Sarah: Is Daddy going to eat on the plane?
Me: Yes, Daddy is flying First Class and in First Class they give you dinner.
Sarah: But in Second Class they don't.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"Everybody always uses that trick with bees. They hide in a lake with a big straw."
-Andy, slightly disguisted that the creators of Tom and Jerry couldn't think of a more creative way to handle them being chased by a swarm of bees.
-Andy, slightly disguisted that the creators of Tom and Jerry couldn't think of a more creative way to handle them being chased by a swarm of bees.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Say It Isn't So
Sarah has mastered the art of lying. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Her lies are horrible. So let's just say she's figured out how to lie. So far all of her lies go hand in hand with potty training, which is a huge, long, other post that I haven't had the time or energy to sit down and write.
The first one was on Sunday, when we were wasting some time at the park before she had to go to a swim lesson. She, Andy and Charlie were feeding the ducks and playing on the equipment for about a half hour. I was in the car with Amanda who had fallen asleep. When she got back in the car and I went to strap her into her car seat, I noticed her underwear was a little wet. I asked her if she wet her pants and she said no, it was the water that was spraying off the lake. Hmmm, doesn't make much sense, but I didn't push it since we needed to get to her lesson. I should not have let it go, however, because I think in her eyes she thought she got away with something.
Yesterday, it happened again. We were at Costco and arguing about whether she did or did not have to go to the bathroom (which takes up a lot of our conversations lately), and when I finally plopped her down on the toilet I noticed that her underwear was a little wet, again. So I asked her if she wet her pants. She said no. So I asked her why they were wet. Her response, they got wet from the sprinklers on the playground. Let me tell you why that lie is so bad. First, there is no grass and therefore no sprinklers on the playground at her school. Second, why would the water only get the clothes between her legs, which were covered with bike shorts and a skirt (which by the way were both dry), wet and not the rest of her clothes. Oh Mommy, great detective work.
I proceeded to tell her that she way lying and that she was never to lie to Mommy or Daddy about anything. I asked her why she lied and she said she didn't want to go to her room and be all alone for wetting her pants (again, that is for another post, but believe me, she deserves to go to her room). I told her she would go to her room for way longer for lying than she ever would for wetting her pants. Plus, wetting just a few drops and then stopping is not grounds for going to your room. It's good that you stop and then go in the bathroom.
Hopefully that will be the end of the lies. Not just about going to the bathroom, but everything. If only I could get sent to my room and be totally alone every once in awhile.
The first one was on Sunday, when we were wasting some time at the park before she had to go to a swim lesson. She, Andy and Charlie were feeding the ducks and playing on the equipment for about a half hour. I was in the car with Amanda who had fallen asleep. When she got back in the car and I went to strap her into her car seat, I noticed her underwear was a little wet. I asked her if she wet her pants and she said no, it was the water that was spraying off the lake. Hmmm, doesn't make much sense, but I didn't push it since we needed to get to her lesson. I should not have let it go, however, because I think in her eyes she thought she got away with something.
Yesterday, it happened again. We were at Costco and arguing about whether she did or did not have to go to the bathroom (which takes up a lot of our conversations lately), and when I finally plopped her down on the toilet I noticed that her underwear was a little wet, again. So I asked her if she wet her pants. She said no. So I asked her why they were wet. Her response, they got wet from the sprinklers on the playground. Let me tell you why that lie is so bad. First, there is no grass and therefore no sprinklers on the playground at her school. Second, why would the water only get the clothes between her legs, which were covered with bike shorts and a skirt (which by the way were both dry), wet and not the rest of her clothes. Oh Mommy, great detective work.
I proceeded to tell her that she way lying and that she was never to lie to Mommy or Daddy about anything. I asked her why she lied and she said she didn't want to go to her room and be all alone for wetting her pants (again, that is for another post, but believe me, she deserves to go to her room). I told her she would go to her room for way longer for lying than she ever would for wetting her pants. Plus, wetting just a few drops and then stopping is not grounds for going to your room. It's good that you stop and then go in the bathroom.
Hopefully that will be the end of the lies. Not just about going to the bathroom, but everything. If only I could get sent to my room and be totally alone every once in awhile.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Not In A Million Years
When you are growing up, there are always things that your parents say that you swear you will never say to your kids. No way. It's things as simple as "because I said so" to the more complex "you can't start dating until you're 30". Of course, it's different for everybody, depending on what crazy things you're parents said to you. For example, here is a conversation I had over and over again with my father during high school whenever I needed help with a math problem:
ME: Dad, how do you do this problem?
DAD: How do you think you do it?
ME: If I knew how to do it, I wouldn't be asking you!
This conversation usually ended with me yelling very loudly at my father and leaving the room crying (sorry Dad, you really did have an unusual amount of patience with me). After I was grown and working, I was helping in a second grade class. One day they were adding two tw-digit numbers together and a little girl asked me for help. The first thing out of my mouth was, "How do you think you do it?" The next thing out of my mouth was, "Oh my God I sound just like my father!".
I think part of it is that you finally understand why "because I said so" is a good enough answer, but also because it has been beat into your head over all those years. Of course there's also those things you never, ever thought you'd be saying to your children, such as, "don't eat the dog food" and "don't stick toys up your nose".
Yesterday, I had just one of those rare situations. Sarah had asked me if she could use scissors. Such an exciting thing for a three-year-old to get to be able to do - cut. She drew a picture of a sun and then cut it out. Then she made a bigger one and cut that one out. At that point the phone rang and I started talking to a friend. The next thing I know she had grabbed the scissors and was running (in the best way that Sarah knows how) through the kitchen and down the hall. I interrupted my conversation and said, "Sarah, don't run with scissors", and started laughing hysterically that I even had to say something so absurd and obvious to her. That's one of the things that you always joke about saying or people doing, but nobody actually does it. That's Sarah for you.
It reminds me of something my mom told me. At the time I didn't exactly understand what she was talking about, but now I do. I was telling her that Andy was lacking in common sense. Her response was that common sense had to be learned. Huh? If it's common sense, why do you have to learn it? But now I get it. If you know that scissors are dangerous and pointy and will hurt you if you fall and they get stabbed into your stomach, then you know that it's not a good idea to run with them - common sense. But if you don't know that they will hurt you when you fall, you don't know that you shouldn't run with them. You don't make that leap or deduction that is required with common sense.
Sometimes it would be nice to think like a three-year-old and throw caution to the wind. Run with scissors, step on a crack, don't worry about what's going to happen next. But most of the time I'm okay with what we're doing and the things I'm saying to my kids, and can't wait for the day that they say them to theirs.
ME: Dad, how do you do this problem?
DAD: How do you think you do it?
ME: If I knew how to do it, I wouldn't be asking you!
This conversation usually ended with me yelling very loudly at my father and leaving the room crying (sorry Dad, you really did have an unusual amount of patience with me). After I was grown and working, I was helping in a second grade class. One day they were adding two tw-digit numbers together and a little girl asked me for help. The first thing out of my mouth was, "How do you think you do it?" The next thing out of my mouth was, "Oh my God I sound just like my father!".
I think part of it is that you finally understand why "because I said so" is a good enough answer, but also because it has been beat into your head over all those years. Of course there's also those things you never, ever thought you'd be saying to your children, such as, "don't eat the dog food" and "don't stick toys up your nose".
Yesterday, I had just one of those rare situations. Sarah had asked me if she could use scissors. Such an exciting thing for a three-year-old to get to be able to do - cut. She drew a picture of a sun and then cut it out. Then she made a bigger one and cut that one out. At that point the phone rang and I started talking to a friend. The next thing I know she had grabbed the scissors and was running (in the best way that Sarah knows how) through the kitchen and down the hall. I interrupted my conversation and said, "Sarah, don't run with scissors", and started laughing hysterically that I even had to say something so absurd and obvious to her. That's one of the things that you always joke about saying or people doing, but nobody actually does it. That's Sarah for you.
It reminds me of something my mom told me. At the time I didn't exactly understand what she was talking about, but now I do. I was telling her that Andy was lacking in common sense. Her response was that common sense had to be learned. Huh? If it's common sense, why do you have to learn it? But now I get it. If you know that scissors are dangerous and pointy and will hurt you if you fall and they get stabbed into your stomach, then you know that it's not a good idea to run with them - common sense. But if you don't know that they will hurt you when you fall, you don't know that you shouldn't run with them. You don't make that leap or deduction that is required with common sense.
