Poop happens.

Kira is 2 years and 5 months old. She has been toilet training since last September, so about 10 months.

10. Months.

So far, she goes first thing in the morning. She doesn't bring home many soiled articles from school now, so we are feeling pretty good about her daytime toileting habits. She wears a pull up at night.

At home, we have one training potty upstairs but bought a second one (a "princess potty", complete with sounds that go off at random times and also when she pees) for downstairs so that we could get to her quickly if she started to have an accident.

Today's trip to Target was an experience, though.  So, if you're squeamish, you might want to return to Facebook and read about something a little more tame, like the couple that got struck by lightning and rescued by a passing cop. Sorry for the morbid humor, but some people actually get more grossed out by poop stories!

So here's what happened: Kira has a day off from school today, but Zachary doesn't. So I took the day off to stay home with her. We went to Target to get some new undies (ironically). Before we left, she used the toilet. ("Hurray!" said the 8-bit audio chip through the tiny speaker under the seat).

We had a wonderful time at Target, she behaved well and we finished our shopping. I should have come home then, but nooooooooo...

I decided to take her to Snooze for brunch. It was just me and my little girl, and she deserves pancakes. And so do I.  So we go to the restaurant.  As you know, Snooze is a popular hang, so we were on a 30 minute waiting list.

Lesson #1: Kira does not like public restrooms.
It's odd, but she has gone to public restrooms in the past with success. For some reason, the last couple of times we've gone out she refuses to sit on the toilet.  But I thought, "It's only been 90 minutes since her last trip to the potty. She'll be fine".  We went to the bathroom anyway but she refused to sit.  Maybe it's the loud toilets and super-loud hand dryer (Excellerator (sp?)). 

Finally, we get seats at the restaurant.

We ordered our pancakes and about 5 minutes later, she said, "Poop".

"Okay let's go", I said, sweeping her off of the padded bench seat. We got to the toilet and she refused to sit.  "DAT ONE,", she said, point at the Koala Care® pull-out table.

"Those are for babies who wear diapers," I said.

"DAT ONE!!!!" She insisted. So I put her up there and sure enough, she had a tiny poop stain in her undies.

"No problem", I assured her. I cleaned her up and we went back to our booth.  On the way back, we passed some booster chairs.  "Dat one?" she asked.  I sighed. "Sure, you can have a booster seat".  So I took her back to our table and put the booster on the padded bench.  We colored the children's menu together.

Lesson #2: "Butt hurts" means what you think it means, especially after your kid says "poop". You have t-minus 0 seconds to get your kid to a toilet.

After a while, Kira said, "Butt hurts."

"Let's go," I said, and we hurried back to the restroom. The waiter was bringing our food so I gave him the thumbs up to leave it for us.

She didn't even want to go in this time.  I started thinking it was time to go home.  So we head back to our seats and she sees some high chairs.

"Dat one?"  she asked.
"Kira, you already have a booster..." I started.

"DAT ONNNNNNEEEEEE", she insisted. Not screaming, but I wanted to avoid a scene so I picked it up and carried it over to our table.

I was just getting it set up and moving the booster, when oops! I spilled the orange juice.  All over her pancake.  The waiters were very nice and offered to bring us a new pancake. The couple next to us was very nice while the waiters mopped the floor.  Despite the niceties, all I'm thinking is, "ya'll better hurry up with this damn new pancake, I've got t-minus..."

So we dig into our scrambled eggs. Kira's doing well.  Actually, everything was very nice at mealtime.  The pancake arrived in a short amount of time.  I was shoving food down my face.  But it was delicious and we enjoyed it. And then...

Lesson #3: You did not heed the warnings. It is too late.

So we head to the car, and I open the door, and Kira stands in the door, and cacas all over the doorway into the car.  There we are, in the Southglenn mall parking lot with the car door wide open, and I am using every thing in the car that resembles paper to get this mess cleaned up. Paper towels, Kleenex, some Windex wipes (not on her, of course!) ...  UGGGGHHHHHHHH.

Lesson #4: It's a good thing to have paper and plastic bags in the car.

