Boise (er Meridian) or Bust

Well we did it.  After years of talking about it, telling people "one day", and wondering in our minds if it would ever happen, we have moved to Boise.........the Treasure Valley........Meridian......whatever you want to call it.    For those of you that don't know that backstory, and for the sake of archiving our adventure for Jordan's later years when she reads this I will make it short.  Back in March we sold our house.  At the time we were looking for another house in Moscow.  One night Jamie and I sat down and decided this was it.  If we wanted to move to Boise it was now or never.  So we found a rental in Moscow and Jamie started the difficult task of trying to find a job in Boise (I was able to transfer my current job).   Surprisingly in our move from our old house to the rental Jordan didnt' skip a beat.  She could care less where she was as long as her schedule wasn't interrupted (note this statement as you find later in this post things were and are quite different in the move to Boise).  There were some difficult times in the months following as we lived out of boxes and tried to stay cool in a non air conditioned rental.  Then it happened.  Jamie interviewed for a job at the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories and was offered the position.  This is where the tale begins....

It was Friday, August 5th.  My phone rang around 9 am with a excited Jamie on the other end.  "I got the job!" she said. 

"Are you serious?" I responded.  I was excited as ever, though in the back of my mind all I could think about was holy crap we have a lot to do.

"I start the day after Labor day." 

Ok that's a lot better than two weeks, but still, closing on a house in four weeks will take a miracle.  We decided to make this work we had to go to Boise that weekend and look for a house.  I called Grandma Barb to see if Jordan could stay with her since spending 11 hours in the car over the weekend plus all the driving around looking at houses didn't fit into her schedule.  Obviously she said yes.  So when Jamie arrived home we headed off to McCall, planning to stay there the night and arrive at our realtors office at 10:30 the next morning in Boise.

Saturday was a marathon to say the least.  We started the house search at 10:30 am with a stack of house listings thicker than Tolstoy's War and Peace.  The day wore on as we went from house to house.  There were some we liked, a lot we didn't.  With no stops for lunch, bathroom, or beverages we powered through the day.  Around mid afternoon we walked into a house that Jamie really liked.  I on the other hand wasn't so impressed, so we continued on.  Dinner time hit and we were spent, the day had felt like a failure.  There were some houses we liked, but none were "the one".  As we were heading back to the office our realtor recommend we go back and take a look at the house Jamie liked just so I could see it again and maybe I would have second thoughts.  We went back to the house and as I thought my mind hadn't  changed.  As we left the house I started thinking there was no way we were going to find a house in time.  Both of us were tired and hungry and then our realtor got lost in the subdivision.  As we circled around looking for the way out we drove by a new construction house that was for sale.  He asked if we wanted to check it out, what the heck what is one more house and another 15 minutes added on to the day.  As we walked into the house both of us looked at each other and knew this was it.  Our realtor made a phone call to see if it was available.  Bad news, it was being put in the parade of homes and we wouldn't be able to move in until mid October.  As much as I loved the house I hate moving more and there was no way I was moving our stuff to another rental then to this house.  Come to find out the house right behind it was also just finished and had the exact same floor plan just a different elevation and trim.  We ended up liking the colors in it even more and put an offer in the next day.  Our offer was accepted and we returned to Moscow successful.

The next few weeks were crazy. I wanted to close in three weeks so Jamie had a week to adjust to the area before starting her new job.  In those weeks I spent hours on the phone with the mortgage company and the builder,  made a trip to Boise and back in one day to do a walk through (thanks to Gavin for the company), and in a last ditch effort to get our loan documents in on time drove to the Moscow airport at 4:30 am to get the documents on a commercial flight that was heading to Boise that day.  In the end it was all worth it and we closed on the house in time.  Now for the fun part.....MOVING.

