July? Already?

It's been a busy spring. I haven't had much time to blog (read or write), but i'm here. The 3 yr old's most recent funny ramblings was a few days ago, playing in the backyard hand-me-down pool. She said, "Mom? You have 2 choices: Breast milk or breast water." I asked her, "Where does the breast milk and water come from?" She replied, "The breast milk came from my nipples and the breast water came from a pig."

The baby has been amusing and cute as can be. One of my friends calls her Bambi-eyes. She's babbling more, blowing raspberries, rolling over, sitting up with ease and eating bananas.

We went to the cabin for the 1st time of the season and did a myriad of chores to open it up for the summer. I used to be ambivalent about the cabin as a tweenager (nothing like going to the cabin, hanging with the 'rents), but the older i get, the more i appreciate it. I love showing the kids cabin stuff: picking rocks, swimming, jumping off the boat, roasting marshmallows, etc, etc.

Chicago 08

For the second year in a row, we went to chicago for the memorial day w/e. Above is last year and below is just a few days ago.

The hit of chicago, by far, was the millennium fountain. It was the cause of much joy and many tears. I'm still wondering if the 3 yr old tantrums were worth it...

Yes, the baby was with us--proof is below. As we crossed this river, the 3 yr old amused the locals by yelling, "LOOK, mom! The river is green?!"

Overall a successful trip. The 3 yr old was a roller coaster of emotion--quickly oscillating between laughing maniacally or crying in a whiny fit. The 3 yr old amused fellow bus riders on our way back to the heart of the city from lincoln park by looking out the window and yelling, "It's Lake Michigan, mom!!" I agreed with her observation proudly, thinking everyone loves an inquisitive and excited child. Then my inquisitive daughter started laughing and pointing at a gentleman with cornrows, saying, "His hair is SILLY, mom!" At this point, i tried to hush her natural curiosity.

The field museum was excellent. The exhibit about egyptian pyramids and mummies lead to difficult questions from the 3 yr old. "Why are they mummies? What does 'buried' mean? Why are they dead? How can i be buried?" We went to another exhibit that chronicals the evolution of the world including mass extinctions, which lead to questions like, "Where are the dinosaurs? Why are they gone? What happened? Why did the dinosaurs' teeth fall out?" The last question stems from my daughter's trauma from watching us play the wii at my brother's house--a game where you pick worms out of the teeth. Watching this, along with hearing about her cousin's teeth falling out lead to a fear of tooth-related trauma.

When i grow up?

My 3 yr old daughter is currently obsessed about princesses. The kid doesn't watch tv, has never been exposed to disney princesses, but she picked it up. From daycare. Like a virus. If you can't tell, i'm not exactly enthused. Looking at the disney princesses with their unattainable body shape and ridiculous clothing and with only one minority represented i wonder what sorts of messages my 3 yr old gets from idolizing them. I decided i would not buy princess-themed crap (did you notice those sluts will put their image on anything? Band-aides, crayons, food, socks). But the 3 yr old and her parents are celebrating being diaper-free at night, so we celebrated by buying her some underwear--whatever type she wants. You can guess what she chose. I tried to convince her to get stars or dora or hello kitty. No. *sigh*

Yesterday she asked me, "Mom? Know what i want to be when i grow up?" She used to want to be a nurse practitioner like her mother and her grandmother, so i was prepared for her to tell me this again. Instead, she horrified me by telling me, "I want to be a princess when i grow up!" It was like she told me she wanted to join the army. I tried not to react too much and told her, "If you want to be a princess when you grow up, you have to go to university and get a masters degree and learn french." I continued to inform her that the princesses she so much loves all have doctorates in science and they all are fluent in a 2nd language.

Something To Blog About

With the recent tragedies in myanmar and china, who knew there was an opportunity to give a shoutout to breastfeeding. Two days ago, a Save The Children representative was speaking of how the children of myanmar are surviving (or not) in the aftermath of the cyclone. He mentions the orphaned infants are surviving with the help of "milk maid prostitutes." Uh-huh. That's the term. "Milk maid prostitutes." With the contaminated water, apparently powder formula that has been donated is of no use.

