end of the week fatigue

by the end of the week, we are all tired. it seems worse lately. last night R went to sleep at 11. with the coughing and being ill, they have been a little fussy. last night both slept a little better, but not long enough. r was cranky when it was time to get up and go to acrobat class. he could not focus on getting dressed or eating. k was better but still had a bit of whininess. r had an ok acrobat class. we need to keep working on his skills. k had an injury when we got there and was receiving a bandage. she showed it to everyone. her note today said that she is becoming more independent and autonomous. this is nice to hear as the notes early in the week really indicated the opposite. i think this was because she was ill.

today on the way home, she had quite the conversation with us, telling us about her day and who she played with. i play baseball. with griffin. griffin fall down and got owie. "did he get a bandaid?" i don't know.

the evening's highlight was sarah coming. it was quite a balm. we bathed and pajama'ed them before she got here. so they had their dinner, played, and then got ready for bed with her. it seemed to go smoothly. i think the break from us actually calms them down and moves them out of the whiny stage. we all respond better to a little variety, especially when it is in the form of one the gentlest and generous childcare providers ever.

r is still awake. but i am hoping he falls asleep by 10.

hooray for bollywood

everyone was tired in the morning and the kids are sick again with runny noses and coughing. k has it worse. but we are managing. it was quite cold this morning and we found hats for everyone but no mittens for R. k has inherited old ones from R but we had hoped to have new ones for him as well. but everyone was bundled and off to school we went. ruskin was dropped off to go teach and the kids and i marched in.

mostly everyone seemed happy. toddlers was quiet but preschoolers were bustling. i left a note asking that they provide mittens but that somehow was overlooked. r had a good day, making a birthday card for a teacher, playing with friends. k had a sensitive morning. she brought a puzzle to a teacher but wanted the teacher to do it. but molly the head teacher said that she had a terrific afternoon. k and 4 other friends took turns sitting in the cozy coupe and pushing each other around. very sweet. i wish i had seen that!

after i picked up the kids and ruskin, i decided it was time to go celebrate my new book THE BOLLYWOOD READER which arrived in the mail today. R informed me that writing books sounded like a boring job. he also said that he would rather go home and play with his robot than celebrate. well i dragged everybody with me anyway. k was sick and miserable most of the time. r did ok. not exactly a party but nice to celebrate with my family.

the highlight of the rest of the evening was the EPIC conversation that R had with his mama. he talked for more than 20 minutes. he had a ton of things to tell his uncle (who just returned from his first trip as a ROADIE for the band Journey).

all in all a good day i guess. k is sleeping without coughing, propped up on pillows. R and his dad are working on his sleeping. i spent 45 minutes picking up clutter.
tomorrow is another day

brisk weekend

friday night was a return to home with exhausted children. it is the end of the week. both kids are sleep deprived and need to get some extra hours in some where but can't seem to manage. r uses his naps at school to sleep but stays up too late and is tired in the morning. k can't nap at school for very long and has dark circles under her eyes. so it was a night where we barely tolerated each other's neediness and just got through the evening. ms. k also let me know that she misses nani and nana. luckily it was bath night and there was food to be had. but there was a lot of limit testing and resistant behavior. hopefully a good night sleep will help. k had a rough night and kept complaining her legs hurt. she woke up approximately 4-5 times throughout the night; it was very unlike her. growing pains? r gets them all the time, but she does not usually develop them.

