The Monteiro Family

When we first moved here almost 5 years agon there was an old birds’ nest in the elbow of the downspout, under an overhang, just outside our bedroom window. We left it there that first spring not knowing what kind of bird made the nest and not knowing if they would be back. They didn’t come back. So in the fall, while we were fall cleaning windows, Johnny took it down. The next spring we were often awakened at dawn by the sound of bird wings flapping against the hollow downspout. This was quite annoying so every attempt the birds made at starting a nest was quickly thwarted by Johnny knocking it down in hopes that they would build elsewhere and let us sleep!

The longer Johnny lived out in the burbs though, the worse his allergies got so by our third spring, we were not sleeping with the windows open very often. In fact the AC goes on at the first hint of hot weather or humidity and generally stays on until we need to switch over to heat in the fall. No open windows meant we no longer heard the birds’ construction.

Last spring, seemingly overnight, a mom and dad bird built a nest and mom laid her eggs. Because it is up so high, we can’t actually see into the nest but mom sat there for weeks and hardly ever moved so we were sure there were eggs in there. It was quite an amazing sight when they hatched a few weeks later and these tiny, weird looking baby birds with no feathers, closed eyes, and huge heads and beaks appeared. Lauren LOVED checking on them every morning and so did I. In fact, several weeks after they hatched, when they finally learned to fly and left the nest, I was quite sad that they were gone. One day they were there, the next, gone…and that was that.

The empty nest remained until Lauren’s class was studying nature in March. Johnny carefully removed the nest (if you saw where it was and how that window opens, you’d be pretty impressed that he got it down in one piece and didn’t fall out the second story window while doing so), placed it in a large ziplock bag, and sent it to preschool. We were expecting the birds to return, as they have every year, around May/June to build again. Well, they started a construction project late May but must have run out of funds because they abandoned the project before it was completed! We thought we were out of luck and I was bummed because I really thought Lauren would enjoy watching the process again.

Suddenly though, in early July, they completed the project it haste (it is quite a messy nest this year) and there mama bird sat once again. I was so excited. Interestingly though, it is Carter who is most excited about the baby birds. He looks for them every time he comes in our room and likes to say, “nuh-night birdies” and “Hi birdies!” to the them before and after his nap each day. Unfortunately for us, the eggs must have hatched around the time we left for NH  and boy are they growing FAST. When we got home Saturday night, 3 babies were already just peaking over the top of the nest and were all head and beak with no feathers, and by today, they already look like they are getting ready to fly! They practically don’t FIT in the nest anymore and I’m so worried one of them will fall out! Each afternoon while the kids nap, I sit on the back deck with my book or laptop and listen and watch as they go nuts every time mom and dad return with some food. It is so interesting to watch. Soon though, they will leave. I hope I’m out there to see it this time although, whether I watch them leave or not, there will be a little hole in my heart until mama bird returns next spring to build a new nest!

I didn’t always remember to bring my camera out with me so I only have a few. These were taken either outside from the deck and zoomed in a lot on my crappy point and shoot, or through the window with a glare off the glass. The link to the video is short. Mom and Dad had come by with food so I grabbed the camera hoping to catch them feeding the babies. Unfortunately though, the camera spooked them and they didn’t come back until I put the camera away!

P.S. Shortly after publishing this I was sitting on the back deck once again (without my camera) when one parent bird returned with something in it’s mouth to feed to the babies. It was huge but due to the angle, I couldn’t really tell what it was…probably a bug of some sort. Well, as the parent gave it to the baby and flew away I noticed the baby was having a hard time swallowing it. Then I realized it was a baby toad!!! Ewwww…nature, while very interesting, can gross me out! The baby did manage to get it down although I almost lost MY lunch!

Lauren recently attended a Toy Story themed birthday party for a friend and received a small Woody action figure as a party favor. While every other kid at the party knew who he was, Lauren was clueless. Thankfully she didn’t notice that she was the only one who has not seen any of the Toy Story Movies! I decided that it is probably important for her socially at school to at least know the stories and characters in the movies that John and I decide are okay movies for a three year old, Toy Story being one of them.

Before our trip to NH I picked up a handful of books on CD at the library, one of which was Toy Story. I thought she would recognize Woody and be interested in the story. To my surprise, she wasn’t. At first she told me it was a “boy” story and she didn’t want to hear it. When I finally convinced her to listen to it she decided she  just wanted to listen to it without looking at the book. Well, without the pictures, I think she had a hard time visualizing toys she wasn’t familiar with and had difficulty with the concept of the toys coming alive when the people are out of the room. She ended up just tuning it out after a few minutes.

