noisy

I went to Burke Williams about a week and half ago when Rachel had Alex and Sophie was out at mom’s house. I had a gift certificate in my nightstand drawer for over 3 years now- $100 just waiting to be used. After the Hawaii traveling fiasco I was definitely up to using it- finally. I got a 50 minute spa style facial- hands paraffin waxed, cranium well massaged, face exfoliated, cleansed and masked. It was heavenly. Afterward I sat in the steam room for a while. And then the quiet room to try to just unwind for a while- but I soon got up and dressed- off to the next thing on my Friday list. It is just not quiet in my head.

Grabbed a cd from one of our newish IKEA cd towers and threw it in the player a couple of nights ago- Bettie Serveert – Palomine, which came out in 1993. It didn’t really recall specific memories- just an essence of carelessness, movement, music being truly important. Happily the whole cd was enjoyable in the midst of dinner making and cleanup and some sort of sophie craft at the table. At one point it was too loud, so down went the volume. I see how parents lose their taste for rock and roll, now, I truly do get it. For me it is because there is so much to manage in my head- so many thoughts going on- child care, target items to buy, bills to pay, Christmas gifts to conjure for my loved ones, things that need cleaning, areas in our house that need organizing. Much louder than that is the sound of my own voice disciplining my children. “Do not push him! Be kind. That is not okay. Alex, don’t put that in your mouth. Danger. Sophie, time out! You are not allowed to hurt your brother. Please stop whining- if you don’t you will go to your room so that you can have some quiet time. Give that back to him. Use your fork, not your fingers, you are not a baby. It is time to get jammies on. Will we be having 3 books instead of four?” It is loud. It is negotiating, it is compromising, it is placating, it is foreboding, it is powerful. Piling on some good old rock music from my younger days can make my head hurt now. I prefer the “Deep Sleep” cd that resides in my car to help Alex knock out for a nap. Flute and gentle piano, the sound of water rolling over rocks and the sound of rain. Calm that voice inside…

My baby boy is walking so well at 14 months- he is agile, as a good friend put it- toddling around – on his way. Three new teeth coming in at once. His favorite things are still the real phones, bottles of lotion and Vaseline tubes, other people’s toothbrushes when he can get ahold of them. Still sleeping with us- cuddly as can be. I can tell his level of comprehension is really growing each day when I talk to him. He is starting to show a little interest in books and loves the songs/finger plays we do from mommy and me- the wheels on the bus, the itsy bitsy spider, row row row your boat. He is eating more regular people food (still baby food too) and pooping a lot. He is caught up on his shots but I have delayed the mmr til the 18-24 month period. Maybe he won’t get it at all- poor Geoffrey is so worried about autism rearing its head. He is still unbelievably blonde even with the summer sun gone. He makes lots of sounds and vowels but no real additional words yet beyond, ma, da- though I do think he is saying ‘that’ and ‘more’ sometimes but I cannot be sure.

Love my girl. She is such a book and story lover, my little linguist. Yesterday she used the word ‘perhaps’ and last week ‘actually’ became a regular part of her speech. She is using skype- video conferencing- on the computer with my mom a couple of nights a week for Nurse Nancy stories, which is fun for both of them- tough to sign off though - Sophie tends to collapse into tears and I need to transition her quickly to the next thing- getting ready for bed.

My Geoffrey is achy. And tired – and his stomach is still bothering him from the weird stomach virus he seemed to have gotten last week from work. He is acting too old, too quickly, and needs to lose 15 pounds to get his moxie back. He needs time to take care of himself which I am more than happy to make for him - instead of collapsing in front of the tv and groaning with exhaustion. His well-being is such a priority for me and I wish he would take better care of himself. I put steamed veggies on the table almost every night and he is like a preschooler who just wants more ketchup for his hot dog. I do think he is smoking less though, the less he sees Ken it seems the less cigarettes Geoff smokes. If only he would quit, so that I could see beyond the next 20 years. How his children need him and will continue to need him - I don't think he is even aware how much.

Thanksgiving this week. I am bringing a brussel sprouts dish to my mom’s house.
Have not heard from sister- I guess I am off the desirable people list and I am sad about it but not too much. It’s too noisy in my head to be sad for long.

Oahu with the fam...

The first family vacation...

Well it is over! We took our first trip to Oahu, Hawaii the first week in November and it certainly was a learning experience. The flight in was not too bad- Alex slept for about half of the flight and Sophie was fairly peaceable, enjoying Little Bear episodes on a loaned portable dvd player and having some story time on Aunt karen's lap. We checked in close to midnight to the Waikiki Skytower, room 1404. Dated and a little icky but not too bad. Got the a/c unit going and piled all four of us into the king bed.

On our first day there we took a stroll (brought the kick ass City Mini-Double stroller) along the Waikiki beach waterfront- Sophie and I dipped in up to our knees. First stop at the ABC store for umbrellas, beach towels and sand toys. We packed some peanut butter and jellys and headed out to Lanikai beach. It was mellow and had nice, gentle waves but Geoff got stung by a box jellyfish, which was definitely painful. Karen took him to get some 'Marine Sting' cream and benadryl which helped a lot. When we got back we tried going out for dinner at the Hula Grill near Duke's but it all fell apart. Alex just wanted to run around and Sophie was exhausted- had a meltdown at the table. That was dinner time pretty much all week. Our second shot at eating out was at Cheeseburger Waikiki, where pretty much the same thing happened. Another late afternoon was at Crouching Lion restaurant on the way up to the north shore. That went better with few people around a lawn for cavorting. The next night we tried a yummy takeout picnic on the beach- but that was sandy and the kids were being rough on each other. The last night was the food court at the royal hawaiian shopping center. That was the best fit of all!

