Catching Up

So . . . Wow. It's been a while. I just noticed I still have Halloween Photos on the side bar.

Much has happened since my last post on Nov. 10. We spent a lovely long weekend with friends in Idyllwild over Veterans Weekend. Cap and I enjoyed a few weeks of Funemployment with Xavier until Cap started his new job with Amazon right after Thanksgiving. I went back to work. I got laryngitis. Thanksgiving happened. We battled Xavier's severe eczema. Xavier started daycare. Xavier turned 4 months. Mit turned 70. Xavier had the stomach flu. We enjoyed Eliza and Addie's holiday recitals at school. I got a gross infection in my nose and was on antibiotics (thank you little sleep and a weakened immune system for that). Xavier had his last day at daycare as he'll be moving to Eliza's school after the holiday, and I have 2 weeks off of work.

I've been home with Addie and Eliza this week and today I have all three kiddos while I pack. Tomorrow we hop on an airplane to spend 10 days with my family in the Chicago-area. I'm excited for all of the extra hands! It's been a hectic, exhausting and emotional winter as we juggle minor illnesses, new schedules and new routines.

And here we are -- all caught up. Just like that.

Bubbles

There really isn't a story to these photos; they are just cute. The girls were taking a bubble bath together and Addie decided it would be hilarious to fill her mouth with suds. Of course Eliza followed suit. Look how totally, unabashedly, happy Eliza is in that third photo.

We are packing up for our long weekend away in Idyllwild. We've rented a huge log house in the mountains with friends. The last time we were in Idyllwild Eliza was Xavier's age. Rain is in the forecast but I'm looking forward to hanging out, eating, drinking, hiking (if weather permits) and playing with the kids. We are armed with board games and scotch. Can't wait to rev up that fireplace!

For Target

I got caught up a little in the Missoni for Target craze. You may remember I did the same when Liberty of London came out with their collection for Target a few years back. I love their designer collaborations - total genius. Both times, people lined up before the store opened and the entire collection sold out in a matter of minutes with Missoni taking down an overloaded target.com. I wasn't waiting in line on opening day, but every time I go to target I scour the store for items people have returned and have found a few great items for the girls.

Here Addie is modeling items from both collections (it was her idea to wear the poncho). Boho gypsy haute couture I think. Oh and in these photos she's holding a dead roly poly bug she found in a spider web in case you thought she was getting too precious.

Trick or Treat

Kapow! Bam! Smooch!

Addie wanted to be be batgirl this year which was perfect since Cap and I could resurrect our same costumes from last year. Hello Bat Family!

On Saturday, we all got dressed up and went to the Halloween block party which we've gone to every year. Addie insisted we go into the haunted house. She loves to be scared. She told me my scary stories weren't scary enough. "More ghosts Mommy!" She freaked about a minute in though and I had to carry her but she made it through unscathed.

On Monday we had a full day of festivities. I volunteered to lead a craft in Addie's class. I made glittered bat magnets with 25 kids at 8 am (on no coffee I might add). The project turned out pretty well and it was fun hanging out with her classmates. Then her whole school had a Halloween parade after an orange themed potluck. Our neighborhood is predominately Jewish and some of the kids in her class don't celebrate Halloween. Addie asked me on Sunday night if she was Jewish. I think she just wanted to know if she would get to go trick or treating. School was out early that day and we went home to rest before Eliza's school parade at 3:30. It wasn't a parade as much as it was two dozen kids in costume milling about the playground or clinging to their parents. Still cute though. This was Eliza's first year trick or treating and boy did she like it. She's a total sweet tooth too and both she and her sister (and their parents!) are still enjoying the spoils of Halloween night.

Check out more photos of our Halloween weekend here.




My black bats. The Dark Knight, Batgirl and Baby Batboy. Addie loved her costume and even wore the mask ALL day at school.



Eliza Batgirl or maybe our rapid bat. This girl is always in motion. I laugh when I see photos of other people's kids standing politely by the front door holding their trick or treating bags. Eliza? Standing still? That would be a good trick.



Here is our best attempt at a family portrait. It perfectly represents the chaos of our lives. If only we had super powers all the time.

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Palindrome Day!

Also, Xavier's 3 month check up. He's a healthy chap with a cold, dry skin and a large noggin - 90th percentile! Perhaps he will be telepathic like his namesake.

He also entertained us at the doctor's with his giggles. This was the first time we heard him really chuckle - total magic.

