Let It Snow!

Along with the other 50 million people in the mid-atlantic/northeast U.S., we got a TON of snow yesterday! On the downside, all our plans were cancelled. On the upside, we had a ton of fun!

Swiper No Swiping

If you're familiar with Dora (and CAN I PLEASE HAVE YOUR LIFE if you aren't), you know all about Swiper, The Sneaky Fox. He basically takes things Dora needs for her adventures, and is a terrible influence on impressionable 3-year olds. Second only to Grand Theft Auto, which is why Gabe only plays that on weekends. Anyway, Gabe has taken to "swiping" things around the house, and hiding them in sometimes obvious but usually not-so-obvious places. This is the reason I'm late to work most days: when I spend 10 minutes looking for a brush only to find it in Gabe's underwear drawer, it's understandably difficult to get out the door. At least it's a more clever excuse than being hungover again. Anyway, I was pretty darn amused to find our Christmas stockings had been swiped today. Here are some pictures of the empty mantle and where I discovered the stockings later!

Earache

Poor Gabe! Last night we went to Longwood Gardens to see the lights and trees, and Gabe was cracking us up the whole time. Every tree was a "red Eiffel Tower!" or a "yellow Eiffel Tower!", instead of...um, A CHRISTMAS TREE! But then about an hour into the trip Gabe started complaining that his ear hurt. We thought it was the cold, so we went inside the cafeteria for a snack. Once inside he started crying, and once he started no amount of distraction (including a Santa cupcake with sprinkles) would make him stop. And when her big brother cries, Riley can't help but join the choir, so we got the heck out of there and high-tailed it over to CVS for some emergency Motrin and headed home. I spent the night going back and forth between Gabe's bed and mine (every 3-4 hours as the drugs wore off) and then today the doctor confirmed the obvious: ear infection. Any parent with a kid in day care will be shocked when I say this is our first ear infection, so now I know how lucky we've been! Anyway, yesterday was also Gabe's Christmas program at school, and it was ADORABLE. When I figure out how to upload video from our video camera (and not my phone) I'll post it but for now here are some pictures!

The forecast for the weekend is snow and more snow, so should be a low-key few days at home. Wish us luck!

Ho Ho Ho!

Sorry for the long overdue post! We have been predictably busy since Thanksgiving, with lots of work craziness, parties, events, and...well, life. Speaking into Turkey Day, here are some pics! Gabe & Ca-Ca making a gumdrop tree! And of course I have some funny stories to share!  

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  We were reading one of MANY Christmas books last week and Gabe was looking for elves. I wasn't sure if he knew what elves were exactly, so I asked him if he knew what elves looked like. "Of course I do" he replied, then ran to the refridgerator and took off the "L" magnet. HILARIOUS.
• Today he was drinking milk out of a new Santa Claus cup, which Ryan hadn't seen before. "Gabe", he asked, "what is that your milk is in?". Exasperated, he replied "It's a cup, Daddy".
• Gabe was playing with some sticky play-doh like stuff and threw it up to the ceiling, where it stuck. "Look!", he said, "it's a magnet!".
• Allegedly, Gabe knows the words to "Jolly Old St Nicholas", a carol he's learning for his school program. But each time he sings it he gets stuck on the "Don't you tell a single soul..." line. "Why can't we tell a soul?" he'll ask. "WHY? Is it a secret? Why is a secret? Why?" and so on FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES. Once we get past the inquisition, we try to get him to sing the rest of the song. "What song? We're not singing, silly!"

And now for the best part. For the past week Gabe has been entertaining us with the Christmas songs he has been learning at school for his little Christmas program next week (a first! We are beyond excited for it.) This is the first time I've posted video and I'm not sure it will work right, but give it a try. It's worth the trouble!

Welcome, November! (Part Deux)

This is the update I wrote but never posted 2 weeks ago:

So far November has been a much better month than October. Not only have I not turned another year older this month, but the weather has been fantastic - it's the fall we never had! This weekend we took the kids to a couple of fall festivals, but first Gabe and I went on a date to have pancakes. Now my dad usually takes Gabe for pancakes at McDonald's, so he warned me that we better not go to McDonald's or Papa Jack would be sad. What a considerate little guy!