Sometimes it would be nice to think like a three-year-old and throw caution to the wind. Run with scissors, step on a crack, don't worry about what's going to happen next. But most of the time I'm okay with what we're doing and the things I'm saying to my kids, and can't wait for the day that they say them to theirs.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"I want to be four right now today!"
-Sarah, only three more weeks until her birthday, yipee!
-Sarah, only three more weeks until her birthday, yipee!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Bluebonnet Season
I know nothing about Ladybird Johnson, I don't even know her real first name, but I do know that she was a very smart woman. Before becoming First Lady in the White House, she was First Lady of Texas. She, rightly so, decided that they needed to make this state a little nicer to look at, because it is extremely flat and not very scenic, so started a campaign to make Texas more beautiful. I don't know the exact story, and I could be totally wrong, but the way I've learned it is she had wild flower seeds thrown all over the sides of the highways so that every year, the wild flowers would grow and make Texas look spectacular. Thanks to her, it does. They start coming out in mid-April, and by the end of the month they are everywhere. You mostly see bluebonnets, but also Indian Paintbrushes, which are a lovely scarlet, and other orange and yellow flowers of which I don't know the names. When I first moved here I didn't understand the hype. The bluebonnets are pretty and all, but what's the big deal? It was truly crazy to see how excited people got about them. Cars would pull over on the highway and people would drag their kids out to take their pictures in the bluebonnets. Occasionally you'd be flying down an exit ramp and have to slam on the brakes because some grandparents and their grandchildren were crossing the exit ramp to get to the best patch of bluebonnets. Unbelievable, risking your life for a picture in the flowers.
Once I had kids, however, I started to understand. What better, more innocent backdrop is there than dainty bluebonnets? Their color is so vibrant, and the field goes on forever. A perfect setting. It takes awhile to get the perfect picture, but we always get at least one. Andy does not like taking pictures in the bluebonnets. Probably because we make him do it each year and we keep doing it until we get some good pictures. We've been all over the place trying to find the perfect patch and spent a lot of time driving around looking for one (finally last year we found a place that we will probably use for years to come). He has become very negative about the whole thing. Sarah, on the other hand, thinks the flowers are pretty and we've been talking for a couple of weeks about going out and taking our pictures. She doesn't remember doing it in the past and doesn't have any bad memories of it, so she was pretty excited about it. Amanda, of course, just goes with the flow.
Overall this year's adventure went relatively well. I set a horrible precedent by telling the kids I would give them money if they behaved. That means they were not allowed to complain and had to pose as we asked. Not a great idea, but it went off without a hitch. I got the pictures I wanted, the kids were wonderful, and it only cost me $4. We even had to go out a second time and they never complained. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
OxyMORON
I was in the car yesterday, as I seem to spend a lot of time doing on Wednesdays, and a man on a motorcycle got in front of me. He was older, but not old, probably in his 50s or 60s. He wasn't driving a huge, Harley-like motorcycle, but it wasn't a moped either. Just your average, run of the mill motorcycle. I was impressed with his ability to drive really, really slow and balance without putting his feet down.
How cool to drive a motorcycle. What a hip guy he must be. Because aren't all motorcycle drivers rough and tough and thrill seekers? It's hard to tell, but I'm kind of using my sarcastic voice now. Since we were at a red light, I had time to check him out. I'm always checking to see if motorcycle drivers have helmets on. I don't know why, it really doesn't impact me, but I hate it when people on motorcycles don't wear helmets. It's not a law here, so they don't have to, but I can't imagine working in an E.R. and seeing someone coming in from a motorcycle crash, helmet or not. Which is also why I don't like motorcycles and would never own one - too dangerous.
Anyway, he was dressed like a normal guy, nothing too out of the ordinary, until I got to his shoes. Mr. Fashion Backward Motorcycle Man was wearing tennis shoes. Velcro tennis shoes. Now I know some older people tend to do that, but I would think the ones that are cool enough to ride motorcycles aren't at the same time geeky in their footwear. It gave me a little chuckle. I guess one good thing about being out all day is you get a chance to look around and people watch.
How cool to drive a motorcycle. What a hip guy he must be. Because aren't all motorcycle drivers rough and tough and thrill seekers? It's hard to tell, but I'm kind of using my sarcastic voice now. Since we were at a red light, I had time to check him out. I'm always checking to see if motorcycle drivers have helmets on. I don't know why, it really doesn't impact me, but I hate it when people on motorcycles don't wear helmets. It's not a law here, so they don't have to, but I can't imagine working in an E.R. and seeing someone coming in from a motorcycle crash, helmet or not. Which is also why I don't like motorcycles and would never own one - too dangerous.
Anyway, he was dressed like a normal guy, nothing too out of the ordinary, until I got to his shoes. Mr. Fashion Backward Motorcycle Man was wearing tennis shoes. Velcro tennis shoes. Now I know some older people tend to do that, but I would think the ones that are cool enough to ride motorcycles aren't at the same time geeky in their footwear. It gave me a little chuckle. I guess one good thing about being out all day is you get a chance to look around and people watch.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Oh I Just Can't Wait To Be Four!
I've come to the conclusion that everybody has a hang up about age. Either you're too old or too young, but you are never happy with your own. Adults want to be younger and kids want to be older. Kids are just more short-sighted about how old they want to be. For example, Sarah wants to be old enough to sit in a booster seat, but doesn't care about anything past that. Andy wants to be old enough to sit in a seat belt (without a booster seat) and maybe sit in the front seat, but can't think past that shotgun spot. I knew a guy in high school that made a fake ID that said he was 17. Why? So he could get into R-rated movies. Forget buying alcohol, I can go see some great flicks.
Lately, Sarah has been obsessed with her birthday and turning four. It started around Andy's birthday. Pretty much we all get excited about Andy's birthday and then Sarah can't stop talking about hers. For the next three months. If her birthday was in October it would be the same thing just longer. Once you have one birthday in the family you can't stop talking about the next one until it's over. Then they are quiet about birthdays again until Andy's comes around the next year. It also didn't help that her best friend, Helena, already turned four. Coincidentally it was two days before Andy's birthday. The day, seriously that day, Helena turned four I actually heard her say to Sarah, "sorry, Sarah, but this is only for four-year-olds". Are you kidding me? You've been four for what, 12 hours? My jaw just dropped. But that's how it is, age is everything to little kids and it gives them a leg up.
Because turning four is so important to Sarah, I keep telling her that she needs to start acting like a four year old. You know, "you're about to turn four, and four-year-olds don't act that way". It's the kind of stuff your parents used to tell you that you swore you would NEVER say to your kids. Now I get it. So did you know that four-year-olds don't whine, never wet their pants, and don't tattle? At least that's what I tell her. They live to a very high standard.
It's funny, because usually parents don't want their kids to grow up. It goes so fast and you want to hold on to every stage and make it last just a little bit longer. You don't want them to stop saying things like exsnooze me (excuse me) or Smesame Street. You don't want them to stop holding your hand or hugging you or giving you giant kisses. But with Sarah, I'm ready. Three has been very difficult. Maybe because of the pregnancy and baby, maybe because of her personality, maybe because she's a girl. Maybe just because three is hard. It was hard with Andy and doubly hard with Sarah. All I know is I'm ready for four. Bring it on!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"I don't want to listen to anymore School House Rock because I don't like school or rocks or...(she says this very quietly because she knows how absurd it is) houses."
-Sarah, in the car fighting, once again, with Andy about what they are going to watch on the DVD player.
-Sarah, in the car fighting, once again, with Andy about what they are going to watch on the DVD player.
Monday, April 19, 2010
A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
Have you ever heard of Love and Logic? It's this fantastic discipline method that uses empathy instead of yelling and spanking. It allows kids to learn from their mistakes and make good choices so they can grow up to be functional human being who aren't reliant on someone else, such as their parents, to do everything for them. Sounds good, huh? It's great, but it's hard. I am not very good at it, because my patience is lacking and I tend to yell a little more than I should. I also tend to talk too much. One of the keys to Love and Logic is to say very little to get your point across when you are disciplining your kids. That is very hard for me to do.
