Riley and Avery

So today's been a pretty busy day. Cleaning, cooking, grocery chopping, and the like. Avery has developed quite the preference for the ring sling, although I prefer the mei tai. So we were grocery shopping and Avery fell asleep in the sling, which was a little strange because it was still pretty early in the morning. Then she continued to sleep in the car, and when we got home, she still slept. She woke up all sweaty, and I thought it was because I had let her sleep in her fleece jacket. So I took it off of her when she woke up, hoping that she just needed to wander around a little to get back to a normal temperature. She just wanted to cling to me. So we had more errands to do, and she fell asleep then too, and continued to sleep when we got home. When she woke up, I saw it: the red-cheeked, catatonic, glassy-eyed stare of a feverish child. She is just content to be held and cuddled, blankly staring off into space. Her temp is a little over 102 right now, but I'm not going to give her anything for it unless it gets a little higher. Her little body needs the heat to fight off whatever bug she's picked up. But if Rudi asks, tell him that I gave her some Tylenol...

So I've woken up with a crick in my neck for the past few nights, and it gets worse every morning. Now its halfway down my back as well. I try to sleep as normally as possible, but I'm sure sometime in the night, while still asleep, I roll over to nurse Avery and sleep on my neck funny. Of course, it's made worse by Avery insisting on being in the ring sling rather than the mei tai. And I'm a complete retard when it comes to puting the sling on my other shoulder. I just can't do it. And as I was going to the movie theater box office to buy Rudi a gift certificate, Riley insisted on being carried in the ring sling, so I was carrying both of them. And I tell you what, with Avery being sick she'll probably nurse all night long and my crick will be worse than ever tomorrow morning. Ah, the life of a mother...

I think Riley is going to be a contortionist when she grows up. She has an uncanny ability to squeeze herself into small spaces.

Oh, Avery cries...will download pictures tomorrow!

So we all (minus Rudi) got in the car to take Riley to school yesterday and when we arrived at the abandoned school, I realize that it's spring break. Oh well...How come I never know these things? Like MLK Day when I took Riley to school and found it closed. Argh...and it's not like the school is just down the street. It's a 20+ minute drive.

Then we went to try and find some shoes for Avery that have hard soles for after it's rained and such. Well, the kid is a perfect size 4, and toddler shoes start at a size 5. So I was looking for a 5 and they were all so clunky. I wanted to go to the Stride-Rite store but they were closed on Mondays. So, no shoes yet. But Riley found a pair of light-up sandals that she likes as long as they're not on her feet. I don't think they're comfortable because her feet are so narrow, the velcro closures don't close tight enough.

Then we went home and Rudi was up and ready to go to Einstein Bros. Bagels, so I decided that we would all tag along and go with him, after which we went to the Humane Society to see if we could adopt a rabbit or guinea pig. They didn't have any guinea pigs at the moment, but they had four rabbits, none of which would really fit our family. They had an adorable mini lop, but it was male, and I've never owned a male rabbit (I hear they spray) and the lady said it was timid, so not really good for children. They had an ENORMOUS lop named Lola. I swear, if Avery curled up she would have been smaller than this rabbit. I didn't think we could find a cage large enough to house such a large rabbit. Riley said "rabbits are nice, but guinea pigs are more better!" So we left.

Then we went home for a while and then off again for Riley's dentist appointment. Riley was a real champ. And the hygenist was absolutely phenomenal with her. Riley sat in the dentists chair by herself and I sat in a chair by her feet. She didn't even look my way, she was so involved with the hygenist. They said that she has really deep grooves in her molars with a little discoloration, but no cavities.

