She's Having a Baby

 

It’s a whirlwind of activity around the Rose Household these days. Officially, Mom’s not due to give birth to my baby sister until Sept. 20, but I keep hearing her and Dad exchanging big words like “contractions,” “centimeters,” “dilated," and “holycrapareweseriouslyreadyforthis.” So they’re either studying for a spelling bee or this little brat might be on her way sooner than we expected.

Do you think they’re mentally prepared for a second baby? You tell me.

Regardless, they’re still doing a lot of last-minute work to make sure they’re as ready as possible when this baby does come. The bag is packed for the hospital, the bassinet is out of storage, all of my newborn clothes have been re-washed (mixed in with a few new ones so she doesn’t feel neglected), car seat bases are ready to be installed … you get the idea.

As part of getting to this state of readiness, Mom and Dad have been slowly preparing me for what life with a newborn will be like. Sofia, my Chinese teacher at school, taught me to say “mei-mei,” which means “little sister,” so Mom and Dad use that around me pretty regularly. Mom also makes sure to give me a lot of quality time around her belly (as you can see in the picture up top), although half the time I end up trying to jump on it like a Hippity Hop. Plus, not a day goes by where they don’t spend a few moments teaching me how to say my little sister's name.

They also gave me a present a month or so ago – my own little baby. It has a little outfit and diaper that can come on and off, so I started learning to change diapers before realizing they were only teaching me to do it so they could get out of doing the work on my sister. I haven’t done much with that diaper since. But I do take good care of the baby for the most part, although occasionally I forget that she represents an actual little baby and will chuck her across the room or bite her face.

But I’ll tell you, the realization that you’re going to be a big sister in a matter of days really gives you a new sense of perspective. Recently, I’ve spent plenty of time reflecting on what I can do to help make things easier for Mom and Dad once they’re busy taking care of two kids. I’ve made a lot of changes, knowing that it’s time to grow up and be a productive member of this household. Here are just a few of the ways I’ve bettered myself in recent weeks.

I'm learning to help out in the kitchen to take a little bit of pressure off of Mom.

Nobody can handle a salad spinner like me.

Part of being a big girl is putting on a happy face and taking one for the team,

even when your parents make you wear some stupid new hat that makes you look ridiculous.

As you can see here, I gave myself a black eye a few weeks back.

Knowing that I need to stay healthy so I can pull my weight, I've decided to be as safe as possible at all times.

Growing up also means taking responsibility for good oral hygiene.
Those giant Rose teeth can't take care of themselves.

OK, so maybe "growing up" wasn't the right choice of words.

¡Hola!

A few weeks back, Dad got an email from a friend, asking where I attend daycare. Turns out that I’ve mentioned daycare a few times on this site, but I’ve never actually said where I go. And it seems that some people care (OK, one person cares).

So here’s the scoop. Since last October, I’ve been spending my weekdays at EuropaKids International Preschool in glamorous Burien, Wash. Here are just a couple of photos, one of my classroom, and one of our playground.

 

It’s a really cool place that uses full immersion to teach kids foreign languages. Me? I’m in the Spanish/Chinese toddler class, so my teachers speak nothing but – you guessed it – Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Does this mean that Mom and Dad are crazy, overbearing parents who want me to be fluent in three languages by the age of 6, graduate college at 10, discover cold fusion at 13 and take over Microsoft, KFC and Wayne Enterprises at 18? Possibly. But more likely, they figured that if they were going to shell out entirely too much money for daycare, I may as well go someplace where I’ll learn something in the process.

And I’ve certainly been learning. On top of the language immersion, we have a curriculum that’s a scaled-back version of what the preschoolers learn. I’m not saying I’m ready to write a dissertation for a Ph.D., but I’m at least learning my ABCs. We also went on a fun field trip to the Pacific Science Center just a few weeks after I started going there. Here we are, ready to learn!

I'm the tiny one on the left.

