Friday (every day) night fights

Sabrina and Sasha are both SO CUTE with Raiden. Some comments from Sabrina: "He is so precious," "Oh, little guy," "He so cute." Also, when I went to put Raiden to bed last night, I found his bassinet already taken -- by a baby doll, covered by a burp cloth. She also drove her doll in a stroller to the "car," where a car seat was waiting for the doll to be transferred.

Sasha's language is less developed, of course, but he will pet Raiden's little head and say "Monis." For Jemonis, of course, which both kids insist on continuing to call him.

Right now, Sabrina and Sasha are giggling and playing together. I give it three minutes before one of them is crying. Either that, or they'll wait until I am feeding Raiden, at which time they will start hitting each other. They have this instinctive sense of when they can render me the most impotent, **crying** and take advantage. I confess I've done a version of "wait until your father gets home," but that also renders me powerless.

I know their fighting is just a way of getting my attention in this new world of precious little guys. I'm trying to give them positive attention, I really am. Mom is also **crying!** coming up a lot to give special attention to the two depraved deprived ones. **more crying -- ooh, and hitting!** It really does work, although Grandma is now their favorite person on the planet. **lotsa crying** I wish she were here now.

Lagoon, take 2

Last year, I took Sabrina to Lagoon. She positively sobbed in terror going on the boats. Y'know the boats? Where six boats get pulled in a very slow circle in very shallow water? Thanks to her cousin Kellen, she managed to not jump out of the boats. That and a seat belt that needed a key to unlock.

This year, in hopes of not repeating this particular scene, I told Sabrina how fun it would be, but also how she needed to help Sasha not be scared. I think it was natural for her to not be scared of the boats this time, just because they're not scary, but it was more than that. Zane took them to some insane spaceship ride that was really fast and spinny, and frankly, I kind of worried about how they'd do. Sabrina held really tight to Sasha so he wouldn't be scared (or because she was scared, not sure which), but then wanted to go on it again! She also went on the planes, and also Puff, the kiddie roller coaster, with Zane. Puff was the least successful, but after the first go-round, in which she tried to become one with Zane, she even seemed to be having fun. Sasha was less scared, but he was also sort of comatose-looking due to it being way past his bedtime.

Now, although Lagoon is no Disneyland, there are compensations. For instance, we didn't have to wait 1 1/2 hours for any ride. Kiddie land has some really good rides for the Sasha and Sabrina crowd, and Lagoon-A-Beach is a fun water park. Here's where Lagoon is not as good as Disneyland: the happiest place on earth can pay a pittance for smiling peon to make sure your kid is buckled into the whales. Lagoon cannot. They get slow, apathetic teenagers who don't CARE that you've been waiting for 10 minutes just for the d*mn boats to get loaded! I mean, really, get a move on! The ride is only 6 boats, 12 kids MAX, and you're taking 10 minutes to load the boats, 5 to get them unloaded, and 3 for the actual ride. Move it!

Other than that, it was a very successful outing.

Perfection?

Well, it's official. Barring a miracle (or not getting on BC fast enough), our family is complete. I feel really lucky. All of my children have the following areas of perfection: 1. No colic (is it too soon to be sure of this, with only a 1 1/2 week old? Maybe. But he hardly cries at all.) 2. No sensory issues 3. No sticky-outy ears 4. Circumcisions are okay -- I was pretty sure this would be the case, but there are too many TV shows about boys that had to be raised as girls for me to be blase about it 5. No NICU 6. No developmental delays so far (again, Raiden is pretty young for me to be satisfied that there won't be ANY developmental delays, but he's a very advanced 10-day-old) 7. No torticollis (flat head) 8. Good sleeping habits (for a 10-day-old, that's still getting up 3 times at night, but 3 times ain't too bad!) 9. Very rare bathtub pooping 10. Very little spitup 11. Good nursers I do have one complaint, though. Sasha was never a peer, meaning he never peed on me when I changed his diaper. Raiden, though, has peed on me three times so far. The first time, I was so surprised I didn't react quickly, which meant a complete change of clothing for both Raiden and me, as well as a new blanket and cleaning the carpet. I've been ready for him the other times, so it's just been my hand that got it. Still, I was hoping to avoid this little problem. I now get to worry about the following things (NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST) 1. People being mean to them 2. Them being mean to people 3. Bipolar Disorder 4. Never learning how to read 5. The Teenage Years 6. Three teens at once 7. Three college tuition bills at once 8. Curfew 9. Bad teachers 10. Sending them on missions 11. Anaphylaxic shock from bee stings And the list goes on, La de da de de, la de da de da

The Scream

My two older children are downstairs screaming, delighting in the acoustics of the newly-drywalled basement. I wish I could join them, but for a different reason.

Zane just got in a car accident, in the little, fragile, 60 mpg car. Fortunately, he's fine. At least, that's what he claims on the phone. Also fortunately, it was not his fault. He was rear ended on the freeway. Unfortunately, it looks like the little Insight is totaled. I'm sure it is; it's not like it's a big sturdy SUV that could conceivably take a good rear-ending. No, it's gone. I loved that car.

Now we get to deal with the paperwork of insurance claims, the pain of shopping for a new car, and the financial surety that even if we WERE to get full blue book price (we won't -- deductibles, you see), the car was worth more than that money because it meant we didn't have to get a new car. I hate this.

Thanks, Dad, for driving to Orem to pick up Zane and bring him home. Through accident, rush hour traffic.

That was one expensive business trip.

Random Crap

I don't have anything in my brain long enough for a full blog post, but I have a lot of random thoughts. So, here they are!

I was getting up to feed Raiden at about 3 am, and I heard Sasha crying. He wasn't crying for me, or daddy, or even grandma, which would all make sense. No, he was crying for Sabrina. I'm honestly not quite sure how to feel about that. Mom says Sabrina must be the only constant in his life of upheaval. No doubt.

Raiden was up every three hours, which isn't bad for a one-week-old. Sabrina and Sasha, despite going to bed on time, did not get up until 7:51. Way to go, peeps!

Mom has been a lifesaver. Specifically, Sabrina and Sasha's lifesaver. She's been hanging out, making sure my kids eat and let me sleep, and gotten up with Raiden, even sleeping with him. He slept for six hours when sleeping next to her. This was great, except for one thing. You know what that one thing is is if you've ever nursed a baby. She has also done things I do once a year, if that, like cleaning out cupboards, washing off the outside of garbage cans, and so on. Thanks, Mom!

Zane had to go to St. George yesterday and stay overnight for a meeting with the Department of Labor. They are far to important for a conference call. Anyway, Mom was worried that I wouldn't have any help in the night. However, as Zane still selfishly refuses to take herbs and stimulate his nipples to create milk (what? men can too create milk! http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-men-breastfeed_8824.bc), it's not like he's of great help in the middle of the night. Still, he IS of great help in the morning, when the monkeys get up. Fortunately, he'll be home today.

And that's it! My brain dump of random crap.