King Richard's Faire

We all went today to the Faire and Auntie Chris was able to goin us. Shara now calls Chris Auntie Chris, not just Chris. We got there around 11:30 and the first thing we did was walk around a little to get the lay of the land. Shara saw these swings that looked like ships and she wanted to go on them. We were skeptical that she'd go on but she did and really liked it. Then I realized how much she loves the swings at school and then wasn't so surprised. Then there were just too many things to do and it was very hard to decide what to do next so we scoped out the food while hanging around a musical stage. Shara didn't want to eat, just listen to the music so we separated - Shara w/ me, Chris & Alan off to get their own stuff and we were going to meet back at the tables. I couldn't find anywhere to sit so Shara & I took our Thai combo meal and headed to the dance stage to watch the gypsies. They were really funny and the two of us had a good time nibbling (her more than me, I just ate) and listening & watching the antics. Also tried to keep a look out for Alan & Chris but sometimes you just have to let things happen and enjoy what you're doing. Turns out Alan's sausage took a really long time and when he got it, found us right away. Chris too. So we all finished eating and watching the show, then hung out by the stage. Shara wanted to go up on the stage with other kids who were fooling around up there so we did. Then got down just in time for the other kids to get yelled at.

Much of the rest of the day is fuzzy - we went to the pony rides and Shara tried 2x to get on but chickened out each time. She did get to pet one of them. We then saw some jousting, tiger cubs, a huge snake, and really neat dragon puppets that move with a remote trigger. I have to get one of those. We also enjoyed the bagpipes and a hurdy-gurdy. The lady playing it was very nice and played some kids songs for Shara, who danced around and around. We also had fun playing drums at a shop - shara had a little too much fun playing with Chris' mallet and using mommy as an imuscent (instrument).

The day was a little hard for Shara - she was on the edge of crankyness most of the day because the excitment all started just when she would normally be talking her nap. She was in my arms most of the day and when we stood in a very long line for apple crisp she was fine. After we got it she became little bossy crankster. She wanted to sit down to eat the crisp, not eat it while walking around, even though I have her her own utensil. So we tried to find a place to sit - there were no tables so we found a bench. That was almost acceptable, so she started eating some of the ice cream. Then she wanted to do it herself - meaning hold the whole plate on her lap. I was holding it in front of her, letting her do it all herself, but she still pitched a fit. We had to leave and went to find Chris who was over watching the birds of prey. I finished the whole thing and Shara was fine as soon as we started leaving to go to Chris. She didn't really want the crisp at all. It was a good show - the birds flew around and there was a horse so Shara was very happy.

The only thing that scared Shara were a couple of men dressed in what looked like Japanese armour with bones on the face. They were supposed to look scary and they did. I don't think there was any major damage to her psyche but she did mention it again while we were doing our recap of the day. But she wasn't even scared of the living gargoyle. I think Halloween will be fine.

Rosh Hashanah

This past weekend we went to Bubbe's for Rosh Hashanah. We had a great time up until the end. We came in Friday evening, picking Liz up on the way. We got a personal tour of Hampshire College and Shara was in her glory with her big cousin.

She also had fun in the car with Liz on the way back, but spent most of her time enraptured with Cinderella. Shara had a bar and put the sticky wrapper on her seat. Liz said, "I'll throw that away." Shara wanted to keep it, but Liz made a face and through it out. Shara was so shocked she didn't say anything. I thought that was great! We dropped Liz off at her home and Bella scared Shara so she stayed far away and we got to see the new bathroom (beautiful).

Then on to Bubbe's for supper. Shara was rather tired, but ate her chicken soup with alkes, broccoli and chicken. She also really liked the apples dipped in honey and we had that for supper the next night too. She did sleep in her pack & play the whole night, but Alan had to play hardball to get her to sleep.

The next morning we ate breakfast, got dressed, shara had the shampoo washed out of her hair by the joint efforts of bubbe & mommy over the kitchen sink - she didn't like it too much. We then went to shul and visited a bit, then got pickles at Gershons. It was good to see the place and I wanted to be sure Shara knows of it and looks forward to a yearly or so pilgrimage. We then hung out at bubbes - after a good lunch shara did take a nap on the bed in the office, and waited for Jill to come over. The girls weren't going to get there until close to 5, but Jill got there close to 5 and the kids closer to 6. Dinner was the best and Shara ate chopped liver, sweet & sour fish, kasha & gemelli, apples & honey, and lots & lots of sweet & sour meatballs. She also wasn't too into dessert. She did have so much fun with Liz & Samantha. They were all doing ballet - showing shara how to do first position and a pliet, then stretching exercises. Then Shara & Liz layed down on the couch and that was very cute.

