garrett this month

Sitting where I am at the end of October, I'm realizing that Garrett has been a incredibly busy boy this month. Here's a sampling of what he's been up to:

- He's become very polite. He says please and thank you like it's going out of style. Can I just tell you how endearing it is to hear him say thank you when I open a door for him?

- He has pretty much completed the transition from the crib to his bunk bed (though sometimes we still use the crib as a method of convincing him to stay in his bed after we've tucked him in).

- At least once a day, and often more, he'll sit next to me on the couch and let me read him books. He has lots of favorites, but the one which right now will guarantee to get a good laugh out of him is The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too!

- He's figured out how to break through the child lock on one of the kitchen cupboards and likes to help himself to uncooked spaghetti:

I love how he goes straight past the box of goldfish crackers in favor of the dry pasta. What a weird kid.

- He's talking more. It's a language that very few people can understand, but he speaks it and and uses it to actually communicate what he wants, so I'll take it. A few samples of Garrettese include:

• "Da boo" for that book (as in, read me that book right now or I'll flip out)
  
• "wa" for water, milk, and sometimes juice
  
• "can-ee," for -- you guessed it -- candy
• "boppa," for apple
• "whun," as he holds up one finger to mean he wants one more
• "ite" for turn on or turn off the light, and
• "ee-whun," said in a singsong voice, which, because he says it as he picks up his toys, I'm pretty sure is the "Clean Up Song" he learned in nursery.

- He's also suddenly decided that he likes to talk on the phone. Like actually talk on the phone instead of just holding it up to his ear, grinning, as he listens to whoever's on the other end talk to him. Of course, in order to get him to talk you'll need to prompt him by asking him questions that are sure to get an answer -- things like, "What does the cow say?" Several times a day he'll ask to call either Dad or Grandma. He's usually sitting down next to me when I let him make the phone call, but, just like his father, he prefers pacing around the apartment as he converses.

- He is recently obessesed with things being hot. "Da hot," he'll say pointing to the oven or the radiator or, more frustrating, his food. We never give him a plate of dinner too hot for him to eat (in fact, there are many meals we eat served cold), but no matter what it is or its temperature, he'll hover his hands carefully over it, pronounce it too hot, and then won't touch it again. (I think he's just using this as an excuse to get out of eating something he doesn't want to because he'll inhale a glass of hot chocolate.)

- Speaking of obsessions, his latest VHS favorite is Chicken Run. I love the way he tells me he wants to watch it: he sticks his hands in his armpits, flaps his "wings," and says "run, run, run."

- He has always been interested in our piano, but lately he has taken that interest to a new level -- the level in which he thinks he's actually playing. He's figured out not only how to turn it on, but how to get the demo songs started. Then he'll set some sheet music up on the stand, pull the rocking chair over, and "play."

- Not only did he not flinch for his flu shot, but for the first time in recorded history, he didn't scream during a haircut.


- He climbs on our windowsills, which he knows very well not to do. But of course he does it anyway. I have never been more grateful for the guardrails we have installed on our windows.

- He's learned how to whistle. Well, sort of. He can do it, but it hasn't yet developed into a talent that he can turn on and off at will. In fact, I'm not completely certain that he knows exactly what it is he's doing (see video below -- but watch quick: he only whistles during the first 2 seconds. My favorite is what he does at the end when I ask him to whistle again).

baby, it's cold outside

The weather has turned chilly, and I'm getting ready to hunker down and stay mostly indoors for the winter. Caleb just goes with the flow these days, but I'm not so sure that Garrett feels the same way I do about limiting our excursions in the great outdoors. Which means that I need to find ways to keep him happy and busy within the confines of our small apartment (read: I don't want him watching Chicken Run, his new favorite, over and over all winter long).

