Please Hold Your Appliance.

Here is some video I took just this morning at Cecilia's "Author's Tea." The parents were invited to watch as all the children from her class came up and each read two poems. She was very excited that she got to give the welcome, and we were very impressed with her two poems.

(Sorry the video quality isn't that great, but until we get an actual video camera it will have to suffice.)

Ruby.

We're less than a month away from the anniversary of Ruby going into the hospital, and just this morning, as she was plowing through her second bowl of Trix (it was a birthday present from Grandma Two), I suddenly remembered what a hard time we had getting her to eat after she finished with her dialysis. She lost a lot of weight in the hospital, and her inability to eat after being fed intravenously for so long was one reason they kept her as long as they did. Even after she did come home, we worried for a long time that she just wasn't eating enough.

It's hard to believe that now, considering the child stuffs her face at every meal (and between them), loves vegetables and spicy food, gets frequent compliments from waitresses on her ability to tuck it away, and yells for snacks from her bed both at night and in the morning.

It's surprising to me how quickly I've forgotten so many things about that experience, but it's important not to forget everything. We are very lucky things turned out the way they did. Happy birthday, Rubester.

Blog Central.

Check it out -- our brand new computer! All the better to blog with, my dear.

Birthday Girl.

Here's our girl at her 3rd birthday party. Could she look ANY happier?!

I love love love this girl!!

Subscribing To The Adventures Of Cici And Ruby!

I know some of you we saw at the lawn-dart tournament today mentioned that you wished you could receive updates when new posts go up. Well, as it turns out you can. If you scroll down to the bottom of the screen, you'll see a link that reads 'Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).' If you click on it, you'll be given a couple options to subscribe to the blog using a feed reader - it gives you a couple different options, but if you already have a Google account you can simply use the reader available through that. It's very simple - I use one for work - it basically is a 'one-stop shop' that makes checking to see whether the websites you visit have been updated as easy as checking your email. You'll find these feeds at all sorts of websites (often with an orange 'RSS' icon), so you might find it useful for things other than our modest little blog as well. Give it a try, and let us know if you run into any problems.

Genius.

[Ruby is looking at the children's bulletin from Grandma and Grandpa K------'s church, which they send the kids in the mail every week.]

Ruby: Daddy, where did this come from again?

Dadam: It came from Grandma and Grandpa K-----; they sent it in the mail.

[pause]

Ruby: Grandma sent this in the mail?

Dadam: Yep.

[pause]

Ruby: SHE'S A GENIUS!!!!!

Great Literary Quotes 101.

Last night we all watched Oliver! as a family, and I was a little surprised at how attentive they were, considering it's approximately thirteen hours long. But they kept with it the whole way through, although when I asked Ruby what was her favorite part, only one moment really stuck out. Good thing it was the most important one:

"My favorite part was when the guy went up to the pirate and he said, 'I want some more' and the guy said, 'MORE?'"

[Above, incidentally, is a picture of "the pirate," in case anyone was confused.]

The Letter.

When I was pregnant with Cici I read in a magazine about a mother who wrote her children a letter each year on their birthday, and then saved them up for her kids to read when they were adults. For some reason this idea really appealed to me (maybe because it sounded a helluva lot easier than scrapbooking, a phenomenon I'll never completely understand), and I've written Cici and Ruby letters every year since they were born. I write about how they grew and changed over the year, how they spent their days and what we did together as a family, and I talk about big events that took place or trips we took together. It's something I put a lot of effort into, and usually by the end the letters are pages and pages long and I'm blubbering at the computer while thinking about how much I love my girls. Then I print them off, seal them up, and throw them in the baby books.

Ruby's birthday is next Wednesday, and this is about the time I'd start to write her letter. This year I'm dragging my feet, and I know exactly why I'm doing it -- I don't want to relive the nightmare of last summer. I know it's something she'll want to hear about when she's older -- she'll have the scars for the rest of her life -- and it's probably good to write about it now while it's all still fairly fresh in my memory. The thing is, I know that talking/writing about what she went through, and what Dadam and I went through at her side, is going to be upsetting and make me cry and feel terrified all over again. And the thought of spending even one moment in a world without Ruby in it is enough to bring me to my knees with grief, so I guess I'd rather go downstairs and snuggle on the couch with my Sunshine Girl before she goes to bed.

The Greatest Mom In The World.

A nice new picture of Momlissa.

Comparisons.

Last night, Cici had watched an episode of Nature on PBS that was focused on the rhinoceros. When she had gone upstairs to go potty before bedtime, we heard the following lovely phrase shouted gleefully from the bathroom:

"Daddy! My poop is like a rhinoceros horn!"

Dinner, And How!

Dadam and I are proud of the good little eaters we've got, and they certainly aren't afraid to try new things to eat. Tonight, however, it was more about quantity than anything -- they ate like they hadn't eaten in weeks! We dined out at a new restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis (where the food was terrific by the way), and here is what the two girls ate:

Rotisserie Chicken
Twelve Hour Slow-Cooked Pork
Garnet Yams with Andouille Sausage
Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey
Rustic Style Cheese Grits
Creamed Cornbread
Rhubarb Shortbread

Seriously, between the two girls they ate about 1/4 chicken! Cici had multiple servings of the grits, and Ruby ate the pork like it was meat candy. The shortbread disappeared in seconds (with the help of Dadam and Momlissa), and we all went home with full bellies.

Something tells me tomorrow night we'll be eating vegetarian. And low-fat. And less.

More Shades Of Things To Come.

So last night Cici's friend Olivia called our house to invite Cici on a playdate. Olivia is in Cici's class at school, and she also happens to live just up the street from us.

