Christmas 2009

There were plenty of presents in the Morris household this Christmas. Henry got a train set, a pirate ship, a robot dinosaur, and lots of other toys. Bryant got a new wallet and some much needed underwear. Elise got an electric skillet and a subscription to the New York Times. But the best present of all was that Vivian came home from the hospital on Christmas morning. She was discharged around 10am and arrived in time for Christmas dinner. Aunt Pauline had flown in on Wednesday, just as we were nearing the breaking point (see Winter Wonderland/Snowstorm from Hell), and made sure we were well feed and freshly laundered for the holiday.

On Christmas morning, Henry seemed momentarily stunned by all the new toys, but it didn’t take long for him to begin wreaking havoc. Bryant spent several hours carefully laying out and assembling Henry’s train set only to find that his son enjoyed ripping up track and scattering buildings more than playing with the engines. At one point, Henry set his robot dinosaur striding across the train table in a scene reminiscent of a Godzilla movie. At another point, Bryant looked over and noticed that Minnie Mouse was being held hostage by the toy pirates until Harold the Helicopter flew to her rescue and safely delivered her to the earthquake ravaged Island of Sodor.

Despite the surrounding chaos, Vivian was happy to nurse and sleep for most of the day. It had been a tough week for our little lady: high fever, a terrible diaper rash and lots of poking and prodding by the doctors, but through it all, she maintained her calm demeanor.

Symbolic of this year’s holiday, our Christmas tree had started to droop and wilt in the week before Christmas. So, the day after Christmas, with Aunt Pauline’s help, we packed up the ornaments and threw out the tree…ready for a happier and healthier 2010!

Winter Wonderland/Snowstorm from Hell

On the weekend before Christmas, the Washington area received a record (for December) 18-20 inches of snow. Ordinarily, we would be excited about the opportunity to stay home and play in the snow. But with a new baby in the house and Henry sick with a virus, this year’s snowfall was not entirely welcome. As it turns out, the blizzard of 2009 was almost our undoing.

The snow started on Friday night. Bryant and Henry had tickets to Sesame Street Live for Saturday morning but swapped them for Friday night’s performance when it became apparent that Saturday would be a bust. Henry had no idea what to expect from the show, but as soon as the lights went down and the music started, he sat up in his chair and watched Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and the rest of the gang with great intensity. The show was perfectly suited to the 2-3 year old crowd and, afterward, it was magical to walk out of the arena as the first snowflakes were falling.

By Saturday morning, there was already a good foot of snow on the ground with the promise of more to come throughout the day. We mostly stayed indoors during the storm, but Bryant and Henry did venture out in the afternoon to experiment with the snow. Henry wasn’t too keen on wearing his winter gear and couldn’t understand why it hurt when we took off his mittens and stuck his hands in the snow. He had been home sick for the past week, so everyone was feeling a little anxious to get outside, regardless of the weather.

Despite our best efforts to keep Vivian healthy (Henry was doused in Purell at regular intervals and forbidden from touching her face), she awoke on Sunday morning with a fever. The pediatrician told us to take her to the hospital (which is pretty much standard procedure at such a young age). Unfortunately, our cars were buried in snow and the roads in our neighborhood were completely impassable. It soon became apparent that we were in for a very trying time.

Bryant walked up to the main thoroughfare (King Street) to see if it had been cleared. He found a neighbor who had shoveled her driveway, and she graciously agreed to drive Elise and Vivian to the hospital. So we quickly packed an overnight bag for Elise, trekked with both kids through the snow, and got Vivian on her way to the hospital. Bryant and Henry stayed behind and tried to make the most of another (long) day trapped indoors.

The snow was still a little overwhelming for Henry, but he enjoyed playing outside in short intervals. After shoveling off the walkways and experimenting with building a snowman, we borrowed a sled from a neighbor and took an excursion around the block. Everyone was snowed-in, and some folks were even using skis to get around. We were really worried about how Henry would cope with being separated (yet again) from his mom, but he held up pretty well.

