January 14, 2002

We're in the final weeks of Vic's leave, and I'm getting sad. Frightened, to be more precise, of how I'm going to cope alone with two little ones all day. Fortunately Jack is still fairly well-behaved and not too demanding.
Speaking of Jack, he had his 2-month checkup today. He's grown 3 inches since birth, and gained 5 pounds. FIVE POUNDS! He's still on the charts, but in the 90th percentile, so there ain't a lot of wiggle room. He's already starting to wear 3-6 month sizes--good thing, since he got some very cute sweaters for Christmas I wasn't sure he'd get into before it warms up.
Otherwise he's pretty grouchy today... he got four vaccinations. Mind you, "grouchy" for Jack is "occasionally fussy." Yes, life could be much, much more difficult for us.
Katie is learning all sorts of fun animal sounds, and even some non-animal sounds that make us secretly proud (let's just say she watches "The Simpsons" waaaaaay too much). If I ever get sound files recorded you can count on hearing them here. I've updated both Jack's and Katie's pages just a little, and will most certainly have more pictures to add in a couple weeks.
We went to Olivia's first birthday party last weekend. What a treat! I put a couple pictures on Katie's 23-month page.
Kathy was in a very scary car accident last week. Here's her story:
Last night as I crossed an intersection where I had the right of way, a 16-year-old kid in a Ford 1-ton truck ran their light. I tried to stop and couldn't. I smashed my Sentra into the side of the truck (I actually went under part way between the tires and his back truck tires ran over the hood of my car). Well, my airbags both deployed (they smell horrible and they're smoky and I still feel the junk in my throat and lungs). In the process, the hood of my car ripped off and landed in a crumpled rolled up mess behind my drivers side back door. There were many, many cars there. Everyone stopped. I jumped out really fast because I wanted everyone to know I was OK (it's embarrassing, like "Oops, I tripped in front of a hundred people. I'm OK, really, I'm OK").My coat had been laying on the back seat. When I pulled it out a little later, it had been forced underneath the front passenger seat. It goes without saying, the car is a complete wreck. I lost a tire - there were car parts all over the intersection. My windshield was completely busted up, but the inside of the car was totally intact. People were wonderful, stopping to help and check on me. One woman who witnessed it stayed with me until the cops were done, filling out paperwork and stuff. Ron took care of everything.

She's recovering from a concussion, whiplash, and some nasty bruises, but is alive and that's really the important thing--thank goodness for airbags and seat belts. Oh, and if you know Kathy, you know she picked up all those car parts in the intersection so as not to leave a mess!
I've been working here and there, and am enjoying being in the classroom after about three months off. It's nice to stand in front of a group of people who don't have food all over themselves, expect me to change their diapers, scream if they don't get what they want, and actually think I might know something.
Since our wonderful babysitter, Cheri, has taken sabbatical (that's the nice way of saying she quit), I'm not sure what I'm going to do for occasional child care after Vic goes back to work. Any suggestions are welcome.
I felt very productive yesterday: I cleaned the kitchen top to bottom. It was one of those cleanings where you actually take the stove apart to get every little corner spotless and rearrange cupboards. I know, I know... I don't know what came over me, either. Oh, and let me just say that OxyClean is pretty amazing on the commercials, but not nearly so in a real life setting. Anyway, I'm hoping my cleaning energy doesn't disappear because I've got a lot more to do. Anyone who's been at our house recently knows of what I speak.
Children are crying. Must go.