Mom the Baby Nurse

Brain not on...

Amanda Aaronson — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:48:00 -0800

Phoebe's brain doesn't really seem to turn on until Tuesdays. She fought like the dickens to get anything done yesterday, and futzed, and seemed incapable of basic math equations, that she'd been doing quite well at on Friday, and continued to be "quizzed" intermittently on over the weekend. Today, she's capable again.

I don't know if it's that Chloe's home on Mondays, or if it's too soon after the weekend... but OY!

Today, however, she's positively dreamy.

Prematurity Awareness

Amanda Aaronson — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:45:00 -0800

Check it out and sign it...

WATCH!!!!

Amanda Aaronson — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:24:00 -0800

Watch The Martha Stewart Show as one of my dearest friends, BethAnn Goldberg vies for $10K in Martha's "Dreamers Into Doers" competition! NBC, 1PM... Tuesday AND Wednesday.

Be sure to think of, and thank, our Veterans on Tuesday, too.

I love you, Clark!!!

Whoa, it's been two weeks?

Amanda Aaronson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:20:00 -0800

To sum up:

I voted, two weeks ago now. Obama, yes, Prop 1, no, Prop 4, NO, Prop 8 NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Other than that I don't really remember... No Tom Means for city council, yes Laura Macias for city council... a few newbies...

I've submitted my first abstract, officially, for a poster presentation.

I attended a beautiful birth on Halloween - and my parents got the pleasure of taking my girls trick-or-treating since I wasn't there.

Phoebe's been rehearsing for the Nutcracker.

I took over coaching Piper's soccer team. Phil's been refereeing Phoebe's soccer games - though that's almost over. Just a couple more weeks.

Phoebe is doing well with her new instrument, the flute. Piper wants to start guitar, though we've decided after soccer is over, and the holidays are over.

The first winter colds have hit.

My folding bike has been a godsend in order to be able to ride the train.

I've rediscovered my crock pot...

And my kid's are driving each other crazy right this second, so I"m done here...

Aaronson's Dictionary (ALMOST as good as Webster's)

Amanda Aaronson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:18:00 -0700

It's a work in progress, but here ya go:

Arse: (are-ssss) n. Your butt. (not exactly original to our family)
Bo: (bow) pn. Chloe... "The Bo", "Miss Bo", "Bo-bah-lo". (credit: Amanda and Phil)
Boob: (b-oooooo-buh) v. The act of nursing your child. To boob. I boob, you boob, she (no, no he) boobs, etc etc. (credit: Amanda and BA)
Butcept: (buht-sept) preposition "The kids all went to school, butcept I stayed home 'cause I was sick" (credit: Piper)
Fark: (fah-rrrr-k) interjection A curse word you can say around the kids. I can't bring myself to do the Battlestar Galactica "Frack". I've been saying "fark" for years before I heard that one. (credit: Amanda)
Fridgerating: (fridge -er-ray-ting) v. the act of feeling cold, but not quite to "freezing". (credit: Chloe)

This WILL be continued... brain is frying.

Who's a better Sarah Palin???

Amanda Aaronson — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:27:00 -0700

I have to say, in my mind, Tina Fey has it...

Fetal heart rate shows concerning decels more often in induced labor

Amanda Aaronson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:53:00 -0700

Big surprise, eh? This is my finding of the summer on the data set I had my hands on. I'm writing it up and submitting it for a poster presentation. We'll see how that goes.

ETA: This is by maternal report (meaning it was concerning enough to inform the mom of, I'd wager this was UNDER reported, rather than over reported)

started school

Amanda Aaronson — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:40:00 -0700

This time, it's me who started school... so far so good. One day under my belt... and tonight I need to prepare a presentation, and work on an abstract for submission for a poster presentation next April. My Wednesday class starts this week. The balance between kid needs and my own school time requirements will be interesting.

On another note, I'm heavily entrenched in "soccer-mom-dome". With two kids in soccer, and Phil now volunteering as a ref, I am the taxi on the weekends. Crazy schedule:

Monday - all kids have dance, including Chloe now, so literally hours are being spent at the dance studio
Tuesday, kinder-group outings (informal) in the AM, and Phoebe ballet in the afternoon
Wednesday, me at school all day, Phil at home with kids, Phoebe has afternoon Music Theory and then soccer practice
Thursday, me at school, Phoebe has afternoon Mandarin
Friday, early kinder day for Piper, standing park-playdate, Phoebe flute, and regular library run
Saturday, soccer for the P's, Nutcracker rehearsals for Phoebe
Sunday, church for the kids (date bike ride for Phil and I), and sometimes Nutcracker rehearsals again

Toss in there the homeschooling, runs to and from preschool and kindergarten and other playdates... I think most of my studying will be done in the evenings.

