The Tweedles

23 month newsletter

2010-01-24T22:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Trixie.
Today you turn 23 months and I think I will call the month that passed the month of the singing. Lately you have been singing a lot, and you're not always singing songs that everyone knows. I love how you just sing along to the soundtrack in your head! It lets me know that you're my daughter, since I'm known to do that at well, I just tend to be a little better at making up my own lyrics, but I know you'll learn that skill too. Your two songs that you love to alternate between if you're signing a song we know is Old MacDonald and Happy Birthday. Old MacDonald is mostly "moo moo der, moo moo der, yiyiyo" and Happy Birthday is "happy happy to you, happy happy to you" over and over. It's adorable! Your nonsensical songs are pretty cute too, you'll sing about noises you hear, random words you've heard, or you'll just make up a sting of tones and have fun with that. And you have the most adorable voice. So sweet.
With your play you've really been working on jumping with 2 feet and for the most part you have it. Your Daddy will stack some books or some foam tiles for you to jump off to practice and it's become a favourite game. Each jump is always followed with a Happy Dance, which has quickly become your little signature to punctuate whenever you're really happy. You've also mastered walking down stairs holding on a hand and walking up stairs pretty much unassisted. I'm sure you could do both unassisted, but I like your head whole, so I'll hold your hand for a little longer to ensure it stays that way.
You so want to be able to ride a bike and get frustrated when I tell you that you're too small. We did buy you a baby seat for Daddy's bike though, so you can go for "bi-hi-cle" rides. Of course we have a helmet for you, we've had it for a while because you love to just wear them. I think in a couple months we'll be able to get you a bike, your Daddy and I are debating on which kind to get you.
Christmas came and went this past month, and you got a kitchen which you love to play in. You'll make me soup or tea or all sorts of other concoctions, I always tell you they are delicious, but I don't think I'll make bread, fish and lemon soup any time soon! You were given more duplo which you play with, and a cute little farm toy that you adore and play with nearly daily. I think your favourite toy though is a Caillou doll that I gave you. He does a lot with you, and your favourite game with him is hide and seek, Caillou always hides in your kitchen's fridge! You treat your Caillou doll like a big brother to your baby dolls, he never rides in your toy stroller and he never gets bottles or the babying that your dolls do. I think it's interesting that you have these divisions for them. You still love playing with your baby dolls, it'll go in waves, some weeks you're all about them and others you're interested in other things more. I think you'll make a great big sister though. You do seem to be a natural nurturer, but please remember, no blankets on baby's head!
In terms of getting ready for your baby brother, you seem to be excited. You know where he is and Daddy and I have shown you lots of videos of Mamas roaring to get the baby out of their bellies and you're always excited to see the new baby, then you ask for more baby. I wonder if you'll ask for more brothers after you see this one? We've started working on you saying the baby's name so you'll be ready when he's born. So far you've had no trouble and you know his name and that he's your brother. Looks like everything will go smoothly when he comes, although Daddy and I understand you might have some little hiccups, and that's okay too.
In an effort to get ready for baby brother I decided to make an honest effort to potty train you, but it went really poorly. We've learned that you don't handle being badgered well about some issues and you get stressed, which is a natural response. I think we'll hold off until you show more readiness. For a few weeks you were traumatized by the potty and would get really upset if anyone suggested it to you, but you're getting over that and you'll ask to sit on the potty again, which makes me happy! We'll take it slow and I'll let you let me know when you're ready. I don't think you're far off and we all know it's not a race, so take your time.
Your eating is the same. I've noticed that you eat best in social settings. Your Berkan Grandparents were here and commented a lot that you were a good eater, and you did eat great around them, and lead me to notice that you eat well around other people. When it's just you and me, you're less interested. I can have the most amazing spread of food stuffs for you and you'll just sample a couple things and proclaim yourself done really soon. I do have the most success if you are given things to dip and if you can eat off of my plate. Your growth is good and you're healthy so I'm not going to worry about this either.
With your speech you're amazing. You pick up words and phrases so quickly and use them in context really well. I love to see how your language develops. You're also counting a lot more, you know a lot of the countries on a world map and you love to colour and use stickers. Our days are busy with these activities, counting books, looking at a map, colouring, stickers and other such toddler activities. Oh and we play with your friends a lot. You adore your little friends and they love you too! I'm glad that I've found us such a great mother's group, so that you and I both have lots to do during the days and we've both made such amazing friends.
So my little love all in all this has been a busy month for us. Our last together, just the two of us! I am sure the next few months will be crazy, but we'll still have fun!
I love you!
Mama.

22 month newsletter

2009-12-25T00:08:00.001-08:00

Dear Trixie,
Today you turned 22 months old! So in two months you'll be 2 years old. That is so scary to Mama! I find it hard to believe that you're nearly two, which I know is a giant cliche, but I still see you as my little baby. Although by the time you turn two you'll have a little brother and everything will be different for you, however I am sure you will love it.
This month has been a busy one for you developmentally. You've cut 3 of your 4 canines, currently you are working on 2 of them, so sometimes you wake up at night a little grumpy, but you're always happy in the morning, and you also finally cut your 4th bottom tooth. It confirms that you have some funny crooked teeth on the bottom, but I have some hope that your big ones will come in a little straighter! Physically you are about the same size, but you are developing so much more with your motor skills. You love to run and will given any chance. You're trying your hardest to do two foot jumps, and sometimes you manage to get both feet off of the floor. You've learned to walk down stairs holding a rail or Mama's or Daddy's hand. I am sure that this is a late development, but it is all my fault. I am a little paranoid of you falling so I would always carry you, but now that I am so pregnant, I've had to let go a little and of course you were able to do it just fine!
Cognitively you're amazing. The other day we had the power go out briefly and then later in the day you were sitting in the kitchen as I made dinner and you kept telling me "4, 9, 4, 9, 4, 9", so I looked at the clock on the stove and it was flashing 4:19! So the next morning I showed you your number book and on a whim I asked you where the 4 was and you identified it, then the 9 and all of the other numbers! So it's become a game for you and I to point out numbers. Yesterday at a restaurant you showed us our number and told us it was 5, 1, and it was. Daddy and I are quite shocked that you've just decided to demonstrate your understanding of numbers. We've known for a while that you could count, but we didn't know that you could identify them by sight.
A few weeks ago Daddy hung up a giant wall map in your play area and you've been learning the countries of the world, so far you can identify: Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, China and Brazil. It's a fun game for you, and you like to tease us, pretending to point to one country, only to change and point to the correct one.
In getting ready for Christmas this year I took you to see Santa and you were completely uninterested in him, then on our vacation to Southern California we tried with another Santa and again you were uninterested. The Santas assure me that it's a phase, and you'll soon be happy enough to see him. You will be happy to know that I didn't push him on you and there are no crying Trixie photos on Santa's knee.
Your vocabulary continues to grow as always. I've noticed that you've started to understand more abstract concepts. For example we were talking about some of your friends at a playdate and you were able to tell me who wasn't there, you used "not". "Not Tyler, not George...." It's interesting for me to see how your mind works. One day I gave you some dried kiwis and I watched you look at it, taste it and say to me: " Mama, not apple?" and I told you that it was kiwi, and you responded telling me that you had kiwi with Nana. I was shocked because you did, a year ago, and you haven't had kiwi since then. I wonder how far back you can remember, and for how long will you remember that trip to New Zealand a year ago. I guess we'll see when we go back there in a few months!
Tomorrow is Christmas and I hope that you have a lovely day. Daddy and I thought long and hard about what presents that you would love the best and narrowed the list down to a few. I hope that you're not too overwhelmed by everything!
Okay my sweet girl. I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow and I promise that the next month you and I will continue to have some amazing Mama and Trixie time, it will be the last we have before Baby Brother comes, then the three of us will have amazing time together!
love,
Mama.

