New Year

While we do a decent job of spreading out the holidays (we'll be doing Christmas presents with the other side of the family in a couple of days), the tree and lights had to come down last weekend. Meredith was sad to see the tree go and was only partially placated with the idea that now the birds were going to be able to enjoy the Christmas tree outside.

My illness has continued. I've been sick since December 17, and had my first halfway decent day yesterday on the 31st. Two weeks of being sick, much of it bedridden, over the holidays has been no fun--for me or anyone else. Meredith hasn't expressly told me that I was boring, but has been able to communicate the basic idea. Yes, sick parents are pretty boring. Meredith has filled the void by begging to watch TV and by doing her dinosaur puzzle over and over again. The parity between her begging to watch TV and actual viewing is about even.

Tomorrow we're off to Florida for 6 days to be on the Gulf coast. We'll be there with Grandpa Kerry and Grandma Gail, as well as Uncle David and Aunt Olga. It appears we're arriving just in time for a cold spell unfortunately, but at least it looks like we'll miss rain. Of course, even a cold day in Florida is a bit better than the average day in Minnesota in January.

The New Year is almost upon us. 2007 has been pretty momentous for us. We look forward to seeing what fun, adventures, new developments await us in 2008.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! This morning Meredith awoke a few minutes before 7:00 to check to see if Santa had come. Soon, the rest of the house was up and we opened presents. We made some pumpkin waffles and listened to Christmas music. It was a nice relaxing time. Meredith thought it was a good day. She was relieved to hear we'll spend another few days celebrating Christmas by exchanging presents with the other grandparents and keeping the Christmas tree a few more days. I think she's going to be disappointed when it's all over.

A few pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas day...

Pictures: Christmas with family

Despite the hurdles of illness and weather-related traveling woes, we've been able to have a fun holiday so far with family. My parents, Meredith's and Elaine's Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Dave, have come to Minneapolis to spend the holidays with us. Uncle Jesse rode out with them after flying into Green Bay from Arizona. We were also pleased to host the Jensen family. Meredith enjoys playing with her cousins Kayla, Natalya, and especially Zach. Zach is apparently a really cool guy according to Meredith. (I'd concur.) Their mom, Aunt Sonja, drove the five hours each way during questionable road conditions to spend the weekend with us.

Last week, Elaine was sick and Meredith was very sick. I got sick in time for everyone to come and was bedridden for much of the past 4 or 5 days. It's not been fun, but our main hope is to be well by the time we fly to Florida on Jan 1.

Below are some pictures from the past week. It appears upon viewing that Jen probably took a lot of these since she doesn't appear in them. Grandpa Dave escaped the camera this time too. So we'll have to rectify that.

PICTURES

VIDEO

Also, last Friday Meredith's school presented a whole program of holiday songs from the preschool, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes. The below video is one sampling. Apologies for the low production values. The brief moment of darkness in the middle is my attempt to record Elaine's reaction to the singing. Meredith is sitting in the front, middle with a red Nordic sweater.

Grandma Birthday Greetings

A message from Meredith to Grandma Cathy.

Seasons Greetings!

Seasons' Greetings and Warm Wishes for a Joyous 2008!

The Reise Family

Jen, Derek, Elaine and Meredith Reise

Milestones: Sounds and Spelling

As previously reported here, Elaine is moving across the floor of our house. She has mastered the "commando scoot" and gets where she wants to go. Some milestones of the girls...

Elaine (8 1/2 months)

Likes to:

• Grab cords, ribbons, necklaces, the cat, and the computer mouse
• Grab mouths
• Look at pictures in board books
  
• Play peek-a-boo with mommy
• Say "dada" to daddy
• Say "pbbbthm" for mommy

Is learning to:

• Use a sippy cup (still a ways off)
• Wave hello/goodbye
  
• Eat more varieties of soft foods
• Turn pages in board books (often backwards)
  

Elaine has begun to play peek-a-boo with her mom. She will lift the blanket over her own head, and pull it back and wait for us to say "peek-a-boo!" She does this several times with the biggest grin. We also noticed today that she's definitely making a specific sound for her mom. It doesn't really sound like "mama," but one can imagine it as the result of an attempt on the 'M' sound. What is unmistakable is that it is used to refer to her mommy and nothing else.

