Tag Archives: Keana

development

Life is but a dream…

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Keana is continually amazing me with how thoughtful and perceptive she is. She always has, ever since she was a baby really. And the best part about many of her “earth-shattering” moments is that they come straight out of the blue and knock me off my parental rocker.

For instance, on 12/17/10 Keana just asked me, “What if we’re not alive? What if we’re all dead and we’re just dreaming this?” Then she said, “Because you know that song, ‘row row row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is just a dream’? I don’t think I’m alive because I don’t know what alive is.” Then she pranced off to her room to play.

I tried to catch the moment in a follow-up interview; see what you think.

development, trips

Perpetusmile

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That pretty much sums Aliya up: perpetusmile. She is so mellow, so easy going, and so damn smiley it’s ridiculous. Sure, she gets upset if she’s hungry or tired, but she can be talked out of it very easily.

Anyway, we had our 6 month check-up at UCSF last Friday (December 10) and the doctors confirmed what we’ve all suspected and have been observing since Aliya came home: she’s perfect. She handled all the “test” objects well, manipulated them, followed them when they moved/dropped/etc. She’s making sounds with inflection- she even says “mama” from time to time and “mmmmm” and has started “b”- and generally aced all the doctor’s tests. In fact, she did so well they said we could skip the 9 month follow-up.

We’ve also been trying out a few foods with Aliya since Thanksgiving in very small tastes at a time, mostly because she’s seemed so interested. She’s tried avocado, turkey, rice, pears, applesauce, and egg yolks (cooked of course), but she threw those up this morning and we’ve realized that maybe we’ve been a little overkill with it. I’m pretty sure Keana started much later than 5 months, and Maia was a little earlier than that, but not this early. So we’ll back off for a while. She’s a little over 19lbs and is over 26 inches long, so she’s getting enough to grow at a good pace.

Maia has taken huge leaps since turning three. Just before, and certainly now, she seems like a really different kid. More articulate. More reasonable. But of course, still her feisty, scrimesties self. She’s pretty much sleeping through the night and since I’ve been her only go-to guy at night, she’s done really well. I think she needed it to be clear who was on duty and what was going to be happen if she woke up and called out. She often doesn’t fights nap time and sometimes has enough energy to make it through the day sans nap, but if anyone’s going to fall asleep at the dinner table, it’s her. Or, of she’s in a car or stroller in the later day, early evening, she’s a goner. With being three there is some new fire for Maia, but in a lot of ways, that fire doesn’t quite burn you as much.

And our big Zoob. Little Miss Sunshine. When we were in Berkeley last week, Keana was dancing down the sidewalk, around the office, and in the hospital telling everyone she was the sun. And in so many ways, she is. Keana is the brightest, sweetest, most positive, open, person you’ll ever meet. She and I have been butting heads a lot lately, but I only have to take a breath and look at her, and she teaches me all I need to know about patience, love, and understanding. Oh, and the other day, we’re driving along and she blurts out, “Hey! 5 plus 3 equals 8!” I was blown away but at the same time not surprised at all. Also, while we were in Long Beach, Tia taught her Itsy Bitsy Spider in spanish and one day, weeks later, Keana was just singing it perfectly, as if she’d learned it an hour ago. She’s been doing stuff like this since she was born, and having little Aliya Baby in the house now reminds us how gifted these kids are from the time they’re born and on and on.

So there you go. Not all the times in Casa de Team Hokama have been bubbles and cookies lately, but as we struggle through learning to be good parents and good spouses, we have only to look at our kids’ tiny but growing faces to know that it’s all worth it, and it all shakes down in the end.

development, education, family, holidays

When Papa got a minute

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We got the kids to bed kind of early tonight so here I go…

Last week Aliya was still just figuring out grabbing things well with her hands and now, seven days later, she’s so much smoother. Yeah, she still drops things and doesn’t always rotate them smoothly, but she is so much more dexterous and accurate with her grip, it’s scary. These damn babies develop so fast and we are beyond thankful. Aliya still laughs hysterically at her sisters, so much so it almost sounds like something between a smoky bar laugh and baby’s cry. First time she did it I wasn’t sure she was actually happy until I saw her big smile at the silly things her sisters were doing. She’s also figured out how to thump her leg in her bouncer to back it bounce and once it stops, she thumps again to get it going. Brilliant.

