Monday, May 19, 2008

Other People's Pictures

Creativity and time are still eluding me, so I did what any blogger with writer’s block would do…post pictures! The boys’ teachers gave me a snapshot from each of my Mothers’ Day Teas last week, and my mom brought her camera over this morning so I could take any of the pictures off of it that I wanted. I would love a photo of my new nephew to add to this collection, but my sister-in-law’s computer isn’t cooperating.

The boys and Grandpa at the Zoo


C.B. and Banana with Mr. H


Big D keeping his eye on the ball


C.B. is up to bat


Nice action shot, Grandma!


Miss M getting into the catcher's gear


Big D and me at his Mother's Day Tea


C.B. and me at his Mother's Day Tea

Saturday, May 03, 2008

It Has Begun

The month of May is when things really start to get crazy around here, and this May is no exception. Things are starting to wrap up at school, so there are special projects to work on, plays to attend, field trips, etc. There are year-end events for other groups we’re involved with as well, such as Girl Scouts and Sunday School. I have two Mothers Day Teas to attend on Wednesday. And then there are the ballgames.

This year three of the kids will be playing ball. Thankfully the boys will be on the same team for this one year so there are only two teams to keep up with. However, my husband is managing both of those teams. Not only does he have two practices a week between the two teams, but the calendar often lists three games in a week’s time – sometimes four. On a couple of Saturdays Miss M and the boys have a game at the exact same time, in two different places of course. It’s going to be exciting to watch him divide himself into two dads!

Baseball season was officially kicked off this morning. The boys played their first game at 9:00 in their long pants and long sleeves. It was only 54 degrees, which is why Banana and I stayed home with Mr. H. That’s just too chilly for the little guy. Besides, there will be plenty of other warmer games for us to watch before the season is over in July.

Here are some of the highlights from this morning’s game…

Big D stepped up to the plate and impressed Coach Dad with his stance and his attitude. I know he played last year, but he really looked confident. He hit a nice pop fly and ran like the wind to first base. Unfortunately, a player from the other team was able to catch it.

This baseball season marks C.B.’s first foray into organized sports. Any type of ball he has played thus far has been in our backyard. I am proud to say that he managed not to strike out during any of his at bats this morning. He did ground out, but at least he made contact with the ball.

When the boys came home I asked them how the game went. They each responded with a variation of the word COLD. It turns out they actually called the game early because the kids were freezing. I am glad I stayed nice and warm at home with the little ones.

Miss M’s softball season will start on Tuesday evening. Details of that game to come.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Validation

I have a love/hate relationship with Banana’s hair. It is extremely curly, yet soft and fine and very difficult to comb. She and I both dread the daily combing routine. She dreads the pain of the tangles and I dread the pain of her shrieking. When it is combed, however, it looks adorable.

The hair-combing routine is somewhat time-consuming as well. When I was getting ready for the hospital and knew that the grandmas were going to be taking care of the kids for a while, I composed a list of instructions. The longest and most detailed bit of information was about how to comb Banana’s hair. I knew they were going to dread it even more than I do because it is tough on a grandma to do something her grandchild dislikes. But they did what they had to do, God love ‘em both.

I have always regarded my children’s appearance as an outward sign of my mothering skills. You know, like you make them change if there are holes in their clothes, or you ask them to wipe the jelly off of their faces before leaving for school. I am particularly aware of the state of Banana’s hair when we are out and about. At an Adoption Workshop about transracial families I once attended, hair was one of the topics of discussion. One of the fathers there said he felt like his ability to parent his bi-racial child was often judged by others based on how his child’s hair looked. The woman who was giving the workshop was an African-American and an adoptive mother. She stated without mincing words that the man was right. White parents are judged by the way their African-American or bi-racial children’s hair is cared for, especially by other African-Americans. I know that every parent wants their child to look their best, but I feel like this information added even more pressure for me to keep up with Banana’s hair.

Which is why it was so encouraging when I was stopped in the hallway at the doctor’s office this morning by an African-American mother who wanted to know how I got Banana’s hair to look so nice. She told me that her daughter’s hair was just like Banana’s. She said it looked great when it was wet, but she couldn’t seem to keep the curls looking soft after her hair dried. I was actually able to give her advice! It was so refreshing I just had to share it here, especially for the grandmas’ sakes.

Health Update

Mr. H had an appointment at the pediatrician’s office this morning. She is closely monitoring our little once since he gave us such a scare at the hospital. He is doing wonderfully well. He is a mere ounce away from weighing ten pounds, and has not had any reflux related episodes since leaving the hospital. He has not spit up at all and he has not set off any of the alarms on the respiration monitor. However, the doctor would like to keep him on Zantac and she’d like us to continue using the monitor until he is two months old.

I asked the doc to take a look at C.B. while we were there because he still has that darn fever. Since I gave him Motrin this morning he did not have temperature while we were in the office. His ears looked fine, blood pressure was good, they took a urine sample which was also fine, and they even did a rapid strep test which was negative. (Although I’m not sure how much I trust those since my husband’s rapid test also came back negative, but he actually did have strep!) Anyway, it appears he just has a fever, and we’re just supposed to watch for other symptoms to possibly emerge. The good news is that nobody else seems to have gotten whatever C.B.’s got…YET!