An Impomptu Conversation about Gay Marriage

Today while Bryan and Griffin took the dog for a walk, Penelope and I stayed at home and played with her Horde of Dolls (HD). For her birthday she got a dozen Disney Princess dolls from my parents and has enjoyed changing their clothes and making them fight dragons.

While we were playing today, she wanted them all to get married. And since they're all Disney Princesses, they all have Princes... I'm not quite comfortable with that, for a variety of reasons.

I know that her obsession with Princesses is a stage. As is her obsession with marriage. Bryan and I are married, so are her Granny and Grandpa. Her daycare provider is married. A significant number of the adults in her life are married and it's natural that she would replicate the relationships she sees in her imaginary play.

And while I have a number of friends with same sex partners (some married, some not married), we don't see these people as often as I'd like. So I worry, because that's what I do.

I worry that the prevailing cultural attitudes towards women & LGBTQI2-S will be stronger than the message they get at home. I see this in her insistence that pink is "only for girls" and some things are "only for boys" - and while we work at home to change that, it's an uphill battle to fight against the message she gets a daycare, on TV, and even in books.

Bryan and I have had multiple conversations about our parental goals. We want our kids to be happy and healthy. College? Would be great, but it isn't necessary, our kids can be productive members of society without a BA/MA/PhD. Politics? They don't have to vote the same way we do, the just need to vote. Religion? While I do hope my children are Atheists (like we are) we will support them if they decide to join a religious or spiritual group.

But I will consider myself a failure of a parent if my children don't support equality for all people.

And so, when Penelope insists that all her Princesses marry Princes, I can't just let it be. Here's what that conversation look like:

Our conversation...

 And then, after we talk, Mulan and Snow White exchange their vows...

The Wedding

Love, Love, Love. Love is all you need.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Today, on a lark (can you tell I've been watching too much Dr. Who?), we decided to take the kids to the Beach Boardwalk, which is arguably one of the most famous places in the Monterey Bay Peninsula. I haven't been since high school (I think?) and Bryan's only been once. They have some kid friendly rides and it was supposed to be a nice, warm-ish day, so we thought it would be a nice change of pace. I'm getting rather tired of the Aquarium - all the kids want to do is play in their fun-for-kids-but-boring-for-grownups area.

Anyway, it was the kids' first time at an amusement park and on "roller coasters". Following are a TON of videos of the kids (and us) on rides. Some of them are long (3 mins) but most are shorter. I honestly don't expect anyone other than my parents and Bryan's parents to watch them all. But in case you do, here you go. Underneath is a short blurb on each so you can decide which of the videos you'd like to see :)


Length: 3:42
Penelope on her very first ride!


Length: 2 minutes
This is G's first ride - we're on racecars that swing you wildly on the turns. It's Poe's second ride, and she has become quite adventurous. She's on it alone, G had to ride with me since he was a smidge too short to go solo and not nearly as brave. I had a hard time getting into this one. My legs are too long for kiddie rides...


Length: 3:25
G's second ride, P's 3rd. We went on this one as a family since both kids needed a "chaperone". It goes forward & backward, which did a number on B's stomach. The video is shaky, but considering that our videographer was on the ride, it can be forgiven :) Penelope had a BLAST. Griffin had a ok time... she says some pretty cute things.


Length: 3 minutes
Penelope on the Dragon Ride. Griffin wanted to go, but not with Poe and not alone and not with me or B, so he didn't go.... and threw a fit. It was close to naptime and he was being wishy-washy about rides.


Length: 21 seconds
G & I on the Pepsi caravan ride. He did NOT want to go on this ride, but had a good time after the initial tantrum...


Length: 2:16
Squishy on the boat ride!


Length: 46 seconds
Griffin on his only solo ride of the day!

All in all it was a fun, albeit exhausting, day. Next year we might invest in season passes...

Monday morning

So I'm going to work backwards here since we all fell asleep shortly after 8 last night and I didn't have the time to blog about the rest of our stay in Wyoming. Perhaps I'll get time to do that on the plane and post them once we land.

Actually, i'll link to a video in a second, but only because I had the opportunity to upload it to YouTube last night.

But first? It's Monday morning and in a few short hours we will be back home. This vacation has been fun, but it's also been incredibly exhausting. Griffins sleep has been atrocious and we've spent quite a bit of time in the car. So while I'm glad we came out, I'm very glad were going home. I actually downloaded a book on toddler sleep yesterday and started reading it in the car so I'm hoping that a return to our normal schedule, with help from the book, will equal some truly good nights.

