We have a big week ahead so I thought I'd get one last blog post in while the boys are playing with Edward's train. (Note: Daniel's participation consists primarily of trying to eat the train pieces.)

Last Saturday friends invited Edward to play at their house to let us focus on packing, so he had his first solo playdate. By all accounts it was a rousing success. We'll have his friend over once we're settled in the new house, giving her parents a taste of the same (limited) freedom. He was very upset with me for taking him home, but could barely stay awake for the five minute drive. Once home he collapsed in bed for a three-and-a-half-hour nap. So not only did they keep him busy all morning, but they exhausted him so he slept for the whole afternoon. Three cheers for the J Family!

Daniel also did his part by taking two solid naps, leaving lots of time for packing. Grandma and Grandpa came over in the late afternoon to occupy the kids while we continued with tasks too loud to complete while they are sleeping. Then we all went out for pizza. An exhausting but successful day. The only glitch came at the end when we got back from dinner. Edward was running up the back sidewalk and tripped, landing head first on the cement--a scary moment for all of us! We rushed in to put ice on it and distracted him by turning on Thomas the Tank Engine on TV. This was so successful that for the next three days he kept saying, "I need ice," as a ploy for more TV time.

As noted in the last post, Edward is quite proficient in nursery rhymes these days. The night of his accident he was reading "Jack and Jill" and asking "Where's his crown?" "How his crown get broken?" We tried to explain that "broke his crown" simply meant "bumped his head." Edward, clever boy, now answers those who inquire about his bruise: "I broke my crown."

Well, now it's been two hours since I started this post. Daniel needed a nap just before the above paragraph and Grandma and Grandpa arrived to take Edward for the day. So with both boys occupied it was time for some packing and dumpster filling. Now Daniel is waking up, proving that he does in fact have good sleeping skills when given the proper environment (e.g. the removal of his brother from the immediate vicinity of his bed.) This will be much easier to accomplish in the new house, where his bed will be upstairs, away from daytime activity.

We close on the new house Tuesday, move Thursday and close on the old house Friday. We will send an alert with the new address after the dust has settled. For those who need them, our phone and email will remain the same.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is Daniel's favorite post-nap activity (also, clearly amusing to his brother):

Here's Daniel's seven-month picture, which was taken on Sunday (8/10) but for reasons noted below was delayed in posting. We got to celebrate his birthday along with Great-Grandpa's--he turned 88 on 8/8/08 so we all got together on Sunday for a nice lunch and some time together.

So apparently today our buyer asked his agent to ask our agent if we could possibly shift our closing date two days earlier. Oh, to be a 30-year-old single guy with no one but yourself to think about and plan for! He's not being pushy or problematic about it. He asked. We said No. End of story. For him, two days means nothing. For us, it's critical time. Hard to imagine how we will even get done by the established closing.

We've run into a bit of a snag with our own purchase in that there are some significant repairs needed that we did not foresee. Thank goodness for that home inspection! We think some of it is due to the house being unoccupied during our long hard winter and some is probably just the kind of thing you don't notice until you pay someone to look. We're waiting to see if the seller will participate in the repairs. We're asking for about a third of the total costs--not unreasonable, but not a slam dunk either as he apparently is not happy to sell to us at this year's price remembering what we offered last year. Oh well.

So in the meantime, the packing has begun. When Edward wakes from his nap to see yet another empty set of bookshelves, he points and says, "Hey look! What happened?" I'm trying to explain without making him panic about whether all of his stuff will come with him to the new house. Don't want him to think "teenie and paci" need to be boxed immediately!

This video is a bit long, but no time to edit. I won't be offended if you don't watch the whole thing (about a minute and a half.)

Apologies for the blog silence. We were out of town for the weekend and of course, that's when we finally got an offer on our house. We now have both sale and purchase negotiated and are waiting for various inspections. Our buyer wanted to close by Aug. 29, and we didn't feel we were in a position to be picky so we accepted and now must execute this upheaval in a mere three weeks. Expect a quiet month for the blog, but we'll try to throw some pictures up from time to time. We actually got a new camera, but haven't even had time to play with it!

Aside from the real estate insanity, we had a lovely weekend in Evanston. Good times and plenty of good-natured teasing among siblings. The funniest was finding out that Joe treated Bridget to dinner when she was visiting him in D.C. and the immediate and simultaneous shocked reaction from PJ, Nora and me. Joe is enormously generous of spirit but known to be a bit tight of wallet. My mom almost fell off her chair laughing. Another high point for hilarity was the "crutch race" between Ann (broken foot) and PJ (broken leg) down the middle of the street. PJ won by a mile, but Ann notes that he has more than a year of experience and she's a relative newbie at only a few weeks.

