I have finally figured out how to keep my kids under control, which is to keep them busy. Danny and I decided to put Dominic in preschool gymnastics to help with that. Besides occupying two hours of his week, we hope he'll burn some energy there and maybe even get some climbing out of his system. So that hopefully, I wont find him on the roof of my car again.
I knew I was taking a risk by waking up this morning without a plan. The consequences of my decision were realized within an hour of Dominic's waking up- one of Amy's books was torn to shreds on the dining room floor. I have no idea how he got his hands on it, and I am painfully aware that out-of-print books based on characters from short-lived 80s cartoons are nearly impossible to replace. Dominic, not so aware, was smiling at me as if he'd done me a favor. I developed a plan post-haste, to go to the library. The Kendall branch library, where I used to live, isn't as pre-school friendly as I hoped, and we had to make due with a "room" partially closed in by shelves full of picture books. Dominic and Noemie worked on puzzles and read books about abandoned toys, sea captains, and vegetable colors, while I tried to dodge a hyper 5 year old with a thick, gurgly cough. The foam chairs that we were sitting on started to feel distinctly grimy. The air felt thick with killer spores and my throat started to swell. Germophobia overtook me. I fought it as long as I could, as gurgly-cough-boy ran circles around me, tackled chairs and rolled on the carpet. When he walked up to Noemie and gave her a big hug, we called it a day and headed for home.
Two days ago, a little boy gave Noemie a kiss. Either the kids here are much friendlier than in Tallahassee, or Noemie is quite the charmer. I hope its the former. As it is, she has much better dancing skills than I do and she loves to dress up. She's always asking us to put her shoes on. And she loves to dig her fingernails into makeup kits and lipsticks. On the other hand, 70% of my wardrobe hasn't changed in 10 years. Most of the clothes I wear today, I wore in highschool. On her last visit, Melissa sharply reproached me for wearing cut-offs. I haven't watched TV in ages... is that not "in" anymore? During a game of charades last night, someone had to perform Manolo Blah-something. Some shoe designer. I've never heard of him. In Tallahasse, this was not a problem. In Miami, this is a problem. Not having your eyebrows maintained...big problem. Legs must be freshly shaven and moisturized at all times. Chipped nail polish is a no-no, even on your toes. These kinds of things I already know, even if I fail to keep up on most days that I walk out the front door. But what I'm completely clueless about is clothes. Emily Villa de Rey is coming in a few days. Her giftedness is in "personal shopping." I am taking her to Dolphin Mall and when I come back, you may not recognize me. Yay! (That's not really true. I only have like $30, but I'm going to stretch those $30 as far as I can!)
Also, super sad about MJ. I'm so glad it didn't happen on my birthday. Dominic can now recognize and say "Michael Jackson", and sings the chorus to ABC. Our tribute.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Day in the Life
Danny began work on Monday with a week of orientation. The first three days of orientation took place with the agency he will be working for, and today he had orientation at the police academy. During his agency orientation he had the opportunity to go on some "ride-alongs," where he goes on patrol with an officer and shadows him or her while he or she is on duty. Danny went on ride alongs in Tallahassee where he answered calls for the following: fighting roommates; a child who was beat up by neighborhood bullies; a gang hanging out in front of a gas station and detering customers; a drunk college student who shoplifted a flip flop (this resulted in an amusing but pathetic foot chase). At the new agency, the calls were the following: an old lady fell down the stairs; an old lady had a stroke; an old lady was angry that an iguana pooped on her car. Clearly, I like Danny's newer job better. But not as much as I liked having him home.
