Ok ladies, get ready to SWEAT!
1, 2, 3, and lift!
LIFT that 20 lb baby...
UP off the floor.
UP out of the crib!
UP out of the tub!
and UP off the floor again!
UP off the floor again!
Okaaaaaaaaaay, 1, 2, 3 and BEND!
Bend right down,
pick up that block,
pick up that cube,
pick up that elephant, now...
REPEAT!
Repeat!
Repeat!
Repeat!
Get ready, turn around and RUN!
Catch that baby before he falls over and hits his head!
CATCH that baby before he pulls the recycling bin over!
Catch that baby before he yanks Pawlene's tail again!
CATCH that baby before he eats the cat food!
Great work, ladies, keep it up and REPEAT!
Repeat!
Repeat!
Repeat, and sleep!
OK, Ready, now Lift, Bend, Catch, Repeat!
And sip that coffee! Catch! Catch! Catch! Repeat!
Ready for the big laundry lift?
Ok here we go:
Bend DOWN, get that wet sleeper off the floor!
Stand UP throw that onesie in the hamper and....
Bend DOWN pick up that tiny baby sock and
Stand UP, pull every last diaper out of the dryer,
Pull, pull, pull, PULL!
Bend DOWN pick up the hamper and RUN!
...to the nursery at the opposite end of the house!
and RUN! to the kitchen before the baby tips over the recycling bin...
and RUN back to the living room to
Pick up those toys, pick up those toys, pick up those toys!
Ready, now, REPEAT!
Repeat!
Repeat!
Repeat!
FEEL the burn!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Peter is 8 months old!
And we made it through Christmas. Peter is still a happy, babbling baby. He notices new things now, and becomes quickly bored with all of his old toys. Cupboards full of breakable serving platters are SO much more interesting than a tired old Sophie giraffe. Not crawling yet, but that adventure is just over the horizon...
The more Peter grows, the more things stay the same. Martin is still sick. Erika will never again make a 12-layer mocha cake. It was wonderful having Erika's parents in town for too short a time.
I received a personalized L.L. Bean place mat and a purple, knit octopus for Christmas, but my favorite Christmas gift was the stuffed wolf that Uncle Bill gave to the entire Kosina family. We hang out in front of the gas fire together. More often than not these days, as the weather in San Francisco has been feeling really cold to us lately. Cold, that is, until we check out the temperatures in some of the places our friends and family live (Prague, Portland, New York, Minnesota - BRRR!).
Our biggest Christmas adventure was dinner on Christmas Eve. Erika ordered the traditional Willett feast (Dungeoness crab) from our favorite local butcher, expecting to pick up four nicely cracked crustaceans on December 24 for a quick, low-maintenance meal. Upon arriving at the (slammed) butcher store, she was told that her crabs were waiting, but they weren't cracked. In fact, they weren't even dead. Fast forward a few hours later to introducing Peter to CLAWS out on the deck, and George and Laurene Willett to the rescue. They've done this before. Without even a whimper, the crabs slipped into two nice hot tubs prepared especially for them and an hour later we had a lovely dinner.
That's about all I have right now, except a quick plug for the movie Milk. Erika and Martin saw this film about the life of Harvey Milk a few weeks ago at the Castro theater, and Erika had tears in her eyes at the end, when a PACKED 1400-seat theater stood and clapped as the credits rolled. What a life. What a film. What a place to see it. It really puts proposition 8 into perspective.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Sick
My day doesn't change much when I'm sick. I sneeze a little bit, and then curl up in a warm spot until I feel better. Maybe I sleep 15 minutes more than my normal 22 hours. But for my favorite human companions, it's a little different. And since all of them seem to be suffering today to some degree, I get to observe first hand.
Peter is most similar to me. He still sits, playing with his toys and smiling away, just with the addition of a stream of snot running out of both nostrils. His tongue is out a lot more since he is breathing through his mouth, but this just makes him cuter. Same with his baby noises. "Mah mah mah" turns into "Bah bah bah" and really there's not much of a difference.
