We've Moved!

Hey y'all,

I finally got our Wordpress blog up and running. Hopefully this means even more exciting blogging adventures in the future!

As of today, please bookmark our NEW site: http://songsinthekeyofkibi.com and visit us over there from now on. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Big B.

Stranded!

Has this ever happened to you?

Over the weekend we switched K's car seat to DH's car. Well, this morning K was supposed to go to preschool (for a glorious 3 hours!). At about 7 am DH left for work... WITHOUT switching the car seat back to my car.

Cut to a frame of me doing a dramatic movie scream in slow motion, "Noooooooooooo!"

This means all of my lofty hopes for the morning - exercise, groceries, homework for my web writing class -- are dashed. ARGH!

After I told K, "I guess we're not taking you to your playschool after all," we headed back inside and came up to my room to flop on my bed and catch a little Sesame Street. I thought a while about how we'll spend our new free time. It's a sunny day, so we'll probably head outside and play in the sandbox.

K interrupted my thoughts by snuggling up to me all of a sudden and announcing, "You are MY mommy!"

I guess there are a few million things worse than being "stranded" with your cuddly son on a beautiful fall morning.

That Which Is Expected Vs. That Which Is My Reality

I haven't had the energy to write long posts, lately, and I feel a little guilty about that, since my whole reason for doing this blog was to capture all of my adventures with Kibi before he grows up and goes off to college.

Well, in the spirit of feeling both guilty AND lazy, I'm devoting today's post to this link to a story I found on my new friend Betsy's blog. (Hi Betsy! BTW, I love your blog and your stories about your daughter, Z.)

I encourage you all to read it. Finished? Good. Now, don't you just feel better?

How Much TV is Too Much?

If you're like me, you have a major complex about allowing your child to watch TV - any TV. That said, you readily (but secretly) admit that TV makes your life as a parent That Much Easier. In fact, it's sort of amusing how, before you became a parent, you swore that your child wouldn't watch an ounce of television, eat junk food, or do anything similarly detrimental to his/her development as a wholesome individual. But this is real life, folks, and we all know a person has to keep sane.

So... what's a conscientious (but lazy) parent to do?

The Washington Post today offers a refresher on how much screen time is too much. The bottom line - no more than two hours a day.

Since K. loves (and I mean looooooooves) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I try to make up for the fact that I let him watch it twice per day (once while I am showering, and the other time right after bath as a means of "settling down" before bedtime) by reminding myself that we never* go over that two hour limit. Good to get some affirmation from the experts!

*full disclosure: well, ALMOST never...

Miscellaneous Musings

I've been thinking a lot lately about ramping up my business (communications consulting, mostly to nonprofits in the Washington, DC area). Now that Kibi is in school six hours a week, and he is (knock on wood) pretty reliable about naps, I have bigger chunks of time to get some serious writing done. So ... all I have to do is get more clients (as if it were as easy as that).

Anyway, I went on a whirlwind spree on the internet last night, looking up all kinds of freelance writing blogs and sites, and was pleasantly surprised by how much is out there. It all seems to emanate from this wickedly awesome site: Media Bistro. I share this only in case any of you out there are interested in the same line of work that I am (freelance writing and PR).

The other thing I decided last night is that I need to learn WordPress (as you will probably agree by staring so long at the sucky layout of this blog - sorry, Blogspot!)

Soooo... I'm taking an online web writing and editing class which starts next week! As part of the class we will develop our own blogs, so this is when I hope to get my act together and, ultimately, move this blog over to a far more attractive site at WordPress.

I realize that you, dear readers, may care about precisely none of any of the above, but finally getting my entrepreneurial act together excites me in a geeky way, plus I'm operating on lots of caffeine and little sleep and feeling very streamofconsciousness. In any event, I'll keep you posted whether you want to be or not. Ha!

Have a good weekend!

Off Topic: Netflix is Off Their Game!

I love Netflix. Whenever a new movie comes out that I know there's no way in hell I will be seeing in the theater because, after all, I am the parent of a toddler, I promptly add it to my Netflix queue then sit back and rest assured that I'll catch it the minute it comes out on DVD. For some reason, this process gives me complete peace and serenity.

Anyway, DH was under the weather Sunday night, and I was bored, so after putting Kibi to bed I settled down in my PJs, glass of wine handy, and got ready to watch State of Play. I was totally drawn in - - that is, until about 3/4 of the way into the movie where the DVD promptly pooped out on me. I got it out, rubbed it off, and did all those other things you're not supposed to do when trying to fix a malfunctioning disc. Still, no dice. At precisely the same point in the movie, the DVD just went kablooey.

So, sadly, I shipped the disc off, completed the "report a problem" function on the Netflix website, and waited.

Yesterday Netflix sent me a new State of Play disc - or so I thought. Last night, I was all excited and got ready to watch where I left off. Imagine the stream of curse words that exited my mouth when I got to the EXACT SAME SPOT IN THE MOVIE AND THE DISC STOPPED WORKING AGAIN. At first I thought, "What are the CHANCES!?!?" Then I realized, duh, clearly someone who hadn't had their caffeine yet at Netflix opened up the disc I returned, put it on the top of the "BAD DISCS" pile, and then mistakenly missed the "GOOD DISCS" pile and re-shipped me my bad disc. Right? Because otherwise... well, that's just statistically impossible.

Argh. C'mon Netflix, wake up. I need to see what happens to Congressman Ben Affleck. Don't let me down!

Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot, Phase 2

I'm too distraught to post much today, because they've started with phase two of the Great Dismantling Of Our Backyard to Make Way for a Bike Path and Sidewalk Project.

Today they're taking down our backyard fence... they'll put up a temporary one until the new fencing that goes along with the project is installed. But for now I guess we can kiss playing in the backyard goodbye, since it would involve Kibi almost literally playing in traffic. Ugh!

Caillou Screed

Caillou, please shut up. You drive me nuts. Seriously, shut up now. Your voice is so irritating.

