Birthday Week

Clara turned three this week, amid much fanfare and general hoopla. We didn't tell her it was her birthday until that morning (mostly because we wanted her to sleep the night before), so when she came out of her room and saw balloons and streamers and her birthday wall, she looked truly surprised and asked, "My birthday is today??" Later, when Jeremy was helping her get ready for the day, she said, "Daddy, I've been waiting and waiting for my birthday, and it's here today!" Then her voice got really quiet and intense, and she said, "I'm so excited!"

We started the day with an exploration of her birthday wall--a tradition we started with Jonathan's birthday where we put a kind of "year in review" in photos on the wall. Then we had very special puffy pancakes, which thrilled her greatly.


She also received her first present: a new baby doll and sundry baby gear from Jeremy's grandma...and Jonathan. She loved pushing the baby around in its new stroller. Jonathan seemed a bit jealous, so we put a 10 pound weight in Clara's old stroller and he was pleased as punch.



The rest of the day was filled with cupcake baking, playing with friends, and having a family over for a special birthday dinner, where I'm pretty sure she did not eat more than two bites. And then we opened presents! She was thrilled with everything, perhaps most especially the new quilt my parents sent. It's extremely soft on the back side, and when we checked on her the next night before we went to bed, she was snuggled under her blanket, sound asleep, wearing nothing but her diaper. Like I said, it's very soft.



As if this one wonderful day were not enough, we threw a birthday party for Clara on Saturday. We had fun decorating the house and getting everything ready for her friends, although I think the party itself was a bit overwhelming for her. I should've realized things were getting a bit crazy for her when she spent an inordinate amount of time eating her lunch. All of the other kids were long since gone and playing, and Clara was still eating (typically she doesn't last more than about 10 minutes at any given meal). When I asked her if she wanted to open presents, she just said, "Almost, Mom." Then when the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to her before digging into cupcakes, she plugged her ears. Poor Clara. Sometimes a girl just needs a little peace.





Clara really wanted a duck party, which I thought would be easy to pull off. As it turns out, it's pretty challenging to find duck-themed goods in north Idaho. We stuck with blue and yellow for the colors, and we had a little duck game to play. For lunch, we made duck-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches and made ducks in a pond--blue jello with paper ducks "floating" on top. For party favors we gave rubber ducks (surprisingly hard to find), homemade yellow play dough ("It's not yellow enough yet," Jeremy kept saying), a little wooden duck, and some leftover Halloween candy (a great benefit to having a birthday so close to Halloween).



One of the most fun things for me was when we brought in Clara's last present, which has been literally months in the making. It's a play kitchen fashioned out of found objects, scoured from thrift shops and the Habitat for Humanity store. Some of our good friends gave us a scrap piece of countertop they had, and some other good friends assembled the whole kitchen. My one friend even painted it for me--she said she needed a project, and I had no complaints whatsoever. She did a fantastic job! So clever! Clara just loves it (although she evidently doesn't love to have her picture taken in front of it), and I am so appreciative of everyone who worked to help my little vision come together. There are still a few things I want to finish with it, but she loved it. Interestingly, her favorite thing about it so far has been a sponge that my friend threw in as something of an afterthought. But Clara just loves to use the sponge to clean and clean that kitchen. Maybe she sees the joy Jeremy and I derive from cleaning the real kitchen... Maybe...



And now, if you're still reading, I'll favor you with a little list of things we just love about our Clara:

1. She is just as smart as a whip. The other day, she pointed something out, and when I told her it was a good observation, she said, "Yes. I'm like a giganotosaurus." A few days later, she was walking through the produce section with Jeremy and said, "Avocados are from Mexico." Finally, this morning at church she was talking to a friend and said, "I have a cough. Mommy had a cough yesterday." Then she paused and added, "I have the swine flu."

2. She is a good big sister. Every hearty shove and throw-down she gives to Jonathan she matches with tender hugs and a sincere desire to make him laugh. She still says that Jonathan is her best friend.

3. She has big, beautiful blue eyes.

4. She loves to dance and sing.

5. She is extremely talented at making herself scarce when we're with friends. If there are other people around, she will do everything she can to avoid contact with us. Classic.

