10.3.21 - Kid snippets: I have NEVER heard that before

I'm baking a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting for Jack's birthday.

Clara: "pumpkin cake"? I thought it was pumpkin pie!
Me: No, it's a cake.
Clara: That doesn't make any sense!
Me: Why not?
Clara: Because "pumpkin cake" aren't real words. It's pumpkin pie.
Me: You can have a lot of pumpkin things. You can have pumpkin ice cream, or pumpkin cake, or pumpkin cupcakes, or pumpkin pie. Lots of things can have pumpkin.
Clara (6 yo): I have NEVER heard that before.

3.3.21 - Alone time with Clara

Today was a lovely day overall, but I'm too tired to write out all the details. The main thing I want to make sure to remember is that Jack took Jane and Calvin on a few errands, and while Clara and I were the only ones home, I showed her pictures and videos of the day she was born and the days thereafter. We watched a video of her still at the hospital, yawning. We watched one of Jama giving her a sponge bath on the kitchen counter. While we watched them, she sat in my lap and cuddled and said things like "I was such a cute wittle baaaby!" And I felt overwhelmed with love and awe and joy at my sweet, precious child, getting so big so fast.

3.1.21 - Kid snippets: Clara is almost 6.

For the past week or two Clara hasn't been able to stop talking about how she's almost 6, which has been great. This morning she was particularly excited for us to switch all our calendars from February to March, because it means her birthday is almost here.

Tonight, just before bed, she asked me "Excuse me, Mom, but tomorrow at night I can cross off the 2 [the calendar square for March 2], and then the next morning, I will be 6?"

Me: "Yep, that's right, you will."

Clara: "And I will wake up and say [in awed whisper] 'I'm alive!' and then I will JUMP up--"

Me: "Do not jump on your bed."

Clara: "--I will RUN down my ladder and say to you [lies on her back and kicks and pumps her fists in the air] 'I'm six I'm six I'm SIX!'"

Tomorrow is her last day being five years old, and I can't believe it. It's going so fast. It's a joy to watch her grow but also sad to see her moving through young childhood so quickly. My heart is full.

Picture from earlier today trying out her lab coat from Ellen.

6.27.20 - Joy status: breakfast with Rachel and playdate

I had a belated birthday breakfast courtesy of Rachel, who I haven't seen in a long time. We ate at a place that normally has a line out the door, but because of "these times" we were able to walk up and get a table. In order to keep all the tables appropriately distanced, the restaurant had converted it's parking lot into spaced out patio seating, and it was really nice weather out and generally a nice ambiance. Food was great too. We both wanted savory and sweet so we ordered one of each (French toast and an avocado omelette) and split them.

When we were done I went back to my car and saw I had a ticket (!) BUT as I quickly scanned it to see the damage, I just saw $0 because it was only a warning (apparently I was parked in a residential area that requires a permit). I didn't even know such a thing was possible, and I couldn't help but wonder if the person choosing warning only took pity on me because of my pitiable (but reliable!) old Toyota Corolla.

Then I dropped by the nearby park and playground to verify (a) park parking lots have reopened, (b) as have the playgrounds themselves, and (c) as have the public restrooms (especially important with little kids with little bladders).

So I went home and got Jane and Clara ready with a picnic lunch, and we went back to the park to meet up with one of Clara's former preschool classmates (and his mom and younger sister) for a playdate. All the kids were *really* happy to see each other (except Jane who sat with me on a bench most of the time, being shy).

Weather wasn't terrible because we met early enough in the day - high 70s and low 80s, manageable, and the park had a lot of shade. The kids loved chasing the birds, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and chasing each other around the playground and park. Even Jane did finally join in for the last 20 or so minutes we were there. This is the first time I met this family (Jack was always the one to drop off and pick up Clara from school) and the other mama was easy to talk to. We've already tenatively planned another get together in a little while to have a craft day at our apartment. Hoping this is the beginning of a decent family friendship.

Jane went too far away so I told Clara to go get her. They walked all the way back to me holding hands.

Nice weekend!

3.3.20 - saying good night to Clara

I left for work before the kids were awake and didn't get home until they were already in bed. Jane was already asleep but Clara was still up. She heard me talking to Jack in the living room and called to me to come see her.