And what's with that theme song? It makes my ears bleed. It's so nasal-sounding: "Nyah, nyah, n-nyah, n-nyah! Nyah, nyah, n-nyah, n-nyah! Nyah, nyah, n-nyah, n-nyah! Caaaaaaaiiiiiiii-yoooooooo!"

Too bad my kid likes to watch you.

Honeythankyou's

If you're like me, you probably have a much longer "Honeydo" list than a "Honey, thank you!" one. But this past weekend, my dear spouse was so impressingly productive, I thought I should relay to you, dear readers, exactly how thankful I am.

(NOTE: I should add that all good marriage counselors will tell you that the positive feedback is oh-so-important to keeping a marriage happy and healthy. So feel free to follow my lead in your respective households if you like, kind friends ...)

So, back to the Honeythankyou's. In the course of one day - an abnormally chore-filled Sunday - my husband, J., proceeded to do the following:

Replaced a panel of siding that fell off our house during a recent thunderstorm

Fixed one of our bathroom cabinet doors that had been unhinged for WEEKS

Replaced a leaky wax seal and phlange (what the heck are those??) on one of our toilets

Mowed the lawn

Reseeded some dead grass patches in our front lawn

Got 25% of the way through the unenviable task of cleaning our horrendously messy garage

and... the piece de resistance...

Replaced a leaky wax seal and phlange - sic? - (what the heck are those things?) on one of our toilets

Unclogged another toilet*

So, even though he never reads this blog and therefore won't know about this public praise until I tell him... Honey, here's to you for all you do!

THANKS!

*Those of you who know me well that I will do anything -- that's right, ANYTHING -- to get out of doing this most dastardly of deeds. (Remind my college housemates to tell you the story of The Great Toilet Plunging of 1996 when you get a moment.) And looky here, I didn't even have to barter anything to get DH to do it for me this time! I will admit I did let him regale me with the grotesque story of how he got it unclogged. Let's put it this way... it involved a "snaking device". (I'm dry heaving as I type this.)

Arming Ourselves for Cold and Flu Season

Kibi and I are both down for the count today with colds. At least that's what I think they are - my husband keeps making me paranoid by constantly asking if I think we've got swine flu. I think he's only half joking.

Anyway, speaking of flu, I've got us signed up for our flu shots. This year, our pedi is doing FluMist instead of injections. The receptionist told me these are supposed to last even longer than the normal flu shot. Huh. I'm intrigued. We go one week from today so I'll let you know how it goes. The thought of having something shot up our noses doesn't sound really appealing - in fact, I'd rather take the shot - but oh, well. We'll suck it up I guess. I'm proud of my husband, too, because he already got his done! Last year he was so slack about getting it that by the time he tried, they had run out of vaccine. Glad we won't have that problem this year.

Are you planning on getting the H1N1 vaccine? To me, it's a no brainer, but I guess I can understand why some people would be hesitant. In any case, as soon as that's available, our family will be marching in to the doctor's office to get it. I found that the CDC has a good fact sheet on H1N1 for those of you who haven't stumbled upon it already.

No other big news to report ... I'm off to go drink some warm tea. Have a good weekend!

Summing Up the First Day

The first day of preschool seemed to come off without a hitch. As I tucked Kibi in last night, I asked him (for the millionth time) about how he liked his first day of "playschool."

You see, I had only received dribs and drabs of information from him throughout the day, such as:

"I was a fire truck!"

and

"Mommy packed a fruit bar!" (he seemed to completely have missed the adorable - if I do say so myself - note and picture I had packed in his lunch box)

and

"I play, play, played!"

and the mysterious:

"The girls played with eggs." ???

So anyway, I remained curious about what went on. I got initial positive reports from the teacher and two co-oping parents. The teacher reported that Kibi did "great, but... um, he doesn't really like to sit at a table, does he?" (Geez, is my kid the ONLY 2 year old who won't sit at a table to eat?)

So, as I tucked him in snug and cozy into his crib, I asked once again how Kibi liked the school.

He sighed and said, satisfied, "I am so proud of it."

I wasn't expecting that answer, but, hey ... I'll take it!

First Day of Preschool

Well, it's here, and it's going well so far. I dropped Kibi off at 9:30 with no major problems and I'll go back at 12:30 to get him.

I took the advice of the preschool literature and talked with him about his new "playschool" for several days prior to today. This morning, I think it did occur to him that Mom would be actually LEAVING him there (as opposed to staying with him, like we did last week at the playdate arranged for the kids to meet each other). As he ate his breakfast, he quietly asked, "Mommy going to leave?" and I gently replied, "Yes, but Mommy will come back and you can tell me all about your day!" And he didn't protest, so I considered that a good omen.

His teacher, a very cool guy named Peter, told me to expect that kids at this age will go through phases of not wanting to be dropped off versus being fine with it. I imagine it will be hard, also, during the mornings when I co-op at the school. But oh, well, like every other challenge that's come up in our 2 1/2 year journey with Kibi, we'll just ... deal with it!

Here are some pictures of the big day for your enjoyment. That one is of him heading toward the classroom with his Mickey Mouse lunch box. (I sure wish he would've let me snap his photo from the FRONT! But I suppose this turned out equally cute.)

Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot

Well, it's not that bad, but I feel like it's just as drastic. Our backyard trees are GONE -- thanks to a construction project courtesy of our county. The final project will be good for the community, I'll admit; it involves adding sidewalks, streetlights and a bike path to what is now a very busy and dangerous road (that happens to run directly behind our backyard). But during the course of the next six months or so, Kibi is going to have almost no place to play.

Above, you can see the before and after pictures. (You'll see Kibi playing by the fence and in the background there are, in fact, some trees. Well, rest assured they'll be cut down this week too.) I'm sort of peeved because the tree removal company wasn't exactly helpful during the process of cutting down all the trees yesterday: first of all, although the project manager informed us it would eventually happen (more than a year ago), we got no warning that it was actually happening yesterday. Kibi and I weren't home at the time, so imagine my surprise when we got home. What's worse, because we weren't home, apparently the contractors took it upon themselves to enter our backyard patio, shove all the furniture, toys, etc. (including Kibi's play house) unceremoniously into a pile in the corner, and then tear down all the things we had hanging in our trees -- windchimes, a wind sock that I still can't find, a bird house, and worst of all: Kibi's beloved swing. We spent the entire afternoon cleaning up the mess, and sighing about the barren landscape. Now, we look out our living room glass doors and see this major road, only about 15 feet away. It's really weird. And pretty ugly.

