One small step for Oscar, one giant headache for the rest of us

Yup. Oscar's walking. Of course, not one week past his first birthday the boy up and ambulates. Now you can understand why it's been so long since I've posted, I've been battening down every hatch within reach. It also explains why I have no video. I'm constantly gasping and running to prevent him from maiming himself on some furniture's corner. Half the time, I'm successful. If there's anything good to find in this milestone, other than more cardio for me, is how his big sister, Annie reacts when she witnesses any of his recent accomplishments, "Yay! Oscar! Mama, look!" She doesn't have any of that "aww, crap," attitude I have, so I'm able, if only for a fleeting second, to share in the innocent joy of witnessing our little boy put one foot in front of the other and then promptly fall on his bottom.

He's also developing quite a sense of humor, sometimes to both Annie and my surprise. We'll be in the car going to one stereotypically suburban activity, like ballet class, and Annie will be singing along to some CD, and out of nowhere, Oscar is busting a gut at Annie's exaggerated lyrical style. Also, he drops stuff. On purpose. A lot. And then seeks my eye to make sure I caught it, then follows it with an "Uh-oh" with just a whisper of sarcasm. But to Oscar's credit, he may have turned my hair mostly grey but he is an excellent "self-player," meaning, if he's rested and fed, he'll be perfectly happy in our playroom playing with objects and yes, throwing said objects on the floor, for literally minutes. It may not sound like much, but when your second child naps only once a day and starts said nap minutes before your first child gets home from school, you take any free moment in your day as a blessing. So I hold those playroom minutes dearly close to my heart. Oh, and did I mention that he's a giant ham as well? Wherever he goes, he literally will smile at people that have made only the briefest of eye contact with him. And, he won't just smile, he will BEAM and flirt and do everything but wash their car. This is a big 180 from his sister who made you earn any visually apparent amusement to the point that even I thought she was a bit snobby.

Speaking of Annie, she's doing great. She's changed a bit though. She's becoming more of a girly girl, and not just in the sweet ways like how she pretends with her dolls and stuffed animals, but in those more annoying ways like she's afraid to go into the basement because she's "worried of the crickets" (our cats seem to have a talent for hunting them there), and when she has the briefest of scrapes, insists on having a bandage even if there is not a drop of blood to be seen. She used to be my "shake it off" kid. She rarely cried when she fell down to the point that when she did, I always knew it was serious. Her tears are a little bit easier to come by these days, so it's harder to say if it's a compound fracture or a wounded ego. Speaking of stage presence, Annie also had her first school performance in which her class performed various songs they'd learned, including "I'm a Little Teapot," and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in both English and Spanish. The video is priceless on so many levels. I especially like the kid who yawns and Annie's curtsy and bow at the end.

Oscar has also graduated completely from nursing to any dairy product besides the liquid variety. We've even tried oat and almond milk. The boy spits it out. The only thing he wants to taste in his sippy cup is water. So we're just giving him more yogurt and cheese and he seems to be doing fine, except that his appetite is insatiable. I know I've said this before, but I'm in awe of how much this kid packs away and remains so skinny and short.



Finally, as a recap for our Thanksgiving, we had a lovely visit from Oma and Papa Joe. We made our farmer's market 17+lb. turkey and surprisingly ate pretty much all of it (of course, it was over 4 days and about 8 meals). I cheated on the sides and redeemed an almost-expired gift certificate to a catering company so that I could spend the day prior making a pumpkin cranberry tart. I still think the name doesn't do it justice. It had an almond cookie shortbready crust, then an almost cheesecake consistency filling topped with the thinnest layer of cranberry gelatin. It took ALL DAY. It should be named something more decadent, like "You should charge people admission to eat this Pumpkin Cranberry Tart." Even the photos don't do it justice. (And yes, of course I photographed it. Hell, I almost named it Mable). In a few short weeks we'll be headed to Connecticut to celebrate Christmas which, in part, explains our limited decorations (with a one-year-old and two cats, you couldn't have PAID me to buy a tree). At least I got some twinkle lights. Happy Holidays to all!

First and Fourth Birthdays!

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Outta my way (until I need help)

The aforementioned wagon-pushing Oscar:

First and four!

And I'm not talking about a football game... No, as of tonight, our littlest one is, in fact, one. And in just two short days, Annie will officially turn four. The unofficial entrance into her new age was accomplished this weekend with a shared birthday party at our home. It was a blast. Oscar did his best to keep up, which was hard given that he has a wicked cold and is on a day-time sleeping strike. When it came the time to blow out the candles, he was a little perplexed as to why all these people were singing at him. Then, he was presented with the cupcake. Still not sure what was up and why all these people now were staring at him. Once he got a taste though, the cupcake didn't stand a chance. He literally threw himself into its consumption. Full on, face first, and barely came up for air. Yup, he was blue in the face. (Literally, the icing was blue.)

Annie loved playing the hostess to all her friends and this was the first year we could do real party games. We had them all: Musical Placemats (preschoolers high on candy throwing themselves into chairs didn't seem like the best idea); Pin the tail on the donkey; and a piñata shaped like a giant cupcake. This was the safe kind too, where each kid takes turns pulling strings until the correct one is pulled and all the loot flies to the ground and you don't see the kids' faces for 20 minutes while they're buried in a huddle retrieving the goods. Annie was over the moon with all the attention. Not only did she have her best kid friends in company, but Annie and Oscar's adult fan club was there, too.

