It’s really a very average day, except that I’m five months pregnant (:-D easily tired, running to the bathroom, and hungry), and getting ready for Mom coming to town tomorrow evening, and Tim going out of town on Sunday.
On returning home from driving Tim to work, Sara Ellen and I kicked her bright pink soccer ball around in our driveway, which is a significantly-sized, paved area servicing 6 2-car garages. We came inside when the lawn mower noise was nearing us, and had some more breakfast (Trader Joe’s plain bagel with pb and jelly). I also began reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time. Sara Ellen actually asked me to read her some of it. I don’t know if it’s familiarity with the Megan Follows videos, or the writing, or both, but I’m already hooked. I finished This Present Darkness yesterday after two days, and I am still trying to get through The Secret Garden. Sara Ellen wanted to play with her little cars on their toy mat, and I sat down to filter through her drawing paper, books, and coloring books. I got rid of the used up books so we can focus on what’s still available. Naturally, when I go through things which have previously been buried, Sara Ellen rediscovers them. Not that this causes a problem, she won’t miss them, and we still have plenty of books to use. I recently bought a new notebook, we have two coloring books that are nearly a year old, and another she received for her birthday.
At lunchtime she watched “Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure”, while I wished CSI had aired last night. As with most shows, there is a winter hiatus, but it aired last week and now won’t air again until February 13. We’re caught up on Hero’s, and apparently LOST starts next week. I watched a couple Hero’s on NBC.com but lately it hasn’t worked for me and, despite Tim’s suggestion, I am not signed up with Hulu. LOST usually comes in just fine on ABC.com. I *did* watch the the iPad video and part of the keynote, but the latter was a too long and I’m sorry to say, not riveting. When Tink was finished, it was barely two and as it’s been so nice recently, I felt like we had to get out. With Sara Ellen’s approval we headed to Palo Alto to visit the Jr. Museum and Zoo. The museum has been the same since we first visited, featuring kid-powered “Clean GREEN Energy Machines”. In this museum, as in the Children’s Discovery, I don’t have to do much. There is either much for Sara Ellen to discover on her own, or she works with other kids and has a grand time. I’m not disengaged, but watching her interact with others, or looking around. The zoo still has most of it’s displays open but is updating it’s bat house (reopening in the spring), and renovating what was something like an aviary for a bobcat run. The very cute bobcat was curled up in a cardboard box right by the window, we didn’t see it much in the warmer months. For some reason, they replaced an owl or other predatory bird with a domestic rabbit and a pigeon?! There is a shady spot (which to my currently sensitive nose was smelly) with four frogs that Sara Ellen enjoys jumping on, she joined two other children in this pursuit. After spending some time here, the other two (fraternal twins – boy [with deep red hair] and girl [with blond hair]) wanted to visit the park which is right next to, but not connected with the museum. Sara Ellen decided to join them but was distracted by the stump labyrinth in front of the museum. The others came out soon after and joined her. They did this for 30-40 minutes. Another boy joined them, and it was quite entertaining watching how each four-year-old claimed their place on the circuit. After a while I worked up my nerve, after asking a few questions, to ask the mother if she’d like to get our kids together another time. We exchanged information and soon after departed. Hooray for more potential local friends (they live in S San Jose, not Palo Alto)!
This evening involves more car play, a bath, and mini meatloaves with green beans. Tomorrow brings Sara Ellen’s final jr combo class at Studio10 Dance (hooray!) and Grandmommy (hooray again!).
It’s a very good question, and I was happy to receive this inquiry from a curious mother whose younger teenage daughter is reading the series. The following is her very thoughtful question and my response. As I include in my answer, you can certainly learn some of the …
That’s what Sara Ellen did today, amazed Mommy. Please enjoy, along with me, her list of achievements.
She did need a little convincing, and by that I mean putting her on it myself, to sit on the toilet this morning. But after that we were dressed and ready to …
I did it, I finally made the decision to toilet train Sara Ellen. I had been planning on, and hoping for some time now that she would decide when she was ready and it would happen. I hoped she would realize diapers were gross, or that all her …
A couple months ago I wrote What I Wish I’d Known Then – My List For Next Time. I listed the things I like to get for a future child based on my experience with Sara Ellen. It’s true I was hiding this pregnancy at the time …
How are we like our parents? Some things are obvious to see; the way we are built, or facial features. Other things are harder to see, the kinds of choices made and how those are influenced by our personalities. Though some folks may look very little like …
The following information is a little more personal than I typically share. However, I feel it is important to share experiences that may be common but may go unshared. And now that we have made public the expectation of our second child in June 2010, I feel free …
Or, Den fjerde fødselsdag. I suppose that’s more appropriate but I have a little French on the brain.
Either way, we celebrated Sara Ellen’s fourth birthday yesterday. It was an amazing party. Sara Ellen woke up to a decorate house. Emily made pancakes. Tim …
Welcome Carnival readers. This post isn’t really new, in fact it’s almost four years old. That is, the linked post I am sharing I wrote of my hospital experience after my daughter was born on December 6, 2005 in Norway.
From October 2004 until March 2006, I was living in …
I welcome myself and you readers back to the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog Carnival of Breastfeeding! Please visit the other participants listed at the end of this post.
My pregnancy, birth, and infancy experience with Sara Ellen was wonderful. There are however, a few things I wish I had known …