Today began well. (Much better than yesterday, anyway. Yesterday was TERRIBLE). Abuela was in a good mood, Dominic was in a good mood. I slept enough to be in a good mood myself. We played in the house and read books. Dominic was climbing and flipping and swinging all over abuela's walker so she suggested I take him to the park. The 10:30 sun was blindingly bright, but not being in Tallahassee, the heat was still manageable. We took Dominic's tricycle and I, with Noemie on my hip, started around the block. Shortly after the halfway point, Dominic decided he was too tired to continue. I would advance to the nearest shady spot of sidewalk and wait for him to decide he had enough energy to push forward. It took us quite a while to make it home and we were all tired (and sweaty) by the time we arrived. Noemie went down for her nap soon after while Dominic ate a snack. I put him to bed at noon, answered email, and received my childhood friend Katie, who came by to visit.
I went to check on Dominic after Katie left and found the door to his room locked. I didn't worry about it, assuming he knew how to unlock it, but a few minutes later I heard him tinkering with the knob. I walked over to the door and tried to explain to him how to unlock it but he didn't understand. He'd stick his fingers under the door, and call me. It was very cute. Like the scene in Dumbo where everyone cries... I sat in front of the door with a paper clip forever trying to disengage the lock. I was a little bit concerned that I would have to wait till Danny came home in 4 hours... As I was getting ready to look up the police non-emergency number, Dominic popped the lock and came out to "go pee pee" at the same time as Noemie woke up. I set him free to go about his business and went to take Noemie out of the crib. She said she wanted to go pee pee too so I took her diaper off and went to the bathroom where Dominic was looking at his reflection and not so much peeing. And smelling mysteriously of apricot. So I carried him off the toilet and put Noemie on it at which point naked Dominic made a break for the front door. I threw the pee pee diapers in the sink, hoping I'd remember to get back to them later. Leaving Noemie on the potty I ran out to grab Dominic and upon doing so noticed that he was sticky. Really sticky. Sticky from his hair, down his arms, down his legs. Going back into my room I found my very favorite lipgloss- the one I tried to buy an extra tube of a month ago at CVS and couldn't find another just like it- completely empty. The contents of my purse and my wallet were emptied on the bed and gloss was everywhere from the credit cards to the camera to the comforter. As I'm taking this in I hear what I've come now to recognize as the sound of Noemie playing with the wine bottles in the wine rack and off I go again. I grabbed Dominic and gave him a quick shower, and almost literally threw him back into the bed as I cleared the comforter and the gooey things and dressed Noemie. I started the laundry, located missing phones, surveyed the fridge and started preparing lunch while Noemie tried on different tupperware bowl helmets and practiced her Miss America wave. As I turned to put lunch in the microwave I caught Dominic out of the corner of my eye tiptoe-ing across the dining room doorway. I put Dominic back in bed and gave him a stern talking-to before running back out to rescue Amy's CD rack from disembowelment by Noemie who is always excited by such things.
With Noemie locked into her highchair and lasagna in hand, I set about quickly to get her water and my own lunch to keep the messes to a minimum. But the fridge's water spigot decided to shoot in multiple directions, squirting water down the side of the fridge and onto the floor. And I couldn't find my keys as I was running around frantically looking for the diaper bag that had the extra bib. By the time I got to my own lunch it was cold and I was exhausted. I looked up from my food in my first moment of rest to see Dominic peeking out from behind the bedroom door. For almost 10 minutes, the entirety of my lunch, I stared at him silently, and he stared back. As I finished my food, he began meandering slowly towards the table with a book in his mouth and a guilty smile. He quietly climbed into his highchair and strapped himself in. Dominic was supposed to be waking up from his nap by this time and his lunch was due so I gave in and prepared his food. It was at this moment that I heard car doors open and close. I made a mad dash for the back of the house to take care of those diapers in the sink, the gobby messes of wallet-stuff and the remains of shattered plant matter from Amy's dried bouquet that Dominic launched at Noemie that morning. Meanwhile, my mom's sister, Mimi, entered the house with abuela, whom she had taken to the doctor and to run errands. I walked into the kitchen with a tiny sense of triumph that I had given the appearance of a mom in control- that all was in order. A sense that dissapated in a breath as I witnessed the tower of tuppoerware containers stacked neatly by Mimi as she passed through the kitchen. I had forgotten.