On Sunday we tackled the leaves, leaves and more leaves on our tiny little property with the help of our church youth group (their fundraiser = our cheap labor!) and then Gabe and Ryan hit some "super pitches" in the park. All in all a great time - and now, back to the grind.

And this is today:

NOVEMBER SUCKS. Between the four of us there has been a very sick person in our house for the past 2 weeks, and now the kids have largely recovered but Ryan and I still have a hacking cough which we cleverly use to keep each other up at night.

Gabe is better physically, but the whining and sulkiness that seemed sad and thus okay during a high fever have gone to battle with the non-stop coughing for chief irritant in our house. Today he threw himself in the floor and cried for 10 minutes when I was brazen enough to ask him to put on his pants. To go see Dora. At a local toy store. How abusive of me!

Riley on the other hand, is getting more fun by the day. She is crawling at record speed and has a magnetic attraction to electrical cords and outlets of all shapes, sizes, and megawatts. She also has 2 very sharp teeth and is an adventurous eater - this week she tried pickles, broccoli and rice, mandarin oranges, and french fries. Yep, I know feeding a 9 month old french fries is pretty white trash of me, but not to worry - I only do it in public to attact maximum holier-than-thou-mommy scorn. And it works like a charm!



 












Quote of the week: Riley was singing loudly (is there any other way?) during one of Gabe's precious hours of TV. "Mom", he said, pointing at Riley. "Can you put her back in your tummy?"

Halloween postscript

I forgot to mention that the Halloween costumes are from one of Gabe's favorite books, Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy. Not only are they superheroes, but there's a bassett hound to boot!

Hap Hap Happy Halloween

First and foremost, THE PICTURES ARE ADORABLE. And so adorable that I couldn't possible pick out just a few, so here is the link to Snapfish to see them all. Hope you have some time on your hands. Secondly, OUR SON IS ADORABLE. For 2 hours on Saturday night he sat on our front porch handing out candy to a crowd largely bigger and scarier than him. But that didn't keep him from putting anyone, and I mean anyone, in their place if they dared open their bag for candy without saying "Trick or Treat!". Sixteen years or sixteen months, you have to say the magic words before you got a Kit Kat from the Welsh's. Tell all your friends. But by far the funniest thing Gabe said on Halloween was telling a middle schooler: "That sure is a scary mask, man!". Is he cool or what?

Dress Rehearsal

Tonight we put on the kids' Halloween costumes for the first time and I about never got them out of them. Can't wait until Saturday!

Veggie Tales

Greetings from warm and rainy Wilmington! Ironically the warmest day we've had in a while (75) and it poured all day. But that's okay because we hung out all day at home, doing a lot of nothing...but also a lot of laundry and cleaning out of junk. The major outcome of all that is I finally have a home office! And while its not the coolest space, it was crafted entirely out of stuff in storage so didn't cost me a dime. Yay for recession-era decorating!

Riley-Roo is quite the oinker lately. If you met her younger than 4 months you'll recall she was a scrawny little thing, and now that's she's eating 3 squares and about a gallon of milk (formula) a day not even crawling and jumping in the bouncer can burn off the calories. Welcome to my world, girlfriend.

Gabe, meanwhile, is OBSESSED with the game Uno. And we're encouraging it because if all else fails, knowing how to play cards can always put food on the table. He started out with Thomas the Train Uno (same concept, fewer cards) and has now graduated to the real thing. And when we're not playing, which is rarely, he is counting cards, sorting cards, reading his fortune - who the hell knows - but there are Uno cards everywhere. Its kind of like the dog hair in our house, but easier on my clothes.

