Clean Kitchen

I've been inspired lately to work on my housekeeping skills. It's been a snowballing project that started with the book my mom's group is reading, proceeded to a library search on home management/housekeeping/spirituality, and led to the discovery of the housekeeping bible. This book is all about turning that place you live into a home. It is a great reference book for teaching you how to do all the things that (even if your mother tried to teach you,) you never bothered to learn. After skimming through the book, I DUSTED! For the first time, oh, ever. I actually thought about how hygienic our living space is. I ordered a new vacuum. I discovered that the reason that I thought mopping was a waste of time was because I was doing it with the wrong kind of liquid. For around $3, I now have the joy of a kitchen floor that looks nearly new and is pleasant to walk on barefoot.

I've been surprised by what a difference this has made in my mood. Life just seems better when you wake up on clean sheets and cooking is easier and more fun in a clean kitchen. Now hopefully I can work on making cleaning a habit that will last through late pregnancy and new baby. (I can't wait for my new vacuum to arrive!)

Hi! My Name is No-No-Bad-Cat.

6:30am - Family wakes up. Cat is congratulated for a hairball-free night. (Was becoming almost a nightly occurrence, but more brushing has helped.)
Sometime before 7:30am - Cat eats some cat food, jumps into windowsill above bed, throws up in windowsill, down wall, and onto Curtis's endtable.
7:45am - Curtis eagerly leaves for work.
8:30am - With Thomas down for a nap, Jenny tackles cat mess. Yuck. Need an apron and rags. Cat follows and decides to yowl for tuna. Cat wakes up Thomas. Grr!!!
9:00am - Cat naps to rest after its busy morning. Jenny finishes scrubbing and rinsing wall, floor, endtable, slippers, etc. Must avoid killing cat.

Sleep Training

Sleep training usually refers to getting your baby to sleep through the night. We never really had a problem with Thomas and so didn't worry about it. However, pregnancy is definitely sleep training for mothers. I've entered that lovely phase where I'm exhausted at inopportune times, can't get to sleep at night, have to use the bathroom at least once in the night (and then can't get to sleep and often realize that I'm hungry to boot), and can't get up in the morning. I hate not having a normal sleep schedule, but it's hard to complain too much, since in another 7-9 weeks, it's going to get MUCH worse.

Baby News

I had my third ultrasound last night. None of the pictures turned out very well, so I'm not posting them. Ruthann looks good and has all the necessary parts and guts. She's much more interesting to watch than Thomas was. First she was playing with her hands, then she was trying to grab her foot. According to the measurements of her skeleton, she now weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 lbs 13 oz. The projected birthdate from this ultrasound is June 8 (2nd ultrasound said 6/12, 1st said 6/26). This technician was super nice and friendly and even showed me that Ruthann has lots of thick hair!

In other baby news, my friend Becca in KC gave birth to her son Connor on Monday night. It's the first other baby from the circle of friends we had in the Bay area. I can't wait to see them in August.

Not to leave out Thomas, Willowlaughter has a super cute picture of him up on her blog.

Mr. Muscle

Curtis has been going through a conditioning program with the football team. It's led by one of the assistant coaches who is a personal trainer. He's really starting to see some results. Yesterday, they determined the maximum weight that they could bench press. Curtis lifted 185 lbs. At one point, I had the idea that (post-baby) I'd lose enough weight that Curtis would (at least in theory) be able to bench press me. Turns out to have been a stupid idea since he's already surpassed my current, preggers weight.

Busy Monday

We went to Fresno over the weekend to see Thomas's grandparents. Yesterday was catchup day from all the chores that I would have done over the weekend plus unpacking and finding homes for all of Thomas's new toys. Fortunately, Thomas took several naps and even went to bed early. I think the excitement and novelty of travel and different faces really tires him out. It always feels good to get back into our routine.

Tooth 8

Normally baby teeth grow in in pairs, so I've been expecting his other bottom tooth to come in any day now. But I got a surprise yesterday, when I saw the glint of a tooth way in the back. His first molar (on the bottom left) had just broken the surface. It's a little early. We had to look it up, but molars are normally 13-16 months. No wonder he's been drooling more lately. Molars cause a lot of teething because they are so flat on top, that it's hard for them to move up. Now I'm curious about his upper molars. Unfortunately, he does not want to cooperate and open wide for me to look in his mouth from below.

Moving Day

Friday was officially Moving Day into the new high school. Thomas and I went to help Curtis unpack his physics lab. The new building is very nice. The bottom story is parking. 1st floor (which only extends across half the building) is the middle school classrooms and library. 2nd floor is the main level and has all the upper school classrooms and most of the offices. The 3rd floor (another half floor on the other end of the building) is the science labs and upper school lounge.
Only the rooms that are essential are finished, but this classroom will be just for physics next year.


This is the upper school lounge area.


Here's Curtis's lab.

I only have photos from the 3rd floor since the elevator was being used for the move and I didn't feel like lugging Thomas up and down the stairs.

Don't Have to Live Like a Refugee

Unlike yesterday, when we were refugees from the roaches. Some apartment upstairs has a roach problem, so all the neighboring apartments got sprayed. We had to pack up everything from the kitchen and bathroom and move it to one of the other rooms. Then Thomas, Beckham, and I had to stay out for 6-8 hrs after the spraying. It's hard to find something to do that you can take a cat to. We went over to a friend's apartment in Pasadena.

