Surviving the Birthday Weekend

It was a weekend dominated by the calendar telling me where I should be.

Friday:  Cancelled a class, "Fundamentals of Musculoskeletal Imaging" because being in Parsippany by 7:30 am and staying there until 4 pm would put me at odds with being back in Plainsboro in time for Girl Scouts at 3:15 pm.  There was also the question of where during the day would I have time to make samples of the crafts for the Girl Scouts' Crafting for the Community event so the girls could pick which three they wanted to do.  This year is our troop's first as Juniors, meaning they will be teaching the crafts to the Daisies and the Brownies.  So my morning involved hot-gluing popsicle sticks into triangles and then the triangles into Stars of David.  The first degree burns on my third finger are healing nicely.

All the while I am thinking, I did not get to Pennington Quilt Works for the Saturday Sampler on Thursday night as I had planned. A patient's appointment ran later than what was allotted in the schedule, and it was important that I not rush things along.  And there were plenty of Saturday Sampler slots on Friday and Saturday.  No problem.

The Girl Scouts meeting was fun - we're lucky, we have really nice girls who seem to approach all of the things we're doing with enthusiasm.

After Girl Scouts, Thea had to put on her shin guards, socks, shorts and cleats and head to soccer practice.

Saturday's schedule included soccer at 9 am, with both children playing on opposite sides of town.  The photo day for the soccer league was held at Thea's school, with both teams times (fortunately) within fifteen minutes of each other.  So all of us connected at the photo event so I could get Micah and Steve could go to see his mother.   Meanwhile Steve talked with Micah's friend Jeff's father and planned a play date - and it's now Saturday, and I still haven't been to PQW to collect the quilt fabric for my next square.

So after the team photos were done, talking with Jeff's father to finalize the time for the play date, I hauled Thea and Micah with me to PQW for the noon session.  Fortunately they were heavily armed with their electronic devices (Nintendos, iPods and my iPad), so sitting in the car for 20 minutes would not be torture.

And meanwhile, Saturday is Thea's 9th birthday - and the only thing I had really done to prepare is send out emails to the parents of four of her friends inviting them to join us for dinner on Friday and purchase the new versions of Pokemon Black and White.  No party bags, no cake, nothing.

At 2 pm we dropped Micah off at Jeff's and went on a mission to pick out a cake, buy stuff for the party bags and get ready.

Thea chose four boys that she has known since second grade to come along with us for dinner at the Olive Garden: Adam, Tommy, Amol and Jeffrey.  Her preference would have been to have two tables, one for parents and annoying sibling and one for herself and her boy posse.  But the Olive Garden gave us a long table in a semi-private area, which was worth the 45 minute wait.

After dinner we came home and the boys and Thea adjourned to the living room to play games on the Wii.  Tidbits overhead include:  "We can have cake after we kill off Thea," and  "You won't always be able to fight like a boy. . . ."

What I learned from this was, we could've skipped dinner, thrown a few snacks at them and let them play Wii for five hours and they would've been just as happy.  But they did seem to like the party favors - Pokemon cards, yo-yos and a super ball.

Sunday was Mandarin school for Thea and a playdate with Leland for Micah.  I got to sew a little bit, but eventually I had two little boys who wanted to sew.  So, I made a pattern and cut out four pieces that could be sewn into a person-ish shape. I then got out the fabric pens and they drew on faces.  And fangs.  And blood dripping off of the fangs.  Not quite how I envisioned the little project turning out.

Then we had to get Micah dressed up in his Tiger Cubs uniform for his first den meeting.  We made a scrapbooks and learned a few things about being a scout.  I had put a chicken in the oven so dinner was done by the time we got home.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, my Micah Moo.  It's hard to believe that you're six years old.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the next year will bring as you continue to amaze us.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl

The Traditional Birthday Cake, Vanilla with Buttercream Frosting from Mainstreet Bakery

Thea preparing pita pizzas for her birthday dinner.