It was really when I saw Kibi's swing, cast aside under the piles of wood chips, that the magnitude of losing all our trees really hit me. Not to get too melodramatic about it, but it's really traumatic. For the last seven years (as long as we've been in this house), we've taken for granted the privacy, shade, and plain old serenity that our backyard canopy of trees provided. And when Kibi came along, we used our favorite old tree for endless swing rides, feeling safely tucked away in the protection of our back yard trees. Now it's all gone - and our patio (and house) is exposed for the world to see. I feel like everyone who passes by on this busy road is looking at my underwear or something. It's an odd feeling.

Fortunately, the county promises us a privacy wall as well as whatever kinds of replacement trees we want. Unfortunately, you don't have a lot to choose from when you're talking about new, replanted trees. We're probably going to go with arbor vitae or something that provides the best screen.

OK, I'll stop whining now. But I feel better having had the opportunity to do a little venting to mourn the loss of some dear friends.

We Will Always Remember

The events of September 11th, 2001 were very, very real to me. I was here in Washington, DC when it happened. In fact, for a few terrifying minutes that morning, my colleagues at the time and I thought that the final airplane was headed straight toward us. Working in a building located only three blocks from the White House, we thought it was entirely within the realm of possibility that we could be in striking distance. That didn't happen, as we all know, and I became one of the "lucky" ones: my immediate loved ones and I were safe, and I didn't personally know a single person out of the thousands who died. Therefore, I don't claim to have any special "rights" to that day, but it does surprise me how well, over the past eight years, I've been able to tamp down the feelings that surround my recollection.

Well, those feelings all came rushing back today, when I turned on the TV to watch some of the memorials. I'm not sure exactly what triggered it - the moments of silence observed at the times when each plane crashed; the sight of the elderly couple standing in the rain at the NYC memorial service, huddled together under their umbrellas; or the words of the survivors as they read off the names of victims and offered their own personal statements of love and grief. Whatever it was, I found myself, suddenly, sobbing.

As long ago as that day seems, once you let yourself remember what it felt like, this life-changing event once again becomes all too real.

In light of this, it was with a touch of -- I'm not sure, sadness? Depression? Confusion? -- that I read this article in today's Washington Post. It's hard to believe that we've now entered a sort of new era, one in which not everyone remembers exactly what they were doing that day, or how it felt. I can only hope that I can pass along the important parts of that day - the way we all came together as a country, the way politics was put aside, if only for a moment, the way we all wanted to do good with no expectations of acknowledgment for our service - to my son, so that he will always remember, too.

Speaking of New Chapters, Here's One I'm Really Dreading

Perhaps I'm being a leeeeeee-tle melodramatic, but here goes: a change is afoot, and this change could ... very well mean .... The End of The World.

Kibi is showing definite signs of being ready to start CLIMBING OUT OF HIS CRIB.

On that day, my life as I know it will be over.

It's funny, I've caught him three times now, not all the way out but literally poised to jump out (astraddle the crib rail with a cat-that-swallowed-the-canary look on his face). Something (thankfully) seems to be keeping him from pulling the trigger, because every time he's done it he's announced it loudly as a warning: "Mooooommmmmmeeeeee! Come seeeeeeeee I! Come seeeee what I doooooooing!" (And yes, he's still saying "I" instead of "me", which makes it all the more difficult not to laugh.)

I know you experienced parents out there are laughing at me, evilly, but really, can you blame me for mourning what appears to be the end of an era? I've enjoyed parenthood all the more knowing that AT LEAST for 1-2 hours a day, I get a teensy tiny bit of Moi Time.

What in the world happens when I can't get him to stay in his bed?!?!?

Endings, and New Beginnings

We recently wrapped up our tenure at a local co-op playgroup. This was a photo snapped of Kibi on one of our last days there. Notice he is still in a sort of jetlag haze since we had returned from our Montana trip only a day before. As a result, he sorta slept through music class. Ha!

My friend T. was the one who got me involved in the playgroup, and I'm glad she did because I think it was good for both Kibi and me. Kibi got a much-needed opportunity to socialize with other kids his age, and I developed good co-oping experience ... both are things that I'm especially grateful for as we embark on our next big adventure: nursery school!

Kibi starts on September 16th, and I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

I come from a family of teachers who happen to believe 2.5 years is too young to go to "preschool". So it was with some trepidation that I went ahead and applied to a few of them anyway. I'll be honest - everyone does it in this area. Not that it's a valid reason, but I'll admit I got sucked in to the thinking. And, truth be told, rather than doing it for any I-have-to-get-my-kid-academically-prepared-at-a-ridiculously-young-age reason, I quite simply wanted to join a co-op preschool, in particular, to a) meet more parents and b) give Kibi an opportunity to play with new toys and kids. Simple as that.

Well, we got waitlisted at the three places we applied to back in March, so I figured that was the universe telling me to wait a year. But lo and behold .... about two months ago we got a call from the school I liked the best, saying they had a spot open for us and would we like to join? I said yes right away.

In a way I'm a little nostalgic/emotional about sending him off to "school"... but I keep telling myself, it's just a two day Parents' Day Out program (Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm). LOTS of parents do it, and their kids survive. In fact, lots of kids actually benefit from it. And, as my husband and I have said, if it turns out he is terrified to be away from me two days a week for 3 hours at a time, we can always pull him out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will work out, though. He seems up for a new challenge and if the "goodbye, Mommy" part gets to him, he can always be distracted by toys!