School update

Amanda Aaronson — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:18:00 -0700

Homeschooling continues to go well with Phoebe. She's often done with her work by 9 or 10 AM (sometimes never getting out of her jammies), though some days she'll trickle through, banging out her routine math/spelling and then work on schoolwork in fits and spurts between playing. One day last week she was clearly exhausted, and said she needed a break from "Daddy Math" - her big word problem of the day - and so we let her beg off of it, and she did it the next day. If it weren't so hot, we'd be doing more baking (but who wants to fire the oven up to 350 degrees to add to 90+ degree heat outside, therefore either making us sweat like pigs, or making the air conditioner work extra hard - which we have broken down and used just these last couple of days). She's also rereading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so I've made it a focus of some activities as well, and we'll culminate in a book report.

Piper's still loving kinder. I went to her Back-To-School-Night this past Thursday, and everything looked great. I loved that they already had tons of artwork up around the room already. I think my favorite art project of Piper's was the "What did you do this summer?" drawing. Piper had drawn a VERY nice airplane, complete with her face peeking out of the window. What was hilarious was that the windows from the front of the plane back to her face were oval, like they usually are, but the two windows in the back were square and paned. I couldn't stop laughing, it was so cute! She was also very proud of her "Caught Being Good" recognition that she had received that very day, and as the teacher was explaining "Caught Being Good" she told Piper's story. I made sure to tell Piper about it.

My school year starts again in a week and a half, and I have to finish a paper by then - or at least that's how I've decided to culminate my summer research residency. So, I'm off to work on that now.

Homeschooling Miss Phoebe

Amanda Aaronson — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:03:00 -0700

So, the update on the homeschool front - it's going great, but if anything, we're erring on the side of working her a bit much. We'll slow down. :-)

This week included the routine calendar/time/weather, math facts, and some spelling/grammar work. It also included nutrition, chemistry and math in the form of baking, some history, geography and social studies in looking at John Cochrane (Johnny Appleseed) and his migration of the apple tree from Pennsylvania into the midwest, some library exploration and the start of a very elementary research project, and finally some math puzzles from Phil.

Riding Miss Piper

Amanda Aaronson — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:59:00 -0700

In our world we're trying not to drive, on the whole. The bare minimum is driving ONE direction (to or from school) if necessary, and making sure we have other trips to link to it. So this past week was a comedy of errors in Piper's world in riding to/from kindergarten.

Day one, we were going to ride/walk/something-other-than-drive, except I had an appointment at 12:30 after an 11:45 drop off time, along with staying long enough to help her adjust to the classroom etc etc. So we drove there, and I took Phil and Phoebe back home (Chloe was at preschool, which I had ridden her to) and dropped them off and ran to my appointment. Piper was upset at going in the car. Then I picked her up on the tandem, with Phoebe on her solo bike, which made her pretty happy, except that I'd had to turn away the popsicle they were handing out to the Kinders in congrats on their first day of school for fear of artificial color (there wasn't, they were Breyers, and the colors were all natural, mia culpa). So she was down about that.

Day two, she insisted on riding her little pink princess bike to school (now mind you, the lower traffic route we were taking goes around a little further, to about a mile and a half one way. About 7 blocks from school she had to take a break because she was hot (it was all uphill a little on the way there too boot), and about three blocks from school she had to hop off and walk the rest of the way. She begged me to drive to pick her up, and so I did. Well, somewhere in the finagling to get her to ride the rest of the way to school, she had internalized when Phoebe said that the way home was all downhill and SO much better, so of course, when I picked her up in the car (with about three errands to run, and her little sister to pick up all in one run), she was upset.

Note, here, that I'm three for four directions in making her UNhappy about the way we're getting to school so far, and on the one day that she WAS happy about the mode of transportation, she was unhappy about something else. Ugh.

So, Friday, day three, I leave enough time to get her to school by tandem, and not enough time for her to try riding her little pink princess bike again. So she's upset about that because for some reason, she really wanted to try riding herself again - which in theory, I"m all for, but in reality, we did NOT have time. So, despite her unhappiness, she climbed aboard the tandem and we got her to school. This time, I KNOW I have an appointment in the afternoon and that I'll be driving to get her, so I give her that heads up, and she's okay when I do so.

