Aberrant Prose

Surprise! A toy cabinet!

When Kathy, Rylan and Aubrey came to visit us (they flew home just this morning), there was something new in our living room. Something I have been wanting to blog about but with Robert wanting it to be a total surprise I held off doing so until now.

When Rylan was old enough we pulled out old Play Family Fisher-Price Toys from the barn; toys from Chris and Kathy’s childhood. He loved them so much we decided to keep them in the house. Every time Rylan left we ended up piling them haphazardly on a coffee table next to our living room half wall. I came up with building a toy cabinet. About a month or so ago Robert decided he needed a new project and was ready to build it.

I seized the moment and quickly drew up a very rough sketch for a 6-foot x 2-foot toy cabinet. For the top I sketched in side rails to keep marbles and small things from falling off the edge and a back panel for inserting flat squares of wood with letters and pictures on them. I was sure he would nix my ideas. He went along with the back panel even knowing what a challenge it would be to make slots for each square. However, instead of hand cutting flat squares of wood (a very arduous task) he came up with using leftover tiles from when we tiled our kitchen counters in 1985. He then talked me into using half rounds instead of railing (he told me railing would be ridiculous to try to build on such a small scale). On top of that he came up with using our laser printer to create the letters and pictures instead of me laboriously hand painting each tile. The letters and pictures were printed onto clear adhesive in a dark green to match the cabinet and then adhered to each tile. The tiles turned out absolutely awesome! We used the same technique to decorate the knobs on the doors and drawers. I came up with adding wheels to roll the cabinet into the middle of the living room to allow for more playing room.

Between Robert’s ideas and mine, the toy cabinet turned out to be one very nice addition to our living room and is perfect storage for blocks, marbles, cars, and Play Family toys. We added the last touches the day before Kathy, Rylan and Aubrey's visit. Although it was late at night when they arrived, Rylan immediately noticed it and had to check it out. Kathy was duly impressed. The next morning Rylan quickly climbed right up on top of the cabinet (it had not even occurred to me he would do this) and started playing with the marbles and chutes. He was impressed how the marbles did not roll off onto the floor. It did not take him long to also figure out the half wall made a good seat while playing.

Aubrey Elizabeth Pine

Aubrey, a very sweet bundle of joy, is now the newest member of our family! Our second grandchild, a granddaughter, arrived May 14th!

Robert and I drove to Tim, Kathy and Rylan’s house the day before on Tuesday arriving late afternoon. We were able to be there in time to take care of Rylan when Aubrey made her debut. The next morning Kathy and Tim left for a 7:00 appointment at the hospital. Kathy’s doctor determined, since baby was good sized, Kathy shouldn’t wait any longer so scheduled her for induction on Wednesday, May 14th. (Kathy’s due date was May 16th.) Considering Rylan came10 days early it was actually a surprise to Tim and Kathy she didn't decide to come sooner. As it turned out, once at the hospital and upon examination, Kathy was told she was already having mild contractions.

After Kathy and Tim left for the hospital giving Rylan goodbye hugs and kisses (he had no concern that his Mom and Dad were leaving) Robert and I took him and Sadie to three different parks to ease the wait.

While we were out, Tim sent a picture from his Blackberry of Kathy sucking on a Popsicle in her hospital bed. This was at ten. A call around noon after we got back from our outing told us baby would arrive soon. We heard nothing until 2:17 and, in case Kathy was in the middle of delivery, we didn’t dare call to check. Just as we were putting Rylan down for a nap, Tim called to tell us Aubrey had arrived at 1:15 and both she and Kathy were doing just fine.

After Rylan’s nap, Robert, Rylan and I headed to the hospital. After reaching the lobby on the maternity floor Robert called Tim on our cell to let him know we had arrived. Tim told us Kathy and baby both were on the way to their room. Within a minute or two they came down the hall. Rylan saw his new sister for the first time in a crib being rolled down the hall by his father. I could see Rylan’s little face trying to figure out what was going on, trying to understand why his mother was in a wheelchair and if the little baby in the crib was his sister. He had been told all along that she was coming yet it looked like he couldn’t believe she had actually arrived. After Aubrey was checked in at the nurse’s station Tim asked Rylan if he would like to push Aubrey into Kathy’s room. He did so proudly. Kathy had gone ahead and was already settled in when Rylan and Aubrey and the rest of us came in. She immediately welcomed Rylan up on the bed to join her. She was perky and alert. After the warm welcome from his Mom, Rylan immediately showed a lot of interest in his new sister. Then, after we all had been there for a while, he suddenly announced he was ready to go home! He didn’t even have any concern that Tim, Kathy and Aubrey were not going home too.

Once home he kept asking us, “Why did my baby sister have to come out?” We had many answers for him but he still had to ask the question over and over. Our answers included, “Because she was big enough.” “She was ready to come out into the world.” “It was time for her to be born." He definitely was trying to sort it all out in his head.

Aubrey had one surprise for us. She has dark hair! We were expecting a towhead like Rylan. We are very curious to see if her hair stays dark. I reminded Kathy my three younger sisters are all dark haired. The same is true of Kathy’s grandmother and grandfather on my side.

Kathy and Tim brought Aubrey home the very next afternoon! Kathy was amazed how much easier Aubrey was her first day in comparison to Rylan’s first day. She admits she is much more relaxed with Aubrey who in turn is a very calm, amiable little girl. Not only was Aubrey really good the first day, she didn’t cry much the entire time Robert and I visited. She was easily soothed back into a state of calm when she did get (a little) upset.

Our whole week with Aubrey was so different than the week we spent with Kathy and Tim after Rylan arrived. All of us were more relaxed this time. On our last night there, we were at the dinner table and there were two or three serious, animated conversations going on all at once. Aubrey was in her bouncy seat on the floor next to the table and had started fussing. Although we heard her, none of us paid much attention. We all wanted to finish up what we had to say first. Before that happened though, Aubrey quieted down and went to sleep!

When Rylan was a newborn, the slightest little cry had one of us running to tend to him.

From the day we arrived until we headed home on Tuesday Rylan was a treasure. He has grown up a lot since we last saw him in March. He handled everything very well and was very sweet to Aubrey giving her kisses and tender hugs. The first morning after Aubrey came home, he went into Tim and Kathy’s bedroom and not seeing that Aubrey was tucked in her bassinet out of his sight immediately asked, “Where is my baby sister?” We attributed a lot of his sweetness to all the attention he received from four adults. There was always someone for him to talk to, to take him places and to play with him. We all wondered how he would act after Robert and I left. Happy to say, Kathy reports he is still doing great.

I took lots of pictures of our visit to welcome Aubrey into the world (posted in my photo gallery) yet I have more to share! Click on image below to link to a slideshow of some of my favorites from Kathy and Tim’s camera.