Christmas

So, I guess we are ready for Christmas. Tree is up. Cards are sent. Presents are hidden. Santa has been visited. Santa, same as last year, arrived on a camel. Big thrill for the kiddos. Santa gave Kyra a Barbie car and Blaine got the board game Sorry! that he has been asking for. In-laws are arriving next week to spend the ho-ho-holidays with us.

Look! Pictures!

If you know me, then you know who I'm voting for

If you don't, well it's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, here's a few pictures for you (all borrowed from punditkitchen.com). I think it's pretty clear who I'm supporting. If I can manage to vote via absentee ballot from the Middle East, then all of you in the states have no excuse not to cast yours - no matter who you are voting for (but I hope you are voting for the guy I am!)

I have lost my mojo

Blogging mojo, that is. Not that it was previously all that great or prolific. But now, I just don't have that much to say. Well, that's not exactly true. I always have something to say, but not so much on the internet anymore. I don't know why - maybe because of my lack of internet at home. Really, you don't want to get me started on that particular sore subject, but in brief - we had to move to a new house in Oman and it's been 3 months and we just got a home phone installed, internet is probably another 3 months away. Imagine me. Imagine me dealing with this without my head exploding multiple times. Yeah. Next subject.

It could have something to do with how I have to edit and re-edit and re-re-edit my posts to make sure that they are vague enough. Our virtual world is growing smaller and smaller and I am an American who lives in the Middle East and it's just makes sense to be fairly cautious about what I put out here for the masses (all 3 or 4 of you...hi mom!)

But in all honesty, it's probably just a combination of laziness on my part and lack of awe about where we are living. Oman is fine and blah blah blah, but (as you might be able to tell from the "blah blah blah" part of this sentence) it's just doesn't set me on fire. Sure, maybe it was all fascinating and interesting and had that "oh wow" factor the first few months that we lived here. But I think a combination of the heat and the dust and the dust and the heat, not to mention the heat and the dust has just worn me down. Plus having to move to a new house, lack of phone, lack of internet, and various other things - I'm just done. Ready to move on. Of course, that won't happen for a while yet, so as my very funny husband loves to say "here's a straw...suck it up!"

So I'm sucking up and doing all I can to enjoy the rest of our time here - we've been on Dhow cruises, we're visiting museums, we're going dune bashing and turtle watching and travelling around the region. But in a way it seems a bit forced and so I don't feel much like writing about it. That's not to say I won't write more at a later time, or won't start up a new! improved! blog when we get to our next post (no, we don't know where we are going yet). But for the time being, posting will continue to be sporadic if at all.

But hey! You can always call me! I have a phone now!

Does this pyramid make my ass look fat?

Hi. How are you? It's, uh, been a while. I have no excuse, save for sheer laziness. I honestly don't spend a whole bunch o' time on the computer these days and that's a good thing for me and for my family and for my poor pasty, indoor-all-the-time complexion. But it's not so great for the whole blogging upkeep.

So, since my brother thinks I fell into a sand dune and asphyxiated, I thought maybe it was time to post a wee update. Let me see if I can cram 2 or 3 months worth of "OMG what the hell have you been up to?!?!" in one post.

To start with, Blaine healed magnificently from the lip/lost tooth bike trauma. He was a champ. Unless he smiles and you see the big gap in his mouth, you would never know that he had eaten pavement. He is doing awesome in school. Had a perfect report card. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's only Kindergarten, but I'm wallowing in the good grades now just in case we have trouble in the teen years.

Kyra is still my number one hooliganka. She actually calls herself "GANKA!" as she runs hari-kari through the house on a mission to destroy something else. She's talking more - of course her favorite things to say are more like missives to her adoring public than general conversation, but hey, I take what I can get. So when she looks at me and demands "mower miwlk" I request that she adds a "pwease" and then I go get her more milk. Or juice. Or water. Anything that she can drink is called milk. She also refuses to say her name these days. If you ask her to say Kyra, she will look you dead in the eye and say sweetly "BABY!" She's a hoot.

