Laughing-Schooled by a 4 year old

Joaquin likes to fake laugh.  When he was a baby, fake laughing put him into hysterics and now he is carrying his own mantle.  Before I had this exchange, I would have characterized this fake laugh as an obnoxious, high pitched sound that we were trying to discourage.  So he fake laughs and I told him not to and he asked me, "what's a fake laugh?" and I answered something like it is a laugh that you have to force and then he asks, "well then, what's a real laugh?" and I answer something like it's a a laugh that comes naturally and he says, "...but I like to laugh."  Just call us the parents who like to squash rainbows and dreams and all things that are childhood happiness, right?  I told him that he was right and I was wrong...and that he should laugh as much and however he wants.

Rhiannon is 20 months and our journey to kindergarten

Rhiannon is 20 months today and I skipped 19...sometime between 18-20, Rhiannon got all 8 of her back teeth at the same time.  Poor thing.  They are late and they didn't come in molars than incisors, they were all popping through a once and ended up coming in right side, then left.  At 20 months, they have all popped through although not all the way and she is a much happier baby.

In many way, Rhiannon seems much more like a baby at this age than Joaquin did.  She is not talking as much and is much more of a cuddler.  She's also still in the baby room at school and has no interest in using the potty.  On the other hand, she is a bit of a daredevil and plays independently frequently, which makes her seem older in some ways.  But I do forget she is almost 2...not sure how much of that is falling into the 'this is my baby' category and how much is actually her.  And what a girl!  She likes to play with dolls and stuffed animals and recently took a baby doll at school and started cradling and rocking it-where did she learn that?

We got our first acceptance letter for Joaquin for kindergarten.  With the way things are in Los Angeles, we literally won the lotto.  This brings about some relief although not as much as you would hope.  We still have to see where else we get in or do not get in and weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each.  This first one, for instance is a German dual language (+for the language, -for it being German), with an IB curriculum (big +), but would require us to be tied to the westside of Los Angeles (probably) for the next 9 years (-).  I've got a spreadsheet!  We're monitoring housing prices!  What will we do for middle school!  It's so complicated...

Rhiannon is 18 months today!

And the first thing I think about writing is her love of Elmo.  It is deep and intense and pretty comical.  Just about any conversation you have with her will end with her inquiring or demanding Elmo in some way.  In fact, although she won't say Joaquin, Lola, or Nate, she's got Elmo, Abby, and Ernie down!  Other words for her include animal noises like moo, baa, sss, snorting (for pig), oof (for a dog), meow; bubbles, no, hey, bye-bye, mama, daddy, Bailey, choo-choo, nose, pee pee, pooh pooh, and Pooh as in Winnie.  She identifies all her body parts and likes to pretend to go to the bathroom.  She also likes to play with stuffed animals, which is also new for us (maybe a girl thing?).  She gets up on their toddler bed, surrounds herself with all of them, and then starts playing and talking to them all. 

My mom observed that although Rhiannon doesn't have as much language as Joaquin had at this age, in many ways she seems more mature than Joaquin did.  Maybe it's because she's such a mover?  It's hard to put a finger on what's different here, but I agree.  She definitely completely understands and there is something about her character that makes you think...she is processing in a less naive way?  It's this thread that runs through the determined way she says no, her opinions on her clothes, and her fearlessness in exploring on her own.  Whereas Joaquin's language always gave him the air of 2 going on 40, Rhiannon's determination gives her the air of 1 going on 18.

Our little love gets stopped in the street so people can comment on how beautiful her eyes are...happy year and a half, love...

Christmas and the new year

Joaquin's Christmas list-this is the first formal list we have written and also our first letter to Santa Claus:

Trampoline
Robot
Toy gun
Digger
Toy airplane that flies
Box of super heroes
Blue bicycle (he has a red one, but red is not his favorite color)
Pogo stick
Periscope

Joaquin's Christmas list for Rhiannon:

Elmo

We also did our first visit to Santa at a Victorian Christmas celebration at the Banning house.  Santa is in a sleigh and you could climb up with him and take a picture.  We didn't get that far, but Joaquin did manage to ask for his robot while standing below on the ground.

I had a week and a half off between Christmas and the new year and although Gideon had to work on the eves and New Year's day, it was the most family together time we've had in a long time.  We also had some scheduling problems with Gideon's family celebrations, which caused us to have a smaller group in our home instead.  That had its advantages and disadvantages as Joaquin is finally enjoying being around bigger groups and hanging out with his family, so sad that we missed that, but it also required alot less 'schedule' and travel and that was nice.