So... there you have it. For now we're getting all our supplies ready for "school". Sorta fun. And we get to meet Kibi's new "classmates" at a playdate tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Kids Have No Concept of Time

Ahhhh... this is just plain old funny.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Changes

Today is one of those sublime days in which I have no work obligations, no social obligations, and even no chores at home since I got caught up yesterday. Hooray! It's just gorgeous outside, so I took Kibi to one of our many wonderful parks in the area. We hadn't been to this particular one in months, so it was interesting to see how he tackled it as an older child.

I've been thinking a lot about how little ones change as they grow, in what seems like a slow manner, but in reality it happens before our very eyes and we are usually too busy or distracted to notice it. During one rare pause in the action this morning, when I was pushing K. on the swing (he will now let me do that for what seems like hours!), he pulled his sun hat off and I stared at his face. His hair was all matted and it looked so sweet. His face was flushed and he had a little scratch on his forehead from an unfortunate run in with a fence the other day. Still, to me, he looked completely perfect, and happy.

I loved being able to really study his face as he swung back and forth, back and forth pretending to be an airplane. It was at this moment that I felt I caught a glimpse of his changing face. Something about it looked different than yesterday, while I'm sure no one would really be able to pinpoint what is was exactly. But I know it is changing, and soon he'll look like even less of a baby than he did today.

Times like these when I look at him so intently, I try to picture what he'll look like as an older child, a teenager, a college student, and (gasp!) an adult. But then I shake that thought off, and go back to enjoying the moment. That's what days like these remind me... to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the here and now.

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for sending stimulus dollars our way so that my son can watch construction trucks in front of his house ALL DAY LONG.

Sincerely,

Kibi's Mama

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

This isn't really about anything embarrassing that Kibi said, just some cute declarations he made as a result of our busy day today.

We spent a beautiful late summer afternoon at the neighborhood park, enjoyed a quiet dinner together (DH was working late), and then I surprised Kibi with a treat: brand new bathtub crayons! These are wonderful because a) he loves them and b) they virtually ensure that I can get through AT LEAST one Us Weekly during bathtime and c) the mess is gone with one swipe of the washcloth!

Anyway, he was full of observations during bath time, but my favorites by far were:

(Long pause, during which, incidentally, I thought he was pooping in the tub) ...

"Mommy, I like to think about going to the park today."

(Thinking while writing with the crayons on the ledge of the tub:)

"Fun about crayon fun ..." (I knew this was not what he meant to say; rather that he was working out the sentence structure in his head, which was actually the cutest thing about it)

So I said, "What are you trying to say?"

He tried again: "Fun about crayons is they write on the tub and you wipe them off!"

He clearly meant to say, "You know what's fun about crayons?..."

They were both sweet, making-conversation types of comments. I love that he's attempting to talk just like a big boy, even if the words sometimes get in the way.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Well, I'm back, after an extremely long hiatus. I think the strain of my grandma's passing, combined with immediately going out west on vacation, culminated in my being lackadaisical about updating my blog in these final days of summer. I hope that I haven't lost all of my faithful readers as a result!

I'm posting some pics from our Montana vacation, which was amazing. I've never been to that part of the country before, and it felt like I was on a different planet in many ways: wide, open spaces, a much slower pace, unusual weather patterns. Kibi had a great time, as did the rest of us.

Now we're back home and ready to get back into the swing of things as we prepare for Fall to make its first appearances.

Sorry It's Been So Long...

... but we've had a lot going on.

Kibi and I were in Ohio for 10 days visiting my parents. Sadly, my ailing grandmother had taken a turn for the worse while we were there. She declined pretty steadily and we thought she might even pass away during our time there. However, she held on and, although it was hard to leave, we said goodbye to her and came back home, wondering when we would get the dreaded phone call.

We spent two quiet but enjoyable days here, catching up with DH/Daddy and recharging our emotional batteries. Then this morning, my brother called with the sad news: my grandma passed away. I feel very sad, of course, but I do feel a great sense of relief because she was struggling so much, and she was so ready to go. As hard as it was to see her at her worst those last several days, we all agreed that we had been given a gift: time together. And that is something I will always cherish.

So, we're heading back out to Ohio in a few days to make a mournful journey home. Sigh. Thanks to all of you who've expressed kind words, sent notes, or called me these last few days... your thoughts and prayers are so very appreciated.

Rest well, Mumma. I love you.

Letter to the Powers that Be

Dear Nap Gods,

Please don't tell me my son is ready to give up his nap.

It's been three days now, and he's not gone down like he used to do (for a glorious 2-3 hours).

Granted, he has had a bit of a B.M. thing going on, so maybe it's just tummy trouble. But still, I keep hearing that voice in the back of my head, saying (like that bratty kid from the Simpsons:) "HA, ha! Your kid's losing his afternoon nap! Kiss all that sought-after afternoon free time goodbye!"

Oh Nap Gods, please say it isn't so.

Teen Angst Flashback

So I got my top braces put on Monday. Man, do they hurt! I feel like my teeth have been shoved into a vise ... and that's on top of the Motrin I've been popping pretty much 24/7** since they were placed on my teeth.

And the great news is, this isn't the end of it! After six weeks, they put the bottom row on. I guess they figure that by that time, I'll be used to this agony.

I guess I'd better suck it up. The orthodontist says I have to wear them for 1 1/2 years. (It's funny, in the lifespan of your child, 1 1/2 years seems to fly by, but when you are told you are going to have to wear restrictive brackets on your teeth for that long, it seems like an eternity.)

The only consolation is, thankfully you really can't notice them. The brackets themselves are clear, and the only thing you can see, if you really look hard, is a thin silver line of wire going across my teeth. But when I'm talking, they're positioned in a way that you can't even tell. Thank goodness for modern orthodontia!

Good times!

**I should mention that I do try to space out my acetomeniphen - sic? - dosages, in a lame attempt to avoid getting liver damage.

Another Hilarious Site

Sorry I've been MIA this week... lots going on. I got a new work project and I'm still figuring out how to cram it in to my small slice of Kibi-free time during the day. So unfortunately I have to keep this short.

