Elizabeth's Room

Elizabeth got a lamp and shelf from Santa. This picture shows the early hours after installation.  Now, she has the shelf piled high with tangerines, crayons, and anything else she can get her paws on.

For Elizabeth, her top bunk is her room. That is the tiny portion of the house she has to herself. And she's already making the most of it.

I'll add another picture tomorrow or this weekend that doesn't seem so sad. Elizabeth isn't sad! It's just the picture, I assure you.

Collecting Bugs on Christmas

Merry Christmas 2012

It was a good Christmas.

This was the first year that Elizabeth was in the Christmas mode that I remember so well from my childhood: super excited and present-crazed. She emptied her stocking before I even knew it and had very difficult time waiting until after breakfast to start shredding the wrapping paper.

Grandma came over, of course, and knocked it out of the park with her presents: Pillow Pets for the girls (cat and unicorn); extremely luxurious Mason Pearson hairbrush for Barb; an under-the-helmet beanie for me, to keep my ears and noggin warm on cold winter bike commutes.  The Pillow Pets thing was weird because none of us adults had ever heard of Pillow Pets -- Grandma just thought the girls would appreciate stuffed animals big enough to be used as pillows -- and yet they're an actual thing that exists and that kids really like. The Swan boys next door, for instance, have two apiece, and brag about it. So the kids were clutching their Pillow Pets all day long, and Elizabeth requested a comb to groom "Uni," as she christened her  pet. Barb brushed the girls's hair with the Mason Pearson and, no hype, their hair looked better than ever. (I guess sometimes expensive things are expensive for a reason.)

We gave Grandma a framed picture of the family that we took at Bette's Place last summer -- only Travis wasn't in it. It was beautiful (and gratifying) to see Mom burst into tears when she unwrapped it. "All my favorite people!" she cried. Well done, Barb.

The plan was to go to Jen and Elwood's for dinner, but there was so much snow on the mountain where they live that they warned us off. Everyone was disappointed and for a while Barb and I were despairing of surviving the day without playmates for the girls. However, Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary's gift of a bug-catching kit saved the day. We used it to get the girls out into the cold and rain, and the fresh air did everyone a world of good. We collected various worms and a snail and a spider and some flying insect -- not bad for December in Oregon! Of course, a couple of the creepy crawlies escaped after being brought inside, but that was sort of inevitable. And well worth it: Barb and I were both fearful we'd go mad until we spent some time out of doors. The cold air and the rain were like a tonic, and we came back into the house feeling that it was warm and cozy rather than stuffy and claustrophobic.

Suzanne got a balance bike from Grandpa -- a very cool wooden model. She loved it but needs to grow an inch or two before it'll be useful. Elizabeth could use it, but so far whenever Elizabeth so much as looks at it Suzanne bares her teeth and emits a growl like a threatened lynx .

Santa got Elizabeth a little shelf and a lamp. She actually asked Santa for these things (well, a bedside table and a lamp, but it'd have to be kind of a tall table as she now sleeps in a top bunk). The shelf is one of those little corner jobbies. The packaging promised a "15 minute installation," something I found bitterly amusing after spending well over an hour fixing it to the wall.  But it's great and she loves it. Hopefully, the lamp over which she has control won't be too big a problem with bedtime. We'll see. What Santa giveth, parents can taketh away.

We spoke briefly with Uncles Mark and Scott, and Grandpa. That was the one part of the day I could have used more of, but a little is better than none.

This year more than any other I felt stressed by the calculus of Christmas: do we have enough presents for each girl; do the presents balance out; does Santa have to give Elizabeth what she asked for?; etc. etc. Barb tried to get me to relax about it, but I didn't, or couldn't. Now having been through it, I'm prepared to try to be more hands-off next year. Kids are just so mercurial I'm not sure my efforts matter. At one point today, after Suzanne had done something Elizabeth didn't like (e.g., destroy her newly built Lego structure for the tenth time), Elizabeth pouted and said, "This wasn't a very merry Christmas at all!" Ten minutes later she's singing about how she can't believe what a great Christmas it was and she wished tomorrow was Christmas, too. I definitely detected some jealousy on Elizabeth's part (Suzanne got a really big present -- the bike -- and she didn't), but on the other hand Elizabeth loves all the presents she got, and she got a lot.