On more than one occasion, I've been in the middle of talking to the kids about something they have done wrong, and they have totally tuned me out. Here I am, getting all worked up about how they need to be more respectful or not hit each other, and they are paying attention to something completely different. Often I say, "look at me", and they will look for a millisecond and then look away. Then I say, "look at my eyes", and again they will look for a second and then look away as soon as I start talking again. It is maddening. The worse, however, is when you are right in the middle of making your point, and out of the blue the kid says something like, "look, a bird!". Kill me now.
Last week, we were driving in the car and the kids, as usual, were fighting. I couldn't take much more. Andy was going on and on about how he didn't want to listen to music, he wanted to watch a movie. He didn't want to watch Sarah's movie, he wanted his turn to pick. Sarah, of course, didn't want to watch a movie, she wanted to listen to music. They have this argument almost any time we are in the car for more than 30 seconds, and they can never, ever agree on what to watch or listen to. We have rules about taking turns, but those get tricky because Sarah is in the car with me a lot more than Andy and it's silly that she has to continue watching something he has picked when he's not even in the car. In fact, today she was worried that he was going to be upset because she finished watching a DVD that he had picked and he didn't get to see the end.
As I said, I was about to lose it. I was tired of telling them to compromise and work something out, and my mind drifted to what I could do to distract them and make them stop. We happened to be passing a field of cows at that moment (yes, I live in Texas and there are several fields with cows and horses in them on our daily drive - believe it or not we do not live in the middle of nowhere, it is very suburban), so I said, "look kids, cows!". They both stopped arguing, looked out the window, and the rest of the drive was argument-free.
I couldn't believe it. It worked. I used their own trick against them. And why wouldn't it work? Every time Andy or Sarah does that to me I just stop disciplining them and turn in disbelief that they weren't listening to a word I was saying. The talking stops and they are left alone. Not the best technique in dealing with your kids, but it will do in a pinch or at least until I get better at Love and Logic.
On more than one occasion, I've been in the middle of talking to the kids about something they have done wrong, and they have totally tuned me out. Here I am, getting all worked up about how they need to be more respectful or not hit each other, and they are paying attention to something completely different. Often I say, "look at me", and they will look for a millisecond and then look away. Then I say, "look at my eyes", and again they will look for a second and then look away as soon as I start talking again. It is maddening. The worse, however, is when you are right in the middle of making your point, and out of the blue the kid says something like, "look, a bird!". Kill me now.
Last week, we were driving in the car and the kids, as usual, were fighting. I couldn't take much more. Andy was going on and on about how he didn't want to listen to music, he wanted to watch a movie. He didn't want to watch Sarah's movie, he wanted his turn to pick. Sarah, of course, didn't want to watch a movie, she wanted to listen to music. They have this argument almost any time we are in the car for more than 30 seconds, and they can never, ever agree on what to watch or listen to. We have rules about taking turns, but those get tricky because Sarah is in the car with me a lot more than Andy and it's silly that she has to continue watching something he has picked when he's not even in the car. In fact, today she was worried that he was going to be upset because she finished watching a DVD that he had picked and he didn't get to see the end.
As I said, I was about to lose it. I was tired of telling them to compromise and work something out, and my mind drifted to what I could do to distract them and make them stop. We happened to be passing a field of cows at that moment (yes, I live in Texas and there are several fields with cows and horses in them on our daily drive - believe it or not we do not live in the middle of nowhere, it is very suburban), so I said, "look kids, cows!". They both stopped arguing, looked out the window, and the rest of the drive was argument-free.
I couldn't believe it. It worked. I used their own trick against them. And why wouldn't it work? Every time Andy or Sarah does that to me I just stop disciplining them and turn in disbelief that they weren't listening to a word I was saying. The talking stops and they are left alone. Not the best technique in dealing with your kids, but it will do in a pinch or at least until I get better at Love and Logic.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Daddy Triumphs Again
One of the hardest part about having a new baby and introducing a totally new person into the family, is the guilt that you feel for the existing children. It's hard enough that you are getting very little sleep, are a human pacifier and are covered with spit up on a regular basis, on top of that you are spreading your attention among way too many people. Charlie always says that love is a pie, and after awhile you max out. He's just joking, of course, but I do think that time and attention are a pie, and you only have so much to give.
Sarah has been particularly challenging the last several months. Part of it is because of her age, part is because she is a very dramatic girl, and part is because we truly aren't giving her as much attention as she needs. Andy is handling it better, but he is older and doesn't want as much of our attention, plus we spend more time reading and talking about his day with him. We've needed Sarah to be a little more independent and mature than she's willing to be at this point, so it's been hard.
Just about every day for the last two years she has cried when I drop her off at school. At first I felt sad, now I'm just really annoyed. She goes through phases where she's fine and walks right in, but the last few weeks she's been crying pretty hard with big alligator tears, telling me she "wants to be with me". It makes me feel bad, but I know she loves school and she's always happy when I show up to get her. The teachers tell me it's only for a couple of minutes and then she's fine. I don't know that she really wants to be with me as much as she doesn't want me to be alone with Amanda having a great time, but I'm not really sure what the problem is. All I know is that I feel like I have to work a little harder to spend time with her, to make sure she knows that she is loved.
This weekend Charlie was supposed to take any on a Cub Scout camping trip. They were going to be gone for about 24 hours. So all week, to try to prevent Sarah from crying when I dropped her off at school, I told her we would do something very special on Saturday, just the girls. I felt bad that Amanda was going to come too, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I would still make it a great day and make her feel special. Due to several circumstances, the camping trip didn't end up happening. As a result, Amanda was able to stay at home with Charlie and Sarah and I went by ourselves to do something fun.
I took her to one of those paint your own pottery places. She loves art and is all about coloring and painting, so I thought she would love it. She was pretty excited when we got there and had a great time painting a Volkswagen beetle car. That's pretty much all we talk about while driving, so she was very happy to be able to take one home. When we were done, we went to lunch. The whole way to lunch she kept talking about how she wanted to go home and spend time with Daddy. Just Daddy. She never gets to be with Daddy. It was the same thing all through lunch and all the way home.
Wow. Here is the kid that cries all the time about how she wants to be with me, and now that she's with me she couldn't care less. It's nice to be with you and all, but I'd rather be with Daddy. That's the case most of the time. Daddy is the fun one, I'm the boring one they have to be with until Daddy gets home from work. Daddy likes to play (they are upstairs wrestling as I write this), I do boring things like go to the grocery store, do laundry and cook dinner (I won't say clean the house because that's not really happening around here). The babies always like me better, but that's because I feed them and diaper them and take care of them more. As soon as they get a little older and don't need me as much they go to his side. Not that there are sides or anything, but you know how it plays out in Star Wars, right?
I should be upset, but I'm not. I'm more annoyed, and feel played. All this guilt I've felt, that Sarah needs more attention from me, more time with me, was kind of wasted. It's not that she doesn't need more attention, she just doesn't need as much as I worried she did, and she doesn't need it from me. We're doing just fine. Now I know that when I drop her off for school, it's just a big show, and I can let go of some of that guilt I've been carrying around.
Sarah has been particularly challenging the last several months. Part of it is because of her age, part is because she is a very dramatic girl, and part is because we truly aren't giving her as much attention as she needs. Andy is handling it better, but he is older and doesn't want as much of our attention, plus we spend more time reading and talking about his day with him. We've needed Sarah to be a little more independent and mature than she's willing to be at this point, so it's been hard.
Just about every day for the last two years she has cried when I drop her off at school. At first I felt sad, now I'm just really annoyed. She goes through phases where she's fine and walks right in, but the last few weeks she's been crying pretty hard with big alligator tears, telling me she "wants to be with me". It makes me feel bad, but I know she loves school and she's always happy when I show up to get her. The teachers tell me it's only for a couple of minutes and then she's fine. I don't know that she really wants to be with me as much as she doesn't want me to be alone with Amanda having a great time, but I'm not really sure what the problem is. All I know is that I feel like I have to work a little harder to spend time with her, to make sure she knows that she is loved.
This weekend Charlie was supposed to take any on a Cub Scout camping trip. They were going to be gone for about 24 hours. So all week, to try to prevent Sarah from crying when I dropped her off at school, I told her we would do something very special on Saturday, just the girls. I felt bad that Amanda was going to come too, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I would still make it a great day and make her feel special. Due to several circumstances, the camping trip didn't end up happening. As a result, Amanda was able to stay at home with Charlie and Sarah and I went by ourselves to do something fun.