We also had another special occasion to celebrate today: GrandBob's 70th. Oscar and my father share the same birthday and although they had to head out early for a road trip to Branson, MO, we got to have a birthday breakfast and present fest before their departure. And not too sad of a departure as they'll be back for part II of their visit on Friday. We are so grateful they were here for the party on Saturday too. But back to the presents: From Nana and GrandBob, Annie and Oscar got a great outdoor playhouse so they finally have something to do in the backyard besides make up games involving a soccer ball and some grass. We gave Oscar a push wagon and we pretty much immediately regretted it. The kid has no fear, but worse, he has no sense of direction. He'll go full speed toward a wall, hit it, laugh shaking his head, and then scream and cry until someone turns it around. I'm hoping he figures it out soon, because this was supposed to distract him SAFELY from his fascination with the stairs. Oscar: 2, Parents: 0. But his new tricks make him a very cute, if not reckless toddler. He now says "Uh-oh" and means it, even preemptively so. This morning he said it and then dropped his lovey on purpose. He has a sense of humor, we'll give him that. He'll even fall down on purpose so you can say "Woah!" and laughs. Also, he was a little late coming to it, but he can now clap on command, and tries to blow kisses, but instead of making a smooching sound, he clicks his tongue. 'A' for effort, Oscar.

I guess we're gluttons for punishment, because despite this year's ups and (falling) downs, we're looking energetically forward to the coming year with both of these kiddos. We're just going to have to invest in some bubble wrap for Oscar.

Fall is here! October 2010

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Good boy, Oscar, good boy

I forgot that with babies, they're like dogs. One week to them is like 2 years to us. Since my last post, just over a month ago, Oscar is a completely different kid. Well, I mean, sort of. He still hates naps, bats (read: hits) at our faces when he's excited and shovels more food in his mouth than turkey a week before Thanksgiving, but what he DOES as a kid has changed tremendously. He's pulling up to standing and then letting go, a lot. Sure, he doesn't know what to do once he lets go, but he's very proud of himself for considering it. He also has started to talk. He was finally fed up with how dim we were in translating his different grunts and slaps (I'm sorry, "sign language"), so he's taken to forming sounds that are intelligible to someone other than himself. His first word is exactly, and a little creepily, the same as his sister's: ra-ra. He says it whenever we ask him where to look for our cat, Roscoe. He finds him, smiles, and then says, "ra-ra" in a very loving way. I could only hope for so much in how her refers to me, but no, I get a yelling or whining, "MAMAMAMAMAMAAAA!" when he wants something. So, I'm not counting that as a word yet, not until he says it with a little more affection and a little less 'tude. Also, as of the last two days, he can mimic "Uh-oh" when he drops something if you say it to him first. Kind of counts.

Halloween is just around the corner and after much diliberation, Annie chose to be my parents' deceased mini schnauzer, Zoe. This all came about after asking one night what ghosts were. It was bed time so I was trying to make the answer as un-scary as possible, so I said that ghosts were just our way of pretending we could still see the people we loved even after they were dead. And, since the only dead being she knew alive is Zoe, I used her as an example to illustrate my point. It went something like this:

Me: "It's like if you saw Zoe but you could sort of see through her, and you could talk to her, but you couldn't touch her..."
Annie: "Uh-huh."
Me: "So... that's a ghost..."
Annie: "I want to be Zoe for Halloween."

And, after many days of checking to make sure her decision was firm, Zoe it was. To the second-hand store we went! We got a gray sweatsuit, had our neighbor sew on a white circle of fabric for her belly, I made ears and a tail and sewed them to her hood and bought some fluffy fringe for her cuffs, and voila! Zoe is reincarnated. I think she would be pleased with the results, may she rest in peace. Pictures will, of course, follow.

September 2010

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Fall's so close we can taste it

Finally, finally, FINALLY! the temperature dropped well below 90 for two straight days and no sooner did the mercury show 68 that I whipped out the scarf; Jay, his sweater; and we headed our well-insulated children up to Indiana (which is all of 5 minutes from Louisville, don't be too impressed) to go apple picking and check out how the pumpkins were shaping up for this season. Oh, and, you'll be relieved to know the cider donuts are doing just fine. They missed us, but we made it up to them by eating a half-dozen in one sitting. Yes, maybe it's because I got married in the fall, both of my children were born in the fall, or I'm just particularly fond of wool, but I love this time of year. Things crunch, like leaves and apples. You rub your hands together when you leave the house in the morning and say things like "Oooh, it's chilly!" and you're actually surprised by it. And the outside world just smells better. It's like nature's disinfectant.

We got our loot home and Annie and I made our first apple pie together. Well, I actually made it, but she helped put the apples in the bowl and taste-tested every single ingredient that went into it. Even the flour. It was like having my own personal quality control agent.