While having "Happy Birthday to You" sung to her.

Getting ready to blow out the candle.

Having a happy kid moment, prior to diving into her cake.

The intensely colored icing tinted her teeth in a rather disturbing blue.

Reading her birthday card from Oma.

Micah and Steve

Micah with lavender-colored plastic fangs:  Other people's birthdays BITE.

The Boy is 5. . . .

. . . .which isn't all the different from four.  Same quirky sense of humor, same love of Bunny Bear, same desire to be fed rather than feed himself, same middle of the night trek from his bed to ours.

 Last Sunday, in between ice skating and Chinese school, Thea's Brownie troop represented New Zealand at Thinking Day (also known as World Friendship Day.)  I am counting this as one of those rare days that Thea consented to wearing a skirt.  For the short time that we could stay there, she got 29 stamps in her 'passport', had snacks from Australia and Taiwan, made lots of swaps and actually enjoyed herself.

Out Damn Virus

Written January 11, 2011

I've been down with a cold since around Christmas, and I'm just about the limit of my patience for the tiny little gnome I am imagining lives in my sinuses who is ladling gunk down the back of my throat.  I thought I was done with NyQuil and Advil LiquiGels last week, but  tonight I caved in and opened one of those allegedly child-proof blister packets.  Thea's down with a cough, but no other real symptoms so she's just taking PediaCare Cough Syrup or Mucinex, and Micah's beginning to fake a bit of a dry cough because he thinks he's been left out.

If this is the immune system at age 50, it sucks.  I have drowned myself in several gallons of orange juice or Simply Limeade.  I have been taking my vitamins.  I have been washing my hands or using hand sanitizer gel to the point where the backs of my hands verge on reptilian.  All that is left to do is just wallow in misery and self-pity.

I finally unearthed the humidifier this afternoon because the master bedroom is drier than dry (and now we know why, the casing for the humidifier unit on the furnace is EMPTY.  Thank you to the seller who I specifically remember asking what's that thing on the furnace and being told it was the humidifier and that the second thermostat-like thing on the wall was for the humidifier.  A second thank you very sparsely to the home inspector who could have noted it on his inspection even though it was not really part of the structural and safety issues.  If I didn't have reason to hate the sellers for there completely questionable taste in decor and their total inability to notice dust (on the mini-blinds, which could likely have been measured in millimeters and above the door jambs of every room in the house), I really wish a blistering case of herpes on them now.

Micah's 5th birthday is less than two months away, and we've finally got a place to hold the party.  He expressed a desire to have everyone over to our house for a birthday party play date, but that is just not going to happen.  He attends two preschools, each with about a dozen children in the class, plus a few extras including a friend for Thea and it starts to more like an invasion than event.

So Thea and I in the midst of Saturday's snow and with only vague directions set out to check on Pump It Up in Hamilton.  We've been to three birthday parties at BounceU and one at Build-A-Bear  in the past couple of months, which were all great, but since it's the same group of children another venue seemed to be a good idea.  It is typical of those children's party venues, squirreled away at the back of an office/industrial park, but the interior was much more interesting and colorful than the red and purple of BounceU.

The moms who recommended Pump It Up said that the staff was high energy and really focused on getting the guests into the various activities.  The guy who gave us the five minute tour lived up to that, I was beginning to wonder how much Red Bull or Five Hour Energy must one consume to be that peppy, and walk backwards while talking and showing us around.  (Simple answer:  I don't want to know.)

So we've locked in March 5, 1:30 to 3:25 as the date.  Now I've got to pray that fewer than 24 cherubs RSVP that they will be coming.

One more item checked off the to-do list . . .

Sunday

Today Micah's Early Intervention expires. Tomorrow he's three. Nothing got solved on Friday regarding his transportation to Summit, so I'm millimeters away from having palpitations.

Today Steve took Thea and Micah to see their grandmother. He considers this a 'day off' for me.