saturday morning, k woke up at her usual 8 am. so we headed out to see uncle tom run his half marathon. r slept in so ruskin stayed home. k was very excited to be seeing some of her peeps (people). she chanted masee-tom all the way there. she also mentioned this morning that "mama come my house." we met masee (who was with linda and jerry) and watched all the runners in costume go by. she was a little put off by the crowds. her mood was fine, but she stayed close to me. we saw uncle tom at the finish line. k enjoyed hanging out with masee-tom for a little while and then we headed home. r was finally awake and eating his breakfast when we got there. certainly when you get out of bed at 10:30, things run a little slower. but he certainly was perkier with a good night's sleep. k decided to eat again with her brother. it was decided that he and his dad would do a project and k and i would take care of groceries. somehow we have been utterly depleted and need to restock many basics. k and i had a grand old time shopping. she "helped" by holding her favorite foods. we came back, unpacked, and went up for a nap. she slept 2 hours which was great. when she woke up, ruskin and r had returned so everyone had snack. though we had planned to do other things, it became an evening doing last minute yard work before the anticipated FROST. we got a few things done and then everyone came in and had some dinner. family puzzle time followed while dad started the weekly ritual of roasting our farm veggies. children fell asleep. ruskin and i watched some of the documentary FINAL SOLUTION by rakesh sharma on Godhra and the massacre of muslims in gujarat. it will be required viewing for family members when they have time. i am teaching part of it in my bollywood class. this week we are doing roja, then mr. and mrs. iyer, and finally lagaan in our unit on communalism, hindutva, and nationalism. i am looking forward to it. but watching the documentary was incredibly powerful. it is hard for me to imagine that kind of violence in ahmedabad. and yet it happened. it makes you wonder which of the people that you know would either participate or not protect their neighbors.

sunday was a more mixed day. the kids slept in until about 8:30. r had a tantrum in the morning as he is trying out his new sense of autonomy. we have been hearing things like "i am angry," "don't tell me what to do," and "no i don't want to." it is good in that he does not wilt when he can't/won't do what we want. we will have to help him through his opposition to communicate and discuss. it gets trickier, doesn't it? k and i did more grocery shopping while it snowed. yup it snowed.

both the kids took a nap. everyone got up. some had cheese, some soup, some both. dad's soup -- squash-lentil is incredibly yummy. and dare, i say it, better than our friend jeff's pumpkin lentil soup. off to the basement for play time, then snacks, and bed time.

two pictures

conversation in the car...

R: mom, i am telling jokes. [many silly words]
R: mom, tell me a joke

me: what is black and white and red all over?
R: what?
me: a newspaper -- a newspaper is black and white and you read it.
R: tell me another
me: what is black and white and red all over?
me: a zebra with red paint
R: more mom
me: what is black and white and red all over?
me: a skunk with a fever
R: a skunk and a beaver!

MASEE!

after weeks of deprivation, the kids finally had a dose of masee. their was much joy and celebration. ruskin had to work late so i asked masee if she wanted to come and visit and spend time with the kids. she was was generous and came for the whole evening. the kids were eager to come home once they knew she was going to be there. k wanted to know "where tom? come my house." but alas, mom said he was working. k added, "tom come soon my house." hear that uncle tom?

there was much clamoring for masee's attention: "read this book, blow on my food, wash my hands, etc." at several points masee had one child in her lap and one next to her. after a fair amount of food was consumed and dessert nibbled on, masee, k, and r had some kind of "hide the paper fish" game that involved running all around the house. there were squeals of laughter and much going up and down the stairs. soon masee settled into the recliner and read about hurricanes, weather safety, thomas the tank engine, and magic school bus with r and k. she pj'ed and potty/diaper changed them also. and then departed. ruskin and i sat on the sofa for a whole 10-15 minutes for uninterrupted conversation prior to 9 pm in our own house. what a rare occurrence. nice to have you around masee! the kids were just thrilled. k before going to bed asked again for tom. she said that he was working at home and that we should visit him too.

by the way, yesterday r asked for rocky mama when he heard the phone message. so wherever you are rocky mama, call again when r is home!

apparently r had a good OT. he is a little more comfortable with the idea of being corrected on his writing grip and is eager to be an acrobat. things are still awkward and we have a ways to go but i do see improvement!

mimi and sasha

well we were as puzzled as all of you. ms k often says those words but we had no idea what she was saying. and then the other day, she came to me and said "mommy, you mimi. i sasha." apparently, these are the pretend names that k likes to play. we have no idea where they come from. neither do her teachers. it is rather puzzling. but in k's world, they pop up frequently.

last night was arts and crafts night. r did an OT activity and k made a necklace. tonight was family puzzle time. k and i did 7 wooden puzzles (which she is really good at) again while r and ruskin worked on the body puzzle we had. r needed help (it has about 100 pieces) but it was much fun. k and i joined in and assisted along the way as well.