Then we went to Petco and bought Riley a guinea pig. A little one with a white face, a black butt and brown in between. Really adorable and calm. Riley named her Rosie. I tried to persuade her to name her Freya, since that's pretty much my favorite name and somehow I didn't name either child Freya, but Riley just laughed. So maybe it's a strange name, so what? Avery absolutely adores her and is pretty gentle when she pets her, it's just the excited growling that Avery makes whenever she sees any animal, and the clamoring over me she does to get to the pig that makes me scared she'll crush her. So far I've been trying to limit the contact until the pig becomes more acclaimated to her new home. I've held her a few times while the girls petted her, and Riley held her once. She did a really great job holding her. So we finally have a pet again (no offense Roxy, but you're a lizard). I've always been a pet person...Oh, Riley loves this pig so much. Now I understand why parents sneek to replace a lost pet instead of telling children the truth. Knock on wood.

Speaking of Roxy, I think she's dying. Don't tell Rudi. She keeps shedding and shedding and shedding, but the old skin never comes off of her eyes, so her eyes are caked shut with months of failed shedding, so she can't see the crickets to eat, and only occasionally does one happen across her mouth for her to eat. I thought these lizards were supposed to live for a while, but I think she was already full grown when we got her almost five years ago. Hmmm...time will tell. I just hope she's not suffering.

The television debacle is over for now, and without buying a television. I really don't understand it. It's like Rudi isn't happy unless he's unhappy. He wants to play the martyr. So he resigned himself to not being able to afford the TV of his dreams, so I suggested taking Amy up on the offer of the 26" TV if Scott gets it. He says it would be too expensive to ship (duh-a lot less than buying one!) and it would probably get broken during shipping (does he think the TVs are made at Walmart and never shipped anywhere?). I told him we could insure the package and inspect it upon arrival and all would be well. But no, he wants to be nailed to the cross...then let me get the hammer.

Last night Avery was nursing to sleep when she suddenly rolls away from me and looks in the other direction and starts saying "me me me me me me" about two dozen times. Then when she finally got it right, she looked at me and said "mommy." It was so cute that she practiced it to herself and when she got it right, she said "mommy." She'd only said "ma" up to this point. How adorable. She just had to practice the second syllable.

Oh, neat, titles!

Blogger is being completely ridiculous. I've tried to upload pictures three times and nothing...Argh! I've been online too long and will try again later...

We went to Monsters Inc On Ice last night. Riley had an absolute blast! Our seats were a lot better than I thought they'd be. Actually, they were downright awesome seats. At first, Riley said "I'm not so sure about this..." she said that she's not scared of the monsters in the movie but she might be scared of them in real life. But as soon as the music and lights started, she was bopping around and dancing and clapping. It helped that they children were supposed to scream as loud as they could whenever the bad guy appeared. She definitely liked that. And Rudi and Avery were absolutely fine while we were gone. Of course, we spent way too much money on dumb stuff, but I remember going to ice shows and circuses when I was a kid and I know how special it is, so I endulged her. Then when as we were leaving, she started bawling about how she didn't want to leave, how she wanted to stay, and why isn't it a house, and what would Daddy and Avery say if we lived here. Everyone passing by thought it was cute, not me.

Riley fell asleep in the car on the way home from the show, not surprisingly since it was 10 o'clock. Now I understand the effects of overstimulation on a preschooler's sleep. She first woke at midnight, asking questions about the show, and would sleep for maybe fifteen minutes and wake up and ask more questions. Oh, it was a horrible night, although I don't think I lost my temper too bad. I was pretty nice about it, if you ask me.

On another note, I am counting how many times I'm asked "why" today. Let's see, we got up at 7:30 am, it's now 9:50 am, and I've been asked "why" 36 times so far. I think we might make a world record. And I'm not counting the "where" and "what" questions that I hear probably about as much. The questions are really getting out of hand and I think I'm losing what sanity I still have. Here's a typical exchange:
R: What are those two people talking about?
Me: What two people?
R: The ones that were standing on the sidewalk.
Me: Oh, I don't know what they were talking about.
R: Why don't you know?
Me: Because I couldn't hear them.
R: Why couldn't you hear them?
Me: Because we're in the car and they were on the street.
R: Why were they on the street?
Me: They're probably walking somewhere.
R: Where are the walking to?
Me: I really don't know.
R: You figure it out.
Me: I can't figure it out, Riley, I just can't.
R: Why not?
Me: There's just no way for me to know, Riley, there's just no way.
R: Why is there no way?
Me: <>
R: Mommy, why did your head explode?

