Confession time. I'm a bit of a perfectionist blogger/writer (can't you tell from my usual stunning prose?). I normally write in a Word document, edit myself and then post. But lately I have been not posting at all and that troubles me, because I don't want to not post and so I am going to not really edit myself here (watch out) and just do a little check in to say we are alive. And to catch up a bit:
-Work has been crazy and busy and taxing and stressful.
-Adding to that stress is that Ellie is sick Again. I feel bad for her and I feel bad for me. I see why people have nannies/sitters at home. Not being able to go to work and having to stay home with her and miss work is feeling like a problem. This week was Not the week to miss a day. Big deadlines. Big stress. And I hate that I found myself mad at my own toddler for being sick. Ridiculous. And I find it ironic too that Leo was supposed to be Mr. Compromised Immune System and what has happened? Little Miss 46 Chromosomes has been the sickly one with never ending cold and mysterious viruses this fall/winter. Compared to her, Leo was a little healthy horse toddler. I won't even talk about the Exorcist style vomiting I was the lucky recipient of last night. Oops I just talked about it. The funniest part (if you can call vomiting funny) was that it happened at the kitchen table where Leo was eating his scrambled egg dinner. Ellie projectiled (sorry) and Leo just kept on eating his eggs as if nothing had happened. I guess when your four a little puke at the table is not such a big thing. He's probably seen it many times at school. At least I found some humor in the situation.
-Leo's sleep travails (and therefore ours) continue. He's still waking up between 5-6 a.m. every morning, but closer to the 5 side of it and sometimes a few minutes before 5 (which is r-e-a-l-l-y painful, even with buckets of coffee). I probably don't have to tell you how precious even ten more minutes of sleep is, but Leo is stubborn. Once he's up, he's up. There is no talking to him or convincing to just lay in our bed and watch some Noggin. To add to the travails, he's also waking up in the middle of the night and getting into bed with us. This is not OK but again with the risk of waking Ellie if we force him to stay in his bed (and cry) we've been putting up with it. At this point my feeling is we all just need to sleep-does it matter that much where it happens? Leo wakes up when Erin leaves at 5ish but he was doing that in his own bed too. Triple Ugh.
-It's cold here. Nine degrees last night said the car thermostat (wow!). I'm not going to complain about it because it's not that big of a deal. I mean it is January on the east coast so whatever. I do miss taking the kids outside and playing in the yard, taking walks. It's not going to last that long though. It does make me wonder how people can live in really cold places though. It's so limiting.
-Leo's in an obsessive phase. Ds? Or just annoying 4-year-old? He gets an idea in his head and will.not.drop.it. It's a little, ok A LOT maddening. The top request? Dora. Dora. Dora. It makes me want to throw that damn TV out the window. On the one hand, we need the 30 minute Dora watching here and there. It allows me a moment of peace, or the opportunity to do exciting things like unload the dishwasher, make dinner, tend to the laundry. On the other hand I don't know when he got so obsessed with watching TV. We don't let him watch that much but he just seems so focused on it. We'll be reading a book or doing Playdough and suddenly he will just think Dora, and start chanting Dora. I try to ignore it. I try to distract him. But it's hard.
-Most shocking event of the week? Ellie pooped on the potty! She is fascinated with the potty, she calls it "boppy." She crawls all over it, climbs on it and the other night when I was trying to get Leo to come into the bathroom to sit on the potty, Little Miss climbs up, sat down and did the business. I am not ready to be potty training two at once! I told the daycare people and they are going to start sitting her on the potty.
-I am trying to calm down and chill out about house duties. I just feel like we have so much clutter and everything is so disorganized and no matter what I do it's never organized enough. I feel like dumping half of our belongings in garbage bags bound for the Salvation Army. I guess it's an early spring cleaning thing. Or maybe it's just that the kids are walking mess makers. It doesn't hurt that I spend my days pouring over cleaning/organization stories at work.
OK, boring stream (hopefully not completely) stream over. So in short, we're alive. Puking. Whiney. Messy and disorganized. Cold. Trying not to watch so much Dora. But alive.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Bad Santa
It's become a Christmas tradition that I take the kids to get their picture taken with Santa on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. This year, with Ellie sick I wasn't too optimistic. I figured she would cry and therefore it would just be Leo in the picture. Disappointing, but OK. I trudged on, dressing them in their sweet little Christmas sweaters, Leo's with snow flakes and Ellie's all red and cute with the soft little (fake) fur collar.
