The Squirrel Incident

Wednesdays are playgroup day. We leave the house (hopefully) before 10:00, and usually go to a local park with other moms from our church. The kids all run around and play and get all that excess energy out while us moms sit back and wonder where they get all this excess energy and why they don't share it with us. Or, as in my case, we wander around after our other child to prevent her from ingesting tanbark or various types of vermin found wandering on the ground.

Today we were at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto where, along with sand, slides, and fun ground grubbies to eat, there are some pretty pesky squirrels. Not nearly as bad as the squirrels at Cuesta Park, but still pesky none-the-less. It just so happens that one of these squirrels (aka rodents with fluffy tails) got into my diaper bag, got Brandon's PB&J sandwich baggy, and ran off with it, baggy and all. When I saw what was happening I tried to stop the squirrel, but only succeeded in stalling it momentarily. Luckily, the squirrel only got away with half the sandwich.

After a couple of hours of running and jumping, it was time to head off to the Costco around the corner, and then home. Once in the car, Brandon asked for his sandwich, which I gave him. What I really gave him was a quarter of a PB&J, since a "sandwich" for Brandon is only half a sandwich for normal people who eat. Not a lot of food when you think about it. When he asked for the other half, I had to explain about the whole squirrel incident. He listened intently, and seemed okay with the whole thing. He did tell me that it wasn't very nice for the squirrel to take his sandwich, but left it at that.

We got to Costco, did our return, got our 3 items, and paid for them in record time (10 minutes to be exact). I decided to get some lunch at the Costco fast food joint (McKirkland?), and proceeded to get in the small line. That's when it all sank in. All of a sudden. The sandwich....the squirrel...(the fact that it was naptime)....the running away....the nerve of that squirrel and the indignity of it all! Too much to handle...... Brandon just melted down and started sobbing. He was talking to me the whole time, but I couldn't understand a word of it through all the tears. He just sobbed and sobbed. The people in front of us in the line turned around to look at us. The people behind us in line just sort of stared at us while pretending look at the ground. Kids in strollers pointed. Then it got worse... Caitlin felt left out at this point and began a pitiful, tired wail as well. I finally managed to get Brandon to stop sobbing and tell me what was wrong (keep in mind I had absolutely no idea what he was upset about). He took a ragged breath and said "It wasn't very nice of the squirrel to take my sandwich. It wasn't his sandwich, it was my sandwich!!!" Then, through the tears and sobs he exclaimed loudly "I need a big hug!" So there I was, in the food line at Costco, hugging my sensitive little boy, comforting him over his lost sandwich. My poor baby. Life isn't fair. That's a hard lesson to learn when you're only 3! It isn't fair when you're a grown up, either, but we adults try not to lose it when we're out in public. At least not over squirrels.

Has It Come to This?

Does our little girl fear life so much that she must read this book at the tender young age of 1?

Family Portrait

Yesterday Brandon decided that we should go into our bedroom and cuddle under the covers. That way we could be warm while we talked (it is frigid in our room). He also thought we should take pictures. Here is the result.

A Sentence

Today I asked Caitlin to say "hi daddy" to Brian as he was cooking dinner. She waved both her hands and said "hi dada!" It was so cute. She said it again when I asked, but that was it. No more. Oh well. At least we got one sentence out of her. Her first one. She says "dada", "hi", and "mama". She only says "mama" when she wants out of the bath, though. She is daddy's girl alright.

Caitlin's One-Year Stats

We took Caitlin in for her one year appointment today. She's a healthy little girl! She weighed in at 21 pounds, 4 ounces, and is 31 inches long. That puts her in the 97th percentile for height, and the 50th for weight. I thought she was looking long and lean(er). Her head circumference is 18 inches (is that good or bad? I have no idea. I just know that it's hard to get most shirts over her large head!). At the same age Brandon weighed in at 20 pounds, 13 ounces and was 30 and 3/4 inches long. Caitlin's walking and talking and getting into trouble. If it's too quiet I start to worry. The fun thing about her walking is that now Brandon wants to play with her. He's a little rough, but doing better. Caitlin loves being chased. She giggles as she "runs" away from you. Brandon loves to chase her, but needs to learn not to mow her down in the process! It will be more fun to watch them as she gets more stable, but that might take a while.

No other fun news to report. We have all gotten a cold - dad and mom being worse than the kids. No fun. Hopefully we'll all be over our illness soon. I'd like to move on, have energy, and generally feel good. The weather has been great, but we can barely get outside!

Happy First Birthday

Happy First Birthday, Caitlin! I can't believe that you are one. This time last year, I was in the hospital, and you were almost ready to come out and greet the world (and boy was I glad!). And here you are, one year old. You walk, and sort of talk. Your first word was "hi", and we love how you say it when you enter a room, and you wave at us.


Just think of all the things you've learned in the last year.... how to eat, how to
drink, how to crawl, how to walk, how to grab things away from your brother, how to demolish a train table in 27 seconds flat.... the list goes on. I've learned a lot of things, too. Mostly, I've learned about speed....speed cleaning, speed showering, speed dressing, speedy food for you (since patience is one of the lovely virtues you have not learned!), and speeding after you as you quickly moved from room to room in our house!