But the language aspect is the interesting part. Like any toddler, my brain is like a gigantic sponge, ready to soak up anything it can, so I’m picking up quite a bit of Spanish and Chinese. In fact, one of my first words, after “Mama” and “Daddy,” was “gracias.” Mom and Dad often hear me as I wander around the house, muttering under my breath in broken Chinese. And half the time, if you ask me to say yes, I’ll shout out “Si!”

Is it utterly confusing? Of course. But is it utterly adorable? Si!

Now, part of the reason Mom and Dad chose EuropaKids for me is that Burien was located smack dab between West Seattle (where we lived when I started going there) and SeaTac, where Dad works. Thus, it was nice and easy for him to drop me off on the way to work and pick me up on the way home. With us living quite a bit further north now, it probably might have made sense to choose a daycare provider closer to our house, but they’ve been so impressed by it over the past 10 months that they don’t plan on switching unless it’s absolutely necessary.

You can't tell from this photo, but kids do actually enjoy this place.
I look like I was just told my car was stolen.

But Mom and Dad do have one minor quibble. A few months back, I got a little too messy during arts and crafts, so the teachers had to put me in a new outfit. A certain shirt had been put in the lost and found, and they mistakenly thought it was mine, so they put it on me. Imagine Mom and Dad’s surprise when they picked me up that day and I was wearing this monstrosity...

Yikes!

But other than that one hiccup, Mom and Dad are more than satisfied with EuropaKids. How much to they like the place? Well, they’ve already enrolled my little sister-to-be in the infant class there. I can’t wait – in a couple of years, the two of us will be able to talk behind our parents’ backs, right to their faces.

Home Sweet Home

This past weekend was a big one for me, and not just because I was able to spend hours upon hours reaping the benefits of having a Slip ‘n Slide and kiddie pool located side-by-side in my grandparents’ yard. No, it was a big weekend because I finally got my first look at my new house.

This is the house where, if my parents have anything to say about it, our family will be spending the next 30-plus years. It’s the house where I’ll be waking up on Christmas morning, learning to ride a bike, getting my first visit from the Tooth Fairy, and performing backbreaking manual labor in the backyard while Dad naps in a hammock with a beer.

Yes, after about a month-and-a-half of house hunting, Mom and Dad finally found one they loved. They submitted an offer on May 30 and found out later that day that it had been accepted. It officially became ours last week. Interestingly, after restricting their home search almost exclusively to West Seattle (where our condo was), they found the house of their dreams in the Seattle neighborhood of Wedgwood.

Now, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “What kind of goofy name is Wedgwood?” That’s a great question, and I honestly have no clue. All I can tell you is that it’s located in northeast Seattle, just a tad north of (shudder) the University of Washington. Mom was able to get Dad to overlook that horrifying fact and focus more on the close proximity of great schools, a lovely lakefront beach, some nice shopping options, and Elliott Bay Brewery.

Plus, the house itself is pretty great. Mom and Dad took me over there on Sunday morning while they discussed boring things like paint colors and tree limbs, and I give it my full approval. There’s three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big backyard, and plenty of room inside for both me and my sister-to-be to play nicely (every once in a while).

Here are a few photos of the new place.

Here's what the living room looked like when Mom and Dad first saw the house.
The picture up at the top of the page is what it looks like today.
Someone needs to tell them that the house was robbed!

Same goes for the master bedroom. The bed is gone now, too!

Here I am checking out my bedroom...

...and here I am checking out the kitchen, where I'll spend hours
getting in the way while Mom and Dad attempt to cook.

Big backyard!

'You shall not pass!'

As I mentioned back in May, we’ve been living with Mom’s parents in Redmond ever since Mom and Dad sold our old place, which gave Mom and Dad the time to do their house hunting without any real urgency. We’ve enjoyed it so much there that we’re actually going to be sticking around for a couple more weeks. That’ll give Mom and Dad a little extra time to paint the interior of the house while it’s still empty, and also do a bit of landscaping work before we officially move in.