6. She loves going to nursery at church, and she has a special love for her wonderful nursery teacher.

7. She has many diverse interests, ranging from dinosaurs to pasting to princesses.

8. She loves, loves, loves books. She would be read to all day long if she had the choice. And if "Dinosaur Train" weren't on.

9. She feels joy purely and truly.

10. She is our special girl. We are so blessed and grateful to have her as our daughter.

And after all that: Happy Birthday, Clara! And yes, I will now stop taking your picture.

What a Fright!

We got a nice jump-start on Halloween by celebrating All Hallow's Eve Eve, a holiday I'm sure will gain increased acceptance once people realize just how great it is to extend the celebration of all things orange and scaaaaary.

Jonathan, Clara and I all wore orange yesterday (Jeremy, sadly, could not participate since he owns no orange clothes). We carved our pumpkin--which we grew ourselves in our backyard and which had sprouted one or two lovely spots of mold, which we cut out as part of Clara's uber-postmodern jack-o-lantern design. Then we had an all-orange dinner followed by a trip to the church for a Halloween party/Trunk-or-Treat. After the Trunk-or-Treat, we were standing in the parking lot talking to friends when Clara said, "I want to go home now." Of course she did. It was almost 8:00!


Clara, as you can see, was dressed as a fairy. She especially loves her wand (as does Jonathan, incidentally--what's not to love about a sparkly star on a stick?) and went around all day yesterday "magicking" people. I was alternatively magicked into gold, a cow, a girl, and man. And then back to gold. She is a very good magicker.



Jonathan was able to wear Clara's bumblebee costume from days gone by, complete with her black onesie with the puffed sleeves and keyhole neck. Don't worry: we bought him some sweatpants instead of tights, and we covered up the more girlish elements of the onesie with the costume. And unlike Clara, I made Jonathan his own antennae, which--much to our surprise--he wore all night long. It's an All Hallow's Eve Eve miracle!




We woke up this morning to bowls of cereal with milk that magically turned orange when stirred. It's going to be a great day...

On a cloudy day

I'm still in my room, since my fever returned yesterday afternoon. (Clearly something was wrong when I turned my space heater on, managed to warm the room up to 74 degrees, and was still huddled under my down comforter.) I feel pretty good again today, though, so I'm cautiously optimistic that I might see Jonathan this evening.

Clara, on the other hand, I have had the pleasure of seeing several times over the last day and a half. Jeremy put a bucket of flour in the hallway, so when Jonathan is sleeping they come and open my bedroom door so Clara and I can talk. She sits on the bucket and says truly fascinating things. A sample conversation:


Clara: "So, do you want to talk about dinosaurs, Mom?"
Me: "I sure do! What should we talk about dinosaurs?"
Clara: "Do dinosaurs stomp around, Mom?"
Me: "I daresay they do, Clara. Why do you think that is?"
Clara: "Maybe because they're quadrapeds."
Me: "They're not all quadrapeds. Are you a quadraped? How many feet do you walk on?"
Clara: "Just these two."
Me: "So you're a biped."
Clara: (Laughs.) "That's silly, Mom."

A brief pause.

Clara: "Do dinosaurs roar, Mom?"
Me: "They do, indeed, Clara..."

She can go on in a similar fashion for a surprising length of time. I sure do love my Clara.

A little autumn trip

A few weeks ago we took a little overnight trip with some friends. We rented a vacation house on the banks of what I think might be the Priest River, although I wouldn't swear to that. The house was right on the water, as you can see, and I loved it. So charming! It had a terrific attic/loft space with sleeping space for six as well as a fun play space. Downstairs was additional sleeping room for three, which is where our friends slept. I really thought it was ideal. The only thing that would've made it better would've been if it hadn't been quite so cold and drizzly. That's autumn, I guess!


Clara had a memorable trip. She ate a worrisome number of red vines, enjoyed a movie while nursing a big mug of hot chocolate, and got to sport this cool fake mustache. But when we asked her what her favorite part was, she said, "I love to jump on the trampoline!" If she's lucky, maybe one day she'll get bounced off the trampoline and suffer from a lifetime of lower back problems, just like her mama. Trampolines are evil, but fun.




