Checking In

As we draw closer to Penny's third birthday we thought we check in with how we're doing on our New Year's resolutions this year. We promise a separate post on how we're doing on the whole three-year-old thing, but that's a totally different post!

So, how are we doing? The resolution is in bold and our progress listed next to it:

10. Write more blog entries. Um. FAIL on this one. We'll do better. Really. We promise.

9. If at all possible, and especially if traveling with children, avoid flying the “big six” legacy air carriers. Check. We flew JetBlue for our recent outing to San Francisco. Extra leg room. Good customer service. Free drinks and snacks. Ahhhh.....

8. Stop and play. We're actually doing pretty well with this one. It's fun, now that Penny is developing a good imagination. Her favorite game: going to the Milk Store. We're apparently grooming a discriminating consumer.

7. Start getting more serious about the potty training thing. Done. Haven't changed a diaper in months! WooHoo!

6. Put away the baby toys and get a play kitchen. Also done. Besides playing milk store, Penny likes to make us dinner and snacks. If only her real diet was as varied as her plastic toy diet...(see below!)

5. Think about transitioning to the toddler bed. Not only is she in her toddler bed, she's growing so fast we're starting to think of moving her to a real, full-on big girl bed. Special shout-out here to Freecycle. We got her toddler bed for free from a listserv that gives people the opportunity to give away stuff they don't need to neighbors who do.

4. Lose weight. Done and done. Both mom and dad are in fightin' trim. Except for that occasional trip to the pancake house, that is.

3. Mini Cooper to minivan? The old mini van is alive and kickin' , dwarfing the Cooper in the driveway. The van is extremely useful for hauling large numbers of people and, of course, mulch. Apologies to the passengers for making them arrive at the destination smelling like mulch. You know who you are.

2. Penny ate part of a turkey sandwich the other day. Maybe time to start trying other foods again, like, for instance, fruits and vegetables? Um...do plastic fruits and veggies count? (see above)

1. File away 2.5 years of new parent experience for potential future use… Filed. Along with those baby toys now inhabiting the attic.

More Drive Thrus, Please

Hey there parents! We want to hear from you. Why do you really go to McDonalds?
Is it because of the low prices?
Maybe.
The free toys?
No! I don’t want another cheap piece of plastic under foot.
The high-quality cuisine?
Yeah, right.

We go because they have a drive thru. Let’s be honest; how often have you not stopped at a store, skipped an errand, or waited to go to the bathroom because it would have required stopping the car, unbuckling the child—or worse—schlepping the infant seat in and out of your vehicle?

So, as parents, we have a simple plea: more drive thrus please!

As a child in California, I remember stopping at the Alta Dena dairy on the way home from ballet practice. My mother drove up to the little kiosk, paid for a half-gallon of milk, and kept on driving. Now, you could argue that Los Angeles has a car-oriented culture, but why has this not caught on?

Imagine…you’re running a little bit late; it’s your spouse’s birthday. You’re not celebrating until the weekend, but you should still have a card to present at dinner. You zip through the CVS drive thru: “Yes, I’d like a card for my spouse. Mmm hmmm. We’ve been married for a while. Something with a bit of humor and perhaps a slightly naughty innuendo. Great. Perfect.”

Or even better, what if Target had a drive thru?
“I need some size four Pull Ups, Goldfish crackers, Dawn detergent, a 5”x8” brown picture frame, and are there any DVDs you’d recommend?” Imagine the jobs this would create! Multiple Target employees helping customers complete pesky errands…without having to leave the car.

Change

We heard a lot about change last year, and as you know, we typically reserve this blog for stories and images of our first born. However, a funny thing happened earlier this week. We were getting ready for work/daycare, and Penny walked over to the Time magazine sitting on our coffee table and said, "Look Daddy. 'Rack Obama."

Penny spent last Tuesday, Inauguration Day, with Grandma and Grandpa while Mom and Dad made their way down to the National Mall to join the 1.8 million spectators. It turns out that Grandma frequently explained to Penny (as you do with toddlers) that Mommy and Daddy went to see the president. She started looking for us on TV.

So here are a few photos from our experience at the 56th Inauguration of the first African-American president, 'Rack Obama.

Oh, and by the way, Penny wore big girl underwear to daycare today. Change is coming!

Photos in order:

1. Getting there by bus, train, then foot. (We had to walk home, over the Roosevelt Bridge.)

2. Watching the oath on the big TV.

3. Immediately after the oath.

4. Checking out the crowd: Lincoln Memorial.

5. Checking out the crowd: Washington Memorial.

6. Checking out the crowd: Capitol Building.

Resolutions

With it being the New Year and all, we decided to offer up ten parental resolutions. Some are a bit flippant, others serious. But we feel this is the crux of our message and our greeting to you for the New Year: keep things manageable—who could really keep TEN resolutions—and try not to take anything too seriously.

10. Write more blog entries. Sorry, this one is obvious, but important to list nonetheless.

9. If at all possible, and especially if traveling with children, avoid flying the “big six” legacy air carriers. For our recent trip to Los Angeles to visit the family for Christmas and New Year, we flew U.S. Airways out (boo!) and Alaska Airlines home (yeah!) Not only did Alaska not charge for the first checked bag (unlike that other carrier), they insisted that children board the airplane first, gave free drinks, and offered mini-DVD players on board for a reasonable rental fee. They recycle cans and cups and use napkins made with 95% recycled content. (We’re actually writing this on the plane. Penny fell asleep during take-off.)

