We moved! We finally moved to the new house, which is what you still call it. We were going for walks after dinner sometimes, before it started getting dark so early, and when you were ready to head home, you would say, "Let's go back to the new house." If you were tired, you would say, "Let's go back to the new house and take a nap."
We did most of the work in one weekend. Uncle Alex had the day off on Columbus Day, so Dad and I took the day off as well. We scheduled the furniture movers on Saturday. While they were moving furniture, we moved boxes. On Sunday, we moved more boxes from the old house in the morning. In the afternoon, we sorted through the boxes in the garage to organize them and make more room. Then on Monday, we moved all of the items from the storage units here into the garage. It feels so good to have all of our stuff in one place, even though it's still disorganized and not totally unpacked.
Then it took the next few weekends to get the rest of the odds and ends, and to clean. But now that's done, and our lease is over, and we only have to worry about where in the world we're going to fit all of the furniture coming from Grandma and Grandpa's house in Madison! We still do some running back and forth to Torrance, because you still have gymnastics classes there. By the end of November, I'll be the only one driving back to Torrance every day.
The Long Beach house already feels much more welcoming than the Torrance house did. Dad and I were doing a run back to the old house, and when we walked in he said, "I didn't realize just how claustrophobic this house felt. I like the new house so much more." One afternoon, you were playing by yourself in the backyard. Grandma looked at me and said, "I love this backyard. I'm so glad we moved." And you and Corbin and I can walk around the block, or down to the park, and we have sidewalks and streets that aren't busy. It's so much more relaxing. Although, you scared the daylights out of me one day when you and Corbin were running ahead of me. He stopped at the corner, and you kept going right into the middle of the street. I ran and grabbed you, and did the typical scared parent yelling. That was one time I wished you were riding in the wagon.
Part of the fun of unpacking is finding all of the toys and books that were packed away from Grandma and Grandpa's apartment in Minneapolis. We've found two whole boxes of books, so now when you pick out your bedtime reading, you tell us, "We haven't read this one in a long time!" We've found stuffed animals, too, which you've happily adopted into your growing pile of stuffed animal friends. We've found puzzles and art supplies and all kinds of fun things. Anyone who didn't know us could be forgiven for thinking that we are actually a daycare center.
One of the changes that I've noticed since we've moved is that you go to sleep a little better. I'm not sure if there's something about your new room that is helpful, or if our routine is just going well, or if you've reached some kind of development stage that's made a change. At the Torrance house, we had gotten into a pretty good routine, but you would still cry for a few minutes when I said goodnight and left your room. Since we've moved, you seem to have reached a point where you just lay yourself down and fall asleep. I hope that's the ongoing pattern now. Your bedtime routine has been the most frustrating adjustment of becoming a two child household, and I've always felt badly for that. I think that's the biggest way that you've been shortchanged by all of the changes over the past two years. Your whole life has been a series of changes in living situations, accompanied with stressed-out caretakers and changing routines. I hope that our lives are stable and routine now, for many years to come.
You got to go back to the dentist this month. It's always interesting to see the x-rays of your teeth, although you're not always interested in actually doing the x-rays. This time, we could see your adult teeth starting to form down in your jaw bone. Your tooth fragment hasn't moved, which is fine. I swear, your dentist will never think that I'm a competent parent--she's always very stern about I should bring you back if we ever see any swelling or soreness where you're missing that tooth. She shakes her finger at me and says in her Eastern European accent, "You come immediately, you see that!" and I always feel terribly guilty that I let you have such an accident in the first place. You would be modeling children's toothpaste, if not for your terrible, neglectful mother. You poor baby.
Maybe I can set up a Miriam's Missing Tooth Fund, and then you'll be able to afford college.
Love,
Mom
PS: I forgot about Halloween! You went Trick-or-Treating for the first time. It was highly amusing. We put some finger lights on you, for safety, so you kept walking very slowly so that you could watch what you were shining the lights on. Dad was holding your bag for you, and he had to hustle you along so that you would keep up with Corbin. You had lots of fun telling people "Trick or treat!" and "Happy Halloween!" We went around about three blocks, and then you told me, "Let's go back to the new house and take a nap." You even skipped the last two houses that Corbin went to, because you were tired. It was a fun night.
Snuggling with animals in your "cave":
"I'm a dalmatian dog!"
The silly family:
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