I don't have very many natural "preschool teacher" instincts, so creativity in this department is a little challenging for me. For the past few months, I've been keeping my eyes and ears open to different activity ideas that Garrett and I can do together indoors. One of my favorite resources has been my friend, Amy's, Serving Pink Lemonade blog. If you have young children at home, you should check out her great ideas of ways to spend quality time with them. Unfortunately my limited access to craft supplies somewhat inhibits my ability to take on a lot of her fun ideas (though rumor has it that a Michael's just opened up on Manhattan's Upper West Side, making it the first decent craft store in this city that is actually accessible to me, albeit still a bit of a trek from where I live). At any rate, here are some of the project and craft ideas I think we might be able to tackle:

• Make construction paper collages. Yesterday we made one of autumn leaves and hung it up on one of our white kitchen cupboards. Garrett enjoyed gluing the bits of paper so much and was so proud to see his artwork hanging up that I think we'll make more. I'm envisioning pasting face pieces on a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, ornaments on a tree for Christmas, snowflakes for winter, hearts for Valentine's Day, shamrocks for...well, I think you get the idea.
  
• In the same vein, we could glue macaroni on paper plates. My youngest sister once created the life cycle of a butterfly using four different pasta shapes. I always liked that school project of hers; maybe Garrett could make one, too.
  
• Make bean shakers.
  
• Make cereal necklaces. Garrett [sort of] helped my mom make some during her visit. They were more fun for him to eat than to make, but I'm willing to give these a second try.
  
• We could finger paint.
• Or hang butcher paper up on the wall for him to color on.
  
• And then there's always the playdough option, which we could make and then play with. Or we could just buy some and play with that.
  

I'm assuming (or is that hoping?) that there will be some nice-ish days this winter, and on those, if I'm feeling brave enough (public transportation is still incredibly daunting with these two little time bombs I gave birth to), perhaps we could venture on one of these outings:

• The Brooklyn Children's Museum. They have occasional free hours, which is a definite plus.
  
• Or we could go to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. They also have some free hours, though they are more limited.
  
• Garrett loved the Transit Museum, so we could always go back for another visit.
• He also can't seem to get enough of the animal exhibits at the Museum of Natural History.
• If he's being a good boy (and I have a bit of pocket change) we could stop in for a treat at our local cupcake bakery.
• Of course, there's always Storytime at the library every Wednesday.
• If the weather is abnormally decent, we could visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (on a Tuesday, when it's free) and, while we're in the neighborhood, we could take a ride on the carousel in Prospect Park.
• I've always wanted to go to the Museum of the City of New York. They apparently have an ongoing exhibit called New York Toy Stories, which is -- you guessed it -- a collection of toys owned or made by New Yorkers.

Other things I've thought of that we can do while we're puttering around the house:

• The Fisher Price website has free online computer games that Garrett has enjoyed in the past. He always loves an excuse to play on the computer, so I might as well make it educational, right?
  
• Or we could lounge around watching YouTube videos. He LOVES YouTube. It doesn't matter what the video is, he gets a real kick out of sitting on my lap staring at the screen. There seems to be a good supply of Sesame Street segments available to stream.
  
• Building a fort out of blankets kept us occupied on a few cold days last winter, so we'll probably do that again. Only this time it'll be much cooler because we'll have a bunk bed at our disposal.
  
• Garrett loves to work his special magic in the kitchen, so I'm sure some afternoons will be spent baking.

This might be enough to keep us busy for a while. But then again, Garrett's world is incredibly fast paced, so for all I know, this could only get us through mid-December. And so I turn to you, my ever-helpful readers. As far as I'm aware, most, if not all, of you have experience with toddlers, and it is to you that I am going to solicit some brainstorming help.