And yesterday, my husband heard a clip about a chinese policewoman who is breastfeeding 8 orphaned infants.

Speaking of orphans, I have been playing songs from the movie Annie (1982) on youtube to play for my 3 yr old. As a kid, it was my favorite movie. We had the movie, the soundtrack, the piano music, etc, etc. As i listened to the lyrics of the song Maybe 20 years later, i couldn't help but cringe. She speaks of how her parents are going on with life and "...their one mistake was giving up me." I'm not exactly sure how to explain what the song is about to my 3 yr old; I can't imagine the explanation that came from my parents. I think about the songs from this movie fondly, but as an adult as i'm hearing them again, i can't help but be a little sad about it. It might be obvious as to why i attached myself to the movie as a child, but now that i am a mother, i can't help but think it must have been sad for my own parents. I'm not sure what they said, but obviously it didn't damage me because i still think fondly of the songs and the movie.

Speaking of movies, we signed up for netflix and have been catching up on movies we haven't seen in the past 3 years. We watched the documentary End of Suburbia, which was depressing. Mostly, the movie speaks of how we have reached the peak of all available oil in our earth and we have to think of alternative energy now. Or yesterday. It makes me think about how i will shock and disgust my future grandchildren with stories of how i drive 20 miles to work and how i used to drive a gas-guzzling truck to school (even though there was mass transit available) and how i used to buy groceries that contained mostly food products grown miles and miles away from where i live. My grandchildren will tell me, "Wow, grannie! You used to be so wasteful, it's tragic."

*sigh* Must do more. Must drive less. Must join CSA (did that!). Must waste less.

Life Goes On

My lack of posting does not reflect a lack of things to keep me busy. Here are a few snippits of what's been going on: May Day Parade, building breastfeeding clinical group visit at work, running again, thoughts of ragbrai '09, Buster's, urgent care shifts, 3 yr old art classes, King of Kong, a new jody piccoult novel, studying fo IBCLC (certified lactation consultant) exam, paying attention to my diet, and wiping sniffly noses from daycare dribbles.

RAGBRAI 09

We could rent this sucker to do ragbrai...wadda ya say?

The Girls

Memey Memey

Thanks, shesays and scooter:

Because my daughters are napping at the same time (!), and my body is too sore to go on the bike trainer, i meme.

In my life, I have ….

(X) smoked a cigarette

(X) crashed a car
(hey, did that just 2 weeks ago!)
(X) got drunk with a good friend

( ) stolen a car
(x) been in love

( ) been dumped

(X) shoplifted. Yeah, yeah, scooter. I shoplifted a happy birthday card and pin saying something like "Spank me, it's my birthday!" for Ray Kreevoy, mom's friend.
(X) been fired. From freakin' don pablos for serving alcohol to someone who forgot their id. They called me back 3 months later and apologized and offered my job back. Wish i could say i preserved my dignity and said no....
(X) been in a fist fight. Nobody calls me "chinky chinky chinaman" and gets away with it!

( ) snuck out of my parent’s house
( X) been arrested. After shoplifting. By my brother's friend.
( ) gone on a blind date

(X) skipped school. With approval from my parents.
( X) seen someone die

(X) been to Canada

(X) been to Mexico

(X) been on a plane

( ) purposely set a part of myself on fire. Who says 'X' to this one??
(X) eaten Sushi

(X) been skiing
(X) been moshing at a concert. Moshing to alanis morrisette, baby!
(X) taken painkillers

(X) love someone or miss someone right now

(X) lay on my back and watched cloud shapes go by

(X) made a snow angel
(X) flown a kite

(X) built a sand castle

(X) gone puddle jumping. Like, in a small plane? Yes.
(X) played dress up

(X) jumped into a pile of leaves. We used to have a huge yard, i would gather them up and practice doing flips/gymnastics into them. Fun fun!

