Hand Me Downs

It's that time of year again, time to head on over to the spare bedroom to fish out Leila's old hand-me-downs for Sabina's seasonal wardrobe. I pick up piece after piece, memories flashing by... what Leila was doing when she wore this... I think I have a picture of her wearing that the summer after Sabina was born. Sabina is that age now, meaning that more time has passed and they haven't stopped growing for a minute. I pack up last season's clothes that they have both outgrown, and I finish with a lump in my throat. The lump will stay there for a few more hours at least, and it will dissipate as I get caught up in our routine and our daily activities, until it's time to migrate the next season of clothes into the guest bedroom.

Buddies

Melts my heart.

Potty Training

Who says it can't be fun?
Now if we can just get something to actually
make it in there....
Maybe there are just too many distractions?

We're Back

It's been two months, and not a peep from me. Not that there hasn't been anything to report. On the contrary, there has been plenty:

• A 36 hour hospitalization followed by a weekend of home-administered oxygen for Sabina. This entailed her being tethered by a 25 foot tube to an oxygen tank. A fully energetic almost-2-year-old and a 25 foot tether don't mix.
• We now officially have a two-year-old.
• We have now been married for 10 years.
• Sabina has had at least four colds since the hospitalization, two of which warranted the nebulizer, one of which Kevin caught twice, the same of which I caught that then resulted in a sinus infection. Leila has barely been affected.
• We are now officially mainstream-- We have seen "Twilight".
  

So now we are up to date. Next time it won't be so long.

A Cultural Heritage Dish

Next week the girls' school is hosting a school-wide potluck. I have 2 issues with this.

First of all, I personally have forgotten how to cook anything interesting or fancy that I would be proud to share with people outside our immediate family (excluding the holiday staples-- I have those down). During the work week, if it takes more than 30 minutes to cook, it is off the menu for dinner. That limits us to about 4 different meals, and leftovers, repeats, or take out the rest of the week. I am sure there are other options that if I got efficient enough at cooking, would also be less than 30 minutes. The problem there, is that it would require enough practice to get it under 30 minutes, which implies there would be some first attempts where it would exceed the time threshold. Did I also mention our meal must be gluten free or have a gluten free alternative unless unspoken allergy sufferer is feeling good and is willing to suffer whatever consequences there might be? That greatly reduces the options.

Secondly, the potluck announcement flyer says "Bring a dish that represents your family's cultural heritage!" Are you sure about that? Let's see... what would really represent my family's cultural heritage?

• Pinto beans and cornbread
• Tomato (mater) soup and saltines and/or cornbread
• Biscuits and tomato gravy and/or molasses and butter
• Cornbread and milk
• The old faithful -- spinach casserole

And on Kevin's side, the one recipe I have from his mom is.... cornbread. (Sorry, I am not frying chicken, I don't care how good it is.)

Now don't get me wrong-- I love my cultural heritage and I love every item on that list, but I am not sure other participants attending the potluck would appreciate a plate of biscuits and gravy, or a pan of cornbread, which seems to be the dominant theme above. And I have already played the spinach casserole card.

So what's a girl to do? Maybe it's time for some Holiday Cake.

Stick-Out Booty

We were fortunate enough to have our first conversation with Leila the other night about how boys and girls are different. (Bath time is so adventurous.)
Leila: Why don't boys have to sit down to go potty?
Kevin: Well they do when they go poop (nice evasion, Kevin).
L: But when they go pee they don't.
K: Well, boys are able to aim where they want their pee to go. Girls can't.
L: Why?
M: Well, because girls don't have a pointy pee pee.
L: Oh, because they don't have a stick-out booty?

First Bubbles

One of the joys of being a parent is to witness and experience "firsts", be it their first birthday party, first Christmas, first lost tooth (not yet). I was able to witness Sabina's first bubbles. I was giving her a bath, and watched as Sabina looked down into the water, created a lurching sound with her bottom, followed by several bubbles trickling up to the surface. She looked at me and grinned in disbelief, and proceeded to do it again. And then again. I began looking for floaters but fortunately, nothing. Harmless entertainment. Ah, the joys of being a parent.