• Do you have any suggestions of activities I could add to my list?
• What about resources, online or printed, that I coud look to for more ideas?
• And this isn't exactly brainstorming help, but do any of my fellow Brooklynites want to join me in any of the above-listed endeavors? It's more fun to be cooped up inside if you've got good company to be cooped up with.
  

a big day at the doctor's

At Caleb's 2-month well check-up this morning, I learned that, according to the numbers, he is measuring up just fine, having done a healthy amount of growing in the last six weeks. Here are his stats:

Length: 23 3/4 inches (up from 21" at his 2-week appointment)
Weight: 12 lbs 12 oz (up from 8 lbs 11 oz at his 2-week appointment)

Beyond the numbers, however, things got a little more interesting. Not bad, per se; just slightly atypical. To begin with, he does have reflux, though by all accounts it doesn't seem to be as bad as Garrett's was. It does, though, help to explain his colicky fussiness. The doctor said that reflux typically peaks at 4 months, so if it gets any worse in the near future (ie: a marked rise in Caleb's crying), we can put him on an antacid. Caleb is also prone to blocked tear ducts, especially in his left eye. Apparently this translates to an almost guaranteed eye infection every time he gets a cold. So, that'll be fun. If things on that front don't start looking better by the time he's about 9 months old, we'll likely be referred to an opthamologist.

The doctor also confirmed my suspicions that Caleb is both slightly tongue-tied and has a belly button hernia. The hernia is nothing to be too concerned about as in almost all cases it's only a cosmetic issue; it should close up on its own (hopefully sooner rather than later because his belly button seriously grosses me out). As for his tongue, there's no need for intervention yet because it's not hindering his eating. If it poses a problem to his speech down the road, an ENT can clip it at that point.

And then it was time for shots. Caleb was a trooper -- the sort of trooper who screams hysterically when poked, but a trooper nonetheless. Either because it's my second time around watching my newborn get vaccinated, or perhaps because I'm so used to hearing him cry, it was just business as usual from my perspective. In fact, I was phased so little by it that I asked the doctor about a flu shot for Garrett. Five minutes later, Garrett was getting poked as well. For the record, he didn't even flinch, which apparently just goes to show that eventually shots are no big deal. (Caleb, did you hear that?)

So, a big day at the doctor's. Both boys are sleeping off the excitement. Which, now that I think of it, I should be doing the very same thing. It's exhausting hauling two small boys (in the rain) to the doctor's office. I really would rather not have to do this again until the next well check-up. Three cheers for good health!

pumpkin picking

This morning I took the boys out pumpkin picking. Unless you have a car to drive out to a bona fide pumpkin patch, or want to take a long train ride over to Long Island or up to Westchester County, or other such places outside of New York's city limits, picking a pumpkin to carve for Halloween is a somewhat different experience. Instead of hopping between garden rows to find the biggest, roundest, most orange pumpkin available, we hopped between various neighborhood produce stands to find one we liked. Because it is the week of Halloween, the pickings were pretty slim, but that did not deter us, and after a relatively brief search on foot, we found one that was average sized, mostly round, and not too dinged up which we purchased and brought home. Maybe later this week we'll carve it into a jack 'o lantern.

bravo -- but let's wait until next year for the encore

It's over. The first Primary program under my direction is over, and I couldn't be happier. Though the presentation wasn't without its quirks, it was charming nonetheless. (It always is, though, isn't it? Remembering the fact that no matter how imperfectly the program runs, this Sunday is the favorite of the majority of ward members was my saving grace.) Everyone -- leaders and children -- did a wonderful job, and their hard work was very apparent. The Sunbeams stole the show, just like everyone expected them to. My favorite was the daughter of my friend, Melanie, who not only sang loud and clear, but also, because apparently she learned the song lyrics phonetically, with her very own words. It was great.

Now that I've directed the presentation of the annual Primary program, I have a better idea of how to do things next year -- what to change, what to keep the same, how to do things differently so as to make the whole affair a little less stressful. And even though I am glad (read: completely and utterly relieved) that it's all over, I have to admit that I got a little teary-eyed as the children sang the final song. There's nothing quite like hearing children you've grown to love share their testimonies of eternal families through simple and beautiful songs.

for caleb at two months

Dear Caleb,

The time I will have you as a tiny baby is fleeting, and as much as I love watching you grow, it's hard to watch these precious moments disappear into the past. Because I don't want to forget what you are like at two months, here are some things I love about you as you are right now.