Dave is still travelling hither and yon for his job. His brother and sister-in-law just came and visited for a week. They left on Saturday and David left on Sunday for a 2 week trip. Whee. Same as it ever was.

I am still working part-time. I like my job quite a bit but it can be demanding and stressful and sometimes I get worn out trying to juggle everything - Blaine's school, single parenting when David's gone, working, and still have time for myself. I'm lucky though. I have a great nanny - and before anyone says "oh, must be so tough to have a nanny" I have to say "you move to the other side of the world, away from all of your extended family and friends." It's a trade off, you see. I live in a place where the majority of public restrooms consist of a hole in the ground. Therefore, I get to have a nanny. That's my logic.

Another benefit of living overseas, having a really good nanny and having a husband that travels frequently is the ability to sometimes join your husband on his trips. Dave spent a few weeks in Cairo earlier this month and I flew out, by myself, to join him for a few days. Cairo was awesome. Sitting poolside at the Marriott, having ice cold strawberry daiquiris delivered to me from the staff, and not having to constantly be on full alert (because kids + pool = disaster, at least in my world) was, in a word, AWESOME.

Also awesome were the pyramids. For those of you who are friends and family on my flickr account I have finally uploaded the photos. For those of you who aren't here are a few (plus a few gratuitous shots of my kids because they are so cute).

So there you have it. See you back here in a few months!

With our friends on horseback at the pyramids. Heidi and I were NOT thrilled with Dave's suggestion to ride horses. But, dammit, we did it.

Cairo's version of "Hey does that thing have a hemi?"

Easter photos. Yes. It has been that long since I posted pictures of the kids. Blaine and Kyra totally dig the Easter Bunny. Who wouldn't? The guy brings free chocolate!

Boy vs. Pavement

Blaine had a little accident the other night. He was riding his bike, his friend was on the scooter and they collided. Blaine went head first off the bike. His friend managed to stay upright and had no damage. But, as you can tell from the photos, Blaine used his face to break his fall. He knocked out one tooth, ripped the inside of his lip open with said tooth and generally skinned his face up. He was wearing his helmet - he always does and now he knows exactly why. Without his helmet on I am sure the forehead would have cracked open as well.

We went to the dentist this morning. All the other teeth are fine and the lip is healing well. According to the xrays, the dentist said that Blaine probably would have been losing that tooth in the next 6 to 12 months. The adult tooth is perfectly positioned to come in and has no trauma from the fall, so it's all good.

The best part for Blaine? The tooth fairy hooked him up. She gave him bonus money for having the tooth forcefully ejected. And then she had a drink. Or two.

The Sorrow

I've been trying to write this piece for a month. I keep putting it off. Maybe, in some way, I know that posting it makes it real. Makes it final. So instead of trying to write, and rewrite and procrastinate more, I am just going to post it.

My grandpa died last month. He was 98, and had outlived almost everyone he knew, including his wife of 70 years, my beloved grandma who died almost one year ago. We were all really surprised that he lasted as long as he did after grandma went, we all figured he would go within weeks, if not days of her.

I took the kids and went up to see him when we were in the states in June/July of this year. I said my good byes. He had a few lucid moments while we were there - asked me about David (who couldn't travel with us to Alabama at the time) and how I liked living overseas. He played with the kids - he could wiggle his ears and it used to amuse the hell out of me when I was little and it was no different for Blaine, he thought it was a riot. The day we left, he hugged and kissed me and told me how much he loved me and then said "I don't expect to see you again". He was my last living grandparent. I was so lucky to have been able to know him and my grandmother as an adult and to have had such a wonderful relationship with them both. I'm not a big believer in God, but I do believe that my grandmother was waiting for him because their souls are destined to be together. I'm glad he is out of his pain and suffering - the last few months have been very hard on his body. I am glad he is at peace. But as glad as I am that the suffering has ended, I'm still sad and weepy because he's gone.

