my brother’s house Saturday afternoon and to my friend’s house Sunday afternoon. Then my sister needed some hemming done and came over with the girls Saturday morning. So we were just the right amount busy and had lots of fun and Kirk got plenty of attention and playtime with his cousins and friend. I didn’t have anything planned out for Monday, thinking we would just do some shopping. We went to the wading pool before lunch and hit the grocery store post naps.

That night, about two hours after putting Kirk to bed, I heard a horrible coughing fit. Poor buddy, he must be getting a cold. So as I was getting ready for bed I peeked in on him. Something wasn’t right. I quietly snuck over to his bed and the smell hit me. He had thrown up! He was laying on his back, sort of in a daze, not exactly asleep, with piles and piles of red noodles all over him (watermelon and chicken noodle-O’s soup) and covering his pillow and his blankie and his sheets. It was horrifying and I felt awful that I had waited the 10 minutes or so before checking on him. I peeled his jammies off him and started gathering up the mess. I stripped his entire bed and we threw the first of many loads into the washing machine right away. But he wasn’t done. His stomach wasn’t empty yet. And I had let him have a little drink of water so up that came. He threw up three more times throughout the night. I had a puke bucket for him to use but he didn’t always make it in.

Obviously we stayed home on Tuesday. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of letting him have regular food or beverages too soon and kept him on water-with-a-splash-of-juice for a couple of hours in the morning. He even kept down two saltines. But then at about 11 he threw it all up again. Thankfully on the floor and not the freshly washed bedding. He started perking up a bit after a nap and he was keeping crackers down and drinking Gatorade at that point. He was fine yesterday.

But what caused it in the first place? I honestly have no idea. He definitely drank heavily chlorinated pool water but that was quite a long time earlier in the day. And he didn’t have any problem packing away his entire lunch. Could it have been food poisoning at dinner? I had some of the same soup but not much. After feeling pretty good all weekend I was hit with a major bout of preggo at the dinner table and spent the entire meal with my head on my arms, moaning to myself between spooning soup up for the boy. We both had watermelon. Was the coughing fit I heard the result of throwing up or the cause of it? I know that A2 has a tendency to puke when she coughs too hard and then she’ll be set off for a good ten to twenty hours of repeated puking if she tries to eat or drink too much. I sure hope that Kirk hasn’t manifested a similar trait. But for the moment, all is back to normal. Mr. b is safely returned. And all the sheets in the house are clean.

Ob Round-Up

Friday morning I had my first ob visit. But I had to go in on Wednesday morning for the registration. I didn't remember that part at all. Mr. b kept talking about how they gave us free stuff last time when I got the confirmation and how that must be for first timers only. When I got called in it all came back to me: oh yeah! Nurse P and the paperwork and the free stuff! We actually used that diaper bag the whole time for Kirk, until it had disintegrated into nothingness. So thankfully...we've got another one now!

The ob visit itself was fine. The first one is always longest since they have to do the gyn exam, too, and there's the blood work and pee sample. New Doc came highly recommended. Nurse P and Doc and the scheduling lady are all fans so I was looking forward to finally meeting him. Indeed, he was very nice and very funny. Mr. b didn't come with since daycare was on vacation and he was home with Kirk. He missed out on the nifty bedside ultrasound! It looked to me like there was only one fetal blob inside the uterus blob so that's good news. New Doc had presumed he wouldn't be able to hear the heartbeat yet at not quite ten weeks and that's why he busted out the little portable ultrasound. But I've been told since my first gyn at age 15 that my uterus is slanted back at a pretty extreme angle. So even though he couldn't actually see the heartbeat on the viewscreen, when he switched to the audio finder instead, he found it immediately - way down at the pelvic bone.

I've already decided that I do want to bring Kirk with for the big proper ultrasound at 20 weeks. I think it'll be neat for him to see the baby inside mama's tummy.

I've had 3 different due dates suggested so far. The doctor that confirmed the pregnancy was on old ob, long retired from that part of his practice, and used some mental calculations to arrive at March 29th. Nurse P used the plastic calendar dial thingie and said that I was right on the line for frickin' April 1st (which would just figure). New Doc also used the dial thingie but said it was more like March 30th. So I've just been saying "end of March". I actually just had to bite my cousins' rhymes. They sent out an "oops, here comes number 3 announcement" last night, and they're also due at the end of March. I used that as my opening to let the rest of the family know about me, too. I had already told everyone in MN and ND, figuring that the grapevine would do the rest, but still, it seemed like I should actually make a real announcement. Hopefully they'll see the humor. The Fourth of July was a fruitful holiday this year!

First Trimester Blues

I haven’t posted in far too long. Normally I have several topics floating around in my head and I have to space them out. I had intended to put up my travelogue from our North Carolina trip but it’s been over a month now and that seems kinda dumb at this point. Obviously some stuff has happened in the meantime to distract me. Heh. I’ve been pretty much useless by the time I get home from work each day. The exhaustion continues but at least the queasiness after eating has lessened considerably. However, in its place, I now feel beyond bloated after I eat anything. It hasn’t moved into the heartburn phase yet either, which is good because yay no heartburn but bad because antacids don’t actually help. I need to buy a new Boppy pillow for sleeping. Mr. b says I should just take the old one from Kirk but it’s Kirk’s! And besides, why should Child Person Mark II have to begin in vitro with hand-me-downs? Lord knows that’s gonna happen plenty as it is just being a younger sibling. I can feel the expansion tension in my stomach. In fact, I can feel all sorts of uterine movements. Not fetal fluttering yet but there are still familiarities. Unfamiliar, however, is constipation. That was not an issue last time. It actually hurts to poop and I feel like I’m tearing open scabs, which must be the case due to the occasional blood. Guess I’ll have to ask if stool softeners are on the list of OK meds for preggos. Not that I want more drugs. I’m already on antibiotics for this frickin’ sweat gland infection in my arm pit. Which in turn forces me to use anti-fungal cream (externally thank you very much) to keep any yeast infection at bay since antibiotics apparently make women prone to that fun side-effect. And as long as I’m complaining about the functions between my legs, why has the middle of the night peeing already begun? Dammit. I need sleep! My bladder can’t possibly be operating under that much real estate reduction yet. I’m only like 9 weeks fercrissakes! And if I don’t wake up to pee then I wake up to let the damn cat in when I hear her yeowling outside because she wouldn’t frickin’ come in before I went to bed. And if it’s not the cat then it’s the boy and he really sucks these days. He is just mean and a total jerk to both his mama and his daddy. The hitting and the spitting and the screaming and the crying fits and jeez, it’s like he’s three or something. Time outs are ineffectual and we haven’t figured out what to do next. Taking away toys seems to work somewhat. I can’t believe we’re having another one. We are clearly insane.

Milk Fed Veal

Kirk had his 3 year check-up this morning. Everything is awesome, he’s in perfect health, developing fantastically, blah blah blah. But we definitely have a couple of take-aways. Mr. b asked about milk. Because Kirk drinks a lot of it. So much that Doc was actually worried that he might be anemic. Apparently kids reach a point where getting the majority of their calories from milk instead of solid food can deprive them of other nutrients, particularly iron. So Kirk had to have his finger pricked. He looked at the lab tech with this shocked, accusatory expression on his face and hissed, “You hurted me!” But he didn’t cry and he forgot all about it once we left. The results? His hemoglobin is “excellent” and he’s definitely not anemic. However, we’re still going to start weaning him off the constant milk cups. It’s largely a laziness factor I think. On both sides. It’s easy to just get him a sippy of milk and it’s easy for him to just carry around a sippy of milk. I’ve already begun to only fill the cup 1/2 or 2/3 full when he asks for some so that’s a start. We’re going to get him some Flintstones vitamins, too.

We also need to actually take him in to an optometrist. We should have after we saw Doc the last time to check out his eyes/flat head. But laziness prevailed there as well and it didn’t happen. Now she’s worried that his right eye might be developing a little off and wants us to be sure that it’s not that and is only a result of the skull shape. Great. Oh and teeth. Time to take him to the dentist. Well, since he’s not on my dental insurance yet that’ll have to wait until next year. I have a check-up I need to schedule soon for myself and I was thinking of bringing him along just to observe and get used to the idea.

Doc also was properly saddened by her decision to quit delivering babies when we told her I’m knocked up. She spoke highly of the guy I’ll be seeing in a couple weeks for my first ob visit though and asked that I bring Child Person to her after the birth.