I'm not doing so well in that regard. Of course the adjustment to kindergarten has been a little hard on her, I think, and the heat hasn't helped... we'll find our rhythm, for sure.

Homeschooling - and no artificial colors

Amanda Aaronson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:22:00 -0700

No, the two aren't really that closely related.

The update on artificial colors is that we've really hit the jackpot!!! We're still minimizing other preservatives and additives, but the big big big one does appear to be the colors. We have children who behave like children now. Further, I'm finding that I like being AROUND my children more. It was sad feeling like I needed a break from, well, the one screamer, on a regular basis. It did a disservice to both her and the rest of us. She deserved to be enjoyed as much as her siblings did... and now she is.

Homeschooling has begun. Phoebe didn't realize she'd started school, but she started low-key "schooling" yesterday. This wasn't the sit-down and work school, this was the "let's chat about what nutrients are in your lunch" school, the "how high do you think your bike seat would be if we raised it by one foot", the "so you have 20 dollars, and the material you want costs $2.50, what bills would you give the cashier and how much change would you get?", and the "what kinds of shapes would you like to make your quilt out of, shall we draw them into the big square", and the "Piper cut her finger, let's talk about how blood clots and wounds heal" kind of schooling. We're getting into the habit of making everything count.. and she's sliding right into it.

Further, I got an e-mail from the school Phoebe will be attending next year, and they are going to help us get our hands on the curriculum they are using for 3rd grade so that we can be sure to hit the same standards and major topics in order to have her on track for 4th grade next year.

So far, so good on the schooling front... and the school year technically starts tomorrow, so that's when we get to start working on what will be the daily routine and some more workbook style learning.

Day, I don't know...

Amanda Aaronson — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:52:00 -0700

No more tantrums. None. She's been tired, she's been cranky, and still no tantrums. Grrrr to artificial colors.. grrr to ingested chemicals...

I learned something today, though. Not all foods of the same brand and type have the same ingredients. I bought whole fruit popsicles today. Strawberry did NOT have artificial colour, and yet, lime did. Rats. Piper wanted lime... and still, no tantrum. She understood why she couldn't have lime. That's my girl.

Another thing that has happened this week is our decision to homeschool Phoebe next year. Piper got a slot at Bullis Charter School (BCS) and Phoebe was bumped to first on the 3rd grade wait list. It didn't happen. Okay, wait, let me copy and paste from my e-mail to the family on this one:

We all felt very trapped by the idea of having to send Phoebe to the newly designated school for her, which was not the school she attended last year, rather one located inconveniently across town in the wrong direction from where Chloe goes to preschool/daycare. When we realized what our schedules meant, this would be dropping off, or picking up, someone every two hours throughout the day.

Further, she was not thriving in the public school environment. She was worked up for learning disabilities last year, and she continues to struggle with the worksheet style curriculum that is standard across this district - so the new school would not be a change from her school last year.

Lastly, she was expressing that if she went on to Covington (the new district school), she would want to stay there, rather than move again in a year, and we had every intention of having her attend the charter school for 4th grade. She is guaranteed a place there next year (they open up 10 slots in the 4th grade because of the teacher/student ratio increase that is a state regulation). In addition, if a slot opens up at the charter school, it is fully our intention to move her during the school year.

So, not only were Phil and I frustrated, Phoebe was as well... until we remembered that we had another option. We had explored the homeschooling option for Phoebe before she even entered kindergarten, and we revisited it as an option now. Phoebe was ecstatic to learn she had another choice. We made it clear she'd have to focus, and be receptive to when it was "school time" here at home.

It was so crazy, it just might work! Phil and I alternate days working from home so that someone is always available to pick up the kids, either on schedule, or in an emergency, so enforcing an educational period just meant that we'd have to work all the harder during that time - and Phoebe would have to understand and work WITH us.

So today, I informed the school district that they would not be having the pleasure of Phoebe's company this year for the 3rd grade.

This is a one year solution, but one we're growing more and more excited about. We will use the local music and art school, as well as find a Mandarin tutor for both Phoebe and Piper as well as their friend, Megan.

So there it is. Thank goodness for the internet for helping us find the way to go about all of this...

Day 3

Amanda Aaronson — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:44:00 -0700

Day three isn't over yet, it's mid-afternoon, but I thought I would update.