This week we made our first family visit to the Johnson County Fair. John thought I was a little nuts in suggesting an early-evening outing. "What's there to do?" he wondered. I wasn't sure myself, never having been, but I thought Ed would like the animals and tractors. It's one of the few local county fairs that doesn't charge admission, so the only thing to lose was the 10 minutes of driving time. Not a big risk.

It turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable--especially because Ed was too young to demand much in the way of anything that cost money (rides, food, games, etc.) He would have spent the whole time climbing on the tractors if we hadn't steered him toward other sights. But the biggest impression came in the first animal barn we visited. If you ask Edward about the fair, he will tell you: "I saw cows pooping!"

Indeed, we did, up close. This is no zoo-like set-up. There is a narrow walkway through the barn with cows on either side, some penned, some tied. John said he probably could have stood in the middle of the walk and reached out to touch a cow on either side. While we were looking at a few who happened to be facing away from us, nature called. Ed was in awe. He could not stop talking about it and when we left the barn, demanded to be taken back to see more cows pooping. The pigs in the next barn were OK, but no poop, so no real interest. Blog readers will be relieved to know that the cow pictures came out too dark so only pigs here. He also saw a sheep "getting a haircut" but I think he was still confused about why the sheep didn't look like the fluffy white creatures in his picture books. There were only two rides that were age-appropriate for Edward so he rode one and then we told him the other one was resting, since it was basically the same thing but a ladybug instead of a boat. He selected his own seat and chose to ride backward so as to man the artillery.

The above tractor was too big for climbing, but there was another area with smaller ones and "tractor lawnmowers" that he enjoyed. Then two of the three Kenyon men enjoyed a climb on the fire truck from a smaller town south of here. Ed got a badge. John tried to conceal his envy.
Daniel enjoyed the fair from the stroller vantage point, and actually fell asleep toward the end of our visit. Next year he'll be on the run, I'm sure.

And speaking of Daniel, he had his official six-month check-up yesterday (as opposed to the doctor visit on his actual six-month birthday, which was for pink eye.) His doctor once again extolled the virtues of "squishy" babies and was very impressed to see him sitting up unassisted. He weighs 21 pounds (90th percentile) and is 28 inches long (84th percentile.) His head circumference is catching up, but still only 65th percentile, what a slacker.

A new car seat has been ordered for Edward so that he can hand his down to Daniel, who only has one more pound to go before outgrowing his current seat. The safety rule is that babies must ride facing the rear until they are 20 pounds AND one year old. Congratulations to Daniel for achieving the weight milestone six months early! Why doesn't Daniel get the new seat? Because seats that can face both forward and backward are more expensive. Ed's current seat can be used in both positions, so we'll now turn it around for Daniel and get Ed a seat that he can use from now until he can just ride with a regular seat belt.

I forgot to include this in my earlier post. This morning at mass, when the priest lifted the host at the consecration, Edward pointed and called out, "Look, a tortilla!" (We'd had tacos recently.) For non-Catholics, the host that is elevated is larger than those given to each person--this one is, in fact, the size of a taco or fajita tortilla.

Also, one morning on the way to daycare when the endless "Why, why why?" became too much, I finally said, "Well, honey, I just don't know." Edward replied, "Don't call me 'honey.' I'm Edward." Later, at school, someone apparently said, "See you later, alligator," and he replied, "Not alligator! I'm Edward Kenyon!"

Yesterday there was a car show outside Kinnick Stadium with proceeds benefiting the UI Children's Hospital. I had read about it earlier in the week and noted the promise of "Herky"--the University of Iowa mascot. Ed learned the words to the Iowa Fight Song at school and in a book we have and is a big Herky fan so we thought he'd enjoy it. But first, we had to wait two and a half hours for him to pee. The event started at 8 a.m. and since it was supposed to be a hot day I thought we could go early. We were not forcing the pee issue, just waiting for it to happen so we'd know we had an empty tank before leaving the house--no need to set him up for failure by taking him out away from the opportunity to use the potty. We kept reminding and checking all morning, offering incentives and sitting with him for several attempts. Finally at about 10:45 the offer of an m&m did the trick. I had been trying to avoid food rewards/incentives/bribes (whatever you want to call them) but since he's satisfied with a single piece, it seems rather harmless.

We basically ignored all the cars in search of Herky. At first we worried that we might not be able to deliver on the promise. There was a guy making balloon animals and Ed got a monkey which seemed to distract him. He also "won" the beanbag toss (merely tossing was enough, regardless of whether it hit the target) and got to choose some Hot Wheels cars as a prize. So he was quite content. And then we saw Herky--very exciting, but a bit terrifying also. In the background of the photo you can see "Perky" Herky's more child-friendly younger sibling who is the mascot of the Children's Hospital.