Meredith (4 1/4 years)

Likes to:

• Draw and tell stories
• Listen to the Beach Boys on the iPod
• Watch "Super Why" on PBS
• Look at books about everything
• Talk to grandparents on the phone and via web-cam

Is learning to:

• Write and sound out words
• Keep dangerous "toys" from her little sister
• Get into the holiday spirit with songs and stories about Santa Claus
• Sort of tell time (a 5 and two zeros on the digital clock is five o'clock)

Meredith recently wanted to spell and write out the word "salmon." (We were putting together our grocery list.) I asked her to sound it out. She decided the first letter was 'S' and wrote that letter down after a few tries. She then, with minimal prompting from me, sounded out the rest of the word correctly with the aid from me telling her that an 'L' was hiding right after the 'A'. She initially thought the last letter was an 'M' but then agreed it must be an 'N.' The end result was the perfectly written word. Several hours later on the way to the store with her mom, she decided to spell the word aloud. The first time she reversed the 'L' and the 'M' but then corrected herself on her own.

This is just the beginning of writing and reading. It is exciting to see Meredith start to put her knowledge together. We'll have a bookworm on our hands before we know it. Even now, Meredith will secretly turn on her bedroom light to look at books. (Sometimes to draw too.)

Meredith is looking forward to Christmas, but it seems she's looking even more forward to seeing both sets of grandparents in the coming weeks. Tonight she told me Santa Claus brings toys to good boys and girls on Christmas Eve and that Santa knows if you are bad or good, but only on Christmas Eve because that is when he is in the sky and able to see you. When I questioned this, she was insistent that Santa can only keep tabs on us during this one day. She's four years old and already she knows better than her dad on every issue she deems.

Now on Google StreetView: Reise Home

Our humble abode is now included on Google Map's StreetView feature. Minneapolis was recently added to this Google feature. They went around, apparently some time last summer, and took pictures of every street. Thankfully, we weren't outside doing anything embarrassing at the time.


View Larger Map

First word?

Last Friday, Elaine may have said her first word. I'm not an objective witness, but it seemed like she called me "dada." Elaine has been making the "dada" verbalization for a while now as an all purpose sound. It has seemed like she has used it in the last few weeks more frequently in my presence and when trying to get my attention. (See the December 10th post for a sample of her verbalization in the second video.)

On Friday, I pick her up after she awakes from her nap. Elaine is drowsy, but looks up at me. She looks up and down my face with an expression of assessment and then blurts out, mater-of-factly, while looking me in the eyes: "Dada!"

Since then, she hasn't done anything quite as clear; it does seem like she is using that verbalization for me with some consistency. We'll see in the coming weeks, but I'm thinking we can call that her first word.

Elaine and the Christmas Tree Hunt

Elaine continues to scoot around. Her favorite destinations are the computer, and cords she can spot, and of course the Christmas tree. It goes without saying that we're really having to keep an eye on her; especially as her speed increases.


The tree that Elaine is enraptured with.


VIDEOS:

Elaine practicing her scoot. Meredith is becoming an archivist.


Going for the tree.

Nutcracker

Meredith has enjoyed the festivities of the season. She enjoys the holiday decorations around our house and all the lights. Her favorite thing is the foot-tall nutcracker we have. She plays with it a lot and even unfortunately gave her sister an accidental bonk on the head with it when she was trying to show it off.

This week I brought Meredith and Elaine to the Nutcracker display at Macy's. It's the first time we have partaken of this big annual deal. They walk you through the story. I tagged along with a couple of groovy parents and kids from my ECFE (Early Childhood and Family Education) class.

Meredith thought the display and story were pretty neat. Though the crowds and lights and noise were a bit too much stimulation. She was also a bit fearful of the large mice that do battle with the toy soldiers. Even so, she was able to relate quite a bit of the story afterwards. It was an interesting experience. They pumped in enough music to remind you that, oh, this is a real, major musical work versus a simple children's story.

By the time we were done with the experience, it was early evening. Jen was able to escape work at the last minute and head over two blocks to meet us for some dinner in the Macy's basement.

PICTURES

In front of a display of rotating "dancers" at the Macy's display


Blurry picture at display


Girls just want to have fun

Fever

Elaine had a fever this weekend. The poor girl just sat and slept in misery. Thankfully, she ate and slept decently, considering. But there was a lot of whimpering and clinginess. Elaine typically doesn't like to be held for very long. But this weekend we couldn't put her down without a pathetic, low-energy wail.

This morning she seems to be mostly better. The weekend has gotten me thinking of the classic song, presented below with the assistance of Animal.





Elaine Video
I try to coax Elaine to say "daddy"



Meredith Video
Meredith explains her book of jokes and drawings to Jen.
Warning: This video contains some brief, 4 year old, potty humor.

States visited

Here are the states Elaine has visited in her first 8 months. Only 43 to go!




