Sturm Haus

36

Happy Birthday, baby.

So, last weekend at Nana's house, we happened to catch the first episode of Disney's newest kid show, called Bunnytown.

Having heard about it earlier, I'd also set it up to record at home. And good thing I did. We've watched it at least once a day almost every day this week. It's our new favorite show. Jon and I even enjoy it. Cute bunnies and catchy music... not much not to like, right?

Reviews say it's not educational enough. I say education, smeducation. We're all about the fun in this house!

We'll meet with his teachers next week (3 of them) to discuss their concerns, see what they say. Then we'll have to decide what to do about it. I told Otto tonight that Miss Kim was worried he didn't talk enough, and he said something like "Oh, Miss Kim." So I asked "don't you talk for Miss Kim?" and he said "No!"

I don't know what to make of that. I don't really know what to make of any of this now. Last night Otto said "C'mere Mama, sit down please?" He wanted me to help him with his puzzle. If he's speaking that well at home, why won't he do it at school? And if he is, then what do they want him to be saying? It's a $20million mystery. One I don't think I'll solve anytime soon.

No, instead I'm eating Nutella again. The jar just leaped into my cart last night at Target. Evidently it knew I needed a little chocolate therapy.

the safety motto? was a lie.

So in all our talking yesterday, I forgot to tell Jon one important little detail.

The car seat for my car is sitting in the lobby at day care (they needed it for the field trip).

And Jon didn't see it when he picked up yesterday. I called him this morning the minute I woke up and said "did you bring the car seat home?" The long silence at the other end gave me my answer before he could say, with justifiable confusion, "the car seat?"

So Otto and I are at home today. Car-seat-less.

It would be a very cold 2-mile walk to day care with Otto in a stroller, along a busy street with spotty sidewalks. And a very very cold 2-mile walk back to my house and the car. And did I mention we forgot Otto's winter coat at Aunt Meredith's house on Thanksgiving?

So I have decided to work from home today. And if I need to work Saturday to make it up, so be it.

relaxation techniques

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try an old relaxation trick with Otto at bedtime. We counted up to 10. Then we took nice, slow, deep breaths, in through our nose, out through our mouth. Then we counted backward from 10 to 1, and when we got to 1, Otto was supposed to be asleep.

Magically it worked. Jon has since started using it, and I used it again tonight. It cuts off arguments about more stories, and he's been staying in bed better, going to sleep faster. It feels good to him and he snuggles into his pillow and closes his eyes and smiles as I kiss him goodnight.

Tonight we did a couple of extra deep breaths for mama. This morning Otto's teacher at day care approached me and said she'd like us to consider calling a local agency for kids with developmental delays and learning disorders to have him screened, see if he needs help. It's a county program connected with the school system, and when I looked it up seemed to be more for kids with serious problems. Her explanation for why we should call wasn't very clear - something about his attention span? - and she spent most of the 10 or 15 minutes she was talking trying to sell me on the program itself, how wonderful it was. I just listened and nodded a couple of times and tried to figure out what it is, exactly, that's worrying her. Then I took the brochure and drove away.

By the time I got to work I'd done 2 things. First I called Jon, who was equally startled and alarmed by this development, and together we decided that it would make sense to go to our pediatrician next. So after I finished talking to him I called our pediatrician's office and talked to one of the nurses on duty. The conversation went kind of like this: "I'm feeling a little blindsided by this" ("I can imagine!" she said) "and I don't even really know what questions to ask. What would you look for? When do we screen for problems? They're saying he has a short attention span." ("he's TWO!" she said, "I have a grandson about that age and we can't get him to sit still for 5 minutes. And our doctors don't get too excited about most things until kids are 3.")

The upshot of the conversation with her was, get it in writing and ask them to be as specific as possible. Then we'll have something concrete to discuss. I felt a lot better after that. I *heart* our pediatrician's office.

This afternoon Jon talked to the day care owner, who wasn't aware the teacher was going to recommend that route and thought maybe Otto needed a little help with language -- nothing too serious, and nothing about attention span problems. She and the teacher will talk about it tomorrow and work on a written report for us. Internally I'm thinking, "you just do that." And we'll take it to our 3-yr checkup with Dr. Stone and see what she says.

It's upsetting to have a child care professional tell you they think there's something wrong with your kid. I have a feeling that my son, though, is simply a lot like his parents. Introverted. A little shy. Self-motivated. Not too interested in conforming or worried about what people think. I suspect he knows his teacher thinks there's something wrong, and that he enforces that perception by being contrary. If we, with his doc, decide he needs help, we'll get it for him. But as I pulled into the parking lot at work I thought "this is just the beginning. I will probably have this discussion, in many different iterations, with many different teachers, several times in the years ahead."

I'm not worried about him. I came home tonight and listened to him chatter, making up stories about puppy, narrating his thoughts and play process. When he finished dinner he decided puppy should flip the fireplace on and climbed off the bench saying "I slide down. Whee! That's fun!" He's no Hemingway yet, true. But he's two. We have a few years before he has to write his first paragraph in kindergarten.

He climbed under the covers for stories tonight and said clearly in his piping little voice, "Once upon a time..." I said "Yes, that's how all the best stories start, isn't it?" And he grinned with satisfaction and settled in to listen.

