10 (make that 8) Random Facts

Hi everyone!!

1. My mom went to the airport this morning to depart back to Kansas. We've had so much fun with all of our company! Unfortunately, we've had to completely wipe the computer now, so OF COURSE, no pictures..... .

2. I am home sick today. :( Am SO thankful that the kids are in daycare. I am curled up with the computer and think I would lapse into a coma if I had to watch the kids, too.

3. Will and I are making progress at school! Will got a draft of his dissertation proposal defense done and will be scheduling his official proposal very quickly - woo hoo!!! One of my committee members just asked me when I would be scheduling my final defense. GULP - I am so behind.

4. Daniel will be 11 months old tomorrow! He is doing much better at "crusing" - he can walk really well behind different push-toys, and can even turn them around when he needs to change direction.

5. Annika is, well, Annika. :) They have been talking about Caldecott Medal-winners at school, so she now thinks that any book with a medal on the cover is an award winners. She has dubbed these "Books That Are Great." We went to the Winter Park Library yesterday to find some more of these Great Books.

6. Will and I are constantly reminded by how much being a kid has changed since we were kids ourselves. However, with my mom and Brenda here, we were reminded that SO, SO much changed between our parents' time and when we were born. No running water? Outhouses? No car? Living on a farm? No television? No heat upstairs in the winter? Sharing a telephone line with other families?

7. Annika is really into hide-and-go-seek now. When we played in the past, she used to just hide wherever I had hidden the last time. Now, it is actually difficult to find her at times!

8. We're set to move Daniel to another daycare after he is a year old (and would be moving out of the baby room, which we love, at his present daycare). This new place has a MUCH more convenient location and a better program, but we feel guilty because we do still like where he is at. So have we said anything yet to the present daycare? Nooooooooo......

This is getting long....I hope that everyone is doing well and survived the Ides of March!!

Heartbeat Post

Hey all!! Just wanted everyone to know we are alive and okay, just crazy busy. (Or maybe just crazy? Hmmmm.....)

Will's mom arrived last Friday while I was at my conference, and we are having a great time with her! She's staying until Tuesday; then, on Thursday, my friend Denise is arriving. She will stay until the following Tuesday, and then my Mom arrives that evening for almost a full week! It's a regular Hotel California, I tell ya.

Let's see:

- Annika is studying the rain forest in school. "People that aren't very nice are trying to kill the rain forest," she says. "But some nice people try to save it." That's right, loggers - you are not nice!

- Will's parents got us a web camera and IT! ROCKS! Okay, it would be a little creepy for talking to friends and whatnot. But for grandparents? It is awesome! Annika loves "talking on the computer" and Daniel is too young to know to hide. :)

- Daniel is just.fine. In fact, he is in markedly good health and has NO signs of illness. I think his daycare assumes that fussy=ear infection because this has happened two or three times where they are willing to bet money he has an ear infection because he is fussy (but he is perfectly healthy when we take him to the doctor). But at least he got a clean bill of health!

- Okay, this might be inappropriate to blog about, but I am so happy that I have been able to keep nursing Daniel this whole time, especially with all of the traveling that I have been doing. However, I am SO excited that he will be a year old in less than two months!!

This and That

Well, we didn't make it to IKEA last weekend. I don't think we had any big outing at all, actually, which is somewhat surprising. Here is what everyone is up to this week:

Will - his grating finally arrived! He got it aligned yesterday and is slowly running data today. Will also did all of the meal planning and grocery shopping this week. That's right - that is the next most exciting thing going on!

Annika - I know I keep repeating this, but I am really enjoying Annika these days. I have really found the whole 4-years-old experience to be delightful, and it keeps getting better and better as she gets closer to 5. I think it is because she is now independent enough that hanging out with her is often fun. She is really enjoying school - yesterday they had a whole day on volcanos and she was bubbling with excitement about all that they learned. Annika also has been asking if it is "kindergarten yet" because in kindergarten, "you learn lots of things."

Daniel - he can now clap his hands on command, without gestures! Who needs to be progressing in solid food when you can do a cool trick like that? He is also pulling up to standing on everything. I also think that watching Daniel and Annika interact now that he is older is just the most joy-filled experience, ever. Remind of that once sibling rivalry has truly reared its ugly head!

Okay, I almost deleted all of this because it all sounds so sappy and pompous. But I need to get back to work and don't want to leave the grandparents hanging! So I would say - even with all of the stress of school/work and deadlines, working too much, and worrying non-stop, I just feel filled with so much joy when I think about our family.

A Conversation with Annika

Annika - "What are we doing on Saturday?" (Note: It is only, um, Monday.)

Me - "Swim lessons!"

Annika - "But what are we doing after swim lessons?"

Me - "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Annika - "Can we go to IKEA again?"

IKEA day

Today after swim lessons, we headed to IKEA to check out the world of Swedish home decor. I have to admit that Amy and I are now IKEA converts. First of all the store, has a self contained play area/babysitting area for kids. Annika had a great time playing in the ball pit (I think it's the only place I know that still has one) and watching SpongeBob from a cushioned loft. Meanwhile, Amy, Daniel, and I walked though the showroom and store and were given a pager in case Annika needed us (or got busted for throughing balls in the ball pit), but thankfully it wasn't needed. They had all kinds of cool stuff that we wish we'd known about before Daniel as born, like changing table/bookshelf/cabinet/wardrobe combinations that were reasonably priced.

We snagged a bunch of cheap Swedish cookies, chocolate, jam, stuffed animals, and cool bowls and bibs for Daniel. In addition to the shopping, they also had a restaurant that served great food (we loaded up on the Swedish meatballs and were amazed at the $0.99 kids meals). They even sold organic baby food that Daniel enjoyed. Annika was actually sad to leave and wants to go back (I can't think of another furniture store that would get that reaction). What can I say... the Swedes know what they're doing.

[Hanging out before swim lessons]

[Amy and Daniel before leaving for IKEA]

Actual picture of Daniel at 9 months

At long last, here is the actual photo of Daniel at 9 months... note the hoodie due the the bitterly cold Florida weather (there was actual frost on the van the other day).



And here he is playing with his leapfrog table. He's very proud of his standing ability.

Last Day of Vacation (better late then never)

Finally re-loaded all of our previous pictures to the laptop after re-installing windows a while back. Here are some pictures from our last day of vacation when we stopped by Tarpon Springs, a greek sponge fishing town, before returning from the Tampa area.
[Annika hanging out with the sponge boats]

[A plate of calamari (with tenticles) for lunch]

[Daniel enjoying the stroll]

[Annika and the dolphin fountain]

[Sponges for sale]