Year-end top ten for babies!

Top ten...oh MAN!!
Yes, dear readers, it's that time of year when everyone and their brother makes a top ten list of their favorite things about the year. Usually they are books or movies or music, but as the ringmaster of Casa de Gatos y Ninas, and being who I am, mine will not be your run of the mill top ten. It may not even be a top ten. We shall see as it unfurls below. So here it goes...
The top ten or so things that I have either said, done, learned or experienced this year that I didn't imagine doing, saying, learning or experiencing last year.

1. Baby mittens do not belong in the VCR, although they do fit nicely in the movie slot.
   
2. "No, Sister's ear does not come off no matter how hard you pull on it."
3. Teaching Bear to say MMMMMMM when she eats does pay off when, unbeknown to Momma, she is in the kitchen chowing on cat food
   
4. "Please don't eat that [fill in the blank]!" Some examples are dreidel, Christmas tree, cat, Sister, CD of Ryan Adams you found by stretching to your full height and knocking it off the desk with the very tips of your fingers (although I do admire your tenacity on that one.)
5. I learned that although it took 15 minutes to set up the elaborate baby keeper inner that would rival that of a state penitentiary, the sheer force of 2 nine month olds can break it down and escape in 5 minutes.
   
6. The blind sweep that you learned in CPR for clearing a choking victim's airway also works for getting any number of shredded pieces of tissue paper, fur balls, cat food, and any random nastiness that shouldn't go into babies' mouthes back out.
7. "Eleanor, stop licking the DVD player."
8. In a blind taste test, the left-hand side of the cart handles at the Minnetonka Target taste much better than the right-hand side.
9. This one I already knew, but since I have been out of college for almost 12 years, I had forgotten it: no matter how many times you wash your hands, you can still smell the vomit on them.
10. I never realized that I can carry on a 20 minute conversation about poop.
11. When wet, Mum-mums and Gerber Puffs are stronger than super glue.
12. Our kids will curse us for our capturing a lot of their embarrassing moments digitally, like these most recent photos:

Eleanor with a puff stuck on her nose

Abigail with Chris's socks on

Now that wasn't too painful, was it dear reader? 2007 has been quite the year for us Gaceks, but it's been a great ride. Here's hoping that 2008 is just as fun and interesting. Until next time, peace, love and a lot of patience.

I'll take Popourri for 500, Alex

The first step is admitting it, right? Okay...Hi, my name is Ringmaster and I am a terrible blogger. Not terrible in the sense that I write poorly, although some might agree with that sentiment. Terrible meaning the essence of blogging, or so I understand it is to write frequently, sometimes even multiple entries in one day. LaVelle Neal of the Strib had 4 entries the other day! Well, to point out the obvious, LaVelle, I am not. As you have duly noted, I am doing great if I can get 2 entries out a MONTH. Well, now that I have some time on my hands, I am going to try to be more diligent. That is my New Year's resolution: blog more. More blog equals good. So without further ado, to the five rings that seem to encompass the Cirque du Gacek.

Monkey see, monkey do
So if memory serves when last we left Monkey, she was struggling to make her own path, to claim a milestone for herself. Well, she can officially check that off her list as she is "cruising." No, she isn't driving a souped up Camero down University, trolling for chicks. She is pulling herself up on things and walking around or along them. Officially, I guess, this is called cruising. She's been doing it for about 3 weeks now and is getting more and more bold in her actions. She has been known to cruise while only holding on with one hand, or try to go with no hands, both of which are foiled when either panic sets in and she falls, or she is nudged by another object, either animate (cat, foot of mother, sister's head) or inanimate (climbing box moves, entertainment center door "bites," chair rocks). I have laid down the gauntlet that she will be walking by Christmas. I am still sticking to the prospect that she will hit a major milestone in 20 days, although I think it will be more like standing on her own as she still evokes Riverdance when she is led out to "walk."
So what issues arise from this momentous moment in little Monkey's life you may ask? Well, the fact that she has experimented with shimmying up the side of her crib is fairly significant. Although I have only seen it twice, and she doesn't sleep in her crib (apparently it is electrified or otherwise unfit for anything but short periods of waiting for the changing table), the idea of leaving her in it unsupervised conjures up many frightening thoughts. Her new favorite thing to do is to stand up, hold onto the side and shake the whole bed with all her might. This is a task is much more satisfying in Sister's crib as A) the mattress sits up higher even in it's lowest setting so she can get more leverage and B) it is older than her crib and much looser in the joints so she can really get the joint rockin.
Other interesting tidbits in E's life include being over 28 inches long, having a bottomless pit for a stomach, and graduating to monthly visits to therapy. It is anticipated that she won't have to go any more for a while after this next appointment as her therapist told me last time that Eleanor was a full 3 months ahead of her peers in terms of motor development. She also got a clean bill of health from the cardiologist (for a refresher, see entry dated 07/03/2007). Although she still has two of the defects of the heart, the murmur is gone and a chest x-ray shows normal blood flow to both lungs. Her doctor was very adamant that she was just fine. She doesn't have to go back to see him until she is 3! Yay! Now how am I going to remember that...