Jonathan spent quite a lot of time either in his high chair or in the backpack. When he was freed from those restraints (which wasn't often--good thing the boy loves to eat), he spent most of his time trying to find a way to climb up the death trap of a spiral staircase leading to the loft. I think he went home a bit disappointed to be still in one piece.




And Jeremy and I chased the kids, made a few meals, and just enjoyed the good company of good friends. Jeremy even tried his hand at fishing (with a real fishing pole!). And we all took turns rowing in the row boat. Here's what I learned about rowing: some people are naturally brilliant at rowing (like me) and some people are not (like the rest of the world, from what I can tell). My rowing talent is a real burden, but I bear it well.




Thanks, Sarah and Jason, for a memorable trip!

Luppa Luppa Lo

This week I've felt a bit under the weather with what I assumed was just a cold. Then yesterday morning I woke up feeling absolutely horrible. I took my temperature and was shocked that it was 102 degrees. I cannot recall having that high of a fever in my entire adult life.

I stayed in bed all day yesterday, in a kind of feverish haze (although my brother was disappointed to hear that I did not hallucinate even once), and then at about 4:00 in the morning my fever broke. I woke up this morning with no fever, but I'm extremely weak. The nurse I spoke with at Urgent Care told me to stay away from people for 24 hours after my fever was gone (with no medication), so I'm still in bed, trying to regain my strength and praying that the fever will not return. I haven't seen my kids since yesterday morning!

For as miserable as I've been (if this is the swine flu, get your flu shot!), I can't help but be grateful for a wonderful husband who has taken such good care of Jonathan and Clara. They've baked cookies, gone on walks, gone to the park, done crafts... I've hardly heard any crying--and the kids have been calm as well! Jeremy has delivered all of my medications, kept me well hydrated, and forced me to eat a bit even when I didn't want to. He's definitely top shelf.

Here's my favorite craft project to come out of my illness:


It's a black and green pig (for the swine flu), and the speech bubble coming out of it says "Luppa Luppa Lo (Because Mommy will love it)." I guess Jeremy was trying to prompt Clara to have the pig say "Get well soon" or something, but she said that I would love it if the pig said "Luppa Luppa Lo." I totally do.

And on the back of the pig are two little orange hands--one of which is missing some digits. Sometimes little orange hands need their fingernails clipped.


I miss my family.

Little Turnip on the Prairie

I've been re-reading the Little House on the Prairie books this week for the first time since childhood. I picked up the set for a great deal at a little used bookstore in town, and for a while I was hesitant to read them again, since I feared they might have lost some of the magic they held for me as a child. My fears were in vain, however, and I have felt all manner of heartswelling emotions as I've lived the pioneer saga again with the Ingalls family. I will even admit to openly weeping today as I finished the last book, which is extremely rare for me to do, on account of my stone-cold heart. I've noticed things this time that I didn't notice as a child (Ma's deep-seated hatred of Indians, for example), but overall I have been in a happy little prairie cloud.

Anyway, in one of the books (I can't remember which one, exactly), the family is busily harvesting turnips and talking about how much they (and their horses) enjoy eating turnips, raw and cooked. I realized that I have never in my life tasted a turnip, but I figured that whatever is good enough for the Ingalls is good enough for me. So off we went to buy some turnips.

Now, I don't know if the produce folks at our local Fred Meyer have some kind of sick sense of humor, but for some reason they store the turnips in the same bin with parsnips and rutabagas. I am thinking that none of those vegetables are currently at the height of their popularity, so I feel I am not alone in being uncertain how to distinguish the three. No, that's not entirely true. I could definitely tell which one was a parsnip. But turnips and rutabagas? If you ask me, the turnips should be stored in a bin with, oh, let's say broccoli and apples. That would make choosing a turnip very easy.

Nevertheless, my powers of reasoning (and faith) prevailed, and I managed to come home with two robust and lovely turnips. I put them in the fridge, after which I proceeded to stare at them several times a day for the next three or four days, since I had no idea what to do with them. Finally, I just decided to cook them and mash them and hope for the best, but not before tasting a little bit of raw turnip. A note here: if you like strong radishes, you will like raw turnips. I do not like radishes.

