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January photos

snowangels.JPGJan. 16: It’s been a snowy January, and we’ve had some fun adventures in the snow.  If you check out the gallery, you’ll see some of the following:

  • Sylvia climbing up on a chair
  • Andrew’s pickle and cheese sandwich “It’s good to try new things, Mommy.  How do you know you won’t like it if you don’t try it!”
  • Photos of my (now replaced) over-loved Mark Bittmann cookbook
  • Chocolate faces
  • Sled runs
  • Bryan with his kids
  • Snow angels
  • Snowball-eating-Sylvie
  • Sylvia in the sink – boy can that girl play with water for a long time!
  • Snuggles with Uncle Joe
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Pet cancer…again?

spook.JPGJan. 16: After we lost our sweet pooch, April to bone cancer in 2006, I thought we’d had our dose of pets with cancer.  However, when I took Spooky back in to the vet today to have an ultrasound of his bladder, our vet found a mass.  Dr. Heide noted that she’s not a certified ultrasound tech, but there’s definitely something in his bladder.  And that’s consistent with the transitional cells found in his urinalysis.
So once again, I find myself reading articles that reference the staging of tumors, surgery and chemo options along with median survival times.  And once again, none of it is good.
Spooky’s diagnosis isn’t definitive yet.  Dr. Heide took a new urine sample and is sending it to a pathologist for a diagnosis.  We should hear back in a week.
So there’s still hope that he’s just lost some weight, has an unusual thing in his bladder, and is totally healthy.  But that’s not looking terribly likely.
Here’s a link to a study that my vet gave me.
Right now, Spook has no symptoms other than being a little on the skinny side (he’s 11.5 lbs down from about 14 lbs).  So I think I’ll just live in that place of happy kitty denial until forced to behave otherwise.

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Kitten nephews!

pulloandlucius.jpgJan 15: After six months of marriage, Maretta and Kyle have gone and gotten themselves…Kittens!
Lucius and Pullo (named for Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, the main characters from the HBO series Rome) are so adorable!  They are brothers.  Lucius is gray and white and Pullo is white with black spots.  I’ve posted the photos that Kyle sent…Maretta and Kyle, I need more photos.  Kitten sweetness!
Makes me think back on Bowser and Spooky when they were tiny!

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Super Boy

superboy.JPGJan. 15: Aunt Maretta got Andrew a cape for Christmas, and my boy has sure been having fun flying in his super cape.  He likes me to take pictures of him jumping, and I made a whole album (at his request) of Superboy jumping.
Andrew didn’t get to go to preschool this morning because the temperatures were so low.  Our thermometer said it was -11 degrees!  Even though Andrew loves, loves, loves preschool, and even though he was supposed to be celebrating his birthday at preschool today (since his birthday is during the summer), he’s been pretty nonplussed about it all.  Instead, he happily helped me wash the windows and dust.  What a good kid:-)
We’ve been having a blast the last three days hanging out with Uncle Joe.  Andrew sure adores his Uncle, and we’re soaking in our time with him.

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Joe is prepping for Sri Lanka

vatadage_350.jpgJan 14: My brother Joe returned from his trip to Death Valley last Saturday.  He’d gone out to California to join Terry in a little desert exploration, and I think they had a fun time.  So far this week, I’ve been delighted to have the opportunity to spend three whole days in my young brother’s company.  It fills up my Joe-box nicely.
Joe is a junior at Bowdoin College, and on January 25, he’s leaving for Sri Lanka for a semester abroad.  I am so excited for him.  I don’t think that statement adequately expresses my excitement.  SO EXCITED.

Joe got his vaccinations this morning, and in the next week or so we’re going to shop for the final items he wants to take on his trip.  Andrew has been really curious about what kinds of animals Uncle Joe will see while in Sri Lanka.  We’ve been looking things up online.  I love the Internet!

While looking up info on Sri Lanka, I found a blog written by a student who went on the ISLE program last semester.  She wrote a blog called Culture Change, and so far it has given me a tantalizing sneak-peak into the experiences Joe may have over the next several months.

Joe is planning to blog about his experiences abroad.  You can find him here: Platos Footnotes.
His first post on his travels is copied below. I really love travel…especially international travel…especially international travel that involves an immersion into the culture.  Oh, Joe…I hope your experiences challenge and inspire you in wonderful ways.

