Plaza Sesamo

Today there were enough sickies at my house that we all stayed home from church. I turned on PBS for Audrey because I realized a few months ago that, while PBS Kids shows are not aired on Saturdays, they do air on Sunday mornings, and usually shows that aren't on during the week. (I'm pretty bummed about this, in a way, because this essentially means we miss some of our favorites, like Sagwa, which isn't on during the week in our area).

This morning I made another discovery: Plaza Sesamo, the Spanish-language version of Sesame Street, airs here Sunday mornings! You might ask, "Um, I thought your family's second language was Chinese? Why the excitement?" Actually, I would love for Audrey and Aislinn to be exposed to as much Spanish as possible. Worldwide, as far as international business is concerned, they will have an advantage because Chinese is projected to be the language to know. But for life here in the U.S., Spanish is increasingly important to know, for all purposes. Just the other night we were in a McDonald's and saw a Hispanic family. They had a sleeping baby, and I just wanted to connect. I worked up my courage and my extremely limited Spanish left over from high school, and asked, "Cuantos anos?" The young woman smiled, and asked, somewhat puzzled, "El bebe?" "Si." She thought for a moment, and answered in halting English,"Nine months." MONTHS! Duh. I laughed and corrected myself, "Cuantos MESES, si?" We all laughed, but I was struck with how limited I am in connecting with an increasingly large part of even the local population here in Indiana. I am a relational person, even though I am an introvert, and I like connecting with people around me. My China experience has also drawn me to international-type folks, but I can only learn from those who also speak English.

I can't learn every language, but Spanish is one language (my kids and) I should reasonably be able to understand and speak, ideally at least as much as my still somewhat limited Chinese. My Chinese is still far better than my Spanish, and I don't even live there anymore.

I've got to figure out a way to watch this program more frequently. Our VCR, since the loss of its remote, is no longer programmmable. We don't have Tivo. But maybe I can lobby for it... :)

Sick kid, redux

Aislinn is well. She' s still quite snotty, and I have to suction her nose out before I nurse her so she won't gag and puke, but for all intents and purposes, she's well.

Audrey, on the other hand, was running a 101.9 degree fever when she came home from kindergarten today. Here we go again. At least Audrey tends to be an easier patient. Ironic, since she's generally my more high-need kid, but I guess it all balances out this way! She will probably lay on the sofa, watching TV and napping. I only let her watch unlimited TV when she's sick; it's the best way to keep her still, and she does tend to fall asleep watching anyway. We're supposed to have family photos done tomorrow, though, outside no less, so those will probably have to be rescheduled.

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Going through yesterday's mail (this morning), I noticed a catalog for American Girl Bitty Babies. I am ambivalent about the whole American Girls phenomenon. The stories are a great tool for getting girls interested in history (one of my loves), but the doll craze seems a little over the top. I can see why girls like them, though. The Bitty Babies are a perfect example: you can personalize the doll to your race (see above link). You can buy all kinds of cool accessories for your baby. And you can not only dress your baby in clothes that are as cute and trendy (and expensive) as anything you might dress your child in, you can actually buy matching outfits for your daughter herself. And just in case you chose not to click on the above links to see for yourself:



I am tossing the catalog. I know temptation when I see it (not just for Audrey...but also for me!)

Accomplished

Today I:

• Took a shower
• Washed my hair
• Flossed my teeth!
• Folded laundry (never mind that it's all still sitting on the sofa)
• Got Aislinn to eat breakfast AND lunch
• Watched Ellen

Last night, we slept. Not without a little waking, but I think I did get the four hours I was hoping for. No puking, no middle-of-the-night shower saunas. And this morning, no fever. She's still a little cranky at times, but cut her some slack: she's still wheezing, sneezing, and coughing. But life is starting to resemble normal again.

Still healthy

More fever, more vomiting up phlegm, some Dimetapp and some long naps later (hers, not mine), we got through today. Thankfully Leo was home most of the day, and got Audrey to go to work with him in the afternoon by bribing her with McDonald's for lunch. I barely put Aislinn down at all today. Last night I slept largely sitting up while she slept on my chest. Right now she's in her crib, though that's admittedly right next to our bed, for the first time in several nights. I'll be happy just to get four straight hours tonight, with no puking and no more middle-of-the-night trips to the shower. Had pizza for dinner, which was probably my most well-rounded meal in several days (at least vegetables were involved).

Despite being sleepy and lethargic all day, due to continued fever-fighting and Dimetapp, she was alert and playing this evening until bedtime. Bedtime was an hour later than usual; vacation had already thrown her schedule off, and being sick has screwed it up entirely. But I have hope that tomorrow she will be on the upswing.

