It Does Get Easier

For some, going from being DINKs (dual-income, no kids) to having a child is mind-altering, life-changing, sleep-depriving, patience-testing, hardest thing they'll ever do. It was for me ... until I had a second kid, and I realized having the one was easy! Sure, I'm more relaxed in taking care of Gavin's needs, but the challenges of juggling two -- two schedules, two tempers, two naptimes, two meal plans -- has challenged me to multi-task like never before ... and I still can't seem to remember my own antibiotics because my brain is apparently full.

But it does get easier. I tell that to my other girlfriends that just had their #2 (and myself!) all the time ... and some days I actually believe it. The trick, though, is being able to answer when asked (and you WILL be asked), "when?! WHEN does it get easier?!"

Take last Friday, for instance. I managed to get a load of laundry, a load of dishes, and a loaf of banana bread going all before going to playgroup in the morning. Of course, I was 30 minutes late to playgroup (which is really "on time" nowadays), the load of laundry is still sitting unfolded in a pile on the couch, the dishes were just the first of about three loads I needed to do to clear out the sinks, and the bread ... well, I'll take credit for the bread. :)

It has gotten more manageable incrementally over time. I first acknowledged it about the time that Gavin learned to fight back a little bit more and I didn't worry every minute about him being mortally wounded by Claire. She would lay on him on the ground, and he would complain and push her back. When he started sitting up, I could put him on the ground to play with her, and she would roll a ball back and forth. Crawling brought on more freedom (and headaches) as he could now follow both of us around the house as we did tasks, and pulling up has been a whole new set of adventures.

The moments that make it totally worth it are when I catch them rolling on the ground together laughing or just quietly playing together. It's only with Claire that Gavin really lets go the chuckles, and it's her he looks for first in the morning when he wakes up. Usually I try to wedge myself between them so they don't disturb each other, but he'll pop up and try to climb over me first thing to go for her. And Claire will go out of her way to make sure Gavin is happy. When he tries to flip over when I change him, Claire will dance for him to distract him. When he's done being in his high chair during breakfast but I'm doing the dishes, she'll sing songs and blow bubbles for him to buy me just a few more minutes. When he's crying in his car seat, she'll try to console him, "Don't worry, Gavin. We're almost there!" just like we did for her when she was little. Claire will protect Gavin and make sure he's okay because, as she says, "that's Gavin; he's my bru-dder".

Sure I still worry about the poking, crushing, tipping, etc, etc, etc that goes on, but as long as they're relatively safe, I'll take it for all the hugging, kissing, and loving they show towards one another. That's what family is all about.

Potty Training - Update

Claire's still doing an awesome job with the panties. Just thought I'd share a funny story or two ...

Accident-wise, we've had very few. There was an incident one night where I could hear Claire saying, "Daddy, I have to pee-pee. Daddy, I have to pee-pee. Daddy, I have to pee-pee." but since I was putting Gavin down for the night, I didn't want to start screaming, "James! She has to pee-pee!" James was on the phone and didn't hear her, so the next thing I heard was, "Daddy, I had an accident." Whoops. :D

Also, we've gotten pretty used to using toilet paper off the floor. That is, TP that Claire has unraveled from the tube while she's sitting on the potty. Usually full rolls, of course. I'll post pictures of that soon.

Well, Claire decided one evening to try and flush the ENTIRE wad of paper down the toilet at once. She just picked up the mountain of paper and stuffed it into the potty. Luckily I caught it early and fished it all out with a platic bag. Even though she's mastered doing the whole potty process all by herself, you still need to keep an eye on her!

Potty Trained!

Claire just came home from school today after wearing panties all day! Before you give me any accolades, I really have to give the credit to my parents.

Over the last 6 months or so, Claire has been using the potty sporadically. She would go when we thought of it or as a game. She'd sit on the potty when she woke up or was about to take a bath. I'll be honest, it just seemed like a lot of hassle. I mean, with diapers, you go when you wan to go, I'll change you when I want to change you! Maybe in a week, she would use the potty 4-5 times on the weekend and do pretty good at school. She would tell us when she needed to go, but a lot of the times she was just having too much fun to stop!