Sri Lanka-Part 1:Planning and Preparation

10 Jan

I hope that a few more eyes flit over these and many words to come in the next few months.  I will be going abroad to Sri Lanka for the next four months, from Jan 25th until May 18th and intend to use this blog as my primary way of keeping my friends and family informed.  Most likely this space will be part summary of daily life and experiences, part sharing of pictures, and part reflection.  My time on the internet will be limited to internet cafes, so I hope to update this blog about once a week and keep all of you that I care about abreast of my world since I won’t be able to individually.  In fact, if you are reading this right now and want to communicate thoughts to me at all, the comments section is probably the best way to do it since, for internet use, this blog will be my primary concern.  And I love comments, :-).

Things on *the* list to prepare for Sri Lanka include:

1) Read “When Memories Die” (which I’ve completed)

2) Learn the Sinhala alphabet

3) Read 5th century text on ancient Sri Lankan history

4) Peruse some travel guides

5) Shop and pack

Given that today is Jan. 10th (well, here it has recently become the 11th, but *somewhere* it’s the 10th), I have two weeks and a day to prepare for Sri Lanka.  I think I’m up to the challenge.

On top of all that, I hope to apply to several internships in D.C. in hopes that I might get one (please, just one, that’s all I want) in the next few weeks.

Reactions to “When Memories Die”:

The book that I’ve read so far was a narrative that followed three generations of the same family, starting from about the 1920s until somewhere vaguely in the 1990s.  It was a really great book and a perfect introduction to Sri Lanka (I think).  If you don’t know anything about Sri Lankan history (as I didn’t), they were colonized by the British until 1948 and then have had a considerable amount of inner turmoil, culminating in a full civil war by the 1980s (that still goes
on today).  From what I can tell, much of the civil war is around a racial problem between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority.
At some point (it was hard to tell when), Sinhala replaced English as the language of government and instruction, in the face of the Tamil and their language.  The last 50 years seem to be mostly growing . animosity about which ethnic group came to Sri Lanka first and who was favored by the colonists, etc.

It’s all really pretty depressing.  It seems mostly to be blind racism that grew and showed itself through a difference of languages and geography.  I’ll be learning Sinhala while in Sri Lanka, but I already resent that fact to some extent.  It will be really interesting to find out more about the political situation from my host family, since news reports have the Tamils (which have been fighting for a country of their own in the North and East parts of the island) losing
the battle.

That’s all for now, but I’ll try to update later a bit on the geography and where I’ll be staying and what I know about it thus far.

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Spooky’s lab results

Jan. 13: I just received an email with the following info from Spooky’s vet:

“Spooky’s CBC, chemistry, and total T4 were normal so he is not diabetic or hyperthyroid.  His urinalysis showed many red blood cells and transitional cells, some with multiple nuclei, in the sediment.  This may be due to a severe inflammatory process or tumor in his urinary bladder or his kidneys.”

My brain is processing.  Both this news and the following estimate: $160-$700 in ultrasounds, x-rays, and radiologist consults.  At the low end of that estimate, they can do an ultrasound of Spooky’s bladder to look for a tumor.  I guess that will probably be the next step.

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Our girl is 11 months old!

Jan. 11: It’s hard for me to believe that Sylvia will be one-year-old in a month!  This morning during breakfast (popovers…mmmmm), we noticed that it is the 11th.  Andrew is really fascinated with looking at calendars and talking about the month and date.  We noted that now when people ask us how old she is, we’ll say, “11 months!”  He’s so in love with his sister:)
Sylvia is on the go these days.  Her daytime naps have gotten really consistent.  Usually about an hour and 15 minutes at 9am and 1pm, but sometimes she’s napping for longer.  The late afternoon/early evening times have become dramatically more enjoyable.  She’s screeching again, and it’s rather terrible, but it’s not constant.  Plus, she can communicate in other ways now, so she reserves screeching for when she’s not getting her way.
Sylvia has lots of new tricks:

