Wednesday, Hump Day

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm tired.

There's so much going on with P. There's so much going on with work.

It's Wednesday. If I make it through today, tomorrow will be Thursday. If I make it through tomorrow, the next day will be Friday. If I make it home through the crazy traffic, it will be a long weekend.

I can do this.

Positive affirmation.

I can do this.

I feel like The Little Engine that Could - I think I can, I think I can.


Cheers!
mouse

More Transitions

Dear Friends and Family,

Apparently P did okay yesterday with her shoes and her cup. Yesterday, I packed her a 2 ounce cup and two 5 ounce bottles. Today, I packed a 3 ounce cup and two 4.5 ounce bottles. Tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll pack a 4 ounce cup and two 4 ounce bottles. And, then, we'll lose another bottle. And, theoretically, by 7/12 P will be bottle free when she transitions to the toddler room - which leaves milk and school room.

And, as coincidence would have it, we'll be tackling milk tomorrow. The freezer stock is now low enough that P won't have enough for her full day tomorrow. She'll get an 3:1 blend for a week; then, a 2:2 blend for a week; followed by a 1:3 blend for a week.

It feels sad to be transitioning. I never worried about breast milk - whether or not it was good for her. There's no agricultural council that profits from the sale of breast milk. There's no industrial agricultural machine that produces it. It's the ultimate local, craft micro-brew. And, now, P is done with that stage. She's growing up.

I know at some point between now and college she has to transition. And, I'm thrilled to be done with pumping at work. And, we're still nursing at home in the morning and evening. Still, there's a pang associated with transitioning. I guess I'm never very good with transitions.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.


Cheers!
mouse

06.28.10: Preparing for Toddler Room

Dear Friends and Family,

Where did the weekend go?

Saturday, P and Mr. mouse went out to pick up mail while I spent the morning having coffee and waking up. It was a good thing I stayed home because I got a call from our Panama friends while they were out. Our friends were in town for the weekend and were checking on availability for dinner.

We headed out after P's nap to look at shoes for school. She needs shoes for the toddler room, so we figured we'd start her in them this week so she's not doing too many new things next week.

Sunday, the day disappeared to playing with P, checking out the farmer's market, going to Whole Foods to look for milk for P and naps for the family. At the current rate, the freezer stock will be gone sometime this week and P will need to transition to whole milk. Seriously, can more things go on at the same time, please?

I guess it's just shoes, cup, milk, and school room. But, it doesn't take much to make me feel overwhelmed nowadays.

Dinner Sunday night with our Panama friends. And, now it's Monday.


Cheers!
mouse

Big Girl Room

Dear Friends and Family,

Mr. mouse and I spent the morning at school with P. Well, not really with P. She was in her room while we were in the toddler rooms observing the mayhem and collecting data on which room to send P to once she transitions.

Ultimately, we picked the room with the teachers we liked vs. the room chock-a-block with children P already knows. We figure she'll still see her friends during early drop off, late pick up, and outside during daily play.

It was pretty amazing watching what the toddlers are capable of - putting their own bowls away, saying please, following verbal commands. Wow. P's going to be a big girl before we know it.


Cheers!
mouse

Who Are You? Oh, You're My Spouse

Dear Friends and Family,

I can see how it happens. After two decades raising the kids, two adults turn and look at each other and find a void, an odd feeling of do I know you because you look strangely familiar.

Mr. mouse and I had more than your average amount of time together before adding P to the mix. And, I thought we had a strong enough foundation to ensure a foolproof outcome. I've come to realize only a fool believes in foolproof. I'm not sure how, but, somehow we have to make sure we make the time and take the time to not become strangers.

Currently, our lives revolve around P and my crazy commute. Perhaps the answer to this is that the crazy commute has to go away.

I guess there are a couple of different ways to make this happen...

1. We could move, closer to my work. Mr. mouse could find public transportation options and I would have a shorter drive.

