The Small Family     

Hi all! We’re back from our travels up north, and what a fun time we had! But before I launch into that, let me share the latest news about our house: Our realtor came over Monday night (after we took Grandma Diane out with Auntie Lynnie for a delicious birthday dinner at our favorite Turkish restaurant) and presented the three offers on our house to us. All three were strong offers, but we chose the 100% cash, full-price offer because (a) Todd thinks the bank will like it best and (b) he’s worked with the buyer’s realtor before and says she’s very efficient and has done several of these types of deals before. (The buyers are investors--they live locally in Roseville, but they’re buying a short sale as an investment to rent out.) It boggles my mind that people actually have $165,000 in cash just laying around, but apparently some people do! Sheesh, I’d be happy to have $165 in cash laying around. ;-)

Anyway, things have been moving very quickly so far. The bank already sent out their appraiser (Todd says he’s never seen a bank move so quickly on an appraisal), and they’re reviewing all our numbers and the offer as we speak. Who knows how long it will take--this could be a “hurry up and wait” sort of scenario. But so far, it’s gone incredibly quickly and smoothly, so no complaints. The sooner the deal closes, the less the negative impact on our credit, so we’re all for a quick end to this. That said, the buyer requested a 14-day close, so whenever the bank approves the sale (which hopefully they will), we’ll have only 14 days to get out. Given that, we’re planning to start really looking for a rental before that comes to pass--pretty much as soon as we get a final word on whether or not Chris got the job with Genentech. (They’re supposed to make a decision around the end of the month.) If he doesn’t get the position, we’ll be staying in Roseville (or the surrounding area) for at least a year (until the baby is probably six months old, at least), so at that point we’ll know whether we ought to sign a lease here or start frantically searching the Bay Area. (We may stay far longer than that, for all we know--we just agreed that Chris won't pursue any more out-of-the-area jobs after this one until the baby is at least six months old.)

But on to our trip! We flew out Wednesday night, and I can’t say enough good things about Southwest Airlines! Our last trip was on Continental, and it was just ridiculous--poor customer service, mostly, and just not really a pleasant journey, even though Theo was great on the flights. This trip was the polar opposite. Whereas Continental took almost an hour to check in our bags, Southwest had it done in literally two minutes. Security was a breeze, boarding was a breeze, we easily got three seats together, and we discovered (happily!) that Southwest planes appear to have more legroom than on other commercial airlines. Theo is a leg-kicker/fidgeter by nature, and trying to get him not to kick the seat in front of him can be a real challenge. But his feet barely reached the seat in front of him on the Southwest plane, so we had no issue!

Best of all, we had to sit at the gate for a few minutes while they replaced some part on the plane, and the flight attendant came over and asked whether Theo would like to visit the captain and the cockpit. Would he ever!! She took him up front and got a bunch of iPhone pictures of him sitting in the captain’s seat, steering the plane and even pushing a couple allowed buttons. He was in heaven!! So, three cheers for Southwest--they were fantastic, and I will go out of my way to fly them again whenever possible. (P.S. They give you pretzels and peanuts! Continental makes you pay for any snack--but Southwest gives you treats for free! Nice bonus when you have a hungry, bored preschooler--the snack gives him something to do.)

We arrive in Seattle in the evening and got our rental car. By then it was past Theo’s bedtime, and he was a bit crabby--but he settled right down when we got to Auntie Lisa and Uncle Chris’s house, and we had a nice dinner of yummy tortilla soup before putting him to bed.

Thursday we had a whole day to spend in Seattle. Uncle Chris had to work, so Theo, Auntie Lisa, Cason, Chris, and I just went to the Woodland Park Zoo and to lunch. Theo was still pretty tired from having no nap and a late bedtime the day before, so he didn’t have a whole lot of interest in the zoo, but we did spend a nice hour there before going to lunch. And after lunch, we dropped Auntie Lisa and Cason off at home for a nap and then drove to downtown Seattle. Double intention on that one: a car nap for Theo (who will only nap in his own crib or in the car) and a chance to buy some more spaghetti sauce! All the way to Seattle for spaghetti sauce, you ask?? Why yes--Chris’s famous spaghetti sauce, which so won my heart that I wrote it into my wedding vows. ;-) It’s actually a bruschettina (sp??) topping imported from Italy, but Chris doctors it up and turns it into the most heavenly spaghetti sauce you’ve ever tasted. We used to be able to get it in Davis, but the place stopped carrying it. Now a little shop at Pike Place Market in Seattle is the only place we can find it--except Philadelphia, which is a bit far to go for spaghetti sauce. (Ha!) So I ran in and grabbed three more jars while Chris hung out in the car with a snoozing Theo.