Maia is still struggling with sleeping through the night. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t, but she always wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. People are always saying not to look forward too much to the teen years, but I have to say right now, I’m ready to get back to sleeping in until noon. I think Maia is still really struggling with not being the baby anymore and she wants to grow up and be independent like Sissy (Keana), but she’s just not quite there yet. It’s a big step and although we’re quite frustrated with her, I have a soft spot for what she’s going through. I remember feeling exactly like her at several stages when I was coming up.

Keana continues to be our extraordinary pioneer. Her parent/teacher conference was amazing and her teacher said that she is well beyond where they expect at this point in kindergarten. We, of course, try not to put too much weight in evaluations like this, but I have to say it’s what every parent wants to hear. There’s a little boy in her class that has been trying to kiss her and/or talk about kissing her, so that has been interesting. Keana and this boy played all the time together but when he started this behavior, she was done. Thankfully the school is taking it seriously and wants Keana to be comfortable, so we’ll see how everything turns out. Sarah and I know that this little guy just likes her a lot, and perhaps doesn’t have great modeling at home, so we’re just rolling with it for now and letting her teacher deal; don’t want to make it a bigger deal than it is. I guess the whole “boys and girls can’t just be friends” starts early (just joking…sort of).

Last weekend we went down to Long Beach to visit Tia, Uncle Ryan, and Cousin Olivia. We hadn’t been down there since last Thanksgiving, so it was time. It was a lot of fun, minus the 6+hour drive to get down there. But Iana and Ryan were very good to us and the girls had a blast with Olivia. She’s starting to walk, so Keana had fun leading her around by her hands, and both Maia and her had fun torturing her with as much love as she could take. Honestly though, I think Olivia really enjoyed having her boisterous cousins around for a couple days and it was fun watching them together. Of course the World Series was on so some time had to be spent rooting for our Giants, and there was the costume/trick-or-treating-candy-eating-mayhem on Halloween, but all-in-all it was pretty restful and great to get away. (SO many pics from October/Halloween, not enough time tonight, so I’ll get them up tomorrow.)

I can’t believe we’re already entering into the holiday season, with Maia’s birthday falling on Thanksgiving this year. This month is going to be crazy, especially with me having a work trip the week before Thanksgiving, but we’re looking forward to it. Today we had a very productive day around the house and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed raking leaves off the roof and cleaning out gutters. Why is being on a roof so much fun? I do not know. But it did feel good to get give away some things, clean up a bit, and prepare for this great month we’re about to have.

development, family

Death grip, sleepovers, loose teeth

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Curling toes that try to grab; tiny chubby fingers that have difficulty navigating at first, but then get a death grip that can’t be budged, the grip surprisingly strong. It’s these little things that we’ve forgotten over time that Aliya is now reminding us of. She’s really working on her motor skills and figuring out what those little hands attached to her chubby little arms are for. She still likes the finger puzzle (a term we coined when she interlocks her fingers and stairs at them intently wondering how and what they are), but she’s moved on to liking baby rings, watches, and any other baby-hand-sized object to grab, grip, explore, turn around, and bring up to her mouth. Yep, she’s started the quasi-teething. Maybe it’s real teething, but basically she’s started exploring things by sticking them in her mouth and producing inordinate amounts of drool.

Aliya continues to be completely entertained by her sisters. When she sees Keana or Maia dancing or jumping around—or generally acting crazy—she busts out laughing. It is the cutest thing. It’s not just a giggle but more of a bellowing baby laugh. Her sisters love to see how she’ll react almost as much as they love holding and squeezing her. The fact that Aliya’s beginning to sit up better and develop more of her core body strength definitely helps with being held by Keana and Maia who aren’t always, how should we say, stable. Also, Aliya actually enjoys “tummy time” for a while and can roll herself over onto her back when she gets up on her strong little arms. She continues to be very mellow and quite smiley, even to nosey strangers.