What put us over the edge was the trip to Houston. We went Thu, 7/29-Tue, 8/3, and during the few days we were there, my parents pretty much said, "hey, we have wood floors; she doesn't need diapers!", so she didn't. Just a few accidents, but she did great!

So today, Claire decided she wanted to wear panties to school. She had gone without a diaper at home pretty much all weekend, but sending her off was ... well, honestly, the teachers' problem once she got there. :D And, guess what? She came home dry! Yay, Claire!

Cause, Effect, and the Fear Factor

We've been working on teaching Claire cause and effect for awhile now. If you do this then you'll get this. When you (yadda yadda) then (something something).

I also find myself taking it to a new level by introducing hyperbole. More than just "If ... Then", it's become "If ... Then ... AND"! So "If you eat that rubber band, then you might choke" becomes "and we'll have to cut it out with scissors". Or "If you don't brush your teetch, then your teeth might turn brown" ... "and ants might come eat your teeth while you sleep at night!". Okay, okay, not exactly parent of the year material, but it gets her to do it!

I have not, however, introduced her to the fear of monsters and the dark, but it seems as though she's discovering the potential there all by herself. The other day, she said she was afraid of the monster in the dark, and I asked her who taught her about monsters in the dark (after telling her that we scared away any monsters that might be there) and she said, "Franklin". Yes, Franklin the turtle ... the one that's afraid of the dark but learned that he could take a flashlight into his dark shell so that he's not as afraid. Yeah, thanks, Franklin.

Spontaneous!

We did something pretty wild and kooky this weekend ... we went down to Austin. Well, okay, that wasn't the wild and kooky thing. What made it so crazy is that we did it so spontaneously. As in no planning. As in "hmm, we're leaving Evan's birthday party; want to go do now? Go to Austin? Sure!". Seriously.

All we had with us was a diaper bag (with three clean diapers apiece, thank goodness), Gavin's lunch, and ... well, I guess that's really it. We were already over in Watauga, so we simply jumped on 377, 820, and found ourselves on I-35W headed to Austin.

Claire was pooped from the party and immediately fell asleep. Gavin wasn't too happy the first few miles, but we stopped at a Starbucks parking lot to feed and change him, then I squished myself into the back between the kiddos and fed him his jar food before practically draping myself over him in the car seat to put him to sleep. Blissful silence. And even though both kids woke up before we made it to Austin, we didn't have to make any stops before getting to the Pees'!

Luckily, both the Pees (George, Christina, and James) and the Law/Lius (Dwo, Crystal, and Kirby) were in town and free to hang out.

Of course, not having actually packed anything, we needed to get our victuals once we got to Austin. After Claire and James played for a little while, we headed out for a group trip to Target. James and I were very pleasantly surprised with the very reasonable prices for clothing, although, $350 later, we wondered how in the world we spent so much! It wasn't just 2 days worth of clothes though: diapers, jar food, sippy cup, cereal, pjs, phone charger, phone cover (mine broke on the way down), makeup, toiletries ... just think about everything you normally pack for a weekend away and imagine having to buy it all.

I won't bother going into the details of the actual trip; I'll let the kids tell that part. :) I just wanted to make sure I made note of the pretty cool thing that we did.

Claire's account

Gavin' account

Officially Part-Timer

Well, as of today, I am officially a part-timer. No, not a short-timer (keep breathing, James!), but I won't be working a full 5-day / 40-hour work week anymore.

This is probably expected news to a lot of folks given my last blog posting before I went back to work. I actually approached Jeff back at the end of April, one month after I got back to work. In that month, I realized that I do still like my job, I do still like having some spending money, and the kids -- at least Claire -- do enjoy going to school. Just not 5 days a week worth. I felt as though my weekends were just a preparation to go back to work and that my already scarce time to spend with Claire had effectively been cut in half in order to also spend time with Gavin.

I think Claire feels it too; ever since I got back to work, she's been a lot more clingy and needing of my attention. I don't know if it's her (st)age, the fact that she's realizing Gavin's not going anywhere, or just the fact that I spend a lot less time with her now that I did before Gavin was born or while I was out on maternity. Maybe if I'm with her more, she'll be tired of me and want to be with Daddy again more.

