Random update.

Hello, friends.  It's raining here and has been for most of the day and indeed for most of the summer.  The bright side (ha) to this lovely little gift from Mother Nature is that it never really felt like summer -- so the fact that it's nearly over is far less depressing than it could be.  The downside is of course that I am likely Vitamin D deficient, as are my children and husband.

I think I'll move to the Middle East for some Vitamin D.

We still do not have a move date and as of today have arranged to have the kids attend their schools here for the month of September.  This is subject to reevaluation after Eli has a meeting tomorrow during which he will discuss our move date.  Of course, now that we've decided to send the kids to school, and now that the property company is showing our house daily, I wish we could stay for the term.  Who's been going on and on and on about move dates and certainty?  Nobody I know.

I sent off an angst-filled email to my husband concerning the move date/school issue and he replied:  "You are a complicated girl, Laura Kent."  Of course, this made me feel instantly better because he called me a GIRL.  On second thought, perhaps this is a situation analogous to the one wherein my grandmother calls her younger sister and her younger sister's husband "the kids" even though they are in their eighties?  (Except I'm not in my eighties.)

Tommy's still in the middle of something, but he had been sleeping better until last night when he was up three times.  I did not know about this until the morning when Eli mentioned it.  (And those two sentences right there are actually the definition if you look up "Best Husband EVER" in the dictionary.)  He's (that's Tommy, not Eli) been clingy when I go to work and a bit whiney and we're all just trying to get through it.  BUT, we stopped by the second hand charity shop on Sunday (it's the kids' favorite store which means that Eli and I are huge idiots for ever buying them any new toys), I bought him some books and he never even asked us to read them to him.  He just read them to himself.

Lulu isn't in the middle of anything except figuring out the limits of her control.  She's now hitting her brother with some regularity.  He only minds when he's tired, but STILL.  She's spending a bit more time on the naughty step as they call it over here.  (Yes, I've read those articles about how time outs are bad for kids and alienating and cripple their confidence.  No, I don't find them convincing.  Yes, I'll pay for my kids' therapy.)  This morning I put a dress on her that was so big (3T) that it was falling off her shoulder (you know, like the 80s) and she refused to change.  Other days, she wants to go outside in underwear and red sparkly shoes that are about three sizes too big for her.  She gets her fashion sense from me, of course.

I have some photos to post, but that won't likely happen until the weekend, and maybe even later as I expect to be at work for most of the weekend.  But, stick with me.  I'll be back. 

Lulu didn't nap today.

This was one of the times that it was the fault of her parents.

Consequently, tonight at dinner (Eli made lasagne) she was a freaking mess.

She sat in her chair alternately crying, picking at her toenail polish, and permitting me to put a bit of pasta into her mouth directly (only if it was visibly pasta and not sauce).

Eli looked over at her and said, "Lulu's in rough shape.  She's refusing to eat and focused only on beauty."

And I started laughing because honestly when your two-and-a-half year old is focusing on her 'polisss', what are you going to do?

(She gobbled up her strawberries and cream dessert, and obviously we know she can use the calories.)

The London Aquarium

Sometimes when you're a parent you do things that you otherwise just would. not. do.  Like wait in the pounding rain (I'm not kidding, it rained like it must've rained on Noah) in a line to go into a clearly over-crowded building where they keep animals in spaces which are far too small for them.

That's right.  We gave £50 to the London Aquarium so we could see a bunch of sharks swim around a tank that wasn't big enough, a flock (? group?) of penguins wander around a smallish room and then get teased by little kids pretending to feed them through the glass, and on and on.  And right now I sound like I didn't enjoy this experience.  But it was fine and as always it was lovely to watch my kids enjoy themselves so much.

I just have a hard time with the fact that my kids love animals and there are not as many ways to expose them to animals as I would like that I feel good about.  Our trip to Wakulla Springs stands out as a perfect mix of seeing animals, safely, but without compromising the quality of the animals' lives.