(X) gone sledding

(X) cheated while playing a game. I used to all the time with my brothers, but they would still win. Damn it!
(X) been lonely

(X) fallen asleep at work/school.
( ) used a fake id
(X) watched the sun set

( ) felt an earthquake

(X) touched a snake

( ) slept beneath the stars

(X) been tickled

( ) been robbed

(X) been misunderstood

(X) pet a goat
(X) won a contest. Um, a hula hoop contest, baby!
(X) run a red light

( ) been suspended from school

(X) been in a car accident
( X) had braces

( ) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
 [try in one sitting]
(X) had deja vu. Let me clarify, it was deja vu, as in: "It feels like i've had this experience before." Not deja vu like "I'm having a psychic moment," as my brother explains in his meme.
(X) danced in the moonlight

(X) liked the way I look

(X) witnessed a crime

(X) questioned my heart

( ) been obsessed with post-it notes

(X) squished barefoot through the mud

(X) been lost

(X) been to the opposite side of the country

(X) swum in the ocean

( ) felt like dying

(X) cried myself to sleep

(X) played cops and robbers

(X ) recently colored with crayons

(X) sung karaoke. For the first time in korea. It's true what they say: Koreans do have pretty singing voices.
(X) paid for a meal with only coins

(X) done something I told myself I wouldn’t

(X) made prank phone calls

( ) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of my nose

(X) caught a snowflake on my tongue

(X) danced in the rain

(X) written a letter to Santa Claus

(X) been kissed under a mistletoe

(X) watched the sun rise with someone I care about

(X) blown bubbles

(X) made a bonfire on the beach

(X) crashed a party

(X) gone roller-skating

(X) had a wish come true

(X) worn pearls

(X) jumped off a bridge. Illegally bungee jumped in california!
(X) ate dog/cat food. Mmm...tender vittels
( ) told a complete stranger I loved them

(X) kissed a mirror

(X) sung in the shower

(X) had a dream that I married someone

(X) glued my hand to something

( ) got my tongue stuck to a flag pole

( ) kissed a fish

(X) sat on a roof top

(X) screamed at the top of my lungs

(X) done a one-handed cartwheel. Try NO handed cartwheel
( ) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours

(X) stayed up all night

( ) didn’t take a shower for a week

(X) picked and ate an apple right off the tree

(X) climbed a tree

(X) had a tree house

(X) been scared to watch scary movies alone

(...) believe in ghosts. Unsure...but *love* hearing peoples ghost stories.
( ) have more then 30 pairs of shoes

( ) worn a really ugly outfit to school just to see what others say

(X) gone streaking

(X) gone doorbell ditching

( ) played chicken

(X) jumped into a pool/hot tub/lake with all my clothes on

(X) been told I’m hot by a complete stranger

(X) broken a bone

(X) been easily amused

( ) caught a fish then ate it

(X) caught a butterfly

(X) laughed so hard I cried

( ) cried so hard I laughed

(X) cheated on a test
( ) owned a Britney Spears CD

(X) forgotten someone’s name

(X) French-braided someone’s hair

(X) gone skinny dipping in a pool

( ) been threatened to be kicked out of my house

( ) been kicked out my house

(X) had a fantasy over someone I love as a good friend

(X) sun-tanned naked

( ) ran naked in the rain

And you?

Fittest of them all....

I admit: I love group exercise...aerobics, spinning. I love the challenge of getting the steps. I love the loud dance music. I love sweating. A few years ago, i found a gym that really gave me a challenge. The aerobics and spinning there were really for the fittest of the fit. Going to this gym along with training for a marathon got me the fittest i have ever been. Even after having a baby, i was able to get strong enough to pick up some classes at the gym here and there. And now i've had two babies...and have been on my bike every other day...I thought i was ready to go back. So i did last week. And almost died.

I am used to being a strong athlete. I enjoy physical challenge and am used to being one of the strongest, quick to pick up the steps in an aerobics class. But when i went back to the gym last week, i felt lost, hot, weak and old. After 20 minutes of the too-loud music and huffing and puffing, i had to excuse myself because i thought i was going to faint. Seriously. Once i returned, i couldn't follow the complicated step work. I had to be that person...the one who just marches in place until they catch their breath and can follow allong. I used to secretly laugh at that person. And here i am.

And the day after (and day after that) was extremely painful. I used to enjoy feeling sore after a good work out. It was a satisfying feeling of being sore--feeling my muscles grow and stretch. But after going back to the gym last week, my muscles were stiff and angry.

