I want…! I want…! The birthday wish lists
Duncan and Berry have learned all about presents and how to clamor for stuff they suddenly and deeply want and cannot live without one moment longer. Mostly this happens in Target.
My response has become to say that I’ll put it on their birthday wish list. Now everything is a request to put on the birthday list. *sigh*
Berry’s birthday is coming up. In case you’d like some ideas of what to get her (should you want to get her anything, you’re certainly under no obligation at all to do so), here goes:
- Games for the Wii
- Sparkly coloring pens
- Summer clothes in 4T – short-sleeved, skorts, t-shirts, shorts, etc.
- Hair bows
- Puzzles (more than 25 pieces, less than 100)
- Educational games that she can manipulate and get ready to play herself
- Movies – specifically involving Dora and/or princesses
Her current favorites are:
- Color: pink
- Animal: probably cats/kitties, also puppies and penguins
- Adornment: sparkles and bows
- Characters: Dora, Hello Kitty and Disney princesses
Clothing sizes:
- Shoe size: 9 1/2.
- Clothing: 4T
Duncan
Lest Duncan feel left out, here’s his info:
Clothing sizes:
- Clothing: Currently in a 5/6, going into a 6
- Shoes: size 1 boys
- Needs: Summer clothes – mostly shorts and PJs. He’d really like pink clothes, preferably with Dora on them
Favorites:
Things he’s into:
Duncan likes figuring out how things work, whether it’s the human body or the lock on the back door. He likes gears, marbles and cuddly toys. He spends hours drawing intricate musical gas pumps and weather machines – so more construction paper would be great. Especially if it has Dora on it.
More presents!
More presents from Grandma and Papa Rog arrived. Duncan and Berry have certainly learned what to do with presents, happily ripping them open with glee. I’d write more, but keep getting called away and it’s taken me days just to get to this point. So I’ll post this now.
Presents from the grandparents
Four packages arrived in the mail on Friday. Two each for Duncan and Berry.
First, there were presents from Grandma and Papa Rog.
Then there was a box from Gram and Grandad Pocobello.
Duncan was a little disappointed that none of the clothes had Dora on them. But he recovered.
Today, they both wanted to wear a selection of the clothes to church (of course!). I took a few photos and attempted to get the kids to stand up still next to each other, but they had other ideas.
We will try to get thank you letters out, but it’s possible that this electronic thank you will have to suffice.
The new tecchies
I upgraded my phone last week to the Droid. Truthfully, there wasn’t anything wrong with my old phone — and its camera is probably better than the Droid’s — but it didn’t have a couple of key features that I really wanted. I love the idea of being able to sync useful things — e-mail, calendars, task lists — between my work and home computers and have it available on my phone.
The Droid can do that.
Clearly, I’m not the only one that loves it. Duncan has been spelling and writing more and more lately, and has recently developed an interest in sending Kevin text messages. Sometimes they are random strings of letters – but sometimes he accepts my encouragement to write real words.
This morning he was quite enamored with typing on the Droid keyboard, so I took the opportunity to snap a couple of photos of his sweet, concentrating face.
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| From 2010-02-February |
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| From 2010-02-February |
A typical, glamorous Saturday
Weekends aren’t glamorous, but I love them.
I love my job, but the grind–of getting up and ready for work in the morning and getting everyone out the door relatively on time and the evening routine of feeding, bathing and putting to bed–gets old by Friday. There’s not much time for FUN in there when you’re focused on moving from one thing to another to keep the life machine going. (Although, some mornings I do animate a cuddly toy as it somehow gets more attention than my plain old mummy voice.)
Weekends are a blessing. There’s still stuff to get done – like grocery shopping on a Saturday morning and mowing the lawn. But there’s also time for play, time to be outside in the garden, time to color with the kids or show them how to play the Wii.
Today’s activities involved pretending to be doggies with Emma (video courtesy of the Droid phone). Sam did his best to pretend he couldn’t hear the barking.
After nap, it was time to play in the garden. I realized the grass needed a good mow and my mum felt compelled to document the occasion. I’ll spare you the video of me pushing the rotary mower around the front yard in a seemingly random pattern (it works for the Roomba) and leave you with this photo instead.
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| From 2010-02-February |
Playing on the swings, feeding the chickens
The sun returned to Oregon yesterday. When I got home from work, Duncan and Berry were happily playing in the backyard, enjoying the good weather. Today looks to be pretty decent, too, getting up to about 60 F.
I am amazed that there are flowers blooming and trees budding in February. Given that the climate was one of my big motivators for moving, I’m so happy it turned out to be a good one.
Here are Duncan and Berry enjoying the delights of February in Oregon — playing on the swings and feeding the chickens.
And on with our lives
On Saturday morning we got out the house early (well, for a Saturday), went grocery shopping (always fun on my own with 2 kids), and then went to Adam’s house to play with Emma and Sam. I brought my spare guitar so I can play it while I’m over there and because Emma is keen on learning to play. Duncan and Berry had a good time, playing with the Dora doll house in the playroom downstairs, coloring and experimenting with corn starch. Corn starch works surprisingly well at getting marker off little fingers.