Fortunately, I had spare pants for her and home is just 5 minutes away. So we came home.  She still had to poop, so she sat on her princess potty and finished what I hope is the summer's most epic pooping session.

Lesson #5: I love my parents more than ever.

Thanks mom and dad, I'm sure I did the same thing to you. And I turned out okay.  Anyway, after reading 5 books to her (very fast and every other page), she lay down for her nap.

Peace out, and props to all the moms and dads out there.  Poop happens, you just have to be ready for it.

Snake dream

I know some of you are subscribed here to read about my adventures in England. You're welcome to keep reading, but be forewarned I'm back to more of a "stream of consciousness" posting style now that I'm back in the USA. This post is about a dream I had last night. So here it goes... I dreamt last night that I was floating/swimming in murky water. I overheard something (a radio? people's voices?) saying, "they found the missing couple". This couple had survived exposure to the elements by plastering wet mud over their bodies. I regarded the banks of the murky river wondering why - if they were so close to the banks to get mud - didn't they just get out of the water. As the dream continued, I realized I was holding on to something in order to stay afloat. I accidentally maneuvered into a small bay/inlet, and saw black snakes in the water. I tried to leave the bay but was unable to paddle or swim out. One bit me on the foot, and another bit me on the other foot. Then I woke up. Now back to lucidity: Those who know me are aware of my association through snakes via my mom. (I have another dream to share about that - not sure when I'll post it). I recall trying to associate the word "asp" with the snake, but I looked up "asp" and that wasn't the snake I saw: The snakes in my dream were flat, long, and black. Couldn't find any similar pictures on the 'net. ANYWAY. I can only think of a couple of non-psychic reasons why I dreamt this. One is that my daughter (1 y.o.) has razor sharp teeth and has been biting me. It drives me bat shit crazy. (Love her.) I also took a "floatie" to the storage shed yesterday. One of those 4' long, green, styrofoam deals. As for the psychic reasons, well, I looked up a bunch of snake dreams and all I see is BAD NEWS. You can talk about death in the transformative sense, but ... well, all I can say is, "DUCK". P.S. Andy also had a dream about shards in his thumb and woke up with some sort of insect bite. Zachary had a nightmare at about 4:30 am, I haven't heard him that upset in a long time. What to make of it all....

Leslie's Labor and Delivery story: Kira

I know most of you signed up to my blog to hear about our family's adventures in York, England. But it is a blog, after all! So, now it gets personal.

I am trying to type as fast as I can since Kira is fast asleep right now, and I just woke from a nap myself. So pardon any typos and non sequiturs!

I was hoping she'd be born on time, which as far as I was concerned was January 16. But the doc had given me a due date of January 23, which gave us plenty of wiggle room, pardon the expression. So you can imagine my disappointment when January 30 rolled around and I was looking an induction square in the eye.

That weekend I had been having contractions every, oh, 30 minutes; but the timespan for those contractions was only about 2 - 4 hours and then they'd stop. Sure, she might come out soon, but we were in week 41, or even 42 based on my own calculation. Everyone reassured me this (induction) was the right thing to do, although I could have opted out. I wanted relief but I also wanted things to happen naturally. (After all, Kira, you did seem like you were really damned determined to get here in the first place!)

We got the call from Rose Hospital at around 10 pm that night. I hadn't really rested that day. They told me I could have a snack but nothing to eat once the drugs were administered. I had Carr's Water Crackers, some brie, and a Reese's peanut butter cup. (And yes, I am allergic to peanuts, but can you prove there are real peanuts in an RPBC? It's not a fatal allergy anyway. Leemelone.)

Yes. So we got to the hospital and I started crying. I was scared and disappointed, to be honest. It was a lot of nerves built up over time, more than anything. Once we were admitted we followed the nurse up to the labor and delivery ward. I was mad because when I had Zachary my contractions had started (5-1-1) and I had a wheelchair. No wheelchair for the non-laboring mother!

When I say "we", I mean myself, Andy, and Kellie, my sister.

We arrived in the room, and they gave me drug #1 around midnight to "ripen the cervix". (Oh, it gets waaaay more gross if you want to stop reading now). I think I went to sleep; Kellie went back to her hotel, and Andy tried to sleep on the little pull-out bed. The next drug - "the meanie", would be administered at 4 am.