Speaking of Annie, she's basically a teenager now. When we were on the tractor ride back to the farm, she insisted on sitting by herself. What? She's 3. OK, she's almost 4, but still. And she's getting a little sass to her behavior lately. She's two weeks away from asking me to drop her off a block from school so she can walk the rest of the way. I'm just hoping she slows it down a little with the maturity. I can only take so much so fast. She's also starting to read. It's pretty neat to watch a person get that. Only when I actually had to explain how the English language works did I realize how messed up it is. Silent e's. Different spellings of the same sounding word. And what's up with the "k" in words like "knob" and "know"? Someone was playing a joke on us. She's taking it all in stride though and I can't wait until the day she can read Oscar "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," partly because it would be sweet, but mostly because, frankly, I'm sick of it.

It will be a challenge for her though, since right now Oscar has absolutely no patience for the written word. Even if it's just one written word accompanied by a large colorful picture and something soft to touch on the page. He has no time for books and oh, how I've tried. Even his mannerisms exhibit his lack of attention. When he's crawling (or, really, sliding) around the house, whenever he has paused to decide what to do next, he'll thump his foot in anticipation before heading off. He may not have an appetite for books or being still, but he certainly has an appetite for food. He's a little pickier than Annie was, but man, can that kid pack it away. I have no idea where he's keeping it all. I expect to find a squirrel's nest full of chopped up waffle and banana somewhere in his closet someday because this baby is much slimmer than Annie was at his age. It's probably because he won't sit still for two seconds and burns off his food in a manner of minutes once he hits the floor. Whatever the reason, we're doing our best to keep up with them, even if keeping up with them sometimes simply means surviving the day with no broken bones and a weary smile on our faces. A large slice of apple pie doesn't hurt either.

And now, to close: What Oscar's been up to lately, or shall I say "gettin' down to":

You gonna finish that?

Well nothing pleases me more than a fat baby, especially when it's my fat baby. Oscar is a chow hound lately, and I'm going to chalk it up to a growth spurt and not his bid for childhood obesity. Baby food is so last month and he'll only eat whatever everyone else is eating. No complaint here. Tonight he had raw salmon from the sushi we bought. He's pretty cosmopolitan. He also has four teeth, working on six, and can pull up and cruise on pretty much anything. He's like Annie on speed. She didn't start this sort of behavior until at least a month later. He's also, well, a little more, how shall I say, aggressive than Annie ever was or is. His favorite game when I'm nursing him now is to bat at my face. Well, not so much "bat," as to whack. He's strong, too. Not so funny, Oscar. Not so funny. He's learned that when we give him his lion lovey in his room it means nap time, so he's strategically figured out how to take said lovey and throw him violently on the floor. I'm thinking we're in for a ride with this one. Buckle up.

On the Annie front, she LOVES school and all the playdates that come with it. Her social calendar would rival that of President Obama if I let it. It's too exhausting. Mama needs her down time. She even recounts the day on the way home from any final event: "We only did THREE things today, Mama." She's also developing quite the sense of humor. Here she is taking clothes from the laundry basket and putting them on herself because that's the funniest thing ever, and if you don't think so, you're stupid. She watched her first movie this weekend so the grown-ups could have dinner in peace: Toy Story. It was worth it. I wanted to watch it with her to be there for this big moment, but the big glass of red wine and adult conversation won the contest. Sorry, kid.

The weather is finally getting a little cooler so we're again enjoying the reason we moved from Houston: seasons. I busted out the outdoor broom and some yard bags and did a ton of weeding and sweeping. I've got to build my upper body strength if I'm ever going to take on Oscar when he turns a year. I swear there's a punching bag hidden somewhere in his crib.

And now, a little traveling music:

It's about all we can stand

Annie started her first day of Montessori school this week (as depicted above). They're having a transitional week where the kids go for a couple of hours to get used to the classroom and next week the "big kids" join them. She's in a class with 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds and so far, so good. She told me how she has been doing "pom-pom work" where she takes tweezers and picks pom-poms up from one bowl and places them in another. Important stuff. We've also had the privilege of having our neighbor's daughter, Emily, who attends the same school, stay with us after school on Monday and today and Friday. She'll be joining Annie in her ballet class this afternoon, which Annie started last week; so the fall is upon us, even though the weather refuses to admit it. It's been close to 90 here every day this week with no sense of that back-to-school chill I remember as a kid.

Oscar is going through not so much a growth spurt as a growth geyser. In the last two weeks, he got two teeth (one top and one bottom) and is working on the other two as we speak. He also has figured out how to get up onto his knees and how to pull up on stationery objects (some more stationery than others, as he's quickly figuring out: play car=bad, sister=good). In fact, just yesterday he started crying while falling asleep for his afternoon nap, something he doesn't really do anymore, so after about 10 minutes I went up to check on him and he was standing, holding on to his crib rails for dear life, screaming, with absolutely no idea as to how to get himself down. I felt so bad for the little guy, but had to laugh a little to myself at his predicament (hey, as a stay-at-home-mom you take whatever humor you can find). He's also chomping on diced soft foods now, very adept at picking things up on his own. I see him watching Annie carefully with every bite at meal times. She knows things.

Well, I need to relish my hour-and-a-half of alone time while Oscar's napping and Annie's at school. So if you'll excuse me, there's a vacuum with my name on it (seriously, I put our name on it when we moved last, which isn't crazy considering how horribly our move to Houston went).

