Charlie's cars have always been...for lack of a better word...adventures.
Before we ever met, he bought a 1970 Mustang that was on its last legs, in the hopes that he would develop some heretofore unsuspected mechanical talent and renovate it himself. My first exposure to this car was listening to his sister's chronicle of traveling around Las Vegas in a rattly death trap with no air conditioning in June in Las Vegas. The next I heard, he had to stop for gas every 30 miles without fail driving from Vegas to New Mexico because only two cylinders worked, and those poorly. He turned the car into some magic mechanic in New Mexico who put his kid through college solely on the work required on that car. Slowly but surely, with my amused tolerance swiftly turning to not so amused annoyance, he did manage to get the car to the 90% mark of being a fully restored vehicle within six years.
Well, then we got an assignment to Alaska. We had already been looking at selling it because we were pretty sure we were getting a DC assignment and fuel efficient that monster was not. But Alaska! Oh jeez, no airbags, no traction, muscle car in the -50 degree weather? What's not to love? So we sold it to a guy in Canada who was looking for a rust free vintage car and bought Charlie a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee instead.
It had low miles, beautifully maintained (as it appeared anyway) and no mechanical problems readily apparent to the people we took it to. Bang, cash on the barrel, it's ours. Well, it was one thing after another dealing with the former owner and the paperwork...the guy was a chronic inebriate and tried to fleece us for extra money several times...but finally it's ours free and clear two months after the initial purchase. Whew, we thought.
Then the radiator blows up. Then the tire needs replaced because at some point the drunk pranged it and it only becomes apparent when it shimmies at exactly 46 miles an hour. And now new tires so Charlie can drive across Alaska without fearing for his life. And then...and then... But Charlie loves it, it's basically sound, we're good to go with at least one car paid for and with four wheel drive. No problems for four months.
And now...the window regulator blows. We knew that it had a radiator issue of some sort...we had all the hoses replaced, temp gauges replaced, etc but still the thing overheated if you left it to idle for more than five or ten minutes -- a distinct problem when you need to preheat your car to drive it nine months out of the year, or if you became stranded and the only thing between you and icy death is your car's heater. So we decided to bite the bullet and have it checked while we got the window fixed.
Well, it turns out the Jeep's electrical harness was blown, which in turn was frying electrical components all over the car...the window, the fan and was about to do something sinister to everything else in the car. We fixed it all...to the tune of $1300. OWIE. Oh well, we didn't need to eat this week right? We had the money but not the will to part with it. Sigh. Oh well, no one at Jeep needs to worry about recessions when the Freels own a Cherokee!
Begone, car gremlins! Away from this family! I swear, I'll buy a Prius or better yet, tame me a moose for riding and sell the cars if you don't leave us alone!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Connor's going to the Elmo show!
Mommy and Connor will be heading off in late July to see Sesame Street Live starring Elmo at the Carlson Center here in Fairbanks. I know he is just going to plotz -- Elmo was a recent favorite, supplanted by Thomas the Tank Engine of late, but still holds Connor's deepest affections with his cool ABC book. Elmo also has one titled "Elmo's Ducky Day" that Aunt Angela sent him for Easter that not only has ducks, but also has a police motorcycle featured...could life get much better? You can't really ask more of a book in Connor's world unless you can also add a train in there, but that's a stretch for a book about ducks in downtown NYC.
Anyway, I digress...since daddy's idea of the seventh circle of hell is sitting for an hour and a half in a oversized gym packed full of sticky toddlers while cartoon puppets belt out potty songs, mommy is taking Connor as a special "mommy and me" treat. This is NOT because mommy is dying to listen to Elmo squeak at 70 decibel levels either, but I know how much this is going to make Connor's day, year, and even century. And the tickets were a bit pricey for said cartoon puppet torture, so Connor and I are going to make a day of it before we have to share mommy with prospective little brother Timmy. I'll be 35 weeks then and more than capable of steam rolling anyone who gets in the way of my baby boy's enjoyment of "Melmo".
We got 4th row center seats so he should have a good view and a very exciting day to remember...I'm so tickled! "Melmo" won't know there's an ecstatic 2.5 year old fan in the audience, but that fan's mommy will!