I found another amusing website: www.getmortified.com. Those of you who came of age in the late 80's/early 90's will especially appreciate it.

To wit: Check out this rockin' video featuring the chubby kid from the Goonies. I don't know why, but this makes me giggle uncontrollably.

Happy Wednesday!

Where Do They Come Up With This Stuff?

This morning, K. was scooping water out of the cat's bowl with one of his little toy cups.

I said, "What are you doing?"

His reply: "I'm scooping drainage from Scooby's bowl!"

DRAINAGE?! Seriously? Now, where does he come up with this stuff?

Been Caught Sleepin'

As some of you know, I work downtown on Tuesdays, and on those days Kibi goes to stay with his grandma. Usually his naps get a little off-kilter on these days, but I don't mind because she keeps him so busy and entertained all day long.

Well, imagine my amusement when I came to pick him up one afternoon and found him sleeping behind the front door. My MIL said that he fell asleep sitting on the couch, then woke up abruptly, jumped off the couch to play for about two minutes, then promptly ran behind the door, curled up, and fell asleep this way for the next two hours.

I wish I could sleep this well!

A Fitting Tribute for a Fish

My friend W. today sent me this YouTube video, without (I think?) knowing anything about my Tuna the Goldfish story!

I wish I could say Tuna's "interrment" was as ceremonious as Lucky's.

This is reaaaaaaaaaaaally funny.

The Sad Tale of Tuna the Fish

This is the sad (entirely true) story of Tuna the goldfish.

Last week, Tuna came to stay with us while his owner, Karen, went to Sweden on a family vacation.

We cared for and loved Tuna very much. We fed him 2-3 times per day and gave him fresh water mid-week, as instructed.

On the Fourth of July, Tuna didn't eat his breakfast. He hung out at the side of his bowl, gulping listlessly.

Finally, after we got back from the pool that afternoon, I discovered him, dead. I furtively (and solemnly) removed Tuna from the bowl before Kibi could see.

The next day, I told Kibi that Tuna was sick and had had to leave our house for the fish hospital. Meanwhile, wouldn't it be exciting to go to the pet store and buy K. a new fish? DH, Kibi and I schlepped out to Petco.

Kibi, upon setting foot inside the pet store, gagged and threw up (quite literally) due to the "animal smells" in the store. When we asked him what was wrong, he said he didn't like the "poop smell" and that he didn't want to go into any other "smelly stores".

So, no replacement fish for the time being. I might see if he's up for a ride to the store today, but in some ways I feel I might be pushing my luck. Karen, if you're reading this, let me again say how very sorry I am for letting Tuna die on my watch. The sad thing is, this isn't the first time it's happened. Pretty much the same thing happened to "Tuna I" a few years ago.

What is it with me and goldfish? Do I have a Bermuda Triangle thing going on?

Anyway, RIP Tuna II. You were a good fish. The fact that you died on Independence Day makes your passing all the more poetic, in my opinion.

Happy Fourth of July

If today is any indication, we're off to a deliciously enjoyable weekend. DH is off work so we've had great family time. This morning we got up early, walked to the local coffee joint, got sufficiently caffeine-ated, took Kibi to the park, and later ate lunch. I've just finished one lighthearted summer read and am about to start another book that promises to be interesting. Meanwhile, Kibi is still napping.

Have a great Fourth of July, everyone!

Let's Hear It for Small Victories

Did I mention my "big bummer" personal news development?

I have to get braces.

Yup, despite the fact that I already had them in junior high, and despite the fact that, aesthetically-speaking, my teeth look fine ... I have to get them.

It's a long story, probably one you don't care to hear about, but I'll tell a truncated version: I'm missing a permanent tooth among my bottom row of molars. Consequently, the spacing on my bottom row of teeth is all "jacked up," as my friend Karen likes to say, and it's causing problems with my bite. The overbite problem, combined with my incessant teeth-grinding, has been causing my teeth to chip constantly.

Soooooo... in order to avoid all of this rigamarole (after all, I do want to have teeth going into my golden years!) I have to get braces. BIG BUMMER. The only small consolation is that these days, they have "invisible braces" like those above, so at least I don't have to look like each of my teeth is wrapped in tin foil, a la 1987.

Well, I will not go down without a fight, and today I scored Small Victory #1 in my orthodontia battle. Here's the scoop: I was scheduled to have separators put on my teeth. For those of you who are not enlightened, separators push your teeth apart to make space for the bands that go with the braces. A HUGELY painful ordeal. I was supposed to get separators on, and then the top row of my braces goes on July 13th.

Well, imagine my surprise upon learning that my teeth are actually too tightly squooshed together (my verbiage, not the orthodontist's) for separators. So I won't get them! And instead of bands, I'll get brackets.

Ha HA! Take THAT, braces!

I Believe David Byrne Would Be Proud

You may find yourself

Traveling in a big suburban car

And you may ask yourself,

Is there not more tolerable music to listen to with my toddler?

And you may tell yourself

"I have an idea!"

And you may tell yourself

To adapt new lyrics to an old favorite.

This was the impetus for the brilliant idea I had yesterday, when I was really aching for grown-up music on the way home from my MIL's with Kibi. Knowing well his fascination with All Things Fire Truck, I made some quick changes to a perfectly wonderful song by the Talking Heads.

I was so impressed with myself that I jotted the words down (as much as I could remember them) when I got home.

Feel free to use the following for yourselves if and when you are so inclined. You can thank me later.

Burning Down the House

One day, those fire trucks had to co-ome,

Oh, baby! Those fire trucks on the ru-un.

Ain't no ordinary day

Burning down the house!

Hold tight - wait 'til the fire's over,

Hold tight - see all the firemen come up.

There has got to be a way

Burning down the house!

It's time to take the axes out, and chop down all the doors and walls.

(Get those hoses out, to-ooo!)

Close enough but not too far, those hoses shoot up toward the stars.

Fightin' fire with waaa-ter!

All wet - hey, you might need a raincoat.

