The girls and I had a very busy week this week. Okay, well I was very busy so by definition they were very busy with me. I had a paper to write for a conference coming up at work and it was due for tomorrow so of course I waited until the this weekend to put the majority of the effort into it and finally finished it up at 5:30 yesterday morning. Last minute? Me? Never.
So after my 5:00 wake up yesterday to put the finishing touches on my paper about landfill gas and it's reuse potential as a fuel source, I got the girls dressed and fed them breakfast. We were expecting my dear friend Katie and her daughter Emma to come over. Katie is a friend of mine who I met on our first day of high school. I remember it clearly because I didn't have a locker. For whatever reason, the locker that I was assigned was already taken by an upperclasswoman (it is an all girls school) so it took the admin people a little while to figure it all out and this nice girl I met in my Western Civilization class offered to let me use hers with her. We have been friends ever since. I was in her wedding, she was going to be in mine, but found out she was pregnant and Emma was born 5 days after my wedding. A small part of me has always been a bit sad I wasn't able to visit them in the hospital but I was on my honeymoon.
So Aimee, Nicole and I waited for Katie and Emma to come visit. We went blueberry picking with these ladies last year and planned it again this year. We hope to make it a yearly tradition. So they finally arrived just after 10AM and we were off to the blueberry bushes to pick our share of the 2008 crop. At first this seems like a simple task to do, you go, you pick the blue colored berries, deposit into container, repeat. Unless you are a 3 year old or an 19 month old. Aimee decided that it was more fun to put a few in her container and then eat them. Nicole skipped that middle step and just ate them off the bush. Until she realized that I had a plethora in my container at which point she demanded I hand over my container. Of course, I resisted at first because I had picked the best ones I could find and did not want to give them up. And then, as with many other aspects of my life now that I have children, I put their wants ahead of my own and switched containers. It would have been good if Nicole had put a few more into the container but of course she decided to continue her picnic. Let's just say that the past 24 hours have been some interesting diapers.....
After a successful blueberry picking mission, we headed home, threw some lunch down (some of us were full after the picking...ahem!) got into our swimsuits and headed to the car to go to the beach. I got an over sand beach sticker for the Duxbury beach this year and as of yet the planets had not aligned enough for me to actually get out there. I will admit I was also a bit anxious about it because I had not driven my car out onto the beach yet and had visions of being stuck out there. But it was simple as pie to drive out and park our car backed up to the water. The girls loved it and I reminded myself how much I really like the beach. I know that sometimes I make things seem more impossible in my mind when really they are simple to do. Sure, swimsuit season always gives me a bit of an UGH feeling but seeing my kids with out a care in the world as the run around, sand in every inch of their body and salty water stinging their eyes, they couldn't be happier. So I took a bit of their advice so to speak and dove right in with them. Summer, can you last just a bit longer this year?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
July 26th
I realize that this is a day late, but it was a very busy weekend. Three years ago yesterday my little girl Aimee was born. It's funny too, she was born right on her due date. My mother's birthday is July 25th and my sister in law's is July 28th. So we have a busy week this week in July. I spent all day on my mother's birthday in labor waiting for Aimee to come and she held out to have her own day. As an aside my mother always tells her she wanted to share a birthday with Aimee and I sweetly remind my mother that I was the one in labor with her for a good 40 hours so I would have welcomed her earlier as well....
We spent yesterday by going across the lawn to Nana and Papa's house where they made breakfast for the girls. Gary and I went and got some munchkins to help celebrate the morning. Then we got dressed (the beauty of living NEXT door is you don't necessarily have to dress for breakfast) and headed out. We started what we will hope to be a new tradition of going to the toy store and letting Aimee pick out exactly what she wanted. She loves to play dress up and picked out a nice little package that had an evening gown, pink boa, gloves, cell phone complete with rhinestonish face plate and a pair of shoes. We then went to the mall where we played skeeball, rode a small train and went on a merry go round then cashed in her tickets for a rubber duck and a lollipop. We headed to Uno's and had a late lunch/early supper. Then we headed home to get on our bathing suits to hit the gym pool. It was a busy day but fun with just the four of us.
Today was Aimee's family party and we talked over the guest list again and again. Something about the three year old mind likes repetition. So we talked about how all grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were coming over to celebrate with her. It was a lot of fun and amazing to me to think that just three years ago we all welcomed her into the world and now here we are surrounded by the same family members to wish her a happy third birthday. Never has three years gone by for me so fast.
So happy birthday my little sweetie deetie. I love you more than I ever thought possible my little Aimee. Happy 3rd and many more.
July 26, 2005
July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Play doh
Do you have one kid toy that is the bane of your existence? For me it is Play doh. Nothing drives me crazier than Play doh and I loved, loved, loved it as a kid. I even remember having the hair salon where the Play doh came out the head of a figurine when you pushed a handle somehow. And yet as a parent nothing makes me give a big "ugh" than when Aimee asks for her Play doh. It's a wonderful dexterity builder and enhances the fine motor skills I am sure. But come one, why is mixing of colors a necessity?
I didn't really think of myself as a perfectionist, in fact anyone who has been to my house knows that my housecleaning skills are quite half-arsed. But still, Play doh mixed colors just bugged me. But I think I have finally gotten over that. But the next issue I can't seem to get over....dog hair in the Play doh. Our huge, lovable husky/malamute mix of a dog has never ending hair. It's everywhere, even if he isn't there. And one drop of the Play doh onto the floor and it's covered in hair despite a recent vacuuming because the Play doh apparently picks it up better than my Windtunnel bagless vacuum that costs almost as much as one car payment.
So mixed colors and dog hair aside, I can't stand Play doh because Nicole, who won't eat anything for me on a regular basis loves to stick the colored stuff into her mouth. Maybe it's the salty taste (come on, you all remember it tastes salty from your early days of life) or the colors that drives her to at least put it in her mouth. But inevitably when the Play doh is out, I see a bluish stain around her mouth from at least a quick lick of the stuff. At first I thought something was horribly wrong with her when Aimee was playing with her Play doh stash one day and Nicole snagged a lump of blue that fell under the dining room table and put it to her lips.