I took Thursday and Friday off to pack our stuff and convinced my good friend Gavin Main to help me load the moving truck Friday.  Knowing this would be a big change for Jordan, we wanted to get as much done while she was at daycare as possible.  Grandma and Grandpa Lewis drove over Friday night to help us with the move and accompany us down to Boise to help us get settled in.  Saturday morning I headed out at 5:30 with the moving truck leaving the others behind to clean the rental and pack up the last bits of stuff (which turned out to be a lot more than we thought and required us to rent a trailer to fit it all).  By Saturday night we had unloaded everything returned the moving truck and set up the beds.  Over the next week we mostly settled in and at this point have pretty much everything unpacked.  The End..................

"Wait"

"What?"

"What about Jordan?"

"What do you mean what about Jordan"

"Well this blog is called Baby Femreite and unless you or Jamie have de-evolved into a small child I haven't heard anything about a baby Femreite in this story"

Ok so on to Jordan. 

As I had said, during the move from our old house to the rental Jordan never skipped a beat.  We didn't expect anything different with this move.  Boy were we wrong.  Jordan has always been a great sleeper.  Going to bed at 8, sleeping all night, and not waking up in the mornings until we woke her up.  That has all changed.  She won't go to bed at nights, we are lucky if she goes to sleep by 10.  She won't go to sleep without one of us (usually mommy) in the room with her.  She wakes up all through the night crying.  Her new wake up time is usually around 5:30 - 6.  At first we blamed it all on the move.  Thinking she really wasn't taking it well, and at nights couldn't sleep because she was in some strange room we weren't sure what to do.  Recently we have been doing some research and come to find out this is pretty common behavior in children her age.  Around this time they start having a lot of separation anxiety and want to test mommy and daddy to see how much they can manipulate them into doing what they want with crying.  This behavior had also spilled over into her new day care as well.  Not wanting us to leave in the morning, crying a lot through the day, and not interacting with the other kids. 

There have been some good times as well.  Actually other than night time and being at day care she loves her new house.  There are a lot of parks around, two swimming pools which she was able to frequent before they closed for the season, and lots of places to go for bike rides and walks.  I am sure Jamie will write more on that later. 

We would like to thank everyone who helped us during the move.  Specifically Chris, Louise, Gavin, Mary Jo, and Nik for their help during the moving day.  Without you we wouldn't have been able to get it done so quickly.

The Hospital (Take Two)

We haven't really posted much about this, but Jordan was born with a "pelvic kidney." Her right kidney is normal, her left kidney is very small and located down in her pelvis. This was first detected during the ultrasounds I had while pregnant with Jordan (hence the reason why I had so many ultrasounds and why I got to have the cool 4-D pictures up in Spokane on their higher resolution machines). What we don't know yet is whether the pelvic kidney is functional or if it could become a problem in the future.

A short anatomy lesson in reference to this issue: The kidneys are organs in the body that filter wastes from the bloodstream and that also play a key role in converting these wastes into urine. Urine leaves the kidneys and enters the bladder via the ureters. Where you may run into problems is if the wastes are allowed to reflux back into the ureters from the bladder, and potentially cause kidney infections. Normal kidney function prevents this reflux, and when the kidneys are located higher up in the torso (as they should be) the physical distance between the bladder and kidneys is also enough such that kidney infections are pretty rare.

In Jordan's case, her left kidney is so close in proximity to her bladder that the potential for reflux (and subsequent infection) is very high. Therefore, if it can be determined that her little kidney is able to prevent reflux sufficiently then there is no need to worry or do anything about it. However, if the kidney is dysfunctional and isn't able to prevent the reflux, it will probably need to come out.

The reason we were at the hospital was to try and determine how well, if at all, her kidneys are functioning. She had 2 different tests done, a renal flow and function test and a VCUG. We were originally scheduled to do these tests several months ago, but had to reschedule twice because of the risk of using sedation while a child has a runny nose. (The rescheduling nightmare is probably worthy of its own post, but let's just say it has been quite a process).

In the first test, she had a radioactive marker injected into her bloodstream via an IV, and then had to lie still under a special camera for an hour. In that time, the camera was taking "pictures" of how well the marker was being filtered out of her blood by her kidneys and how efficiently it was being cleared from her body. She sat quietly through most of this test until the sedative started to wear off.