In other news, Maia and Keana had their first voluntary sleepover at Grandma Jennie’s house last night. They stayed at Grandma’s when Sarah and I were with Aliya in the hospital in San Francisco, but of course that wasn’t exactly something they chose. So we watched the Giants secure their place in the World Series, then said goodnight. Keana had a little trouble saying goodbye, and we assured her she didn’t have to stay if she didn’t want to, but when Maia decidedly said she wanted to stay and sleep there, Keana quickly decided that was really what she wanted to do too. We took Aliya home and it was very, very quiet. I sort of liked it and sort of didn’t. I was quickly thinking of what life would be like when they started sleeping over at friend’s houses or stayed out late doing who-knows-what. But I did sleep until 8 a.m., with no interruptions, something that hasn’t happened in ages, and it felt great. It seems like the girls had a blast too, so it was a win-win.

Oh, and Keana is on the verge of loosing her first tooth. She has several loose, and this one’s been loose for a while, but it’s finally, almost there. She’s in no hurry to get it out though, and certainly doesn’t want any discomfort, so it’s basically holding on by a proverbial thread. It’s so loose it can stay sideways, but yet she’s not quite ready for it to come out. Of course we don’t want to damage any trust by yanking it out without her permission or her being totally okay with it, so we wait. It’s her tooth, it’s her call. Maybe tomorrow.

development, education

And the beat goes on

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Sarah and I just celebrated our 6th year of marriage last night and had an amazing time out together. We finally found a truly excellent restaurant called Cracked Pepper Bistro here in Fresno. I mean, it’s not like we’ve been out a lot here, searching for that perfect, magical dining experience, but it’s Fresno, and things are different here. It brought us right back to our “younger” days in Santa Cruz and then the bay, pre-kids, when we were, as we like to say, “ballin’”. We frequently went out to expensive, fancy dinners with zero regard for how much it would cost or how long it took, simply because we could. From our very first date in August of ‘02, all the way up to last night, one of our favorite things to do together is eat really, really good food, and just talk and laugh. And last night we reflected on what an amazing life we’ve had together so far. Speaking of which…

Keana is doing amazing in school. She’s writing better and better every week, and even writes short sentences now. Her letters are getting cleaner and cleaner and she’s even starting to sound out words and knows some “sight” words (i.e. I, me, my, see, like, etc.). We were skeptical at first of a school that pushed her so hard in kindergarten, but now we’re seeing that she’s really ready for this knowledge and finds a great sense of individuality and power in knowing how to read and write. Just like it was when she started talking, it’s really amazing to see her find her voice through literacy as well.

Keana is also just the sweetest, brightest little vessel of light in her class too. I mean all the kids are really sweet and amazing in their own regard, but when Keana arrives and leaves every single day, it’s an event. Before she even gets on school property, her classmates are shouting, “Hey, here’s Keana! Hi Keana!!!” and even the lady that walks late-comers to class looks forward to Keana being a little late, just so they can have their 20 second conversation on the way to the classroom door. And yes, she has been a little late lately. Not technically, because I do get her there before the final bell, but the kindergarten classes line up at 7:35 in the cafeteria and walk to class together. So we’re usually running up to the school gate around 7:40 (class starts at 7:45). Anyway, every day when I pick her up, kids are literally lining up to say goodbye and get their Keana hug. At first, no one gave hugs. But Keana always hugged her teacher Mrs. Vick before leaving. And eventually it caught on and now all the kids get hugs before she leaves. It’s as if Keana gave the other kids permission to show their affection, and it’s truly one of the most touching things to see. This isn’t an occasional thing either, it’s every day.

Sarah and I volunteer in the classroom on Tuesdays from 10-11 (we alternate weeks). It’s a great way to see what class is like and meet all Keana’s peers. They really are great kids and it’s interesting to see how loving, respectful, and open these kids are in a school setting. It hasn’t been scared or shamed out of them yet and I hope it never is, though I know things haven’t changed that much since we were in school. But who knows?

Maia continues to be Maia. Willful, outspoken, and hilarious, she is our feisty middle link. There is no way she is going to get lost in the shuffle of Keana the Love Magnet and Aliya the Tiny. She is loving preschool and last Thursday when she came home, she ran to me yelling, “I had a GREAT day at school daddy!!!” She’s only going two days a week right now, but I think she’d be open to more in January if there are any other days available. And yes, she calls me “daddy”. At first I wasn’t sure about that, just because I’m so used to “papa”, but now I kind of like it; best of both worlds: “papa” from Keana and “daddy” from Maia.

Poor little Maij has been falling a lot lately too. She’s just more daring with her body than Keana was, but takes her licks like a champ. No matter how many times we caution her or how many times she falls, she’s right back into climbing, or running, or jumping. As her great, great grandma Beulah used to say, “I may be the smallest, but I’m still the mightiest.” These words truly apply to Maia.