Anyway, I digress...since daddy's idea of the seventh circle of hell is sitting for an hour and a half in a oversized gym packed full of sticky toddlers while cartoon puppets belt out potty songs, mommy is taking Connor as a special "mommy and me" treat. This is NOT because mommy is dying to listen to Elmo squeak at 70 decibel levels either, but I know how much this is going to make Connor's day, year, and even century. And the tickets were a bit pricey for said cartoon puppet torture, so Connor and I are going to make a day of it before we have to share mommy with prospective little brother Timmy. I'll be 35 weeks then and more than capable of steam rolling anyone who gets in the way of my baby boy's enjoyment of "Melmo".
We got 4th row center seats so he should have a good view and a very exciting day to remember...I'm so tickled! "Melmo" won't know there's an ecstatic 2.5 year old fan in the audience, but that fan's mommy will!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Reluctant potty training adventures
Charlie and I had a long "parenting" talk last week about things that were frustrating us lately -- his big one was Connor's sleeping habits and mine was his reluctance to potty train, despite obvious signs of readiness...to the point of refusing to go in the bathroom for a bath unless the lid to the potty was shut.
Charlie's issues were relatively simple to fix...he wasn't insisting on Connor moving out of our bed yet, merely that he go to bed before 11 and also go to bed for him instead of only for me. I worked on the first part...I forced some early wake ups, some closed draperies and black out curtains early on and shortened naps (he was wanting to sleep til 9, then sleep from 1 until 4 or 5) -- with the result that within a few days he was consistently going down around 9-930 and waking at 730, then getting a nap from 12-230. We braced ourselves for the tantrum and freak out to end all existence as we know it when daddy went to put him down for the first time, but to our immense surprise and gratification it took maybe only 20 minutes longer and zero tears to get him down! Woo hoo! He seems relatively cool with either mommy or daddy, as long as there are multiple readings of Thomas the Tank Engine and If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and he gets a crack at a pbj sandwich for his pre bedtime snack. Parents: 2, Kid: 0. Whew.
Now...potty training has been something entirely different. We've tried potty training at other points, but it's always ended in multiple accidents and him hiding in a closet weeing away. No more, we declared triumphantly, and decided today was actually Independence-from-diapers Day.
Knowledge and physical/mental readiness are not an issue. He knows what goes where, he can practically change his pull up himself, pulls it off, puts it in the trash, wipes himself and can almost get the thing all the way up himself with just a little assistance. Poopy ones are tougher but since we don't want poo smeared down his legs, we choose to help with those. This kid can recite the ABCs forward and backwards, is starting to read words, and can count to 20...he ain't dumb, in other words. We do, however, have a willingness problem...and a physical one that is not helping mommy and daddy at all.
Connor's bladder apparently takes up 50-75% of that little body. It's been 8 hours of diaperless condition now and no pee, despite one 12 oz cup of cranberry juice, one popsicle, 6 oz cup of milk and 1.5 8 oz juice boxes and sips of mommy's iced tea in addition to his usual sandwiches, cereal and fruit. We even shoved a ton of fresh watermelon into him since it's a diuretic. And nary a drop yet. He's got the willpower of Superman and the bladder capacity of Lake Michigan. I should have known...this is the kid who, as a newborn, REFUSED to pee for two solid days and then screamed all the way through the first mammoth pee because the concept just seemed to bug him that much. He also comes from a long and illustrious line of men who are part-camel and can drive for five or six hours without peeing while slurping a Big Gulp, as the desperate womenfolk are trying to whiz out the car windows.
It doesn't help that all the standard sit on the potty bribes don't work. Charlie's all the way up to offering a sports car for his 16th birthday. He LOVES raisinets, but even those are being disdainfully rejected for potty training sits. We're honestly beginning to wonder exactly how long he can hold it without exploding. A science experiment of the first order I guess. We've been stalking him all day and watching his every move...there is zero chance that he has snuck off to pee unbeknownst to us. Freaky child. Maybe I'm making up for it by having to pee every five minutes myself -- seven and half months pregnant equals much time in the bathroom even without a potty training toddler.
This is a fight we will win though...we don't dare not, because this will just reinforce that he can win if he holds out long enough. But eek eegad yow, my 2 year old should be studied! Send "pee" vibes our way!