I took her to one of those paint your own pottery places. She loves art and is all about coloring and painting, so I thought she would love it. She was pretty excited when we got there and had a great time painting a Volkswagen beetle car. That's pretty much all we talk about while driving, so she was very happy to be able to take one home. When we were done, we went to lunch. The whole way to lunch she kept talking about how she wanted to go home and spend time with Daddy. Just Daddy. She never gets to be with Daddy. It was the same thing all through lunch and all the way home.
Wow. Here is the kid that cries all the time about how she wants to be with me, and now that she's with me she couldn't care less. It's nice to be with you and all, but I'd rather be with Daddy. That's the case most of the time. Daddy is the fun one, I'm the boring one they have to be with until Daddy gets home from work. Daddy likes to play (they are upstairs wrestling as I write this), I do boring things like go to the grocery store, do laundry and cook dinner (I won't say clean the house because that's not really happening around here). The babies always like me better, but that's because I feed them and diaper them and take care of them more. As soon as they get a little older and don't need me as much they go to his side. Not that there are sides or anything, but you know how it plays out in Star Wars, right?
I should be upset, but I'm not. I'm more annoyed, and feel played. All this guilt I've felt, that Sarah needs more attention from me, more time with me, was kind of wasted. It's not that she doesn't need more attention, she just doesn't need as much as I worried she did, and she doesn't need it from me. We're doing just fine. Now I know that when I drop her off for school, it's just a big show, and I can let go of some of that guilt I've been carrying around.
Quote of the Day
Andy was showing us a book he made at school.
ANDY: She didn't put the pages in the order I turned them in.
CHARLIE: You should have numbered the pages.
ANDY: That's totally a good idea.
CHARLIE: I'm totally full of them.
ANDY: She didn't put the pages in the order I turned them in.
CHARLIE: You should have numbered the pages.
ANDY: That's totally a good idea.
CHARLIE: I'm totally full of them.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tit For Tat
It seems that every time I solve one annoying baby habit, another one begins. My latest and greatest conquest was finally getting Amanda to sleep through the night. Yay! We sleep again. We're not so crabby, the bags under are eyes are starting to go away. But wait, what now? Oh yes. Since she is sleeping all night long, 11 hours, she's ready to get up by 6 a.m. Sometimes earlier. Like this morning. 5 a.m. and she was ready to go. I ignored her for awhile, but she's loud when she wants to get out of her crib. Charlie went in and turned her mobile on, which quieted her for a bit, and then I finally got up to feed her at 5:5o a.m. Sorry, but that's way too early for me.
I used to be a morning person. Back in high school, even college. I was the nerd that took all 8 a.m. classes and was done by noon. I loved it. I was up, ready to go, starting my day. I had all afternoon to do whatever I wanted, which sometimes was watching a marathon of soap operas, but other times it was driving out to Brown County and breathing fresh air and watching the leaves change.
After having Andy, the early bird, I stopped being such a morning person. I love to sleep, but I also love my personal time, and I don't get very much personal time until the kids go to bed. Charlie and I are always saying what idiots we are for staying up so late, but if I don't get some time without the kids, which only happens at night, I may go insane. If you think I'm crazy now, just wait.
So, getting up at 5 a.m. to hang with Amanda, as much as I love her, is not so fun. I try to put her back to bed after I feed her, but she usually doesn't go for that. On the weekdays Charlie gets up soon after that and she hangs out in our bathroom while he showers. I usually get up while he's getting dressed or just out of the shower. But on the weekends, it's a different story. I get up to feed her, then the other two get up, and it's pretty tough to go back to sleep after that.
I know it's just a stage and it won't last long, but the shorter the better. I'm ready for some other weird habit to start, one that doesn't mess with my sleep patterns.
I used to be a morning person. Back in high school, even college. I was the nerd that took all 8 a.m. classes and was done by noon. I loved it. I was up, ready to go, starting my day. I had all afternoon to do whatever I wanted, which sometimes was watching a marathon of soap operas, but other times it was driving out to Brown County and breathing fresh air and watching the leaves change.
After having Andy, the early bird, I stopped being such a morning person. I love to sleep, but I also love my personal time, and I don't get very much personal time until the kids go to bed. Charlie and I are always saying what idiots we are for staying up so late, but if I don't get some time without the kids, which only happens at night, I may go insane. If you think I'm crazy now, just wait.
So, getting up at 5 a.m. to hang with Amanda, as much as I love her, is not so fun. I try to put her back to bed after I feed her, but she usually doesn't go for that. On the weekdays Charlie gets up soon after that and she hangs out in our bathroom while he showers. I usually get up while he's getting dressed or just out of the shower. But on the weekends, it's a different story. I get up to feed her, then the other two get up, and it's pretty tough to go back to sleep after that.
I know it's just a stage and it won't last long, but the shorter the better. I'm ready for some other weird habit to start, one that doesn't mess with my sleep patterns.
Kid Quote of the Day
"Are we going to beat up Larisa because she has to stop and pick up Max?"
-Sarah, wondering if we are going to get somewhere sooner than Larisa because she has to make a stop first.
-Sarah, wondering if we are going to get somewhere sooner than Larisa because she has to make a stop first.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
In Honor Of Tax Day
I guess I always knew I would be a soccer mom, except that currently none of my kids are actually playing soccer, I just didn't know it would start this early. I know the debate. On one side, kids today don't get to enough play time and are involved in too many scheduled, extracurricular activities. On the other, you have to put your kids in extracurricular activities since everyone else is involved in them otherwise there is nobody in the neighborhood for your kids to run around and play with. Plus, the outdoors are dangerous, very dangerous. I digress.
Overall we have a pretty busy schedule. Each of the older kids has several activities, during the day and after school, and even Amanda takes swimming lessons (you should see her off the high dive:)). Wednesday is by far my busiest day. I am truly a mad mom in a minivan. All of our activities are less than 2 1/2 hours and we only have a little time between each one. It seems like we just go from place to place to place. I am in the car most of the day, which means that Amanda is also in the car most of the day and does not get a proper (as said by my British friend, Ellie) nap. I am constantly having to map out when I can feed her and diaper her and stop by the house for "just five minutes" to grab a snack or go to the bathroom or do something for one of the kids. In a nutshell, I hate Wednesdays. They are stressful and I dread them every week.
However, for the past few months I have found something that gives me a good chuckle every Wednesday morning. Sarah has Nature School on Wednesdays. To get to Nature School we drive in a direction that we don't otherwise drive. One of the businesses that we pass on our way is a tax preparation office. It's in a non-descript location that you would easily drive right by if you didn't know exactly where it was. It's a tiny office, jammed between two other stores, and there's only about 3-4 stores/businesses in the complex. So easy to miss.
In January, ramping up for tax season, they hired someone to stand out by the road to bring in business. I've seen this before at other tax preparation offices. Someone dressed up in a Statue of Liberty costume trying to get you to give their services a try. Usually the person is holding up a sign with the name of the business on it so it sticks in your head. Not this place. This office hired a skinny woman who is probably in her 50s or 60s, who stands in a five foot area near a busy road. She usually has ear buds in and is dancing up a storm. The first time I saw her she was so into her dancing, she was grabbing herself Michael Jackson style with her other hand behind her head. It was so funny not only did I laugh out load, I grinned and snickered every time I thought about it throughout the day. This went on every week, and I started actually looking forward to Wednesday, just a little bit, so she could start my day off with a smile.
I don't know how much they are paying this woman, but it probably isn't much. That doesn't stop her from getting out there are truly enjoying herself and giving her all for tax preparation. It kind of makes you think. You may not always have the best job, but why not make the best of it? She could be standing there with a sign, dreading her long day by the side of the road, but instead she puts on some tunes and dances away the day. If she can do that, why can't I enjoy my time in the car, blasting music as I go from activity to activity?
I know why. She doesn't have three little kids out there with her, whining about how thirsty, hungry, and tired they are, and fighting amongst themselves all the way. Nobody is asking her idiotic questions like "why won't Amanda look at me?" and "what color do you have to wear when it's not St. Patrick's Day?". Nobody is complaining about what music she is listening to and demanding that she change it. Hmmm, maybe minimum wage on the side of the road isn't so bad after all.
