Cabin fever

It's been HOT this August, so we spend a lot of time inside. Here's how we've been passing the time.

Dress up. A lot of dress up.

And then there is this. T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Henry seems to be getting into a lot of trouble. He will be happily playing and then suddenly take off like a bolt of lightening. Before I can get up and find him, he is into something. Lipstick, markers, and baby powder. It's like he just suddenly remembers "OH, I need to go make a mess now."

We still have over two weeks until preschool starts. I better get more creative before they figure out how to catch the house on fire.

update on that thumb

Ok, so after that LONG post I wrote last night, I went and checked on Aubrey. Her thumb was on my mind, and wouldn't you know it, it was in her mouth!!!!! I pulled it out and she kept on sleeping. This morning I told her I found her with her thumb. I thought she wouldn't remember doing it. But oh no, she said "sometimes I have my thumb and hide. Sometimes I want to keep secrets. Sometimes I have something in my tooth." SIGH.

1,2,3,4 Aubrey declares a thumb war...

and WINS!!!! Just as soon as Aubrey could get her thumb to her mouth (at about 3 months old) she ditched the paci and became a thumb sucker. It has been a HUGE part of her life. When she gets nervous, when she's tired, when she's bored... the thumb comes to the rescue. At her first dentist appointment when she was 3, the Dr. told her she needed to stop by the time she turns 5. Whew, she thought, I've got some time (and I thought the same thing too). Next thing you know, she's 4 and back for another check-up in Feb. Again, he tells her she needs to stop before she's 5. He gave me some advice on how to make it happen. He said of all the methods he's seen over the years (and he's been in practice a while since he was my childhood dentist), the reward system has worked best. Great, I thought. Here we go again. The reward chart for potty training lasted about 2 days before she lost interest, and it was months before she was really potty trained. So, I decided not to get worked up about it and not worry about it for a little longer. On the car ride home that day, she said she wanted to earn some tokens like the Dr. had mentioned and work towards getting ice cream. Ok, I thought. I'll go with it, but I knew we had a long road ahead.

I made her a thumb chart and we worked on short goals to earn check marks (she is NOT a fan of stickers). If she could ride to school without sucking her thumb, she earned a mark. If she watched a show without doing it, she earned another. Once she earned ten, she got to go to Amy's Ice Cream. The dentist told me to let her pick the ultimate prize for when she stops sucking her thumb altogether. Her choice... a rolling suitcase. Whew, at least it wasn't Disney World.

Well, about 3 days later she had earned 10 and got her ice cream. But, as I suspected, it slowed quite a bit after the first reward. To make a long story short, it took her about 6 months to earn 4 ice cream cones. Mom got lazy about reminding her, and she would choose not to earn one in order to suck her thumb. Well, about 2 weeks ago, we were randomly talking about it in the car. I can't even recall the exact conversation because I didn't really think much of it. Anyway, I think she asked when she could get her suitcase (at one point in the last few months she said "oh well, it's too hard, but Santa will bring it to me.") HA! I told her when she stopped sucking her thumb, we would go get it.

So, right there in the car, she said "OK, I'm done. Let's go get my suitcase now." I explained that we had to see how she did, and if she could make it a week, we'd go get it. Sure enough, she did it! I will admit, she had been doing it less and less during the day, but at night, it was vital to her sleep and I knew that would be the biggest hurdle. Once she did it that first night, I think she was surprised and very proud. Once she knew she could do it, it wasn't nearly as daunting.

So, she and I went to the store to buy her suitcase. She was beaming and just thrilled to finally get her prize (it still cracks me up that she chose a suitcase... hopefully that doesn't mean she's looking to runaway???) She has wanted to take it everywhere with us and tell anyone who will listen, "I stopped sucking my thumb all the time." Well, the night after we got the suitcase, she was having a hard time falling asleep (a trend that has been getting worse since the thumb went away). I kept checking on her, and when I finally found her sleeping, she had the thumb in her mouth. ARRGHHHHH. I yanked that thing out, which was not easy, and hoped that would be the end of it. I have no idea if she put it in before or after she fell asleep, but I assumed she had done it because she knew she already had her prize. Nice. What faith I have, right? I need to lighten up. We talked about it the next day and I told her that I know it's hard, but if she did it again, the suitcase would go away until she stopped again. Since then I have only caught her one more time, and I know she was doing it in her sleep, so I didn't even mention it.

I think it's safe to say we are thumb free now. I am still in denial. I just can't believe how "easy" it was. Just when I think I have her figured about, she surprises me. I think I have finally learned that she will do things on her time, and I cannot force the issue. The things I have been most relaxed about with her (funnily enough because I thought they would be so hard) have gone so well. Like her wearing glasses and when she switched to a big girl bed. So, it looks like I'm the one who has the most to learn. Hmmm. That said, we are certainly feeling the effects of this HUGE change. Her behavior has been pretty bad lately and her sleeping has suffered, but I know that will get better with time.

Bye bye Mr. thumb. She loved you very much and we thank you for soothing her these last 4 and a half years. We are so proud of you Aubrey!!!!

Minutes old, she finds it briefly

look out world, here she comes!

