Not only does he dance in the car....
he also dances on the coffee table*...
but he's not so crazy about Pink...
*seriously, if a song comes on that he thinks is "danceable", he climbs up onto the coffee table and starts dancing. Yes, we have our own little Coyote Ugly dancer in training. I think I saw a tip jar there yesterday!
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Woobie!
So Lil G needed a "woobie"...otherwise known as a "lovie" or an "attachment object". Right about the time our pediatrician mentioned it, he latched onto one.
A small white stuffed dog. (Yes, that's Baby Tad mocking the stuffed dog!)
Great, right?
Er...not so fast there, Dr. Spock.
Problem was...this was Goofy Junior's little white stuffed dog. And not just ANY little white stuffed dogs..this was Mischa. The little white stuffed dog that we gave him right before we traveled to Russia for the first of three trips. The dog that I told him to hug when he missed us. The dog that I told him we could TELL when he hugged and would send him hugs back...yes, all the way across the world. Yes, I have a pretty wild imagination.
So when Lil G latched onto Mischa, Goofy Junior was pretty horrified. He tried to switch Mischa with the Big White Chicken (sitting in Baby Tad's lap in the pic above).
Lil G was not fooled. He wanted Mischa.
We tried to reason with Goofy Junior. He has 8,342 other stuffed creatures...couldn't he let Lil G "borrow" Mischa...just for a while?
Finally he relented. Whew!
What's ironic about this whole story is that of all the stuffed creatures we have, this one we got for FREE. From our bank, for crying out loud!
In the end, it all worked out well...and there was peace in the Goofy household. Aaaaaaaaaah.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Olympic Beach Volleyball Swimsuit too Small?
No!
I am sick of hearing complaints about the Olympic beach volleyball women's "tiny" swimsuits.
Anyone who has ever actually, oh I dunno, PLAYED beach volleyball understands the reason.
The details...
- Loose swimsuit = chaffing + jiggling of the sisters upstairs
- More-coverage swimsuit = hot (it's fricking hard to MOVE in sand...hello?)
- One-piece swimsuit = restricted movement
In short, anything other than a skin-tight, small, two-piece suit will result in a distraction to the athlete. I'm sure some athletes would play naked if there wasn't a risk of sand in their girlie-bits. Been there. Owie!
I am sick of hearing complaints about the Olympic beach volleyball women's "tiny" swimsuits.
Anyone who has ever actually, oh I dunno, PLAYED beach volleyball understands the reason.
The details...
- Loose swimsuit = chaffing + jiggling of the sisters upstairs
- More-coverage swimsuit = hot (it's fricking hard to MOVE in sand...hello?)
- One-piece swimsuit = restricted movement
In short, anything other than a skin-tight, small, two-piece suit will result in a distraction to the athlete. I'm sure some athletes would play naked if there wasn't a risk of sand in their girlie-bits. Been there. Owie!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Olympics!
I really like the Olympics. They are so inspirational. The fact that someone has a dream and is so completely FOCUSED to spend so much time training for that dream just gets me.
I never cry at movies (nor a lot in real life), but when Michael Phelps took the podium to get his gold medal, I had a tear in my eye. He's 23 and this is his THIRD Olympics - he's been swimming since he was 11. His mom got him into swimming to "burn off his extra energy".
It's just so cool.
Dara Torres is racing right now. She is one year younger than me (she's 41) - the oldest swimmer to compete in the Olympics, ever. Have you seen her? Goodness...she's got the body of a 25 year old! It's all about focus and training. Oh, and she has a two-year-old little girl, did I mention that? She FINDS the time for her dreams. How cool is that?!?!
US just took silver, with Torres swimming the last leg - possibly breaking a record with her leg of the race.
What an inspiration!
I never cry at movies (nor a lot in real life), but when Michael Phelps took the podium to get his gold medal, I had a tear in my eye. He's 23 and this is his THIRD Olympics - he's been swimming since he was 11. His mom got him into swimming to "burn off his extra energy".
It's just so cool.
Dara Torres is racing right now. She is one year younger than me (she's 41) - the oldest swimmer to compete in the Olympics, ever. Have you seen her? Goodness...she's got the body of a 25 year old! It's all about focus and training. Oh, and she has a two-year-old little girl, did I mention that? She FINDS the time for her dreams. How cool is that?!?!
US just took silver, with Torres swimming the last leg - possibly breaking a record with her leg of the race.
What an inspiration!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
What's For Dinner?
First off, let me just say that the Goofy family eats out. A lot. We don't always eat OUT, but we bring carry-out home pretty often, so I suppose I should say that we don't really cook at home a lot.
However, since neither of us is gainfully employed at present, we figured we should probably eat in a bit more.
Sigh.
This has lead to a War of Wills between Number One Son (Goofy Junior) and I about what consitutes a "good meal".
Goofy Junior is not a big eater. One day he ate an English muffin for breakfast, a hot dog bun (sans dog) for lunch, and then wanted to get away with only eating a roll for dinner. And getting ice cream for dessert.
VIOLATION!!!! Call the Nutrition Police. In other words, he didn't get dessert.
Eating is one of those Parent Topics that is frustrating. You don't want to give your kids food hangups, but you can not MAKE a kid eat. You just can't. You also can't make them sleep or poop, but those things eventually happen, like it or not.
So we struggle with selecting foods for dinner that Goofy Junior (aka Picky McPicky) will eat. He is very much into the "look" of food. We had a Mushroom Lasagna the other night and he was freaked out about the "black things" (um, they are mushrooms!) in the lasagna. Arg! And I REFUSE to make two meals. Mr. Goofy chides me for this. But no, I will not make one meal for one picky kid and another for the rest of us. Life is too short for this.*
But in a moment of clarity and brillance, Mr. Goofy came up with an idea: We will let Goofy Junior select the dinner menu every so often.
I have to admit...I was a little scared about this. Our only constraint was that it had to be a nutritious meal (no ice cream and cake for dinner!).
He chose pretty well: Macaroni & Cheese, Carrots** & Dip, and Garlic Bread.
A little high on the carb scale, but not too shabby. GJ's dinner menu is served tonight.
Bon Appetit!
