Brightwood Lights

Snowmageddon. Snowpocalypse. SnOMG. Snowver done.

Just a smattering of the nicknames we have heard for the snowy weather that has pounded DC this winter. I heard on the radio today that if we were located in Upstate New York, we would be in the running for their “Golden Snowball” award, which goes to the NY city with the most snowfall in any given year.

I’m snowver it. This may be fun for those who own cross country skis and/or Netflix subscriptions, but it’s snow fun for those of us with small children with bundles of energy and a constant need for entertainment. Since Caleb has turned the kids’ bedroom into his home office, the three of us have been restricted to amusing ourselves in about 500 square feet. . . for DAYS on end. I’m snow excited for spring, but I think that is still a ways off.

In case you somehow haven’t heard about DC’s many snow storms this winter, I have chronicled a few here:

Our first snow of the year barely even counts anymore! It’s funny now that I was very deliberate about making sure the kids took advantage of the inch or two. Had I known then what I of course snow now, I probably wouldn’t have taken snow many pictures of this!

Second December Snow (The first “Snowpocalypse,” on December 19th)

Our kids really LOVED the snow. . . can you tell?

But at least our Christmas lights looked beautiful in the two feet of snow!

January was not snow bad. . . I think we had a few light snowfalls, but these days, we barely take note of anything less than a foot! We had some snow on the 30th/31st, and another light, fluffy snow on February 3. You can see some of the remnants of the first and beginnings of the second of those two snowfalls in these pictures. At least they were not significant enough to trap us indoors!

Then came snowmaggedon. We got about 25 inches on Saturday, February 6. It was too cold and windy for our kids’ tastes on Saturday, but Sunday was sunny and allowed for some good sledding.

We also were dog-sitting Bo for my sister.

Simona and I made a snowman, and she was VERY proud. (Unfortunately, the snow was a little too fluffy for a really good snowperson, but she didn’t seem to mind one bit!)

One of the reasons I am not snow excited about all the white stuff is that this is my route to our laundry facilities:

These icicles have formed on the back of our house. They are pretty to admire, but they are dangerous! I was on our back steps when a sheet of ice fell and shattered around me; luckily, I was just hit by a few small shards.

Finally, today’s snow has been the most grueling. We are snow tired of sitting around the house, but wind gusts of up to 50 mph and white out conditions have meant yet another day of staying indoors. Simona has been asking if we can please GO somewhere, and even Andreas seems antsy. It’s snow fun for active preschoolers and toddlers to be trapped! A few photos from today:

And now, pop quiz: Can you find our car?!

New pictures are up from a random warm day in January. Highs around 68 allowed us to enjoy being outdoors, but it was too muddy for the playground. So we made our own fun, jumping in puddles and splashing in water. It ended with Simona’s spectacular crash in a giant pile of mud. After getting cleaned up, we were able to head out again for some bike riding fun, but I had my hands too full to take any pictures of that. Simona is getting better and bolder about riding her new bike. She even says she wants to do a “Radtour” with Papa soon!

More December / January pictures will be up soon. We anticipate having plenty of time to update, since frantic weather updates lead us to believe that we’ll be snowed into our home for the foreseeable future. . .

. . . ONE front tooth.

Yup, our little Simona’s first tooth is out. I wouldn’t quite say it “fell” out, seeing as how there was a nasty pair of plyers involved, but out it is.

Back in September, while we were at a playground in Leipzig, Germany, Simona fell while climbing on a rock at a playground. Her lip bled, but otherwise we couldn’t see much visible damage. She complained of her tooth hurting for several days, but after about a week she seemed fine again. We mentioned it to her pediatrician when we went in for Andreas’s 9-month check up, and he took a look. He also saw no visible damage and told us to contact a dentist if she started complaining again or if we saw any changes.

This past Friday night, while reading her a bedtime story, I noticed that it looked a bit gray. Caleb was at the store, and I forgot to mention it to him when he got home. The next day, he noticed it himself. So, on Monday morning, we left a message at our dentist (who fortunately also does pediatric dentistry and is wonderful with children). When we got in touch, they gave us an appointment for 8 AM this morning. Simona was very brave and did a great job with our dentist, who could see that the root was becoming infected. She wanted it out right away, so she sent us straight to an oral surgeon whom she recommends for pediatrics. (She doesn’t do procedures like that on children under 5 in her office.)