2. I could switch jobs, closer to home.

3. P could switch schools. I would take the train home. Mr. mouse would have drop off and pick up duties.

Selfishly, I don't think any of three options impact Mr. mouse as much as they impact me. So, if I were going to trade off our current home location, my job, and the couple of minutes I spend every day with P... I think I would pick the third option, once P is a little older. Perhaps that is what this comes down to, somewhere in the next year or so we should evaluate our options and see where we are. Who knows, I might land on option 1. if we can't figure out the schooling question.


Cheers!
mouse

What Happened...

Dear Friends and Family,

Late April we had to take P to the hospital. I don't think I have ever been more scared in my entire life.

We were at the airport when I noticed that P was developing a rash. She had a fever and was irritable and fussy. We called the doctor's office and they recommended going to the hospital vs. continuing home.

We rented a car to drive to the hospital, and on the drive P's breathing got really shallow and she became really lethargic, not responding to our calling for her or our not so gentle nudges. I ended up running into the emergency room with her in my arms.

The triage nurse took all of the typical vitals and admitted P - her rash had gotten worse, her fever had gotten worse, and her oxygen levels were low. We waited a couple of minutes in the waiting room and then headed into our room for the day.

The doctor ordered more tests. And, P was strapped to a monitor to track her pulse and her oxygen. They kept us for the test results, the fever, and because her pulse was running high. P was pretty out of it for most of the evening, but she was a trooper - not putting up much of a fight, except when they had to set her up for her IV. The IV made her all puffy, and I remembered, quite nostalgically, that she looked like a newborn again.

In the end, it all worked out okay. They released us from the hospital late that night. We drove to a hotel, slept for a couple of hours, and got home the next day. The rash went away in a couple of days. And, our Wolverine was as good as new.

And, that, my friends, was our first trip to emergency room with P.


Cheers!
mouse

Money Model Updates

Dear Friends and Family,

Nothing like tracking something to make yourself obsessed with the numbers.

I'm not sure if I wrote about it (and I'm too lazy to check), but I built a model a little over a month ago to track our retirement plan. It looks at a couple of very simple metrics (e.g. inflation, investment, and investment growth), but in a slightly different way. Instead of building one model, I built two models - a best case and a worst case. Each month I update the numbers to see how we're tracking - so past months reflect the same actuals and future months reflect two different forecasts, essentially.

New inflation numbers just came out and and our worst case monthly investment amount went down $21/month and our best case monthly investment amount went down by $32/month. Next week I get to update investment growth numbers.

I must be an odd duck. I'm enjoying this more than any normal person should.


Cheers!
mouse

06.21.10: Father's Day

Dear Friends and Family,

The weekend was a weekend of scurrying for Mr. mouse. A late conference call on Friday led to an early conference call on Saturday which fortunately did not morph into an office visit on Saturday or an office visit on Sunday, but instead to a late conference call on Sunday. Wonderful.

Saturday morning, P and I went out for a walk while Mr. mouse watched the house cleaners. It was a lovely morning and P spent the walk intently watching the changing scenery in front of her. We stopped by the park on the way home; then, we picked up Mr. mouse and headed out for brunch.

Saturday afternoon was spent at Toys R Us / Babies R Us picking up P's "big girl safety chair" since she's become bored with the safety pod. The new seat lets her look out the window and gives her more room. Unfortunately, at her current growth trend, she'll be backward facing until she's almost a year old. Poor P. She was playing in her seat at home Saturday night, refusing to get out of it. It was quite cute to say the least.

Sunday morning we surprised Mr. mouse with his Beh's Day gift. P made him a card and the teachers at school made him a mug. I made him a rattle filled with Pepsi MLB caps good for one free baseball cap of his choice. And, I gave him a certificate good for a baseball outing a year with P.

We hit the grocery store. Then, we met up with Mr. mouse's friends for a day at the aquarium. We had dinner at home then everyone turned in a little early for the night. And, now it's Monday and I need to scurry to get ready for work.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: Noticed two more teeth beginning to sprout, I think, on the bottom, one on each side of the two center teeth.

06.18.10: P's First F1 Race

Dear Friends and Family,

After a little bit of a hiccup, we had a fun weekend. Then, I had a work trip followed by sleep catch up. And, now, it's Friday and I need to catch up on the weekend before the next one comes our way.