What I love most about you these days are your smiles. Over the last few weeks they have evolved from awkward little half smiles to full smiles shared when coaxed and now to big grins given often without prompting whenever you are happy. Though he never asks for them like your dad and I do, your brother Garrett has the talent of making you smile spontaneously, which makes me think that either you think he his a hoot or you love him as much as he loves you. Probably both.

I love to see how your little world has grown as you've developed your ability to focus and follow movement around you. You love to watch people, and when something catches your fancy, you'll stop and stare intently as you soak in everything you can about this new or otherwise interesting object.

I love that you are growing and are, by all accounts, a healthy baby boy. Every day you are stronger and a little less floppy. In fact, you are holding your head up so well that the other day we abandoned the infant insert for the baby carrier in favor of allowing you to ride in it like the big boy you are becoming. You loved it, and cuddled up against my chest and slept as we continued our outing.

And speaking of cuddling, one of my favorite things to do with you is, in the quiet of Garrett's afternoon nap, curl up together on the couch where you, just as tired as your big brother, will fall calmly asleep against my body. Sometimes I will drift off to sleep, too, to the relaxing and rhythmic sounds of your breathing. I love, too, that in the last week you've decided to sleep for longer than short three-hour stretches. Six hours may not be a full night, but it is a beautiful thing in my book.

I don't so much love your colic, but I do love that lately you have had more good moments than bad. It makes me think that if we're not over the hump yet, we're at least perched on top of it. I'm trying my best to enjoy every moment with you, and though the colic makes it difficult sometimes, I do love that it means I get to hold and rock you more than I probably would if you were a calmer, more happy baby.

It is a delicate balancing act to make sure that I divide my attention as fairly as possible between you and Garrett, and I fully realize that it is not easy to be the second child. But I want you to know how much I love you, my sweet Caleb. My world is not complete without you in it.

Love,
Mama

circus act

At two years and nearly four months, Garrett is a full-fledged, certifiable terrible two-year-old. He is into everything and is tornado-like in his ability to tear the house completely apart in a matter of minutes. He is loud and full of boundless (and boisterous) energy. And he can throw a royal tantrum right alongside the best of them. His stubborn nature sometimes makes me feel like I'm attempting to discipline a brick wall, and his mood swings make a pregnant woman's raging hormones look mild in comparison. At the end of a relatively calm day spent with him, my nerves are completely shot, and all I want to do with him is tuck him tightly into bed, close the door, and revel in the next ten Garrett-free hours. There are other days, though, his charmingly sweet and silly sides notwithstanding, that I wish I could pack up my wild thing and send him to the circus. Do you think they'd take him?

the last few days

Blake's sister, Kimberly, blew into town earlier this week, and I don't know how she did it, seeing as she flew in from Texas, but she brought with her New York City's first winter storms. The weather these last few days have been very cold, rainy, and windy -- perfect weather for sightseeing, let me tell you. However, we have managed to have some fun while she's been here. Here's a photo sampling of what we've been up to.

We played with the parachute at the library during story time.


We went for a walk along the promenade (and then devoured some Brooklyn pizza afterward).



We went to the Met (where we saw Vermeer's The Milkmaid, which is visiting the museum on loan).


We took a walk through Central Park.


We helped our good friend Elizabeth celebrate her first birthday (and Garrett helped teach her how to blow out her candle).


And then Garrett taught everyone how to play with Elizabeth's new stacking toy.


In the meantime, Caleb has been doing a lot of smiling.


We've also baked cookies (which, I think, actually bake and taste better as brownies), watched our fair share of internet TV (The Office, 30 Rock, and our new favorites, Community and Modern Family), and went shopping in Herald Square (mostly at Macy's and H&M). We've shown Kimberly a few of the New York ropes, including introducing her to the busy crowds of people with their sometimes aggressive, sometimes incredibly friendly personalities. Most of all, though, we've had a good time. Even if the weather doesn't improve, I'm sure we'll enjoy the rest of Kimberly's visit with us.

a daydream involving meatloaf

Garrett loves meatloaf. Aside from strained pears, which hardly count because they came from a Gerber jar, it was his first favorite food. Tonight as I watched him happily shovel meatloaf into his mouth, my mind wandered to the day, several years from now, when Garrett is picked as Student of the Week in his first grade classroom and asked to make an "about me" poster to hang on the bulletin board designated for spotlighted students.