After a stop at the doctor’s office for Cason on Friday morning, Auntie Lisa, Chris, Theo, Cason, and I headed to Anacortes to catch a ferry to the San Juan Islands. Uncle Chris had to work a half day, so he planned to drive separately and catch an afternoon ferry (which turned into an evening ferry, unfortunately--he got to wait at the ferry terminal for something like five hours because the darn 4pm ferry was sold out!). There are more than 200 islands that make up the San Juans, I’m told, but only a few are actually populated. We were headed for Orcas Island, which is the largest of the islands, at 57 square miles and with a population of 4,453. I’d never been to the San Juans (nor had Chris or Theo), so this was a real treat for us! We rented an awesome two-bedroom house on a hill overlooking the water, and I could’ve happily stayed there for much longer than two days! Theo and Cason seemed to enjoy it, too, as there were uncovered electrical sockets everywhere!! Yes, this is big excitement to the baby/toddler/preschooler set, and we all had to be rather vigilant. Poor Lisa was a bit chagrined to find out that the fascination with electrical sockets doesn’t end anytime soon. (Cason is almost 10 months old and has been crawling for a month or two, and he’s quite fond of sockets. Lisa was hoping this phase would quickly pass. Alas, no…at least not in our vast experience with one kiddo!)

Theo and Cason were so cute together! Cason is a super-happy, friendly little guy, and he’s thrilled to be able to crawl around now and play with toys. Alas, his mean mother wouldn’t let me hold him, but I enjoyed him from afar. (Okay, let me explain--Lisa was actually looking out for me. Cason has just developed some sort of relatively benign viral rash, and the pediatrician suggested that given that I’m pregnant, I not have any “skin to skin” contact with him, just to be safe. Lisa took it a step further and told me I was not allowed to hold him unless I was in a giant parka and wrapped in Saran wrap, and since it was quite warm, I wasn’t about to suit up like that. So, Cason and I just bonded from a distance.)

Anyway, Theo really seemed to enjoy Cason, which was neat for us to see. Every morning, when he’d hear Cason babbling in his parents’ room, Theo would say happily, “Cason’s awake! Cason’s awake!” And after Cason went to bed one night, Theo was wandering around the house going, “Cason! Are you awake yet??” Given their age difference, they’re too young to actually play together, but Theo really seemed to enjoy having Cason around regardless--as well as golden retriever Ava. Actually, I wish he was as kind to Zoe as he is to Ava! He loves Ava and would frequently go pet her and talk to her, saying things like, “Hi Ava! I was just taking a nap!” He really loves dogs--Zoe is the only one who seems to get under his skin, and I’m not sure why. Chris says it’s because Zoe is “intense.” Hmmm, he may have a point….

Saturday, our one full day on the island, we drove up to Mt. Constitution, which has an amazing view. You can see Vancouver, B.C. in the distance, as well as a bunch of the islands. We all had lunch, and then we split up for a few hours: Lisa, Chris, and Cason drove around the island and saw some other areas, and Chris, Theo, and I did much the same but added in a stop to a neat playground in a state park right near our rental house. Theo really enjoyed the playground and swimming hole--in fact, I have an amusing story that pertains to the swimming hole! Theo is a master at outsmarting Chris and me sometimes. Which is really somewhat unexpected from a three-year-old, but it happens more often than I might like to admit! Here’s the most recent example: We were at the park/swimming hole, and Theo was wading in the water. We rolled up his jeans and let him wade up to his ankles, but of course he wanted to go in farther. We let him get in up to about the middle of his calves, and then we called him back. He had his back to us (at the shore edge) and was a few feet away, facing the rest of the lake. (Really, I think it was an inlet of sorts, but it had virtually no current, so it reminded me more of a lake.) So we called, “Theo, come back! Back up!” He ignored us, as preschoolers are wont to do, so we repeated our request: “Theo, you need to back up right now!” He turned around to face us, gave us a big grin…and promptly backed up, farther out into the lake. Um, well, we did say “back up”--our fatal error was in not specifying that he needed to back up toward us, into the shallower water. Leave it to Theo to immediately find the loophole in our logic and exploit it! I swear, that kid will make a fantastic attorney someday if he chooses.

