Tra la la

Jonathan's been under the weather for a few days, so I've been taking the first shift (work in the day), the second shift (kids in the morning and evening), and the third shift (baby at night).

Man I'm tired.

The discovery that has made my sanity possible this week: "Transformers: Rescue Bots." A girl I knew in high school is now a writer at Disney, and I saw on her Facebook page that she was involved with the show.  I put it on the first night while making dinner, and the boys were addicted. A show that both of them love that has no violence, hooray!  (And just to preempt any judgment... whoever said not to use TV as a babysitter, even occasionally, obviously had no children.)

Forgotten message

Newly-discovered letter from earlier this month.  I found it while doing a deep clean of the art area. :)

Media recs

I've been quite into the genre of ex-ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Leah Vincent's Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood finally gave me exactly what I wanted - details on what happens after someone leaves.  Usually these memoirs detail the transition out of the community, and then end; in this one, Vincent is smack dab in the secular community barely one-quarter into the book.  Her narrative of how she learns to function and gain her own identity is harrowing, and explains both the insular quality of her previous life, and why an organization like Footsteps is so important.  Also interesting is that with just a quick Google search, one realizes that Leah Vincent is really Leah Miller, daughter of a prominent Orthodox rabbi in Pittsburgh.

Of course, as this is my third baby, this is the third time I'm recommending The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley.  By this point rereading is like wrapping a warm comforter around me; cozy and reassuring and oh yes, I remember what that was now.  Everyone cross your fingers Connor starts to sleep.

My birthday movie a few weeks ago was About Time, which was utterly adorable. A young man finds he can travel backwards through time, so we rewrites his romantic history and tries to get the life he wants.  It sounds like it could be creepy or stalker-ish, but it's really sweet instead.  It's made by teh same people who did my other romantic comedy favorites Love Actually and Notting Hill, with some of the same cast.  Bill Nighy steals the show as usual.

And... I know there's more I wanted to write about, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was!  Oh well...  CRS syndrome starting early.  Or that aforementioned sleep deprivation.  Probably a mixture of both. :)

Age five and a half seems so mature sometimes!

The latest science experiment: Xander is using the stopwatch to time how fast the water flows from the top bottle to the bottom if one turns it over normally (28 seconds) versus if one shakes it first to create a whirlpool (13 seconds).  Cue great conversations about whirlpools and tornadoes and air bubbles and water displacement and how to tell if water or air is heavier, etc.  I love my husband... I was just gonna recycle the bottles, but he added duct tape and water and turned them into a half-hour lesson.

Coming back inside from bug-catching, and giving his little brother a hug.

And we have joined the world of extra-curricular activities!  This is a snippet of his first karate class.

Sunday evening, narrated by Connor

Bubby came to visit for my big brother's birthday, and she sure does like to hold me.  What's MOST important, however, is that I munch and drool all over the toy!

She took the toy away.  Why oh why would she take the toy away?!

Ah, a clean head!  All is forgiven.  I love baths.

I was dry, then I was wet, now I'm kinda damp and wrapped in a towel... it's a little confusing, but Bubby seems to be joyous throughout the whole process.  Grown-ups are weird.

Phew!  Bubby unwrapped me to let me dry off.  I put my hand on her to make sure she stayed put.  Best of all, I found this "thumb" thing again.  It's brilliant!  Have other babies heard of this?! 

After Mommy put me in my jammies, I asked myself a question that has changed my world forever: if one finger is so delicious, then what would a whole hand be like?  And wow, I'm tellin' ya, it's amazing.  The teeth don't even have to come in now, I've figured out how to handle it.  From now on I'll just eat my hand and drool over everything.  It's my new life plan.

Ari's birthday party at the park

An almost 3 year-old boy and his balloons.

Xander and his cousin John.

Us and the youngest Loving.

Aunt Lois and Uncle Mike.

Bubby and Xander.

Admiring the Wolverine cake.

 Blow out the candles, Ari!  When we had asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said that he wanted a cake and for us to sing "Happy bewfday to Awi."  Mission accomplished!

Gotta love kindergarten friends.

Grown-up friends Megan and Tim.

Raspberry and cake-smeared mouth Ari, not wanting the party to end.

Xander decorated the kids' white board earlier that day.  In translation: "Ari's birthday on March 22.  Are you going to go?"

Opening up and discussing a present.

 Robin and Connor watching the present-opening festivities.