Oh wait! It's 10:09 am and we're up to 43 whys!

Here's another of my favorite conversations:
R: I don't like Daddy any more because he has prickly wiskers all over him that hurt me. If Daddy got rid of his beard and mustache, I would like him again.
Me: Do you want Daddy to get rid of his beard?
R: What would Daddy say if he got rid of his beard?
Me: He'd say "Hey, where's my beard?"
R: Where would his beard be?
Me: Probably in the sink.
R: What would the beard say if it was in the sink?
Me: It would say "Hey, where's my face?"
R: That's funny! What would Daddy say if he didn't have a mustache?
Me: Daddy always has a mustache.
R: Why?
Me: Because he likes it that way.
R: Why does he like it that way?
Me: He's just used to it and likes having it.
R: Why does he like having it? I don't like it. It pricks me.

Oh, yeah, Rudi found his old yearbook from basic training and there was a picture in there of him, and I showed Riley and she said, "That's not Daddy! Where's his mustache?" That was rather funny.

11:28 a.m.=61 "whys"

I've joined a bunch of yahoo groups here in the Springs, mostly babywearing and AP groups. One that I joined said that they were not active right now, but with summer coming, who knows? I also joined a Preschool Homeschooling group. I hope to get ideas for enriching activities from them and more informative playdates, such as hikes and nature stuff. None of the groups are extremely big, so I shouldn't have a hard time keeping up. A lot of the mothers belong to multiple groups, so the playdates are the same, such as the Colorado Babywearers attend and promote the NINO meetings, and so forth. But hopefully we'll have a few group playdates a week and a couple discussion meetings a month. Oh, I love spring so much! And then winter will come and I'll be a hermit again...

I started this post a few days ago and never published it, so I'm going to let it go and start a new one...

We went out to dinner last night, which was really fun. We went to the Saltgrass Steakhouse. My steak was practically raw, so that was a problem, but the kids ate their food and were well behaved, which is really all we can ask for. Rudi actually took care of Avery while I helped Riley, which was a nice change.

Rudi got his bonus yesterday, $1150, but it was taxed so heavily that he "only" got about $800 out of it. He says that is not enough to buy a television. So he's moping around. Like I'm not "letting" him spend enough money on a TV. I'm tired of being responsible for everyone's happiness while I don't get anything. No Mother's Day card, no birthday card (not that he ever remembers my birthday in the first place) no Valentine's Day card. So, whatever. I'm done with it...

On another note, do I have the only three-year-old who has absolutely no interest in music and dancing? Now, confession time, I really don't like music that much myself, but I want Riley to. She does like classical music and is really interested in my flute, so I expect music to play some part in her life, but if I put music on and say "let's dance" she runs away screaming. What? Should I force her and see if she's interested in tap class or something? Of course, I couldn't dance my way out of a paper bag, so maybe my lack of skill makes her not want to participate. Oh, who knows. I try to make it look as fun as possible, but I probably look like an epileptic

Oh, so back to just the girls and me. Rudi's days off are really hard on the apartment. I guess I really don't want to clean when he's busy sleeping until 3pm. So a really serious cleaning day today. And sewing day.