Meredith has gotten a little more around (and has been out of the country to Mexico). Here is the seasoned, 4 year-old traveler's map of states visited:



Create your own personalized map of the USA

Let it snow

Last weekend we got our first real snow of the season. Originally, forecasting as much as a full foot of snow, we got about 5 inches in Minneapolis. Still, a good amount when it comes to driving, shoveling, and playing in. We had the good fortune in that the storm came on the weekend, i.e. not during rush hours. (Isn't it funny that there was a time it was called rush hour--without the plural, and that was an accurate description?)

We stayed close to home. During the early part of the snow storm, I ventured to the post office and neighborhood co-op, where I procured our sustainably-grown Christmas tree. Lights were strung up and ornaments placed. I'm happy that I did the outdoor lights the previous week.

Meredith got some good outdoor play in. She played with both Junior and Eleanor outside, shoveling, sledding, and generally goofing around. We went to the mid-sized hill at Matthews Park just a few blocks away. It didn't take Meredith long to get used to and enjoy the high speed downhill sledding. (This often cautious girl volunteered to go down a steep part by herself as soon as we got there.)

Elaine spent the weekend indoors and her movement has exploded. She is on the cusp of crawling. She rolls, she pivots. She lunges. She scoots. She even drags herself with her arms on occasion. She can push her body off the floor. Often, she can get several feet across the room with some effort. What I also find notable is her frustration level. Elaine has generally been a patient and content baby (minus the first few months of colic and acid reflux). But she is clearly getting impatient with her ability to move and get to things she finds interesting. It's as if a light bulb went off above her head and suddenly she realizes what's possible. She certainly has the drive to try to move around that she really didn't have a week ago. But there has been a surplus of whining and crying along the way.


Snow Pictures





Video: Elaine shows her stuff

Happy Birthday Grandparents!

Meredith has a message for Grandma Gail and Grandpa Kerry for this weekend...

Dressing up cats

"Herding cats" is a great, commonly-used metaphor, which is usually apt in its usage. A similar comparison can also be made with dressing babies. They are like dressing up a cat.

Elaine in her greater movement is the squirmiest thing ever! Getting her dressed these days or just changing her diaper is an exercise in speed and coordination. She rolls. She scoots. She lunges. This is from a girl who isn't even crawling yet. Try getting her changed in the dark when sleep deprived at 5:30 AM when her diaper has leaked out for the fifth day in a row adds to the challenge.

So, dressing her is like I imagine dressing a cat would be. I don't think I'll try to put a diaper on the cat to test this theory. As I've stated before in several different contexts, at least babies don't have claws and teeth of cats. Though, Elaine seems to make due with her nails. She recently scraped off a chunk of skin from Meredith's nose.

Apparently, my mom was able to successfully dress up her childhood cat, so maybe I should get some tips from her. The only thing I can think of is growing a couple additional pairs of arms.

Seriously, why do we have only two pairs of arms and hands when we have babies to raise? And how on earth do the poor souls with twins, triplets, etc handle it all with just two arms?

On another note, Elaine turns 8 months today. She's growing up. She's on the verge of crawling. Each day she pushes herself off the ground on all fours more and more. It's at that point she doesn't know what to do. She mainly rocks back and forth before throwing herself in some direction on to her tummy. She's been also rolling her tongue a lot and clucking her tongue. It may or may not be related to teething. We're still looking forward to that first tooth to break through.

Thanksgiving pictures with the Randolph family in Iowa

Thanks to Grandpa Kerry for taking the majority of the pictures. Every event needs a prolific official photographer.

Thanksgiving travels

We traveled to Iowa to spend Thanksgiving this year with members of Jen's family. It was a fun, quick trip with the minimum of travel adventures compacted on the first hours of the journey.

We set off for the 5 1/2 hour journey after 7:00 PM, Wednesday night, having learned that traveling while the girls sleep seems to work best. We had taken a detailed look at the weather and evaluated that the waning snow activity in Iowa did not pose a threat.

Little did we know that there'd be freezing ice on the interstate in Minnesota and that the continuously professional state Department of Transportation wasn't exactly on top of things on the busiest travel day of the year. Finally around 10 PM, they began to salt the roads, an activity reportedly underway across the border for the previous six hours. Of course, by that time we had been sitting in still traffic and had lost a few hours of travel time. Once the salt trucks came through, the road immediately improved and we began to move.

It was during this standing-still period we hear the following from the backseat, where Meredith had been resisting going to sleep:

Meredith: Daddy, I peed in my diaper.
Me: [wearily] You're not wearing a diaper.

