Cool Patch

Though just six days before Halloween, we finally made it out to Cool Patch Pumpkin Patch on Sunday. We called the family at 10 minutes to nine and said we would be leaving at 9:30 and everyone made it there by 10...thanks to my entire family for understanding that the Borcherts work at the last minute these days!
It was really windy so Amy rode in the Snugli the whole time - hence the lack of Amy pictures in this post. I am thankful though that Au Bob and Grandpa D got some pictures of Amy riding in the Snugli so that 20 years from now we don't have this conversation:

Amy: Mom, why aren't there any pictures of ME and my first trip to Cool Patch?
Me: It was really windy that day, Amy and you rode in the Snugli the whole time.
Amy: But Diana was screaming her lungs out in the pictures of her first trip to Cool Patch, why?
Me: Because it was really windy that day.
Amy: Um, and there are no pictures of me because....
Me: We didn't want you to be as miserable as Diana!

So, again, thanks to Au Bob and Grandpa D for hopefully helping me avoid the above conversation someday.

Diana tackling Matt in the Corn Bath, her favorite thing at Cool Patch:



Diana driving with Gramma V:



Diana running through the mini-maze:

Milestones

There are a few major milestones in the first four years of a child's life - walking, talking, getting potty trained, the first day of preschool/daycare. Though every day is a new adventure in a toddler's life and thus very rewarding for parents, the big ones are the ones that stand out and leave lasting impressions.
Over the last couple weeks, reading has been this major accomplishment in Miss D's life. Tonight, she finished the last book in the first group of her "I Can Read" series that Gramma V bought her. She breezed right through it.
When I was playing basketball growing up, my mom always said that she was proud for me--not proud of me. She explained to me that I should be proud of myself and that she was excited for me. I tried to understand this theory for the longest time and it never sunk in until this week. I am so proud for Diana because reading is such a huge accomplishment and she's done it with such ease. It's come so natural for her. I am excited for her because of all the fun that comes with reading. Her imagination is going to grow, she's going to learn about new places and things and really start to expand her vocabulary.
On Friday, Matt took Miss D to McDonald's for breakfast before school and there was a sign in the restaurant. Matt asked Diana to read it and she instantly said "Wet Floor." It was great!
I have probably been blogging a lot about the adventures in reading of Miss D, but to me, this is one of the biggest accomplishments of her young life so far!

November 16

For the past three and a half months, it's been my choice whether or not I want to take a shower in the morning. I could skip breakfast if I wanted to because I was either too busy or just didn't need to have anything. The couch started out as my BFF then turned into my worst enemy. The same can be said for our chair. I have learned that many women I know are stay-at-home moms and I am very jealous of them. But I know that I can't join their company because I have to work.
So...on November 16, I will return to the workforce. I officially gave that date to my boss and the HR department the other day. I am looking forward to being around adults every day because I miss all the people I work with. I really love my job and look forward to writing stories about all the wonderful people who work at our company. (I can say "our" company because I own stock).
It's gonna be real hard to be away from Amy and put her in daycare because Diana wasn't in daycare until she was almost 2 1/2 years old and I loved the time we spent together in the mornings before work.
I will try not to think about someone else feeding Amy, putting her down for a nap, reading to her and cuddling with her. As long as I can provide for my family financially that's the most important thing. And since I am going to be getting out of the house and into a normal routine, that will keep me a little more mentally healthy and energized for the end of the day and weekends with my family.
So, the countdown to November 16 begins. I will take advantage of every moment I have left in this house during the day and appreciate every moment I have with Miss Amy in the day time.

Pillowcase Hair

Diana has naturally wavy hair (she got that from Matt)and I have played with it every now and then on a special occasion - curling it with a curling iron or trying to straighten it with my straightener. But Miss D doesn't like to stand still and I am always afraid that I am going to burn her. She loves the look of her hair after it's curled or straightened (what princess wouldn't?).
My awesome hairdresser, Kim, suggested that I try pillowcase curls. She explained what it was and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to do it. A couple weeks later, I looked it up on the internet and was positive that I couldn't do it. It was worth the try though and I told Diana that it was a "Hair craft" and she got all excited.
So, pillowcase hair requires the parent to cut up an old pillowcase into strips and tie them into the child's hair. I put some mousse into D's nearly dried hair after bathtime and the "hair craft" began.
Here are the before pics right before Diana went to bed. Oh, pillowcase hair requires the pillowcase strips to stay in overnight to assure maximum curlage.



It's actually very simple. I used the instructions found here. Some of the strips fell out at night, but it's no big deal. I plan to get some more practice both on myself and Diana. She didn't complain about the pillowcase strips in her hair at night. She was mostly bummed when they fell out.