Overall we have a pretty busy schedule. Each of the older kids has several activities, during the day and after school, and even Amanda takes swimming lessons (you should see her off the high dive:)). Wednesday is by far my busiest day. I am truly a mad mom in a minivan. All of our activities are less than 2 1/2 hours and we only have a little time between each one. It seems like we just go from place to place to place. I am in the car most of the day, which means that Amanda is also in the car most of the day and does not get a proper (as said by my British friend, Ellie) nap. I am constantly having to map out when I can feed her and diaper her and stop by the house for "just five minutes" to grab a snack or go to the bathroom or do something for one of the kids. In a nutshell, I hate Wednesdays. They are stressful and I dread them every week.
However, for the past few months I have found something that gives me a good chuckle every Wednesday morning. Sarah has Nature School on Wednesdays. To get to Nature School we drive in a direction that we don't otherwise drive. One of the businesses that we pass on our way is a tax preparation office. It's in a non-descript location that you would easily drive right by if you didn't know exactly where it was. It's a tiny office, jammed between two other stores, and there's only about 3-4 stores/businesses in the complex. So easy to miss.
In January, ramping up for tax season, they hired someone to stand out by the road to bring in business. I've seen this before at other tax preparation offices. Someone dressed up in a Statue of Liberty costume trying to get you to give their services a try. Usually the person is holding up a sign with the name of the business on it so it sticks in your head. Not this place. This office hired a skinny woman who is probably in her 50s or 60s, who stands in a five foot area near a busy road. She usually has ear buds in and is dancing up a storm. The first time I saw her she was so into her dancing, she was grabbing herself Michael Jackson style with her other hand behind her head. It was so funny not only did I laugh out load, I grinned and snickered every time I thought about it throughout the day. This went on every week, and I started actually looking forward to Wednesday, just a little bit, so she could start my day off with a smile.
I don't know how much they are paying this woman, but it probably isn't much. That doesn't stop her from getting out there are truly enjoying herself and giving her all for tax preparation. It kind of makes you think. You may not always have the best job, but why not make the best of it? She could be standing there with a sign, dreading her long day by the side of the road, but instead she puts on some tunes and dances away the day. If she can do that, why can't I enjoy my time in the car, blasting music as I go from activity to activity?
I know why. She doesn't have three little kids out there with her, whining about how thirsty, hungry, and tired they are, and fighting amongst themselves all the way. Nobody is asking her idiotic questions like "why won't Amanda look at me?" and "what color do you have to wear when it's not St. Patrick's Day?". Nobody is complaining about what music she is listening to and demanding that she change it. Hmmm, maybe minimum wage on the side of the road isn't so bad after all.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Coincidence? I Think Not!
Currently it's allergy season in Texas. Actually, most of the year is allergy season, but right now they are really bad. There has been a light layer of yellow pollen on everything over the last week or two. Many people who never had allergies before they move to Texas get them within a year or two of arriving, they're that bad. Amazingly, I still don't have them after 16 years, but I do get at least two bad allergy-induced sinus infections every year. It just goes with the crazy weather.
One morning last week Amanda woke up and her nose was completely crusted over in green snot. Okay, not completely crusted over, there was a tiny bit of room for more, thick, wet green snot to come out. She didn't have any other symptoms besides a cough, which I figured was from all the drainage, so I waited to take her to the doctor. That night she also had a slight fever, so I took her in the following day. I told the nurse practitioner that I had given her a little Benadryl at night to help with her cough and to clear up her nose. She thought I was crazy and told me I really didn't need to be giving her Benadryl. Then she checked Amanda. Nothing wrong with her, a little irritation in the throat from drainage, and hmmm, maybe you should be giving her the Benadryl. Looks like she has allergies. I was amazed. They say you need to be exposed to the season a couple of times for an allergy to kick in, but when could that have happened? In the fall? Sarah started taking allergy medicine pretty young, but not this young. I had been giving her Pediacare every night for three months because she was always congested. When I told the doctor he said if she needed it that long she wasn't sick, it was allergies. Really? Since I've never had them I didn't really know what to look for.
The nurse practitioner couldn't find anything else wrong with Amanda and the fever never really progressed or came back, so allergies it is. I started giving her 1/2 teaspoon of Benadryl every night to fight the congestion. Around that time she started sleeping through the night. Finally! I didn't put two and two together at first, but then I started to wonder. Is she sleeping through the night because I'm drugging her? Or, are the drugs finally making it possible for her to sleep all night because she can breathe? Or, it is just a coincidence? With babies, there are never coincidences.
Yesterday her runny nose seemed to be clearing up so I decided to forgo the Benadryl at bedtime. I don't want to get her hooked, and she seemed to be doing better. How did it go, you ask? You guessed it. Except she didn't wait until 3a this time. By 1:30a she was up, crying, couldn't go back to sleep and couldn't breathe. I tried for about an hour to calm her down, rub her back, trying to get her to fall back asleep. No luck. What finally worked? About 30 minutes after I gave her some Benadryl her breathing got less labored and she calmed down. Back to sleep.
Hopefully she won't have to take something every night forever, like Sarah does. It makes me to sad to have to give someone so little medicine every day, but it does make her feel so much better. Of course it makes me feel better too, since we both get more sleep. You know how the saying goes, a happy mommy makes a happy family. There's definitely something to that.
One morning last week Amanda woke up and her nose was completely crusted over in green snot. Okay, not completely crusted over, there was a tiny bit of room for more, thick, wet green snot to come out. She didn't have any other symptoms besides a cough, which I figured was from all the drainage, so I waited to take her to the doctor. That night she also had a slight fever, so I took her in the following day. I told the nurse practitioner that I had given her a little Benadryl at night to help with her cough and to clear up her nose. She thought I was crazy and told me I really didn't need to be giving her Benadryl. Then she checked Amanda. Nothing wrong with her, a little irritation in the throat from drainage, and hmmm, maybe you should be giving her the Benadryl. Looks like she has allergies. I was amazed. They say you need to be exposed to the season a couple of times for an allergy to kick in, but when could that have happened? In the fall? Sarah started taking allergy medicine pretty young, but not this young. I had been giving her Pediacare every night for three months because she was always congested. When I told the doctor he said if she needed it that long she wasn't sick, it was allergies. Really? Since I've never had them I didn't really know what to look for.
The nurse practitioner couldn't find anything else wrong with Amanda and the fever never really progressed or came back, so allergies it is. I started giving her 1/2 teaspoon of Benadryl every night to fight the congestion. Around that time she started sleeping through the night. Finally! I didn't put two and two together at first, but then I started to wonder. Is she sleeping through the night because I'm drugging her? Or, are the drugs finally making it possible for her to sleep all night because she can breathe? Or, it is just a coincidence? With babies, there are never coincidences.
Yesterday her runny nose seemed to be clearing up so I decided to forgo the Benadryl at bedtime. I don't want to get her hooked, and she seemed to be doing better. How did it go, you ask? You guessed it. Except she didn't wait until 3a this time. By 1:30a she was up, crying, couldn't go back to sleep and couldn't breathe. I tried for about an hour to calm her down, rub her back, trying to get her to fall back asleep. No luck. What finally worked? About 30 minutes after I gave her some Benadryl her breathing got less labored and she calmed down. Back to sleep.
Hopefully she won't have to take something every night forever, like Sarah does. It makes me to sad to have to give someone so little medicine every day, but it does make her feel so much better. Of course it makes me feel better too, since we both get more sleep. You know how the saying goes, a happy mommy makes a happy family. There's definitely something to that.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"Every time I eat I get stuff in my guts."
-Andy, who was trying to say he gets food in his gums.
-Andy, who was trying to say he gets food in his gums.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Chopping Broccoli
When Andy was first starting solid foods, Charlie wanted to make his baby food. From scratch. I had one friend that was doing it for her son, but I thought she was crazy. I thought Charlie was crazy too. I was all about simplicity, and prepackaged baby food was the thing for me. So easy to use, reuse, travel with, why would we want to do it any other way? Charlie really wanted to try it, so one day he made carrots. Let me give you a tip, if you are going to make home made baby food and you've never looked at a recipe or talked to anyone about it, don't start with carrots. He did a pretty good job, but they were like tiny, tiny, tiny bits of carrots. They weren't the least bit smooth like the stuff that came in the Gerber package. When we fed them to Andy, he took one bite and then refused to eat anymore. Making baby food from scratch experiment over.