I went into the dark nursery and talked to her briefly about her day. I asked her if they sang her "Happy Birthday" at school and if she gave all her friends stickers and she told me about it a little bit. I asked her for big hugs and I really couldn't get enough because I've been thinking all day about my little girl being not so little anymore. Each hug made me think of how I used to hold her when she was just a tiny little baby. After maybe the third hug:

Me:"I love you so much."
Clara: "I love you too Mom."
Me: "I can't believe you are five years old!"
Clara: "How old are you?"
Me: "34."
Clara: "Wow that is so big and fat!"

She clearly thinks fat is a compliment.

3.2.20 - Clara's birthday mini family celebration

I had been out of town since Friday morning in Portland for a pro-life thing. Jack picked me up at the airport with Jane and Calvin in tow. after going home with them to make lunch take care of a few things I went to pick up Clara from school.

When I got there she didn't see me at first, and I stood quietly near the door and watched her play with other kids. It was very reassuring to see how they all got along and how she was part of the group. When she did see me she was excited and announced "Mom, you're back!" She ran up and gave me a big hug and she pointed me out to some of her classmates and said "This is my mom! She's so cool."

As we left the classroom I realized I needed to fill her sippy cup. She showed me where the outside water fountain was and how to use it. It has a little stool for the kids to stand on so they can reach. Then we got in the car and rolled the windows down to enjoy the really nice day outside. As we drove to Safeway I asked her questions about her day and then about her birthday. I asked her what kind of cake she would like; she told me brown. She meant chocolate. She also explained that she would like three presents and that she would want them to be wrapped in wrapping paper that was brown like her shoes and red like her pants and pink like her shirt. I said we'll see.

When we got to Safeway she wanted to carry the reusable shopping bag herself. We went inside and looked at balloons. Originally she picked out two: one for her and one for Jane. But then upon further thought she also picked out one for me and one for Jack, and all of them were colors that matched the clothes we were wearing today. She carried the balloons in her shopping bag over her shoulder and followed me around talking to me about her plans while I looked for gluten-free cake mix. She talked to several passers by who wished her happy birthday. She also very carefully put the balloons on the conveyor belt at check out and then talked to the cashier about the balloons and about our plans. Everyone seemed to think she was adorable, and they're right.

Then we walked to the Dollar Tree, which is adjacent to Safeway, and we picked out a bunch of Paw Patrol stickers for her to take to school tomorrow. We also grabbed a little soccer ball she found on the floor of the aisle and was excited about. She chose a number 5 candle for her cake. It was fun letting her help me get all of the supplies. On the way home she wanted me to keep all of the windows up in the car because she was afraid the balloons would float away (though they were not helium).

Once we got home I made some gluten-free pizza and I added bacon and extra cheese. The kids watched Lady and the Tramp, Jack took care of Calvin, and I started making the cake. While the cake was baking and the kids were occupied I quickly wrapped a few of the presents we've received via mail for Clara. I didn't wrap all of them because I think she will like to have some more to open on the day we actually celebrate when we go to Fairy Tale Town. Jane wasn't as into the movie as Clara was, and kept coming to watch me doing different prep. She was especially interested in watching me wrap the gifts.

When the cake was cooling I started blowing up some regular balloons. Clara picked out one of each color and the girls watched in delighted fascination as I blew each one up. Once they had about six or seven they started trying to make them all fit in the laundry basket or on the red office chair and laughing delightedly as balloons would pop up and float around the room. They had a great time. They are so easy to entertain at this age.

They also helped me with the cakes. I had made two in an attempt to do a double layer but I couldn't get them out of the pan without messing them up, so I decided to just have two small cakes. Clara helped me spread the frosting on each and they both helped me put rainbow sprinkles on each, which means the cakes were "caked" with sprinkles. But it was worth it to watch the girls get excited about decorating.

For most of this prep Jack dozed on the couch with Calvin, which frankly was very helpful because then Calvin wasn't constantly interrupting. They looked so peaceful too.

But by now Calvin was finally waking up so we cleared off the table and put the presents, balloons, and cake on it. We had everyone sit around and we sang Clara "Happy Birhtday."