So I really did jump the gun worrying about Riley's school next year. Turns out, three half days a week are only for three year olds. So she'll have to go for a minimum of four half days. No problem. They continue to insist that it's not worth it to pay for an afternoon since the afternoon class includes a nap, since I don't work and really don't need childcare. But I'm beginning to think that Riley would benefit from being away from me for at least one full day a week. Plus, making her a lunch would make me feel more like a parent. I really don't feel like a grown-up or a parent, so I really like doing things that accentuate my parenthood, make me feel like a good mommy. Like if Riley notices that her stuffed horse doesn't have a mouth, I embroider one on. Makes me feel maternal. Or if she plays in the snow and I have hot chocolate with marshmallows and dry clothes warm from the dryer waiting for her. Yeah, I like that stuff. So last night I was envisioning a box lunch with grapes and carrot sticks with pita pockets filled with hummus and bean sprouts, and maybe five gummy bears thrown in. I want her to have one full day a week just so I can make her a lunch. So I got the enrollment information for Riley yesterday. So it's time to pay deposits and such for next year. Good timing.

We went to Pikes Peak Community College today to start the whole application and enrollment process for me for the fall. Colorado offers a stipend to every Colorado resident who is attending college. So my tuition should be about $950 a semester, and I'll be recieving $860/month from the VA. Talk about extra money! Wahoo. Bye bye, bills!

I had an interesting conversation with Riley yesterday. She got a hold of the book I'm currently trying to read, The Jesus Papers. She was looking at the pictures and was particularly interested in the one depicting Jesus being put (or taken from) his tomb. This is how the conversation went:
R: What happened to that man's tummy?
Me: He got stabbed.
R: Who stabbed him?
Me: A soldier.
R: What soldier?
Me: A Roman soldier.
R: Why did he do that?
Me: He wanted him to be dead.
R: Why did he want him dead?
Me: Because he's a different kind of person.
R: How is he different?
Me: He's jewish.
R: It's okay to be different. People can be different and not match. That's
okay. That soldier shouldn't have done that.
So does Riley really know about soldiers and stabbing? I hope not.

And then in the car on the way home from the college, she tells me to get something for her that I clearly can't reach while driving. She says, "Mom, when I say it, you do it! What's the matter with you?" You know, I've really tried to keep my temper with her lately, and we haven't had any yelling or anything for weeks now. But she still remembers everything. I just can't win.

So I've been put on notice that I haven't blogged in too long. We went to a St. Patrick's Day parade yesterday and I thought it was lame-o. Not enough bagpipes. I never thought I would say "not enough bagpipes" ever in my life, but there simple weren't enough. Mostly Dodge Ram pick-ups with streamers. Like an advertising parade. Riley liked it, though. Avery couldn't see anything. Riley had her first taste of
cotton candy and she said she didn't like it. Too sweet. Then Riley went on a pony ride. She wouldn't go in any of the moon bounce things. Then we started the long walk back to our car.

On the way home, they fell asleep in the car and I decided to treat myself to some
Starbucks. Now, Starbucks is right next to McDonald's. Riley woke up just in time to see thePlayplace and mention that she didn't play on the playground downtown at the parade. So we went in and Riley had a mini ice cream for 27 cents. And then she let loose in theplayplace. After going in the tubes and coming out twice, she goes in again and after a minute I hear from deep inside the maze "I have to go potty."
She tried to find her way out for about ten minutes, then I see peefalling from the playplace and "Mommy, I made an accident." So that was fun.
A couple of days ago I decided that it would be fun to plant seeds with Riley and she picked out marigolds and was really really excited about them. We got a seed starter tray and started planting the marigolds as well as three other packets that I picked out. The marigold sprouted already and are growing like weeds. Even the seeds that were dropped in the tray, not the dirt, are sprouting. A great seed for children. They always sprout and don't take long.

We've been playing outside for most of the day everyday. I'm glad we have an end-unit townhome. We don't really have to go to the park (where I don't really like going on the weekends because it's just crawling with children) we can just take our giant ball out back and have fun. Or Riley can climb the tree in our yard. And we can eat out there. It's nice to have a yard, even if it's still pretty small.

In other news, Riley is a baby pig whose Mommy got eaten my a snake and whose Daddy got eated by a shark, so the baby pig lives with its friends now. Of course, she is a boy pig because she wants a penis.

