11/26/06 - Happy Thanksgiving

This year was particularly special. As usual, we all got together at my Sister-in-Law Nanci's house. I brought side dishes of Gulliver's Cream Corn and Sunshine Glazed Carrots (both family recipes courtesy of my late Grandma). As soon as the family was gathered in the dining room, Dave switched on the video camera and recorded everyone's reactions as he announced that we were expecting another baby. It was a priceless moment.

Growing Family

I discovered I was pregnant the day before Thanksgiving. Once again, hindsight is 20/20. I had been experiencing symptoms for about a week, but pregnancy insanity being one of them, it took me awhile to clue in. For one thing, I was irritable and crabby, and particularly clingy of Dave (our biggest fight the past couple weeks had been over his extended work hours). Fatigue was the big give-away, followed by breast soreness, feeling "touched out" (not wanting to be touched) and a heightened sense of smell. On my last trip to the mall, I remember thinking that I didn't like the smell, because it reminded me of when I was working there while suffering from nausea during my last pregnancy. I was also getting unhappy with my pudgy tummy, and bought several fitted tops with a resolution of increasing my sit-ups so they would look better on me. Well, I should have known better, because later that day curiosity got the better of me. Three pregnancy tests later, the reality finally sank in, and I excitedly waited for Dave to get home so I could break the big news. I had Eva hand him the positive test, and when he finally realized what it was, he looked at me and said, "Is this real? Are you serious?" He's thrilled to be a daddy again. It's a lot less scary once you've been down this road before, and since we still have all our baby stuff in storage, there will be far fewer costs this time around.

Daddy's Little Girl

Eva is absolutely in love with “Dada", and follows him around like a puppy. She cries when he leaves for work in the morning, and is there to greet him with an excited squeal when he gets home. If we drive out to visit him at work, she'll see the building out the window and start calling for him. At church the other day, Eva was sitting on his lap when Dave suddenly had to take an urgent phone call outside. Eva ran after him, indignantly calling "dada!" at the top of her voice. She was enjoying his attention and didn't want to let him out of her sight. He's her favorite playmate, and they are like two peas in a pod.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

It appears that we reached the "copycat" stage. Whatever we do, Eva will try to mimic us. The last time we visited Dave at work, Eva saw him run his finger along a dusty windowsill to check up on the housekeeper. She promptly went up to the next window with her little finger, and started playing in the dust. When we were wrapping presents for Operation Christmas Child at church, she tried to help Daddy put the wrapping paper on the box. While most of the time it's cute, at times it can get downright dangerous. Last week she grabbed a Q-tip out of the drawer and tried to stick it in her ear like she's seen us do. It's amazing how observant toddlers are, soaking up everything like a sponge. You have to watch every move you make, and every word you say. Eva's trying to copy our words too, though without much success yet. She's talking up a storm these days, rattling on in her precocious baby talk. You can't understand a word she says, but it sounds awfully important. I think we might have a chatterbox on our hands.

Warm Weather

Autumn has flown by so quickly, but it's been so warm and dry with Santa Ana winds, it hasn't even felt like fall. I expected September to be warm, but every day in October and November has hovered around in the 80's along the coast, and 90's inland (where Dave works), with only one or two chilly days to break it up. Eva wasn't able to wear any of her cute new winter outfits until just after Thanksgiving, and even then it hasn't been cold enough to enjoy a fire in the fireplace. We're still waiting for some rain, and we're long overdue. I actually feel like I was gypped out of my favorite season.

11/17/06 - Living And Learning

Eva is making new discoveries every day. She can stack blocks, try on shoes, straighten her glasses, and climb down stairs. She recognizes common words and phrases like "sit down", "don't touch", or "give it to Mommy". I can ask her to bring me something, and she knows exactly what to do. Though few people beyond Dave and myself can understand her, she tries to say "doggy", "glasses", "ducky", "sit", and "dolly". She loves climbing, whether on furniture or people, and loves to throw things, too. Already she's clocked me a few times with the remote control or her plastic doll's bottle. By far, the hardest thing for her is learning what she can't do. When she can't climb up or reach far enough, or get a toy to do what she wants (like a tower of blocks falls over before she's done), she's likely to unleash her frustration with a scream or tantrum. I try not to help her too much, because I want her to try, make mistakes, and learn to do things herself. Persevering through frustration is an important life skill. Secondly, I don't want to reward tantrums by teaching her that throwing a fit will automatically send Mommy rushing to her service.

Jaws

Lately Eva's appetite has been ravenous, and she constantly wants something to eat. I always try to give her something healthy, like a banana, yogurt, cheese or cheerios. It appears we've got another growth spurt coming up. When she was little, she grew at an incredible rate, always in the 97th percentile. Since trading nursing for normal food, she's back in the medium size range. At 17 months old, she's currently wearing 18-month clothes, which is the first time she has actually worn a size designed for her age group, rather than for several months older. If she truly is on the verge of another growth spurt, she might soon fit back into 24-month clothes again.