They enjoyed some cake and then it was time for presents. Clara wanted to hand one present to each of her siblings, which was so sweet. I explained all the presents are for her because it's her birthday. Jane handled it well. Clara was most excited about the snake magnifying glass and she and Jane laughed a lot looking at each other through it for a while.

After all of that I decided to take a shower. Not long after I started, Clara peeked her head in to see what's going on. She and Jane both wanted to join me, so Clara hurriedly took her clothes off, Jack helped Jane with hers, and they both got in the shower with me. I like to take very hot showers and neither of them wanted to be directly in the water but they each had a cup and they stood near me and tried to capture the water running off my elbows or shoulders or hair. They did this the entire time and seemed to really enjoy it. They reminded me of little ducklings following their mother around.

When we were done they came out to the table and ate more cake. At one point Jane was completely naked with chocolate all over her face, and she seemed very happy about both of those facts. Clara was talking to me about how the food goes in her mouth and down into her stomach, so I pulled up a YouTube video for kids about the digestive system and she and Jane watched it at least three times. Before bed Jack and I heard Clara explaining to one of the balloons how her food turns into poop.

Anyway we haven't even done her big celebration yet but she seemed to have a wonderful time. I can't believe that she's 5 years old or that I have been a mother before at least that long. Something about age 5 makes it seem like her younger childood is really over now as she moves into, I don't know--"middle" childhood." But I've enjoyed the baby/toddler phase so much. I'm both nostalgic and sentimental about her very small years already done but also looking forward to continuing to watch her grow. Parenthood is so strange and wonderful.

6.30.19 - Joy statuses

5.11.19 - Jane's birthday party

Jane turns two on Monday, so we decided to celebrate today (the Saturday before) when we had time.

Despite us putting the girls to bed at about the same time Friday night as we do every night, they stayed up much later than usual. Jack went to get gluten free cake mix and frosting for me to bake Jane's cake the night before, and when he got back (near 9pm) they were both standing in the nursery window. I thought this was actually a good thing because maybe they would sleep in the next day, giving us time to clean up before having guests over and pushing Jane's nap back further. But no. They woke up even earlier than typical--about 6:30 am or so), and it made for a hectic morning. Also I'm reaching the third trimester and starting to feel the difficulty of getting up and down off the floor, which makes cleaning harder. But with Jack's help we still got everything clean and the girls ready pretty much on time.

A little light reading on the way to the zoo.

We met Henry at the zoo entrance and Clara was very happy about that. She said "Hello Henry elephant" so you know he's one of her people.

In retrospect we probably could have skipped the zoo. Most of the first set of cages were empty. The tiger cage was interesting because the tigers were very active, pacing back and forth right by the front. They have beautiful eyes. Clara and I watched from one end of the fence and Jack had Jane on his shoulder about 10-15 ft away from us. We watched for awhile and suddenly one of the tigers ran up to the cage and ROARED right at Jane. It made me jump pretty hard and it scared the heck out of Jane. Poor girl started crying really hard and I had to take her pretty far away and comfort her for awhile and hold her for awhile longer. After that she pretty much wanted to stay in the stroller for a long time. I felt really bad for her.

Clara, on the other hand, seemed to take the tiger in stride and enjoy the zoo. She was interested in the animals and even more interested in the cut outs where she could pretend to be animals, haha. Eventually we got to a farm animal section (horses, cows, bees, mules) and Jane was ready to get back out of the stroller and explore. The farm animal section's exit put us right in front of the nearby playground. Once you exit the zoo to the playground, you can't re-enter, so Jack and I considered backtracking to see parts of the zoo we had skipped. But the girls had already seen the playground and were making a beeline for it, and since this is about them--especially Jane--enjoying the day we decided just to go for it.

The playground has a Western theme, covered wagon, general store, etc. It's pretty cute.

It was a good choice. The Folsom playground is really cute and the section for especially little kids is well designed. Jack took Clara on the bigger kids section and Henry and I followed Jane around in the little kids area. She was very happy. Grinning and toddling quickly from one section to another. We stayed for awhile, and of course once we headed back Jane fell asleep in the car.

