Remediation

I've come into some pictures from Kate: The Early Years. Year 6 is coming later this evening.

Schwabs. They start showing up pretty early on.


More cutting edge technology. He's probably editing raw footage from the video camera.

Grandmas. I was Ollie's age in this one.


At the Eastwood Ave house in Ithaca with the Wrights.

Noddy, for the Spastics Society.

I told you I liked my hair short.

Fourth birthday.

The Kid Table at my grandmother's wedding, with all my cousins on that side.

Dylan's not the only one who can score flower girl gigs.

More dinosaur shirt

New baby

More structures

Animals. Running bear is still on my dresser. This was in the house down the street from my parents' current house that they rented when they first came to Ithaca.

Heh

Four/Five Years

I'm just not that good at partying, okay? I think we all knew that. Who among us has not uttered the phrase, "Kate, are you really going to bed now?" Although Dylan and Ollie have combined forces to stop that from happening more effectively than any of you ever have, I might note. I believe Aaron's college friends win the prize for most incredulity at my bedtime.

Moving on, we're now in Cambridge, where my family spent a year in 1984/1985. I have accessed my real-life archives, so to speak, so I have a little more material for you. I don't have a scanner though, so they're not as nice as they might be had I set that up. Maybe for tomorrow.

Let's see. The Tiger Obsession was in full swing by this point (perhaps the impetus behind attending princeton? one can never be sure). Here is my characteristic tiger shirt, beloved for many years.

And my Halloween costume, complete with Little Sister accessory.


I also had a series of dinosaur t-shirts that I wore until they disintegrated. I would get the same ones for Dylan, but I don't see them readily on the Internet.


It turns out I wan an early Tea Pary adopter. Who know? My mom says that this ship has since burned down. History! I was a part of history.


My family's hobbies were not so different than they are now.




I began an illustrious schooling career that continues to this day.
Structures. I built a lot of structures.
I did some excavating as well. I don't notice kids today doing nearly this degree of manual labor.

I had a wee sidekick.


And a film crew.

And here's a few more for posterity.

Two/Three Years

Hey! What kind of party is this anyway? The hostess invites everyone, then goes out for cigarettes? It looks that way, doesn't it?

Anyway, now that I have my smokes, on to age three. I don't remember anything from age two, nor do I have any pictures or stories. Fun! I'll get more old pictures tomorrow.

Let's see. When I was three we went on an infamous trip to England with Cousin Jill, who I believe was 16 at the time. I'm told I was obsessed with putting money into the containers for the Spastics Society. Something about Noddy...

By that age I liked to keep my hair short so people would think I was a boy. I had a chip on my shoulder about boys and girls being treated differently up through...oh, now. But now I don't mind if people know I'm a girl. The pregnancies gave me away.

******

In other business, Ollie has bought himself a ticket out of the baby room at daycare. The room with the littlest babies is not, ironically, babyproof, so once they can move around they get booted to the next room up. That was a big difference, I remember, when Dylan moved in there. There's a lot more to do, and some of the kids can walk, but they still get to nap whenever they want. Once I told them how mobile he is the baby room people said they wouldn't take him. They seemed to have been looking forward to having him. Time must have softened their memories. I think he's going to have a much easier time than Dylan did.

I keep saying how different Dylan and Ollie are, but they are really similar in some ways. Ollie is just as social as Dylan always was, and loves music. Best of all, he seems able to entertain himself for long periods as long as I'm nearby. That'a always been one of Dylan's best qualities, which I was talking about by nine months or so. Looking back at the archives it looks like she really didn't sleep well at all that first year, which is about what I remember too. After a year it got better and I felt less dazed. Ollie has of late been taking champion morning and afternoon naps, going to bed at 10 or 11pm, getting up for a snack between 2 and 4am, and getting up for the day at 6:30am. Not the best sleep, so I have that Eau de Grump about me, but I can function most days. The naps make up for a lot though.

Oh! The lion. Dylan decided she would keep one and give one to Ollie. We haven't used it much, out of laziness. It made him cry the other day since he's not used to it. The end.

******

Here's a different, slightly out-of-focus, three-year old for you.

last weekend

Ollie currently bears a strong resemblance to a puppy.
This is obviously a preschool gang sign.


The shovel handle adds a slightly menacing quality to the pinata process.
Peer pressure to get a turn with the caterpillar overwhelms any ick factor (I think she picked up a bug fear from some earlier daycare teachers).





By Dylan, with EMPHATIC DIRECTION

FEET UP! LOOK THIS WAY! OKAY GREAT.

One Year Old

I was, I've been told, a chatty little thing by 18 months. I apparently had little interest in toilet training at that point, or (foreshadowing) at any subsequent point. [ed note: Kate is now proud to announce that she has maintained continence for many years as an adult] I imagine I was busy achieving other notable accomplishments, such as stacking two blocks and scribbling.

I think we were in Ithaca at this point.


This is from June of 1982, at Stewart Park, right before I turned two. It looks like a love of Water Play is hereditary.


I thought they didn't have these sprinklers anymore, but I found a picture of them on the current City of Ithaca's Stewart Park website, so maybe they do? Or maybe their website is from 1982?