I worked out my proposal -- 3 days a week with 2 in the office and 1 from home -- and presented it to Jeff who worked with HR to make it happen. As of yesterday, I am no longer a "regular employee" of Horizon Lines and am serving in a consultant/contractor role. My contract is through next year with the option to extend if this arrangement turns out to be beneficial to both sides.

I feel very blessed to have a husband and a boss that both support my decision. I know there is some trepidition from everyone involved, but the best thing we can do is try. And if it doesn't work out? Well, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

So look for me and the kids as we traverse the great city of Dallas (and beyond!). I can't wait to get into our next set of adventures ... and to start updating our blogs again!

P.S. No, I did not bill the time it took to write this. ;)

Letter from a CEO

Now THIS is a letter from a CEO (regarding Woot being bought by Amazon) -- congrats to Woot, btw. Interesting how culture is such a strong driving force within an organization … and how it really does come from the top. Plus, it made me laugh.

Amazon, Woot, and You: But Mostly Woot
News by Woot! on June 30, 2010 at 3:30 PM

To be uncharacteristically serious for half a nanosecond, yes, Woot has signed an agreement to be acquired by Amazon. It shouldn't change anything much for us or you after the deal closes, we just figured you’d like to know a few details. You see, when two companies meet over drinks and some light jazz and decide they'd like to get to know each other better… You know what? Our CEO said it best in his letter to us employees...

Date: Weds, 30 June 2010
From: Matt Rutledge (CEO – Woot.com)
To: All Woot Employees
Subject: Woot and Amazon

I know I say this every time I find a picture of an adorable kitten, but please set aside 20 minutes to carefully read this entire email. Today is a big day in Woot history. This morning, I woke up to find Jeff Bezos the Mighty had seized our magic sword. Using the Arthurian model as a corporate structure was something our CFO had warned against from the very beginning, but now that’s water under the bridge. What is important is that our company is on the verge of becoming a part of the Amazon.com dynasty. And our plans for Grail.Woot are on indefinite hold.

Over the next few days, you will probably read headlines that say “Matt Rutledge revealed to be monstrous pseudo-human creation of Jeff Bezos.” You might even see this photo making the rounds. Rest assured that these rumors have nothing to do with our final decision. We think now is the right time to join with Amazon because, quite simply, every company that becomes a subsidiary gets two free downloads until the end of July, and we very much need that new thing with Trent Reznor’s wife on our iPods.

Other than that, we plan to continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot – with a wall of ideas and a dartboard. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture. Nevertheless, don’t worry that our culture will suddenly take a leap forward and become cutting-edge. We’re still going to be the same old bottom-feeders our customers and readers have come to know and love, and each and every one of their pre-written insult macros will still be just as valid in a week, two weeks, or even next year. For Woot, our vision remains the same: somehow earning a living on snarky commentary and junk.

We are excited about doing this for all sorts of reasons. One, our business model is so vague that there’s no way Amazon can possibly change what it is we’re truly doing: preparing the way for the rise of the Lava Men in 2012. Also, our deal means that Jason Toon will finally be released from that Mexican jail owned by Zappos honcho Tony Hsieh. No, don’t lie, Tony, we’ve seen the paperwork. And we need a powerful ally in case Steve Jobs finally breaks down and comes after us for all our Apple jokes over the years. Don’t think of it as a buyout; think of it as NATO!

I will go through each of the above points in more detail later, but first, let me get to the top 5 burning questions that I’m guessing many of you will have.

TOP 5 BURNING QUESTIONS:

Q: F1RST!!!!
A: Okay, that’s not a question, but it is a good place to mention that our forums will still be policed by a team of moderators, as before. And also, Woot’s previous and always-in-effect privacy policy will still be just as always-in-effect, so don’t worry, there are no plans to suddenly give up or merge your forum data.

Q: Is Snapster leaving?
A: Are you kidding? He’s out the door about ten seconds after that check clea- that is to say, Snapster will continue as Woot.com CEO, just like before, and the rest of our staff’s not going anywhere either. Woot and all our various sites will continue to be an independently operated company full of horrible, useless products and an untalented jerkface writing staff, same as it ever was.