"Mom, what's my favorite food?" he'll ask me, not because he doesn't know, but because he can't decide.

"You know," I'll tell him, "You've always loved meatloaf."

"Oh yeah!" he'll say as he scurries off to add this aspect of himself to his poster.

And then I'll worry that maybe he should have chosen pizza like all of his classmates do. Because what six-year-old picks meatloaf as their favorite food and then tells the world about it? And I'll think back to the time when my youngest sister, Chelsea, on her Student of the Week poster, claimed ketchup as her favorite food because, according to her, it went with everything (especially macaroni and cheese which, if you'd watch her prepare herself a plate of it, you'd be tempted to ask her if she'd like some macaroni and cheese to go with that ketchup). And she was proud that her favorite food was different, and not pizza like everybody else chose -- until the kids at school started to tease her. Would the kids tease Garrett for loving meatloaf?

My mind snaps back to the present where Garrett, with meatloaf smeared across his cheeks, is grinning at me from across the table. And I think that unless he learns how to aim his fork a little better at his mouth, claiming meatloaf as his favorite food will be the least of his -- or my -- worries.

saturday sandwich

Saturday and Sunday here in the five boroughs was Open House New York, a weekend of free tours of historic and otherwise interesting buildings and sites throughout the city. The more interesting places to visit often require reservations and, because of the general chaos of our current lives, we did not jump on that bandwagon fast enough. However, there were still plenty of neat things to see, including several in Lower Manhattan, which is where we opted to spend our Saturday.

We stopped by two places: Federal Hall, on Wall Street, and the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at the southwest end of Broadway. If our Saturday was a sandwich, then the OHNY portion of it would unfortunately be the less than stellar slices of bread surrounding a chanced upon and slightly more thrilling piece of meat in the middle. Don't get me wrong -- we had fun. We would have had more fun had the promised scheduled behind-the-scenes tours actually taken place, but we still had a good time. But the intial shock and subsequent curiosity of what we happened as we walked between these two building is what, I think, made the trip into the city all the more worth it.

But don't let me get ahead of myself. First part of the sandwich: Federal Hall.


For the uninitiated, Federal Hall is the spot where George Washington gave his first inaugural address as president, and where he served out the first part of his term, while New York City was the capital of the new nation. I'd been here before, but it was Blake's first visit. Sadly, the Bible on which Washington took the oath of office was away on loan, but we still got to see some interesting things, including a small art exhibit housed on the mezzanine level. Though this is the second building to sit on this location, it still boasts an impressive age of 167 years. The original building was constructed at the turn of the 18th century and used as City Hall. Shortly after the American Revolution it was remodeled and relabeled as Federal Hall and used as the Nation's capitol. In 1842 the current building was erected and served as a Customs House.

Which brings us to our second slice of bread: the Custom House.


Around the turn of the 20th century, the Wall Street Customs House was becoming outdated and inadequate, so a new building was built at Bowling Green, at the end of Broadway. It is a lovely structure, and its location at the base of the Hudson River was ideal, as New York City was (and still is) a major port city. Inside, the artwork along the ceiling of the rotunda depicts sailing vessels of all varieties, and the statues outside represent the various nations and continents with whom the United States trades with. The Customs Service moved in the 1970s to the World Trade Center, but after the events of September 11th, their offices scattered throughout the city. From what I could gather, no customs business is held at the Bowling Green building, which now houses the American Indian Smithsonian Musum.

