I get nervous when it's too quiet

As some of you know, we've had the worst time getting Liam to sleep on his own. Those sleepless days were dark, I have to admit. Most of the issues have been resolved, but for the last year or so, one of us has had to stay with him until he fell asleep. Recently, he's been okay with us leaving him to play quietly in his bed by himself until he drifts off. This affords his parents some down-time before we ourselves collapse, so we're grateful.

However, it's a system that is not without its kinks. The other night while Todd was studying for a final and I was taking care of both kids solo, I got a little careless and inadvertently left Liam alone with pens. About an hour past his bedtime, he called me up to show me this:



The worst part was that he tried to hide the evidence by using soggy toilet paper to clean up the ink on his sheets. Still, what a cutie! Thea loved coloring on her hands and arms, too, when she was about that age.

Liam loves paneer, Thea likes the rice

Thea draws a dinosaur

Brother and sister at the zoo

These shoes make me uncomfortable

On Monday, Thea was sent home from daycare with what the director thought was pink eye. I knew it was allergies instead, because her eyes didn't get red and itchy until we went outside. No matter, she wouldn't be allowed back in school without a doctor's note. So off to the pediatrician we went.

After a lengthy doctor's visit, we hit Target to fill the prescription for eye drops and to look for new shoes. There we saw these. Is it just me, or are heels on kids' shoes just wrong? How's a little girl supposed to run faster than the boys in these? Not cool.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings rocked my world (at the 9:30, May 9, 2009)

Some of my favorite friends — Abigail, Mike, and Seamus — and I went to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings last night. It was an amazing experience. The entire crowd, or at least our segment of it, was held on the precipice of spontaneous combustion for the whole set. If you get a chance to see them live, grab it. You can thank me later.

UPDATE: Pics from the show courtesy of my new friend Jeremy:

Abigail and Kelly; we're ready for whatever the night has in store!

Floogee Mike and friends

Open wide, Floogee

Seamus, Abigail, and me

Floogee, Kelly, Andy, and Jeremy

"Whatcho talkin' 'bout?"

"I must kiss you, preferably like a fish."

"Is she freaking serious?"

I love Abigail. Isn't she gorgeous?

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra at the Black Cat, May 6, 2009

I went to the Black Cat with an old, newly reconnected-with friend to see a band he really likes, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. It was a great show, but neither of us was much in the mood to be out, even though we'd both been looking forward to it. The band was smoking hot and people (not us; other, more enthusiastic people) were dancing their asses off. I'd love to see them again sometime.

Maybe it's because my friend Mike and I had just re-established contact after not seeing each other for over a decade. We used to work together at the National Museum of American Art, and those were halcyon days for me. He was my best friend, though we had a falling out over something incredibly stupid. Maybe we just need more time alone together.

The ABC's of KellyGO

A friend tagged me with this meme on Facebook, but, as I've said before, I already neglect this blog too much to put content somewhere else. If you're desperate for material and BlogHer is threatening to drop you for lack of regular posting, too, I'm tagging you!

A - Age: 39

B - Bed size: queen

C - Chore you hate: grocery shopping

D - Dog's name: Tina

E - Essential start your day item: checking my email, Facebook, and Twitter on my iPhone before I get out of bed

F - Favorite color: Do grown-ups still have favorite colors? When I was a kid, it was magenta

G - Gold or Silver: silver, I guess

H - Height: 5'10"

I - Instruments you played: bass guitar

J - Job title: web specialist, whatever the eff that means

K - Kids: Thea and Liam

L - Living arrangements: a century-old farmhouse in the suburbs

M - Mom's name: Chris

N - Nicknames: Kellygo

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: none

P - Pet Peeve: passive-aggressiveness; it kind of enrages me

Q - Quote from a movie: "Baby sister, I was born game and I intend to go out that way."

R - Right or left handed: right

S - Siblings: one twin sister, one half brother

T - Time you wake up: sometime between 6 and 7 a.m. on good days

U- Underwear: um, what?

V - Vegetable you dislike: I can't think of one, but I don't like fruit

W - Ways you run late: herding the kids in the same direction

X - Rays you've had: dental and arm

Y - Yummy food you make: cupcakes

Z - Zoo animals: polar bears