This was really the first social phone call Cici has ever gotten from someone other than a relative, and she definitely made the most of it. After about twenty minutes, she hung up, and told us that the playdate was scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Tonight the phone rang, and, as so often happens in our house, we didn't make it in time. When I checked the messages, I found one from Olivia, that went roughly like this:

"Cici! It's Olivia! Where are you? Our playdate was supposed to be tonight! Call me!"

I called Olivia right back and asked to speak to her mom. Here is how the conversation went:

Dadam: Hi, is this Olivia's mom? This is Cici's dad.

Olivia's Mom: Hi.

Dadam: I just wanted to call and say I'm really sorry - Cici told us that the playdate was supposed to be on Sunday, so she must have been confused. Sorry about that!

Olivia's Mom: But the playdate is on Sunday.

Dadam: Oh . . . I'm sorry, it's just when Olivia called -

Olivia's Mom: Olivia called?

Dadam: Yes, she called and left a message asking where Cici was and saying it was tonight.

Olivia's Mom: Just a minute, please. [pause] OLIVIA!!!!

A Fine Distinction.

[Cici accidentally knocks Ruby over, then Ruby gets up and hits Cici.]

Dadam: Ruby! Did you just hit your sister?

Ruby: No.

Momlissa: Ruby, did you hit your sister?

Ruby: No. [pause] I just punched.

Happy Mother's Day!

There just aren't three girlies I love more than these: Cecilia, Ruby, and Grandma I. Throw Dadam into the mix and you've got the best breakfast company a gal could hope for.

Love you, Mom!

Meet Cholaidia. R.I.P.

For the past month or so, Ruby has been talking about her new imaginary friend, Cholaidia. (It's pronounced "collide-ia.")

Every day, Ruby comes home from daycare with stories of Cholaidia and her amazing adventures. It's a little creepy, though - well, imaginary friends are always a little weird and spooky, I suppose, but what makes the Cholaidia relationship especially odd is that Cholaidia often doesn't survive the stories about her.

So far, we've heard about how Cholaidia . . .

1. Climbed a tree and went riding on the back of a bird, but fell off the bird and died;


2. Went poop on the potty, but then opened up the potty before flushing, ate the poop, had to wear a diaper again, and died (our personal favorite); and


3. Went swimming in the lake, where a shark came up behind her and bit her (oddly, she actually survived this incident).

In fact, Cici will often ask Ruby, "How is Cholaidia today?" and the cheerful response she usually gets is "Oh, she's still dead."

***

Update: This is from about two minutes ago.

Momlissa: Ruby, what did Cholaidia do yesterday?

Ruby: Oh, she spilled her chocolate milk, and her mommy had to clean it up with a paper towel.

Dadam: Oh, well, that was nice of her mommy.

Ruby: Yeah.

Cici: Is she alive?

Ruby: No. She's dead.

Don't Mess With Number Nine.

Ruby is getting quite accomplished at identifying her numbers, but the other night she got stuck when Momlissa was quizzing her. The number that was giving her trouble was 9.

Momlissa: What's the number, Ruby?

Ruby: Um . . . three?

Momlissa: No . . . try again.

Ruby: Is it five?

Momlissa: No . . . one more try?

Ruby: Um . . . ohhhhhh! It's TEXAS!

Logic.

On Friday night, Ruby accidentally locked herself in the bathroom for the third time. HOWEVER, it is important to note that this is actually the first time she was able to let herself out without us having to take the door off its hinges. Woo hoo, Rubes!

After the incident, Cici and Ruby and I had the following conversation:

DADAM: Okay, girls, here’s the rule on locking the bathroom door: no locking the bathroom door.

CICI: Yes, no locking the bathroom door, unless I’m in there with Ruby.

DADAM: No – no locking the bathroom door at all.

CICI: But I know how to unlock it.

DADAM: Yes, but it’s a better idea not to lock it at all.

CICI: Why?

DADAM: Well, because what if you got stuck in there?

CICI: But I know how to unlock it.

DADAM: Yes, but what if the lock breaks? You could be stuck in there forever.

CICI: No, I wouldn’t. You’d just take the door off, like you did for Ruby.

DADAM: Yes, but what if we couldn’t get the door off?

CICI: Well, why would that happen?

DADAM: Well, suppose the hinges broke, or got stuck, or something. You’d be stuck in there forever. It happens, you know.

CICI: Well, we could make a ladder out of something and try to go out the window.

DADAM: Um, I wouldn’t advise that. So the rule is, no locking the bathroom door, if you’re a kid.

CICI: Okay. No locking the bathroom door if you’re a kid, or a grown-up.

DADAM: No, grown-ups can lock the door if they want.

CICI: Why?

DADAM: Well, because we know how to unlock it.

CICI: Oh. [pause] What if the lock breaks?

My Heart Pumps Peanut Butter For You.

This was a favorite saying of a high school teacher of mine. She would pull it out whenever a student would make an excuse, however credible, for not having done their homework, studied for a test, etc.

I thought of it tonight. As some of you have heard by now, today after school Cici was trying out a friend's scooter, and fell headfirst onto the sidewalk. She has a huge goose egg on her forehead, but is otherwise fine.

Anyway, tonight I was putting the girls to bed as usual, and as usual, neither one of them was cooperating very well. I tend to be a little harder on Cici these days, simply because she's older and should know that imitating whatever crap Ruby is trying to pull at the moment is a bad idea.

So, tonight I had reached the final straw with her, and finally I just said to her, "Cecilia, what is going on here? You know what you're supposed to do at bedtime. It's the same every night. You brush your teeth, go potty, get your jammies on, and get into bed. It's the same four things, every single night. So why is it that every night you don't listen to me, and every night you pretend you don't know what you're supposed to do, and every night you let it get to the point where I have to yell at you to get you to do what you know you're supposed to do?"

Silence.

I said, "Well?"

And Cici said: "You know, I got hurt today . . ."