ETA: Nope, we lost. Connor managed to hold it for over 12 hours even after being forcibly held on the potty for 12 hours with so much liquid in him his tummy looked like a Somali orphan belly. We finally gave him his night time bath an hour past his normal time and put him in a diaper and he wet through two complete pull up changes before he was able to sleep. It was miserable and awful. Hope they make size 20 diapers, because he'll be wearing them to college at this rate. Can you tell I'm discouraged? Sigh.
Charlie's issues were relatively simple to fix...he wasn't insisting on Connor moving out of our bed yet, merely that he go to bed before 11 and also go to bed for him instead of only for me. I worked on the first part...I forced some early wake ups, some closed draperies and black out curtains early on and shortened naps (he was wanting to sleep til 9, then sleep from 1 until 4 or 5) -- with the result that within a few days he was consistently going down around 9-930 and waking at 730, then getting a nap from 12-230. We braced ourselves for the tantrum and freak out to end all existence as we know it when daddy went to put him down for the first time, but to our immense surprise and gratification it took maybe only 20 minutes longer and zero tears to get him down! Woo hoo! He seems relatively cool with either mommy or daddy, as long as there are multiple readings of Thomas the Tank Engine and If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and he gets a crack at a pbj sandwich for his pre bedtime snack. Parents: 2, Kid: 0. Whew.
Now...potty training has been something entirely different. We've tried potty training at other points, but it's always ended in multiple accidents and him hiding in a closet weeing away. No more, we declared triumphantly, and decided today was actually Independence-from-diapers Day.
Knowledge and physical/mental readiness are not an issue. He knows what goes where, he can practically change his pull up himself, pulls it off, puts it in the trash, wipes himself and can almost get the thing all the way up himself with just a little assistance. Poopy ones are tougher but since we don't want poo smeared down his legs, we choose to help with those. This kid can recite the ABCs forward and backwards, is starting to read words, and can count to 20...he ain't dumb, in other words. We do, however, have a willingness problem...and a physical one that is not helping mommy and daddy at all.
Connor's bladder apparently takes up 50-75% of that little body. It's been 8 hours of diaperless condition now and no pee, despite one 12 oz cup of cranberry juice, one popsicle, 6 oz cup of milk and 1.5 8 oz juice boxes and sips of mommy's iced tea in addition to his usual sandwiches, cereal and fruit. We even shoved a ton of fresh watermelon into him since it's a diuretic. And nary a drop yet. He's got the willpower of Superman and the bladder capacity of Lake Michigan. I should have known...this is the kid who, as a newborn, REFUSED to pee for two solid days and then screamed all the way through the first mammoth pee because the concept just seemed to bug him that much. He also comes from a long and illustrious line of men who are part-camel and can drive for five or six hours without peeing while slurping a Big Gulp, as the desperate womenfolk are trying to whiz out the car windows.
It doesn't help that all the standard sit on the potty bribes don't work. Charlie's all the way up to offering a sports car for his 16th birthday. He LOVES raisinets, but even those are being disdainfully rejected for potty training sits. We're honestly beginning to wonder exactly how long he can hold it without exploding. A science experiment of the first order I guess. We've been stalking him all day and watching his every move...there is zero chance that he has snuck off to pee unbeknownst to us. Freaky child. Maybe I'm making up for it by having to pee every five minutes myself -- seven and half months pregnant equals much time in the bathroom even without a potty training toddler.
This is a fight we will win though...we don't dare not, because this will just reinforce that he can win if he holds out long enough. But eek eegad yow, my 2 year old should be studied! Send "pee" vibes our way!
ETA: Nope, we lost. Connor managed to hold it for over 12 hours even after being forcibly held on the potty for 12 hours with so much liquid in him his tummy looked like a Somali orphan belly. We finally gave him his night time bath an hour past his normal time and put him in a diaper and he wet through two complete pull up changes before he was able to sleep. It was miserable and awful. Hope they make size 20 diapers, because he'll be wearing them to college at this rate. Can you tell I'm discouraged? Sigh.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Belly picture! 30+ weeks
Please, keep comments to "wow, pretty belly" and not "are you SURE it's not quads?" Ignore the stripped bed behind me...Connor decided a peanut butter fingerpainting on the silk comforter would brighten mommy's day.
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