If I had only known that this was the best picture I would get of the kids with Santa:
And so without further ado, I give you this:
The cashier at the Santa photo studio tried to cheer me: "Just think, you'll be able to look back someday and laugh at it," she said. Look back someday? I thought. I'm looking at it right now and laughing. Hard!
The backstory: I did not plan on being in the picture. I'm a firm believer, only kids on Santa's lap (similar to no grown ups in the holiday card photos--except for Cate). But the second I tried to place Ellie on Santa's lap she screamed and cried her "I mean business I am not happy" cry. I scooped her up but it was too late. Ellie's crying tends to send Leo into some kind of sensory overload trance. He does not like it one bit. Her volume had him squirming (note how he's rubbing his eyes in the photo, that's one of the things he does when he's uncomfortable with her crying) and I knew he was not going to sit happily with Santa. Thinking fast, I thought maybe if I sat with them they would be happy for at least the few seconds needed to shoot the photo.
Or not.
Best of all, Santa approached me as I was tucking the kids back into the stroller, to tell me we hadn't taken the worst picture ever, but definitely one of the worst.
Or one of the best, depending on who you ask.
If I had only known that this was the best picture I would get of the kids with Santa:
And so without further ado, I give you this:
The cashier at the Santa photo studio tried to cheer me: "Just think, you'll be able to look back someday and laugh at it," she said. Look back someday? I thought. I'm looking at it right now and laughing. Hard!
The backstory: I did not plan on being in the picture. I'm a firm believer, only kids on Santa's lap (similar to no grown ups in the holiday card photos--except for Cate). But the second I tried to place Ellie on Santa's lap she screamed and cried her "I mean business I am not happy" cry. I scooped her up but it was too late. Ellie's crying tends to send Leo into some kind of sensory overload trance. He does not like it one bit. Her volume had him squirming (note how he's rubbing his eyes in the photo, that's one of the things he does when he's uncomfortable with her crying) and I knew he was not going to sit happily with Santa. Thinking fast, I thought maybe if I sat with them they would be happy for at least the few seconds needed to shoot the photo.
Or not.
Best of all, Santa approached me as I was tucking the kids back into the stroller, to tell me we hadn't taken the worst picture ever, but definitely one of the worst.
Or one of the best, depending on who you ask.
Ever the Ham
It is a dreary, dark, rainy day here. Definitely up there in my list of depressing things is the first seriously rainy day after New Year's. All the holiday lights are down, the decorations stowed away, the trees are abandoned curbside, everyone's back to work and our spirits are just a bit tired. Plus, we had a late opening today, due to some lovely black ice. Now my day feels all out of whack and I'm having a hard time focusing (if only I had a weather event every day to blame my lack of focus).
So I thought I'd post a few funny pictures.
Leo is a funny guy. He loves to make people laugh. I think most kids do but because he's my kid, of course I find him particularly funny.
I took this one yesterday morning. He called to me from the basement playroom, so that I would come to look at the ensemble he had assembled.
This is over the winter break. He had been sitting on the floor in this chair but for some reason decided it would be better on the couch. I think he wanted to be by the dog but she took one look at that chair and took off.
That darn pirate hat again. It gets me every time. Just another typical day at our house, you know, eating oatmeal, being a pirate.
So I thought I'd post a few funny pictures.
Leo is a funny guy. He loves to make people laugh. I think most kids do but because he's my kid, of course I find him particularly funny.
I took this one yesterday morning. He called to me from the basement playroom, so that I would come to look at the ensemble he had assembled.
This is over the winter break. He had been sitting on the floor in this chair but for some reason decided it would be better on the couch. I think he wanted to be by the dog but she took one look at that chair and took off.
That darn pirate hat again. It gets me every time. Just another typical day at our house, you know, eating oatmeal, being a pirate.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Christmas Leftovers
Just wanted to post a few Christmas morning photos. The House was a big hit and continues to be so. Now the kids are fighting less over the Little People Barn (which we've had for a while) since there are two "house-like" structures to play with. Good call if I do say so myself.
I love that you can see "A Christmas Story" on the television in this shot. Love the annual 24-hour marathon!
Also cool was this pop-up Dr. Seuss book that Erin got Leo (stay away Ellie, who enjoys the sport of ripping pop-ups).
