The Small Family     

Hi all! The title of this week’s blog is in reference to my gut feeling that our sweet Garbanzo is getting ready to make his debut sometime in the next few weeks. I could be totally wrong on that--he’s technically due in five weeks, and it could be as long as seven weeks. But my money is on about three weeks, because my body seems to be undergoing some changes that would suggest we’re in the home stretch here. Not least of which was the serious contractions I had while out to dinner on Friday night! I think I had about five strong contractions in an hour. They didn’t hurt, but they were definitely pretty intense. I went home and put my feet up, and thankfully they subsided. (At this point Garbanzo would probably be fine to arrive--but he’d probably have to spend a bit of time in the NICU. I’d rather he stayed in another two weeks at least, so he can just come straight home from the hospital.)

I’ll spare you the gross details of other things that make me think he may be on his way, but let’s just say it won’t surprise me at all if he debuts in the next three weeks or so. That said, Chris and I devoted much of this weekend to baby prep. We worked on our name list (it’s down to 25 possibilities, and I don’t think it’ll get any shorter before he arrives), put together various baby items, picked up a few needed bits at the store, and Chris painted the baby’s room. The color we chose is called Blue Solitude. I figured that was appropriate (a) because Theo is insistent that we’ll be naming the baby Blue (darn Beyonce and Jay-Z for stealing his name idea!), and (b) because we’re hoping this baby enjoys solitude more than his big brother did. ;-)

We did take Saturday off for a trip to the Berkeley Arboretum (see smallpeanuts.blogspot.com for a funny little Theo story about the trip there) and to an ice-cream store that had come highly recommended to me. The weather has been beautiful here, and we couldn’t resist taking advantage of the warm, sunny day. Yes, yes--I know we need rain in a bad way! But I surely have been enjoying this warm, beautiful, dry winter so far! I hear the rain is on its way this coming week.

It was a nice way to wrap up a very busy week. Let me start with last weekend, though, since I posted the blog early and didn’t get to tell you about my birthday! I woke up Sunday morning and lounged in bed until about 8 while Chris got up with Theo. Apparently our master bedroom is pretty darn soundproof, because although I was just reading and relaxing in there, I didn’t even hear them open the garage door and leave the house! When I went downstairs at 8, the house was empty! They arrived home shortly thereafter, with Theo proudly bearing a tulip plant for me. Chris said, “What do you say to Mama, Theo?” and Theo said, “I want a donut!” I started laughing, and Chris said, “No, remember what I was telling you we should tell Mama?” (clearly hoping to get a “Happy Birthday” out of the boy), and Theo repeated, “I want a pink donut!” Ha ha, I see where his priorities lie! As it turns out, they had brought home donuts and coffee, too, so we had a yummy little breakfast, and I opened my presents. Chris got me a CD I’ve been wanting (a violin/piano duet between Joshua Bell [my favorite violinist] and Jeremy Denk), and from the boys he got me a “Mom” necklace. My “big” present was…drum roll, please…a housecleaning appointment for February 3^rd! Chris said he knows how much I love a clean house and how by that point, I’ll be too uncomfortable to clean much (and with his long commute, he doesn’t really have time to help out too much, although he does try!), so he splurged on a one-time cleaning for me. Best present ever!! I must be getting old if I’m so excited about housecleaning, but I really am! I do truly love a clean house, but cleaning the entire thing is just a bit much for me right now.

After breakfast we went to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose for the day. The weather was gorgeous, and I’ve been wanting to go there with Theo. He loved it! He rode on some rides all by himself, which he thought was great fun. He played for a bit on the playground, too, but the big hit was the petting zoo. We take him to petting zoos all the time, and he’s usually mildly interested--he’ll pet the animals for a few minutes and then be ready to move on. But this time, he stayed in there for well over half an hour and probably would’ve stayed longer if we hadn’t had to leave. He made friends with a couple of the goats and was hanging out with them. It was quite cute! We definitely need to go back to Happy Hollow--it was a lot of fun for Theo, and it’s small enough that it wasn’t overwhelming for me to try to walk around it. (I’m getting slow and lumbering these days.)

