Desmond in the 4th Degree

Hey mama, your bump makes me wanna jump!

Monday, 29 September 2014

2am - Cara gets out of bed and paces around the house.  Things feel different.  2:15am - Cara wakes Tommy.  Says things feel different.  2:45am - Cara phones her doula, Mary. "Things feel different, Mary."

3am - Massive contractions put Cara on the floor, like in a major motion picture. 3:01am - Tommy realizes the baby is coming tonight.  Cara has known this for an hour...  3:15am - Tommy phones the doula.  Now the doula knows the baby is coming tonight.  3:20am - Tommy phones the hospital/midwives.  They want to "check" Cara.  3:30am - Like a finely tuned machine, the wheels of "help" are set in motion: Grandma and Grandpa begin the 1.5hr trip to Red Hook to help with Zoster. A great local friend, Mae, is en route to the house to cover the gap. The doula is en route to the hospital, which is preparing a room. Tommy is packing the car, and remotely canceling his Monday classes. Cara is deep into warfare with crippling contractions, now about a minute apart.

4am - Cara, Tommy, & some wild contractions arrive at the hospital.   4:05am - Our awesome midwife, Jane, checks Cara:  She's fully dilated and ready to go. 4:06am - Surgical team and OR are put on standby: a VBAC is ready to push. 4:15am or something like that:  Cara brings the push train to gonnahavababyville. 6:30ish am - Certain medical types begin to bat eyes around the room.  This seems an awful lot like last time. Lots of pushing, not a lot of movement.  Shortly thereafter - The doula kicks into gear; it's all hands on deck, and we're gonna have a baby.  Cara is doing pull-ups & squats.  Finally, it works.  The baby nudges past the pelvic bone, and a few pushes later, starts crowning.  This goes on for some time, but there's progress.  Two steps forward, one step back.  Everyone knows there's only one end to this story now, and it's a natural birth.

8am - Babyboy Costello is born.  He's a hair over 9 pounds, and measures a whopping 24 inches long.  Cara did it.  No drugs whatsoever. A perfect birth.  Everyone in the room is thrilled.

Some time later, babyboy becomes Desmond Clay Costello.  

5 minutes after birth. They look great

Satisfaction.

Of course, wee Des is not alone.  His capable big Zoster arrives on scene in the afternoon to begin teaching him the ropes.  She's been waiting to hold him for the past seven months! 

Even she is proud of her amazing Mama.  Sure, she wanted a little girl named "Elsa" but soon enough she'll discover that it's Papa's fault that little Des arrived as a boy.

 Be well, little guy.

©Desmond Clay Costello, b. 29 September 2014

Zoe Loiters: Police Take Notice

Out of Hibernation

It was a long winter.  You think that all of the snow and cold would have been a great excuse for us to keep right on top of the blog... but we kind of went into hibernation in our house.  The good news: we are now seeing the light of spring, and it is fantastic!!

Our Tuesday ritual all winter was to meet up with friends at an indoor play space.  It was great fun, but the gymnasium walls never inspired too many pictures.  Now that the snow has melted and we are seeing some warmer days, our Tuesdays have evolved into adventures outdoors.  Today, the adventure was a small local zoo (amazingly run and maintained at a high school!)

As you might imagine, we saw some animals...

The Emus are pretty cool Mama, but check out this FENCE!

But more importantly, we saw some friends.  Nine of them in fact.  All girls.

The beginning of a "Secret Club Meeting".  A true meeting of the minds.

Zoe liked the animals, but she was slightly more impressed by the architecture.

Yup-- I think this wall will pass inspection.

And the mud. But it was some pretty impressive mud if I do say so myself.

Who needs mud pies when you can have this!

Happy Spring!!

Who's house is it, anyway?

Hey Zoster,

    We'd like to recap a lengthy car conversation that we had today, whilst driving you from a brilliant kids theatre show (oirish pirates, oh my!) to a string quartet from Julliard playing in the local library.  In the snow, we should mention, since it was super duper snowy today.