21 month newsletter

2009-11-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

Dearest Trixie;
Yesterday you turned 21 months old and I swear I didn't forget it. I did have some issues remember how many months you are though. I blame being 31 weeks pregnant growing you a little brother.
In the past month you have grown. I tortured myself yesterday by looking at photos of you from a year ago. It nearly made me cry. You've grown so much. I know that it's a cliche that children grow so fast, but you do. When you were 14 months old you had chubby cheeks and were just nearly toddling and we so baby. Now your face has leaned out, you run and you're so much more of a little girl. I still call you a baby though, and you don't argue, so I won't stop. Perhaps that will help me think of you as my baby a little longer.
This month you've continued to not be much of an eater, although we learned tonight that mashed purple cauliflower and carrots coins are good. You ask for berries, apples and bananas every day, and still love to lick jam off of your toast. Your Daddy and I still give you a bottle of formula or goat's milk at night and you seem to be growing fine, so I'm not worried. Oh and whenever we go to a restaurant you always ask the waitress or waiter for rice or noodles, which is "wice, newnos". Pretty dang cute!
With your play you have shown your love for all things with wheels, cars, trucks, trains, planes, buses, etc. You'll drive them all over the furniture making a noise like "weeeoooohhhhh", everything sounds the same. On Mondays you get excited when the garbage truck is outside of the window and you ask me over and over if the noise is the truck, and when he's there we'll look out the window, then you'll play truck for a while, with lots of weeeeooooohhhhs to accompany it. You still play with your babies, mostly pottying them and pushing them around in your toy stroller. And you love to play with your mini pots and pans. So I think Mama and Daddy are going to get you a kitchen for Christmas. I think you will love it! I've really been enjoying watching your imagination grow. It was important for me to see that you did have some creativity in you and you do! Hurray!
Your language continues to grow. This month we've talked a lot about the noises that animals make and you'll meow, woof, moo, oink and roar with joy. We've learned that many animals roar, even sharks, and sometimes rouge ladybugs. Today you told Daddy that "rinosaurs" roar when you were reading us the "Moo Baa La La La" book. Everyday you have a couple new words and you are very adept at getting your point across, and as a result you use your sign language less and less. We have been working on getting you to talk with your hands more, but it's a work in progress.
You've discovered the alphabet this month and you love to hear me sing it over and over, and just randomly you'll throw out letter combos in song, "H-I-J", "C-D-E" etc. It's cute. You've also started counting more and you can count to 6 on your own, but you do like to just count to 2 a lot. 1-2-1-2 over and over. It's funny. We've started to learn to spell your name, so far you can identify T and R, which is plenty for me. It's not something I'm going to push you on, but it's a fun game you like. You've become an expert at your shape sorter which mean I don't step on triangles any more since you used to favour the circles and squares then rectangles, leaving the triangles out 'cause they were harder. When you play with a nesting toy you'll work at it, almost systematically until you solve it, which has amazed some people, and makes me so proud. Your puzzles are a breeze for you and clearly it's time that I get you some more challenging toys.
You're still wearing 18-24 month clothes, and I find that you are built like your Mama. You've got short legs! I'm sorry sweet girl. Your Daddy and I have started to give you choices in the morning as to which shirt you'll wear and you will most often grab for both shirts at once, or simply refuse all shirts, wishing instead to go without.
Potty learning is still a fun game. You'll sit on a potty for an hour, happily reading a book or playing, but you won't pee. Instead you'll demand a "di-der" and then tell me a while later that you need the potty again. We're working on you letting me know before you pee that you need the potty, not right after. Still I won't pressure you, we work on it, but I'll let you decide when you need to make the transition to panties all of the time. I suspect it's soon because you loathe diapers and it can be quite the challenge to put a diaper on you some days.
With your little friends you've gotten really close to your buddy Leland, and your other buddy Leilani. Leland is all boy and you are quite the tomboy around him, digging in the dirt, looking for bugs, playing with trucks, and just being rambunctious. With Leilani you are much more a little lady, playing more quietly, holding hands with her and being more girly. With them both you divide your time, perhaps you'll be a little politician some day, equality for all!
At night you often start sleeping in your own bed, but between 2 and 4 am you'll make your way over to the big bed and crawl in with Daddy and I and ask for a bottle. I am happy to have you there, you're so cuddly and sweet. I'm still shocked that you took to your toddler bed so easily, you've never fought it, although we've never forced it on you either. I wonder what will happen once your little brother will be in the mix. You'll still have your place in the big bed, Baby Brother will just sleep on the other side of me, so that he's safe from your crazy sleep positions.
So it's been a busy month, but it went by too fast.
You're so sweet and cute. I love you so much!
love Mama.