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?
And on to Baby B, our little Bear. Oh dear readers, what a momentous few months she has had. She has mastered crawling forward and robotically motors herself throughout the house. We have given her the Indian name of Thunder Mits as she can not sneak up on anything when she is crawling. Her methodical slap,slap, slaps can be heard even over Monkey's deafening squeals and shouts of "KHHHH! KHHHHH!" when she sees a cat, which in this house isn't hard. Abigail's favorite thing to do is laps around the perimeter of the living and dining room area rugs. But her most favorite destination is to the cat food bowls where she grabs a handful and continues on her journey, depositing small amounts of food as she goes, ala Hansel and Gretel. Perhaps she is worried that they won't be able to find their food unless she gives them a path. Or maybe she is setting a deadly trap for any feline she can lure into her midst so she and Eleanor can mess with it. Regardless of the reason, she tenaciously pursues that destination every time she is set free to roam. Boy will she be mad when the gate goes up over the kitchen doorway!
Abigail also has shown great interest in Sister's ability to pull herself up, and has begun to try kneeling and crawling over small obstacles, just like Monkey did when she was first learning. It's pretty cute to see them standing side by side squealing and talking about what ever, "Dudadadadda! KHHHH, mommamamadada KHHHH" means.
The final Abigail milestone is the fact that she has 2 new teeth coming in on the top. These are the central incisors. She will look like a beaver soon. I think her motivation is being able to eat pizza, as she drools uncontrollably whenever we eat it. She is definitely our kid.

Due to a downturn in the mortgage market...
GMAC-ResCap made a business decision to eliminate over 3000 positions nation-wide of which mine was one. Yeah, that's the PC way to say, "I got canned." Effective this past Friday, I was officially unemployed. Happy Christmas!! In the long run, it's probably a good thing. We all know that the familiar, no matter how distasteful, is preferable to the unknown. This was probably the unfortunate kick in the pants I needed to get me back out there playing the job search game.
Also because of the mortgage market, Chris's job is uncertain as his company provides relocation services. He, too, is looking and has some very promising prospects. I don't want to jinx it, so stay tuned for more on that subject.

Sleep soundly and carry a big set of earplugs
Well dear readers, the rest of the Gaceks have been sleeping for a while. Therefore I should follow their lead. Please join us next time when we will explore such topics as how to remove Mochachino paint from a cat's tail and 15 ways to distract an almost 9 month old with just a straw and your bare wits. Until then, peace.

Cupids and Cuspid

Who knew that they were all the same letters?

Of course last month was a red letter one for us; babies turned six months on the 18th and we had our first wedding anniversary. Wahoo. But seriously, it was a great week. We had some other milestones happen, as you will soon read!

Cupids

Sunday, September 23 was our first anniversary. We didn't do much, at least not together. Some would say that that is the true sign of a married couple. We have learned that although it's much nicer to be together, divide and conquer seems to work better if crap is ever to get accomplished. So after a lovely brunch with my parents and the babes, we went our separate ways-Chris and Abigail went home to nap and bond, and Eleanor and I went shopping. Ah wedded bliss.

Cuspids

Okay so it wasn’t exactly a cuspid, but “central incisors” just doesn’t work as well.

Eleanor has been working on getting teeth since Bear got hers in August. As you all know, when she commits to something, Monkey throws herself into it whole-heartedly. Consequently, she had been having fevers, rosy cheeks, grunting, gnawing, chewing, trying everything she could to get those little buggers to come out. So when we woke up on Sunday morning, Eleanor grabbed my finger and shoved it in her mouth to feel the sharp beginnings of the left central incisor, her front tooth! She was so proud. Everyone she saw that day had to feel her tooth, she made sure of it. Since then, the right incisor has come in, too.