Martin is the sickest, and he has gone through the most extreme metamorphosis. Instead of striding around the house in search of his backpack, banging on and swearing at the keyboard, and chatting Peter up with a silly monologue of half Czech, half baby talk as he tosses him in the air, he is huddled in bed under the covers wearing a t-shirt, a wool sweater, and his flannel robe. Still glued to the keyboard, of course, but in a much more low-key way. He speaks softly, asking politely for a dish of potatoes with a little bit of ketchup, more tea, a glass of water. I'm sticking with him today to give him a little extra warmth and moral support.
Erika gets nostalgic when she gets sick. She remembers the days when her parents would bring her orange sherbet and 7-up in bed and allow her to watch as much TV as she liked. These days being sick is a great excuse to cut back on the "shoulds" during this busy holiday season and focus more on the things she finds relaxing, but never seems to have time to do. For instance, yesterday instead of writing thank you notes, she read magazines. And instead of wrapping Christmas presents, she went to bed at 9:15pm. Guilty pleasures.
On that same topic, Erika has just been reading about a program that started in the overachieving town of Ridgewood, New Jersey. Each Wednesday is "Ready, Set, Relax" day. This is a day on which no homework is assigned, no extra-curricular activities are attended, and no plans are made. It forces families to stay home and hang out together, and for fun to spontaneously arise. There is a similar program that takes this one step further - no electronic equipment allowed. No cell phones. No computers. No DVDs. Nothing with an "on" button. Imagine the possibilities when you are forced to actually interact with each other! Erika's new favorite quote:
"Technology...the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it." (Max Frisch, architect, 1911-91)
Now there's nothing wrong with a nice warm laptop keyboard, but a day when everyone stops typing and just focuses on petting ME? Now we're talking...
Peter is most similar to me. He still sits, playing with his toys and smiling away, just with the addition of a stream of snot running out of both nostrils. His tongue is out a lot more since he is breathing through his mouth, but this just makes him cuter. Same with his baby noises. "Mah mah mah" turns into "Bah bah bah" and really there's not much of a difference.
Martin is the sickest, and he has gone through the most extreme metamorphosis. Instead of striding around the house in search of his backpack, banging on and swearing at the keyboard, and chatting Peter up with a silly monologue of half Czech, half baby talk as he tosses him in the air, he is huddled in bed under the covers wearing a t-shirt, a wool sweater, and his flannel robe. Still glued to the keyboard, of course, but in a much more low-key way. He speaks softly, asking politely for a dish of potatoes with a little bit of ketchup, more tea, a glass of water. I'm sticking with him today to give him a little extra warmth and moral support.
Erika gets nostalgic when she gets sick. She remembers the days when her parents would bring her orange sherbet and 7-up in bed and allow her to watch as much TV as she liked. These days being sick is a great excuse to cut back on the "shoulds" during this busy holiday season and focus more on the things she finds relaxing, but never seems to have time to do. For instance, yesterday instead of writing thank you notes, she read magazines. And instead of wrapping Christmas presents, she went to bed at 9:15pm. Guilty pleasures.
On that same topic, Erika has just been reading about a program that started in the overachieving town of Ridgewood, New Jersey. Each Wednesday is "Ready, Set, Relax" day. This is a day on which no homework is assigned, no extra-curricular activities are attended, and no plans are made. It forces families to stay home and hang out together, and for fun to spontaneously arise. There is a similar program that takes this one step further - no electronic equipment allowed. No cell phones. No computers. No DVDs. Nothing with an "on" button. Imagine the possibilities when you are forced to actually interact with each other! Erika's new favorite quote:
"Technology...the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it." (Max Frisch, architect, 1911-91)
Now there's nothing wrong with a nice warm laptop keyboard, but a day when everyone stops typing and just focuses on petting ME? Now we're talking...
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