I think at 4 am I was still only dilated 1 cm!!! The nurse "helped me out" with the another 2-3 cm ... er, manually. Then they gave the pitocin. This motherf------. I was fine as long as I was on my left side, but then I wanted to lay on my right side. Why'd I want to do that. I rolled over to my right side and it was on like Donkey Kong. The contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes -- with no preceding "oh honey I think it's time to go to the hospital the contractions are getting closer" chapter. Nope. Right to major pain land. So I asked for an epidural. Which I got soon enough, but this time the catheter became the main pain source. (With Zachary, there weren't any catheter issues).

Not long after that, my water broke. In a very unusual place - on the birthing table. Without the baby. (The sac came out by itself). Ha - are you ready to go back to Facebook now, you wuss????

What was most unsettling was that at that point I had four nurses standing around me, the baby warmer was ready to go, but the lead nurse had this to say to me: "um, your doctor is on her way here". Yepperrrr. So they stood looking at me for about 10 minutes. I felt like I had to push. So I said, "I feel like I have to push". No one really knew how to respond to that, I guess, cause no one did. So I thought I'd better wait, if I could. IF.

Finally, the doctor arrived. She wasn't really expecting me to go into labor so fast, and said as much. We laughed. Oh, fun times.

The good news is, I only had to do three sets of three pushes, and then one last Biiiiiiig one. Kira came tumbling out at 7:14 am. I cried, she cried. It was a beautiful miracle which of course words cannot express.

I was glad that she could lay on my chest for a while before she was tagged and weighed. I think all mothers hate that part. Give me my baby! The nurses were a cheerful bunch but I just wanted to hold her.

After that, things are a blur. At some point I arrived in my recovery suite; a little extra money for a little better food, a better bed for Dad, and a Jacuzzi for mommy. Anyone who's been keeping up with our family knows about the drama we came home to after our journey abroad, so you'll forgive me for splurging!!

My cousin Tonia sent the most beautiful "baby girl" balloons! My mother and my son, Zachary, were able to visit the next day, and Kellie was able to stay for most of the morning before returning to DC.

So that's how Kira was born on January 31, 2012.

Coming Home

Neither I, nor Andy, nor Mom can believe that we've got less than a week before we depart York! That was a long, short three months. I feel my research is in a good place, but there's plenty more to do. What have I learned while being in York? Well, my most recent observation is that black tights are all the rage right now. Maybe one in four women at any time is rockin' those black tights! Also, it amazes me that such diverse regional dialects can exist in a region the size of my home state - but as Andy points out, the population density here is enormous. I've learned that being able to go anywhere, anytime and get food is a luxury I've taken for granted. And I miss warm water! Having to choose between "scalding" and "freezing" is no fun - most places in England have separate cold and hot water taps. I notice these are superficial observations, but it will probably be a while before I can really reflect on how the trip has REALLY made an impact. (I'm sure you'll "stay tuned"!) Many people love York because it's a beautiful city with lots of history. It's definitely full of tourists, transplants, and natives alike. Transportation here is pretty good, except for the [expletive] number 4 bus which advertises buses every 10 minutes but don't quite deliver on that promise. Otherwise it's easy to get around. Probably even easier if you're not pregnant!! During our time here, Zachary has learned to walk, and is talking quite a lot. Not words, per se, but he's got baby speak down pat. "Ca?" means car, cow, and quack. "Eeeeee!" means horsie. And "mum-mum" means "I want some of what you're eating". He is mastering feeding himself (yogurt anyway) and drinking from a small cup or glass. I love 'im. Our trip back is going to be complicated. Lots of "hops" to make: first to Andy's parents, then to London Heathrow (plane leaves at 11:00 am but they want us to check in 3 hours early!), then to my sister's home in DC, and then to Denver! We're going to be travel-weary when we get home, for sure!! Well, of course I have to blog in between Zachary's naps and other activities, so it's time to bring this blog to a close. I've got more pictures to post, so look for those soon! (If you missed it, the last installment of pics was here): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150422426611465.374624.622256464&type=1&l=2035bb1f36

