Unplanned Hiatus, A Return Thanks to Chemistry and Also: the “S” Word. Again.

What have we been up to? I’m so glad you asked.

You may have heard that it snowed (how many times am I going to say that this winter?) While nothing compared to the inundation that the DC-area has seen, last week was pretty impressive.

There have been snow men.

And of course, snow elephants.

And the Loch Ness Snow Monster made his home on our snow covered patio furniture.

There were a lot of Hayrides.

I came down with a wacky, miserable illness that I feared was going to land me on “Mystery Diagnosis” or “House.” Thankfully some good old pharmaceuticals stepped in and seem to be doing their job.

Leo continues his love for "Curious George: The Movie." I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the compassionate librarian who took pity on me and let me re-check out the Curious George DVD (apparently that’s strictly forbidden). I had to pry that DVD out of Leo’s little hand when I went to renew it (and then discovered you’re not supposed to renew DVDs).

Leo discovered Peter Pan (the Disney version). Pirates. That’s all he needs.

I’ve started going to the library every Saturday and bringing home a heaping grocery bag of picture books for the kids. I know, I’m a little late to this. I think I got turned off on the library because I made the mistake of taking the children there to pick out books and they just aren’t ready for that yet—too overwhelming. Or maybe I need to up my medication to be able to handle taking them there. Kidding.

Ellie’s attention span for books has exploded in the last couple of weeks.

She wants to read the same book again and again and again. On repeat right now? The Max and Ruby books. They are adorable, I’ll admit. A way more palatable book-TV tie-in then that Dora girl.

What else? Let’s see.

Ellie got a haircut.

We plan on keeping it short for as long as she’ll tolerate it. I always thought long hair for a little girl would be a given, but Ellie’s not crazy about barrettes or pigtails, so for now, bob it is. She’s a little bit Coco Chanel, a little bit Ramona Quimby. It really suits her personality too.

Leo...

did not get a haircut.

To be fair, we have tried everything. Promises of ice cream cones while cutting hair, ice cream cones while watching "Dora" and getting a haircut, trips to the toy store after hair cutting. Nothing. I joke about it, but it really is troubling. I want him to look well-kept. Also, I hate that it is so upsetting and distressing to him to even consider a haircut. I cannot overemphasize how terrified he gets. I'm not sure how long we can go on my secret late night haircuts. I emailed Leo's teacher today to see if we can talk about some strategies. I guess it's sensory. Maybe his O.T. can help? Is there behavioral therapy for hair cuts?

Oy. Back to lighter topics.

The snow doesn't close our playground.


Ellie and I took a walk on Sunday afternoon.

She walked about two blocks before she announced “Uppy.” We went home to get the stroller, but the walking was fun while it lasted. When she’s not exhausted she can be a great little listener. It just never ceases to amaze me how she attends and follows me and stays close to me.

Ellie’s school (and Leo’s aftercare program) moved to a new location, about four minutes down the road. It’s a much nicer location and they’ll have a huge playground and garden once it warms up, but logistically, I’m not thrilled. It means I pick them up ten minutes later than I used to, and they’ve tightened the rules about lateness, apparently they’re going to start charging when they didn’t used to. I’m at the mercy of my bus (the 5:20) and the New Jersey Turnpike. Not a great combination.

I was worried when I learned the new bus Leo would be taking to the aftercare program would have him riding for almost an hour after school (OK, confession, I had a near freak-out). But then Erin calmed me down as she always does and made me look at it from another angle. We talked about whether it was so terrible for Leo to have a little time to decompress? He’s go-go-go all day at school. Hell, maybe he’ll even nap on the bus (the horrors!). A moving vehicle is the only way I can ever get him to sleep during the day.

So, yes. The one hour bus ride. At first it was feared, but now I think it's almost (almost) serendipitous. It's all about perspective.

I wonder, if he falls asleep on the bus, could they cut his hair?

The Sleeping Pretzel and At Long Last, a Pony!

Sleep continues to be touch and go around here.

We've had some middle of the night wake-ups, but not too bad (knock on wood).

I still contend that the two hooligans meet nightly to discuss morning/middle of night wake-up plans. I can just hear them (in my fantasy they both speak in complete sentences, of course: OK, so who's getting up first? No, me!) Because it feels like invariably, when one sleeps in, the other is up at good old 5 a.m.-ish. Not so good.

This morning at 4:15, poor Leo woke up with some shall we say, leakage problems. I attended to them quickly and quietly and pretty much in complete darkness (still not sure how I pulled that off). So imagine my surprise and delight when he was back asleep in no time (I thought for sure he would be up for the day since it's close to his beloved 5 a.m.).

And then I heard the little girl wails. I brought her into bed with us and she was sweet and cuddly and playful. Of course there was no discussion on her part to go back to sleep.

So now I'm running on some serious fumes.

I leave you with Leo the Sleeping Pretzel:



I should document the positions I find him in for a glossy coffee table book. I assure you it would be riveting and thought provoking, as well as infinitely puzzling (how does he do it?)

And also, look closely. Is that a pony tail you see? (Look very closely as Ellie's hair happens to be almost the exact same color as our cabinets and floors!)




A real (little) pony tail? This is big. She won't let me do barrettes. She's not quite hairy enough for two pig tails. At this point I'll take what I can get.

Forgive me for this last one. No pony tail is visible. It's just some garden variety gratuitous cuteness.



Don't know where she got this thin, wispy little hair. None of my Jew-Fro for our girl. Yet.

When All Else Fails, Hair

We interrupt this whine fest for an important update. While on our vacation in Oregon, I discovered the wonderful world of barrettes for my little girl. I know, duh. I just forgot about them. And her hair is not that long yet, but oh the possibilities once it is!



Thanks to my friend Jennifer I also have some adorable little rubber bands which I have played around in creating pig tails. The hair's a bit short and the customer is not very cooperative (the nerve!) but it's doable. More to come on this riveting subject.