Breakfast the next morning was marred by Liz and a car accident. We're getting updates on her ankle. Liz is a tough girl and is in great shape, but it's going to take all her strengh to get through what could be a long recovery. She's so into rock climbing and dance and just starting school that it will be hard for her physically but mostly mentally. I hope she realizes just how strong she can be and how many people love and support her. We're going to visit her this coming weekend and try to cheer her up.

Folk Festival

We went to the Soule Farmstead Folk Festival and had a great time. Shara enjoyed the trick horses from a great distance, ate popcorn for the first time, boogied to fun music, and had a diaper change in the sheep pasture (with much protesting). She fell asleep on our way to supper at Good Days, but we woke her up, asked her if she wanted to eat in the restaurant, said yes, and had a great time at dinner.

Some of Shara's catch phrases include:
Be right back
Be right back - going for a diaper change
Oh neat
That's special
Oh man!
bye bye, see ya!

Getting better all the time

I don't know how long we have to do this, but for 2 nights, Shara's been sleeping through the night. It's because the cats are now sleeping in our bedroom. We moved in a litter box, some food & water. Generally they (Brutus) don't make a big ruccus and we aren't loosing that much sleep, but Shara isn't woken by Brut anymore. She's still having trouble getting to sleep. It's hit or miss when I put her down. Sometimes she's out quick, other times she wants to play.

We are also going through a big power struggle with her over several things. Alan played hardball the other night and let her cry and cry for mommy, while he was putting her to bed, and didn't give in by taking her to me or calling me for help. Eventually she settled down. I don't have the stomach for it! Last night during tooth brushing, she was really really tired, she wasn't cooperating and took off with the toothbrush down the hall. I grabbed her and carried her back to the bathroom, she through the toothbrush, I had the other one and held her down while sitting on the toilet to at least get one tooth. This was really to show who's boss. I didn't want to give in because I knew a little thing like that could have had bad results. I'm not at all strick, but when it comes to safety & hygene, I do push because that's where I choose to pick my battles.

Last night she started calling out for mommy at about 2 PM. Not screaming, but yelling. Then stopped, then a little while later started calling again. At about 3:30, I guess, I went in and she was sitting up in bed, holding ducky. I layed her down on her pillow and she turned in this biggest chatterbox. She was going to get up and start her day. I did manage to get her to sleep by laying down with her and sleeping myself.

This week we had a near tragedy. Ducky went missing for almost 24 hours. When I picked Shara up from school on Wednesday, we spent 45 minutes looking for duck. Everyone was so helpful - some even stayed late searching. We looked in the sandbox, trash, laundry, etc. but no ducky. She turned up the next day stuffed in some little box on the toddler side.

So she's apparently dealing with lots of change in her own way. She's in the two's room officially - her cubby's there and we go to that side in the morning to put her stuff away before going to the toddler side with everyone for breakfast, Jake, her good friend she transitioned with to toddlers came back from his summer leave, she's talking so much more and growing and it's a lot to deal with. I wouldn't want to go through it again! We just have to figure out how to make it as easy as possible for her.

We're going out to supper tonight. Uma & Jidor get to put Shara to sleep. This will be the first time in a really long time, so maybe they can break some type of habit and she'll get to sleep easily. Good luck to them! They're thanking us for letting them sit with her, and she is so much fun, but we'll see how bedtime goes and if they'll thank us when we get home.

Bad morning, not much sleep

this morning - had to hand off shara as the tears of tired & frustration came, then went and started supper prep!

sleep troubles

Nothing super exciting has been happening lately. Shara is still haveing trouble sleeping. I've been wondering if these are night terrors and she's been scared to go to sleep at night. She's back to not liking baths again and I don't know where that came from.

This past weekend we went ot the cape for a timeshare shpiel. Shara did great. On sunday she went to home depot with daddy while I went to the market alone. I got home and we all had lunch. Shara was supposed to take a nap but that didn't happen as planned so we spent an hour or so fussing and arguing until I took her for a walk where shse ended up falling asleep a few minutes into the ride.

She then got to play in her newly cleaned sandbox and had a lot of supper - really loved the grilled pork with honey, herbes de provence marinade. I also made asparagus, peach and fresh figs roasted w/ balsamic vinegar. Shara wouldn't try the asparagus, no big surprise, nor the figs. We had a funny time with that. She said she wouldn't and I keep asking with lots of pleases and chest rubbing (sign for please) and we got really silly.

Pictures!

Didn't take as many as we did last summer, but here they are!

Wow - vacation catch-up

OK, lets see... Day 2 - as mentioned, we went to the mall and got sweatshirts and ate out at Ben's Kosher Deli & Emporium. Shara loved the salami & eggs and ate almost the whole serving. The cole slaw and pickles were also a hit - just like Gershon's. I also liked my hot turkey sandwich w/ mashed potatoes & gravy and Alan had an interesting burger with salami on it. After lunch we got a couple bagels for breakfast the next morning and then Shara fell asleep in the car so we stopped at the market & craft store. Went back to the hotel and had a very light supper at the breakfast area in the hotel lobby. Shara went to sleep very well in her pack & play but ended up sleeping with us each night.