Another reason this stuff drives me batty is because it makes tons of crumbs. Maybe that isn't quite the right word but little specks of this stuff always winds up on my table and then on the floor and Play doh left out does what people? It hardens. So we have little crumbs of Play doh all over the floor. And I look like such a doting mother from the dirty fingernails it produces in my children from it getting under their nails.
And it never stays at the table. Aimee is always putting it somewhere she isn't supposed to. I even found some in a window screen recently. Yes, she can reach ONE window screen in the porch when she stands on the loveseat that is out there. Where is my mother of the year award again?
I didn't really think of myself as a perfectionist, in fact anyone who has been to my house knows that my housecleaning skills are quite half-arsed. But still, Play doh mixed colors just bugged me. But I think I have finally gotten over that. But the next issue I can't seem to get over....dog hair in the Play doh. Our huge, lovable husky/malamute mix of a dog has never ending hair. It's everywhere, even if he isn't there. And one drop of the Play doh onto the floor and it's covered in hair despite a recent vacuuming because the Play doh apparently picks it up better than my Windtunnel bagless vacuum that costs almost as much as one car payment.
So mixed colors and dog hair aside, I can't stand Play doh because Nicole, who won't eat anything for me on a regular basis loves to stick the colored stuff into her mouth. Maybe it's the salty taste (come on, you all remember it tastes salty from your early days of life) or the colors that drives her to at least put it in her mouth. But inevitably when the Play doh is out, I see a bluish stain around her mouth from at least a quick lick of the stuff. At first I thought something was horribly wrong with her when Aimee was playing with her Play doh stash one day and Nicole snagged a lump of blue that fell under the dining room table and put it to her lips.
Another reason this stuff drives me batty is because it makes tons of crumbs. Maybe that isn't quite the right word but little specks of this stuff always winds up on my table and then on the floor and Play doh left out does what people? It hardens. So we have little crumbs of Play doh all over the floor. And I look like such a doting mother from the dirty fingernails it produces in my children from it getting under their nails.
And it never stays at the table. Aimee is always putting it somewhere she isn't supposed to. I even found some in a window screen recently. Yes, she can reach ONE window screen in the porch when she stands on the loveseat that is out there. Where is my mother of the year award again?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
40 Days and 40 Nights
Well no, it hasn't exactly been raining that long, but when you have kids and you are confined to the house, car and grocery store as things to do, it seems like it could be a lifetime before you see the sun again.
At first I couldn't really explain it well enough to them why we can't go out in the rain. You see we have gone out and played in the rain before. We go out in our rain jackets, boots and whatever else is needed and stomp in the puddles. It's great fun. At first thought it seems like it would be a messy adventure and of course it is. But the girls have so much giggle time doing it that it totally makes it worthwhile to throw everything into the Maytag when we get into the house and clean ourselves up.
This time around it's a bit different. It has been riddled with tornado warnings, thunder, lightening and winds. So rain like this just isn't quite the rain to go out and play in. But my almost 3 year old and 18 month old just don't understand this despite my best efforts and the two of them have been prancing around the house in their rain boots just in case I change my mind. Makes for a long afternoon....
So what do you do when it rains out all day for about a week? At least we didn't choose this week for vacation like my sister in law did. They went to Maine for a week with another family and the only thing I can think of worse than being in the house for a week with two kids, is being in the house with 4 kids and 4 adults. Bring on the alcohol.
At first I couldn't really explain it well enough to them why we can't go out in the rain. You see we have gone out and played in the rain before. We go out in our rain jackets, boots and whatever else is needed and stomp in the puddles. It's great fun. At first thought it seems like it would be a messy adventure and of course it is. But the girls have so much giggle time doing it that it totally makes it worthwhile to throw everything into the Maytag when we get into the house and clean ourselves up.
This time around it's a bit different. It has been riddled with tornado warnings, thunder, lightening and winds. So rain like this just isn't quite the rain to go out and play in. But my almost 3 year old and 18 month old just don't understand this despite my best efforts and the two of them have been prancing around the house in their rain boots just in case I change my mind. Makes for a long afternoon....
So what do you do when it rains out all day for about a week? At least we didn't choose this week for vacation like my sister in law did. They went to Maine for a week with another family and the only thing I can think of worse than being in the house for a week with two kids, is being in the house with 4 kids and 4 adults. Bring on the alcohol.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
We Do Become Our Parents
To an extent there are things that we do that mimic our parents that make us groan, but all in all being like my parents hasn't been a bad thing. Having been blessed with knowing both sets of grandparents growing up, I was always at my mother's parents house. They lived next door to us growing up in a house that they built next to my parents. My parents inherited this house when my grandparents passed and it was rental property for many years. Though knowing how being a landlord is one of the most difficult things on Earth to do, when the opportunity came up for us needing a place to live after selling our house and not finding a new one in time, the house was vacant and we were able to move in temporarily. Here it is over three years later and we still live here. At first it seemed like we should continue to look at houses ASAP but over the years we have seen the housing market tumble and we thank our lucky stars that we have had this opportunity to keep our house profit and get the advantages of living next door to my parents which has been great.
Having grown up next to my grandparents, I was great friends with them. Especially my grandmother. She was a little bit of a thing who battled with rheumatoid arthritis as long as I knew her. She shuffled when she walked, unable to fully pick up her feet. She had the sweetest voice and the softest skin on her hands. Though they were gnarled with the effects of her arthirits I remember holding her hand and feeling how soft the skin in her palm was.