Speaking of landscaping work, Mom bought Dad a lawnmower for Father’s Day. You’ve never seen somebody so excited, especially when you consider that he essentially just received a gift of weekly chores. I can’t wait to see the fireworks when he stupidly reciprocates by buying Mom an ironing board for her birthday.

'I will iron your sheets when you iron out the inequities in your labor laws.' Amen, sister.

Does this mean I have to share my clothes too?

Earlier this month, I shared the news that Mom and Dad are having another baby. Since then, they’ve been fielding all the same questions from friends and family that everybody gets when they announce that they’re having a second baby: “When is your due date?” “Is the pregnancy going well?” “Do you have enough room in your house for two kids?” “How are you going to pay for day care for two children?” “You’re having another kid already? Are you insane?” “Is it a boy or a girl?” It’s like being interrogated by the world’s most boring detective.

I answered that first question last time – Mom is due on Sept. 20. As for the rest of those questions, here are your answers:

Is the pregnancy going well?

Yes, it’s going swimmingly. Mom’s doctors say that Baby No. 2 is fit as a fiddle, and Mom is also doing great, although she gets nauseated by roughly 97% of the scents known to man. My only complaint is that Mom is quickly running out of lap room for me to sit on.

Uh, lady? This isn't working for me.

Do you have enough room in your house for two kids?

As it turns out, no – unless we all want to bunk together, Little-House-on-the-Prairie-style.

That’s why Mom and Dad sold our two-bedroom condo a month ago and are now on the hunt for something bigger. In the meantime, we’re staying at Ya-Ya and Grumps’ house in Redmond, kind of like…Little House on the Prairie. Go figure.

It’s actually pretty fantastic. I get to spend a lot of time with my grandparents, and I spend pretty much every waking hour of every weekend playing in their gigantic backyard. Good luck trying to measure up to that when you buy a new house, Mom and Dad.

How are you going to pay for day care for two children?

I don’t know. Not my problem.

[Editor’s note: We’ll be just fine. On a completely unrelated topic, can I have some money?]

You’re having another kid already? Are you insane?

Yes. Yes, they are. I like to think that the three of us have settled into a lovely little rut routine with each other. We know how to handle each of our particular quirks and foibles, how to neutralize somebody (usually Dad) who’s throwing a tantrum. I have no idea why they’d want to disrupt the delicate ecosystem that we’ve established. Then again, babies are pretty cute.

Is it a boy or a girl?

Ah, here’s the $64,000 question. Everybody just has to know this one, and it makes no sense to me. I mean, we live in a world where people get upset if you mention one tiny plot point from a single “Game of Thrones” episode that they haven’t seen yet, but when it comes to Mother Nature’s ultimate spoiler alert, you can’t spill the beans fast enough.

Well, fine. You want to know? I’ll tell you. It’s a girl. I’m going to have a little sister. Someone to mold in my own image. Someone to groom as my partner-in-crime as we manipulate our dad into indulging our every whim. Someone to taunt mercilessly because I feel like it. Should be fun!

Of course, the answer to that question leads to the inevitable follow-up question:

Are you disappointed that you didn’t have a boy?

I know I’m not disappointed. Boys are pretty disgusting. There’s one boy at my day care who smells like rotten milk and has permanent snot crust embedded on his upper lip. And I hear they only get worse as they get older.

[Editor’s note: Speaking for myself, I’m not the slightest bit disappointed. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 19 whole months as a dad, it’s that raising a little girl is pretty much the coolest thing ever. For the sake of symmetry and all that, it would’ve been fun to have one boy and one girl, but if this is considered a consolation prize, I’ll take it in a heartbeat. Besides, any dad who complains that he can’t go out and have a catch with his daughter deserves a kick to the junk, because he just isn’t trying hard enough.]

Room for one more?

Do you have a name picked out?

Geez, you people. Get a hobby.