It's been an exhausting five days, but at least I'm still healthy!

I squeezed in a two-hour Borders break

After dinner, I made a Walmart run. Running low on Infant Motrin drops. And our doc recommended about a 1/4 teaspoon of Dimetapp. I ran back home, dripped the Dimetapp in her mouth, and prayed it would not only relieve her drippy sinuses but also let her sleep. DEAR GOD, LET HER SLEEP. Then Leo released me to race up to Borders where I consumed a large chai along with a praline pumpkin cheesecake, and started reading Nickel and Dimed. On my way back home I stopped in the drugstore to pick up some Airborne, recognizing that I have not been able to take care of myself as well as I should the past couple of days, and am at risk of catching this bug myself (Lunch for me today was a peanut butter sandwich and water; not my usual fare. I haven't had enough water. And just when did I shower last?).

Walking in the door, I took up the battle again. The Dimetapp had only helped her sleep briefly, and she was sitting up with Leo, fussing and crying in her poor scratchy voice. I took her straight to bed and nursed her for a good half hour. Could not get away. As soon as she would fall asleep, she would cough -- just a little cough -- but enough to wake her up and remind her that her throat was already raw. And we'd start all over again. I finally got Leo in with me again (he'd fallen asleep in the living room), and he has her for now, while I finish my Airborne beverage and a glass of water.

If I get sick, especially before she gets well, it will not be a good thing. I get this type of respiratory bug EVERY year, and I'm just about due for it. I'm almost panicking, thinking of how busy Leo is (and he just got home from a four-day vacation, still catching up from that), and how the heck am I going to take care of a sick baby (let alone a hyper five-year-old) if I am sick???

Sick kid

Last night I thought Aislinn would NEVER get to sleep. She wanted to be held, or more specifically, she wanted her head propped up on my arm. Her sinuses are draining, and her poor little voice is all scratchy and gravelly when she cries. Leo finally was the one to get her to sleep, but around 2:30 she started coughing and choking and then threw up. Even though I'd put a towel down on the bed for exactly this scenario, she managed to get it only on her pajamas and the comforter. Oh well...we stripped her yucky jammies off of her and took her to the bathroom to run a hot shower to help her breathe a little better. Pulled the comforter off the guest room bed. Took her temperature. Gave her more Motrin. Changed her diaper. Put her back to sleep.

Today Leo took Audrey to school for the third time in a row (he also took her the last time last week). I am pooped. Took Aislinn in to the doctor this morning and am armed with a prescription for an antibiotic in case the last lab results in Maryland come back with anything positive, or if treating her fever does not seem to help her feel better. She's now napping on the living room floor and Audrey is playing quietly in her room. I managed to throw a load of laundry in the washer this morning, but the yucky comforter is still moldering on the bedroom floor.

I probably will not get my night off this week. The best I can hope for is a solo trip to Walmart tonight.

Diary of a vacation: the end

I was going to go into the last day and a half in more detail, but I just don't have the energy for it. When I got to the part where Aislinn spiked a 104 degree fever (axillary, which means technically it was probably 105) and we had to take her to the emergency room at 3 a.m., and that today, two days later and at home, she's still sickish, you would have understood.

Let me just hit highlights:

National Museum of American History. Always MY favorite. Audrey loved seeing Kermit the Frog and especially Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.




I liked pretending to be FDR and reading a portion of his inaugural speech behind the presidential podium.



The carousel on the Mall: Audrey and I were first in line for our ride, so I made sure Audrey got the coveted lone dragon. It's appropriate: she's half Chinese and born in the year of the dragon, and it's a very Asian-looking dragon.



We also hit the National Air and Space Museum. We got a few pictures there, but I'm running out of time to post them right now. Audrey touched the moon rock. I went shopping in the museum store. Yadda yadda yadda...I didn't really like this one so much. I'm a bit spoiled having the best children's museum in the country right here in Indianapolis, so any other museum that tries to cater to kids automatically gets judged by its standards. I know Air and Space is supposed to be a hit with kids. Audrey did say she enjoyed it, but I didn't see that she really understood the "hands-on" things she was doing (or maybe it was just that I didn't understand them? Maybe it's just that I'm not a science person? Maybe...). Anyway, we finished that day with a seedy restaurant in Chinatown, very authentic and yummy. I'd tell you where to find it, but it's quite literally a hole in the wall, and did not seem to have an actual name.

And that night Aislinn got sick, and we flew home the next day.

