Pick Of The Day

I came across a new (well not so new) singer, Brandi Carlile.
Kind of a cross between the Indigo Girls and Cowboy Junkies.

I especially like The Story (lyrics below) and Wasted (written by her about her brother wasting his talent).

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true...I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
Yeah you do and I was made for you

You see the smile that's on my mouth
Is hiding the words that don't come out
And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess
No, they don't know who I really am
And they don't know what I've been through but you do
And I was made for you...

She's sort of tough, but her voice cracks (which makes her more real to me) and she has been known to yodel on occasion. Gotta love her.

Jet lag, night terrors, tantrums before bed...

Chase has had a hard time readjusting to life in China. The time change really zapped her. Last night was the first night that we slept through the night in over a month.

Chase has had a really tough time getting to bed recently; she has actually started throwing tantrums - and then, an hour after she has fallen asleep, she wakes up screaming (even though she's not really awake).

Night terrors are one of the strangest, scarriest things I've encountered in child rearing. Our little darling isn't awake (we can't actually wake her no matter how hard we try). Her eyes are open but she doesn't see us.

It's like a scary movie, but worse, it's real. She's somewhere else and we can't seem to reach her or help her. The good news is that she settles down after about five minutes, but during that time we are so helpless. All we can do is hold her close and whisper "it's okay, you're okay, wake up, wake up...." We've tried turning on the lights, and using a cold, wet washcloth on her face. Nothing works.

I just can't imagine what is so big and bad and scary - what terrifies her beyond reason. What could possibly be so bad? She has never, ever, cried like that while awake.

So I read a book about night terrors. It recommended waking the child 15 minutes before the night terrors begin. But Chase's don't happen at the same time every night, so there is no way for me to do this.

Any tips? Anyone?

Nicholaas: Chase's Best Friend

Have you ever wondered how green tastes?
Chase did. So into her mouth went a green marker.
As a result, she has a slightly vampy look in the photo below.
The rose was a gift from Nicolaas.
His parents are hopeful they will marry soon so he can get his green card (joke!).