Sibling Rivalry

So you may say, “But they are so young! How could there be sibling rivalry?” Well, I would argue that there has been rivalry since they were mere zygotes. Witness Monkey’s mis-shapened head. And now that they are out in the world, the rivalry continues. Abigail watches with raised eyebrows as Eleanor scoots across the floor. If E is in a circle of neglect (aka excersaucer), and I hold A outside that saucer, Monkey will grab and cover any toys within the Bear’s sightline, even if Abigail touches nothing. Eleanor does this in the manner of a 3^rd grader trying to cover her paper from any cheating eyes. Quite amusing. Even the story above regarding the teeth is veiled sibling rivalry. So on that topic, and not to be out done by sister, Bear started sitting on her own on the 23^rd, and then started saying, “hi,” “hey,” and, very rarely, “head.” Balls in your court, Eleanor. Which milestone will you claim as yours?

Postnote: Since this was originally written, Eleanor has learned to sit on her own, too. She also doesn't really scoot, but more like shoots across the floor, usually motivated by the prospect of pulling on electrical cords. As my friend Tracy said, "That's a mistake she'll only make once." She also has learned to say "Momma" and "boo boo." Right back atcha, Bear!

Why is Mommy feeding me knives?*

No, I am not feeding them knives, but sometimes to judge by their looks, one might ascertain that. So far, both babies are very fond of yogurt, peas, green beans, applesauce, and oat cereal. When fed bananas, A looks like if she could, she would gag out her toes. The feeling is mutual for both babies and sweet potatoes, even though they are homemade. Little ingrates! Next conquest: avocado!

Close to close

Nothing much else to report. The weather is getting colder, probably cuz it's getting toward Halloween. I know I say it all the time, but man! Time has just flown by! I swear they are going to be voting soon! I'll let you know their political leanings next week when they are speaking in full sentences! Until then, GO TRIBE!




*My friend BP said this in reference to how it felt to eat most things as a kid-she was allergic to a lot of stuff.

Randomness

It's Tuesday. Tuesday means different things to different people. To Wallace it meant porridge. To the college-aged Ringmaster, it meant tacos. But to the parent Ringmaster, it means babies go to Grandmas! WAHOO!! I also tend to work on projects that cannot be accomplished when babies are here, such as tonight's mission, cleaning the girls' room. It occurs to me that some of you have never seen their space, or at least haven't seen it this clean.

This would be their door. Who knew it would be so hard to

find letters that weren't cutesy? I found these on clearance at

Walmart. Actually only the A was on clearance, but

through the magic of fingernails, I got both for 50 cents.

SHHHH! Don't tell Sam Walton!

This dresser and shelf on the left was mine as kid. Now

on the shelves, I have displayed things that were

ours as kids, you know, things that reflect the childhood of

Mom and Dad. So sweet your teeth could rot, right?

Of course, straight ahead is the end all be all of gifts, books.

Don't worry dear readers, there are more than just those two

measly shelves. There is a whole basket-full next

to Monkey's crib.

And speaking of cribs, here they are, complete with clean

sheets, although that part is lost on you since this is just a photo

If you were in the room, however, you could smell the sweet

smell of Mountain Fresh Downey. And lentil soup.

Incidentally, Monkey's crib is in the foreground, and Bear's is in the background.

They both have breathable bumpers as they are both

devoted baseball fans and LOVED to play catch with their NUKers.

Try to find a NUKer at 3 in the morning when it has fallen behind

2 boxes of diapers and the humidifier. Just try it. I dare you.

Now they can practice their Torii Hunter catches off the baggie.

There it is, the Wall Street of Casa de Gato y Ninas: where

fortunes are made and lost, dreams made and broken. I speak of

course of the the changing table. Many deals have

gone down here. And many a diaper has given its life

for an innocent infant's butt.

This is the other side of the room, with E's crib and the

closet, cleverly covered with an old shower curtain.

See that picture above the door? Chris made that for his grandma

when he was 10. Go ahead with the collective, "Awwww!"

And last but not least, how could we ever forget the most

important part of the room, the Monkey and the Bear.

Don't you just want to squeeze 'em?

So quite the silly if not boring post, but hey, now you know where the magic happens in our house...and what I do on Tuesdays.

Until next time, rock.

Hit the Road, Jack

So the flashbacks and night terrors have finally stopped from our whirlwind 5 state tour in mid-August. Actually, I am being dramatic (and we wonder where Bear gets it?!)...it wasn’t that bad. It was very exhausting and tense at times though. Nevertheless, in the end, it was very nice to see the fam and to be a part of Joe and Erin’s special day. Moreover, how many 5 month olds can say that they have already been in five states? Really, when it comes down to it, how many 5 month olds say anything that any human over the age of six can understand. If they do, whoa, that is very creepy.