Mom's friend Wendy made Xander a Spiderman blanket - it's absolutely amazing, she has her own business.

Aunt Lois and Uncle Mike's car run is a very big hit!

 Wrestling.

 The oldest Spider boy, who will one day travel the world (or at  least spin his webs through half the U.S.).

Time marches on

When Pink's album Missundaztood came out in 2001, I was 20 years old.  I listened to it over and over. One song in particular, "Family Portrait," with its lyrics of a broken home from a child's point of view, spoke to me personally.  I related to it from the perspective of a child of divorced parents.

For my birthday this year, at the ripe old age of 33, Jonathan got me Pink's Greatest Hits album.  "Family Portrait" is on it, and as I listened to the song and started singing along, I realized the lyrics were hitting me completely differently.  Instead of being the child in the song, all of a sudden my children were the kids, and I was thinking of what would happen to Xander and Ari and Connor if Jonathan and I ever split up.  It was so strange - I remember distinctly thinking of the song in one way in the past, with me being the one saying "Daddy, don't leave," and in the next instant my whole paradigm shifted as I pictured Xander crying the words.

I guess it makes sense logically - I mean, my life has changed radically from age 20 to age 33, and I went from being a kid to being an adult - but it still feels very odd to realize that the song hasn't changed at all... I have.

Rocketry, continued

Last weekend's excursion.  It was much less windy.  We bought the yellow and green rockets as is, but Jonathan put together and painted the red one and the "Spiderman" one at the boys' requests.

 3-2-1 Blast-off!

 It's a mini NASA shuttle.  :)

How it looks right before touchdown.

  Showing Xander how to hook it up properly.  He loves pressing the button.  Ari stuck by my side the whole time, the noise on the larger rockets freaked him out a little.

Up up and away!

 LEGO woman all ready for her big moment.

 I thought this smoke cloud looked cool.

If you look very very closely, you can see Xander running to retrieve the smudge of the red and black rocket above the tree line. It went FAR.

The best part was as I was walking with Ari and Connor back to the car to get snacks, leaving Xander and Jonathan to do a few launches by themselves, I came across two women walking their dogs commenting on how cool the rockets were.  "I heard your oldest son count down, and I thought he was playing hide-and-seek," she said.  "Then I saw the rocket and thought WOW, I would have LOVED that as a kid!"

From oldest to youngest

Both boys in the same shot at school.  Xander had "bad news" to share with me today... he has to work separately from his friends tomorrow, because he's talking too much and not finishing his work.  He also can't do any more division this week until he works on reading and spelling.  That's my math-loving, social boy... individuation sure is a strange process.

Ari pleased as punch to be wearing my boots.  He actually did pretty well in the heels, too!

 Sitting with Mommy.  Connor's hair is slightly reddish, like Jonathan's as a boy!

In case I doubted our decision...

I finish sorting through all the clothes I'm getting ready to donate to WEAVE, the local battered women's shelter.  I fill up nine paper bags, stuffed to the brim with XL/L maternity clothes and 0-6 months baby clothing.

I thought I'd feel nostalgic, or regretful, or misty-eyed. Or think, maybe just one more, to try for a girl...

But no.  Not at all.  Not once.

Instead I feel relieved.  And excited about the space in the garage.

I guess I really am done having kids!

Purim 2014

Our administrator and clergy: Mandy the panda, a rabbi and cantor as foxes, and yours truly as a kangaroo.


The older boys didn't come to the evening adult Purim celebration - but the next morning, the Spiderman-ness was overwhelming!  (Oh, and Connor was a monkey. :))

Growing independence

Behold a wall in the children's room.  Jonathan and I had first decorated it with animals.  Then they grew older and added things themselves: Ari wanted a Cars calendar, Xander the kitties.  Both wanted the rocket pictures.  Our eldest son asked to take off the letters "A, L, E" in his name, and then he taped up a pirate LEGO ad.  The bedspreads are Spiderman patterns, and the colorful pillowcases are gifts from Helen, a childhood friend of my mother's.

It's so weird to witness the transition from a "nursery" type room that we had originally created, to a room that they want for themselves.  I feel like soon I'll blink and then they'll be teenagers with movie posters and pinups above their beds. :)

My birthday

At 12:01am, Jonathan handed me a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, and a spoon. 

The next morning, people at work presented me with a card and a Starbuck's certificate, and we all ate cake (addressed to both me and the Youth Advisor, whose birthday is on the 10th).

The boys made lovely cards, and decorated the window facing the kitchen.