Meredith is typically very good about informing us of her bathroom needs well in advance. But the extreme tiredness from school, packing for the trip, playing with friends all evening, and excitement of the trip had its effect. We stopped at a gas station 10 minutes later and Jen ran the girl through the icy wind to get her cleaned up.

An aside: At one point of our journey Meredith informs us of a McDonalds that "That's where chicken McNuggets live." A couple days later she explains how a fisherman catches a salmon and makes it dead, gives it to the grocery store, we buy it, and then we make it "deader" when we cook it. Meredith also asked if we were there yet at the rate of about 20 times an hour. As annoying as that question is, it is pretty frustrating when asked while in stand-still traffic just 30 miles into your cross-state journey. It's also a great question when you take a wrong turn and are lost in rural Iowa after less than 4 hours of sleep.

When we hit Iowa, the roads were perfectly clear, despite the worse weather. I have just about as much pride as a native-born Minnesotan, but compared to our neighbors in Iowa and Wisconsin, our road conditions here are pretty consistently abysmal. Despite the clear roads across the border, we realized that we weren't going to make it all the way and checked into a hotel at 2:00 AM in Waterloo. Elaine awakes at 5:50 AM, and eventually we're back on the road. We make it in time for Thanksgiving dinner in Lost Nation and to witness a Thanksgiving Packer win over the Detroit Lions.

Meredith and Elaine basked in the attention from Grandpa Kerry and Grandma Gail, their great grandparents, also known as Oma and Papa, great aunts and uncles, Jody, Dan, Joylene, and Bill, and Uncle David and Aunt Olga. The next day featured going to Jody and Dan's and seeing their sheep and cats, and a dozen or so distant cousins of varying degrees. Lots of food and fun.

We drove back at night and arrived in Minneapolis at 1:30 AM. The next day involved lots of sleep.

Bon mots from Meredith

Sometimes we forget how truly funny Meredith is. Here are some recent gems Derek has been 'reminding' me to write here:

Meredith asked me one night, "Winnie the Pooh isn't real, is he?" "No," I said. "Why do you think that?" "Because he's never been to our house." (Now you know: our house is the arbiter of all things real! Visit soon!)

We're really into Winnie the Pooh right now, so much so that one night when I was folding laundry, Mer offered to help me "because it would be much more cheerful together." What a sweetie!

On the song "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who (a great rock song), which includes the line, "No one knows what it's like to be the bad man, to be the sad man, behind blue eyes": Meredith confided to me, out of the blue, that "he's saying that no one knows what it's like to be Batman, which makes sense since Batman isn't real." "That's a good point," I said.

-JRR

Trust me

Those with toddlers know that young kids aren't really able to lie. Sometimes they might tell you something wrong because they hope it's true, rather than a deliberate attempt to deceive. As they get older, preschoolers may become more intentional about telling you something they know is not true, but they are so bad at lying, that it doesn't take a trained parent to identify the lie. ("Did you just push your sister?" "ahhhh... no... she just fell down by herself... I was only hugging her... uh um, she needed to be moved...")

We're now entering new territory with Meredith. I had the following potty-related discussion [warning: potty talk ahead] with her this evening:

Meredith steps out of the bathroom and says hi to Elaine while I'm changing her diaper.

ME: Meredith, did you wipe after you went potty?

MER: [with only the slightest hint of a mere possibility of hesitation] Yes. I did.

ME: Really? It doesn't seem you were in their long enough?

MER: No I did. I did wipe.

ME: It's okay if you didn't wipe. All you have to do is go back in there. It's not a big deal. Just please be sure to tell me the truth.

MER: [slightly agitated] No, I did. [pause] Trust me.

ME: [speechless] hmmm...

MER: Daddy, you have to trust me. I did wipe.

ME: Really?

MER: [more agitated] Yes... [but] don't look in the bathroom.

All the way up to this point I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth. This is a new level of sophistication, although the plea not to look shows she doesn't quite have the skill down.

ME: You can't tell me not to look. I'm wondering if you're telling me the truth. It's okay if you didn't wipe, but I need you to be truthful with Daddy.

MER: No! Don't look! Trust me Daddy.

I look.

ME: Okay, it looks like you didn't use toilet paper. I need you to wipe right now. We'll talk more about telling the truth after Elaine goes to bed.

Mer: [She complies, but protests.] Why didn't you trust me? You should trust me when I ask you to!

I of course explain that's not really how trust works, that trust has to be earned with honesty. That if she tells me the truth instead of lies, it will be easier for me to trust her. We put off the rest of the discussion until later.

