Happy Holiday!
We had Chinese take-out at our friends house for dinner and the delivery guy wished us a happy holiday. We kind of laughed since MLK day is not exactly a holiday that you celebrate with good cheer. Yes, it is an important holiday. But to be wished a happy holiday? It was just sort of amusing.
Also, I wanted to clarify that the greater DC area is an amazing place to raise children. There is never a lack of things to do. There are tons of really nice playgrounds, various children’s events, train rides, carousels, amusement parks, children’s museums (which we haven’t actually been to because they are all far away), petting zoos, nature centers, water parks, hiking trails, and so forth all over the area. Stuff I never even imagined when I was a kid! However, within DC itself there is a distinct lack of kid friendly activities. There is supposed to be a big national children’s museum. They have a cool website and apparently they used to have a cool museum, but it’s been closed for re-modelling ever since I started looking for a children’s museum in DC. According to the website it is slated to re-open in 2013. Apparently they are sending camels to Egypt to bring back stones from the pyramids. They’ll be floated over on real Viking ships. I guess. I don’t know why else it could take almost 10 years to remodel the place.
Sounds like I need to check out the building museum, though. I’ve never been there. Never thought about going there. Maybe it will be next on our list when we get an itch to take the metro.
Mike had to work today (boooo!), but Erik and I had a busy day. We hosted Mother Goose Story Hour, which drew a small crowd. I used to dress up in a Mother Goose costume but my belly isn’t cooperating these days, which really irked Erik. He suggested I go “quilt yourself a new skirt that will fit” this morning. I certainly have enough fabric to come up with a costume, but I don’t have the technical know-how.
Erik wore his “Swedish costume” which cracks me up since it is a cowboy hat and vest. It was purchased in Sweden, though, so Swedish costume it shall be.
I was really disappointed with my book selection. I went and grabbed at least 10 books from the library on Friday, assuming at least half of them would be decent.
I was so wrong! Ugh. Boring, weird, boring, dumb and boring. Erik even noted that one was so weird he didn’t want to read it again because it would give him nightmares (about an Alligator that kept telling the reader to go back to the beginning of the book). At least I picked out one clear winner: Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root. I don’t know what it is about that book, but I’ve used it before and the kids always clamor for more. It has lots of rhyming and sound effects, plus some serious silliness. I may need to buy a copy for our home library instead of borrowing it all the time.
Afterwards, we went over to the House of Saturn and hung out with Dr. Saturn, Irish Lad and Welsh Lass. Erik and the Lad are both oldest/only children and boy, oh, boy does it show. They always want to play together, but they have a very hard time once they are actually together. Sometimes they do ok, but often they are little shitheads that need too much supervision to play nice together. They both want to be the boss, which is the root of all the problems. At least Welsh Lass is fun to hold. She’s only three months old and doesn’t cry a lot, so I get to cuddle and enjoy the fantasy that little Elsa will be such a sweet baby.
Let’s shift gears.
I want to know why maternity clothes are so clingy and tight. Bah! I hate all my maternity shirts. When I wear them people think I’m about to pop any minute because they cling so tightly. I hate clingy clothes!
I have a few regular women’s shirts that I can wear and people barely know I’m pregnant unless I say something. They are much more flattering! If only they were a little bit longer or the stupid maternity pants didn’t have a stretchy panel that goes down to the crotch. I generally need the extra long maternity shirts to cover up the belly panel.
Oh well. I shouldn’t complain. I have a lot more clothes this time around. I simply couldn’t find anything with Erik so had to make do with regular clothes and a couple of pairs of pants.
I just wish the clothes weren’t so dang expensive! I don’t mind paying $$$$ for quality, but these clothes are just nasty. The fabric feels really cheap and stains if you look at it funny. Grrrr. I hate wearing tight, sloppy, stained clothing.
I guess I’m doing ok if that’s my biggest complaint about this pregnancy right now. Things are so much better than they were last time. No sciatica (knock on wood)! No constant morning sickness! No teaching all day without a chance to go pee even though my bladder is about to burst! I have my own personal monkey who can bend over and pick things up for me!
I am so proud of Erik. He is developing into quite the well mannered, sweet little boy. He still drives me crazy on occasion, but he is trying to hard to be helpful and actually succeeding at it more than failing. I’m soaking it all up.
He is even getting excited about the baby. Today he was messing around with one of the bouncy seats, saying “Mommy, we’re going to have the best baby. She’s going to be the cutest and the best. I love my sister.” Awwwww! Remember when I first told him he were having a baby and he threw a huge temper tantrum? I was so worried, but he seems to be coming around.
Now we just need to work on some other aspects of his behavior. He’s been saying that he wants a weapon to make people dead. The other day he told me that he wanted me to be dead so he would just have a daddy. When I explained to him that he would never see me again and he’d have to go to daycare all day he changed his mind. I know he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but those are words you don’t want to hear coming out of your kid’s mouth. At least he didn’t say it in anger. He just really loves his daddy and I think he wishes his daddy stayed home with him all day instead of me. Of course, if that was the case the roles would probably be reversed.
Enough naval gazing for one night. I need to get myself to bed.