And now for Aliya. Ah, our sweet, sweet mellow Aliya. She’s practically sitting up now and can hold her head quite well, looking side to side to catch all the action around her. She’s quick with a smile and continues to be our easiest baby yet. She naps a couple times a day and sleeps through the night. A couple things we miss though as she matures: grunting while pooping and laughing in her sleep. She still smiles in her sleep, but she rarely chuckles out loud like she used to. She’s still talking a bit though, and has begun to really suck on her fingers. She prefers gnawing on two fingers but often tries to fit both hands in there and gets a little frustrated when it doesn’t work. We weighed her yesterday and she’s 16lbs. and roughly 26”. We have Aliya’s first neuro follow-up tomorrow as well, here in Fresno, with a doctor that splits his time between UCSF Children’s and here. He’s supposed to be one of the best and we have another neuro follow-up in December at UCSF. Aliya is doing amazingly well and we have no concerns about her development, but it will be nice to have a “professional” confirm that.

So that’s the story here in Fresno. Team Hokama rolls on, into the fall, and we’re ready for the heat to give way to the cold, wet of winter. Oh, and for our anniversary, we got a new camera. No promises, but I’m pretty sure our pictures are about to get a lot better and our videos will now be in HD.

development, education

It begins

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It begins: school. Real school…for Keana at least. Yesterday was the first and here’s what she had to say about, “It was better than I thought!” I took her to school at 7:25 a.m. and they have the kindergarteners meet in the cafeteria, sit at a table with their class, then line up and walk to their classroom altogether. It was quite the scene. Not only were the kids nervous and excited, but then there were all the parents. I have to say, many of the kids were handling it more gracefully than the parents. I think as parents we need to remember that we have a lifetime of “stuff” about school and separation that we sometimes put on our kids. What I’ve had to keep reminding myself is that this is all new for our kids and it’s exciting and interesting, this whole school thing. There’s no reason for them to be scared or worried. We’ve done our best to pick the best possible school for them and our family, and now we just have to sit back, observe, trust, and support Keana in having fun with it, while getting the most out of it.

Anyway, so…for the most part, the departure of Keana and the rest of the kids from their parents, for a brief 5 hours and 15 minutes, was pretty smooth. Keana clung a little, but when it was time, she lined up and marched off confidently. She was ready. Unlike some of the little guys in her class that were bawling. Screaming and crying and clinging, these little guys really derailed the whole thing. I was just glad it wasn’t my kid! At least not this one.

Maia had her first day of preschool yesterday. She’s going Monday and Friday and drop-off was seamless. She was ready to play and have fun. At around 11 a.m. Sarah’s phone rang. It was Grandma Bev, but it only rang once so we thought it was an accident. When we picked Maia up at 12:30 p.m., we found out that Maia had had a little “accident” and had to change her clothes. She threw such a fit that Grandma Bev said, “I thought the roof was going blow off the house.” Sarah and I realized she had never witnessed the wrath of Maij. Anyway, once they got her changed she calmed down, so there was no need to intervene on our part. But when we picked her up she was exhausted and didn’t have a whole lot to say. She did say she wanted to go back though, and Bev didn’t tell us not to come back, so I guess we’re on for another adventure on Friday.

After picking Maia up, we went to pick up Keana. We were early, and just as Maia and Aliya were melting down, Keana walks out, in line, to meet us. It was great to see her huge smile and she seemed so grown-up. She didn’t want to talk a lot about it, but she did say she had a great time and it sounded like she really enjoyed everything. And although she keeps asking, “Why do I have to go to school every day?”, it was no problem getting her to school today. And the scene was way more manageable. Less parents, calmer parents, and the kids knew just what to do. Keana was visiting with a girl in another class and she started to walk in the wrong line to the wrong class, but I snagged her and got her in the right group.