Her attempts to deceive by telling us not to look or come upstairs has been going on for many months. "Daddy, you shouldn't check on me after I go to bed" very clearly means she's planning to get out of bed and play the moment I'm gone.

The "TRUST ME" thing is brand new and the source is clearly none other than a television show. It's PBS's fault. There's a show that is now her favorite. She's probably watched it 5 total times. It's called "Super Why!" They had a variation of the story of the boy who cried wolf, but with a different lesson. In this version the boy is actually being honest the whole time about seeing the wolf, but the adults don't believe him because they don't see the wolf right away and accuse him of lying. In the end, he pulls out that word like a weapon: "I'm asking you to TRUST me. I'm telling the truth." The adults agree that they should trust him and not dismiss him out of hand, and then they see the wolf. (The wolf, for what it's worth says hello and apologies for disappearing before.)

Even at the time of viewing, Jen and I were concerned that it wasn't the lesson we wanted Meredith to receive. I think the original boy-who-cried-wolf fable does an excellent job of teaching the importance of being trustworthy. You are trusted because you are trustworthy, not simply because you assert that you should be trusted. For Meredith's age, you can leave out the wolf eating all the sheep; but the idea that if you don't tell the truth, people will stop believing or even listening to you. Anyone who has known a social 4 year-old knows that that message would resonate. Nothing seems to upset Meredith more than the feeling she is not being listened to.

The last thing about young kids is how amazing their brains are. Most of the time they seem to not be paying attention to anything. And yet, their brains soak up so much. This five minute segment of a show gave her a whole new (negative) communication approach she was able to use several days later.

Blue moon

This morning a very rare event occurred in our household. It's possible it hasn't happened before and may never happen again. The development I'm talking about is that both Meredith and Elaine slept in!

Yessirree! Elaine woke up for her regular 4:00 AM feeding and went back down after playing in her crib. The whole family sleeps in until about 8:00 AM. What a glorious Saturday! Sleep, sweet sleep! I was so unaccustomed to the experience, I was groggy for the first hour. But groggy in a good mood!

To celebrate the event, we had waffles for breakfast--after 9:00 AM!

The stars must have been aligned. I don't know when this will happen next. We'll just have to await for a terrific surprise one morning. Maybe we can make this day a family holiday and try to repeat it as early as November 10, 2008.

Checkin' in with Elaine

So, what's that Elaine up to these days? She just passed the seven month mark last week and is a thriving, content baby. Her favorite activity is to sit on the floor and play with her toys. She also lunges and twists and turns on the floor to get at things too.

She's crawling towards crawling. She's been in the crawl mode and has scooted herself backwards a couple times. For the first time yesterday, Elaine lifted her body off the ground in the crawl position. In the past, her stomach on the ground has gotten in the way of forward movement. She has now figured out that problem.

Elaine is much more interactive and commutative. She'll try to get your attention and make eye contact and laugh at silly faces. In her room, there is a chime we sometimes ring to distract her. She LOVES it. Recently, we started noticing that she would stare at it, waiting for us to chime it. This week she also stared at it while giving a very specific grunt that I hadn't heard before. I eventually realized it was a command and I rang the chime. Elaine laughed and had an expression of the deepest satisfaction.

The other non-interesting development with implications for me, is that Elaine seems to have transitioned from a 3 to 2 nap day. My whole daily schedule it took weeks to establish is now out the window. Her new schedule isn't all that predictable yet either. Today she slept an uncharacteristic 3 hours in the morning, and maybe a total of 30 minutes over 3 occasions the rest of the day. At least she sleeps well at night. I feel incredibly fortunate every night when she goes to sleep at a reasonable and consistent time. She sleeps until she's hungry (between 4:00 and 6:30am). Usually if it's before 6 am she'll go back to sleep after eating 5 or so ounces. On a couple occasions the last few days, she didn't really go back to sleep and was up for the day at 4:30 am. Those were weary days.

Secret, varied understandings of A Land Before Time

Elly is sick. Poor baby. She is snotty and her eyes are red, has no energy, is easily frustrated, and can't sleep. And she has the most pathetic little sneezes.

Mer and I are a little sick - no energy, low-grade fever, but no cold as such of yet. So between all of that, we took it easy today, and while Derek drove Elly around and around trying to help her sleep, Mer and I watched The Land Before Time.

