Happy New Year!

This year, as we do every year, we celebrated the new year by eating twelve grapes and jumping off chairs at the stroke of midnight/7 p.m. while holding a list of things we want in the new year, then kissing and hugging everyone in the room. Thea and Liam love the whole ritual, and we jumped off the couch while all holding hands and then traded smooches several times.



Thea would like 2008 to bring her more opportunities to ride ponies, the chance to learn how to ride a bike, and more rides on the carousel. On the back of her list, she included that she would like a cat and another dog, too.

Liam's list — health, happiness, and good friends — was the things I usually write down for me, what I'm sure we all want the new year to bring us. I could have added also "my own elephant," because the boy loves elephants. But we're neglecting our dog enough as it is.

One last Christmas-related post, before I forget

On Christmas Eve, Thea decorated the fireplace with drawings to make it pretty for Santa.



They were quite lovely, despite being on Post-it notes ...



and the fact that the fireplace is completely fake.

Horse ride for Thea's birthday

Despite the fact that she was petrified, I think, she rode a full-sized horse entirely by herself.







When it was over, she was so proud of herself and could not stop smiling. Way to go, Thea!

Thea is 4 years old!

Thea turned four years old today. My, what a big girl she is!



Thea has learned so much in the past year. She can write her name and most of the letters of the alphabet without help, and she can even read a little. She loves to sing and dance, and she has a great sense of humor. It's true that almost all her jokes involve butts, but come on, butts are funny.

Liam is Thea's best friend, and he worships her. They have a really sweet relationship. Every night I tell Thea stories about her as whatever animal she is most interested in that day (usually horses, but sometimes whatever animal we happened to see that day), and she always wants Liam featured in the story, too. Her dad and I are generally nowhere to be found, though.



Other than Liam, Thea's best friends are Rosie, Lila, and Emma, and her best friends at school are Samry, Dawnie, Jordan, and Jared, whom Thea has known since she was a baby. Thea loves school and her friends, and sometimes when we pick her up she and her friends will be holding hands or laughing with their heads pressed together. Her favorite game to play with any friend is pretending to be a cat, dog, or horse.

Thea is an incredibly sweet, emotionally intuitive kid. When Liam cries because it's Daddy's night to get him to sleep (he still does that, every other night), Thea will make a big deal about how she wants us to switch so she can be with her dad. We patiently tell them that we trade nights because the parents want to spend time with each kid, too, not just the other way around. But really, I think she makes a big deal about not wanting me to get her ready for bed just so Todd won't get his feelings quite so hurt.



Happy birthday, sweetheart!

See also:

• Thea is three years old today!
• Thea turns two!
• Thea turns one!

Xmas card 2007, the outtakes

Heather, upon seeing the O's Xmas card this year, commented that if this is the best of the bunch, the outtakes should be interesting. (As Todd noted in the card, that's a shadow on Liam's face, not a shiner.)



Yeah, well, we had some issues with the camera.



The ambient lighting had to be just right to minimize the streaking from the lights on the tree.



At some point we just had to give up on a shot with the tree in the background and move into the kitchen.



It was surprisingly difficult to get everyone in the frame.



Getting the family and the dog? Impossible.



We lost patience pretty quickly.



Especially Liam.



Problems with the yearly card aside, it was a lovely holiday. We had a wonderful Xmas eve dinner with friends, then came home and let the kids open their presents from Grandpa — retro toy stuffed dogs, one that looks like Tina and one that is solid brown — that the kids seriously went mad for. We tried to get pictures of the kids' unbridled enthusiasm, but the camera's delay made that impossible.

Me: Kids, what do you think of your new puppies?
Thea, hopping up and down and spinning around: I love it I love it I love it!!!
Liam, jumping off the couch hugging the puppy: I yuff it I yuff it I yuff it!!!
Camera: ... *click*

I think a new camera is in my future.

The next morning they opened the rest of the toys. Thea's other favorites: a toy phone from Santa, a scarf from Heather and Amy, a robe for when she's cold but doesn't want to wear clothes (always), and a real digital camera from Nick. Liam's favorites: an awesome sock monkey from Heather and Amy, a frog with a big clacking mouth that you pull on a string and it kind of hops after you, a soccer ball, and a stuffed dinosaur.

Later Grandma came over and we made a fabulous leg of lamb. We ate too much, drank too much, and had tons of toys to play with. A very merry Christmas, all in all.

Dash makes a reluctant appearance

Xmas eve dinner

Watkins park light show

Question for the Hivemind: Should I stay or should I go?

My department at my new job is having a happy hour tonight, and the first drink is on my tequila-loving boss. What do you think, should I go?

Pros:

• Free tequila. The good stuff.
  
• Bonding time with my smart, fun, childless coworkers.
• It's the holidays, man.

Cons:

• It doesn't start until 6pm, and I usually leave at 4:30.
• I'd be sticking Todd with getting the kids dinner and ready for bed by himself.
• Tonight we're starting a new "Liam sleeps alone" program. Would my not being there for bedtime set us up for failure?
  

Yes, it's true, most nights I end up sleeping with my little boy at some point in the night. It's a drag (for me, anyway), but it's the way the whole family gets the most sleep. Tonight, though, we attempt to take the hard line and leave Liam alone all night.

"This Situation"

Check it out, our friend Jennifer is in the NY Times!



She's the girl at the far right. And since she's my friend, it's almost like I was in the NY Times, right? ... What?