We've not been perfect on the allergen avoidance, but we HAVE been perfect on the artificial food avoidance.

Yesterday Piper had an enormous tantrum, completely with screaming, kicking, wailing, and complete loss of control. It lasted about 30 minutes, and was kicked off when I told the girls it was time to turn off the tv and come to lunch. It accelerated when I offered my hand to walk her downstairs (Chloe had the other hand to steady herself on the stairs), and she refused to take it, and so I went on down the stairs without her.

I have to remember that it does take two full weeks to clear ones system of food offenders... but she also had some applesauce, which is likely to be high in salicylates, which the Feingold program had warned could be a potentiate of behavioral problems. So now I'm studying more on that, and trying to steer her clear of those foods high in salicylates as well - though buzzing through the lists, that might be hard to do - there are a LOT of them.

Today has been amazing. No whining at all, no fussing, even when she's been disappointed. She and Phoebe are getting along very well, and are currently playing pretend while Chloe goes with Phil to the bike shop.

Which reminds me, I need to go update her food diary.

Day 1

Amanda Aaronson — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:59:00 -0700

Day one on the elimination diet has been a HUGE success. No artificial colors or flavors consumed today, minimal dairy, minimal wheat and eggs (despite a preschool slip-up, but we're pretty happy with just the artificial stuff being eliminated at this point), and only one little meltdown upon being told it was time to come in from bike riding for dinner, which Piper pulled herself out of (by clinging to my leg, but what the hey, she pulled out). In fact, none of the girls ate much artificial (Chloe had a hotdog, and Phoebe had an otterpop earlier in the day), and Phil says putting them to bed was positively DREAMY.

Oh, and I had to hold off on giving Piper benadryl tonight, because the chewables are chock full of artifical colors! So she got Zyrtec instead.

Foods and Behavior

Amanda Aaronson — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:34:00 -0700

So I think I missed something on Miss Piper. I actually feel not so great as a mom at this point...

Piper started having her tantrums just before she turned three, between 2.5 and 3. At the same time she'd just gotten a new sibling, and her big sister who'd been home with her all the time started kinder, and she decided to potty train and go to preschool.

That's a lot going on... and it could have been any of those things.

BUT... what I missed was it was about two months after we had treated her food allergies, and since we'd seen no outward changes upon her eating those previous allergens, we let her eat them all (minus nuts and shellfish, of course).

They seemed to get better over the last year until about two or three months ago. At this time she had to give up her preschool offered nap (which she really seemed to need about 2-3 times per week), and her tantrums became frequent again. She's having two or three per day lately. Last night she screamed for over half an hour because her doll didn't have pants.

Of course for dessert, she'd had ice cream... mint chip ice cream, no less.

Let's see, dairy, sugar, and probably artificial color/flavor.

And last night it clicked for me. I don't think she's completely outgrown her allergies. I think it's all manifesting behaviorally.

I also started searching more on the internet, and I came across the Feingold program:

http://www.feingold.org/pg-overview.html

among a lot of other resources talking about artificial colors - and flavors, but mostly the colors - as culprits for a LOT of children's behavioural issues.

As of this morning we're cutting WAY back on her sugar intake, minimizing her wheat and egg intake, and essentially cutting her dairy and artificial color/flavor intake. She's all for it, she doesn't like how she feels when she's having tantrums. So she's been talking a LOT about what she can't have anymore, and wearing it like a badge. She wants an answer probably as badly as I do.

More frugal living

Amanda Aaronson — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:13:00 -0700

I continue on the challenge not to go to the grocery store until Monday. We're well on track for that - and at that time it will be for basic staples, such as milk, OJ, sour cream, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese from Costco, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, eggs and a few others from Trader Joes, and produce from the Milk Pail. No need to buy meats this round.

I have also been looking at other extraneous costs. As such, I've turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows (allergies aren't too bad right now), unplugged appliances not in use (this includes the microwave - we don't need the little digital clock up all the time there), I've started running laundry on cold using half detergent, half oxyclean. I am giving thought to a clothesline in the garage - both green AND financially friendly - but this may be a bit longer term of a project as it requires the space available to put it up. Looks like it may be time to Craigslist some of the bike stuff, we have a loooooot of wheels, and a few bike frames collecting dust, a mountain bike - and I need to figure out if I"m going to get around to using my fixie. I'd LIKE to use it, but it still requires more purchases to be useable, tires, tubes, rimstrip (I may have this already, I'm not sure). I'll give it a little more time. I rode it a bit, and then had a flat, with sew-ups on, on the road. It's sat since while I tried to get some fixed-gear wheels with clincher rims. I have them now, it's just a matter of putting it all together.

