The newness begins to fade

Setting: I am in the bathroom getting dressed for work. It is 6:15a.m.. I hear Kahlo cry, since this is the second time she has woken up in the last hour, I go to the kitchen to make a bottle (so Amy doesn’t have to get out of bed) and take it to Amy. By the time I reach the bedroom Kahlo has stopped crying and Amy and Kahlo are snuggled close in bed sleeping.

Me: Awww…ya’ll are so cute.

Amy: [eyes closed, trying to remain asleep] uhmm,hmmm

Me: did she just need to snuggle?

Amy: [Amy silently wishing I would stop talking] uhmm, hmmm

Me: Do you love sleeping with her in the mornings? [at the exact moment I am asking this question kahlo rolls over and smacks Amy in the nose with her cute little baby fist]

Amy: [slightly irritated that she just got smacked in the face and even more irritated that Kahlo and I are both interrupting her 4 hours of sleep - in the cutest whine you can imagine] uhhh, I’d rather sleep alone!

Note to self: wake up early Sunday morning and take Kahlo to the living room. Amy needs sleep.

Resignation notice: effective immediately

This was written at approximately 10:46 a.m.

Dear Family,

While you [my perfect family] were leisurely eating cinnamon toast I was sitting on a freeway filled with construction for 1.5 hours. [stupid construction]

While you are (at this very moment) blowing air bubbles, amusing children, channel surfing or doing whatever it is one does on a Saturday morning, I am being lectured on the importance of composition functions from a NASA engineer. [bleh]

When you (all of you) begin to notice a grumble deep within your stomachs, I will be staying late after class making up this mornings test. [damn construction]

While I sit here…slightly irritated, largely frustrated [stupid, stupid construction] I have come to a very important decision… I quit. I quit all things that make me a productive member of this family. I am going back to being a slacker. For this I offer no apology.

BT can write all my future papers, Pi can take over all the fix-it/handy work, Kahlo can reduce stress and add humor, Haley can tend to the yard work and Amy (my beautiful , beautiful wife) can take over all things algebraic. We will have to order out dinner nightly as none of you can be trusted with my beloved spices and cookware.

If anyone needs me I may be found lounging in the backyard hammock with an Iced Hazelnut latte casually reading a long book about someone elses struggles in life.

Please do not interrupt said lounging without proof of fire, blood or vomit.

P.S.

The fact that in reality you spent the morning with a fussy baby cleaning house all day after a night of no sleep, offers no condolence to me and should not be brought up in defense under any circumstance. I am bitter. I am very very bitter. [damn damn stupid construction. ]

Another beautiful picture taken by Amy.

waiting waiting and more waiting

I have not written in about 2 weeks. I have been too busy to write… I have been very very busy waiting… and when you are busy waiting you cannot do things as trivial as writing.

Why have I spent so much time waiting? Simple. Because it’s fun. At first I did not think it was fun, I waited simply because there were things I was waiting on…then I read something with the words “the waiting game”, and I realized waiting was a game and games are fun, therefore waiting must be fun – and since I need more fun in my life, I thought I should spend more time waiting. So I did, and I have.

Things I have been waiting on…

1. A job offer – I have since stopped waiting on this as I have received a job offer and turned in my resignation at my current job.
   
   
2. To buy a home – I am still waiting on this – but I am no longer waiting on a particular house – with a little effort (or lack of effort) I can keep waiting on this for a year or more…
   
   
3. For Kahlo to end the vicious cycle of teething – at this moment she has 2 full bottom teeth, 1 top tooth that has just broken the gums and 1 top tooth bulging-but has yet to break the surface. She was sweet – now, well, she is still sweet – but more in that monster-nothing-make- me-happy sort of way.
   
   
4. For my oldest daughter to find her brain… yes, she lost her mind. She decided that all rules/morals/values do not apply to those that are 12 and in need of nothing – I have faith that she can find her mind, but since she is prone to laziness I am not sure how long she will look for it. Amy and I have kept our eyes open, but have yet to see it around the house.
   