*Can I just confess right here that I (yes, me) was a super-duper picky eater when I was little? And my parents supported my habit. I didn't eat a salad until I was 25 years old. Never ate peanut butter - still to this day. And I still order my cheeseburgers plain...no ketchup, mustard, pickle, onion, etc. If it's on there, I can't eat it. I really don't want to raise another Me!
**from our garden!! Yippee!!
However, since neither of us is gainfully employed at present, we figured we should probably eat in a bit more.
Sigh.
This has lead to a War of Wills between Number One Son (Goofy Junior) and I about what consitutes a "good meal".
Goofy Junior is not a big eater. One day he ate an English muffin for breakfast, a hot dog bun (sans dog) for lunch, and then wanted to get away with only eating a roll for dinner. And getting ice cream for dessert.
VIOLATION!!!! Call the Nutrition Police. In other words, he didn't get dessert.
Eating is one of those Parent Topics that is frustrating. You don't want to give your kids food hangups, but you can not MAKE a kid eat. You just can't. You also can't make them sleep or poop, but those things eventually happen, like it or not.
So we struggle with selecting foods for dinner that Goofy Junior (aka Picky McPicky) will eat. He is very much into the "look" of food. We had a Mushroom Lasagna the other night and he was freaked out about the "black things" (um, they are mushrooms!) in the lasagna. Arg! And I REFUSE to make two meals. Mr. Goofy chides me for this. But no, I will not make one meal for one picky kid and another for the rest of us. Life is too short for this.*
But in a moment of clarity and brillance, Mr. Goofy came up with an idea: We will let Goofy Junior select the dinner menu every so often.
I have to admit...I was a little scared about this. Our only constraint was that it had to be a nutritious meal (no ice cream and cake for dinner!).
He chose pretty well: Macaroni & Cheese, Carrots** & Dip, and Garlic Bread.
A little high on the carb scale, but not too shabby. GJ's dinner menu is served tonight.
Bon Appetit!
*Can I just confess right here that I (yes, me) was a super-duper picky eater when I was little? And my parents supported my habit. I didn't eat a salad until I was 25 years old. Never ate peanut butter - still to this day. And I still order my cheeseburgers plain...no ketchup, mustard, pickle, onion, etc. If it's on there, I can't eat it. I really don't want to raise another Me!
**from our garden!! Yippee!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Goofy Gets Sirius
I've been spending more time in my car, now that we have our new son home. (I know it doesn't make sense...more on this later*) What's driving me crazy is the state of terrestrial radio nowadays. If it's not some lame-ass DJ yammering about how guys are this horny and girls are always frigid, it's a commercial, or it's some whiny John Mayer song that I could care less about.
Ugh. It's simply painful.
For a Christmas gift, I bought Mr. Goofy a Sirius radio subscription and have benefited from the use of it while riding in his vehicle. I typically listen to audio books most the time I'm in my car, but with New Kid, I figure I better at least pretend to pay some attention to him (it's called "sarcasm" by the way, folks...)
Anyway, I finally had the last straw late last week and started looking for Sirius radios. Since Mr. Goofy has a subscription, it's a mere $6.99 per month for me to sign up. I scored last season's Sirius tuner on eBay for $56 (not too shabby - Sirius' price for the same model was $109).
...and I am waiting impatiently to get it. Yippee!!!! Good music! Jim Kramer on demand! Whee!
Yes, I am a Late Adopter. Late, but I get there eventually.
* Lil G LOVES to go! Anywhere. Price Chopper. Target. Garden Store. Post Office. It's all New! and Fun! for him. The Russian word for "Bye" is "Paka". After breakfast dishes are cleared, he starts pointing to the door and/or putting his shoes on, and saying "Paka!" "Paka!", as in "Let's go!"
He's definitely not a homebody! He's living it up now that he has two chauffeurs!
Ugh. It's simply painful.
For a Christmas gift, I bought Mr. Goofy a Sirius radio subscription and have benefited from the use of it while riding in his vehicle. I typically listen to audio books most the time I'm in my car, but with New Kid, I figure I better at least pretend to pay some attention to him (it's called "sarcasm" by the way, folks...)
Anyway, I finally had the last straw late last week and started looking for Sirius radios. Since Mr. Goofy has a subscription, it's a mere $6.99 per month for me to sign up. I scored last season's Sirius tuner on eBay for $56 (not too shabby - Sirius' price for the same model was $109).
...and I am waiting impatiently to get it. Yippee!!!! Good music! Jim Kramer on demand! Whee!
Yes, I am a Late Adopter. Late, but I get there eventually.
* Lil G LOVES to go! Anywhere. Price Chopper. Target. Garden Store. Post Office. It's all New! and Fun! for him. The Russian word for "Bye" is "Paka". After breakfast dishes are cleared, he starts pointing to the door and/or putting his shoes on, and saying "Paka!" "Paka!", as in "Let's go!"
He's definitely not a homebody! He's living it up now that he has two chauffeurs!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
A Goofy Complaint
A brief timeout from motherhood topics to lodge a complaint...
I love blogging. I love Twitter. I am able to keep tabs on friends that I don't see for months at a time with these tools. I also have made new friends. I'm also reading about people that don't even have a clue that I exist, yet they inspire and motivate me in one way or another, typically on a daily basis.
All these social media tools are wonderful additions to my life.
Yet....
I really miss the fine art of face-to-face conversation. Sitting down over a coffee, a beer, a glass of wine, dinner, a slice of pie (or preferably...all of the above!), and talking. Live. Chatting about the meaningless. Gabbing about the obscure. Deep discussion about the meaning of life.
Preferably without little kidlings interupting to tell me that they've recently farted.
Does anyone else miss this? Will there be a resurgence of the dinner party in response to all the "faceless" conversations we have on a daily basis? Or are they gone for good?
Is it just me or are we all missing out on something good?
I love blogging. I love Twitter. I am able to keep tabs on friends that I don't see for months at a time with these tools. I also have made new friends. I'm also reading about people that don't even have a clue that I exist, yet they inspire and motivate me in one way or another, typically on a daily basis.
All these social media tools are wonderful additions to my life.
Yet....
I really miss the fine art of face-to-face conversation. Sitting down over a coffee, a beer, a glass of wine, dinner, a slice of pie (or preferably...all of the above!), and talking. Live. Chatting about the meaningless. Gabbing about the obscure. Deep discussion about the meaning of life.
Preferably without little kidlings interupting to tell me that they've recently farted.
