Heather R.'s Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 11/30/01 -------------------- 10/25/01 6/21/01 5/10/01 4/8/01 3/30/01 3/23/01 3/15/01 3/7/01 2/27/01 2/20/01 2/12/01 1/29/01 1/17/01 1/1/01 12/27/00 12/19/00 12/1/00 11/13/00 -------------------- Heather R.'s Introduction

November 13, 2000

Fall is one of the best times of year -- and Portland is one of the best places to experience it. Nothing compares to the luster of the changing leaves, the bite of the crisp Northwestern air, and the sheen of the bright blue sky. When it’s not raining that is. Lately it’s been lovely but I know the rain is right around the corner. I’m not sure how I’ll handle the long stretches of grayness. Southern California isn’t noted for its rainfall, especially the city we lived in prior to moving here. I’m ready to take it all in stride though - I’m only hoping that by February I haven’t lost my mind.

Ivan and Chloe are both going through developmental spurts -- and it is interesting to see them interact and react with each other. Ivan is on a physical sort of spurt -- or the "I must climb anything that happens to be in my way" phase. This includes the coffee table, the computer desk, the beds, the dressers, the toilet, the couch and the dishwasher. The dishwasher you ask? Dishwasher indeed -- Ivan pulls it open (he even knows how to unlatch it!) and then stands on the door. While this is enough to make the poor dishwasher creak and groan, Ivan adds insult to injury by bouncing on the poor door. I know one family that won’t be getting their rental deposit back. Blah!

Chloe is on an independence kick. While logically I know this is an important aspect to becoming a full-fledged kid, it is challenging to keep myself from interfering with this growth too much. I want us to get along, but I have to come to terms with her need for expressing her will, while trying to keep it in check with everything else. It is an impossible task. She wants things just so, and nothing else will possibly do.

The more the kids grow, the more I am reminded of how fleeting this time really is. There are moments that slip away like snowflakes on the hearth, and I can only watch them pass, unable to stop the progress of their ever-expanding worlds. And yet there are moments, the difficult ones most especially, that seem to hang in the air forever. Toddlerhood is punctuated by this erratic passage of time, and I think it’s what makes this so challenging. If only I could predict the times when Chloe and Ivan were going to be the most trying, the most difficult, it would make this so much easier.

This past weekend we took the kids to get their Christmas photos taken. We have been really slacking in the picture department as of late. With Chloe, who holds the dubious position of "First-Born," we had her picture taken no less than six times during her first 15 months on Earth. When Ivan arrived that whole concept went straight out the window. He has had one, count it, one photo session at a photographer, and that was in March. March! Scandalous!

So, we had finally decided that we needed to get their photos taken, and what better time than for Christmas pictures. I found two adorable matching coveralls, even though I had always thought I wasn’t the matching-coveralls-type-of-Mom.

We arrived 15 minutes early; the kids dressed and ready to go. Only problem? Everyone else had the same idea. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but these were not the kind of people that one would write home about. At least, not for any good reason. There were plenty of little girls, over dressed and over done. There were several who were no more than 3 or 4, and their mothers were applying makeup to their faces. Quite a few parents were at their wits end with children who were tired of the demands made upon them -- sitting for hours in uncomfortable clothes -- and were openly spanking their kids as though it was the thing to do.

We had made an appointment, so were seen quite quickly. However, even these conditions were difficult for Chloe and Ivan, and frankly, I am surprised that any of the photos turned out. The photographer must have been a genius or extremely lucky -- and perhaps both. If Chloe was smiling, Ivan was crying. If Ivan was laughing, Chloe was angry. If Chloe was positioned well, Ivan was halfway across the room trying to knock down some lighting. And so it went.

Eventually, it did get done, and we are now the proud owners of several sheets of the only professional photos of the two children together, some of which I have included in this entry.

So, this has been my week in the land of two toddlers. Best wishes from Portland, Ore. -- Gem of the Pacific Northwest (as Chloe would say "The Specific Northwest", or something like that)!

Heather