Shakedown, and pick up all your me-ess.

Three hundred sixty five degrees

Burning down the house!

(expand as necessary....)

You Guessed It... I Have to Mention Jacko

I loved Michael Jackson from approximately 1985 through 1992. I can't tell you how many of my girlfriends had his posters plastered all over their bedroom walls, and I've already coerced a dear high school friend to post Facebook photos of her fourth grade Jacko outfit (a matching pink skirt and top with a sparkly glove splayed across the front). Even after his period of being REALLY HUGE, I remained interested in his music for a long time. I think he was easily one of the greatest entertainers the world will ever know.

Yet, it's pretty clear that he was genuinely loony. And on a more serious note, I am also deeply suspicious of what he did with many of the young children he took under his wing. The fact that he settled out of court for millions of dollars with that young boy whose family sued him is unsettling at best.

Regardless, I think the world lost a huge cultural icon yesterday. During the inevitable media feeding frenzy in the days to come, hopefully we will be able to focus on the positive ways he affected the world.

Sort of Cartoonish, But Still Traumatic

We have this beautiful cherry wood dining room table that my mother in law passed down to us. We haven't gotten our acts together enough to find the right set of "grown up" chairs to go with the table, so we've been getting by with those cheap but relatively attractive folding wooden chairs that you get at places like World Market, Target, etc.

Well, today I sat down on one of them, holding Kibi in my lap (he was being soooooo fussy about eating lunch today I decided to take matters into my own hands and spoon feed him from my own chair) ... and IT BROKE. We went crashing to the floor, and amazingly in the split second in which I realized it was happening I was able to cushion K's head with my arm to prevent it from falling back, SMACK, on our hardwood floor. We were both fine but he was a little spooked. (Poor little guy... he was quiet at first, and then, when I got up and hauled the chair out to the garbage can outside, I heard him inside bursting into tears.)

I read the bottom of the chair and it said: MAXIMUM WEIGHT ALLOWED: 160 LBS. Well, NOW you tell us!

My only consolation: thank goodness it took two of us (and not me alone) to break the dang thing.

I guess we're going chair shopping this weekend....

More for the Worry File

I don't enjoy sharing distressing news, I really don't. Still, the latest issue of Newsweek provides yet another troubling take on the chemical BPA.

GROSS: "In a study.... monkeys fed 400 times the amount of BPA that the government assumes people ingest had lower levels in their blood than the average American."

Now, I believe in the power of positive thinking as much as the next person, but to read that -- ? Well, I think we're pretty much screwed.

Pooltime!

Nothing spells S-U-M-M-E-R like the community swimming pool. This year, rather than wait years (no, that's not an exaggeration - I literally mean YEARS) on a list to join one of the many local pools in our area, we decided to join the local Knights of Columbus pool, which welcomes members and non-members alike. We've so far been there twice this summer, and I've gotta say, it's a riot!

Really, it's a lot of fun. You get a real slice of life every time you go. There's no pretension whatsoever, which is refreshing. Little kids, big kids, parents, high schoolers (the swim team is called the "Holy Mackerels" - dontcha just love it?), grandparents -- they're all there. There are two Olympic sized pools and a kiddie pool (K. calls it the "cat pool"). In my opinion, the kiddie pool-goers benefit the most, because we get to enjoy a fenced off area complete with picnic tables for snacking or picnicking, and it's never really crowded. In addition, there are picnic areas, grills, and even a "lounge" where Mom or Dad can enjoy a cocktail while the kids play. (I did a double-take as I spotted a couple of fathers carrying pitchers of beer out to the picnic tables yesterday afternoon - enjoying the perfect Father's Day, no doubt!)

The entire thing is sort of a throwback to the 1950's in a way. They make it all so easy for you to come, hang, eat dinner, dump your kid in the car, go home and call it a night. It's going to be one of my favorite parts of summer, I'm quite sure of it.

The Great Midwest

AN UPDATE: A couple of days in to Bottle-Free Life and "Kevin" (you clever readers, out there!) appears to be taking to it alright, for the most part -- but the odd thing is that he seems to be taking it out on the milk. He's asking for everything BUT milk now: juice, water, etc. Fortunately, most times I -- oops, I mean "Betsy" -- can talk him into milk with some crafty cajoling. ("Let's see how fast we can drink this milk out of the cup with the crazy straw!" "When you drink the milk down to the bottom of this mug, it turns blue! How about that?!" and so on...) I suppose you couldn't have expected any of this to be easy. Oh, well.

In less frustrating news, I thought I'd post some photos of our recent trip to my parents'.

I love it there because they have an acre of land (unheard of here in these urban parts!) and when we're there in the summertime, K. gets to scoot around to his heart's content.

We had fun checking out bugs on the trees, building a sandbox from scratch - yes, that's right (thanks Dad!), and eating our meals out on the deck almost every day.

Ah, summer in the great Midwest!

The Bottle Fairy

I have a friend (I'll call her Betsy) who has a son (I'll call him Kevin). Although Kevin is over 2 years old, he hasn't quite kicked the bottle habit. This has embarrassed Betsy for a long, long time. For a while, Betsy rationalized it away by saying 1) he never sucked his thumb or took a pacifier, and 2) it's the best way to get him to drink 6-8 oz of milk at a time, since he often has to be reminded to eat and drink. But Betsy's mother, and her own internal guilt, had been pestering her to get Kevin off the habit once and for all.

I'm pleased to report that Betsy came up with a gimmick that (fingers crossed) seems to have done the trick. While visiting her parents last weekend, she decided to announce to Kevin that "The bottle fairy has come and taken all of your bottles." When this was met with the expected cries of protest from Kevin, Betsy had a ready answer: "The bottle fairy had to take the bottles to the poor babies." (Kevin had once asked why Betsy was packing away his old clothes into a big box and she told him it was "for the poor kids.")

This morning was the first time, away from grandma and grandpa's house, in which the "bottle fairy" theory was put to the test. Kevin protested a little more than usual - despite being visibly impressed with the new construction truck sippy cup the Bottle Fairy left him as a consolation prize.