The hardest part of him being gone is that it is truly the end of an era for our family. Every summer vacation was spent on the farm. The past few years have seen my parents going to the farm a few times a year (a 14 hour drive) because of my grandparents' poor health. But even when my grandparents started failing (to use a very southern term), their house was always a vibrant gathering place. Friends, family, neighbors - the word always got out when my mom was in town and everyone would come to sit a spell and visit. Even after my grandmother could no longer whip up a feast that she would modestly call "Sunday supper" everyone would still come down. Only now, it was usually my dad doing the cooking. My grandmother loved it when her son-in-law was in the kitchen - she loved it when he cooked Thanksgiving dinner for them.

So many memories, so much history, so many wonderful times. All of them happened in that small, green country house. Now all that's left is the empty house and what I hold in my heart.

And now is the time on Muscat Love ven ve DANCE

Rock on, little man. Rock on.



Blaine Rocks Out from dogzilla on Vimeo.

The joy

The joy is Kyra. Our wonderful, sweet, adorable (and only occasionally evil) daughter celebrated her 2nd birthday yesterday. We had a small, quiet celebration at our home and today we had the big party at a local children's play place called Busy Bees. Kyra and 10 of her friends had a blast.

Having Kyra is amazing. She's so completely different from Blaine. She's much bolder. More fearless than Blaine, but also much, much more cautious. She takes more risks, but they are calculated risks. I'm frequently asked something like "is that your daughter standing at the top of the tall slide?" I just nod and smile because I know she's fine. If that had been Blaine at the same age, I would have been hovering beneath, waiting for the inevitable fall.

She still has problems expressing herself. We are working with her and the speech delay. It's fun to see her learning new words and trying out new signs. Her sign language skills are amazing and she is using her signs as a bridge to language. She now can say "dog" and "cat" but only if she is making the sign at the same time. My dad likes to say that I would be mute if you tied my hands behind my back, so I guess Kyra will be following in my footsteps and will be a very visual speaker, using her hands to get her point across. Make no mistake, however. She has no problem getting what she wants when she wants it. She may not be able to speak the words, but she knows how to make herself understood.

She is still our Princessa Hooliganka and we wouldn't change a thing. She brings such joy to our lives everyday. Pure, unadulterated joy. Happy birthday baby girl. We love you.

Merry Christmas

The ball I had at the Ball

This past week we celebrated the Marine Corps birthday with the annual Marine Corps Ball. Even though David isn't here, I was still planning on attending since the Ball is usually the party of the year. This year was no exception, it was the party to end all parties, started off a bit formal (as they all do) but by the end of the night everyone was dancing and laughing and just having a great time. Or, as the title of this post claims, having a ball at the Ball.

I didn't have to go dateless, as originally planned. A good friend of mine also has a husband who was out of the country during the ball, so she was my date. I have to say, going to the Ball with David last year was great, but going to the Ball with Wendi this year was pretty damn good as well. So good, in fact that we are going steady now. (Kidding!) But seriously, don't we make a cute couple?



Semper Fi, Marine Corps. See you at the ball next year.

My kid is weirder than your kid

I've blogged about this before, my kids and their lack of lovies. Well, Kyra now has adopted a lovey at the ripe old age of 22 months (today! Happy Birthday Kyra!).

Now, most kids have a doll, or a blanket or a pacifier. Pshaw. Not my kid.

The doll I tried to give her to nap with today? She's here, face down on the floor where she was thrown from the crib. Damn doll trying to take up my baby's sleeping space! Interloper! Behold the doll's resting place:

That doll, by the way, is so soft and cuddly (and comes with her own lovey, a nice soft pink blanket) that I would want to curl up with her. But no. Instead my daughter has attached herself to something a bit more unusual. Something left over from my days, oh so long ago before she was even a twinkle in my eye, when I worked in the publishing industry as a production editor. My daughter's lovey? A metal pica ruler. Sweet dreams baby girl.

See, my kid is weirder than your kid.