The next day we went to the beach because that seemed to be the thing to do. We took a walk to the lighthouse and had the good fortune of hearing a bag pipe for much of the walk. There was a wedding at the lighthouse and we got to see some of it. Shara really loved the bag pipe. We then went back to the car and headed over to the playground at the main beach area. We were the only ones there and were surprised when many other kids showed up because it was really dreary out. It wasn't raining though. After playing on the steps and taking a couple trips down the slide we headed out to the North Fork to have lunch at the Lobster Roll. I didn't realize that it was a sit down restaurant and we all looked like we just came from a day at the beach. Shara was tired and hungry so wasn't in the best mood. Alan took her outside to play in this great area where they had a wooden train, firetruck and little ride-on tractors. I had a shrimp cake sandwich and got the onion rings, which were almost worth the cost. Alan had fish & chips and Shara had macaroni & cheese (big surprise). The chowder wasn't worth eating, but we had an enjoyable meal and after headed to the great farm stand that we found last year. They moved everything around but it was still all there and we even had the treat of a sandbox to play in, goat, horses, chickens and roosters to look at and beautiful flowers to see. The roasted corn was also nice and I was very glad I saw someone get a few ears to go and did the same for us for supper, again at the hotel breakfast area. It was hard to leave, but leave we did and Shara did get a little sleep on the way back to the hotel. Nothing eventful that evening, but I think that night I ended up falling asleep with Shara.

The next day was a very nice visit with the Rotolo's. We had wanted to go to the seafood festival, but it rained really badly on and off all day and it was a great decision not to go. In the morning we took a trip back to the North fork to see the field of sunflowers. We didn't see it because they had recently mowed the field. But not to worry because we went to a famous farm stand and got a strawberry pie and lovely flowers to bring over to the Rotolo's. Also got some cookies which were really good. On the way back I thought we would need lunch but it was a little early and Shara wasn't interested. We stopped at the Pita House. I got a Gyro, Alan got a chicken kabob and we got Turkish Cigars, which were phyllo filled with pastrami & feta cheese, in case Shara changed her mind, which she did. We ended up eating in the car and Shara loved my Gyro and the tomatoes.

It took Shara several minutes to warm up at the Rotolo's, but Nina gave us a whirlwind tour of their home, including her beautiful jewelry box. Shara eventually let me put her down and we spent the rest of the day talking, playing and eating. It was really interesting seeing the difference between Shara and Sophia. Sophia is so physical - climbing and jumping all around, where Shara is still working on her jumping. Having a big sister makes a difference. It was so nice being able to visit and it's times like these that make you realize how nice it would be to live closer to each other, especially with the kids.

The next day we drove home. It rained on and off for the day, but not really heavy. We decided to skip the ferry both ways since the cost was much higher than it used to be and the time isn't at all a savings. We also weren't travelling during rush hour, but there always seems to be traffic around the city. We stopped in New Haven for lunch, looking for Frank Pepe's Pizza, but it didn't open until 4PM. We settled for a tavern type place which had award winning wings. I had the buffalo chicken sandwich and it was good, but basically Franks. Shara didn't like her quesadilla at all and had a bar in the car. It had canned green chilis and they were very vinegary. Alan had an ok roast beef wrap.

We got home and the kids were still fighting. A couple days before we left, there was an apparently sick fox sleeping near the back door. Brutus laid claim and the other cats were beaten a little for their curiosity. Until just the other day, they were still hissing and mewling at each other - just Brutus & George. Mause is a lover, not a fighter and quickly made up with Brut. Shara was still freaked out about the whole thing and finally seems to be ok and forgetting about it. It was sad since she was so jumpy and scared in her own house. We thought it would be done with by the time we got back, but it took this long to work itself out. Hopefully sleeping will get better and better. Last night she went to sleep very fast, but I think we're going to have to stay in her room until she falls asleep for quite a while. She's going through a phase and this is part of the sleep time ritual now. She only woke up once last night and I had to stay in her room while she went back to sleep. That meant I feel asleep for 2 hours on her floor and woke with by arm asleep at 4AM! Still, we did get to watch a movie last night and she didn't have a 10:30 PM wakening as has been the case recently.

Tonight we're going out to supper with Alan's parents for their anniversary to the Cheesecake Factory. Hope it will be fun. Yesterday Shara was in a mood and we had a bad afternoon - no nap & wouldn't take a bath either. I think that was because she thought I was going to pull of her bandaid. Late afternoon things were fine.