Mer loves dinosaurs, so Derek thought this would be a good choice. He was unaware of the truly heartwrenching mother-dies-in-an-earthquake scene and the fairly terrifying being-chased-through-a-dark-swamp-by-a-T-Rex scene. Mer and I cuddled and looked away when it got too sad or scary. But after those scenes, when the kid dinos form their own little herd and set off against the big world together, Mer leaned into me and told me matter-of-factly, "They will die soon, too." Why?" I asked, surprised. "Because the dinosaurs all died, Mom," she reminded me. "They're extinct."

They didn't, though; they made it to the one valley that still had green foliage - not to spoil the plot for anyone out there. I'm now wondering if the six sequels to Land Before Time begin to address the issues of overpopulation and overcrowding in the one little valley, with all the dinosaurs in the whole world going there. Or perhaps there is a mass extinction scene, theories about meteors, etc. Somehow I think not.

-JRR

Jen's work bio

Now that Jen has been a licensed attorney for a week, her firm has put up her impressive professional bio on their website here. She just wants you to know that even though her bio has her full name "Jennifer Randolph Reise," she still prefers to be called "Jen." Call her "Jennifer" or "Jenny" and you're liable not to get a response.
There is a PDF link on the page to her "Extended Biography." If I may say so, it's very impressive.

They will soon put her professional headshot on the page, but are still awaiting that from the photographer. She also got her business cards finally this week and I think is starting to feel like a real professional.

So, you've seen it here first!

• Jennifer Randolph Reise, Briggs Associate, Biography

Blog updates and features

Frequent visitors will notice that a few additions have been made to the website.

1. Now there is an easy way for you to include this blog's new entries in the RSS reader of your choice. Basically, if you have a Yahoo! or AOL welcome page, you can click on the relevant button on the right to "subscribe" this blog. New updates would automatically appear in a section on your home page. Internet Explorer and Firefox Mozilla have RSS features that allows you to subscribe to websites, where all the new entries are compiled in one place. You can also do this with Google or the Google Reader, which I use myself.
2. You can elect to subscribe to receive new blog updates via email by clicking on the link. The service is provided by FeedBurner and your information is kept private. The only emails you would receive is subscription confirmation/activation email and email updates for each blog entry. (Currently averaging 10 a month.)
3. This isn't a super new feature, but each entry has the possibility to comment on. Anyone is invited to make comments by clicking the link at the bottom of each entry. We love to hear from you!

That's all for now. If you have any moderately simple ways that this site can be improved, please let me know at derekreise@yahoo.com.

Trick or Treat!

We had a great Halloween this year. It was such a big celebration, we stretched it out over a couple of days. On Tuesday, Meredith went trick-or-treating at Augsburg College with her friends Cate and Frank, Jr. A bunch of the students were handing out candy from their rooms and their were other features, including a haunted house that was too much for the four year-olds. Elaine got a lot of attention in her Tigger costume.

On Halloween, Meredith had a Halloween party at school They made and ate spider cookies. In the late afternoon we went to see a Halloween parade and party at the nearby park. In the evening, Meredith was part of a big group of kids that did the rounds in the immediate blocks with parental escorts. It was so exciting, she was often running from house to house. She ended the evening with an impressive amount of loot. It was a bit chilly, but not too cold for a little warm layer over the costume.

PICTURES

Tigger and the witch


The wonderful thing about Tiggers is that Tiggers are wonderful things.


Meredith and Cate at Augsburg


Trick or treating in the dorm at Augsburg


Elaine and her dad accompanied the trick-or-treating kids. Strangely enough, Elaine didn't seem all that concerned with the spooky mask.

Bona fide

Last Friday Jen was admitted to the Minnesota bar. In what has seemed like a long, convoluted process, she's finally a bona fide attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Minnesota. Her folks came up to see her swearing in/admission ceremony and related festivities, as well as spend lots of fun time with the rest of the family.

We got to take a tour of Meredith's school, played Candyland and Uno, enjoyed fall weather, and went to the Augsburg football game.

PICTURES










After the bar admission at the RiverCentre in St. Paul.











Meredith took the opportunity to go on the field after the Augsburg win to see the players up close.

Yogurt baby

Elaine is a growing girl. It seems like she just had several sleepy days. We wonder if she just went through a growth spurt. She certainly seems stronger and able to move around much better. She's on the verge of crawling. Most of the time Elaine can scoot a couple inches, or pivot, to reach the toy of the moment.

Today, Elaine had yogurt for the first time. She loved it! In the last couple of months she's had rice and oatmeal cereal, pureed veggies, and pureed pears and bananas. With a new food, usually the first day features more grimaces than actual eating. By day 3 on a food, she's eating well. Today, she took right to the yogurt, like it was the best food in the whole wide world.