The last thing we need to work on is something we’ve been working on already: potty training. Doc suspects that it may come down to peer pressure for Kirk. He’s certainly physically capable of doing it. But he doesn’t care. And he’ll convince himself that he “can’t” and then won’t even try. Mr. b has instigated a bribery system that works…to a point. Kirk will most definitely put his pee in the potty if there’s a toy on the line. Stickers and suckers seem to be less worth the effort however. So yesterday he peed in the potty four times in rapid succession – just enough to get the three Cars hotrods and one Cars book that were taunting him from on top of the refrigerator. Maybe this plan is backfiring after all.

Dietary Supplements

This weekend we had no plans. Finally. For a change. So we ended up going to the grocery store a lot. For my preggo cravings. I do not normally have a sweet tooth. It takes me three sittings to eat a full-size candy bar. I can keep a pint of ice cream in the freezer for two weeks. If I bake something I’ll have one serving and then have to give away the rest for fear it will go bad before I get to it again. But not right now. Oh no. I want sweet thangs.

So Saturday we went and I picked out cherries and strawberries and fancy fruit roll-ups (Archer Farms Fruit Strips) and a Heath bar (of which I only ate half). Oh and more grape Gatorade G2 because it’s apparently the most delicious beverage ever made. Sunday we had to go back. I needed honey roasted peanuts. And cupcakes. Thankfully we were smart enough to pick out a 6-pack of mini cupcakes so that when I am no longer interested we won’t have zillions sitting around. And later that night I still made myself an ice cream sundae with peanuts, chocolate sauce, and cut up fresh strawberries.

The only problem is that I’m having a hard time eating anything. Oh, I’m not nauseous. I’m not puking up my lunches. But most of the time I get queasy and just generally sick in a “my tummy hurts” kind of way after I eat any food at all. Saturday was terrible and I slept a lot instead. Sunday I was fine until dinner and then felt icky most of the evening. I know that feeling crappy means the baby is healthy and all that but it still sucks.

The other thing that sucks is my internal thermostat. I’m cold all the time. Until the middle of the night. Maybe some of it is the end of summer over-reliance on air conditioning. It cools off at night and we could open windows but we’re in the habit of having the AC on instead. But then it gets too cold and I have to turn it up or wear a sweatshirt, the latter option just seeming stupid in the beginning of August. And yet I’ll wake up at 3 in the morning and have to turn the air back on because I’m so hot. I remember being ridiculously hot last time but that was during the third trimester. I’m going to have to go back over old blog entries to see if I went through this schizo bullshit in the first then, too.

Weekend Observations

While spending the night at my folks’ house on Friday I gave Kirk a choice of sleeping arrangements: he could either sleep in the bed with me or by himself on the floor in his sleeping bag. He chose the floor. I guess it’s a sign of his continuing independence but it sort of threw me. Since when has he turned down a chance to sleep in the bed with either or both of his parents?! But it was Nana and Papa’s house and the guest room we usually stay in so it was all familiar. And he slept in his sleeping bag on the floor the whole time we were on vacation last month so that was familiar, too.

I truly don’t think I’m showing yet. I mean, I’m like 6 weeks along so the idea I could be is kind of ridiculous. I remember a girlfriend telling me that she popped right out for her second kid but I’m still at least a good couple of months away from even that. However, I had some real difficulty zipping up my dress for the wedding we went to on Saturday. Sure, it’s a snug fit normally, but not in a too-tight kind of way, rather a proper sizing kind of way. And it was definitely smaller. Or rather, I seem to be thicker. Or something.

We seem to be getting the most excitement from friends and acquaintances that have more than one child. Like we’re entering the secret fraternity of Real Parents. Bill Cosby had that old bit about how you don’t know what parenting is like until you have more than one kid. And Mr. b has certainly riffed on how people ask if you have kids, plural, or if you have children, plural, so I guess we’re supposed to have more than one. But I felt…something indefinable yet real from some of the wedding guests Saturday night. It’s definitely been easier to come out as preggo. I was so freaked about that last time.

Physically things are mostly the same. However, I don’t remember having sore boobs last time. It’s not like a constant irritation or anything. But there’s a recurring ache that is definitely new.

Preggercize

What are the cardio rules when you’re knocked up? I know that starting any new exercise program is frowned upon but that’s not what I’m doing. I’m hardly a gym bunny but I have been going fairly regularly for the past year and a half or so. Maybe two or three times a week. I’ve gone twice this week. I’m trying not to push myself. When I was on the elliptical I purposely kept my heart rate lower than I normally aim for. And I didn’t go to an aerobic group exercise class; I went to a strength training one. We didn’t do any during that session, but I don’t know what I’m allowed to do for ab work. I know it’s damaging once your uterus grows enough to start to spread your abdominals out. I’m probably fine since it’s early.

The only bad thing I’ve noticed is that the exhaustion hits me harder when I’ve been to the gym. So far I’ve been nausea-free but the tiredness comes in the early evening. I’ll be fine again by the time Kirk’s getting ready for bed. I have enough energy to work out in the middle of the day so it’s a good thing my gym’s onsite. I just go before lunch and no worries. But then I’m simply destroyed when I get home. Completely spent. So the trade-off will be trying to keep up good habits and fighting the urge to take a hundred year nap.

My blog name is relevant again!

I didn't bother with a home test. I just went in for the official lab test because I *knew*. I mean, I knew the last time, too, but that was my first go at this whole pregnancy thing so I wanted to be sure. I hadn't ever peed on a stick before and it seemed like an important part of the process. This time it seemed like a waste of money. Even so, I started wondering if I was kidding myself. As I walked to the clinic I wondered what would happen if it was negative. Would I be upset? Would that mean that something else was wrong with me? Would all my friends make fun of me for acting so sure of the results?

I needn't have doubted my instincts though. I mean, women have been having babies for an awful long time without having to pee in a cup to find out they're knocked up. And when the doctor came into the room holding the lab results with a giant red POSITIVE stamped on it, well, I felt relieved and just a touch giddy. I'm due at the end of March - the doctor guessed maybe around March 29th - and it's still so early I can wait another month before the first ob visit.

It's interesting how much less worked up we are about this though. I mean, it's awesome and I'm excited but hey, I've done this before. I know what I'm getting myself into this time. I guess all the experienced parents out there who said you just don't care in the same way for the second pregnancy really knew what they were talking about! Mr. b and I went out for breakfast and we didn't have any worries about what sort of parents we'll be. Instead, we joked about how much easier it will be since Kirk will be nearly 4 when his second officer is born! That poor kid is going to be put to work. Good thing he likes babies!

Suspicious

Heartburn

Some slight boob tenderness

Horniness

Calm demeanor even though there’s a plethora of Things I *could* be freaking out about

Lack of any usual PMS indicators

No period

OK, so that last one doesn’t necessarily mean anything because I just don’t know when to expect it. If I had been on the pill, it would have been yesterday. If it had been a perfect 28 days from the last one it would have been Sunday. However, the last one came earlier than 28 days and that’s what happened when I went off the pill last time, too. Not that I had enough data for a conclusive analysis then either.

I haven’t bought a stick to pee on yet. But I did pull a Vir and drink my last drink. Just in case. I’m still going to give it a few more days. We’ll see.

Untitled Vampire Detective Saga

I’ve fallen behind on book reviews, even only doing them for occasional titles instead of each one. I’m up to 35 already this year but I’ve also been reading a lot of comic book trade paperbacks, which will tend to rack it up. Some of those were the Bone Saga by Jeff Smith. I had seen this title in stores but never really looked at it. A friend posted a story that it may be made into a movie so of course, with my book-to-film obsession, that meant I had to finally read them. Nine volumes later and I’m so glad I did. One of the most amazing stories. The art is so simple and yet completely rich and alive. The characters are wonderful and grow and change in believable ways. The story itself is a wonderful adventure and Hero’s Journey. I don’t know how they could possibly transform this into a film but I definitely understand the desire to try.

Continuing along with my vampire book phase – which I’m just about ready to get over – I managed to catch up on the Twilight saga before the release of Breaking Dawn. I wasn’t planning on it but now I can’t imagine how I ever was willing to wait. I’m utterly and completely addicted. I’m a Jacob girl and I guess I’ll leave it at that.