And this is when I realized...

watching his movie,
originally uploaded by sturm95.

that he wasn't buckled into his seat.

So we pulled over and took care of that little detail, and got back underway. Safety first! That's our motto! Yeah!

The ride home was pretty uneventful, if you don't count the buckling glitch (very quickly corrected) or listening to the Bears game. That kept us entertained during a long, slow stretch navigating 80/94 around Gary. We always seem to hit bad traffic around Chicago. It's just our luck.

Otto did nicely on the way home, entertaining himself in various ways. He spent some time practicing two important life skills:

1) putting his shoes on the right feet (he'd take them off, switch them around, then switch them back)
2) putting his earbuds in the correct ears (right in the right ear, etc.)

He's now accomplished at both tasks. He can also Aquadoodle like nobody's business. And he can scream. He did that for awhile, evidently thinking it was quite funny. That's when I looked at Jon and said "I think we need to take a break. Soon."

Jake spent most of the trip comfortably curled on the back seat, getting up occasionally to wander up to the front of the van and request a Jake break by standing by my seat, chin on the armrest.

We made it home, tucked Otto into bed, unloaded. This morning we returned the van and got ready for the day. Otto was mighty disappointed that Jon went back to work, crying his little heart out, then crying again when we got to day care and saying "Wanna go back home!"

But then I got him settled in at story time and he was great, fine, happy as a clam. And tomorrow is a field trip to Pump It Up, one of those places where you get to bounce around in inflatable play structures.

In general we had a fabulous time but we're all glad to be home, including Jake, who probably hasn't moved off the bed since I left him there. Wish I was on the bed with him, is all. Am feeling a turkey hangover, if there is such a thing.

back to Runway!

Wednesday night we were arriving and getting settled and trying to get Otto to bed in his inflatable Thomas bed - so I missed Project Runway. Oh, the horror! So I caught the rerun this evening. It was one of the challenges where they make the designers team up, this time teams of 2.

Sweet P should get about 100 extra points for pushing Elisa to finish a project properly and really do the work. As she said, it's hard to imagine Elisa going any further without sewing skills. The woman believes in hand-sewing only, and with the time limits they have... oy.

The special guest - Sara Jessica Parker - was really cool. Everyone had to pitch her ideas for an addition to her Bitten line of clothing, and she was very gracious with all of them, even the head cases. A couple of the designers started crying when she walked into the room. I'd be excited too, she's better than any of their other guest "icons" to date.

Then they got to shop at Mood, but had a budget of just $15. I bet the producers laughed evilly at that.

I wasn't sure about Sweet P last week, but you have to respect someone who can make Elisa's ideas look really good. She was coaching Elisa from the minute they paired up, telling her she had to actually finish the edges of her fabric and driving decisions about what to buy at Mood. She and Elisa ended up in the top 2 of the runway challenge. But Victorya pulled it off and left with the prize.

Christian ends up in the bottom two. As the young pup of the bunch, he evidently thought the 80s are long enough ago to be considered retro. This was before he stood up in front of judges in their 40s and 50s who informed him otherwise. Plus the dress was too tight and too short. Not for the everyday woman!

Marion goes home -- this after Michael Kors says his outfit is awkward and "a little Pocahontas" (ouch). Heidi is a little kinder and just says she doesn't get it. Marion is the one who really doesn't get it, though, and has to pack his gear and leave. Bye bye, Marion! Sorry it was you and not the crazy marionette woman.

Tomorrow we head home. Otto has had a great time this week hanging out with all of us and playing whenever he wants, whatever he wants. Getting back into the groove on Monday will be difficult, I'm afraid. We will get there eventually...

recovery

Yesterday morning we climbed out of bed early, helped finish prepping some of the side dishes (and pie) for the T-day feast, and then got on the road for Des Moines.

People on I-80 drive like maniacs. Just FYI. It's a little unnerving to be passed by people going 90mph, esp. when you're in a minivan that's sort of "gust" susceptible, if you know what I mean.

We had a great time at Bob and Meredith's. Grandpa Steve came, too, which was so nice because we haven't seen him in forever. Otto enjoyed playing with his cousins. He and Jack esp. spent the afternoon and evening playing playing playing. Baby Leo is walking! He is sooooo cute and kissable.

I ate too many Party Potatoes.

Otto ate yogurt, a cream cheese/strawberry sandwich, applesauce, chips, crackers, cheese, a banana, a breakfast bar -- everything, in other words, but turkey dinner. I gave him points for sitting at the dinner table with everyone and being social, even if he didn't want any party potatoes.

My Cranberry Chess Pie turned out extra good this year, once we got the crust figured out. The first crust Jon made for me slumped in the oven, so we bought Pillsbury dough. Sacrilege, I know! But it had to be done. And the resulting pie was still excellent. It was gone... next year I think I'll make two cranberry pies and one pumpkin pie, since that's what everyone loved.

We changed Otto into jammies for the ride home and he crashed almost before we were out of the neighborhood. Jon and I enjoyed getting a little glimpse of Des Moines, which has grown and changed a lot since we were there. It's a nice city, big enough to have a lot of amenities, small enough to feel you belong.

So, I bet you're dying to know what Party Potatoes are, huh? Oh, they're evil goodness. Sort of like my Grandma's macaroni and cheese. Go here to see the recipe, but be warned -- the recipe alone could induce a food coma. And you're probably more susceptible today than usual.