  • She’s imitating.  In the last couple weeks, she’s started doing things like blowing when I blow.  It’s so fun to play!  She’ll shake her head when I shake my head, and she’ll do other silly moments and gestures when she’s in the mood.
  • Sylvia is pushing her little stroller/walker all over the house.  She looks so happy and eager and rambunctious when she’s on the go!
  • She wakes up from her naps pointing at the lambs who live on the top of her shelves.  “Mmmmaaa!” she says, “Mmmmmmmmaaaa!”  I thought originally that “mmmmaaa” meant me, but it turns out it means, “I want.”  She often wants me.  But she also wants Dad, big brother’s toys, the remote control, the sink, Dad’s beer, a candle, or Poodle Nose (her lovey).  She reaches her arm out (often palm up) and announces “Mmmmaa!”  Better act fast, or a screech might be close behind!  She’s also able to direct the adult who is carrying her by pointing where she wants to go and giving negative feedback when you go the wrong way.  It’s amazing to watch her become more and more able to interact with the world.
  • Sylvia loves water.  Tubby time is one of her favorite parts of the day.  And I’ve discovered an activity that will occupy her for a long time.  I prop her up on one knee and let her play in the sink.  Leave a little water running out of the tap, give her something to splash in the water, and she is set.  The only problem is that if I want to stop (even after say 30 minutes), she is NOT OK with that. Much screeching ensues.  Also, everytime we pass the sink without playing in it, she feels thwarted and verbally punishes her carrier.
  • My 11-month Sylvia is a social butterfly.  On our hardest days, all that it takes is a new face to make her light up, calm down, and watch with wonder.  I think our biggest challenges occur when she gets bored with me.  This kid may need some group activities!
  • Sylvia still loves going outdoors even though she’s bundled head-to-toe.  She crawls around in the snow, faceplants in the snow, laughs while I pull her on her sled.  Last night I took Andrew and Sylvia each on their sleds for a ride down the street.  It was after 5pm, and the sky was dark.  The kids were interacting with each other and enjoying watching the glistening white snow as we trekked down to “the Court” and back.
  • Nights are going alright.  Not fabulous.  She wakes up at 10ish, 1ish and 5ish to nurse.  I’m glad that the 4am nurse is out.  Sometimes the 5am nurse is late enough that I just go the gym afterwards.  One night last week, she skipped the 1am nurse.  It was wonderful:)

So that’s a little snippet of Sylvia’s world these days.  Happy birthday, sweet impish girl!

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Clean House – part I

Jan. 10: I’ve been thinking about writing some posts about my struggles and strategies with keeping my home clean and uncluttered.  Then I think, “Who wants to read about how dirty my floors are?”  But since house cleaning is a big component of my job as a stay-at-home mom, and since everyone I know has to find ways to keep their home the nest they want it to be, I’ve decided that maybe people would be interested.  So here’s the start of a mulit-post topic: Clean House!

Background:
Bryan and I were both working out of the home until December of ’07.  During our time at home, I think we did a good job of prioritizing time-with-Andrew over most other things.  So than meant that our kitchen was usually dirty, our meals were unplanned and thrown together, our floors were cleaned only occasionally, and in general, we played with Andrew until he was in bed at which time we both collapsed – most real cleaning and laundry and yard work etc. occurred on the weekends.  In some ways, I’m glad that I can comfortably live in a messy home.  It meant that I wasn’t too stressed out when the bathroom was requesting a cleaning and I told it to wait until Saturday.

After Sylvia was born and I changed jobs to working in the home, I found myself transitioning to feeling like I needed things at a higher state of cleanliness all the time…not just once in a while.  But with a new baby and a  two-year-old, I didn’t know when in the heck I was supposed to find the opportunity to mop the floor or clean the toilet.

Then last June, my friend Julie wrote a post about some of her random quirks.  One of her “quirks” was that she never leaves the house without making her bed.  Another was that no crumbs are ever left on the counter.  I mulled these over in my mind for days.  I’d be walking down the street thinking, “No crumbs left on the counter ever?”  I sometimes wash off the counter.  It is occasionally clean.  Before making something new, I usually clean off the part of the counter that I’m going to use.  But a totally clean counter every day?  wow.
And then bed making.  I’d think to myself, “I know how to make my bed.”  I make my bed when guests come over.  Sometimes.  I’d put away our decorative pillows years ago because they never made it on the bed.  I had put bed-making on my “not going to worry about that” list.  I wonder what it would be like if I made my bed every day.  huh.

So that was Part I: feeling like things could be cleaner…starting to want them to be cleaner…but really not knowing how to do it…