LEFT-overs

A couple months ago, we ordered Tai a table and four chairs for his new playroom.  Once the room was all done, Tai and Minh set to work assembling the furniture.  Adorably, they sat together on the living room floor and put together the table and three chairs, but the fourth chair could not be fully assembled, because it came with two front left legs (and no right right leg).  Luckily, Tai accepted the explanation that we needed to get a different part before we could use the blue chair.  Being just one kid, he was happy to have just the three chairs for a while.

I went online to the company's handy-dandy replacement part ordering website and ordered up a front-right-blue chair leg.  I triple checked the part number and hit submit.  Within a week, a package arrived.  It was another left leg.

So this time I called and spoke to a real person and explained which part we needed and gave her the part number.  Despite my being certain what is left and what is right, she suggested that I was mixing up parts 11 and 12 and decided to go ahead and send me both, just in case.  Within a week, another package arrived--this time containing both a left and a right leg.  So we now have one complete blue chair and two extra left legs.       

Then, a couple weeks ago, we made our first pilgrimage to the Promised Land of Inexpensive Furniture (IKEA) and bought, among other things, this for the playroom.  Finally, we thought, the playroom will be complete.  Not so.  The very first box Minh opened up, containing the centerpiece of the vast "storage system," included -- are you ready for it? -- two left walls.  No joke.  

After talking with the national IKEA customer service center, and the local store, Minh got them to agree to send us the missing part (originally they wanted us to drive our butts 1.5 hours to New Haven to pick it up).  Within a week, a package arrived.  Do I have to tell you what was in it?  Of course, it was another left-hand wall.  So, Minh called them back and explained the (still comical at this point) problem and they apologized and rush-ordered us another delivery.  This time, the package arrived in just 3 days.  Another left-hand wall.  

Seriously.  I could not make this up if I tried.

We have a call in to IKEA and are waiting to hear back.  We can only hope that they'll get it right this time.  And quickly.  If you know how Minh nests before babies arrive, you know it's killing him that we cannot finish organizing the playroom because of this one missing piece.   

Our house is now littered with extraneous left-hand parts.  If this keeps up much longer, we'll be ready to open our own children's furniture store.

Toddler Crack

I'm not sure what that put in the food at McDonald's, but it sure makes Tai happy and pleasant to be around.

This past weekend, after a trip to Home Depot to return the heavy machinery that Minh could not resist renting, we stopped at McDonald's for an afternoon snack.  Although he initially requested mac-n-cheese, Tai was really very pleased with his Happy Meal of McNuggets, apple slices, and chocolate milk.   He also scammed a few fries off our tray, of course.  What's not to like about a meal that involves three (!) dipping sauces (ketchup for the fries, sweet-n-sour for the nuggets, and caramel for the apples)?

Now, we've been to this particular McDonald's once before and learned (the hard way) that Tai cannot focus on his food if we sit in the room with the indoor play structure.  Thinking we were being slick, Minh went and grabbed a high chair out of that "kids room" and brought it into the main part of the restaurant.  While eating, Tai was very pleasant and happy to sit in his high chair at the table, periodically offering to share his apples with us and asking very politely for "more fries, please."  He did steal a few glances through the giant glass wall at the kids playing in the other room.  But he said nothing and continued eating.

When the meal was about to come to an end.  Tai announced, "I want ice cream."  When we said that were not having ice cream, he pointed to the older man sitting in the next booth, enjoying a sundae, and said (loudly) "That man have ice cream!" as if to make sure we were aware that McDonald's does indeed sell ice cream.

"Yes, he does," we explained,  "but we're not having ice cream."  Surprisingly, Tai readily accepted this fact.  Then he pointed through the glass wall to the play area and said "I want to climb on that big climber now."  (And I think I heard him whisper under his breath, "Did you think I couldn't see it?  Idiots.")

But the Toddler Crack was already coursing through his veins and he happily accepted our answer of "No, we have to go home now."  Honestly, he was grumpy and whiny for much of the weekend, but the time we spent in McDonald's was peaceful and pleasant.  I know they are evil and the food is not good for you, but we can still eat there, right?

The Final Descent

As we enter the home stretch of Pregnancy #2, Minh and I each have our own way of preparing.  Some examples:

Minh recently stayed up until 2am assembling IKEA bookshelves for the new office.  (Because, obviously, if the baby arrives and the books are not organized, she's going to be *pissed*).

Even though I plan to nurse for the first few weeks before pumping any milk, I am freaked out that I cannot locate my pump *right now* and even called Minh at work the other day in a slight panic to ask him if he knew its whereabouts.

Minh ordered 10 yards of mulch and is renting some heavy machinery this weekend (anyone shocked?) in order to get it all spread in one day, and before what's-her-name arrives.  Honestly, a smarter man would wait until after the baby arrived and then use this as an excuse to get out of the house.

I attended a Savory Suppers session and assembled 6 meals.  Between those and our usual supply of "quick dinners," the freezer is now stocked and ready.

I'm hoping to stay pregnant long enough to have tea out with my friend next week before life is turned upside-down. I think Minh is hoping he gets to finish watching the NBA finals.

We are both, however, looking forward to the arrival of our daughter.  I can't wait for heartburn relief, backache relief, and the occasional glass of wine.  Minh can't wait to have his non-pregnant wife back so we can move five tons of wood pellets into the basement. 

I am currently 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant.  I went into labor with Tai at 36 weeks and 5 days.  Surely, this means that this little girl will be 2 weeks overdue and we still have a long way to go......(and plenty of time to locate that pump!)

The Continuing Big Boy Bed Chronicles

After a few rough nights of Tai waking in the wee hours and insisting on climbing into bed with us, we decided something needed to change.  So we plugged a night light into a timer (like you'd use for Christmas lights) and placed it on his dresser.  We explained that whenever the night-light was on, it was time to be in the bed -- i.e., no getting out of bed in the morning until it has turned off (6:15am).

And he bought it.

Now, each night at bedtime, he gets excited to see that the light is on, and explains to us that this means it's bedtime. And when I kiss him goodnight and leave the room, I remind him to stay in the bed all night and then come get me when the light turns off.  And he does.  For Tai, this system works like a charm.

These days, I am often woken by the sound of his bedroom door opening.  Some mornings he walks right into my room and announces, "mama, my night light turned off!  it's morning time! want to see?"  Other days I hear his door open and then.....nothing.  These are the days he has knowingly broken a rule by exiting the bed with the nuk still in his mouth and Emmit still clutched in his fist. On those mornings, I find him sitting in the hallway between our rooms, staring off into space, caught somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

Either way, he's staying in his bed all night, consistently.  Let's hope this keeps up when Baby Sister gets here and he discovers that she gets to sleep in our bed.......