Cooked and mashed with some milk, butter, salt, and pepper, turnips are actually pretty good (how could they not be?). They're very reminiscent of cooked cauliflower. And I mean very reminiscent. I can't say that we'll be eating them weekly, but I'd go for a turnip again. I'm just like Laura! But first, I think I'd like to tackle a rutabaga.

These teeth are made for cleaning

Clara recently took her first trip to the dentist--a task I have been putting off for a good long while on account of my own dental phobias. All I can say is this: if I got to go to the dentist where she gets to go to the dentist, I would go all the time. The office had a slide, games, trains, video games, and toys, and once she got into the exam room she got to watch the end of "Kung-Fu Panda" while getting her teeth cleaned.

All in all, a pleasant visit and a clean bill of dental health. And she got some new "tooth-taste," the kind you have to spit out, which has added a whole new level of adventure to her evening cleaning.

Best Friends

If any of my dear readers have seen the PBS show Word World, I want you to picture, if you can, the character Shark. Got it? This image will be important for you as you study this picture of Clara. I'm sure you'll be able to tell this without any prompting from me, but just in case, this is a picture of Clara with Best Friend Pretend Shark. That's what she calls him, and that's who she has her arm around.


Clara just loves Best Friend Pretend Shark. He is a great friend to her, and he's generally quite fun to have around. He doesn't live at our house, of course, since he's water dwelling by nature, so he's usually either "very far away at the ocean" or "very far away at the lake." The phrase "very far away" is clearly relative, since we are but five minutes from the lake but a solid five hours from the ocean. Nevertheless, Shark manages to make either commute in good time when he is summoned to our home.

The funny thing about Best Friend Pretend Shark, though, is that sometimes he is either unwilling or unable to get to our house by himself. This typically happens when we're in the car.

"Where's my Best Friend Pretend Shark?" Clara asks.

"I'm not sure," I'll reply, hoping that he'll show up so we won't have to spend our whole car ride talking about where he is and why he isn't in the car and where he'll possibly sit when he gets here since the diaper bag is on the passenger seat.

Typically, though, if we're in the car and Shark needs to come along I'll either have to convince her that he's spending the day with his family or I'll have to be close enough to the lake to swing by. If we can get a visual of the lake (and by this I mean if Clara can get a visual of the lake) then Clara will start yelling at him to get in the car.

In some ways I feel bad for Shark, since every time he finally makes it into the car (and I buckle his seatbelt) he is almost instantly forgotten. He doesn't get to go swimming with us or to the store or to the park. He just gets buckled in and has to sit around in the hot car. Poor Shark. Oh well. It probably beats swimming around in the lake. He is a shark, after all.

All Hail the Birthday Boy!

Our little sunshine baby turned one today. I'm not sure how it happened, since for the past two months or so I've been telling him to stop growing and to stay a baby forever. He is so young to be so disobedient.


Despite the fact that I can't seem to freeze time, we had a fun day with Jonner. He didn't seem phased by the fanfare in his honor, although he certainly enjoyed playing with the balloons with Clara.



Clara, for her part, was super pumped about Jonathan's birthday. Her favorite thing, I think, she summed up as follows: "When I went into my room for my rest, there was no party. Then after my rest, I came to the door, opened it, and there was a paaaarty!!" She is thrilled with all of Jonathan's new toys and wasted no time in taking his new boat for a spin in the tub tonight. Jonathan, luckily, is very magnanimous and didn't even seem to notice.


And let's be honest: what's a birthday without a few adorable misadventures? I made a caramel apple upside down cake, which was definitely not the most child-friendly of cakes (plus, I forgot to have him blow out his candles until after I'd cut and served half of it). It was this cake, and its evidently bad karma, that contributed most of the misadventures (and laughs).





Oh, Jonathan! What would we do without you? Happy Birthday, Bug!

See ya, summer!

So I did my triathlon yesterday (holla!), which signaled for us the unofficial end of summer. Good riddance, I'd say. If I could live every day in one of the shoulder seasons, I would never feel sad again. Alas...