Yesterday Aislinn seemed better, and she was fever-free last night, but this morning she was puny again. Attached to my breast ALL FREAKING MORNING. I'm not exaggerating. She's a little more chipper at the moment, but starting to get fussy. It's nap time. So off we go.

Diary of a vacation: Part II

Thursday morning: Showering, dressing, and breakfasting complete, we pack a diaper bag with necessities for the day. Our friend drops us off at the Medical Center Metro station, as it is near where she works. The commute puts us in rush hour traffic, and she promises the next morning to take us to a station nearer her house.

We figure out the Metro with little difficulty, and even transfer trains without problem. We emerge on the Mall to a gorgeous sunny day, and walk the few blocks down to the Washington Monument, where we barely manage to snag the last remaining tickets to go up in the monument. The tickets are for 12:30; it's now just past 11:00. We grab an early lunch of sandwiches at a nearby snack stand, then walk to the World War II Memorial just past the Washington Monument at the near end of the Reflecting Pool. I've been to D.C. twice before, but this monument is new, my only truly new experience on this trip. The north side is a memorial to the European front, the south side to the Asian front. Each state and U.S. territory is represented with a pillar, and there are tributes to each of the armed services and even to the women, not just in the military but those who remained on the home front. Go, Rosie the Riveter!








Thursday afternoon:
After spending some time here, we make our way back over to the Washington Monument. Audrey is already starting to lag, even after our rest here.. It's my first clue that all the sights I managed to see in one day with my friends while visiting as a college student will not happen on this trip. We wait in line at the base of the monument, and two things remind me that I am in post 9/11 America. The line to wait for our turn is not spiraled near the base, as it was in my college years, but is pushed out to benches at the edge of the concrete surrounding the obelisk. And our stroller cannot be left near the entrance, but must be parked near the bench we were sitting on. It might have a bomb on it, you know.

The trip to the top is very fast. This is only my second trip to the top of the monument, and the first was at night, so today I get to see the view of D.C. in daylight. I can't see the Eternal Flame at JFK's grave over in Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac, the way I did at night, but I can make out the Pentagon. Cool. I also learn something I did not on my earlier visit: the monument is free-standing, not held together with mortar, but by the interlocking nature of the blocks and it's own weight. I get two stories as to why the stairs are now closed, except to park-ranger tours: first, there were too many heart attacks (maybe), second, there was too much graffiti and damage being done (more likely).

We take the elevator back down and find the stroller (still there, thankfully). We begin walking down the length of the Reflecting Pool towards the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. Audrey's will to walk is really wavering now, and she begs to be carried. Leo carries her on his shoulders for a while, then tells her she can run ahead to the next park bench and wait for us. This gets her about a 30-second rest. Then she runs ahead to the next park bench and waits again. This seems to make her forget her weariness, and she enjoys this "game" all the way down to the Vietnam Memorial. We walk through it more quickly than I would like, and then go on to the base of the Lincoln Memorial. We stop for a quick snack, goldfish crackers for Audrey and nursies for Aislinn. I decide I'll wait at the bottom while Leo walks up the steps to the statue of Lincoln. Audrey surprisingly decides to go with him. While they are gone, I look at my D.C. for Dummies guidebook and decide where we'll have "lunner" (our meal between lunch and dinner).

The plan, when they return, is to hop on the TourMobile, the bus that you can hop on and off of as you wish all day for one price, take it around the entire loop up and down the Mall, and hope Audrey falls asleep for however brief a nap. We wait for nearly a half hour for the bus to show and see only other buses. We almost decide to take a different one, and then decide to take a taxi to our restaurant instead. As we hop in a cab, we see the TourMobile pull up. Too bad. We're getting hungry anyway, after our early lunch.

I've decided on Nooshi (also called Oodles Noodles). It's the first part of a wonderful prescription for a not-quite-satisfactory day so far. We order half a Peking roast duck, chicken curry, crab-filled wonton soup, and from the sushi menu, a spicy tuna roll. Delish. Aislinn eats some Cheerios and a jar of baby food, and we're all full and satisfied. We decide to walk to the nearest Metro station, do a little window shopping, and make our way back to our friend's house. The second part of the prescription for the day happens when I spot a Borders. YESSSSS! Leo agrees. It first looks smaller than the Borders I'm used to seeing, then I realize: there are TWO LEVELS. TWO! I park the family down in the children's section, then head up to the cafe. I snag a beaded bookmark that I intend to study for some ideas, then get a chai for myself and a hot chocolate for Audrey. Leo's stomach is bothering him, so he does not want anything. I carry the drinks back downstairs, and we spend well over a pleasant hour relaxing and reading to Audrey. If I'd been alone, I would have loved exploring the two levels, but no matter. My day, if not my entire trip, is complete :) We head for the Metro and make our way home for the evening.