Cup Of Joe

From the moment I first found out we were going to be parents, my coffee addiction was rudely disrupted, first by nausea, and then by the fact that caffeine passed on in my breast milk would wire Eva for sound. Even during a rare trip to Starbucks for a seasonal treat (pumpkin spice latte...mmm!), I always had to make sure it was decaf. Now that Eva only occasionally nurses at night and before her mid-day nap, I decided it was safe to re-introduce my morning cup of coffee. We're having chilly fall weather, after all, so it's perfect timing. However, I wasn't prepared for my body's reaction after a nearly two-year caffeine hiatus. I started feeling nervous and jittery after only half a cup, and found it rather uncomfortable. I guess I'll have to back down to half-cafe. I'll have to really boost my resistance before even considering my former favorite caffeine-laden treat: a creamy coffee drink at Cinnabon called a Mochalatta Chill.

Stomach Bug

A couple nights ago, Eva suddenly became sick. It took me by surprise because she had been feeling fine all day. At 5pm she started acting fussy, and then threw up 8 times in two hours. Dave was gone on a three-day business trip, and I struggled to keep Eva comfortable while cleaning up after every incident. It was a new experience for me. Eva had never been this sick before, and I had never had to do it alone. Before the night was over, she’d filled two laundry baskets with soiled pajamas, towels, and clothes (both hers and mine). Exhausted, she finally fell asleep in my arms, and I put her down in her crib. I went to check on her a little while later, only to find that she had vomited in her sleep, but was so tired it didn't even wake her up. I had to clean her up and strip the bed, and just layer her crib with towels.

The next day, she seemed to be doing a lot better. Her appetite still wasn't back and she'd only eat soda crackers and water, but she was able to keep everything down. Dave came home early to help, and at one point she was doing so much better we figured it was over and took her with us on an errand. Unfortunately, it made her carsick, and we had to take her car seat out and clean it when we got home. I guess that's a stupid mistake that first-time parents make. To make matters worse, our water pressure has been fluctuating with city workers messing with our water lines. We never have any notice or warning; we just turn on the faucet to discover only a trickle. Sometimes there isn't enough to wash dishes, much less a load of laundry.

What Do You Do All Day?

If there is anything that tempts stay-at-home-moms to rejoin the workforce more than hearing this question, I don't know what it is. From the beginning, Dave and I mutually decided that I would stay home and raise the children. We both feel it is important for kids to have a parent at home, especially in today's uncertain, relationally disconnected world. But for some reason, the question of what I do all day makes me feel like I have to prove that I wasn't wasting time, watching soap operas and eating bon-bons. Part of the reason is that I can never seem to come up with a satisfactory answer that sounds like the day was even remotely productive. "Eva and I learned how to stack blocks, we ate spaghettios and sang the Alphabet song half a million times. How was your day?" I know the grocery shopping, cooking and laundry didn't do themselves, but they're so routinely monotonous, half the time I can't remember whether I did it yesterday or today.

I hate knowing I straightened up a room, but then gave up because a whirlwind toddler was right behind me to take it apart. I hate feeling guilty because I left a bunch of clutter on the bathroom counter, and opted for "me time" to check my e-mail or crash on the couch and watch the History Channel during Eva's nap instead of cleaning up. Dave is such a neat freak, and though he never complains, I know I'm not a very good housekeeper. I just wish I could know where to start, or even have the passion to care if I did. Now, don't get me wrong, I can't stand anything gross. I clean the kitchen countertops and toilets, throw out old food and don't let anything grow. But clutter is another story. I don't mind unopened mail collecting dust on our desk, folded laundry still stacked in the basket near our bed, or something sitting on the kitchen counter because I haven't had time to deal with it yet. That's harder for me to stay on top of.

Hard At Work

David’s job has been requiring a lot more time lately, through circumstances we can’t control, which is hard for me to accept. The week my Grandma died, I had to take Eva to Orange County by myself for most of the week, because Dave’s Marketing Director and Maintenance Director had quit the same week. That left him doing three jobs by himself, handling guided tours, repairing a roof leak and moving a resident to another apartment until he could get their positions filled. He ended up working 13 straight days with no day off, and even had to work a half-day on the day of her funeral. And since he’s on salary, he gets no overtime or compensation whatsoever. Ideally, when he lost a day off one week, he’d be able to take an extra day the next, but it’s taken me two years to finally realize that’s never going to happen. A day off, once lost, is lost forever. Even if he plans for an alternative day off, something always comes up so he has to go into work anyway, and it’s gotten to the point where he’s having to give away at least two days off a month (usually a Saturday). It’s lost time with his family that can never be reclaimed. I don’t blame Dave. I know he’s a hard worker and good at his job, putting his whole heart into it. He really cares about his residents. He’s not a workaholic and would much rather be home. It’s just that to do his job well and meet his goals (or keep from falling behind), he’s having to put in about 60 hours a week, and it bugs me that his company looks the other way, offering him neither an assistant, nor compensation for all his overtime. He’s got a little girl at home that he barely gets to see for more than an hour before she goes to bed, and a family that wants to see him on the weekends. It bugs me that a man who works hard to support his family doesn’t get enough time to actually enjoy the rewards.