Grandparents

2009-11-23T23:07:00.000-08:00

Lately Trixie's vocabulary has really been expanding and she's been adding names to her list of "words". She's known the names of her friends for a while, but it's nice to hear that she can actually talk to them using something sounding like their names. However even cuter are the names for her grandparents.
Adam has Trixie talk to his parents frequently on the computer via a video chat, so she's become familiar with them and who they are. I'm pretty sure she realizes that they are two people, but she calls them both "Bubba", which is so cute, and kinda funny. I'll point to Adam's mom as ask who it is and she'll answer "Bubba" and the same with Adam's dad, "Bubba". With her toddler talk, she might have a slightly different name that sounds awfully the same for each, but for now it's Bubba and Bubba.
Then yesterday we talked to my Dad and my Step mom online and she recognized them from a year ago and labelled them correctly as Nana and Papa. That was impressive and she addressed them as such. Even drawing a picture of Nana and showing it to her.
For my mom she calls her "Graingma", I'm sure it'll evolve into Gramma at some time.
I'm kinda interested in what Bubba and Bubba will turn into.

30 weeks!

2009-11-19T20:08:00.001-08:00

I forgot to remind the world on Monday that I'm 30 weeks pregnant. Which is a nice milestone, 3/4s there, nice round number. But alas, I have toddler, I am much more occupied with other things.
So we've named this baby Turducken for his project name. The unveiling of his name will be after he's born for a whole myriad of reasons. I chose Turducken 'cause it made me laugh, at the time I needed to laugh. It stuck. People often question the name. They want to know if I'm the turkey and he's the duck or chicken. I say no, he's Turducken, like Cher. I think it suits him, and it still makes me laugh.
Anyhow, he's an active boy, more than Trixie was, and I thought she was busy. She never woke me up at night with her hijinks and he does, nearly every night. He tolerates me semi lying on my stomach as much as she did, which is not at all, but he gets to suck it up, because that's what's comfortable.
Fortunately with all of his wiggling he's not hitting my bladder often, unlike Trixie who danced on it all of the time. I'm grateful about this because it hurt! He does kick or punch the top of my cervix, which is pretty unpleasant. He's also learned to pluck or strum my c-section scar, which is odd. It doesn't hurt, but it feels like he's pulling my uterus in then releasing it.
When he moves he tends to move his whole body, not just an arm and a leg. I can often see his movements, which is also odd for me 'cause Trixie didn't do that so much.
So only 7-12 weeks to see who has been doing all of this.
Should be interesting.

Hope for Anissa

2009-11-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

It's pretty amazing how the Internet community works and how fellow bloggers can rally around someone to help.
I read about a woman today who is 35 has 3 children, and just suffered a major stroke.
I am really upset about it all. She's young and has young children, one of whom just battled with cancer and beat it. I would say that this family has been through enough, but apparently the universe doesn't agree.
I can't even imagine what her family is going through. They're living my worst nightmare, or rather she is. The thought of something happening to me and me leaving Trixie scares me so badly. So horrible.....
Please click on the link and donate anything if you can, if not just send lots of good healing vibes out for Anissa.

The Techie Future...

2009-11-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

So I normally leave my techie commentary for my techie sub-blog but since Dea needs me to pinch post for her again, you lucky tweedle-readers get a peak at some techie future...

I was reading over at jeff jonas' blog, and he had a really interesting take on what's coming next in technology. Go have a
read. Done?

Yeah, I know most of you skipped it, so here's the summary. Now that everyone is carrying a cell phone/mini-computer on them at all times, the very psersonalized internet is coming. The cell companies know where your phone is (within a few meters at least) and with nothing more than a few days data of where your cell phone has been it's possible to know a huge amount about you.

Looking at the data, where you live is obvious since that's where your cellphone goes every night. Is it a rich neighborhood? A young neighborhood? Renter's neighborhood? See how much we already know!

Where you work is also easy to summize, since you spend a huge amount of time there. Is it in an industrial park? An office building? A starbucks? Do you have two jobs? Oh how much we learn...

We can see how you get to work. Do you take the bus, bike trails, or the freeway.

We know where you hang out. Got a favorite gym, movie theater or coffee shop? Or maybe a bar? (Or maybe a gay bar...)

We know where you like to shop. Is it at the boutiques downtown, or Walmart?

When was your last vacation, and where did you go...

And we can easily find your secrets... Identifying affairs is obviously easy, but secret hobbies are outed by your frequent trips to the model train store...

It's amazing how much information a little location data reveals. Now a cell company would never give all this information to third party because it's too personal. Your home & work addresses alone are probably enough to identify you. But if they anatomize it just a little bit (say make your home and work locations accurate to the nearest block) then it becomes much harder to identify you, but keeps the data very useful for learning about you.

So what keeps the companies from selling this anonymity data? Nothing, they do it already! Didn't you read page 18 of the phone contract? Oh well...

So where does this mean the internet is going? Imagine ads that are targeted at you based on this location history. Do you usually go shopping Saturday morning? Maybe the boutique you visited a couple weeks ago sends you a coupon Friday night. On your way home from work at the factory? Those comfy new boots look good in that ad. Have you been visiting car dealerships lately? Get used to car ads!

Are we going to put up with this? (Well, so far we are.) The truth is people actually like ads that are highly relevant (and they click on them). Because these ads get results they're worth more to advertisers who pay more to show them. This makes your favorite ad-supported websites more profitable and lets them improve. So happier customers, advertisers and publishers! Everyone wins...

The privacy issues of course remain tricky and are what's keeping this in check. If history is a guide though, people will grow more comfortable with sharing this information.