So Rudi has his eye on a 42" TV for $1200. Wow. I'm trying not to get mad at this whole thing, but we need to buy airline tickets for Amy and Abby, which isn't a problem because we'll buy them with our state tax refund. But we should be saving money so that we can actually do stuff when they're here. And I'm supposed to be saving for two crowns that are going to be $950 each and that I'm supposed to be getting in three months. And I want to go to Maryland to see baby William and go to the beach. Since I start school in the fall, this is pretty much my last chance for a while to have an extended stay in Maryland. I know that television is very important to Rudi , and we can argue day and night over how it shouldn't be that important, that he should paint or write or spend time with his children, but it's really not going to change anything. And anybody knows that whenRudi is miserable, we all are
miserable. So he'll get what he wants. I'll just try to gently sway him in a different direction without him realizing it. I just want it all to be over.Rudi has no concept of money. He thinks that we can afford anything, we just have to save money. But we can't save money if we spend it. He's just like "put $200 in the saving account." Like it's that easy, like we even have a savings account. My absolute favorite is when he came home and said that he'd tried to go to the ATM and the
bank said that we didn't have enough money, so he called me (I was in MD at the time) and told me to put more money in the bank. What? If we had money, wouldn't be in the bank? What am I supposed to do about it? Oh, but it'll be like this for the rest of my life, so I guess I just better get used to it. If there's one thing we know aboutRudi, it's that he's just Rudi and will not ever ever change. Big exhale...

Riley has a hold of the rosewater, which she is spraying liberally in her hair and Avery's hair. So the whole place actually smells pretty good. Since I used the rose water in thepistachio cupcake recipe, it smells like cupcakes to me. Not too bad.

Avery is currently very interested in eating utensils. She wants to use a fork to eat her oranges and peaches. And right now she is using a spoon to eat some soy yogurt, and making a righteous mess. Oh, well. Learning is messy. I should take a picture, but the camera is currently hooked up to the computer downloading pictures...
Ah, this picture was take IMMEDIATELY after bathtime. Oh, yay, what a mess! I try not to hamper their creativity, as long as it's not destructive. So we had to have a mini sponge bath. No problem.

I just realized when going through my loose paperwork and filing them, that I think Riley's school tuition will be about double next year. I think that half-days are for three-year-olds only. That means that she'll have to go three full days next year. Oh man, budget crisis. We'll just have to plan ahead and save some money
(see previous paragraph about us not being able to save money). Of course, I'm jumping the gun here. Maybe she can still go for half days. I just don't want to pay fornaptime. Maybe they don't make four-year-olds nap. Once again, I'm jumping the gun. Riley says that she wants to stay at school all day, but then when we talk about it she gets scared. So I'm all for her going maybe two full days next year, but three may be a bit much. Oh, we'll see. I'll talk to them tomorrow. And since I'm planning on going to school again in the fall, I really have to start thinking about this now. Like what days Riley should be in school so thatRudi can watch Avery and I can go to class, or if I should do some or all of my classes online. Oh, so many decisions and so much planning! Not my forte. Although my stipend under Chapter 35 benefits
will be over $900/month and tuition will be much less than that, so we'll have extra money for Riley's school, or extra money forRudi to take the girls out while I'm in school. It's easier on them to be doing something fun than sitting at home wondering why I'm not there. I'm having diarrhea of the keyboard. Sorry to bore everyone.

Now Avery's using her yogurt-covered finger to pick her yogurt-covered nose. Oh, how obscene!

So we did manage to go to the Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Center yesterday. It was a busy and long day, but it was fun. Riley went to school at ther normal time, I came home to make us some food to take with us, and we all picked her up from school and went right the the Butterfly Pavilion. It is in a suburb north of Denver, so it was quite a drive but everyone behaved.