When we returned home, coincidentally Toy Story had just arrived via Netflix. So Sunday evening we decided to hold our first Family Movie Night! This would be only the second full length movie Lauren has ever seen (we let her watch Finding Nemo a few weeks ago when she hadn’t napped well and was super crabby). I went and picked up our favorite pizza from Franklin Flatbreads. We spread a blanket on the living room floor, and we enjoyed a pizza picnic while watching Toy Story. After dinner, she got cozy with her sleeping bag and pillow.

Seeing the movie and having us there to help her understand the toys-coming-alive part was very helpful for Lauren. She has decided it is not just a “boy” story. She was totally transfixed and laughed out loud and asked several questions for clarification. Carter on the other hand, enjoyed making a mess with his pizza and running around the house whenever he got the urge! He only watched a total of about 15 minutes…in 30 second bursts!  There are a handful of other movies I think are appropriate for Lauren that I think I’ll add to my Netfix que although I think we’ll keep Family Movie Night to a monthly event for now. She’s currently very interested in Cinderella since we visited her at Story Land last week but I’m not ready to go fall into the trip of “Princessville” so I think we will keep it to the non-princess Disney flicks as long as possible (Fox and the Hound, Mary Poppins, Cars, etc.).

Tuesday evening: We were all packed up and ready to go but left about 90 minutes late due to a few mix-ups. Rather than leaving around 6:00 and arriving in Laconia around 8:30, we left around 7:30 and arrived around 10:00! Some of the story books I had loaded onto the iPod for Lauren were a hit and others she wasn’t too crazy about. I was expecting Carter to fall asleep rather soon after leaving the house and Lauren to fall asleep somewhere mid-drive but Carter only fell asleep about 30 minutes before arriving and Lauren didn’t sleep AT ALL! We were very surprised. We were also surprised how easily Carter fell asleep again after we got in and set up his pack-n-play at the condo and how easily Lauren fell asleep in a bed she’s never slept in. I, on the other hand, didn’t sleep. Not only was I not in my own bed but both Carter and Johnny were snoring! I ended up on the couch around 2AM but was up before 6!

Wednesday: After a leisurely breakfast and showers, and playing with Mimi and Papa, we all headed out to play miniature golf at Pirate’s Cove. The weather was beautiful when we arrived and we had a fun front 9. Lauren enjoyed carrying her ball to the hole, placing it on the green inches away from the hole, and putting it in with one shot from about 3 inches away! Carter needed some assistance from John but had a blast hitting the ball. He hit it (or did he toss it?, I can’t recall) into the water at the second hole and had to share a ball the rest of the round! The back 9 got a little rough though as the temperature rose and the kids were hot and having a difficult time waiting their turn. The grown-ups finished up and had fun though. Papa won but Lauren and Carter walked away with the prizes of pirate hats and eye patches. Lauren wanted to wear her patch and hat non-stop for the next 24 hours!

Following mini golf, we went to grab lunch and to play at Fun Stop for a while. Then we headed back to the condo for naps. When the kids woke up, the sky was pretty dark so we headed to the indoor pool where we swam for about an hour and a half while torrential downpours, high winds, and thunder and lightening were all around us! What a beautiful indoor pool this place has! Lauren and Carter stayed in the 2 ft pool most of the time and had a blast going down the water slide. We hung out in the deeper pool a little, going under the water fall and down the bigger slide. My favorite though was the Roman Bath. It was so warm, hot even. I could have stayed in there all day! We ran home to change during a brief period of sun but it again was raining cats and dogs when we attempted to go out for dinner so we scrapped the nice restaurant for take-out pizza. Baths in the big jacuzzi tub were fun (for the kids, but not for Johnny’s back) and another night of good sleeping for the kids and Johnny…and not good sleeping for me on the couch! Great time for my insomnia to kick in!

Thursday: We had another leisurely breakfast and showers at the condo before packing up and heading out. The drive to North Conway was nice and although there was traffic, the kids slept through it so it was tolerable. We met up with Grammy and Grampy at the hotel and walked into town to get something light for lunch. We had about and hour and a half before we wanted to arrive at Story Land so we thought we’d try the alpine slide at Attitash. Well, when we got there, Lauren was not sure she wanted to try it. She watched people coming down for a while and kept going back and forth about wanting to do it and not wanting to do it. We decided not to spend the money and have her back out at the last minute so we decided to wait until next time. That way Carter will be bigger and can go too. I was glad about the decision because I was a bit nervous about her on the chair lift. Besides, next time we go up the mountain coaster will be open as well and we could make a day of it.

We arrived at Story Land just before 3:00. Carter didn’t really like Humpty Dumpty but he immediately liked the talking tree/playground structure and loved going up and down the slide all by himself! Lauren loved checking out all the story book houses. The first real ride we went on was the tea cups. We knew Lauren would love it but we were not sure how Carter would react. He wanted to sit on my lap but couldn’t so instead he kept a death grip on my leg while he belly laughed out loud throughout the ride! He loved it! Lauren loved the roller coaster again. They both loved the wooden shoe ride, the carousel, and the pirate ship. It is so funny

how Lauren totally believes that everything is so real from Cinderella to the animated crocodiles you go by in the boats. The Silver Mine freaked her out a bit and I had to carry her all the way through it! Because the park wasn’t crowded we managed to get through more that I thought we would in two and a half hours. It was both sunny and cloudy and not too hot or cold. A perfect afternoon.

