My Mother, the Vandal

My mom put a "p" on the light switch with a marker. I'm sure it stands
for "porch."

To know my mom is to love her, and to love her is to accept that she
writes on everything with a sharpie. You can't get mad at her because
most of the time it's reasonable markings and conveys useful
information. She writes the dates she bought them on her appliances
and The dates when she made a recipe and notes how it came out. She
will write your name on your property for you, whether you wanted it
labeled or not.
Occasionally she labels something that I wish had been kept pristine,
but mostly I'm just grateful for the lessons on sharing important
information in writing, dating every piece of paper you ever write on,
and "If you value it, put your name it." Property she values and has
labeled includes (but is not limited to): electronics, pillows, camp
chairs, coolers, pans, shovels, strollers, buckets, books and charging
cables. If you can't write directly on something, use a luggage tag.
I have my diaper bag, camera bag, and stroller labeled this way. I
bought an engraved tag on eBay (a small pet tag) to attach to Nick's
newest stethoscope (bought to replace a missing stethoscope).

"If you value it, put your name it," will be put on her headstone some
day. But it's true. This week I found out that Nick had recovered our
stethoscope that had been missing for months. He was able to get it
back in part because he could say, "This is mine, it has my name on
it." You really can't stop thieves, but honest people can't get
something back to you unless you've put your name and number on it.
Anything you lend to someone should be marked.

Keep the information where you can use it. Today I picked up our
minivan after it spent nearly two weeks at a body shop. They must
have disconnected the battery, because the radio wouldn't work until
I put a security code in it. If you don't know the code, you have to
pay the dealership to put it in. While stopped for a train, I pulled
the users manual from the glove box- my mom had written the code
inside. I listened to NPR the rest if the way home.

Thanks, mom!

Tempus Fugit

My, how time flies. 

Nick has just started his third rotation of his second year of residency.  Two nights ago we were all in by at 9:15, but at 9:16 Nick's phone rang calling him to a North Suburb hospital for a pediatric surgery.  He got home at 1:30 in the morning, and left again about 5:30.  He just finished a rotation at the burn unit at Loyola.  He really liked his time there.

Georgia is just about three months old.  Incredible!  She rolls from back to front like a champ, throws up on everything, and smiles a lot.

Henry is using a lot of full sentences.  He is getting more jealous of Georgia's stuff and is constantly taking away her blankets and rattles.

My daily picture blog is now a year old.  I have posted a picture for every day, though sometimes I wait a little while to post them.  Most the pictures are bad iPhone pictures, but the journal aspect of the project has been really nice for me.  I looked back at several months of activities in just a few minutes.

I'm still behind on everything.  I haven't sent out birth announcements, and wondering if I've waited this long, should I just wait for Christmas Cards?  Also, I haven't been productive at all in my church calling, Primary secretary, but I'm going to dive back in this week and start to be helpful.

Before The Trauma Set In

This picture is a year old, before bath time became akin to torture. For the last eight months, every time I bathe him, I think my neighbor's might call DCFS because of all his screaming. He starts shrieking the instant he realizes the bath is coming, and doesn't stop until he's dressed.
Any suggestions out there for things I may not have tried to make it less traumatic for both of us?
Things tried include toys, varying water temperatures, bribery, bathing with him, showers (big failure there), and bubbles. I am hoping that someone out there has a panacea.

A Few Things to Remember

Henry and Georgia are changing so quickly, there are a few things I want to remember about how they are right now. 
Georgia is growing quickly.  I think she's close to 11 pounds now.  I've had to put away some of her 0-3 month clothes but most still fit.  She smiles now.  She is much more laid back and cries much less than Henry did, and probably less than he does now too.  I didn't realize he was a relatively hard baby until I had her to compare.  She's over her baby acne, her eyes are a non-descript hazel color.  She has nice eye lashes but not as impressive as Henry's.  She sleeps for a good five or six hour stretch at night, but unfortunately the stretch doesn't begin until about 1:00 or 2:00 AM.  She takes a power nap about ten at night, then wakes up and wants to be held for a couple of hours.  But when she finally gets back to sleep, we both get some good rest. 
She likes a binkie.  She hates to be swaddled.  She likes to sleep with her hands above her shoulders, and demands that her legs be free to kick.  She likes her swing a lot.  When I'm desperate for her to sleep, say around 1:30 AM, I ignore all the baby book advice and put her in the swing and let her fall asleep.  Whatever it's costing me in batteries, it's worth it (and we're still on her first set of Duracells.)

Henry's vocabulary is exploding every day.  He is constantly saying things that leave me wondering where he learned that.  It's a little more difficult to put his skin medications on as he's fighting me and screaming, "Just stop it, mom. Stop it!"  General crying is far easier to ignore that specific instructions.  He loves showing off all the words he knows as we read books.  He loves to point to the pictures and tell me what it is. 
He can follow simple instructions, when he chooses to.  We now send him to grab something from another room or pick something up.  He gets distracted sometimes, but often completes the task.  He loves to do puzzles, and I think it will be very few years before he's better at it than I am.  (I'm not good at puzzles, but he seems to have aptitude.)