3 Months

I have had "3 month blog post" on my calendar to do list with a note to write and post it today. Guess what. His 3 month birthday was yesterday. How have I already forgotten my son's birth date? It's the 26th, not the 27th. Maybe I get the 7 from July. Who knows. I hope I haven't been filling it our incorrectly on any forms.

So, Xavier turned 3 months yesterday. He has found his voice, cooing to everyone who says hello. "He's talking!" Eliza will say.

He enjoys smiling and looking cute, chirping, sucking on and/or staring at his hands and scratching off his scalp with his razor nails. His poor skin is also so sensitive and dry he feels like a squishy, toy lizard. Still, he's quite adorable. He also rolled over, so far only once, when I put him on his tummy. He scooched his bum up and then gravity took over.

Happy 3 Months, X-man. I can hear you squeaking from the next room. I better go give you a million kisses.

The Pumpkin Patches (yes plural)

I feel like we've been gearing up for Halloween for so long that I can't believe it's actually Monday. Guess we need to carve our pumpkins this weekend. We've visited no less than two pumpkin patches this year with friends and the girls got to pet goats at both places. Here we are at Underwood Family Farms doing it up - pig races, petting zoo, pony rides, corn maze, hay ride, and a cow barrel ride. The weather was gorgeous this time as it's usually swelteringly hot out in the Valley. Addie loved everything as did Eliza (minus the pony ride which had her in tears). Check out more photos of our day on the Farm here.





Then the next weekend we went closer to home to Mr Bones Pumpkin Patch in West Hollywood. I guess there are usually celebrities there (we apparently missed Christina Aquilera by a day) so they have a corral for paparazzi cordoned off with hay bales. I wish I had a photo of the paparazzi time-out zone. Hilarious. The girls LOVED holding the chickens and we had to do a reprise of the awesome face painting from two years ago. If the first photo was the girls' debut album cover, this is their sophomore release. Check out more photos from Mr Bones here.

The Writing Journal

As promised, I scanned in Addie's homework journal.

The Official Kindergarten Mug Shot

We got Addie's kindergarten school photos back. Cute!

Slouchy too which makes me want to redo it on the make-up photo day. I feel that's something the photographer should be watching out for. Will I make her redo it? Probably not. Her teacher also gave us a progress report. She got check marks in the following areas and her teacher wrote in that Addie "is very creative."

- works well independently (thank you Montessori school!)
- is an outstanding student (she must get that from her dad)
- tries to do his/her best work (again, thanks to Cap)
- listens and follows directions well (obedient like her mom)

She had no areas that needs improvement according to the report, which is fabulous of course but I'm wondering if maybe she could be a little more challenged. Every Monday she comes home with her classwork from the previous week, her graded homework she turned in on Friday and a new packet of work due at the end of the week. Addie enjoys doing her homework but it is a breeze for her right now. They spent a week counting from 1-4 and this week it is 6-10. Really? Addie (okay, I suggested it) asked her teacher for harder homework last week but we haven't seen anything come home yet. Maybe we should just let her enjoy her beginning of kindergarten coasting period. She has a very long day spending almost 10 hours at school - longer than I'm at work. Just writing that makes my heart heavy.

She loves any assignment that involves coloring or drawing and can spend 45 minutes on it. We are still trying to work out the right time for Addie to do her homework. If she doesn't finish it in the after school program, she often isn't able to start it until 7 pm when Eliza goes to bed and a second parent is available to help. Eliza has also demanded that she get homework too so we set her next to Addie, if it's early enough, and Eliza will draw on paper.

Here are some of Addie's drawing and writing assignments. They have one a week that they do in the spiral bound journal. I need to start scanning those in since they are her best work - stay tuned for those!


Self portrait from her first day of school. I need a hat and shoes like that.






I found this on the back of one of her worksheets


A sea turtle making a hole for its eggs


I love this one. A tiger and a bear.

Watts Towers

As I start to panic about my maternity leave ending in a few weeks, I am determined to get out of the house more often leaving behind unwatched episodes of 30 Rock Season 3 and Twin Peaks Season 2.

Wednesday while the girls were in school, we toured the exhibit Beauty Culture at the Annenberg Space for Photography. It made me rethink the vain desire for a tummy tuck, a solution my doctor suggested as the only way I was ever going to get rid of the pulled taffy gut I have. I should rebel against society's vision of beauty and walk around looking 4 months pregnant. When I get asked over the next dozen pre-menopausal years "When are you due?", I will answer, "Yes, a boy in July 2011." Don't worry though. I have neither the cash nor the desire to get chopped up right now.