Henry drove separately and went to pick up In & Out for everyone for lunch. Sarah had taken the train up and was waiting at a nearby Starbucks for us, so she met us at the apartment complex once we were close. To our surprise, Jane didn't stay down for a nap when we got home--I thought she'd be exhausted but she was ready to be up and hang out. I was worried she would be super fussy the rest of the day from going to bed late, getting up early, and taking such a short nap, but actually she was in a great mood. We hadn't even started cake, presents, or balloons yet and she and Clara were having a great time pretending to be baby birds together. Plus Henry came back with lunch and the girls were delighted to eat fries.

Henry also left again to pick them up balloons. He got each of them a pink and gold bunch of about 6, and they loved them. They played with those for a long time before we moved on to cake.

When we did get cake and sing "Happy Birthday," it was interesting to see how different Jane's reaction was to Clara's at her own 2nd birthday. Clara had been pretty shy and held on to me while everyone sang, whereas Jane just grinned and grinned at us. To be fair, though, at Clara's 2nd birthday there had been a lot more people. Anyway we told Jane to blow out the candles and, from about 2 feet away, she did a quick burst of air that had no effect, haha. So I blew them out for her, and then we took off the girls shirts to let them eat cake, which they got everywhere. When they were done Jane had cake all over not only her face and hands but also her stomach and shins.

We cleaned them up and it was time to open presents. Jane is not that bad at ripping off wrapping paper once you get it started for her. She wanted to stop and examine/play with each new gift before opening the next, which was sweet. It was a little difficult for Clara to understand that these gifts belonged to Jane, especially an electronic puppy Beth got her. Fortunately Jane seemed more interested in the crayons and magnet toys than the puppy initially, so Clara got to play with it a lot.

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting and keeping the girls from arguing over toys or tangling their balloons. It was overall a pretty relaxing enjoyable day.

3.3.19 - Clara's 4th birthday

I went to wake up the kids at about 7:45a because I hope to get Jane down for an early nap before the train museum. When I walked in I told Clara it was her birthday and said "Happy Birthday!" and she sat up and said "Cake!" and pretended to eat some cake.

By some miracle I managed to get a lot of cleaning done in the morning while Jack was at work and I was home with both girls. They really enjoyed it because I moved some furniture around to vacuum and that was apparently SO EXCITING. I didn't even bother to put the coffee table back because they were having such a fantastic time running in circles around it and giggling. I even finished making Clara's cake on time.

Even though they got up later than they do during the week (closer to 8am than 7am), Jane still went down peacefully for a nap early enough that she was awake again before it was time to leave for the train museum. Just as we were getting ready to put the girls in the car, Henry arrived at our apartment with a whole bunch of red and purple balloons, which was also very exciting for them. Clara wanted Henry to drive with us to the museum but was mollified when we told her he'd meet us there.

Also joining us at the museum were Erin, and also Beth and Hunter! Clara and Jane seemed slightly confused but pleased to see those two outside of Beth's house, haha. The kids had a great time. In contrast with last year, Jane does *not* want to be held at all and wants to walk/run every where herself, which overall is actually a lot easier (she is a high density child). Seemed to me Jane loved how much space there was to explore and Clara loved the trains themselves. I love the older gentleman who (I think) volunteer there and have tons of knowledge about all the trains. They remind me of Grandpa. <3 Same with the elaborate model train set on the 3rd floor. It's pretty fantastic. We lingered there awhile and really the girls, especially Clara, could have probably sat and watched it a lot longer, but I moved us along because Jack and I are both pretty tired these days.

After the museum we went back home and the girls played intensely with all the balloons while Erin ran and got ice cream and Henry ran and got everyone In & Out for lunch (even Clara, since she can have their gluten free fries). After lunch we busted out the chocolate cake with sprinkles, gave Clara 4 candles, and sang her Happy Birthday (she sang along). She and Jane made a delighted mess (especially Jane) of their cake, and then they were both more interested in the balloons than the presents for quite awhile.

Eventually we did open presents though. Clara has gotten really good at it all by herself. She got a whole new set of play food and a pretend birthday cake complete with candles (which is perfect since she pretends everything is cake and ice cream anyway). She also got a Magna doodle (which was a huge hit with Jane) and a model Golden Gate Bridge for the Brio train set. Jack set up a pretty beautiful train track incorporating the bridge and Clara played with it for quite awhile. Then she made what looked kind of like a thrown of balloons to sit Jingle Bear on and continually fed him the fake birthday cake for a long time.