My girls remind me of my grandmother. Aimee has her compassion for other people, always very sweet, except when tired (Aimee, not my grandmother) and very interested in people. Nicole reminds me of her in her looks, expressions and in many of her mannerisms. It's amazing to me how much I see of my grandmother in her. And I know that some of the characteristics are inherited through genes and others are inherited through my mannerisms.
When I see my girls walk across the same yard of grass that I crossed now going in the opposite direction heading to my parents house and get very nostalgic of the traditions that are coming up for them. When I walked across the yard and visited my grandmother we had many games of Sorry! and Chinese Checkers. She had a jewelry box of what I thought were precious jewels from my grandfather's mother that I loved to go through. In hindsight I realize that they were most likely crystal and other costume jewelry but I felt so special being able to try on and model the contents of that box. I remember summer days in their den watching the Red Sox since my grandmother was an avid sports fan and enjoyed all teams of New England. I remember in her older years helping her around the house with tasks that she didn't necessarily want my grandfather handling. We would go through pictures, older clothes she wanted to discard and many times I would do her hair when she just didn't feel like leaving the house to visit the beauty parlor. I especially remember the stories she had. She went to the sister school of my high school and I remember her stories of being a boarder there. She was a nurse at Boston City Hospital and had many stories of different patients that touched her life while she was there. I also remember the stories of my mother and aunt growing up and would listen intently as she shared how they were in their younger days. Some days it is all I can do not to shed a tear when thinking of how much my Nana would have loved to meet my little girls.
Now when my girls take that trek across the grass to their grandparents house, new traditions are blooming with them. Their Nana greets them at the limits of our properties and walks them into her house. She has shown them my old room where they love to look at the remaining stuffed animals and dolls that I left there and that they now play with. They enjoy the treats and attention that their Papa shows them and they give and get big hugs and kisses each time they come. I can see that Aimee has inherited my mothers love for shoes and bags and my constant questions of my father with all the things that he is doing. Nicole has my tenacity and Gary's long attention span to play by herself for stretches of time.
So bring it on, let me be like my mother, like my father and like my grandmother and let the tradition continue on down the line with the girls. To see it is endearing and to experience it beyond words.
Having grown up next to my grandparents, I was great friends with them. Especially my grandmother. She was a little bit of a thing who battled with rheumatoid arthritis as long as I knew her. She shuffled when she walked, unable to fully pick up her feet. She had the sweetest voice and the softest skin on her hands. Though they were gnarled with the effects of her arthirits I remember holding her hand and feeling how soft the skin in her palm was.
My girls remind me of my grandmother. Aimee has her compassion for other people, always very sweet, except when tired (Aimee, not my grandmother) and very interested in people. Nicole reminds me of her in her looks, expressions and in many of her mannerisms. It's amazing to me how much I see of my grandmother in her. And I know that some of the characteristics are inherited through genes and others are inherited through my mannerisms.
When I see my girls walk across the same yard of grass that I crossed now going in the opposite direction heading to my parents house and get very nostalgic of the traditions that are coming up for them. When I walked across the yard and visited my grandmother we had many games of Sorry! and Chinese Checkers. She had a jewelry box of what I thought were precious jewels from my grandfather's mother that I loved to go through. In hindsight I realize that they were most likely crystal and other costume jewelry but I felt so special being able to try on and model the contents of that box. I remember summer days in their den watching the Red Sox since my grandmother was an avid sports fan and enjoyed all teams of New England. I remember in her older years helping her around the house with tasks that she didn't necessarily want my grandfather handling. We would go through pictures, older clothes she wanted to discard and many times I would do her hair when she just didn't feel like leaving the house to visit the beauty parlor. I especially remember the stories she had. She went to the sister school of my high school and I remember her stories of being a boarder there. She was a nurse at Boston City Hospital and had many stories of different patients that touched her life while she was there. I also remember the stories of my mother and aunt growing up and would listen intently as she shared how they were in their younger days. Some days it is all I can do not to shed a tear when thinking of how much my Nana would have loved to meet my little girls.
Now when my girls take that trek across the grass to their grandparents house, new traditions are blooming with them. Their Nana greets them at the limits of our properties and walks them into her house. She has shown them my old room where they love to look at the remaining stuffed animals and dolls that I left there and that they now play with. They enjoy the treats and attention that their Papa shows them and they give and get big hugs and kisses each time they come. I can see that Aimee has inherited my mothers love for shoes and bags and my constant questions of my father with all the things that he is doing. Nicole has my tenacity and Gary's long attention span to play by herself for stretches of time.
So bring it on, let me be like my mother, like my father and like my grandmother and let the tradition continue on down the line with the girls. To see it is endearing and to experience it beyond words.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Goodnights
The end of the days always prove interesting in our house. I both love and dread this part of the day. We have a schedule that we follow each night to help with the transition from playtime to dinnertime to finally bedtime.
We start at about 5PM where we attempt to have dinner. And really dinner typically consists of demands for more milk or juice, napkins, call backs to the table and maybe a few mouthfuls of food and finally clearing the table. After the table is cleared if it is a tub night we head into the bathroom and empty out the plastic container full of boats, ducks, fish and other various plastic sea life creatures into the tub while it fills with water. If it isn't a tub night, we head in there armed with a washcloth and towel to at least scrape a few layers of dirt off the hands, face and in the summer the black bottomed feet. If it is tub night we put the girls in and in case you think that bathing them together is wrong, we have tried it separately and wound up with the dry kid wet again....so it's tubs for two for the children in our house.
After tubs or cleanup we put on their pajamas or in our house 'jamas. For Nicole this is an easy task for picking out the pjs, we do it for her. The hard part is trying to put the diaper on. It takes a few flips onto the stomach and back again and we can typically get it on. I have found that giving her a wipe to use on her hands and face will entertain her just long enough to get her diaper on. Typically just enough time before she attempts to put the wipe into her mouth. I know I should find a better toy for the top of the changing table, but I haven't as of yet.
