Boys being boys.

The boys were making cards for my dad this morning, and I was cleaning up breakfast and only half listening.  Until I heard Jack say, "Now I drew Grandpa Gary's private parts, so now I'll draw on his pants," at which time I devoted my full attention to their endeavor.  Awesome.  He's the kid from Super Bad.  I never should have called him McLovin when he was a fetus.

Yesterday, Dorothy went down for a nap at 7:45 in the morning, which was unusual but pretty darn awesome since Cooper has a baby gym class that cuts her nap short.  But it meant that I could not watch the boys walk to school out her window like I usually do, so I had to put on my Ugg mocs and stand on the front porch.  They were bickering with each other as they walked down the driveway.  By the time they went through the first cross walk, they were hollering, and I tried to call out to tell them to stop fighting, but I didn't want to speak too loudly and wake the baby.  By the second crosswalk, they were slapping each other, and by the time they reached school, they were full-on brawling, fists flying, rolling on the ground in the snow.  I watched with horrified fascination for a few seconds but then I realized they could get suspended for fighting on school grounds, and then they would be stuck home with me.  So, I ran across the street as fast as I could in my jammies (yoga pants, a tank top and a cardigan thank goodness), dodging car after carpooling car to break them up and tell them there was no way in the world they would be getting anything even close to screen time when they got home.  Harry rolled his eyes at me (ROLLED HIS EYES AT ME) and walked into the school, while Jack stayed to argue and whine about his 2 left gloves, the start of the whole mess.  It was seriously classy.  Especially when I realized I left 2 babies alone in the house-- one in her crib and one in the living room watching Barbie: Life in the Dream House on his iPad.

Such a helper:

 Not pictured:  the mound of laundry on my bed, the top of my head

 Ransacking is her favorite.

I found these on my phone.  Coop's eye view:

Is this how he sees the world?  I think it might be. Today,  I was so charmed by the way he grocery shopped that I bought every low-lying item he threw in his little cart.  Especially because he was covered with juice from his breakfast cherries (he's not into face washing) and kind of looked like a teddy bear/vampire cross, which is a lot cuter than it sounds.

So many hats!

Today is a day when I realize how many different hats I wear. 

I spent the morning enjoying a workout, playing with Dorothy on The Little Gym's Big! Red! Mat! and pushing her lazily around Target as we bought Cooper's diapers and wipes, and Dorothy's and my hair notions.

 I finished The Goldfinch over lunch (LOVED it) and counted my daily calories (I have 935 to squander for dinner and snacks and wine). 

Then it was off to my office where I worked on a committee I am on that meets next week and did some PTO organizing for the boys' school. 

Next up was a 2.5 hour class where we discussed the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 1892 Solitude of Self address. I furiously graded 20 discussion papers immediately after class ended. 

 Now, I am gearing up for a busy hour picking the babies up from the hockey rink and desparately cleaning the house before the babysitter arrives to spell Ben and me for a PTO meeting. We'll rush home from that to put everyone to bed and collapse exhausted on the couch with beer and leftover super bowl food. 

And then tomorrow, we'll run a slightly different-- but largely the same --gauntlet. Phew!

My dad is still in the ICU. Harry has another cardiologist appointment Friday. Keep those good thought coming. 

Hair notions in action:

Cooper was not to be outdone:

Waaaah. I am so tired.

Sweet baby bed hog.  She is a dangerous little co-sleeper these days because she doesn't want to stay snuggled up to me all night long. Instead, she moves everywhere all over the bed.  I am trying to get her to sleep all night in her room, but that makes me tired as a bucket of hair. Is a bucket of hair tired?

COSTCO on a SATURDAY.  Gah.  Cooper stole Dorothy's hat.

SNACKS!  The best part of Costco besides samples and a $9 pallet of organic sugar.

Dorothy ate a grilled cheese sandwich and LOVED it.

Grocery store receipts= best toys ever.  BPA for all!

SO TIRED you guys.

January: What I Read

I optimistically thought I would finish this horrifying self-help fear-of-flying book I was reading.  It is HILARIOUSLY bad and keeps bringing up new things for me to fear, like planes colliding in midair, terrorists sneaking over fences and hiding in wheel wells with bombs, pilots falling asleep at the wheel, wings missing screws, and an awful, awful anecdote about people being sucked out a faulty door and free-falling 22,000 feet into the Pacific.

Anywho, here's what I did read:

12.  Moving Miss Peggy: A Story of Dementia, Courage, and Consolation by Robert Benson:  A very sweet and lovely memoir.
11.  Family Pictures by Jane Green:  Predictable and not very artful, but a quick and entertaining read.
10.  Close my Eyes by Sophie McKenzie:  A serviceable thriller.  Liked it.
9.  The Mothers by Jennifer Gilmore:  Very well written story of marriage and adoption-- a really moving and beautiful ending.
8.  Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris:  A classic.  Damn he's funny.
7.  Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld:  A rental find at the library-- this book was a great read and easy to finish on an 8-hour car ride.
6.  Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michel Moss:  Read this!  It's a great expose.  Moves beyond the argument that processed food is bad to really interrogate the insidious industry.
5.  Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding:  I loved this book even though it kind of sucked.  I missed Bridget, what can I say?
4.  The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg:  I love this author.  I even cried a little at the end.
3.  Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl: SO GOOD!  READ IT!
2.  Labor Day by Joyce Maynard:  This was gorgeous and a quick read-- I cannot wait to see the move now (but first I will take all the boys to the Lego movie)
1.  Doctor Sleep by Stephen King:  Oh, this!  This was the Stephen King I used to love in 5th grade!