Anyway, here are two photos (actually, three, sorry).  You can guess which was taken by Tommy and which was taken by Eli:

The Cons

The impending -- but still dateless -- move is forcing my brain into a melodramatic mood. (I will concede that it is possible I don't really need to be forced. Perhaps gently pushing?) I considered writing just now that I feel like my heart is being ripped out. But that is untrue. I just feel unsettled, and I yearn for some resolution. I would like to know three things:

1. The date of our move.
2. The details of where we will live in Muscat.
3. Whether Tommy has a place at the school we have chosen on the internet for him.  (I know, we're good parents.)

While we all go through hard times in our lives, this right here is not one of those times. This is not especially easy, but it's also not really very hard. In the near term, all I have to do is decide what we are taking with us and what we are not. I don't even have to pack. In the longer term, I have to figure out how to live in a totally new place but that's the part of all of this that I actually like. I think it's fun to have to figure out where to grocery shop and where to take dry cleaning. It sounds crazy, but it's true. Moving is a dream come true for those of us with a passion for having long lists of easily achievable tasks. The part that is difficult for me is the part that I think is somewhat daunting even to those people who are amazingly social like my mother-in-law (you can often find her chatting to someone she's just met standing beside her in a line) and that is making a whole new set of friends. Apparently Lulu feels the same way, because when I told her this morning that she's going to go to a new school and not back to Paint Pots (and I said it in an excited voice), she cried. She loves Paint Pots.

BUT, this morning when we discussed living near the beach, Lulu ran the length of the kitchen just because she was excited! And Tommy can find Oman on a map (interestingly, neither Eli nor I taught him where Oman is -- he read it). Tommy tells everyone he meets that he's moving to Oman. One shopkeeper asked him in reply how long he'd lived in London. "Forty-five years!" he told her, confidently.

And with that attempt at a "glass if half full" perspective, I will sign off.  My next post will definitely be more cheerful. 

1989 to 2012

I must preface this post by explaining that this was not my original idea.  Indeed, it is on all kinds of blogs and also on 'Modern Family.'  But, when Mom and Dad started yammering on about a picture of the four of us, this popped into my head.  We didn't have much time this morning but thanks to my bossy personality and my family's willingness to indulge me, I offer you these.  I am VERY proud of this project, in part because I saw this one while visiting Grandma and staged this from memory (my hair was down until the last second when I realized that it likely was up in 1989).

PS:  Walter family, I am coming for you next.  Also, extended Kent family.
PPS:  My mother did all the work involved in getting these photos up on the blog.  All of it.

Hello from Seattle

This week I'm in Seattle for the fastest trip ever, to see my sister and my grandma, before we move to Oman.  

We still do not know when we are actually moving but I am very calm about that and will tell you about my secret strategy for managing it:  I am in denial.  I mean, I've done some jobs -- I have cleaned out the kids' closets, I have cleaned out the kids' artwork (and recycled two huge bags of it -- without any guilt at all), I have cleaned out my closet and Eli's closet -- but I still have mountains of preparation to do before we move and so I decided to take a little vacation all by myself.  (Tommy was so sad not to come to Seattle.  He really wanted to see Gigi and Lakota.  No mention of his doting grandparents, thank you very much.)

As this is not a blog focused on much of anything at all, I want to give you all two book recommendations.  First, while in Florida in June, I read that Stephen King book called 11.22.63 and I really enjoyed it.  It has a little bit of everything in it, and it's really compelling and interesting.  So read it.  And right now I am only half way through but totally in love with State of Wonder by Ann Pachett.  

I have a lot more to say but it will have to wait.  I wanted you to know what I'm up to and why I'm not blogging much.  I wish I had a fun photo for you but one will come, I promise.

Late for Work

Things are fully nuts around here right now.  I am crazy busy at work, but on vacation next week.  Tommy had a stomach flu yesterday (best part of this is that he's already much better so at least its quick), and the rest of us are waiting to get it (including poor Mandy).  And of course, we are trying to prepare for our next chapter.