The oral surgeon’s office was very quick. They didn’t want Andreas in the room, so I had to bring the carseat into the office, strap him in, and leave him behind the receptionist’s desk while I went in with Simona. Not much later, we had two crying children and one tiny purple treasure chest containing Simona’s very first tooth.

We weren’t anticipating our first visit from the tooth fairy quite so early, but, like everything else in parenthood, you just can’t predict these things!

As a mom without a TV in the house, I don’t get to see too many movies these days.  But today’s episode at the grocery store really was like being IN a movie.I try to minimize the number of mornings dedicated solely to running errands, so I often find myself heading to the grocery store late at night or swinging by the dry cleaners and post office with the stroller en route to the playground.  But about once or twice a month, we have to forgo fun morning activity (usually the playground) in favor of tedious tasks.

Today was one of those days.  After a rough night (continued teething woes for Andreas), we got a late start getting everyone dressed, fed, and ready for the day.  Because of the specific items I needed for a few recipes I’m making this week, I knew we’d need to head to two grocery stores to complete our list.  We headed out for the dreaded errand run and made good time getting through both stores.  Even better, we had successfully avoided meltdowns. . . but I could tell we were on the brink.  Andreas was NOT happy about the extended search for chicken bullion cubes (Aisle 4 at the New Hampshire Avenue Shoppers, for future reference).
So as I’m pushing to finish up and get home for lunch and naps, admittedly buying peace from Andreas with a graham cracker, the check out woman gets chatty with Simona.  Bad move.  I guarantee you that a 3-year-old can out-chat anyone.  Even the chattiest of grocery clerks.

Then, as is liable to happen around here, a random acquaintance of the clerk walks up and joins the conversation.  Pretty soon, Simona is pulling up a pant leg to show off her “owie” from tripping on the sidewalk on Sunday.  Now, mind you, this minor scrape had already spent two days covered by a Curious George band aid (which in turn meant not bathing for two days).  Suffice it to say that the wound was well on its way to being healed.  But, the clerk and her friend decide that a band aid is necessary, and preferably a Barney band aid.  They begin discussing looking for the first aid kit, which, I’m sure, would contain no Barney band aid.  I’m already envisioning such a prolonged search for Barney that nap time will have come and gone before we finish paying, so I, smilingly but firmly, convince them that Simona really is OK and that we can skip the first aid kit.
Finally convinced, the cashier resumes checking groceries but now is singing the famous “I love you” Barney song.  Simona hears it, jumps in, and before you know it, we have a grocery store sing along happening.   I am not lying.  Two cashiers, Simona, and customers in each of the two check line are singing.  Andreas is amused and entertained; I am able to quickly finish my transaction; and we manage to leave the store as the MOST (instead of the usual LEAST) popular customers.

Crisis averted, and another successful morning as a mom is in the history books.

How can I adequately live up to the coolness of having 09/09/09 as a birthday?!  I have already openly admitted that I am a nerd, so now I must confess that I’m probably not cool enough to do something really unique and clever on my “special” birthday.  Instead, it will be a day spent mostly observing my usual routine, except that we get a date night out, courtesy of baby sitter Tante Linda.

The real excitement begins on 09/11/09, when we fly to Germany for a two week visit.  Andreas will work his hardest to destroy every knick-knack placed lower than about 36 inches off the ground at Uromi’s house but will not be successful.  (That project would take even him- a most determined crawler / investigator / destructor- much, much longer than two weeks.)  Simona will likely sample every unhealthy cuisine found in Deutschland, including plenty of Kinderschokolade, Eis, and probably several of the unfortunately named chocolate-covered marshmellow treats known as “Mini Dickmanns.”  Caleb and I will spend our time supervising the above-mentioned troublemakers while trying to visit with friends & family and take in the sites of Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin.

Should be a fun trip.  We’ll let you know how it goes– wish us a good time!