Sarah got the same deal as Andy. Started rice cereal around four months, solids around five or six months, everything from a jar (or as Gerber sells them now, plastic container). We were still all about doing what was quickest and easiest for us. She liked it, we liked it, everybody was happy.
With Amanda, something changed. I'm not sure exactly how I heard of it, but I stumbled across the Beaba Baby Food Cooker. It's European, and supposedly everyone in Europe loves it. I did some research and this thing was getting rave reviews. There were a few complaints here and there, but overall everybody loved the baby food cooker and it made their lives so much easier. So I decided I wanted to get one. Worst case scenario I hated it and I sold it on eBay for almost as much as I paid for it. Best case scenario I loved it and it made great baby food. I got it for Christmas and started using it about a month ago.
I started with apples. Andy eats a ton of them so we always have them around. I wanted to see how well this thing made applesauce. Know what? It was fabulous and it tasted just like applesauce should taste. I was immediately hooked. What else could I make? Pears. Peaches. Sweet Potatoes. Squash. Ok, I had a little problem with the squash. I bought a yellow squash and it wasn't until I got home from the store that I remembered that the jarred squash wasn't yellow, or white as it is when you cut into it. Jarred squash is orange. Oh, yes, I needed an acorn or butternut squash. Back to the store, bought a butternut squash. Carrots. Peas. Pineapple. Mango. Bananas. Plums.
She loved it. Loved it all (well, except the peaches. She really doesn't like those). But why wouldn't she? If you ate nothing but the same thing all day, everyday, several times a day, for over six months, wouldn't you be excited to try something new. I would think so. I love it to. It's so easy. You just cut up the food and steam it for the set amount of time (there's a little book that tells you how long), then you puree it in the water you used to steam it. It's all one, small, cute machine that sits on my counter. It's fun coming up with little combinations and seeing if she'll eat it. It's great to be doing it on my own, giving her healthy food, and saving money because I can make seven servings of food cheaper that I can buy it.
I still don't know what made me want to make my own baby food. You'd think by the time the third kid came around you'd want simplicity more than ever. I think it's kind of the same reason I'm doing cloth diapers (if I haven't mentioned that yet, it's a whole other post). It's different, it's something I haven't done yet and this is my last chance to do it. My last chance to do these things that seem to be so good for her. My last baby. I know that's what we want, and I really don't want to have another, but some times it just seems so final.
Sarah got the same deal as Andy. Started rice cereal around four months, solids around five or six months, everything from a jar (or as Gerber sells them now, plastic container). We were still all about doing what was quickest and easiest for us. She liked it, we liked it, everybody was happy.
With Amanda, something changed. I'm not sure exactly how I heard of it, but I stumbled across the Beaba Baby Food Cooker. It's European, and supposedly everyone in Europe loves it. I did some research and this thing was getting rave reviews. There were a few complaints here and there, but overall everybody loved the baby food cooker and it made their lives so much easier. So I decided I wanted to get one. Worst case scenario I hated it and I sold it on eBay for almost as much as I paid for it. Best case scenario I loved it and it made great baby food. I got it for Christmas and started using it about a month ago.
I started with apples. Andy eats a ton of them so we always have them around. I wanted to see how well this thing made applesauce. Know what? It was fabulous and it tasted just like applesauce should taste. I was immediately hooked. What else could I make? Pears. Peaches. Sweet Potatoes. Squash. Ok, I had a little problem with the squash. I bought a yellow squash and it wasn't until I got home from the store that I remembered that the jarred squash wasn't yellow, or white as it is when you cut into it. Jarred squash is orange. Oh, yes, I needed an acorn or butternut squash. Back to the store, bought a butternut squash. Carrots. Peas. Pineapple. Mango. Bananas. Plums.
She loved it. Loved it all (well, except the peaches. She really doesn't like those). But why wouldn't she? If you ate nothing but the same thing all day, everyday, several times a day, for over six months, wouldn't you be excited to try something new. I would think so. I love it to. It's so easy. You just cut up the food and steam it for the set amount of time (there's a little book that tells you how long), then you puree it in the water you used to steam it. It's all one, small, cute machine that sits on my counter. It's fun coming up with little combinations and seeing if she'll eat it. It's great to be doing it on my own, giving her healthy food, and saving money because I can make seven servings of food cheaper that I can buy it.
I still don't know what made me want to make my own baby food. You'd think by the time the third kid came around you'd want simplicity more than ever. I think it's kind of the same reason I'm doing cloth diapers (if I haven't mentioned that yet, it's a whole other post). It's different, it's something I haven't done yet and this is my last chance to do it. My last chance to do these things that seem to be so good for her. My last baby. I know that's what we want, and I really don't want to have another, but some times it just seems so final.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"Mmmm, sugar tastes good to me."
-Sarah, after deliberating on which kind of cookie she wanted, finally picking a sugar cookie, and then taking the first bite.
-Sarah, after deliberating on which kind of cookie she wanted, finally picking a sugar cookie, and then taking the first bite.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"Dad, when I get my learners permit can we come back here so I can drive and you can be my passenger?"
-Andy, waiting in line to ride go-karts as Charlie's passenger because he is too short to drive himself.
-Andy, waiting in line to ride go-karts as Charlie's passenger because he is too short to drive himself.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Seriously, Again? SERIOUSLY?!?
So...(whenever someone starts a story with "so", you know it's going to be a doozy. It's like when there's a break in a conversation and you've been talking about something completely different, and then the person says, "so, you wouldn't BELIEVE what happened to me today!") I went to Carter's today to buy some pajamas for Amanda. Just a quick trip in, minding my own business. Sarah was behaving wonderfully, quietly playing with the Lego table by the counter, and Amanda was in my arms.I was waiting to checkout but the saleslady was helping a woman pick out clothes for her preemie granddaughter. Not to get into too many details, but apparently they were calling her a preemie because she was born early, but she was six pounds and too big for the preemie clothes that went up to five pounds. The grandma way saying they had newborn clothes for her but they were too big. I'm guessing this was the first grandchild. Obviously someone did not tell them that babies grow at an alarming rate, and if you want their clothes to actually fit when they are born then they will not fit two weeks later.
Anyway, when she finally picked out what she wanted, I let her checkout before me since she had been working with the cashier. As I'm standing there quietly, minding my own business, holding my almost eight month old baby, she says:
Grandmother: "Are you having another one?"
Me: "No."
Grandmother: "Oh, I just saw the..." and she taps her belly. Why is it that when people want to say fat, pudgy stomach, they just pat their belly. Oh, I know, because it's RUDE. She continues with, "is that from her (meaning Amanda)?"
Me: "Yes." And the other two lovelies.
Grandmother: "Yeah, my daughter has that." The daughter that just had a baby? The preemie? Not the eight month old baby? Well, I would think so.
I just grimaced. Ugh! That is the second time in three weeks some older, but not super old, person has asked me if I am pregnant. Remember last time I said I needed to start working out? Yeah, I should have read that post a little more earnestly. It's fun eating Easter candy all day and everything, but this is getting ridiculous.
Now anybody reading this probably thinks I'm enormous. But really, although I'm about 20 pounds overweight (or at least 20 pounds heavier than I was in high school when I played three sports a year), I don't think I'm that big. Except for a few things my pre-pregnancy clothes have fit for several months, and I've lost all the baby weight. It's just the baby shape that I'm holding onto. If I was critical of myself, I would say that I look about four months pregnant. Even then, do you ask someone who is four months pregnant, that you do not know, if they are pregnant? No, you do not. I don't ask anyone if they are pregnant unless it is painfully obvious. Like the baby is coming out. Even then I'm careful. Sometimes I really want to ask and talk to the person, but I'm not going there. I guess people don't feel that way about me.
Now I really need to increase my exercise efforts. My sit-up count has just gone up to 200 per day. If only I would actually make the time to do them.
Kid Quote of the Day
I went to pick up Sarah a few minutes early from school today and all the girls couldn't wait to talk to me.
Girl 1: "I'm going to be 5."
Girl 2: "I'm going to be 5, too."
Girl 3: "I'm going to be 5, too."