Those Death Trap See Saws are definitely gone though.

30 Days to 30

As you may know, we at BleisenCentral like to celebrate birthdays for months. I will be turning 30 at the end of June (satisfyingly, on the 30th). Aaron thought that I should throw myself a birthday party for the next month, with a story every day, one for each year. I am suggestible, so today: The First Year.


It all started in Los Angeles, 1980. I have looked up a little history of the area and learned, "The Los Angeles River overflows its levees in Long Beach, sparking concern that the flood control system is inadequate to handle a '100-year' flood."


As you can see, I already had my trademark neckfat. The romper has really stood the test of time and remains a mainstay of my wardrobe.

I was, I have been told, Difficult, unless relatives were around, when I pretended to be Easy. I remain the same to this day.

Up Next: Age 1: All the Photo Albums From Age 1-18 Are At My Parents' House But I Will Nonetheless Persevere For The Sake Of Being True To The Goal Of Throwing Myself a Month-Long Party.

Point/Counterpoint

Do we actually have two children? Or did we just doctor old baby pictures to remove the hair? Discuss.

still wandering

Aaron was seized vith the need to vipe the vindows this morning. I was forced to have Dylan tip him after he got the squeegee out.


***

Memo to baby: Six Months Old! Take it easy, man.


***

The ABC news show that's on around 3 or 4am, with which I am all too familiar, is sort of great. It's a regular serious news show, but the anchors are a bit snarky and make personal comments about all the stories. I like it, as much as one can like anything at that hour.

***

We made the New York Times pizza recipe they published a couple weeks ago, complete with making our own starter from scratch over the course of a week. It was quite good, but I don't have a food scale so I think something must have been off. The dough didn't cook through all the way in the middle, was the main problem. Aside from making our own dough, I also used the pizza stone, which I warmed up ahead of time, and turned the oven up as high as possible. Those were both definite improvements over our usual pizza. When Aaron worked at the bakery he used to bring hunks of dough home for this all the time. I think I'll try again and use more starter this time. I may just not have cooked them long enough, but it takes some nerve to keep cooking at that temperature for very long, and the cheese looked done.

the mind wanders

We only have network tv, which consists of the basic networks and 45 public broadcasting stations. Maybe it's more like three, but it seems like they're everywhere. Here are my questions: How do they manage to make even the most modern of shows have that filmed-in-1978 feel? And. How many Europe travel shows, exactly, does the world require? I think one network may be entirely devoted to them. The castles! The wine! The food! It's all blending together into a chateau smoothie.

Wait, I know! It's so they can replay shows from any time in the past three decades and you'll never know the difference. Felting never goes out of style.

There are some kids shows on one of the others. They are apparently not allowed to go more than 30 seconds without trying to teach you a letter, whether you need to learn it or not. E, okay? It's an E! I get it now.

****

I have a baby who puts himself to sleep, sometimes, for naps. Without crying! In like 15 minutes! I never thought I would own one of those, but I've always wanted one. We have had six excellent months since Ollie was born with no one on a napping schedule. We made the most of it with the travel and all, but I am now ready to sell my soul to the schedule because IT MAKES THE CHILD TAKES LOTS OF LONGS NAPS. I have gotten more done in the last week than in the previous two months.

****

We recently configured both cars with two car seats so we can stop juggling kids and car seats and jockeying for driveway position. Since then we've been using the subaru more than the minivan for driving around town since it gets better mileage and it's a little cozier for shorter trips. We cleverly loaded up both kids and went to Lowe's, where we bought all the stuff for the basement rearrangement I'm working on. We also had a bulky stroller in the car. It was a real life jigsaw puzzle! Where I was a piece because I can fit between the car seats in the back. We did not, in the end, have to send a runner home to get the van, but we sure thought about it. I'll try to remember to give you a basement tour when I'm done. I'll get there soon if Ollie keeps up with his sleep requirements, as of course I encourage him to do. For health.

And a few more

"Do we need to keep these manuals of camp rules circa 2004?"

"No."

"You sure? Really? I can get rid of these? Sure sure sure? You're not worried about throwing them out?"

"Wait, wait. No. Now I need them."

*****

Kate, with face full of sunblock: Am I good?

Aaron: Yes. Great.

Kate: ARG. I know it's not all rubbed in.

A: Oh, that. No, let me get that for you.

K: Thanks...Wait. What were you saying yes to then?

A: I've found it's good to be positive.

K: You're a Yes Man.

*****

Dylan: It's my turn to talk!

Dylan's friend: But I want to talk now!

Dylan: How about we both talk?

Both: talk talk talk talk TALK TALK TALK TALK talk talk TALK

Nice Tries

After I triumphantly accomplished several mundane but insistent tasks...

"It must be nice having me home to administer the household!"

"... ... ...Yes. But I pay for it in other ways."

*****

"Hey Dylan, if you have three cupcakes and Ollie has two cupcakes, how many cupcakes are there?"

"A lot!"

*****

First thing in the morning...

"Daddy, can I have a treat?"

"No!"

"But I have those M&Ms from Rachel's birthday! I just don't want them to go bad."

[Next we will be telling her about the brief shelf life of vodka]