~monaloca~

Last week we headed to Capitola for our annual Weiss family beach vacation, a tradition we started when Melina was Nalani’s age. Highlights included daily sand play (Kai), a mosaic mermaid on our walk to the beach (Melina), Grandpa/Grandma/Auntie Stacie holding time (Nalani), daily ice cream, a trip to the candy store, and of course plenty of cousin play with Lucas and Noah.

We also celebrated baby Nalani with a “sprinkle” hosted by the Hindmarshes and a reunion of our two families. It was great fun to see Jess and her family for the first time in two years (yikes!). Then on Tuesday evening we headed to the boardwalk for 1907 night: all rides, hot dogs, and cotton candy just $1 a piece.

Melina had been looking forward to her first taste of cotton candy all afternoon, but was heartbroken when the pink fluff melted to near nothing in her hands before getting to her mouth, and was absolutely traumatized when I plopped a fresh piece right in and she discovered it didn’t taste anything like what she’d hoped. At least that’s what her cries told me she felt.

Lowlights included the two older kids and me fighting a cold the entire time, and Joey’s insane bout of sciatica. It was so bad one morning that Nalani and I had to take him to the ER in Santa Cruz while Kai and Melina held down the fort, so to speak, with their cousins.

Joey felt ridiculous walking through the door with a cup of coffee in his hand, and was more than disappointed when the only treatment given was a terse “you need to stretch and excercise through the pain” from the doc. “Can’t you give me a shot?” Nope. Luckily the doc was right and stretching is helping, just not as quickly as Joey would like.

Needless to say, traveling with three young kids was not exactly a vacation in the relaxing sense of the word. But the kids had a blast, I loved hanging out with my “whole family” as Melina would say, and we all got a kick out of a change of scenery for five days. I’m sure our tradition will become more relaxing as the kids get older… right?

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Last month we had another family photo shoot, this one to highlight our newest family member. By the end Kai made it very clear that he wouldn’t be interested in doing another shoot anytime in the near future, but he and Melina were both good enough sports to get some great shots.

For her part, Nalani went through a fairly normal infant cycle during the two hours Myron was with us. She started off a little fussy, hot, and hungry, then after I nursed her she fell asleep. By the end she was wide awake and all smiles. You can see the progression in the photos.

Of course we’re now three weeks out from the photo shoot and Nalani has woken up more completely to the world. She has full neck control and long spurts of awake time. Her favorite activity is to look at people’s faces, and we like to think she prefers mama and dada’s.

Kai has discovered the joy of reading with the “Captain Underpants” series and the Berkeley public library’s summer reading challenge. Whatever it takes to get him reading, I’ll take it! Melina is getting ready to move to the transition room at preschool, where potty-trained 3-year-olds get ready for a wee bit more learning structure.

She’s also starting to get a stronger grasp of her family structure, taking it at face value that sometimes Kai’s with us and sometimes he’s with Jen. The other day she got super excited when she found out “all our family” was going to be together after school. Then she said “But Jen won’t have all of her family.” True… but we’re still a complete family in our own way even when Kai’s not with us. Strange concept to take in for an adult let alone a three-year-old, but it’s important to feel complete no matter who’s physically in what house on any given night.

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Every day on the way to preschool Melina asks me, “Mama, is it spring? We need to look for birds and butterflies.” I’ve been saying yes for two months, but at last the weather’s caught up. With spring comes outdoor playdates and birthday party season. (Our three kids, plus most their friends. Funny how that works.)

Warmer weather has also coincided with Nalani’s new smiles. She started smiling right on queue, at one month old. Mama, Dada, sis and bro can all elicit super smiles, though Daddy would say he gets more than anyone. Must be his goofy side.

Nalani also sometimes gets this really funny worried look. The first time I saw it was as we were wheeled out of the hospital when she was just over 24 hours old. And when she’s upset the red spot between her brows gets bright pink.

Melina and Kai continue to be great big sibs to little Nalani, though Melina still has moments where she’s not quite sure what to do. When we arrive at preschool in the morning I always have Nalani in her carrier, and inevitably end up setting it down to push Mina on the swing or sit down with her at the snack table.

Within 20 seconds of setting down Nalani a swarm of tiny two- and three-year-olds surround her and peer into her carrier as she sleeps, slowly opens a tentative eye only to close it again, or stares at them in a half-curious way.

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With a baby sib in both his homes, Kai’s reaction to his new little sis goes from “She’s so cute! I love her so much!” to “There are babies everywhere…” and “I’ve been through this before, you know.” Overall, he’s been as great a big bro to Nalani as he’s always been to Melina. And the two older kids’ relationship has certainly taken a life of its own, with more rivalry but also more “we’re in this together” play.

Melina’s still trying to figure out what to make of her baby sister. She desperately wants to interact with her, but the only way she’s able to get a reaction is by hitting or pushing her, hard. My mom says I did the same thing to Stacie when she was a newborn. Melina knows that Nalani is “not a toy,” that she’s “real,” unlike her Baby Alani doll. Last night she very politely asked me “Mama can you please move Alani? I want to cook.” (Nalani was in a bouncy chair in front of her play kitchen.)

