Sibling Stuff

This month has been a whirlwind of activity, sickness, new endeavors, new jobs and just general craziness. Amelia has been on a "Mommy" kick since I got back from my trip, which means Kieran has not gotten as much time with me as either of us would like.

Ken has started his own law practice, we both got sick, Kieran got sick, Mia got sick, we had my brother's birthday, Kieran's birthday and a lot of other crazy things. A few things come to mind since last I posted. Kieran (well, mostly me and Ken) raised $635 for the Carrie Murray Nature Center. Kieran's birthday party there was a blast - everyone who said they were going to come did (even with the snow). As a thank you for raising funds, Kieran received a vial of Iberian wolf fur. There are something like 300 of those wolves left in existence. He treasures that.

Here is he with Cupcake the snake. I have a photo of me & Mia holding the snake but it comes out sideways.

See?

Anyway, PJ (who works there and gave us a talk about animals) was the one who got the fur for Kieran. They were really impressed with his giving up gifts in order for the center to get the money.

So, that's Kieran's party. We've all been in somewhat of an ongoing state of sleep deprivation because of sickness (ours, the kids) and though I thought we'd finally come out of it, lo-and-behold last night Kieran had a nightmare that sent him upstairs to us. Ken had him sleep next to him all night (which is never a good night's sleep) and this morning we woke up late. After rushing through my shower and getting dressed, I hear Kieran downstairs in Mia's room. As I walk in her door, I see Mia on the floor, mostly naked with one sock on, Kieran's trying to get the other one on and he's already got clothes laid out for her. He's dressed himself and ready for school.

It was very sweet of him. He wanted to help because he knew that Ken and I were rushing around, late. Even after I was able to help, Kieran wanted to finish what he'd started by getting Mia's shirt on and I finished up with her pants, etc. Mia wanted Kieran to finish getting him dressed (she LOVES him and whatever Kieran is doing, she wants to do - hence the snake handling), but I was in a rush and couldn't wait - plus I think Kieran was ready for me to take over.

Even though he's been angry with her for bogarting my time, he thought enough to help her get dressed. I do hope this love continues throughout their lives. I know they'll piss each other off, that's normal, but underneath I hope there is always this type of love.

Happy 7th Birthday, Kieran!

You've grown so much in the past year it's unbelievable. You've got a better handle on your temper and your sassing (sorry, I believe you may have inherited those traits, though the sarcasm was taught). You also know yourself now. You know who you  like and who you don't, but still treat those you dislike with courtesy (mostly).

I know your little sister irritates you and you're feeling like she's stealing our time (she is, we won't lie), but you still manage to help out. This morning, for example, when I needed to walk the dog and she wouldn't let me go - there you were asking "Mia, want to play with me?" and then having her chase you around so Devin could get outside. Amazing.

You frustrate me, I won't lie. But it's only because I know just how smart you are. How capable you are and I want so much for you to do more than you think you can do. To stretch what's comfortable and be proud of what you accomplish. I'm always proud of you.

Seven years ago you were born and I sobbed at your 'curly' hair (forgive me, I was drugged). Today you are my little man - taking the world by storm.

Love you oodles and oodles, booger. Forever.

Wow, 2013 Went Fast!

I can't believe that we have just 3 days left in the year. I've been miserable about blogging regularly, which I think I noted at the end of last year. Last week with the kids was fun. I'm off until January 2nd, so we have today and 3 more days together before work begins again.

The kids got a lot of great things from Santa, but unfortunately this year was Mia's year to freak out and refuse to sit on the old man's lap. Oh well, maybe next year when she 'gets it' a bit more. Kieran's favorite present so far this year seems to be his Snap Circuits Jr kit. Mia's loving her LeapPad and Ariel doll.

My favorite present is spending time with the kids - and a working oven.