The top 3 were pretty much a tie-- really great reads!  And the Pessl totally reminded me of Donna Tartt, so imagine how happy I was to find The Goldfinch on the rental shelf at the library.  Best $2 I spent last week!

Updates

Harry's labs all came back normal except his ESR which was a little high.  His cardiologist said the number was to be expected since we know he has inflammation-- in his pericardium.  Still, she is  comfortable saying this episode is viral AND referring him to a rheumatologist who is maybe interested in prescribing a long-term anti-inflammatory drug.  I don't know about that but will ave an opinion after the consult on 2-12.  We see the cardiologist again in a week because the effusion was a little bit worse, and Harrison has consistent chest pain.  Gah.

My dad is not good, you guys.  The pneumonia is not going away, and he had a bad chest X-Ray today.  This led to him being transferred by ambulance to a new, larger hospital where he may undergo a lung biopsy, which is kind of a big deal.  His pulse ox is really low, too, and he is going to need some rehabilitation after the immediate problem has been solved.

Not only do the constantly falling snow and the tiny person who needs me to eat but cannot go on the critical care floor at the hospital make visiting difficult, but Harry's cardiologist would like him to stay close to home while this episode is in progress.  I feel fairly helpless.

No real segue, but, um, Dorothy?  Is inches away from walking.  She takes 2 or 3 steps and collapses, but then she pops back up and tries again.  She can stand up all by herself without holding onto anything, and if we set her down on her little tiny feet (she has the TINIEST FEET EVER), she can stay standing, which is adorable.

I have read a ton this month and am excited to review my books, but I am holding out until tomorrow because I think I am going to squeeze in 2 more just under the wire-- but that means the kids and I will have to finish Wonder tonight, which is doable but just barely because I am EXHAUSTED.

Last week, Dorothy started sleeping so well.  She woke up around 11, just when I was going to bed, and ate happily in her room.  Then she slept until 5, at which point she came into my bed and snuggled happily until 7.  This happened for several days, and I felt like a million bucks-- most sleep I had in MONTHS. 10 months, to be exact.  But now she is back t her true self, and I have been awake for at least 2 hours in the middle of every damn night.  Blergh.

I hope she's getting a new tooth because this one has been all by its lonesome for quite some time.

Stuff and nonsense.

Ben and Jack went grocery shopping by themselves this week, and they came home with some pretty horrifying yogurt flavors. Like lemonade yogurt tubes, the memory of which made both boys angry after school when I asked them if they liked their lunches, and kale and kiwi kefir-- what kind of child-hating asshole dreams up that concoction?  I mean, really.

Dorothy, though, is a huge fan of pear-flavored yogurt and big people's oatmeal mixed into mush with whole milk.  Also she loves cottage cheese.  The stickier and the harder to clean off every substance in the room, the more she loves it, actually.

She truly hates getting dressed, even when the end result is adorable.

LOVES pushing her baby in her stroller and is so close to walking.  She takes a few steps by herself, and she can stand up without holding onto anything, but she's scared to really take off.

After meals, she loves to crawl around and eat her droppings off the floor.  Perhaps we need a dog.

Cooper has decided he no longer needs a high chair, but if you ask him if he is a big boy, he replies that he is either a baby or a pirate.  Erm.

MORE

Harry took this picture on his iPad yesterday at Dorothy's birds class at Little Gym, and I was surprised to see it in my photostream.

SHE HATES TO BE CLOTHED.  After bath is no fun every night.

Partners in crime.

Litany of complaints

It is so cold here that the kids had no school, and my university was closed this morning.

Last week, I parked close-ish to the godforsaken, across-campus building I teach in, and I scored a spot in an underground heated garage.  But then I lost my fucking car in the labyrinthian concrete rows and took an hour to find it.  So today I parked far away even though it is -15 right now.

My dad is still really sick.

In a terrible turn of events, Harry is also really sick with a brand new effusion and the same old answers from his cardiologist, which is to say NO ANSWERS.

I am getting fatter by the stress-filled day.

My brothers need help helping my parents because they have to return to work, but my 7 year-old is not cleared to leave the city until his Friday cardiology appointment, and my babies cannot come in my dad's hospital room.

I need a few more of me.

Until that happens, though, enjoy these pictures from 2009 of Harry and Jack that I found on my office iMac when I was trying to update iPhoto so I could access my streams and blog from my office because believe it or not this blog is the last item I need to check off the terribly ambitious checklist I made for myself yesterday.  That and prep the week after next's lecture, but I only have 12 minutes, so.  Choices.

I can barely remember them so small.

I put my arm around Harry this morning and he is so thick, his shoulders getting broader, denser.

Babies.