So anyway, the trip was innocent enough on paper: 5 adults, 1 9 year old, and 2 babies plus 1 Chevy Tahoe and a boat-load of supplies turn their wagon westward toward Colorado. The problem with plans on paper is that they usually do not go according to the paper. Along the way, we hit some snags, which I have detailed below for your reading enjoyment.

Snag #1: The Chevy Tahoe was not designed to have infant seat car bases installed into it’s very back, third row bench seat.
Therefore, the infant seats must be hoisted into the back, shoved between the 60/40 folding middle row at just the right angle, then shook up by the impact of the 60/40 folding middle row being slammed back into place, and manhandled to each side so that a regular seat belt can be intricately threaded through the clips, locking them into place. You must do this smoothly, too, so as not to wake up the slumbering beasties that lie within the infant seat itself.

The view from the way back

Snag #2: Infant seats containing 4 ½ month old infants are not light.
This is especially true when it is the 15th time that one has lifted an infant seat up over his/her head. I think that my arms are definitely more cut now than before the trip.

Snag #3: The Chevy Tahoe, while roomy and mostly comfortable, has enough cargo space for an umbrella stroller, two backpacks, and a pack of diapers.
Enter the Rainex roof pouch. Each of the road trip part, we had to unpack and repack that sucker, and, as I alluded too above, the Tahoe is a tall vehicle. Good thing I played a lot of Tetris in college!

Snag #4: On average, infants get their first teeth between 4 and 6 months.
Abigail’s just happened to come in 2 at a time closer to the 4 month marker. Think about when you were 6 and you got your first permanent tooth. Then think about getting two at once. Then think about your family and quietly thank them for their patience and understanding.

Snag #5: Babies do not care if you are outside at a park without access to a changing table or garbage can.
If they gotta poop, they gotta poop. Hence, the photos of the entire group that witnessed the wedding and me holding two white things. No, those aren’t programs, and I am not moved to tears by the ceremony, I am trying not to gag.

Me in the middle of the back row: note the small white packets in my hand and the look on the face of the girl in front of me

So as you can see, despite some drama, it wasn’t THAT bad. Not that I want to do it again next week, but I am sure it could have been much worse. Apparently, it really was not that bad as the girls and I drove to Chicago over Labor Day weekend. Either that or I am just a glutton for punishment! Well then, until next time, sit back and enjoy some choice photos. Until next time, as is said in some circles, mint.

Cheyenne in Cheyenne

Chris and Baby Chris

Babies' first ball game

Eleanor muggin for the camera

Clan Gacek

The happy couple

Cheyenne and Brody being silly

Brody and Nyla

The Pasta Pope

Uncle and his building

All the news that's fit to print

So where to begin?? It’s been so long since last our paths crossed dear readers! Our summer has been busy indeed, and I am sure you are assuming that since we last spoke, the girls are in college and have 6-figure jobs pending! Well, not quite. They are, however, 5 months old and are delightfully changing in many ways, both literally and tongue in cheekish.

The Bear and Poo-tato
So anyone who knows Abigail, knows she has a penchant for the dramatic. Well earlier this month, around August 3rd, she decided to start crying. This apparently was a great decision for her, and one that intended to fully commit to, so she did. For 3 full days. Let me tell ya, it was GRAND! And to make matters even better, we were supposed to leave for vacation on August 7 (driving to Colorado-see more specifics on THAT adventure in my next post). Therefore, fearing another UTI, we called the doctor, who squeezed her in (no pun intended, which will make sense after you finish reading this section) to see our most favorite doctor next to our regular doctor, Dr. Jones. (Incidentally, we have Dr. Jones to thank for discovering Monkey’s heart murmur. It was so slight and so erratic, that the other doctor missed it.) They took her temp, listened to her chest, checked her mouth and ears, nothing. However, when she had her UTI last time, everything was normal, too. It was not until they did the urine culture that time that they found that it was so teeming with bacteria, it could have walked out of her urinary tract. (How’s THAT for a visual?) So they did a urine culture this time, nothing…still screaming!! So, as a last resort, he had a tummy X-Ray done. That was a challenge. Bear, who is normally not the wiggly one, decided to channel her sister when getting the pictures taken. Luckily, we got one good one that showed a very clear, very large potato-sized poop on board. So after a little prune juice, a couple of baby enemas, and enough Pampers Swaddlers to fill a small landfill, little Bear has lost her internal tuber, but has gained a new nickname: Tator Tot.