Throughout the day she also got to video chat with Aaron, Katie, Josiah, and Naomi, later Mimi, and later Jama.

And while most of this was happening (during the time we were back at the apartment) I got to catch up with Henry and Erin, which was nice in itself.

And then the girls went to bed basically peacefully (probably totally wiped out).

Overall it was just a wonderful day.

6.17.18 - My birthday & Father's Day

A few days before Father's Day I was working at Picasso's and decided to walk down Main Street and see if I could find any good gift ideas for Jack. I went to this really charming bookstore called Main Street Books and they had all kinds of unique, thoughtful, and funny greeting cards. I picked out a sweet one for Jack and then also found a pair of Hungry Caterpillar socks, which I figure is kind of Father's Day-themed since our kids love that book. I imagined him wearing the socks and pretending his feet were caterpillars. Who knows if that will ever happen but it was the best idea I had so I got them.

Anyway so this morning I gave him those gifts before he took the girls to church, and he seemed to like them.

While everyone was at church I relaxed and enjoyed the quiet and time to myself. I made a plate of nachos (with the mango peach salsa I have been really loving this trip) and watched 2-3 episodes of The Office uninterrupted. Frankly it was awesome. I also tried to remember Pachelbel's Canon on the piano but I couldn't quite get the whole thing. Still enjoyed playing it without little hands pounding the keys on either end.

I went ahead and got dressed and prepped a couple things to take to Mom's house later. Jack came home with the kids and the sermon had been Father's Day related and church had given all the dads bags of M&M's with a little card, so that was sweet.

We all caravaned to Mom's house for my informal birthday potluck. Jack dropped us off and ran to Costco to get rotisserie chicken (from us) and canned chicken for Everett's buffalo chicken dip. (Side note: I like how proud Everett is of that dip. It's freaking delicious and all of it always gets eaten at get together's, which he likes to point out.) Ellen made Sunshine fruit salad and she was so thoughtful as to make one version completely gluten free, which means a lot to me.

Thanks to Ellen and Everett the basement was already totally clean and prepped for company. Good thing, too, because Zoey forbid me from going down there while she worked on my birthday gift, haha. But once she was done we all moved all the food and drink to the downstairs table. The Bairds came over with bacon wrapped smokey mini sausages in a crock pot (which also all got eaten), Don & Merlene brought gluten free chips and cheese, and I think Julie brought a bunch of veggies and hummus. Later Linda got there with apple fritters.

Blurry pic Mom took of everyone visiting. I'm having grapefruit juice with white wine, mmm.

We all hung out and chatted, and we played a few games of Quiplash. One of the questions was what to name a cheese shop and I won with "It's all Gouda." Lol. Everyone loves puns. Zoey and Malcolm stayed upstairs for this part because the game is not always kid-friendly. Clara is too young to understand, though, and she stayed with us and happily danced to the background music and watched the animated characters as we entered our answers. At some point Katie Jackson came over and joined us, which was really great because I hadn't been sure if she'd be able to make it (Aaron is home with poision oak, but the kids were napping so she snuck away for a bit). She played Quiplash too and laughed a lot.

Zoey's sweet card.

We were able to play only a few games because the Bairds had to go tend to other things (alas), but then it was time to open presents. I actually wasn't really expecting presents because I'd told everyone not to worry about it, but I had several anyway. Zoey made me a handmade card all taped shut, and inside it was her gift: a drawing! Very very sweet, and she was so excited for me to open it. Ellen got me a stainless steel baking dish (I am slowly converting all bakeware to stainless steel for ease of cleaning and gluten free cooking), Don & Merlene got me a sweet card with some cash, Jack got me a book on teaching our kids to read, and Mom painted me a fresca based on the lyric book "It's a Wonderful World" that my girls enjoy. That was especially creative and touching and she even copied the exact style of the birds and butterflies in the book's illustrations.

We didn't have any cake, but Mom stuck 7 candles in an apple fritter (3 and 3 for 33 and "one to grow on") and then everyone sang "Happy Birthday" and I blew out the candles with Clara's help. I was pleased to see that Clara has evolved from being shy and intimidated by everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to enjoying it and wanting to aslo blow out the candles.