I had read some good reviews for later entries in the series, but finally decided to read the first of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books after a friend posted this online comic strip. When I was picking Guilty Pleasures up at the library, the girl helping me said that she also had the comic book version on hand. So I checked them both out, figuring that it could be an interesting exercise. I’ve never read a graphic novel adaptation of a book I’ve already read before. The book was really fun, hard-boiled and intense and rather like the Dresden Files in feel. One of the blurbs on the cover, however, called it a "heady mix of romance and horror". OK, the horror part I get. There were some seriously scary and gross bits. But romance? Uh, making out with someone because you’re undercover and you have to keep up appearances does not count as romance. Perhaps things change as the series goes on. I’ll definitely read more, though it may be a while. (I’m so far behind on pop culture!) The art in the comic version kind of bugged. The curling hair and fabrics reminded me of Todd McFarlane’s capes. And the males are all drawn so beefcake it’s a bit unnerving – though I suppose it’s nice to have some equal opportunity cheesecake since so often it’s only chicks that get drawn that way. Mr. b said they all looked like Spider (Dewey’s replacement in School of Rock) and...he’s not wrong. That said, I got sucked (no pun intended) into the story again, even knowing what happens! So much so that when I got to the end of the volume and found out that it continues in the second one I was completely annoyed.

I’ve been reading some more of Discworld. I’m glad that I’m not the only one overwhelmed by starting this massive series. I wasn’t too keen on The Light Fantastic and I’ve heard that the earliest books are the weakest. Night Watch had a wonderful time travel element and the Ankh-Morpork Guard. It focused on one of the minor characters from Monstrous Regiment. Soul Music was also largely set in Ankh-Morpork but focused on the Wizards and Death moreso than the Guards. I feel like I’m getting a good idea of which areas I like best in Pratchett’s world and where I’d like to go next with that series. It’s such a daunting creation to dive into, and it definitely inspires quite a bit of discussion, but thankfully the fact that it doesn’t have to be read in any sort of order makes it easier to just pick and choose.

The last book club book I read was The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. He was a friend of Dickens and is considered the father of the thriller. While the main protagonist in this book was not officially a detective, he did an admirable job of following through and linking together all the disparate elements of the mystery. It was an interesting read; it was very flowery and antiquated, and yet completely compelling. It was slow and deliberate but I kept turning the pages. And by the end, a lot of stuff happened! Some of the characterizations of the women were painfully sexist, but the author was himself something of a liberal for the times, which is an amusing, if appalling, thought. Overall I quite liked it, though I don’t know if I’d seek out any of his other books.

Vacation

What he said.

I did keep a travelogue some of the days so I’ll transcribe that and add to it after I get our pictures uploaded. Basically my routine was thus: get up, make muffins, take Kirk to the beach, take Kirk to the pool, eat lunch, put Kirk down for a nap, take Kirk back to the beach, go to the other house for dinner, start drinking, put Kirk to bed, stay up late drinking and playing games.

I am beginning to wonder, however, if the constant heartburn is truly related to all the excessive drinking. I’ll give it a few more days.

Just Wait Until Your Father Comes Home

It finally happened. I’d been expecting it since I was pregnant but this was the first time. Kirk being naughty and wasn’t listening to his daddy and I heard Mr. b say, "Do you want me to call your mother in here?" Yep. I’m the threat. I’m the heavy. I always knew this day would come.

Big Boy!

For the two or so weeks leading up to Kirk’s birthday I had been talking about how we were going to take down his baby crib after his party. Because then he’ll be too big to sleep in it anymore. About a week before, he started sleeping in his Big Boy Bed instead of the crib. So on Monday, Mr. b took it apart. We asked Kirk where he wanted the bed placed and so now it’s on the same wall that the crib was on.



Once that was done we tackled the toys. Mr. b sorted through everything and asked Kirk if it should stay upstairs or go downstairs. He did a really good job making decisions. I hauled everything to the basement while they were rearranging. I still need to go through the basement toys and pick out what to keep – either as keepsakes or for the next kid – and what to take to goodwill. No matter how messy the downstairs living room may be right now, Kirk’s bedroom looks fantastic! I’m sure it won’t last…



We still need to get some shelves and a bin system of some sort. At the very least, a container for all of his cars. He had been using an old wooden bath salts box. He inherited it along with all the various cars that Mr. b and I had collected ourselves over the years. But that’s not going to be big enough anymore. Not with the motherlode of Cars merch we gave him last night! His excitement and joy was overpowering. And listening to him sing “you’ve got a friend in dee” to Woody was just about the cutest thing ever.

36 Months

Three years ago today Kirk was born. It's hard to believe it's been that long already.

Apparently he told his daddy yesterday that he doesn't want another birthday, that it would "make him sick". Awww, poor buddy. But he's fine with more presents. Of course. We went down to the Death Star on Friday to hit the Disney store and buy him merch. So he'll get a talking Woody and a complete set of Cars tonight.

THREE!

We celebrated Kirk’s third birthday yesterday. I tried out a potato salad recipe using sweet potatoes on my unsuspecting friends and relatives.



I cut up and arranged a veggie tray myself and was very pleased with the presentation.



I had asked Kirk what kind of a cake he wanted and he very quickly responded "White!" Thinking that I needed to make sure I then asked him if he wanted a white, yellow, brown, or pink cake and again, "White!" So that was easy to make. I utterly failed at the decoration, however, and turned that duty over to Mr. b. Who clearly had fun with it.



Mr. b hauled out all of our various lightsabers and the kids had a great time chasing each other around and smacking each other.



Auntie C got Kirk a stomp rocket set. This meant that, despite her fancy party dress, A2 was gleefully climbing fences and rooftops to retrieve lost rockets all afternoon.



We were having so much fun we nearly forgot to have cake! The balloon candles were to match the balloons that Mr. b bought with a helium tank. The kids really loved releasing them.

Status Update

Not pregnant.

Side-Effects

Warning: The following post contains Too Much Information. Turn back now. This is your only warning.

I’ve been off the pill for two and a half weeks now and things are weird. I haven’t been able to tell if I’m experiencing side-effects from the sudden lack of hormones in my body or if there are just a plethora of coincidences going on.

I spent most of my trip to Georgia this last weekend running to and from the bathroom. Ever since France I tend to have butt issues if I drink either too much in one sitting or just a little bit, too many days in a row. So my initial guess was that the copious amount of red wine I drank at the rehearsal dinner, coupled with the two margaritas I had the night before, was coming back to haunt me. After all, I had been awakened in the middle of the night with the worst heartburn I’ve ever had. At least since I was pregnant. And naturally I couldn’t find any antacids while quietly ransacking my aunt and uncle’s house in the dark.

But unlike previous visits from José Nus after drinking too much, this wouldn’t go away. And if it wasn’t actual diarrhea, then it was ridiculous amounts of gas. And if it wasn’t gas, then it was painful cramps. What the hell was going on? I had a mere two glasses of wine at the wedding reception, and that was spread out over the course of many hours, much not-up-to-par wedding food, and not a little bit of dancing.

My mother, evil creature that she is, suggested that perhaps I was not experiencing a hormone level adjustment. She thought it was hilarious to imply that perhaps I had already gotten knocked up. Har dee har har. Not funny. Too fast! Too fast! Maybe it’s just pre-PMS. After all, I have no idea what my cycle is like without the regulation of the pill. I believe I sped up a little last time, though a pattern is obviously not made by a mere two periods. And since intestinal issues are a semi-regular early indicator for me, maybe that’s all they’re a harbinger of?

The other strange thing that happened when I went off the pill is an inability to come. I’ve always been a believer that a woman is in charge of her own orgasm. So that’s got to be psychological, right? But why? I mean, it’s not like I haven’t been preggers before. Thankfully it’s only been twice, at the beginning of the month, and seems to have stopped since then.

I don’t know how I feel about possibly being up the spout again. Already. I mean, obviously I should be grateful to be so ridiculously fertile, especially when there are so many people that have had trouble conceiving even once. And I admit that it would be kind of fun to tell my whole extended family in one fell swoop next month at the reunion. How does due date math go? February? It would be winter for sure. Gah! I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Even though I’m really not ready. And they always say you need to wait three full months after going off the pill to clear out your system, or else you’re at increased risk for miscarriage. Which I don’t know how I’d be able to handle, not to mention Mr. b.

Birthday Boy

What do you get for a three year old's birthday? We've been thinking of having a balloon theme for his party, not because of any particularly excessive attachment to balloons on Kirk's part, but rather it's an easy thing to do. Balloon's are simple party favors and I think Mr. b would like to have an excuse to rent a helium tank.

Kirk's not really old enough to want anything and he certainly doesn't really need anything. He's starting to see stuff on TV and ask for it, but he hasn't gotten to the point where he throws a fit. He'll try to sneak the point-of-sale items onto the check out conveyor belt or into the cart but doesn't notice when they don't actually make it home. He'll declare that he "has that" when he sees a toy he really likes on an ad or in a catalogue.