Once we got there we ate outside (it was in the 70s) and then went in. Riley's favorite, by far, were the spiders. She astually held a tarantula! I was so proud of her (did I hold it?-uh, no). Before she held it, I told her to listen to the man and do what he says because he is going to make sure that Riley and the spider are both safe. And if she gets scared I told her to say "please take her off me" instead of throwing it or dropping it. She wasn't even the least bit scared. In fact a middle-aged man wanted to hold her but was scared and said that if Riley held it he would have to. I think he thought that there was no way Riley would hold it. But he was called on it and had to hold the tarantula, lest a three-year-old show him up. Avery's favorite, by far, was the vast assortment of cockroaches. (yay!) Riley also touched some starfish and a horseshoe crab.

The actual butterfly pavilion was so hot and humid, like Maryland in August. The kids were drinking juice like it was going out of style and their hair was curling up. Neither of the girls were really interested in the butterflies. When they flew they were too fleeting and when they landed they were too still to catch their attention. Riley was interested in the ones we pointed out to her, but she mostly wanted to run around. Avery loved the little foot bridges they had and she only wanted to go over those again and again. It was funny, she would go up to the top of the bridge and then get down and descend backwards. Like it was some high-grade decline.

Then we went to the Tattered Cover Bookstore and by the time we got home Riley was practically comatose. I tried to get her to eat some of my homemade chicken noodle soup, but she wouldn't wake up, just collapsed on the couch and fell asleep. So Avery and I ate way more than our share. No problem.

While at the bookstore, Rudi saw a free publication called "A Resource for Vegetarianism in Colorado" and gave it to me to look at. I thought it would be about vegetarian-friendly restaurants, area farmer's markets and so forth. Instead it was a graphic telling of conditions in factory farms. And I couldn't take my eyes off it and I regreted ever looking at the thing. Although there were some interesting facts, such as: it takes more than 5,000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, while only 60 gallons to produce one pound of potatoes. Interesting. I found it interesting that many vegetarians don't eat actual meat, but eat dairy and eggs, when the dairy industry is hands-down the most inhumane sector of the industry. I still will eat meat in moderation, but I think we'll only buy it from the Whole Foods Market from companies with more humane practices, not from factory farms. A plague on Rudi for showing me that magazine!

Rudi got frustrated with Riley a couple of times, although I thought she was behaving really well. I think his real frustration was dealing with two children not even two years apart. He can get really mean when he spends a lot of time with them. I know it's hard now having two children so close together, but it will only get easier. Pretty soon they'll be able to play cooperatively with each other and entertain themselves. When I told him when we got home that Riley had been away from home for more than twelve hours, he kind of understood the behavior.

Another little cute thing about Riley. We were coloring in a coloring book and Riley was coloring a picture of someone holding balloons and one of the balloons was flying away in the distance and Riley said "look, one is flying away!" I thought it was cool that she realized that the balloon was small because it was in the distance, not simply because it was smaller than the other balloons. Just a little thing, I know, but it's really interesting watching children learn and develop. Ah, learning depth. She has a much more artistic mind than I thought she had when she was younger. Her coloring is getting really excellent and her drawings are getting more and more detailed. Any craft, especially if it involves glue, will entertain her for a long long time.

So Avery's naps are really wonky. She wakes up in the morning around 8 (since the onset of daylight savings time) and falls asleep in the car on the way home from dropping Riley off at school, which is around 9. And then sleeps until about 10:30. What's up with that? And then she won't take an afternoon nap at a reasonable hour. This also messes up her meals, since she doesn't wake up in time in the morning to feed her a descent breakfast before school, is asleep when we get home, and wakes up just before it's time to pick Riley up. Ugh.

So this is what I do when Riley's at school and Avery's sleeping: I blog. A lot. Well, I have a lot of catching up on housework to do and phone calls to make and mei tais to sew, so so long for now...oh god if the pictures would hurry up and upload already. Cursed dial-up.

Don't you just love that face? Riley dressed herself that day and did her hair too. You can't see, but there are several pretties in it.

So day number two with the new computer finds me searching in vain for a version of iPhoto that I don't have to pay for. If worse comes to worse, I'll just have to go to our local apple store and see what they can do for me. Like give me free software? Wishful thinking, I know.

