Cabin Fever!

Roo's been sick so we've put ourselves in quarantine since Saturday. Stuck in the house with a four year old, a 15 month old, and a restless mama. We've done lots of reading...

(Roo is signing book here. He signs that and 'sleep' regularly.)

...and we've had lots of dance time. We watched Episode 1 and 2 of Project Bellydance, so now Doodle is alternating which awesome bellydancer she's pretending to be (the latest is Shems, a Utah lady now in Baltimore. We love Shems!). Note Doodle's innovative costuming - she's using the pink ruffly skirt as a bustle for her sparkle skirt, and a red sequined "scarf" as a hip drape. All her own design.

Sassy action shot

Bustle view. I think it works, don't you?

We've also been baking, perhaps a bit excessively - I've since crossed off (and eaten) the vanilla pudding too. Today: bagels maybe, or possibly pasta if Roo takes a nap and all the stars align just so.
I've also been teaching myself to knit, we've set up our own living room farmer's market, and since yesterday have been pretending to be cast members of Stomp (aka drumming on everything in the house. I had no idea it would be quite so popular with the kids, but it's a lot of fun).

Add in lots of coloring, outfit changes, and birding (see the sidebar bird list? we added that undetermined hawk this afternoon with much jumping and shouting of "Ooh! OOH!" while looking out the kitchen window. Some of the smaller family members may have been standing on the kitchen table to see. Birds are cool enough to warrant that behavior, after all). When we're lucky there's the occasional Roo nap and you've got a picture of what we've been doing for the past few days while J is out of town.

Only 46 more hours until he's home. Not that anyone's counting.

3,058 pages

In August I finally got a library card, and while getting settled I wanted something to read in my stolen moments of down-time. I wanted to read something fictional. Something fluffy but not too fluffy, something different. J recommended the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel, the first four of which he had read in college. I figured I'd give it a shot.

I enjoyed the books, so I read all that are currently out (one more will be published March 2011). These tomes are a bit beefy, so I tallied up the number of pages I've read since early August.

The Clan of the Cave Bear - 373 pages
Valley of the Horses - 512 pages
The Mammoth Hunters - 656 pages
Plains of Passage - 768 pages
The Shelters of Stone - 749 pages

That's 3,058 pages. Oof.

Next up: Hope is the Thing with Feathers by my friend Christopher Cokinos (359 pages), which I am halfway through. Then... Wicked, maybe? J keeps trying to sell me on the Anne Rice Vampire novels. Should I take his word again (at the risk of reading another 3,000 pages in 3+ months)?

Me Things

Things I'm doing lately that bring me joy and make me feel fulfilled:

Experimenting in the kitchen (muffins, refried beans, improv dinners).
Chopping veggies for salsa after every one is asleep.
Canning the salsa and fresh tomatoes, storing away yummy summer food for wintertime family nourishment.
Reading for pleasure.
Back to bellydance class.

Ahhh. Feels good to be doing 'me' things again.

...like the grown ups do

We have dabbled a bit with Elimination Communication (EC) with Doodle. EC basically means communicating with your little one about pottying, and when possible giving them "potty-tunities" to relieve themselves someplace other than their diaper (usually a little potty, bowl, sink, etc.). We're fairly inconsistent in offering "potty-tunities," but every once in a while Doodle will make it known that she needs to go and we'll remove her diaper so she can do so. This came in handy on our Epic Hike, as she would hold it until she was out of her backpack. Thus we were able to pee her at stopping points along the hike and only went through three diapers that whole time.

She will also sometimes wait until morning to relieve herself. So some mornings she wakes up dry, then we plop her on a potty and she does her thing. But sometimes she pitches a fit (usually when she's not fully awake yet) and we have to give her some time before she's ready. Yesterday was a variation on the not-ready theme.

Doodle woke up happy after sleeping in. We nursed, read a couple of books, and then I figured I'd change her diaper. But lo - She was still dry! So off to the bathroom we went. I offered the little potty, and got a stern "NO" from Doodle. Offered to sit her on the big potty (I sit on the seat, and put her in front of me so she feels supported), and she nodded. We got situated and she started yelling in protest. I figured she wasn't ready. I set her down, and she ran into the bedroom. I followed, only to see her grab a book: Llama llama red pajama. She then carried the book into the bathroom. I asked her if she wanted to read on the potty and she nodded an emphatic "yes". So we sat back on the big potty and started reading Llama llama. Apparently that was all she needed because she was able to complete her business and was happy as a clam about it.

Was it that potties are boring, and she needed outside stimulation? Just needed to get one more reading of Llama llama in before she was ready to start the day? I don't know. I'm not even sure that she's seen either J or myself ever reading on the potty, so I don't think that was her inspiration. Either way, it worked!

Strange.