On this 'day off', I have:

done a load of wash
put away three dryer loads of laundry
cooked three different breakfasts
- and cleaned up afterwards
baked a pound cake (which didn't turn out as good as I had hoped)
dressed two squirming children
made the bed, with two squirming children under foot
stripped, washed and remade Thea's bed
gone grocery shopping
- and put away most of the groceries
put together Micah's extra outfit for school in a ZipLoc labeling all the pieces,
labeled his notebook, labeled his Pull-Ups, labeled his container of wipes
wrapped his birthday gifts

Yeah, that's what I'd call a day off. And there is still dinner to cook, cupcakes to make. I want to find the Birthday Boy t-shirt I bought for Micah ages ago which now seems to have been swallowed by his closet.

And tomorrow the alarm will go off at 5 am. I'll need to figure out two lunches, make two breakfasts, etc., etc., etc. before getting on the road at 7:30 am to make sure Micah makes it to his first day of school on time.

The last week of almost three. . .

Sunday the wee beasties and I drove to Easton, PA to visit the Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum again. The day started grey and rainy, so it was a good day to get out of the house and avoid all the tidying up it so desperately needs. The kids had a great time with the various art projects - the model magic clay was probably the biggest hit this time. I liked the triarama (a triangular diarama).

Micah got his sleeves thoroughly soaked pushing his canal boat through the locks at the Canal Museum. The upper floor was closed off so the display where the flow of water can be manipulated by putting up various walls and dividers wasn't accessible, which was a bit disappointment.

Overall they were really good, with Micah only pitching a fit once when I wouldn't buy him this hideous stuffed cow. He had to be hauled out screaming, "Want cow, I want cow!" I wasn't going to buy it mostly because the evil clerk said she was closing the shop and it was only 4:50 pm (closing time was listed as 5 pm). We went to the Crayola Store to see the world's largest crayon, blue - Thea's favorite color and with a 'birthday' two days before hers, October 11, 2003.

Monday night I called our case manager at the school district with the "I know the transportation office has done this plenty of times, but this is my first and only preschooler who is supposed to be going to school on Monday and I haven't heard anything about how this will happen" routine. Got the polite phone call back, someone will call on Thursday or Friday, but she did leave the name of the person to contact, so she will be getting the same version of Monday night's phone call. I don't mean to be a jerk, but until proven otherwise and worthy of my respect, I am not giving my trust to these wienies on spec.

Two has been relatively easy, but the early stages of three are going to prove life-threatening for one of us. Micah's become much more stubborn, willful and naughtier - he hears better than ever but isn't doing a great job listening.

My Baby is 5

This was my first birthday on a school day; last year her birthday conveniently fell on a Saturday. Thanks to Leap Year, we missed having a second weekend birthday.

Monday mornings are Ela, so after dropping Thea off at school Micah and I made a quick run to McCaffrey's for CakeMate icing. Damn cupcake icing, I forgot to put sprinkles on while they could adhere, so Plan B involved writing HAPPY BIRTHDAY THEA on them. Except that I had nothing to do that with, so time to do a drive by to the closest grocery store.

So while Ela was talking with Micah and playing with the farmer, animals and tractor, I was finding that my ultra-neat printing does not translate well when I am writing with frosting.

The best news of the day is the Ela is going to come with me to the initial meeting with the school district about Micah's transition to pre-school. Ela rocks, she truly does. It will be great having a teacher of the deaf give her perspective as to Micah's needs in a classroom. And this is the only meeting I can invite someone to attend with me, not that the school district told me that. They seem to want me alone and as unprepared as they can get me.

After waving good-bye to Ela, Micah and I loaded up the cupcakes, did a quick diaper change (made quick because I found once of the purple kitty diapers so there was no arguments; we are now fussy as to which Blues Clues character is gracing our privates), and zipped off to school. Steve, Micah and I got there as the kids were eating lunch and after everyone was finished, Thea got serenaded with Happy Birthday, first round in English, second in Chinese. Then we had cupcakes and juice pouches before they went to recess. The party bags waited until the end of the day. All in all, an easy birthday.