I had someone talking about getting a side of beef and raising a hog for butcher. These are both great ideas, but, well, not here.

It's a bit humorous, actually, in the process of using up the food we have, the kids are being forced a bit to open up their palates... and they are! Not without a fight, but they are accepting eating that which is given to them.

SOYMILK

Amanda Aaronson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:35:00 -0700

I have soymilk, I am redeemed for making it through the weekend on the milk we have!!!

"Pretend we're poor girls..."

Amanda Aaronson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:03:00 -0700

This is one of my children's favorite games - to pretend we're poor, or we're Laura in The Little House series - they had three girls at one point, though ultimately Grace joined the family. However, for our girls, Mary, Laura and Carrie it is, as we're not having a fourth.

In any case, we are actually trying to live this right now. Due to the unfortunate timing of a few large ticket items coming into our world at the same time, and me with no "real" income right now (I have a grant stipend that doesn't even cover our current childcare bill) we've had to become rapidly frugal. Phil said to be "careful", but I decided to see just how frugal we could be. As such, my goals are as follows:

To NOT purchase a new kitchen table, rather to clean off the one we already have (which is not the style we would like, and doesn't quite fit our space optimally, but it is still already in our possession and therefore "free") rather than purchase a new one.
To make do with the groceries we have rather than going grocery shopping, until Monday. I think I can do this, and more will follow.
Not to spend any money until after the weekend is out... and then to proceed as gently as possible.

So, back to the topic of not going grocery shopping. Between now and Monday, I need to research how to TRULY grocery shop frugally. On the whole I try to buy the deals. However, I feel like shopping on the cheap is all new territory. My biggest thoughts are:

Don't buy processed snack foods.
Lay off the good cheeses (darnitall).
Buy ingredients rather than pre-made "stuff".
Don't buy anything you don't see using in the near-to-immediate future, you can always come back later (we DO, afterall, live just blocks away from an amazing fresh produce store, a Trader Joes, a Safeway and [if truly needed] a Whole Foods).

Additionally, I'm doing what I can to use up what is already in our kitchen. Soooo, last night an egg went into our burgers to stretch them. Tonight we're making chili from what was leftover from the burgers and from Chloe's birthday party last weekend. Overnight I will make stock (in the crock-pot of course) and tomorrow night's dinner is veggies, chicken and rice made from that and other veggie leftovers. In the AM the girls and I will make banana muffins, pumpkin muffins and fresh whole wheat bread out of old bananas, and pumpkin leftover from Chloe's birthday party (she wanted pumpkin pie instead of cake - smart girl!).

The hardest part I foresee is that we're running out of milk. That one may make it tough.... but we'll see what we can do. I do have soymilk and condensed milk which will likely go in our baking.

One year

Amanda Aaronson — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:49:00 -0700

Butterflies marked the one year point from Matthew's passing, as they did at his memorial. His free and flying spirit was acknowledged by those beautiful creatures. Children's laughter, the gathering of loved ones, all the foods and games that Matthew loved. It is a day of love.

Tour DAY France

Amanda Aaronson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:18:00 -0700

Which is the emphasis that Bob Roll puts on the Tour de France (somewhat infamously now)...

The Tour this year is really heating up, the top 6 riders are all within a minute of each other going into today's stage (which I haven't seen yet, no spoilers please, I'll be watching it tonight after the kids are down and I can actually HEAR Phil Liggett speak). Christian Vandevelde, an American, is one of those riders. He's always had to be a work horse in the past, and this year he's starting to shine. Sunday's stage saw another American (and teammate of Vandevelde), Danny Pate, in the breakaway, trying to take the stage win, though he had to be satisfied with 3rd on the day.

Oscar Perreiro, winner of the Tour a few years back as the default when Floyd Landis came up doped, ended up in a nasty crash and with a broken shoulder, so regretfully, he is out for this year.

Team CSC put in an impressive bout of teamwork on Sunday's stage and were rewarded with the Maillot Jaune on the back of Frank Schleck, thanks in large part to his brother, Andy.

So for anyone who is interested in reading about this year's Tour, reports are put up regularly (even live!) at www.cyclingnews.com.