Enjoy the very personalized future...

homelessness

2009-11-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

Our neighbourhood is really new, it's an industrial turned residential area, so it's a little low on amenities, and high on town homes. (It's the most densely populated area of the city) I assume, that because we are such a new neighbourhood with nothing but houses we don't have many homeless people around here, until recently. There is this one guy who stands at the intersection where I turn to head home, just off of the free way. I feel so bad for this guy, but I have no idea how to help him. He stands in the middle of the intersection where the light are, balancing on the rocks that are in the cement and he fidgets while holding a sign that says "homeless please help". He looks so ashamed, I can't help but feel so sad every time I see him. I am really bad about carrying cash, so I never have any to give to him, but what would I do, just roll down my window and hand him a $20 bill? Would that really help? Should I make him a bunch of sandwiches? I just don't know.
I would like to think that he's a reasonable guy who's just really down on his luck. He's always clean and wearing clean clothes, his hair isn't a giant matted mess. He looks presentable. Perhaps that's why I'm bothered so much. He doesn't look strung out on something, or like he's been out for a while, he looks new to the homeless game, and it looks like it's wearing on him.
There are times I wish I could just invite him in for dinner and a good night's sleep, but I can't. I have to think of Trixie and her safety.
In the recent months we have donated to a food bank and a homeless shelter for families, so I feel that we've got the donating covered, but seeing one person so sad, I just am at a loss.

Adam says....

2009-11-15T21:22:00.000-08:00

Adam says Payton Manning is awesome.
I'm not going to agree or disagree, but being a football player I bet he has a nice ass.

Pregnancy!

2009-11-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

In the first trimester you're all happy about the little secret you have. You hold it with you, not ready to tell everyone yet, bubbling with excitement, but still a little wary of the what ifs. You get hit with the nausea, but are grateful because that means that something is working, so this is one of the rare times in life where you are happy to puke your guts out. Then you complain that you are losing weight, while secretly high fiving yourself, considering this the easiest diet ever! You get to have the first ultrasound that shows the wee heartbeat and you breathe a sigh of relief, finally confirming that you do, indeed, have a parasite. You contemplate telling the world, but settling for those closest to you. And you nap, a lot.

In the second trimester you can start with a big ol' sigh of relief, you're out of the woods, although you kinda already knew that when you saw the heartbeat. But through traditional wisdom you know you're safe. You've stopped puking, you feel more energized and you want to eat. So you do. Everything in sight. Cravings are blissful, when else can you get away with peanut butter by the tablespoon full alongside cottage cheese? You walk around with a glow about you, proud of your wee baby bump that you wish would grow faster so that it's more obvious that you're pregnant. You start to lament the weight gain you're having, but remind yourself that you need that peanut butter, it's for the baby. After all you're eating for two now! Sometime soon you'll feel the first little flutters of your precious baby bean. You exalt in them, trying to get your partner to feel them also. Often failing because your belly bean is so tiny.

In the third trimester you curse the second trimester you for being so damn perky. Your back aches, your pelvis aches, your boobs ache, your hips ache, you ache everywhere. You're damn tired and all you want to do is sleep, but you ache too much to sleep. The baby like to jive on your bladder sending you to pee every 10 minutes, you're going through a lot of toilet paper now. Then every now and then the baby will punch your cervix, just to remind you who's boss. You're ravenously hungry, but more than 2 bites of food gives you heartburn from hell. So does water. You've renamed your baby from some cutsey name like "Buttercup" to "Ass burger" or "Devil's Spawn". You remind the baby that feet and ribs should not meet, and "No Devil Spawn you cannot escape though my belly button!" Your feet swell, your hands swell, you swell. You've lost your glow, it's now a fine sheen of sweat, if you're sitting, if you're walking across the room it's much more than a fine sheen. You curse the women who talk about doing full workouts when they're heavily pregnant. You want pants that fit and don't chafe. You think a lot about birth and how wonderful it will be to finally hold your baby, and when you do, it will all be so worth it.

Squashy Love

2009-11-12T23:47:00.001-08:00

I mentioned on a facebook update that I was going to try 20 different squashes this season, so I figured I should update at how poorly I am doing.
To date I've had:
1. Kabocha
2. Butternut
3. Delicata
4. Acorn
5. Spaghetti

I have 3 more kinds at home, so I'll be able to add them to my list soon. I'm worried that I might not be able to find 20 different kinds.

Remeberance Day

2009-11-11T22:46:00.001-08:00

Every year I write a post about how important today is to me because of my Grandpa.
Today I wondered how many people in my generation use today as a day to remember their grandparents, especially since Canada has not been as involved by war since WW2. However since living in California I've seen the effect of the more recent wars which are more on on the forefront of people's minds. In the past years of living here I wished that there was more focus on the vets of WW1 and 2, I feel that they are being lost, and it's because of them that today is sacred. Then it dawned on me today as I recited In Flanders Fields to myself, the line that says, "the torch be yours to hold it high", could refer to the current veterans, it's their turn to inspire and remind everyone to respect today, and the jobs that all of the young men and woman have done for Canada, the US and so many other countries.
So today I paid homage to all vets, even the youngest ones, who are just as deserving as my Grandpa.

Stuff....

2009-11-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Or stuffing.
For my mom's group's quarter one birthday party Candice and I made a giant cupcake to take a photo of the babies in. However after that party and the quarter two party the cupcake suffered too much damage, so tonight I am making a new giant cupcake for the q. 3 and q. 4 party. It's involving a lot of stuffing.
I'll have picutres soon. But they'll be on my facebook account. I hope you're my friend!

Also I missed yesterday.
Doh!

Persimmons!

2009-11-08T23:11:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again. The time for me to eat my weight in persimmons. Oh how I love those subtly sweet crunchy fruits. (that's the fuyu ones, not the pointy ones)
This year I found them at the grocery store I frequent for *gasp* $2.00 each! And I bought several because I love them so much. Then I found them at a farmer's market for $1 a pound which is a much better price, then a friend told me that she has a whole tree of them and she let me come and pick some. So I did, about 30 or so lbs. I am in persimmon heaven. I've been indulging on them daily. I've also tried a couple of recipes so far. I've made a cooked chutney which turned out amazing and not at all mushy, and today I started a fermented chutney batch, and I'll see in a couple days how that comes out.
Next I'm going to try some persimmon bread and cookies. I'm excited!
Persimmons abound!
Trixie loves them too. If I leave the bag of them on the floor she'll rummage through it until she finds one to her liking and she'll just munch on it, walking around the house holding it taking the occasional bite. It grosses me out a little because I always peel the skin off of them, like I was taught to in Korea, but she's fine, they were grown without pesticides and I wash it for her. She called them pears or apples but when I correct her she says 'simm'n!
Yay it's Persimmon season!