We made it out, stand by on a later flight, Friday afternoon, to Ottawa. From Ottawa, we rented a car and drove to Montreal. It was a long day, but we made it there in one piece. Almost.

P felt warm when I felt her while she was sleeping. And, the next morning she threw up after breakfast. And, she was warm enough at the track that I bought some infant Tylenol on the way home which she had Saturday night, most of the day Sunday, and then Monday morning. She also developed a lovely rash on her belly. Our only hope is she didn't feel compelled to share any of this with her two friends in Montreal.

P slept through qualifying. She watched about two thirds of the race either in the stands with us or down below being walked by either Mr. mouse or me. Overall, I'd consider it a success although neither Mr. mouse nor I followed the race closely enough to understand anything that really happened.

We had a quiet night in both nights - lobster and salmon the first night and lobster and steak the second night. And, after an uneventful trip home, we had sushi Monday night while P was sleeping.

I'm looking forward to seeing our friends again when they come out for the marathon.


Cheers!
mouse

Buying Time

Dear Friends and Family,

Off for an early morning trip. Will try to catch up this week.


Cheers!
mouse

New Process Needed

Dear Friends and Family,

And, now, I have to vent.

I'm a big fan of being packed before going to sleep at night. Mr. mouse is of the "we can take of it in the morning" philosophy. Well, this morning, we both missed the alarm clock and we couldn't. So, it's a bit of a monkey wrench. Truth be told, more than a bit since our flight leaves in 45 minutes and we're still at home.

Onward and forward.


Cheers!
mouse

Breather

Dear Friends and Family,

Hooray!

P did nothing new yesterday. And, instead of catching up on the miraculous other things she's been doing, I'm going to take a moment to write about me.

I think... It sounds... Like... A... Perfect... Moment... For... A.... (Drum Roll Please)... Top Three Update!

Well, #1 is easy. It's P. But, enough about her. We all know how the mouse household world continues to revolve around her.

#2: CHAOS. Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Fly Lady believes it's a matter of 15 minutes a day. Currently, what's working for us is cleaning service. They come every two weeks so the floors and toilets never get gross. And, with us spending the time organizing before they come to clean, we're making progress on the piles of stuff everywhere symptom that are a clear indicator of chaos. We've never let it stop us from having anyone over, but it feels fabulous to be making progress on house clutter.

#3: retirement - I built a "simple" model in Excel that looks at both a best case and worst case investment scenario. In the best case, we can retire in eight years. In the worst case, we're working for a lot longer than that. Each month, I update the numbers and Mr. mouse and I review our progress. We promised ourselves we would be more active in planning out our finances now that P is older. This is my contribution to keeping us honest.

Okay. Time to shower.


Cheers!
mouse

P's Growing Vocabulary (1 of Many)

Dear Friends and Family,

At some point this will be something P will want to look back at.

Meh: Mommy
Beh: Daddy

moa: more (week of June 6, 2010)
baa: bottle (week of June 6, 2010)
boh: ball (week of June 6, 2010)

a funny "Darth Vader" sound: hhoorr whenever she's exerting effort or playing with animals (week of May 30, 2010)


Cheers!
mouse

More

Dear Friends and Family,

Sorry. Blogger was down yesterday morning.

Sunday night, P and I were playing on the rug. I had two balls in a plastic container that I was shaking like a rattle. She kept looking at me and saying moa, moa. Sounded like more, but without the r. So, I shook the rattle more. But, she shook her head no and said moa, moa - looking at me in a questioning way - like when you travel and you're saying something in another language and you're not sure if you're saying it right.

So, I said it back to her in a questioning tone. Moa? Moa? And she smiled and made the baby sign language hand gesture for more. At which point Mr. mouse and I were on cloud 9000 - P's third word! More!

We were besides ourselves trying to figure out what she wanted more of. We figured good behavior should be rewarded with positive feedback. Clearly it wasn't dinner since she ate a little bit of everything and seemed full. Mr. mouse started walking with her in the kitchen while we thought about it. Then, she came to me, looked at me, and said moa, moa while making the hand gesture.

