Pop quiz

Helen: “What’s your favorite dinner that Mama makes?”
Katrina: “Taco Bell.”

Two hospitals, one day (updated)

I’ve had it with hospitals for a while.

First I took Elena to Providence Park Hospital today to have an ultrasound, and I was lucky enough to get to listen to her scream and cry for Mama and for them to put her diaper back on (she needed a catheter, which was the main source of the stress). I stopped and got her a chocolate milk shake at McDonald’s.

Tonight, while Helen was at the dentist, I was home with the kids. When I told the girls we were going to feed Allan, they got pretty excited — Katrina slipped while running to the chair next to Allan and slammed her chin onto the edge of the chair. When I saw blood on her chin from a half-inch gash, I called the dentist’s office to ask Helen to get home as soon as she could.

Katrina did well at the ER at Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital. I got her a chocolate milk shake at McDonald’s, too.

Updated Thursday: Katrina didn’t get stitches, thankfully. She got Steri-Strips, and she was happy they were still there this morning.

(Comments from old site:)

You’re such a good Dada.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 8:51am.

You’re such a good Dada. Can I have a chocolate shake too?

Chocolate shake

Submitted by Brad Town on Thu, 03/27/2008 - 9:42am.

At a buck-ninety a pop? For the child size? No way.

Cheepskate. Sheesh.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 7:46am.

Cheepskate. Sheesh.

How do I stop posting

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 11:50am.

How do I stop posting anonymous comments?

Girls feeding Allan (updated)

Updated March 31, 2008: You can see a higher-resolution version with better audio and video at YouTube. I tried embedding that one here, but the YouTube player stretches the video vertically.

On childhood illnesses and febrile seizures

I hate ’em.

Special thanks go out to the Salvation Army, from whence Katrina’s noisy bed frame came, and the television show New Amsterdam, the program I was watching downstairs when I heard said frame.

(Comments from old site:)

Poor baby!

Submitted by Amonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 10:17am.

Was this last night? Is she okay now?

She ran downstairs to see me

Submitted by Helen Town on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 12:11pm.

She ran downstairs to see me this morning exclaiming, “I feel much better, now!” I have to take Elena in for a possible UTI today, so Katrina’s going to get examined as well. It’s been two years since her last febrile seizure. She has no symptoms of the cold the rest of us have, so I don’t know where she got the fever from.

Update (12:04pm): While we were playing Candyland, Katrina lay down on the floor and said, “I’m tired.” I checked her temp and it was about 101 degrees. I guess my drug concoction from last night finally wore off.

Elena was at 100.4. Both girls got a dose of acetaminophen and a popsicle. Katrina wanted her popsicle to warm up because it was “too cold!”. I convinced her to drink her beverage, though. Now they’re both in bed trying to fight off this lovely virus. Allan finally passed out in the bouncy seat since I didn’t take him for a ride in the car as I often do in the mornings. (p.s. he has developed a little cough today, too.)

Ode to a norovirus

I got sick Tuesday afternoon
Elena, Wednesday morn
Then Thursday took down Helen, too
We all feel quite forlorn

Who’s God?

Katrina: “Jesus is going to be born.” (She’s always acting out the story.)
Brad: “Who’s Jesus?”
Katrina: “He’s the son of God.”
Brad: “Who’s God?”
Katrina: “I don’t know.” She thinks for a bit. “I think she’s an angel.”

Katrina’s favorite Cook

Helen to Katrina: “Who’s your favorite cook?”
Katrina: “Daniel Cook!”

The Very Best Dada, EVER!

Today was the Halloween program at Katrina’s preschool. Therefore, I had to get her dressed 45 minutes before the event. As I was getting Katrina’s accessories in place for her Glinda costume, Katrina said, “Mama, where is my magic wand?”

(Gulp) “Oh, Katrina, I am so so Sorry, but I forgot to bring it!”

Katrina: “Then I will never, never be Glinda!”

I felt horrible. Katrina, I’m sure felt even more horrible. She was angry, sad, and just plain miserable. It was already too late for me to call Brad, since he was already on his way to the school. Reasoning with Katrina simply didn’t help, and neither did the hugs.