Booky love

2009-11-07T22:56:00.001-08:00

I begged Adam to get me a Kindle for mother's day, and you know? He did! And oh mylanta I love it! Now considering I live in a really techy house, where we have a lot of the latest gadgets, and some so new that they have barely been released*, it would be pretty impressive to say that my Kindle is my favourite device in the house. I've even been so inspired to have gotten rid of more than half of my books, which is a large amount. I love that I can find pretty much any book that I search for** and that after I buy the book it only takes 60 seconds to upload to my device. AND if I want, most of the books are speech enabled so I can have books on tape! Then to make it even more wonderful I bought a little cover for it and a light to go with it so I can read at night without disrupting my bedfellows. (Trixie does not like any lights on at night.)
The most recent set of books that I have been reading has been the Anita Blake series. I am a little ashamed to say that I love them! They're pretty well written, although there are some pretty cliche moments, but I think it's more because the author started writing them in the 90s, making the comments about her fanny pack legitimate. Also in the later books, heck most of the books after book three, they start to get rather racy. But for the most part the plot moves along, so it's not just smut for smut's sake.
In some reviews that I've read people claim that they are enamoured with one of the characters Jean Claude, but I find him to be rather trite and over done. But mostly when I think of him I totally see The Count from Sesame Street in my head. It gets really disturbing when Jean Claude and Anita have sex.
One penis euphemism, ah ah ah, two penis euphemism ah ah ah, three penis....

*Adam's had this phone for a while as a tester. The "drrrroid" chime it makes is pretty annoying, but him and the baby love it.
**The Harry Potter series isn't on it. bummer.

Feeding a little Miss.

2009-11-06T17:47:00.001-08:00

Feeding Trixie has become an art. As to not be unfair to her, she's not a picky eater, she's just not an eater in general. She's go through phases when she'll eat everything around her, but they're few and far between, and I'm realizing that she's a social eater. She eats well when there are others around her, but when it's just her, me and Adam she's just not much of an eater. I don't get stressed about it because she's healthy and growing so I know she's getting what she needs, I guess from the air around her. I will admit to one little picky thing she has seemed to cultivate and it's her distaste for meat. I don't think it's intentional, I think it's more she doesn't like the texture, but if I know we'll be eating a particular animal that day, I take care to not talk about that animal much. For example if we're going to have chicken, we don't read books with chickens in them, because she has made that connection. (PETA, are you there? Yes she'll come your way soon, I'm sure.)
So the arty part of feeding Trixie is that I am passionate about cultivating her immune system and keeping is working in it's peak form. As I am sure you all know I selectively vaccinate Trixie and refuse to give her any flu shots. I feel since I've made these choices I have to make a huge effort to make sure her immune system is strong to keep her healthy. So every day I aim for a variety of healthy foods for her. If you saw into my cabinets you'd see I don't have convience foods for her, but I have lots of healthy whole grains and such. Snacks are usually fresh fruit and veggies, sometimes we'll have some organic treats like animal crackers or Mum mums.
For her meals I try to be creative, especially since I eat what she does. This means I get to make new and exciting things. I try to incorporate a couple of new recipes a week, especially ones that focus on whole, healthy foods. So far I've found it to be really fun and have had very few busts.
Trixie has her favourties and so far they are:
baby rice (my name for it) soaked brown rice (2 parts) amaranth (1 part) and millet (1 part). Boil until cooked and all of the water is absorbed. I really like this because Trixie loves rice and this has lots of protein from the amaranth and goodness from the other whole grains. It's nice and sticky and I've used it in place of sticky rice in rolls. I've also used it in place of rice in various rice dishes.
Anything noodle. Trixie will eat her weight in noodles, at home I use whole grain noodles for her.
Broccoli, little trees. They will often be torn up into smaller pieces, arranged in size with the big pieces being Mama and Daddy and the small ones being baby. She does this, not me.
Cucumber discs, especially good for dipping in marinara sauce. Totally her creation. Odd.
Hummus, she will drink it given the chance.
Chilled peanut butter sammies, they don't come apart this way.
Soup! I love that Trixie loves soup! I've discovered that she loves borscht, and I always knew that she loves beets.
Any combination of beans and rice. She loves her beans and rice. This makes me happy because it's a complete protein.

To try to incorporate for protein into her diet I've tried some fake meats, but she doesn't like them. I've tried deli meats that are nitrate free and she doesn't like them. I've tried chicken nuggets and she doesn't like them. I made seitan last weekend and she ate a small piece. This might be promising. We'll see.
I'm finding that we eat a lot of vegan stuff, for no particular reason, it just seems to be what I'm drawn to. I try to avoid dairy because cow's milk still bothers her and I don't like the taste of goat's milk. I avoid eggs because of Adam, so that leaves us eating vegan.

Now to be honest we don't eat perfect for every meal, she's had french fries and she loves them. She's tasted burgers and she doesn't like them. All in all she has the same perspective on fast food as her Mama does: it's okay really rarely, but it gets gross fast!

All in all feeding a toddler is fun. I can't wait until my family is bigger and there is more cooking to be done. I love to cook!

pregnancy and birth

2009-11-05T21:49:00.001-08:00

I had my 28 week OB appointment today, and as always I left totally irate at the quality of care and the standard of care that I get here.
Last appointment I was given a birth plan form to fill out (and by fill out I mean check the boxes of the things I want) and then we would discuss it today. Ugh ugh ugh. It didn't go well. I want more than what was on the form and it resulted in a long discussion. A lot of it was about me not wanting pitocin, and as a result my OB spent a lot of time telling me why pit. isn't horrible. I explained that my reaction and dislike of it is directly related to the poor outcome I had with it last time. She disregarded that.
So being irate I came home and stewed about it and posted to my facebook about being told the benefits of it. And of course it caused a disccusion on my facebook page. I had all sorts of comments, how it helped some people, how some people agree with me and how I should give up doctors and give birth in a hut in the woods.
After reading all of the comments I was frustrated. I think that interventions are there for a reason and I'm glad they are there. Women did die in childbirth. But I want to be treated like a healthy woman doing a natural thing (carrying a baby) and not treated like I have some terminal disease. I want to rejoice with my doctor about how wonderful this pregnancy is going and how I have such a good chance of a natural, drug free labour. I don't want to talk about potential problems, especially since there is little chance of them*.
Now I totally understand that she sees the worst of the worse, and wants to look for the worst, but I feel that someone who works with pregnant woman should also focus on the labours that go well and advocate and support for that. You know, behave more like a midwife. Not everyone will have problems, in fact I bet that really very few women have issues. But they get created and blown out of proportion and then BAM there's a problem and everyone is stressed.
I'm working hard on positive affirmation, telling myself that this labour will go well and that I will end up with the labour I want, but it's starting to wear on me that there are so many negative caregivers out there. Pooh.
Luckily I do have lots of supportive friends who are proponents of natural labour and birth, and through them I get strength and support for what I want. But I really feel for the women who just don't know and go through their pregnancy dreading the horrible birth because that is all that they are lead to believe there is.
Women do have good labours and births. It shouldn't be so hard to hear about them.