Some recent pictures:

House Tour

Today our neighborhood was featured in the paper for a couple of reasons: first, a new park just opened here (on the site of a former eyesore reservoir) and today we hosted a home tour. Because I am glutton for punishment, I got suckered into participating which meant I spent the past 24 hours cleaning. And the results were just so amazing that I had to post them. If you have spent more than 5 minutes in my "real" house, these shots will amaze you. I mean, could you even have guessed our countertops were green? Or that there was hardwood buried beneath all those legos? What I really should be posting is what my kitchen looked like 15 minutes after the last guest left and I pulled out the boxes of crap I had been hiding and cooked dinner. Ah, home sweet home. Link to News Journal article: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091011/LIFE/910110304 Link to my house photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43448244@N03/show/ In other news, on Friday night we went to Linvilla Orchards where we went on a hayride through the "smooky forest" to the witch's house. Upon arriving Gabe yells out to the witches "Are you nice witches or mean witches?", the answer to which was a pumpkin sugar cookie so they were promptly declared nice witches. Not only did he meet his first witches, but Gabe got to roast marshmallows for the first time and picked out pumpkins for the porch, so the evening was shaping up well until we tried an all you can eat Chinese buffet on the way home. Heed this warning: if its all you can eat for under $10 and handwritten signs on the buffet warn you not to pick up food with your fingers, run away. Far, far away!

Long Overdue Update

Apologies to all its been so long since my last post. Work drama, cold & flu season, a ton of travel, and computer issues have all conspired against me!

Last weekend I joined some of my S&M buddies for a weekend down in sunny Durham. Before you jump to any conclusions, remember that I went to high school at the NC School of Science and Math -- hence "S&M". In fact, this was our swim team cheer:

Ex, Dy, Dx

Ex, Dx

Secant Tangent Cosine Sine

3.14159

Physics, Bio, Polymer Chem

Give 'em Hell, Go S&M!

(Yep, I was as cool then as I am now).

Anway, its been FIFTEEN years since the S&M glory days if you can believe it. I mean, kids go there today who were Riley's age when I graduated. How depressing it that?

Okay, I have to move to another topic or I will start drinking heavily. Again.

Actually the topic of the reunion leads me to my latest revelation about Facebook. I had managed to avoid Facebook for most of 2009 but got sucked in toward the end of maternity leave. I have about 200 "friends", which is about 188 more than I have in real life. Going back to the reunion I realized I was "friends" with many people to whom, when face to face, I had absolutely nothing to say. If you saw the Simpsons Movie, imagine the scene where Lisa meets her online boyfriend. And when you can't have a 5 minute conversation with someone you chanted about pi with 15 years ago, they really shouldn't be considered your friend. Even online. So, my Facebook friend list is a little bitter shorted after that trip.

On to the kids! Gabe is really liking Big Boy School and his teacher reports that not only is he super-smart, but apparently the "hall monitor" as well. For those of you not schooled in teacher-speak, that means he's a tattle-tell. And little Riley is growing up way too fast! This week she ate several new fruits and veggies, started to crawl, and learned the alphabet. Ok, the alphabet is a stretch (does babbling a short "a" sound count?) but she is crawling around a bit which means we have entered a whole new era for kid #2. When she starts to walk, watch out for daily blog entries because I am never leaving the house!

And last but not least, here is our lovely first portrait of the two of them together. Bring on the kleenex!

Some recent pictures - finally!

My-ami

Cute story: Ryan pulled out a big Miami University blanket with the letter "M" on it. Ryan: Gabe, what does the M stand for? Gabe: The M is for Your-Ami!

Locked In

Hello! We've had a crazy couple of weeks and my ongoing computer issues have kept me off this blog, Facebook, and my email. So if I owe you an email, bear with me! A few of our most recent adventures:

Last Saturday I was home alone with both kids, and we all got locked in Riley's room.

Quick recap: we reversed the locks on Gabe's room when he started climbing out his crib many moons ago to keep him from wandering the house at night. Gabe's room is now Riley's room, and our friend Gabe knows exactly how the locks work. So, I was in there changing Riley's diaper when Gabe walked in, slammed the door, and pronounced: "Ha! I locked us in!".

Now let me set the stage a bit. It was early on Saturday, so we were all in various stages of dress (or undress, as the case may be). I was also ambitiously re-arranging Riley's room, so everything was in the hallway except Riley's crib and a few diapers. So not only are we locked in this room, but in a barren room with little more than our PJs (me) and underwear (Gabe), and diaper (Riley) on. No phone, no food, no bottles, no tequila. Great.