We have no plans for the day, other than to stay away from anything resembling a store. And napping. Napping sounds like a good idea.

and we drove and we drove all over the land

This is how our trip went:

Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain snow SNOW SNOW snow.

But! We are here safely. Otto did well. Jake did well. At one of our stops Otto discovered red Gatorade which, with the lightening bolt on the bottle, reminded him strongly of Lightening McQueen. He insisted on having a bottle -- I insisted on him having a small bottle. Negotiations were successful for both parties.

We rented a minivan for this trip, and Jake had the whole back seat to himself today. He was in heaven, all stretched out back there like a prince. Otto liked the high-up seating and great view from his captain's chair. Jon and I still don't want to actually own a minivan, but will admit that they have their uses.

Tomorrow it's turkey and stuffing and potatoes and pie at Bob and Meredith's. There will be multiple boys in the house (not including the grown up ones), and I am looking forward to it greatly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are painters here today, painting things deep, dark blue and watermelon and battleship gray. The watermelon is my favorite. I'm the only one who likes it, besides our interior designer. But I will be proved right in the end!!! (I hope - or I'll be repainting it myself some Sunday afternoon)

The millwork contractors are upstairs running belt sanders and big drills.

And the carpeting guys are coming in later this morning with a big machine to strip the carpet out of my office (it was installed improperly). That's going to be LOUD.

All of my office furniture is piled into one half of the room -- 3 big bookcases, table, 4 chairs, L-shaped desk, filing cabinet. It looks like a used furniture shop in there.

Quiet peaceful library? Not today. I'm looking forward to getting this done so we can go back to being just our normal noisy self.

Jon and Otto went on a field trip today.

I got home and said to Otto, "what did you do today?"

He said with great joy, "I saw trains!"

I asked if he saw cars, too, and he just looked at me, then said "I saw trains!" again. C'mon, mom. You know what's really important, don't you?

Jon told me he pointed out a train and said "hey, that looks like Gordon!" Otto considered for a moment, then agreed. "Yeah," he said. Then he pointed. "There's Toby!"

Needless to say, he had an excellent day.

Jake is on the sofa, shooting accusing looks my way. "You promised!" he seems to be saying.

And I did. I promised a walk. We will go after I'm done here. I swear it!

Yesterday I couldn't post because we were busy upgrading Otto's bed. We went to Ikea and bought this:
Don't worry. It can be set up 2 ways -- either loft-style, like this, or flipped the other way to make a sort of four-poster. That's how Otto's is set up. I'd go take a picture except that would mean walking towards the hall closet, and if I do that Jake will get down from the couch and follow me, looking expectant. So you'll have to imagine. Or turn your computer monitor upside down.

Jon set it in the loft position after we put it together, and we let Otto try it out. He does fine climbing up. It's the coming down, backwards and barefoot at 3am, that worried me. So we set it up the other way and he slept there last night. He seems to like it OK. I think if he had his way he'd sleep with us all the time, but that's not happening. The fun bed is a small consolation prize.

Next? Closet upgrades! We need to get his closet organized. Right now it's mostly boxes of outgrown clothes and the diaper stash. One thing at a time...

This afternoon I watched a cooking show. I don't do this often - it makes me feel guilty, since I don't cook anymore. But the only thing on was America's Test Kitchen on PBS and I was hiding out in our bedroom, ostensibly folding clothes but in reality trying to sneak in a nap. They made Tamale Pie, which I'm not sure I've had before. But it looked mighty appetizing, and easy, too. So I made it for dinner, to great acclaim (from Jon - Otto does not eat such things, he is a purist).

The recipe's not on-line, so here's how I did it:

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 lb. lean ground beef (90/10)
• 1 c. shredded cheddar
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh cilantro
• 1 box Jiffy corn bread mix, prepared (or the equivalent from scratch, I used the recipe off the back of my corn meal container)

Preheat oven to 450. Heat the oil in a 10" skillet (med-high heat). Add the onion and chili powder - saute until onion is soft. Add the garlic, stir for a few seconds, then add the tomato, beans and ground beef. Break up the beef as it browns.

While the beef mixture cooks, mix up your corn bread batter.

After the beef is browned, stir in the cheese and cilantro, then drop your cornbread batter over the top by spoonfuls. Smooth it all out to evenly cover the top. Put it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until cornbread is brown. Serve with a dollop of sour cream. Yum!

Tomorrow I go to work early - my boys are staying home together. Jon took the week off, so he and Otto are making plans to go to the Henry Ford and look at trains, visit the barber shop in Depot Town, etc. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Last but not least, Jon was listening to the Bears game this afternoon when he got a call from his brother. This is not unusual, since Bears games are a big discussion topic for the guys in the family and half-time calls are the norm. But it wasn't the usual call -- Jamie was sitting in a seat at Qwest Field in Seattle watching the Bears go after the Seahawks with his own 2 eyes. I think Jon was a leeetle jealous, but had fun talking to Jamie about the game. Sadly, the Bears didn't win. Maybe next week! (the Bears fan's mantra).

OK. Time to walk Jake. Brr...

family date night

I'm sitting on the floor at Barnes & Noble, laptop on knees, enjoying Otto's chatter as he plays at the permanent Thomas the Tank Engine table set up here in the children's area. "Who's tender? Who lost their tender? Gordon's on the turntable. Look at this bridge!" He's completely absorbed and contented.