*I know I should know the risks, and I know them. But I think that there is more to having a healthy pregnancy and healthy relationship with a doctor.

Christmas for a Toddler.

2009-11-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

Last year for Trixie's first Christmas we were pretty low key. We bought some ornaments to commemorate the day and didn't put too much effort into thinking of gifts for her because she was 10 months old and frankly was more interested in the paper. So we got her a baby doll and a box of tissues. She loved them both, a lot. The tissues have long since been torn up and thrown away, but the baby doll is still in regular rotation.
This year poses a whole new set of issues. She has opinions and likes, no wants yet though. She knows what toys are and loves the toy section of any store. I don't want to go really crazy though and overwhelm her with gifts because we don't have the space and I don't think she needs a lot of stuff. So I'm debating between a little kitchen or a toy train set. Both of which she will ADORE. Also I need to consider a gift that the baby will give her when he's born. So perhaps the kitchen would be a good Christmas gift and the train set a "yay you're world was just turned upside down and you have to love this!" gift.
Along with her big gift I'm also going to get her a little Caillou stuff, since she loves him and begs to have her Caillou time every day.
All in all, I am loving planning out her Christmas presents, it really is better to give than receive!
I'd tell you what I was going to get Adam, but he knows how to read and work a computer, so it would be less of a surprise for him! I'm sure he'd love a Daddy sized Caillou shirt though.

Vote!

2009-11-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today is voting day for all of the municipalities in the whole country, I believe. I really wish I could vote! Since being a part of the neighbourhood association, I've learned a lot about local politics and have had the misfortune of meeting some of the crazy candidates who should not be given any power whatsoever. So I want to vote, just to help make sure that Loony McLoony Pat and his cronies don't make it in.
Their campaign strategy has been to verbally bash the current council members whenever possible in all medias, their favourite being using the local neighbourhood associations group emails as a forum. So I get to be privy to their shenanigans. It's taken all of my willpower to not reply to the emails about what idiots they are, but I fear that it would just result in a flame war. One of the cronies actually came to one of our neighbourhood meetings and complained about the expansion of Sunnyvale and how industrial areas are being taken over by new housing. All I could do was stare at him, with my mouth agape. Our neighbourhood is new, classified as an I to R, industrial to residential. So by his thinking we shouldn't be here. Instead the empty industrial area should have stayed, adding nothing to the city or the area. Never mind that the state has mandated that all cities have to aim for a 3% increase annually(?). He also went on how the city's funds aren't be distributed properly, implying that we shouldn't have gotten our park. So with that comment, of course, I couldn't keep quiet. I totally let loose and educated him on our park and where the funds came from. He couldn't argue, Adam supported me and we made for a lean mean political machine (at the neighbourhood association level).
Suffice to say that asshat didn't make any friends at that meeting, and yet he still emails our group.
Adam has been able support a council member up for reelection by giving him his endorsement as our neighbourhood association president. Hopefully this man wins and can help balance out the asshats who are trying to get some power.
Hopefully, we'll know more tomorrow, or even later tonight.

"Bye Bye Daddie"

2009-11-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hi All, Adam here. I'm talking care of Dea's Nablopomo duties for today...

I suppose since this has transformed into a "mommie" blog, I'll recount how Trixie treats me every morning. It starts at about 4am when she kicks me out of bed saying "baable, baable..." Pushing the dog and the cat aside, I make her a little bottle and then we all get back into bed. Around 8am it repeats...

Usually after this point she's awake, so I ask her to climb out of bed and close the door. The bedroom is reasonably baby proof and has lots of toys, so she amuses herself for an hour while I scrape together the will to get out of bed. Sometimes we resort to "The Bernstein Bears" for amusement, but by 9am they're showing "The Wiggles" which is good motivation to get moving.

Next we brush Trixie's teeth, and then shower. Then I get out and Trixie showers with Dea. She's a water fiend. Then Trixie gets out and I dry her off. She giggles as I dry "All That Crazy Hair!!" After getting Trixie dressed, we head downstairs, and then it's time to go. Trixie gives me a big hug, and a kiss or two, and then says "Bye Bye Daddie" a few times while I head to the garage. It's adorable :)

Stay tuned for the next time Dea needs a pinch-poster...

It's November!

2009-11-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

Which means I get to do this daily! Yay for Nablopomo!

Yesterday was Trixie's second Halloween, and it did not go well. She was a little duck and cute as all heck, but she was a tired little duck and didn't want to march around the neighbourhood demonstrating her cuteness. To be fair she's worn the costume a lot, we had a party on Thursday and Friday, so the $50 duck costume got well worn.
Then to add insult to injury we didn't have any trick or treaters come to our house. So we have quite of stock of candy and mini playdohs. Normally this would be wonderful, but I have no sweet tooth right now, a side effect of being in the third trimester.

Happy November!

20 month newsletter.