Connecticut 08-10

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More July 2010

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A moving target

This past week we have had to baby proof the house. Oscar is getting more and more apt at his caterpillar impression and is so much more inquisitive about things that could severely harm him than Annie ever was at his age. Not only did we have to put outlet covers on the plugs but we had to buy these boxes you put over outlets that have plugs in them so that he can't unplug the cords (a task he's repeatedly attempted). Thank goodness for technology. He's also started his foray into solid-solid foods, like Cheerios and the highway robbery baby item called "puffs" (which is just dehydrated fruit injected with air so that it melts in their mouths. There's probably a total of .25 oz of actual food in a 5 oz. container. What we do for our children.). The first few days we had him trying Cheerios, he was so enamored with putting them in his mouth, but then soon became tired of actually eating them, so most of them got spat out as soon as he proved he could perform the task. Practice makes perfect.

Annie had her second week of ballet camp and liked it so much that we decided to sign her up for ballet classes this fall, and by fall, I mean in two weeks. I don't remember schools beginning this soon as a kid. It's ridiculous. She starts ballet as soon as we get back from Connecticut and then school the following week. Her first week of school, though, will be the equivalent of sticking one's toe into unfamiliar water. She'll go for like an hour and change each day and then has the following Monday off (building pink towers is apparently very stressful work) before beginning her grueling 2-3/4-hour school day five days a week. We've also been working on our reading with Annie. Well not "our" reading, hers. Sorry, as a mom you learn to refer to everything in the first-person plural, like "we don't drag babies by their arms," or "do we need to use the potty?" I can see me answering for her on her wedding day, "We do."

As mentioned before, on Friday we will head up to Connecticut for Family Fest 2010. We are looking forward to showing everyone how much these kids have changed since they last saw them. We'll just have to put a leash on Oscar.

The Ferrara Clan 07-2010

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Driving Mr. Oscar

Oh great. Now he has wheels. Fantastic.

"Mobile 1, this is Mobile 2..."

Ah, summer. A time for fireflies, farmer's markets, and runaway babies. As if we haven't had enough to keep track of, what with a precocious 3-year-old and a curious infant, we now have a crawler. Kind of. I guess it's more accurate to say he's doing a spot-on impression of a caterpillar. In any case, he's mobile and we're screwed. People always say this, and I used to always roll my eyes when I heard it, but now that I'm one of them, please have sympathy: Annie and Oscar are NIGHT AND DAY in terms of their babyhood. I'm not prepared. I have to retrain all of my motherly assumptions like "Oh, he won't crawl over there, that's a heating vent, Annie hated that kind of thing." DOH! or "He won't eat that piece of paper, Annie just liked the way it sounded." DOH! Yes, I'm proverbially being beaten senseless by an 8-month-old. Touche, Oscar, touche.

On a lighter note, we had our first party on our great deck: a fourth of July to-do including the inaugural run of our charcoal grill (which unfortunately had to be manned by one of our guests as we're still a little bit afraid of it. What? It's really HOT!). We invited some of our neighborhood friends and others that added up to about 12 adults and 50 kids (well not 50, more like 8, but it sounded like 50). Jay made a killer jicima salad, I made a panzanella and fruit cobbler. And to top it all off, our friend Marie made the killer flag cake shown here. And to ensure the comfort of our guests, Jay created the great wall o' flaming citronella around our deck, or as I like to call it, Mosquito Massacre 2010. The kids did great, running through the sprinklers and competing in their own personal World Cup soccer championship. Oscar hung with our friend and landlords Beverly and Al, the surrogate grandparents, for most of the party. Annie was SO excited to be the hostess. After the first guest arrived, she proudly beamed, "NOW the party can STAAAARRRT!!"

We're gearing up for our visit to Connecticut in a couple of weeks. We can't wait to see our cousins and grandparents and we WILL see them ALL, both sides. Before we go, we just hope Oscar gets these two teeth he's been working on since before conception. They are taking FOREVER to poke through and he's not happy about it. No one is, really. Fever, naps so short you'd think he was just taking his time blinking, lots of waking up during the night. Well, nothing some ibuprofen for him and wine for me can't dull. We're all doing our best. What's so sad in the sweetest way possible is that even in utter pain, Oscar does his best to smile. It kills us. Where did we order him from? We should get more.

The summer is in full swing, or jeté, as it were

Not two days after we return from our lakeside retreat, Annie begins her first day of week-long ballet camp (it's only 2 hours long and involves snack and craft time, so apparently, we're easing ourselves into our tutus). Annie loved it and at the end of the week we had a recital where they showed off their "Under the Sea" themed moves. Annie was an excellent shark and turtle. She also tackled walking like a crab with gusto. There's a video of her warm-up dance on our Shutterfly site if you're interested in seeing her in action (pw: annieandoscar). Now, she's on to good old summer day camp, complete with sunblock, bathing suits and her name written on EVERYTHING. I will pick her up from her first day in about an hour, so I'll keep everyone posted on what she thinks. She looked a little apprehensive when I left her, but that usually lasts for all of two seconds before she starts beaming and bossing people around.

Father's Day came and went with not much fanfare, I'm afraid. Jay had to go into work for the day, but we started the morning off with some presents. The cats got him some grill tools since we're about to receive our first grill ever in the mail any day now. Annie and Oscar got him some running shoes as he's started to go jogging again and his old shoes could have easily been mistaken for roadkill. I made Jay's favorite tomato basil quiche for dinner and we ended it with Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt cones and Oscar got to meet his new best friends, Ben & Jerry. He's a fan.