Does anyone else miss this? Will there be a resurgence of the dinner party in response to all the "faceless" conversations we have on a daily basis? Or are they gone for good?
Is it just me or are we all missing out on something good?
Fun with Nicknames
Over the past week-and-a-half (has it been that long already?!), we have come up with some nicknames for Lil G, based on his behaviors.
Here they are, in no particular order:
"The Closer" - If there is an open door in the house, Lil G will find it and close it. No, let me correct that...SLAM it. Closets, pantries, cabinets, refrigerators...they are all fair game. I go to take the milk out of the fridge. I turn around to put it back...and the door is closed and I hear little feet padding away. And giggling. You'd think this skill would be a good one. But I'm just waiting until we get locked out of our house by The Closer.
"The Flopper" - Lil G has got a will of iron. When his will is not served, he throws a tantrum. The tantrum consists of a full-out DIVE to the floor, where he lands on his belly and puts his hands over his eyes. The Flop is hilarious because it is usually silent. And no kicking. Just The Flop. We found out quickly that The Flop can easily be broken down with some strategic tickling....
"The Beast" - This was the first nickname he got. This kid eats like there is no tomorrow! He seriously eats TWICE as much as Goofy Junior, who is FIVE! And we have yet to find something he won't eat. Mexican, Indian, Chinese, American...he happily gobbles it all down. Spicy? No problemo. He chows it.
First thing in the morning, when The Beast awakens, he wants to go IMMEDIATELY downstairs and EAT. No stopping for a diaper change, a hug, or even to get dressed. This kid is HUNGRY! Is he skinny? Heck, no. He's a little chunk. But he is always eating. He yells and points excitedly when he sees food. He absolutely must have a snack between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, and sometime before bed. He wakes up in the middle of the night. Why? The Beast needs something to eat! Milk usually does the trick quickly, thankfully.
"LL Cool G" - When we get in the car to drive, if there is music out that can be danced to, Lil G will start swaying, swinging his foot in circles, nodding his head, and raising his eyebrows. This combination is guaranteed to make even the most serious person bust a gut.
Check out the hilarity for yourself (make sure to watch the eyebrows!):
Here they are, in no particular order:
"The Closer" - If there is an open door in the house, Lil G will find it and close it. No, let me correct that...SLAM it. Closets, pantries, cabinets, refrigerators...they are all fair game. I go to take the milk out of the fridge. I turn around to put it back...and the door is closed and I hear little feet padding away. And giggling. You'd think this skill would be a good one. But I'm just waiting until we get locked out of our house by The Closer.
"The Flopper" - Lil G has got a will of iron. When his will is not served, he throws a tantrum. The tantrum consists of a full-out DIVE to the floor, where he lands on his belly and puts his hands over his eyes. The Flop is hilarious because it is usually silent. And no kicking. Just The Flop. We found out quickly that The Flop can easily be broken down with some strategic tickling....
"The Beast" - This was the first nickname he got. This kid eats like there is no tomorrow! He seriously eats TWICE as much as Goofy Junior, who is FIVE! And we have yet to find something he won't eat. Mexican, Indian, Chinese, American...he happily gobbles it all down. Spicy? No problemo. He chows it.
First thing in the morning, when The Beast awakens, he wants to go IMMEDIATELY downstairs and EAT. No stopping for a diaper change, a hug, or even to get dressed. This kid is HUNGRY! Is he skinny? Heck, no. He's a little chunk. But he is always eating. He yells and points excitedly when he sees food. He absolutely must have a snack between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, and sometime before bed. He wakes up in the middle of the night. Why? The Beast needs something to eat! Milk usually does the trick quickly, thankfully.
"LL Cool G" - When we get in the car to drive, if there is music out that can be danced to, Lil G will start swaying, swinging his foot in circles, nodding his head, and raising his eyebrows. This combination is guaranteed to make even the most serious person bust a gut.
Check out the hilarity for yourself (make sure to watch the eyebrows!):
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Papparazzi Strikes!
Surf's up, Dude!
When's Dinner?
Me, cute? Nah...
Big Brother Alex loves his new "Toy"...
...but decides he needs some "ink" to be taken seriously. (no, that's not a pretty pink butterfly, it's a, um...dangerous stingray, yeah, that's what it is.)
Monday, July 21, 2008
But Going Well So Far....
Okay, time to follow up my last "Trip from Hell" post with the "Things are Actually Going Well" post. Things ARE going well. With a few surprises!
First, we EXPECTED that Goofy Junior (now 5) would have some jealousy issues when we brought home Lil G (2 years old). Of course, Lil G will require a bit more supervision than Goofy Junior, and thus, more attention. Knowing this, we both decided to set aside some "One on One" time with Goofy Junior and us. But... as it turned out, Goofy Junior has turned into a Lil G "Stalker". The first morning, Goofy Junior really, really wanted to wake up Lil G. "NO!" we declared. He ended up doing it by repeatedly going into Lil G's room.
Then he proceeded to grab Lil G's hand and take him for the house tour. Then the playroom for some play time (first time Goofy Junior's feet have entered the playroom in like 6 months!). He was very controlling of Lil G...up to the point of wanting to do EVERYTHING for him.
This was not the issue we thought we would have, so we had to change gears quickly. We reminded Goofy Junior that WE were the Mommy and Daddy. WE would take care of telling Lil G what to do, etc. This did not go over well, but eventually sunk in. I think we are at a happy medium now...
On the flipside, Lil G IDOLIZES Goofy Junior. Watches his every move. Follows him. Goofy Junior goes up the steps, Lil G goes up the steps. Did I mention that Lil G has never seen steps before? EEK! We were sure we would be making a trip to the local emergency room this weekend, but low and behold, as it turns out, Goofy Junior is a fairly good role model!
Regarding our dog Murphy, we decided that we would make this introduction informal. We would go get Murphy, let her do her thing around the house (which is mainly sleep nowadays) and if Lil G encountered her, he would figure she was just one more acoutrament in our household. Um, yeah, this didn't go the way we expected either. The first time Lil G saw Murphy, he audibly GASPED. He said, "ABAKA-DOH!!" repeatedly, then muttered some more Russian that we don't know, while backing up in the opposite direction.
Then he stepped forward and petted her.
Then backed up, muttered another "ABAKA-DOH!" and more disgruntled Russian mutterings.