    We drove by a house that we didn't buy, but wanted to, and you mentioned our house in Red Hook. So we talked all about how we really bought that house for you. Mama and Papa don't really need the huge backyard.  Frankly it's a gigantic pain in the arse all autumn, what with the raking and all...  But you jumping in the piles of leaves - there's value in that.

   There were all the other houses.  There was this fantastic place way up on a hill that Mama really wanted.  It had a huge great room flanked by 14' windows that looked over the surrounding hills. And a woodbunrning stove in the middle of the room, and quite possibly the prettiest granite counters in the history of this world.  They looked like pink woodgrain running the length of a very long, very new, galley kitchen. But then there were the cliffs on one side of the property, and the unbelievably hilly terrain that surrounded the house.  You'd never, ever be able to play with a ball outside.  That much was abundantly clear.

     There was the mod custom architect-designed 50s place that Papa wanted.  It needed a wee bit of freshening but had a courtyard - A COURTYARD! - and was just dreamy and swell.  But in the wrong school district.

    Then there was the cape.  Your mother's heart still burns at this one.  It was 1930s splendor, all craftsman wood detailing throughout (buried in countless layers of paint papa adds...) and full of charm.  It also conjured up memories of our 1920s townhouse that treated the first years of this family so well.  And, let's be clear on this, the property backed up onto a stream and had a heart-shaped pond.  Yup. And it was even really close to the cutest town in the Hudson Valley - just a half mile - but you'd never be able to ride your bike there. It was a major road with no shoulder. You were three and we were terrified for you walking to your friends houses in your teens...

    And then there was the colonial.  It was on 8 acres of pretty neat terrain, had a lake and stream and a huge granite outcropping in the woods.  And you know what - we would've actually bought that one, but the listing agent was a . . .  piece of work.  There was an imaginary bidding war, and we decided to leave it and head to greener pastures.  And the mosquitoes were intense.  So intense, in fact, that the previous owners had added on a $50k glass room to the house - just to enjoy the yard without the bugs.

   So we bought you a nice little 1950s ranch.  In papa's parlance it's "bog standard" but in a great neighborhood.  You and mama can walk down the street to the library for story hour, and stop at the farmstand on our corner for fresh produce on your way home. School is just a few blocks away, as are some pretty great restaurants. And we get thousands of trick-or-treaters because the the village is that great.  (Take that, Squirrel Hill.)  Sure, the house isn't architecturally significant or estate-like; as a matter of fact it's probably the most ubiquitous floorplan in this country, perhaps even eclipsing the Levitt homes that sheltered your predecessors.

    And let's be honest, for many months you waxed poetic about how our new house has TWO bathrooms, one that is pink and one that's green.  That is a neat fact - though it'll soon change. And the back yard - it's one thing to be in a village, but to pull off being in the village with a couple acres and woods behind the house is like an awesome mullet; business in front, party in back. But you can't build a swingset on a mullet, and your papa built you a pretty sweet swingset back there.

   So when you're a teenager and storm off to a friend's house to complain about this, that, or the next thing, just remember that we bought this house for you.  After all, that's why you were able to walk to your friend's house.

Love,
 - Mama & Papa

Food Man

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We usually discourage Zoe from playing with her dinner-- but when "Food Man" shows up at the dinner table, how can you turn him away?

Designed completely by Zoe, Food Man led a short but happy existence.  For now, we will spare you with all of the details of his graphic demise. RIP Food Man, and in the words of Tommy, "See ya on the flip side".

Ode to Zoe

Dear Zoe Mae,

Some gifts of Christmas are sparkly and magical;

Some gifts promise to love all the day and night through.

Some gifts have history and treasures within,

But the best gift of all, dear Zoe,  is YOU!

Man vs Tree

Felling a tree-- a time old Christmas tradition.  Well, this year Tommy decided to channel his inner Griswold.  In his sights: a 15' Fraser Fir and thousands of lights...