Girl 4 (Olivia): "I'm 3 again."
-Helena, Katie, Clare and Olivia, classmates of Sarah's, who all turned 4 (except for Olivia, obviously) within the last six weeks.
Girl 1: "I'm going to be 5."
Girl 2: "I'm going to be 5, too."
Girl 3: "I'm going to be 5, too."
Girl 4 (Olivia): "I'm 3 again."
-Helena, Katie, Clare and Olivia, classmates of Sarah's, who all turned 4 (except for Olivia, obviously) within the last six weeks.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Three, It's A Magic Number, Yes It Is
I've been planning on writing this post for awhile, but kept thinking it wasn't an issue anymore, or wouldn't be much longer, so why write about it? Unfortunately, I've been telling myself this for a couple of weeks now, so I think it's finally time to get it out. You see, Amanda will be eight months old on Friday, EIGHT MONTHS, and she still isn't consistently sleeping through the night. Except for a few, wonderful occasions, she wakes up sometime in the three o'clock hour each morning and stays awake until around 5 a.m. Everyday. I, of course, am an idiot, and still stay up late because it's the only time I ever get to myself, so I've been running on a disjointed 5-6 hours of sleep for months.
In the beginning, I convinced myself that I was breastfeeding, and breastfed babies take longer to sleep through the night, so it was okay. Then the holidays came and it just wasn't going to happen at other people's houses with all five of us in one room so I waiting until the beginning of the year. We were getting closer, and I really wasn't giving in, but then we went on two more long weekend trips that messed it all up. So, when we got home from Miami over spring break and didn't have anymore trips planned until mid-May, I decided I was going to be tough and get this done.
I had a little help, at least on the metal preparation side. People kept telling me about babies that were Amanda's age or younger that we're sleeping all night long. People who were getting a full night's sleep. On one particular morning, very early, after I had been up for a couple of hours with Amanda and only gotten a few hours sleep, Charlie mentioned how Joshua was sleeping through the night and had been for awhile. Joshua is only a couple of days older than Amanda. Of course that was not the best time to pass along that information, as I was dragging my butt out of bed to get Sarah ready for school. Then Sharon told me that Reagan had been sleeping through the night since she was 11 weeks, and it only took two nights of a little crying to make it happen. I knew it would be a little tougher with Amanda because she was older, but how hard could it be? The books say you can do it in three days. With Andy it only took three days (we won't talk about how long it took with Sarah, that's a whole different story). No problem.
Yes, that was three weeks ago. Three days my a**. I'll admit I didn't go hard core at first. I was nice. The first week or so I would get up with her and rock her but refused to feed her. I needed to break her habit of wanting to eat. She didn't need to eat, she was just used to doing it. I knew that wouldn't really solve the problem, because I was picking her up and rocking her and giving her attention, so another week later I no longer fed her or picked her up. When we would come in the room, instead of it calming her down, she would cry even harder and longer than when we weren't in the room. The next week I started letting her cry longer before going to her room. Ten, fifteen minutes. Still she cried. Every time she would keep it going and then peter out close to 5a.
Then, two days ago, I started to have faith in the baby books again. Maybe they were right after all. I walked into her room in the middle of the night and instead of crying harder, she stopped crying. I went over to the crib and started smoothing her hair back, sort of petting her head. Her eyes started to close and her breathing became softer. She wasn't going to let me leave that easily, but when I pulled up a chair and sat next to the crib she didn't cry and tried to go back to sleep, calmed by my presence. The whole thing took maybe 20-30 minutes and then I was able to go back to bed. An accomplishment for both of us.
Unfortunately last night we had a few things working against us. First, she's teething. I think she actually cut her second tooth last night, so maybe tonight will be better. Second, we have family in town so we're running all over the place having fun and not putting the kids to bed on time, especially Amanda. Third, she's starting to roll over in bed and hasn't really figured out the sleeping on her stomach thing. She gets onto her stomach but then doesn't know what to do with her head or face. I think she wants to sleep that way but just isn't comfortable with it yet. A lot of the crying last night was just trying to get situated. So it could have been a combination of being over tired, her teeth hurting and not knowing how to sleep comfortably.
Whatever it is, I hope we're almost there. In the past month she's had so many milestones - first teeth, rolling over, sitting up, eating solids - so many changes for such a small little person. I'm sure that's some of it. However, I'm getting tired of the 3 a.m. wake up call. No, I'm way past getting tired, I'm just plain tired. So we'll give this new routine three days, just like the baby books say, and maybe, just maybe, my darling number three will be sleeping through the night for good.
In the beginning, I convinced myself that I was breastfeeding, and breastfed babies take longer to sleep through the night, so it was okay. Then the holidays came and it just wasn't going to happen at other people's houses with all five of us in one room so I waiting until the beginning of the year. We were getting closer, and I really wasn't giving in, but then we went on two more long weekend trips that messed it all up. So, when we got home from Miami over spring break and didn't have anymore trips planned until mid-May, I decided I was going to be tough and get this done.
I had a little help, at least on the metal preparation side. People kept telling me about babies that were Amanda's age or younger that we're sleeping all night long. People who were getting a full night's sleep. On one particular morning, very early, after I had been up for a couple of hours with Amanda and only gotten a few hours sleep, Charlie mentioned how Joshua was sleeping through the night and had been for awhile. Joshua is only a couple of days older than Amanda. Of course that was not the best time to pass along that information, as I was dragging my butt out of bed to get Sarah ready for school. Then Sharon told me that Reagan had been sleeping through the night since she was 11 weeks, and it only took two nights of a little crying to make it happen. I knew it would be a little tougher with Amanda because she was older, but how hard could it be? The books say you can do it in three days. With Andy it only took three days (we won't talk about how long it took with Sarah, that's a whole different story). No problem.
Yes, that was three weeks ago. Three days my a**. I'll admit I didn't go hard core at first. I was nice. The first week or so I would get up with her and rock her but refused to feed her. I needed to break her habit of wanting to eat. She didn't need to eat, she was just used to doing it. I knew that wouldn't really solve the problem, because I was picking her up and rocking her and giving her attention, so another week later I no longer fed her or picked her up. When we would come in the room, instead of it calming her down, she would cry even harder and longer than when we weren't in the room. The next week I started letting her cry longer before going to her room. Ten, fifteen minutes. Still she cried. Every time she would keep it going and then peter out close to 5a.
Then, two days ago, I started to have faith in the baby books again. Maybe they were right after all. I walked into her room in the middle of the night and instead of crying harder, she stopped crying. I went over to the crib and started smoothing her hair back, sort of petting her head. Her eyes started to close and her breathing became softer. She wasn't going to let me leave that easily, but when I pulled up a chair and sat next to the crib she didn't cry and tried to go back to sleep, calmed by my presence. The whole thing took maybe 20-30 minutes and then I was able to go back to bed. An accomplishment for both of us.
Unfortunately last night we had a few things working against us. First, she's teething. I think she actually cut her second tooth last night, so maybe tonight will be better. Second, we have family in town so we're running all over the place having fun and not putting the kids to bed on time, especially Amanda. Third, she's starting to roll over in bed and hasn't really figured out the sleeping on her stomach thing. She gets onto her stomach but then doesn't know what to do with her head or face. I think she wants to sleep that way but just isn't comfortable with it yet. A lot of the crying last night was just trying to get situated. So it could have been a combination of being over tired, her teeth hurting and not knowing how to sleep comfortably.
Whatever it is, I hope we're almost there. In the past month she's had so many milestones - first teeth, rolling over, sitting up, eating solids - so many changes for such a small little person. I'm sure that's some of it. However, I'm getting tired of the 3 a.m. wake up call. No, I'm way past getting tired, I'm just plain tired. So we'll give this new routine three days, just like the baby books say, and maybe, just maybe, my darling number three will be sleeping through the night for good.
Kid Quote of the Day
"How do I get this out of my nose?"
-Sarah, in a whiny voice, after shoving a Polly Pocket shoe up her nose (no worries, we did not have to go to the emergency room, she was able to blow it out into a tissue).
-Sarah, in a whiny voice, after shoving a Polly Pocket shoe up her nose (no worries, we did not have to go to the emergency room, she was able to blow it out into a tissue).
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"Mommy, can you tell the Easter Bunny to bring me more things than Andy?"
