two very different kids!

Not only do Shannon and Jack not look like each other, they also have very different personalities. Here is an example: Both kids react very strongly to the vacuum. Shannon whine-cries and says, "too loud, mama!! turn it off, mama!! stop, mama!!" Jack whine-cries if he is not the one doing the vacuuming. Just now when I started vacuuming the rug, Jack picked up the floor attachment and started chasing me around the rug, while Shannon came and begged me to turn it off. Funny.

which of these is not like the other?

I've never blogged about work before that I can recall. But, I was in a meeting yesterday, and I was thinking about how unusual the circumstance was.

I work for an investment company (no that is not the unusual part--not a very good transition, I realize). I would say that the investment profession is probably weights more heavily toward males, but not significantly. And, across our organization, males and females are pretty equally represented. Specifically within my company, I work for the Information Technology department. Then, specifically within the IT department, I work for the "Change the Business" team, which is all programmers/developers.

On this team, I am the only female. This fact hasn't been very remarkable in the past, since there were only four of us. Recently, we've added two more programmers to the team, and about 8 contractors. I hadn't really thought about my potential odd-ness until a meeting yesterday when we were all together. I was at the table with 13 men. I noticed it--though the thought had never occurred to me in my previous 7 years with the company. I'm curious if anyone else on the team noticed it.

I think the last time I felt that . . . unusual was for probably my favorite college course -- Logic. I loved that class, but I was the only female out of about 10. Even though it makes sense to me now, I never would have believed that my love of logic would translate to a love of programming. And, while my "research" has been unofficial and only in the form of observation, I would say that significantly fewer women than men share my love of programming.

Well, it seemed noteworthy to me yesterday. But, today, I'm thinking it might be as noteworthy as pointing out that significantly more women than men choose the profession of nursing.

tigers, oh my!

No, we did not see a tiger at the zoo recently. They were there; we just didn't see them.

However, I was awakened last night by a loud noise. At first my dull-barely-cognizant brain was having a hard time recognizing the sound as I awakend from the fog of sleep. But, I finally realized it was Shannon screaming. I immediately started to rise, and I realized he was running at roadrunner speed down the hall. By the time I was even partially up, he was in our room. I pulled him up, and we attempted to quiet him--which took some doing. In both of our minds was a dread that he had vomited, given Jack's recent (and ongoing) struggle with a stomach bug.

Sean: "What's wrong, bud?"

Shannon, still half scream-crying: "There's a tiger in Shannon's room! Tiger eat Shannon's leg!"

Poor kid. Although, while comforting my terrified child, there was a little part of me that giggled inside. We let him lay in bed with us for awhile, to get his heart-rate back to normal. He's had other nightmares before, but rarely, and they generally only resulted in a half awake cry.

I eventually told him we needed to go back to his room. I told him I'd take him and we'd make sure there were no tigers. It was so cute. He had me look in the dining room and living room. When we looked in his room, he said, "There's no tigers in there!" in a very happy voice.

I laid him in his bed and brought in reinforcements: his puppy and bear. Then, I suggested he dream about climbing a tree with Curious George or maybe even riding in a hot air balloon.

"No, I ride bike," he said.

As I'm leaving the room, he says, "I dream about Percy, mama."

"Okay. Are you going to help Percy deliver the mail?" I ask.

"No. I go to station and get coal," he replies.

And then he's off to sleep.

omaha trip

We took the boys on a short trip to Omaha. We visited the Durham Western Heritage Museum and the Omaha Zoo. Here are some things we learned:

