A Visit from the Rob and Annas

The Rob and Annas' kids had a fall break last month, and they came down for a visit after spending a little time in Yosemite and the surrounding area.  (Thanks to the government shutdown, they could drive through Yosemite but weren't supposed to stop anywhere.)  The bummer was that their fall break coincided with Jim's surf trip to Mexico, so he missed their visit. 

They arrived on Sunday evening.  We had a lasagna dinner (the only time I cooked for them) and hung out.  Ever was instantly totally smitten with Clara.  (It's funny because she's also a big fan of Kara Karner, who is about Clara's age.  She pronounces "Kara" and "Clara" the same way, so now I never know which once of them she's talking about.)  Ever was so excited about her new friend it was hard to tear her away for bed.

 

I worked from home Monday and Tuesday.  The Rob and Annas went to La Jolla on Monday.  We went to Pick Up Stix for dinner, and then they headed up to Shandra's parents' house in Westminster so they could hit California Adventure early Tuesday. 

 

Ever and I joined the clan for a Disneyland day on Wednesday.  Little One on the bus from the parking lot to the place where dreams come true:

 

 

We met the Rob and Annas in the line for Peter Pan. 

 

After the exciting Peter Pan ride, Udon graciously let me use his fast pass for Star Tours while he and Dean went to get fast passes for Indiana Jones.  (Fast Passes are the ONLY thing that make Disneyland doable these days.  The regular lines are nuts long for the good rides.)  Then we all met up in Fantasyland and did the jungle cruise, which features elephants and other animals.  I had never been on that before, and it was actually kind of fun, especially with Little Love.  Next we took turns doing Indiana Jones.  Ann Marie took Clara and Ever to the treehouse while the first crew went. Anna enjoyed Ever's commentary:  "Eber go with Clara."  "Eber find mama."  "Eber go in water there."  (She really does want to get in all water she sees.) 

 

 

Then they met me by Indiana Jones, and we snacked while waiting for Rob and the other kids to finish their ride. 

 

 

Ann Marvin and I took the second shift on Indiana Jones.  Then Rob and the boys and I went on Splash Mountain while Ann Marie took Lucy, Clara, and Ever to the Haunted Mansion.  Apparently Clara and Ever were terrified.  Ever buried her head into Anna's shoulder and kept repeating "Eber go out" the whole time.  Anna plugged her ears, and Lucy covered her eyes.  After that, they waited in line to see Tigger.  Ever was super-excited - "Eber see zebra."  I met them while they were in line.  As they got close to the "zebra," Ever got scared and started crying.  I had to take her away.  Clarice got a cute picture, though:

 

 

We all did Pirates of the Caribbean together.  Poor Ever was also terrified on that ride.  Then we took the train over to Fanstasyland and did Small World.  Ever was nervous at first (I'm sure she was thinking, "Another ride through the dark with loud sounds?") but ended up really enjoying it.  In the Small World line:

 

We split up again briefly.  The boys and Clara did a little roller coaster, and I did the Matterhorn.  (For more than 20 years, since our family vacation to California when I was wee, I've thought that I love the Matterhorn.  Turns out it's a jerky, not-great roller coaster.  I realized after going on it again that I may have been confusing it with Montezuma's Revenge at Knott's Berry Farm.)  Lucy and Ann Marie took Ever on a couple of rides.  I found them before they got on the Storybook Land boat.  I tried and tried but couldn't get a decent picture. 

 

 

Ever and my last ride of the day was Dumbo.  Ever absolutely LOVED it.  She was going crazy in the line wanting to get on - "Ever go high."  Riders can control (to some extent) whether the elephants they're riding in go up or down.  Ever wanted it to be as high as possible the whole time.  Then as soon as we got off, she tried to turn around and get back on instead of exiting.  She kept saying, "Eber go high again!" 

 

Afterward the kiddies posed on Dumbo:

 

We got some dinner at a restaurant in the park.  Ever scarfed her macaroni and cheese, apples, and carrots.  She's slow, though, so she was still eating after everybody else was done.  I always get nervous when she eats apples and carrots, as I know they're choking hazards.  Plus the three-year-old daughter of a guy we knew in L.A. choked to death on an apple at church, so that freaks me out.  I told Rob they could leave us since I was just going to head home with Dolly as soon as she finished.  When I said it, I wondered if I should make them wait until she finished in case she choked.  I didn't ask them to, but they stayed anyway.  Then Dolly choked.  At first she made a little choking noise, and I started patting her back.  Then I saw that she wasn't getting any air or making any noise anymore.  I panicked and exclaimed, "She's really choking!"  Rob just said, very calmly, "She's OK."  And he stood, picked her up so she was face down on his arm, and whacked her back until she spit up some apple and then finally threw up.  It was really scary.  Ever cried for a while afterward, so I think she was freaked out, too.  I proved again that I am the WORST in crisis.  I have no instincts, and I do not stay calm.  I was so incredibly grateful Udon was there.  After that excitement, I got Dolly home.  The Rob and Annas stayed to do more rides and came home late. 

 

Thursday we had a leisurely morning.  Dolly had missed her nap the last couple of days, so I put her down a little earlier than usual to squeeze in a nap before afternoon festivities.  Tucker shocked us all by sleeping until 1 P.M.  The rest of the gang went up to the tennis courts for a bit, but it was a little too hot for comfort that day.  We went to Torrey Pines State Reserve in the afternoon for a little "hiking."  (I don't think it counts as hiking when it's flat and short.)  I've never been on those trails and have wondered about taking visitors there.  It was pretty.  Ever gave me a hard time about being in the backpack, but she eventually settled down enough that I could enjoy it. 

 

Ever looked longing at the ocean and begged to get in it:

 

After meandering the trails, we went down to the beach.  I was mean and didn't take Dolly in the water, but she enjoyed running around. 