11/6/06 - My Lil' Princess

Another Halloween has come and gone, though I can hardly believe it. My friend Rachel was born on the 31st, so we threw a surprise party for her, and all the kids came dressed up in their costumes. Eva was an adorable medieval princess. We decided to stay home for Halloween so Eva could get a good night's rest, and just pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. We had alot less this year than last year, so we ended up with alot of extra candy. I made Dave take it to work so I wouldn't eat it all!

In The Spotlight

I've had so many people over the last year tell me how cute Eva is and how she should be in commercials, I began to wonder if that were really true. Recently there was a "baby search" at our local mall, so I decided to take Eva and find out how'd she do. She won 1st Runner-Up in her age category, which means she qualifies for the state finals and her entry fees are covered. Although the thought of her possibly winning a $1000 or more savings bond is tempting, I don't think we'll go to the state finals. They'll be 3 hours away in Bakersfield (a grueling drive for an active toddler), which would mean the expense of a hotel overnight, all for the gamble that she might win runner-up again, in a more competitive situation. And since they judge 50% appearance and 50% personality, she'd have to be in a good mood, which would be unlikely after a bunch of traveling. It just wouldn't be fun for her, so it's not worth the extra stress.

Fun and Games

Eva's enjoying our Mommy-and-Me group more, now that she can run around with the older toddlers and climb on the playground equipment. At 17 months old, she's very interactive and social, and always wants someone to play with her. At home, that's usually me, so we're getting to be pretty good playmates. One of her favorite new games is playing "mommy" to her little dolly. She loves to feed the baby a bottle (ironic, since she never got a bottle). She'll put the doll over her shoulder and pat it's back, then give it a big kiss. She's learned how to kiss by humming "mmm" until her lips touch her target (like your cheek), and then she'll let go with a loud "mu-ah!" It's so cute to watch! Eva also loves sorting and stacking (in her own disorganized way). She'll empty the magazine rack and start bringing them to me one by one, or she'll grab the socks I've folded and start piling them up on a chair, then move the pile somewhere else, a few at a time. Were she an adult, it would be an interesting sort of busywork that looks important, but accomplishes nothing. For a kid, however, it's an important part of discovery. She's noticed her reflection in the shiny floor tiles of our church's foyer, and will crouch down to wave at herself or even try to kiss her reflection. One of her new words is "poo-poo!", which she repeats every time we change her diaper, whether she's done #2 or not. She likes to make growling sounds when playing with her toy shark in the tub. She's figured out how to climb on and off the couch, and to slip her skinny arm behind childproofed cabinet doors to grab packets of instant oatmeal or anything else within reach.

Fall Weather

We're in the middle of the Southern California fire season, when warm Santa Ana winds blow west through the canyons and make the air unusually hot and dry. Static electricity is abundant, and one spark could set off a dangerous wildfire. Last week we had a wicked firestorm that was started by an arsonist, and killed five firefighters. They finally caught a suspect and are charging him with first-degree murder. I hope to see the cool fall weather coming back soon. Though we haven't had any rain yet, the higher humidity, morning fog and cooler temperatures help firefighters put out brushfires and prevent new ones. I, for one, am happy to welcome winter weather here. It's never cold enough to snow, just enough to curl up in flannel sheets and pajamas, wear a warm sweater and drink hot cocoa. To me that's a perfect medium. I'm not a fan of scraping ice off my windshield or shoveling snow. To David, any weather that won't permit sandals and shorts is too cold. He prefers the summer, when he can surf without a wetsuit. Eva seems to take either in stride. So long as she can move freely and play, long-sleeved or short-sleeved makes little difference to her.

Family Outing

We’ve been trying to get to Bates Nut Farm to pick out a pumpkin for several weeks now, but with Great-Grandma’s death and everything else that was going on, it just hasn’t happened. Well, we finally were able to go last Saturday, and though the pumpkin patch is gone, they had a classic car show and craft fair that was fun to see. They also had all the animals where the kids could see them, so Eva enjoyed trying to feed the ducks and sheep. It was great to get out as a family for a day, and just enjoy the season.