Speaking of Oscar, he'll be trying out for the U.S. Olympic gymnastic team any day now. Unlike his sister at his age, the boy can't sit still for one second. He's rolling like crazy, on carpet, hardwoods, gravel (that last one, I kid, but I wouldn't put it past him). I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling in less than two weeks. He loves to eat, talk (I think Roscoe understands some of what he's saying), smile, laugh, and STARE at his sister for hours. Napping? Not so much. Like his sister, he hates sleeping in the car which, when you're a second child, is sort of a necessity, but I guess that depends on who you ask, right, Oscar? But even when exhausted, he's a happy kid. His leg is healing nicely and he's starting to bear weight on it again. No cast. The doctor left it up to us. We decided that with the lake and the upcoming summer heat, it would just be so uncomfortable for him. So we've just been ginger with it and he doesn't seem phased a bit.

Annie Ballet and others 6-10

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More May 2010

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Away we go

For the first time EVER the Ferrara family of four headed for a week-long vacation alone. We went to Winchester, TN, about 4 hours from Louisville to Tims Ford Lake. A friend of ours kindly offered her family's cabin for us to use and enjoy as a small getaway to celebrate the coming of summer. What better way to justify the need for sunscreen than by sitting at the edge of a beautiful lake surrounded by trees, water and the sounds of your children laughing? I had just wrapped up a pretty brutal week, kidding myself into thinking I could freelance and mother two children at once. The respite was a welcomed one, to say the least. The drive down took a bit as we headed back into the good ol' Central Time Zone (without us realizing it until we got there and our cell phones and GPS notified us). The kids did their best, and their best is pretty good when taking into account that said children are three years and 7 months of age. Once we got there, it was like every bone in my body gave a collective sigh of relief.

I kept a journal of the entire vacation but I won't bore you with that. Quick summary: We slept. We ate. We swam. We went to the grocery store (a ridiculous amount of times). We swam. We ate. We slept. Rinse and repeat. We did make it out to Chattanooga, TN to visit the Incline Railway and Rock City at Lookout Mountain. We found it sadly amusing that at the gates of Rock City, among the geological wonders in the far reaches of nature, you can also observe the urban homo sapien sipping lattes at its native Starbucks. You'll see all of these wonders represented in the pictures below. Even the Starbucks. Truly a site to see.

Now we're back and Annie has started her first week of Ballet Camp. She looks very cute in her leotard and about 2 years older with her hair back. I'll get some pictures at the recital on Friday. Stay tuned for cuteness in spandex. Then it's on to two weeks of regular old day camp at the JCC and then back to ballet for one more week. That's it for scheduled programming for Annie this summer. We head to Connecticut at the beginning of August to visit both sides of our family and we can't wait. Vacations alone are nice, but I think Annie was craving some kid time by the end of our trip, so a visit with the cousins will be a great way to round out the summer fun.

Lake Vacation 6-10

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One for the baby book

This is probably one of the hardest blog entries to write, because I'd do anything to take back what happened, and somehow putting it in writing makes it all too permanent, but Oscar broke his leg. Rather, I shouldn't say he broke his leg. He really had nothing to do with it. It was the 26" fall off a window seat, face first onto industrial carpet that broke it. Now, when I say "break," don't envision a baby in traction with machines blipping in the background, because it's not that serious of a fracture. He's fine. It's a hairline fracture in his tibia (or shin bone, for those of you not married to a doctor), commonly known as a "toddler's fracture." Let me explain:

On Friday, Annie had her last day of school and her class was having a concert for the parents of songs they learned over the year. Oscar and I went to cheer Annie on and I was sporting our new DSLR camera to properly capture her cuteness. Oscar was long past due his morning nap, however, and immediately complained about his seat in the peanut gallery of a carseat and demanded I hold him. That, or the whole concert would come to a screeching, and I mean literally screeching, screaming halt. So, I picked him up but also wanted to take some video of Annie's production so we could show Papa what he was missing. Note to all of you out there: DSLR cameras require two hands. All the time. So after taking a few wobbly one-handed shots, I decided that Oscar could chill on this floor pillow that was on the window seat I was sitting on, all but 2 inches from me. I could keep an eye on him and record Annie's cantations at the same time. And, given that Oscar was so exhausted, I figured he'd be pleased to just chill and listen to the music. So just as I was lifting the camera to my face to take a picture I hear a horrible thud. I look down and all I can remember was that I saw Oscar on the ground, he immediately screamed a cry I had never heard before, I scooped him up and ran out of the room. He took a few minutes to calm down, all his parts seemed to be in order. There was no blood, no immediate bruise and he just seemed completely jarred by the whole experience. I knew exactly how he felt.

