random musing

Have you ever had someone say to you that they'd like to just take your child and keep him for a while and only bring him back if he cries or needs his diaper changed? Unless you're one of Kevin's grandmas, no offense, but what kind of deal is that? That's like saying, "Here, I'll just take this cake you made and eat it, except you can keep the nasty burned parts that don't have any frosting." (The reason I'm willing to make that kind of deal with one of Kevin's grandmas is because they've more than earned the right to enjoy Kevin without having to change his diaper.)





And of course I realize that when people say this to me they're just joking. I would never blow up in someone's face if they said that to me.

How to eat yogurt

A demonstration by Kevin. (Costco had a great deal on yogurt, so Kevin has gotten a lot of practice lately.)

Step 1: Always lick the lid. And keep it handy, because sometimes it's useful (or at least fun) later.

Step 2: Use the spoon to eat the first third of the yogurt. It's good manners.

Step 3: Use your hands, the spoon, the lid, or whatever other tools are necessary to eat the rest of the yogurt.

Dad says Argentines eat cereal with yogurt.

lots of videos this month

Kevin is getting quite good at walking in Mama's shoes.

A very interesting story:

What do you mean I can't have these chocolate chips for dinner? (Yes, a tantrum, but definitely not the worst one we've seen.)

some pictures

Recently we visited somebody who has some very friendly dogs. The white one loves to lick. Kevin practically had his hand in her mouth because she was licking him so much, and Kevin thought it was wonderful. He was laughing so hard and saying "Uh! Uh!" like a dog. He made doggie noises the whole ride home.

Guest post from Kevin

The following is a guest post written by Kevin for the benefit of his baby sister, with the intent of giving her a head start in the technique of causing mischief. This is, of course, both for her own benefit and for his, since he is going to need her as a cohort in crime.

Getting Attention from Mom and Dad: An advanced guide written by Dr. Kevin

• Ask for food and/or a drink. More often than not, this is a way to get in the kitchen (which is impossible to get into otherwise because of the pesky gate), and if you can get in the kitchen, you are much more likely to convince Mom to let you help cook or play in the fridge, both of which are activities which must be supervised. Once you are in the kitchen, it is very difficult for her to drag you away, especially if you have already caused some damage (useful damage techniques include spilling drinks, scattering utensils, throwing away things that are not garbage, taking things that should be thrown away out of the garbage, and trying to eat the garbage). If you do actually choose some food to eat, yogurt is a good choice because Mom likes to supervise you closely when you’re eating it, and cleaning it up is also a messy business and gets you even more attention.
• If asking for food does not secure you entrance into the kitchen, refuse all food or drinks she offers you and throw a tantrum. She may bring you into the kitchen so you can show her what you want, at which point you can use the advice in the previous point.
• If Mom or Dad is using a computer, your best hope is to cause enough distractions and damage that they give up. The following are some very effective techniques for this special case:
• Turn the computer on and off using the button with the pretty blue light. Not only does this have the benefit of the pleasant sensation of pushing a button, but it prevents them from using the computer at all for several minutes, during which they will likely give up. If you can’t manage to get to the button, there are lots of cords underneath the desk that you can pull on as well as another shiny blue button that also turns off the computer.
• Open the CD/DVD players repeatedly.
• Beg to sit on their lap, and be very still and good for several minutes. Frequently say adorable things and point at the computer. Then insist on playing with the mouse and keyboard so that they can’t use the computer at all. Both behaviors are very effective.
• Get into the desk drawer. There are several useful and amusing attention-getting tools in there, and all have their advantages. The permanent markers are very effective, particularly if you open them and then run away, because Mom and Dad are very afraid of permanent marker on the wall. Similarly, pens are very effective, especially if you can get away fast enough to draw on the couch, because then Mom will get out the hairspray and a wet washcloth and let you help her wash the pen off, which will take a good amount of time. Pencils or crayons also have their benefits if you can convince Mom to give you a piece of paper, because you will likely require enough supervision that she will draw with you.
• Play with the screwdrivers, ties, or games in the closet. Even if they catch you at it and take you out, they will use the big duffel bag to block the door, which provides you easy access to the light switch.
• Get into Dad’s side table and pull out anything you can find. The added benefit of this is that he has many interesting items with cords and buttons there. Dad’s scriptures are also a very good target because Mom and Dad would be very sad if those were ripped.
• You can also use most of these distractions to get Mom and Dad to stand up and chase you, which will provide you with an opportunity to climb into the chair and play with the computer.
• Do not underestimate the effectiveness of your toys and books. If you shove or throw a book in Mom or Dad’s face, they usually read it to you. Once you have them reading to you, it is easy to maintain their attention by asking for the same book again, turning back to your favorite pages repeatedly, and bringing more books. It is also helpful to choose toys that require their help.
• Bring shoes, socks, or your sweater for them to help you put on. This draws a decent amount of attention and sometimes results in going outside or at least playing in the hallway.
• Climb into the stroller or onto the table and get stuck.
• Do not forget to take advantage of any opportunity to use food that has been left on the table. Usually the fact that you are on the table is enough, but walking into a room with food all over your hands and face and reaching for their clothes or a piece of furniture produces a very gratifying result as well.
• If you are struggling for ideas, it is always effective to kick, throw, bang, break, scatter, and rip.
• When all else fails, pull hair, break eyeglasses, and take off your diaper. These three methods are 100% effective.

Dear readers:

Please take this post the way it was meant to be taken: as a humorous little post.

It's a . . .

Girl????

Oh!