Once we stopped our uncontrollable laughter with this weird behavior, we realized that we had a Love/Hate relationship brewing. He was scared, yet he was curious. And quite frankly, Murphy could care less. She doesn't antagonize him, but she doesn't avoid him either. And it still makes us laugh when he rounds the corner and comes face-to-face with her, and gasps. She's not a threat to him...he just doesn't realize it yet.
So it's gone well so far. He is sleeping through the night, although he wakes up about 6:30am, which is damn early. He eats like a beast. He does have little two-year-old temper tantrums, but we are pretty practiced at ignoring those that he is realizing that he is getting nowhere with those.
Yeah, things are going well....so far.
First, we EXPECTED that Goofy Junior (now 5) would have some jealousy issues when we brought home Lil G (2 years old). Of course, Lil G will require a bit more supervision than Goofy Junior, and thus, more attention. Knowing this, we both decided to set aside some "One on One" time with Goofy Junior and us. But... as it turned out, Goofy Junior has turned into a Lil G "Stalker". The first morning, Goofy Junior really, really wanted to wake up Lil G. "NO!" we declared. He ended up doing it by repeatedly going into Lil G's room.
Then he proceeded to grab Lil G's hand and take him for the house tour. Then the playroom for some play time (first time Goofy Junior's feet have entered the playroom in like 6 months!). He was very controlling of Lil G...up to the point of wanting to do EVERYTHING for him.
This was not the issue we thought we would have, so we had to change gears quickly. We reminded Goofy Junior that WE were the Mommy and Daddy. WE would take care of telling Lil G what to do, etc. This did not go over well, but eventually sunk in. I think we are at a happy medium now...
On the flipside, Lil G IDOLIZES Goofy Junior. Watches his every move. Follows him. Goofy Junior goes up the steps, Lil G goes up the steps. Did I mention that Lil G has never seen steps before? EEK! We were sure we would be making a trip to the local emergency room this weekend, but low and behold, as it turns out, Goofy Junior is a fairly good role model!
Regarding our dog Murphy, we decided that we would make this introduction informal. We would go get Murphy, let her do her thing around the house (which is mainly sleep nowadays) and if Lil G encountered her, he would figure she was just one more acoutrament in our household. Um, yeah, this didn't go the way we expected either. The first time Lil G saw Murphy, he audibly GASPED. He said, "ABAKA-DOH!!" repeatedly, then muttered some more Russian that we don't know, while backing up in the opposite direction.
Then he stepped forward and petted her.
Then backed up, muttered another "ABAKA-DOH!" and more disgruntled Russian mutterings.
Once we stopped our uncontrollable laughter with this weird behavior, we realized that we had a Love/Hate relationship brewing. He was scared, yet he was curious. And quite frankly, Murphy could care less. She doesn't antagonize him, but she doesn't avoid him either. And it still makes us laugh when he rounds the corner and comes face-to-face with her, and gasps. She's not a threat to him...he just doesn't realize it yet.
So it's gone well so far. He is sleeping through the night, although he wakes up about 6:30am, which is damn early. He eats like a beast. He does have little two-year-old temper tantrums, but we are pretty practiced at ignoring those that he is realizing that he is getting nowhere with those.
Yeah, things are going well....so far.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Trip From Hell...But We Have our Angel Now
We are home now with the newest member of the Goofy family - Lil' Goofy. We traveled last week to Russia to pick him up, get his passport and visa, get him a physical, and bring him home.
The trip started badly. Our flight to Russia went well, but when we arrived in Moscow, expecting to have the day in a hotel for a shower, nap and some relaxation, we were told that, no, we were being taken directly to the train station. For a 10-hour wait (!!!) for our 12:30am train the next morning. WTF? We protested a bit, but decided the travel arrangers must know what they are doing. In hindsight, hell NO, the travel arrangers most definitely did NOT know what they were doing. Ugh. Those are 10 hours that I want back! We were bored silly after the first hour. I still don't know how we did it.
Anyway, fast forward to picking up Lil G. He was happy to see us, and we had a great visit. When it came time to leave, we carried him outside to the car. Our driver was putting some items into the trunk. Lil G saw this and started crying. Once we assured him (with gestures and our very bad Russia) that he was NOT riding in the trunk, he settled down and did great on the drive.
After we boarded the train back to Moscow, we quickly found out that our train car did NOT have air conditioning. It was around 86 degrees. All we had was a window that we could open about 6 inches. Lil G was a happy camper in just diaper and shorts, but we were miserable, since we did not think to pack any shorts. It was a long night, but Lil G slept through and woke up happy.
We got to our Moscow hotel, checked in, and rushed off to get Lil G his physical. (NOTE: At this point, we had still not had a shower since leaving home...going on 3 days!) He giggled through the whole thing, as Dr. Boris declared, "this one will be breaking hearts soon." We headed back to the hotel and Lil G took a 4-hour nap.
Little did we know it was all a set-up for the hell we were about to enter.
The trip ended worse than it started. Fast-forward to our flight back to the states. Lil G got a little crabby on the way to the airport. It was a long drive, being a Friday, during morning rush hour in Moscow. He whined a bit, but when we got out of the van, he was happy and curious again.
We boarded the plane, thinking that surely he would nap. It was naptime, he had been on-schedule the entire trip so far. There was no reason to think he wouldn't.
You see it coming, doing you? We sure didn't.
The flight was pure, unadulterated HELL. Yes, in ALL CAPITALS. If there was ever a time I wanted to open my brain up and erase a 17-hour block of time, this would win, hands-down.
One hour into the flight, the diarrhea started. In total, we went through 4 diapers and one entire set of clothes on a 10-hour flight. Yeah..."ew" just doesn't really do it justice. And the clothes-splattering blowout occurred right during a "stay in your seat, there is turbulance" announcement. I explained the situation and the flight attendant let me into the bathroom, where we bumped and bounced around, trying to control damage from the diaper explosion and get some new clothes on.
He did NOT end up falling asleep until the final hour of the flight, after basically screaming for the preceding hour. The screaming resulted in a nose-bleed, complete with blowing blood out his nose onto everything, as he tried to catch his breath.
We didn't know what to expect as we carried our screaming, crying child off the plane. Thankfully the other passengers parted the way to let us through.