2009-10-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Trixie.
Today you turned 20 months! I can't believe how close you are to 24 months which is 2 years old. Frankly that thought scares me more than turning 30 did.
I could get all mushy talking about how my baby is growing up and morphing into this wee girl who is sassy (in an adorable way) and funny as all heck, but I've save you the my baby is growing blues. Instead let's celebrate your newest accomplishment. Today in the bath with me you farted in the water, which made bubbles and made you crack up. Yes love, you have discovered potty humour. Your daddy was proud. I was a little shocked, but mostly 'cause you were sitting on my leg!
In other news, you are learning and putting things together faster than I can teach you it seems. You amaze me with how you can piece your world together around you, making sense out of the randomness. For example it was raining the other day and you were really perplexed that there was water everywhere. I told you it was rain from the sky and you told me that water is rain. I was pretty impressed that you were able to make that connection, and so quickly.
In terms of your language you are starting to string together spoken sentences, using 3-4 words, not always in the proper grammatical order, but you get your point across. It's fun to see how you are evolving language. I wish I was bilingual so that you could be too, but I guess I could always rely on Sesame Street, right? (except you won't watch it, which really makes me happy 'cause Elmo is evil.)
Physically you are have mastered being mobile. You run now, since walking is for sissies, although you are not beyond demanding to be carried when you're tired of being bipedal. Your latest accomplishment, or attempt is jumping. You'll crouch down, wait for me to count to three and then jump, but mostly just standing up with vigour. There have been a couple of times that you've managed to get both of your feet off of the ground, but then you fell backwards, so I think you were a little discouraged. I tried not to laugh, but the look on your face was so comical, when it's happened other times I will cheer for you like a teenaged cheerleader with the hots for a hunky quarterback. That always brings a smile to your face, even if you are so over your jumping for the day.
I see you admiring the bikes at the park when we're there, and I think you would love to be ready for a bike, but alas, you are still only a small girl and your wee feet won't reach the pedals for a while. But I think I will break down and buy you a helmet because I think you are equally enamoured by the helmets as you are by the bikes!
You are still not much of an eater. While you will eat any cuisine I put in front of you, at most you'll take a couple of nibbles. I am still okay with this. I figure that you're growing and learning and are healthy, so you're getting what you need from somewhere. I bet it's the dog's food! (but not really, you can't get to his food. He on the other hand is more than growing and is getting rather fat, could you stop feeding him your dinners?) Your favourite foods are rice and noodles, which you call "ice" and "newnos". I've managed to doctor them in such a way that you're just not eating white carbs. Finally all of my hippy tendencies for food are coming in handy!
I love to see you interacting with all of your little friends. I find that you are quite assertive, not aggressive, but you do make sure that you're not pushed around. You love your little friends and have such a good time playing with them. I find that you seem to gravitate towards the boys more, which is interesting. You still love your girl toys, but you go go go like a little boy (or like the boys we associate with). However you still play with your little girl friends too and will change you play style to suit who you are playing with. I think you might have a future with the United Nations!
We are still talking to you about your baby brother who is due to change your life in 3 months. You know that baby is a brother, but I don't think you know what that means. I think you've finally grasped that I have a baby in my tummy and your tummy is just "Tix-shie's belly". We'll see though. I am sure that you'll be a great big sister. You practice with your babies all of the time, and give them lots of love.
All in all, you are a great little baby, rather little girl, and being your mama is so amazing!
love,
Mama.

19 month newsletter

2009-09-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Trixie.
Yesterday you turned 19 months old, and in turn I felt sad and old and nostalgic and weepy all at once. I'm sure it's all related to the crazy hormones your little brother has me on, but some of it is that you're growing up so fast. You're beyond walking now, you must run, hop and do a silly happy dance wherever we go. It's quite adorable! This month you've almost figured out how ride on toys work, using your own feet to propel them, but you do much prefer to be pushed along. Your stair climbing abilities have also gotten better. You love to hold someone's hands and walk up the stairs almost horizontal alternating you feet. It's quite amusing. If there is a handrail you can walk up and down just holding one adult's hand. I am sure when your little legs grow longer you'll do better. (I'm sorry you have such short legs, I am sure that my genetics do not help in that arena!) Besides climbing stairs you're learning that you love to climb, which is also starting to scare me! I'll see you stacking your books on the floor so you can reach the next shelf on the book shelf. You like to climb your chair, and finally today you manged to fall off before I could catch you. However you weren't deterred, I caught you climbing your chair less than 10 minutes later. Now along with your climbing you've discovered bouncing. You can climb onto your little toddler bed, or Mama and Daddy's big bed and you'll bounce until you're reminded to stay on your bum. Same with the couch in the living room, it makes for great bouncing. But Darling, please stay on your bum? You're making your Mama's blood pressure rise, and that's not good 'cause your Mama is growing you a brother!
You're still my little reader. You could spend hours and hours reading alone and having someone read to you. I'm confident that given the option of losing all of your toys or books, you would choose to keep your books, and this makes me so happy! Often when Daddy or I are reading you a book you'll just start to narrate the book pointing out random things, leaving us reeling that you know these specific words, and while you've been doing this for months, it's still shocking for us.
You seem to be drawn to books about animals, loving "Brown Bear" and any books which count. You're going to be a math girl! You seem to get all enthralled in books that just have things to count. It makes Daddy really proud!
In terms of play your imagination has taken off. We play pretend a lot, feeding your babies and animals, putting them to bed, wearing them in baby carriers. You have conversations with your bears and dollies and just have a grand ol' time with them. This month we bought you a little kitchen set of pots and pans and you've spent hours whipping up yummy treats which you will suck off of the mini whisk you have.
Out in the world you've learned all about vehicles. We can stand on a street corner for close to an hour just looking at cars and trucks. More recently you've learned about trains, which you call "cheens", you always ask me for more when they pass, which leaves me sad because I cannot command them to come. If I could, I would, but alas, it's a power I do not have. You're still in love with airplanes and call them "peens" while signing airplane madly. I blame your Daddy for your crazy airplane sign, because whenever he signs it, his plane are going through a lot of turbulence!
You've also found the moon and stars and will look for them when we are outside at night. Often you greet the moon and always tell it goodbye. I'm sure the moon is very happy that someone is so excited to see it. As always you love trees and flowers, always stopping to huff the flowers. Perhaps one day we'll learn to smell them, rather than try to inhale them madly.
You're still not much of an eater, although you continue to thrive, so I guess I am getting something good into you at some point. I figure you eat good about every 5th meal, but in the in between meals you pick. I am grateful that you love your fruits and veg though, even if you'll only nibble at it. Berries are still your favourite, although we're switching to grapes to save your poor rashy bum from the assault of the berries.
A while ago Daddy bought you a toddler bed and you continue to go to bed in it most nights. We give you a choice where you'd like to go to sleep and you mostly choose your bed, although by 3 in the morning you're generally back in bed with us. I am totally okay with this. If it would have been my choice we wouldn't have gotten you a bed at all, but it was a good deal and you do love it so. But I love feeling you cuddle up with me. My hair is still your lovey and I am still okay with you loving it!
Trixie my love, this has been a busy month, with lots of learning and playing and just having fun. I am so happy to be your Mama! I can't wait to see what the other months bring!
love,
Mama.