So that’s it. School has begun. It is good, mostly. And with Keana getting to school so much earlier this year, I think it’s going to give me more time to get this website updated, water the lawn, practice my horn, etc. All things that would normally have to wait till after 9 p.m.

development, education

Say goodbye to summer

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I’d say we officially started “back-to-school” last Thursday. We went shopping for Keana’s uniform stuff and a couple things for Maia. After work we attended Keana’s back-to-school night at her new school, Dailey Charter. It was weird. I mean, there were lots of levels of weirdness. For one, there was the weirdness I felt. I know I’m a grown-ass man, but something about attending our first “real” school event for our little 5-year-old made me nervous. I felt out of place and couldn’t believe that we were now responsible for her formal education and the choices we made would affect her success in this crazy world. I know all the decisions we’ve made up to this point also affect her success and happiness, but this was a new level of it.

It was weird to see all the other families and kids too and to imagine what Keana’s interactions would be like with the other kids and how these other grown-ass people in the room were just like us; nervous, concerned, excited, curious, etc. Actually, they weren’t just like us. I didn’t get the feeling at all that they shared our political views, sensitivities, and/or education. One of the downfalls of living in a place like Fresno I guess. I was happy though to see such a diverse room full of people. If I had to guess, I’d say only 15% were caucasian, but there were very few asians, which didn’t surprise me. But it was good to see so many different types of people represented anyway.

Which brings me to the next weirdness. The teachers did not reflect the population of students. 90% of the teachers were young, white women. Which is fine, but I think it’s important for students to see themselves in their teachers. Of course, our girls are predominantly white, so maybe it’s my issues…I mean, I guess they’re all my issues, because Keana certainly doesn’t think about race very much. People are people to her and she doesn’t blink twice at skin color. (Note to self: work on that.)

Then we visited the classroom. It was a very neat, new classroom, with all the desks grouped in fours, and the kids’ names already on them. The teacher’s large, black desk was at the front, in the corner, angled, overlooking the kids. There was a laptop on there and a pseudo-laptop for the kids. To the right of that was a SMART board and a projector hung from the ceiling with new speakers on either side. Fancy. In the back there was also a behavior chart, like a stop light. All the kids start out on green. Everything was labeled: scissors, crayons, pencils, desk, etc. The kids will learn to read and write. There will be homework, especially reading every night. There’s a field trip. It felt sterile in the classroom. We’re hoping it will warm up and gain some character as the year goes on (after all, it is a brand new school).

I think Sarah and I both wished the teacher had focused on welcoming the kids, but instead it felt like she/the school wanted to emphasize to the parents that they were a serious academic school, with strict rules and a dress code. So we’ll have to see. The fundamental principals of the International Baccalaureate program sound great, so as long as those really shine through, I think it’s going to be a great school for Keana.

Little Miss Maia will be starting preschool too at the school that their great grandma Bev runs. Keana loved it there, and Maia got small samples when dropping her off or picking her up, so I think she’ll love it too. She’ll be going two days a week for now and she will be one of the youngest kids there. So we’ll see how things go and we’re willing to be flexible. If she hates it, we’ll try again in January. If she loves it, we’ll increase the days in January (if there’s room).

Aliya has been growing, growing, growing into a little chuberoo. She’s 12lbs. now and 24” (95% percentile for both). It will be nice for Sarah and her to have some alone time with both girls at school, and I think it will be great for Maia to have her little sister to herself on her days off.

It’s really hard to believe we take another plunge tomorrow. Kindergarten. The beginning of formal education. And Maia in preschool. Damn!!! Where has the time gone? I’ll let y’all know how the first day goes!

development

Train outta Fresno

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Wrote this on the train out of Fresno, heading to Berkeley for work: 4/7/10. Also trying out a bigger font, hope it doesn’t look “playskool”.

More run-down backyards filled with old, rusty cars than I could imagine are passing by my window. There’s beautiful fields and farmland too, which is strange, right? Farmland, beautiful? Well, rows and rows of organized nature at times seems like some of the best of what the world has to offer and humankind’s ingenuity. Maybe. I don’t know. But before I dump out that can of worms, to my point. I am running on two hours of sleep. Why you ask? I got two names for you, Maia and Keana.