everyone had a late start today. i was exhausted and since i have had a sore throat , i have been trying to rest. when the kids got to school, k was a little mopey. r was quite calm and even. they were having a difficult conversation at school. one of r's teachers had a miscarriage. it was difficult to discuss with 4-5 year olds who have not much understanding or experience of death. at one level, it is just too abstract and distant. on the other hand, many are curious and wanted to know more, including R. he asked what happened and why. he was definitely curious.

ruskin took the kids to get pumpkins after school. tomorrow we shall carve/draw our jack o lanterns.

gorgeous fall weekend

well coming back is always wonderful. the kids don't seem any bigger to me in two days. but as grandma sue pointed out, they have grown since august. it is amazing to see the spurts and growth. k is more and more her own person. but she also engages you if you sit and talk with her. she loves to do puzzles -- we did about 7 of them last night. r is finally enjoying drawing and arts and crafts. they had a wonderful time with silly james and grandma sue. we can't wait for more guests.

no kids, no blog

well ruskin did not blog while i was away. and since i had no contact with the kiddos, it has been a silent blog. i was happy to see k and r. they have had a wonderful time with sue and james. they are tucked into bed and we are hoping for a lovely day tomorrow to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. wish us luck!

visitors

monday and tuesday were good days. the kids went to school, more or less, in the usual manner. k is just talking and talking. she is also practicing autonomy and bossiness. r is curious and generally cooperative. we had a long awaited bath night on monday that was great fun. r was spelling "words" with his alphabet letters in the tub. k played boat with elmo and ernie. they mostly cooperated.

tuesday brought the great excitement of grandma sue and james visiting. we headed to dinner where the kids sat for 2 hours! wow and were generally really well behaved. ruskin and i had a nice time while the kids played and talked with sue and james.

k pronounced that james is silly. we all agree. i am gone wed-friday in albuquerque for a conference and will be blogging lightly until then. perhaps ruskin will report in about the kids.

it is beautiful in new mexico. the light is gorgeous on the mountains and the desert is stunning. i will miss the kids but am planning on having a fabulous time on my own.

lake superior

life is hard to predict. sometimes it is the beauty that catches you off guard. as i clutched r's fingers, walking down the trail to the waterfall yesterday, through a tunnel of gold, it was perfect. his skin is so soft, and his bones were so small and fragile in my hand. and yet his body and energy leapt and bounced from rock to rock cavorting through the forest to his own story. in each direction on the trail, his imagination made grand narratives out of our adventure (on the way back, dad was a walking and talking plant and he and i were stalking botanists, studying a rare specimen. soon after, every person crossing our path was another plant.)

my daughter's soft eyes and gentle laugh can easily balloon into a full throttle resistance and yell. she oscillates between testing her will and desires against her need to soothe and participate. she is learning that a gentle pat is more welcome. but she knows that a slap is an expression of her frustration and inability to achieve her desire. she loves to be part of the team and eagerly wants to try and anticipate. i see them both as unique and yet can also see both ruskin and i in the mix as well.

both are eager and unjaded. strong, in different ways. the secret to parenting them will be to recognize their differences and individualities and nurture them to grow. to teach k to be strong but not violent. to temper disappointment, be patient, and persevere (at least at 2). to teach r to not internalize and wilt, to dream and imagine, to hold his own without loss of self. i have learned much from parenting them -- how to be patient, to laugh, and to see beauty in so many ways. to find perfection in a moment that i did not expect. we stood on a path and gazed at a cow. the trees blazed around us; the road curved up. we waited for uncle tom, knowing he was just around the corner. the air was cool and fresh. they remind me that i have now. sometimes only now.

nurturing my children's experiences is not always easy. my parents were voracious summer travelers when i was little. as fresh immigrants, we roamed everywhere we could. at least in my memory, there are trips to caves, parks, and other cities. we were not able to do as much after we moved to GA. but that sense of wanting to see and experience has never left me. i try to pass on that excitement about exploration to my children, trying to stack their memories full of these family adventures. i also do it for ruskin. somehow his tendency to retreat into himself or go fix things needs to be countered with a camera handed to him and a forest trail. a spark comes back and you can see him relax. we need more lake superior, more leaves and trails, more trips to the farm, more sailing in our lives.