Fierce creatures

UPDATED! More pictures added below.

This week Grandpa Dave and Grandma Cathy visited. On Thursday, we went to the Underwater Adventures aquarium at the Mall of America. Meredith seemed to particularly enjoy seeing the giant octopus get fed, the sharks, and petting the rays. But best of all was a 2 minute clip from Finding Nemo that we couldn't drag her from.


FIERCE PICTURES

On a pirate ship


A hungry octapus


Petting the rays


"Who me?"



Meredith as a scary monster


The sharks swim above you at Underwater Adventures



Meredith and Grandma Cathy in the shark cage


Pretending to be on a pirate ship


Petting sting rays with Grandpa Dave






Not so fierce. Meredith in her Laura Ingalls Wilder dress; made 30 some years ago by her Great Grandma Carr.

Warding off sickness

Last Saturday, I brought Meredith and Elaine in for flu vaccines. Meredith got the nasal spray version, which she pronounced a worse experience than the shot. Elaine cried loud for about 5 seconds after her shot (literally); and then calmed down in a half-doze.

I explained how everyone in the family was getting flu shots to prevent us from getting that type of illness this year. Meredith remained unconvinced that the vaccine experience was worth the prevention afforded. It probably didn't bolster my case when Meredith up and got sick on Monday. It looks like a 24-hour cold virus thingy. She's staying home today. Thank goodness for the new Madeline videos that arrived in yesterday's mail. She spent a greater part of her morning viewing those treasured cartoons.

Cute pic of the day

This is from last Saturday when we went for a walk along Minnehaha Creek.

Apple pickin' and more

Last Sunday we went to an apple orchard with friends Steve and Ginger and their two girls Sidney and Ceci. We had a great time picking some perfect apples. It was a beautiful day; 80 degrees in October! Meredith also got to ride on a pony for the first time!

This week, Elaine continues with her noises. Most common is now "diht, diht" or "duh, duh." This morning she started making smacking sounds with her lips, suspiciously right after she watched me eat some soup. Elaine spends much of her time on her stomach. She can rotate well and lift herself up. Occasionally, she pushes herself back in a pre-crawl scoot move.

Last night around bedtime, I went downstairs to change the wash. I came up to find no trace of Meredith. I called out to her and searched every room in the house. No luck. I find that the back door is slightly opened. Did she go next door to play with her friends? I check next door, no Meredith there. Returning to the house, I call out Meredith's name with some irritation. A literal "peep" comes from upstairs. It turns out that Meredith was hiding all this time under her bed (which is quite cramped). She was playing hide and seek. We then have a discussion about playing hide and seek only when the other person knows that is what you're doing.

PICTURES

Me wearing a dorky hat (trying to match with Elaine).


Meredith's first pony ride.

bar news

Good news, loyal readers: I passed the bar exam!

The letter finally arrived yesterday. I took the bar 2 1/2 months ago, and had managed to not be too anxious about it until about two weeks ago. But since then it's just been interminable. Derek was even having anxiety dreams that I didn't pass it, or that he didn't pass it. (He did not, of course, take it, but I appreciate the implicit solidarity.) But I did pass, and will be sworn as a Minnesota lawyer at the end of the month. This has been a long journey, and it's pretty exciting to have only a formality left.

Mer was a little confused, but I told her that I "won" the bar - she's very into winning and losing right now - and then she was really excited. I'm glad it's not in fact a winning thing, though. I hope all my friends and classmates did what they had to do and passed.

Long days

It's fall. We're inching towards winter. Daylight is decreasing. Days are getting shorter. Except that they are not. In many ways, today was a typical weekday for us. Elaine awakes a little after 5:30. She needs to eat and have a diaper change. Despite my best efforts, she is up for the day. I'm exhausted because my sleep cycle was messed up by some violent thunderstorms during the night. Jen generously takes over and I get another 45 minutes of sleep.

We rush through the morning routine of getting everyone dressed, fed, caffeinated, and round up the stuff. All four of us pile into the car through pouring rain. We actually get off sort of on time, about 7:40. I drop Jen off at work downtown, then battle some moderate rush-hour traffic to Meredith's school and bring her to her classroom at about 8:20. Today is swimming class at her school. The other Friday highlight is chocolate milk at lunch. I return home with a sleepy Elaine who is no longer asleep once we walk in the house. I proceed to play with and humor the sleep-deprived, cranky six month-old. She finally falls asleep for an early nap after some crying.