This year, we went to the Mission Inn with its 9M lights, saw ice sculptures in Long Beach, and headed up to Frazier Park for an overnight in the snow.  The snow was largely a big hit with Joaquin and Gideon making a snowman, all of us throwing snowballs, Rhiannon trying to eat her first batch and staying in a cozy cabin for the night.  It was also a reminder of how picky Joaquin has gotten with his clothing and day 2 of his activities were totally shot as he could not find anything acceptably warm and soft for the day.  Joaquin has only grown about an inch in the past year while his feet continue to grow, which means growth spurt coming up for me, and I dread the clothing and shoe conversations that will likely come with it. 

2012 was a great, if not hectic, year for us.  My new job offers us growth opportunity that we could have never accomplished in our previous situation.  It definitely felt like a new era with our transition into a 4 person family, a rebalancing of parental roles and responsibilities, new professional opportunities, and beginning our search for what Joaquin's grade school years will look like.  2013 promises more change and is such an unknown right now depending on our housing and school...major disruption or a continued ease into our 'new' pattern? 

Rhiannon 16 to 17 months

This was a big month for Rhiannon.  Her new words were ipad and teetay (Tagalog for penis).  Ipad is always followed by a request for Elmo while teetay is just something she thinks is hilarious.  I guess penis humor works no matter what the gender.  She has also started to speak in simple sentences and has reached 'full' understanding where we can ask her to do things like bring me your shoes, etc.  She can point to all body parts, has mastered stairs both up and down, and can climb up on just about anything at this point.  Nods yes, but says no and the way she says it is super cute and indicative of her personality...while she uses it alot-both to say no and as a way to make jokes because we laugh at her cuteness in saying it-she says it in the sweetest, most girlish way, lifting her chin, raising her eyebrows and in a sweet, higher pitched voice, "no."

Rhiannon loves Elmo

Rhiannon loves Elmo...it is her favorite word.  She points to the TV, our phones, the ipad...anything..."Elmo!"  The other night, she was tossing and turning and distressingly cried, "Elmo!"  She also loves Barney, so we are knee deep in all the traditionally loved child things that Joaquin avoided.  She has also picked up "cheese!" for pictures and flashes a crinkled nose, super enthusiastic grin.  She can point to most of her body parts and likes to dance.

Joaquin...my 4 going on 40 little boy...has started to call us mom and dad instead of mommy and daddy.  After about a week and a half of the pattern, I asked him why he was calling me mom instead of mommy.  His response was, "Well, you're my mom."  Can't argue with that, I guess.  We are in the midst of finding a kindergarten for him, which is a maddening, Hunger Games like process in Los Angeles.  There are tons and no choices all at the same time...public, private, charter, magnet, intra and inter district, and dual language are all on our list and each have a different admissions policy and procedure.  Which means visiting each and every one of them and then keeping your fingers crossed after.

Rhiannon at 13 months; Joaquin's creativity

At 13 months, Rhiannon likes to mimic and likes shoes.  She will bring us her shoes regardless of if we are getting dressed and likes to wear them around everywhere.  With Joaquin only liking to wear shirts and now Rhiannon with shoes, the joke is we need a 3rd that likes to wear pants so that we have one fully dressed child.  She also likes to mimic...blowing your nose, brushing your hair, carrying a purse.  And the other day she brought me a book with 'night night' as the final page so she could show me she could also say night night.


Joaquin is developing his creative side, making up songs and playing voices with his toys.  He has also told us that art is his favorite part of school, which is shocking since he has never had an interest in crafts.  He also identified a best friend at school (Lily and then, although not as strong, JT) and then we had tears when Lily started kinder at another school.  JT is still there, but he is still sad about Lily.  Sometimes he tells us that he doesn't have any friends left at school and we can't talk about Lily without tears.  It is a sad position to be in as a parent...and makes parallel play more and more of a wistful memory.

Rhiannon is 1!

Rhiannon turned 1 on Saturday and we had a weekend devoted to celebrating and documenting around this milestone.  We took pictures Friday at the beach and through the town of Seal Beach.  It was freezing and poor little one was shivering and a bit miserable in the backless little beach get up I put her in.  Who would have thought that Southern California at the end of July would be so cold?