Lucky for me, it was a sunny Saturday morning and not a rainy late-night lock in, so there are usually lots of folks out walking their dogs. This means I got to hang out the 2nd story window, skimpy PJs and all, until someone I recognized (and not from the steps outside the liquor store) walked by. After about 20 minutes this poor unsuspecting lady from a few blocks away, with whom I've exchanged a few polite hello's over the years, walked by. I called down to her, explained the situation, announced where our spare key is hidden, and asked her if she would very much mind rescuing us. She hedged a bit (can you blame her?) until I pulled my trump card - the naked baby.

This is where the story should end -help had arrived!- but I'm just not that lucky. She gets the key, and then a few minutes later comes back under the window explaining that not only is the chain on my door, but there's a dog inside that sounds like he's going to have her for breakfast. The fear on this poor woman's face was telling me she was going to bolt, so I grabbed Naked Baby again and yelled my next set of instructions: "Try the front door, and as soon as you're in, run up the stairs and shut the baby gate behind you so Maggie can't get you. We're locked in the first room at the top of the stairs. Oh, and watch out for all the stray furniture in the hall.". And can you believe she actually did it? If some half-naked DCFS nutcase was yelling at me in the street about killer dogs, baby gates, and chained doors I'd be on the phone with 911.

Postlude: I ran into this lady and her husband today, and she was like "This is Kerry, remember the one from last weekend...with the baby?". He was all "Oh....OH!...um....nice to meet you. Um, we have to go. Have a good one." and the two of them practically sprinted down the street. Can't make this shit up.

Other noteworthy news:

• We went to Dutch Wonderland with the Galinskis on Labor Day - a risky move (Labor Day...theme park next door to outlet mall...) but surprisingly it wasn't too busy so Gabe and his friend Nathan had a blast riding rides and eating garbage all day. I have adorable pictures when and if I can find a non-company computer to upload them to. Stay tuned.
• I went on my first work trip to NYC last week, for 3 full days. I would love to say it was HORRIBLE and I missed the kids EVERY MINUTE. But I didn't. Instead I acted like a real grown up, going to happy hour, eating meals after 6pm, watching non-animated television, and having hours upon hours of conversations that didn't involve words like "nap", "potty", and "choo choo". I was pretty happy to come back, but it turns out life went on without me (thanks Ryan, Beth and Ca-Ca!). Who knew?

Great quote this week:

Me (inspecting artwork brought home from school): "Gabe, I like this bear!"

Gabe: "I know, Mama. You're very impressed."

Big Boy School

As many of you know, the big incentive for Gabe to get himself potty trained was so he could go to "big boy school". There, not only can you not wear diapers, but you are in a class with kids your age and up to 2 years older - big kids! So the momentous day finally arrived this week when Big Boy School opened for business, and Gabe was as excited as I've ever seen him. For those of us over 3, Big Boy School roughly translates into Montessori School which is part of our new simplified child care plan. Its a block away, so a 5 minute walk in the morning - hooray! Gabe is very impressed by the big kids and the cool new contraptions on the playground, and so far its a winner all around! Quote of the week: His new school requires a uniform of blue shorts and a red or white shirt. I explained this uniform concept to Gabe while we were getting dressed and asked him to choose a red or white shirt. His response? "Oh no! But where's the unicorn shirt?"

&*$#@ Error:

