"This is like taking a bite out of heaven!"
-Andy, after I gave him a Peeps Peepster, which is milk chocolate with marshmallow flavored creme.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Picture of the Day
From the Easter egg hunt we went to on Saturday. Notice Amanda had the biggest haul, but they were in totally separate hunts from each other due to age groups. Not matter what we do we just can't get a smile out of that baby.
Lost Tooth
Sarah lost her first tooth this morning. When I say it's lost, it's really lost. She went to bed with it in her tiny little mouth last night and when she woke up it was gone. She probably swallowed it, but it's so small who knows. I thought she would be really upset about it, but she took it in stride. She was just so happy to lose it she didn't care.
It started wiggling about a week ago. I thought for sure the loose tooth thing would go on for weeks. With every loose tooth Andy has had it seems to take forever before it finally comes out. But hers just got looser and looser everyday until it was barely in there on Sunday night. A nice quick process. Finally something goes right.
I think this was a nice confidence booster for her. In her eyes she is always last at everything. Everybody runs faster, climbs better, does everything better than she does. All of her friends are bigger and older, even if by just a few months, she really thinks she just can't compete. For once she got to do something first. Or almost first. There is only one other child in her class at school that has lost a tooth. She is second. This time second is looking pretty good.
She may not be older, may not be faster, may not be able to ride her bike without training wheels, and that one may take a long time, but she is one of the first to lose a tooth. It's dumb luck that it happened to her, but I'll take this win. She deserves it.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cleaning Up
I never thought the day would come. It took eight years, but today when I told Andy to clean the play room he just did it. Okay, well, Charlie told the kids last night that he expected it clean when he got home from work and anything left out on the floor would be his to sell or throw away or do whatever he pleased. It wasn't the part that they cleaned without whining or complaining or yelling, it was that they actually cleaned it without me having to tell them how to clean.
Years ago, when I would tell Andy to clean up he would just sit there. He had no idea how to generically clean. If I said, "put all the pieces to that game away" or "put all the blocks in the basket" he could do it without a problem. If I told him to clean up, he didn't know what to do. I asked a friend who had an older daughter and she told me it took a long time for them to understand the concept of cleaning. Until then, I would have to go item by item and tell them to pick it up. What a beating. But that's what we've done. "Pick up all the cards and put them in their container", "pick up all the Little People and put them in the Little People bucket", "pick up all the Polly Pockets and put them in the Polly Pockets container." You get the idea.
Almost everything has a place, bucket or container. I labeled and put pictures on all the containers and buckets I could find. Before the kids could even read they were labeled. I took pictures of all the toys that went into each bucket and then put that picture on the front of the bucket so the kids knew where the toys went. They got it, but friends would always put them in the wrong place (sorry, that's another rant). But if I told them to "pick up" they had no idea where anything went.
Today was a different story. I told the kids they had to pick up like Daddy asked. Sarah went upstairs to clean their room. Andy stayed in the playroom. I urged him to engage Amanda and make her help too. He did, and she did. When I was finally done getting dinner ready I walked in to help and he was almost done. I didn't have to explain anything or tell him where anything went. It was all just put away where it was supposed to go. The same thing happened with the bedroom. Amazing. Finally, a stress-free cleaning. Now what am I going to complain about?
Hopefully this will continue and only get better. Maybe they'll start cleaning without us asking...a girl can dream, right?
Years ago, when I would tell Andy to clean up he would just sit there. He had no idea how to generically clean. If I said, "put all the pieces to that game away" or "put all the blocks in the basket" he could do it without a problem. If I told him to clean up, he didn't know what to do. I asked a friend who had an older daughter and she told me it took a long time for them to understand the concept of cleaning. Until then, I would have to go item by item and tell them to pick it up. What a beating. But that's what we've done. "Pick up all the cards and put them in their container", "pick up all the Little People and put them in the Little People bucket", "pick up all the Polly Pockets and put them in the Polly Pockets container." You get the idea.
Almost everything has a place, bucket or container. I labeled and put pictures on all the containers and buckets I could find. Before the kids could even read they were labeled. I took pictures of all the toys that went into each bucket and then put that picture on the front of the bucket so the kids knew where the toys went. They got it, but friends would always put them in the wrong place (sorry, that's another rant). But if I told them to "pick up" they had no idea where anything went.
Today was a different story. I told the kids they had to pick up like Daddy asked. Sarah went upstairs to clean their room. Andy stayed in the playroom. I urged him to engage Amanda and make her help too. He did, and she did. When I was finally done getting dinner ready I walked in to help and he was almost done. I didn't have to explain anything or tell him where anything went. It was all just put away where it was supposed to go. The same thing happened with the bedroom. Amazing. Finally, a stress-free cleaning. Now what am I going to complain about?
Hopefully this will continue and only get better. Maybe they'll start cleaning without us asking...a girl can dream, right?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Picture of the Day
This is what happens when you leave her alone for too long. In my defense:
1. Sarah was sitting right next to her and didn't notice a thing.
2. I was in the room the entire time but concentrating on something else.
3. They were washable markers and there was no trace of it after a nice bath.
The Games We Play
I cannot remember the last time Charlie and I got a complete night's sleep. Part of the problem is that we are idiots and we go to bed way too late. Part of the problem is that the girls, yes both of them, wake us up almost every night. At least one of them will call out for us, okay they really call out for me but we take turns attending to them, at least once a night. We haven't figured out how to make it stop, so it just goes on and on.