The VCUG was much quicker. Jordan had more of the marker injected into her bladder through a catheter so that it could be determined whether or not there seems to be any reflux occurring. Since the sedation had mostly worn off by this point, Jordan was distracted with lollipops and stickers...it seemed to do the trick.
Jordan's pediatrician called today and gave us an overview of the test results. As expected, her normal kidney is performing a larger percentage of the work than her pelvic kidney (70% compared to 30%). More importantly, the VCUG showed that there was not a significant amount of reflux occurring, yay! We haven't been consulted by the specialist yet (no surprise there) so we don't know what actions we need to take from this point. Perhaps just periodic monitoring, who knows?

The Hospital Gown Walk

I am sure mom will post more on why we were there but for now here is Bitsy in her little gown:

Dancing to Cash

Riverfront Park

Jordan's daycare was closed for the 2nd half of the week so that the teachers could prepare the classrooms for transitions (Jordan will now be a "Toddler 2"). Since Josh was still in Boise for work that meant I was taking a 5-day weekend to stay home with Jordan!

Yesterday we made a quick trip up to Spokane so that Jordan could become the 4th generation in our family to ride the carousel at Riverfront Park. But before heading to the park we made a couple of pit stops to pick up great grandma Jeunette and cousin Katey who accompanied us for the day. We surprised grandma and crashed lunch at her retirement home, and also had the good fortune of catching Katey while she was actually in Spokane!

I wasn't sure if Jordan would be interested in riding the horses on the carousel, or if the trip would become an epic failure. (Especially since Jordan didn't nap in the car on the way there, as I hoped she would). Anyhow, we got to the park and watched the other people ride the horses for a few turns to see how Jordan would react. No screaming, no crying. This was a good start. Then we got our ride tokens (thanks, grandma!) and waited in line. Still no screaming or crying. When it was finally our turn to get on the horses, we wanted to find one on the outside so that we could wave "hi" to grandma, but the only one left was not even a horse...it was a giraffe. It would have to do. Unlike the horses, the giraffe was stationary and didn't bob up and down while the carousel turned. This was probably for the best. After fastening the safety belt we were ready to ride. The starting bell went "ding" and we were off. Jordan loved it!

Both Katey and I were remarking about how dizzy we felt after the carousel stopped. Neither one of us remember feeling dizzy from the carousel when we rode it in our youth. I guess that means we're getting older.

After the carousel we had to say hi to the garbage goat. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the garbage goat, it is a metal sculpture of a billy goat with a working vacuum within it, that, when activated, will literally eat litter from your hand. It is also easily the most debris-free area in downtown Spokane, since there are always folks eager to "feed" the garbage goat. Jordan was a bit timid around the garbage goat and was willing to go near only if it wasn't turned on. Katey had some paper in her purse and explained to Jordan that the goat was hungry and would gladly eat the paper from her hand. Jordan, however, thought it better that she give the paper back to Katey and have her then feed the goat. It was worth a shot anyway.

It was a fun afternoon topped off with a nice nap in the car on the ride home!

Llama Llama

Before bedtime, but after bath time and pajama time, Jordan enjoys story time with her mommy every night. We usually rotate the story books periodically so that Jordan doesn't get bored, and at the moment her favorite story is "Llama Llama, Red Pajama." ***SPOILER ALERT*** at the end of the story mama llama gives baby llama a lesson in patience and then she gives baby llama an extra kiss goodnight. Every time the book gets turned to exactly this page, Jordan looks back at her mommy and expects to get her kisses too. Next, Jordan clutches the book and gives baby llama his goodnight kiss. Then, and only then, will the bedtime ritual be complete and sleep-mode can be engaged with minimal complaint.