All we have left to do this morning is get dressed, pack up, eat, and turn on the rental car (which is covered in mud and animal feces... I'll talk more about that later). Then we'll just hope for no delays and be back in sunny CA by lunch.

Anyway, here's the video I promised. Griffins first attempt at eating spaghetti with a fork.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJHirAaV5qM&sns=em


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Doubletree Hotel, Denver

Griffin's 1st birthday

I don't know which is more exhausting, birthing a 9lb 1oz 22.5 inch baby boy or throwing a 1st birthday party for said baby boy.

All I know is that I'm exhausted. And happy. Today's party went well and the kids had a BLAST. Penelope loves the park, her friends, and cake so today was pretty much the perfect day for her. Griffin loves to eat, so today was also the perfect day for him.

So here are some pictures - and some video of our now toddler (yep, he's walking!) at the end.


Artwork courtesy of Uncle O-Nic


Birthday Boy!


Mommy & a sorta sleepy birthday boy


Griffin and his Aunty Liz


Mmmmm... cake


Granny K & Penelope


Walking around with Uncle O-Nic

And.... he walks!

Riding a bike

Poe got her new tricycle for her 2nd birthday, but the weather hasn't always been great so she hasn't ridden in much.

Today B broke it out of the garage and, for the very first time, Penelope was able to pedal on her own.

Enjoy!



Link to video here

Reading

Lately Penelope has taken to spelling and "reading" nearly everything she can. She spelled out the letters/numbers in Bryan's car's license plate and told me it said "red car".

So I took some video of her and her book today. What this video highlights isn't Penelope's reading skills (since she's not actually reading) but it does demonstrate some rather impressive pre-reading skills. She understands that letters make up words and that words describe pictures. She is also beginning to understand that letters are made up of sounds and you can put them together to make words. She may actually recognize some of the words, but I haven't tried to write them without their picture associations, so I'm not positive. I wouldn't expect for her to be able to recognize many, if any, words by sight at this age. It would be crazy-early.

She needs all of these skills before she starts to really read, and I am very happy and proud that she has them. It doesn't mean she's a genius, but it does mean that she excels in this particular area of development. She'll probably read early and then trip over her own feet the rest of her life (she still runs rather strangely). She can't be good at everything!

Lets Pretend

Pah-pooh-pea loves to play pretend. She plays it everyday... practically all day long. She pretends to be her favorite characters, she pretends to make food, she pretends to be a baby (she calls herself "baby Pah-pooh-pee" and crawls into my lap and says "I nurse Momma, I'm nursing").

But today she decided to pretend to be one of her own friends. While jumping around on her bed she turns to me and says "Mama, I'm Orson!" then promptly falls down on the bed.

She's a silly goose.

A silly goose who now does full somersaults. See:

Lasagne with half the noodles

Today has been productive. I finished the major edits of my Thesis, it's currently out for proof reading, and will turn it in Saturday at the latest. I also assembled a new walker-thing for Griffin (see video), did laundry, wrote 3 blog posts, and made lasagna (from scratch) for dinner.

Only I only had 5 lasagna noodles. I need 9. Noodles are like the spine of a lasagna. They are essential to the process. I don't know if I can technically call what I made a lasagna. Haven't tasted it yet... so we'll see.

G is experimenting with walking. So far the results are positive. He books with his mail-walker-thingy and took 2 naps today, one for TWO whole hours. So maybe walking will help him sleep. I also picked up some children's Calms Forte today. It's a homeopathic sleep aid.

So onto the video (which, if you're viewing this on Facebook you won't be able to see, so click here to come to the blog).



Also? Penelope said this today:

Mommy: Here, let me fix your hair. (put's Poe's hair into a rather messy pony). There.
Penelope: (looking at herself in the mirror) I'm a GIRL!
M: Uh, yeah.
----
Penelope: I have tiger blood, I'm winning!
----
Penelope: (holding up a balloon inflator-thing) Look, it's Buzz's spaceship!
---
Penelope: (drops a toy) Oh Monkeys!

Also? She's been saying "oh crap" lately. She didn't get that from me. I say "Oh Monkeys" or "Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln" (thanks Jessie doll). So whoever is cursing around my child needs to stop.

She's a GENIUS

Video clip, so if you're reading this from facebook then please click here.