Toofers
All you all who think I am talking about beer, get your minds off the bar rail. Not 2 for 1s, toofers, teeth. The other thing adding to Bear’s discomfort last week was the fact that she got teeth, 2 to be exact. AT THE SAME TIME. What can I say, I have borne an over-achiever. So I guess, in a sense this does pertain to beer and 2 for 1s, in that after her getting 2 at once, I needed a toofer special! To make it even more interesting, I think she is now getting top ones. Stay tuned to see if she is able to cut them mathematically.

All Bear, No Monkey? What’s up with that??
Just so you don’t think that I am preferential to Baby B, here’s the scoop on the Monkey. Baby E is making some strides of her own. She now rolls, rolls well, and rolls A LOT! She also have been seeing a physical therapist for her crooked head. When she was still in the womb, as most of you know, she was smashed up against the wall by the big bruty Bear. Therefore, in effort to get a little room, she slid down the birth canal a bit, which caused her head to be misshapen and her to hold her head crooked. This is an actual condition called torticollis. According to torticolliskids.org (yes there is a website for everything), torticollis is most often caused by a shortening of the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle in your neck. It’s that big one that you rub when your neck gets stiff. The condition is kinda like when women wear high heels all the time-after a while, those muscles shorten up because the aren’t being stretched to their normal length. I read about all the stuff that COULD happen with this condition before her first appointment and there are some scary things out there! Torti-collars, helmets for misshapen heads, surgery, YIKES! Needless to say, I was really nervous for the first appointment. So now, Monkey has gone in for therapy twice, and because her dad has a background in PT and is super diligent, she is much better. When she went in for the first time, she would not turn her head completely to the right. Now she does both and will track a toy from over her right shoulder to over her left. The therapist says that she is very certain that E will outgrow this and will not need a collar or a helmet. Thank GOD! She has special exercises that she and Daddy do, and she is being encouraged to roll all she wants, which is fine by her!
Another super cute development is her vocalization. She never stops talking. She even talks through her yawns. You know how when you exhale during a yawn and make that loud sigh noise? She does that. She growls, she squeaks, she does this thing where she sucks in her breath and makes noise, a little like a gasp but not. She even talks through eating her cereal. Way cute. WAY cute.
The Monkey is also working on teeth, although, having bore witness to Sister’s trials, I think she is a little leery about that eventuality. Can’t stop change, Baby!

Wait for it
So rather than innudate you with everything at once and blow up the system, I will devote a separate entry for the uber-vacay of the century. That way we can all relive it together. Now won't that be fun??!? So until later, courage.

Living in the seventh layer of Hell

So it's been a while since we last posted. I blame that on the fact that my hands are literally melting off my body. It's so freakin hot here, I think we are actually living on the sun. It just doesn't seem right that one should sweat when all he or she is doing is breathing. Oi, I say.



I HEART YOU


When Monkey was a few days old, the doctor heard a slight heart murmur. He said that if she still had it when she went to her 2 month appointment, she would need to see a cardiologist. Well it didn't disappear, so last Wednesday, she went in to see Dr. Baker. As he was listening to her heart, she was flirting up a storm, smiling and looking at him through her eyelashes. Little Monkey, going for the older men!

Anyway, after a really long appointment including an echocardiogram, we found out that she has three defects in her heart structure. And now I get to dazzle you again with my fake medical knowledge:

• Periphoral Pulmonary Stenosis (which is causing the murmur): This is a narrowing of the main artery or arteries of the heart. The doctor thinks that E has a narrowing of both. According to the University of Virginia's website, some issues that can occur are swelling and fluid retention as well as heart infections. Eleanor's is not nearly this bad. She just needs to be watched.








• Right Aortic Arch with mirror image branching: Instead of the aorta going over one of the branches of the trachea that goes into the lungs, it wraps around the whole trachea and esophogus. What can happen is as she grows, that aortic arch could constrict the esophogus and trachea. This is another thing to watch.

• High takeoff of the left pulmonary artery: I think this is the main artery that goes to Monkey's left lung. It is high-arched, meaning, I think, that it could constrict blood-flow to her left lung. When she goes back, she will have to have a chest x-ray to make sure that lung is doing okay. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of this.

So overall, she is fine. We will just have to watch the conditions, and, like Bear, she will have to be monitored by a specialist to make sure that things are doing okay.

Other news not as complex

Per usual, nothing new is going on. We both have the Fourth off, which is cool. I was so ready for a break, even though I have only worked 2 days this week!

Both babies are sounding sick, snotty, coughish, and somewhat lethargic. They are drooling like mad, so maybe it's teeth. Scary! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that they were tiny?!

Well I should get back to my task at hand:embroidering kitchen towels for my cousin's wedding. And with no babies, this is my chance to motor through!

Take care and until next time, stay cool!

-s-