after only a year in las vegas, rocky mama has been offered an opportunity that seems straight out of his hopes and dreams. he is going on tour as a master electrician. how wonderful. he has worked long and hard for this moment. and in a time of economic downturns and hopelessness comes a small and bright possibility. congratulations and best wishes. may you find it a step in the journey you seek.

congratulations also to masee who worked incredibly hard and submitted an essay to a journal. she is an amazing student and incredibly smart. regardless of whether or not it gets published, her hard work and dedication are ample evidence of her astute intellectual abilities. kudos to you masee for making sacrifices and doing something not easy. i am proud of you.

fall

beauty

before we came home tired, these were some of the highlights

run tom run

our weekend was spent trying to keep up with uncle tom. k and r love their tom... also known as dude.

pics2

day at the farm and navratri

fewer words, more pictures

so it is time to catch up with the photos. hopefully they will speak for themselves. but for those who do not know, we spent the weekend up in ashland, wisconsin watching and cheering on uncle tom in his marathon. ask K likes to say "run faster, dude."

these pics are from ruskin's bday

so much for chipper

poor k and r had odd and tough nights. k coughed herself awake and also could not be calmed. r just had a few difficulties with regulating his water-cycle. too much urine and a great deal of thirst. either way, ruskin had a short night and i had a long one. both were tiring.

k was especially clingy and out of sorts in the morning. r perked up and had a decent OT session. they did some coordination activities as well as discussed termites. the engineers were on the way to the park when i got there. mira was excited to see him. he seemed quite happy to be there. k was contentedly on the playground with shovel and pail so i assume she was feeling better.

i picked r up early to head to the library (on the fourth day -- success). we had a nice time. at school, r was making another butter factory with blocks with his friend riley. we met a cool librarian who had similar concerns about losing the diversity of the holdings of the minneapolis public library due to its merger with the hennepin county system. the city library system is broke and was merged with the richer and larger system of the county. but i think this is a sad occurrence. the minneapolis system has an amazing collection in that it has real holdings and diverse holdings. the hennepin county library strikes me to be the equivalent of a glorified airport bookstore. ok maybe not fair. but the librarian mentioned that there were no copies of the 2008 literature nobel prize winner in the county system (prior to now of course), while the city library system had a good selection. anyway, we also discussed how sad it had been that certain branches had to be shutdown due to budgetary restrictions as well. after our discussion, i almost felt happy to pay our fine!

k and r came home and veggie alphabet soup and grilled cheese sandwich. r ate well and k kind of sketchy. her cold is still clearly bothering her. both were very happy that sarah was there visiting. it was nice. ruskin and i are a little frazzled in getting things together to go out of town but we had a nice time grocery shopping together. books were read, hugs were distributed, and at least one little head is on a pillow resting.

tomorrow we go up north!

even iceland is broke

i made it through some of the debate last night. but it was during the kids' bedtime. again, how can anyone be thinking that palin and mccain should be president? obama was calm, not stellar, but good. and the news that AIG spent 500,000 dollars on a retreat for execs with 23,000 for spa services a few weeks ago, after receiving a 70 million loan seems ludicrous. this is capitalism and the government with no sense of morality.

one more rant, i don't think palin is on the ticket to get hillary voters who are pro-feminist. i think it is to give anti-black voters who are too uncomfortable with obama a way out by saving face (i didn't vote obama, because i wanted to support a woman). this is a white strategy. ok. so clearly i am an "obama mama" and my opinions will continue to trickle in. since i read some of the blogs and have your attention for a few minutes, i might just need to say a few words.