Jon's completely absorbed and contented elsewhere -- I'm not sure where. When there are 2 book lovers in your family, plus a toddler, and you have to take turns browsing for books while the other person watches the child, well, I'm sure you can imagine it's not always pleasant. I've been here for awhile and I wouldn't mind the chance to browse myself. But Jon is wise to the ways of his wife. He knows I won't leave Otto to look for him, and he didn't bring his phone so I can't buzz him and demand his return. He's probably in graphic novels, immersed in another world outside space and time (esp.the time his wife is spending waiting for him).

That's OK. I found a Victoria magazine on my way in the door. Victoria magazine! I used to enjoy looking at it, and was very sad when it went kaput several years ago. Seems it's back, which is good news.

I also have discovered that I have free wireless through at&t because we're DSL subscribers. That's a nice bonus. Must remember that when we travel.

Otto's moving all the freight cars off the train table and lining them up on the floor. Now he's given them an engine, and is driving the train under the table. "Through tunnel! Whoo whoo!" He's doing great sound effects, my big boy of almost 3. Now the train's back on the tracks. Guess it's just not the same on the open floor. "Have 2 cars. Have 3 cars. Have 4 cars! 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 five-teen fourteen firteen twelve."

When I got home from work tonight he climbed into my car to play with the lights. When I piled into the passenger seat a few minutes later, he pointed at my odometer and said "twenty five!" And yes, I'm at xxx,x25 miles. I can't get over how quickly he's learning these days.

Work is exhausting right now. We spent the day clearing shelves, boxing the YA collection, cleaning out the last of the "stuff" in the technical services room (or as I have called it, the EVERYTHING room), moving stuff to the storage area downstairs. I had to box everything in my office in preparation for the carpet installers next week. I managed to weed through the piles on my desk and fit all my current project files into my LLBean tote bag. Not a mean feat, considering the size of the original piles. Everything else is ready to be moved out, set aside, so that the crew can rip up the old carpet tile and put down the new. And last but not least, I packed up the library's laptop and brought it home. Usually it lives in the tech services room -- but of course, that's being demolished Monday morning. As is the new circulation services room. And both my office and the YS Librarian's are under carpeting attack next week. I figured the laptop might be safer with me for the next few days. Plus, if I can't have my office, I can at least have a computer to call my own.

Otto has just now discovered the boxes and boxes of Thomas accessories for sale around the train table. He's pushing every button he can reach, making signals ding and trains whistle. And the engines, oh the engines... "That's Gordon. I can't reach it!"

I'd better go before he gets too out of hand here...

it was a day

1. Otto greeted the morning by stripping off his pants and diaper (but not his t-shirt), walking into our room, and declaring "I'm hungry! Want breakfast bar. Get up, mama!"

2. We got to day care and Miss Kim told me that Otto did eat some Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, but only after she dipped each bite in... (wait for it)... COOL WHIP. He ate half his plate that way, turkeymashedpotatoesstuffing, and a whole piece of pumpkin pie. Don't faint, Nana, but we're packin' Cool Whip for T-day.

3. At work my contractor looked me over and said "you need to get more sleep!" This does not bode well for Laura Mercier.

4. Spent the whole day freaking out about the remodeling project. Finally! I have been calm too long. Now that I'm being kicked out of my office so they can carpet next week, I'm losing it. Guess I'm stressed without my command center/bat cave.

5. Came home to my darling husband, who made spaghetti and meatballs for supper. Ah, comfort food...

6. Watched Ugly Betty. Excellent episode. During commercial breaks, tickled Otto so that he laughed non-stop for minutes at a time.

7. Am enjoying my 30-minute control of the TV remote while Jon gets Otto into bed. I will go to bed myself, very very soon, to see if I can do something about the under eye circles.

G'night!

it begins!

(inspired by Say La Vee, whose recaps of Survivor are the closest I ever get to watching the show).

Oh oh oh! Project Runway! Season premiere!

Tim and Heidi are back, looking fabulous as only they can.

The designers are a mixed bunch, more mixed maybe than in the past. There's a flaky artist who makes marionettes. Some chick who goes by "Sweet P" for her first name. A guy who works at the Museum of Science and Industry (and I like him exceedingly for it). A florist. A former model. A couple of serious, experienced designers who want to do their own thing after working in big design houses for years. A couple of fresh-faced newbies (they're the ones with the really wacky hair).

Immediately after toasting with champagne in the park, they start the first challenge by running 100 yards to big tents filled with fabric. Grab what you can and design something that expresses who you are. The fabric selection is overwhelming.

Everyone gets to work. There's chatter, and I want them to be quiet and DESIGN. Marionette girl is weird.

How do these people pick what to wear? They're on their feet here for 12 hours at a time working on their projects. Why wear heels? Or a halter-top dress? I know you're on TV, but c'mon... I imagine halter-dress girl freezing in the a/c, she has no jacket or wrap.

Tim arrives to view their progress. The young pup didn't match his plaids, and Tim calls him on it. Marionette girl is in trouble too for the level of finish, but decides to go take a nap. Everyone else? Carry on!