Leo really understood Christmas this year. He was thrilled with the loot that "Duh Duh" (Santa) brought him. They really layed the Christmas vocabulary on thick at school. He knew "Ree" (tree) and "Ree" (wreath). He adored the Christmas tree. Every morning the first thing he wanted to do when coming downstairs was to plug the lights to the tree in. Yeah, not good. He totally figured out how to do this himself.
Back to the gifts. Another great present was a gift certificate for Beyond Play from Grandma and Grandpa, a therapeutic toy catalog (I hadn't realized I'd dropped hints for it by posting about it on my blog but I guess I had-how accidentally smart of me!) I'm going to get the Stomp Launcher for sure.
This Medical Kit was also a hit. Leo's therapist had recommended it to encourage pretend play. I was surprised that he knew exactly what to do with a stethascope. He listened to everyone's heart on Christmas morning, including Ruby the dog.
Next year I have to be better about bringing in the Hanukkah. I was a Bad Jew this year. Didn't light the menorah once! What a Lame-O. We did play dreidel a little but that hardly counts as "doing" Hanukkah. Erg.
I love that you can see "A Christmas Story" on the television in this shot. Love the annual 24-hour marathon!
Also cool was this pop-up Dr. Seuss book that Erin got Leo (stay away Ellie, who enjoys the sport of ripping pop-ups).
Leo really understood Christmas this year. He was thrilled with the loot that "Duh Duh" (Santa) brought him. They really layed the Christmas vocabulary on thick at school. He knew "Ree" (tree) and "Ree" (wreath). He adored the Christmas tree. Every morning the first thing he wanted to do when coming downstairs was to plug the lights to the tree in. Yeah, not good. He totally figured out how to do this himself.
Back to the gifts. Another great present was a gift certificate for Beyond Play from Grandma and Grandpa, a therapeutic toy catalog (I hadn't realized I'd dropped hints for it by posting about it on my blog but I guess I had-how accidentally smart of me!) I'm going to get the Stomp Launcher for sure.
This Medical Kit was also a hit. Leo's therapist had recommended it to encourage pretend play. I was surprised that he knew exactly what to do with a stethascope. He listened to everyone's heart on Christmas morning, including Ruby the dog.
Next year I have to be better about bringing in the Hanukkah. I was a Bad Jew this year. Didn't light the menorah once! What a Lame-O. We did play dreidel a little but that hardly counts as "doing" Hanukkah. Erg.
Better Late Than Never
I'm really late on posting a bunch of photos. As everyone knows, it snowed all over the country a few weeks ago. We had a nice time playing in it. Well, Leo did.
Ellie, not so much. Does that look like a happy face?
She's fallen and she can't get up (sorry, I couldn't resist). Seriously, she fell and just sort of froze, whining in that position until I came to pick her up. A bit of a priss, but we love her.
There's Leo yelling at me, as per usual when I try to take his picture.
The sad little Snow Princess.
Ellie, not so much. Does that look like a happy face?
She's fallen and she can't get up (sorry, I couldn't resist). Seriously, she fell and just sort of froze, whining in that position until I came to pick her up. A bit of a priss, but we love her.
There's Leo yelling at me, as per usual when I try to take his picture.
The sad little Snow Princess.
Dee-Dee
When I was pregnant with Leo, Erin and I decided she would be "Mama" and I would be "Mommy." One of Leo's first words was "Mama," and he has gone on to say many things, but he still hasn't mastered "Mommy."
Instead, he calls me "Dee-Dee."
I'm not sure if this is something that a speech therapist could explain--is there something about the formation of the word "Mommy" that's difficult to say? It's a bit of a mystery. I guess I could write his ST a note in his book and see what she thinks. At this point it's just sort of funny. I'm Dee-Dee. Of course I am.
Over the winter break Leo had a bit of a communication explosion. This sounds a little messy, so perhaps "breakthrough" is a better word. He became That Kid. The one who is constantly tugging on his mommy's pant leg, calling to her from the backseat, yelling to her from the couch, shouting to her from the bottom of the stairs: Dee-Dee! Dee-Dee! It was as if he was saying, "Mommy, look at me! Look at what I'm doing/what I did/what I'm going to do!" And since he can't always tell me what he's doing, I often have to stop and look so that he can show me. It could get a little annoying, but it was also wonderful. It has also forced me to take on a very zen tone in the house. I sometimes want to get exasperated at the 90th "Dee-Dee" of the day. But I am also overjoyed. Leo is talking. Leo wants to talk to Me. Who cares what he calls me. He knows I'm his Mommy.