I've been trying to work with him on telling me what he wants for his birthday. He knows that his birthday is next (technically it's Grandpa's but since he's in Texas I guess we'll give Kirk a pass on that one this year) because it's after mine. My birthday is when it's almost hot. Kirk's birthday is when it's hot. (Again, maybe not the best explanation for a cool summer like we seem to be having but it was the best I could do all winter long as cousin after cousin celebrated their birthdays.)

So far Kirk has requested the following:

a birthday hat

Lightning McQueen cars (including Mack and "the naughty cars")

Finding Nemo jammies

And that's it. That's all I have to go on.

belsum the Vampire Reader

I’ve accidentally gotten addicted to reading vampire books. It’s no mere seasonal thing like I thought before. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching Buffy for the first time ever? But really, these things are awesome! They’re like…the perfect smut for a sci-fi chick! And who doesn’t like that? I had previously thought there were only two choices for dirty books: literature like Henry Miller and Charles Bukowski or Harlequin bodice-ripping romance novels. Yet there’s this whole world out there!

I was looking forward to Bloodsucking Fiends since I’ve enjoyed the two previous Christopher Moore books I’ve read. It was nice to have a female vampire protagonist, Jody, for a change. And since she wasn’t centuries old it was a brand new perspective on the idea of becoming undead. There was a bit of a mystery and a bit of a love story and yet it was mostly just plain hilarious and absurd. Jody’s boyfriend, Tommy, and his friends/co-workers added a really fun and exuberant element. There’s a sequel, You Suck, which I fully intend to read, this time not just because I’m working my way through Moore’s oeuvre. Mr. b accidentally read the sequel first so I know that it will feature the boyfriend and I look forward to his perspective on becoming a vamp.

Twilight had been recommended to me a few times and I knew that it was big with The Kids. I read a review of Stephenie Meyer’s latest book and it sounded good so I figured I’d like this one. What an understatement. I completely and utterly fell in love with the protagonist, Bella, and her vampire boyfriend, Edward. There were some major changes to “standard” vampire mythology but they all fit within the confines of the world that was created. And as a romance, it was completely chaste, yet extremely passionate. I can fully understand why it has so caught on with the middle school crowd and I’m really excited that they’re making a movie. I am thrilled that there are two more books already published and at least one more in progress.

There were a lot of differences between Sunshine and the other two books. Robin McKinley created a dense and fully believable world, but it was a modern alternate universe. Whereas in the previous two vampires were secret and unknown to the outside populace, New Arcadia was still recovering from the last war with Others, vampires being the darkest of those. The technology and setting was modern, but with alt labels and names for things we have in our own world. And there’re demons and monsters and sorcerers. The complete realization of the way that magic functions within that universe reminded me a lot of the Dresden Files. There was the same dank realism, the same hard boiled edge. Though Sunshine herself is going through a voyage of self-discovery, so it also reminded me of War for the Oaks. Events and circumstances thrust her deep into the unknown, and by the end, I wanted more. In general this was a much more adult story and I simply adored it. I’m not aware of a sequel, and maybe it wouldn’t be possible to write one without diminishing some of the elements that made this book so enchanting, but I’d read it anyway.

Imagine all the Poopies

Kirk’s sense of humor and imagination has really been flourishing of late. It’s so much fun to watch happen. And it’s usually hysterical to hear.

He likes to have nouns in his favorite books replaced with “fart” or “poop”. You have to keep up the replacement while reading the whole thing and he’ll just giggle and cackle every single time. Clearly he’s going to be into Mad-Libs before too long.

When he’s being a pain in the ass and not doing something we need to have him do, it’s inevitably because whatever he’s doing – running around in circles, trying to put his diaper on over his pants – is “funny”. Except it’s not. But I’m so glad he thinks it is!

He’s begun to be more of a storyteller, too. I overheard some game he was playing in the bathtub the other day. He was the bus driver and Mr. b was the passenger and he was going on and on about needing to get to the strawberry store but oops, the bus needs more batteries. I’m not doing it any kind of justice at all. It was a lengthy one-act and it was all of his own devising.

Kirk’s been telling other people about his band. It’s called Steggy Steggy. (Or is that Steggie Steggie?) He plays guitar, his mama plays drums, his daddy plays bass, and his kitties play keyboards. His band has band practice and gigs. He sings and jumps and does headstands. It sounds quite impressive. I’d really like to see the show someday!

But my favorite thing is his caring for the mustard bottle. That’s right, a big ol’ yellow Plochman’s bottle. He would play with it in the refrigerator door, taking the little cap off and putting it back on, so when it was empty I washed it out and gave it to him as a bath toy. Then he started talking about how his mustard bottle is sick. And hungry. And sad. And tired. And he needs to keep his mustard bottle safe. We’ve put paper towel diapers on the mustard bottle. The nuturing behavior has extended on occasion to the plastic green slinky his kitties gave him for Christmas and an assortment of small plastic dinosaurs. I’ve had to actually pull out jammies and “put them on” them. He’ll then cuddle with whatever-it-is when he goes to bed at night. It’s sweet and hilarious.

Whine, Whine, Crab, and Complain

Usually I go into a black funk about once a year and usually it’s in the dead of winter. One would assume that means that it’s a seasonal thing, lack of light and warmth and whatnot. But it’s lack of friends that does it to me. And usually the dead of winter is when no one is going out. The holidays are done, everyone is broke, but we haven’t yet crossed that line where we’re all so fed up with the snow and cold that we say Fuck it and go out anyway. For some reason that didn’t really happen to me this winter. Which is odd because this was the winter that wouldn’t frickin’ end.

But I’m feeling it now. And it’s not just a lengthy separation from humans that is doing it this time. It’s a strong feeling of actual betrayal. Like I’m not worth anyone’s time and effort.

I’m expected to go to people’s events. I’m expected to care about people’s stuff. And I genuinely do care and I genuinely enjoy attending! I don’t think I’m naively overestimating my importance to my circle of friends. I know that everybody is older and busier. There are kids and pregnancies and spreading families and business trips and health issues and family drama and people have moved away and there’s career focus and fame and chores and break-ups and new loves and yardwork and home improvements and trips and surprises and real life stuff that gets in the way all the time. I love seeing how everyone has grown. I love hearing everyone’s stories, good and bad. But why am I the only one listening?

I guess it’s the concept of a two-way friendship. Who’s doing all the work? Who’s making the plans and seeing them through? Who’s putting in the effort? If it’s always in one direction, then why is it continuing? And that’s what bothers me so much this time. If it doesn’t work out, great. But that also means it’s never going to happen. Because I’m the only one that’s going to set it up or go the distance.

Is that naïve? Is that bitchy? Is that realistic? Is that pessimistic? Is that haughty? I don’t know. Maybe I’m being an elitist and setting myself apart from everyone else. Maybe I’m feeling sorry for myself and being a baby.

There’s so much talk about how the internet brings people together. And I believe that strongly. I have so many wonderful friendships that would never have been possible without email and message boards. When I was little I used to long for pen pals. The internet has certainly provided them, domestic as well as international. And the US Postal Service can likely attest to the fact that long distance sharing and gift giving has increased with those long distance relationships. But what about the local ones? What about when you stop emailing friends and expect them to just read your blog instead? What about when you won’t respond to email and communication is relegated to blog comments only? What about when it’s just easier to send a text message instead of actually showing up? What about when it’s too much trouble to change your own plans to accommodate someone that’s coming a long way? The trick with Facebook and MySpace and everything else is that we’ve all become internet friends without meaning to. We don’t actually see each other any more. Most people don’t even use the phone.

I’m certainly not excluding myself from this behavior. I’m overjoyed when I find out someone will text me back quicker than call back. It’s easier. I definitely haven’t returned the favor for people that have made the effort, whether it involves travel or a trip to the post office. I blow off parties and shows and use lack of babysitter as an excuse when I just don’t want to put in the effort. And yet I still seem to get out. Sometimes more than people than don’t have kids as their primary excuse. So what does that say about me? That I’m better than everyone else and I deserve a medal? Or that I’m more desperate and I crave the company of fellow humans and feed off companionship to function? Are they the same thing? Should I just suck it up and get over myself? Do I have an actual legitimate grudge? I am actually pretty pissed. But I’m not very good at holding grudges. It seems like a good idea until I actually see someone again. Or talk to them on the phone. Or email them. Usually email. I live for email. It’s my fault I guess. One or two close friends versus a wide circle of friends of varying closeness? I like both options. I just like having friends. And I want to know where the hell they went.