On Saturday, Rhiannon decided to sleep in until 9:30.  We had scheduled the party to start at 1 as she normally wakes up at 7 and then goes down for a nap at 11, so of course today is the day she decides to snooze.  Luckily, through divide and conquer strategies and just beginning the party during nap time, we ended up alright and Rhiannon made her appearance at about 2 just in time for birthday ice cream.  We did sandwiches from BJ's (again-I guess our caterer of choice!) and ice cream with all different cones for dessert in lieu of cake.  Rhiannon doesn't like cake, but she loves ice cream and it seemed to go over well with all the guests too.  The gift of choice was definitely clothes...partly a commentary, I'm sure, on having a girl and partly a commentary on my tendency to dress her in her brother's old clothes?  The stack was incredible-probably a foot high.

At one year old, Rhiannon is spirited and has clear opinions on what she wants to spend her time doing and who she wants to do it with.  She is a mover-walking well at 10 months and now dancing regularly.  She is fearless and knows when she is pushing her limits-she runs out in the streets and at these times and other times when she knows she is doing something wrong, she just gives you a total deadpan look like, 'what are you going to do about it?'  6.5 teeth...4 on top and 2.5 on the bottom.  Loves Elmo and the songs on any other TV show.  Is a bit of a picky eater already preferring meat and cheese above all other foods.  Says mama, daddy, and that regularly with her favorite game being carried around while she points and says, 'that' and you tell her what that is.  She loves the outside, loves to dance, and loves to play with her big brother.  When she wants to be loved she wants your complete and utter devotion and when she doesn't, she generally wants to go off and play on her own. 

I had went back and read what I wrote about Joaquin's first birthday and I immediately had pangs of guilt that I wasn't waxing poetic about her first birthday like I did his.  The truth is this year and having a 2nd has been much more of a balancing act.  Whereas the experience with a first child may have been a learning experience making me kinder and gentler, the intense love I have for 2 children sometimes come in conflict with each other and inevitably create a learning experience more about balance and knowing when just enough is actually enough. 

The waxing poetic part is there, but it comes from more rare snatches of one on one time you create and-what cannot be duplicated without more than 1 child-the beautiful relationship you see them sharing with each other.  Every morning when I wake up and the kids are still asleep, they move to snuggle with each other in my absence. This is the blessing I've had for the year:

Rhiannon at 11 month; Joaquin at 4 years

Rhiannon took about 2 weeks of hesitant steps and, at 10.5 months, began walking all over the place.  Now that she can move herself, she has no patience for being indoors.  If I open the door, she is making her way outside while Joaquin is in begging to watch another show of some kind.  His favorite right now is Pinky  Dinky Doo and even when he's not watching the show, we are playing Pinky Dinky Doo on our own.  In these instances, he insists we call him Tyler, I get to be Pinky, and Rhiannon is Mr. Guinea Pig. This show emphasizes language and story structure, so our already verbose 4 year old has added great words like decay, tenacity, unique, gracious, and cacaphony correctly to his repertoire. 

Joaquin has also been very interested in death and what killing means lately and has lots of questions and ideas about it.  A convergence of factors, starting with a Lola on Gideon's side dying and us going to the wake and really reaching a height with my own Grandmother dying and me being sad about it.  He sits behind me, pulls me back so I am 'leaning' on him and says, "I am holding you so you aren't sad about Great Grandma Anathlee."  It is very sweet, which is great because the moods change in such an extreme way.  He has a memory like an elephant, so doesn't release things and he is extremely particular.  With just about every new toy, we can expect a total melt down as the toy does not act in some way that he imagined it. 

What we are not seeing from Joaquin is jealousy towards his sister...which is great, because his sister is totally jealous.  If there is something going on, she wants to be a part of it.  If I am holding Joaquin, she will literally try push herself between us.  If that doesn't work, she'll want to eat to get in as close as possible.  She's also gotten a bit clingy and now needs some warm up time in strange places or with strange people.  Still an easy going, laid back baby, but not as much as Joaquin.  She definitely has an opinion as to what she is doing and will share it. 

Summer is in full blast here and we are in the middle of birthdays and about to start evening concerts.  It's delicious and things really seem to be in place.