Granted, said Fraser Fir was a little bit thin on the bottom. ("We'll just face that side to the corner...")  It seems that Hudson Valley deer have an insatiable appetite for the best Christmas Trees. Combined with the fact that there's absolutely no place in the ranch for a 15' tree, Dr. C decided to take the good tree-grower's advice and "cut high."  

Boom! Christmas tree down.  No victory is too small to celebrate...

Merry Christmas!!

A Halloween Story

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Twas a dark and stormy night... Really-- it was.  In fact, it was one of the first rainy days we had gotten all fall, and yup, it was Halloween.  A fairy by day, Zoe decided that the inclement weather meant one thing-- she would transform into a Zobot for her first attempt at trick-or-treating with her good buddies--Triceratops and Luke Skywalker.

"Trick-or-Treat!  Be Bop..."

Back at the home front, a man (some call him Papa) wearing a 70's polyester shirt with a pattern that strangely resembles candy corn, orange blinking pumpkin shaped glasses, and green plastic "witches fingers"  handed out candy to the brave souls who traipsed through the puddles to our home.  About 100 of them in total-- 100 shy of what our neighborhood usually gets, but 100 more than our usual number of trick-or-treaters back in the Burgh.

As for our Zobot--- Success!  She weathered the drizzle, and then the rain.  She was not bothered by the hordes of kids in costume running from house to house.  She fearlessly and systematically procured candy from our new neighbors.  She was a pro.  "Trick or Treat!" -- "Thank You!"

"Thank you and have a good day!"

We've fallen out of touch, but not with the Fall...

Yes, it's been a while.  Yes, we've been busy.  Yes, we've fallen out of touch... but don't worry, we're back!

So why, do you say, did we stay silent for so long?  Well, not to make excuses, but we've been a tad busy.  Tommy -- I mean Dr. Costello -- officially earned his PhD this past spring (yay!!) and then he went and got a job (YAY!!).  He is now gainfully employed by SUNY Dutchess in a tenure-track gig: no small task in today's market. And he loves every minute of the job, which is great, because there sure are a lot of those minutes.

We sold the house in Pittsburgh and bought ourselves a cozy little place in Red Hook (a fabulous little town north of Poughkeepsie).  Essentially we traded our 1920s city townhouse for a 1950s ranch with a glorious backyard.

Cara is exploring the new world of being a stay-at-home mom while doing some distance work for Carnegie Mellon to keep her toes in the professional world.  She finished her yoga teaching certificate before leaving Pittsburgh and will be teaching in Red Hook soon (stay tuned).

We are happy as pie.

Speaking of pie, it's that season, and here's a taste of what fall has brought us so far.  After all, it wouldn't be fall without cute pictures of Zoe Mae and...

Wooly Bears!  and...

Lessons from Papa on how to cool off a hot head on an unexpectedly warm fall day, and...

A stunningly beautiful weekend at the River, and...

Apples! and...

Leaves...

 Oh glorious leaves!  

We'll leave you with a quote from our very own Zoe Mae.  As she was helping us move a ginormous pile of leaves (one of many) from our backyard to the curb, she exclaimed-- "This is so much fun, I can hardly believe it!!"  Never a wiser word was spoken. 

So on that note, we'll say goodbye for now, but not for good.  Stay tuned.

Sunday funday.

Perfecting her form:

Brownies and Bedtime

The Zoster can no longer be contained by a crib. A month or so ago she mysteriously appeared at the top of the stairs, which marked her first non-catastrophe escape from the crib.  When asked, she proudly showed us how she managed the escape:  Step 1) Throw all stuffed animals and blankets into the laundry basket next to the crib.  Step 2) Leap into the, now-cushy, bin of soft things.  Step 3) Freedom!

So we congratulated her on the accomplishment, moved the laundry basket across the room, and put her back in bed.  Only to have her reappear at the top of the stairs shortly thereafter.  Proudly she reenacted the new escape:  Step 1) Hoist oneself onto the top of the crib railing.  Step 2) Fall toward the dresser (~2ft away), and catch the top edge of the dresser with your hands.  Step 3) While holding on to the dresser, walk feet down the side of the crib.  Step 4) Freedom!