At the hospital, the doctors subjected Vivian to the usual battery of tests. It seemed likely that she had caught Henry’s virus, but at that age, they test for everything. In the ER, they drew blood and (after four failed attempts) spinal fluid for testing. Meanwhile, Elise had developed mastitis (infection of the breast) and was suffering from her own aches and fever. But because she wasn’t admitted as a patient, no one could prescribe an antibiotic for her. It was truly an absurd situation: trapped at the hospital and unable to get any medicine! All the while, she was tending to Vivian, who was still running a fever but otherwise doing OK.

By Monday afternoon, Bryant had managed to dig out the car and was able to visit Elise at the hospital. Because of the swine flu outbreak, children were not allowed on the hospital ward, so Henry visited with his mom in the lobby while Bryant was upstairs with Vivian. Elise had managed to get some antibiotics and was feeling much better. It was a tough week for everyone, but things started to improve by Wednesday when Aunt Pauline rode to our rescue. She flew in from Detroit for the holiday and quickly put the house in order and took care of our mounting piles of laundry.

By week’s end, Vivian still had a fever but seemed to be improving. We were all hoping she would make it home for Christmas, but were mostly glad to see light at the end of the tunnel. Without a doubt, this had been the hardest week yet for the Morris family.

Thanksgiving 2009/Vivian's Homecoming

It was a busy Thanksgiving in the Morris household. Vivian was born on November 24th, two days before Thanksgiving. Bryant’s mom was already in town to help with the new arrival. On Wednesday, Bryant’s dad and his brother Kevin and his family also arrived for the holiday. All total, after Vivian came home, we had 10 people staying under one roof! It was great to have everyone together for Thanksgiving, and the company proved helpful as we readjusted to life with a newborn. We felt especially grateful to have Micah and Rylan around to keep Henry company while mom and dad were at the hospital. With his cousins there to distract him, Henry hardly noticed that he was no longer the center of attention.

Elise and Vivian were discharged on Thanksgiving Day and made it home in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Henry was glad to see his mommy again (after being away for two days) and seemed curious but not horrified by Vivian’s sudden appearance. Mostly he wanted to get back to playing with his cousins.

Kevin and Templa and the girls enjoyed their time in Washington. They explored the sites in Old Town Alexandria, visited the National Mall and went to the ICE! Experience at the National Harbor. Kevin and Templa even managed to step out one evening for dinner and drinks in Old Town.

As you can see from the photos below, Henry had a blast with his cousins. He talked about “Micah and Ra-Ra” for days after they left. Two moments stood out from the weekend: one was watching Henry, Micah and Rylan throw a huge Sesame Street dance party in the living room (at which Bryant appeared to be the only adult supervision) and the other was watching the three of them bouncing on the girls’ air mattress while reciting “Five Little Monkeys.” It made us realize how much Henry is going to enjoy having a little sister.

With the success of Thanksgiving, we are already making plans for a combined Morris family vacation to Disney World later this year.

Vivian Anne Marie Morris - First Pictures

Our newest family member--Vivian Anne Marie Morris--arrived at 10:10 pm on November 24th, weighing 6 lbs, 11 oz. It was another quick but intense delivery for Elise: we arrived at the hospital at 5:00 pm for a scheduled induction. By 10:00 pm, and before an epidural could be administered, the baby was well on her way. Like the other women in Elise’s family, Vivian has two middle names: Anne (for Bryant’s mother Joanne) and Marie (for Elise’s mother). Our first reaction was that she looks like neither of us but Henry when he was born. At the moment, she has striking blue-gray eyes, which we really hope will NOT change to brown. Below are the very first pictures of our little lady.