The event was in the plaza and parkign lot outside the stadium, but part of it was open so you could go in and see the field. This is as close as Ed will get anytime soon--can't imagine taking him into the insanity that is a football Saturday, especially given that he'd have to have his own $50 ticket and has about a five minute attention span. Not compatible with a 3+ hour sporting event!

Apparently my last post was perceived as a bit harsh in my observations of my younger son's nocturnal habits. There is no need to call in the DCFS. I am resigning myself to the fact that he simply is not as good a sleeper as Edward was. However, last night he actually found his own pacifier and plugged himself just before I reached the crib at about 2 a.m. That kept him happy until almost 4 when he demanded more food. It's hard to believe he actually needs it (he's now wearing mostly 12-month size clothes!) but it's the quickest path back to bed--nurse him and put him down and we're all sleeping again in about 10 minutes. My other thought this week was that perhaps the green beans, which were introduced on Monday, were making him gassy. He didn't have any sort of allergic reaction, but perhaps gastro-intestinally things were not right in his world. Tonight we move on to sweet potatoes. Perhaps we'll all sleep soundly.

Can't believe it's been a week since the last post! We're sort of coasting through the days, exhausted by the task of keeping up with Edward's bladder and Daniel's night terrors--or whatever it is that is causing him to wake screaming uncontrollably three or four times a night. I should leave this photo up on the computer screen at night so I can remind myself of his angelic side during these torturous episodes!

Sunday was a particular low light on the parenthood path. Edward was a holy terror all morning, refusing to do anything we suggested or required--even things he normally would be eager to do. It was like he was saying No just for the sake of being contrary. Bad bad morning. Luckily, he reliably takes a 2-3 hour nap after lunch. We all needed that time to regroup so we could start fresh mid-afternoon. Things went much better after that.

We had to renew our sales agreement with our realtor this week--it's been a full three months on the market and no action. We dropped the price again when we renewed--now we're about $9K less than when we started last summer and about $5K less than when we re-started in the spring. We're still in no danger of losing money on the sale. We purchased six years ago, before things really started escalating, and also, Iowa City has not seen the same ridiculous real estate inflation as other parts of the country. As we're lowering, so are the people whose house we made an offer on last summer, who still have yet to sell it a full year later. We are thanking our lucky stars that we are not in a pressure situation to sell and move! Our realtor says the new price has drawn interest of two people who looked previously but couldn't afford it, so we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, I want to scream every time one of the boys wakes the other up in our current living-and-sleeping-space-adjacent layout!

Daniel is six months old today. His gift from daycare? Pink eye. Again. The fourth time in the three months he's been going there. Am I getting ticked? To say the least. But it's hard to place blame. None of the other kids in his class are getting it. So either he is super-sensitive and susceptible to it or he's not getting it there. Edward's class doesn't have it either, but apparently it's been going around pretty constantly in the pre-school room (ages 4-5.)

When he's not fighting infection, Daniel is a very happy baby. He's close to sitting on his own and is definitely on the move with rolling. (He's not anywhere near standing or pulling up--we just thought these shorts were so cute and John decided this was the best way to show them off.) He stretches and reaches for toys on his blanket when he's playing. He also is figuring out how to replace his own pacifier after he drops it. Sometimes he gets frustrated though, and when I check on him I find that he's jamming the wrong end into his mouth. This week he also had some new food--peas. Grandma gave him his first serving on Sunday and he wasn't too sure about it. But as the week has progressed it seemed to grow on him and now he flaps his arms and opens his mouth for more.

Lately, Edward has taken to playing with the various vacuum attachments--interesting, considering the vacuum itself is an object of fear, but only when engaged in its actual purpose. The flexible hose is good for putting out pretend fires. These more solid pieces are interesting to fit together and pull apart. They also have been fashioned into a trimmer and a lawn mower (the latter with the addition of a cardboard box.) This little game was only played on Sunday, but it was minutes of fun, before the abrupt end, which you'll hear as the video closes:



Later in the day (Edward in new clothes) he was entertaining Daniel, which we thought was hilarious. This video is actually a bit toned down because we were laughing too hard at first to get the camera. By the time I started filming, they were running out of energy:



Another fun new discovery for Edward is that he can take all of Daniel's toys out of the cabinet where we keep them and then climb in himself. At first he wasn't sure he liked it when the door closed (not latched, just enough to block the light) but now he pulls it closed and proclaims, "It's dark!" I am hoping he doesn't decide this is a nice private spot for taking care of personal business. Yesterday was a major triumph--same clothes from the time he got dressed until bedtime! No accidents means Mom actually had a laundry-free day--woo hoo!