Logging Mile[stones]

It took a while, but the warm Summer skies have finally appeared on the Palouse. We anticipated spending many Saturdays and evenings at the local aquatics center (especially due to our close proximity) but all of June and most of July's temperatures have let us down. Only twice so far have we made it to the pool...I'll summarize the experiences here: Both trips were short, an hour tops. Jordan enjoyed the shallows where she had all the control over how wet her swimsuit got. However, she didn't like how the older kids preyed on her inability to dodge their water canon spray. Then she wanted to wade further and further into the deeper parts of the pool but wouldn't let you hold her hand or aid her in any way. This was problematic because we're talking water as deep as her armpits...one misstep and she learns she doesn't have gills. I thought she wanted to "swim" like at swim lessons last year, but she wanted none of that action either. In the end, she most enjoyed sitting on the edge of the pool and jumping into mommy's arms. (Ironically this is also her favorite activity at Wiggle Worms, except that it's a foam pit, not a pool).

Speaking of Wiggle Worms, Jordan is still having fun with her introduction to gymnastics. The sessions are in the evenings this summer (as opposed to Saturday morning, as they were in the spring), so she has only been able to wiggle it up on days when mommy hasn't had adult league soccer games. In addition to the foam pit, Jordan especially loves walking across the balance beams and the various activities that are centered on the big bouncy floor. Sometimes the activity is a relay race, other times it's a mini-obstacle course, and sometimes it's dancing to silly songs with specific movements. Mostly we like to take Jordan to Wiggle Worms as a way to expel pent-up energy, rather than learn things, however, she did learn "freeze and touch your knees" as a way to focus her energy and attention on the person who yells the phrase. It is exactly as it sounds, and is used to gain a child's attention--when yelled, all activity ceases (the freeze part) and the child is then supposed to bend over and place their hands on their knees. Though it is not 100% effective, those times where Jordan does freeze and touch her knees have helped me to realize that she is capable of listening and following orders...sometimes!

Jordan also got to spend a day with her good friend, Parker, when he came up to Deary to visit his grandma and grandpa over the 4th of July weekend. Though they don't see each other as much as Jordan sees some of her other friends, Jordan and Parker seem to be inseparable. They interact together more so than Jordan's other play dates. Maybe it helps that Parker is always willing to share his delicious fruit snacks! During this particular outing they were taking lessons from Parker's grandpa on the subtleties and nuances of firing Nerf guns at the older kids who were also visiting for the day.

The big event of the summer for Jordan so far has been cousin Melissa's wedding. I say big event because it involved a long road trip, Jordan's first time with a babysitter she didn't know, spending time with a newish friend her own age (Peyton) and also being exposed to all of mommy's paternal extended family (mostly new faces, some she's seen only a few times). In addition, it meant another stay in a Boise hotel for mom's job interview, a trip to daddy's office, and a splash or two at the fun park in Eagle on the way home. Jordan's highlights: riding Peyton's fire truck, meeting some ornery cattle and a mini-horse, watching the doggies wrestle in the back yard, taking a bath in the Sharps' giant garden tub, collecting rocks under the deck with Peyton, making and eating dirt pies with Peyton, and having her picture taken a lot. Of course great grandma Jeanne found matching Elmo t-shirts, so we had additional photo ops. Fortunately Jordan doesn't really know who Elmo is yet since both mommy and daddy are disgusted by this fuzzy red character who talks in the 3rd person and who has an incessant need to be tickled. The shirts did make for a cute set of pictures though.

Wiggle Worms Video

Wiggle Worms!

disclaimer: I attempted to publish a blog about Jordan's first time at gymnastics two weeks ago, but when I hit "publish" an error message popped up on my screen and informed me that Blogger was down for routine maintenance and to try again later. The problem is that I had recalled a generous amount of this experience and after receiving the error message all my work was erased forever. It was late and I was angry so I've been reluctant to post for a while. I guess I am reminded to save my work early and often. (i know, dad, you've told me that a million times and I still don't do it)

