Storytime

Randall and I have tried very hard to foster in the girls a love of books.  The nursery has a small 3-shelf bookshelf that is full of books.  Well, once a week it is full.  The rest of the time the books are all over the house.  There is also a basket full of books in the living room that we rotate out.  Every night Audra and Daddy (or Mommy) read Goodnight Moon or a similar bedtime story.

I realize that neither of the girls is old enough to actually read on her own yet, but so far they like books.  Throughout the day Audra will bring me books to read to her and Eleanor.  We have recently reached the point where Audra is gentle enough to read books with paper pages which has opened an entirely new world of books for her to enjoy.  The board books were fun and all (and she still has a couple that she really likes), but she seems to discover a new paper book every day.

Audra loves reading to other people.  Sometimes she will climb into my lap with a book.  I'll read it to her and then she wants to read it to me.  Most of her reading is just babbling in her cute little reading voice, but every once in a while I hear familiar words (usually prompted by the illustrations).
    "Jabber jabber jabber DOG jabber WOOF WOOF jabber jabber PAGE."
    Mommy Turns Page
    "Jabber jabber BALL jabber jabber BABY...BAAAAAAAH."
    Audra Laughs
    "PAGE."

It seems to be more fun to read to other little people than adults.  While Kevin, Katrina, and Andrew were here for Christmas it was not unusual to see Audra and Andrew in the floor with a book between them.  Audra would "read" to Andrew and then Andrew would turn the page (or three or four).  Audra especially loves reading to Eleanor.  She jabbers and reads and points to all of the things in the picture (like I do when I read to her) and explains them to her sister.  She tells Elie about animals and the sounds they make.  She tells Elie about colors.  She tells Elie about nature.  It's the cutest thing ever.

On the top shelf of the nursery bookcase are several books by Theodor Seuss Geisel.  Most of these books penned by Dr. Seuss.  Today while reading The Tooth Book after Audra's afternoon nap, I learned that Dr. Seuss and Theo Geisel are one in the same.  Books that Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote and illustrated himself are written by Dr. Seuss.  He used the pseudonym Theo Geisel when writing books which were illustrated by someone else.  I must say, I prefer his works as Dr. Seuss.

Audra Reading to Eleanor

New Year

We are currently recovering from celebrating our first Christmas in our house.  Everything became official on December 23 when we FINALLY closed on the house.  Randall's family came for Christmas and my family came the week after.

Our Very White Christmas

Randall's sister and her family came up on Christmas Eve.  What is normally a 4 1/2 hour trip was turned into a 6+ hour trip by ice and snow.  The highways were all closed shortly after they arrived which meant that Randall's parents could not come up on Christmas morning to join us as planned.  The roads were so bad that Katrina, Kevin, and Andrew couldn't make it to their hotel.  They stayed the night at our house (which is what I thought the plan was anyway).  Sad as it was to be missing Namaw (as Audra calls her) and Grandpapa, it was so much fun watching Andrew and Audra open presents on Christmas day.  Audra and Andrew had so much fun together.  Audra would read to Andrew.  Andrew walked all over the house with one thing in each hand.

Audra Helping Andrew Open Presents

 We drove to Kevin and Katrina's home in Frisco to celebrate Andrew's First Birthday (and Christmas with Namaw and Grandpapa).  It was a wonderful time with Randall's immediate family.  It was our first time meeting several members of the extended family.  Let's just say we won't be going out of our way to meet up with them again.

Audra and Andrew Mesmerized by Yo Gabba Gabba!

My family drove down from Kansas City on Sunday night and we had our second Christmas with them on Monday.  Audra had to help EVERYONE open their presents, and Eleanor slept through the whole thing.  It was Aunty Em's first time meeting Elie.  I think she liked her (though she'll hate that I called her Aunty Em if she ever reads this).  Audra loved having her Grammy, Poppy, Mimi, and Aunts all here to play with.

Aunt Allie, Aunty Em, and Elie

I'm so glad Mimi was able to come.  It was the first Christmas without Papaw, which wasn't easy for any of us.  I don't know how she does it.  She even wrote a Christmas letter.  She's so strong.

Mimi Cuddling with Elie

It was so much fun hosting Christmas and cooking for everyone.  I got lots of new kitchen items to play with in my big new kitchen.  Randall finally convinced me to start a food blog so I'll be sharing kitchen adventures and recipes there.

Christmas Dinner #2

Randall is still off from school for a week or so.  He's determined to get things done around the house while he has time.  There's a fair amount for me to get done with unpacking and finding a place for everything.  Eventually I'll get to paint everything, but that's a task (and probably a story) for another day.

Randall has been trying to be better about blogging, and I'm momentarily inspired.

The previous name for this blog no longer works as we now have two babies.  I need to come up with a better title, but sleep deprivation seems to impede my creative abilities.  Hopefully there will be a better name coming.

At 10:13am, September 14 (after complications and delays with my c-section) we added Eleanor Joanne Weiss to our little family.  She was 20 3/4 inches long and weighed 7 lb 5 oz.

Audra loves "Baby Elie."  We'd talked a lot about the fact that Mommy was going to have a baby even though I was quite certain that my 15-month-old wasn't old enough to understand.  She was obsessed with bellies and babies for months.  Then Elie arrived and she seems to know that Elie's her baby.  It's so cute.  When she first saw her sister though the nursery window at the hospital she was excited and talked about "Baby Elie."

She loves giving Elie hugs and kisses.

It's been rough recovering from my second c-section.  We've had lots of help.  Sometimes it drives me a little bit crazy, but I am very thankful for all of the help.  I don't know what I would do without all of the family and friends.

I'm going to try to post regularly (if only to maintain my sanity).  We'll see how that goes with two precious little girls.