Sunday was a day full of travel--a ferry ride back to Anacortes, then a two-hour drive back to Seattle, and then a plane flight. I can’t say it was a particularly restful day--more accurately, it was one of those days when the proof of our love for our son was evident in the fact that we didn’t sell him to the highest bidder anywhere along the way! He was in a crabby, crabby mood, which made for a long day. Ah well. Not really sure why, as he wasn’t contained that much--he was free to roam around the giant passenger area of the ferry, so the only real containment was two hours in the car (which is old hat to Theo--he’s very used to long car rides on a regular basis) and the plane flight, which was short and sweet. Guess it was just one of those days…. Anyway, we arrived home safely and happily, so all is well.

A couple more tidbits: Chris and I have been narrowing down our girl name list, and I’m pleased to report that with Chris’s help, I have narrowed down my original 47 possible girl names to a more manageable 25. HA! Maybe it’s best if this baby is a boy, since 25 names is rather excessive. I can’t help it--so many good girl names out there! We haven’t started on boy names yet, but that should be easier, since we went through a ton of them when we found out Theo was a boy. Our list of boy names isn’t exactly the same as it was when we were expecting Theo, but there are some overlaps so far. And no, we shan’t divulge the possible names before the birth. Ha ha--I posted something on Facebook about having to whittle down the list, and people came out of the woodwork offering to “help.” Nice try, people, but the list is a heavily guarded secret! Unless you steal my purse and go through it, in which case you’ll find the scrawled list of possible girl names, which is still lurking in there.

And a fun preschool story! This is actually from this week (today), but I figured I’d add it in because I’m writing this blog today. When I went to pick up Theo, Teacher Beth came out to talk to me for a minute about Theo’s latest wrinkle. (Evidently he’s very interested in the difference between LOUD and quiet, so he was being a bit disruptive during circle time.) While we were talking, she said, “But he is doing some great learning in there! We had a really exciting moment today.” Apparently, Theo sat down to do a language-arts job: In this case, it was matching words with pictures of fruit. So there was a picture of a cantaloupe and a corresponding card that said “Cantaloupe.” And so on for a bunch of different fruits. He went through them all with Beth, and then she took away the picture cards and just left the words, saying, “Let’s see whether you can read the words. What does this one say?” She was astounded that he got all but one correct, given that he has only seen these words printed out once. Evidently, for “pineapple” he said “pear,” and she said, “Hmmm, that’s actually a pretty long word. I’m not sure it’s pear.” He immediately corrected himself and said, “Pineapple!” I said, “Yes--he seems to have a bit of a photographic memory,” and she said, “He really does! We were amazed that he could identify all the words, having only seen them once. It was very exciting!” She commented that in terms of learning academics, he is doing amazing--and that the more “social” skills (for example, being quiet during circle time) will surely follow along as he continues in the school. My sentiments exactly…

I can’t say I was entirely surprised to hear about this crazy memory of his, though. As I’ve mentioned before, Chris and I sometimes call him “Dr. Reed” because he has a freakish memory, just like a character on one of our favorite shows. Show that kid something concrete once, and it’s permanently in his brain. It’s the more abstract social concepts that require a bit more effort for him. But he’s making a lot of progress there, too. Today he told me that he hit a little boy (which I don’t believe is actually the case--Teacher Beth told me she saw nothing of the sort, and sometimes Theo tends to mention incidents that happened weeks ago as if they happened today--he doesn’t yet have the concept of time), and then he proceeded to say, “I’m supposed to say I’m sorry.” So he’s starting to put two and two together about how he needs to take responsibility for his actions, which I think is a good thing. (As usual, I talked to him about how yes, he should say sorry--but actually, a better thing is not to hit at all. If someone takes a toy from him or bothers him, he should just say, “I’m upset!” At some point, I figure that lesson will stick if I repeat it for long enough….)

And last but not least, on to little Chickpea! At 19 weeks along, Chickpea is about six inches long, weighs about eight ounces, and is the size of a large mango. She’s gaining control over her limb movements, too. Our ultrasound is next Thursday, and I can’t wait to see her--and to find out whether she’s a girl or a boy! Just 10 more days to wait…let the countdown begin!