Well, there's only one thing meh can provide that beh can't. So, even if it wasn't P's typical feeding time, I picked her up and started carrying her upstairs. She was giddy and so were we.


Cheers!
mouse

I Dream of Binky

Dear Friends and Family,

I promise, at some point, to revert back to writing about me - once the rocket trajectory of change that is P levels off.

Binky. P didn't like it for the first couple of months. But, by the time she started school, she liked it enough to want it during nap time and for the car rides. We'd have to prop it up for her on the car rides so that it didn't fall out. Then, sometime shortly thereafter, she fell in love with it, and if you offered it, she would take it. And, she didn't need any help keeping it in either.

Sometime in the distant past we weaned her off of her binky for the morning commute. Then, we weaned her off of her binky for the evening commute. But, once the traffic started getting bad, I caved and let her have it on the way home again.

Well, last week, Tuesday, one of the teachers offered trying to nap her without it. And, P went down for her daily nap without it. I shrugged and thought about it and drove her home without it. I tried putting her down for the night without it and she was okay. And, so began the daily adventure... would she make it through the next day without her binky? And, now, after a week, it seems like it's a thing of the past.

Except, I'm having binky withdrawal. Over the weekend, she picked up her empty bottle and starting sucking on it and it was clear it was soothing - like her binky. And, I remember how happy she was when I used to offer it to her on the way home. I'd strap her into her safety pod (aka the car seat) and then offer it to her. She'd take it, orient it, pop it in her mouth, and then be ready for her toy and the ride home. And, I remember packing her bag together in the afternoon. She'd hand me the stuff for her bag. And, when she came across her binky, she'd nonchalantly pop it in her mouth and move onto the next item to hand over.

I was never sure if it was a selfish, egocentric well, if I want it I get it. Or a I'm just putting this in its proper place. Or a as long as no one notices or says anything I'll do it. Or a don't mind me. Or a number of different attributable expressions. I just know, I miss it. And, I never thought to video tape it. And, now, it's a thing of the past. I think.

Well, P misses her binky. Meh misses P's binky. But, I guess we all need to move on and grow up and enjoy the new fun things - like that fact that P loves her lift-the-flap books now.


Cheers!
mouse

Even More Toddler Tricks

Dear Friends and Family,

P's been on a tear - doing new things faster than I can document.

Thursday, we took the afternoon off to take P out to the ball game. And, in exchange, she showed us pointing, and clapping, and wiping down a surface with a napkin.

Then, over the weekend, she spent some time with Mr. mouse, playing three card monte. This is a classic street game. We have three bowls turned upside down. Under one bowl is a ball. We show her the ball, shuffle the bowls, and then let her guess where the ball is. Surprisingly, P is very good at this.

Also, over the weekend, P showed us that she can use a spoon by herself. It's a little messy, but it's definitely a skill she's willing to practice because she likes most foods that require a spoon (yogurt, applesauce, jar food, pudding).

And, because you can't be a toddler without asserting some independence - P's learned drop and see if your parents pick it up for you. And, throwing food on the floor if she doesn't want it - one piece at a time. And, while it's adorable, the no head shake is coming a little more frequently than we'd prefer.

Last night, when P was tired, we had banging and throwing of toys which is apparently the new rubbing eyes and yawning. And, I saved the best for last. Over the weekend, when she got a little excited, P bit me. Several times. Twice on the shoulder, twice on the arm, and once on the cheek. She hasn't bitten anyone else. And, we didn't have any repeat incidents last night. So, let's hope it's something that was a one time incident.

All caught up - which in P's world is two arms held up and waving for all done now.


Cheers!
mouse

Waking Sweetly

Dear Friends and Family,

P got up early this morning so we did our usual routine - bring her into our room, feed her, let her sleep the rest of the night with us. She doesn't do it frequently so we haven't made a stink about it becoming a bad habit.

Well, this morning when I awoke, I looked over and she was awake, looking at the ceiling and just lying there. She never lies still anymore. So, it was nice just watching her.

Eventually, I had to get up. But, it was nice just to have a couple of minutes this morning of watching her watching the world - like a newborn.


Cheers!
mouse