We returned to the concert, I put the camera AWAY, and watched her last song about a little shiny fish which progresses up to a humongous whale. Oscar seemed to break into tears intermittently though which I took to be normal after what he went through and his exhaustion. So I brought him home, put him to bed and about an hour later, he woke up whimpering. I fed him and then he seemed genuinely happy. All but for one thing: he didn't really want to put any weight on his left leg. I called the pediatrician as I was intending to do regardless, and they told me, given his age, I should bring him in just to be safe and I agreed that sounded like the best thing. So I picked Annie up from school, grabbed us some sandwiches (meanwhile Oscar is all smiles, and I'm like "He's totally fine. THANK GOODNESS!"), and headed to the doctor's office. We had to wait an hour, but finally saw our doctor and after an exam he noticed that Oscar did seem to squirm when he touched his left shin to the point that he would feel better if we got it x-rayed. Long story, short: We went to the imaging place, Papa joined us, many x-rays were taken, a neighbor picked up Annie, and Oscar has a broken leg.

Now, because it's a holiday weekend, the Orthopedic office was already closed, so we have to wait until Tuesday to see what they want to do about it. The pediatrician seemed to think it may just be a "wait until it heals" sort of thing, and not to put any weight on that foot. He doesn't walk or crawl, so that seems pretty easy. But he could get a cast or a splint, we'll just have to see what they think. Meanwhile, here's a video I took today, two days after the fact, to show you how Oscar is faring:

As you can plainly see, he has pretty much forgiven me because that's just who Oscar is: The happiest baby alive. He HATES to be sad. Whenever he's in pain or tired, he'll do anything he can to give you a smile. It's heartbreakingly sweet. So, I think we're all going to make it through this. Oscar may have to suffer through a few uncomfortable nights and the nickname "limpy," and I may have to invent some sort of superglue for moms that keeps one hand stuck to the baby at all times, but in the end we know that a family's love is stronger than any bone in the body and luckily, we've got that in spades.

Annie and Oscar (mostly) May 2010

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Who knows where the time goes...

(with thanks to Nina Simone) ... Oscar spent celebrating his first 6 months on this planet with a man who has spent over 98 YEARS here: our beloved Pappy. We packed up the family on Thursday and drove to Atlanta for a four-day family fest. Our ships crossed paths briefly with Nana and GrandBob and my Aunt Connie and Uncle Jim, then Saturday and Sunday morning were spent with Pappy out on the town in Atlanta. Pappy took us on a driving tour of the area, including the first house he purchased after the War for $10,000 in Decatur, and then their second house a few blocks over, and his old professorial haunt of Emory University. We spent the time reminiscing, eating, and just taking it all in. I was so happy that Annie got to see her Pappy again since the last time she saw him she was just shy of 2 years. Oscar took to Pappy like a fly to honey (excuse the simile, I have clearly spent too much time in Georgia) slathering him with warm smiles and coos. Let's just put it this way, we had a very hard time putting that car in Drive when it was time to go. Luckily we took a signed copy of his book of poems with us to help ease the separation.

Oscar and Annie were champs on the over 8-9 hour stretches in the car both ways. I was happily surprised that only one viewing of "Chrysanthemum" and "Owen" were required on the way down and none on the way back. The pit stops involving ice cream seemed to help the most. Well, for Annie and me, at least. Oscar preferred a different dairy product but was a trooper just the same. Word to all parents of children out there: get a hotel room with separate bedrooms. It was so nice to put the kids to bed and be able to stay up past 7. What a treat, although truth be told, we probably would have had no problem going to bed that early.

All in all, I am grateful to have a grandfather as wise and kind as Pappy, and even more so to see my children get to know him. I get misty just thinking about our time with him, but it's a happy mist. We love you, Pap.

Georgia Visit May 2010

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and I won't take no for an answer

So, we were able to skirt Annie's terrible two's. I'm not sure what alliteration would be fitting for this stage we're experiencing now with, not "thrilling," not "thoughtful," but probably "think-again threes" is the most fitting. Because just when we thought we were out of the woods with tantrums, back talk and disobedience, along came three-and-a-half. Personally, I think that it has to do with this sudden growth spurt she's been going through which is making her more tired and irritable (or it's making ME more tired and irritable, the jury's out on that one). But in addition to the limited patience, Annie is also persistent as the day is LONG and with Louisville so close to the central time zone, the days are VERY long. If she gets an idea in her head for some sort of prop she needs for her make-believe play, and you don't want to give it to her, watch out, because you will soon be berated with "Please, just one time, PLEASE, I'll be careful, just ONE, MAMA, ONE!!!" until you can no longer listen to it and you (meaning me) either lose it or give in. I found a solution though yesterday when she was hell bent on using her white noise machine for Monkey, which would have required it being removed from her room and brought downstairs, which I did not want to do. If that thing breaks, I seriously question Annie's ability to ever fall asleep again. So I said, "No," and then dealt with a tantrum to beat all tantrums, ending in two, count 'em TWO, timeouts and a few more gray hairs in my already salty mane. BUT, I then suggested we make her a sound machine. So I wrapped up an empty box in craft paper, drew a digital clock face and glued some clothing buttons on it and voila! Instant sound machine. It was all well and good until Annie asked later if we could make batteries for it. Hand to God.

Oscar, on the other hand, has taken on solid foods with full force and yesterday, for the first time ever, rolled from his back to his stomach. We hope this means that his 4 AM "Woah, I'm on my BACK!" wake-up calls will soon cease. He's also even more in love with his sister, as if it were possible, now that she throws him some attention to play with him every now and again. I'm just waiting for the request from Annie one day to borrow Oscar for her baby and when I say "No," her responding, "Well, how do I make one?" Gzeeesh.