But enough history. Let's get to that juicy meat in the middle. Near the end of our short walk along Broadway from Federal Hall to the Customs House we noticed a large crowd had gathered near the Bull. Everyone was looking up, and, naturally curious, we did, too. This is what we saw:

You might notice between the tree branches, as we did, a man standing on the window ledge. As we watched this guy frantically pacing back and forth, we instinctively thought the worst: this guy was nuts and he was gonna jump. (Disturbing, yes, but this is New York where anything can happen.) After a few minutes of anxious staring, however, we started noticing the giant lights, cameras, and street signs indicating that a movie was being filmed on location. I'm not sure which Hollywood star was suicidal in this particular instance, but later we saw his dummy hanging limply from a crane.

Apparently in the movie Crazy Guy jumps, landing on a hot dog stand. We watched as they made sure that a dropping dummy would indeed land in its intended location.

See? I told you the middle was a little more exciting.

brotherly love

Garrett is fascinated by Caleb and is forever kissing him, patting him on the head, and, no matter how many times I tell him not to, poking him in the eyes. He is never intentionally malicious, but sometimes his love gets a bit aggressive.

Caleb is equally fascinated by his older brother -- and with very good reason. He loves to practice his new skill to focus on and follow people and their movements on Garrett because, my word, that boy is constantly moving. Garrett is also the only one of us who can get Caleb to smile without trying too hard.

I really do love that they love each other.

the sixth five

Just so we're clear, I'm not the rigidly strict killjoy my last post might have made me appear. While I am an organized person who thoroughly enjoys an order to my life, I'm also remarkably flexible. If I wasn't both, I'd go crazy. (And so would my children.)

Now that we're all on the same page, let's get on with the book report, shall we?

26. The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

Ever since I read Winchester's other book, The Professor and the Madman (which was absolutely fascinating), I've been interested the history of the OED. The Meaning of Everything talks about the making of that great dictionary from start to finish, focusing especially on James Murray's time as editor. I thought the book was fascinating, though I could have done without Winchester's long and overly complicated sentences.


27. I Am a Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson

I've had this one on my shelf for a while, and I packed it in my bag for something to read during my hospital stay after Caleb's birth. Yes, it was a totally appropriate book to read for the circumstances. And yes, I chose that one on purpose. I'd read excerpts of this book shortly after its publication in a couple different magazines and enjoyed Johnson's stance on motherhood enough to be interested in reading the rest of what she had to say. For a quick read of the type that one would feel comfortable quoting in a talk for church, it was good.


28. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
29. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
30. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

The rest of my five books this round are more installments in the Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I tell you, these books just keep getting better and better. All the hype for this series is completely well-deserved. The writing is poetic and the storytelling is uplifting, the characters are believable and the situations they find themselves in are humorous, and his descriptions of and devotion to Botswana are lovely and genuine. Don't be too surprised if my next five books are all from this series. I'm hooked.

the method to my [hopelessly organized] madness

When it comes to mundane tasks like balancing the checkbook or preparing Caleb's daily bottles, I'm a girl who likes a good routine, an order that I can count on to always be the same. It's comforting to me, and, because I don't have to think too hard about what I'm doing, affords me the ability to let my mind wander away from the task at hand and onto thoughts that are far more interesting (like mentally drafting future blog posts). And with the creation and regular use of a good system, I can always trust that the job will be done right, just the way I like it to be done, which sets me at ease and keeps my micromanaging stress levels low.

Yesterday was my laundry day, as Tuesdays always are. It's amazing how the amount of dirty linens that collect throughout the week at my house has grown exponentially since Caleb's birth. What was once a large, tiring, time consuming affair is now an even larger, more exhausting, seemingly all day undertaking. And, like many of you, I'm sure, I have more than once wished that I could pass this task onto the able hands of someone else. Of course, if I did that, I would be running the risk of the job not getting done correctly (by which I mean my way). And so if anyone ever gets the crazy idea to volunteer to do my laundry for me, I thought it might be helpful to outline the method to my hopelessly organized madness.


How to Do My Laundry in 21 Uncomplicated Steps

Monday evening

1. Sort dirty clothes into four piles: 1) whites, 2) heavy colors (like pants, towels, blankets, etc), 3) light colors (shirts, baby clothes, etc), and 4) Caleb's formula-stained clothes that need pre-treating. Put the first three piles into the following laundry bags: whites in the small blue bag, heavy colors in the big blue bag, and light colors in the orange bag.

