Adios Amigos

Last weekend we said good-bye to our closest DC friends, Vaughn and Bernie. Steve and Vaughn went to UT together and Bernardo came into our lives when he and Vaughn met 10 years ago. These guys have been our family in DC. When we moved to Fairlington they lived across the street, about 180 steps from our house, and for years we had dinner together every single Sunday night, switching between their house and ours. Vaughn was the best man in our wedding and he and Bernie have attended every birthday party for our kids and been true uncles to the boys. They have made noise about leaving the area, but we never took them seriously...until a month ago when Vaughn returned from an interview with Yahoo in San Francisco with a sense of excitement. We nervously joined in the excitement with a mix of envy and sadness. Vaughn soon accepted the offer and within weeks he was gone. We had a going away party for them last weekend and it was bittersweet, for sure. Gone were the days when we were doing shots and I was making late night phone calls to who knows where. Though Bernardo did us proud and tipped the tequila a few times in our honor. And, much wine and beer and food were consumed to toast these two fine people and wish them well. Word has it that Vaughn has made it to the West Coast in time to report to work tomorrow morning. With the introduction of Facebook, text messaging, email, and blogging, they won't be more than a click away. But, I already miss them dearly and will long for the day when we can exchange real hugs again.

Excuse Me, Stop Talking

Graeme is a chatter-box. He talks from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep. I love the running commentary about life, but sometimes there's a need or desire to say a few words. After getting frustrated with the inability to have a conversation when he's around I told him that if he wanted to talk while someone else is talking he needs to say excuse me first. The next evening I was talking to Steve (side note: it's really hard to have two chatter-boxes in the house; I pity Steve if this trait is passed on to Ian, as well) and suddenly we hear, "excuse me, stop talking." We laughed and showered him with praise. I'll refine the lesson some time in the future.

We found sleep

It took 3 weeks of searching, patience, tears, and coffee...but we seem to have found some sleep. I made a commitment in late August to get Ian to love his bed and sleep without his mama. Yes, I know, he's way too young for this, but we bought a very expensive queen sized bed frame several years ago and there's no way 3 or 4 people fit in it comfortable. Even if some of those peeps are pint-sized. Were it not for said bed frame (which, for the record, is beautiful, but kids came along before we had a chance to purchase some decent dressers to go with it so now we have a fancy bed with thrift store bureaus and our room still looks disjointed...I guess the stashes of various kid items headed to the attic, the occasional litter box, and other paraphernalia would distract the eye even if we had gorgeous furniture all around...or at least that's what I tell myself. Thankfully, the bed is a "lifetime" purchase, something my mother said was always important...not beds in particular, but lifetime purchases here and there....kind of like those ski boots I splurged on 3 years ago, also before kids...so I assume that some day, like in 2029 when we are done paying for college, I'll get those bureaus....I digress), I would have been at the Mattress Warehouse months ago purchasing a king sized variety with no-interest, no-payments until your child is 5 years old, thank you very much. But, I'm stuck with the queen sized version so we needed to get Ian out of it or I was going to implode. So, I put him in the crib 3 weeks ago and basically sat by his side with my arm wedged through the slats to comfort him (thank god the Consumer Product Safety Commission advocated standard that made those slats narrow enough to prevent a head from getting wedged, but not so narrow that my appendages can't fit...must have been a sleepy mom on that review panel.). I didn't get any sleep to speak of, but think I handled it fairly well. And now....I wouldn't say he loves the arrangement, but he goes down with ease at 7:30PM, wakes at 11:00, 2'ish and 5'ish, and then is up for the day at about 6:30. Sounds like torture still, I know. But, given where we've been, I'm thrilled.

Happy Birthday Madison and Knox

Seven years ago today four kittens were born to a Russian Blue mother and Studly daddy in Syracuse, New York. We were the lucky adoptive parents of two in the litter. They experienced a few weeks of peace in the world (relatively speaking), I recall their human mother saying, as they were born before 9/11. They brought us much more than peace....a sense of purpose, unconditional love, plenty of reasons to laugh, and much sadness and grief. Today we celebrate their birth with Madison in our laps and Knox in our hearts. Happy Birthday, my friends. I love you more than I ever thought possible.