Q: Will the Woot culture change?
A: Amazon is interested in us because they recognize the value of our people, our brand, and our unique style of deep-tissue, toxin-releasing massage. And they don't want to start changing things now. Amazon's hoping our nutty Woot steez continues to grow and develop (and perhaps even rubs off on them a little). They’re not looking to have their folks come in and run Woot unless we ask them to, which incidentally you can do by turning off the bathroom lights and saying the word “Kindle” three times; a helpful Amazon employee will appear in the mirror. That said, Amazon clearly knows what they're doing in a lot of areas, so we’re geeked about the opportunities to tap into that knowledge and those resources, especially on the technology side. This is about making the Woot brand, culture, and business even stronger than it is today, and we expect that any changes will be for the better or we wouldn't bother with this endless paperwork.

Q: Where can I get one of those vuvuzelas?
A: Are you even paying attention?

Several months ago, when we were all sitting on Jeff Bezos’s bumper drinking orange Mad Dog and trying not to be noticed, we heard a voice in the distance yelling “You kids better not scratch my Mercedes or I’m calling the cops!” We ran. It was later that night when Amazon came by the house and said they liked our style and also wanted to get that money we owed them for messing up the chrome. We like to think that our relationship with Amazon will continue at this level for many, many, many years to come.

But we here at Woot are still a thoughtful company, so, at the end of the day, I watched the sunset, and its golden-hued glory made me think about two questions:

1) Is there really a universal deity?

2) Does such a thing preclude free will or are we humans in control of our own destiny?

After spending a lot of time falling asleep at the library while facing the philosophy books, I determined that the concept of destiny is a construct that allows man a gentle release from facing the terror of his existence, and that a Hyundai full of twenties would pretty much offer the same benefits. And so, I ultimately said YES!

This is definitely an emotional day for me. The feelings I’m experiencing are similar to what I felt in college on graduation day: excitement about getting a check from my folks combined with nausea from a hellacious bender the night before. I remember fondly that time when an RA turned on the lights and yelled “WHO OWNS THESE PANTS?” Except this time, the pants are a company, and the RA is you, and the sixty five hours of community service is a deal that will ensure the Woot.com experience can continue to grow for years and years and years, like a black mold behind the Gold Box. Join us, because together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Also, there will be six muffins waiting in the company break room, courtesy of the nice folks at Amazon.com. Welcome to the family!

Matt Rutledge
CEO, Woot

Direct press/media inquiries to media@woot.com.

http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=13390

Reward: Missing Baby

Short story: I lost Claire at the mall. The longer story is that Claire is not really a runner and does a good job staying close to me ... except when she's with Kaylie. With Kaylie, she becomes this shrieking mass of excited fun.

What happened was we walked in the Gap at Stonebriar Mall which is more of a mega-Gap of 4 stores combined: Gap, Gap Body, Gap Kids, and Baby Gap. Claire and Kaylie ran to the back of the store, and I figured she'd just be trapped there and I would make my way to her.

Instead, I discovered that the Gaps were all connected by dressing rooms. One loooooong hallway that connected all of the Gaps together meaning Claire ran into the dressing room area and out .. well, one of the other three. Yikes.

Corrie and I called for Claire (trying not to freak out), and I let a store employee know that my daughter had run away. This is where I became incredibly impressed by the Gap staff. She immediately got on her headset and said something about "missing child". From the place I was at, I saw employees from each of the Gap stores immediately head to the front entrances of each store to make sure nobody left any of the establishments until we got it resolved.

While this was happening, Corrie found Claire who was hiding near the back of one of the stores (and not the one that we started in). She didn't respond to our calls because she had been pooping in her diaper. In fact, she had been looking for a bathroom because of the potty-training we'd been attempting.

I have to say ... whew! What a scary moment. Huge kudos to everyone at Gap for acting so quickly and proactively!

"Reel" Cool

I'm constantly bragging about my little brothers to anyone who will listen for various things -- Zong's crazy smart, a med student at Wash U, and working for the CDC; Dwo's incredibly talented behind the camera ... apparently ALL cameras. :) They're also a testament to doing what you love and not settling for less.