Fashion Roadkill

I am frickin’ fed up with Kirk’s refusal to wear anything besides sweatpants and long sleeved stripey shirts. Honestly. It’s ridiculous. Part of the problem is the dwindling supply. I was unaware that Minnesota had canceled Spring so I didn’t stock up on additional sweats while they were still available in stores. The Summer clothes are there but…the Summer weather is not. Kirk keeps on growing and so he’s down to 4 acceptable shirts and 3 pairs of pants. That are in constant rotation.

At first we were delighted with his preference for the sweatpants. We thought it meant he was going to start taking a more active role in his pottying since they are much easier to remove than jeans with snaps and a zipper. But nope. No luck there. And I honestly don’t know why the stripey shirt thing caught on as completely as it did, except that his daddy sure has a lot of them in his own wardrobe.

For a while now I’ve been giving Kirk a choice when it comes to the Battle of Getting Dressed every morning: jeans or khakis. “Jeans are yucky! Khakis are yucky! I want sweats!” So I give in, because it means that he’s at least out of his jammies. The next round is shirts: long sleeved or short sleeved. He is completely against short sleeves. But he was fine with them in Texas…? Next I’ll pull out two shirts that match as closely as is possible whatever clean sweats he’s in and let him decide. “NOOOO! I need a stripey!” My kid dresses like Frankenstein from Big Daddy. *sigh*

Fruits n Veggies

An interesting side-effect of being a mother is improving knife skills. As a result of providing delicious and healthy snacks for a toddler, I have become very proficient in removing the skin from an apple slice using a paring knife. I have also become adept at whittling down a full size carrot into fairly uniform sticks. My current lesson? Supreming an orange. I’ve discovered that if you do it over a bowl and then provide a straw along with the segments, then the juice will be consumed as well!

I would also like to take this opportunity to make an introduction. Mr. b: Internet. Internet: Mr. b. Please stop by. Please leave him a comment. He really, really likes comments. Or go make fun of Steve Zahn. Or at least vote for him for president.

Baby Talk

It’s been nearly three years. That’s how many bottles of Johnson’s baby shampoo we got as baby shower gifts. We’re about halfway through the final one, which is travel size so won’t last too much longer. I’m truly astounded at how long it took to get through it all! It’s going to be a little weird to pick out a new bottle. Should I stick with standard yellow No More Tears? Are there other tempting colors and flavors that will win me over? Maybe I’ll just let Kirk go for whatever Dora or Thomas or other branded, overpriced option is currently available.

Kirk’s actually been in a strange baby-reversion phase for a while. He’s *choosing* to behave like a baby. He’ll demand to be carried where he’d normally walk himself. Or he’ll decide to crawl. He wants to be coddled and cradled. He needs us to feed him his soup that he’s perfectly capable of messily eating himself. Brushing teeth, climbing into his crib, putting shoes on, everything has gone back to a desire for us to do it for him.

I’m not really sure what’s caused this behavioral back-slide. I hear about it happening to older siblings when their new sister or brother finally arrives. This just seems so much more out-of-the-blue. Could it really be because K has her 2 month old at daycare? That seems more likely than my sister’s guess of two new cousins since September of last year. But it does worry me a little. I hope it’s the standard "step backward before leap forward" that we noticed while he was much younger. In which case I definitely hope the leap forward is frickin’ potty training already dammit! Because what happens when he actually does have a new sibling in the house?

Kids Today

Sometimes the fact that Kirk is growing up in The Future really hits me. The technology divide doesn’t seem so big when you’re texting and blogging along with all the rest of the kids. But when you look at their birth dates and realize that kids not only don’t know what it’s like to not have cable, they don’t know what it’s like to not have YouTube, well, that changes things.

Kirk can request to watch something and, with very few exceptions, said request can be honored within seconds. Either it’s on DVD or VHS or else snippets can be found online with little effort. Even photography is changed. Disposable cameras are completely foreign. My nieces were perplexed about why the picture wasn’t immediately viewable long before Kirk was the one demanding, “Me see! Me see!”

The article The Longest Day really illustrates how integrated technology is in the lives of the so-called Generation Y. And while that’s an eye-opener in and of itself, Kirk has shocked me with his expectations. He’s grown up with video so commonplace that we’ll capture temper tantrums and inanities just as easily as actual milestones like first steps and first solid food. And he’s begun to request to see things that were never recorded.

I find that a startling mindset. To have your every living moment available to replay is a horror described in sci-fi novels and shown in movies. It’s the very definition of Big Brother. And for Kirk it’s beyond an expectation; he takes it for granted. As a good thing. Sure, he’s not expecting to be busted for thought crimes. He doesn’t live in the world of Harrison Bergeron. But it’s still a mind-blowing paradigm change. One that I don’t think anyone has yet postulated as a positive.

A Worthy Cause

Hi Everyone,
As some of you know, my mom was diagnosed with MS in 1986 after 10 years of suspecting something was wrong. Last year was the first year I walked with her and I intend to do it again this year. I'm a notorious procrastinator and the walk is this coming Sunday! I apologize for the short notice but donations will be taken until May 30th. I appreciate any help you feel willing to give.
Thanks in advance!


Every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That's why I registered for Walk MS: Christopher & Banks Walk 2008 presented by Anchor Bank and that's why I'm asking you to support my fund raising efforts with a tax-deductible donation.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is a collective of passionate individuals, moving together to create a world free of multiple sclerosis. But they can't do it alone. It's faster and easier than ever to support this cause that's so important to me. Simply click on the link at the bottom of this message. If you prefer, you can send your contribution to the address listed below.

Any amount, great or small, helps to make a difference in the lives of people with MS. I appreciate your support and look forward to letting you know how I do.

P.S. If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from Walk MS are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit nationalmssociety.org.

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/MNMWalkEvents?px=3531245&pg=personal&fr_id=8390&s_tafId=70315

Rag Rug

I am very proud of my crocheted rag rug creation. I felt oddly close to my Scando ancestors while working on this. I think it turned out great but agree with both Mr. b and superbadfriend that it could be a bit bigger (perspective). The question is: what color next? Out of the fabrics that I have on hand, I think either light yellow, white, or sage green would be best. I am not keen on buying new cotton, since that sort of goes against the recycling type of mentality that is the point of a rag rug in the first place. But once this winter finally stops there should be some sheets or whatnot to be found at garage sales. If only the Crazy Squirrel hadn't crapped on the brown sheets I had already torn into strips before I got a chance to sew them end-to-end...

Pride

KIRK enters living room from hall.
MAMA does a Silly Mama Dance while walking over to him.

MAMA
(singing)
Who’s not wearing any pants?

KIRK
Come see!

MAMA
(still singing)
I can see your butt!

KIRK
Come see what I did!

MAMA
Show me, honey.

KIRK
In my room. Come see!

Mama hovers in bedroom doorway and peers around to the left, in front of the closet.

KIRK
(pointing)
Look!

Mama clasps both hands over her mouth and backs out, stifling laughs.

MAMA
(gesturing wildy to DADDY)
Hunnyhunnyhunnyhunny, c’mere!

Mama leads Daddy to bedroom and points to the floor in front of the closet.

DADDY
Is that poop?!

Keep Austin Weird

We went on an impromptu trip to Texas the other week. It was a lot of fun. Also incredibly hot. Kirk was excited about 1) flying on an airplane, 2) going to the Texas capitol, and 3) seeing his cousins. Heh. Mr. b’s poor mother didn’t stand a chance!



Being married to a Presidential History Nerd means a willing partner when going to lots of really cool places like the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. It’s a good thing Kirk likes that kind of crap, too, or else there’d be trouble!



Screwing around in the Williamson County Courthouse ended up the highlight, oddly enough.






Kirk was pretty pissed we weren’t allowed to to inside the Texas White House during the LBJ Ranch tour.



When we got back home, Mr. b made Kirk a model Texas Capitol. Yes, that’s Princess Leia.

Letting Off Steam?

Once again, this is what happens when you have a toddler. Mr. b came up with the gloriously ingenious line and...I had to make this.

Giving the Stink Eye

OK good. So we're not bad parents. We finally took Kirk in to the doctor yesterday morning to have his eye checked out. It's been looking slightly crossed for a few months now. I called and talked to Doc about it back in...late November I think and she told me not to worry unless it seemed like it was getting worse. Well, I don't know if it was getting worse or not but more and more people noticed it. Then again, it could be because they were looking for it. My mom has been totally guilt-trip-inducing freaked out about it and passed that on to my sister and her insane MIL and just ugh! Leave us alone!