Spirituality of Parenting

It's crazy to think that I'm in my third trimester and that I'm the mother of a one year-old. Audra keeps growing up so quickly. She can walk and says words. It is also very obvious that she knows what is being said. This has gotten me to thinking about a lot of the things I say and do around Audra. I've also been thinking about her development and how much she's grown. We've worked and helped her reach physical developmental milestones and intellectual milestones. I don't think we've done much in terms of her spiritual growth short of taking her to church and walking our own spiritual walks.

Today Randall and I were finally able to listen to the Speaking of Faith broadcast "The Spirituality of Parenting." I heard part of it on the radio a month or so ago. I really wanted to listen to it together and have a discussion.

I think Randall was a bit disappointed that there weren't more specifics on ways to nurture your child's spirituality. She talked about a few things that didn't really apply to us. I came away from it wanting to incorporate some new bedtime traditions and wanting to find childrens' stories that teach children about God that aren't necessarily Bible stories. Not that there's anything wrong with Bible stories. I want to teach Audra Bible stories. I just want her to be able to find truths about God and people and love and life through other stories and eventually in the events of everyday.

Audra Had a Great Sleep Schedule

Audra had a great sleep schedule. She was going to bed around 7-8pm and waking up about 7-8am.
Then, two nights ago, at 1am, she screamed.
She was letting us know that she had obtained her first cold.
There was not much sleep for any us for the remainder of that night.
Last night, Carolyn and Audra slept on the couch. I slept alone in bed. I stayed on my own side. I had no opposition to my efforts to wrap all the sheets, blankets, comforters, and a random shirt left on the bed around my person.
I hope I go home from work today to find a healthy baby. I want my opposition back.

Jack Daniel's Special Oak Reserve

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, an American holiday that supposedly celebrates the blessings we have received. It's loosely based on the Puritans surviving with the aid of the Native Americans. When they finally had food, they feasted together. The conquering by force of those helpful Natives came later. God bless America.
Most Americans who can afford to still celebrate the holiday with a feast. We didn't have any Native Americans at our feast, though we live in Indian Territory. I don't know how my family would have reacted if I had chosen to invite some Natives. I have a lot of friends who have some Native blood, but I only have a few with pure Native blood.
What does all of this have to do with Audra?
And what does whiskey have to do with Audra?
Certain members of my family chose, as they have chosen many times before, to give us advice on raising Audra. I expect this from grandparents and great-grandparents. Audra's grandparents (on both sides) have been quite reasonable with dispensation of advice. They offer it as a series of suggestions, coupled with anecdotes about raising us.
Audra's great-grandparents on Carolyn's side are pretty low key with advice. Her father's mom is especially funny, because her attitude is sort of, "I haven't raised babies in a long time, so what do I know?"
Back to my family, with whom we spent the holiday.
My grandparents on my father's side were in attendance. They talk often about how intelligent and educated Carolyn and I are. They talk about how we are more intelligent than they. We are more intelligent until we disagree with their unasked for advice.
My dad has one sister, my Aunt Robin. Robin is his younger sister and, though she is in her 40's, acts like a teenager, until the topic of children comes up. On this she is an expert. She is an expert, because she has 3 maladjusted children. Her older son, 17, often refuses to visit her on her weekends (joint custody...). The other 2 live with her, a 16 year-old boy and a 12 year-old girl. The 16 year-old boy is actually doing fine, but it is as a reaction against his mother. He escapes his family life with the aid of fiction. He does well in school. He has his life planned out. He wants to get away, to have a life vastly different than that he has been given. The girl is only a young version of her mother. Some in the family are worried, because she is dating a 16 year-old, whom she says would never try to take advantage of her.
Fending off advances from Robin's advice or my grandparents individually isn't too difficult. But yesterday they joined forces to tell us we must put whiskey on Audra's gums. That is the ONLY way to make it through teething. She has been teething for a couple of months now, and I'm the only one who has had any whiskey. It wasn't her teething that drove me to the whiskey. I was just thirsty.
I understand that my grandparents had few options for relief of pain, so I can write off their suggestion of whiskey as a consequence of generational gap. Robin got in my face and yelled at me about the whiskey. Had she merely told me that she used it with her children and it worked fine for her, I could have said, "Thank you, but Carolyn and I have chosen not to use that method of treatment." Had she not berated me and insulted my intelligence and decision making ability, I probably wouldn't be upset.
My wife and I have many choices to make as we raise Audra. We want to have the counsel of those who have gone before us, but the choices are still ours. We are her parents. So we are choosing not to use whiskey as an analgesic, and we are choosing not to allow her to date 16 year-olds (ever) ;-)

Daddy Weiss

Tooth Monster

The Tooth Fairy is a familiar figure in the lore of raising children. She shows up after a child loses a tooth, takes the tooth, and gives the child some sort of reward. My parents' relationship with her gained me small sums of currency. My grandparents must have been better friends with her, because I was rewarded more substantially when I lost a tooth while on holiday.
Before I became a parent, I assumed that teeth came naturally, as part of the growing process. I now know the truth. They are delivered by the Tooth Monster. The delivery does not occur immediately, as the trade with the Tooth Fairy does. The Tooth Monster lingers, invisible, slowly pushing the teeth, one at a time, through tender baby gums. He pushes them up randomly, so the gums can hurt in several places. His precision in applying pain to children is remarkable in its craftiness. Would that I had enemies that deserved such pain, I would seek to hire him. But no one deserves this. No one deserves weeks of inconsolable crying (and screaming). No one deserves a pain induced fever. No baby can deserve having to look at a parent who looks so lost and desperate while trying to offer consolation.
The first tooth has just come through. I hope the others follow quickly and with less pain. Or I will find that Tooth Monster, and that will be the end of him.

Daddy Weiss