   
5. I am waiting for my new glasses to come in – this is a short term wait.
   
   
6. I am waiting to find out if my best friend and her wife are pregnant – another short term wait.
   
   
7. I am waiting to gain mathematical intelligence by osmosis – it seems ridiculous to actually study if I can possibly find a way to extract the intelligence from my wife’s brain and place it into mine – my deadline is tomorrow. It’s not looking good.
   
   
8. I am waiting to gain the motivation to paint. I have the need. I have not the motivation. I am simply too tired. There is nothing in this life I would like to do more than sleep.
   
   
9. I am waiting to want to do something more than sleep.
   
   
10. I am waiting for 3:30pm – when I can drive home.
    
    
11. I am waiting for my co-worker to get back from lunch so we can chat more via I.M. (it’s more fun than working).
    
    
12. I am waiting for Kahlo to crawl – she is close, she is on all fours, she is swaying back and forth, she is wanting to move, she is motivated to move – she just cant get that right knee to go forward…stupid knee.
    
    
13. I am waiting for my dog to give herself a bath – we taught the kids – certainly she can learn – it’s not too much to ask…really – I feed her, I water her, I let her out when she wants, I make her bed, I (I being Amy) wash her bed, I provide her with shelter , I give her an unlimited supply of biscuits and greenies, I watch her weight for her– certainly after all this she can bathe herself. Really , Haley – get with the program.
    
    
14. I am waiting for my back/neck/spine to stop hurting – it currently feels as if this wait will last forever.
    
    
15. I am waiting for my wife to realize how much I love her – yes, I am a complicated soul – it’s hard to read my mind [so she says], just read my words [so I say].
    
    
16. I am waiting [I don’t know on what] to hang the new baby swing.
    
    
17. I am waiting (impatiently) to run away with my wife (and only my wife) on a vacation to some random third world country (providing that third world country has ocean access). This may be the hardest to wait on…

The cutest baby ever!

posing for mommy

First time on a swing

I cheer, you cheer, we all cheer...

Pi turned 10. He has joined his older sister in double digit birth years and is quite proud of it. We had a small family festivity… dinner out, cake, presents and cheerleading. Yes, Cheerleading - what every boy dreams of - the whole family taking turns giving cheers. My heart melted a little as Amy got up and did a cheer – (I have always had suspicions there was a peppy girl living under that even exterior – and now I have the proof).

Cheerleading…family cheerleading…It was…I don’t know what it was – it defies description by me – The cheering was a mishap – it should have never been– but on the designated party supply day, about 5 minutes after Amy backed out of our driveway – hail began falling from the sky – so it was decided, all shopping must be done at one location – one location that happened to be out of orange gift paper, but was not out of orange pom poms…which created a nice effect hanging over the gift bag like long plastic streamers…creating not only the perfect decoration – but memories of giggling cheers as well…

In other news –

Kahlo is teething, officially, which means she is officially fussy. I thought (wrongly) teething would be a breeze – after all she got her first two teeth without symptom – apparently I suffer from delusional ideology. Apparently when hard sharp objects begin protruding from babies very soft gum line, the only rational thing for baby to do is scream herself into hysterics , creating the need to suck her thumb for comfort – promptly causing baby to bite her thumb with one of the said hard, sharp objects that protrudes from her soft gum line, which leads directly to more screaming, which prevents baby from sleeping, sleepiness is unbearable – the only way to deal with such an unbearable state is to scream, louder –longer –more meaningful screams means it’s time for a warm bottle and gentle rocking of the chair – this leads to baby [FINALLY] sleeping, which leads to two happy moms that gently put beautiful, sweet baby into crib – which causes instant screams… it’s a cycle – a vicious – long – exhausting – cycle…

- I am sorry beautiful stay at home wife, your job is no doubt harder than mine. [love]

the world stopped last night

Amy is sick – or she was – she could still be – I am just not sure. But yesterday – she was sick, she said she was not – but she was. She always says she is not sick – right up to the moment she has a 104 fever and can’t lift her head more than 2 inches off the pillow – then she exclaims with shock “I think I’m sick!” Yesterday she was able to lift her head off the pillow – but not for long – the smile was drained from her face, her voice was dull and flat, and she spoke only when spoken to – Amy is sick.

When Amy is sick, our world stops, then it spins out of control – we don’t really know what to do… she does so much – I walk around in circles, knowing I need to do something, but not sure what.