We head to Georgia on Thursday for four days to visit my 98-year-old grandfather, Pappy. We can't wait. Not only do we get to visit and introduce Oscar to him and my aunt and uncle, but Nana and GrandBob will be there too as they make a pit stop on their way down to Savannah for my nephews' first communion. It'll be the first family road trip, so wish us luck. It's a 7 hour drive, so I imagine if we leave at 7 AM on Thursday, with two kids in tow, we should be there by, let's see... summer.

Easter and Oma and Papa Joe 4-10

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Keeping us company

We had a lot of visitors this spring so far, namely the Easter Bunny and even better, Oma and Papa Joe, who, like the Easter Bunny, gives the kids treats, but who unlike him, stick around to play. It feels like a lot of stuff has changed since I last updated the blog a million years ago, but it's hard to nail down in a paragraph. Mostly, Annie's becoming more of a big kid, literally, as she's growing like a weed. She enjoys other people's houses, frequently telling me to leave (I'm trying not to take it personally) so she can play with her new grownup. And Oscar is becoming more of a big baby (not in the cry baby sense of the term, but more in a size way). He teased us with two nights in a row of full-night sleeping, but then quickly kept us in check by waking up at 4:30 the following night. He likes to keep us guessing.

Oma and Papa Joe's visit was great. It was so nice to watch Annie play with Papa Joe (he has a knack for story telling off the cuff and playing make-believe with Annie's tree/doll house). And Oma got to have a lot of hands-on Oscar time (I take advantage of any break I can get... not that I don't LOVE my kids, they're just heavy sometimes). She and Annie also made pancakes WITHOUT A RECIPE. Annie was so impressed, mostly because she got to wield a knife under Oma's watchful eye. They were wonderful, and not just because I didn't have to cook them. We were sad to see them go, but were so happy to have them for a week while Annie's preschool was on "spring break" (why preschoolers need a spring break, I'll never know, but I'm guessing the teachers relish it ... when do moms get a spring break? But I digress...). The weather here is gorgeous and we've already had to switch the thermostat from "Heat" to "Cool." Flowering trees are in bloom and we've even planted our own tomato plant on the deck. Annie's quite the waterer.

Oscar started his foray into solid foods with rice cereal and seems to be a fan, although he's not so great at the eating part. He still mostly likes to lick his food. We're working on it. He also is great at grabbing any object within grasp (including hair or skin). He has a deep chortle of a laugh like an old man whose had a few too many cigars. He's a pretty easy going kid, I have to say, mostly because he has to be. We drag him everywhere, but he keeps smiling just the same. Granted he's probably delirious with sleep deprivation, but still. This weekend we head to Houston for a lightning quick visit (due to an airfare deal). Oscar will finally get to meet all the people he's only heard of (either from Annie or through the womb). We'll see if he still has any of his Texas accent.

A little spring in our step

I'm beginning to like Louisville even more. Not only did we have a relatively short snow season with just enough to make it pretty and get a good snowman out of it, but spring is in the air already and Annie, Oscar and I have been taking full advantage of it. We have made our first trip to the zoo with some out-of-town friends of a friend who had three great little boys who adored Annie and vice versa. We also have been breaking in Annie's new bike (as far as my baby monitor will allow us to go). And, we had our first park picnic.

Other than the weather, Annie is starting to show a big interest in reading so we're working on sounding out our letters, and she also has become quite the artist, making pictures that look more like what one would recognize and even coming up with some compositions where there are multiple items in the picture (like flowers, a tree, a person, all working together). She's also working on writing, and has her name down pretty much (except for the occasional backwards "n"). It's so amazing to watch her little brain at work. I also think she had a physical growth spurt this winter, maintaining her role as big sister, because her pants are all too short.

Oscar is keeping up too, already fitting in his 3-6 months clothes. He had his 4-month appointment and is still 25% for weight and 10th for height. Annie was about the same for height at his age, although a bit chunkier at 50th percentile. He's talking a ton. Just wish we knew what he was saying. He's been rolling over, sometimes in his crib, and is a bit shocked by the whole thing. He also had his first "bite" of cereal. I use air quotes because I think maybe one grain of cereal actually made it down his throat. But he seemed to be a fan. His sleep has been all over the place because he has had this cold and now it's in his chest, so we're all a bit fatigued. Good thing for spring because it's helping us see the sunshine at the end of the tunnel. We can't wait to get outside more and keep the good times rolling (with helmet and knee/elbow pads in place, of course... safety first).

Annie and Oscar March 2010

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Paces. Consider yourself gone through.

So this post is delayed due to a plague on our house. I came down with some sort of weird could-be-strep-but-the-quick-test-isn't-positive, virus, flu-like thing in the middle of the week where at one point I had a fever of 101.5--WHILE ON ADVIL. Annie had been sick since the Friday before with the cold that wouldn't die and then I'm pretty sure it morphed itself into a mix of my illness and hers for a lovely germ cocktail that Oscar seems to have just dipped his pinky toe in, because he's the healthiest out of the three of us with only a bad stuffy nose (knocking firmly on wood). The BEST part though was Jay taking his first business trip in not-so-recent memory this weekend and being gone all of Saturday and today. Still waiting on him. Murphy, I hate your laws.