8. Stop and play. If we believe everything that family members tell us, Penny will be a teenager in about a blink of an eye. When she wants to play, put down what you were doing and go ahead. When she wants to be held, try to as much as possible.

7. Start getting more serious about the potty training thing. Except for the obvious issues of smell, cost, and space in landfills, diapers have serious advantages. But it’s time. We’re buying an equal number of pull-ups when we get home.

6. Put away the baby toys and get a play kitchen. This one probably really belongs on a to-do list.

5. Think about transitioning to the toddler bed. The only potential drawback is Penny moves around A LOT in her sleep. At Thanksgiving she rolled off an inflatable bed a number of times; yep, found her face down on the floor but still asleep. Apparently she gets this from her father.

4. Lose weight. We don’t want anyone saying, “There goes Penny with those fat parents.” (Does anyone get the movie reference? Hint, the line is delivered by Alec Baldwin.)

3. Mini Cooper to minivan? When Grandmom and Grandpa purchased a new minivan last year, they bestowed their old minivan on us. We’re not used to driving it or having two cars in the driveway; but it’s free, has a tad more cargo space than the Mini, and we are grateful.

2. Penny ate part of a turkey sandwich the other day. Maybe time to start trying other foods again, like, for instance, fruits and vegetables?

1. File away 2.5 years of new parent experience for potential future use…

O Potty! My Potty!

A few weeks ago Penny graduated to the “Trainers” class at school. This has been a big change in our lives. No longer does she co-exist with the babies in the nursery building and her fellow toddlers, but she is in the “big kid” building with children as old as five!

The other obvious and more significant change is that she has begun potty training at school. We have a potty already, and we have been reading a few books, watching a few videos. (The first video we viewed warrants a blog entry all its own.) But, these new parents wonder, maybe our little toddler might be more interested in potty training if the literature were more compelling…more riveting…like this?

O Potty! my Potty! our fearful sit is done;
The parents encouraged every trip, the prize we sought is won;
The stars and stickers I covet, the parents all exulting,
While follow eyes the daily trips, the vessel grim and daunting:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the tinkling drops of yellow,
Where on the floor my potty lies,
Waiting cold and shallow.


O Potty! my Potty! it sits beneath the paper;
Rise up—grab four little squares—and take no more later;
For you treats and toys a plenty—for you the bathroom crowding;
For you they call, the parents plead, their eager faces turning;
Here Potty! dear potty!
This bum atop your head;
It is some dream that on this spot,
I sometimes fear to tread.


My Potty does not answer, its lid plastic and still;
My potty does not feel my bum, it has no pulse nor will;
The bathroom feels safe and sound, its door closed and done;
From fearful trip, to now I sit, waiting for an object won;
Exult, O mom, and ring, O dad!
But I, with lesser dread,
Walk the to the place my potty lies,
Waiting for me instead.

(With sincere apologies to Walt Whitman).

Tricks of the Trade

A few weeks ago, we were chatting with a friend who has recently become a new parent, again. He was sharing with us the things he was doing differently this time, such as, using room-temperature water for mixing bottles, so they do not have to be warmed during middle-of-the-night feedings.

This got us thinking, should we decide to commit to number two, what would we do differently as new parents?

• Assuming this child has fewer ear infections, work on the sleep training a bit earlier. (Okay, doable.)
• Transition from nursing to bottle and bottle to cup more gradually. (Definitely noted.)
• Take the child’s eating habits less personally. (Should do this now.)
  
• Start a blog for this child, as well. (Yeah right!)

But most importantly, read every word of every book before purchasing and giving to child!

Because, inevitably, the child will not choose as her favorite bedtime book the one with simple lyrical beauty like Goodnight Moon—“goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere”—or a delightful plot such as Bread and Jam for Frances. No…she will choose a touristy abomination that poses for a piece of prose, such as Goodnight Washington, DC.

“Good morning babies at the national zoo, are you ready for a wonderful day…? Good afternoon lawmakers, making rules for the country. Good afternoon Justices, deciding what is fair….Let’s have a picnic on the National Mall! Isn’t the Washington monument tall?”

So next time, we’ll remember some of these lessons’ learned. In fact, someday soon, Goodnight Washington, DC, may have to go away…to a nice farm…where it will get to play with lots of other pieces of bad literature.

A Two-Year-Old Clothes Horse

We’re finding that Penny has found a way to magically expand the size of her wardrobe. For instance, this morning we put on her green pants. She found she didn’t like them, so instead decided to wear her Whiny Pants.

It turns out that she has many different pairs of pants at her disposal. Our favorites so far: Grouchy Pants; Ambigu Pants; Cry-baby Pants; Poopy Pants; and the very elusive yet rewarding Happy Pants.

The lesson for the new parent may be that while we may feel like we're in charge, the kid is the one who is really wearing the pants.

Photos: (1) Penny at the pool. (2) Penny, Cousin Mike and Grandpa enjoy some ice cream. (3)Penny enjoying a swing at the park.