As you can see, this is currently a "pants optional" household for those under 3. Sometimes he wants them sometimes he doesn't. He wears them to daycare and sometimes asks for them before going outside, but over the weekend he took several spins around the block on his bike with no shorts. Oh, to be so utterly un-self-conscious!

We took Daniel for his six-month photos on Thursday--about a week early, but our two-year "smilesaver" membership at Sears was expiring that day, so we wanted to squeeze one last bit of value out of it. We weren't sure how it would work with both boys, but they cooperated and we got some nice shots.

Daniel isn't quite able to sit up on his own, so there was some propping involved. He's getting close though. He'll sit for a short time and then either lean forward folding himself in half, or tip to the side. He's also much more adept in the rolling department these days. He can easily go back to front or front to back and has somewhat figured out how to combine these to move away from wherever he has been set down.

We decided to use the long weekend at home to try having Edward wear underwear during the day. He has tried using the potty both at school and home and had some minor successes. I thought including the wet sensation would help him take that next step toward understanding the process. He had some early successes on Friday, but then we had some friends over for a picnic in the late afternoon and I think it was all too much. Now today he seems only to be remember the afternoon accidents, despite the stickers celebrating his first achievements. He wasn't too into it this morning. I have no illusions that this will be a short or easy process. It seems to be as much a psychological task as a physical one. I just want to ensure that we're encouraging him without forcing him against his will. We know he has a strong will and I don't want him to turn it against us in this endeavor! I also don't want to be one of those parents who talks (blogs) about her kid's pee constantly, so I'll leave it at that.

We think Daniel has conquered his latest infections. He finished his medicine on Sunday and has been sleeping better--longer stretches overnight (twice all the way through!) and solid afternoon naps in his crib. This is all good news...for everything except blogging. Since his crib is in our office, it's hard to find time to use the computer. Right now he's sleeping right next to me.

Over the weekend, he was a bit fussy about his afternoon naps, but John found the solution. Not too tough an assignment for a Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, John took Edward for a series of errands, including getting a haircut. The woman who tackled his unruly locks (OK, that's an exaggeration, but it was getting long) was very impressed with his cooperation and gave him this crocodile squirt gun as a reward. He was a bit unclear on the concept. You have to put the croc in the bucket and pull back on the plunger to fill the tube with water. Then push the plunger to squirt--it goes really far! He sort of picked up on it after a few assists, but this may be a summer-long learning curve.

We think our camera may be on its last legs. The auto-adjust for the lighting didn't work with these shots. Sometimes when we turn it on the screen is wavering and some of our videos include this malfunction. (Videos will have to wait for another post--no way to edit in the same room with a sleeping baby. Clacking keyboard is one thing, but personal sound effects are another story.)

We've recently had an uptick in house showings, which is reassuring. We'd really tapered off, but in the last two weeks we've had five showings. Now if only someone would decide it's just right. There's a lot of real estate action going on in town though as people displaced by the floods figure out their next moves. Those who have the means are buying new places on higher ground. Some are renting and others are making due with temporary quarters. There is talk of buyouts in the hardest hit areas, but that takes a long time. It's hard to imagine having everything just wiped out like that and no real idea of how long it will be before you can expect to return to something resembling "normal."

Many campus buildings are still closed for clean up. Some will remain so into the fall semester. Long after the Midwest floods have left the headlines around the country, this will remain our top story.

We had a belated Father's Day celebration yesterday. I consulted with several fathers to find out whether a gift for "Dad and kids" would be appropriate and finally decided to go with my instinct: Little Tikes Basketball. John's been talking about wanting one of these for the boys and he and Ed are always inventing ways to play versions of basketball, so I thought this would be well received. We made a big deal about it being "Daddy's" and Ed helped him open it. Still, it was hard to "take turns" initially. By this morning though, he was letting John have some turns after his own. Ed's not entirely clear on the concept, however. John tries to wow him with his long distance shots and Ed says, "Daddy, stand right here!" Meaning--right in front of the hoop where you can easily reach up (if you're two feet tall) and dunk.

Daniel got a turn, but his first move was to jam the ball in his mouth. Ed was not enamored of a slobber ball. Daniel needs a little forgiveness though. He's currently battling an ear infection and pink eye...again! I don't know why this pink eye keeps recurring, but it's getting frustrating. At least a single antibiotic will treat both ailments. However, it doesn't seem to be doing the trick on the ear. He's been on the medicine since Friday but still is having trouble sleeping. If tonight is rough again, we may have to go back to the doctor tomorrow. I guess we had a good run of about a month of health.

I realized the other day that I never posted Daniel's rolling video. He's getting close to going from front to back as well and then--look out. There will be no containing him. He has done it a few times, but not consistently. He is still more likely to cry than rectify the situation on his own when he's tired of being on his belly.

