Winter à la San Diego

February started with me (Bill) heading to Tulsa to help with my Dad's estate. I helped Sara get done a lot of things that either needed a helping shove, or needed to happen while she was at work. I helped get the plumber out to check on things and we got the furnaces inspected. I also sifted through a lot of things from my childhood. I still had a bedroom in the house I grew up in when my parents moved out of it. So we boxed everything up in the move and put it under the stairs. While I was in Tulsa was the time to clean it all out. I had a lot of memories come wafting up while doing it, and I ended up tossing out a lot of stuff.

Unfortunately for the family, I had only been in San Diego for one week after going to Cupertino. So I was out of town two of those three weeks. This threw off everyone's schedules. Larry and Torrey had to cover more kid care, and the kids felt the disruption to their schedules.

When I got back, both Tre and Siddha were REALLY REALLY interested in me. Clingy, actually. I found this disconcerting. I've always used space as a personal defense, never letting anyone too close. And here were these two, short, needy people steamrolling right up to me! I was a bit out of sorts, but I also kept in my mind a mental talisman I plan on keeping for their childhood - I know that in ten years I won't be anywhere near this cool. So I'm making sure to enjoy it while I have it. :-)

And it's really not that bad. :-)

I feel this has also been a big month for both kids. Tre's verbality has taken off. He's now telling lots of stories. He's been asking a lot more about how things work. He's moved past just asking what eats what (with an eye for what eats Treontes) to just examining all the connections in the world around him.

I feel UCP is really paying off. He's been growing and changing, but now it's showing vividly. He's still exceptionally silly and goofy, but there's a new depth to it all. And I love it. Earlier in the year, I felt he was behind his peers at school. Close enough he should be there, but behind. He now feels like he's really solid, and ahead of his peers in different areas.

Speaking of solid, Siddha's now feels a lot more solid to me. That sure came out weird. Before, she felt like a baby. Something small, something fragile. She doesn't feel that way anymore. She now feels like a small, compact, complete, solid person.

This last week has been a big change for Siddha. She's now MOBILE. All-caps mobile. For a few weeks now, she's been moving around. Sunday afternoon, though, she started booking around the room. We had folks over for gaming, and all of a sudden she was crawling under the table. She explored every corner of the room. Zoom zoom!

Monday, we heard a shriek of GLEE as she got around the corner from the living room into Tre's room. Tre's un-babyproofed-room.... The baby gates went up minutes later. :-)