I forgot to take an after picture. Mostly because Diana woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning and asked me to take them out because she wanted to see the curls. It was a little too early for me (yes, even me) to operate the camera. Trust me though, the hair was extremely curly. It was like I had used an extremely small curling iron on it. I had no idea that this hair craft would work as well as it did. I saved all the pillowcase strips and will definitely do this again!

Book Worm

It's a good thing we own a lot of books. Diana is going through a phase now where she just can't be read to enough. You know how you are supposed to read to your child at least 15 minutes a day? Well, I surpass that by about an hour. I know that's probably going to change when I go back to work (although I am going to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't change), but right now, I can't read to Diana enough.
This is a good thing for Amy too because while it's hard to read to a baby that's asleep most of the day, when I read to Diana, I am holding Amy most of the time so Amy hears the words.
Diana gets home from school and wants to be read to. She especially likes her Miss Spider and Her Sunny Patch Friends books right now. There are 25 of them and they came in a big box. I think Aunt Barbara got them for D a couple years ago. Well, turns out, there is a cartoon on television so I have been recording it for Diana in the morning and she watches it in the afternoon when she gets home. In addition to reading the Miss Spider books, she is working her way through the Now I'm Reading books that Gramma V got her. She is on book 4 or 5 now. I lost count. We go back and review the previous books to keep all the words fresh in her memory and I can't believe how well she does even though she hasn't read one in a couple weeks. I think she's a reader now.
Tonight, I read one of her Disney Princess stories to her and saw so many words that she knows. She can probably read that whole story to me now. When we are driving, I find myself looking for signs that have words on them that she is familiar with.
We have read to Diana since she was a baby and it's truly paid off now! It's such a great accomplishment for all of us!
BY the way, I mentioned to Diana's doctor that she was very close to reading and he thought that was great. I told him that we are prepping her for Stanford so I hope this means good things. He pointed out that many Nobel Prize winners come from schools other than Ivy League schools or Stanford. Whatever. I'm not trying to win her a Nobel Prize, I just want her to go to Stanford!

It's that time of year

Diana, Amy and I attended our first fall festival of the season on Saturday - the art, wine and chocoloate festival in Suisun. I really enjoy this one because one of my favorite local bands - Inner Soul - was playing and it's right on the waterfront. We packed a picnic, a blanket and had a really good time. Diana got to play in one of the jumphouses, tried some Russian chocolate (I have the wrapper, Dad, remind me to have you translate) and even purchased some jewelry (a plastic pink bracelet).
We have a lot of festivals planned in the area in the coming months and I am really looking forward to taking the girls out on the weekend and enjoying some of the culture that our area has to offer.
Here are some pictures of Diana at the Suisun festival:

"This is so much fun, Mommy!"

Movin' On Up

About 10 years ago, my dad bought my sister and me this cool alarm clock from Sharper Image for Christmas. It's a CD player and also has soothing sounds and a radio. You can wake up to any of them and you can unplug it and take it with you anywhere. It's pretty neat. And the fact that I have had it for 10 years speaks volumes about the quality of product that Sharper Image offers...even though I am pretty sure they are out of business now.
Amy and I moved upstairs yesterday. Yes, I said, "and I." It's been too hot for her to sleep upstairs in our room so I have been sleeping downstairs with her for the past month and a half. The temperature in Vacaville has gone down quite a bit which is great because my body aches and I was glad to get somewhat of a good night's sleep last night. We put Amy down at around 8 p.m. and though I felt horrible, I went back downstairs to have some husband time with Matt. Not long after she was down, she started fussing and then crying. I went up to see if she was OK and she had escaped her swaddle. I re-swaddled her, gave her the Soothie and glanced over at my nightstand. I pushed "Soothing Sounds" (which plays ocean waves) on my alarm clock and it took all of two minutes for the little one to fall right asleep. We kept it on for another couple hours before she ate but will definitely use it again. The white noise was very helpful in getting her to sleep.
Hat's off to Grandpa D for that one!

Swaddling back on

Amy is being swaddled again. As I was doing a massive cleaning of the house yesterday (both upstairs and down) she woke up from her nap after only 30 minutes, but then napped perfectly on me for two hours during 90210. Well, not that I mind cuddling with my favorite little 2-month old, but this can't become a habit. Diana took naps on me all the time when she was a baby and I never, and I mean never, got anything done around the house.
Matt fed Amy last night and she was still wide awake. We took turns getting her back to sleep and when she finally closed her eyes, I put her back in her bassinette and after 30 minutes, she woke up screaming. Well, she was up all day playing with me so I thought for sure she would sleep well during the night. Matt walked her around the house and put her back down in the bassinette...30 minutes later, more screaming. Forget it, I said. So, I swaddled the little one, rocked her on the Boppy a little and put her to bed. Four hours later, she woke up. This morning, she's still sleeping and even cooing a little in her sleep. Thank goodness! Who was that crazy mom that said swaddling was overrated?