Joanna’s annual take on the year gone by
2009 Christmas Letter
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It isn’t easy to know why the twists and turns of life’s journey bring you to the places they do. Sometimes the light shines clearly on your path and, at others, you have to go within and listen to your intuition in order to navigate safely when the way seems dark.
It’s been an eventful year.
Moving to Oregon
In the spring, we sold our house in Rochester (in 3 days!) and readied ourselves for a move to Eugene, OR, to start our new life. Kevin and I both looked hard for full-time work and I landed a fantastic job with a hospital foundation. I’m a communications specialist—writing, editing, creating graphics and websites, and spearheading social media campaigns—for Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation. Going back to work full-time has had its challenges, but I love my job and the people I work with.
Kids in School
Duncan and Berry started school together in the fall at a Montessori school, which they both really enjoy. It’s amazing how much they learn and pick up—the songs, safety tips, knowledge and new skills. We’ve all been well trained on what to do should we become accidentally set on fire. Stop. Drop. And roll.
Living with a Parent
My mum moved from South Florida to live with us in Eugene (we’re actually about 10 miles south in the little town of Creswell) and spends lots of time with the kids after school while I’m at work. Navigating an adult live-in parent relationship is an interesting task, one that we’re all learning and growing from. But I’ve spent years missing having my family close, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to enjoy it now.
The Pets
Our very old cat, Hobbes, is still hanging out with us, meowing as loudly as ever. She’ll be 18 in the spring. We found new homes for our multitude of turtles before moving, as we didn’t think they’d appreciate the cross country trip. If you ever met our attack fish, Sid Fishious, you may be sad or delighted to learn that he/she passed on of natural causes before the move. We’ll always have our memories—like when Duncan was a baby and it escaped from the tank at 4 a.m., slapping itself on the floor until Kevin scooped it back up into the tank. We added two chickens to the family in the fall—Bernadette and Penelope (Benny and Penny for short)—who reside in a coop in the back yard and are finally laying eggs.
Family Changes
Perhaps the most unexpected news is that Kevin and I are divorcing. It’s not the fork in the path that either of us had hoped for, but I’m at peace with the decision. Our focus is on making sure Duncan and Berry continue to feel loved and secure—and for all of us to heal as we move forward into the next phase of our lives. Love, prayers and thoughts are always appreciated.
I hope all is well in your world. We always love hearing from you.
Warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season,
Digital storytelling: the stories behind artifacts in my life
Each one of us carries objects that hold cherished memories. Here are a few of mine.
Sleep sleep, baby, sleep
When Duncan was a newborn baby, it seemed he was impossible to get to sleep. I heard about friends just laying their babies in the crib and them sweetly falling asleep, no assistance required. Not Duncan. At least not for me. He would fuss and wriggle and fuss and fuss and fuss. Eventually he’d start crying, not sleeping.
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| From Baby Duncan |
Duncan liked movement to go to sleep. For a while he went through a phase where he’d wake up at 3 a.m. and not fall back asleep until 4:30 a.m. I took the advice on sleeping when the baby slept so I could deal with it. Kevin worked nights so it was just me and Duncan during those times and somehow we had to figure it out together.
My solution–pop him in a pouch sling and go and do chores. Sure, it was harder to empty the dishwasher and do laundry with a baby strapped to me. But the movement and closeness to my body would lull him to sleep and soon enough I was able to ease him back into his crib and get back to sleep myself. Plus, I got chores done. I did a lot of laundry in the middle of the night for a while.
He also liked to bounce. So I did a lot of bouncing on the exercise ball. Anything to achieve that sweet state of sleep–for him and then for me. Perhaps that’s why I still like to sit in my office and bounce at times.
As he got a little older and settled more into his baby body, naps got a bit easier. But there were so many hours spent rocking and nursing, rocking and nursing, until he relaxed into sleep. When we began potty training and read books that talked about getting bigger and being able to do things by himself–dressing himself, feeding himself and even getting into bed and going to sleep by himself when he was tired–well, I skipped that last part. There was none of that happening in our house.
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| From Baby Duncan |
And now, as a little kid, he still needs those nighttime cuddles. It’s part of how he relaxes into sleep and lets go of the troubles of the day. Duncan has always slept in his own bed (except for a couple of vacations where his cold feet always found their way onto my belly during the night), so once he’s asleep, he’s good for the night (unless he pees in bed). But at times getting him there is a little frustrating.
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| From Starred Photos |
These days, I lay down with him and cuddle him until he tells me he’s “full of cuddles” and that it’s OK if I go. Tonight he told me to bring my computer in his room so I could stay with him and do homework. He also declared that he’ll only be full of cuddles when the sun comes up in the morning. Fortunately, during the writing of this post, I think he’s fallen asleep. Let’s hope there are no 3 a.m. wake-up calls from a wet bed.
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| From Picnics and canoes in Genesee Valley Park |