Yesterday, Kieran wanted a little extra time with me so we went to see Frozen. Kieran declared he thought it was too sad (same as Wreck-It Ralph) and he would not want it on DVD when it came out. I really enjoyed it and think Mia will like it too. Something that struck me (spoilers ahead) was that this is Disney's very first self-rescuing princess. I read a few reviews and was surprised that none of the reviewers noted this (granted its a spoiler, but still). This movie focused almost exclusively on the relationship between two sisters, their familial love and striving to do the right thing. I did not miss any 'big' villain (though their villain left a major plot hole I am willing to overlook because it's a kids movie), and am kinda sad that Kieran felt it's overall story was too sad for him (but I do get it). It was good to get out and do something just the two of us. After the movie we talked about different kinds of powers we would want to have. Kieran wants to be able to talk to the animals, I want tropical powers (Create beaches and be warm).

If I haven't said so recently, Happy Holidays to you. I hope you're having fun wherever you are.

Musings on a Lovely Little Weekend

So much is still going on, I don't know why I ever thought they might slow down. Crazy, I guess. This past weekend was really quite nice. On Saturday, Ken took Kieran to the Carrie Murray Nature Center. This is where Kieran will be having his birthday party this year and, instead of presents, he's asking people to donate to the Center instead. We've got a gofundme page set up for him, so he can give them a check at his party. We're up to $235 already.

Kieran does not know it yet, but Ken and I have gotten him tickets for the Wild Kratts Live event in Pennsylvania in February. Going to be VERY hard to keep this one quiet until his birthday - but I am doing my best.

Anyway - the event on Saturday was for people to come and take photos of the birds they have (owls, raptors, a turkey and turkey vulture). At the bottom of this post are some of the pictures that Ken took, Kieran's will be posted soon as well.

After that, Mia had her first haircut. Of course, we took no photos of that. She LOVED it and told me this morning that she liked her haircut from Ms. Annie. After her haircut we had lunch, she napped and then we all went down to the inner harbor to watch Santa's arrival. Mia freaked out and I had to take her home before Santa got there, but just barely.

Sunday I took Mia swimming (Kieran was not feeling well) and then I ran out while the kids stayed home with Ken. Shopping by myself is usually a pleasure but it was packed at the stores on Saturday. People (like me) were probably freaking out about how close to Hanukkah it is. I managed to grab a few small gifts for the kids and sneak them into the house for Wednesday night's festivities.

But the real fun came after I got home. Ken was sitting on the floor and the kids kept piling on top of him and giggling. Mia would jump on him, then jump off and declare "Kieran's turn!" and Kieran would immediately jump on Ken and then step back so Mia could have another turn. They did this off and on for an hour. Afterwards, we're on the sofa snuggling and Kieran invites Mia to come over and snuggle with him. She does and the two of them lay quietly together for all of 2 minutes while watching a movie. It was so sweet. I know our time is limited with this type of connectedness, but I relish it while it lasts.

And Another Two Weeks Have Gone By

In which I haven't blogged. I thought things were slowing down and they are, somewhat. I still have a lot of little things to do, but nothing like before.

Kids are good, though Amelia has a cold and continues to wake up at night a lot. I spoke with one of my co-workers who has a daughter Mia's age. He said his daughter also is waking up a lot - because she's starting to make connections about being alone, having dreams, shadows bothering her. His daughter, however, shares a room with her older sister and so wakes up her parents less. Though Kieran sleeps like I do (that is to say, like a rock most of the time) I would not want him to have to share a room with his sister.

So, for now, we suffer. I know in the future I'll look back on these times with fondness (or wonder - as in "I wonder how I remained awake after sitting with her for 3 hours in the dead of night?") because right now - they need us. It's nice to be needed.

Kieran and I have tomorrow off and we're going to visit the place we want to hold his birthday party. If all goes well, we'll get his fundraising site posted tomorrow as well. Looking forward to just some me-and-Kieran time.

OK gotta get back to it. Love to all, will try and blog again soon.

The End of ToDoo

Amelia began saying Kieran's name this past weekend. Before now, she's called him "ToDoo". It's been sweet, but Kieran was unhappy that she couldn't say his name. Then, on Saturday we're at the park and Kieran had run ahead. I called out his name to have him stop and Mia parroted me.

"Kieran!" she called
"Kieran, she said your name!" I said.

He stopped in his tracks, a huge smile lit up his face.