Reflecting on Matthew

Amanda Aaronson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:22:00 -0700

This coming Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the passing of Matthew. His mother, Gigi, is gearing up to run a half-marathon with Team In Training in his memory, and also in honor of Caren McCormack, who has beaten her leukemia in the past year. A mother of two small children, Caren has fought to live, to help maintain a normal life for her girls. Her older daughter is entering the second grade at Phoebe's old school, and her youngest was adopted around the same time Caren was diagnosed with her leukemia from Russia.

Matthew's memorial fund is currently being developed, along with the memorial funds of two other little boys, one whose name I'm currently missing, the other is in honor of Nicholas Colby, into LiveSTRONG Kids. I'll update about that regularly.

In the meantime, we continue to send love and support in the direction of Matthew's family, and all other families affected by cancer.

Check out Act II

Amanda Aaronson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:44:00 -0700

Seriously, you MUST!

http://www.drhorrible.com/act_II.html

Joss Whedon on Dr. Horrible

Amanda Aaronson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:40:00 -0700

Here you can read more about the great plan, but I include this one quote for amusement:

"Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few."

Something tells me the creative genius is snapping just a little.

Dr. Horrible

Amanda Aaronson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:35:00 -0700

Joss Whedon, the producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, has produced a new short series, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. It's available for free viewing until the 20th, at which time it will be on iTunes for download. Act 1 is the one I've linked in here, and acts 2 and 3 will be coming shortly...

Weaned

Amanda Aaronson — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:10:00 -0700

For the first time in (almost exactly) nine years, I am not pregnant or nursing.

Chloe weaned over our vacation.

I always figured I'd find it bittersweet when my last "baby" weaned. I thought it would be an emotional event... afterall, it had been emotional for me when her sisters had weaned. However, I'm finding that it is not. Not in any way. It just is. I'm not doing a happy dance about it, and I'm not sad about it. I don't feel that my body is somehow "my own" again, as I have heard other women have felt. But then I never felt that it wasn't mine, just that there were added physical demands on it - but what it could do was awesome.

I'm thinking that I am feeling this way in part because Chloe will ALWAYS be my "baby". She didn't wean with the impending birth of another sibling, as her sisters did. My thought is that I became emotional when the other's weaned because it was symbolic of their being "displaced" as the baby - and that they were acknowledging it (metaphorically, of course) by no longer needing to be at the breast, and therefore I felt it acutely (hormonally?). This time, it's just another stage in Chloe's growth and development, and not at all symbolic of an outside force acting upon her.

"Go on, grow up" (Mike Wazowski, Monster's Inc)

Back from vacation - a.k.a. I have really cool kids

Amanda Aaronson — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:40:00 -0700

A week in a beach house...

Days of sun and surf...

Nightly cocktails...

Food made by my gourmet sister-and-brother-in-law and my mother-in-law (a foodie in her own right)...

And positively dreamily behaved girls, who adored on their cousin Gio...

They've been awake far too long today, flown across the country, and they are STILL behaving positively gorgeously (awake at 5AM EST, therefore 2AM PST, and it's now 2:30 PST).

Off to finish unpacking and figure out the rest of our day.

Peace out.

Vacation!

Amanda Aaronson — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:32:00 -0700

See ya in a week!

God Bless Josh Groban

Amanda Aaronson — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:16:00 -0700

My girls have been pushing each other lately, putting each other down, smirking and rubbing in when they get to do something and the other does not, that sort of thing.

We've been working hard on the message that we need to work on saying NICE things, and on strengthening and supporting each other. These talks work for the very immediate term, but they ultimately slide back into angry voices, and cutdowns. The reminder of using nice words and manners for the interactions seems to be working overall, but the smirking and put-downs were still popping up.

Finally, the other day, I told them that I had a song to dedicate to all of them, as sisters, and I played "You Raise Me Up" for them and told them that it was because that's what I always wanted them to do for one another - to raise each other up. So now when they're getting snarky at each other, I just put on the song, and they all start working together, helping each other, praising each other...

It's magic. I love you Josh Groban!

The Ryan Phua Memorial Ride

Amanda Aaronson — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:03:00 -0700

There is something strange about being intimately involved in the world of memorials. They ALL become more personal, and the degrees of separation become fewer.

We thought about going to the Ryan's Ride for the kids during the Burlingame criterium in past years. This year, though, with our friends, the Tserns, knowing the Phua family, we definitely went down.

Megan and our girls all wore these "Riding in Memory Of" tags.

Makes me want to get more involved before I have personal family reason to be more involved.