So what in the world is Wiggle Worms? It's a half-hour gymnastics lesson for toddlers aged 18-months and up that focuses on learning body movements and following instruction. The class begins with free play, where the tykes have access to the entire gym and can explore the equipment and do whatever they want (with parental supervision, of course). Then the instructors set up obstacle courses (this is where the following instructions comes into play) for the tykes to complete that includes the use of key pieces of gymnastics equipment. Afterward, the fun moves to the open floor and the focus shifts to learning body movements. For example, in the first session we all circled-up and marched in place until prompted to move like a lion (crawling on all fours) or like a bird (flapping arms) or like a bunny (hopping), etc.. In Jordan's second session, the floor exercise consisted of running and hopping across the floor and high-five-ing the teacher on the opposite side of the floor, then running back to the parents. The lesson concludes with a few more minutes of free play and they leave the gym with a fun stamp on their hand.

Two weeks ago, at Jordan's first Wiggle Worms, she was reluctant to let go of my finger and explore things on her own. She did, however, really enjoy the trampoline floor. She's not jumping on her own yet, but the kids jumping around her were causing the floor to shake beneath her and she thought that was pretty neat. She also enjoyed the fact that everything she climbed on was soft and squishy. This week, as a seasoned veteran of Wiggle Worms, Jordan took a liking to the balance beam and insisted on walking across each and every one in the whole gym. Apparently she has no qualms about being high above the ground, and being so high on the beams made her think she was pretty hot stuff.

During floor exercises today Jordan got knocked down a couple of times by the older kids, but she took it all in stride. The floor is nice and squishy so it doesn't hurt to hit the ground. She seems to be the youngest in the group, so she is especially interested in doing what all the bigger kids can do. Some of the faces are familiar from daycare, but none are in her classroom. The gym will be closed for a few weeks while they transition to Summer hours, but Wiggle Worms will resume afterward. I think Jordan will be excited to return.

Easter Egg-stravaganza

It was an egg-celent day of sun, above freezing temperatures and, of course, Easter egg hunting for Jordan. We got a late start on the day and at 8:55 am I saw on the Moscow Chamber of Commerce website that the Lions Club was sponsoring an Easter egg hunt at East City Park...at 9 am. With help from daddy, Jordan and I snagged our coats, hats, and an Easter basket and zoomed over to the park. We were late. But so was the Lions Club, apparently they decided to begin the festivities at 10:00 instead. Therefore, we spent the next 45 minutes playing at the park on the swings and collecting pine cones and sticks in the Easter basket waiting for the hunt to begin. We even met Leo the Lion (the Lions Clubs' costumed mascot) and mustered up the courage to give him "knuckles."

As go-time drew near there were some tense moments of toddler frustration and anxiety for Jordan. Because there were so many kids at the park, smart parents began lining up their children around the perimeter of the hunt zones and it was obvious that this was going to be a full contact activity. By this time Jordan had her sights set on a shiny orange egg laying in plain sight a mere 3 yards from the hunt zone boundary. She wanted that egg so badly, but couldn't understand why she was not allowed to collect it. We were seconds from a core meltdown when we were (quite literally) saved by the bell. And just like that the hunt zone became a war zone and it was every kid for him/herself. Less than 60 seconds later the hunt ended and the park lawn that was once a freckled landscape of colored plastic eggs had relinquished all its treasure. Jordan was lucky to find a single yellow egg on the lawn and she added it proudly to her basket.

Some of the Lions must have felt bad that Jordan had only one egg in her basket so they quickly "hid" a couple egg-stra eggs in the grass right in front of her for her to find. Jordan was very egg-cited!

Jordan is a Vagabond

Our house recently sold and we've been in our rental home for about two weeks. (read: the last month of our lives has been spent packing then moving then cleaning then unpacking!). Through it all Jordan has been a little trooper. The new digs, new routines, new sights and smells haven't phased her a bit. In fact, with more cooperation from Ma Nature, she might really get to enjoy this new, and temporary, location because it is just around the corner from Moscow's aquatics center and also very near a nice little park with walking paths and a duck pond.