I had forgotten to write down their lab's phone number before I left, so the three of us walked from their apartment to campus. Beckham got lots of looks, though I carried it most of the time. Then we had to walk back, which was just too much for the cat. Lots of pathetic meowing and panting. The poor thing hadn't had so much exercise in years and was hot and tired. Curtis wonders how it ever survived outside. It spent the rest of the day sleeping on their couch to recover.

But now we're back and I get to move everything BACK into the kitchen and bathroom, not to mention that I'm behind on laundry and the other chores I would normally have done Monday and over the weekend. Sigh. Maybe a nap is in order if Thomas would agree.

Week 30

While it may look like June is soon approaching, it feels like forever. (Boxedcookies sent me this top.)

Thomas's First Swim

In the same month as his first snow, Thomas had his first swim. (Isn't California amazing?). March 29-31, we went to Palm Springs to visit Thomas's great-grandparents. Every day, they go to a hot spring for exercise, relaxation, and socializing. I got Thomas a package of swim diapers and a cool swimsuit with built in flotation devices so he could have his first dip in a pool. He LOVES the bath, but had never been in deeper water. We started out in the wading pool where he liked walking around (with me supporting him) and splashing with both hands. Then we took him into one of the warmer, normal pools. He didn't like if his feet floated up, but as long as he was held vertically, he smacked that water with workman-like efficiency. Not many kids can say that they've gone swimming with their great-grandparents.

Things I Love About California

1. The Wednesday Night Farmers' Market just reopened for the season last night.
2. Today's Forecast (Notice the "abundant sunshine")

	Sunny High 69° F Precip: 10% Abundant sunshine. High 69F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tooth Number 7

Around March 10th (I think), Thomas got his 7th tooth. It's the one on the bottom left next to the center pair. Now he has the center 4 on top and three teeth on the bottom.

Bear Sweater

Thomas's Noni sent him this adorable sweater that he wore for Easter. I promised her a picture, but never got it posted. Curtis was very excited to discover that he owned the sweater that the bear is wearing and had to change into it for this picture.

Ski Trip

I have to catch up on the backlog of stuff that happened while I wasn't posting (Thomas reduced his naps, but mine increased). March 7-9, Curtis, Thomas, and I chaperoned the high school ski trip. Neither of us skied, so we got to hang out in the ski lodge guarding all the students stuff and eating all we wanted from the cafeteria. I bought Thomas a snow suit and we took him out for his first snow experience. Unfortunately, the snow had a very hard crust, so it was difficult to even break any off for him to play with it. Overall, though, he found snow interesting and tasty.

The view from my room

Thomas's Birthday

Thomas is now 1 year old. People often say that your children grow up in an eye blink, but it feels like Thomas was born a lifetime ago. When I think about all the moments, all the milestones, all we've learned, and everything that's happened, it's hard to believe that it's only been a year.

While we weren't planning a big party or anything for Thomas's birthday, we did want to make a day where we did things he enjoyed. We were going to make him his favorite foods, buy him a forward-facing seat for the car, let him take an extra long bath, and take him out to a restaurant for dinner. Curtis was still on spring break, so he'd have both parents available for play all day.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. For his first birthday, he got his first illness.

It all started Sunday night, when he didn't want to eat dinner. Very strange for Mr. Chowhound. Then Monday, he didn't want breakfast either, he just wanted to sleep. When he turned away from lunch, I got really worried. I got him to eat a few bites, but then he threw up. Poor baby! I talked to his pediatrician for some reassurance. He spent almost all of Tuesday sleeping and snoring from all the congestion. He'd wake up only to cry pitifully and lay limp in my arms. Curtis and I hid in the den, playing video games without the sound to avoid disturbing him. By Wednesday afternoon, he was perking up some, but Thursday morning, he broke out in a rash. Fortunately, it was the day of his 1-yr checkup. The doctor gave him a prescription for an antibiotic, since he had a slight ear infection in his left ear (due to the congestion). He's been on the mend since then, and now seems to be his old self except that he's still sleeping more than normal.

At his checkup, he got his shots and weighed 23 lbs. (He weighed 21 1/2 at nine months.) He's up to 29 inches tall and his head is 19 cm. He's around 50th percentile in height and weight, but his head is well over 95th percentile. I refer to his "Charlie Brown head" everytime I'm trying to get a shirt over it. His blood test at 9 months revealed that he was slightly anemic, so he's now on iron drops every night. He's on track developmentally, though his pediatrician was very concerned that he doesn't say any words yet, not even "mama" or "dada". We finally reassured him by telling him that Curtis didn't speak until he was over two.

So Thomas's birthday was put on hold, but Wednesday, he got his new seat and can now see where he's going. Saturday night, he had enough appetite to take him out for dinner. It was appropriately enough the Olive Garden, which was the same chain that we went to the first time he was ever taken to a restaurant. For the first time, we ordered him his own meal off the kiddie menu. He had the grilled chicken with pasta (plain) and broccoli. He wasn't wild about the broccoli, but loved the pasta and breadstick. It also came with a glass of milk, and he drank from a straw for the first time. He would point to the glass and I would lower it down for him to have a drink. I was putting his food onto my bread plate as I cut it up, but he really liked to eat from both plates. Amazingly, only two pieces of noodle hit the floor. All in all, he was a surprisingly good dinner companion.