I get so tired of searching for matching socks.
“My socks DO match. They’re the same thickness.” —Steven Wright
Year: 2010
Things I Love About this Morning
• hot coffee in my peace mug
• hands that smell like oranges
• freshly washed babies smothered in thick lotion
• a daughter with out-of-control morning hair wearing pink and chocolate brown polka dot leggings, a poofy pink skirt and a soft, cream-colored onesie
• a chilly, wet November day (and some much-needed rain)
• forgoing our usual Today Show and Sesame Street for some Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart and Boccherini on the radio
• a backyard blanketed in bright green-yellow leaves, too wet (and beautiful, at the moment) to rake
• the not-caring attitude I have regarding my day-old, mascara-smudged eyes thanks to no doctor’s appointments (or any appointments) scheduled for today (the first time this week!)
• ignoring the small mountains of laundry about the house for some puzzle-playing, stick-hitting, “run-and-get-me-Mom” mother-daughter time
“I used to love night best but the older I get the more treasures and hope and joy I find in mornings.” —Terri Guillemets
Weight Update
At four months, James weighed 10 pounds, 10 ounces, and Owen weighed 12 pounds, 12 ounces.
The boys had several doctor’s appointments this week. Monday, James weighed 12 pounds, 12 ounces, and today Owen weighed 14 pounds, 14 ounces. I think that’s so funny. And a far cry from 2 pounds, 13 ounces, and 4 pounds 15 ounces. (They’ll be six months old Friday.)
“I recently had my annual physical examination, which I get once every seven years, and when the nurse weighed me, I was shocked to discover how much stronger the Earth’s gravitational pull has become since 1990.” —Dave Barry
Best Triple Stroller
I first learned about Valco strollers from my friend Peggy, also a mom to a toddler and newborn twins. I ran into her (and her fabulous stroller) at Cincinnati Children’s Museum. She found hers on eBay—in Florida. Friends, while vacationing in Florida, picked it up and drove it back to Fort Thomas for her. I found mine on Craigslist—in Baltimore. My mother-in-law graciously drove a good hour to pick it up for me, strapped it on top of her car and then drove it home. Several weeks later my in-laws drove it to Fort Thomas for me.
It’s not that Valco strollers are impossible to find. You can buy them new. But they’re expensive. Really, really expensive. Like, my-dad’s-pretty-sure-my-sister’s-first-car-cost-less-than-that expensive. But if you’re lucky—and determined enough—to find one used, they’re so very much worth it. But I say lucky, and determined, because they’re difficult to find. And you have to be quick. And willing to ask family and friends who live outside of Cincinnati (I never see them listed for sale, used, in Cincinnati) to go to some stranger’s house, and buy and transport it for you (and even folded, it’s big). And you have to negotiate accessories—or be willing to shell out a pretty penny for them (for example, the toddler seat alone runs $100 new). And finally, you have to be willing to answer strangers’ questions about your stroller when pushing it in public, because everyone asks questions about it—this can be difficult for someone who mostly just smiles at strangers. But it’s all so very much worth it.
A regular triple stroller (three seats front-to-back or three seats side-to-side) is simply too big for me. And a double stroller is problematic when Sophie decides she no longer wants to walk or she no longer wants to hold my hand or I’m in a crowded, high-traffic place. But this ingenious thing has what they call a toddler seat—I put the boys in the side-by-side double stroller (which easily fits through doors) and Sophie sits on top of them, in what we jokingly call her throne—the toddler seat. She loves it. The boys are comfortable thanks to the newborn headrests and padded straps. It steers like a dream.
Before kids I probably would have silently made fun of women who got so worked up about strollers. Before kids I probably would have thought $50 a reasonable amount of money to spend on something I’ll only use a few years, once or twice a day (if that). Before kids I probably wouldn’t have finished reading this post. But now that I have kids, an easy way to get out of the house, go places, explore and see becomes so necessary—not only for me, but also, I believe, my children. And while that may sound overly dramatic, it truly is difficult to go somewhere alone, with a toddler who needs hand-holding and two babies who can’t yet walk, without a contraption of some sort. My car requires car seats. I can’t bike with all of them. I can’t hold all of them. I can’t wear all of them. But with this, I can push all of them. And thus, I feel free.
“I have always had strong maternal instincts. Even when I was still a child I cut out pictures of prams from newspapers and imagined the feeling of pushing my own pram through fresh winter snow and seeing the wheels’ tracks behind me in the snow.” —Agnetha Faltskog
Halloween
While Grandma was still in town we did our annual trip to Neltner’s Farm & Greenhouses for pumpkins. My parents came, too. Turns out juggling a toddler and two newborns, even with three grandparents along for help, is difficult—hence the lack of photos.
We took two little pirates and a dragon to the Fort Thomas Jack-o-Lantern Walk, one of my favorite Fort Thomas activities. The wind was bitingly cold, though, so we had to keep the boys in their car seats. As such, the stroller in which their car seats fit wasn’t appropriate for the wooded path in which all the jack-o-lanterns were situated and lit. So I took Sophie through while Andy met us near the end. We also skipped the Polaroid picture this year—maybe next year (if they still have film left!).