We dropped Theo off with Grandma Kathy and Papa so we could have our last grown-up dinner out for quite some time (this will be rather impossible once the baby comes), and Chris took me to an Italian restaurant we like. I had a delicious seafood pasta, a salad, and a trio of desserts (go big or go home, right?!), and Chris had butternut squash ravioli, a salad, and a chocolate mousse. A tasty and fun evening!

On Monday morning I got massaged by Rob Lowe. Oh, you think I’m kidding, but no! My back has been killing me lately, so I finally found a chiropractor near here and set up an appointment. I noticed on the website that he appeared quite good-looking, so I was a little taken aback (I generally prefer to go to women doctors and was a little nervous about some good-looking man putting his hands on me--that is, a good-looking man not my husband!), but he got the highest ratings in the area and is covered by our insurance, so I went with it. And it turns out he’s actually even cuter in person than on his website. He looks quite a bit like Rob Lowe. I could barely speak, but I have to say, my back feels a whole lot better! I actually ended up going on Friday, too, because I tweaked my back again while driving to Sacramento on Tuesday. (I swear, I didn’t schedule two visits in one week just because he’s cute!!) Turns out my back is in pretty decent shape for a pregnant woman, but there is some inflammation, so I’ll probably go once a week up until the delivery. Ah, such a hardship--getting massaged and adjusted by a Rob Lowe lookalike every week! He he he, Chris doesn’t have a jealous bone in his body, but I’m having a bit of fun with this anyway!

We also had music class this week. Thursday is rapidly becoming my favorite day of the week--I love our music class! As does Theo. Normally, getting him to get dressed and ready in the morning is like pulling teeth, but if I tell him we have to go to music class, he’s suddenly quite motivated.

I was doubly delighted this week because I found a sneaky back way into Berkeley that lets me miss the worst of the traffic, and I even found legal parking this time. And a tasty bakery two blocks away from the class--mmmm! We stopped for cookies after class, as a treat because Theo did such a great job of listening in class.

This week, Theo’s favorite instrument (according to him) was the French horn, though he was pretty darn enamored of the drums, guitars, and keyboard, too. The teacher (Jon) went over the same things we learned last time (the key of D, sharps, etc.) and introduced a couple of new concepts, too. We learned about crescendos, piano (soft playing), forte (LOUD playing!), and quarter notes. And once again, all done in a really creative and fun way, so the kids got really into it. (I seriously think this guy could design gifted curriculum. His teaching techniques are just really innovative and fun.)

Theo felt really brave this time and participated in the circle--last week he started to and then chickened out, but this time he actually did it! We do a song called “Sit on the Sharp,” where the kids take turns going into the center of the circle and sitting on a chair that has a musical sharp symbol on it, and then they have to leap up and make a sharp sound. They all find this uproariously funny, and I was glad to see Theo participate this time.

Once again, Theo was rapt for the entire hour and really did terrific in the group setting. Three cheers!! And the best thing about it is, I have fun, too. For one, I just enjoy seeing Theo have so much fun--but the truth of the matter is, the class is fun for adults, too. I spend my days reading about music, but I don’t retain much about it because I’m too busy looking for spelling and punctuation issues and such. Here, I can sit and participate and listen, and I actually learn something. Plus, the music is so upbeat and fun. I’m really just delighted with this class--if you can’t tell. ;-)

One of the pictures in this week’s album is a quick snap from my iPhone. I took it while we were all jamming at the end of class. It was Theo’s turn on drums, and he took it very seriously! We end each song by throwing our hands up in the air (good way to get all the kids to stop playing at once), and so you’ll see his “Thank you very much!” drum finale.

After I have the baby, Chris will be off work for two weeks, and I’m looking forward to him being able to attend a class with us. I think he’s really going to enjoy it--it’s just a blast to see all the kids having so much fun!