Doc called it plagiocephaly and said it's pretty common these days. You see, with all of the SIDS hysteria, babies are put down to sleep on their backs now. And that causes them to get flat heads. It also necessitates Tummy Time and causes slower crawling development. So apparently Kirk's got an asymmetrical head and one eye is literally in front of the other. Causing him to look cross-eyed when not really. She tested the eye muscles as best as she could as a GP and doesn't think there's anything else happening. We still need to take him in to a specialist (do they have pediatric optometrists?) to make sure but basically, he'll grow out of it by the time he's 4 or 5. In extreme cases the kids have to wear a helmet to reshape their skulls. But she said that she's had patients with more severe flattening than Kirk has and they haven't needed a helmet.

Doc also told us she was truly amazed at his language development for a two-year-old boy. That was nice to hear from a professional for a change, instead of "interested parties" such as grandparents. Heh.

Babysitters and Bathrooms

Yep. It's official. I've finally crossed the very last hurdle: I am a grown-up. I paid an actual teenage babysitter cold hard cash on Saturday night. I've been meaning to ask our neighbor to babysit for quite some time now but it finally happened. It was so nice not to have to drive her home when I got back from Mr. b's gig! Earlier in the evening Kirk and I even walked up to the store and bought babysitter food. I don't know what they eat these days so I went with Doritos, cookie dough ice cream, and a selection of 20 oz sodas (Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Orange Cream). Now I feel confident that I can plan to attend Mercurial Rage shows with more frequency!

Another hurdle this weekend? Kirk's first time wearing underpants outside the house! We certainly didn't want to discourage it when he choose underpants right as we were getting ready to go out for lunch. And it was fine at first. We reminded him of his situation constantly while ordering and waiting for our food. He was as well behaved as he ever is, crawling from one side of the booth to the other under the table. Eventually he asked Mr. b to take him to the bathroom! They returned seconds later after not even an attempt. One other such trip and we rolled our eyes. Hey, at least he was asking, right? And then I looked over and he was standing in a puddle on the booth seat. Great. Awesome. He peed the restaurant. Thankfully we were already on our way out the door so I cleaned up after him and we dashed out. You'd think that wet jeans would be a deterrent but he honestly didn't seem to care. Well, he did walk all bow-legged out to the car. That was pretty hilarious.

Backyardigans

At some point towards the end of the winter, maybe in February?, we started letting Kirk play outside by himself. The backyard is fenced in and we have the gates "locked" - there's a carabiner on one and an unlocked padlock on the other to prevent him from lifting the latches. He asks to go out and will put his shoes on (he can do it by himself about 20% of the time) and gets all excited for his coat and hat and mittens. He loves it when the kitties are outside with him. He and Chloe the Annoying One will actually play games, like chase each other around! He's got a stash of sticks from our fire kindling pile that he plays with - they're the Doobie Sticks - and he can just generally amuse himself for at least a half hour with whatever toys happen to be in the yard instead of the garage porch. I peek out the window every 2 or 3 minutes though! If I can't see him or hear him I poke my head out the door and call to him. I'm not particularly worried but...he's 2. And I'm still not quite used to the idea of him being out completely unsupervised.

It's fun seeing the yard get used in such a complete manner. He's got all his little spots, like next to the air conditioning unit or along the side of the garage where I excavated a long buried sidewalk last summer. It seems like such a small yard but it's his. I find myself sometimes just watching him when I meant to do a quick check. I'll be mesmerized by his play, listening to his running commentary to himself with a goofy half grin on my face.

Dinosaurs & Rockets

This is what happens when you have a toddler. This is what you find funny. This is what you create when inspiration hits and you have a few moments to spend manipulating. And you make other versions.

Idol Gossip

Yesterday, while I was running down the stairs to the bus stop, a thought popped into my head: wouldn’t it be crazy if we had a pregnant American Idol contestant? I mean, what would the producers do?! And the show runs long enough that if it was timed right, we’d totally see her belly growing and everything.

This morning I was starting to catch up on TWoP’s conspiracy theories for AI. I read a spoiler that they’re going to have a wild card spot for the tour and bring back the 11th & 12th place finalists and also a select few from the semis to all compete for it. Then they’ll have an even more bloated results show – supposedly during Idol Hearts the Children So Very Much week. That sounds pretty reasonable to me. I sort of miss when the semis used to have the wild card round. Then I read someone speculate that it would make sense if they needed to replace a Top 10 finalist on the tour because Carly the Irish girl’s red, shapeless shirt onstage Tuesday night really was a maternity top!!!! Oh my gods I’m psychic! But it also clarifies so much for me. There’s an air of desperation about her that I haven’t been able to reconcile with her punk rock image. Why does she care so frickin’ much about Idol of all things? But if she was preggers, that changes everything. And it brings her hormones into play. And it explains why she’s been so out of breath after her performances. And why her posture is so effin’ weird all the time. Dude she is so knocked up!!

Of course that’s just my unfounded accusation based on speculation and internet rumors. But I like it and I’m going with it.

Sartorial Stymie

Kirk’s never really shown much interest in dressing himself. Sometimes he’ll help us get him undressed. He’ll take his arms out of his sleeves to be silly on occasion. He can pull his socks off but sometimes he has trouble getting his pants down. He can undo sweatshirt zippers but won’t unzip his jammies all the way, instead shrugging out of the arms and then struggling to get them off his legs while still zipped up to his waist.

So it was a bit surprising to me when yesterday, while driving to Auntie’s, he suddenly decided to practice putting his mittens on. He was just sitting in his carseat and it took a couple tries to get the thumb hole aligned with his thumb but he did it. And then this morning, when I asked if he wanted to do his mittens himself, he got them on almost faster than if I was helping him!

I sometimes wonder if his lack of interest in dressing is one of his impediments to potty training. Obviously he’s not going to make it to the potty in time if he can’t get his pants off his ass. But even when we offer to help him make it in time…he just doesn’t really care.

I’ve been telling myself that there are only two Big Things left for Kirk to master and then the transition to big boy will be complete: potty training and leaving the crib. But I finally realized that getting dressed is another one. I don’t figure he’ll do sleeves perfectly anytime soon or master snaps on jeans. It would be nice if he seemed to care though. And then I second guess myself by remembering the one day the other week where he managed to get his shirt on over his head all by himself before I started helping him with the rest of it. So maybe I need to back off. He likes picking his clothes out himself. And I let him. So I guess now I need to let him put them on himself, too.

Army of Darkness

My semi-annual vampire literature fixation kicked off with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Monstrous Regiment, so I decided to just go for it and read another one of Anne Rice’s books: The Vampire Armand. I find myself incredibly torn when it comes to her writing; I like the world she’s created and the way she’s modified existing vampire mythology. But I hate Lestat. Hate him. I find, looking at my last review, that I dislike him more and more every book I read. Armand is a fascinating character, however, and I love Marius so I was excited to get some backstory there. It’s interesting just how much she focuses on Christianity in her writing though. My first thought upon reading this article that superbadfriend sent me is, huh? How can people think that she’s doing something new and different with her Christ books? She’s been completely wrapped up in Biblical interpretation for several books now and Armand was no certainly change to that pattern.

I haven’t seen any of the film adaptations but jill loaned me her copy of I am Legend and I was very excited to read it. It was incredible. And frankly, I don’t know if I can handle seeing the newest movie now! Either they’ll change the ending and I’ll be pissed or else they’ll leave it alone and I’ll bawl. It was so intense and utterly unlike any other vampire tale I’ve ever read before. It felt more like a post-apocalyptic zombie story, or something like The Day of the Triffids. Several of Richard Matheson’s short stories were included in the volume after the Legend novella ended and it was nice getting to see more of his writing style. He’s very dark, almost horror, but not gory. There’s certainly a focus on things and people not being what they seem. He did a bit of experimentation with voices but on the whole they felt very much like self-contained Twilight Zone episodes. Which is a good thing.

It's a Girl!

Congratulations lis!!