 

 

We had to hurry back to the car before the park closed.  Chavalyn had started trying to carry all the rocks she saw, so progress was slow. 

 

'Twas a lovely day.  I think I may take future visitors to Torrey Pines. 

 

We had dinner at Roberto's, a taco shop just up the street. 

 

 

The grown-ups watched a movie that night, but some of us had a hard time staying awake. 

 

Friday we went to the zoo.   Kids are free at the zoo and the Safari Park for the month of October, so it was a good deal.  I made the mistake of taking our giant Bob stroller.  It was way too big for crowded spaces (busloads of schoolchildren from Mexico made this a less-than-ideal day to visit the zoo), and Dolly refused to ride in the stroller except when she was eating a chocolatey granola bar donated by Udon or, for a brief period, riding on Clara's lap.  Clara was happy to lounge in it, though, so at least it got used. 

 

 

Watching the gorillas:

 

Watching the fish:

 

That night, the big people watched another video through Amazon after the little people went to bed.  I stayed awake for that one. 

 

The Rob and Annas left on Saturday morning.  It was wonderful to have them visit.  We love having guests - especially family.  Come again!

Just Stuff About Dolly

I've been wanting to write a little update about this munchkin since she turned 18 months: 

  

 Four months late is better than never, right? 

At her 18-month checkup, Dolly weighed 21 lbs (about the 9th percentile) and was 31.5 inches tall (about the 45th percentile).  She had just started putting words together.  (One of her early phrases was "Mommy diaper," which is what she called one of my panty liners.  I thought that was pretty funny.) 

She's had a language explosion over the last few months.  Now she puts together good sentences and amazes me with what she knows and remembers.  Sometimes she says things that I don't think we've taught her - like when I said, "Ready?" and she said, "Set, go."  She repeats everything.  She almost always refers to herself in third person, so there's a lot of "Ever want that," "Ever helping Mommy," etc.  She still talks about the new car seat we got months ago for Jim's car - "Ever['s] new car seat Daddy['s] car."  I think she's said that about 1,000 times. 

She loves running and jumping. 

She still loves "big trucks" and is also into the "mail truck." 

Hair bands are "bean-beans." 

She's officially in the independent phase.  She wants to do things by herself - put on her shoes, get into her car seat, turn the lights on/off, pull the wipes out of the container, etc.  Makes life hard sometimes. 

She used to give me a really hard time about brushing her teeth.  So I'd say, "Are you going to let me brush your teeth, or do we need to do it the hard way?"  And if she didn't cooperate, I'd sit on her with her arms pinned under me.  After I did that a couple of times, she started requesting the "hard way."  We'd go upstairs, and I'd say, "Let's brush your teeth," and she'd say, "Hard way."  She's gotten much better.

Speaking of Ever's teeth, they got really discolored.  I noticed some black on a couple of them, and then it spread to more and more teeth.  I procrastinated taking her into the dentist, and then I had to get a referral to a pediatric dentist, which was sort of a nightmare.  When I finally got her in to a pediatric dentist, I was so nervous that her teeth were rotting and the dentist was going to call CPS.  Turned out it was cosmetic - something about metal attaching to build-up on the teeth or something, with the root cause possibly being iron-fortified formula.  The dentist scraped it off, and all is well.  I was sooo relieved. 

She still takes (requires) her "night-night" (pacifier) for bedtime.  I'd really like to break her of it, but that's going to be tough. 

Once Jim was driving home from church with Dolly and wanted to make sure she wasn't falling asleep.  He said, "If you're awake, say, 'I'm here, Daddy.'"  Dolly did as commanded.  Jim decided it was the sweetest thing, so he trained her to say it.  Now he just asks, "Will you say something special for me, Dolly?"  And she says in her little voice, "I'm here, Daddy."  It really is so sweet. 

She loves her books.  She has parts of them memorized, and I love making her fill in the blanks as I read.  She went through a phase when she was OBSESSED with the "pigeon books" (the Mo Willems books the Rob and Annas gave her).  The first thing she'd say in the morning when I went to get her was, "Pigeon book."  She made us read them all the time, and she carried them around the house. 

She was super into wearing my shoes for a while, especially my new red heels.  She seems to have outgrown that phase.

She enjoyed the baby pool we got from the Davises a couple times this summer.  I had a dream that she would play for an hour while I prepared dinner and watched her through the kitchen window.  Alas - she's really only happy if someone else is in there with her. 

One Saturday I had to get some work done, so Jim set up the pools.  We have a tiny pink pool in addition to the blue one pictured above.  She designated the tiny pink pool "Daddy's pool" and made him stay in that one.  She basically bossed him around for three hours.  It was not his favorite day. 

She loves cookies more than anything in the world and asks for them all the time.  (We've got problems.  She's a Hastings.)  Despite her love of sweets, she has become quite a good eater.  She eats some fruits (raspberries are a favorite) and vegetables and can put away a decent amount of food for a tiny person.  She'll eat an entire small avocado in one sitting.  I read part of a book about feeding toddlers that says not to expect them to sit at a meal for more than 10 minutes; they can get what they need in that time.  Dolly's meals last at least a half an hour and sometimes close to an hour.  It's a little painful.  She's so slow, but she really knows how to savor her food.  She hasn't drunk milk (other than in her cereal) since we put away her bottles. 

She loves helping. 

She won't let me unload the dishwasher without her.  She's actually really good.  I let her pull out plates, bowls, and everything, and she hasn't dropped anything yet. 

I made the horrible mistake of going to the DMV to renew my license this month without making an appointment.  To pass the time, Dolly and I had a photo shoot while we waited in line.  She came up with some neat new poses: 

We still find her incredibly wonderful and tell her so constantly.