Well, now you can see proof of Dwo's greatness (honestly, you probably don't want to see Zong's greatness because it will mean you have an infectious disease or are some kind of sick). If you get a chance, check out Dwo's reel! I got goosebumps when I saw it knowing that my baby brother actually created something that's a real movie!

Oh, and since I posted the other picture of Dwo being caught in the background, here's another one from a recent Austin American Statesman. You should actually watch the video that I stole this screenshot from and read the whole article, but here's a pic:

"Go back, go back, go back ..."

"... Go back to where you were."

I was singing this song to myself the other day and asked James what song it was from. He said, "um, Blues Clues." Sigh, now I actually hum kid show songs to myself. Better than than, "there's a party in my tummy! so yummy, so yummy!" ... which has also happened before, and it's not pretty, I tell you.

Well, tomorrow I go back, go back, go back ... to work. I can hardly believe it's been 12 weeks already since Gavin was born on Christmas day. I had a little "moment" today while I was cleaning out the closet. Poor James walked in on me while I was wallowing, and I'm sure immediately regretted it. If I were him, I would have been looking for the nearest exit to get away as quickly as possible without being noticed. It was just a little overwhelming that, all on the same day, Gavin outgrew his 0-3 month clothes, I packed up my maternity clothes with the realization that I'm probably not having any more kids, I found I still don't fit in all of my pre-maternity clothes and have nothing to wear to work, and I have to go back to work with the guilt that I'm not home with my babies.

This time around, though, I'm definitely more laid back about leaving Gavin with my in-laws (and my parents in a couple of weeks). I left one scratch page of notes (ie "eats every 3-4 hours; here are my phone numbers; don't forget tummy time!"), and that's about it. In fact, I feel a little bit guilty because we haven't bothered acclimating Gavin to the bottle or anything yet, so tomorrow should be pretty interesting.

Three months home, three months back ... that's what I'm shooting for. I'm determined not to make a wholly emotional decision and to evaluate my situation again in three months. Deciding whether to stay at home full-time is a BIG decision, and it's not one I think I'm ready to make today. So, if you work with me, don't go telling my boss that I'm quitting or start scheming to steal my stapler yet!

One Last "Vacation"

"Vacation" in quotes because I'm not sure traveling with two kids by myself can really be called a vacation, but I certainly gave it a shot!

I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I'm not currently working full-time during maternity leave by going down to Houston. It's not often that I can just pop on down to the city that I grew up during the week without burning precious vacation days, so why not make the trip the final days before I return to the office? I also thought it would be a good opportunity to give James a well-deserved break, let the grandparents see the kids without having to make the trek upstate, and get some all-too-seldom friend time in while I was there.

After debating transportation modes, I finally decided to take SWA down and risk the one-hour flight versus a five-and-a-half hour drive (shudder). I mean, how hard can it be, right? James looked at me like I was crazy, probably secretly glad that he wasn't going with us.

Let's go! We're ready!

Thursday
Figuring that I would be parking at the airport, I managed to get all three of our gear packed in one suitcase, one diaper bag, and one small backpack for Claire, plus Gavin's carrier for the car and a list of things that I would purchase once I got down to Houston (ie diapers, baby wash, etc). Luckily James volunteered to drop us off and pick us up, but the compact packing did help once I got to the airport and lugged everything inside to the ticket counter to get Gavin added as my non-rev lap passenger (which, if you ever need to do, I highly recommend getting to the airport way early because that line can be quite a beating).

I dressed Claire in the brightest shirt I could find in her closet and hoped that she didn't get away from me because it was unlikely I'd be able to run after her. Just in case, I tucked a business card with my cell phone and some other pertinent information into her backpack; lotta good that would have done since I ended up carrying the thing for her the entire time anyways. :P

My plan for flying with Claire has always been simple: keep her busy the first thirty minutes with food and then distract her the rest of the time with stickers, markers, and anything else I can get my hands on. If the flight is longer, try to arrange it during naptime, too. After getting through security (Gavin in the Ergo and Claire doing a great job taking off her shoes and walking through by herself), we got our McD's and ... our flight was delayed by an hour, which was so going to throw everything off. Claire ate her nuggets and played while Gavin slept, and I watched the clock knowing that this was a ticking time bomb.