It's now almost ten p.m. and the girls are finally asleep -- I think Barb may have fallen asleep too, in her struggle to pacify Suzanne -- and I am at peace and feeling perfectly contented with the day that we all looked so forward too, and which is now past.

Well, almost perfectly contented: a white Christmas sure would have been nice!

The tree in its pristine glory.

Grandma getting verklempt as she sees the family picture.

The girls in their new PJs. Thanks Aunt Lucy and Uncle Carl!

Elizabeth in her element.

Unwrapping the life-saving bugcatching kit.

Suzanne brushing Grandma's hair with the Mason Pearson. Even though Elizabeth and Grandma are so much alike, I think Suzanne and Grandma may have a closer bond. They're crazy about each other.

Towards the end of the evening: Suzanne is wearing her bug holder and her new underpants; inside the underpants (if you can see that bulge in the front) is the other, smaller, bug-sample bottle that has actual bugs and worms in it. In her panties! It reminds me of a story I read about Darwin. As a boy he loved to capture bugs and study them. One day, he had a bug in each hand when he saw another that he wanted. So he popped one of the bugs from his hands into his mouth and kept it there (alive!) while he chased and caught the third bug. Now that's dedication to science, and so is putting a bug jar full of worms down your panties.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Suzanne!

Suzanne had a fun time at her birthday party. Guests were best friend Jasper and coeval neighbor Ani. She loved her snow suit and book (pictured) and her teddy bear (from Ani) and tea set (from Mommy and Daddy).

OMSI

She likes skulls... but who doesn't?

Last Sunday I took the girls to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. We met Lily and Kai and Wendy, while Barb had a relaxing few hours at home to scrub the floors.  Suzanne loved the water play area (and got soaked!).  Elizabeth played well with Lily and got a kick out of the Grossology exhibit (which was both gross and too scary for Suzanne).

Freaky.

The whirlpool-thing was the best!

End of an Era

Yesterday we put together the bunk bed that we got from Jen and Elwood (thanks, guys).  The girls's old beds went into the basement.  Barb and I both felt like we'd passed a milestone. (Although, we are definitely a tad early to be introducing a bunk bed into our house -- Suzanne can't climb the ladder, and when she's up top she wants to bounce, which is strictly verboten.)

But both girls love love love the new arrangement.

Painting Sisters

Elizabeth House

I can't even keep up with this girl any longer. This is her latest art. Yep, a 4-year-old had the patience and skill to glue walls upright and even attach a mirror (that's the yellow oval) to her house's interior.

She's rocketing beyond me already.

Dang!

Super Reader Suzanne

Suzanne is better at entertaining herself than Elizabeth -- because she has to be, with an older sister who demands a lot of attention.

 

One thing she likes to do is pick up a book and "read." She leafs through the book and chatters a story that probably makes perfect sense to anyone to whom it is intelligible (which at this point is just Suzanne)  Which isn't to say that she doesn't speak clearly and command a large vocabulary. She does. It's just that her reading isn't quite as understandable as her speech.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

Not at all!

Surrey With a Fringe

After years of thinking about it, we finally went down to the waterfront and rented the four-wheeled pedal car they call a surrey. It was twenty bucks for an hour, and well worth it. The thing was exciting and fun to drive (breaking on a downhill gave an especial thrill!), and the kids liked being up front to enjoy the view.

I felt like a tourist in my own town.

The Children's Museum

The Wheeler-Kay-Cohens recommended the Chagall installation at the Children's Museum, so we we went for it. It was definitely worth the trip. The museum is always cool, but with the addition of Chagall, it was better yet. (I'll take Marc Chagall over Clifford the Big Red Dog nine days out of ten.) The best part of the interactive painting exhibit was the simplest: painting! Elizabeth straddled the straddling easel and busted out an awesome tree painting. Daddy and Suzanne collaborated on an abstract piece in brown, purple, and blue.