It was clear that, aside from putting a lid on the crib, physical barriers were not going to keep wee Zoe Mae in bed.  So we put the side of the crib down and confirmed that while she could get out, we preferred that she stay in bed and sleep. And then we got the dreaded big girl bed out of storage.

Suffice it to say, she loves the big girl bed.  And she loves getting out of the big girl bed.  On one occasion her brave papa repeated putting her to bed a record 52 times in a row before she realized that bedtime was non-negotiable. We even bought a wise owl who can tell Zoe when it's time to get up.  Nonsense.  She decided early on that she wasn't going to listen to an inanimate object when it came to bedtime.  Because brownies.

Snoe Mae

Zoster, chauffeured home from school:

Taking care of business, also known as shobbeling:

Blogging with Austerity

It would be fair to say that our blog posts have been something less than regular lately.  In fact, they've been something akin to non-existant.  Sorry 'bout that.  Maybe it's because of the reduced daylight hours, or the exceptionally snowy winter, or I suppose we could properly blame it on Hurricane Sandy, which did knock a tree onto our house, but all of those excuses would be just that: Excuses.  

No excuses here.  We've been juggling full plates lately, and thus haven't dedicated much effort to the blog.  I'd love to say that it was a conscious decision, but if you ask us, October seems like just a couple weeks ago.  Thus, in the interest of keeping the blog somewhat active, we're going to pull an Ireland and vote for blog austerity:

Needless to say, we're going for the second definition, unless it's the Zoster's bedtime, in which case we might err towards the first.  Or maybe we can propose another definition all together:

aus • ter • i • ty

• what happens to the blog while we work on a PhD, yoga teacher training program, and toddler.

Henceforth, blog entries will be short and picture-ful.  At least until the days are longer and more degrees are in-hand.

Zoe vs. the Polar Bears

This past weekend was Zoo Boo, a great excuse to get wee Zoe Mae into a recycled ladybug costume and take her out a frolicking.  Just how good is the Pittsburgh Zoo?  They have an aquarium where they keep scuba divers...  Perhaps you'd thought that divers were people too; nope, they're animals at the zoo.  Look: this one carves pumpkins!

Needless to say, all the excitement tuckered the Zoster right out, so we high-tailed it back to the homestead for a power nap. Once rested, the wee lass perched on our newly refurbished staircase and put on her full expedition gear. Wildlife be forewarned; this Zoe is coming to a neighborhood near you, and she won't be deterred by a little snurricane frankenstorm!

Now, where are those polar bears hiding?

This is a Quiz, This is Only a NSFW Quiz.

What is this "goodnight" of which you speak?

1) Tonight at bedtime, wee Zoe Mae:
          A) Quietly sang herself to sleep.
          B) Had a psycho dance party.
          C) Threw her blankets out of the bed.
          D) Took off her pajamas and threw them on the floor.
          E) Took off her diaper.
          F) Peed all over the bed.
          G) B, and then C, and then D and E and F.

2) Upon hearing the tell-tale cries of "my diaper, my diaper!" parental unit #2 responded and decided to:
          A) Reinstall the diaper as before.

          B) Ask the perp to refrain from repeating the offense.

          C) Reinstall the diaper with a onesie to thwart removal.
          D) Duct tape the diaper back on.

3) After her relocation back to bed, little Zoooey Mae Wosthello (as she calls herself) went on to:

          A) Quietly sing herself to sleep.
          B) Remove the diaper again.
          C) Jump directly out of the crib, for the first time ever.
          D) Write an entire chapter of papa's dissertation.

4) This means that the time has come for mama and papa to:

          A) Buy a bigger crib.

          B) Set up the toddler bed.

          C) Have a drink.

          D) Pray.

BONUS QUESTION:  Wee Zoe Mae is currently:

          A) Working on undoing the onesie/duct tape.

          B) Sound asleep, having learned her lesson.

          C) Airborne, having just climbed out of the crib.

          D) Singing herself quietly to bed.