1) Jack is terrified of elevators. The doors closing, the elevator starting to move, the elevator stopping, the doors opening were all events that caused significant alarm.
2) Shannon has no fear in the water. At it's deepest, the pool was just over Shannon's head. But, that didn't stop Shannon from venturing into the deepest part of the pool.
3) Jack was terrified of the pool. He loves baths, so I don't think it was water he was afraid of. But, when we first entered the pool area, all the noise from the kids and the fountain brought the poor kid to tears. Later, as I was taking him into the water, his arm was literally shaking--and not because he was cold. Eventually, he warmed up to the idea and enjoyed himself.
4) Shannon is crazy-kid once he warms up to his surroundings. At the museum, he was cautious at first. But, then he turned into the hide-in-a-cupboard-and-jump-out-and-scare-passersby kid. He tore around the train cars (the museum was pretty empty) for about 15 minutes.
5) Little known fact -- when at the zoo, you are actually supposed to race through as fast as you can. Well, at least in the world according to Shannon. I think he enjoyed it, but he didn't enjoy any one thing for very long.
6) Jack hates riding in strollers. For this reason, I wore Jack in a carrier at the zoo. In the afternoon, he was pretty happy in the wagon for a while. But, then he got tired. So, we went home.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I look forward to doing similar weekends in years to come.

shannon quote

Yesterday, Shannon was being kind of a pill in the morning. We had been outside in the wet grass, so we were changing his pants. Getting dressed is one area in which Shannon would prefer not to be independent. So, he was doing his helpless grunt -- "ehhh, ehhh, ehhh" -- and acting like he was incapable of dressing himself.

"Are you helpless, Shannon?" I asked him.

"No, I'm just tired," he said matter-of-factly. (Yes, I realize "factly" is not a word.)

March Photo Shoot

Our friend Shana took these photos of the boys in March. She has a photography business and had asked to use the boys as models. :) They didn't make her job terribly easy. But, she did get some great photos. (If you live in the area and would like to use her services, her website is http://www.shanadrake.com.)

it's not pig! it's food! and other updates

The world according to Shannon. Last night for supper, we had Pork Medallions Alfredo (from Kraft food and family). It was quite tasty. Anyway, Shannon pointed to one of the pieces of meat, and he said, "That's chicken." I said, "No, it's pork, which comes from a pig." Shannon screws up his face with an incredulous look, turns up his hands, and informs me, "it's not pig! it's food!" How could I be so silly?!

Two great deals . . . in one day!! Yesterday I was home from work because my mom is sick with the same thing that went through our family a couple weeks ago. So, we ran a couple errands. On Monday night, the four of us had gone out to do a little shopping. One of the items we were looking to buy was a car seat for Jack. He's only 11 months, but with the cloth diapers, it is nearly impossible to fit him in his carrier seat. So, I wanted to get him the same seat Shannon has, since we like it so much (it reclines, which is awesome for road trips).

First, we made a quick stop at Sam's Club to see if they happened to be selling that particular car seat at a discounted price. As I dashed through the store, I noticed they had a few area rugs on clearance: 5x8 for $59.81. I thought that was a good price, but I was in a hurry so I decided not to take the time to examine them. We also ended up not getting the car seat that night.

So, yesterday, I thought I would go back and get one, since it was so cheap and I wanted a bigger rug for my living room. Well, when I got back to Sam's Club yesterday, it was only $34.81!!! And, when I examined it more closely, I saw that it was 100% wool. So, even though it isn't my dream rug, it is better than what we had and significantly cheaper!!

On to the next deal. I had noticed in the Big Lots ad that they had curtain panels for $5. So, I thought I would run over there to see if they had anything that would work for our bedroom. After discovering that they only had one, I decided we'd walk through the rest of the store. As I'm walking by the Big Lots little selection of rugs (I also need one for the dining room), I see a single car seat in a box on the floor. And, it isn't just any car seat. It is EXACTLY the one I wanted. And, it doesn't cost $120 like it did at Target. It is only $60!! Yippee!!!

Little Jackie-boy is growing up. In the last week or two, Sean and I have really started to notice how much Jack is interacting more with us. Of course, he would always respond with giggles and smiles, but this interaction is more "intelligent." He "talks" more in a conversational way. And, here's a funny little story. I was picking up in Shannon's room. I would pick up the tracks off the floor and toss them in a bin. Well, Jack decided he'd help. So, everything he saw, he started tossing in the bin. Oh, it was so cute!! Even as I was trying to put the puzzles back together, he would pick the pieces up and throw them in the bin.