Elizabeth painting, Chagall-style. Tell me that's not awesome!

Suzanne loved the water current table. One could put in the blue or yellow barriers to direct the flow of the stream, then loose an armada of ducks. It was surprising and super fun. Designed correctly, the stream would send ducks around crazy corners, send them upstream, avoid backwaters, and all sorts of other interesting hydrodynamic peculiarities.

Admiral Suzanne.

Elizabeth exploring the twilight area, playing with translucent Lego blocks on a light table.

Layla's Birthday

We got to Layla's party just in time for Elizabeth to participate in the organized activities. In this picture the kids are learning the rules from the "coach" at the Playground Gym.

We love worms!

Kids Table

I love the kids table!  Especially when it's full of friends.

Hard at Work, Playing

Elizabeth works very hard at drawing, and is getting better all the time. She did this picture today as a gift for our visitors Joshi and Billi and Jennifer. It shows Joshi and Elizabeth with Billi standing on their heads. Suzanne stands to the side.

Her focus on drawing is also nice for me and Barb, because (sometimes, but not always) she'll spend fifteen or twenty minutes absorbed by her work, which gives us a chance to do other things.

Halloween Liveblog #4

Uncle Pat with a peanutbuttercup ear.

Halloween Liveblog #3

Looking over the loot.

Halloween Liveblog #2

Blurry, but the best I could do.

Halloween Liveblog #1

Random Bus Adventure

With nothing to do this rainy Saturday, we decided to hop on a bus and see what happened. (This was mostly Suzanne's idea.  Barb and the girls had taken the car into the shop on Friday and both kids had wanted to take the bus back. But the car didn't need much attention, so they waited and drove back. But the seed of the bus ride idea had been planted.)

What happened is we got quite wet, made an impromptu trip to the PSU farmers market, bought a loaf of bread and a pumpkin cookie, and had a great time.  We also got to field test Suzanne's new winter coat.

Hooray for spontaneity!

Labor Day 2012

Beverly Beach is a huge campground a bit south of Depoe Bay.  To get to the beach, one has to go under Highway 101.  Luckily, Nature provided a stream that runs out of the hills and through the beach into the ocean, which made man (in the form, probably, of the WPA) provide a bridge over the stream to carry the cars, which allows us pedestrian campers to walk under the bridge to the beach.

Nice!

We camped with Brian and Teresa and Riley and Charlie the Poodle.  Weather was awesome and Elizabeth & Riley were a great team (until maybe the last day, when they got kind of sick of each other and started bickering), and we spent more time on the sand than I maybe ever have in my life -- all day, pretty much.

It was great.

One of the best things about this trip was the breakthrough we experienced with Suzanne's relationship with Teresa. Suzanne just loved hanging with Aunt Teresa, after shunning her for a year and a half.  You've finally come to your senses, girl, because Teresa's awesome!

This was our first car camping trip where we brought a suitcase instead of my 1985-vintage external frame backpack as the primary clothes-carrier.  It worked out a lot better, in my opinion.  Suzanne liked to sit in it and get her diaper changed on it.

Brian brought a kite, and shared well with the kids. The enormously powerful Oregon coast winds tore it out of his grasp at one point, but I was able to dive atop the reel of string as it bounced across the sands.  A moment of triumph.

If they were a band, this would be the album cover.

Suzanne's reaction to seeing a centipede: priceless!

We had gone on a hike along the stream and it ended in a meadow full of daisies (and a couple of centipedes... and about a hundred mole holes.)  Elizabeth wasn't freaked out, she just looks that way in this picture.

Mom and baby in the hammock.

For most of the trip, the beach was -- miraculously! -- not windy.  On the last day, though, the wind did its usual thing: howling like mad, spitting sand in your eyes, etc.  Elizabeth and Riley sought refuge in this little dugout cave and wouldn't budge until we said we were going back to the campsite.

Between our campsite and the next was this little swamp.  Elizabeth and Riley didn't discover it until late in the weekend, but once they did it was hard to keep them out of it.  In true Larrison tradition, Elizabeth fell in the mud and got soaked.  Plus, they caught a tadpole.