What was supposed to be a plane activity ended up being a
waiting at the airport activity

Finally it was time to board. We got in our spot, and just as they were about to start, Claire announced she had to "poo-poo potty, Mommy!". I debated making her hold it but didn't want to set her back by weeks, plus everyone around us assured me that they wouldn't start boarding for AT LEAST 15 more minutes. We ran back to bathroom so she could do her thing, but when we got back to the gate, group A had finished boarding, and they were getting ready for pre-/family-boarding. I tried to show the attendant that I was part of group A, but he just threw a glance my way and huffed that family boarding hadn't started yet and I could just wait over there. Oh, and that I need to be prepared to hold Gavin in my lap the entire time because the flight was completely full. Okay, okay! Hmph.

When I did get on the plane, the attendant at the front said that there was a group that had held seats for me -- the people who were in line with me earlier that urged me to take Claire to the bathroom. How nice! Being surrounded by such thoughtful people definitely came in handy when Gavin started fussing and I needed to get his bottle. The gentleman next to me (grandfather of five) took Gavin without any hesitation and held him for the remainder of the flight which gave me time to hang out with Claire and breathe. Thanks! Claire was a doll, although I do recommend when traveling with a child (or two) to get rid of as much trash in advance as possible. Unpackage those crayons, take out the stickers from their individual envelopes, etc, because you'll just end up having to do it on the plane and being surrounded by a bunch of trash.

Stickers and crayons; a toddlers heaven

All done sleeping

Mom and Dad were waiting at the exit for us, and Claire ran right up happy to see them. After we got back to my parents', we hung out in the backyard -- we had AMAZING weather all weekend -- and then I got a real treat: a long nap!

One of the things I was most worried about traveling with the kids by myself (yes, I was worried, I just didn't voice it out loud lest anyone try to convince me not to do it) was nighttime. Bedtime in our household is a bit insane, and I was curious to see what would happen trying to put the kids down by myself. Luckily, my parents helped give Claire a bath while I got Gavin down, then I put Claire down during the window before Gavin woke up again. The three of us snuggled in bed together the rest of the night (and weekend, really).

Friday
Friday morning we enjoyed the gorgeous weather in the backyard. We were really lucky on this trip; it was hot and sticky the day we showed up but then was gorgeous until the morning that we left Yay!

Sunny!

Later, we went to Kemah with Claire sporting actual braids for the first time (got the idea from Jill's blog) for lunch and to play. We ate yummy food at Landry's and hit the rides on the Boardwalk. When the attendant asked Claire's age, I said "almost two" without thinking (free for kids under 2), to which Claire immediately corrected, "Mommy, I two. I two, Mommy!". Whoops. The attendant laughed and still let her in for free. Claire played so hard she fell asleep before we even made it to the stringrays and climbing area!

Kemah Boardwalk

Dad folding himself into the ride.

Gavin's first ride on a carousel

Choo-choo

Friday night I got another treat: dinner out with friends. I met up with Debbie, Syndee, Chi, and Mike for yummy crawfish and good conversation. It was also the longest I'd been away from both kids at once (3 1/2 hours) since Gavin was born as well as the first night I didn't have to put the kids down. After one tearful phone call from Claire ("Mommy, I miss you! Come home, Mommy!"), I headed home to help with the mess. As we were on our way home from dinner, my parents called to say Claire had fallen asleep in the car as my dad drove her around to look for me and to take my time. I still thought it would be a good idea to go home, and good thing because as I came in, Gavin was giving them a hard time. After they passed him over, he immediatly stopped crying which was pretty funny to all of us, so we took turns passing him around between us again to watch the cry-stop-cry-stop-cry phenomena. I guess the boy knows his momma. :) My mom was traumatized enough that she's not exactly jumping at the chance to watch the kids at night again anytime soon. Sorry!

Saturday
On Saturday morning we went to the park in the neighborhood until James' parents arrived from North Houston. Then Zong arrived, so Claire was in heaven. It really amazes me how good he is with her. I got some visitors -- EmJay, her mom, and Mary Mac -- so there was much conversating that afternoon for me, and then Crystal and Kirby came over that night, so Claire was over the moon happy.