Spamming my own blog

Dave is still gone, I'm still getting used to working again and dammit, I'm tired. Too tired to blog. Well, either I'm too tired or too lazy, take your pick, but I just can't get it together to write a whole entry about something interesting. Or even something not so interesting. Instead I will SPAM my own blog with pictures. It's the lazy girl's guide to blogging!

Here's Blaine on the USS Wasp, doing an interpretive dance I call "ode to a big ass helicopter":

Here's the boy again on the USS Wasp. I call this one "I'm the coolest dude on this ship":

Here's Kyra on Halloween. Now, I know you might be asking yourself "I know she says she is tired, but couldn't she at least have gotten her kid a costume?" Well, I did. My girl was supposed to be Wonder Woman. I ordered it early, had to have it shipped to my parent's house and then they reshipped it to me. I jumped through hoops to get her this costume and she was going to look awesome. Then she refused to wear it. And here I'm using "refused" as a euphemism to mean "Screamed bloody murder, grabbed costume from my hands, wadded it up in a ball and threw it in the garbage can." Yes. She hated the costume that much. Instead, I put a striped dress on her and if anyone asked I said "Oh, she's a gypsy!"

Here are Blaine and Kyra at yet another Halloween party. Blaine is decked out in his Spider Man costume (now with extra muscles! I love that the super hero Halloween costumes come with built in muscles now. It cracks me up.) Kyra, once again, refused to wear her costume. The gypsy dress was dirty so this time I put on a froofy, frilly dress and told everyone she was a princess. Hey, a mom's gotta do what's she gotta do.

Blaine started swimming lessons today. Well, actually, he started swim lessons about 4 weeks ago as part of his PE class at school. Today he started a recreational swim class. Held at his school. Taught by the same teacher who teaches his PE swim class. He is in the beginner class, but by the end of the 30 minute session today, he was doing awesome. He will even put his face in the water now without goggles on. I never thought it would happen:

See? Look, he's totally under the water. Swimming like a fish! Of course he only stays under for about 5 seconds, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?

And we can't have a picture blog without at least one cheeze face. I blame Blaine for teaching her this. It's hard to get a non-cheeze picture of either of my kids now. Sigh.

OH.MY.GOD.

Have you every had one of those weeks where life kicks your ass?

I'm having one of those months.

I got an email from my brother the other day telling me it was time to update my blog - that it had been almost 3 weeks since my last post. I thought "he's crazy! No way has it been that long!". But he's not crazy. Well, he is. But not about this.

This month I finished my work at Blaine's school. Ramadan ended and the girl I was subbing for was able to return to working full-time. At the end of Ramadan, we celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday by loading up the kids and heading up to Abu Dhabi to visit our friends Scott and Heidi and to join in the birthday celebration for their son, Nicholas (who happens to be one of Blaine's best friends in the whole wide world! Just ask him, he will tell you so). We also got to snuggle on their little dude, Andrew.

After returning from Abu Dhabi, we got to tour a Navy ship here in Muscat Port. Blaine loved that. We thought he would be totally awed by the helicopters on the deck, the big guns, the landing crafts inside the ship. And he was. But the part he liked most? The water fountains. I swear, this kid stopped at every single water fountain on the ship to take a drink. Who knew water fountains were so fascinating.

After the ship tour, we had one more day off to just rest and relax before school and work started up again. And it started for all of us. During the time I was working at the school, I also applied and interviewed for another job (not at the school - elsewhere, but I don't want to say where). Well, I got the job, so the day after the holiday was over, I started my new job. I've been working almost a week now, and even though this job is part-time 20 hours a week, it's killing me. In a good way. David is gone again for work, so it's helping keep me busy. Very busy. Between single-parenting, working and being a room mother for my son's kindy class, I drop into bed exhausted every day.

In other words, updates may be sporadic at best. I hope to have some pics up of our trip to Abu Dhabi and our ship tour in the next few days, but I'm not promising anything.