Jordan is really enjoying her daycare. They've been doing a lot of new arts and crafts and are beginning to be able to play outside for longer periods of the day. Today was picture day and the photographer gave all the parents a choice of backgrounds to use for the shots--one was geared toward little girls, all pink and princess themed while the other was an outdoorsy/sporty scene with a shade tree and a big grassy field. It was suggested that you dress your child appropriately for the scene you chose. Their examples were a princess dress for girls, and a sports outfit for boys. I've never been one to perpetuate gender stereotypes/roles so I thought it would be cute to outfit her in the pink Adidas track suit she loves and have her photographed on the sporty scene. Though honestly it was more because she doesn't have any dresses that fit her yet. (we never bought her any because they seem so impractical to wear when it's so cold outside, and the ones she has are still too big for her). I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out.

Next time you greet Jordan, it might be with a fist. That's right, she likes to give you "a pound" or "knuckles" or the "Howie Mandel handshake" (i made that last one up). For those of you who are familiar with this relatively new greeting, we're still working on the part where you "blow it up" afterward. For those of you not familiar, it's really just an alternative to the high-five. We are also still trying to explain that Cairo, the dog, isn't ignoring Jordan's request for "a pound" it's just that dogs can't reciprocate. So mostly it just appears that Jordan is punching the dog in the nose or the head or wherever Jordan happens to make contact.

Finally, we are entering our annual traveling season with the onset of the Seattle Sounders soccer season. We made it to our first game last weekend and Jordan got to see grandma and grandpa Lewis at their newly remodeled house. Even more exciting, she got to see a sunny day in Seattle in April! Not too often that happens, really. Jordan doesn't prefer to go on long trips in the car, but she tolerates it fairly well. Usually the trip to Seattle isn't so bad because part of it coincides with her normal bedtime. However, the ride back to Moscow always seems to be more difficult and Jordan gets restless. We try to stop more frequently and let Jordan run around for a while. I now know why my father always preferred to begin our road trips in the middle of the night...dark=sleeping children.

Bitsy Contracts Conjunctivitis

Because it would be weird to make it through a full week at daycare without incident, Jordan (a.k.a. 'Bitsy') decided to give herself Pink Eye last Friday. We woke her up like any other day, and since she had been fighting off a head cold, didn't think anything of the dried snot-like crust that had formed over her right eye. She always has dried snot crusted all over her face in the mornings, so I thought nothing of the fact that it happened to be crusted to her eye. I wiped the eye boogers away with a wet wipe and shipped her off to daycare. By noon that day I received "the call" that I've been accustomed to getting at the end of nearly every week. "Hi Jamie? This is Crystal from the Children's Center. Jordan has [insert ailment here] and needs to go home. Can you please come and pick her up as soon as possible?" This week it was Pink Eye. Okay, so it hasn't been every week, but it seems like a regular pattern of total immune meltdown toward the end of the week. Two weeks ago she ended up puking at daycare on a Thursday afternoon. Josh has commented that it feels like he is home with her at daddy daycare almost every Friday and Monday. We are lucky he is able to do a lot of his work at home! By now, the antibiotic eye drops have worked their magic and Bitsy's eyes (yes, as in both eyes ended up becoming infected) are looking a lot better. And since she has now been quarantined for the minimum 24 hours since the start of antibiotic treatment, Bitsy will be allowed to return to daycare tomorrow. We surmise that by the time she reaches kindergarten, Jordan will have been sensitized to all possible viruses and bacteria and will therefore be good to go. That's the hope anyway.

Oink Oink

Our Little Piggy!!

Jordan is a techie

Yep she can already turn on the iPad.

Jordan Paints a Pretty Picture

Jordan and I got to spend some quality time together today while Josh was supervising a brew session in Pullman. We decided to try more fingerpainting. Messy, but fun. Good thing all kids' finger paints are washable and non-toxic.

Jordan Travels the Gem State

Last week we took advantage of an opportunity to visit Boise while Josh was scheduled to be there for a technology conference. To break up the long travel distance we made a pit stop in McCall for a night and played in the snow before completing the trek to Boise. As a side note, I have noticed that Jordan is more and more reluctant to sleep on road trips and instead prefers to whine and complain, despite the high-tech video-viewing devices Josh has provided for her entertainment. So by the time we arrived in Boise we were all glad to be out of the car.