Getting Aimee's pjs on is a bit tougher. Depending on her mood, this could be quick and easy or long and whiny. We have four different sets of summer pjs right now that she can choose from. Cherries, apples, stars and cows. She is still in the stage where she wears a pull up at night so we will don the pullup and then whatever pajama choice of the night it is. Tonight it was a new pair of cherry pjs. Carters truly does make the best ones. I think I even wore Carters when I was a kid. As an aside, we have some Carters that were hand me downs from a friend of ours whose daughter was born in 1999. Apparently the tag line for Carters then was "If they could just stay little until their Carters wore out"... I love it. So sweet.
Anyway, after pajamas are on, we head back to the bathroom to brush our teeth and depending on how much time we have based on whether dinner was on time or no tantrums were thrown, we will either head back into the living room to play for a bit or we start into the going to bed routine. Typically we split up the duties between us and we each take a child to put to bed.
For Nicole, it is reading a few books and then go and turn off her light together. Now with the warm weather, she has a fan running for both comfort and background noise. And then comes the best part. Since she is typically very tired by this point, she snuggles into my neck or rests her head on my shoulder and she does this very cute thing where she will put her hands behind her back so that she can try to hold my thumbs. Then she snuggles in and starts to get into that sleepy state. When she is almost there, I stand up, she picks up her head and puckers up for her kiss and then turns to reach for her crib. Now it doesn't always go this smoothly. Sometimes a few trips back into her room are necessary to calm her down for whatever reason du jour comes up. If we are lucky we will not hear from her again until 6AM. Though lately 5:30AM is her preference. In some ways I envy those moms whose children sleep until 8AM and in other ways I am glad to get a jump start on my day. Tonight looking at her in her crib, I realized my little baby isn't so little anymore. She almost takes up the entire length of the crib and I know she is only a little bit of a thing.
For Aimee, we read two books. Just two. We used to read a slew of them but then bedtime just got dragged out further and further. So we tell her during teeth brushing that she will need to pick out 2 books. After the books are read, she climbs into bed and we arrange all of her most important things around her. We have the fisher price puppy, countless babies, teddy bears, a lovey that she just formed an attachment to and her white blanket. She really didn't ever have one thing that she needed in bed at night which I think is because she still sucks her fingers and then suddenly she had this obsession with a white blanket. She snuggles in with all of these things and tries to fall asleep. This is where my dread for the evening activities begins. If she has had a nap, it may take over an hour to get her to fully relax enough to fall asleep. If she has not had a nap it takes about 10 minutes and she is out cold. But again, no nap equals temper tantrums and overall meltdowns by the 6 o'clock hour and sometimes results in her being overtired and crying out for me in the middle of the night. There are other times we start this process at 7PM and by 9PM we are still telling her to go to sleep. We are at a point where at least she will stay in her bed except for the occasional potty trip but at least she will stay in her room. Sometimes this exercise lasts so long that I go to bed before she is fully asleep.
I will admit that I don't hate the middle of the night wakeups. Yes, it interrupts the sleep but with Aimee I go into her room and lay down with her and we have the sweetest conversations about what is coming up for tomorrow and what we did today. I then tell her I love her and get an I love you in response and we cuddle in for a little bit. Inevitably I wake up and limp my way back to my bed. You see Aimee has a twin bed and apparently I can contort myself into a pretzel like position to cuddle in with her. I wouldn't mind her snuggling with me on most nights but she really can kick like a professional soccer player. Yow!
In all of this it reminds me how much bedtime has changed since we became parents. When we first had Aimee, bedtime was irrelevant. It was based on her last eating. I remember I would nurse her at about 8PM and then go to bed and she would stay up with Gary resting her head on his chest and sleep until about midnight when he would give her a bottle and then they would come into the bedroom and go to sleep and I would get up for the 4AM feeding. I think at about 6 weeks she got into a groove where she slept 6 hours in a row. I remember it distinctly because we went away to the Cape for a weekend wedding and it was the weekend after Labor Day. Nicole on the other hand being the second child, I just pulled her into bed with me when she needed to eat and I think I actually got muchmore sleep the second time around. But, I hate that my memory leaves me so that I can't quite remember how we got to where we are now for goodnights. I do know that it took a while and there are still nights where we get middle of the night wake ups from one or both of the girls.
I do not for one second ever regret becoming a parent. I just wished someone had told me how much I would miss sleep. I mean I knew the obvious would happen with a newborn that they can only sleep so long because of their little stomachs. But no one told me that it would last for almost 3 years. A friend did tell me that it's always something. You get over one cold, one tooth, one issue, one something and another thing comes up. Such is life.
May you all have sweet dreams and Goodnights.
We start at about 5PM where we attempt to have dinner. And really dinner typically consists of demands for more milk or juice, napkins, call backs to the table and maybe a few mouthfuls of food and finally clearing the table. After the table is cleared if it is a tub night we head into the bathroom and empty out the plastic container full of boats, ducks, fish and other various plastic sea life creatures into the tub while it fills with water. If it isn't a tub night, we head in there armed with a washcloth and towel to at least scrape a few layers of dirt off the hands, face and in the summer the black bottomed feet. If it is tub night we put the girls in and in case you think that bathing them together is wrong, we have tried it separately and wound up with the dry kid wet again....so it's tubs for two for the children in our house.
After tubs or cleanup we put on their pajamas or in our house 'jamas. For Nicole this is an easy task for picking out the pjs, we do it for her. The hard part is trying to put the diaper on. It takes a few flips onto the stomach and back again and we can typically get it on. I have found that giving her a wipe to use on her hands and face will entertain her just long enough to get her diaper on. Typically just enough time before she attempts to put the wipe into her mouth. I know I should find a better toy for the top of the changing table, but I haven't as of yet.