-Sarah, last night during our conversation that she needed to go to bed so the Easter Bunny could come.
-Sarah, last night during our conversation that she needed to go to bed so the Easter Bunny could come.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Veering Off The Schedule
Our family lives a very scheduled life, as many families in today's society do. There are jokes and cartoons about letting kids have run of the mill "play" time, versus taking them from activity to activity. I can honestly say I am guilty of that problem. We are often too busy for play dates because we have so many activities on our schedule. The more children you have, the more activities you go to. It never seems to stop. It's very different from when I was a kid. All of our activities were on the weekends and during the week we played outside with the neighborhood kids. No classes, just running amok from house to house playing outdoor games and using your imagination. Wow, how times have changed.
Sarah had an egg hunt at school yesterday. They don't do things like that in the public schools, probably due to the religious implications, but the preschools can do it. I told her about the egg hunt about a week ago and said I probably would not be able to come because it was the same time as Amanda's swim class. It wasn't going to be a big deal anyway, just a five minute hunt before they started recess.
Side Note: You probably think I'm crazy for putting a seven month old in swim class, but we have a pool and I'd like her to be comfortable in the water before summer starts. Andy and Sarah both started around that time and they are great swimmers.
Sarah told me she couldn't do the hunt without me, she needed my help and she really wanted me there. She's been super clingy lately and a little lacking in parental attention. So, I grudgingly agreed to go and cancelled Amanda's class for the week. I got to the school a little early and helped the teacher spread the eggs around the playground. The playground is tiny and it was really windy so the eggs were blowing all over the place. When the kids did come out Sarah was so excited to see me. I didn't really help her that much. I just followed her around with the video camera suggesting other places she could look for eggs. She collected a good number and was so excited. Then the kids broke cascarones (confetti filled eggs, a tradition in Mexico) over each others heads. They had a great time and so did I.
So I didn't really do what I had planned that morning, but now I see that sometimes it's good to go off schedule. People with older children are always telling me to enjoy this time because it goes so fast and someday when their lives are much more complicated I'll wish for it back. I don't doubt that's true, but so often you get wrapped up in your daily life and trying to get everything done, or at least partially done, that you don't take time to just sit back and enjoy what you have. Yesterday, just for a few minutes, I took the time to watch my daughter do something that made her so happy. It wasn't that hard for me to change my schedule and it meant so much to her. That's what it's all about.
Sarah had an egg hunt at school yesterday. They don't do things like that in the public schools, probably due to the religious implications, but the preschools can do it. I told her about the egg hunt about a week ago and said I probably would not be able to come because it was the same time as Amanda's swim class. It wasn't going to be a big deal anyway, just a five minute hunt before they started recess.
Side Note: You probably think I'm crazy for putting a seven month old in swim class, but we have a pool and I'd like her to be comfortable in the water before summer starts. Andy and Sarah both started around that time and they are great swimmers.
Sarah told me she couldn't do the hunt without me, she needed my help and she really wanted me there. She's been super clingy lately and a little lacking in parental attention. So, I grudgingly agreed to go and cancelled Amanda's class for the week. I got to the school a little early and helped the teacher spread the eggs around the playground. The playground is tiny and it was really windy so the eggs were blowing all over the place. When the kids did come out Sarah was so excited to see me. I didn't really help her that much. I just followed her around with the video camera suggesting other places she could look for eggs. She collected a good number and was so excited. Then the kids broke cascarones (confetti filled eggs, a tradition in Mexico) over each others heads. They had a great time and so did I.
So I didn't really do what I had planned that morning, but now I see that sometimes it's good to go off schedule. People with older children are always telling me to enjoy this time because it goes so fast and someday when their lives are much more complicated I'll wish for it back. I don't doubt that's true, but so often you get wrapped up in your daily life and trying to get everything done, or at least partially done, that you don't take time to just sit back and enjoy what you have. Yesterday, just for a few minutes, I took the time to watch my daughter do something that made her so happy. It wasn't that hard for me to change my schedule and it meant so much to her. That's what it's all about.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Kid Quote of the Day
"The next time we go to the doctor, I'm going to ask him for a new butt. My old one has a crack in it."
-Sarah, highly influenced by the first grade humor that Andy brings home from school
-Sarah, highly influenced by the first grade humor that Andy brings home from school
Functional At Last
There are good things and bad things about having your third baby in August. The bad part is I live in Texas. So, being enormously pregnant all summer long, during the hottest summer on record, was not fun. We spent most of our time inside, the children were prisoners in their own home. We didn't even go into the pool. Yes, it feels great while you are in the pool, but it felt so horrible to get out of the pool that I just didn't want to get in. My parents live in Michigan and they experienced a very cool summer. Never have I wished so much to live back in Michigan than when I was pregnant with Amanda.
The good part about having a baby in August is that school is about to begin. Sarah was born in May, right before school got out, and we were off schedule all summer. Correction, we never got on a schedule. It made going back to school in the fall very difficult. So, I thought with a brand new baby who would probably be getting up around 6-7a every morning, we'd get into a routine and schedule for school pretty quickly.
Boy was I wrong. Why? I forgot to factor in one minor detail. I was unbelievably exhausted every morning from getting up 2-3 times a night with the baby. She did get up at 6-7a every morning, but I would feed her, put her back down to sleep and then go back to bed myself. Luckily Charlie does everything with Andy in the morning and takes him to school because he has to be there at 7:45a, so he wasn't getting tardy after tardy. Sarah, however, doesn't have to be to school until 9a. I thought that would be easy. After a week or two I realized that it was going to be very difficult to get Sarah to school on time, and we would probably be late most of the year.
I am happy to announce that next week Amanda will turn eight months old and I have finally figured out how to get us out of the house in the morning. In fact, this morning Charlie had to fly to a meeting in New York and had to leave too early to take Andy to school. Not only did I get all three kids dressed and out the door in time to get Andy to school, we got there early enough that I was able to walk him to his class, as opposed to making him jump out of the car and run into the school, and chat with his teacher. Then, the girls and I went back home because Sarah didn't have to leave for school for another hour, and I was able to feed Amanda and myself and make Sarah's lunch without being rushed. It was weird, really weird.
When I wanted so badly to have baby number three, this is how I thought it would be. Hectic, but controlled and everybody along for the ride. I forgot about all the sleepless nights, which have lasted far too long, and the huge adjustment period that comes along with adding another person with wants and needs to the family. Now that I'm here, at a place where things are finally a little bit easier, I like it. I'm happy. We've come a long way to become this family of five. Hopefully things will only get better.
The good part about having a baby in August is that school is about to begin. Sarah was born in May, right before school got out, and we were off schedule all summer. Correction, we never got on a schedule. It made going back to school in the fall very difficult. So, I thought with a brand new baby who would probably be getting up around 6-7a every morning, we'd get into a routine and schedule for school pretty quickly.
Boy was I wrong. Why? I forgot to factor in one minor detail. I was unbelievably exhausted every morning from getting up 2-3 times a night with the baby. She did get up at 6-7a every morning, but I would feed her, put her back down to sleep and then go back to bed myself. Luckily Charlie does everything with Andy in the morning and takes him to school because he has to be there at 7:45a, so he wasn't getting tardy after tardy. Sarah, however, doesn't have to be to school until 9a. I thought that would be easy. After a week or two I realized that it was going to be very difficult to get Sarah to school on time, and we would probably be late most of the year.
I am happy to announce that next week Amanda will turn eight months old and I have finally figured out how to get us out of the house in the morning. In fact, this morning Charlie had to fly to a meeting in New York and had to leave too early to take Andy to school. Not only did I get all three kids dressed and out the door in time to get Andy to school, we got there early enough that I was able to walk him to his class, as opposed to making him jump out of the car and run into the school, and chat with his teacher. Then, the girls and I went back home because Sarah didn't have to leave for school for another hour, and I was able to feed Amanda and myself and make Sarah's lunch without being rushed. It was weird, really weird.
When I wanted so badly to have baby number three, this is how I thought it would be. Hectic, but controlled and everybody along for the ride. I forgot about all the sleepless nights, which have lasted far too long, and the huge adjustment period that comes along with adding another person with wants and needs to the family. Now that I'm here, at a place where things are finally a little bit easier, I like it. I'm happy. We've come a long way to become this family of five. Hopefully things will only get better.
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