Welcome to the World

Plan C

We've made it through one whole week of K's six week maternity leave. It was so wonderful of my sister to take Kirk back again. But we knew on Monday that there was no way in hell we'd be able to handle Auntie Daycare for the entire time. It's the drive. That remains the biggest thing. But it's also...that place. It's hard to describe but Kirk just doesn't get the kind of care and attention that he gets with K. I suppose that seems counterintuitive since it's family, but my sister is a busy Kramer-from-Seinfeld style entrepreneur and so even when she's physically there, she's not really there. Her husband is more wrapped up with their new baby so as much as he might like having another boy around, he's not going to be particularly focused on Kirk. He's certainly not exactly learning anything. That's not the point! We had already gotten into the mindset that this was like summer vacation and he'd be letting his brain rot the whole time. Heh. But it's still somehow different. A1 is in school, A2 is in half-day kindergarten, so he's not even getting the cousin time that he had before. He's on his own, left to play and amuse himself, or fend for himself in the crush of little girls from the building that pile in for after-school playtime. And he's not getting regular naps. "Oh, he got a good hour of sleep in the car" is not a regular nap. "He was asleep in [A2's] chair when we came back out to the living room" is not adorable, it's heartbreaking.

Mr. b and I have decided to each use a week of vacation and stay home with Kirk the last two weeks of K's leave. But three more weeks over there still seemed like too much for all of us to handle. He's been a wreck all weekend; some of it is all of us being sick right now but mostly, he hasn't had a decent nap in a frickin week! He gets all wound up and has no quiet time. And he's on reduced Mama and Daddy time because of the long drive and the subsequent earlier bedtime due to the lack of napping. My parents were babysitting last night and I asked them if there was any chance they could cover a week for us, too. So that brings it down to just two more weeks. I think we can handle that.

I certainly don't regret sending Kirk to Auntie Daycare when I first went back to work. I think it was perfect for both of us. He was so little and I was a first-time mom going back. It would have been much worse to send my kid to some random stranger. But things are different now, for my sister as well as for us. The circumstances have changed and Kirk's older and I just don't think it's the right environment any longer. I'd love to somehow cover the remaining two weeks but I feel vastly better knowing it's down to just those 9 days - Mom's sleeping over with us on Thursday night so will stay with Kirk the following day. It's not a perfect solution but it's a plan.

Movie Star

Mr. b got busy with the iMovie last night and created this awesome look back at Kirk's two-and-a-half years so far. Kirkie loves watching videos of himself and sometimes asks to see specific ones. So he adored this one. When I left for the bus stop this morning they were already on their third viewing. "That's me! I'm messy. I'm a bald baby. Look, I'm a big boy! I have hair."

For the Writers

Kirk's got this green, 90s-Madchester-parka-lookin' coat. Whenever Mr. b puts it on him he uses his best announcer voice to tell the kitties, "As given to him by Academy Award Nominee Diablo Cody."



He's going to have to revise that statement to, "Academy Award Winner Diablo Cody." Congratulations!

Islands of Thought

I had a hard time figuring out how to categorize For the Time Being by Annie Dillard while I was reading it. I eventually settled on "philosophy". It was an interesting format: each chapter flowed through the same set of topics (birth defects, sand, clouds, ancient China, Jewish theology come to mind) but spent more time on one and less on another and came at each from a different angle than before. I think ultimately I enjoyed the book but it’s not something I would recommend to just any reader. It’s really well suited to someone who is a Searcher. I would have eaten it up while in college when I was actively pursuing knowledge of other religions and belief systems. I’ve since moved away from that mental stance but it still gave me much pause for thought. I liked how she used so many differing methods, from the temporality of clouds to the eternity of sand, to illustrate the infinite and just how minute we really are.

Sand was an important part of Island of the Sequined Love Nun as well but really only because it was set on a small island in the South Pacific. Like the only other Christopher Moore book I’ve read, Fluke, it’s tough to describe. I could say it’s about a fucked up pilot who ends up making good. But that’s like saying Fluke is merely about some whale researchers. Yet if I go beyond either of those summaries, hooboy, spoilers abound. And I wouldn’t want to ruin the zany fun. This guy has a wicked sense of humor and injects fantasy elements in such a way that they are not only completely believable but logical as well. Mr. b’s already read another of his books and I fully intend to as well. I predict we’ll both catch up with his entire oeuvre by year end.

I read Jane Eyre about a year ago at the behest of my aunt. I never did get around to reading The Eyre Affair, but it’s a good thing I did read the original. Book club’s February book is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It was really intense. Obviously I knew it wouldn’t end well since it’s the story of the mad woman inhabiting Mr. Rochester’s attic. But it was so evocative and lush. I think I was supposed to end up hating Mr. Rochester but I couldn’t. Antoinette was doomed to be a complete nutter by genetics, circumstance, upbringing, location, everything. Nature plus nuture. It was a good read but I don’t know that I need to see the movie.

My aunt is also determined to get me hooked on Terry Pratchett. She picked out Monstrous Regiment for me at the end of book club last month. I loved it. Totally unlike anything I’ve ever read. Polly cuts off her hair, dresses as a man, and "Oliver" enlists in the last batch of new recruits for a backwards country fighting a pointless and futile war. Hilarity, hijinks, wackiness, and shocking revelations ensue. It was fantastic! I always enjoy stories where having vampires and ogres around is no big deal, they’re just other citizens in that world. And by the end of this book I wanted more. I simply loved the journey, both literal and personal, that Polly went on and I wanted more. I wanted to see what she does next. I’ve been told that it doesn’t matter what order you read his Discworld books in because it’s the rare series that barely links up. That both saddens me that I won’t get a Polly sequel and also excites me that there are so many other books set in that same world. It’s a shame that he won’t be able to write many more.

Status Symposium

Daycare was a half-day on Thursday and I decided to just take the whole day off and spend it with Kirk. Mr. b had taken a random Friday off to hang out with the boy (they went to the Children's Museum) and so I was feeling a bit jealous. Well, maybe that's too strong. I just haven't done any fun Mama and Kirkie outing and I guess I was feeling like I was letting him down. But I couldn't think of anything exciting to do with him. Certainly nothing that could compare to going to the museum and driving by his favorite place in the universe: the Minnesota Capitol. But I wanted to try. I read an article once about a mom taking her son on a mini-vacation just the two of them shortly before she had another kid. And I really like that sentiment but don't think I need to wait until I'm pregnant again to start doing it.

So we took the bus downtown and checked out the new Central Library. I still hadn't been in there since it was finished! There was baby storytime earlier that morning and I knew they had some sort of free-play scheduled in the children's area for a while yet. Kirk was the oldest kid in the storytime room and probably the second oldest in the entire children's section. And the moms of the babies were obviously full-time moms that derive all of their self-worth and identity from being moms. They all hovered over their only children instead of letting them crawl around and explore. Or they held them instead of letting them play with the bin of infant toys. And the discussions were all about what early childhood development class they were taking. Where the best infant yoga offerings are. Various other baby activities offered in the swanky west and south suburbs. It was kind of gross and stereotypical and it made me uncomfortable. And I felt compelled to broadcast that I actually work for a living; seeking out status for practicing baby genius flashcards is not something I'm interested in. And never have been.

The funny thing is that just a few minutes earlier, a couple of women on the bus had been floored at Kirk's language abilities. The one woman said he sounded like her 4-year old grandson and she about keeled over when she heard him rambling on about the capitol. So I don't feel like I'm depriving my son of any education. I think he's learning more by going on outings to places that aren't necessarily part of some approved McMansion curriculum. But I definitely felt out of place and I'll have to keep that in mind next time I want to have a day with my son. And it's always nice to have a reminder that being a stay-at-home is not for me.

My Valentine

The Darndest Things

No Mama. You can't talk me like a person! [I know what he means. It's a proto-"you're not the boss of me" statement. But...like a person? I don't get it!]

No, not dang'ous. [This applies to any warning given about anything.]

Green grocery store name Rainbow. Red grocery store name Target. Blue grocery store name Walmart. [These color assignments at least make sense by the colors of their names. Mr. b, being a smartass, told Kirk that Walgreens is the purple store. We'll see if that one sticks.]

We going to blue library? [I just don't have a clue why the book club library became blue. As far as I can remember he's only been to a different library once - for a grand re-opening party. He was totally traumatized by the giant BurBur and Anna foam headed costumes and Goldy Gopher, who actually pulled his name out for the kid's prize drawing.]

[A2] broke Nana's c'ock. [I'm 12. I giggle every time he talks about the broken "c'ock". Nana shouldn't have had that stupid clock sitting so precariously in the first place. But it was hilarious to watch Kirk scolding his cousin after she was already in time-out for being so spastic that she knocked the dang clock off in the first place.