Yesterday, it was an excursion off the 105 to see Watts Towers, something I've wanted to check out since moving to LA but hadn't ever gotten around to it. It's sort of a one-time, I can check that off my list sort of trip. Today, perhaps some retail therapy and a movie is on the agenda if Xavier cooperates.


The towers tiled in found ceramic objects and broken 7-Up bottles.


And for perspective, here they are plunked down in this residential neighborhood surrounded by a giant fence.

12 Weeks

Today Prof. X is 12 weeks old. If I hadn't had so many complications with his delivery, I would be heading back to work this week. Not that I'd wish to have so much surgery, but I am happy to have the extra time at home. The thought of being back at work and leaving this little big guy bums me out. I am really digging being home with him and helping out in Addie's kindergarten class as a room parent. I have another month before reality strikes and I go back to work around Thanksgiving. In my modest dream reality, we would live in LA and be able to afford a 4 bedroom house with a yard and a dishwasher. Cap would have an awesome job he loves and sell a screenplay, and I could be at home and volunteer at Addie and Eliza's schools.

Xavier is still a mellow, smiling, happy lad. I just got out his 3-6 months clothes and he has already outgrown his bassinet. Cap and I converted our office space last week, which was probably the breakfast room in the apartment's original floor plan, into a little 63 ft2 room for him. It's in an awkward space between our kitchen and dining room so we couldn't really block it off without some construction and since we rent, that isn't a viable solution. Instead we hung curtains to divide the space, set up a crib, bought him a dresser and kept the mini convertible sofa in there. I got a little DIY crafty and made the window shade thanks to some cool cowboy fabric, a standard window roller shade from Home Depot and some fabric glue. I am having a crib sheet made in this rad bark-print fabric from a shop on Etsy where I had one made for Eliza. I can't wait to get it! I also want to make a mobile but am still brainstorming on a concept. I love hanging out in his little space; it's so calming.

I Ate My Tooth

Addie lost her first tooth yesterday at school. She swallowed it. But don't ask her about it as she's a little sensitive on the subject.

Her tooth became loose over 2 months ago. So long ago in fact, that we were still a family of four. I was panicked her tooth would fall out while we were in the hospital and that I'd miss this important moment. I remember googling "how long does it take for a tooth to fall out." Apparently, it varies. I immediately ordered this cute pillow from Etsy so I'd be prepared. What I didn't do was manage her expectations for what the tooth fairy would bring. The going rate, at least around here, is $5 for the first tooth and $1 for all subsequent teeth. Plus, some kids get a bonus present with the first tooth. This is what I neglected to plan for or mitigate. Cap went to Walgreens at 10 pm last night to find a special surprise.

Addie wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy and, while there wasn't a tooth to collect in exchange, she woke up with Pokemon cards and $5 under her pillow. She's proud of her new smile which came just in time for school pictures today!


"My tooth fell out today during school. I want a surprise. Thank you. Love, Addie"



Her Tooth Fairy pillow


A sun with a loose tooth.

Soccer Mom

Sure, I have three kids and drive a minivan, but a soccer mom? As far as I know, Addie has never played with a soccer ball and has to think twice whether its a soccer ball or a basketball. A few months ago she asked, "What's sports?".

While I'm completely lacking in any athletic prowess, unless speed eating is a sport, I do think it is important to cultivate an interest at an early age and then stick with it. I tried a lot of different activities as a kid but never persevered with any one thing long enough to get accomplished it. We have Eliza pegged as our soccer star but Addie's lack of interest in team sports may just be from a lack of introduction. We did, at her request, sign her up for tap class which starts on Thursday and she's still taking swim lessons. Right now she's working on perfecting her side breathing while doing the front crawl. Eliza is almost swimming on her own as her instructor removed her arm floatees last week. She's swimming with just one partially inflated on her leg for a little buoyancy while she gets comfortable. Go Eliza! I'm hoping that Coach Rio at Addie's school will help with team sports. Maybe this spring she'll be begging to play soccer and I'll get to earn The Title.

p.s. don't you love the motion lines Addie drew under my arms?

Toddlers and Tiaras

Twice in 7 days, Addie has been to a birthday party that involved getting all dolled up like a princess. It's rather freaky in a JonBenet sort of way, but, no surprise, she loved it. Both times she was dressed as Princess Aurora.

Here she is at Disneyland's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique


And at a neighborhood party place that was decorated with your Aunt Mimsy's doilies, dolls and other creepy crocheted relics. In addition to the silk roses glued to the ceiling, there was a talking, taxidermied deer head called Princess Deeriana and a bust of King Elvis. Again, she loved it.










Princess Deeriana. Creepy.