When Brad arrived, my look of desperation moved Brad into action. Since talking and hugging Katrina didn’t seem to be helping, he took the aluminum foil that was left over from someone’s treat, and immediately broke a hanger in half. Within a minute, he had constructed a magical ball wand. There just wasn’t enough time to form it into a star like the one at home. So Brad explained that princesses have all sorts of different wands. With a couple minutes of convincing, Katrina finally entered the classroom so that the program could begin.

It was obvious that Katrina was disturbed about her wand, as she hardly participated in the songs and movements at first. Half way through the program, she finally let loose and began singing and participating in the motions.

At home, I once again apologized for my forgetfulness. Then Katrina enthusiastically said (regarding her new wand), “I will NEVER use another wand again!” Dada is our hero!

(Comment from the old site:)

Yay, Brad!!! By the way

Submitted by Ami Peltier (not verified) on Thu, 11/01/2007 - 12:54pm.

Yay, Brad!!!

By the way — poor Allan. I can’t believe you made Allan Annoying one of your tags! LOL

Katrina and verb forms

Wednesday evening Katrina was looking at one of her books, one with places for pictures of her when she was one year old and earlier. One of the pictures we put in the book was of her and me. In it, we’re in a pool — she’s sitting on the edge and I’m in the water next to her.

She looked at the picture. “Why amn’t…”, she started, then paused. (Her cadence for “amn’t” was more like that for “aren’t”.) She started again. “Why amn’t…”, she said. (This time her cadence for “amn’t” was closer to that for “isn’t”.) “Why amn’t I…”, she tried again. (The “isn’t”-like version must have sounded a little better to her, but she still seemed to sense that it wasn’t correct. She soldiered on.) “Why amn’t I swimming?”

“Why aren’t you swimming?” I offered.

“Yeah.”

“Say, ‘Why aren’t I swimming?’” She did.

I thought that was pretty cool. She knew the grammar rule (“put an ‘n’t’ sound at the end of the verb”), but she didn’t know the exception (nor, I might add, how to pronounce it in the absence of the exception). It does seem a little odd at first:

• “Why are you” versus “why aren’t you”
• “Why is he” versus “why isn’t he”
• “Why are they” versus “why aren’t they”
• “Why am I” versus “why aren’t I” (the exception she didn’t know)

What makes this even cooler is that I was reading The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature by Steven Pinker at the moment she asked me about the picture. If you find this kind of thing interesting, I highly recommend his books. The Language Instinct was the one that got me hooked.

Three important rules of Hide-and-Seek

Elena and Katrina enjoy playing Hide-and-Seek. There are at least three rules of the game that Elena still needs to learn.

• When choosing a hiding place, wait until the Seeker is not watching you.
• It’s best to choose a new hiding place, not the same space behind the couch you always use.
• When someone asks, “Elena, where are you?”, you shouldn’t yell, “Hiding!” (Actually, this one’s probably OK for safety reasons.)

Yummy yogurt

Salami girl

(While eating lunch of yogurt, salami, cheese, and blueberries)

Katrina: “What do I have to eat in order to get more cherry yogurt?”

Me: (laughing) “Eat another piece of salami. Then you can have more yogurt!”

I should probably explain that I tend to have Katrina eat something of greater substance before Katrina can have more dessert. Yogurt as dessert? For Katrina, yes—she could eat two containers in one sitting, no problem.

Brilliant girl

(7/12/2007 while eating salad at the dinner table)

Katrina: “Let’s pretend that lettuce is a plant …”
Me: “It IS a plant.”
Katrina: “But, then we don’t have to PRETEND!!!”

In the car going to Nifty Fifty’s in Bensalem, PA

Katrina: “Where’s Beebeebee?” Me: “He’s back in the room.” Katrina: “But he will be lonely!”

I suggested a few ways Beebeebee could keep himself occupied.

Me: “Or he can watch television or use the computer.” Katrina: “No, he can’t!” Me: “Sure he can. He can use the remote.” Katrina: “But he can’t! He only has circle hands!”

That reminds me of the live Elmo show we saw earlier. Elmo was thinking about fish today. At one point late in the show, Elmo begins talking to a kingfish. Katrina exclaimed, “But fish can’t talk!” I think it’s interesting how everything else is believable, but talking to a fish or Beebeebee using a remote control with his circle hands is out.

