Gender bender

Kerry's polled you, faithful reader, about Baby Something's gender, and a couple of weeks ago, she and I talked about it again. Since then, my view has completely crystallized: I think of Baby Something as a boy. When I think of changing him, feeding him, him playing with Owen, he's a boy. But whenever Baby Something is kicking in the womb, she's a girl, no question.

I have no idea what this means, but I'm glad to have it settled.

Those Tatooine sunsets

(or sunrises)

It's all the rage in DC these days to replace the brick or stone facade on your building with glass and steel. (I'm just talking about the 60s-era office buildings in Northwest. The tourist itinerary is safe.) They've just finished one at 18th and L, on my route between the Metro and work.

The new fronts on these buildings are sleek and, no doubt, more energy-efficient than their predecessors. However, there is a side-effect to turning a building into a giant mirror: when the sun is shining straight down the street, as it's doing these days on L Street in the early morning and late afternoon, it doubles the amount of light hitting you, right down to the forked shadows stretching from your feet. Turns out that having two suns shining makes a difference. It's hot.

Favorite Children's Store

The Children's Place is my favorite store when it comes to Owen's clothes. The outlet closest to us always has things on sale and sends coupons frequently. And most of the time, there seems to be some kind of extra discount that gets applied (even without a coupon). So I find a $5 tshirt on the rack, no special sign saying %off, and it rings up at the register for $3.50. Last week I got Owen a fleece hoodie for next winter for 99 cents. I guess they were having trouble selling them since it's May. I figure he'll be able to fit into a 4T by the time he needs it and it's definitely worth a guess. They also have kids shoes that aren't terribly expensive, which is also great.

Baby Something

Owen has starting to figure out that something's up with mommy. There's not as much room on my lap when we're reading, and my belly button is very much an 'outie' now. He likes to poke it and call it bebo.

We've told him a few times that there's a baby in my tummy, but I don't think he's going to really get what's going on until I show up at home with a baby, and the baby doesn't leave.

Our nanny has been trying to get Owen to talk to the baby. She tells him to 'Say something to the baby', and then obediently looks at my belly and says 'Baby Something'. Sooooo literal. This has progressed to him calling my belly 'Baby Something'.

Maybe we'll switch from calling baby #2 D2 to BabySomething. Kind of catchy, but a bit longer than D2.

Best Kids Music Radio Station

While visiting friends this weekend, Owen started dancing to the music on the radio. Since he's a pretty cute, if a bit off beat, dancer I asked about the tunes.

Minnesota Public Radio has a great online radio station, Wonderground Radio. It has music that small kids and parents both like, without being tinny or irritating. Owen loves it and so do Travis and I. Most of the songs have a catchy beat and there aren't any songs about subjects you don't want to discuss with your 3 year old.

It's pretty much on constantly now, so we've been treated to lots of dancing.

The Website Travis Most Regrets Showing Me...

StillTasty: Keep it or Toss it?

http://www.stilltasty.com/searchitems/search_page

This is a great website that tells you how long any food will last refrigerated or frozen. There's lots of detail, so pretty much any food you look for is there. They also have a commonly asked questions page, which explains why you shouldn't eat pizza that sat out overnight, when you can refreeze thawed meat.

Now I'm even more vigilant about throwing out the leftovers that are in our fridge, much to Travis-I-once-ate-moldy-bread's dismay.

Worms

Owen's first real fear, aside from the occasional separation anxiety or fear of extreme dark, is worms. He and Travis went to a park clean up after a rain storm and there were lots of earthworms on the ground. O was pretty interested in the worms that day.

But since then, he's been very cautious every time he sees something that might possibly be a worm. Actual earthworms, little bits of leaf, and the wormy-looking pollen things that fall out of the trees in the spring are all suspect. He'll grab my hand tightly, say 'worm' in a worried voice, and point at the offending item. He'll even hide behind my leg. He's both curious and a little scared, and is usually OK once I explain things. At least until we see another worm.

Spiders, bess, and ants? No problem. Just worms.

Results of the First Nap and First Night Sans Crib

Yesterday Owen gradutated to not sleeping in the crib, due to his gymnastics. We debated going and buying a toddler bed or a twin mattress for the floor, but for now, have his crib mattress (softer side up), on the floor with all of his normal bedtime accessories on it.

He tried napping yesterday in his room for an hour or so. Travis went in a few times to tell him to lay down, but the temptation to play was just too great. Here are the photos post first nap attempt:





Last night went a little better. He was pretty tired, having only slept about 30 minutes in the car while out running errands. We had extended reading of nursery rhymes and 'Busy People' and then he went to lay in his bed without a fuss. I went to check on him later and this is what I found:





Well, at least he was sleeping, instead of playing tornado. He made it until 6 am, which is better than yesterday!

Owen does his own stunts

Last night, in the midst of a particularly contentious bedtime, Kerry heard a loud thump. On returning to Owen's bedroom, she found him lying on the floor, having hurled himself out of the crib. The fall apparently knocked the fuss out of the Young Gentleman, as the rest of bedtime went well, and a peaceful night followed.

Peaceful, but short. At 0540, we heard Owen's door open and a paci-muffled voice ask, "Mommy?" (This escape from the crib was thumpless, thanks to the mat of body pillows Kerry had made on the floor next to the crib.)

So Owen's crib days are over. He helped me disassemble the crib enough to get it out of his room and into the nursery next door, and he's now having his first nap on the mattress on the floor. Hopefully, anyway. I'm not hearing a lot of activity from upstairs, but Dr. T is still spinning smooth sounds. Actually, I'm more confident about naptime, as he generally calls for it himself. Bedtime will be more challenging, as it's been hit-and-miss on his wanting to go to sleep. Now that he can actually run around in his room... Kerry removed the most interesting or destroyable items, but I'm still expecting a stretch of long evenings.

I feel a little bad about the timing, as two weeks ago, Dad was here to help us, with his big truck, pick out and bring home a crib for D2. Luckily, as it turns out, none was available, so we only ordered one (versus buying, bringing home and assembling one), but we still spent the majority of a day driving all over Maryland looking, for nought, as it happens. Sorry, Dad. But at least, unlike the dresser from Ikea, we won't have to go back (twice) to replace a missing part.