We checked into the hotel and while we were unpacking and childproofing Jordan was busy exploring her first hotel room. At first she didn't know what to make of the place, but then she found her bucket of toys and made herself at home. Even though this was an extra-roomy hotel room (with a separate area for the bed and a separate area with a couch and desk) we didn't really think about the logistics of how to put Jordan to bed. Normally she is put in her crib in her own room with some rain sounds, then she usually cries for a few minutes and eventually goes to sleep. However, in the hotel room she fought the sleep and cried a lot more because she knew we were in the room with her. Plus, we didn't want to get noise complaints from our neighbors so we couldn't let her "cry it out" like we normally do and had to lull her fully to sleep each night. This takes a lot more time and effort and is very frustrating when you know that it is normally an easy task when at home.

We spent Superbowl Sunday with our friends Nik, Jen and Parker in Meridian. Parker and Jordan had a great time playing together because they are pretty close in age. Plus, Parker had a killer toy room stocked with tons of awesome toys and books. To top it off, Parker's kitty, Buzz, was very friendly and let Jordan pet him! This is the first real kitty that Jordan has been able to touch. We all had a good time catching up, and was a great way to start our trip to Boise.

On Monday after hitting up the swimming pool, Jordan and I strolled over to Boise Town Square while Josh went to his conference. It was fun to cruise a mall that takes longer than 5 minutes to walk past all the storefronts. Jordan didn't last long in the stroller and instead preferred to walk alongside. But in all the walking she really worked up an appetite and required a continuous supply of goldfish crackers or else she would scream and complain and throw a giant tantrum. She was able to go between tantrums long enough to pick out a new swimsuit and cover-up for the Summer (whew!). Then as we were thinking about going back to the hotel for a nap we happened upon the kiddie playland!!! She felt right at home because the playland was just a larger version of the one she frequents in Moscow. Finding the playland might have saved my sanity that day because I needed a break from miss cranky-pants. Fortunately, Josh also arrived shortly afterward to help out.

That night we decided to eat out at a nice sit-down restaurant for a change. We quickly remembered why we choose not to do this anymore. Despite the nap Jordan decided to continue being cranky and restless and unruly. The tables had paper table-toppers which she decided would be very fun to rip into millions of tiny bite-size pieces. So while we were one of about 5 people in this restaurant it seemed to take forever to get our meal ordered and served and had to take turns walking Jordan around to keep her entertained. Not really our idea of a nice night out.

The next day Jordan and I ventured over to Oregon to spend the afternoon with some of my family. She was excited to play with someone else her own age, Peyton, her second-cousin. She also got to see her great aunts Betsy and Mary Jo, great uncle Rick, my cousins Sean, Brady, and Lindsey, and mama kitty. Jordan was really shy at first, but once she found the toy box she was right at home. Peyton showed Jordan how to ride the wooden rocking horse (he's quite enthusiastic about it) but she wasn't too sure about it. Jordan is definitely not as fearless as her cousin Peyton. Then he gave her a lesson in how to throw balls and toys. Turns out she was paying attention because now it's one of her favorite new activities. And how could we leave Betsy's house without sampling all kinds of new delicacies? Jordan scarfed some M&Ms (minis) and Cheetos popcorn puffs and wondered where these treats had been her whole life. Overall it was a good visit, though short. Well, except for the trip back to Boise...cue the screaming and tantrums. Turns out the sun was in her eyes so I had to pull over and rig up a sun screen with my sweatshirt. Finally, some quiet.

It was bittersweet to have to leave and return to Moscow. On one hand, we were all tired of being cooped up in the hotel and living out of suitcases, but on the other we were having fun exploring the many things there are to see and do in "the big city." We will definitely have to visit again, maybe when the weather is warmer and we can enjoy some of Boise's greenbelts on our bicycles!