First steps-first joke

Just shy of her 10 month old birthday, Rhiannon took her first deliberate steps Saturday, May 19 before we got in the shower.  3 of them, which we then went out screaming to daddy (which scared the be-jeezus out of him) and then 3 more to show daddy.  Since, she has been a bit shy about doing it and wants to feel secure even if she isn't-like holding on to a T-shirt.

Yesterday, May 23, I believe Rhiannon made her first joke.  She was on the floor while I was making dinner and had her bottle leftover from school.  She looked at me, put the bottle in her ear, and broke off into peels of laughter.  Pure joy :)

Rhiannon at 9 months

Rhiannon turned 9 months old shortly after we returned from our trip to Turkey.  She says mama and daddy and bub or bub-bub for Joaquin (we think this is her trying to say bud, which we call Joaquin all the time).  She said Lola clear as day when we were in Istanbul, but hasn't repeated it.  She also has the cadence and appropriateness of hello and I love you.  And she is a mover!  She can stand up on her own for about 30 seconds at a time and is a super fast crawler/assisted walker.  Fast and ridiculously strong.  She knows clapping and is working on waving. She also lifts her hands when we say 'up!' She loves music.  Her stuffed dog offers her jams up daily. 

Turkey was a phenomenal trip and simultaneously hard.  Maybe it is because of 2 children instead of 1?  Maybe because Joaquin is a toddler and has definite ideas about what he likes or doesn't like?  Both Gid and I agreed that if you took out the hardness, it was the most amazing place we've been.  History and relics everywhere and such a combination of cultures and religions!  Coupled with mountains and canyons that looked other worldly and water that looked more like stained glass and it is a beautiful country.  And they loved children more than anywhere else in the world.  We would be in the subway station at rush hour and no less than 5 professionally dressed men would stop to give Rhiannon a coochy coo.

Next week I begin my new job which is exciting and scary at the same time.  It will be the first time in our adult life that we are only working and taking care of family-no school, no interviewing-what will we do with ourselves!

Rhiannon is 7 months old

And what a banner month it has been for her. The beginning of this month saw her cutting her first two teeth, crawling, and pulling herself up all in the same weekend. Later that week she blessed us with her first words of Mama and Daddy and two wobbly, totally unsteady steps of her own. Now the end of the month brings us the beginnings of waving and clapping. She is definitely focused on moving and has gotten quite fast and quite strong. Pulling herself up is not a problem and while Joaquin never wanted to wear a diaper because he just wanted to be naked, Rhiannon doesn't want to wear one because, well, it is just too hard to stay still long enough for us to get it on.

She has also started to show people preferences even while remaining very social. So she'll happily go to others, but when she's done, she likes to push them in the face to get away. And if she wants your attention, but you are not looking, she will pull your hair to get it. This happens quite frequently to Joaquin, who is the most hilarious person ever to her, and he has been a great sport in getting his hair pulled.

Favorite song: Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Favorite activity: Taking things out of a big container
Favorite foods: Pears, oranges, cucumbers

Joaquin's favorite joke right now: What's bigger than a submarine? A bigger submarine!

Joaquin's reasoning for whatever he wants to do or have now is that it is his favorite. Why does he want a granola bar? Because it's his favorite food! Why should he wear that hat? Because blue (or white or gray or whatever it might be) is his favorite color! Why should I stop on the PBS kids channel? Because Zula Patrol is his favorite show!

Rhiannon 5-7 months: How embarassing!

No updates from 5-7 months and 6 months seems so pivotal! For shame...I have all kinds of mommy guilt for the things that I did for Joaquin that I have not done for her. What a different life stage now with interviewing and being the boss here at work. I think I was just as busy with school and Joaquin, but that business was on the computer and staying a bit longer to post pics or put up a blog post made sense. Now I am out and about and if I finish up 30 minutes early, I'm in the car and heading home.

Rhiannon had a big 2 months. It started off with sitting at 5 months, which we had no idea she could do. As we were scheduling her 6 month photos, the photographer asked if she was sitting and we tried it that weekend. Lo and behold, up and relatively steady! This seems to fit her MO...she is definitely a mover. Starting at 6 months, she's army crawling and 6.5 months crawling backwards. She loves to push herself up to standing and has balanced on the coffee table a few times. It's usually to get something though and she promptly lets go once she's got whatever she would like. Whenever she does something like this she looks around the room at whoever is there and expects a big whopping dollop of praise, for which we are rewarded with a big (and still toothless!) grin.