Santa Fe. Summer 2010

We spent the first two weeks of July at GiGi and Grandad's house in Santa Fe. It was a great escape from the heat and the daily grind. We all drove out together, then Brian flew home, worked for the week, and then came back to help us drive home. I was thankful not to have to make that trip alone this year. Not much has changed. The kids still don't sleep much in the car. In fact, Henry didn't sleep a single second on the way out.

He was screaming just prior to this photo. As soon as I pointed my phone at him to take the photo, he smiled. Little stinker.

But after a while, he was done with that game and just kept on screaming.

12.5 hours later.... ahhhhhhhh.

After the long drive, we needed to relax. So, we raided my dad's wine cellar (my parents didn't arrive home from their own road trip until the next day) and helped ourselves to some nice red wine, fixed up some bread and cheese, and sat outside and let the kids RUN for a over an hour. They went crazy over the newest toy at the Casa Rio, the "Arctic Cat." They both went to bed before 7pm and slept hard. (Brian was also down for the count well before 7:30!)

The next day was July 4th and this is how we spent the day...

We started with a hike...

Then spent some time splashing in the "river" behind the house...

The kids were anxiously awaiting GiGi and Grandad's arrival, but found a way to pass the time.

We spent a lot of time outside while we were there. The weather was ideal.

Warm days with no humidity (and no pesky bugs)...

and nights cool enough for a fire and smores.

Henry ate his first marshmallow. Poor guy doesn't get many sweets since most cakes and cookies have eggs and/or nuts, so this was a treat. I think he's in love.

One of our favorite things to do in SF is go hiking. Poor kids went on forced marches almost everyday. They did great considering neither had proper hiking footwear and their legs had to work more than twice as hard. Henry ended up in the backpack once his legs gave out, but he kept up way more than I would have expected. Aubrey walked as much as we did, but with a lot more whining. All in all, she did great. My mom was even able to join in this year and test out her two new knees. She did great and it was so fun to have us all together on the hikes.

Hiking up the Aspen Vista trail.

Brian and I even had the chance to take a long, strenuous hike (without kids). We climbed Atalaya Peak (9,121 ft). The trail is only about 2 miles up, but the elevation change is about 2,000 feet. Whew, our hearts were pumping and legs were burning. We started before the kids were even up in the morning, and 2 hours and 40 mins later, we were back down the trail and treated ourselves to a nice cup of coffee.

The views were amazing and worth every step.

One day we took the kids out to visit the home of some good friends of my parents. The have horses, chickens, a rooster and dogs, and the kids had a ball. Jack was a real cowboy at one time and is an amazing artisan. He built their beautiful home himself and it's filled with his art and found artifacts. What a treat it was to explore.

Aubrey loved getting to pet the horses.

Henry was a little unsure.

We did more than just enjoy the outdoors, of course. My mom and I took Aubrey to her first "high tea" at a great old hotel in Santa Fe. We all got dressed up and Aubrey loved every minute of it. She was very concerned about drinking caffeine though, so we made sure she had some herbal tea :).

Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo with GiGi.

The hotel had been given a modern facelift recently (I love the huge candles everywhere), so the tea was a little more "fine dining" than the traditional English fare. Aubrey didn't mind one bit and happily ate goat cheese, warm nut bread, and flan. By the way, take a look at Aubrey's new picture pose. You will see it often!

I ordered something called blooming tea. They brought out the hot water with what looked like a little dried flower bud. The waitress asked who would like the special honor of dropping it into the water. Of course, we told Aubrey she had to do it. Within 2 minutes, this is what it looked like. Aubrey was amazed. (On a side note, our server was so sweet and said she remembered having her first tea with her mom and grandmother, so she made it seem extra special for us).

We just happened to be in town for the International Folk Art Market. There is a fantastic Folk Art museum in Santa Fe, and once a year, they bring in artists from all over the world to sell their work. There were some amazing pieces, and the kids loved all the bright colors. Henry was most excited by the fact that we had to take a shuttle bus to get there.

This may have been the absolute highlight of Henry's trip. His first bus ride!

After the first week, Brian flew back to Austin to bring home some bacon while the kids and I stayed and played. I was able to hit the spa for a facial and a hot soak, and Aubrey was treated to her first movie in a theater, Toy Story 3. I meant to take a photo of her, but we were too busy eating popcorn. She loved the experience and the special time with mommy, but the movie scared her a bit and I suddenly noticed how loud the theater is and how the previews never seem to end. Does that make me old?

The kids spent a lot of time in the river, riding the Arctic Cat, and having pretend pizza and birthday parties. We also took them to a neat living history museum called El Rancho de las Golondrinas. It was a little warm that day and they didn't have too much happening, and frankly, the kids had had enough walking, but they enjoyed seeing an old schoolhouse, a goat, and a donkey.

Apparently, this was the first school house and oldest building in Raton, NM, which was transplanted to the property some time ago.

And I will end this post with same random photos...

So, my dad, who would never have let us so much as look at a motorcycle when we were children, has bought one to ride around town. Aubrey thought it was pretty cool. Henry, who LOVES anything with wheels, refused to sit on it. Let's hope that lasts until he's Grandad's age.

The drive home was equally as painful as the drive out.

Henry FINALLY fell asleep... for 27 mins.

And Aubrey rotted her brain with hours of DVDs.

We were all ready to get home. Ugh. Thank you GiGi and Grandad for an amazing vacation and thanks for putting up with us for so long. We can't wait to come back :)