Morning. The guys are smug, they're closer to finished than some others. Marionette girl is doing yoga. In the work room there's little chatter. Tim comes in for a pep talk. Everyone is nervous, esp. when they realize their models are assigned.

On the catwalk, Heidi is wearing a dress made of shiny gold fabric. Michael Kors and Nina Garcia are back. I've never heard of the "acclaimed designer" and guest judge, but I'm not a fashionista, so that's ok.

Surprise surprise. Halter dress girl designed... a halter dress!

The former model puts her own model in harem pants and a nasty ruffled lame jacket.

Heidi says "we've heard what you have to say" and sends them away. Why does she suddenly remind me of my midwife? Huh. Must be the tall-blonde-skinny thing combined with that no-nonsense manner.

Who's in? Who's out? Everyone is so serious...

Young pup designer's outfit is "sculptural and European inspired." He gets kudos for his design. Nina doesn't like his fabrics.

Simone was going for "modern romantic," and instead gets old-fashioned bad construction. Kors says it looks like "dressed in the dark." The guest judge is bored. Moving on...

Rami goes for new modern romantic (again?). Gets sophisticated and chic out of Nina. Michael doesn't like the flower.

Lingerie designer kept it simple and safe, and he's in trouble for it. Nice. Dull. Not memorable. Yawn.

Victorya's ugly foil flower gets a vote. But her model can't lift her arms the way the sleeves are cut.

Marionette girl talks about sylphs, water, air, haiku, cascades... everyone is confused. Nina hates it. Michael kind of likes it from the front, hates the back. Heidi's eyebrows are dancing in disbelief.

OK. Decision time.

*spoiler alert!*

Winner? Rami! His dress was incredible, so that's OK. Plus he seems nice but not smarmy.

Oh good - lingerie guy gets a 2nd chance.

Simone can't sew, but Elisa's model couldn't walk in her dress. Who's out? Ah hah! Simone! The sylph-water-fairy-nymph gets another chance. Simone is shocked but calm and leaves with many hugs.

Oh, sigh. I am sooooo happy. I LOVE this show. People in next week's promo are crying, fighting, and snarking. I cannot wait.

Am exhausted now. Must go to bed.

we're a colony

We're raising a nudist.

It's not intentional. We try to make him wear clothes. But sometimes they just... disappear. And other times he throws such a holy fit about wearing something that we let him get away with not wearing it.

On weekends, he likes to run around the house in a t-shirt, no pants.

Last night he insisted on wearing just a diaper to bed. Not even his Lightening McQueen shortie jammies were ok. No, he wanted to huddle mostly-naked under his heaviest blanket.

This morning I bustled around his room to help him wake up, organizing clothes and such. I stripped off his diaper before he was fully awake, then left him in his bed to moan about getting up while I went off to dry my hair. Jon went in to start dressing him and called out in glee, "your son is naked! He took his diaper off!" I explained I was the one who did that, but I'm not sure Jon fully believed me. He said that last night Otto was telling him he didn't want to wear a diaper anymore, either.

In Otto language, this would come out as "too big, me." As in, I am too big for this and you can't make me wear it! Or, This is way too hot. Or, I don't like the way these pants feel, get them off!

Generally it's amusing. Too bad for him we live in Michigan. You think I should turn down the space heater in his room?

consumer girl

I am the family shopper. By and large, I'm the one who plans for and purchases weekly groceries, makes the Target run for detergent and diapers, etc. This is not to say Jon doesn't do his share -- he definitely does. But usually he's either accompanying me (ie: the occassional trip to Costco to oogle flat-screen TVs), or picking up something by request. I spend an afternoon most weekends doing the rest.

Today was a little different than my usual weekend routine. I started this afternoon with a makeup session at Sephora.

I buy makeup approximately once every 3 years. This doesn't count, of course, the occassional lipstick at Target. And it's not like I wear makeup on a regular basis or anything. But once in awhile I feel the need to try and beautify myself (hah!).

Today I walked into Sephora, where a dark-haired girl wearing blue eyeshadow highlighted with glitter set me up with the Laura Mercier representative. I was slightly nervous about this, especially after she told me Oprah loves Laura Mercier products. I mean, Oprah has nice taste. As in, not cheap.

The rep started layering on the makeup. I liked the beginning, the basic stuff, the stuff I'd do daily (or most days, anyway). I relaxed and we bonded over her being from Chicago, and me missing living near Chicago. Then she started showing me what I could do to glam myself up for a big event. I didn't have the heart to tell her my biggest event is usually a trip to the movie theater in my nice jeans. I got bronzed. Blushed. Eyelined. Mascaraed. Shadowed. Lipped.

It was fun, really. I'd gone in with a budget in my head, and walked out of the store after spending pretty much what I'd planned, with pretty much what I need on a regular basis, and one little splurge. So that was good.

And then I went to Best Buy to get a new copy of Quicken. I have it installed already, too. This on-line banking stuff made setting up a piece of cake. We hated entering checks and receipts, and now we don't have to! Quicken hooks up with the bank and sucks out all the data. We just categorize and look at reports. This could begin a new financial era in our house. Now I just need to figure out our feng shui money corner and put a plant there, or whatever you're supposed to do.