Tonight Thea picked roast chicken for her dinner, so she kept me company while I was finishing dinner. Oma called to wish her a happy birthday, and when they were done talking I heard Thea say to her, "Would you like to talk to your DAUGH-ter?" Five is a riot, so far.

Same day, 48 cupcakes later. . . .

Thea and I baked four dozen cupcakes this afternoon, after making the two trips to the bank and going grocery shopping. Half vanilla, half chocolate.

Fortunately, Micah slept through part of it and then Steve took him to the neighborhood Harvest Fest, which just across the street from us. I wasn't interested this year: too much to do, and I found out that our neighborhood association voted not to let the township school buses drive on the association's streets, thus explaining why I see the children waiting out on the road that runs through the development. A road that most people routinely exceed the posted 35 mph speed limit. Insert language not suitable for children if you really want to know what I think of those people. I actually like the sound of the school bus coming through our street, it gave me a sense of what time of day it was without having to look at the clock.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Thea helped me make hamburgers for dinner and also helped cut green beans. We were frosting the cupcakes until 8:30, which was the time for Thea to go upstairs for a quick bath. Other than icing (white or vanilla, what the difference is is mostly in color, Thea says they taste about the same) the cupcakes are not yet decorated. Sprinkles to be applied tomorrow.

The party favors are semi-packed up, the cupcakes need to have the sprinkles put on and I need to find the "5" candle that Oma bought for her. A nice tradition that my mother has been doing since her second birthday. A nice tradition, if I find that candle.

Tomorrow, Micah has his session with Ela from 10 am until noon, then we have to transport all the stuff to Thea's school, where I am sure the teachers will be cursing me in Mandarin for giving 20 children a nice sugar buzz.

11 Days Until The Big 5

Thea's birthday is eleven days away. Her party will be at school during lunch time, I'm taking the easy way out.

Her accomplishments even before hitting the ripe old age of five:

- starting to read in January 2008, pretty much on her own

- mastering simple addition and subtraction (thanks to Wu Laoshi, her after school program teacher in Pre-K)

- blowing up a balloon on her own

- learning how to whistle, though it still needs some practice

- sleepng in her own bed in her own room, finally

- beating me at Tic-Tac-Toe on more than a few occasions

- starting to learn Kung Fu in Kindergarten, she promises only to use her power on bad guys

- reading Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Chinese

- solving for 'a', as in if a + b = 10, and b = 5, then what is 'a', Daddy?

- pretty much making her mother feel like I must've been a complete turnip by comparison at that age

Thea's Birthday

I have only just started thinking about Thea's birthday - I think by this time last year we'd settled on a venue (My Gym) and made a few other critical decisions (Backyardigans theme), so all that left was the cupcakes and the party bags to round out the day. Now we're into two parties: a small one for school on her actual birthday and one for her friends.

When I was interrogating her as to any choices as to theme, she said, "People can just come as whatever they want. . ." So I had the idea, while out running errands yesterday, that we could do a Hallowe'en costume preview party: since all that effort goes into finding the right costume and the kids just where them at school and then that evening for trick-or-treating, why not give them one more chance to dress up.

Now the 'where' of the party-planning becomes an issue: if we do costumes, then a gym setting is out. God help me if some little cherub damages his or her costume two weeks before Hallowe'en. Ditto for the artsy-craftsy places, same reason. Pizza parlor party, third verse same as the first. For the number of people Thea wants, we could do it at the house, but the nice thing about doing it SOMEWHERE ELSE is you pay, and walk away.

Thea's going to be a knight for Hallowe'en, I think I'm going to stuff Micah into a puppy costume if I can find one cheap.

I'm off to cruise web sites of possible party places, and I'm reconsidering the whole costume idea. It seemed brilliant yesterday, but today upon re-examination, it's not as bright and shiny of an idea.