It's hard to believe that just one week ago, I was trying to decide whether to stay or go. The trigger was the announcement that I-380 (between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids) would close by 6 p.m. When I heard this at 2, I kicked it into high gear, packing while the boys slept, loading the car, then the boys (including plucking a sound asleep Edward from his bed) and headed out. I started by back-tracking because I knew the most direct road to the Interstate was clogged with traffic. I got gas and cash on my way out of town and headed east. I got on I-80 going west and sailed through with no traffic to 380. Since 80 was closed east of here there was only local traffic on the road. I also breezed through the section of 380 that would soon be closed. I thought I was in the clear.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Shortly after the Iowa River bridge, traffic slowed and then came to a halt. I knew it would be slow-going given what was happening in Cedar Rapids, but nothing I'd heard indicated the road was closed. Plus the traffic was moving fine southbound, so I didn't think I needed to alter my route. After about an hour, we were approaching a rest stop between Iowa City and the CR airport (maybe a total distance of about 10 miles.) Not knowing what lay ahead, I decided to stop and feed Daniel--trying to avoid getting stuck between exits with a screaming, hungry baby and no way out. Ed had a snack while I fed Daniel and changed his diaper. All told we were stopped for about 15 minutes. When we got off, a yellow cement mixer was right behind us. When we got back on, we were several cars in front of the mixer. This did not bode well. Also, our new location was directly behind a cattle truck. Luckily, I was able to switch the AC to the "recirculate" function and keep the smell out. I was later treated to the sight of a cow pooping out the side of the truck. But that was so minor in the scheme of things.

An hour later, we had still only reached the airport exit, which is normally a half-hour trip. I had the map out and was trying to see what alternatives I might have for getting up to Highway 20, which, as far as I know, was the only major east-west road that was open all the way to the state border (Mississippi River) throughout this flooding ordeal. By the time I decided to try another route, I was about 100 yards past the airport exit. I pulled onto the shoulder and started to back up toward it, but the man in the car behind me suggested that instead I turn around completely. He'd seen me for the past two hours trying to cope with the situation--standing/inching traffic, two kids in the back seat, map reading in the front, etc. I executed a three-point turn on the interstate and drove the wrong way down the shoulder back to the exit and got off.

I thought I could take Highway 965 (which runs basically parallel to 380 at that point) as far north as Highway 30, which I knew was flooded to the east, but open to the west. I thought if I went west a bit, I could take another route north to Waterloo. John was online at home checking for the latest road closures and told me that the next road north (Highway 218) was closed, but the one after that (Highway 63) was open. So I'd have to drive an hour west to Tama, then north to Waterloo, then east to Dubuque. First hiccup in the plan: when I got to Highway 30, the westbound entrance ramp from 965 was flooded. So I had to get on going east, then turn around at the next exit and come back west. After that, it was a smooth, but long trip. Once we were moving, Daniel fell asleep and Edward, comforted by his "teenie and paci (blanket and pacifier)" was calm and observant in the back seat.

While we were stuck in traffic, we were all miserable. Edward kept dropping/throwing his toys and his drink cup on the floor. We were stopping often enough that I could put the car in park and reach back to retrieve things, but it was driving me crazy. I thought I was helping Daniel by hooking a toy onto his sunshade for him to play with. I didn't realize until he'd been crying a while that he'd kicked the toy enough that the shade was down and the sun was beaming in directly on him. This would make me scream too!

So all told, the kids were actually pretty amazing. It took six hours to get to Dubuque, where my parents met us after driving from Evanston (through their own traffic nightmare--Friday night rush hour in Chicago!) I would NEVER plan a six hour trip with kids, even with another adult to help, much less as a solo caregiver. Even when we go four hours to Evanston, we stop somewhere to run around for a bit. But these were extraordinary circumstances.

One more blooper to add to the mix: Daniel woke up just before Traer, Iowa so we stopped there so I could feed him. Edward stayed in his seat eating a "squished cheese" sandwich (one of his favorites--American cheese between two slices of bread, all squished down flat.) The bank parking lot where we stopped was right next to a gas station where I saw gas was only $3.80. After everyone was fed, I thought I'd top off the tank since we'd used so much already. I also realized that despite limiting my own liquid intake, I was not going to make it to Dubuque without going to the bathroom. I have never done this before, never intend to again, and certainly would not have if it hadn't been Traer "no one around" Iowa. I ran into the store, gave the clerk my credit card, told her my kids were in the car (locked with front windows rolled down) and ran back to the bathroom. Worst 90 seconds of the trip, hands down. But we all survived.