Keana always gets anxious before I have to leave for work trips because often I leave early in the morning and she figured out that when I say “I’m going on a work trip” that means “Papa’s going to be gone when I wake up”. Even with days of prep and explanation, she still gets upset. Maia on the other hand says, “You comin’ back?” and when I say, “Of course, I’ll always come back” she seems quite satisfied. So last night I explained to Keana I’d say goodbye and she didn’t need to worry in the middle of the night and call out. She seemed to understand, but sure enough, 2 a.m., “Papa? Papaaaaaaa!” I go in and explain it’s still night time and she needs to be quiet so she doesn’t wake Maia up. She says okay, but looks worried, and I leave her. 15 minutes later, whining. “Shit! Dammit! What the hell?!” are some sentiments going through my head. This time, Maia does wake up calling for Sarah. I try lying down with Keana in her bed and Sarah goes into Maia’s room. 10 minutes later, Sarah comes in and says Maia wants me. It is now a little after 3 a.m.

I go back into our bed because it’s the biggest, and I have Maia crying on my right and Keana snuggling desperately on my left. I finally get Maia to calm down and she tries about a million different positions to get comfortable. She uses my stomach for a pillow. She says she’s cold. She says she’s hungry. She calms down. Time goes by. We’re not sleeping, none of us. Finally I take Maia back into her room where Sarah’s been sleeping, pretty sure she’s ready to sleep now, but with Mama. It’s now 5 a.m. Alarm goes off in 40 minutes. “Shit! Dammit! What the hell?!”

Alarm goes off. Keana wakes up and wants to sleep with Mama and Maia. I take her in and Maia says, “Hey, this is my bed.” Mama growls, things quiet down. Was Maia ever asleep in there? Are they sleeping now? As I roll past a waking Modesto I certainly hope so. Damn, longest shortest night ever. Well, not ever. But put it the books along with the rest.

birthdays, development, family, holidays

As promised…and a little extra

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WARNING: This blog post may be boring and disgusting but you might actually like it if you stick with it. For those that don’t have the patience, here’s an outline to assist in skimming:

  1. Following up on Keana’s 5th birthday/visitors (Iana and Olivia)
  2. Easter weekend Part I (The Rogers Gathering)
  3. Projectile vomit (Best Friday Night Ever)
  4. Easter weekend Part II (Rough Start with a Strong Finish)

1. In my last post I said I’d let you know how Keana’s birthday party went, so here it is. Let’s just say it turned out better than we imagined. For one, we thought that only one friend was coming, but it turned out that the other two girls Keana invited showed up at the last minute; we were probably more excited than Keana was in some ways. As a parent you can start to see all those social perils unfolding, even at this young age, of who gets invited, who doesn’t, who shows up, who doesn’t, and what that might mean as far as whether or not they like you, etc. And in this case, there were competing birthday parties that day, so we weren’t sure the best way to explain that one. Keana seemed fine with just having one friend there, but I think deep down inside she was disappointed and Sarah and I felt especially bad because maybe if we had sent out the invite sooner the outcome might have been different. Luckily, in the end, all turned out well. The girls, even Maia and the other 2-year-old, all played really well together and enjoyed our little treasure hunt and piñata. Sarah had to give it a good bashing first though, cause there was no way these five-year-olds were going to even make a dent in that thing. I sat video-taping and laughing wondering how many parties in the world had the same unbreakable piñata. And of course, The Cake. The Cake was amazing. Grandma Jennie picked it up from La Boulangerie and upon request, it was chocolate, and not too sweet, but still rich, moist, and overall scrumdiddidlyumptious (as we say in our house). Our guests stayed from 11-after3 and we were exhausted, but Keana was happier than ever.

The next day, Keana’s actual birthday, was pretty mellow. Keana went to school, though she did try and talk me out of it. They do a special celebration though, and I knew she would be upset if she missed it (all the special attention in front of her peers), so I persuaded her to go. I took the day off work though, and after school we enjoyed some time as a family, followed by Keana’s favorite dinner, roast chicken, and some of that awesome left-over cake. It was a little hard for me to relax because I knew the next day I would fly to DC for NWP’s annual Spring Meeting (where our teachers lobby for funding from their representatives). This trip was also a longer one- I got back March 28 in the afternoon- and when I returned, Iana and her baby Olivia were visiting. Keana had the week off school for spring break, so she and Maia got lots of good time with their little cousin. Olivia is really starting to grab things, roll around, and smile, so I think it was especially fun for the girls. And I’m not going to lie, it was pretty fun for Sarah and I too. Olivia adores Sarah and has the biggest smile whenever she sees her (and a cheerful squeal or growl isn’t uncommon either).