I don't think Betsy is out of the woods yet - she senses that Kevin will have more questions about the Bottle Fairy, if this morning's queries are any indication ("Bottle fairy took bib?" "Bottle fairy comes in a car?") But, I feel more confident than ever that she will emerge victorious. And I share this story - with her permission - if any of you moms and dads out there are like her: ashamed to admit your kid's "dirty secret" and desperately looking for a way to kick the habit once and for all.

Then again, I do think there are far worse maladies than a 2 year old drinking milk from a bottle once a day. So there. (That was for you, Betsy.)

Happy Weekend

Kibi and I are off to Ohio this afternoon to visit my family for the weekend.  (And yes, he seems almost totally recovered - thank goodness!)

Here's another fun read for your Thursday, once again from my favorite parenting blog.

Have a good one, and I'll check back in next week.

Emerging from Croupville

The good (and most important) news: Kibi appears to be on the mend.  We've had no more scary middle-of-the-night attacks, and although he still seems a bit out of it, I can tell he's getting much healthier and stronger every day.  This is good because he and I are going to Ohio for a family baby shower this weekend.  

The bad news: I have virtually no time between now and Thursday, when we leave, to get done all the things I need to get done.  Surprise, surprise...

So, that's my lame attempt to apologize for this bland blog post.  But, to make it up to you, dear readers, I'll leave you with some entertaining reading from my favorite NYT blog. Apologies in advance to the fathers out there... I realize this is a little unfair, but I post it mainly because I can: my husband never reads my blog.  Ha!

Creeping Crud... or, the Croup

Ack!  Kibi has croup!  

He woke us up in the middle of the night Saturday with a cough that sounded, unmistakeably, like a seal barking.  He was almost gasping for breath - it was very scary.  It gave me a flashback of childhood when my younger brother used to have croup attacks often.  Fortunately that was the way I knew what to look up on the web at 3 in the morning while my husband gave him a nebulizer treatment.  

Once it seemed he was stablized, we paged our doctor and she gave us instructions (one more breathing treatment, then every four hours or as needed, warm steamy showers if necessary - anything to stop the gasping, or what they call "stridor").  She said if we failed to get the coughing under control with this regimen then she would call him in some steroids, but we haven't needed to do that.  

Today he seems to be doing better but he is still pretty lethargic.  Sorry this post is rather boring, but I'm trying to stay on top of caring for a sick little boy, plus finishing a couple of other projects for work - fun, fun!  

I'll keep you all posted...

Potty Milestone

Guess what ... (drumroll please) K. did both #1 AND #2 on the potty tonight!  

Although he occasionally sat on the little Thomas the Tank Engine potty chair that I placed in our bathroom a couple of months ago, he never gave it much thought.  Tonight, for some reason, it was different.  He was bound and determined to see the RESULTS of his efforts - and it paid off!  Those of you who aren't parents won't truly appreciate the satisfaction of this moment, I fear, but I am absolutely beside myself.

Nothing, however, was better than the huge smile on K.'s own face when I yelled for Daddy - who was in the other room - to come see the little brown lima bean sized thing.  (Sorry if too graphic, but I have to convey the cute-ness of it all.)  And then again when Daddy and I started yelling and jumping up and down to congratulate him.  The expression was pure, unadulterated pride - and it was a joy to witness.

Now, who knows how close we are to actual completion of potty training, but that's okay by me. I just feel happy about this very healthy start.

Now I'm off to kick up my heels and raise a glass of wine ... To the potty!

Infant Diplomacy?

Sometimes Kibi really amuses me with the declarations he makes.  

Early this morning, for instance, as we eased into our day. we were watching the news in my bedroom.  President Obama was speaking live at the University of Cairo about U.S./Muslim relations.  

Kibi watched quietly while drinking his milk, finished it, then injected: "He's talking to the babies."  I said, "President Obama is talking to babies? Babies in the audience?" He said, "Yeah. Babies are clapping."

From what I could tell, it was scholars and diplomat types in the audience -- no babies -- who were indeed clapping.  Still, it was funny to try and picture a room full of them, listening intently to the President's speech about the future of our diplomatic efforts with the Muslim world.

Yet Another One of the Reasons I am Glad We Have a Free Press

Just read this article in today's WaPo.  I am so glad some enterprising reporter infiltrated the plastics industry's evil planning meeting!

Is this a Simpsons episode?  I'm expecting Montgomery Burns to emerge somewhere... 

"Their 'holy grail' spokesperson would be a 'pregnant young mother who would be willing to speak around the country of the benefits of BPA,'" the [conference] notes said.

Um, who are they kidding?  

Seattle Pics

As promised, here are some of my favorite pics from our visit with Papa and Mamoo, aunts and uncles and and cousins in Seattle.  We miss them already!

Happy Birthday, Sesame Street!

Ah, we're back from our trip to Seattle... so much fun, so much fun.  I expect I'll post pics in this space soon.  But, as expected, I'm both jetlagged and exhausted (and up at almost 1 am - I'll pay for that tomorrow, to be sure...) 

I don't know how faithful I will be to my posting obligations this week.  I did just read something really engrossing that I had to share, though: this Newsweek article on the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street.  

Now I know I wasn't crazy for thinking, "Geez, Sesame Street is actually fun to watch with my 2 year old, and with no guilt!"  

The Place Where Kids Go Nuts

Do you live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area?  

Do you have small children?  

Have you been to Clemyjontri Park in McLean, Va.?  (You've probably heard about it, yes, but have you been there yet?)  

What?!  You haven't?  

Well, drop everything and GO, GO, GO!  

Clemyjontri Park is, without a doubt, The Coolest Outdoor Playground of All Time.  I found myself with some time to kill yesterday when K. woke up really early from a nap, so we trekked out there - actually only about a 20 minute drive from our house - and goodness me, was I glad we did!  It consists of what seems like acres and acres of super-deluxe jungle gym equipment for kids of all ages, but particularly attuned to the Little People set.  My little guy was particularly mesmerized by all of the transportation vehicles-turned-playground-equipment.  