Then I thought I should give the boys fresh diapers for the remaining (roughly) two hours of the trip. Too late for Edward. He was totally soaked--top, bottom and car seat. So he got out and stood next to the car while I changed him and then put a blanket over his soaked car seat before putting him back in. (It dried overnight and I washed it when we got to Evanston, but still pretty gross to make the trip in a pee-soaked seat!) As I was getting back in the front seat after all this, Edward said, "Mommy, don't drive!" My sentiments exactly.

We got to Dubuque at about 8:45 and pulled into the parking lot of the Best Western on Highway 20. I called my parents, who, as it turned out, were just up the road at the Hampton Inn. They hadn't checked in though, so they came to us. I could not even bear to put the key back in the ignition at that point! We got two rooms at the "flood rate" and joined a hotel full of evacuees. Edward was excited to see Gram and PopPop, who got him a snack and some milk while I fed Daniel. Then we all sat outside for a bit, letting Ed burn off some steam. He stayed in their room and Daniel and I stayed down the hall.

The Iowa City to Dubuque trip is 83 miles by the most direct route. If I could have gotten through on 380 it would have been about 168 miles. This trip was approximately 210 miles.

On Saturday we drove on to Evanston with my mom driving my car so I could more easily tend to the needs of the back seat. Again, the boys were very good, sleeping part of the time.

Sunday was a very sad Father's Day for John with all of us gone and not knowing when we'd be able to get back. I was hoping for Wednesday at that point, but that was only a guess. I knew I could not return until Interstate 80 reopened--there simply was no way I could repeat the Friday Odyssey. As it turned out, the road cleared overnight Sunday into Monday morning and the Dept. of Transportation announced around noon that it would be open by late afternoon. John called me as soon as he got the press release. Given Chicago traffic though, we could not leave that afternoon. We waited until Tuesday morning and then hit the road. Grandma and Grandpa met us at the Iowa Welcome Center, just after we crossed the Mississippi--again, extra adults are so helpful when traveling with small children. What a great feeling to be home!

So our town never lost water or power, which were my primary concerns, but I won't second guess the decision to leave. If I'd waited to see whether the worst would happen, it would have been too late to leave. We ended up having a nice long weekend with my parents, including a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo on Monday (where Aunt Nora took the pictures with this post), and though it was hard to be separated from John, I think it was the right thing to do. As one of my co-workers said on Thursday when I first started thinking I should leave, "This is millions of years of evolution at work: A mother's instinct is to protect her children."

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're all fine. My office was flooded out, but as long as the sandbag walls we spent three days building continue to hold until the water goes down, we should be back in within a month. Right now, everything is out of the office and they've ripped out the carpet and trim boards, which (cross your fingers) seem to be the only things really damaged. For now, everyone is working out of their home. The photo above is what the building looked like on Saturday, the day before the crest. Our office is about half way down the building.

Our home, as mentioned in the previous post, is high enough up that we are well away from any flood water. The only impact is the inconvenience of still having only one way to get into and out of town. The good news is that they have finally reopened Interstate 80 (above is what it looked like at its worst), so my family is coming home! The drive out was torturous, but it seems as if Mary and the boys have enjoyed their visit with Gram and Pop Pop. I'll let her share more about it, but I do know it included a trip to the zoo that was quite exciting for Edward.

Mary decided to take the boys to her folks' house in Evanston to avoid any potential flood-related problems. We won't get water anywhere near our house, but there is a real possibility we'll lose power and/or water, and that would complicate things enough that it seemed worth the hassle. Actually, hassle isn't the word for it-- ordeal, or trial or tortuous effort are more applicable. It took her six hours to get only as far as Dubuque, a drive we've taken in the past in about 100 minutes. It involved loooooong detours and 5 mph traffic because there are few ways in or out of our region.

Because I was home alone and sleeping off a day that included 7 hours of helping to complete dismantle and move our new office (we've been there six weeks) and another couple helping to sandbag the building, which includes a radio station and two restaurants in addition to the newspaper. Alas, I woke at 7 a.m., too trained by the boys' sleep patterns to even take advantage and sleep in. So, I grabbed my camera and headed out to see what my city looks like. The water is very high in spots and is expected to get anywhere from 3-8 feet higher over the next two days. The above photo was shot from a parking ramp that overlooks the river. The white line in the middle is a wall of sandbags that essentially marks where the edge of the river used to be.

To see all the photos I took, click here.

If you are seeing news stories around the country about Iowa flooding, they are mostly centered on Cedar Rapids, which is about 20 miles north of here and on the Cedar River. If the national media hasn't tired of it by next week, the stories will likely be centered here in Iowa City. We are on the Iowa river which is rising fast but hasn't reached the dramatic levels of the Cedar.

Yet.

