A major lifestyle change
For a wide variety of reasons,* R. and I decided after a couple of months of discussion that I would quit my job as soon as we were done with our mortgage re-finance -- and so I did. My last day on the job was May 11, after almost eight years at the same company and in essentially the same position. It was scary to give up the known for the unknown (and really odd for me, since I've been working for pay since I was nine years old), but these several weeks since my "retirement" (as Grandma & Grandpa call it) have been so wonderful that I know it was the right call. I'm still working on things like the timing of dinner, and some days just get eaten by e.g. a grumpy baby who won't nap or a clutch of unavoidable errands, etc., but that's the new gig, and I like it immeasurably better than the old one.
Another thing this decision has done is allow us to consider the plan for Annika for this coming year (details below). We were more or less going to have to send her to Kindergarten if I stayed at my job, which I'm sure she'd be perfectly fine with -- but she'd be the youngest in the class (the cutoff this year is Nov. 1, moving to Sept. 1 by the time Lukas would start), and given the way K and the elementary grades have changed in the years since we were in them, we are really really really glad not to HAVE to engage with the school system until next year. So we're delaying her enrollment, and looking for a Montessori school closer to home for this year (keep her learning & stimulated, maybe make some local friends), and planning to start K in fall 2013.
*including but not limited to: the stress of my two-hours-each-way commute on all of us, the stress of my job in general and the fact that my "raise" this year did not exactly say "we love you, please stay!", the fact that with two kids, after paying for daycare and commuting expenses I'd be clearing a ridiculously tiny amount of dollars per month, the different financial circumstances we now find ourselves in, and -- most importantly -- the fact that this is what I have wanted since Annika was born and it is the best thing for all of us at this time.
Shopping for schools
So on the local school front, I did a good deal of online research and found some likely candidates in Almaden. Annika and I visited one that is almost walking distance from our house ... but turned out to be more of a home daycare with Montessori elements. There'd be no point to that, so we crossed it off the list. The second one we visited was a jackpot -- much like her current school (it's one of the tenants of a decommissioned elementary school), less than 5 minutes away from home, and with a really good, warm vibe to it. We toured the place with the director, and as we left, I asked Annika whether she liked it -- and she said "I think we got a winner!" Heh. We wanted 2 or 3 days per week, 9-3, starting after our Hawaii trip in September, and got on a waitlist for that. Looking good!
Midnight moment
So I got up to deal with Lukas in the middle of the night, got him to go back to sleep, and shut his door behind me. Allergies had been plaguing everybody (except me), and as I paused on the landing, I heard a three-part harmony of snoring -- Lukas, Annika and R, all sawin' logs. I stood there in the hall and laughed for a minute, wishing I had something to record it with, before I went back to bed.
The Sauce keeps changing
Two new things at the most recent Sauce weekend (May 11-13): First, Annika was allowed to get up, get dressed, and go out and play by herself before R and I got up. I made her promise NOT to go outside, and NOT to wake up anyone else -- and told her that if she didn't find one of M&H's boys, she had to come right back. And it actually worked! She seems to really respond well when we trust her with bigger-kid responsibilities, bit by bit. Secondly, on the first night, Lukas would. not. sleep. while we were playing music, so we finally just brought him into the band room. We put him in his carseat and protected his ears with the kid-sized headphones Mandark had bought for just that purpose back when Annika was born, and he just sat there thoroughly enjoying the show for hours.
Baby skills and lifestyle trends
Lukas got more and more mobile -- he wasn't crawling yet, but he could cover a terrifying amount of ground with rolling and army-crawling, so he was no longer safe to leave on a bed or unsupervised on a floor. He upped his intake of solid foods; so far he's liked everything but peas, which he ate a couple of spoonfuls of and then clamped his jaw shut and refused to allow more. Utter, total baby refusal. NO THANK YOU. THE END. He was calm about it, but absolutely firm. When he explores things these days, he's always panting -- his mouth hangs open and he pants with delighted excitement, often breaking into a squealing laugh when something he sees is especially awesome. His track record of sleeping through the night is, unfortunately, not much better -- although it does seem to help that he can put a pacifier into his own mouth. We bought a bunch of them, and I strewed a field of them around him in the crib (this is particularly hilarious to see on the monitor). He's easily able to locate one and cram it in his cry-hole, which often does the trick and lets him get back to sleep (though not before he's woken me up via the monitor -- but at least sometimes I don't have to actually get up, which is ... an improvement).
No more high chair
Annika declared herself done with the high chair -- it wasn't really a high chair, just one of those wooden adjustable-height deals, but she decided this month that she was ready to sit in a regular chair. Her chin is almost in the food, but she's making it work!
The USPS becomes important to another generation
Reba the Mail Lady is a recurring character on Pee-Wee's Playhouse (which as we discussed last month, Annika now LOVES), and so there's lots of delivering and sending of mail on that show. She decided she wanted to get mail, which means you gotta send some -- which we did. Letters and drawings and such went out to all the relatives and friends, and we've gotten a pretty steady return on our outgoing correspondence. She gets so excited when there's something in the mail for her (and I'm saving all the incoming stuff, for sure) -- come on, make a kid's day: Send a letter!
Annika saves my bacon, repeatedly
One huge advantage of the child spacing we have: Big Sister is quite capable of -- and really enjoys -- entertaining Little Bro. She'll dance around for him, sing to him, go fetch him another toy, show him stuff she's learned in school, make his bouncer or swing chair play music, etc., while I do other things (like rustle up dinner). We can't over-rely on it, and sometimes her entertainment is a leetle bit aggressive, but it really has been a great boon.
Lukas is six months old!
We now have a 16 lb., 26.5-inch-long little guy here. He hated the shots at his 6-month appointment, but he's healthy and thriving and everything is good. Yay!