The waiting is the hardest part

I know I've discussed this before, but living in Muscat is fairly easy - it's a modern city with malls, huge grocery stores, warehouse stores, fast food franchises and, of course, Starbucks. (We all know of my obsession with Mocha Frappachinos). But there are a lot of little differences that catch you unaware.

Much like how the "family" bathroom at the mall is not really for families if they include males over the age of 5, you have to learn to navigate around the differences. A few examples:

At KFC, it pays to read the menu. It will save you time when you are ordering and you ask for mashed potatoes and gravy and are met with a blank stare. KFC in Muscat doesn't make mashed potatoes.

Speaking of food, you can't order a cheese pizza here. If you want a cheese pizza, you have to ask for a margarita pizza. And I'm not talking about ordering at a ritzy Italian place, this is true even if you are at Pizza Hut or Papa John's.

At bookstores, pay attention to price tags. A paperback book can cost you around 12 bucks.

If you like pork (and I don't, so I fit in well here) be prepared to pay dearly for it. There is only one store that I know of that has a "pork room". I went in it the other day just to check it out. A pack of bacon in the US costs around 4 bucks. Here it will set you back about 15.

And we all know about the happy meal toys.

But the difference that I most often forget about and get awkwardly reminded of are the waiting rooms. There are women's waiting areas and men's waiting areas. I always forget to look for the signs. So does David. He ended up sitting in the women's waiting area at the DMV until someone pointed out that he was on the wrong side. I had a dilemma when I took Blaine to the hospital last week. Do I sit in the women's area or is Blaine not allowed there? But I can't sit in the men's area because I'm not allowed. I was stumped. I didn't want to offend anyone so I ended up letting Blaine sit in the men's area and I just stood against the wall that separated the two areas. I wish they had a family waiting area. But then again, who knows if men would really be allowed in there.

Ooh, I am editing this because I just remembered one more subtle difference. You can't get a hamburger here. Cheesburger, yes. Beefburger, certainly. But not a hamburger. Even though most hambugers have no ham, I guess it's just easier to rename them then to try to explain it over and over again.

Changes afoot!

Well, you may notice some pictures missing on my blog. The reason for this is Flickr. Not that it's Flickr's fault. Let me explain.

Flickr has been having problems recently with photo misappropriation. Some people have had their photos lifted and used in bogus ads. Some people have noticed the fake ORKUT accounts being set up using other people's pictures (OPP?).

I didn't have these problems (that I know of) but I did have an odd person want to make me a contact on Flickr. I don't feel like getting into details, and I'm not trying to be mysterious, but when I checked out the person's profile, I decided it was time to make all my photos private. Friends and family can view them if they are invited. So, if you are a friend or family member, shoot me an email at augieandrenegade(at)yahoo(dot)com. I will send you an invite. If you aren't a freak.

In the meantime, there are holes on my blog where pictures used to be and I will slowly (re: maybe today, maybe never) go back through and re-add them manually from my personal files.

Sorry for the hoop jumping.

And this is how exciting my life is

David got on a plane yesterday for a business trip. Of course, this means that I ended up in the ER with one of the kids yesterday. These things always happen when David is away. Always. Without fail. If it's not one of the kids, it's something with the house or car. Sigh.

I have been working at Blaine's school for the past 2 weeks. Because of the Ramadan holiday, the Muslim workers leave by 2 PM, so they need people to help out. I am working in the school library (ah, a library - my favorite place to be!). Yesterday I get to school and I stopped in the cafeteria to buy some lunch tickets for Blaine and on my way out, I run into Blaine's class on their way back from recess. The teacher's assistant says "hey, glad I ran into you! I just dropped Blaine off in the nurse's office. He fell on the playground and bumped his head and is bleeding and we can't tell if it's his nose or his lip". I run to the nurse's office and there is my poor boy, standing at the sink with the nurse, covered in sand and blood and crying. He fell off the rope ladder and did a face plant in the sand. We get him cleaned up and determine that he had a bloody nose, not lip, and we ice his head and all seems fine. Once he is calm, I walk him to class and tell him I will come and get him as soon as school is over and he can hang out with me in the library and we will ride home together.