Speaking of our little musician, he’s added a fun new twist. For quite a while he’s been using his guitar and trying to play along with songs from his CDs, which is really fun to see. Now he’s added vocals into the mix. He puts on a song, grabs his guitar and a microphone, and stands in front of the mirror practicing. It’s hilarious--it looks like he’s perfecting his stage persona. For the life of us, we don’t know where he picked up these performing techniques. We can’t think of any show he’s watched where the people are actually performing, and he hasn’t seen any concert footage--yet somehow, he knows how to perform and pose like a little rock star. It’s quite entertaining!

And also speaking of Theo, I had my follow-up appointment with Kaiser’s behavioral therapy department this week. Long story short, all is well, and Theo doesn’t need to meet with a behaviorist. They gave us a few suggestions to try for getting him to be more willing to work in groups, but that was it. They also recommended we follow up with the school system, as there are certain free programs he may be eligible for that could help in this area--small structured playgroups and such. So I’m working on that, but it’s a slow process because apparently there’s a lot of demand for these free services. Not too surprising, really.

The funny thing was, I was trying to explain Theo to the behaviorist, and I was very blunt about the fact that we disagree with the Asperger’s/autism evaluation committee’s assessment of “possible red flags for ADHD.” I said, “He’s a kind of quirky little boy, but we feel pretty strongly that he’s probably gifted, not ADHD. Many of the traits are the same, and he fits the gifted profile a lot better than he does the ADHD profile. Besides, we don’t like the negative association that comes with ADHD, so we really don’t want to go down that road.” The behaviorist agreed and asked what I meant by “quirky,” so I told her about some of his amusing little character traits. At one point, when discussing strategies with me, she said, “So we need to find a motivator. What does he want more than anything?” I replied, “To see Johnny Cash live in concert--but I think that’s going to be a tough one.” She burst out laughing and said, “Ah, I see what you mean about him! Yeah, that one’s going to be a little hard….”

Another fun thing Theo and I have been doing this week is going around the block on his tricycle. (Well, I walk; he rides.) He’s doing great on it--I think he must’ve been practicing at school! It’s a nice way to wind down before his nap, and the weather has been so great for it.

And before I wrap up with the Theo stories for the week, I have to share one that really surprised me. Theo was wandering around the house playing with an old telephone, and I heard him say, “My name is Cathleen, and my number is 867-5309.” I was astonished because he had the number correct--and we have never told him my phone number! Not that it’s not a good idea to for safety purposes (that is, in case he were ever lost), but we just didn’t think he’d remember it this young, so we never mentioned it to him. (By the way, my number is not 867-5309--but I’m not about to put my real number on a public blog, so I just stole the phone number from an old 1980s rock song!) So I said, “Wow, Theo--who are you calling?” and he replied, “The chiropractor.” I said, “Oh, and what’s Mommy’s number?” He repeated, “867-5309.” Right again! So my guess is that he heard me leave my number of the chiropractor’s answering machine the day before, and he remembered it. Score another point for his crazy good memory!

In non-Theo news, Chris has his first couple of projects for Genentech! Things were slow before the holidays, but now they’re keeping him busy, much to his delight. (He hates being bored at work.) He has a somewhat small report on a macular-degeneration drug set up for February (ha ha, great timing, eh?!), and a huge project for some leukemia drug that his boss told him to “block off all summer” for. Nice! Job security, right? I guess his boss was rather apologetic about giving him such a big project so early on, but Chris was like, “Are you kidding me? I’m glad to get to do some editing work!” He’s been trying to keep himself busy learning the nuances of the newest version of Microsoft Word and all of Genentech’s styles and such, but there’s only so much studying of that stuff you can do before you’ve learned it all….

We wrapped up the weekend with Chris painting the baby’s room and me spiriting Theo away from the house by taking him to Giggles for the morning. He really wanted to “help” Chris paint, but that would’ve been a real mess and very slow, so instead he and I had a little mommy/son time at Giggles while Chris stayed home and painted. (Giggles is an indoor play place. The weather had turned much cooler by Sunday, so I decided an indoor activity was a good idea.)

In two weeks, I’ll officially be “full term” with Garbanzo, so cross your fingers that he stays put that long! Last but not least, check out the More Videos page for yet another new Theo video. This is a short, two-minute one of him accompanying himself on guitar as he sings a song from his music class and a rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Enjoy!