k started coughing last night. she is ok but clearly has a runny nose and cough. poor monkey. she did not eat much but was chipper. r could not sit still for his meal. it was not quite a repeat of last night but his eating was even slower. somehow though i was able to maintain consequences with his actions. i hate to see him feel bad rather than understand the correction. ruskin and i can tell when he can't hear the correction or direction and is just wilting or cringing with his "mistake." nevertheless, he can't seem to listen when it is about sitting and eating. one of the unintended consequences was that he dropped food on the floor and i skidded a good couple feet on his egg this morning. luckily no bones were broken! but boy, was i cranky.

the kids got to school and there were french toast sticks -- these are favorites of the kids. both said good bye without a tear or frown. ruskin did pick up. and the news is that ms. k threw sand at another child. uh-oh. we knew she practiced her anger on us, but had hoped she followed rules at school. she had to be disciplined by her lily which means it was probably doubly hard on the little one. both kids were chipper on the way home. k pointed out how nice it was and that she had a runny nose. she talked about the sun and trees.

we all somehow survived another dinner (with some lovely farm greens) to head out to the library. three strikes were out. we did not make it today as the libraries were closed. sigh. so r, k, and i headed to the grocery store while dad did recycling and dishes. we did a quick trip -- milk and soy sausage. i managed to carry two gallons of milk, grocery bags, and keep the kids safe in the parking lot. once at home, there were baths and then bed time. r was enthusiastically affectionate and gave k and i many hugs and kisses before bed. hopefully k will sleep well as she sounded worse this evening.

gigantic tantrums

one of my colleagues today said that her 2 year old and 4 year old get along splendidly. well that is certainly not the case -- our kids seem to be more oil and water than anything else. everyone was tired this morning and we had a late start. k helped me make cheesy eggs by breaking eggs, adding cottage cheese, and mixing the eggs. everyone ate their eggs with gusto and off we went. drop off with ruskin seemed to go smoothly. ruskin reported getting lots of hugs and kisses from r.

pick up was slow. k was playing in the foyer and waiting for a teacher to get new books. she came over and gave me a hug. but it was clear that she was happy to linger. gone are the days when she is ready to leave immediately. we gathered her things and she spent a few minutes trying to put on her jacket by herself. which she did manage to do. unfortunately 90% of the time she is unsuccessful. yet she is undaunted which is terrific. the hard part is that she will not let anyone help even when it seems clear to me that it is not going to happen. assisting usually creates massive high pitched screaming. the engineers were reading the lorax. it is a long dr seuss book and one of our favorites. so we waited it through. k did some drawing and we hung out. finally everyone got to the car. one of the teachers mentioned that r had made a terrific structure out of blocks during the day -- a factory, more specifically, a butter factory. yup that is my son.

for some reason, either hunger or fatigue, r was fragile and could not comply with rules or expectations tonight. he was incredibly prone to tantrums and had several screaming fits. poor kiddo. he did not manage to eat much. k and dad did a lot of drawing. she really likes arts and crafts.

one is asleep and the other is exhausted but may take awhile to calm down and go to sleep. we can be hopeful that tomorrow will be a different and better day.

owl-bot

everyone woke up and thought "monday." R was happy wearing glow in the dark skeleton pajamas and listening to star wars in the morning. K was sound asleep as her clothes were changed. eventually everyone made it downstairs for breakfast and we headed out the door. it was a cloudy morning that turned into a gorgeous day. once we were in the car, K decided to make an odd noise that sounded something like "oooh oooh" repeatedly. repeatedly -- once in awhile she would stop and say "i make noise." meanwhile r was pretending to be a robot. we decided that K might be an owl-robot or owlbot.

K had a nice drop off. she did some drawing and then was happy to go eat. she was quite enthusiastic about washing her hands and running around. R headed for the volcano book. i ran into mira's grandparents own the way out. i introduced myself as rohan's mom. and they greeted me with much more enthusiasm as mira's best friend rohan's mother." apparently word is out. it is nice to hear that R, riley, and mira are doing so splendidly together.

it was 70 degrees when we picked the kids up -- positively balmy. r, mira, and alexandra walked out together. they were very excited and wound up. he seemed to have had a good day. he played in colored shaving cream (blue in case you were wondering). he actually told us about his day. he reported being covered in shaving cream and really having a great time. k seemed quite happy. she repeatedly stated "mommy, nice day outside." she talked about her day: "I play lily." yes we know.