2. Gather up laundry supplies, including quarters, a plastic bag to bring home the wet clothes that will be air dried, and detergents (fill the larger soap container with enough Tide for three loads and the smaller one with enough bleach for one load).

3. Pre-treat Caleb's formula-stained clothes and blankets with cold water and the bar of Fels Naptha. Hang them over a chair to dry until morning.

Tuesday morning

4. Wake up at 6:15. Shower and get ready to head to the laundromat.

5. Gather up remaining dirty linens, including towels from the bathroom and kitchen, clothes worn and dirtied in the last 12 hours, Caleb's pre-treated clothes, and Garrett's dirty blue silky blanket, and sort them into their appropriate laundry bags.

6. Recruit Blake to help haul the heavy laundry bags down the stairs. Load them into the red cart and wheel them down three blocks to Peggy's laundromat.

7. Wait several minutes for Peggy to open her laundromat. (Her sign says she opens at 7:00, but lately it's been more like 7:10.)

8. Load clothes into three washers, one washer for each bag. Try to cram everything into three of the smaller washers, but if necessary, use a medium machine. Close and lock doors.

9. Adjust heat settings: hot for the whites, and cold for both loads of colors.

10. Insert quarters to start machines: $1.75 for small washers and $3.50 for medium washers.

11. When the water begins to run, pour a small amount of detergent into soap dispenser 1 in each machine for the pre-wash cycle.

12. When the pre-wash cycle is over, and new water is running for the wash cycle, divvy out the remaining detergent into soap dispenser 2 in each machine. Pour the bleach into soap dispenser 2 of the machine with the whites.

13. Sit down and read a book for the remaining twenty or so minutes of the wash/rinse/spin cycles.

14. When the washers stop, unload them, one machine at a time, into a rolling basket. While doing so, pull out the clothes which will need to be hung out to air dry at home and drape them over the top bar of the basket. Load the clothes into a dryer.

15. Feed the dryers four quarters each, which will buy approximately 24 minutes of drying time. Make sure that the dryers are set to the highest heat setting (so that they will, in fact, be dry after the 24 minutes).

16. Fold up wet to-be-hung-dried clothes and place in the plastic bag that was packed the night before. Set aside.

17. Sit down and read a book for the remainder of the drying cycle.

18. When the driers stop, load clothes (without folding them) into their assigned laundry bags. Load all bags, including the one with the wet clothes, into the cart and walk home.

19. In between taking care of the needs of the boys, fold clothes on the bed. Starting with the whites, sort them into piles according to what they are, who they belong to and where they get put away. Roll socks as their mates are found and set aside dress shirts. Towels do not need to be folded as they will be hung back up in the bathroom.

20. Put clothes away (in no special order, surprisingly enough).

21. Iron the dress shirts which were set aside during the folding process. (I have a method to the ironing madness, too, but I'll spare you.)


And that, my friends, is how I do my laundry. Stay tuned for guides on How to Wash My Dishes and How To Clean My Bathroom -- you know, for just in case you get the urge to come over and clean my house.*


*Just kidding -- because honestly, I think this has probably been the most boring post I have ever written.

six weeks

And starting to smile.



He's no pro -- yet. But he's well on his way.

It's hard to believe that Caleb is six weeks old already. The time has gone by in a blur for me, with my days running together so hazily that I can hardly tell the difference between the Monday 24 hours ago the Monday a month ago. I am perpetually exhausted and have a headache (resulting both from Caleb's colicky screams and Garrett's high-pitched happy squeals) that just won't go away. And though my daily routines are starting to hint again at normalcy, we've still got a way to go. But I am happy with the state of my life right now and the people who are in it, and that apparently is all I need to keep me going.

le weekend

While my mom was here we managed to keep up an impressively quick pace, filling our time with outings into Manhattan and the further reaches of Brooklyn, errands around the neighborhood, story time at the library, trips to the park, and, of course, regular viewings of Monk episodes as we successfully worked our way through the entire seventh season on DVD. (Thanks to Hulu and the "world wide internet computer web," I'm now working my way through as much of season eight as is available.) After we said our goodbyes on Saturday, life for us did not slow down. Here's a run down of how our weekend kept us busy.