Getting Aimee's pjs on is a bit tougher. Depending on her mood, this could be quick and easy or long and whiny. We have four different sets of summer pjs right now that she can choose from. Cherries, apples, stars and cows. She is still in the stage where she wears a pull up at night so we will don the pullup and then whatever pajama choice of the night it is. Tonight it was a new pair of cherry pjs. Carters truly does make the best ones. I think I even wore Carters when I was a kid. As an aside, we have some Carters that were hand me downs from a friend of ours whose daughter was born in 1999. Apparently the tag line for Carters then was "If they could just stay little until their Carters wore out"... I love it. So sweet.
Anyway, after pajamas are on, we head back to the bathroom to brush our teeth and depending on how much time we have based on whether dinner was on time or no tantrums were thrown, we will either head back into the living room to play for a bit or we start into the going to bed routine. Typically we split up the duties between us and we each take a child to put to bed.
For Nicole, it is reading a few books and then go and turn off her light together. Now with the warm weather, she has a fan running for both comfort and background noise. And then comes the best part. Since she is typically very tired by this point, she snuggles into my neck or rests her head on my shoulder and she does this very cute thing where she will put her hands behind her back so that she can try to hold my thumbs. Then she snuggles in and starts to get into that sleepy state. When she is almost there, I stand up, she picks up her head and puckers up for her kiss and then turns to reach for her crib. Now it doesn't always go this smoothly. Sometimes a few trips back into her room are necessary to calm her down for whatever reason du jour comes up. If we are lucky we will not hear from her again until 6AM. Though lately 5:30AM is her preference. In some ways I envy those moms whose children sleep until 8AM and in other ways I am glad to get a jump start on my day. Tonight looking at her in her crib, I realized my little baby isn't so little anymore. She almost takes up the entire length of the crib and I know she is only a little bit of a thing.
For Aimee, we read two books. Just two. We used to read a slew of them but then bedtime just got dragged out further and further. So we tell her during teeth brushing that she will need to pick out 2 books. After the books are read, she climbs into bed and we arrange all of her most important things around her. We have the fisher price puppy, countless babies, teddy bears, a lovey that she just formed an attachment to and her white blanket. She really didn't ever have one thing that she needed in bed at night which I think is because she still sucks her fingers and then suddenly she had this obsession with a white blanket. She snuggles in with all of these things and tries to fall asleep. This is where my dread for the evening activities begins. If she has had a nap, it may take over an hour to get her to fully relax enough to fall asleep. If she has not had a nap it takes about 10 minutes and she is out cold. But again, no nap equals temper tantrums and overall meltdowns by the 6 o'clock hour and sometimes results in her being overtired and crying out for me in the middle of the night. There are other times we start this process at 7PM and by 9PM we are still telling her to go to sleep. We are at a point where at least she will stay in her bed except for the occasional potty trip but at least she will stay in her room. Sometimes this exercise lasts so long that I go to bed before she is fully asleep.
I will admit that I don't hate the middle of the night wakeups. Yes, it interrupts the sleep but with Aimee I go into her room and lay down with her and we have the sweetest conversations about what is coming up for tomorrow and what we did today. I then tell her I love her and get an I love you in response and we cuddle in for a little bit. Inevitably I wake up and limp my way back to my bed. You see Aimee has a twin bed and apparently I can contort myself into a pretzel like position to cuddle in with her. I wouldn't mind her snuggling with me on most nights but she really can kick like a professional soccer player. Yow!
In all of this it reminds me how much bedtime has changed since we became parents. When we first had Aimee, bedtime was irrelevant. It was based on her last eating. I remember I would nurse her at about 8PM and then go to bed and she would stay up with Gary resting her head on his chest and sleep until about midnight when he would give her a bottle and then they would come into the bedroom and go to sleep and I would get up for the 4AM feeding. I think at about 6 weeks she got into a groove where she slept 6 hours in a row. I remember it distinctly because we went away to the Cape for a weekend wedding and it was the weekend after Labor Day. Nicole on the other hand being the second child, I just pulled her into bed with me when she needed to eat and I think I actually got muchmore sleep the second time around. But, I hate that my memory leaves me so that I can't quite remember how we got to where we are now for goodnights. I do know that it took a while and there are still nights where we get middle of the night wake ups from one or both of the girls.
I do not for one second ever regret becoming a parent. I just wished someone had told me how much I would miss sleep. I mean I knew the obvious would happen with a newborn that they can only sleep so long because of their little stomachs. But no one told me that it would last for almost 3 years. A friend did tell me that it's always something. You get over one cold, one tooth, one issue, one something and another thing comes up. Such is life.
May you all have sweet dreams and Goodnights.
Monday, July 14, 2008
WOW!
Have you seen that Verizon Fios ad? The one where it starts from the Verizon guy telling the family all about their new TV system and continues on down to the flea saying wow? That stupid commercial makes me laugh everytime and not because I think it's particularly funny.
You see that one commercial is on during most newscasts. I don't normally condone a ton of TV watching and I realize that there has been documented proof that kids don't need it before the age of two, blah, blah, blah. But nothing stops Nicole in her tracks faster than that commercial. As soon as she hears the "WOWs" going across the living room she will whip around and point to the TV and say "wow." It is absolutely hysterical.
She also realizes that the Kevin Garnett version of the Verizon Fios commercial is a similar one and she will come running to watch the TV.
Yes, I realize that this does not help me in my nomination of mother of the year, but oh well. It still gives me some comic relief during the day.
You see that one commercial is on during most newscasts. I don't normally condone a ton of TV watching and I realize that there has been documented proof that kids don't need it before the age of two, blah, blah, blah. But nothing stops Nicole in her tracks faster than that commercial. As soon as she hears the "WOWs" going across the living room she will whip around and point to the TV and say "wow." It is absolutely hysterical.
She also realizes that the Kevin Garnett version of the Verizon Fios commercial is a similar one and she will come running to watch the TV.
Yes, I realize that this does not help me in my nomination of mother of the year, but oh well. It still gives me some comic relief during the day.
