New bike!

In early June, after watching our 4-year-old Goose almost scrape her knees every time she pushed her feet on her cranky old tricycle pedals, we decided the time was now: Time to upgrade her to a big girl bike! We originally discussed making it a goal for her to reach, like staying in bed every night for 30 nights. But we (ahem...me, Timo) could not wait that long. I didn't want most of June and some of July to go by without Goose having more fun on a bigger bike, and for her to tag along with me more on rides.

So, I took our girls to Target one sunny afternoon, on an undisclosed (to them) errand. We casually sauntered up to the bike aisle. I could hardly contain my excitement and anticipation at envisioning Goose's reaction. I said, "Goose, it's time for a big-girl bike!" And she selected the girliest one of the three bike options for her age group. She was in heaven!

And Mouse has enjoyed tagging long with Dear Old Dad on his bike. It took her a time or four around the neighborhood for Mouse to feel comfortable, but she likes it now. We've gone on an hour-long ride around town, have zoomed around on empty church parking lot on a Saturday, and taken the bikes for spins in our driveway and the block quite a bit.

Sure, a part of me was, at the time, determined to not make this a spontaneous gift. A part of me wanted Goose to earn it the old-fashioned way. But you know what? Life is too short to not indulge in a splurge for our kids now and then. She loves it, it's created a fun and healthy new family activity, and we've made some great memories.

That's what the summer of 2011 is all about...making family memories.

School's Out for Nana

At the end of June, my Mom (Nana to our girls) had a half-day on the last day of school. Weeks earlier, she and I had been talking while I was visiting my parents at my childhood home, and when I realized that her last day of school coincided with my paternity leave, the old wheels started churning in my head. Okay, so maybe with age and three kids those wheels spin a little more slowly, but they still work!

I decided to surprise Nana on her last day of school with Becky and our kids. This would be a blast. I knew it was a treat my Mom would really love.

Only, remember those creaky wheels in my head? Well, I wasn't firing on all cylinders, and somewhere between that visit home when the idea began, and June 23rd, I informed my Mom that we would be down to visit her at school on her last day. And then the wheels spun faster, because I completely forgot ever ruining my own surprise. I eagerly looked at the calendar each day, counting down to the date, and was proud of myself for not imploding my own plans. I imagined the look my Mom would have on her face when her only son, her only daughter-in-law, and her grandchildren strode into her school, totally unannounced.

So, here we were, all 5 of us, loaded in our Blue Bomber driving down to their home on Thursday, June 23rd. To surprise Nana. I was so excited to pull one on Nana, so Becky made a huge sign and we all had fun decorating it. We walked into her school (named after one of my all-time favorite teachers; gone too soon in June 2002) and headed for her classroom.

And who was there, so happy and so not surprised to see us? Nana! I was dumbfounded by her not-surprised reaction. I had expected more, much more. Sure, my Mom was very happy to see us all, but why didn't her jaw hit the floor? And my Mom, in her quiet way, laughingly said, "I knew all along that you were coming today! You told me weeks ago."

Well, we had a great time anyhow. Goose was in her element, so pleased to tell Nana that she will be going to school soon, too. Mouse hung close to the bins of toys and practically had to be dragged out of there. And Moose? He slept most of the time. Good son! Kudos to Becky, for making it all the more memorable with the banner and her love of life and making family memories. She was only one month out of the hospital at this point. She is superwoman.

I am so honored to have her by my side, and to have had my Mom's tender influence on my early years, and for our girls to know such wonderful role models for women and mothers.

Music soothes the savage...

Stomach (to butcher a saying). A few weeks ago, we had dinner with our friends the Romeros. My parents had kindly taken our girls for a 2-night overnighter, so it was just me and the Mrs. and Moose. That was the first time it'd been just the three of us since he was born.

After a great dinner of arepas and a sugarcane drink, Moose was suddenly all out of sorts. Sure, it was a comfortable 90+ degrees outside, but for our Venezuelan friends, hey, that's like an early spring! Becky and I took turns trying to soothe Moose, and Sylvia lent a hand, but Moose was only getting more agitated. Rene, a self-professed baby calmer, took over and worked his magic. He first tried to burp Moose with his patented technique. There was something up with Moose--either he was too hot, or he was fussy over his formula, or something. When that failed, Rene walked into their living room, picked up his guitar, and started singing Venezuelan songs. 

