Today's letter is E

Today e followed my verbal directions and drew a capital E.  How exciting to see her fine motor skills improve!  Granted it was large, and the lines were wobbly, but it was recognizable.  She knows most of her letters now; we have a spinner game on my iPad that features names of family members, and she gets them right probably 90% of the time.  She goes by the first letter, I'm sure, but still...she knows Grandpa Randy from Grandma Starr and Grandma Jonnie.

For her birthday she received a VTech Touch & Learn Activity Desk Deluxe from Aunt Meagan.  What fun to play the various activities with sound and lights!

In a hurry

Yesterday I blew it.  After a trip to Target e and I stopped by our house to see if there was a phone message about our broken garage door opener; I knew it was possible to access messages from off-site but I didn't know how to do it.  So while we were out it seemed reasonable to drive a little more and check.  There was no message.  So after putting some of our purchases in the house we went back out to the van.  Little Miss e would not get in her car seat.  I reminded her it was lunchtime.  I mentioned books, all kinds of things, but nothing worked.  I told her next time she asked me to do something I would say no.  Childish of me, I know, but I was tired and running out of ideas.  Finally she said she had a poopy diaper.  Duh!  Why didn't I think of that?  No wonder she was not eager to be strapped in.  So we went back in the house, changed her diaper and ate lunch.  Then I put her to bed.

Sometimes it is so easy for me to focus on what I want without considering why e is resisting.

Linda

My friend Linda is in town and came over today for lunch.  She moved to Chicago last September to be near her granddaughter who is now 11 months old.  Linda watches the little girl one day a week and really benefits from living just a few blocks away from her daughter.  She is learning her way around Chicago, visiting museums and the library.  She has found a couple of churches she likes, takes part in a small group of people her age, and participates in an exercise class.  She is the one who encouraged me to write about my experiences traveling to Phoenix to care for e and has been helpful in many ways.  So I was very glad to spend some time with her today.

Jelly bean jar

When E was a very little girl, Randy kept jelly beans in a special jar to reward her for using the toilet.  Now she has her own jar of jelly beans to use with e.  We may not be making a concentrated effort to get her out of diapers, but she is beginning to show signs of being ready to stay dry.  So we keep our ears open for her request to use the toilet.

Yesterday the rain poured, while windows shuddered in the fierce wind.  K arrived home at 4, a couple of hours early, saying the storm made him want to get an early ferry in case they stopped running.  Even so, weather was bad enough that the captain told passengers to get inside the cabin, take a seat and stay in it till the ship docked.  And K reported he hoped never again to have a ride like that one.  Today the sun peeks out occasionally from behind the gray clouds.  Another storm is due tonight, with a third one Sunday.

Into the woods

Sunday morning e, K, Clay and Caitlin climbed into the camper and headed south to Big Basin Redwoods State Park for an overnight camping trip. When I woke up Monday and saw the heavy frost on neighbors' rooftops, I hoped the campers were warm enough.  Apparently it was quite cool in the camper.  But e stayed warm, sleeping in her footie pj's, sweat pants and jacket, and situated between C and C with the dog at her feet.

The group hiked on a broad, smooth path, playing a game where one would go ahead and hide then e would try to find him.  I would have enjoyed seeing e respond to being in the woods.  C and C found a couple of things they want to change, which was the reason for this shake-down trip.

E enjoyed her time alone, preparing for the baby by hemming drapes, washing clothes, packing her hospital bag, cooking then freezing meals.

Taking down Christmas

Each year we host a carol sing close to January 6, Epiphany, so we buy a Christmas tree in mid-December expecting it will stay fresh till our party.  The sing was last weekend, and while I have begun to pack away decorations, the tree is still up.  We turn on its lights every night and enjoy the festive appearance.  But, I think it is time to take it down.

We have decorations stored in seven large plastic bins.  The holiday mugs and pitcher, Oakland A's Santa, and other serving items are in another bin.  The wreath Randy's mom made for us is in a box with a few small things.  This summer I donated some old ornaments to the White Elephant Sale, and I hope to sort out at least one bin's worth now to donate.  If I follow Anita's advice of getting rid of half our stuff, that would mean four bins of Christmas things.  Ouch!  And the 8 place settings and other pieces of Nikko Christmastime china are in the china cabinet, not in bins.

Back to work

Tomorrow E begins work for her new group and expects she will have more actual work to do and will need to be stricter about her start time each day.  No more lounging in bed with e after K leaves for the ferry.  Time-wise the hardest mornings will probably be those when she brings e to our house, though she could just bring her in pj's and let me give her breakfast.  I think she is looking forward to this new position.

Christmas week I watched e just two days.  Last week it was just two days also.  I appreciated those days off.  This week I expect to have her each day, unless Clay and Caitlin ask to take her for a day.

I have a new student beginning tomorrow, an adult returning to piano after many years away.  Sometimes this is hard for me, trying to discover what the student already knows and what she wants to accomplish with lessons.  But I expect we will be able to communicate better than I would with a transfer student who is a child.

What is she thinking?

Because she spends a couple of days each week at our house, e has some spare clothes here.  The other day she needed clean pants, so I asked her to get some out of her drawer.  She opened the top drawer instead of the middle one and saw the spare Yellow Bear. Boy, was she excited!  A huge grin filled her face as she immediately retrieved the bear from her crib and hugged both of them.  We did find clean pants and changed her diaper, but the bears were locked in her arms for quite a while.  Later I was able to hide one, in a better place this time.

Did she then miss the bear?  Apparently not.  No questions or tears about it.  As magically as it had appeared, it then disappeared.  But I had to wonder what was going through her mind, if anything, about the sudden appearance of Yellow Bear's twin.  What would happen if she saw all four of the bears at once?  

2017 Goals

Information on the 2016 wall calendar, like birthdays, has been transferred to the 2017 calendar, and the old calendar has joined the stack of some 40 others which detail the years of our married life.  I've been thinking about goals for this new year.  The biggest one is too big to make it a resolution; we will plan the renovation of our new living space and learn to work with contractors and the city planning department.  I like resolutions to be measurable, so here are some I will work on.  Feel free to ask me how I'm doing!

1  Eat less, move more, eat lots of fruits and vegetables.  Walk 5 days a week.

2  Read more non-fiction.  Of the 106 books I read last year, 14 were non-fiction, generally auto- biographical.  I would like to aim for 25%.

3  Continuing blogging at least once a week.

4  Use fabric stash.  Make Sarah's Christmas quilt.  Quilt and bind the three tops now waiting.  Make an I Spy quilt for donation to silent auction at church.

5  Visit Dad in spring.

6  Visit Sarah and Erik in spring.  Shop for wedding gown?

7  Meet with a friend for a meal or other activity monthly.