Following Story Land, we had dinner at the Red Fox. Can I rave about this place for a minute? First of all, the place is HUGE. It has several rooms that were all nicely decorated and cozy feeling, and you could tell, they seated you strategically. The biggest room was for families with infants through preschool. The tables were all nicely spaced out so kids could make a mess and make noise yet not disturb other tables. And even if they did make noise, who cares, because everyone in the room had kids! There was a room that looked like it was for families with older kids, a smaller, quieter room for adult guests with a bar, and get this, a “Movie Room” with a big screen TV that just looped Finding Nemo! Any kid in the restaurant could go get cozy on the rug or chairs in there and watch the movie while they waited for a table or for their food! They even had a teenage girl doing face painting for donations to a charity right off the movie room! It was brilliant! You’d think a place like this, geared towards families with young kids and right down the street from Story Land would have a blah menu. Nope! The menu was huge, both regular American fare and more elegant options and very tasty. The prices were not cheap but not outrageous either. And the wait staff, well they work with families everyday and they were great with the kids. The drinks were not too shabby either. I would highly recommend this place. We will definitely be eating there again.

Dinner was followed by a stroll through down town North Conway and all my favorite shops like Zebs and the 5 and dime. Carter passed out in the stroller on our way back to the hotel and stayed asleep through a diaper change, PJ’s, and into the pack-n-play! Needless to say, he had no idea where he was when he woke up in the morning, poor guy! Lauren also went to sleep easily. She was so tired from a busy day that she was happy to sleep all by herself in the queen size bed! Johnny fell asleep shortly after the kids. As for me, thank God for the Kindle app for my phone! Insomnia night #4! I went to sleep around 4AM and woke up to the alarm at 6! A whopping 2 hours of sleep! For those of you that know me, you’d fear for the people around me after that many nights with so little sleep but I surprised even myself with my ability to keep my cool and remain awake and upbeat throughout the next day!

Friday: We got up early and headed out for breakfast at Glen Junction, a little restaurant with 2 model trains that do figure eights around the ceiling. Very entertaining for Carter and very yummy food to fuel you for a full day at Story Land. We got to the park right when it opened and headed around backwards, avoiding the crowds. Lauren and Carter got the traditional “driver’s licenses” and we rode the antique cars. Then Lauren wanted to go on the Bamboo Chutes, a flume ride. I happily sat that one out with Carter although they didn’t get too wet. We rode the train, the hot air balloon ride, the roller coaster and wooden shoes (again), then headed up to the whales, the turtles (my favorite), and the flying fish. Then we went to see the circus, which, for a small, 40 minute circus inside Story Land, was pretty good. I am just so impressed by acrobatics!

Since we had such a big breakfast and I was hoping to leave early enough for an early dinner, we skipped lunch and packed snacks and drinks so we wouldn’t have to buy outrageously priced food at the park. It worked out great. The kids snacked during the circus since we were sitting anyway, and Carter ended up napping in the stroller while Lauren played  the splash park. We then hit a few rides we hadn’ done yet, like the swan boats, repeated the tea cups since Carter enjoyed them so much, and stopped at the playground, and said hello to Miss Muffet’s Spider and the Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe (or as Carter called it, “the boot”) to get a sticker and headed out around 3:00. We went for an early dinner at the Muddy Moose, wandered around the outlets at Settler’s Green for a bit, stopped back at the hotel for baths and then strolled back down town for ice cream. The weather was perfect, again. And I was smart enough to stop at CVS to pick up some Advil PM! We were all in bed by 9 and asleep (including me) by 10:00! I slept like a rock…finally!

Saturday: We woke up early again and headed out for breakfast at Peaches. We had never been there before and probably won’t be headed there again unless we are there sans kids! Maybe if we ate outside, or maybe if they hadn’t eaten out exclusively for days…but the kids were not well behaved, the table was cramped, and I felt like we were bothering all the other patrons. Not to mention that the menu was great for adults (very fresh ingredients, interesting specials) but there was no specific kids menu. After breakfast, we packed everything up at the hotel and headed across the Kancamagus Highway for Clarks Trading Post.

When I was a kid, you went to Clarks to see the bear show for a couple of bucks and wander around the gift shop for an hour, always walking out with some interesting items. Nowadays though, if you want to see the bears you have to dish out $17/adult ($7/kid 3-12) to get in to see the bears. Yes, you also get the train ride (with a strange Wolfman theme that I still am confused by), the acrobat show, the bumper boats, the segways, the rock wall and a few additional stores and small museums…but really the only thing appropriate for little kids is the bear show…so…needless to say, we liked the bears but thought it was not a good value unless your kids were 8 and 10, not 1 and 3!