Monster in the Basement

When we rented our home in Alexandria, it came with a bonus feature: the owners had a large 50-gallon aquarium in the basement. There was an enormous fish living inside, and by enormous, we mean a good 10-12 inches in length. The owners said he was a pacu, which we had never heard of before. Thinking Henry might enjoy having an aquarium, we asked them to leave the tank. The plan was to find a good home for the pacu (i.e., a pet store) and get some nice guppies and tetras for the tank. However, in the months that passed since we moved in, Henry grew attached to the monster fish in the basement, and now he seems to be a permanent feature of our home. It seems a large fish, even one as ugly as the pacu, can be pretty interesting to a two-year-old: because he’s so big, Henry can more easily follow his movements.

Once we realized that the pacu was here to stay, we started doing some research on him (or is it a her?). It turns out the pacu is a South American fish and a cousin of the piranha. Here’s what we learned from Wikipedia:

Pacu (Portuguese pronunciation: [pa’ku]) is a common name used to refer to several species of South American freshwater fish that are related to the piranha, which are also kept as pets in aquaria. They are popularly thought of as herbivorous. Their teeth, which may look similar to human teeth, are used to cut through vegetation and crush seeds that fall into the water. Pacu and piranha have similar teeth, although the difference is jaw alignments; piranha have pointed, razor-sharp teeth in a pronounced underbite, whereas pacu have squarer, straighter teeth in a less severe underbite, or a slight overbite. Additionally, full-grown pacu are much larger than piranha, reaching up to 30 kg (60 pounds) in weight, in the wild.

Apparently pacu also are quite tasty. In doing our research, we learned that they are known for their sweet, mild flavor. Apparently they are now being raised on commercial fish farms as a good “food fish” (because they grow so large, eat almost anything and are easy to maintain). In particular, we noted several recipes for grilled pacu fish ribs.

For now, we have no plans to grill up our friend in the basement. Oddly, we haven’t thought of a name for him. He is simply known as “the fish” or (for Henry) “fishie.” Since the cat’s name is Vici, perhaps we should call him Caesar. Below is a picture of a large black pacu like ours:

New Wheels!

When we moved to the suburbs, we knew we’d need a second set of wheels. We could get by with one car in the city, with a Metro stop and most amenities within walking distance (and, in any event, we only had one parking space at our condo). But now that we were running around Northern Virginia for our Target and grocery shopping, we needed another car. A few years back, we saw a segment of the Today show on the best family cars. One of the cars they spotlighted was the Kia Rondo, and we’ve had it in mind as a possible candidate ever since. With all the other happenings this fall (see A Busy Fall), we didn’t have much time to visit car lots and haggle with salesmen. So we did our research online, made a few targeted visits to dealerships, and ended up purchasing a 2009 denim Rondo (pictured above). We liked the Rondo because it was relatively compact but still allowed for an optional third row of seats (for when family or friends visit). Plus, the Rondo has received excellent safety ratings and is considered one of the best bargains out there. It’s certainly not the sportiest or most luxurious car on the market, but considering the uses to which we (and our two kids) intend to put it, it should do just fine. Bryant especially likes the built-in satellite radio, which means he can listen to 80s music whenever he wants (or at least when Elise is not driving).

Henry's New Room (and a New Nursery)

As we mentioned, Mimi Pauline gave Henry a boat-shaped toddler bed for his birthday. Taking that as our cue, we decorated Henry’s room in a nautical theme. Our goal was to make the room as fun as possible, in the hopes that Henry would spend more time there (like during the night). Pauline donated some of Uncle Spike’s old sailing gear: model sail boats, nautical prints, an old ship’s wheel, port and starboard lights and a brass bell. We placed these throughout the room along with a treasure map rug and a signal flag banner that spells Henry’s name.

So far, Henry seems to enjoy his new surroundings. He’s been taking long afternoon naps, and although he still wakes up in the middle of the night wanting to come to our bed, he usually goes to sleep without too much fuss. Below are some pictures of the room, along with a sneak peek of the new nursery for the soon-to-arrive Baby Morris #2.