After work I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some items to make one of Amy’s top 5 favorite meals – [which she hardly ate – Amy is sick] I got home, checked in on Amy [who told me she was not sick] and started my culinary masterpiece, we ate [she hardly ate] everyone was happy, except the “not sick” woman.

A typical after-dinner conversation goes like this:

Me: I’ll clean up

Her: no, you cook, I clean

Me: you had a hard day, I don’t mind

Her: Vada, you had to work all day, I’ll do it

Our conversation goes on and on like this until I either give in OR we both clean up…

Last night our after-dinner conversation went like this:

Me: I’ll clean up

Her: ok

Amy is sick.

After dinner/cleaning we [Pi, Kahlo and I] were off to basketball practice, where I spent the entire hour dodging flying basketballs. Leaving, we were all proud – Pi had made most of his baskets and I had managed to evade any flying objects…that is until we were mere feet from the door, when a ball came out of nowhere and smacked me right on the nose [about ½ an inch from Kahlo’s face] we all survived…

Back home…

I checked on Amy who was still “not sick” and still in the same position in bed – she did not need anything…

Kahlo fell out instantly – lucky for me. I quickly washed bottles, boiled water, stitched Spot (the stuffed toy dog) back together and began preparing homemade baby-food for the first time. That is a whole story in and of it self – needless to say the squash ended up in the trash can – but the pears made it to the baby cubes.

I checked in on Amy again before going to sleep myself, at that point she was not speaking, only grunting – if I interpreted the grunts correctly she said she is not sick and does not need anything… my interpretation could be wrong – she could have been begging for water – grunts can be hard to decipher…

This morning she said again in her meek , sleepy voice – that she was not sick – she then turned to Kahlo who was stirring and told her it was NOT time to wake up yet … Amy is sick

Election Day

Yesterday was election day - an exciting day in our family - Amy even made election day rice krispie treats!

This is the first year our older kids (10&12) have shown much interest, making it even more fun for the two of us...last month we took the kids to the Obama rally, surprising to us, they had a great time (Kahlo slept through the entire event). On the way home they recited many of his points and added what they liked about his ideas.

At school yesterday Pi's 4th grade class voted for president. The tally:
Obama 17
Clinton 3
McCain 0
Huckabee 0

This is what I love about The Heights...there is a noticeable lack of a republican vote... just the thought of all the mini-democrats running about is enough to make me smile, even on this very busy-stress filled day.

Amy early voted, I voted before work yesterday morning. We went together as a family to caucus last night. There was a wonderful and exciting feeling in the air - until we got home and realized Clinton would not only take Ohio but Texas as well...

Pi and BT

Kahlo - Birth to 6 months

6 month Dr Appointment

Kahlo had her 6 month appointment on Monday (I know, today is Wednesday – I am behind). I was not able to go with her, probably for the best – last time she got shots I cried more than she did and her pediatrician had to stop to make sure I was ok… Amy of course, handled it like a pro, keeping steady nerves, cooing at Kahlo when needed and gently swooping her up to console her afterwards - I guess the whole gentle-reassurance-steady-loving-hand is one way to go about it, but personally I prefer the stooping-in-the-corner-bawling-like-a-baby method…

On to the stats… at 6 months she is 18lbs 12oz and 27.5 inches long. She is in the 95% with height and 92% with weight… all and all a big healthy girl!

The Pediatricians Topics for Discussion:

• Teeth (Kahlo already has 2)

• Sitting up (A skill she has long mastered – well, not really long, more like a few weeks…)

• Rolling over (the task is getting her NOT to roll over, rolling over is something she does at will)

She has already made all the milestones that should be expected! Yep, I am good at this baby-thing!

We both love that her pediatrician not only supports our positions on sustainable/organic/environmentally responsible living, but also raises her own children with the same beliefs. She gave us some more advice on making our own baby food and the importance of organics as well as some good brands to use for organic/natural toys.

We ordered some organic seeds and plan to try and raise our own veggies for her baby food. Amy and I both kill all things plant-like – so there are mild concerns about the eat-a-bility of said veggies BUT it will be fun trying.