England has the flu

That's right, the whole country has the flu. It's claimed everyone in my family, and I had 3 students miss class last Wednesday! We are all sick, there is no escaping the England Flu. In other news... I'm helping plan the upcoming Ambisonics conference in 2012, which is being co-hosted with the AES. I have seen some amazing venues for playback, and I'm hoping we get great demos. Of course, I'll be in the US for the conference, but it's exciting nonetheless! Andy's family brought by a keyboard for Zachary to do his "doo bee doos", as I call them. He's standing at the piano now, which is in front of the TV, coughing, playing the piano, and watching Pocoyo. Mom LOVES it when "Zachary's show" is on. Ironically, "his show" is on DVD, I haven't actually seen a broadcast of it, even though Stephen Fry is the narrator. Go figure! As for my research, I'll be able to accomplish what I've set out to do although I'm VERY disappointed in the lack of support for blu-ray authoring. The Occupy High Fidelity movement seems to be a complete failure at the moment, but I'm doing my part! I do have more pictures, but I've got the flu and my brain is foggy right now. I hope you're enjoying the blogs, perhaps I'll write a blockbuster one of these days, but for now I'll be signing off. Stay healthy you all! Yours, Leslie

The week's haps

Hello loyal readers, :) This has been an interesting week! Setbacks, exhaustion and breakthroughs. It looks like the move has really messed with Zachary's sleep; he had gotten on a routine and now that's blown out of the water; new place, no consistency = restless sleep. Which means *we* don't sleep. I think it was Thursday when me, Andy and mom were ALL worn out!!! But, we've contacted our "sleep expert" and she's helping us with some strategies to help our little guy get some rest. If you know me, you know that my life revolves around how well Zachary sleeps, so I hope it doesn't sound like I'm "whining", but ... hey, what do ya do. But in other news, I've finally had a breakthrough in my research, which involves Java programming for Blu-Ray. This GD thing! The technology and tools are about 4 years old, but no one really uses it, so there is zero support out there on the web. Fortunately, I have talked with some AES gurus which have provided some well-needed insight. On the cultural exchange side, I met two drunken racegoers on the way back from Ascot. He was hitting on every woman within four seats, including me and my mom! He had been "chatting up this bird" from somewhere or another, which was fine, but she left the train about four stops before us. I knew we were in for it when I heard "Oy! 'ave you seen the Desmonds?" He meant the TV show. I replied, "yes, actually, the show about the Jamaican hair shop" and he picked up on my accent. Then it was really on. "Ah! Are you from Iowa?? OH! IOWA AY! IOWA OOH! IOWA AH AH AH" (Or something) and he and his brother sang together. It was ... yeah. And then he explained that he spoke a dialect called Geordie. (They were from Newcastle.) And he tried to teach me a phrase, which I think was "I'm no wee in shite". I asked him what it meant, and he said he didn't know, but it's something that you say when you disagree with someone. Our other "cultural activity" was a little more civilized. :) We joined Catherine and Helen, who work at the Uni. They took us on a fantastic tour of Castle Howard, and prepared a lovely tea for us afterwards. I shall provide pictures, as soon as I fine the cable for my camera! That's it for now, but in the meantime, I'll leave you with this gem: "Gizza brun jack and dinna blaw the top off!"

Induction week at U. of York!

Ah, today was the day I was waiting for! A chance to meet the new students, and learn about their backgrounds. I think I counted four students from China, one from the Ukraine, one from New York (!), one from North Wales, and three from the Yorkshire area. Out of about 11, four students are female! Go girls. :) Many backgrounds: Electrical engineering, music production, and composition. This means that some students know about audio technology and some /don't/. As my fellow instructors know, this can be a challenge; but since they're all postgrad, they should pick up on things quickly.

On the home front, it was great to see my sister Kellie and nephew Ryan! They "blew into town" last week. We went to the races, which was great since I'm right next to the racecourse -- we just walked over. Kellie was the big winner that day! We got to see some VERY rowdy racegoers on the bus to the pub afterwards, and had a very nice meal there. It's called the Royal Oak and has gotten great reviews on Trip Advisor. Thanks to Dave Malham for the recommendation!