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to my mom and she said, "Now, you'll be sure to let me know when you find out for sure you're having a girl, right?" I laughed and said I would, but honestly, since we knew we were having a baby we have been talking about Kevin's little brother. We just felt like it was another boy. So I woke up this morning thinking, "Today we will know for sure that we're having another boy." I was already wondering if my little sister would be disappointed that we weren't going to have a girl.

Well, we were pretty surprised. She is definitely a girl. And once the ultrasound technician told us, it felt right to me. I have felt for a long time that there was a girl's spirit who was waiting to come to our family. I just wasn't sure when, and for some reason I didn't think this baby would be her. But it is her! I am so excited to meet her! She has been preparing for so long to have a body and begin her mortal life, and I am very excited to bring her into this world and to be part of the next step in her journey.

Everything looks healthy. Her size matches the due date on the doctor's plastic slide. Which means, of course, that we have no idea when she will be here other than June.

This is a 3D picture of her face. Her face is right in the center of the image, with her arm under her chin, and she's snuggled up next to the placenta. I think it's such a sweet face!

Here's a foot.

And here are a couple of profiles. Her head is on the right in both.

This week has brought some new aches and pains. My tailbone is feeling worse, and my shoulder is also really bothering me. I was never much of a yoga person because the speakers always say such weird things, but I've started looking for prenatal yoga videos because the stretches seem to help, and the videos have stretches that I wouldn't think of doing on my own. I'm hoping that stretching and walking will help alleviate the pain a little. Other than that, I have been feeling great. I'm also starting to feel Baby Girl's little thumps, which is fun, of course.

I remember when I was pregnant with Kevin, I always knew exactly how far along I was, to the day. This time I haven't really been keeping track. It's interesting how the exact date isn't as important to me this time around, and it's also kind of a relief to not be thinking about it.

I know newborns don't need a lot of space, but I'm still not sure how we're going to make room for another baby's things. Whether Kevin is still in a crib or has already moved to a bed at that point, we're going to have to find room for another bed and some kind of dresser, and I'm really not sure how it will fit. Plus, Kevin's boxes of old clothes already take up space, and now we'll be making room for more boxes of girl clothes. Then again, maybe I'll just buy a few girl outfits for going out (so we don't get comments about the cute little baby boy) and she can wear dinosaurs and puppy dogs at home--she won't care. Maybe some decluttering and consolidating is in order.

already an interesting day

The night before last night I dreamed that I had beautiful twin boys. They sort of fell out of me. I was really concerned because I'm not even halfway to my due date, but they were healthy and strong and looked full term. My mom was there and we were busily trying to figure out a way to get to the hospital with them to make sure everything was all right (because they were five months early!). I was kind of glad to wake up and find it was a dream, but it did make me feel more baby hungry.

When I woke up I mentioned to Ryan that I was out of breath, and he said, "No wonder. You were running through my mind all night. Literally. We were running from the flood."

So between running all night and having two babies at some point as well, I guess it's kind of surprising that it was actually a rather restful night.

Then Kevin and I made bread together. By hand. It was the most stressful thing I've done in a long time, but I feel like a good parent because I cooked with my child and didn't even yell. It was fun too, though. Kevin enjoyed stirring the dough with a measuring spoon and helping me measure ingredients and trying to taste the dough (which he didn't like, but he kept trying it anyway). In the end, the damage actually wasn't too bad--one flour-covered outfit and a counter covered in about as much flour as you'd expect from making bread by hand, plus the dishes and our hands, of course. It was a new recipe that calls for a little bit of cornmeal and oats, and it turned out very nicely. I bought a lot of cornmeal a few months ago and then realized that I don't like cornbread enough to cook it often enough to use all this cornmeal by the time I die, so I'm on the hunt for other good recipes that call for cornmeal (besides cornbread). We still need to try making tamales. The bread turned out quite nicely. Kevin ate about five pieces yesterday evening before dinner--he kept begging for more! Now I can't decide if it was good because it was made by hand, or because it was a good recipe. Or maybe it's just that Kevin makes awesome bread. I usually let my bread mix in my breadmaker and then I bake it in the oven, but lately it hasn't been tasting good to me, so I've been wondering if it's the recipe or if it's something about the breadmaker (I suspect that the breadmaker warms the dough slightly while it mixes, and I wonder if that changes the taste). I know I shouldn't have changed two variables at once (method of mixing and recipe), but I guess I was so excited to try this recipe that I did it anyway.

My first class today was cancelled because of the snow, but they only cancelled class until 11:00, so I still had to go to my second class. It didn't snow a lot, but there was a lot of ice. On my way down to catch the bus, I passed a girl who was standing by the sidewalk, staring at it rather fearfully. As I passed, she asked me if it was slippery. I told her it was a little slippery, but her shoes looked like they had better traction than mine did, so she would probably be fine. I had to walk a little more slowly than normal, but it didn't seem that slippery to me, and the stairs are easy because you take one step at a time anyway. So I was a little surprised to look up from the bottom of the stairs (there are a lot of stairs before you get to the bus stop) and see her still almost at the top of the stairs. She was clinging to the rail for dear life and going down the stairs very slowly. I'm pretty used to ice because we had ice pretty often in Idaho when I was growing up, so it didn't really faze me. If you have ice often enough, you kind of get used to the different types of ice and figure out how to walk without slipping. I guess this was the first time it occurred to me that a lot of people around here are scared of walking on ice because they don't know how to do it.

Just before I left, I was doing the usual things--putting on my coat, grabbing my keys, putting on my backpack, etc. Then Kevin got a look of realization on his face that said quite clearly, "No! It's starting again!" and started crying because he knew I'm going to start going to school again. It didn't take him too long to recover, but it's always tough to leave him crying like that.