She also started eating table food just after 5 months. She kept reaching and reaching and 6 months just seemed like such an arbitrary number. Her first food was banana followed by avocado, but her favorite foods by far are pear and orange. This might be because she doesn't really have much interest in eating per se, but more chewing and teething on some chunk of something. I think the pear and orange give her enough of that flavor but are soft enough to dissolve in her mouth. She seems to eat anything though-over the past 2 weeks she's even munched on lettuce and limes.

Her language is back and forth between people, but she prefers roaring, which we all think is hilarious since she is a Leo. She does make babbling noises and has said bye-bye, daddy, and as of yesterday when she is mad at me mo-mo-mo-mo-mo! No intentional language yet, but there are some bizarre coincidences like when we pulled out a library book and she said "I like that book." Craziness.

Still a very happy baby and one that is close to having some teeth, speaking some words, and moving around as she pleases. People ask me if I see big differences in her personality vs Joaquin's for this age and the biggest difference seems to be that this little girl is certain about what she wants. Gotta love that...

First day back at work

I have a little under an hour of my first day back at work. Overall, going back was easier this time although I certainly wouldn't call it easy. It was inevitably helped by the fact that Gideon did the drop off in the morning. It is much easier for my brain to trick itself when I left little one smiling with her daddy than asleep in a crib or in the arms of a teacher and hopefully she will get used to school and have a routine before I have to do the drop off in 2 weeks.

The hard part is three fold: first, it is hard knowing that she is going to have a hard time establishing a routine and getting happy. My biggest worry here is her sleep habits-she likes to be held constantly during her sleep. I received a little blessing last night though as she climbed over to her sleeper-something she never does-and dosed off by herself-another thing she never does. It was like someone reaching down to let me know that everything was going to be alright. Second, she is more awake and active now and it is hard to give up watching her discover all the time. Third, and probably the most profound for me, is how boring and meaningless it feels to be at work. I remember feeling this when I came back with Joaquin too-like this is all there is? I think-and hope-that says more about the work than it does about working.

Rhiannon's first Christmas

Rhiannon's first Christmas was equally as lovely and very Californian. On the 23rd, we went to the beach and on the 24th, the mountains for their first snow. Joaquin had a hard time at first with all those clothes and snow getting in various places, but we got his gear figured out and then he had a great time. It was very peaceful and we had a patch all to ourselves.

We did stockings and dinner on the 24th and slept in on the 25th. Presents in the late morning and then we hosted the Bunag Christmas in the evening. Rhiannon receive a staggering amount of clothes and Joaquin a staggering amount of toys. If last Christmas was the first that he really 'got it,' he really got it this year and started requesting trucks very early. I don't know how the parents of multiple children in multiple age groups do it. I feel we are bursting at the seems with all our stuff!

2011 has been a great year for us and 2012 promises alot of change. Feeling blessed and anxious at the same time :)

Our world travelers at 3.5 yrs and mos.

The past 2 months have been a whirlwind. We started in early November going to Birmingham and visiting my Dad and Grandma. My Grandma has gotten sick and it is sad to see someone you love in that state-forgetful, frail. She still has her sense of humor though and it was fun to get little insights like finding the candy she had stashed in her bedside drawer.

We had a few weeks home and then Thanksgiving. Rhiannon's first Thanksgiving was full of love and family as we went to my mom's house and she saw her first movie (Happy Feet 2, which Joaquin deemed "scary") and then lunch with the family and Amy. We did dinner with Gideon's family and it was a late night, but a good one.

Rhiannon turned 4 months old just after Thanksgiving and the day before we took off for Thailand and the Philippines. In that month, she got especially adept at rolling around-her favorite is (still) to try and barrel role off her chairs. Joaquin got his first real haircut-quite the adventure as he seemed totally ok with it until he was actually called to the chair which led to a complete panic. A woman in the shop had to hold Rhiannon for me so that we could actually cut his hair. But it was going to be hot, so off it came and off we went.



We had a great time in Thailand and saw so many incredible things. We spent most of our time in Chiang Mai and went to the Elephant preserve, the temple, the Queen's gardens, a snake show, night market, indigenous village. The real highlight of the trip though was traveling with my old roommate Heidi and her kids, ages 5, 4, and 3. It was so fun for us to see Joaquin really interact with kids his age and I'm sure we saw so much more than we would have on our own. A group that age can make anything fun when they get along together! I am also so blessed to have friends that seem to grow in step with me. Heidi and I haven't seen each other in 6 or so years and it was like not a second had gone by-we just had all these kids with us now!