2. On Friday we had a Rogers’ get-together up at Sarah’s Grandma Bev’s house that overlooks Millerton Lake. In attendance were Great Grandma Bev (of course), Great Uncle David (who the girls don’t get much chance to see, but something we’re going to work on), Grandpa Robert and Nana Cin, Tia, and Olivia. It was a lot of fun, but the car ride home was NOT. About two minutes into the 40 min. ride, Maia began screaming and crying and nothing would comfort her. In order to not let the screaming disturb my driving and/or drive me totally insane, I often try to focus on a piece of music or some other train of thought. This particular night, I was thinking how it was Friday night, and once upon time that meant something. It meant around 5 or 6 you would start scheming the entertainment for the night. Who’s around? What’s the dinner plan? Would it be live music after? A movie? A bar then some dancing? Maybe even a night trip to the outdoors somewhere? Now it’s a mad-dash home before the kids melt down, and on Friday, it was already too late. Kid was melting down. Poor Maia was just plain pissed off. After what seemed like hours, we finally arrived home and both kids were hungry, of course. We fed them some left-over hamburger that we brought home and some yogurt, and put them to bed.

3. Then, not long after we got Maia and Keana to bed, Keana called out. I went into her room and she looked worried. Something’s wrong with her throat she said. I began to worry she was having an allergic reaction to something and attempted to assess whether or not her throat was sore or if it felt like it was closing up. I called for Sarah, then had her stand up to see if it was just the position she was in. In the span of three seconds, I saw The Look in her eyes…I grabbed her to move her to the toilet…and…projectile vomit spewed forth on my shoulder, arm, leg, and cascaded onto the cat, who unfortunately happened to be rubbing up against my leg at exactly the wrong moment. The nastiness continued to flow onto the rug, her toys, then eventually all over her little toilet we keep in her room for night-time convenience. Like waves of disgusting it seemed to just keep coming and coming. Oh man oh man. Luckily, after that one blowout of the decade, Keana calmed down and appeared to be completely fine. Sarah and I got to work like a machine, trading off cleaning up the worst mess in recent memory and sitting with Keana to be sure it wasn’t going to happen again. Long night doesn’t begin to define it.

4. Saturday Morning Keana was fine though, and we prepared to head up to “the round house”, a small round house up in the hills near Friant/O’Neals. It’s actually where we got married, so it holds a special place in our hearts. Anyway, Jacque (our current midwife) and Frank Moschella own it, and host an Easter celebration every year there. I guess it’s usually a two-day affair, but this year we just did Saturday. It was great to see all the old family friends and I think Sarah especially enjoyed catching up with everyone and showing off her pregnant belly. Tia (Iana) and Olivia left first to head back to Long Beach and it was almost a teary good-bye. I have to admit, I got a little misty looking at the little chunk-a-munk Olivia, thinking of how much she’ll have changed and grown before we see her again, and how seemingly small and vulnerable she and Iana looked heading out the door to the open road. Anyway, we tried to enjoy ourselves and be conscious of the time, having just endured the same car ride with Maia screaming the night before, and wanting to avoid another terribly long one. Ten minutes down the road, it began. Again, Maia screamed bloody hell practically the whole way home. I put on Kind of Blue and she screamed through So What and Green on Blue (it was on shuffle) before finally falling quiet to Flamenco Sketches. Sarah had to hold her hand too, a deadly combination with the subtle stylings of Miles.

And today. Well, today was not a picture-perfect Easter. Maia was awake from 1 a.m.–3 a.m., followed by Keana waking up between 4 and 5. Needless to say, I awoke pretty grumpy with zero coffee to be found. Maia and I hung out though till 10, which was fine/fun, when Keana and Sarah got up, but Maia and Keana instantly began fighting over Easter bags they got yesterday. Papa growled, apologized, then had to head out for coffee before things deteriorated any further. We finally had our “special breakfast” of Belgium waffles and sausage around noon and the girls went out to look for the baskets that Grandma Jennie had carefully assembled for them, and that I had hid in the backyard. Sarah and I did not rally for Easter this year, so we were especially thankful for Grandma’s collaborative efforts with The Bunny. Sarah and Maia went down for a nap around 1:45 p.m., and after prepping the chicken with rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper, Keana and I followed and had an amazing nap. This amazing nap was followed by an even more amazing dinner. Although the day started rough, with a little help, I think it was still a special one for everyone and we’ve certainly ended on a positive note.