The time change really messed me up today. Naps came later than I had anticipated and left no time for getting out before Rudi comes home and I have to cook. Riley and Avery are both taking shorter naps now, too, so that's a lot of fun. Usually it's only for an hour, but sometimes I can get 90 minutes out of them. It's a lot better than when Riley was taking no naps at all. She probably takes a nap every other day now. That'll have to do. Until she's a teenager and I'll complain about her taking too many naps. A parent can't win.

Avery is really trying to talk more and more now. Sometimes she says things and I'm not sure if I heard correctly, but she doesn't repeat. She did say "yes" the other day, several times, but hasn't since. Who knows. At least she hasn't said "no" yet. I remember when Riley first started saying "no." She experimented with it for a long time, perfecting it to herself, before she used it on me. The whole process was really cute. She loves shoes, so I guess that runs in the family. She's also getting mighty particular. Another demanding one. At least her general personality is sunny, as opposed to Riley's thunderous disposition.

We just went out in the yard while the pictures are downloading and waiting for Rudi to come home. Riley climbed the tree outside and said she was a squirrel. She told me to touch her and then bit me. She said "I'm a nature squirrel and you should never touch a nature squirrel because they are mean and evil." Then we came in and she writhed on the floor, saying "look, I'm dying. A nature squirrel can't live where there are no trees and there are no trees in here!" The kid sure has an imagination.

We are planning a trip to Denver tomorrow. We are going to see the Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Center. I hear that they have tarantulas to hold and so forth. And they release new butterflies twice a day and that is supposed to be cool to see. And then over to the Tattered Cover Bookstore, our trusty Denver hang-out.

So I've been searching high and low, all over town, for the March/April issue of Mothering Magazine, to no avail. They are usually on the shelf late the month before. I don't know what's going on, but it's really annoying me. Don't they know that when a mag only comes out every other month, people anticipate it extra special a lot? Argh...

No matter what I try to teach and model for Avery, she learns more and more from Riley. I see her doing things that I thought were annoying when just Riley did it and now they're teaming up on me. For instance, they both like to use the stack of cloth diapers as blankets for their babies (don't we have enough actual blankets?) and I end up cleaning them up several times a day. She also learned to color on herself, courtesy of Riley's corruptive ways. Luckily, they are both on daily soaking regimens and I can usually get most of the marker off, although I'm not supposed to use soap on them for a while, so it can get tricky sometimes.

Try to ignore the wretched face I'm making in this picture, it was a really sunny day. So this is the Hmong-style carrier. I didn't do the greatest job tying it on this time, but I'm still new at it, I can only get better. I definitely made it too long. I'll have to see how long it is when I wear Riley and cut off some of the bottow and hem it up...
Oh my goodness, this is a long blog...

Yippee! Our new computer came today! It is so small and perfect and sexy! So back to blogging.

I took the girls to America the Beautiful Park today. Riley pointed out on her own that that's a funny name for a park. Leave it to Colorado Springs to name a park such a name. One of our parks that is under construction is going to be called Cancer Survivors Park. Go figure. Anyway, this playground was really strange. The jury is still out on it for me, but Riley and Avery had an absolute blast there. Avery just likes to run around. Almost the whole park was devoted to spinning structures and weird climbing things. A perfect place for a, say, eight-year-old boy. The playground was constructed by a Danish company and it look sort of european "mod" urban something like that. We tried to fly a kite, but leave it to us to chose the only day in Colorado history when there isn't any wind. Just a couple of gusts, but not enough to sustain a flying kite.

Our microwave is now broken and I didn't realize how much we really use it. I use it a lot to reheat my pot of coffee. I wonder what's wrong with us that we've lost so many electronics in such a short amount of time. I'd ask the new property manager to check out our wiring, but since she grumbled about giving us a smoke detector that we've been waiting nearly a year for, I don't think that'll happen.