Melina’s protective attachment to Nalani became painfully obvious the first time I took the baby into her preschool last week. Melina was ecstatic to see both of us, and ran right up to the carrier as soon as I set it on her classroom floor. But so did half of her little friends, and when they started to peak inside at a sleeping Nalani, Melina broke down into wailing tears. She was NOT ready to share “her” baby, and was absolutely inconsolable, by both Ms L and me, for a good 10 minutes. Eventually she did calm down and we talked about how Nalani is still her baby, that it’s ok to let other people look and to “share” her in that way. But wow – now I know to tread more carefully and will probably let Melina “lead” the sharing next time.

Finally – and I hate to do this because I always hated when people compared Stacie and me – take a look at the two first-week photos of Melina (3 days) and Nalani (4 days). We think they look remarkably similar (could just be the pose…) What do you think?

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Easter’s been in the air at our house since I pulled out the baskets and plastic eggs a month ago, well before St Paddy’s Day hit. The peek-a-boo spring weather of late March helped with our spring spirit, too, but turned to cold rain by the time Easter Day actually arrived.

No matter: We had fun coloring Easter eggs with Lily and her mommy last weekend while the two dads poured concrete around the new sump pump in our driveway. Then for the big weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Weiss, and cousins Lucas and Noah joined us for a huge egg hunt at Willard Park. Luckily the rain stayed away til later, and all the kids got tons of candy loot except for Lucas, who was so upset he couldn’t get ALL the yellow eggs that he refused to take even one.

Melina was a little hesitant at first, too, but because of the human-sized bunny leading the eggstravaganza. “I don’t like him! He’s scary” she said over and over…. At least until the bunny shouted “Ready, set, go!” into a loudspeaker for the two-and-under crowd, and I quickly thought to say “Hey Melina, there’s CANDY in those eggs, why don’t you go put some in your basket?” Suddenly she was out of my arms and running across the field with the rest of her friends.

Kai and Melina also got some fun toys from the bunny: tutus (which they’d been asking for), funky sunglasses, and bubbles were the greatest hits. Well, and the candy. I think they would have been almost as pleased with one huge lollipop each, and nothing more. Though Melina continues to carry her basket and loot all over the house, and counts her candy whenever the mood strikes. So far she hasn’t eaten anything that’s wrapped, but I caught her sneaking an M&M yesterday. Too tempting!

This morning Meli woke up saying “Kai told me I could have all his candy.” When did he tell you this? “This morning.” But he’s at his mom’s house. Maybe you dreamed it. “NO, he TOLD me I could have it. Then he was sad.” I bet he was.

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We’re in the one month countdown to official baby time, and possibly less if she arrives early. Ready? I’m ready for maternity leave, but still have almost three weeks of work left. Prepared? More or less. We have the car seat back from friends, and the cover’s washed, it’s just not in the car yet.

We set up the crib, but not yet the Pack ‘n Play in our room where she’ll be sleeping for the first many months. We have gear, we have clothes, and we even have one small pack of newborn diapers. I’m expecting a nine-pound baby, which would mean moving onto the next size pretty soon anyway.

I’m not kidding about the nine-pound baby, either. Melina was over eight, and according to my doc (and anecdotal evidence) second children are usually born larger. She also said there’s some evidence to show that birth weight follows trends of the father’s side.

Joey was over nine pounds, his brother almost ten, and his nephew over ten at birth. I’m also close to five pounds ahead of where I was with Melina in the final month. So part of it is wishful thinking: The more weight that’s baby, the less I’ll have to lose post-partum.

Today, a fellow parent at Melina’s preschool relayed this conversation between the two of them. Parent: Is the baby here yet? Mina: “Yes.” How exciting. Is it a boy or a girl? “Girl.” What’s her name? “Pink.” As the parent pointed out, to Melina being inside my belly probably means the baby is in fact “here,” which only makes me wonder how she’ll react when the baby really is “here” for the rest of us.

What’s funny about the name is that she now knows – and remembers – baby’s real name. Well, she drops the “N” at the beginning but has the rest down. In fact she gave it away to Kai when we hesitated telling him last week (only because Kai has a very hard time keeping a secret). And when I asked her to tell Grandma baby’s “real” name she did. But when anyone else asks her, she says “Pink.” Does the girl really get how to keep a secret?

To celebrate the soon-arrival of our littlest family member, we had a friend of a friend take some belly (and family) photos last week. With a two-year-old in the mix, Myron pretty much just followed us around the house and yard for an hour, though did try to pose a few shots here and there. We couldn’t be happier with the results, and can’t wait for Baby N to make her screaming, squirmy debut.

She’s kicking up a storm inside my belly and Joey keeps saying “Stay inside a little longer!” But I predict she’ll follow the path of her big sis and arrive a day or two late. We’ll know in a month!

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It’s becoming a tradition. We had another extendo-Christmas this year.