My last stop was Target. The $100 Store. Don't you call it that? I do, and so do a few of my friends, because no matter what we think we're buying when we go there, we spend $100. Today I got the usual... diapers, milk, Kleenex. I also bought the best toddler toy ever:
 
It was $ .94. And Otto adores it. It's soap wrapped in a soft washcloth, and he spent so much time scrubbing himself clean tonight he turned into a wrinkly little prune.

I think Sephora should consider carrying the whole line. I mean, Laura's stuff is nice and all. But a happy Otto trumps concealed undereye bags every day of the week.

homecoming

The minute I walked in the door last night, Otto made a beeline for me, insisted I take off both my coat and my sweater (no outerwear means I'll stay in the house, I guess), then grabbed my hand and led me to the stairs.

"C'mon, Mama!" he said:

So I followed him up to his room, where he showed me his dragon:

his airplane:

and the shadows his jack-o-lantern makes on the wall when switched on:

This morning he's all about his Daddo. He grabbed Dad and led him to the TV to turn on cartoons, then begged to snuggle with him by using the old "I'm cold, please hold me Daddo" line of reasoning.

Which totally worked.

what Otto knows

Otto knows that Friday = pizza for lunch at day care.

Friday is followed by Saturday, cartoons with Daddo, and long stretches of time wearing pajamas and playing with cars and/or trains.

Perhaps that's why he was in such a good mood this morning after I told him he was getting pizza for lunch. He was positively chipper about getting dressed, wearing his coat, and getting in the car, cheerful during drop off, and happy to hug me before I left. Friday is evidently a good day all around.

I made him walk up and down the stairs again, though. He wants me to carry him -- "want mama! want mama!" -- but he's getting kind of huge for me to haul up and down. So we're working on walking. He's certainly capable, it's just the will that's lacking so early in the morning. A problem I completely relate to. I used to think he was a morning person like his dad, but now I know better. Now I know he's a night owl like me, and grouchy in the morning like me. We are quite the pair at 7am, unless it's Friday. And then we're sickeningly cheerful!

sleep trouble

For the past 3 nights running, I've been waking up at 3-4am.

• It's been Otto, wanting to climb into bed with us. Jon sleeps like a brick, so the boy knows to come to me.
• It's Jon snoring (he has a cold). We have the humidifier running and it helps, but the poor guy is still noisy.
• Cruelest of all, there was the overpowering scent of baking bread in the bread machine one morning, which Jon then took to work, leaving none for me! I almost cried. All that time lying sleepless in bed, smelling bread, and then no bread when I went down for breakfast...

At 4:30 Jon's alarm starts going off. He hits snooze a few times, and gets up between 5 and 5:30 to shower and get ready for work. If I'm sound asleep I don't notice any of this. If I'm awake, it's impossible to go back to sleep until he's gone, usually around 6:30.

At 7, Jake wants me to put him outside.

This morning, when Otto wandered over at 3:30, I let him snuggle for a few minutes then carried him back to bed. Quick as I could I grabbed a blanket and went down to the couch. By the time Otto woke up enough to protest and get out of his room again, Jon was the only one there to bug. I didn't make it back to sleep immediately, but I did get back to sleep. At least until Jake made me get up.

Obviously something is seriously whacked out at our house.

I blame myself, to a large degree. I have a job where it's even odds whether I'll leave work at 5 or 6, or leave work at 8 (or later). My weeks are never the same from one to another. And for some reason, if I'm not home at 8 the bedtime routine doesn't start when it should.

I think I'm going to make a picture chart of the bedtime routine and set the kitchen clock radio for 8pm. When it goes off, people had better stop whatever else they're doing and move towards bed, or ELSE.

I don't know what to do about the 3am wakings, though. That's going to require some research, and probably many sleepless night as I make him go back to bed, then listen to him cry and get out of bed again, repeating until 4:30am or whenever Jon gets up and can take over. Please believe me when I say that this is much more daunting than regular 3am nursing sessions. At least Otto went back to sleep then, and so did I.

So, anyway, I left work at 8 last night and was so exhausted I was in bed and asleep by 10:30. Figure a 40 minute commute and 15 minute dinner in there, as well as bedtime stories, and I didn't get much else done. And then Otto was up, howling, in the middle of the night, and didn't want to get up this morning. But I was a mean mommy and made him get dressed, brush his teeth, walk down the stairs (I refuse to carry him), eat breakfast, and go to day care, where I left him prostrate on the circle time rug.

Needless to say, my mood today is crabby.

run away

We had a super-windy day today.

Windy and cold, with intermittent rain and a few snow flurries. Winter is here!

I got home this evening after work, an oil change, and a grocery-buying expedition to Trader Joe's (I hadn't been there in weeks!), and after Jon helped me bring in groceries he realized that Jake was no longer in the back yard.

We have a tall privacy fence, and when it gets windy like it did today, the gate turns into a big sail and blows open. Jake, being a smart dog, always takes advantage of the opportunity to go out and explore his neighborhood.

He'd been outside 30-45 minutes on his own before we realized he was gone. Jon took off on foot to look for him while I unloaded the perishables and ate a quick dinner. Otto was playing happily when Jon called and said "I found him, can you drive over and help me catch him?"

I told Otto that we had to go find Jake, and Otto got excited. "Jake, where'd you go? Run away, run away!" he said, and we went to get in the car. I'd just turned the key in the ignition when Jon called back.

"I called him and he walked right up to me. We can walk home, we're ok."