You have been active since day one, and kept us on our toes with your rolling over at 3 1/2 months, crawling at 6 1/2 months, and trying desperately to walk since you were 9 months old. You finally succeeded right after you were 11 months! There have been some bumps and bruises along the way, along with a trip to urgent care to bandage up the nasty cut on your head. You've explored every possible nook and cranny in our house, and pulled open every drawer. At least all those house I spend babyproofing our house paid off. I've never had to secure so many things to the wall. Safety and earthquake inspectors would be proud!

And now you are one. My little baby girl. You're a toddler now, I suppose, with that little Frankenstein walk! The last year was a blur, and I don't expect it to get any slower as you and your brother continue to grow. And so we go.... sometimes the days crawl, but the months and years go by at lightning speed. Soon you'll be two, three, riding a bike, dating, moving out to go to college.... so slowly, and yet so fast at the same time. It's all worth it. I'm so excited to see who you'll become in the next few years. Let's just take it one year at a time, shall we? I'm glad that God chose me to be your mother, and I'm proud to be able to stay home and take care of you. It's been fun. I still *love* naptime (on many different levels), but I look forward to more years of fun!

11 1/2 Months

Brandon after a bath
11 months and 19 days


Caitlin in her own ducky towel
11 months and 14 days



I didn't do ducky towel pictures on purpose. Honestly! I took the picture of Caitlin because it was the first time she hadn't crawled out of her towel immediately after I put her in!

We Are Back

After a week of illness, crying (mine and theirs), and lots and lots of laundry, we are back in full swing as a family. Caitlin was very sick last week. She wouldn't eat, drank very little (about 5 ounces per day), and cried pretty much all the time. She was so weak that she couldn't really walk more than a step or two, and seemed to throw up on a schedule. I wasn't a really happy woman. Brandon had it for a day, but got over it quickly. It wouldn't have been so bad if Brian was home, but he was gone for 5 days at CES in Las Vegas. Lucky him. We were all very glad to see him when he got home!

I hope all is well with the world. We are weathering the California cold snap. It's fine during the day, but the evenings are cold. No fun when your kids want to be outside. I'm still looking for toddler mittens. I hope all the colds and flu are done for a few weeks. Everything in my house is clean, and I really really really don't want to do any more laundry!

Is it Wrong?

Is it wrong that I stacked the cards for Candyland so that Brandon won tonight's game? I won the first game that we played today, just by following the cards I got. Brandon looked at the board, twisted his mouth, and exclaimed "oh, man" when he realized I'd won. It was hard not to laugh! I promised him another game, since we heard Caitlin waking from her nap. After she went to bed tonight we got out the board. Every time he looked away, I flipped the cards to make sure they were in his favor. Although I got really close, Brandon still won. The delight showed on his face. I won't be stacking the cards when he's 15, but I might continue for a couple more games in the near future.....

Kids and Tattoos

Being home alone with two sick kids has left me with precious little time to blog. Here is a photo of Brandon and his new tats.

I hope to write more after I am done being the laundry queen, official wiper, and large beanbag-type chair that the kids, especially Caitlin, think I am. I am also hoping to leave the house soon. It's been 2 going on 3 days.

Here is a photo of Caitlin napping. Notice she's on the floor near her crib instead of actually being in her crib. Why, you ask? I was told that I needed 2 sets of bedding for each kid - one for the wash and one to have on the bed. I have more than that for Caitlin. They were all in the wash, along with all her clothes and all my clothes. On top of it all, I'd taken the mattess out to get the sheets and pad off, and it didn't make it back in the crib before Caitlin fell asleep in my arms. It's been a fun filled last couple of days.

Headlines I have seen today

These worry me....

Last Croc Hunter show won't have death
Was this even a consideration? It was sad enough that Steve Irwin died. Let's not show it to the world. Let's just remember him for who he was and the animals he loved.

"Adults in Households with Kids Eat More Fat"
I spend all my time at home... near the fridge... and I'm hungry....sometime bored....I'm near the pantry....I can't leave the house because someone needs to nap... and I'm near the fridge... and I can't leave...

Another Hogzilla Caught Near Atlanta
Another one? Excuse me? There was one before this one?

Caitlin is Officially Walking

11 and a half months. She's been trying for the last 2 months, so you can see the joy and exuberance in her face as she toddles down the hall. Our house is long and narrow, so walking down the hall and into the master bedroom is quite a long way! She is so excited! She makes happy noises at each step. She hasn't quite mastered graceful walking. Her walk is best described as Frankenstein-ish, and drunk at that! We have noticed her amazing ability to lift herself off the floor to walking from a sitting position with no problems! She doesn't even use her hands half the time. I haven't seen any little ones do this before. Even Brandon, who was good at walking right from the first step (at 12 months) had to crawl back to a table or chair to get back up again for the first couple of weeks.

We're very excited about her walking. Even Brandon is excited. We hope that she'll stop eating everything on the ground now that she's not so close to it on a regular basis. It will be nice when she's more stable, but it won't be nearly as funny!

Laundry Help

Brandon, as you know, is a little laundry fairy. He helps me put the soap and clothes in the washer, and then peers into the machine while it agitates. Sometimes his friends help. Caitlin has decided that she, too, must help with the laundry. Now if I can only get Brian to think this is a fun game.....