Unfortunately, little Zachary had the 24-hour flu (or something!). Andy stayed at home with him. But he is much better now, eating more than ever (tuna melts! tomato soup! cheese-on-toast!), and getting better at walking. When he feels like it, that is!

Well, I'm at the Uni as I write this, so I'm going to get back to work. Sorry - no pictures this time around, but if you're on Facebook you can always see the latest gwan's on.

-TA

A week's worth of musings

Now, if I had my iPhone, this would make more sense. Each of these thoughts would come through with its own title, date, and context. But as I have got no iPhone, this is going to sound like a bunch of rambling. So, hold on to yer hats...

...the latest thing has to do with how I'm going to sound when I get back to Denver. Between having the accent rub off on me, the pregnancy hormones, and jet lag, I'm going to sound like a crazy woman who's taken on some pretentious way of talking. Case in point: today, I was invited to join a session taking mic measurements. This was after a large lunch, and one of the researchers joked, "you can come watch us take a nap". Then I said, "I shall". WTF? "I /shall/"? Who talks like that? Well, spend a few months in the UK and you'll notice that you (as an American) do not have a British vocabulary, so you fall back on what you THINK sounds British. And you are wrong, very wrong. Neither Americans or Brits will know what your problem is.

Other observations: "Ta" means "thanks". But again, as an American, don't try to say it. /You/ are saying "ta" as in "ta ta, see you later". And it sounds like "tahhhh" to the native ear, not the expertly elocuted "ta" of the Northerner.
"Cheers" means thanks. Again, leave this one to the locals.
"Thanks" means thanks. This is your best bet.
"Thank you" means "I'm an American". But still a safe bet.

They do not know what grape jelly is here, nor grape jam. So I have to get some from home! Furthermore once they hear of such a thing, they wonder aloud why they don't already have it.

My new GP (general practitioner) is pretty heavy handed when feeling my tummy for the baby. Poor baby, getting all mushed around. :( Female doctor, too.

The chips (french fries) here are amazing anywhere you go. I eat them a lot.

I need new shoes. The walk from my house to the nursery is like going from UCD's campus to somewhere on the 16th street mall. A little less than bearable.

I want a clothes dryer! Not liking the drying rack.

I saw my second hot air balloon in a week. What's up with that?

"Mixer taps" are better than the separate taps (faucets) in the bathroom. Want warm water? Fill the sink. *groan*. But the kitchen sink has a mixer tap. Seriously, what's up with that?

Well, I'm sure I'll have more to say. Don't forget to check out my latest pics at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150338277571465.359469.622256464&l=6d2de4e689&type=1

First days in York

First day at York

I was very tired because Zachary had a rough night. But I was determined not to miss my first day!

It was a nice walk, but then when I dropped off Zachary I noticed a cycle shop. So rented ("hired") a bike! Much better for my footsies, but not a great idea for pregnant moms. Eventually I will have to figure out how to take the bus here.

I toured the studios and got my key today. No Pro Tools! So I will have to convert all of my files. No problem, I've got time, right? Tomorrow I will bring my hard drives and disc burner.

It's nice not being on a "paved" campus. And I have a window office! :P

To see pictures, click here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150328884226465.357495.622256464&l=0aefa5ad74&type=1

Fulbright Day 2

This was an intense day of walking! Seeing houses of parliament was great, and we had a lively discussion inside one of its meeting rooms. The view of the Thames from parliament was pretty indescribable! Another memorable moment was seeing a sculpture of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Westminster Abbey among other 20th century martyrs. That was a very moving sight. We had a lovely tour with lots of history, none of which I can remember :) but if you'd like to see some pictures, they're here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150322771786465.356154.622256464&l=1dcc039052&type=1

Fulbright begins!