I'm a little bit County
I have come to terms with the fact that I love County music. I really do. I am probably not as consumed with it as other people are because while I do like just about every song that comes over the airwaves in my car, I don't always know the artist who is playing, though my info button on my radio now shows me sometimes who is singing the songs. God bless GM. Genius.
I first found Country music in college when I lived in a co-ed dorm and two guys that lived down the hall from me who blasted Garth Brooks almost 24/7. They were from Preque Isle, Maine which is so far north, they almost sounded as though they had southern accents. At the time I had no idea who Garth Brooks was or why he had friends in such low places, but I realized when I went home that summer that I missed their constant background of lyrics about love and life. So when I went home, I found our local Country station and have never looked back.
Admittedly there are some cornier ones out there...."she thinks my tractor's sexy" and "John Deere Green" that illustrate the more literal country-ness of the songs. But it's the sheer fun of the lyrics that makes it likable. I went through my ipod the other day to load on some more songs and it was then that I realized how far reaching my genre of County music stretches. Nothing gets me running on the treadmill faster than Dolly Parton tumbling out of bed and stumbling to the kitchen to work 9-5 or knowing that Earl had to die.
Strangely enough, I married a guy who is more than a little bit rock and roll, he probably is more hard rock. He will listen to my music if we have to go someplace and there is NOTHING else on, but he really would rather probably eat paste than to listen to it any longer than he had to. I also have an older brother who thought I was insane to listen to this music and then spent a week with me in Florida for work where it is actually difficult to not listen to Country music and found that the song about all ex's living in Texas was pretty funny. The two of them though hold on strongly to their high school days when Poison, Bon Jovi and Guns and Roses were at the height of their careers. I am not sure that either of them has admitted to knowing that Jon Bon Jovi recently (well within the last two years or so) did a Country duet.
So what is on your pre-sets in the car radio? Are you a little bit Country or a little bit Rock and Roll?
I first found Country music in college when I lived in a co-ed dorm and two guys that lived down the hall from me who blasted Garth Brooks almost 24/7. They were from Preque Isle, Maine which is so far north, they almost sounded as though they had southern accents. At the time I had no idea who Garth Brooks was or why he had friends in such low places, but I realized when I went home that summer that I missed their constant background of lyrics about love and life. So when I went home, I found our local Country station and have never looked back.
Admittedly there are some cornier ones out there...."she thinks my tractor's sexy" and "John Deere Green" that illustrate the more literal country-ness of the songs. But it's the sheer fun of the lyrics that makes it likable. I went through my ipod the other day to load on some more songs and it was then that I realized how far reaching my genre of County music stretches. Nothing gets me running on the treadmill faster than Dolly Parton tumbling out of bed and stumbling to the kitchen to work 9-5 or knowing that Earl had to die.
Strangely enough, I married a guy who is more than a little bit rock and roll, he probably is more hard rock. He will listen to my music if we have to go someplace and there is NOTHING else on, but he really would rather probably eat paste than to listen to it any longer than he had to. I also have an older brother who thought I was insane to listen to this music and then spent a week with me in Florida for work where it is actually difficult to not listen to Country music and found that the song about all ex's living in Texas was pretty funny. The two of them though hold on strongly to their high school days when Poison, Bon Jovi and Guns and Roses were at the height of their careers. I am not sure that either of them has admitted to knowing that Jon Bon Jovi recently (well within the last two years or so) did a Country duet.
So what is on your pre-sets in the car radio? Are you a little bit Country or a little bit Rock and Roll?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Potty Mouth
Our latest accomplishment here has been potty training with Aimee. For about a year we had this cool little potty chair that she thought was a nice place to put puzzle pieces, goldfish and any other number of small items that illustrates the pack rat tendencies of toddlers. Then I got the bright idea to get a toddler sized potty seat that fits into the big toilet seat. And that was fun for a few more months. Aimee would sit on it, ask for toilet paper and nothing would happen. So we patiently didn't push but were anxious nonetheless because let's be honest, you secretly think that those mothers whose kids are not trained by the time they are about 2 are terrible parents and why can't they train their children?
Then you have one of your own and realize that potty training is a complete power struggle in which you have NO power. Do you read that? I think it needs to be emphasized again... NO power. So I started to give her a wide berth and let her guide me as to when she was ready. And just about two months ago, she started to guide me. She no longer wanted diapers but loved the cool new pull ups with the Dora or Princess designs on them. Eventhough she still didn't quite get the whole idea of it, she knew that the pull ups were for big girls and she so desperately wanted to be a big girl. Then at school (okay daycare) there were two other little girls about Aimee's age going through the same thing and once the teachers combined efforts and had them going onto the potty every 1/2 hour, something magical occured. They all started using the potty both at school and at home.
Please note though that this was not achieved without some obvious peer pressure as well as the promise of treats. For us, M&M's were the treat of choice. One for peeps and two for poops. So here we are just before Aimee's third birthday and we are completely potty trained. It's good to know that our daughter needs peer pressure to get the really big accomplishments done.
I didn't know that with getting potty trained a whole new window of opportunity has opened up for the child. Because now, we need to check out just about every toilet that we come upon and some we don't. My first trip to the mall with Aimee where she told me she had to use the potty, I was shopping in the mall with a Walmart shopping cart. I know, very classy. But I wasn't sure what to do since I had this cart with my Walmart, Old Navy and Macy's purchases in there and here I was alone in the mall. What was I going to do? So I pulled the gray plastic carriage into the bathroom and let the door hang open while she did her business so I could keep my one eye on the carriage lest anyone tried to take my recent purchases. And while we were there, my immediate thought was public toilet seat. How do I let my little girl sit on a public toilet seat? There were no step stools, no toilet rings to put into it to keep her tiny bum from falling in. So with a quick wipe around with some toilet paper, I put her little bum onto the big black seat and she did her stuff. Crisis averted and a big old star in the successful potty trip away from the house.
