We’ve completed two of our four birthday parties this weekend. Last night everyone was pretty much exhausted, but hopefully today will be a little better; the first party looks to be a little bit shorter, so there will probably be time for nap in between, and the second is nearby, so we won’t have much traveling to do.

Yesterday’s first party was a total madhouse, but lots of fun. There was a pool, and I swear there must have been 40 kids in there, many of them armed with squirt guns. Nevertheless, Anna, who is not terribly comfortable in water (but getting better) had a blast. We put a new floatation vest on her, and she took right to the water, even venturing away from me for short periods of time. We stayed in the water long enough that by the time she got out she was hungry enough to eat two entire slices of pizza, and only once requested some alternate food that was not present at the party.

The second party was more low-key, but still complicated by the presence of their family dog. Anna doesn’t like dogs; she’s quite scared of them. She has had very little exposure to them, and to the best of my knowledge has not had a bad experience. In the last couple weeks, she’s had a little bit more exposure, and has even gone so far as to reach out and try to touch some of the tamer specimens we’ve seen.

Ick

We are still in the throes of some really bad sleep. Anna has a very difficult time going to bed; she is very anxious. In the course of her bedtime routine she will ask, either out of genuine anxiety or just stalling:

• Will the power go off tonight?
• Will her light bulb burn out tonight?
• If the fire alarm goes on, will we be able to hear it?
• If she does not wipe properly after using the potty, will she get sick or die?
• If she does not use the potty at all, will she get sick or die?
• Will we come check on her later?
• Do we promise?
• Do we promise to keep our promise?

Various permutations of these questions bring the total question count up into the tens. We have always had a consistent bedtime routine, but it seems to suffer in cycles of “bedtime build-up” in which Anna adds new little variations which accumulate and make the routine progressively longer and bordering on obsessive. During the listing of the “Happy Things,” we absolutely must include M. and K. on the list, after which she will say “I know lots of people,” so that when I list “going to the pumpkin patch” she can say “I know lots of hay.” This was a joke from so long ago that I’ve forgotten why it was funny in the first place.

Double Ick

In other news, I’ve discovered that my Passat has likely fallen victim to the famed Volkswagen sludge problem, even at only 37,000 miles. Most people with this problem end up with repair bills in the $5,000+ range, and Volkswagen will probably require me to produce all the oil change receipts for the life of the car to get it fixed. I’m not so good at keeping records, but hopefully I can piece things together from the oil change shops; I’ve always used blended or full synthetic oil, and I have changed the oil more often than required, so I hope this can be resolved.

Woohoo

On a more positive note, I got a repeat customer for a product shoot, so I’m going to buy the spiffy new Canon Speedlite 580EX, as an upgrade of my venerable 420EX. This will not only give me a more capable flash unit (it has a jog dial, for heaven’s sake), but I can use the 580 and the 420 together for a portable wireless two-light setup, and with my more powerful monolight for a complete three-light portrait setup. Rock on. I should have the unit by Wednesday, which might even be in time to use it for the client.