So my trusty laptop, which has lasted 3 years and multiple insults from grubby little fingers, has finally kicked the bucket. Which means I find myself in involuntary rehab for my Facebook addiction. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the fall TV lineup hasn't started yet, so now I'm forced to actually converse with my husband for the hour between when the kids fall asleep and I pass out. If this keeps up I may have to go to the gym at night, and we all know it will never get that far. Best Buy, here I come. You may be thinking, wait, don't you have a computer at work? Truly I do, but while my company may not be smart enough to foresee a mortgage meltdown or an executive bonus backlash, they have cleverly blocked Facebook, Twitter, AOL, and all manner of webmail and blog sites. Which means I actually have to work or read OMG! at work. (And isn't little Maddox growing up fast?) And in non-technology news...Riley turned 6 months old this week! She has become quite the active baby and while she's not technically crawling THANK GOD she does manage to wriggle, rock and roll her way across the room while you're not looking. She's also babbling a lot which my nanny swears is "Da-da" and I swear is "aaahhhh". Gabe is back in full force after a fantastic time at my parents last week. I thought they couldn't possibly top a week spent finding bugs, picking vegetables (cucumbers: now "my favorite snack, mommy!"), playing with older cousins in the rain, opening belated birthday gifts, dining on M&Ms, and ignoring naptime and bedtime altogether...but they did. On the way home they stopped by Virginia Safari Park which is like Disney's Wild Kingdom, only $200 cheaper. The camel ATE THE BUCKET mommy! Last but not least, today my decision for in-home child care was validated by the fact that I had to take Gabe to and from the JCC for the first time since going back to work (Ryan has taken him all the other days). It took me 70 minutes to get to work, and 75 minutes to get home. Without the dropoff/pickup routine, it takes 20 minutes each way. Which means I am getting back 7 hours of Quality Time with my kids each week. Which in turn means I can put them to bed a half hour early and not feel guilty! Everyone wins! Here are some pics from the past week or two...enjoy!

Attack Dog

So many of you have been asking how our sweet little Maggie is doing. To recap the latest doggie drama, Maggie was attacked by a pit bull mix at a concert in Rockford Park a couple of weeks ago, causing multiple wounds to her right ear. (Now, if my dog had nearly bitten the ear off another dog, I would've been down on my hands and knees with apologies and a checkbook. But this particular WT family decided to instead accuse of of causing this bloody mess.) Anyway, blood, drama, and $800 worth of stitches later, our little Maggie is doing just fine. No more concerts for her. In other news...I went back to work M-Th two weeks ago, and its been a remarkably uneventful transition. We have a great nanny who is with Riley and her own daughter 4 days, and with Gabe 2 days. In September Gabe is starting montessori at a school down the street, at which point he'll be there in the mornings and at home in the afternoon. Its a big transition from day care, but so far so good! This week though Gabe is hanging solo with his Caca and Poppa Jack in North Carolina. He's far too busy to chat with us on the phone, what with picking veggies from the garden and finding all sorts of wildlife (frogs, worms and a baby snake...all just on Day One), but we hear from his grandparents that's he's having a great time. We are taking advantage of the respite by going out to restaurants with no kids menu (Riley is still BYOB) and hanging out with our Philly friends until 2am last night. Seriously, I haven't stayed out until 2am since Ryan's college reunion last year...and before that it was probably business school. And Riley, the Ultimate Team Player, slept in until 9:30 so we did too! Rock on! So my laptop has some serious issues these days, so I'm on a loaner...so no new pictures this time. Stay tuned!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

3 years 2 years 1 year newborn Today my baby is three - and he couldn't be more thrilled! The celebration started Sunday with a birthday party for some of his little friends (where Ryan replicated the pinata scene from Parenthood (advance to 2:05 minutes)), then continued yesterday at school. Today he'll open some gifts, and then on Thursday some of his playgroup friends will join us for cupcakes. It's like Mardi Gras, only G-rated and with juice boxes. But otherwise, exactly the same!

Happy Birthday, my big 3 year old!

And I am a Cereal Girl

Well, 9 days until I go back to work, and I'm cramming in so much "fun" that I'm exhausted! Today Sheryl and I did our 5-miler (and ran into Jill and Joe Biden!) and then we took Gabe and Riley to the pool this afternoon, following by a glutenous meal of hot dogs, fries, mac & cheese, and milkshakes -- so I'm sure the net result of the day is at least 1/2 a pound. Not that I'm counting. But the pending double blow of giving up the personal trainer and the nearly exclusive breastfeeding will wreak havoc on my already laughable metobolism, so I need to watch it. And tomorrow, I will! Anyway, tonight I had the true excitement of going to the grocery store (which is sadly crowded on a Saturday night), and now I'm sitting on the front porch with a beer watching it thunderstorm. Not a bad end to the day.