The triathlon went well, in that I finished it and did not die. Several times during the event I said to myself, "This was dumb. I am never doing this again." But as soon as I got home I started trolling the internet for next year's event. Today I'm feeling a bit sore and a bit tired, but I'm glad I did it.

Clara is so inspired by me being a triathlete that she informed us that this coming Saturday she'll be competing in her own event. It's a "girls' triathlon," evidently, and it will involve "doing strokes," riding a bike, and dancing. "And you will stand and wait for me and cheer," she told us. So far, her training schedule has been quite rigorous. Earlier this afternoon she told Jeremy and Jonathan to go play in the kids' pool so she could practice her strokes. Jeremy and Jonathan huddled in the corner of Jonathan's room while she "swam" on the carpet. When she was done, she joined them in the kids' pool. I guess she noticed that one time when I was not with them in the kids' pool. At any rate, she is looking to be in top shape for her big race.

While I was gone with my friends at the triathlon (which was in Montana) Jeremy stayed home with Jonathan and Clara and spent a surprisingly ambitious 26 hours with them. On Friday evening he took them to the community center for a fun evening out, then on Saturday, in a fit of bravery I don't think even I would have attempted, he loaded them up for a jaunt to the county fair. He came home several hours later and still had both of the kids, so we'll call that a success. I'm just glad they were able to go at all. Evidently, on the way there Clara kept harping on about wanting to ride the ferris wheel. Jeremy kept telling her she was too short and that she'd have to content herself with the farm animals. When she wouldn't let it go, Jeremy said, "Clara, if you mention the ferris wheel one more time I am turning the car around and going home." Apparently it took her several minutes before she would say even a single word, lest she accidentally mention the forbidden f----s w---l. Fortunately she stayed true and was rewarded later by a spin on the carousel. It's hard being two sometimes. And sometimes it's awesome.



All said, we had a nice summer. Not a single person in our house was in her third trimester of pregnancy, which can't help but make everything seem a bit better. Also, we finally got a pumpkin to start growing in our garden, so Halloween is destined to not be a bust. Now all I really want is a very long fall so we can enjoy my favorite flavor of air (crisp) before the snow starts to fall.

Jeremy's turn to tri

Jeremy did his triathlon relay on Saturday. He and his teammates did an Olympic triathlon, and Jeremy brought them home with a swift 10K (48 minutes!). The man runs like a gazelle.

And now a few shots of the action:

Clara and Jonathan waiting for Jeremy to start running (if you look closely you can spot Jeremy in his sweatband. Awesome look, JB!):



I was also there:

The big bike-to-run tag (Jason could spot Jeremy really easily, on account of his headband):

Starting the run (don't worry--that's not actually his running stride; I caught him coming around a u-turn, and his headband may have thrown him slightly off-balance):

Crossing the finish line, and looking good! (Funny story: an "elite" triathlete who'd finished by the time Jeremy was running (the relays start last) was sitting along the route cheering people on. When Jeremy ran by the guy said, "Keep it up, Headbandy!" I am still laughing just thinking about it. Classic.)


And a nice team shot:

Now that I've written this post, Jeremy is reading it and telling me why he needed to wear a sweatband. His reasons are threefold: 1)they hold his glasses on; 2)they keep the sweat out of his eyes; 3)they are awesome!

Regardless, nice job, JB!

Try a tri!

On Saturday I did the bike leg of a triathlon relay with two friends of mine. I will admit that it was my idea--I can be very rash--and that it was brutal, but it was fun. I think. The main problem was that the race organizers changed the bike course about 36 hours before the race, so instead of a 12.4 mile ride with one steep hill (the rest of the course was mostly smaller rolling hills) I had to ride a 10 mile course that was 5 miles more or less straight uphill and 5 miles more or less straight downhill. Since I'd trained for different terrain, my poor body was not prepared. Nevertheless, I finished--and in less time than I thought I would take. So there you have it.

And to prove how rash I am, this morning I talked my friends into doing another triathlon--this time not as a relay!--just four weeks from now. They're on board, I'm having second thoughts, but I'm strapping on my running shoes this evening for my first training run. And I bought goggles, so clearly I'm committed.

Are you ready to try a tri yourself? Be like me: don't think, just do!