It's not all fun and roses though. You see the new battle cry is a "mommy....I did poopie" from the bathroom with her head down around her ankles on her stepstool and her bum about six inches off the toilet seat waiting for mom to come and clean her up. Now it is always mom. Dad is never called out and delivered the message of the latest edition of a poop, it's always mom that is called in for the cleanup crew. Unless the obvious occurs and I am not home. I also have to be on peeps patrol to make sure that no little drips escaped and end up on the big girl underpants because that is immediate grounds for an entire outfit in Aimee's opinion.
In all of this one of my biggest realization is that in becoming a parent I have fallen away from the English language because I am pretty sure that the poops and peeps may not be forefront in the dictionary. But it's become part of our kid language in our house. So what about you? Have you found that certain word in your household that becomes a staple but that the rest of the world looks at you as if it's a different language?
Then you have one of your own and realize that potty training is a complete power struggle in which you have NO power. Do you read that? I think it needs to be emphasized again... NO power. So I started to give her a wide berth and let her guide me as to when she was ready. And just about two months ago, she started to guide me. She no longer wanted diapers but loved the cool new pull ups with the Dora or Princess designs on them. Eventhough she still didn't quite get the whole idea of it, she knew that the pull ups were for big girls and she so desperately wanted to be a big girl. Then at school (okay daycare) there were two other little girls about Aimee's age going through the same thing and once the teachers combined efforts and had them going onto the potty every 1/2 hour, something magical occured. They all started using the potty both at school and at home.
Please note though that this was not achieved without some obvious peer pressure as well as the promise of treats. For us, M&M's were the treat of choice. One for peeps and two for poops. So here we are just before Aimee's third birthday and we are completely potty trained. It's good to know that our daughter needs peer pressure to get the really big accomplishments done.
I didn't know that with getting potty trained a whole new window of opportunity has opened up for the child. Because now, we need to check out just about every toilet that we come upon and some we don't. My first trip to the mall with Aimee where she told me she had to use the potty, I was shopping in the mall with a Walmart shopping cart. I know, very classy. But I wasn't sure what to do since I had this cart with my Walmart, Old Navy and Macy's purchases in there and here I was alone in the mall. What was I going to do? So I pulled the gray plastic carriage into the bathroom and let the door hang open while she did her business so I could keep my one eye on the carriage lest anyone tried to take my recent purchases. And while we were there, my immediate thought was public toilet seat. How do I let my little girl sit on a public toilet seat? There were no step stools, no toilet rings to put into it to keep her tiny bum from falling in. So with a quick wipe around with some toilet paper, I put her little bum onto the big black seat and she did her stuff. Crisis averted and a big old star in the successful potty trip away from the house.
It's not all fun and roses though. You see the new battle cry is a "mommy....I did poopie" from the bathroom with her head down around her ankles on her stepstool and her bum about six inches off the toilet seat waiting for mom to come and clean her up. Now it is always mom. Dad is never called out and delivered the message of the latest edition of a poop, it's always mom that is called in for the cleanup crew. Unless the obvious occurs and I am not home. I also have to be on peeps patrol to make sure that no little drips escaped and end up on the big girl underpants because that is immediate grounds for an entire outfit in Aimee's opinion.
In all of this one of my biggest realization is that in becoming a parent I have fallen away from the English language because I am pretty sure that the poops and peeps may not be forefront in the dictionary. But it's become part of our kid language in our house. So what about you? Have you found that certain word in your household that becomes a staple but that the rest of the world looks at you as if it's a different language?
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
How Does Your Garden Grow?
I guess I can add a new hat to my list of not quite a full time position -- part time gardener. I decided after reading many ladies' tales of blooming plants who I have "met" in an Internet chat board that I frequent to try my hand at gardening. Now my gardening knowledge goes about as far as picking the fruits of someone elses labor, namely my father who has had a garden for as long as I can remember. But this year with all the talk of salmonella on tomatoes and the push for buying local I figured what is more local than my own back yard. So I leased a portion of my father's garden, an extension strip that went out a bit into our yard and Gary helped me prep it. And lest you be upset that I leased the section, rest assured, no money actually exchanged hands, I just took an area outside his garden with decent soil.
So to prep the area, Gary and I raked it out, found some decent soil around the yard and mixed in some potting soil and fertilizer and I went to work. I bought some seeds as well as dipping into my father's stash of this years potentials and went to work planting according to the backs of the package. This all occured about 10 days ago and I am happy to report on my way out to the daily water this morning that almost every section where I planted something there are at least sprouts.
Now I know that some expert gardeners out there are rolling their eyes and mocking the fact that I probably have no business doing this because obviously I didn't start my seedlings indoors in late April/early May and transplant in June so I am way behind. But it is kind of addicting to do gardening. The watching, waiting and seeing the transformation from seed to plant. Realistically I know that I may not get much more than just the small plants and leaves and that possibly none of the plants will even yeild "fruit" but it is fun to see and put effort into something totally new in my life. I also have two little helpers, who, watering can in hand walk out with me each morning to monitor the progress with me. I don't think they fully understand what I am doing but they appreciate the fact that it is a daily ritual during dry days to go out and supplement what mother nature gives for precipitation.
I am sure we are a site to behold, the three of us walking across the yard, me dragging a hose and the two of them with their small watering cans that used to be tub toys. We are not always dressed appropriately and I am sure that some passerbys wonder what an 18 month old is doing out in the yard at 7AM with just a t-shirt and diaper or the almost 3 year old in her latest princess attire walking next to her. But still, it has become yet another daily ritual that the three of us partake in what has proved to be full time...thus far.
So to prep the area, Gary and I raked it out, found some decent soil around the yard and mixed in some potting soil and fertilizer and I went to work. I bought some seeds as well as dipping into my father's stash of this years potentials and went to work planting according to the backs of the package. This all occured about 10 days ago and I am happy to report on my way out to the daily water this morning that almost every section where I planted something there are at least sprouts.