But Otto was in the back seat saying "Where's Jake?" so we headed off on our rescue mission.

Jake was less than 2 blocks away. Jon found him sniffing trees, enjoying the night air, just moseying along. In his youth he would've been g-o-n-e, but now that he's a wise senior he appreciates things like central heat and air. He got out one summer in Janesville and I lured him off the street into my car with the offer of cold A/C. Tonight I think he was glad to come home to his sofa and Beggin' Strips and the fireplace.

Which, really, is the only sensible thing to do when it's windy and rainy and 30 degrees and dark out.

Here's your must-read article for the day: PC's role in Japan diminishing

The Japanese, who have been trend leaders in the electronics world for 25 years, are turning more and more to cell phones, gaming stations, TVs -- and less and less to the personal computer.

More than 50 percent of Japanese send e-mail and browse the Internet from their mobile phones, according to a 2006 survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The same survey found that 30 percent of people with e-mail on their phones used PC-based e-mail less, including 4 percent who said they had stopped sending e-mails from PCs completely.

Wow. If this doesn't have implications for the future of library service, I don't know what does.

I have Verizon (they're one of 2 or 3 companies with coverage in the rural area where I work), and I use their web browser service. I've read news, checked email, and checked my to-do list from my phone. I don't do it a lot because my screen is so small, but I'm hoping to change that in a couple of months when it's time to re-up my contract. I'm looking for a phone that makes it easier to text and type short email messages -- hopefully something with a qwerty keyboard. Like this little Samsung.

And no, I'm not getting an iPhone. AT&T doesn't come out here where I work. Or else I'd think about it.

Does my library's software provider have a phone-friendly interface? I bet if you work in a library or use a library you know the answer... nope. I just tried going to the catalog by phone and got an error message about supporting JavaScript. Maybe it's in the next upgrade for the catalog. But then, everything's in the next upgrade, and we don't upgrade often.

But Amazon has a phone-friendly site. So does LibraryThing. Can it really be that hard to do?

Library software is a niche market, and we get tied into providers because we invest a lot of time and money into their systems. Everything from our cataloging to our circulation records are held hostage by our provider. Oh, sure, you can extract the data -- but it never comes out quite right, and never transfers to the new provider without some problems. And when you're talking a consortium of 40+ libraries and millions of records, well, no one really wants to even suggest it. I'm trying to imagine the reaction if I stood up at our next shared catalog group meeting and said "by the way, provider X doesn't do RSS feeds or have a mobile-friendly interface, I think we ought to switch to provider Y next month."

*crickets chirping*

Some people would probably faint dead away. And then we'd get into a big argument about how libraries don't NEED RSS feeds or mobile browsers, no, we need... oh, I don't know. Something else. More digitization of local history collections (choke cough hack). And hey, those features are in the next release anyway (sigh).

Going stand-alone isn't appealing, either. Sure, we could maybe get the catalog we want (if we can afford it), but we lose the consortium. My patrons have to click two or three times to get through to a second, bigger catalog, and then search again. We love the shared catalog here. Giving that up would be like cutting off an arm.

I don't know I don't know. I've been thinking about the alternatives a lot lately, though. My area in particular has plenty of cell phone access, but not so good access to high-speed Internet. I can see my population going the route of the savvy Japanese even faster than bigger urban areas with abundant communication infrastructure. And we want to take that road with them, if that's where they're headed.

We went to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese today. Our friends have a little girl who's 3 months older than Otto, and it seems like just yesterday that Deb and I were pregnant together. Their daughter loves Otto (at just 3, she shows excellent taste, no?). We're going to plan a play date soon because she keeps asking to see him. Otto, being a typical guy, is oblivious to this admiration. But he's always happy to get out and have fun.

Anyway, back to Chuck E Cheese. Or, as I call it, the Parental Torture Palace. Aye aye aye, the cacophany!

Otto had a great time. He ate pizza and cake, danced to the Cheesy music, and really got into the whole game-playing thing. He now knows what tokens are, that you need one to play the SpongeBob SquarePants driving game, and how to drop that token in and start the game. He even did the pedal and the steering together, all on his own (he kicked my foot out of the way when I tried to help him). We played lots of games, but that one was his favorite.

Actually, Jon and I enjoyed ourselves. It's just kind of loud there. And it was very busy today -- a popular place for the birthday party, is Chuck E's place. We left after maybe 2 hours, and Otto was asleep before we made it to the car, wiped out by the noise, energy level, and activity.

Lately I've been thinking it would be fun to have a Wii. I've never been a big arcade person or good gamer (my poor brother can attest to that). But playing Mario Kart with Otto sounds appealing. And the Wii just looks like so much fun! The bowling game, Big Brain Academy, the Mario games. I think it's the remote, the one you can shake and throw and use to imitate all sorts of natural motions, that makes me want to try it. Plus those wonderful commercials.

Other than having fun at the party, I've spent my day doing laundry. What is it with my laundry problem? I attack the laundry faithfully a couple of times a week, but I can never seem to catch up. Go out of town one weekend and I'm behind for months. Sheets, towels, rugs, clothes... I think they multiply in the baskets when I'm not looking. Really, I do. Nothing else explains it.

Load in, load out. I'm off to switch laundry loads, then head upstairs to put away what's clean and get ready for bed. Tomorrow's a long day, with a 9:30 meeting at the beginning and a 6-8pm program at the end. Mondays are busy for us, so the inbetween hours will go fast.