45 minutes later, I head down to his class to get him and, as we are walking back to the library, he tells me that his hand hurts. I look and don't see anything wrong. No swelling or bruising. During the 30 minutes we are in the library while I finish my work, Blaine complains again and again about his right wrist. He's holding it with his left hand and keeps saying "It hurrrrrrrrts". So, we head out and instead of going home we head to the local ER to get it looked at. The doctor orders x-rays. Blaine is excited at the prospect of having pictures taken of his skeleton.

5 x-rays later (3 of his hand, two of his head because of the size of the lump on it) we determine that he is ok. No break, just a slight sprain.

Blaine is now more concerned about the absence his brain on his head x-rays. "Where's my brain? It's in my head! Where is it?" All complaints about his wrist cease because of the new missing brain dilemma.

Ah, my life. One excitement after the next.

In other news, I have posted some new videos of Kyra talking and signing. I am trying to keep track of her progress as we work with her so that I can gauge her improvement. She's doing pretty good, picking up new signs every day. In the videos she only does one sign "please". She also repeats her latest favorite word "spiderman". David and I didn't teach her that one. Guess who did? Oh, and she also looks at me like "what? I don't know that" when I ask her to say "Love you!". Yeah, like we never, ever say that to her.

The Secret Recipe?

Last night I stopped in at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken to pick up some food for my kids. As I was standing at the counter waiting for my order, I glanced over and saw a big dry-erase board behind the manager's desk. This board was in full view of anyone who came into the restaurant and it was a list of all the things that needed to be done that week. The third item on the list, written in bold red ink, in all capital letters, with extra exclamation points read as follows:

CALL INSECTECUTIONER!!!!!

Adventures in Oman, part 3

Remember how well David and I planned our previous adventure? No water. No food. Touring around on day when most shops and tourist attractions are closed. So, naturally, we decided to do it again. This time we brought plenty of food and water, but we still went out on Friday (for those who have not read the previous entry, Friday is like a Sunday here). Not only did we go out on Friday, but we went out after 1 PM. What's the big deal about going out after 1? Most shops here in Oman take a siesta during the hottest part of the day - usually from 1 to 4 PM. See our brilliance now? We go out on a Friday = most stuff closed. We go out after 1 PM = siesta for those businesses that were actually open. You know you want to come visit us and go for a tour with us. We can take you great places - and you can look at them from the outside and try to imagine what the inside would have looked like. FUN!

Onto part 3. We had so much luck previously with the Five Forts Tour, that we decided to repeat the exact route. Crazy, right? Some friends of ours had heard about the tour we did and wanted to go see the forts, so we all loaded up and they followed us off the beaten path to the first fort, Sur ar Rumays. I didn't even get out of the car at Sur ar Rumays because Kyra was sleeping. And it was hot. So while David and Blaine took our friends exploring, I sat in the air conditioned car with Kyra. I will be applying for Mensa membership shortly.

Our next stop was the Barka fort. Barka was the fort we skipped last time in order to feed our children. This time we actually stopped, got out of the car, turned the cameras on...and the fort was closed. Yes. Padlocked tightly.

We asked a few locals who were hanging out in lawn chairs near the fort when it would open. Our thinking was that maybe it was closed for siesta and would be open again in another hour or two. Their answer? Sunday. We decided not to hang around until then. But we did let the kids play with the cannons!

After checking out the outer walls of the fort and the cannons, Dave and Kyra sat down to plan the next leg of our journey:

We left Barka and headed for Nakal fort. Nakal was open, but we took no pictures as we had taken plenty last time we were there. As you may recall, Nakal was where we ended our tour last time because it was so hot and late. Well, Nakal was the last fort on our tour again this time, but it wasn't our last stop. Just a few kilometers from Nakal Fort is Ayn ath Thuwarah (say that 3x fast!). Ayn ath Thuwarah is home to some beautiful hot springs with a lovely picnic area. We stripped off shoes and socks and went wading. Well, David, Kyra and I went wading. Blaine went falling. Multiple times. He kept saying "I slipped!"