Honestly, it took more time for me to write this post than it did for Moose to calm down as Rene started strumming and singing. Our little guy was 100% transfixed by the music. Rene sang and played a handful of songs over the next little while. And Moose was a chill little dude the entire time!

I wonder if Rene is available to work the graveyard shift?! It was a cute sight to behold. Moose would move his head and follow Rene with his eyes. Sylvia later handed Moose off to us so she could duet with Rene, with her on the piano. A great night with friends!    

Bus stop

On my last day of the first two weeks of paternity leave at the beginning of June, I took the girls on a surprise bus ride. In the photo above, they're waiting for the second leg of the fun trip, the journey back home. The good old notorious MBTA somehow didn't mess up, and the buses ran on-time. We got on a bus in our town center and rode it to the next town center, but I realized that this was too short of a trip for my girls' (or my) liking, so we continued on to a few other towns and ended up taking a 25-minute ride each way, which I think was plenty.

Goose had a ball! She really got a kick out of people-watching, and was thrilled to bring her baby Eva (named after one of her good friends; the doll has since been re-christened Ellie, after another of her good friends). She wanted to sit on the aisle seat and press the button at numerous stops!

Mouse had an almost-equally enjoyable time...

 ...except when she didn't! She was afraid of the bus--all of the newness and sounds, all of the new faces. She sat rigid on my lap both ways, with one of my arms draped across her tummy. Whenever I lifted my arm to point something out the windows to our girls, Mouse would immediately grab that arm and yank it back across her.

Like tens of thousands of other T riders, she was thrilled when the ride was over!

And before I go, I leave you with a link to one of my favorite songs.
"Bus Stop" by the Hollies, a song now 45 years old.

Bunk Bed Madness!

Since little Moose's arrival meant he and his parents were not sleeping great, we thought it'd be fun to add to the chaos by introducing another contraption into our family that was sure to affect sleep: We got bunk beds for our girls! The biggest sleep-interfering nonsense that comes with this unchartered territory for us was the high chance that Our Little Mouse would fall out of her bed.

And she has. Multiple times. She's recovered each time and hasn't been hurt. But she invariably wakes up her big sister on the top bunk as well, and I'm in there roused out of my own slumbers to quiet them down as best I can before they wake up Becky.

Our friend Jenn referred us to a great online company, and we are really pleased with their service and with the beds themselves. We put the beds together while Becky's parents were in town last month. Our girls were ecstatic to see a new play-thing in their room!

Assembling all of the pieces for the bunk beds. Little Moose was there for the big occasion (well, he was physically there, but most likely slept through all of the noise).

Fred and Tim, the master bunk bed assemblers! 

Mouse loved climbing into the top bunk. This was her favorite activity for...about 45 seconds, until her big sister played "King of the Hill"/bad boss and kept barking at her little sister to stay out of the top bunk. Hand it to Mouse, she continues to try scaling the rails to invade the top bunk!

And this is a shot of what their room used to look like: It was more crowded, though it did have a full wall without anything blocking it so we put up a wall of individual photos of our girls' cousins. We have since consolidated from two separate dressers--one for each girl--to one massive dresser that they share. That has also freed up some space. The beds are now where the white vertical bookcase and the pink hanging blanket were in the photo below.

It's a fun new development for our girls. They love climbing the beds, having doll parties in the beds, hiding under the bottom bed, and jumping off the top railing into my arms.

My only regret is that with bunk beds, I'm now not able to spend a few minutes each bedtime by each girl's bed talking just to them, or reading just to them. Pre-bunk beds, our girls' beds were on different walls, and it just felt like a good amount of distance between beds. Now, whatever book I'm reading to one, or whatever cute conversation I'm having with one, our other daughter has to know about it. I miss that one-on-one connection at bedtime. Any ideas for a new solution?