Other memorable, mentionable moments:

Giovanni's shrimp truck on the north shore- Geoff and Sophie enjoying her first plate lunch together
Bobbling in the lagoons at Ko Olina on the west side of the island- immensely pleasurable
Papa Beard's cream puffs
having my wonderful sister with us to help!
sumptuous food from the Diamond Head Grill
a super cute Le Sport Sac purse for me- exclusive to Hawaii!
Hours at the Moana surfrider pool- heavenly
Swims at Waikiki beach- even more heavenly
running around on a grassy area of Waimea Bay after the beach was closed (the swimming part) due to a shark sighting
meandering the Honolulu zoo and finding the tortoises
ice cream every night
my Sophie bean - moments of attitude but enjoyed herself a lot
best part of the timeshare unit- the washer dryer combo in the kitchen which I used almost every day
super sweet and drippy fresh pineapple and papaya on the north shore
buying sophie her first pair of size 10/11 crocs- they have minnie mouse holes and a jibbitz for each shoe - one angel fish and one octopus

The not so good-
as aforementioned dinner nightmares
missing our flight on sunday and getting in a fight with karen because of it
sand in Alex's ears
Alex- my poor guy's nose was running all week and yesterday I felt two new teeth break the surface
which helps explain why he was WHINY ALL WEEK LONG. He just seemed all out of sorts, especially in the timeshare. Sensitive little thing...
Geoff losing his cool- a daily occurrence
the jellyfish sting
packing everything up
being in the condo. What an energy suck. Everything would always improve dramatically once we clearedout for the day.
Geoff thinking he lost the kids' birth certificates when we were flying home
the flight home- Alex slept for only the first hour and was all over the place. Sophie watched as much on the dvd player until in ran out of juice an hour before landing. Thank god for a Hershey snackster pack to save the day.

Ah, a quintessential family vacation...

Halloween festivities...

Back in the everyday world- it is November 13th and the heat here in southern california continues- high of 88 degrees today and hazy as can be out there. I am doing okay- still fighting a cold that has been hanging around for weeks now, Geoffrey is too. At least the kids seem better.

First of all, we hosted a very delightful 3 year old centric halloween party. It was so sweet! I planned lots of activities for the thursday afternoon party - it went from 2:30-4:30 and I think it was just about the right amount to keep them interested. At first we did 2 crafts- one was decorating orange pumpkin craft bags with stickers and pom poms and feathers, pipe cleaners. The other one was decorating a real pumpkin with foam face stickers- super cute.

After that we did story time in the backyard where I read four sort of halloween themed books- the girls ate it up. After that we had easy snacks- mini hot dog bites, go-gurts, grapes, mummy mix (like chex mix sort've) mini quiches and cheese and crackers for the mommies. Then we played pin the nose on the pumpkin which did not go too well- I think the girls were a little young- they were not too hot on the idea of putting on a blindfold. About half participated- and our one 6 year old guest won, Leeah- she got a little painting kit as her prize.

After that we did sugar cookie decorating- I put out shaped cookies I had made with sophie ahead of time and frozen- pumpkins, cats and ghosts with orange, purple and white powdered sugar icing- the girls could decorate with halloween sprinkles, mini m and m's and mini chocolate chips. A bit messy but they were having a good time. Lastly we did a spider hunt- where I had Rachel set out big and little spiders inside the main rooms of the house at different levels. Sophie found the most, 7, and won her prize- 3 pairs of Tinkerbell undies. Finished up with Halloween funfetti cupcakes and some cookies that another Mom had brought. The kids got little monster goodie bags with a couple of sweet treats, a pumpkin bubbles necklace, a couple of creepy crawlies, a Halloween eraser and reflector necklace kit. A nice variety if I do say so myself! I had great help from Rachel all day - setting up and getting final party day things ready. Sophie dressed as a princess and Alex was too cute in his little frog costume. It was definitely fun and I would like to do it again next year- especially as I now have lots of halloween decorations!

I rented two kids' 6 foot tables and 10 chairs for the second time (same thing for Sophie's party in May.) I think I would like to buy 2 kids tables- they have ones with height adjustments from Lakeshore Learning that I have heard are just great. Keeping all the food just grab and go was so easy too- no recipe making, just easy baked appetizers, fruit, cereal mix and yogurts- that was the best call of all.

I used to dread Halloween as a single person- or I should say, pre-parenthood. I guess this is my wayof celebrating it too- by giving Sophie a fun and memorable experience. This particular holiday isso much fun through a 3 year old's eyes...

The next night- on halloween itself, sophie and alex and I traversed up to Oxnard for the ritualized trick or treating with Megan and Kimberly. Robert was away, so Alex and I mostly gave away candy to the kids from the porch. Some cute costumes but not too many. Sophie went crazy over her candy- noshing away as she does every year. Alex seemed to get a kick out of it too- toddling around in his froggy suit...