Diary of a Vacation: Part I

Wednesday morning: We pick Audrey up from kindergarten, finish packing, run a quick errand to Walmart, and then take off for Indianapolis International Airport. Leo drops off Aislinn and me at the U.S. Airways entrance and takes Audrey with him to park the van. I wait, Aislinn in her stroller, for him to return so we can check in together. Twenty minutes later, they return, having just missed the first shuttle back to the terminal. We check in, check the bags and the carseat, and proceed to our gate.

We have not had lunch and do not expect to be served anything more than pretzels on our two brief hour-long flights, so I order some food at the only available take-out place, a Dick Clark’s Bandstand. The total for two barbecue chicken sandwiches and a chicken quesadilla with fries: $27.00. And they actually forgot to charge me for drinks (actually forgot to include them in the order, and gave them to me free in apology). By the time I get over to our gate with the food, it’s almost time to board so we take the food with us on the plane. I finally finish mine, handing Aislinn to Leo, 15 minutes before we land.

Wednesday afternoon: We change planes in Charlotte. Our flight, originally scheduled to depart at 3:30, is delayed because of repairs. We end up getting switched to a different plane a couple of gates away and leave nearly an hour late. We worry because our friend who is picking us up at the airport cannot pick up her son from daycare until she drops us off at her house because there is not enough room in her car. She will end up picking him up after 7:00 D.C. time.

(I said before that I enjoy flying, and I really do. But I realized on this trip that I enjoy flying ALONE, free to actually ENJOY the flight, the airport, and all the excitement. Husbands who take 20 minutes to park a car, late shuttle notwithstanding [I suspect there was more to it than that], wiggly five-year-olds who are bored with waiting and anxious to actually get on the plane and be in the air, and cranky teething infants detract from the experience a bit. It wasn't THAT bad. But I look forward to being able to take solo trips someday.)

Wednesday evening: When our friend finally picks us up, I squeeze between two carseats in the back for the drive to a D.C. suburb. Our friend drops us off and leaves briefly to pick up her son, only the next subdivision over, and returns to cook us dinner. Homecooked Chinese food...ahhh...the best part of my day. We unpack a bit, put the kids to bed, and put ourselves to bed for the night.

Fall break

Today I attended my very first parent-teacher conference. It was as much fun as I guessed it would be (which was LOTS, because who doesn't like to hear their kid's teacher say nice things about her?). I got to see Audrey's first ever report card, and it was brilliant. There are two different grading scales (one for home/practical skills, and one for academic skills), and she did not receive any grade below the second highest in either section: Excellents and Satisfactories, and 3s and 4s. It was SO GRATIFYING, realizing that, although she is the youngest in her class, we did make the right decision to start her a little early.

With the first conference down, Fall Break officially starts tomorrow after a half-day (or a quarter-day, if you're a kindergartner). Audrey has a four-day weekend, so we are taking a short vacatin to Washington, D.C. I've been there twice, but Leo never has, and I think it will be fun for Audrey too. Aislinn will hang out in her stroller, so we're all good. We both have friends out there, and we're staying with one set of them, so considering that much of D.C. is FREE, it seemed to make sense to use the money we're saving to fly, since we only have a few days. I love flying. Love, love, love, love LOVE IT. So I'm excited. We're picking Audrey up from school and heading straight out.

I did it

I filled out an online application to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis. Leo and I were having a "discussion" today (OK, an argument) about how much time he gets to spend on his passions, and how little I do, so he told me to go ahead and do Habitat. I'm not sure if he really thought I would...but I did. I figure he can carve out a three hours a week to allow me to drive up there, do some work, and drive back.

Now I'm just waiting to hear back from them.

Dooce's best line EVER

"And she will break my heart and I will stumble into her sixth grade science class wearing rollers in my hair and leopard-print furry slippers on my feet and beg her to love me in front of all her peers."

Underground church in my house

The skinny blond kid ran down my alley, past my deck. I was watching for him. He saw me step outside, and asked me a question. I responded, and he darted into my house...safe from the secret police.

OK, it didn't EXACTLY happen that way. The question he asked me was, "Are you with the thing my church youth group is doing?" I retorted back, "That's not the password!" To which he quickly responded, "Are-you-with-the-YMCA?"

"Yes, I am. Are you?"

"ORANGE!!!" he shouted, "ORANGE!"

"Come on in, and have a brownie."