After dinner, we headed out to the library but ended up at masee's house. as we drove around, k said "nani come soon. nana come soon. mama come soon. see masee-tom soon. grandma sue and james come too." well we can make only one of those happen quickly so we made a stop. Masee and uncle tom were great hosts. they fed the kids ice cream and chocolate syrup, let them draw, and watch the weather channel. much fun was had. by the way, masee-tom's house looks great.

k was in an ornery mood when we got here. she resisted everything. more precisely, she wanted everything on her terms. " i do it." "no pajamas first, brush after." of course, putting on her shirt is not a task she has mastered yet so we sat there and waited for her to try to get it on. eventually i had to step in and despite her protests made it through all the bed time rituals. she was asleep in 3 minutes. ah, to be two again...

new friend and good weekend

this was a busy weekend and too much occurred to fill in all the details. the highlights include:

FRI: R had a terrific day playing with his friends. they were playing underworld/overworld. apparently there is a world underground just like the one up here. we live in overworld i guess. he ran away when i got there so i hung out and talked with one of his teachers. she told me that he is doing well. and we had a terrific conversation about him. meanwhile, our hero was roaring like a lion at the top of his lungs for a good few minutes. his friends, of course, ran away. and when he was finally ready to come to me, he was very sad. "mommy, i want to tell mira and riley something, but they won't come back. you tell uncle jeff to talk to mira." his teacher wendy and i laughed and then asked him if he thought his friends had runaway perhaps because he was roaring so loudly and was kind of scary. he said he didn't think so. k was very proud of her thomas the tank engine tattoo at pick-up. it was a late dinner on friday night and then off to bed because the weekend was jam-packed.

SAT: well it was an early morning in that we were all up around 8. but it still took a bit of effort to get all the kids' food and gear organized to get to the farm. dad was impatient at home while mom kept her cool; and then in the car, we switched around while dad practiced his zen patience and mom got snippy. but mostly everyone was excited to be going to the farm on a beautiful fall day. it could not have been a lovelier day. we arrived in time to cut herbs, eat lunch, and pack bags. all the kids "helped." R and k liked the harvesting of the "flowers" (thyme and parsley). it was a wonderful farm visit with farmer mike and farmer patty. we rolled down a grassy hill. the kids ran around and were free and joyous. as a parent, it was a perfect experience.

the kids came home and did a million arts and crafts projects. made a huge mess, were cooperative, yelled at each other, and ate some dinner. we finally got ready to go out and celebrate navratri and go to the garba. it was about 10 when we left the house, however, when we got to the garba, things looked off. there were two police cars and people leaving. we found out that a 45 year old man had died of a heart attack in front of his family during the aarti (prayer and hymn). we came home -- R got to stay up with masee and uncle tom for a long time and went to bed several hours past his bed time! he was quite pleased. we were disappointed not to make it to a garba this year. but we will try next year.


SUN: K as usual was a punctual and cheery girl in the morning. uncle tom called about watching the marathon and we all managed to get out the door with him around 10 or 10:30. we missed the faster runners in the marathon and did not see our friends. but the kids had a great time hanging out and watching the runners with auntie hot-hot, uncle tom and mom. k had a nice time exploring auntie's house and was quite tired by the end of the visit. r played cars and skipped nap. the highlight of his day was playing with uncle pokey. mike -- a good friend of mom's from college -- was in town for the marathon and came to visit. R stuck to him like glue during entire visit. he decided that uncle pokey, and uncle david by extension, were his friends. i am pleased as punch that my son should develop a special friendship with one of the people mom has admired and loved greatly all her life. we managed to go to dinner with everyone and the kids did all right despite their fatigue. hooray.

back to work tomorrow. it was a terrific weekend. full of highlights and excitement. next weekend we are off to cheer on uncle tom in his marathon. we are warmed up and ready to go!