How did it end? Well, after we went through Passport Control and got our bags, we again had a smiling, happy perfect angel-child.
What did we do? We got our hopes up again for the final 2-hour flight back home. And yes, half-way through the flight the crazy-child, complete with yet another poopy diaper (how much poop can one child produce?!) appeared again.
We are home now and all this is starting to become a distant memory. After documenting this here, I plan on promptly forgetting this 17-hour block of time and replacing it with some of the many giggling, happy-child memories that I now have.
Case Closed.
The trip started badly. Our flight to Russia went well, but when we arrived in Moscow, expecting to have the day in a hotel for a shower, nap and some relaxation, we were told that, no, we were being taken directly to the train station. For a 10-hour wait (!!!) for our 12:30am train the next morning. WTF? We protested a bit, but decided the travel arrangers must know what they are doing. In hindsight, hell NO, the travel arrangers most definitely did NOT know what they were doing. Ugh. Those are 10 hours that I want back! We were bored silly after the first hour. I still don't know how we did it.
Anyway, fast forward to picking up Lil G. He was happy to see us, and we had a great visit. When it came time to leave, we carried him outside to the car. Our driver was putting some items into the trunk. Lil G saw this and started crying. Once we assured him (with gestures and our very bad Russia) that he was NOT riding in the trunk, he settled down and did great on the drive.
After we boarded the train back to Moscow, we quickly found out that our train car did NOT have air conditioning. It was around 86 degrees. All we had was a window that we could open about 6 inches. Lil G was a happy camper in just diaper and shorts, but we were miserable, since we did not think to pack any shorts. It was a long night, but Lil G slept through and woke up happy.
We got to our Moscow hotel, checked in, and rushed off to get Lil G his physical. (NOTE: At this point, we had still not had a shower since leaving home...going on 3 days!) He giggled through the whole thing, as Dr. Boris declared, "this one will be breaking hearts soon." We headed back to the hotel and Lil G took a 4-hour nap.
Little did we know it was all a set-up for the hell we were about to enter.
The trip ended worse than it started. Fast-forward to our flight back to the states. Lil G got a little crabby on the way to the airport. It was a long drive, being a Friday, during morning rush hour in Moscow. He whined a bit, but when we got out of the van, he was happy and curious again.
We boarded the plane, thinking that surely he would nap. It was naptime, he had been on-schedule the entire trip so far. There was no reason to think he wouldn't.
You see it coming, doing you? We sure didn't.
The flight was pure, unadulterated HELL. Yes, in ALL CAPITALS. If there was ever a time I wanted to open my brain up and erase a 17-hour block of time, this would win, hands-down.
One hour into the flight, the diarrhea started. In total, we went through 4 diapers and one entire set of clothes on a 10-hour flight. Yeah..."ew" just doesn't really do it justice. And the clothes-splattering blowout occurred right during a "stay in your seat, there is turbulance" announcement. I explained the situation and the flight attendant let me into the bathroom, where we bumped and bounced around, trying to control damage from the diaper explosion and get some new clothes on.
He did NOT end up falling asleep until the final hour of the flight, after basically screaming for the preceding hour. The screaming resulted in a nose-bleed, complete with blowing blood out his nose onto everything, as he tried to catch his breath.
We didn't know what to expect as we carried our screaming, crying child off the plane. Thankfully the other passengers parted the way to let us through.
How did it end? Well, after we went through Passport Control and got our bags, we again had a smiling, happy perfect angel-child.
What did we do? We got our hopes up again for the final 2-hour flight back home. And yes, half-way through the flight the crazy-child, complete with yet another poopy diaper (how much poop can one child produce?!) appeared again.
We are home now and all this is starting to become a distant memory. After documenting this here, I plan on promptly forgetting this 17-hour block of time and replacing it with some of the many giggling, happy-child memories that I now have.
Case Closed.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Quick Status of Russia Trip
We picked up Christopher on Tuesday! He has been such a good traveler. He didn't like the car at first (I suspect because the trunk was open and he might have thought that was where he would be riding), but quickly calmed down and started looking at everything out the window, once we got moving. Of course, he did not sleep the entire 3-hour drive back to our region. On the overnight train back to Moscow, he was so much fun. He started talking (although we couldn't understand him) and pointing to the other trains. We all slept very well on the train. All night long even. Very cool!
He had his physical today. Dr. Boris pronounced him healthy, and said that he would be breaking little girls' hearts very soon. I do believe he is right. In the mother of all coincidences, there was a boy from Christopher's orphanage at the medical center for his physical on the same day! They acted like they recognized each other - wonder if they were pals?
We have our Embassy interview tomorrow and then come back to KC on Friday.
So it's all going well so far. Will post more stories and pics when we get home and settled.
He had his physical today. Dr. Boris pronounced him healthy, and said that he would be breaking little girls' hearts very soon. I do believe he is right. In the mother of all coincidences, there was a boy from Christopher's orphanage at the medical center for his physical on the same day! They acted like they recognized each other - wonder if they were pals?
We have our Embassy interview tomorrow and then come back to KC on Friday.
So it's all going well so far. Will post more stories and pics when we get home and settled.
Monday, July 07, 2008
We are Back!
Well, hopefully you've been following our progress in Russia on Adventure Bound. If not, get over there and read up! I'll wait....
Okay, so we got back into KC last night around 10:30pm. Because of storms in Atlanta, flights were backed up, so the Atlanta passport control, customs, and the terminal in general were packed! We couldn't even find two empty seats in ANY of the gates to sit in - we ended up sitting on the floor by the wall of the main corridor. Which made for great people-watching! Anyway...when we finally got a seat in our gate, we found out our flight was one hour late. I should emphasize ONLY one hour - lots of folks had it worse.
We went and did what good red-blooded Americans do after returning from overseas - we had some hot dogs & fries. Yum.
Our family and our son Alex were waiting for us when we deplaned in KC. Yippee! We came home and went to bed. Alex & I actually fell asleep on the car ride home.
Our internal clocks are still wrong (the clock says 4:00pm, but to us it's 1:00am Moscow time). So I'm going off to nap now. Will post more gory details later!
Okay, so we got back into KC last night around 10:30pm. Because of storms in Atlanta, flights were backed up, so the Atlanta passport control, customs, and the terminal in general were packed! We couldn't even find two empty seats in ANY of the gates to sit in - we ended up sitting on the floor by the wall of the main corridor. Which made for great people-watching! Anyway...when we finally got a seat in our gate, we found out our flight was one hour late. I should emphasize ONLY one hour - lots of folks had it worse.