A couple of weeks ago my friend Angel called and said the church youth group she and her husband helped with was having an activity they call Underground Church. Basically, kids are divided into groups, find people who give them maps and instructions, and then go out into different neighborhoods. Certain houses are safe houses, and their job is to get to a safe house without getting caught by the "secret police", teams of people armed with Super Soakers. Anyone the secret police manage to get wet gets taken to "jail". Anyone who makes it to the safe house would give a password, and if admitted to the house, could call the leaders to come pick them up. The point of the activity, in addition to having fun, is to raise awareness of persecuted Christians around the world. Angel asked if we would be willing to be a safe house. It sounded like a blast, so I said "Sure!"

Earlier today she dropped off a sheet of paper with instructions for safe houses:

"The Game begins at 4:30 and will run until approximately 6:30. They will come to the door and say, "Do you belong to the YMCA?" You will say, "Yes, I do. Do you?", then ask them for their color. If it matches your designated color group, let them in. They will stay until someone arrives to pick them up. Have them contact Tim or Angel when they have arrived. Two groups will be coming to your house: Brown and Orange."

Cell phone numbers for both Tim and Angel, as well as their walkie-talkie channel, were listed.

I baked brownies and watched for kids starting around 4:30. Around 5:00, while I was watching an ER rerun, I vaguely heard the next-door neighbor talking to someone. "741 is down that way," I heard him say. WAIT...that's our house number! And he was not sending them our way...what is up with that? Then I realized...on our block, the house numbers are a bit out of order. Our number is indeed 741, but the houses on either side of us are 500s. Apparently years and years ago, when people moved down the street, they took their house numbers with them. Anyway, that makes our house a little harder for people to find, including people on the run from the secret police. Oh well, I thought...that's just part of the fun! About a half hour later, the blond kid ran past, and the above exchange took place. He was ecstatic...he was pretty sure he was the only one from his group who'd avoided the secret police. A few minutes later, though, two other guys from his group also showed up. Out of about 12 in their original group, they were the only ones who'd made it. They munched on brownies, guzzled water, and regaled us with stories of their day's escapades until Angel arrived in the church van to pick them up.

This was not an insignificant activity for Leo and I to participate in. Although China is opening up a great deal as far as freedom of religion (people can now even worship in homes as long as the group is small, 10 or 20 I think is the number), there is still some pockets of religious persecution there in some rural areas. Although the state-sanctioned "Three-Self Church" counts many true believers among its members, many larger secret house churches still exist. The Three-Self Church is not free to run itself, and many Christians in China have problems with some of the restrictions, prefering to worship God as they please, even if it risks their freedom.

Though it's a serious issue, we enjoyed helping these kids learn more about it in a fun way today.

Sick of it all

I rarely, if ever, whine and rant about my home life. There is a good reason: I have a pretty good life, better than many people in the world, and I know that. But a person needs to vent once in a while, so here goes.

* I'm sick of the husband working so many daggone long hours. Yes, he works from home, but he's in the freakin' office from 8:30 until whatever time he has to leave for his first appointment, and then he may be gone until 10 in the evening (or later) like tonight. And if he does actually make it home for dinner, he'll be in his office and/or on the cell phone for the rest of the evening. And if he manages not to do that, he falls asleep putting the baby to bed, so I still don't see him.

* I'm sick of the baby teething. Nothing I can really do about this, the teeth have to come in sometime if I ever expect to wean her someday. But the above item makes this an even greater annoyance: I have to deal with it alone much of the time.

* I'm sick of the big kid dragging her feet in the morning, and trying every trick in the book at night to put off sleep as long as possible.

* I'm sick of people who don't seem to know how to get their kids to behave in public.

* I'm sick of hearing George W. Bush's patronizing voice on TV. The honeymoon is DEFINITELY over there.

* I'm sick of being the only person who picks up around this house. I'm sick of asking for help with a task (like clearing the table) only to have it done incompletely (dishes are in the kitchen, but not in the dishwasher, and the table still has crumbs on it). I'm sick of being told "I might as well not help because you're never happy with how I do it." LEARN HOW TO DO IT RIGHT! I don't expect perfection, but I do expect the job to be completed, not half done.

This last one is big. Sometimes I'm tempted to go on strike, but the kids aren't really big enough to deal with that. But it would be interesting to see what would happen if I left for a week. Would the dishes already sitting in the sink still be sitting there when I got back? Would the Cheerios on the floor under the table still be there? Would anyone have remembered the cats need water as well as food?

Marzipan babies

***UPDATE: They're not marzipan; rest easy Ern and Lauren, no one is going to eat them :) The creator's website is here.***

I am not sure if these are actually made out of marzipan or out of polymer clay as another website claims, but whatever...they are adorable!

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