Now I know that some expert gardeners out there are rolling their eyes and mocking the fact that I probably have no business doing this because obviously I didn't start my seedlings indoors in late April/early May and transplant in June so I am way behind. But it is kind of addicting to do gardening. The watching, waiting and seeing the transformation from seed to plant. Realistically I know that I may not get much more than just the small plants and leaves and that possibly none of the plants will even yeild "fruit" but it is fun to see and put effort into something totally new in my life. I also have two little helpers, who, watering can in hand walk out with me each morning to monitor the progress with me. I don't think they fully understand what I am doing but they appreciate the fact that it is a daily ritual during dry days to go out and supplement what mother nature gives for precipitation.
I am sure we are a site to behold, the three of us walking across the yard, me dragging a hose and the two of them with their small watering cans that used to be tub toys. We are not always dressed appropriately and I am sure that some passerbys wonder what an 18 month old is doing out in the yard at 7AM with just a t-shirt and diaper or the almost 3 year old in her latest princess attire walking next to her. But still, it has become yet another daily ritual that the three of us partake in what has proved to be full time...thus far.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Hand, Foot, Mouth
Now typically when I put these words together it is because I have either put my foot in my mouth or I am jamming my hand in there with scoops of food in it. But alas, there is another reason to have these three words together in a post. It is because my youngest daugther has just gotten over this nasty little virus called Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. Yes, it is as awful as it sounds.
Upon returning home from work last week, I picked her up to give her a kiss hello and realized that she felt warm. Granted it's July and it's been steamy out but she felt warmer than a typical of she had just been running around the house with her big sister warm. So a quick read of the thermometer in her tush and it was revealed that a 102.5 temperature. Now at first glance this would have sent me into a tizzy of calling anyone to tell me what to do with such a high temperature. But, seeing as this is my worry child and her 4th or 5th bout with a fever this high and no other ill effects I gave her a dose of motrin and went about our nightly routines and she slept the entire night incident free.
In the morning, her temperature had risen again and again motrin was given to reduce it. We have also found that Tylenol does almost nothing for this child. I just hear the germs and viruses in her system laughing at the dose of Tylenol, but I digress. While changing her diaper amongst her screams of noncompliance I noticed two little white canker sores on her tongue. (are you getting the drift...mouth). So I called the DR and left a message on the nurse line. And can I take a little aside here and tell you how much I love our pediatrician's office and that the nurses always call me back. When I did get the call back, I was instructed to look at her hands and feet and see if I saw any little blistery type rash. Lo and behold I found two distinct pin sized puss filled marks on her hands and on just on the instep of her left foot. Thus we have all three areas with these little buggers...hand, foot and mouth.
So I was told to keep her fever down with the motrin and that would help relieve the pain in her mouth and that Maalox swabbed in her mouth before bed or when she seemed uncomfortable between pain med dosing would be the best way to combat the cankers. I was also told that her big sister had been exposed and may or may not break out with the same type of condition but in the meantime they were not to share anything like spoons, cups etc. This seems like a reasonable thing to be instructed to do, but when you have kids, you know that any sippy cup, especially the closest to you or your older sisters is the best one so this was not an easy task to follow.
I am happy to say that it lasted just about a week but that she has sucessfully beaten the virus and since it runs rampant in daycares and in the summer months we are almost assured to get it again. Ahh, kids. Who knew that they were such good germ carriers?
Upon returning home from work last week, I picked her up to give her a kiss hello and realized that she felt warm. Granted it's July and it's been steamy out but she felt warmer than a typical of she had just been running around the house with her big sister warm. So a quick read of the thermometer in her tush and it was revealed that a 102.5 temperature. Now at first glance this would have sent me into a tizzy of calling anyone to tell me what to do with such a high temperature. But, seeing as this is my worry child and her 4th or 5th bout with a fever this high and no other ill effects I gave her a dose of motrin and went about our nightly routines and she slept the entire night incident free.
In the morning, her temperature had risen again and again motrin was given to reduce it. We have also found that Tylenol does almost nothing for this child. I just hear the germs and viruses in her system laughing at the dose of Tylenol, but I digress. While changing her diaper amongst her screams of noncompliance I noticed two little white canker sores on her tongue. (are you getting the drift...mouth). So I called the DR and left a message on the nurse line. And can I take a little aside here and tell you how much I love our pediatrician's office and that the nurses always call me back. When I did get the call back, I was instructed to look at her hands and feet and see if I saw any little blistery type rash. Lo and behold I found two distinct pin sized puss filled marks on her hands and on just on the instep of her left foot. Thus we have all three areas with these little buggers...hand, foot and mouth.
So I was told to keep her fever down with the motrin and that would help relieve the pain in her mouth and that Maalox swabbed in her mouth before bed or when she seemed uncomfortable between pain med dosing would be the best way to combat the cankers. I was also told that her big sister had been exposed and may or may not break out with the same type of condition but in the meantime they were not to share anything like spoons, cups etc. This seems like a reasonable thing to be instructed to do, but when you have kids, you know that any sippy cup, especially the closest to you or your older sisters is the best one so this was not an easy task to follow.
I am happy to say that it lasted just about a week but that she has sucessfully beaten the virus and since it runs rampant in daycares and in the summer months we are almost assured to get it again. Ahh, kids. Who knew that they were such good germ carriers?
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Happy Fourth of July
So I suppose I should start this with a little introduction of myself. I am a 34 year old mother of two. I am married to a wonderful guy who is also my best friend and we have two little girls. First is Aimee who will be 3 in a few weeks and Nicole who is almost 18 months old (yes they are close in age). I am lucky enough to have a job that lets me work part time which keeps us in health insurance and food and I get to stay home with the girls part time.
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