So this is a short post.

My children spend a fair amount of time playing together -- and since Lulu doesn't quite like Lego yet, the games are usually role-playing.  On Tuesday morning, we all played "Christmas Eve" which is a fun number where we get out all the toys, put them in a pile, go to bed, and then wake up to all the presents (toys).  We added Christmas Eve dinner the second time we played on Tuesday morning, as well as a "Christmas cuddle".

But friends, tell me, what does it mean that this morning while I was getting ready to go, they traipsed around our bedroom in Eli's and my shoes, playing "late for work"?

Is that funny, or depressing?

Weekend Photos

Ready to scoot!  She's getting quite fast but cannot steer.  A slightly dangerous combination.  Note her new sunglasses case over her arm (it was £2 -- everything in Peter Jones is 50% off -- and she told me, 'weawy like it, mommy, buy it peese' AND SO I DID which is horrible parenting).

 The V&A has a glove of armor and here Tommy is trying it on.

 She wants to push the buttons even if she can't see the screen.

 A new toy!  Star Wars guys!

 Being SO GOOD at my office on Friday.

 The favorite outfit these days.

Photos of Oman

You guys.  Eli found these photos and he does not remember where, so I am throwing them up here without giving credit to the photographer.  I hate to do that, but know there are not many of you looking at this blog.  Please understand that we did not take these photos.  (Obviously, as we have never been to Muscat -- we're just moving there.)  Isn't it pretty? Don't you want to come visit? xoxo

Well, hello August!

Friends, it is now August and still I am writing '2011' for the year if I don't think hard while writing.  I read an article about how all of us (no matter the age) feel the time pass at the same rate on a daily basis.  But as you live longer, your perspective changes because you've lived so much longer, so larger chunks of time seem to pass more quickly.  This makes sense to me. 

And that's what's you call an introductory paragraph that has no relation to the actual post.

This post is about Tommy.  Tommy who, two weeks ago tonight, had a nightmare.  I was working late and so he came down, trembling, to sit with Eli for a while.  Eli finally convinced him to go to bed in our bed, and we moved him to his bed a bit later.

And then it was Friday.  On Friday, I take care of the kids and Tommy and I were together for the entire day.  As in, together.  As in, he was usually touching some part of me but if not touching than he was certainly looking at me.  If I had to switch the laundry, Tommy came.  He did not play by himself in his room.  He did not sit in any room by himself.  He was, as he explained it to me, scared of monsters.

On Friday, I was worried but also sort of amused.  It was a bit sweet that he wanted to be with me, and I like him sort of a lot so obviously I didn't mind too much that we stuck together.  But on Saturday, it felt old.  On Sunday, it felt older, and for the entirety of the next week, he stayed with Mandy all the time.  During this time, he woke multiple times during the night, crept down to our room and stared at us until we woke up (I am actually now scared in my own house at night because Tommy so often is where I don't expect to see him and frightens me).

I put my problem solving skills to good use and fired up the ol' computer to figure out what to do, and then, when I got sick of all the judgmental parenting on the internet, I got out my sleep book and, following the sensible advice, proceeded to promise Tommy that he could watch television in the morning if he fell asleep by himself and then stayed in his bed until the sun on his clock came up.

The first night, he didn't make it.  So we made an adjustment.  We moved his mattress into Lizzie's room.

The second night, he slept through the night and you should have seen me in the morning when he woke up, falling all over myself to tell him how amazing he is.  He loves sleeping in Lizzie's room and in fact, no longer considers it to be only Lizzie's room.  He now refers to it as his room as well.

Last night he woke up once, but this is a little bit like having a six-month-old:  one nighttime wake up is so much better than it had been that we can almost live with it.  (I know.)

Anyway, any and all advice welcome.  We are tired over at our house.  But glad that things seem to be normalizing for T.  (And also grateful that our kid has been so incredibly easy!  Nothing like a little sleepless episode to make you grateful for your kid's normally perfect behavior.)