We went and did what good red-blooded Americans do after returning from overseas - we had some hot dogs & fries. Yum.
Our family and our son Alex were waiting for us when we deplaned in KC. Yippee! We came home and went to bed. Alex & I actually fell asleep on the car ride home.
Our internal clocks are still wrong (the clock says 4:00pm, but to us it's 1:00am Moscow time). So I'm going off to nap now. Will post more gory details later!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Greetings from Russia!
Since Mr. Goofy did such an excellent job of posting already, I'll let him speak for the both of us today.
Check it out here: Adventure Bound
Quick note: Up to this point, I have been feeling a bit nervous about this trip. But I woke up early this morning and had some time to think. I realized that I should be feeling excited and happy. We are bringing our new son home soon, for crying out loud!
Yes, it's intimidating to be in a foreign country, where you need to think before you speak, in order to be understood. But by focusing on the wrong stuff, I was bringing myself down.
Anyway, I needed to kick myself in the pants a bit. I think it worked. More on Friday or Saturday, after court.
Check it out here: Adventure Bound
Quick note: Up to this point, I have been feeling a bit nervous about this trip. But I woke up early this morning and had some time to think. I realized that I should be feeling excited and happy. We are bringing our new son home soon, for crying out loud!
Yes, it's intimidating to be in a foreign country, where you need to think before you speak, in order to be understood. But by focusing on the wrong stuff, I was bringing myself down.
Anyway, I needed to kick myself in the pants a bit. I think it worked. More on Friday or Saturday, after court.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Back in the (Country Formerly Known as) the USSR
We are leaving Monday to begin the process of adopting our new son and bringing him home. The pace will be fast and furious. Once we reach Moscow (Tuesday) we will be poked and prodded by Russian doctors to make sure we are fit to be parents. We have heard that we will be seeing about 10 doctors for about 2 minutes each. Most Russian docs have a speciality, so we will be seeing not only a General Practitioner, but also an Infectionist, a Neurologist, a Pulmonologist, a Narcologist, and (believe it or not) a Dermatologist. Obviously the medical system is very different in Russian than in the US.
If we are pronounced "fit", we will travel overnight by train to our region. There we will have just one visit with our almost-son (a fun 6-hour round trip by car), then it's off to court on July 4th.
Court is what I am most anxious about. I remember court from four years ago, when we adopted Alex. Court is intimidating. Our judge was a large, stern lady, who didn't crack a smile - even when she granted us custody of Alex. She did not speak English - we worked through an interpreter. At one point, there was some discussion about a document that was not filed correctly. Not our fault at all, but we got the impression that the court clerk was getting her ass chewed, in Russian of course. We laughed about it later, but didn't dare even grin at the time.
We are told court in this new region lasts about 3 hours. What will they ask us? Hopefully nothing too hard!
We are bringing along a letter from our pediatrician to ask to get the 10-day waiting period* waived. We did this with Alex and it was waived quickly. But that was a different region and a different time. This region typically does not waive the 10 days. But...what if they do? Then we will be bringing home our son about two weeks earlier than planned. Eeek! We will have to think on our feet if this happens, but it would be a good problem to have.
What we expect is that they will not waive the 10 days, and we will have to head back home after court. Then a week later, we will repeat the 11+ hour journey to go pick up our then-official son.
That trip is cake. No intimidating judges, no poking and prodding, just paperwork and bonding time. We get him a passport (Russian), get him a visa, visit the Embassy to emigrate him, and we are off. Then our main job is keeping him comfortable on all the legs of the journey back: car, train and plane. All of which will be brand new to him and probably overstimulating for someone whose world has been a large room with 15 other kids his age and two female adult caregivers.
Then, when we all get home, the real adventure begins...
* A period of time in which the judgement can be appealed. Sometimes waived if the child has medicial issues that require doctor's care.
If we are pronounced "fit", we will travel overnight by train to our region. There we will have just one visit with our almost-son (a fun 6-hour round trip by car), then it's off to court on July 4th.
Court is what I am most anxious about. I remember court from four years ago, when we adopted Alex. Court is intimidating. Our judge was a large, stern lady, who didn't crack a smile - even when she granted us custody of Alex. She did not speak English - we worked through an interpreter. At one point, there was some discussion about a document that was not filed correctly. Not our fault at all, but we got the impression that the court clerk was getting her ass chewed, in Russian of course. We laughed about it later, but didn't dare even grin at the time.
We are told court in this new region lasts about 3 hours. What will they ask us? Hopefully nothing too hard!
We are bringing along a letter from our pediatrician to ask to get the 10-day waiting period* waived. We did this with Alex and it was waived quickly. But that was a different region and a different time. This region typically does not waive the 10 days. But...what if they do? Then we will be bringing home our son about two weeks earlier than planned. Eeek! We will have to think on our feet if this happens, but it would be a good problem to have.
What we expect is that they will not waive the 10 days, and we will have to head back home after court. Then a week later, we will repeat the 11+ hour journey to go pick up our then-official son.
That trip is cake. No intimidating judges, no poking and prodding, just paperwork and bonding time. We get him a passport (Russian), get him a visa, visit the Embassy to emigrate him, and we are off. Then our main job is keeping him comfortable on all the legs of the journey back: car, train and plane. All of which will be brand new to him and probably overstimulating for someone whose world has been a large room with 15 other kids his age and two female adult caregivers.
Then, when we all get home, the real adventure begins...
* A period of time in which the judgement can be appealed. Sometimes waived if the child has medicial issues that require doctor's care.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Anxiety Update!
Well, about two hours after my last post, I not only got a call from our adoption agency with a court date (July 4th), but I also got a call from Mr. Goofy that he had passed his kidney stone.
So no more wondering about when we are going to travel, and no more worrying about a kidney stone removal procedure and recovery time.
Sometime things work out well, even when you just know they won't.
So no more wondering about when we are going to travel, and no more worrying about a kidney stone removal procedure and recovery time.
Sometime things work out well, even when you just know they won't.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Anxiety can be Fun!