I've gone back since then and hope it gets easier.

Potato Famine and Easter Bunny

As soon as the toddler woke up, she asked with some concern, "How did the easter bunny get into the house?" I didn't know how to answer. Then she told me how he woke her up in the night.

3 yr old, coloring: "He's a little boy and he is soooooo dead."
Me: "He's what?"
her: "He ate a potato and it made him so dead."
me: "um...what?"
her: "When you eat a potato it makes you dead."

Happy easter, you've been warned!

Riding

Now that we're back in the swing of things, i have started exercise again. Instead of being stuck in the porch on my bicycle trainer, i've been able to take the ole bike out on the road. It's been warming up and it's nice to get back on the trails. My brother teased me with a sort-of invite to do RAGBRAI in 2009. I believe he told me that if i committed, my father would do it again. You know, for his baby daughter?

...and then, Brisbane

On our way back to the states, the 'relo's' drove us 3 hours to brisbane for a 2 day holiday. I have been to brisbane once before and it is my favorite city in australia. I am working on my husband to one day live there. On the way up, we stopped by an aussie zoo with real live aussie animals. Of course, the kids love it.

In one area, you are allowed to pet and feed the kangaroos with the following instructions.

I was facinated by the joey's in the kangaroos' pockets. The baby kangaroos are pretty small when they crawl into the pocket. Here is a synopses of what happens:

...and here is a joey in a real live kangaroo!!

Here's the joey moving around inside:



Brisbane has a lovely public swimming area with a great view of the city and the river.

Brisbane is just north enough that it's tropical. We passed many banana and sugar cane fields on the way. We saw lizards like the one below everywhere we went in the city.

...and then we flew home! It was my fifth visit to australia and it's always bitter sweet leaving. Perhaps one day i can convince my husband to live there.

Calming Baby and Back to Work

Baby definately has calmed down right in time for our trip. She has made some other noises than crying, which is fun. She has been smiling--the first time documented above. And she actually slept for long periods of time on our trip! She did a 7 hour stretch in bathurst, which was almost unbelieveable. Generally, i was able to put her down to sleep around 7pm in australia, and she would sleep until around midnight. It was great!! I'm hoping after she's over jet lag(why does she have jet lag when she gets to take as many naps as she wants???), she'll do it some more.

She has survived her first few days in day care. Due to bad planning, we returned from oz on friday evening and i started back at work on monday. It's been going well. Her first day, i told the teacher she tends to be high needs and likes to be held and hasn't really fallen asleep without being nursed or held. I also left enough breastmilk to feed the whole center. During my one of 3 check in calls/emails during the day, the teacher told me she would describe the baby as "easy going." Surely they were describing the wrong baby.

Being back at work has been a good thing. I really enjoy what i do and it hasn't been as traumatic as i had expected.

Grandad

On the train ride up to my sister-in-law's house, we were reviewing the color of people's hair. It went something like this:

Me: "What color is my hair?"

3 y.o: "Black!"

Me: "What color is daddy's hair?"

3 y.o.: "Brown!"

My husband: "What color is grandad's hair?"
3 y.o examines grandad: ".......yellow?"

Maclean

The "relo's" live 5 minutes from the beach and have a pool. Yes. We went swimming. The beach was beautiful, and most times, we were the only ones in the water. I loved it. I wondered out loud with my husband why there wasn't a huge resort surrounding this beach and he said, "It's australia. It's like this the whole way 'round." *sigh*

The cousins got along swimmingly (hehe). Of course, their 3 yr old and my 3 yr old were two peas in a pod. She kept referring to the type of english i was speaking, which i can only imagine it meant my accent. At one point, my husband and i went to the beach alone and i told the 3 yr old we were going out and about. When we returned, she asked us how the boat was. She heard, "Out in a boat."

They also have a trampoline. I'm not sure who jumped more on it--my daughter or me. I think i kicked the kids off it several times--shameless.

The kangaroos would make their way through the yard every morning and afternoon. They were all over the neighborhood, it was pretty amazing. They would rest under the trampoline or hop on by eating grass.