Jonathan got me awesome books and some music CDs I'd been wanting.

We did exactly what I wanted for dinner - In N'Out and then Jamba Juice.

And then because all I really wanted was ice cream, not cake, Jonathan had scooped tons of ice cream into a cake pan and then had refrozen it, so it was literally an "ice cream cake" topped with candles.

We even rented a movie I liked... but then I fell asleep at 7:30pm while putting the baby to bed.  So we watched the movie last night instead.

It's the only birthday I've ever had that was completely bookended by ice cream... what can be better than that? :)

Two sides to every story, aka, what happens when I work late

The boys need to use the bathroom one last time before bed.  Jonathan stays in their room with the baby and sends them in together to the restroom, right next door.

A few beats go by.

He hears screaming.  And "OW!"

Xander calls out, "Daddy, Daddy, Ari hit me!"

Jonathan walks in and sees both boys with their PJ bottoms down, standing by the toilet bowl. It's obvious they had just finished using it at the same time.

They pull their PJs up.  Jonathan asks Ari if he hit Xander.  Ari nods in affirmation.

Xander is smug.

Jonathan asks Ari why he hit him.

Ari looks indignant.  "Xander pee on me!" he says.  He points to a wet spot on his leg.

Jonathan pauses.

He turns to Xander.

"So... you peed on your brother. Then he hit you.  And now you're complaining because he hit you."

Xander thinks a moment, and then nods.  He apparently sees no problem with this scenario.

"Xander, you need to apologize to your brother right now.  It's never okay to pee on someone.  You never pee outside the toilet."

He notices pee on the floor.

"Xander, you clean that up right now.  And Ari, I understand you were mad, but you still need to apologize to Xander.  We never hit."

Jonathan stresses the importance of not peeing on people to Xander.  He promises to tell Mommy when she gets home.  Xander cringes.

I arrive.  Jonathan tells me the story.

Xander hides in the closet.

When bedtime is over, Jonathan collapses into an armchair.

"I hated my old job," he says.  "But at least then no one peed on each other!"

Sacramento Comic-Con

I went to my first ever Comic-Con on Saturday, and was honestly, a little disappointed (this is just me though, Jonathan and the boys loved it).  The Convention center was so packed I got claustrophobic, and most of the booths were selling print media, not interactive things.  I liked Origins, the Columbus gamer's Con, much better.  There they had more costumes for live-action role-playing, and tons more tchotckes.  I guess that makes sense; this Con was based on comics, and I'm not as big a fan of Marvel or DC as I am of other genres.  I will say that people's costumes were fabulous, and everyone had a good time.  See pictures below.

Admiring a Spiderman poster.

Tommy the Power Ranger.

Jonathan was more excited than the boys about this one!  The guy said it took him over a year to make, and I understand why; his backpack was amazing and everything lit up.

Holding Thor's mighty hammer.

Wolverine's claws.  Xander couldn't take his eyes off of them. 

Fierce Daddy inspires much laughter.

Mr. Magneto, Jr.

A real-life Wolverine.  Our boys were impressed and intimidated at the same time.  (And yes, those who have seen the movies - this is the comic book Wolverine.)

Wary of the Storm Troopers at first.

Then they spoke to him and said something funny, and he got over it.

This costume is of the main character in the video game Half-Life; it's funny because they haven't yet released the next sequel.

Ooo scary dragon!  Ari was at first terrified, so we made a point of helping him overcome his fear.  He later said it was one of his favorite things about the day.  

Very intently picking which button they wanted.  Xander bought his with his allowance money.

Modeling my new Harry Potter Deathly Hallows earrings.

Halfway through we met up with Jana's family.  Ari is in love with their 4 year old, Shoshi, and followed her around like a little puppy.  It was adorable.

Only at Comic Con would Batman and Darth Vader sit side by side.

Storm Trooper reunion.

Dumbledore and McGonagall.  I was going to wear my awesome Gryffindor outfit, complete with cloak that Holly made me, but realized I couldn't do it because I'd have the baby on me all day.  We felt so badly for these people because they came all dressed up ready to go inside to the Con early that morning, and then tickets were sold out.

We let him roll around while we ate lunch.

From L to R: Katniss Everdeen, Harlequin (DC villain), Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games, Wolverine, and Beast.

Carl and Rick from The Walking Dead.

The boys at the end of the day.  All three were passed out by the time we got on the freeway, a whole six minutes after we left the parking garage.