It has now been two months since our first trip to Russia to meet our new son. We still have not gotten a call back with a court date. It should be any day now. Do I feel ready? NO. Am I eager to get this now two-years-and-counting process done? YES. These are weirdly conflicting feelings.
Also, in this time between first trip to Russia and second trip to Russia, Mr. Goofy decided to find a new job. Since starting a new job, then saying, "Seeya, I gotta run off to Russia for about 3 weeks" would be pretty rude, he won't be starting new job until after we are back. But his last day at old job is tomorrow. Think about that. As of this Friday, no member of the Goofy household will be reliably income-producing. Am I scared about this? Actually no. My little stock trading hobby is helping quite nicely along those lines.
And, just in case I was starting to feel comfortable with the chaos mentioned above, Mr. Goofy's kidney has decided to produce another stone. A big one. One that is stubbornly stuck just before falling into his bladder - kinda like a little kid too scared to dive into the pool. If the stone doesn't take the plunge by Friday morning, Mr. Goofy's urologist plans to go in and get it. You really don't want to know how this is done.*
Oh yeah, and I'm working on our 2007 taxes today. We had to get an extension because we busy getting ready for our Russia trip and couldn't get them in on time.
Calgon? Please get me outta here!
*If you really, really do want to know, check this out: http://www.dentonurology.com/urs.html
Also, in this time between first trip to Russia and second trip to Russia, Mr. Goofy decided to find a new job. Since starting a new job, then saying, "Seeya, I gotta run off to Russia for about 3 weeks" would be pretty rude, he won't be starting new job until after we are back. But his last day at old job is tomorrow. Think about that. As of this Friday, no member of the Goofy household will be reliably income-producing. Am I scared about this? Actually no. My little stock trading hobby is helping quite nicely along those lines.
And, just in case I was starting to feel comfortable with the chaos mentioned above, Mr. Goofy's kidney has decided to produce another stone. A big one. One that is stubbornly stuck just before falling into his bladder - kinda like a little kid too scared to dive into the pool. If the stone doesn't take the plunge by Friday morning, Mr. Goofy's urologist plans to go in and get it. You really don't want to know how this is done.*
Oh yeah, and I'm working on our 2007 taxes today. We had to get an extension because we busy getting ready for our Russia trip and couldn't get them in on time.
Calgon? Please get me outta here!
*If you really, really do want to know, check this out: http://www.dentonurology.com/urs.html
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Tuesday Randomness
It's Tuesday and I declare it Random Thought Day. Here's mine:
1. Finally...after four years and about eleven chiropractic interns (seriously), I think something is working! Chiro Intern #10 broke his wrist, so I saw the on-call this Monday. He did something called the Thompson Technique. I heard no pops. It felt pretty lame, really. But then I got up from the table and things felt different. I actually felt out of balance. Probably because I was in balance after being out for so long. Later in the day I was walking Murphy and I realized "my back doesn't hurt AT ALL!" This was huge, as I haven't had a minute of relief for four years. Of course, the pain came back that night, but I can't help but be optimistic.
2. I've never seen the benefit of having a food processor, until tonight. I bought a great one on sale at Target like last month. I've been too intimidated to use it. The whole "gotta read the instruction manual" really irks me. But I used it tonight to make some Spinach Lasagna*. This thing rocks! I actually screamed for joy! Now I can make my own Salsa! And Hummus! And Bean Dip! Look out!!
3. Our neighbors across the street have been taken to court by their next-door neighbors for 'harrassment'. What could they possibly achieve by going to court!?!? It's not like either one of them are going to move. Are they looking for money? A judgement to prove that one of them is "right" and the other "wrong"? I don't understand. Seems like our court system should be used for more important stuff.
4. I am so NOT looking forward to being in Russia for 20+ days. The region we are going to always requires that the adopting family stay for a 10-day 'waiting period' after court, supposedly in case a wayward relative decides to come forward and challenge the adoption. We know for a fact that the child we are adopting has no living relatives. Why are we stuck in Russia so long? If it was just Mr. Goofy and I, it would be great. A mini-adventure. However, leaving Goofy Junior for that long makes my heart hurt. Ouch.
5. Mr. Goofy quit his job today. He was going to wait until Friday, but the events of the day simply required the "Take this Job and Shove it" approach. He has another job waiting for him, but he is going to wait until we are back from Russia to start. So we will be eating Beans & Rice and Rice & Beans for a while. But I can make Bean Dip now! (see Item #2)
6. Just finished "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. Awesome read! I made the mistake of starting her "Twilight" series, so three more books are in my future. I started "Odd Hours" last night, book four of Dean Koontz's "Odd Thomas" series about a guy that sees dead people. Really!
*with spinach from our home garden! Squee!!!
1. Finally...after four years and about eleven chiropractic interns (seriously), I think something is working! Chiro Intern #10 broke his wrist, so I saw the on-call this Monday. He did something called the Thompson Technique. I heard no pops. It felt pretty lame, really. But then I got up from the table and things felt different. I actually felt out of balance. Probably because I was in balance after being out for so long. Later in the day I was walking Murphy and I realized "my back doesn't hurt AT ALL!" This was huge, as I haven't had a minute of relief for four years. Of course, the pain came back that night, but I can't help but be optimistic.
2. I've never seen the benefit of having a food processor, until tonight. I bought a great one on sale at Target like last month. I've been too intimidated to use it. The whole "gotta read the instruction manual" really irks me. But I used it tonight to make some Spinach Lasagna*. This thing rocks! I actually screamed for joy! Now I can make my own Salsa! And Hummus! And Bean Dip! Look out!!
3. Our neighbors across the street have been taken to court by their next-door neighbors for 'harrassment'. What could they possibly achieve by going to court!?!? It's not like either one of them are going to move. Are they looking for money? A judgement to prove that one of them is "right" and the other "wrong"? I don't understand. Seems like our court system should be used for more important stuff.
4. I am so NOT looking forward to being in Russia for 20+ days. The region we are going to always requires that the adopting family stay for a 10-day 'waiting period' after court, supposedly in case a wayward relative decides to come forward and challenge the adoption. We know for a fact that the child we are adopting has no living relatives. Why are we stuck in Russia so long? If it was just Mr. Goofy and I, it would be great. A mini-adventure. However, leaving Goofy Junior for that long makes my heart hurt. Ouch.