Penelope is, as previously discussed, obsessed with the movie Toy Story.

She can also read. Well, sorta.

Circles

I wonder when I can sign P up for ballet lessons.

She's taken to twirling and dancing in circles - she does this with her Jessie doll saying "wheeee!" the entire time. Griffin thinks it's hilarious (it is) and so she'll do it now just to make him laugh. Of course, then she gets really dizzy and bumps into walls; this causes her to dissolve into a fit of giggles herself.

She also likes to run in circles. Specifically she like to run circles around her brother.

Exhibit A: (if you're reading this on Facebook you have to actually come to the blog site to see the video)

Naughty baby!

Ok, so this is mostly my fault since I encouraged the game. But it's hilarious.



In other news, G is pulling up and CRUISING. Yes. Cruising! Walking is not that far in our future...

Video of Penelope and Jessie

PS - if you're seeing this on Facebook the video may not show up. You can come directly to the blog to see the video. I'll upload it to facebook as well.

Dinner FAIL and the 4th of July

Tonight's dinner was pretty terrible. It was going to be Greek pasta, but I was out of feta so it was home-made mac & cheese with fresh veggies only I added WAY too much mozzarella and the cheese sauce was more chunky than cheesy.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

So this weekend was the 4th of July weekend and we had a lot of fun. We headed over to Maddox's house and met up with Lucy and Orson as well (and their parents of course!) :) Maddox's neighborhood had a kid parade and then a festival-thing at the park so we walked the parade route and then hung out at the park. There was music, games, bounce houses, and food. The kids had a really good time. Penny wasn't too sure about the bounce house but she rocked out to the live band and had a hot dog, a couple of chips, AND some ice cream. There's nothing like junk food to say "Happy Birthday America".

Here's some pictures:


Penny & Lucy


In the parade


Pen & Harley-Quinn


Patriotic Penelope

And here's some video:

Nursing milestones and life after 8 weeks

Today marks Griffin's 8 week birthday - next week he'll officially be 2 months old. Today also marks 8 weeks of nursing (well, duh) but it means that I've nursed Griffin for twice as long as I nursed Penelope.

We're still supplementing and I'm still taking domperidone - and will be doing both for the foreseeable future. At this point I'm taking nursing one week at a time.

Griffin is getting stronger and more expressive every day. He smiles, gives little laughs, and winks :) Here's some video of him and Penelope (already posted to Facebook)



Speaking of Penelope (and video) here is some of her from 7 weeks ago (also already posted to Facebook)



She really loves him, hopefully that lasts :D

School is ok for me so far, I seem to be juggling it all well - we'll see how the rest of this class goes. I have 100% in the class through week one.

I have a lot more I wanted to say but the babies need me...

Excuse my poor cinematography...

I was laughing during most of this video, hence the shaky cinematography. But I think it's hilarious and I hope you do too :) The first part is Penelope and Bryan playing "I'm gonna getcha", the second part is Penelope dancing to a car commercial, the third is her pointing to my belly when I ask "where's the baby?", and the last part is titled "The Long Walk" and is Penelope's longest walk yet! She does tumble a bit at the end but does not harm herself in the fall (it was a close call).

Anyway, it's been an eventful night. Here's the video:


(and for those on Facebook, I'll post it there as well)

The Birthday Party Post

So Penny's party was yesterday and I've finally gotten around to uploading all the pictures and video. It was, overall, a good day... filled with firsts - some fun and some not so fun.

Penelope had a really good time at her party, and we really loved having so many family and friends come out to celebrate with us. It meant a lot that so many people came (and some from far away) to share in Penelope's special day. It was a packed house and I know Penny loved the attention (like her Daddy... ha!).

The night ended on a bit of a sour note as after her nap Penny threw up not once, but four times. Once on Bryan, once on me, once in the grocery store, and once on the rug. Poor baby! She slept with us that night and slept through without waking and was then fine the next morning... it could have been the excitement of the day, the sugar from the cupcake, a bug/virus, or any number of things. We're just glad she's feeling better and the puke is behind us. On a somewhat funny note (well I think it's funny, Bryan is not so amused) it marked the second year in a row B's been thrown-up on on Dec 5th... I threw up on him in labor and Penny threw up on him on her birthday. So maybe she was just trying to keep the tradition going (one we hope is not repeated next year).