18 month newsletter

2009-08-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Beatrix,

Yesterday you turned 18 months old, and to mark the occasion I decided that I was 18 weeks pregnant. (I really was.)

You seem to be happy with my pregnancy, as long as I still carry you when you want and feed you on a regular basis. You seem to understand that I have a baby in my belly and you'll often lift my shirt and say "bebe" and kiss my belly. It's quite cute. I hope that you feel the same about the baby once s/he's here and you're no longer the littlest. I think you'll do well, you're quite nurturing and are so attracted to babies.

So you've made it 18 months! Despite Daddy putting your diapers on backwards and dressing you in mismatching pajamas.

Your vocabulary has exploded in the past few weeks. So far you're saying 2-3 new words a day, I'm stunned sometimes that you've managed to remember a word that you heard weeks ago. The other day you pointed to a butterfly in a book and said "butterfly" clear as could be. We haven't talked about butterflies in weeks, and yet you remembered the word. You're also trying to count. One day you counted the buttons on Daddy's shirt, touching each one, "un, oo, ee, oar", then yesterday we were counting my fingers, touching each one in turn, I counted the odd ones and you the even ones "tooo, oar....". I think you're a little genius, other people tell me that you're just mimicking us. I disagree.

You still eat like a wee little bird, content to live on air and love. About once every 2 or 3 days you'll eat a good solid meal, leaving me wondering if you're going to explode with the amount of food you've tucked away. Fruit and vegetables still are your favourite fodder, which I hope continues to hold. I haven't found a fruit or veggie that you won't eat, although tomatoes are your least favourite. Meat is still hit and miss for you, and you're still off of cow's milk.

You love to be outside and demand "shoes" several times a day. When outside you love to run and smell the flowers and point out trees and airplanes. We bought you a sand box a couple of weeks ago and we play in it nearly everyday. Mostly you like to throw the sand, showing us that we made the right choice to not buy the $1 a pound sand. Perhaps when you're not throwing it around we'll splurge for that sand.

As for indoor toys, you're all about cars, balls, babies and books. If you would master holding two balls in one hand with a baby and a car while reading a book you would be the happiest toddler in the world. However, my sweet baby love, sometimes you have to let the dream go. How about you read your book to your baby, or even a book about balls, or cars. I think that this would make everyone happier. Your most recent toy love is cars, and we have about a dozen little matchbox cars scattered around the house. You love them, and if you weren't so cute when you said "car" I would have hid them in the garbage disposal by now, they hurt when you step on them! Along with your car love you love your babies and balls, you're always asking Daddy and I to open your sack of ball pit balls, just so you can run through them and scatter them everywhere. We indulge you, it makes you so happy. As a baby bonus you help us clean them up too! Topping off all of your toys are your books. I think that if you were given a choice of what toy you could only have, I'm pretty sure you'd choose your books. You still spend a lot of time in front of your bookshelf reading your books. Now that you're starting to talk too, I get to listen to you narrate the stories that you're reading. It's pretty cute, just as cute as when you say "cars".

It seems like you are taking to being a happy toddler like you took to being an "easy" baby. I think I'm a pretty lucky mama!

Love,
Mama.

I'm too Canadian even for California.

2009-08-16T23:14:00.001-07:00

A few posts ago I mentioned that I want to move to Vancouver, and that sentiment hasn't changed. The more time I spend here the more I realize that I am just too Canadian to live here.
I find it's the little things that demonstrate this.
*I say sorry, not sari, and I know I've pointed this out before, but I get called out on it a lot. It's old.
*I feel that parenting styles differ in America and Canada. (to be fair Adam assures me that it's the same everywhere...) What I mean is that there is honest to goodness preschool for infants here. In my very large mother's group I am in the very small minority for not enrolling Trixie, and of some of the people who haven't enrolled their child, it's because they can't afford it. I just feel that Trixie is better off with me, and even though these preschools are parent participation (meaning the parents are there, it's not a day care) I don't feel that Trixie needs to start learning pre math and pre reading now. If she were enrolled this fall she would be in level 4*, where they start pre reading and pre math. At level 7 you have to have previous preschool experience. I feel that this is totally unreasonable for children, and especially children of stay at home moms! I feel that this is a very American experience. (I could be wrong!)
*I'm a socialist. Apparently that's a bad word down here right now. So much fear mongering. It's driving me crazy. I especially love when people equate socialism with communism. My head doesn't explode at all! (I won't even start on how I think that pure communism** is the best option....)
*I am so sick of the heat, and it's showing no signs of ending. Granted this is a Bay Area issue, not found everywhere.
*I'm scared of the school system down here. I was raised in a Canadian school system, so was Adam, it worked well for us. I would like to raise my children in the Canadian system. Right now where we live is in one of the worst districts in the area. The school where Trixie would go to if we were still living in this house, routinely sends kids into jr. high 3 years behind academically. Private school for kindergarden is about 20K a year.
*I like the metric system.
*I miss seeing the Queen on my money. I am a staunch Commonweather. (totally not a word, I know)
*it's pop not soda.
*Tim Horton's is too far away.
*I hate having a co-pay when I go to the doctor. (although we do have amazing insurance.)
*I like the Canadian vaccination schedule better than the one down here. (which I've totally disregarded.)

Oh and I am sure I could come up with a plethora of other reasons, but Adam has a great job with a great salary. I have dreams that Google will open an office in Vancouver, but alas, my last reason for being very Canadian is our much more pacifist nature and much better regulation in our financial industry. No crazy war to suck up all of the money and send the country and much of the world into a tailspin, not to mention the crazy lending practices down here, wrecking the financial industry. Oh recession, you have inadvertently hurt me.***

*this was at one particular preschool, although many are about the same.
**the kind of communism that Marx envisioned, the kind that can't work because most humans are greedy greedy bastards by nature.
***It hasn't hurt us too badly, pretty much just not letting us move home 'cause there won't be an office opening anytime soon in Vancouver. Well that and now Adam has to walk across the quad to get fresh ice cream in another building.