Then it's off to pick up Meredith. She gets done at 12:45. But after she plays with her friends outside the school and does a potty break, it's about 1:20 as we drive off. I try to keep Meredith awake in the car with some lively songs, because she often nods off about five minutes from home. I'm successful today, but also miss my window because Meredith does not have any downtime for the rest of the afternoon. Elaine awakes as we get home and is still behind on her sleep. She refuses to eat, but wants to play. Like her older sister (and perhaps her mom and dad), she gets easily frustrated with her toys when she's tired. The girls try to entertain each other, but Meredith is being a bit reckless and needs to be given a timeout from Elaine.

After spending much of the rest of the afternoon trying to have a low-key, quiet time with the girls to head-off disaster, Elaine falls asleep. Meredith takes this an opportunity to be upset about her art project. I then have a victory. Meredith agrees to help me make some homemade pizza for dinner. She is a very good consultant and helper as we make the pizza dough and tomato sauce and plan out the topping options. Elaine awakes after just 20 minutes, but miraculously falls back asleep. Meredith and I finish the construction of the pizza just as Elaine wakes up for good. Hooray! Elaine is in good spirits and finally eats something, including peaches for the second day. We have delicious pizza and Meredith updates me on the social situation at school (who she likes to sit next to at lunch, who isn't nice at lunch, who is having a birthday party). Jen arrives home in time to see Elaine and put her down. And Meredith gets to play with Cate a little bit. I am able to sit in silence for several minutes and clean the kitchen.

It turns out that Meredith did go over to Cate's house without either parent's permission or knowledge. Her disappearance is discovered and resolved very quickly; but we realized we need to work harder on Meredith knowing that she can't just disappear from the house like that--a lesson we thought we had drilled into her skull.

Meredith's pizza-making skills are pretty good. I would recommend her skills to anyone. She patiently helped me spread out the dough (a difficult task for an adult) and dissuaded me from putting on too much cheese. Meredith chose mushrooms and zucchini for her side of the pizza.

Ada adga

We're just cruising along in Minneapolis these days. Fall is making itself present, but we've had some wonderful days. Today was about 80 degrees and I took the girls to the Como Zoo in St. Paul.

Elaine is becoming an active and happy six month-old. She loves to sit and play with her toys. She can't really move from a sitting position down to reach things. When she is on her stomach, she does some pre-crawling motions. She rotates quite well and even did a tinge of backwards scooting yesterday. Another recent development with Elaine is on the verbal side. The diversity of sounds increases and now includes some consonant sounds. Her favorite sound today was something like "ada adga." It's some combination of 'D' or 'G' or 'T' sound. We look forward to the first words in the coming months.

Fall pictures

Last weekend Grandma Gail and Grandpa Kerry visited. We had fun during the short visit. Getting outside a little while it wasn't actively raining and receiving some much appreciated help installing the new dishwasher. (It works!) We documented the weekend with a few pictures.




At Minnehaha Falls Park

Meredith's Brain and Hair

At school Meredith has been learning about how the body works. They've talked about the brain, the heart, blood, lungs, etc. Meredith will tell you that the brain does your thinking for you and "it's always working and never stops, even when you're sleeping."

Meredith talks about her brain as a separate entity. Such as, "Let me ask my brain that question." Tonight she told Grandma Gail, "I will wake up in the morning and my brain will tell me to come downstairs and get you."

Meredith truly loves all things scientific. She's also been discussing how vaccines work and what germs are.

Besides science, Meredith does art projects. Earlier this week while I was tending to Elaine, Meredith used her scissors to cut up paper into tiny confetti pieces all over the first floor. She and I spent about 40 minutes cleaning it up. At least she was a pretty decent helper on the clean up. Today, it was discovered that she used the scissors on her own hair. She cut a couple bunches, several inches long and placed it with her art supplies and toy lunch box. Upon Grandma Gail discovering some hair in her lunch box she was asked why. "That's hair, we should clean it out," Meredith responded matter-of-factly. Where did this hair come from? "Junior?" she suggested. Way to pass the buck!

The scissors were given a time out, one of the most traumatic events in a while. Our challenge now is to impress upon her how unacceptable it is to be her own hair stylist. The damage looks minimal. She appeared to cut from both sides of her head. Fortunately she didn't take a chunk of her bangs, which would have looked wonderful. Meredith also had the good judgment to cut the hair the weekend after the school pictures, versus before.

October pictures of the girls

Meredith all set for school


Elaine gets a good meal from Grandma Cathy




Elaine is already surrounded by playthings


Elaine is probably intently watching her sister