So anyway, it was a mixed bag of a day but overall a positive one. Here are my favorite pictures from the party:



Ok, I LOVE this one... she was NOT happy being cleaned up


(For those wondering, she's wearing my old Wonder Woman t-shirt so as not to get a ton of cake on her party dress)

And here's video of her "eating" her cupcake:


So while the party was fun, I'm glad it's over... I stressed out WAY too much over her party, more than any reasonable person should. Although I'll probably do the same thing for New Baby's party, that's just how I roll - I stress about the simple things and not so much about the big ones (ok, that's a lie, I stress about the big ones too). Oh well, the party was a success.

The next few weeks will be super busy since Christmas is coming up and we have a slew of doctor and midwife appointments (well, Penny has her 1 year check up and I have my 22 week check up) plus music class, holiday parties, holiday shopping, and a dozen other things.

Oh! And it's supposed to snow in Sacramento tonight! I'll take pictures if it actually sticks... I remember the year it snowed in Oakley - the snow didn't last long and my next door neighbor Kim got beaned with a snowball in the head. I think my parents have video of that. We'll have to take video of Penny playing in the snow should the weather report turn out to be accurate.

Pictures and video

Pictures and video from the last few days:

Penelope dancing to various songs:


Thanksgiving:
Riding her horsey (a birthday present from Great Aunt Diana & Great Uncle Bill)

Playing with blocks



Pier 39:
On the carousel

On the Pier - Alcatraz in the background


Looking at the water/sea lions




Dickens Christmas Fair:
Hanging out at Mad Sal's stage

Someone is EXHAUSTED

Ball!

This video is also posted on Facebook:



Penelope says "ball" and gives mommy some serious attitude - it's cute though :)

Halloween, 11 months, and birthday parties

So I never got around to posting about Penelope's first Halloween, I put some stuff on Facebook, but nothing on the blog. So here's her Halloween costume & a video of her "trick or treating" at the Zoo (we went to Boo at the Zoo thanks to her Aunty Meagan).







It was fun and I'm looking forward to next year. We may actually take her trick or treating around the neighborhood, or we may throw a Halloween party for all our baby friends - we'll see. Halloween used to be my very favorite holiday and it's creeping it's way back up the list. It took a dive in my early-20s when a lot of women my age made it an excuse to dress up like themed prostitutes. There's sexy and then there's trashy - and most 20 somethings err on the side of trashy.

The best costume I ever wore as an adult was the "Duct Tape" Fairy - my friend Audrey made me a dress, scepter, and wings out of duct tape. It was AWESOME.

Anyway, Halloween was fun.

A few days after Halloween Penelope turned 11 months and I realized I needed to get my act together and plan her 1st birthday. What a headache that turned out to be! I did it to myself though, it didn't have to be so stressful if I would have just put my foot down. But it's all going to work out in the end... the theme is Winter ONEderland (I didn't come up with that, it's an admittedly stolen idea) and we're going to have it at one of the local family owned (and very delicious) pizza parlors. It should be fun :)

I bought Penelope a party dress in honor of her birthday, I'll have to put her in it and take some pictures before the big day. It's really cute - and I wish they made one in mommy-sizes because I would totally wear it. I don't know where I'd where it TO, maybe a fancy trip to the grocery store.

A lot of Penny's baby friends have recently turned one or will turn one shortly after P does, so we've been going to a few birthday parties - which has been a lot of fun. Here's a picture of Penelope at her friend Maddox's first birthday (he had a monkey theme):


And here's the "gang" at the party (Lucy, Maddox, Orson, and Penelope):


It's been an eventful few weeks!

Pregnancy update: Everything's going well, I'll be 18 weeks on Thursday which is almost mid-point (20 weeks is halfway through!). We'll get our one and only ultrasound shortly thereafter but are still not finding out the sex. We do have a list of girls and boys names and I may post those as some point (or did I already? I forget).

Ok, time to bathe the Penelopotomous.

Penelope wishes you a Happy Halloween

So this will be the first of at least 2 Halloween videos, this was taken this morning after P woke up. The funniest part of this video actually happened while I was "editing" - Penny was on my lap and she was absolutely enthralled, she would talk back to the video and shake her head "no" in the appropriate places.

So here it is, Penelope wishing you all a Happy Halloween:



Oh! And in other talking news, nearly every time she sees Bryan she says "hi dada" - it's cute. She uses "da" to talk about the dog as well, so I don't know if we're going to count it as her first word. We may actually count "hi" since she uses it appropriately.