We are being told to expect the river to rise at least 10 feet higher than its highest point in the historic 1993 floods. The crest is not expected until sometime next week and it continues to rain. Our house should not be endangered, but we are preparing for other disruptions. I actually had myself worked up into a pretty good panic this afternoon and was starting to make preparations to leave town with the boys and head to my parents' house in Evanston. A long drive and perhaps an extreme response, but there's legitimate speculation that all roads in and out of town could be cut off by next week. I started thinking about panic scenes at local grocery stores if the stocks run low and deliveries can't be made. I was also thinking about carrying out every day functions without water or electricity for days, perhaps weeks on end.

In the end, I dispatched myself to the grocery store for 10 gallons of bottled water (an arbitrary figure--it looks ridiculous on the kitchen counter and I hope we don't need it, but will be glad to have it if the time comes.) Also bread and some other staples. Now we just watch and wait with the rest of the community.

Daniel is five months old! He has found his toes and loves his exersaucer (which was retrieved from storage over the weekend because he was very impatient with his horizontal life.) He's sleeping right next to me, so I'll keep it brief. We have some video to edit and post, but not sure when that will happen. Preview of coming attractions: rolling over, grabbing toes, jockeying for exersaucer position with a brother who still thinks it's his.

So far we are dry at home. John spent two hours sandbagging at his office last night--his brand new office, the one they've occupied for less than two months! Hoping for the best. The river won't crest until sometime next week.

Parts of our town are slowly disappearing under the rising river. One main road into town from the interstate is closed. Lots of sandbags are being piled around vulnerable houses and some parts of campus. I had gone home to Evanston for the summer after my sophomore year the last time this happened (1993.) There is a palpable tension in town as we wait to see if this summer will match that disaster.

We may end up with a bit of seepage in the basement (though, luckily, none so far) but otherwise, we're far enough from the river and creeks to be mere observers to this deluge. We took a walk near the river and the flooded City Park yesterday afternoon. Edward was not impressed. The real drama in his life took place on Tuesday when they tested the fire alarms at daycare. This induced a major panic and hysterics that led his teacher to call me at work. She didn't say I had to come, but he wasn't responding to any of their attempts to soothe him. Since he never does this, they didn't know any "tricks" to put him back on track. It took me more than an hour to persuade him to rejoin the group. And even then, it was mostly because lunch arrived and it was one of his favorites. Before that he was clinging to me, crying and saying "I wanna go outside. I wanna go home."

I didn't want to take him away because I worried that this would make him afraid to come back. Sort of the same reasoning behind getting right back on the horse after falling. He didn't refuse to go back the rest of the week, but he was definitely hesitant and much more emotional/sensitive than usual. I found out late in the week that they don't ring the alarms when they have fire drills, so this really was the first time he'd heard such a piercing sound (his own shriek notwithstanding!)

So he's still talking about "alarms" and saying "alarms hurt me," but he also says "alarm keeps me safe" and "they're just testing it." So he may be on the road to recovery. At one point during the initial breakdown he either asked about Daniel or they thought seeing Daniel might reassure him, so they took Edward to Daniel's class. Daniel was laughing. Edward was not comforted.

We have tried several times this weekend to capture video of Daniel's rolling abilities. Even though his first move upon being placed on his back is to flip himself over, he is mesmerized enough by the sight of the camera that he freezes and stares as soon as it appears. A stare down is not most dramatic video material. Once the camera is put away, he rolls right over. Then it takes just a few minutes for him to realize he really doesn't like being on his belly much. He twists and flails his arms and legs like a beached whale. Today I thought he might be figuring out the reverse flip from belly to back, but I don't think he's there yet.

Edward's gymnastics are on display at the park. Anything above his head is fair game for climbing. He seems to have no fear in this realm. His parents on the other hand... We're trying not to hover too much or stifle his exploration, but we've seen him climb nearly to the top, get distracted and think he can make a lateral move, so we know better than to leave him totally independent.

Daniel was playing with his ear while John and I were eating lunch today. We hope this is "I just discovered these things on the sides of my head" rather than "Man this thing really hurts!" No other signs point to the latter, so we'll assume the best for now.

Daniel finally got over his own shoulder and rolled from back to front Saturday morning. He's been half/three-quarters of the way there for more than a week, but never could figure out that last shoulder hurdle. I missed the first performance while in the shower, but there were many repeats throughout the day. It's still a somewhat arduous process that takes several minutes, so we'll spare you the video until he becomes a bit more practiced. (Our camera battery isn't up to the current challenge!)