"Did you hear her?" I asked.
"No." he replied.
"Mia, say 'Kieran'"

And she did. She still occasionally calls him "ToDoo" but it's mostly "Kieran" now. He's pretty excited and so are we. It means she's going to be able to verbalize even more. Sadly, "NO" is still very common from her. But, she'll learn because half the time she says that to me, I reply with "I wasn't asking."

On a personal note, my grandmother fought her move tooth and nail. When I got to her place on Wednesday she was very upset and demanding to see the President of the retirement community. Screamed that 'You can't make me move!,' and 'I'll move out of here before I leave my apartment.'. It was fun (and by fun I mean it was completely un-fun). Then the President came in and somehow had her say it was OK to 'try it'. I sat with her while she groused about the whole thing and mom, Bob and my brother supervised the movers and hung pictures.

After an hour or so, she said she wanted to go see it - the new place. We got up there and most of her furniture was in, and pictures were being hung. She was so relived to see it all there, she nearly began crying. She says she really likes the smaller place now. So far, so good. She's been asking about her old apartment saying "There's nothing really left up there, is there?" To which we all just say "You're right, nearly nothing left." which is complete bollocks. While I am amazed at how much we fit into the new place, there is still an impressive amount of furniture left - including 90% of her dining room and most of her den.

One last story and then back to it for me - at dinner last night Kieran looked at me and said "Hey lady - how about a tall glass of water, please?". He's becoming quite the little Lothario.

Love to all blog again soon.

Backpacking and Monkeys

It's been a long time since I've written. The craziness has taken over and right now I am beside myself with anxiety and panic. Less to do with the kids than commitments I've made on my time. It will ease up after this coming weekend and, for that, I'm very thankful.

Ken took Kieran on his very first backpacking trip. We had scheduled the weekend a while back, and then the shutdown threw a curveball because Ken's first choice of forest was closed. Plan B got cut because they did not allow campfires, so... the good news is that the shutdown ended just before their trip and the boys had a great time. Here are a few photos Ken took of their trip. Kieran still had a great time even though it poured down rain, they had to ford a stream and mud on their final day. He's looking forward to his next trip.




Amelia and I had some fun together while the boys were out. She got very focused on "monkeys" because we chatted with my mom on Friday on the way home. She told Mia "Bye Monkey!" and Amelia just fastened onto that thought. She's been very monkey-centric ever since. She found a sock monkey stuffed animal her Grandma gave her and has been carrying it around, and she has to have it before going to bed at night. She continues to talk about 'bye monkey' and likes to make monkey noises. I have added a bunch of monkey-related items to her holiday wishlist.

She's also saying her own name and having a good time with her swim lessons. She's still very "Monkey see, Monkey do" around Kieran (which I have said with great frequency, usually to get Kieran to not climb on something because his sister will be right behind him). He's still doting on her but I see the frustration starting to come through as well. Ah, sibling junk.

Because of his love of animals, Kieran had asked if we could have his party somewhere with animals. I found a nature center that allows birthday parties (and has an indoor space, a rare thing in a nature center). This particular one they bring out 5 animals for 45 minutes of your 3 hour time. Talking with Ken about it, I suggested that we talk with Kieran about forgoing birthday presents in favor of asking his friends to make a donation to the center, which is trying to raise money for an exercise cage for injured animals. He barely hesitated before saying (enthusiastically) YES. Really proud of him for making that decision.

So, the final chapter here is about me, you can skip it if you like, I won't be offended. Remember how I said I was crazy? Yeah, so work is insane right now with a lot of projects and balls in the air. On top of that and just trying to be sure we have dinner each night and whatnot, I've been volunteering with a Halloween party, i don't have a ton to do - promotions, mostly - but remembering to do it is hard and I want to be sure it's a successful event. On top of those two things, my grandmother - who is 95 - has to move (she needs more help and has to move to a more assisted living area, she's in independent living at her retirement community now). When they told her about the move (which happens tomorrow) she said "Oh, I'll talk with my family." Mom and I don't think she really understands that she has no choice and will be moved tomorrow. We're in for a rough time - all of us -as she's going to be super-pissed and we're going to have to deal with moving her into a smaller place.

OK there's more but my mind is mush and I want to go get Kieran from school. Love to all, blog again... eventually.