I realized that, because it was Mimi and not any other member of my family, that I was going to be spared a lecture, but the defeat warranted a bowl of consolatory ice cream nevertheless. I know what you're thinking... I already had a dove icrecream bar as a breakfast-dessert and three oreos for my lunch's appetizer. It's true. And that's why my love handles are, every day, resembling more and more an innertube. I hope to be "home" soon.
Today began well. (Much better than yesterday, anyway. Yesterday was TERRIBLE). Abuela was in a good mood, Dominic was in a good mood. I slept enough to be in a good mood myself. We played in the house and read books. Dominic was climbing and flipping and swinging all over abuela's walker so she suggested I take him to the park. The 10:30 sun was blindingly bright, but not being in Tallahassee, the heat was still manageable. We took Dominic's tricycle and I, with Noemie on my hip, started around the block. Shortly after the halfway point, Dominic decided he was too tired to continue. I would advance to the nearest shady spot of sidewalk and wait for him to decide he had enough energy to push forward. It took us quite a while to make it home and we were all tired (and sweaty) by the time we arrived. Noemie went down for her nap soon after while Dominic ate a snack. I put him to bed at noon, answered email, and received my childhood friend Katie, who came by to visit.
I went to check on Dominic after Katie left and found the door to his room locked. I didn't worry about it, assuming he knew how to unlock it, but a few minutes later I heard him tinkering with the knob. I walked over to the door and tried to explain to him how to unlock it but he didn't understand. He'd stick his fingers under the door, and call me. It was very cute. Like the scene in Dumbo where everyone cries... I sat in front of the door with a paper clip forever trying to disengage the lock. I was a little bit concerned that I would have to wait till Danny came home in 4 hours... As I was getting ready to look up the police non-emergency number, Dominic popped the lock and came out to "go pee pee" at the same time as Noemie woke up. I set him free to go about his business and went to take Noemie out of the crib. She said she wanted to go pee pee too so I took her diaper off and went to the bathroom where Dominic was looking at his reflection and not so much peeing. And smelling mysteriously of apricot. So I carried him off the toilet and put Noemie on it at which point naked Dominic made a break for the front door. I threw the pee pee diapers in the sink, hoping I'd remember to get back to them later. Leaving Noemie on the potty I ran out to grab Dominic and upon doing so noticed that he was sticky. Really sticky. Sticky from his hair, down his arms, down his legs. Going back into my room I found my very favorite lipgloss- the one I tried to buy an extra tube of a month ago at CVS and couldn't find another just like it- completely empty. The contents of my purse and my wallet were emptied on the bed and gloss was everywhere from the credit cards to the camera to the comforter. As I'm taking this in I hear what I've come now to recognize as the sound of Noemie playing with the wine bottles in the wine rack and off I go again. I grabbed Dominic and gave him a quick shower, and almost literally threw him back into the bed as I cleared the comforter and the gooey things and dressed Noemie. I started the laundry, located missing phones, surveyed the fridge and started preparing lunch while Noemie tried on different tupperware bowl helmets and practiced her Miss America wave. As I turned to put lunch in the microwave I caught Dominic out of the corner of my eye tiptoe-ing across the dining room doorway. I put Dominic back in bed and gave him a stern talking-to before running back out to rescue Amy's CD rack from disembowelment by Noemie who is always excited by such things.