5. Mr. Goofy quit his job today. He was going to wait until Friday, but the events of the day simply required the "Take this Job and Shove it" approach. He has another job waiting for him, but he is going to wait until we are back from Russia to start. So we will be eating Beans & Rice and Rice & Beans for a while. But I can make Bean Dip now! (see Item #2)
6. Just finished "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. Awesome read! I made the mistake of starting her "Twilight" series, so three more books are in my future. I started "Odd Hours" last night, book four of Dean Koontz's "Odd Thomas" series about a guy that sees dead people. Really!
*with spinach from our home garden! Squee!!!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thing That Drives Me Crazy #732
Companies that use cute phrases instead of numbers for their phone number in marketing materials:
Like...
1-800-EAT-CAKE
1-866-BUY-GUNK
1-888-HOO-TERS
This strategy used to be helpful. If I forgot my favorite bakery's phone number, I could remember "EAT CAKE", convert the letters to numbers and bingo! I'm ordering my brownies.
However, recently two problems have popped up that put a big wrench in this marketing strategy:
1) multiple toll-free prefixes
2) mobile phones
Item 1) simply confuses the issue. Even if I remember "EAT CAKE", I have to remember whether the prefix is "800" or "866" or "888". Or maybe just try them all. Kinda defeats the purpose of the cute name. And starts the crazy-driving process.
Item 2) has two sub-problems:
a) Why would I need to remember a phone number? If this is indeed my favorite bakery, I'm damn-well going to have the number on speed-dial, or in my Contacts (if I have a cool PDA phone). Who actually memorizes a phone number anymore?
b) All the mobile phones I've owned do not have the corresponding letters on the phone-dialing number keys! Can you tell this is the problem I've had recently? You saw it coming, didn't you? When this happens, I am dead in the water. I cannot dial the number until I look on a land-line phone or surf the Internet for "phone keypad letters" (Thank the gods for Wikipedia, yet again!)
Give me numbers, not cute phrases!
Like...
1-800-EAT-CAKE
1-866-BUY-GUNK
1-888-HOO-TERS
This strategy used to be helpful. If I forgot my favorite bakery's phone number, I could remember "EAT CAKE", convert the letters to numbers and bingo! I'm ordering my brownies.
However, recently two problems have popped up that put a big wrench in this marketing strategy:
1) multiple toll-free prefixes
2) mobile phones
Item 1) simply confuses the issue. Even if I remember "EAT CAKE", I have to remember whether the prefix is "800" or "866" or "888". Or maybe just try them all. Kinda defeats the purpose of the cute name. And starts the crazy-driving process.
Item 2) has two sub-problems:
a) Why would I need to remember a phone number? If this is indeed my favorite bakery, I'm damn-well going to have the number on speed-dial, or in my Contacts (if I have a cool PDA phone). Who actually memorizes a phone number anymore?
b) All the mobile phones I've owned do not have the corresponding letters on the phone-dialing number keys! Can you tell this is the problem I've had recently? You saw it coming, didn't you? When this happens, I am dead in the water. I cannot dial the number until I look on a land-line phone or surf the Internet for "phone keypad letters" (Thank the gods for Wikipedia, yet again!)
Give me numbers, not cute phrases!
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Goofy Vegetable Garden: An Epic Adventure
It started out as a simple plan....teach Goofy Junior how seeds grow into plants.
(Child included for scale only. He looks like he would be helpful, but he just wanted to play with the "cute" grubs. Ew!)
Are we done yet???
"I don't know, but quit pushing me!"
I love power tools!
...and waited....
The mission: Grow some easy vegetables in our backyard.
The victims: Broccoli, Spinach, Bush Beans, Peppers, Carrots
(I found out later that these aren't the usual "beginner" vegetables - oops!)
NOTE: We took a tip from Jerry Baker's "Fast, Easy Vegetable Garden" and soaked our seeds overnight in a mixture of weak tea, liquid dish soap, Listerine (non-mint).
Next, we very carefully planted the seeds into small peat pots. We quickly filled the two 72-pot trays that we had purchased and had to run out and buy two more 72-pot trays.
This should have been my first clue that the project had already gotten out of control. But Goofy Junior was digging it, so we continued...
Already, the squirrels were gathering and chuckling their evil laughs, "Ha-ha! Soon the vegetables will be ours! Bah-ha-ha! I call dibs on the spinach!"
Soon the seeds in the little peat pots were sprouting. The question arose, "Where in the hell are we going to plant these things?!"
So a site was quickly identified:
(Child included for scale only. He looks like he would be helpful, but he just wanted to play with the "cute" grubs. Ew!) NOTE: Man, sod is hard to get up when it's attached to the ground! Much Advil was required for aching back after this stage was complete.
Raised beds were requested by Mr. Goofy. This required a trip to the Big Box Hardware Store for the purchase of large quantities of wood. But wait!!!! Lowe's did not carry the suggested cedar in 2' x 16' planks. Of course not. So we had to buy fir. Fir?!?! BTW, fir must be water-proofed if used outside. Of course.
Raised beds were requested by Mr. Goofy. This required a trip to the Big Box Hardware Store for the purchase of large quantities of wood. But wait!!!! Lowe's did not carry the suggested cedar in 2' x 16' planks. Of course not. So we had to buy fir. Fir?!?! BTW, fir must be water-proofed if used outside. Of course.
Also, because of the length we had to buy, this increased our beds from 5' x 5' to 6' x 6'. ARG! More digging. More Advil.
Then ensued much cutting and staining/waterproofing of the wood....
Are we done yet???
Whee....that smell makes me feel all goofy inside...
...meanwhile, the seeds (now plants!) were waiting patiently indoors:
"Boy, it sure looks nice outside. Why are we still stuck inside this freaking basement?"
"I don't know, but quit pushing me!"
"Step off! You pushed me first!! Have some manners!"
Then I did my best impression of Ty Pennington and constructed the boxes that would be sunk into the ground to surround the raised vegetable beds.
I love power tools!
Four cubic yards of soil/compost mix and a half-bottle of Advil later, we were ready to plant our little darlings....
But hold that spade!!!! We then had 3 days of crazy-freaky storms, with 70 mph winds. I didn't want to plant our precious veggies and have them end up down the block. So we waited....
...and waited....
Finally, we were able to plant our veggies.
Done.
What?!?!? You have to water these things!?!? Groan.
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