Oh, this computer is so great. Don't have it totally figured out yet, but that'll come. I'm still getting used to the keyboard. I know Rudi will have fun with that one. We still have dial-up, but we're going to work on erradicating that as soon as possible.

I'm going to recharge my camera batteries tonight and do a lot of downloading tomorrow (but not too much at once so the phone line isn't always tied up). And a lot of disc burning to send to the fam out east.

Still no pictures. I'm taking pictures, though, so as soon as we get a new computer I'm going to post a whole butt-load of pictures.

Our big TV is completely broken. And our little TV is too old to hook up to the digital cable box. Argh. It's not the television programs that I miss, but we use the television to play music, either on the DVD player or one of the digital music channels that we get. Because our stereo is also, get this, broken. We're batting zero in the electronics department: computer #1, broken; computer #2, practically broken; stereo, broken; television, broken. So Rudi is pretty depressed. I think we can do without for a while, and if we do without for a while, maybe we can surprise ourselves and do without forever. I think Rudi will cave first.

I cut Avery's bangs today. They're a little short, but she was squirming and Riley was wailing that she wanted to do it. Not gonna happen, kid. It looks really cute. I was tired of her getting food and boogers in her bangs. And keeping barrets in her hair was doubly difficult because both Avery and Riley would pull them out. I don't think that really qualifies as a haircut. I hope not, because I didn't save the hair.

I finished the Hmong-style baby carrier. I really do like it and it's comfortable to wear both Avery and Riley. I think it's a carrier only for the hardcore babywearer, like a novelty carrier. When I really look back on it, it is really not much different than a narrow-body podegi and I would probably make one of those before another Hmong-style, simply because the Hmong is more complex without needing to be. I like that there's only one knot to tie and I can wear it Tibetan-style. But it's a little more difficult to put on than the Mei Tai, or maybe it's just so new to me.

On the upside, the new bobbin case that I got for the sewing machine solved my problem. And the sewing machine guy was trying to tell me that it was a tension problem and that he'd look at it for me for $60 (normally $80). I could see the bottom thread getting caught on my chewed-up bobbin, so I knew it was a bobbin problem. And why do all sewing machine shops also deal in vaccums? What's the connection? Or like in Missoula we had a sewing machine/vaccum/hockey shop. And here we have a CPA/art gallery. Go figure.

Riley is refusing to wear "paper pants" anymore. Paper pants are anything made out of denim or twill. And I have't bought her leggings in a long time, so all of them are really small. And she also won't wear her "fluffy socks" meaning her padded athletic socks. She'll only wear the thin Old Navy ones. Which isn't really good because her feet are so narrow, that she is supposed to wear the padded ones so that her shoes fit properly.

Avery had her follow-up with the allergist today and the doc said that I was doing a good job controlling her allergies and perscribed a hydrocortizone cream for the rash on her chest that won't seem to go away. She won't have to go back for another year. I also showed him Riley's rash, wondering if I should see a dermatologist or make an appointment for allergy testing. He said that a dermatologist will treat the rash, but an allergist will look for a reason, and even if it's not an allergy, he can still treat the rash. So Riley will get allergy testing. The doc said that 60% of the time it's not an allergy, but he said that any child with an uncomfortable itchy eczema deserves to be tested, and didn't make me feel like I'd be wasting his time if it's not an allergy. I just don't have much faith in general practitioners diagnosing the causes of rashes, since it took 9 months to diagnose Avery and that's because I took matters into my own hands and saw a allergist without a referal. Four different doctors failed to address her rash as an allergy. I still get upset when I think about Avery's swollen, red, infected, bleeding, oozing facial rash and how I don't have any pictures of her during that time and how I couldn't even kiss my newborn on her cheek unless I wanted puss on my lips. How she was on antibiotics and steriods to treat the infections but no one cared to look into how she got the rash in the first place. And how no doctor thought it was an allergy, even after I told them that I drank nearly a gallon of milk a day and had eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a daily basis. I really like this allergist, though. He's a cool dude.