On our way home we stopped at Andrew and Gina’s house. I used to nanny for their three kids. When I lived with them, Carina was 3 1/2 (just like Lauren), AJ was 17 months (just a bit younger than Carter), and Catya was newly conceived! Well Carina just graduated from high school and Saturday was her graduation party! Makes me feel really O-L-D! I have not seen them in a very long time. It was so nice to see them and all of their extended family that I got to know way back. And it was nice to introduce them to my kids! Carina, AJ, and Catya have really grown up to be beautiful, smart, polite kids. It was an honor to be a part of their family and an honor to be invited to help them celebrate.

When Lauren was born she received a bunch of stuffed animals as gifts. My favorite was a very soft little brown bear that was wearing pink bunny pajamas. It lived with a few other animals in her crib and she slept with them all during naps and at night. At around 9 months old, she adopted this bear as her “lovey”, cuddling it when she slept. We were careful to always leave it in her crib so she would not need it with her all the time and so we didn’t lose it! It did come out on occasion when she was sick, or hurt, or very upset, but it always went right back to her crib.

When she started daycare, I looked for and bought 2 more identical bears. One to leave with her at school so she could cuddle it at nap time (eliminating the need to bring it back and forth everyday) and one extra for her to cuddle when the original needed a bath. This plan worked great until sometime around 2 1/2 years old when she, for some unexplicable reason, (after Carter was born, when she moved from her crib to her bed, we’re not sure) started sucking on the bears hand while going to sleep. After a few days of sucking on it twice a day. it started to stink! We were having to wash them several times a week. So I bought 4 more! We would bring the one from school home on Fridays, soak all seven on them in vinegar, then wash them. We did this for over a year. It was a pain in the a**. Especially when we got busy on wash day and forgot to put them in the dryer in time for bed. She truly could not go to sleep without one.

This past February at her dentist appointment I mentioned the bear situation to the dentist and was advised to get rid of them. My heart broke, for me and for her. I wasn’t ready for her to give up her lovey (it was like saying goodbye to her babyhood)! And I knew she would be crushed to have to say goodbye to her main source of comfort when we were apart. After much thought, I decided I would wait until summer vacation to say goodbye to the bears. That way, I wouldn’t stress as much about lost sleep since I wouldn’t have to get up for work. Also, she would be spending a lot more time with me and would have a constant source of comfort, even without her bears. We decided the bears would “go on vacation” on July 1 for most of the summer. We put the date on the calendar. We talked about it. We made a “quiet music” CD for her to listen to to help her stay calm when she was trying to fall asleep. We decided that when they came back from vacation in late August, they would only stay as long as she could cuddle them WITHOUT sucking on them (if she goes back to sucking them, they will move away for good ). We also decided on a special reward that she would get if she slept without her bear for 3 weeks.

July 1 arrived. She said she was ready. The first night was not as bad as I expected. She cried but quickly realized that she couldn’t hear the music if she was crying and quieted so she could hear it. She was up over an hour but eventually fell asleep. The second night was a little better. By the third night, she was fine! There have been a few times when she would wake in the middle of the night and cry when she couldn’t find her bear but was never fully awake and would go right back to sleep. There have also been a few nights where she has needed us to rub her back for a little while but we were careful not to make a habit of it. One night she was so upset she ended up sleeping in her sleeping bag on the floor in our room! But overall, in the last (almost) 3 weeks, we have had far more good nights than difficult ones. There have been a few times during the day that she has been upset and has cried for her bear but a hug from mom has done the trick!

Yesterday, as she was flipping through the Bitty Baby catalog that came in the mail this week, she reminded me that we had agreed way back that she could get the pajamas that match the pajamas that her Bitty Baby has as a reward if she learned to sleep without her bear. I had completely forgotten about that deal but she was right. I had wanted to wait a full 3 weeks before getting the reward but since we will be away on vacation ourselves later this week, we decided yesterday would be a good day to take a ride to the American Girl store and get her the reward she earned. That store is so much fun! We had as hard a time getting Carter to stop playing with the toys as we did Lauren. They had the PJ’s in her size so we bought them. It was so hard to walk out of there with just the PJ’s! I wanted to get the matching slippers, and the doctor kit, and the camping set, and a few new outfits….can you tell I loved playing with dolls as a kid?!?!

Following our trip through the store, we had dinner The Cheesecake Factory. I love that place. It was a great day! We are so proud of Lauren’s big accomplishment! Here are a few pictures from dinner and Lauren in her new jammies! Sorry the quality isn’t great. I had to take them with my phone since my regular camera battery was dead!