The Ragamuffin Parade

While my mom was riding across the Verrazano Bridge with Eddie, her friendly Egyptian car service driver, en route to the Newark airport, we were staking out a spot on the sidewalk outside our apartment to watch the annual Ragamuffin Parade. Our experience watching it this year was very similar to last year's: we again didn't have enough time to get Garrett (or his brother) into costume, it was raining, and so we opted not to hop into the street to march for a couple blocks. But it was still a lot of fun, and we all enjoyed watching. (Well, Caleb slept through it, but he was there and he was comfortable, so I'm assuming he had a great time, too.)

Street Festival

On Sunday, along the same street the parade was held on -- basically right outside our door -- was the annual street festival. We ventured out to see the sights in between General Conference sessions. Businesses and restaurants located on the avenue spilled out their doors and onto the curb, and visiting vendors set up booths alongside them. It was crowded -- literally thousands of people crammed into about thirty city blocks -- and noisy, with stereos booming and lots of live performances. Because it was Sunday, we weren't going to pull out our wallets and fully participate in the festival, and Garrett was mostly just interested in the glycerin bubbles blowing out from toy bubble guns anyway, so we kept our walk down the avenue short and soon headed home where we pulled out our own bottle of bubbles to blow on our stoop. (And, as usual, Caleb slept through the whole thing.)

General Conference

What with the combination of my mom's departure, a wired toddler, and a colicky newborn, we weren't able to devote ourselves entirely to watching Conference. But what we did catch we thoroughly enjoyed. (We'll brush up on the rest later.) Is it just me, or was there a heavy emphasis during these sessions on the importance of serving others? At any rate, I'm seriously tempted to create a "warm fuzzy" jar for my own Primary.

Zucchini

Since we're in the Eastern Time Zone, General Conference sessions are from 12-2 and 4-6 (instead of two hours earlier like they are on location in Salt Lake City), which means that yesterday I technically didn't have to be showered and ready for the day until noon. I had three zucchinis in the fridge and a few zucchini recipes to try. Blake was home, of course, and was more than happy to bounce Caleb while I went crazy baking in the kitchen. I made an old favorite, zucchini-chocolate chip muffins, for our breakfast, and a new one, chocolate chip oatmeal zucchini cookies. Both were delicious, though the cookies were more involved that I typically like. If you need a way to use up some zucchinis, both of these recipes are worth the effort.

for my mother

I once read somewhere (probably on a Mary Engelbreit greeting card) that a girl's best friend is her mother. When I was growing up, I'm not so sure I would have agreed with that statement. Don't get me wrong -- I wanted to agree, desperately at times. But the relationship I had with my mom, especially during my teenage years, didn't, in my opinion, exactly live up to the greeting card industry. Our bond wasn't necessarily an unstable one; it was just a little awkward, and deep down I had a hunch that once I grew up, married, and had children of my own, there would be more to connect us, more to bring us together.

After spending two weeks with us here in Brooklyn, this afternoon I had to put my mom on a Provo-bound airplane. It was hard to see her go -- and not only because of the extra pair of hands she brought and dutifully used to help care for Garrett and Caleb. I think that what I will miss the most is her company. I felt that, through the time we spent together and the conversations we had, we cultivated a friendship that both of us wanted to grow stronger.

So thanks, Mom, for coming. I needed -- and treasured -- your visit.

today at the central park zoo we...

...played with Rees and Lucy (and also Heather and Auntie Colleen).


...climbed inside giant turtle eggs.


...tried rabbit ears on for size.


...climbed a spider web.


...fearlessly fed the goats.


...watched the polar bear take a swim.


...listened to the Delacorte Music Clock chime children's songs.


...had fun with our cousins!