The Philippines was a bit more difficult with Joaquin and visiting the older folks. He is not around older people very often and he was a bit scared. It's also hard because we stay at a very 'no touch' house and go to alot of adult restaurants. We had quite the scenario with him when we left and that it is always hard-you want people to see your kids the way you see them and when they act out like that it is a little heart wrenching.

Joaquin turned 3.5 years in Thailand and has only grown a half inch in the past year. His 2 big things right now are telling me that he's scared or afraid and that something will be too hard for him. We are working on getting more yes's, so his other thing that is picking up is "Well, I guess I can try." A few growing pains, but other kinks have worked themselves out. We don't get nearly as much backlash about going to school for instance.

Rhiannon turns 5 months tomorrow and she just seems to want to grow up really fast. She is putting everything in her mouth like Joaquin, but instead of sitting she wants to go right to walking and likes when we help her practice. She also seems very interested in eating and specifically goes for food to get into her mouth. We've also noticed that she is a little more particular about what she wants than Joaquin was at this age. She's been traveling pretty well, but we had a rough time on our last 6 hour flight from Korea to Thailand. If that had been Joaquin, I would have been able to breastfeed him back to happiness no problem. She is not so easily fooled. She is very even tempered until she wants something and then she will really let you know. If I am late getting to her she will even finish her complaint before getting what she needs.

Rhiannon at 3 months

Rhiannon turned 3 months on Friday and it's been a big month for her. Besides her first car accident and her first laugh, she has also figured out how to grab things, talks quite a bit more, and is definitely a mover. We never strapped Joaquin into anything because he never moved enough to worry about it. The other night, I left Rhiannon in her chair (which rocks) and she had rocked herself down so only her shoulders and head remained on the chair. She can also lift her head and shoulders from a lying down position. She's also begun teething...or at least sucking...all the time.

Joaquin's speech continues to grow with leaps and bounds; he is such a great communicator. His favorite colors are blue, green, and pink and he is obsessed with all things construction. He can tell you a backhoe from an excavator to a digger and, right now, he wants a street sweeper for Christmas.

My favorite thing between them right now happens when Rhiannon is upset. Joaquin will come to her in a super syrupy voice and say, "Aw, what's wrong baby girl? Nothing?" The sing-songey tone he uses to say nothing is hilarious.

First laugh/first car accident

Not on the same day, but blessingly close together. First laugh on Monday, 10/17 at 2.5 months old, courtesy of Daddy's tickles:




The car accident happened the day before and she actually slept through it. Thankfully, none of us were hurt although it had the potential to be very, very bad. It definitely makes things like first laughs that much sweeter.

Joaquin is a bit obsessed with car crashes now and talks about them in the car quite a bit. It is so hard to see your child that fearful over something so serious. Beyond that, Joaquin is in another language phase, picking up all kinds of words and playing with them. He said an idea was fabulous and that I loved him verier mucher.

Rhiannon at 2 months

Rhiannon turned 2 months on Wed and like her brother, we celebrated with her first plane ride. Hers was to Portland for a wedding and she did very well. Not quite as invisible as her brother, but happy for both rides. At 2 months, Rhiannon still likes to sleep alot, but we're also getting alot more smiles and talking. I remember Joaquin would make noises that sounded like 'I love you.' Hers sound like 'good' when she is happy. In Portland, we also took her first trip to the beach, which I thought was ironic given her LA birthplace.

Joaquin is doing really well now. We have definitely turned a corner and our sweet little boy is back. He loves his baby sister.

Catching up

This maternity leave feels so different from my first. I'm sure I am romanticizing it, but what I remember with Joaquin are these long stretches of time in the swing singing to him and mentally planting my garden. This time, I feel like it has taken these 8 weeks I've had just to 'catch up' with what should be our normal life. Things like getting through food in the fridge that's been there for a year because it's not something we usually cook. We've also spent some time 'fixing' some bad habits or starting some good ones with Joaquin that we hadn't done because-frankly-we were too tired working. Eating at the table and brushing teeth in the morning are the biggest examples. A friend once told me that it took her 2 weeks to reach some sort of equilibrium in her house after a 2nd child...it has taken us about 2 months for me to feel like I've got it somewhat together...I guess better late than never!