I always appreciate an extra set of hands

Passed out from playing

Just throwing this in 'cause he's so darn cute

That night, bedtime was interesting. It involved me feeding Gavin while extending my arms for Claire to hug. She's such an awesome little girl and didn't mind at all, but it did make me wonder if I should consider going home early. Could I handle two more night of this? Too much to do still!

Sunday
Sunday was playdate day. The whole group headed to Sugar Land to Stomping Grounds which is essentially a coffee house with a playarea, kind of like the Wiggles or, well, McD's. We met up with Syndee + Charlie and Diana + David + Jacob who were down from Dallas. The kids (and Zong) had a blast, and Zong quickly became the favorite of the kids (no surprises there). I had an awesome time crawling around, but could have lived without the crazy fast slide, though. Ouch!

The kiddos sitting as they were asked to do

Short-lived, of course

After playing -- and Claire was POOPED! -- we went to Yummy Restaurant (really, that's the name) in Bellaire for yummy Chinese food before heading home where we got another wonderful visitor: Dwo was home! The Law kids were all home in Clear Lake for the first time since Christmas 2006.

That afternoon, Dwo and Crystal took Claire for another first: flying a kite. Amazingly, she knew exactly what to do. How, I'm not sure, but she was off and running as soon as she got her fingers on that string. James can't wait to try it with the big Tinkerbell kite he got her recently. You can tell that Dwo took these next pictures; when you've got it, you've got it, and he's got it (the eye, I mean)

Running

Uh-oh

Ready to go again

By the way, Sunday was also the time change when we all sprung forward. The kids handled it great and didn't miss a beat. I'm not sure they even noticed, and since I'm living a child-driven household right now, I didn't miss a beat (or that hour of sleep) either.

Monday
Monday morning I was supposed to meet up with Jenny and her boys but wanted to spend more time with my family since Dwo needed to head back to Austin before noon. We celebrated my birthday with cake and bummed around.

Happy birthday to me!

I wonder if the kid or the dog will fall in first

I spend forever trying to put Claire down for a nap, and by the time I did get her down, I found a surprise waiting for me: Jenny, Wade, Alex, Christy, and Tara were all there! We got to hang out for a little while before they had to leave. I'm so glad I got to see my Chum. Claire got a wonderful gift from the boys that she proudly wore the rest of the afternoon, even on our walk around the block.

My Chum-Chum

Bedtime this last night was awful. Claire didn't want to go down, and Gavin had a rare inconsolable fit. Nothing I was doing could calm his overtired butt down, so finally I gave up and handed him over to my dad. Both my parents thought there was no way it would work, but Dad tamed the beast! I know that made him feel good (especially after Friday night), and made me feel great. Plus, I got to put Claire down which I have to admit I miss sometimes now that James mostly handles it.

Tuesday
How quickly the visit passed! Tuesday morning we just packed and got ready to head back to Dallas. The only weird thing at the airport on the way back was security. Gavin has his Longhorn Wubbanub that seems to get a lot of comments (hook 'em!). I had gotten a couple of jabs -- mostly regarding the bball standings -- and the security guy as we were walking through said real low, "I'm not sure I can let that through." Thinking he was joking, I smiled at him and then realized he was serious! Then he added, "you're going to need to send that through the scanner". Seriously?! So I had to back out, put it in the round container, push it through, coax Claire back through the metal detector again which went off this time since she touched it on her way through, have her come back and then go through again without touching the sides, and then go through myself with Gavin strapped to me. Geez.

Ready to go home

The plane ride home was easy. The flight wasn't too full so we had a whole row to ourselves, Claire ate her subway -- sans bread, of course --, and Gavin slept. We hit some pretty bad turbulance which really scared Claire, and then a scenario happened that I had never considered when booking the flight: Claire fell asleep. The plane lands, and I'm looking around me: one diaper bag, one backback, one baby in carrier, and a sleeping toddler. Um, okay.

