Smooth Move

The big move went well. I'm amazed at how quickly this house feels like "home." The kids and cat adjusted well to the new place and Dave and I are also getting settled in. We now have a DVR as well. Very exciting. I have actually been able to watch a few shows from beginning to end without having to miss major segments because someone (who shall remain nameless) puked "mixed garden vegetables" on the new carpet. Yeah. Owen won the first-to-barf-in-the-new-house contest.

In happy news, some friends of ours just got a new baby boy! They have been on the list to adopt a baby for 10 months and received the "your son was born this morning" call last Friday. We were lucky to get to visit them on Wednesday evening and meet their son. They are, of course, thrilled. As I watched them in their tired-yet-ecstatic new parent-ness (they also have a 2-year-old so it's not all completely new), I found myself in shock over their experience. Granted, they knew they would get a child sometime, but there was really no warning. Thursday night was business as usual and then BAM, phone rings early Friday morning with the come-get-your-baby directive. At least with pregnancy you have some vague idea of when to expect your child to arrive.

Anyhow, he is a sweet little boy so far and is now a week old. It's pretty amazing to see him and remember that Owen, just a short while ago, was so tiny.

Stella got a swirley

Any enthusiasm about the potty is great when you're potty training. We should have anticipated Rhianna would, at some point, help "dolly" go potty. Unfortunately, we didn't and baby Stella got a swirly. Oh well. At least it wasn't Owen.

We hold the keys

We are now the proud owners of a stand-alone home. I'll try to post some pictures once we've moved in a few more things. We took a few boxes over last night and assessed the situation.

The current hot-topic is, as always, where the cat-box should go. This is a difficult decision. As we have an indoor cat, we can't put it somewhere easy like, say, the garage. No, we have to find a nice, discreet place in our pristine new home for crap. Cat crap. Ah well, such is life. We decided which kid gets which room and I instructed Dave to keep all the essential kitchen items on the first shelf of the kitchen cabinets as I can't reach the rest. Rhianna liked the swingset and is able to climb the ladder to the slide all by herself. She was a little distressed when the slide betrayed her by shooting her off the end of it, leaving her airborne for about 2 feet before gravity kicked in an dropped her right on her little bottom. Thunk. Tears. Try again.

We plan to move small car-loads all week and then do our major move on Saturday.

Linolium or carpet?

There is solidarity bewteen potty training mothers. When one announces her child had an accident, another sympathetically asks, "linolium or carpet?" Mother one replies, "Carpet." A mutual and understanding sigh will follow.

Little boys and their.... nipples?

After surviving the trip to and from my parents' house in Minnesota, our family remains happy and healthy for the most part. Rhianna has graduated from speaking a limited vocabulary one word at a time to putting two words together much of the time and using a vocabulary that seems to be growing daily. Owen is sitting on his own, grasping toys, standing (with help), eating baby food, barfing... oh wait, that's not a new skill. Anyhow, they both seem to be doing just great. Suddenly Owen is starting to become a potential person instead of a perpetual blob.

I haven't been as surprised at the gross baby stuff with Owen as I was with Rhianna. After all, scary baby penis or not, diaper rash, pretty much looks the same and formula/baby food spit up smells just as bad the second time around. Tonight, however, Owen came up with something new. A nipple zit. Technically, it's probably an ingrown hair, but seriously. First of all, he barely has hair on his head so it's not really necessary that he start sprouting excess man-fuzz on alternate body parts. If I find ear fuzz, I'm calling the doctor. Second, it's right near the nipple and is a little red and puffy so it makes it look like he has a pre-adolecent boobie-bud. I try not to endorse gender roles but I did find myself a little embarrassed about my son's baby boobie.

In other news, the big move is next week. We close on Tuesday on our new house (with a yard, Yay!!!) and will start carting stuff over there during the week and plan to officially move in on Saturday. It hasn't sunk in at all that we will soon be living in a new house. I'm sure it will feel like "ours" as soon as at least three of our family members have barfed in it. My bets are on Owen, Caesar, then Rhianna.

Polar opposites

Girl. 22 mos. 21 lbs, 14 oz (just under the fifth percentile). 30 inches (way under the charts). Diagnosis: normal development.

Boy. 6 mos. 18 lbs, 4 oz (fiftieth percentile). 28.75 inches (NINETY-FIFTH percentile). Diagnosis: normal development.