But other than that and a profound lack of sleep because of that, we are working our way up to the surface of the germ pool and hope to rejoin civilization soon. Annie is starting to see the effect she has on our little Oscar. Oh, the power. But she's also torn by the fact that it's not just the Annie Show any more. Now she has an annoying co-host who can't talk and drools a lot. There have been some jealous outrages and some rough pretend play with the doll-house family where people and things are scolded and thrown. And I feel so bad for our cats. But, I try to let some of it fly because I figure it's better she vent the frustration now and enjoy Oscar rather than take it out on him. He's got a mean right hook, but he just doesn't know it's his yet. Also, if I didn't let it fly, I would constantly be correcting Annie and I just can't bare to be that person. How sad is that Mom Job? So we're all doing our best. Rest assured, there are moments like when she asks to hold Oscar, or she goes up to him to make him smile, or when she tells me not to take her upstairs to get her shoes otherwise "Oscar will be all by himself," (in his bouncy seat) that make the hard parts of my job a little easier. Exhibit A:

(I'd like to apologize to Oscar for the shirt he's wearing in this video ... Sorry, kid, this is where the lack of speech or control of your arms kind of bites you in the butt.) On a happier note, we'd like to wish Oma a happy birthday coming this Wednesday and Nana and GranBob a happy anniversary this Thursday!

Annie and Oscar 2-10

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We're definitely not in Houston anymore

We've been enjoying some winter weather here in Louisville. I love it. It reminds me of my childhood in Connecticut and the snow has been infrequent enough so as not to put a bad taste in my mouth. Today we got our biggest snowfall of about 6" and Annie donned her snowpants, and I my cap to frolic in the snowflakes and make a snowman while Annie perfected her snow angel technique. She got pretty good, although she had a little trouble with the dismount. I haven't lost my touch with my snowman-making abilities either, I must say.

Oscar looked on from the observation deck (aka the living room), as Papa was snowed in from work, but he too was excited for all the white stuff outside (babies love contrast), as you can see in this photo. We finally got a photo of him smiling. This was a feat. Every time he was giddy and I got the camera out, it was like a deer in headlights. "What is that shiny machine!?" He's becoming more of a player in this family, crying less, making more conversational sounds. He loves having his diaper changed. I guess he's a neat freak like his mom. His sleep is slowly improving as well. Last night he went from about 8:15 until 3. Still not stellar but I'll take it. I have to watch myself comparing him too much to Annie otherwise he is going to get a complex. Annie, as you may remember, was the dream baby sleeper. I remember calling the nurse when she was 10 weeks old complaining that she wasn't doing the 8-10 hour stretches she had been doing just nights before. I'll never forget what the nurse said: "How old is she? ... She's not supposed to be sleeping that long. Count yourself lucky." Well, the rules of equilibrium are certainly at work in this house. I just pray he's as good an eater as Annie is. Fingers crossed.

Lost in translation

As much as I like to expound on the joys of Oscar's newness, it is his sister on whom I'd like to focus today, partly because Oscar's on my list for not sleeping more than 5 hours at a time at night, but mostly because Annie is hysterically cute these days (whereas Oscar is cute in a less humorous way). Don't get us wrong, there are days when we are convinced that 3 is the new adolescence just with less vocabulary, but for the most part, we are still very much in love with our little Annie. The thing that kills me on a daily basis and keeps me coming back for more each day is her immense dedication to sounding older than she is. Today while I was writing my grocery list (I know, the glamour!), Annie started talking to me using words like "normally," "the truth," "so...," dropping sentences from books we've read over and over again, and using many other common phrases and the like she's picked up from us grown-ups, only ... wait for it ... she wasn't using them in ANY intelligible form WHATSOEVER. It was like a 2-minute stream of consciousness performance art piece. I finally looked at her and said, "Annie, I have no idea what you're talking about." She just smiled that grin of hers hoping that maybe, just maybe, at least one of the things she said was used in its appropriate context. Sadly, no. This video is a strikingly accurate, if not eternally embarrassing example of this phenomenon where Jay caught her doing some light reading whilst on the commode. I've watched it several times and although it would seem otherwise, I swear she's not on drugs.

Also, Annie has a very vivid imagination when naming characters in play. If you ask her to name a doll, or if she's roll playing and you ask her what her name is, you'll always get a response that is neither intelligible, previously existing, nor able to be repeated nor remembered. Never will you hear her say, "My name is Jane," no, you'd more likely hear, "My name is Kalikahn Makah Doozey." Of course.

Just so Oscar doesn't develop a complex, I'll give you a nutshell update. As you'll see in the video below, he smiles, no, he GRINS. Those huge wide-open mouth grins where he even sticks his tongue out a little. And he loves to babble, I think more so than Annie. Annie made you work for her coos. Oscar belts them out to us, the characters attached to his bouncy seat, the cats, sometimes a doorknob ... whomever will listen. It's great and makes up (partly) for the enormous amounts of sleep I have sacrificed in these last three months. Watching the video I posted for the last entry, I feel like he's so much bigger now than he was then. Strange how fast even infants seem to grow up. It's just a matter of time until he and his sister are having nonsense conversations that they completely understand but whose parents are at a loss ... See!? EXACTLY like teenagers.