Poor kid ended up having to ride home in a t-shirt and underwear because that's all the dry clothes I had for him in the diaper bag (brilliant planning strikes again! I wouldn't have even had those if not for the fact that I haven't unpacked the diaper bag since our flight here almost 2 months ago. Moral? Procrastination pays!).

With a few more pictures of the hot springs, including the beautiful waterfall and the picture of the lady doing her laundry, we packed it up and headed home since it was getting dark.

Next time we head out, we have vowed to start our journey with a new destination. We have also vowed to pack better, plan better and to travel on a Thursday. It could happen.

The Girl

If anyone had tried to tell me 2 years ago that my second child would be so absolutely different from my first child, I would have laughed. Really, they are just kids. Babies. How different can an infant/toddler/young child be? Sure, when they get older, when they are teenagers, there will be differences, but when they are young? No different. That's just crazy talk!

Then Kyra joined our family. And I learned just how different 2 kids can be.

Blaine was a difficult baby. Not colicky difficult. More like "oh my God why won't he sleep and why does he eat all the time" difficult. He wasn't unhappy - he was a happy, happy baby. He was just always hungry and never sleepy (or so it seemed). Kyra was the exact opposite. From the moment she was born she was a good sleeper. By the time she was 3 or 4 months old, she would only get up once a night. By 6 or 7 months, she slept through the night (unless she was teething). She had her own feeding schedule and she stuck to it. So easy. I felt like I had paid my dues with Blaine and was rewarded for my sacrifices with Kyra.

Blaine walked at 10 months - never crawled. He fell quite often and usually was sporting road rash on his face or knees. But, he never got into stuff. Well, not much anyway - and usually only if it was completely accessible - right in front of him begging him to mess with it. He didn't climb nor did he open every cabinet, closet or door he could. I never needed baby gates with him. Kyra is the exact opposite. She didn't walk until she was 1, but from the moment she could move, she has climbed. And climbed. But she's so careful that she rarely falls. Oh, and does she ever get into things. Childproofing has reached a whole new level in our home since Kyra has been able to move.

But man, I would not trade her for the world. She is awesome. I am so lucky to be her mom. She's sweet and funny and she laughs and laughs and loves and just makes my world a better place every single day. She loves to say hello to everyone she sees - waving furiously and repeating "hewooo" until the person she is waving at waves back. She loves to say "buhbuh" and wave again before moving on to the next person she wants to say "hewooo" too.

She doesn't talk much. We had a preliminary speech evaluation done with her, since she is 19 months old and likes to scream and point as her primary means of communication. Her hearing is fine. Her receptive language is top-notch. Her expressive language? Not so great. She babbles a lot but she doesn't have many words. We have gone back to basics and we are teaching her sign language. She's picking it up quickly - please, eat, more - and man it's making our life so much easier. The screaming is less because, without words, she can tell us what she wants. Hopefully in the next few months her language will improve, but if not, we will have a full speech evaluation done and start therapy.

The most important person in her life is her brother. Her dad and I are in the top 5, but I don't know that we will ever replace Blaine - "Ba" - as the center of her universe. She does what he does, loves what he loves, and wants to be with him all the time. The first day he rode the bus to school she cried and cried because she wanted to go too. But when he got home, she looked like this:

She's perfected the Blaine Cheese Face. And I love it. And I love her.

How to tell you are not in America, part 3

If doing the laundry involves a trip to the local hot springs, you might not be in America.

On another note, the picture above was taken at the hot springs just a few kilometers from the Nakhal Fort. That trip will be the subject of the next installment of "Adventures in Oman". I'll get around to writing it soon. I hope. Maybe after my laundry is done (and no, I don't have to tote it to the stream, thank God).