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Both of Thea's best school friends have turned five within the past ten days. Last weekend was Kalani's pizza parlor party (with his actual birthdate a few days prior to the party) and today we went to Lucas's party (actual birthday four days ago.) They will all be in Kindergarten together at YingHua this fall.

It was a great party because there was a huge playground to run around, and it was a semi-unstructured event. Run, play, make up your own adventures interspersed with time for pizza and juice boxes and another break for cake. And I just love Lucas because as he and his mother were putting together party bags, Lucas spoke up and said, "I don't think Thea will like the pink princess stuff." Here's a kid who pays attention to detail - and I've got to appreciate his mother as well because she had extra stuff set aside to swap out of the bag that Thea found on the treasure hunt. So my baby came running up to me happily exclaiming, "Look Mommy, a rake and a car!" This put her in such a good mood she actualy shared her party tooter-thingy with her brother.

So now the heat is on to plan Thea's 5th birthday party - both one for school, and one for her friends. Fortunately her birthday is a Monday, so we can have it in school on a day I'm not working. But it's the theme, the party favors, the cake, the ice cream, the where to have it that is all swirling through my mind. . . .

The camera and the connector is acting wonky again, so I haven't been able to upload to Kodak and put any new pictures on the blog. They're both growing like weeds, so I've got to solve my camera issues to show them off.

After Labor Day: The Return of Ela - Micah's speech instructor (I hate the title teacher of the deaf because he is NOT deaf) who is coming back from maternity leave that started around the beginning of July. We were very, very lucky to have Nancy take over for the past two months, and both Micah and I will miss her, but it will be nice to have Ela coming back to us, especially after Micah's summer speech explosion. She's going to be in for a shock, which will be kind of fun to see.

Today the Boy is TWO

...and he woke up happy, played in his crib for a bit and then starting sending his come-and-get-me signals. Birthday Boy had breakfast with his father while Thea and I made a run for the store (BB was getting the last egg in the 'fridge) and a side trip to Toys-R-Us to return the little adjustable bike (no assembly required) for a tricycle with a push-handle (some assemply required).

"Some assembly required" is right up there with "I'll call you in the morning" in the pantheon of greatest lies ever told. Anything requiring a screwdriver, a wrench and a hammer is a major project, made more major because BB was right there in the thick of it to lend a hand because if there is whacking to be done, he wants to be in on the action. (BB's father was upstairs with Thea because she was having a meltdown and was getting a time-out, so he wasn't available to distract him - not that he would have been distracted.

Since our oven is kaput, Thea and I bought Muppet cupcakes, two Elmos, two Cookie Monsters (or maybe they're Grover; they're blue, whatever) and two Oscar the Grouch. Oscar's cupcakes are chocolate, so one of them is mine, mine, mine.

BB is currently napping so photos of him on the new bike will have to wait. I also need to take him along to the store to fit his little dome with a helmet. We didn't get one for Thea until she was riding independently, but somehow I would feel better if he had one now. Bad thing is that the helmet will probably interfere with wearing his BAHA.

Social (In)Security, Part II

We made it to the two week mark, and no Social Security card arrived for Micah. Quelle suprise.

Today Micah and I had a full schedule: we dropped Thea off at school, ran down to Hamilton to the Delcrest Medical Supplies to get a new battery for my oto-ophthamoscope, went to D-n-D for a life-sustaining cup of coffee and then went back to Thea's school at 10:30 for a presentation to the first- and second-graders on health, then running up Route 1 to Gymboree for Micah's first Baby Signs class (he thoroughly enjoyed being there, but so far the signing is more for me than him), and once done there, on to Kennections to get my grey banished. Once I was back to being a brunette, my choice was pick up Thea at school or run down to Social Security to see if there was a problem with Micah's application. Bureaucracy won.

No problem. I got the number, printed on a paper sheet, so I'm semi-happy.