We go Cap'tol and see horses and get horses down need ganker and bomp and ride them at Cap'tol. [Your best guess is as good as mine on the whole ganker and bomp deal. He tells this story all the time. Mr. b took him to the state capitol while killing time before my charity choir concert this winter and he became obsessed with getting the gold horse statues down from the top.

Watch Your Mouth

I should have seen it coming. Kirk's been occasionally using the phrase, "Oh. My. God." for the past month or so. But last week he busted out with, "This puzzle sucks!" And while it was frackin' hilarious to hear out of a toddler's mouth...he's two. I don't know that he should be saying sucks yet. It was so hard not to laugh though! He even says it just like his grandpa; he draws out the S and ends with a percussive report of consonant so it becomes, "sssssssssuCKs". I feel like I do a good job of watching my sailor language around him. Mr. b? Not so much. But neither of us really considered these low-level pseudo-swears. I've been trying to nip this particular bud by reminding him that things are awesome or rule. He's still young enough to be distracted by bait and switch. The biggest problem is going to be "gate". As in, "That giraffe is so 'gate'." Um...yeah. Not going to correct him. But that one is 100% Mr. b. He calls things gay all the time and I just don't know that he's got it in his power to stop. Even though it's not the 80s and he's not 10.

Puzzling

Kirk has really gotten into jigsaw puzzles the last month or two. I think it's awesome because I still love doing puzzles. For Christmas, Mr. b got him a really cool set of four wooden puzzles in their own neat and tidy box. But he didn't stop there. He also got two more wooden puzzles, these on planks so they can't be as easily put away. And then he took Kirk to the MoA and had a picture puzzle made with Kirk, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto! That one is friggin adorable. I'm not even mentioning all the hand-me-down, prize drawing won, and gift bag puzzles we've collected. Kirk loves doing them all and is really good at them. The problem, as always, is how to put things away.

Last night we played a game called Ten Things. It involved Mr. b going through the toy bin in Kirk's room and pulling out ten things that are too baby or too old or too annoying to keep in regular rotation. I then secreted them downstairs into the storage bin I've designated for toys. It made a big difference but doesn't really solve the puzzle problem. We can't just dump the puzzles into the bin; the pieces would end up strewn all over the bottom. Same goes for the ever growing collection of crayons and coloring books. I'm really not sure what we're going to end up with. I think we need a shelf system of some sort. There's just not really any room at the moment. Kirk still has both his crib and his bed set up and until he switches over to the bed, it's going to stay that way.

The League

Rereading the first two volumes of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen only served to remind me what an extraordinary piece of storytelling Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill have created. Anyone that might dismiss this work on the basis of its graphic novel nature is depriving themselves of possibly the most fantastic work of literature in our modern fin de siècle world. That it takes place in the original fin de siècle only makes sense. The interweaving of the characters and plots from famous or unknown, important or trashy, Victorian works is quite seamless. I've made it a point to use the League as a reference when I am feeling the need to read a "Classic" book. I've read the source material for all the of the members of the League (Dracula - Miss Murray [Mrs. Harper in that tale]; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island - Captain Nemo; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - eponymous; The Invisible Man - eponymous; King Solomon's Mines - Allan Quatermain) and have delved into dozens of minor characters and plot elements as well. Each panel, while vibrant and vivid, is also chock full of subtle references to other works. The thorough and incomparable annotations compile all of these details and have been invaluable to me when I need to find out just where someone or something is from. It's like stopping to look up a word. Only I'll stop to look up an allusion. Lost wishes it did literary allusions as well as League!

The end of each volume is also home to some fascinating prose. The first volume has a wonderful short story, again, extremely Victorian and Steampunk. I found it much more enjoyable this time and some of the events were referenced in the second volume. The second volume contains a tongue-in-cheek travelogue, listing all the fantastic places found on the globe. This was tedious as times. It seemed like it was merely a name-checking device to show off how well read (or well researched?) the authors were. More fun was when they would dig a bit deeper into the action, like talking about the follow-up party that went searching for the rabbit hole that Alice went down, and the terrible repercussions that followed. Rather clever, that. I didn't know it at the time but this catalogue of the phantasmagorical would be extremely important in the most recent tale of the League.

I didn't know what to expect when I started The Black Dossier. It turned out to be an exponential leap forward in storytelling from the already leading edge League. It managed to expand the League both forward and backward in time. And instead of just using allusions in comics panels, the authors appropriated the very writing styles of the authors (real and purported) of those times. A long lost Shakespearean play. A bit of gossip from Bertie Wooster. An excerpt of a beat novel from Sal Paradise. This took the notion that all of these fictional characters are real and part of a secret organization to another level. And it was amazing. A bit dirty. Somewhat maddening. Often silly. But intense and compelling and beautiful and utterly unlike anything else I've ever experienced. And now I have a whole new list of Classics that I am desperate to read.

Yay Diablo!

From little Kirkie’s babysitter to Oscar nominee: the incomparable Diablo Cody. Congratulations to Diablo, Ellen, and Jason!

Six-Pack

My abs were sore all weekend long. I did a group exercise class at the work gym on Friday and was appalled to confirm just how out of shape my abdominal muscles still are. Sure, I haven’t really been focusing on them in any sort of consistent fashion since having Kirk but I guess I didn’t expect them to still be so very weak. I don’t know if full-on diastasis recti happens for all preggos but still, the muscles do have to move apart to make way for the uterus. And I haven’t been doing a very good job of trying to strengthen them back up. I’m not even talking about getting rid of the muffin top. I’m fully resigned to that. And frankly, it doesn’t really bother me. I still go out in public in a bikini because I don’t care. Besides, the kinds of crunches and serious ab work I have in mind won’t get rid of belly fat. I need massive cardio to do that. I’m talking about actual medical reasons for getting my core strength back. The most shocking thing about my soreness was that it wasn’t even necessarily my abdominals themselves. It was all the points on my trunk that connect. So my hips felt it and my neck and my armpits. Clearly I have a lot of work to do. It would be legitimately smart for me to do something before I go off the Pill again.

Milk Fed

It's amazing how much more well-rested I felt this morning after Kirk sleeping through the night. For a change. How did I ever handle him getting up every night? Sometimes multiple times?! The problem isn't just that he's waking up. That happens. He'll need milk and then either a pants change and/or to come to bed with us. No big deal. Quick enough that I don't have to come to full consciousness. But this week he's just been a total dick in the middle of the night. Crabby, cranky, and bitchy. He shouted for milk and yet when Mr. b went in he screamed, "Not you! I want my Mommy get it!" That one ended with both of us up and stumbling around while he freaked out and complained. The following night when he shouted for milk? Of course he didn't want me. The moment I opened the door he exclaimed, "No! My Daddy get it!" I told him that his daddy was sleeping and that if he didn't want me to get it then he wouldn't get any. Then I went back to bed. A half hour later I heard, very politely, "Want more milk, Mommy." Heh.

Pissing and Moaning

It's official. Kirk has started having temper tantrums. Thankfully they've only been at home so far and not out in public. He'll become absolutely, completely inconsolable for no apparent reason. He'll be crying and howling but without tears. And it'll be nearly impossible to shake him out of it. Particularly for me. He's also in a Daddy Phase and this one is hardcore. Sometimes we can use it to our advantage. Offer him Mommy to change his diaper or check his teethbrushing and then suddenly Daddy will be requested and the chore we'd been chasing after him to perform will magically become easy. Sometimes I wonder if it's because he spends so much more time with Mr. b than me during the week. I'm generally off to the bus stop by the time either of them are getting dressed - or even out of bed some mornings! They're home before me, too.

On the plus side, it looks like he's becoming interested in using the potty again. It had just been a fun game to play on occasion. Now he's actually beginning to request time to sit down. We bought a toilet seat insert but Kirk doesn't seem to prefer that over the potty chair. He switches back and forth between the two. He's even fine sitting on the pot with a book to look at! So I feel positive that we can finally start to actually put some focus on training. With Thanksgiving travel and Christmas and New Years with Nana and Papa it just seemed to be too chaotic to actually push him. Hell, we haven't fought the fact that he's still sleeping in his crib! The big boy bed is just a place to jump and hide and pile lightsabers.

For the New Year we joined my folks and sister and her family Up North at a time-share resort cabin in Breezy Point. We played outside as much as possible.



Kirk went ice skating for the first time ever. His skates are 4 sizes too big so I stuffed paper towels in the toes and tied them as tight around the ankles as possible. He loved it.



Kirk also adored snowmobiling with his Daddy. After going out a few times he discovered Auntie's helmet. And then he never wanted to take it off.