Vacation, Day 3: Sesame Place

C is for collapse

(Photo album: Sesame Place)

Sesame Place was a lot of fun despite the rain. We skipped all the water-related activities (which are quite numerous) and did other things instead. We all played on or near the rope bridge, rode Big Bird’s Balloon Race, saw a parade, saw a show, and met all the characters at an insanely expensive dinner.

Katrina and I also rode a roller coaster called “Vapor Trail”. We rode four times and she was still sad we didn’t ride it more. The fact that Katrina loved it made her roller-coaster–loving mother very happy.

The last three times we rode “Vapor Trail” were around six o’clock when most people had already left the park because of the rain. For all I know, some of the workers had left, too — the four teenagers running the coaster had trouble getting the ride to start each time. (“Everybody [take your hands] off [the button]!” (pause) “Everybody [put your hands] on [and press the button]!” “What’s going on?” “It didn’t go!” “Okay, let’s try again …”)

It sprinkled a bit throughout the day. The first significant rain fell after the parade while we were watching the Abby Cadabby show; the second, while we were at dinner meeting the various Sesame Street characters. We were pretty lucky.

We’re hoping that tomorrow’s weather will be better. If not, we’ll probably find other things to do in the area so we can go back to Sesame Place and do the water activities.

Quote of the day: “Dada, if we move faster, you’ll get lither.” (Katrina in a rope-bridge tunnel with me)

Katrina and the Tigers

Katrina’s First Baseball Game [Helen’s public gallery at Picasa]

On Sunday, I took Katrina to the Tigers game at Comerica Park. (The Tigers beat the Twins 4-3.) We got there a little late because we took our time at WalkAmerica that morning, but neither of us were bothered by it.

We had great seats — I chose a section near where I sat last year for a coworker’s bachelor party. Katrina mostly wanted to take pictures and eat her piece of pizza (she didn’t want the cherry Icee I got for her), but she did enjoy doing the wave and cheering when everyone else did. (She got confused a couple of times, putting her arms up in the air when the crowd cheered for a good play. I thought that was cute.)

For a few innings we walked around, rode the carousel, visited the store (where I bought her a white Tigers hat with a pink D), and bought cotton candy. After the game, she said her favorite part was riding the tigers on the carousel.

Facts about Mr. Bear

Here are some facts about Katrina’s teddy bear, Mr. Bear.

• Mr. Bear is a Ty Pluffie called Slumbers.
• Mr. Bear was purchased by John McKenzie, a friend of Brad’s, and given to Helen and Brad at Katrina’s baby shower. (John was Brad’s manager at TPI and is now part owner of Majority Controls LLC.)
• When she was still learning to talk, Katrina gave Mr. Bear the first name “Beebeebee”, pronounced [βi βi ˈβiː] in IPA. Pronouncing it “bee-bee-BEE” or “vee-vee-VEE” is close, though using voiced bilabial fricatives (a sound between a ‘b’ and a ‘v’) is better.
• Some of Mr. Bear’s friends and family, originally purchased as possible Mr. Bear stand-ins, have the same first name as Mr. Bear. (Brad: “Hey, you sat on Beebeebee!” Katrina: “No, that’s Beebeebee’s friend, Beebeebee.”)
• According to Katrina, Mr. Bear is a girl, though masculine and feminine pronouns are often used interchangeably.

(Comment from the old site:)

Will the "real" Mr Bear please stand up?

Submitted by Helen Town on Wed, 03/07/2007 - 1:28pm.

I think Mr Bear’s CURRENT picture should be displayed as well, for comparison purposes.

Trip to Erwin Orchards

We went to Erwin Orchards on Saturday. We had a great time and took plenty of pictures, though the apples Helen wanted to pick — Cortland — were already gone. A tractor pulled us out to pick a peck (silly Imperial units) of a variety of apples and grab a couple of pumpkins from their pumpkin patch.

Katrina loved picking the apples and playing in the play area. Elena discovered biting apples, which she enjoyed; she kept pointing at everyone else’s bags of apples and grunting.

We though $7 for a gallon of cider was a little much, but we did buy some very tasty doughnuts and an already-picked peck of Cortland apples.