Friday night Sophie helped Andy carve a Dora pumpkin (she also ate several Halloween-sized Kit Kats). I held the boys. They watched. We bought three pumpkins at the pumpkin farm, and had all the intention in the world of carving all three, but one thing I’ve learned about having a toddler and newborn twins is this: nothing works out as planned. If I remember it was closing in on 11pm when we finished the Dora pumpkin. Sophie was in bed but the boys were still up and the thought of carving two more pumpkins that evening exhausted me. I suppose it was silly to experience guilt over this, but I did.
Saturday my parents came over with treats (no tricks!) for the kids. My mom made adorable candy corn bags. The boys each got a toy and Sophie got crayons and glitter stickers for her craft projects.
I had to wake up Sophie from a nap to make the city’s early trick-or-treat time this year (4pm to 6pm). She’s not the most agreeable person when woken up from a nap, and early on, she wouldn’t agree to wear her dragon hat. So Andy wore it.
We buckled our little pirates into our new stroller, …
took a family picture, …
Andy carried Sophie and …
off we went.
My parents graciously stayed behind to pass out candy for us—this way we both were able to take Sophie trick-or-treating. (And about the empty pots … they were filled with beautiful mums at one time, but I never watered them. I don’t know why I thought I’d have time to water porch plants this season.)
Check out those wings!
After going to several houses around our new house, we walked up to Grant street to trick-or-treat at our old neighbors’ houses and visit the Beets. Along the way, I made a deal with Sophie. She could have one piece of her Halloween candy if she wore her dragon hat. She thought about this for a good minute. And then said, “deal.” We shook on it (we shake on “deals” all the time now—it’s helped me deal with her two-ness quite well). Here Zoey, an adorable peacock, is trying to figure out what, exactly, Sophie is wearing.
Check out Marty’s amazing Lego Man costume. He made it (and one for Angel, too).
family picture
“Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite,
All are on their rounds tonight;
In the wan moon’s silver ray,
Thrives their helter-skelter play.” —Joel Benton
On Teaching Art
Sophie …
teaching James how to draw.
“In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for 20 years.” —Jacques Barzun
Surprising Katy
A couple weekends ago, thanks to the help of Jill, Marty and, especially, Andy, I did something I’ve always wanted to do—I left Fort Thomas at 7am (by myself) and drove to Winston-Salem, NC, to surprise my sister with a weekend visit.
It was so strange, to stop for breaks and simply walk out of the car, without negotiating, unbuckling, unstrapping, pulling out, carrying, adjusting, talking to, singing to, running after, laughing with anyone. I missed it. And enjoyed it.
When I got to Katy’s school, she was working at her desk, waiting for her husband, Tom, to finish up football practice (he’s the junior high coach). I stood at the door to her classroom for a minute or two, just watching. I had never seen it before. Never seen her in that environment. I was a bossy kid. When we played school as children, I was always the teacher. She was always the student. (Now I couldn’t imagine teaching 30+ kids.)
Finally, I yelled, Surprise! She cried. I cried. As should happen in the best surprises.
Here’s her classroom.
The next day, after a glorious eight hours of sleep, I helped Katy and Tom register at Babies R Us. Then we met Katy’s very good friend Kim, her husband Don and their adorable son Max, at the Lexington Barbecue Festival.
Katy, Tom, and Brees (Baby Rees to be!)
The next day we met their good friend Steve for lunch at Mellow Mushroom in the American Tobacco Historic District.
Then we visited my good friends Matt and Christi, and finally got to meet their new son, the adorable Quinn.
It was such a fun visit. And went by so fast. I miss her so, so much. Especially on weekends—specifically Sunday afternoons. I just feel like that is when we’d spend time with each other, shopping, watching a movie, getting ice cream. But for three short days I got that, complete with staying up way past our bedtimes, in pjs, on the living room couch, slap-happy from laughing so much.
“You keep your past by having sisters. As you get older, they’re the only ones who don’t get bored if you talk about your memories.” —Deborah Moggach
Grandma and Grandpa Visit
Andy’s parents recently spent a week with us. Grandma spent much of her time in situations like this—entertaining all of her grandchildren (and granddog). They brought us our fantastic new/used stroller (more on that later), helped watch all three kids so I could surprise my sister with a visit (more on that later) and painted Sophie’s room (pictures to come!).
Grandma helped with a trip to Toddler Time at the local library, cooked, and helped feed and diaper babies. Grandpa spent hours on Sophie’s room, patching the walls, painting the bead board white, the walls a soft pink and oh-so-pretty pink and green stripes on the wall behind Sophie’s bed.
Often, when Sophie hears or sees a plane, she asks if it’s Grandma or Grandpa, coming to visit again. We’re thankful she gets to see them so often.
“Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.” —Alex Haley
Sophie & Sam
Sophie recently learned that she and her friend, Sam, are going to have something special in common—Sam will soon share his house with twin brothers, just like Sophie! So he came over to get the real story of what it’s like to be an older sibling to TWO babies … and to play puzzles.
“It is not economical to go to bed early to save the candles if the result is twins.” —Chinese Proverb
My Body is No Longer My Own
hair: afternoon plaything for Sophie
hand: bottle holder for Owen
chest: soft bed for James
“We know that birth takes a woman from one place in her life to another. The birth of a child certainly does change her viewpoint of herself and I believe her viewpoint of the world.” —Sameerah Shareef