Here are some pictures of our trips.  (Yep, that's trips, plural.  We went both yesterday afternoon and this morning!)

Now, you DC-ites, get outside and GO!  Today!

(BTW, this is my last post for about a week.  We leave for Seattle early tomorrow morning.  Off to visit my inlaws for a long Memorial Day weekend!  Have a great holiday!)

Precious Little Folks

So here's a picture of K. (blue shirt on left) and his classmates during "snacktime" at the co-op playgroup we recently joined.  

I sent it to my husband while he was out of town on a business trip last week.  He wrote back that something about seeing little people eating snacks around a table like this is so precious it makes him want to cry.  Funny, but I can sort of relate.

How about you?

Friday Musings

Do you notice how I thought yesterday was Friday?  ("Have a good weekend")???? Geesh. I'm hopeless.

Anywho... yet another busy day!  Sorry I've been slack on the posting lately; I promise to do better early next week (that is, BEFORE we leave Wednesday for a week-long visit to Seattle to see my in-laws).

But to throw you devoted readers a bone, I'll leave you with this amusing and rather informative entry from The Poop - San Francisco Chronicle's parenting blog. Aforementioned devoted and long-time readers have probably figured out by now that my secret ambition is to become one of their guest writers.  

Maybe if I keep linking to and subtly promoting them, they'll discover me and hire me on the spot!  A girl can dream, I suppose... 

Weekend Reading?

Not a whole lot of time to post today, so I'll just pose a question that I've been wondering about.  Anyone out there have suggestions for good toddler-discipline books?  

A friend just told me about Beyond Time Out, which looks intriguing (although I'm not ready to admit that my household has become filled with "mayhem" as a result of an unruly child, per the Barnes and Noble description.  I mean, it's frustrating, but K.'s not a monster... yet!  Ha!)

I'm just looking for a middle-of-the-road approach to dealing with a probably all too typical Terrible Two.  K. hasn't been awful, but we've had our moments lately, namely situations involving: 

1) throwing food, or, worse yet, plates and cups, when he is done eating (usually with minimal warning); 

2) standing up in his high chair, pre-, mid-, or post-meal; 

3) not sharing with other kids (and sometimes actually hitting or pushing when someone wants to share a toy with him - can you say EMBARRASSING?!)

and 

4) tormenting our cat in all shapes and forms.  

I attempt to reprimand all of these behaviors, I'll have you know, firmly and consistently, but yet... he keeps doing them.  Argh.  (NOTE: I acknowledge the possibility that this may be the essence of the Terrible Twos and I just don't want to accept it.)  

Anyway, like I said, if you have good recommendations, I'm ready to do some reading!

Thanks, and have a good weekend.

The Lonely Bunny

One day recently, when I came by to pick up Kibi after a few hours at his grandma's, they showed me a new game.  

All it involved was my mother-in-law's sofa, a very large and thick atlas, and Kibi.  It went like this:

1) MIL sets up the atlas so that it is at a slant from the seat of the couch (like a slide).

2) Kibi sits at the top of the "slide" (on the sofa).

3) Kibi announces that he is a "Lonely Bunny" and makes a really sad, pouty face.

4) Me and MIL make a really big deal about the poooooooor, lonnnnnely bunny for a few seconds.

5) The lonely bunny slides down the slide.

6) When the lonely bunny lands, he announces that he is now a "Happy Bunny".  

7) Cheers and smiles all around!

This was all K's invention.  Go figure!  

In the Spirit of Mothers Day ...

I hope all of you moms out there had a delightful Mother's Day.  I had a lovely day, which started with getting to sleep in and read the paper!  Ahhhhh, decadent and delightful.  

As I perused the news, I came across this Washington Post article that I really enjoyed. Check it out...

Ode to Nina (of The Good Night Show)

An Ode to Nina:

(penned today)

You're pretty, sweet, and gentle

You never ever pout.

You are my favorite character

On that nifty network, Sprout.

Yet despite your kind demeanor

And your singing voice, too

I find that I now live in fear

Of disappointing you.

You've given me a complex

(Quite accidentally, it's true),

And now I worry that I never will

Measure up to you.

Kibi's 2 Year Photos

We recently had Kibi's 2 year old photos taken.  They turned out so nicely!  Here is a sampling of just some of my favorites.  

I credit our wonderful photographer, Jennifer Burns of Jennifer Burns Photography, with encouraging me to do his shoot in Old Town Alexandria on a gorgeous spring day.  She's been taking K.'s photos for a long time now and she has a knack for bringing out the best in our little guy.  

Thanks JBP!

Language Evolves

Kibi has made another step in his language development, recently dropping the way he used to refer to himself in the third person ("K wants this, K does that") and now using the first person pronoun "I" as a substitute for "me."  Interestingly enough, he has also started to use "I'm" when he means to say "my".  

It is really darn cute to hear him sort of stumble his way through, trying to get the sentence construction just right.  

I know he's still evolving where this is concerned, and I have a feeling I should jot it down now because it may be only a fleeting thing.  

So.... here are some examples:

"Mommy, push I!" (on the swing)

"Mommy, hold I!"

"It's I'm birthday!"

"Mommy, change I!  I'm pants are wet."

"I'm daddy will like this." (What he observed when he received a "Daddy and Me" book for his birthday)

More Photos

We're getting ready for a nice, relaxing weekend ... I'm feeling too lazy to write anything brilliant today, so here's a smattering of photos from the birthday celebration.  

First, my piece de resistance: the Thomas the Tank Engine cake.  

The second one is one of my favorites: I caught Kibi snuggling up in his favorite reading chair with one of his new birthday books.  

The others were taken on Birthday Party Day... a sweltering 93 degrees here in the nation's capital!  Our boy has been getting used to going shirtless as a result of the tropical heat wave. And he managed to have a good frosting fiasco while enjoying his birthday cake ... but really, what birthday kid wouldn't?

Have a nice weekend!