I'm in London at orientation. Andy and Zachary and mom and Martin (Andy's dad) are back in York at our house (a "rowhouse" type thing, or "terrace house"). I can't stand being away from them! But orientation is going well. There are many fascinating people here doing very interesting work. Although most people are very jet lagged, I think the personal introductions held everyone's interest. There are only a couple of "over 40s" teaching around England, like myself. The majority are students working on PhDs or postdocs. Everyone in the entire group was asked to present a "fun fact". Mine was that I play bass in a band. There are also two euphonium players, two people who can ride unicycles, a former figure skater, and one man who told a story about being airlifted from a volcano. There are microbiologists and neurologists, musicians and anthropologists, historians and philosophers. We'll be scattered all over the UK doing our "thang".

We did a hell of a lot of walking to various venues, and my legs are sore. I can't wait to rest up for tomorrow's activities.

For pictures of orientation, follow this link!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150321360916465.355888.622256464&l=36ef18beb6&type=1

Fulbright orientation this week!

For those of you kind enough (and interested enough) to subscribe to my blog - thank you! It's been difficult getting things up and running, and I notice that several posts don't appear until 1 day later (or more). I'm hoping to iron out those wrinkles, as well as post more photos. I just got a new phone since my old Blackberry is not up to the task of today's "social networking" demands. The new phone, however, has a different set of problems. Grr.

Zachary will visit the Montessori tomorrow. I'm a little worried about the neighborhood, since it's surrounded by auto mechanics, metal works and the like. But I'm hoping the inside is more visually appealing!

On Tuesday, the Fulbright orientation begins. As I make the 2 hour journey to London by train, I hope to figure out how to make the blogging go more smoothly. The itinerary looks very promising, complete with photo ops and visits to very prestigious institutions, including Parliament. Of course, there's more to follow!

september 7: to London

We had a great time enjoying my sister's hospitality before our trip to London. Zachary is asleep right now on my lap as we await departure on the plane. Hopefully we will all get some rest - another big travel day tomorrow!@

A stopover in DC

Greetings from the nation's capital! We're visiting my sister for a few days before the trip to London. I haven't taken any pictures, but we've had a great time. I saw my cousins, Sharon and Calvin; Andy and I went to Adams Morgan for some delicious Indian food; and we managed to record Pocoyo for Zachary to watch. Zachary is having a great time in Kellie's place, which has lots and lots of floor space and stairs. He took to the stairs in no time - then again, he's had lots of practice with his "toy" steps at home and the work at the Mac nido!

Tomorrow is the big day: we leave at 6:40 pm EST. We're hoping Zachary sleeps on the plane. Send us "happy baby travel" thoughts!!

T minus two days and counting!

"Are you ready", you ask? Um, no. No, we're not: I still have to clean up my office and buy sugar-free syrup to take on the trip. (Not gonna find sugar-free syrup in the UK, no way no how!) Gotta do laundry! Gotta clean out the fridge! Gotta set out my passport!

But believe it or not, I'm packed. And Zachary is packed. Andy is catching up with us, doing laundry as I type this.

Yesterday was Zachary's last day at school. I hate saying "last day", because he'll be returning next year. But it was his last day in the "nido" ("nest", or nursery), because he'll be a toddler when he comes back! I took a picture of him with his great teachers and friends.



A special "thank you" to Dana for being a great source of support and encouragement. I think she knows us mommies need her, too!

So, yeah, what am I doing on the computer? Gotta go folks - more adventures to come.

Dossier's done, now packing - fun!

Still getting ready to go!

"Just keep swimming, just - keep - swim - ming!" (-Dori from "Finding Nemo").

It's 8:08 am. Zachary is not wearing a shirt (his laundry is in the dryer), Pocoyo is on, I have two baskets of my own laundry to fold in front of me, and I'm ... on the computer?? I'm doing this for /you/, mi publica. 'Cause you'll want this when the Fulbright begins, right? :)

Finish dossier? Check! Go to England? Almost check!

All right, I'm starting up the blog again. Right now it's not very exciting, of course: I got hooked on Facebook and gave up the blog years ago. But, since not everyone is on Facebook ("the devil" you say), I'd better learn what new features are on this thing. Remember when I posted here with my Blackberry? Well, that might happen again soon. I wonder what Vodafones "pay as you go" rates are like for data plans...

Facebook vs Blog

Facebook is winning.

Testing one two three

There's new features and stuff, let's see how far I get.