Hope y'all had a good weekend!

Otto's day care is now doing annual report cards as part of their accreditation program.

His report card this year covers a variety of areas and skills, from reading readiness to ability to dress himself. He had some Ws (working on it) and Gs (good progress) in every area this time. Last year his report card was a little less balanced -- all Gs in the physical areas, and all Ws in the language areas. I figure that's progress.

One thing he got a big G on was his ability to sit still and listen. And I admit, I take both credit for this and pleasure in knowing it. He's a librarian's child, he certainly should know how to sit still for a story. Of course, I'm sure genetics are in there somewhere. And luck.

The only time this skill becomes a problem is at bedtime. There isn't enough time in the world to read all his favorite bedtime stories. It's classic stalling, of course, but he really could go on forever. Half an hour, most nights, until we're hoarse and begging for mercy. Tonight I let him pick out the books, and we read at least 6 or 7 before he finally submitted to being lifted into his (too small) bed and kissed goodnight. We usually enforce the 3-story-then-bed rule, and during the week we're more strict about it. Tonight I let him keep going.

Jake often joins us. He doesn't sleep in Otto's room, or usually go in to check on him. But he likes it when we're sitting quietly together on the floor. He comes in and lies next to us, looking like he's listening. Tonight he got up and wandered toward the door after book 3, as if to say "aren't we done yet?" When I kept reading he stretched out again on the floor and waited patiently.

Jake gets a G on listening skills, too. But of course, he would. He's a librarian's dog, you know.

This nablopomo (napoblomo? namoblopo? monapoblo?) thing has me more worried than I thought. I signed up and thought "Me? Spout nonsense once daily for 31 days? Cake!"

But when Otto got into bed with me this morning at 4am to snuggle, I found myself trying to compose a blog post in my head. At 4am. While mostly asleep. I don't do ANYTHING at 4am, not voluntarily. And only at 4am does it sound like a good idea to wax lyrical about snuggling with your 2-yr old, the one who doesn't give you smooches anymore and spends all evening crying out "Daddo! I want Daddo!"

Ok, so I could write about that. But I was half asleep and don't remember what I was going to say. You have been spared.

I could write about the book I just finished skimming... um, what was that called again? It was recommended for a workshop on Readers Advisory last spring, and I just got around to it. Oh, yeah - Thieves of Heaven. Perfect wife gets terminally ill, reformed thief husband breaks parole and goes off on a Satanic-bad-guy-stomping adventure to raise the money for her treatment. Boring. Juvenile representations of religion. Choppy writing with lots of switching between viewpoints. Not my thing. I tried to get into it, I really did. Round about page 90 or so, I gave up. But I read enough to get the ending, which I won't spoil for you, just in case. Every book its reader and all that.

I might not be so hard on it if I hadn't just finished The Historian, which, while long and sometimes slow, was well written and engrossing. I just wanted to keep turning the pages. I read it this week in honor of Halloween, and I'm glad I did. I'm also glad I don't have a Dracula problem, or I would've been awake again at 4am the other night, watching for smoke under the door or whatever.

Our book for the discussion group this month is Water for Elephants. Jenn told me today that she just started it and it's already making her weepy. I might chicken out on this one and ask someone else to host the discussion, since I really don't go for weepy. Plus, circuses creep me out and make me sad at the same time. All those caged animals and frantically happy clowns, and people on high wires and trapezes threatening to plunge to earth and die at any moment. It's just not relaxing, the circus. Or cheerful. Probably my favorite thing about the circus is the balloons they sell at the door.

One thing that is relaxing, though, is finishing a post during NaBloPoMo and going to bed with a clear blogger's conscious. 'Cause evidently my subconscious is taking this very, very seriously.

nablopomo, day 1

I kept Otto home today. When he's feverish he doesn't sleep well, so I planned ahead and figured we'd stay in today and hang out.

Good thing. He didn't want supper last night but drank loads of watered-down apple juice, and he woke up at 4am hungry and wet. After a change and a snack, we snuggled on the couch to watch some Thomas. Jon found us around 6 or 6:30 and helped me tuck Otto back into bed. He's getting kind of heavy for me to carry up and down the stairs. Now that he's awake and feeling playful, maybe we'll venture outside. It's pretty out this afternoon, and I've been feeling this week that we need to soak up as much sunshine as possible, bank it for winter.

The other night Otto complained at bedtime, "too big!" This has become his go-to phrase to describe anything that's not right. Shirt with long sleeves? "Too big! Want t-shirt!" Blankets too heavy? "Too big!" So the other night when he told me "Too big!" about his bed, I was only half listening. Until I looked at him lying there and said "Otto, are you too big for your bed?" And he said, "yeah."

I think we're about ready for a big boy bed. I'm kind of psyched about shopping for new sheets -- there are cool airplane sheets at The Company Store that I've been eyeing for awhile:

They'd look nice with the airplane blanket Otto's Aunt Meredith made for him.

I could go with plain sheets, too, I suppose. But I like these better.

I'm not sure what to do about the bed. His room's small enough that I think he needs a twin bed, maybe with a trundle for overnight guests in the future. He said he liked this one:

We'll see. Ikea had some fun beds, too.