Anyway, the big excitement this week is that we started giving Riley cereal - which she lapped right up! I remember Gabe spitting it out for weeks after we started him at 6 months, so maybe earlier is better? Anyway, even better was after her first "meal" she slept for 12 hours -- after getting up twice a night for the previous 2 weeks. Hooray! Many of you know how fussy she can get during the day, and this week I was nearly arrested in Target after she screamed bloody murder for nearly an hour. Every retiree in New Castle County was popping by the baby aisle with oh-so-helpful hints on what I could try to soothe her, and even the store manager came over to see if she could help in any way (my initial response of "sure! do you have an ipod I can borrow?" didn't really help my case). Then after rejecting boob, binkie, and bottle, Riley decided that after 45 minutes it was her thumb that she'd been looking for all along. Kill me now.

And Gabe continues to keep me on my toes. From his obsession with Dora "we did it! we did it! we did it! yay!" to his running commentary on body parts and body fluids, to his neverending sweetness, he truly makes each day an adventure. Today he bumped his head on the baseboard of our bed (injury is very common in our house) and he was bawling his eyes out. I was holding him and mentioned something about tylenol, and he abruptly stopped crying, said "you're silly mama! you can't put tylenol on my head!" and then started crying again like he had never stopped. Even injuries are funny around here!

Last but not least, I'm an aunt! Kelly and Todd welcomed the arrival of Tyler Dillon Komaromy this week, and he is just adorable (and with an amazing head of head!). Pictures to come!

Mini-Holiday

We just got back from a long weekend trip to Ocean City, MD with Megan (Ryan's sister). The weather was great, hotel was nice (in that new definition of "nice" which really means "no one scowled at us for having a crying baby, obnoxiously large stroller, and loads of kid paraphenalia strapped to us at all times"), and food was decent...but boy, we are now tired. TIRED. In all caps it seems to capture the feeling a bit more. You would think that playing all day in the pool, then staying out until 10pm on the boardwalk would tire Gabe out just a little bit, but nope, he was up at 6:30 each morning and today up at 5. Yes, a.m. Now that Riley is sleeping through the night I was thinking I wouldn't ever have to see 5am again! Joke's on me! But enough whining...I'm sure the long term effects of advanced sleep deprivation are minor. Here are some cute pictures from OC!

Congratulations!

Congrats to Dana on the birth of Clara Ruth, and to Lauren on the birth of Charlotte Guion!

Where are the fireplaces?

Happy 4th of July! We celebrated our nation's independence by experiencing one of the USA's crown jewels: the interstate! Yep, we made the trek down to North Carolina one last time before my maternity leave is over, and it was a doozy. Riley was a trooper the first trip, but this time she protested the entire way. Luckily our friends Dora and Boots were around once again to keep Gabe entertained. Quote of the week: ("Tinkle" is what his grandparents call pee-pee, so I guessed he had just learned that) Gabe: Mommy, I have to go trinkle in the potty. Me: What is "trinkle"? Gabe: Trinkle means pee-pee. In Spanish. Quote of the week, runner up: (While waiting for fireworks to start) Gabe: We want fire place! We want fire place!

Buy me some peanuts

Top 5 Things About A Baseball Game, by Gabriel Welsh 1. Crackerjacks 2. Hot Dogs 3. Moon bounce 4. Dog show 5. Rockie (scary mascot) Notice something missing from that list? Like, the actual sport of baseball? Yep, tonight we took Gabe and Riley to see the Blue Rocks. It is absolutely perfect weather for it and lucky for us they have plenty of things to keep kids occupied since baseball is, let's face it, America's most boring pasttime. Especially if you're 2. (Or in my case, 33). I guess that's why they have moon bounces and beer!

We also went to Gabriella's third birthday party today, which was held at First State Gymnastics where Gabe had a BLAST. Lots of cute pictures so I have to narrow it down considerably before posting! But I will upload a couple from yesterday: one of Gabe playing with his buddies Ethan and Max in the backyard and one of Gabe raiding my lipstick stash. ("Stash" - ha ha - as if I own more than one tube!)