Trying a new way to work

I still get a bit tripped out when I stumble across the Capitol.

Jackass

Not only sleeping on the train at rush hour, but taking up two seats and not moving for a woman carrying a baby.

UPDATE: She did ask him to move. He grumpily refused. I gave her my seat, and instead of stewing, I took his photo and posted it on my blog. It made me feel tons better.

Seven random things about the O kids

The delightful Angie from Between the Lines tagged me with the 7 things meme, which is awesome because I had several things about the kids in my head that I want to record for posterity, but none warrant a whole post. Thanks, Angie!

1. Thea is a leftie. We've known this since she was about a year and a half old.

2. Liam's white-blond hair is starting to darken a little. My sister and I were both tow-headed when we were little, so he takes after me.

3. Thea isn't crazy about sweets and can eat just half a cookie then give the other half to Liam, but she loves potato chips. Her favorite food right now is Chipotle soft tacos (kid-sized burritos) with black beans and rice, and lettuce on the side.

4. Liam loves sweets and would eat candy for breakfast if we let him. His favorite drink is chocolate milk.

5. When Thea is watching something on TV that she really likes, she makes the grown-ups leave the room. It's a blessing, really.

6. Liam loves Dora to the point of obsession, but he especially loves the episodes that also include her cousins Diego and Alicia, too. Many mornings the first thing he'll say is "Watch Dora Diego?"

7. Thea doesn't like to wear clothes and insists on sleeping in only her underwear, even when the house is freezing. Liam doesn't like to wear pants, but loves hats.

Xmas recital

The daycare had their annual recital yesterday. Liam had a great time singing carols, but Thea spent the whole time staring ahead stonily with her hands clasped in front of her. At least she did better than the kids who immediately burst into tears when they saw all the parents, poor things.

Here are Thea and her friend recovering from the experience with potato chips and cookies.

Will it blend?

This is my blog friend Aimee Greeblemonkey's video:



*snerk*

First off, Liam's fine

And here's a post-breakfast, pre-playdough photo from this morning to prove it:



So we had to take Liam to the ER again last night. Todd got the call to pick him up from daycare at the end of the day, and when he got there Liam's breathing was labored and every breath seemed to hurt. At the ER last time, the doctor told Todd, "I don't want to alarm you, but if your son starts to crash, I'm going to need to push you out of the way." That sufficiently alarmed him so that he felt comfortable calling an ambulance to avoid getting stuck in rush-hour traffic with a kid who might stop breathing in the back seat. Thea thought the ambulance ride was fun and very bumpy.

At the hospital, they put him on the nebulizer for a couple hours and gave him steroids. By the time we left, he was breathing normally and everything was fine. They told us to up the albuterol to every four hours around the clock (he slept through the 2am dose) and to keep giving him steroids for a couple days. There were a lot of other kids in the ER with what sounded like the same thing. Something pretty hardcore must be going around.

Well, that was unexpected

In a surprising turn of events (thanks for the COBRA info, by the way — I didn't know it could be retroactive), it was Liam who had to go to the emergency room this week. Todd took him tonight after the daycare called and said he had a fever. When he got there, Liam was not only fevered but also starting to gasp for breath. He took him to urgent care, and then to the emergency room as the gasping got worse. Poor kid has a viral lung infection. He got a heavy dose of albuterol and an inhaler for home, and is now sleeping soundly.

When Todd picked up Liam, Thea was about to have a class party so he let her stay. She was drawing this picture of the family when I came for her a couple hours later.



Liam's frowning because he's not feeling well.

"I'll grind my teeth, spit the dust in your eyes"

Between leaving a job, starting a new job, and taking on a seriously cool freelance project, I'm swamped and exhausted. But I have to say, it's never been a more fun time to be Kelly O. I realize I've got a huge case of the new-job honeymoon-eyes and inevitably it'll become just another J-O-B; for right now, though, I haven't been this energized in ages.

On my iPhone tonight during my metro commute home was The Meat Joy's first album. When "Stars" came on, I quietly and discreetly burst into tears. It said exactly what I felt.

How long will I be in mourning that my favorite band of all time will never play another show or write another song again? *sniff*

Cute shoes, cheap!

I just got a pair of these for $8. There's also a bunch of Chuck Taylors for under $10, in limited styles and sizes.

And now for a little panicking and overreaction

The family is temporarily without health insurance. We're all on my insurance, see, and the old one ran out at the end of the month and the new one doesn't start until Monday. That's two days where I've canceled most weekend plans to keep the kids home wrapped in bubble wrap in front of the TV. But Fate can't resist a good laugh, so Thea woke up this morning with intense abdominal pains, fever, chills, and vomiting. At one point I looked at Todd over Thea's back and hissed, "Oh god, this will BANKRUPT US!"

My finest moment, however, was just after Thea finished throwing up. Doctor Google said that one way to tell if a kid has appendicitis is to have them jump up and down. If they collapse on the floor in a fetal position, it's time for a trip to the ER. Though it's entirely understandable that Thea might not want want to jostle herself after barfing, I was sure that her reluctance to hop around the room was a sign of our impending financial doom. Not that I wasn't concerned for my little girl, of course. It's deeply painful to see your kid sick. But I'm a pragmatist and a realist, and I have no illusions about the precariousness of our financial stability.

Thankfully, Thea was feeling a lot better by bedtime. Just in time for Liam to start clutching his ear in what I'm sure is an early sign of an ear infection. Good one, universe! (Bitch.)