Instead, he calls me "Dee-Dee."
I'm not sure if this is something that a speech therapist could explain--is there something about the formation of the word "Mommy" that's difficult to say? It's a bit of a mystery. I guess I could write his ST a note in his book and see what she thinks. At this point it's just sort of funny. I'm Dee-Dee. Of course I am.
Over the winter break Leo had a bit of a communication explosion. This sounds a little messy, so perhaps "breakthrough" is a better word. He became That Kid. The one who is constantly tugging on his mommy's pant leg, calling to her from the backseat, yelling to her from the couch, shouting to her from the bottom of the stairs: Dee-Dee! Dee-Dee! It was as if he was saying, "Mommy, look at me! Look at what I'm doing/what I did/what I'm going to do!" And since he can't always tell me what he's doing, I often have to stop and look so that he can show me. It could get a little annoying, but it was also wonderful. It has also forced me to take on a very zen tone in the house. I sometimes want to get exasperated at the 90th "Dee-Dee" of the day. But I am also overjoyed. Leo is talking. Leo wants to talk to Me. Who cares what he calls me. He knows I'm his Mommy.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy New Year
Hello. We are still here. Apologies for the lack of posts. I don't know how you SAHMs do it. By "it," I mean, "it" all. Post, keep the house in order, keep the kids busy. I feel like I have not had a moment since, well, let's take a little step back in time, shall we? And I'll tell you about the last few weeks at our place.
I had such good intentions, and my plans all lined up in a neat row of tasks to be crossed off the list. But then the Monday before Christmas, I got the late afternoon call from Ellie's daycare. I had dropped her off healthy but at some point in the day she started getting cranky, developed a fever, and by the time I picked her up she was miserable.
And so she was for the next FIVE DAYS.
I was supposed to work on Tuesday, December 23, but was home with a sick Ellie instead. I was supposed to be off Christmas Eve, which was to be my day to Do It All. I was to take the kid's to daycare (Leo's school was closed) and use that day as a day to wrap things up and maybe have a mani/pedi moment for myself. But the best laid plans...
Instead, Christmas Eve was spent risking life and limb on black ice to get Leo to daycare so I could do a few things done in the morning (instead being home with a sick Ellie was pretty unproductive but, OK). We then went to the mall to get the Worst Picture in the History of Santa Pictures Taken (more on that in a later post-it gave new meaning to the expression "so bad it was good.")
I don't mean to be melodramatic, but I've never seen her that miserable. Only wanted to be held and cuddled (which would have been sweet, had I not had a four-year old, presents to still purchase and wrap, about, oh, a thousand cookies to bake, a house to clean...I'll stop there). We think it was just a virus but the doctor, upon me telling him that my dad and stepmom were traveling from Oregon later in the week for a visit, decided to treat her with an antibiotic (for bronchitis, which, when I got home and decided to read up on in Dr. Spock I learned you are supposed to not treat bronchitis with an antibiotic, but anyway).
Luckily, by my family's arrival on Friday she seemed to be rounding a corner, and glimmers of her old self were making themselves known again. There were smiles, and brief periods of happy play with Leo (more on the family visit later).
Thank goodness she's better now. There's nothing more pathetic than a normally happy baby transformed into a coughing, not sleeping, clingy, feverish, scrunchy faced need-fest.
Since she's been better, we've had a wonderful time. There was a relaxing, family-only Christmas Day in which Erin cooked a table of deliciousness. There have been playdates and late sleeping (by Ellie anyway, Leo is a whole other blog post on that topic--one word: UGH), leisurely breakfasts, neighborhood walks, playground visits (though outdoor time has been hampered by the recent, frigid temperatures). There have been solo movies ("Revolutionary Road" for me and "Valkyrie" for Erin), a luxurious, grown-up dinner out with my family (no high chairs needed! Imagine!) and a brief, albeit lovely Thai food takeout date.
It may sound silly, but one of the highlights of the past ten days was yesterday, when I sat in the car parked in the driveway for close to two hours, reading Marley & Me while the kids napped blissfully in their carseats. I'd borrowed the book from the mom at our morning playdate. Just as I'd planned, the kids both fell asleep on the car ride home. The book so far: Oh how I love a good cry.
But. I am exhausted. Bone tired. I know that Leo's bad sleeping lately is not helping, but I really don't think I've been this tired since Ellie's newborn days.