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Thank you for taking the caraandtommyand quiz experience.  Feel free to share your answers in the comments below, and we'll give a fantastic prize to whomever gets gets the most answers correct, without going over.  Aww, heck - we're feeling generous - everyone gets the prize:
It's a brand new CAR!  No - book, BOOK!  A Brand New (couple year-old) Book! Read by a celebrity!

WARNING: The above video contains hilarious adult content. If you are: under 18; 

easily offended; or located in a very small cubicle; please do not click play above.

We hereby disclaim any and all responsibility for your delinquency, hurt feelings, 

premature firing, or potty mouth. Neither this video nor the words therein are new,

rather they explore the timeless struggle between parents, toddlers, and bedtime.

Northerly Dreaming

I'm sorry the swimming hole is so crowded. And deep.

Once upon a time there was a mighty river, way up north.  It was peacefully shared by two little countries, with sand and rocks and greenery aplenty.  The water was clean and the air, splendid.

Yes.

On this river is a storied island called Maple.  It is a private and wondrous place, peopled only by the friendliest spirits who can all swim curiously well.

Zoe's first actual leap into the River? Perhaps?

Maple has a little raft from which little girls can jump into the loving arms of their mothers.  The island is guarded by a gigantic happy turtle, who is always nearby to lend a helping flipper to wayward youths.

Land!

The inhabitants of this river often chase sunsets on boats piloted by canine navigators whose intrepid sense of direction can evade even the most shark-like shoals. It's a delicate dance; the shoal-avoiding dogs chauffeuring the locals who prefer shoal-finders.

There are also brilliant ladies dancing aboard the classiest of crafts.  Hacking through the water with a modicum of care, the belles tempt even the phoniest of cameras.

Ce n'est pas un choit.

Amidst toddling children, drunk on fresh summer air, even the puppies resort to deception and camouflage to secure a moment's rest.  Who can blame them when the veins of their petters are pulsing with swedish fish?

Etslay ogay!

Even the cars are magical. All of them are convertibles with secure spots for libations, and they average over 100mpg.  Airbags, like crashes, are virtually unknown in this place; instead, safety exists in brightly-colored life jackets and verdant muumuus.

Zoe Mae's first car-nap in over a year... Finally!

Or perhaps it was all just a dream... The idle minds of creative toddlers tempt us from our cities.

And She's Renovating the Stairway to... Upstairs.

Zoe rides on Papa's handlebars.
Baby rides on Zoe's handlebars. 

Wee Zoe Mae has had a busy summer...  After lots of visits everyplace and a new/used motorcycle of her own, she decided it was high time to hunker down and class the old homestead up a bit by tidying up the grand stairway of the Costownhousello.  She's a quick worker, so here's the before/after shots:

Can you guess which one came first?

Originally the risers were painted white, and - wait - strike that. Originally the risers were stained a dark walnut, with a clear lacquer. They were then painted an orangey-peach, and then painted yellow, and then painted minty-shamrock-shake-green, and then painted white, and then painted off-white, and then painted white again.  Yeah.

When we bought the house, the stairs looked as you see at left.  With a little bit (okay, a lot) of elbow grease, we removed all the paint and lacquer and got down to the wonderful original wood. Then a few coats of Minwax satin poly brightened things up and let that grain sing.

I know which one I'd prefer to tumble down.

The Zoster wisely decided that the stairs should be carpeted to expedite her climbing adventures. Rocco enthusiastically agreed, as his fluffpaws couldn't get proper purchase on the well-worn hardwood treads, so he had to either slow down or wipe out when hauling down the 15 steps to protect Zoe from the mailman. The carpet helps to brighten up the stairs and quiet things down a bit, while the refreshed risers add contrast, depth, and help to extend the woodgrain spirit that the original heart-of-pine floors provide for the rest of the house.

How snazzy!

All in all, a job well done for the little lass.  And yes nitpickers, we've yet to finish the quarter-round around the bottom stair because we need to order some special bendy moulding that will be able to follow the curve around that bottom baluster step.  Phew, that was tiring!

Zoe invented this bed, and makes it everyday for her babies to sleep on.