I wanted Edward to have some new summer sandals so we took him to have his foot measured. The only place locally that still provides this service is our Von Maur department store, but the shoes there start at $30, which is a bit pricey in my opinion given how fast kids grow out of them. He walked in wearing a size 6. The saleswoman said in a sandal he'd take a 7. For a closed toe shoe she said an 8 would work "with room to grow a bit." Oops. Guess we were a bit late in remeasuring. But since that was the extent of her help (she brought us a pile of boxes and then walked away, helping a series of other customers and never returning to us) we left without buying any. A trip to Target later in the evening produced a perfectly serviceable pair of $10 sandals. For that price he could have another pair before the end of summer if he wears these out (or grows out!)

We had a fun visit with cousins on John's side of the family when we all gathered at his grandparents' place yesterday. John's cousin's kids are 2, 5, and 7 so it was fun to see them all play together. Edward was exhausted by the time we left, but decided to stay awake until only 40 minutes remained of the 2-hour drive. When we arrived home, he was not happy to be awakened. John set him in his bed thinking he'd calm himself with "paci and teeny blanket" and then move on with the evening (it was about 5 p.m.) Instead, he was sound asleep when I looked in on him 5 minutes later. We let him sleep until about 5:45, but then figured the pain of waking him would be less than the pain of him waking us at 4 a.m. if he was asleep for the night at that point. In hindsight, I still think we were right, but it was a painful two hours for all involved. Edward just could not get himself under control and was just crying pitifully. Everything we suggested (park, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, food, drink) was met with a wailing "No!" We finally persuaded him to sit and eat something. He agreed to mac&cheese, but then started crying "No" again when we put it in front of him. We finally settled on applesauce and a leftover ham ball. We kept offering the mac&cheese, but since it continued to bring tears, we finally took it away and John ate it. About one minute after John finished the bowl (out of Edward's sight) and put it in the sink, Ed asked, "I want mac&cheese?"

We didn't have any more. The tears started flowing again. Two parental heads banging against the wall.

So those tears led straight to the bathtub, which was only saved by the emergence of a set of bath toys that arrived at Christmas, but were put away for just the right occasion. This got him to stop crying and get in the tub, where he played happily for about half an hour. (Another reason this was not in immediate use--a half-hour bath in January could lead to hypothermia!) Then we only had to survive the tears about not wanting to leave the toys and get out of the bath. (Side note: first thing this morning he asked to take another bath!) Pajamas, stories, a bit of milk and then back to bed. We all sighed with relief. Then we had to laugh when about 40 minutes later we heard him belting out "The Farmer in the Dell" from his bed.

Another funny moment to remember when things seem to be spiraling out of control. During a late-afternoon thunder storm this week, this empty wipes box provided either protection or distraction for Edward. I couldn't quite tell what led to this headgear choice, but it helped him get through the storm, so no argument here. We also tried the trick of counting between the lightning and thunder. He doesn't understand about using that to estimate distance, but it did seem to help distract him from his worry about the thunder. Daniel was unfazed by it all.

A busy weekend led right into a crazy week. We have lots of pictures but little time for blogging. Over the holiday weekend we successfully traveled from Iowa City to Franklin, WI, (Milwaukee suburb), Evanston, IL, and back home again with no major catastrophes. We found a fabulous park for a picnic lunch in Rochelle, Ill. (almost exactly half-way between here and my sister's place in Wisconsin.) The boys both slept well in the car (drive time carefully planned around full bellies and tired boys.) And since we're not above making ourselves totally ridiculous in the name of toddler entertainment, we all survived. Not to mention, we had a great time in both places. In Franklin, Ed got to play with his cousins (and eat Katherine's birthday cupcakes) and Daniel was very tolerant of the pinching and kissing from the extended family. (Note: Aunt Nora took the photo at right with Daniel in her lap. She titled the file "yes, my cheeks are substantial.") Then in Evanston, Ed got to take his first trip to the beach (late afternoon and slathered in sunscreen, which he calls "sun scream" and for good reason, since he hates when I put it on him.) He LOVED the beach. Enough that I may have to get over my own aversion and take him to our local sandy spot (I find it a bit gross because it's a reservoir created on the Iowa River, which is not a pristine waterway!) He played at the water's edge for quite a while, scooping sand and dumping it in the water. The water was cold, but not enough to send pains up your legs. He actually stayed relatively dry until we carried a bucket of water up to where Gram was sitting with a sleeping Daniel. Then he dumped it all over himself. Here is a series of beach shots and a video.



We waited until after the trip to let Daniel try some rice cereal. He doesn't quite know what to make of it at this point, but he's not rejecting it either. I had hoped it would help fill him up and encourage sleeping through the night, but so far that has not happened.
In health news, Daniel has conjunctivitis again--no surprise, given that Edward had it last week. I asked the doctor yesterday if we could expect them just to continue to pass it back and forth. He didn't miss a beat: "Well, that's how we stay in business." A doctor with a sense of humor--what a treat.