An Outrageous Experience

This story is so outrageous it deserves its own post.

Yesterday while I was home with Jordan I decided that it would do us some good to get some fresh air, plus it was pretty cold outside so I thought it would help her cool down a bit. So we aired up the tires in the B.O.B. stroller and headed downtown.

We stopped in Lilliput, a children's and maternity boutique, just to kill some time. While Jordan and I were looking at some shoes a lady (whom I had never met nor seen before) came over to us and told me that Jordan looked like a little angel. While she said this she also told me that she could tell by some mysterious spot on Jordan's forehead (which she proceeded to bend over and physically touch) that she was definitely a little angel. To which I replied: "yes, a little angel with a little fever." I'm not sure if she felt bad, or thought that we were needy, or what, but then she told me she would like to buy Jordan a pair of shoes to grow into. I told her it was unnecessary, but she insisted. So the lady, who then introduced herself as Marnie, picked out a cute little pair of $32 shoes, paid for them, then just left. Unbelievable, really, but it actually happened. The shoes (pictured above), which are size 6, will probably fit Jordan when she turns 4.

So Marnie, whoever you are, wherever you are, Jordan and I would like to say "thanks" for your generosity and your kind words.

Wow, 15 Months!

The 2010 holiday season came and went and now we find ourselves nearing the end of January, though what a month it has been! Jordan began the year with a 4-day fever, topping out at nearly 105 degrees. Oddly, she really didn't have other symptoms, barring an increase in irritability. She was prescribed some antibiotics due to reddened ears, though the pediatrician wasn't completely convinced that there was an infection. We were told she might have roseola, which is due to a virus that causes a 3-day high fever followed by a large rash on the trunk and face, but the fever subsided without the onset of a rash, so we're not sure what caused her to get so hot for so long.

The start of the year was also the start of Jordan's transition to the toddler room at daycare. So while she missed her first official week as a toddler due to her illness, she had no trouble making new friends when she returned the next week. Her toddler room has twice as many children (14) as her infant classroom, but her teachers got to move up with her, so at least there are some familiar faces. As a toddler, meals are served family-style at two large tables, and naps are taken on cots, rather than cribs. It is amazing that the teachers can get 14 kids to nap on cots simultaneously, or at least mostly simultaneously. They must be magicians.

Being surrounded by older kids has really inspired Jordan to take walking to heart. She has been all about walking everywhere over the past month or so. Rarely will you see her crawl anywhere anymore, except when she crawls to a wall or other stationary object to get back onto her feet again.

2011 has also seen a quick visit with uncle Jeff, great grandma Jeunette, great uncle Herb and great aunt Cath in Spokane. Jordan's favorite activity at Herb and Cath's is walking laps around the kitchen and living room, and also pressing the shiny silver buttons on their conveniently placed microwave oven. However, she also found the time to sample a bite of Cath's African Violet, and thumb through and rip one of the pages of their coffee table book (SORRY!!) before I could stop her. Fortunately she didn't find the porcelain figurines on the end tables because that could have been devastating had she broken one of those. As a mom this is my personal nightmare, and why it is challenging (especially on my mental health) to visit friends and family. However, Jordan has decided that road trips aren't nearly so boring anymore now that she has her own private screen to watch movies on in the car.

To round out the near end-of-the-month Jordan has just beaten her 2nd prolonged fever. Yes, another week (almost) of daycare missed, but with much milder temperatures (101-ish, rather than 104-ish). We didn't bother to go to the doctor this time, but will definitely inquire about these heat patterns at her next check-up. Maybe she is just getting more teeth?? Speaking of those, she now has her front 4 teeth plus one molar on the top, and 3 front teeth plus one molar on the bottom. I can tell that she is definitely working on another lower molar, but on the other side, and possibly another molar on top too.

In case you're keeping track, Jordan now weighs between 20 and 21 pounds, still has some room to grow in her 12-month clothing, and wears a size 3 shoe. We haven't measured her length recently, but we can assure you she is still one of the smaller children for her age.