october already

somehow everyone was exhausted last night. but ruskin slogged away on his work and then fell asleep so soundly that he heard nothing and, more importantly, no one. k had a tough night and was unsettled. everyone was up in the morning, eating cinnamon bread, and out the door to head to school and the acrobat teacher. r did obstacle courses, scootering, and tricycling. he did his best to be a "sneaky" kid. he is very funny, in that he works the therapists, constantly trying to negotiate and get his way. but his way, is often, just a test to see what he can do. it is funny to watch when you are not the target! dad gave him a pine cone on the way to school and R was very excited.

ruskin picked everyone up and we headed to chanhassen to visit the weather station with the MIT alum group. k had no patience for the presentations. and the presentations were rather odd as they were not geared to a science-friendly audience but seemed a little random. k and i spent some nice time outside running around and playing in the grass and rocks. it is starting to look like a beautiful fall. we watched a weather ballon launch that was fun. after that we headed home to eat dinner and do some drawing.

k was tired and fell asleep right away. r was up a little later. ruskin has not emerged yet. saturday sounds nice. sunday might be ok for the marathon. one day until the weekend...

and on his farm, he had some pants

E-I-E-I-O. with a cock a doodle doo here, and a cock a doodle doo there.

like the cycle life is turning out to be, today was a much better day. perhaps the kids just needed a break from us as well. maybe it is because they sense that obama is a head in the polls again and they will not have to live in a republican age in any more.

ruskin and i got to sleep fairly well. i had 3 hours in a row without interruption. k was snuggly last night. it is getting cold so i was glad to keep her warm with me. everyone got dressed in the morning and we had a mild breakfast. the timer was set and food was eaten. today was a little unusual as r had another appt this morning that was during my class time. so first ruskin got dropped off, then k did. then mom and r got to go to the bakery as mom likes to takes treats to her students. today it was donuts. r was thrilled because the bakery had his two favorite things -- cinnamon cookies and cinnamon bread. we bought both 2 dozen donuts, and 2 pieces of foccaccia for the parents. he munched on 1.5 small cookies while i listened to another post-mortem of the presidential debate. by almost everyone's account, mccain did poorly. there was also a discussion about michelle obama and cindy mccain. i had known that cindy mccain was the second wife, but not that mccain had pulled a newt gingrich and left the first one for a younger one after her years of devotion. i also did not know she came from wealth and had had a prescription drug problem where she had used her employees to get drugs. certainly if a black man or woman running for president had that record (or a 17 year old pregnant daughter) that there would not be much more fallout. the racist double standard seems so obvious to some. hard to imagine how any one likes mccain or palin after this week of silliness. this is the man who kept insisting the economy was just fine.

we then went to my class where r entertained himself at first by sitting in the middle of an art installation and looking for "treasures" (aka dried up grass) among the rocks in the art piece. he then went into my class and drew on the whiteboard. he also talked to the students, introducing himself, telling how old he is, and spelling his name. we then met daddy to go to the appt with the doctor. we got a few more useful things out of this appt. we stated that the tantrums have decreased, the guilt and self blame increased. we also talked about our concerns about social skills (yes yes we need to have more playdates). all in all it was a fine session. i went back to class and r wheedled more cookies out of unknowing daddy.

dad had a late meeting so i did pickup. i got a running hug from r which was rare and nice. he and his friends were playing overworld (which is like underworld except not underground for those of you who did not know). some imagination my kiddo!

the ride home was mostly good. k is in a totally two and contrarian state of being. r cannot handle her bossiness or her opposition. kind of funny if you don't live with it! r sang us his version of old mcdonald which included rhinos, hippos, a fence, and the pants mentioned above...

we set the timer at dinner and everyone managed to eat together without much straggling. k finished first and started having a hard time. she came and sat on my lap and then proceeded to eat mommy's "ketchup soup." apparently it was good and she seemed content to eat and be messy. r drew letters on the table with his fingers. his control was terrific. we could make out his letters just fine. good to know that he is learning his letters and then perhaps if we keep going with the writing/drawing/fine motor, he will get there. since everyone finished their food in a timely manner, r and ruskin got to do an art project. mom and k got to go to the grocery store.

both kids had baths and made bubble mustaches, beards and other body parts. they were pretty cute and sweet today.
tomorrow we got to the weather station!