We started Christmas early, with two nights in San Jose the weekend before real Christmas to celebrate with my extended family (aka Weiss Christmas). Melina loved playing with her two cousins, and created all sorts of mischief with Lucas. Kai was kind enough to wait until 6:30 to wake up Grandma Nancy on Weiss Christmas morn, and apparently after he went through his own stocking the two of them checked out the other three kids’ loot as well.

We visited the Tilden Winter Wonderland Carousel with Meli’s friend Lily a few nights before Christmas. (Unlike last year, Melina actually rode a wooden goat and liked it.) Then we spent real Christmas feasting on homemade cardamom rolls for breakfast (Aunt Sharon, it’s our own take on a longstanding tradition!), walking through the woods near the Tilden Little Farm, then hanging out with the Lily’s family followed by Max’s family down the street. Phew, a busy day!

What were our kids looking forward to most this Christmas?

Melina was excited about singing “Snowman in the Frosting!” at her preschool holiday singalong. And a few weeks ago I asked her, “What do you want from Santa this year?” Her answer: “Christmas lights in my room. And I want pink hair.” But she was most consistent in asking for “big Swiper and tiny Swiper,” or a stuffed Swiper fox or two from the Dora cartoon she loves. (She got one stuffed Swiper and two printouts to color, one big and one tiny.)

Kai was working on a Santa list from him and Melina since before Thanksgiving. By Christmas day it was six pages long, all of them taped together and hanging from our magnet board. Some highlights: “Tights. Markers (washable/lavable). Glue sticks. Stickers. Kix cereal. Gumball machine. Big Swiper, Little Swiper. Big love, little love. Candy. A house.”

I’d love to have gotten that last one from Santa. We kept things simple this year and new toys to a minimum, but at the very least I wish I’d asked for a half day with a professional organizer to help me figure out how to fit all of us, our stuff, and the baby on the way into our small two-bedroom house. Maybe next year. For now I’m just happy we all got to celebrate together and ecstatic that we’ll soon have a new little one to join the fun!

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Today we celebrate my birthday, Melina’s half-birthday, and a belated YAY for our baby girl on the way. Somehow it seems fitting to post the ultrasound photo of our growing baby on this of all days. We’re all very excited about our new addition come April. Melina and Kai are comfortable in their bunk bed, there’s plenty of room for the crib on the other side of the room, and as a bonus Melina decided to potty train at 27 months. She no longer wears diapers even for nap, and would be pullup-free at night if we let her.

Both Melina and Kai love to kiss the baby and say “hi” to her in my belly. Melina has already told me she will not share her stroller with her little sister, but it’s ok if I put the baby in the Ergo and “push Mina in stroller.”

A few weeks ago Kai told me, “You guys are gonna be really busy when the baby comes.” I laughed, shook my head, and said, “That’s right. And you’ll be able to do a ton to help us out!”

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Last week Kai lost his third tooth in as many months, but the first at our house. He was ecstatic at the thought of the tooth fairy visiting him that night. “She’s going to leave two whole dollars under my pillow!” As he put his tooth in a sandwich bag and tucked it under his pillow, Melina suddenly said “I want tooth fairy too!” She pretended to pull out her top front tooth and handed it to me.

“Here, Mama.” I asked if she wanted to put it under her pillow and she said “I need baggie!” so I went to the kitchen for a bag, plopped in her fake tooth, and helped her tuck the (empty) baggy under her pillow.

Kai woke up to find two dollars under his pillow, and Melina found a folded picture of Dora dressed as a fairy princess. Yup, a princess for our burgeoning princess.

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We had a busy Halloween weekend, and now have a house full of candy to keep us sugar-high for weeks if we so choose.

The fun began Friday morning, with Melina’s preschool Halloween parade. As I dressed her as a ballerina that morning she was already giddy and kept saying “I wanna be ballerina in parade!” She barely sat still for me to do her pony tails, but did insist on adding three pink barrettes. I think she was tired from all her excitement before we even walked out the door.

Joey and I both took her to school that morning and walked with her and 60 other wee ones as they paraded up and down the block, collecting candy from merchants along the way. The two-year-olds held onto a rope the whole way, most of them wide-eyed with all the activity.

Meli’s teachers let her wear her costume all day – she was thrilled! That evening we had neighbors Max and Kendall (and their parents) over for pizza, cookies, and Halloween videos. All the tots wore their costumes, but Kai decided he was just a “student” in his school T-shirt. Kai was also the only kid to pay attention to “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” but they all enjoyed a Dora Halloween special.

Not surprisingly, by Saturday Melina seemed a little Halloweened-out until Kai started talking up trick-or-treat and all the candy. We double dipped on Halloween night, first stopping by Max’s house for a party with popcorn and cider, and then going to friend Lily’s house in the hills for a potluck party and trick-or-treating with play group friends. The kids all collected so much candy their pumpkins were almost too heavy for them to carry.

Melina spent the latter part of the party emptying all her loot from her pumpkin into a bag then back again, at least 20 times. She did ask to have a tangerine she’d collected, but didn’t try to eat a single candy until Sunday morning. I don’t think she knew exactly what it was.

We polished off our Halloween weekend with a Sunday Dia de los Muertos celebration at a neighbor’s house. And now, on to Thanksgiving!

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