But I was told to give it until October 12th before checking again if the actual card doesn't arrive, and it will take another trip down there since none of this is done via phone or email. And if it's going to take a month, then tell me at the start - the letter given on the day we first applied said two weeks. Thea's card, although needing fixing, arrived in six days or so. Is it any wonder why I have to take medication for my blood pressure?

By October 12th, if the Social Security card hasn't arrived, I am going to be way too busy with preparations for Thea's 4th birthday celebration: cupcakes to be baked and decorated, party bags to be made up, presents to be wrapped. And that day her school is going on a field trip to Von Thun Farm, so even though she's usually home with me that day, we're going on the excursion.

Audiogram & 3rd Anniversary of Thea's Adoption

I'm adding another post keep those of you who have no cable TV, hobbies or social life, or those who have an extremely low threshold for entertainment, updated. Micah had his audiogram at JFK Rehabilitation Institute in Edison (what a miserable drive, everything I hate about roads in NJ and then some).

The test itself turned out pretty well, after being kept in a sound proof room that was about as warm as Hell's antechamber. He got so warm, I had him stripped down to a t-shirt and diaper by the time the appointment was over. As expected the decibel range covered by air conduction was nil (no ear canals, duh), but once they bypassed the structural abnormality, the bone conduction ranges were fine - so a bone-conduction hearing-aid for starters. I'm inclined to do the least invasive for now, the hearing aid, pending hearing from whatever surgeon is going to deal with the surgery later on - sometimes doing the pins for a BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) or cochlear implant will preclude future work on the reconstruction of the auricle. I don't much care for the cosmetic part, but Micah may care about this some day so I don't want to make any decisions that will override what he may want to do in the future.

The downside is we go back again in a week for a repeat audiogram, to make sure their assessment was correct and to see if they can distinguish between the left and right ear in terms of ability. I liked both of the audiologists who worked with him, one of whom has a doctorate. She was very much on the same page as me as far as getting Micah communication skills as opposed to solely focusing on his acquiring speech. The one school that Somerset County's EIP works with is more focused on oral/speech and once upon a time had a director who was opposed to sign language. This kid needs sign language as a temporary measure to express his basic needs: thirst, hunger, tiredness, etc. so anyone who is going to look down their noses at me will eventually be also butting heads. The second audiogram may also be able to put off further testing that would require Micah to go under anesthesia, so there is a plus to it.

Thea is doing ok at YingHua Day School, a Mandarin Chinese-immersion program. She taught one of my mom's neighbors "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" in Chinese a few days ago, but then was mortified when I told her teacher about it. She sort of keeps her Chinese school stuff separate from us, which is so adolescent it's almost scary. Today is the third anniversary of her adoption, so we're celebrating Family Day with dinner and a dessert of her choice (blueberries and strawberries (with whip cream, we're not saints)).

Labor Day weekend I took my little mutants down to visit my mother over Labor Day, proving I could travel solo with two of them. I highly recommend The Who's CD, Who's Next for drowning out any whining or asking are we there yet, Mommy? Mom got Micah to eat yellow squash, pineapple and a few other things that he was spitting out at home. Mom bought Micah a little pinafore/bib thing at the farmers' market. I put it on him and it looks more like a sundress than a bib/coverall, but if one is going to cross-dress, let it be John Deere fabric and Mennonite-made. Fortunately he wasn't into accessorizing with his sister's shoes (loves the sandals with the pink flowers) or one of the purses that she has no use for.

I'm now trying to get invitations out for Thea's birthday party. She turns four on Saturday, October 13th, and this year we're finally doing a children's party instead of just the family parties of the previous two years. She actually walked into My Gym and said, "This is a cool place for a birthday party." Coming from the child who hates to be the center of attention in a lot of ways, I had my checkbook out in about two seconds flat. I've been scouring the dollar section of Target since Spring so I already have most of the stuff for the party favors, if I can find all the places I've squirreled it away.