life with preschooler
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Elan doing his impression of a giant-eyed wood elf, January 2012First off, Elan's T&A surgery went fine. The surgeon told us afterwards that his adenoids were big, and that she thinks the surgery will correct the sleep apnea. So that's the good news, and it was a big relief to hear after what was, for me, the worst part - the time during the actual surgery. I have an overactive imagination, and I've watched a lot of Grey's Anatomy episodes.The bad news is that the recovery is rough. We knew this would be the case. Every parent who had been through it told us that it's awful while you're going through it, even as they celebrated the results. At the end of Day 1, Elan was doing better than we expected. He tucked into several bowls of pasta with an enthusiasm we rarely see him show for any food.Night 1 was a parenting comedy of errors, one of those nights we'll look back at some day when our kids are grown, while we're sipping pina coladas on some tropical beach and reminiscing about the ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesElan, Botanical Gardens, January 2012I have to say, my little guy has really been handling the lead-up to his tonsillectomy tomorrow better than I expected.When we first told him, he railed against it. ("No, no, no, I am NOT going to get my tonsils out! You know when I'm going to do it? NEVER!")But within a few hours, he was making peace with the news.This morning, as soon as he was verbal (after the usual morning groaning/fussing session), he told me he was excited ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesSerenity on the Washington coast, September 2011This Thursday is Elan's tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy (T&A). Just writing that gives me butterflies in the stomach. What a strange start to the new year it's been so far. Coming home from a wonderful two weeks away has been jarring. I'm actually happy to be home, I love our little house and the amazing community around us, and the weather has been eerily sunny for January. But everyone's had an edge of cranky and tired since we got home, which ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesElan actually wrote a wish list for Hanukkah/Christmas this year.In translation:angry birdspigssnow hatsoccer shirtmoneyThis list is hilarious because a) it showcases his obsession with angry birds which seems to be a fairly universal obsession for any 5-6 year olds who have been exposed to it, b) my child hates wearing hats, proven by the fact that he doesn't want to wear his "snow hat" even though it's a yellow angry bird hat, and c) he asked for "money" so that he could lend money ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesI love coming across other peoples' art on the beach.We are having holiday hangover after two weeks in San Diego with my family. After two weeks of fabulous sunshine, football with the guys, and rolling around in a big kid/dog pile on the ground with my sister's two-year-old, her two Bernese mountain dogs, and my parents' dog, Elan is waking up in the dark, trying to get back to sleep and failing, and telling me he misses his cousin Judah.Here's what holiday hangover looks ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesOne month ago, Elan turned 5.We made a sign. He wrote his name but insisted I write "Birthday Party." And those are balloons decorating the sign, in case you're not sure. Balloons being an absolute must for the celebration.I love little kid writing. Adults can imitate it, but they can't ever quite get the adorable haphazard quality of randomly placed backwards letters and the way the whole line drifts and tilts.After much debate, I decided to have Elan's birthday party at the Y Kindergym ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesElan, Tilden Park, Berkeley, December 2011We are working on creating family traditions, now that we're 5 years into this whole kids thing. One is going to the holiday carousel at Tilden Park, in the hills above Berkeley.Mama, what's with all the pictures of me with funny expressions posted on your blog lately?Of course, this necessitates me thinking about when we did this or that last year. Which has me think about how little Emry was at this time ... more
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Rebecca - - 2 responsesElan, nearly 5 years old, November 2011Back in October, we took Elan to the Stanford Sleep Clinic. The doctors there examined him and then took a complete history, which translated into an hour and a half of us talking, trying to explain exactly how it is that our child doesn't sleep. That's an exaggeration. He does sleep, obviously, otherwise I would have sold him on Craigslist by now, or checked myself into a mental institution. But he sleeps fitfully, with frequent wakings, regular bouts ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesI hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. We had a very happy Thanksgiving. The food at my husband's aunt's house was so good, I made slightly inappropriate groany noises as I ate it. We went for the traditional walk to the park, football playing in the park, and then came back to the house for dessert. It was all lovely.And then... (because you know there had to be an "and then")My husband was installing Elan's carseat back into our car from his mom's car and said, "I feel like I ... more
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Rebecca - - No responsesElan on the pumpkin pile, October 2011Halloween was a very big deal at our house this year. First, we went to our neighborhood's version of a pumpkin patch, which is more a pumpkin pile, a huge hill of pumpkins at Monterey Market. The kids (and brave adults) scramble all over the pumpkins, including some that must weigh 100 pounders (pumpkins, not people, well, people too, but that's nothing extraordinary).Someone should have taken a picture of the maneuvers I ... more
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Rebecca - - No responses
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it’s a boy!We are so thrilled to welcome our baby boy to our family! Emry Isaiah Brams Davis October 22, 2010 7 lbs 15 oz, 20.5 inches Emry is a Welsh name…
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the end of an eraToday my grandfather, Popa Al Alper, passed away. He was 101 and a half. June 2008 Back when he turned 99, many of you sent him postcards in the mail.…
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In DecemberIt is December now, and I notice that for the past several months I have maintained silence here on my blog about how I have continued to deal with the…
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a goalYesterday I spent a lot of time thinking and writing about what kinds of habits or practices I could put in place that will support my vision of myself as…
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about my week offlineFamily photos at Bodega Bay in the fog, August 2011 I absolutely loved taking a week offline. We were in Colorado for a family reunion, so there were lots of…
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All The Rest Is Just Icing30 weeks Warning: this post involves vomit. You might want to put down your sandwich. I might have mentioned before that I am not a puker. I have not vomited…