Who knew that a vacation could be so much work?
Funny, we've been so busy the last two weeks, dealing with Ellie's sickness, family time, this is really the first quiet day. I'm making Sneaky Chefesque cauilflower macaroni and cheese, freezing some dinners for when I go back to work and using up the rest of the baking ingredients leftover from Christmas Cookie Bonanza 2008. Later we might go to the library and for a drive (aka the only way Leo will nap). I might treat myself to a ceremonial last cup of coffee from the nearby Dunkin Donuts drive-thru (a mom's secret weapon) which I have just learned is about to "close for remodel until further notice." The horrors. Cue me, Googling for the next, closest, DD drive-thru.
I've missed you all. Happy New Year!
I had such good intentions, and my plans all lined up in a neat row of tasks to be crossed off the list. But then the Monday before Christmas, I got the late afternoon call from Ellie's daycare. I had dropped her off healthy but at some point in the day she started getting cranky, developed a fever, and by the time I picked her up she was miserable.
And so she was for the next FIVE DAYS.
I was supposed to work on Tuesday, December 23, but was home with a sick Ellie instead. I was supposed to be off Christmas Eve, which was to be my day to Do It All. I was to take the kid's to daycare (Leo's school was closed) and use that day as a day to wrap things up and maybe have a mani/pedi moment for myself. But the best laid plans...
Instead, Christmas Eve was spent risking life and limb on black ice to get Leo to daycare so I could do a few things done in the morning (instead being home with a sick Ellie was pretty unproductive but, OK). We then went to the mall to get the Worst Picture in the History of Santa Pictures Taken (more on that in a later post-it gave new meaning to the expression "so bad it was good.")
I don't mean to be melodramatic, but I've never seen her that miserable. Only wanted to be held and cuddled (which would have been sweet, had I not had a four-year old, presents to still purchase and wrap, about, oh, a thousand cookies to bake, a house to clean...I'll stop there). We think it was just a virus but the doctor, upon me telling him that my dad and stepmom were traveling from Oregon later in the week for a visit, decided to treat her with an antibiotic (for bronchitis, which, when I got home and decided to read up on in Dr. Spock I learned you are supposed to not treat bronchitis with an antibiotic, but anyway).
Luckily, by my family's arrival on Friday she seemed to be rounding a corner, and glimmers of her old self were making themselves known again. There were smiles, and brief periods of happy play with Leo (more on the family visit later).
Thank goodness she's better now. There's nothing more pathetic than a normally happy baby transformed into a coughing, not sleeping, clingy, feverish, scrunchy faced need-fest.
Since she's been better, we've had a wonderful time. There was a relaxing, family-only Christmas Day in which Erin cooked a table of deliciousness. There have been playdates and late sleeping (by Ellie anyway, Leo is a whole other blog post on that topic--one word: UGH), leisurely breakfasts, neighborhood walks, playground visits (though outdoor time has been hampered by the recent, frigid temperatures). There have been solo movies ("Revolutionary Road" for me and "Valkyrie" for Erin), a luxurious, grown-up dinner out with my family (no high chairs needed! Imagine!) and a brief, albeit lovely Thai food takeout date.
It may sound silly, but one of the highlights of the past ten days was yesterday, when I sat in the car parked in the driveway for close to two hours, reading Marley & Me while the kids napped blissfully in their carseats. I'd borrowed the book from the mom at our morning playdate. Just as I'd planned, the kids both fell asleep on the car ride home. The book so far: Oh how I love a good cry.
But. I am exhausted. Bone tired. I know that Leo's bad sleeping lately is not helping, but I really don't think I've been this tired since Ellie's newborn days.
Who knew that a vacation could be so much work?
Funny, we've been so busy the last two weeks, dealing with Ellie's sickness, family time, this is really the first quiet day. I'm making Sneaky Chefesque cauilflower macaroni and cheese, freezing some dinners for when I go back to work and using up the rest of the baking ingredients leftover from Christmas Cookie Bonanza 2008. Later we might go to the library and for a drive (aka the only way Leo will nap). I might treat myself to a ceremonial last cup of coffee from the nearby Dunkin Donuts drive-thru (a mom's secret weapon) which I have just learned is about to "close for remodel until further notice." The horrors. Cue me, Googling for the next, closest, DD drive-thru.
I've missed you all. Happy New Year!
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