And now the BAD news

Princess the Hamster is no more.

Genevieve was playing with her this evening when it suddenly dropped dead. No idea what happened. No adults were in the room, but it doesn't sound like Genevieve did anything to hasten its demise. It was moving around and then it wasn't. Poor thing. She is devastated.

As soon as I can decontaminate the cage (just in case it was a virus), we promised to get a new one. So stay posted...

First the GOOD news

After an agonizing two weeks of waiting for the CVS test results...

It's official, we're having a baby! It's chromosomally normal and male!

What a relief after last time... John and I have hardly been able to believe that it would really happen. Logically we knew it was extremely unlikely to have two trisomies in a row, but emotionally it has been surprisingly difficult. Now we can finally start getting excited about it.

The due date is Feb 3rd, which is so funny because that is both John's and my mom's birthday.

I am a little scared about having a boy, though. In the beginning it's not much different, but when it comes to sports and trucks and stuff, I don't know if I can do as good a job of parenting. Oh well, I guess we'll figure it out!

Flowers

I love flowers. I absolutely adore flowering trees and bushes. If I had my way, my whole yard would be full of flowers. Two things stand in my way. First, I'm not much of a gardener, and second, my yard is practically all shade (which I am learning is NOT good for most flowers). However, we do have a few really lovely perennials. One of my favorites is the profusion of orange day lillies that runs across the front of our stone wall by the street. Every year I look forward to them.
Ready for a close-up?

For the most part, I do not like flowers on my walls, though. We have some of the most hideous wallpaper in the 2nd bathroom. I can't imagine why anyone ever thought that 4" flowers in mauve, pink, blue and gold with giant green leaves would be attractive.

So yesterday I decided I couldn't stand it anymore and started ripping it off. Ahhh, that feels good. It only took me five years to get around to it! Look at the lovely blue paint they covered up with that awful stuff (yes, they even covered the medicine cabinet in their enthusiasm)!

Genevieve is mad at me, though. She doesn't like change, and assumes that anything with flowers on it must be pretty. I need to work on her sense of style.

2nd sleepover

On Saturday Genevieve had a playdate with another friend, Rachel. They had a good time at our house, and then went back to Rachel's house to jump in the bounce house. They were having so much fun they asked if Rachel could sleep over sometime. Sure. How about tonight? Um, OK, I don't see why not. They were so excited! Rachel grabbed a bag of stuff to bring to our house while her twin sister Danielle screamed and wailed that it wasn't fair. I felt bad about that, but Genevieve and Danielle don't get along as well, and when both twins are around it just causes competition and jealousy.

So they came back and continued the day's work of completely trashing my house. But it was so nice to have Genevieve occupied with someone else so that I didn't get demands for my attention every five minutes. We decided that this time they would sleep in the foldout couch downstairs. Everything was great up until the moment they got into bed. Then all of a sudden Rachel started repeating "I want my mom" in a really small voice. So her mom came and got her (with Danielle, who kept offering to stay instead).

Poor Genevieve was so disappointed; she cried and cried. It was not surprising to me that it didn't work out. I can remember several aborted sleepovers when I was little, and so can John. But Genevieve didn't get it. We'll see what happens the first time she gets invited to someone else's house!

Aunt Jessica

Last week my sister and her girlfriend, Kara, came to visit. My parents gave her their old car, so they are now driving back to San Diego. We only get to see her about once or twice a year, so it was nice she could be here. Genevieve was thrilled to have someone new to show off her hamster to.


Genevieve told Jessica that it was too bad she was unlucky and had never found a man. Fortunately Jessica thought it was funny.

Runaway Rodent

One day Genevieve went over to a friend's house after school. When I picked her up she was very subdued (usually she's screaming and giggling "no, I don't want to go"). She looked very worried as she said, "Mom, we need to talk about something."
We say our goodbyes, go out to the car, and get ready for the big talk. Then she burst out, "Mom, can I have a hamster?!! I really, really want one! PLEASE!"
Apparently Sydney had a hamster, and all of a sudden, Genevieve's life would not be complete another minute without one. John and I said we would have to think about it. So for the next three weeks we were deluged with requests for a hamster, both direct and subtle.
For example:
"I wish I were Sydney." Why? "She has a dog and a hamster and two kittens and a trampoline."
"You know Dad, I hear hamsters are a lot of fun to have around the house."
"Mom, can I have a cat for my birthday?" No, we already have a cat, and I don't think she'd be happy if we got another one. "You're right, a cat would be a lot of work and take a long time to learn the rules. So you can get me a hamster instead."
Anyway, we did end up getting a teddy bear hamster for Genevieve's birthday. She immediately named it Princess, and has been enjoying her new pet ever since.

She loves taking it out of its cage. I keep telling her that if it's ever out of her cage, she needs to keep her bedroom door closed. And that the cat needs to be kept away. Of course, she lost her in her room a couple of times and panicked, but she wasn't too hard to find. Until yesterday.

Yesterday she was playing in her room (with the door open). I was in my bedroom and could hear her chattering away to the hamster, playing some kind of game. Then I heard a lot of banging around, and a few minutes later she came into my room in tears. Apparently she had put the hamster in the doll crib, thinking she was safe there, but Princess immediately climbed out and ran away. So we started searching. Tore the room apart. Moved furniture, picked up a hundred stuffed animals, searched through her dresser drawers. No hamster. Since the door was open, it could be anywhere by now! Could she have gone downstairs? Could she have gone up the steps to my bedroom? My house is too freakin' cluttered!!! So we put out bait (carrots), closed the door and went away. The whole time Genevieve was beside herself, sobbing. "She's lost, she's gone." I'm sure she'll show up eventually. "I'm never going to see her again!" Yes you will. She didn't disappear into thin air. "Yes, she did!" She's got to be in the house somewhere. "It's all my fault! I can't be trusted" I kind of agree with you there, but I hope you learned a lesson. "You should punish me." I think you punished yourself.

When we came home several hours later, no carrots were missing. Bad sign. Finally she had to go to bed without finding her (still crying). But I told her to listen for munching and scratching noises in the night. Eventually John came home and helped search again. He found her under a ton of junk in the closet! Thank goodness! I tried to wake up Genevieve to tell her the good news, but she was out cold. This morning when she woke up she came running in to tell me that the carrots were gone (I had moved them into the cage, of course). She was so thrilled when I explained, that she jumped on John (who was sleeping) and gave him a big kiss. My happy kid is back. Let's not go through that again!

Another milestone

Last night Genevieve's best friend from school stayed overnight. It was the first non-family sleepover for both of them. They had such a good time. Anna was amazing--never a hint of homesickness. The two girls giggled and talked late into the night, as you would expect. They started out on the floor in sleeping bags and ended up sharing Genevieve's twin bed. Then they were up super early in the morning and picked up right where they left off. I overheard this conversation this morning: "I wish we could be sisters." "Then you would never have to leave." "And I could go on trips with you." "We could be twins!" "Yeah, that would be great!"

Wow, this is a whole new phase. We've definitely moved on. She's gone from mama's little girl to schoolgirl with her own life. I remember those days so well. I had a best friend too, and we used to sleep at each other's houses all the time. I hope this friendship lasts at least as long.