With Noemie locked into her highchair and lasagna in hand, I set about quickly to get her water and my own lunch to keep the messes to a minimum. But the fridge's water spigot decided to shoot in multiple directions, squirting water down the side of the fridge and onto the floor. And I couldn't find my keys as I was running around frantically looking for the diaper bag that had the extra bib. By the time I got to my own lunch it was cold and I was exhausted. I looked up from my food in my first moment of rest to see Dominic peeking out from behind the bedroom door. For almost 10 minutes, the entirety of my lunch, I stared at him silently, and he stared back. As I finished my food, he began meandering slowly towards the table with a book in his mouth and a guilty smile. He quietly climbed into his highchair and strapped himself in. Dominic was supposed to be waking up from his nap by this time and his lunch was due so I gave in and prepared his food. It was at this moment that I heard car doors open and close. I made a mad dash for the back of the house to take care of those diapers in the sink, the gobby messes of wallet-stuff and the remains of shattered plant matter from Amy's dried bouquet that Dominic launched at Noemie that morning. Meanwhile, my mom's sister, Mimi, entered the house with abuela, whom she had taken to the doctor and to run errands. I walked into the kitchen with a tiny sense of triumph that I had given the appearance of a mom in control- that all was in order. A sense that dissapated in a breath as I witnessed the tower of tuppoerware containers stacked neatly by Mimi as she passed through the kitchen. I had forgotten.
I realized that, because it was Mimi and not any other member of my family, that I was going to be spared a lecture, but the defeat warranted a bowl of consolatory ice cream nevertheless. I know what you're thinking... I already had a dove icrecream bar as a breakfast-dessert and three oreos for my lunch's appetizer. It's true. And that's why my love handles are, every day, resembling more and more an innertube. I hope to be "home" soon.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Movin on... up?
We finally heard from Hallandale about two weeks ago and they gave Danny a start date of June 8th. In these past two weeks we planned goodbye parties- a game night, a musical night, dinners with friends, a picnic at Tom Brown. Krissie made us a going-away cheesecake at Bible Study. I finalized the Garcia family reunion plans for 2010 and mailed out the invitations. We also began packing, cleaning and purging in earnest. (Don't ask me for those inline skates- they're gone!) It never ceases to amaze me how many boxes it takes. There were minor set-backs, like Dominic's permanent-marker escapade, and unexpected victories, like Noemie peeing in the potty. (She went three times in one day and we had never even tried teaching her! Random!) We made arrangements with a friend to house-sit and hightailed it for south Florida on Thursday afternoon, stopping only at a drive-thru for dinner and eating in the car on the go. We arrived at Jensen Beach 6 hours later where we found that my parents beach house was a plumbing disaster. We let Dominic play in the pool for half an hour or so before we climbed back into the car and continued south. At about Davie, we hit so much traffic that we didn't arrive in Miami for almost another two hours (a drive that would otherwise have taken 40 min). Exhausted and sore, with Danny's clutch sticking and his car's brakelight switch busted from the intense stop-and-go necessary to keep from getting butted in traffic lines, we pulled into my parents driveway at 11 pm. On Friday, we dropped the kids off with Danny's parents and headed back to Davie to begin the apartment search. My head was spinning by the time we were done.
The local news is filled with stories of a recent string of robberies, and a murder where the victim's body parts are showing up in different spots every day from Miami to Pompano Beach. What a far cry from Tallahassee, where it seems the biggest fear is that some patch of forest near your house will get mowed over to make room for development. Dominic is in crazy-mode most of the time, and Noemie is her usually cheerful self. A little whiny these days but content. Abuela's in crazy mode too. Just this morning she was ranting about how the woman who comes to bathe her is demon-possessed. The lady seems nice to me, but maybe abuela knows something I don't.
It may be a while before I can post pictures; I have no idea where the camera cables are. A lot of things are missing at the moment. For now, my mind doesn't appear to be one of them. Let's see how long that lasts!
The local news is filled with stories of a recent string of robberies, and a murder where the victim's body parts are showing up in different spots every day from Miami to Pompano Beach. What a far cry from Tallahassee, where it seems the biggest fear is that some patch of forest near your house will get mowed over to make room for development. Dominic is in crazy-mode most of the time, and Noemie is her usually cheerful self. A little whiny these days but content. Abuela's in crazy mode too. Just this morning she was ranting about how the woman who comes to bathe her is demon-possessed. The lady seems nice to me, but maybe abuela knows something I don't.
It may be a while before I can post pictures; I have no idea where the camera cables are. A lot of things are missing at the moment. For now, my mind doesn't appear to be one of them. Let's see how long that lasts!
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