I think it was after that Linda had to get going and so did the Jacksons and the Wolks. Everett, Jack, and I hung out and chatted in the basement for awhile and then quickly cleaned up. Jack and I took the girls back to Don & Merlene's so we could hang out with Dave while he was there after work. At some point Merlene put a candle in half a gluten free fig bar (lol) so that the Jacksons could sing me their much more professional, harmonized version of "Happy Birthday." Clara loved that too, and again helped me blow out the candle.

3/4 of the Jackson singers that night.

Oh and of course I got a lot of well wishes via text and on Facebook. My favorite this year was from Nick Reynosa:

6.6.18 - Mom's actual birthday

I worked in the afternoon but left early to pick up supplies for gluten free chocolate cupcakes. God bless Schnuck's and their entire Gluten Free section making my life so much easier. I went by the Jacksons to get Jack and the girls and stuff for nachos. Clara knows when we put on her shoes that we're going somewhere. She said "Go see Zoey and Malcolm?" I didn't know if the Wolks were coming over because Z & M had been feeling sick the day before, so I told Clara "We're going to see Jama, Ellen, Everett, Abigail, and Myrna!" but she just responded "Go see Zoey and Malcolm?" So I texted Julie to ask and yes, they were going to come over! Yay.

So we headed back to Mom's. She was off work early (5pm) and she happily played with the girls in the living room while Ellen helped me make nachos (one gluten free pan, one regular) and then I also made gluten free chocolate cupcakes (thanks largely to Merlene keeping gluten free dishes for us to use).

We enjoyed the food and Mom sat at the front door showing Clara and Jane the birds outside. Mom has a great setup of bird feeder and bird bath and some kind of distraction (corn on the cob?) for squirrels. Her front yard is lively, and the kids liked it. Although once Clara remembered the basement was there she kept wanting to go down there. I went with her once and she remembered Mom's touch lamp and a few other things from Christmas, and I can't remember if all that is in videos she's seen since or if she's getting old enough to have a longer memory, but I suspect the latter and it's pretty cool. Hopefully it means she'll remember more at Christmas. And in general I like the idea of her getting old enough to remember grandparents' houses between visits and start really anticiapting and enjoying visiting.

Clara was way in the back of the basement following one of the cats around when Julie and her kids arrived. I told Clara Zoey and Malcolm were here and I could see her little head bobbing quickly up and down as she ran past the back white wall to hurry and go see her cousins. I love it.

All the kids played in the living room for a while and then we moved the party outside. It was late enough it wasn't too warm anymore. Julie, Ellen, and I mostly sat around the porch table sipping drinks while Mom got out some soccor balls and things and played with the kids in the yard. I showed Zoey how to use my video camera and she practiced a couple times. Mom got Jane used to walking in the grass--a feat in itself--and Clara and Malcolm practiced throwing the balls as far as they possibly could. At one point Clara threw a ball over the fence, so Zoey ran round to the neighbor's yard to throw it back.

Eventually I went back inside to get the cupcakes, and Zoey helped me with the candles. I was going to just do one candle in a cupcake but Zoey said we needed six because Jama is 60. So then I was going to do one candle each in six cupcakes but Zoey objected. We put six candles in one cupcake, and Zoey made a point of making the swirly candle the tallest because "it's the fanciest." Once Everett and Jack came out we all sang "Happy Birthday," (which Clara seems to be getting used to and not intimidated by) and then enjoyed cupcakes. Mom got some great pics of the four grandkids with chocolate all over their faces.

We cleand up, I left Jane with Jack and Everett, and the rest of us went on a walk up to All Saints. On the way there we played "I spy with my little eye," which Clara has gotten the hang of thanks to practicing with Mom the night before. All the little kids were holding our hands and excitedly pointing out different colors. I was especially touched that Clara loved it and started to understand it. When she said "I spy little eye something that's white" I was excited/impressed.

Up at All Saints the rides for the Parish Picnic this coming weekend are already set up but of course no on was there late on a Wednesday. Clara was really taken with the giant bears and monkeys for one of the spinny rides, and she and Zoey and Malcolm wandered around checking out everything. It was great. She was upset to leave until we started playing "I spy" again, and on the way back we heard bats and saw a lot of fireflies. Zoey even caught one. Such an idyllic midwestern summer night.