THIS I did not plan for

Luckily the guy in the row in front of me saw me predicament (or dismay) and offered to carry the bags. I took him up on it -- I'm not stupid -- and hoisted a sleeping Claire onto my hip. As we walked through the terminal, Claire woke up and exclaimed, "shopping!", so I relieved my second angel of my bags and did a little terminal shopping with Claire.

James was at baggage claim to meet us, and Claire was happy to see her daddy ... I was too. I feel great that I was able to take the kids out of town with me by myself, but I love knowing that it's even better when he's there beside me.

Welcome Home
When we got home, I found that none of my "honey-do" items got done, but James had a special surprise for me that made up for it: he had cleaned our bedroom and bathroom top to bottom and gotten new bed and bath linens that define the word "luxurious". Mmmmm ..... thanks, honey!

And that was that. I'm so glad I got a chance to take the kiddos to Houston and that the grandparents could see their babies without having to make the 5+ hour drive themselves. I hope to be able to do it more often, though I might push harder to get James to make that flight with me next time. :)

I'm still going through the 900+ pictures that my dad took (seriously), so the ones on this posting are from my camera. Check back to link to the Houston trip album!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Claire's always had a pretty good vocabulary, but now she's really putting together sentences and expressing what she's thinking and feeling. Some stories:

"For ..."
I've been working on Claire to say she's sorry when she's done something wrong, but I'm trying to take it one step further and to say WHY she's sorry (ie "sorry for kicking Gavin in the head on accident", "sorry for throwing my food across the room", "sorry for smushing play-doh into the carpet" are all recent examples). She may not be able to enunciate the words fully or even really finish the sentence, but I think she's getting it. Well, the other day after doing the latest impish thing, Claire immediately said, "Sorry". Wanting her to understand why, I prompted her, "For ...?", and she looked at me solemnly and said "Five .....?".

"MY-dea"
One of the things we do at home is let Claire choose the next activity. I think she was learning about "ideas" at school because she kept exclaiming "I-dea!" before starting the next thing one morning. I asked her if Mommy could come up with an idea, and she said, "No! MY-dea!" (we're also going through a case of mine-itus)

"I happy now"
The terrible twos -- which I have recently learned is the terrible two YEARS, not the terrible two years OLD; apparently three is worse than two?! mon dieu -- has brought the onset of Claire's wild temper. She will throw a fit if you don't know what she's trying to say, she will throw a fit if she doesn't get what she wants right away, she will throw a fit if the sky is clear, the wind is blowing, or the day of the week ends in "y". A trick that our friends use with their daughter is the "whiny spot". Similar to the "naughty spot" (ie thinking time), if their daughter needs to whine, she can go to her whiny spot until she's ready to join them again that way no feelings are supressed or repressed. I used something similar with Claire where, when she was throwing a fit while we were playing, I asked her to remove herself from the situation and work out her anger, and then she could come back to play. To my surprise, she did just that. She stomped from the living room to the kitchen, stomped in place a few times and yelled nonsense, took a deep breath, and then came back to declare, "I happy now" before resuming playing. Wow! The only bittersweet part of this story is that every so often, Claire will come up after being quiet for a few moments to tell me she's happy now which leads me to believe that my baby girl was sad just moments before. :( I love that she's learning to express her emotions though, including times where she does tell me "Claire sad", and hope that she continues to share her feelings with me even as she gets older.

Gavin's not really saying the dardest things yet (cut him a break, he's 3 months old!), but what he doesn't say, he definitely makes up for in volume. He's cooing and babbling and will sometimes let out a super load "ah!" that startles both himself and me.

Parents of the Year Entry

We're "snowed in" (Texas-style), which is unfortunate since I didn't go grocery shopping prior so we've been foraging for food. Tonight, I decided to go for Mother of the Year and heat up pizza rolls and tator tots, however Claire couldn't wait for the 11-18 minutes it would take for everything to get done, so this is what she had for dinner:

She managed to eat about 1/4 of the pint -- including the entire chocolate layer on top -- before declaring "all done". This is my official entry for the Parents of the Year award. It's early, however, so there may be others before the year is out.

Before you judge me too much, though, I have lots of other posts between 1/1 and now including ones talking about how domesticated I've become during my temporary SAHM-ness. You'll just have to visit again and scroll down to see the older posts, but I thought this one was priceless.