Photo by Jo Ellen

He loves to push things around.  His shopping cart continues to get pushed from one end of the house to the other.  When we're outside, he pushes a Tonka fire truck from one end of the sidewalk to the other, over and over and over again.  It seems the only time he deviates from his  path is to chase the dog with it.  He still ends up in time out for harassing the dog almost daily.  They also play nicely together a lot. 
Henry loves books.  His favorite right now is A Mouse in the House by Henrietta.  We read it and find the hidden mouse on each page at least once every day.  I just ordered the sequel.  He also loves Thomas the Tank Engine Books, and really any book.  He always manages to talk me into reading a few extra ones at nap time and bed time.
When he says "my turn," he really means, "Give that to me, and you're never going to get it back."  He's pretty good at consistently saying thank you.  He can't say "Henry" understandably, but is very clear saying "Georgia."
Right after Georgia was born and we had a month of guests, I was very frustrated at every turn with Henry.  He was constantly telling me no and fighting every thing all the time.  Now that we're settled into our new normal, he's much more pleasant and agreeable.  Elements of the terrible two's are still visible, but I'm no longer tempted to exchange him for a different model.

Trying to Find Religion

Without Nick, church was not really smooth sailing when I had one kid, and adding a second has not made it any easier.  Getting ready is the hard part. I swear the two kids are conspiring against me since they know they have me outnumbered. When I woke up this morning, I knew we'd be a little late. We ended up being an hour and a half late.
Girls are harder to get ready because there's pressure to make sure their outfit matches and there's accessories involved. Boys are harder to get ready because after you get them dressed you turn your back for a second and suddenly they have no shirt, socks or shoes on anymore.

Henry didn't exactly sit still, or be quiet, but he wasn't terrible.  Georgia has needs, but is completely reasonable.  The bottom picture is Henry rolling all over the floor of the Mother's Room. This is after he was using the diaper pail as a drum.

Urban Wildlife

Henry, Georgia, and I went to a missionary's open house tonight.  Henry had a lot of fun running around with bigger boys in the backyard.  When we went inside, I was a little anxious that he was going to break something.  Georgia stayed in her car seat for awhile.  When she fussed, a member of the ward graciously held her for me, while I continued to chase Henry around.  I should have brought the monkey leash.

I was talking to someone who asked me if Georgia was difficult.  I described her very pleasant personality and explained that Henry was actually the harder one to care for right now.  Being two-and-a-half is a very dangerous time in his life.  He can climb up anything, open nearly everything, but has absolutely no judgment.  The man's reply was a perfect summary of Henry, "so it's kind of like living with a raccoon."

Does he need a rabies shot?

Georgia's First Weeks

Georgia at about Five Weeks

We've had a great six weeks since Georgia was born.  This blog post is intended to fill in the gaps left by our daily picture blog, http://kickjohnson.blogspot.com.  

Four the first month of Georgia's life, we had family staying with us almost every night. We had a steady stream of visitors from moments after we came home from the hospital at 9:00 PM on Friday night. My parents were first (here five days) followed two hours later by Harry & Lucy (36 hours). Patti and Stan arrived in the area that same night, but didn't come over from their hotel until the next morning, and they went back to STL on Tuesday.  The best visitor was Nicholas.  He worked a thirty hour shift that Sunday, but then started a nearly two week paternity leave.  (He would like to thank liberal politics and gender equality for making this possible.)  We didn't think something like this could happen, so we're very grateful that it worked out the way it did.

Harry and Lucy ended up driving the old, faithful '92 Honda, with its single working door, back to Utah via Mt Rushmore and Devils Tower. The night before they left, Harry went to Walmart and bought an oil change kit, window tinting (which they applied to the outside of the car for easy removal upon arriving in Utah) and new wiper blades. We all knew it had no radio, but we were sad when they discovered miles into the trip that the air conditioning had died. Fortunately it was unseasonably cool so no one melted.

Since Georgia is the first granddaughter, everyone went a little nuts shopping for clothing and accessories that did not have dinosaurs, heavy equipment, vehicles or sports on them. During our day in the hospital (we were there about 27 hours total), Nick ran back to the house to take care of a few things, like the dog for instance. On his way back, he stopped at Babies R Us and bought her several pink things, including a ridiculously expensive dress. Just FYI, my standard for a ridiculous newborn dress costs $30. My mom and Aunt Patti went shopping and each came back with new clothes for Georgia. Family bought her clothes, neighbors brought things, and friends gave things. I've been amazed at how generous people have been to us. She has so many cute clothes, that even though she goes through several outfits a day, she always looks fabulous.

A day after my parents left, my sister Katie came for 36 hours. About 36 hours after her departure, my brother Dallas, his wife Shannon, and their three boys arrived here by car via Mt Rushmore and Devils Tower, and most importantly West Des Moines, Iowa. With them, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, and briefly visited a Parish Festival where Maggie Speaks was playing. I just kept Georgia in her car seat and so no one breathed on her or touched her.  See Dallas's blog for a much more exciting summary of their visit.

The day after they left, Nick's mom and sister came, bringing with them cute things for Georgia and a present for Henry.  Debbie even made Georgia a beautiful crocheted dress.  We all visited the art museum and Millennium Park on that Saturday, then that evening, Debbie and Samantha watched Henry while Nick and I attended the Residency Graduation Dinner, with Georgia along for the ride.  I was a little nervous taking Georgia to a rather formal event, but she stayed underneath the table in her car seat without making a peep.  People were very surprised at the end of the night to find out she had been there the whole time, wearing her ridiculously expensive dress.  Nick received an award for being the best resident teacher, as chosen by the medical students who rotated through surgery this year.

On Monday, he went back to work and the rest of us headed to the Happiest Place on Earth [for Nerds], the Museum of Science and Industry.  It's so big and wonderful, I still haven't seen all of it.  Debbie and Sami left that evening, and about 24 hours later, my Aunt Jo Ellen, aka Toots, arrived for her two week visit.