With Sarah, it's bad dreams. Or at least that's what she says. She can't tell you anything about them and clams up when you ask and will only say that she had a bad dream. We're not really certain whether she really did have a bad dream or that's just a trigger word that she knows she can say and she won't get in trouble. Usually we just tell her everything is fine and give her a kiss and she rolls over and goes to sleep. Occasionally we have to take her to the bathroom. She goes right back to sleep, we don't. Well, I usually do or can within 15-30 minutes, but once Charlie is up he has a really hard time going back to sleep.
We're not really sure what Amanda's problem is. She doesn't appear to be teething anymore, as all her teeth have broken through the surface, but she still wakes up a couple times a night. It's much simpler than it used to be. She used to want us to hold her or rock her or stay in the room. Now, as soon as I walk in the room I turn her music on. Before I can even get to her crib she has flopped back down in her bed on her pillow. I tell her it's not time to get up yet, cover her with her blankets, pat her on the back and leave the room. It's not hard, just really annoying. Last night I did it twice. The third time she refused to lie back down and go to bed.
It was 5:03 a.m. when I heard her call my name. I had just dragged myself out of bed to get ready to go to the 5:30 a.m. yoga class. Yes, I am crazy, but it turns out this is the best time for everybody in the family. Except me, that is. However they don't have child care at the yoga studio so it's either first thing in the morning or pay and not go. We're not that rich, so I go. I went into her room, turned on the music and told her to lie down. Her answer, "no". She was polite about it, but wasn't going to do it. After a few minutes I grabbed her out of bed and brought her to our bed. I lay down with her on my chest, thinking this would be my excuse to get out of yoga this morning. Of course Charlie being the wonderful husband he is took her out of my arms and sent me on my way. Man, so close!
As for Sarah? She and Andy share a room that used to be two rooms, the previous owners took out a wall, so their room is about 25 feet long. She claimed that the other side of the room was the cause of her bad dreams. So before bed I found a night light and put it in the only visible outlet. We did not hear a peep out of her all night. I mentioned to her this morning how great it was that she didn't wake us up last night. Her response? Yep, it was all because of the night light. Really? She couldn't have told us that weeks ago? Who knew that was all it took.
Hopefully this will continue with Sarah. As for Amanda, we may have to wait until her vocabulary gets a little better. Or we could put a down comforter in her crib, she seems to really like ours.
With Sarah, it's bad dreams. Or at least that's what she says. She can't tell you anything about them and clams up when you ask and will only say that she had a bad dream. We're not really certain whether she really did have a bad dream or that's just a trigger word that she knows she can say and she won't get in trouble. Usually we just tell her everything is fine and give her a kiss and she rolls over and goes to sleep. Occasionally we have to take her to the bathroom. She goes right back to sleep, we don't. Well, I usually do or can within 15-30 minutes, but once Charlie is up he has a really hard time going back to sleep.
We're not really sure what Amanda's problem is. She doesn't appear to be teething anymore, as all her teeth have broken through the surface, but she still wakes up a couple times a night. It's much simpler than it used to be. She used to want us to hold her or rock her or stay in the room. Now, as soon as I walk in the room I turn her music on. Before I can even get to her crib she has flopped back down in her bed on her pillow. I tell her it's not time to get up yet, cover her with her blankets, pat her on the back and leave the room. It's not hard, just really annoying. Last night I did it twice. The third time she refused to lie back down and go to bed.
It was 5:03 a.m. when I heard her call my name. I had just dragged myself out of bed to get ready to go to the 5:30 a.m. yoga class. Yes, I am crazy, but it turns out this is the best time for everybody in the family. Except me, that is. However they don't have child care at the yoga studio so it's either first thing in the morning or pay and not go. We're not that rich, so I go. I went into her room, turned on the music and told her to lie down. Her answer, "no". She was polite about it, but wasn't going to do it. After a few minutes I grabbed her out of bed and brought her to our bed. I lay down with her on my chest, thinking this would be my excuse to get out of yoga this morning. Of course Charlie being the wonderful husband he is took her out of my arms and sent me on my way. Man, so close!
As for Sarah? She and Andy share a room that used to be two rooms, the previous owners took out a wall, so their room is about 25 feet long. She claimed that the other side of the room was the cause of her bad dreams. So before bed I found a night light and put it in the only visible outlet. We did not hear a peep out of her all night. I mentioned to her this morning how great it was that she didn't wake us up last night. Her response? Yep, it was all because of the night light. Really? She couldn't have told us that weeks ago? Who knew that was all it took.
Hopefully this will continue with Sarah. As for Amanda, we may have to wait until her vocabulary gets a little better. Or we could put a down comforter in her crib, she seems to really like ours.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Growing Pains
When Andy was little we used to travel all the time. In fact, Charlie added it up and Andy traveled over 25,000 miles his first year. It wasn't that hard, we were able to do it all without checking bags, and he was an awesome flyer. When Sarah came along it got a little more difficult, but we still traveled at least once a month. We had to start checking bags, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Sarah was not a great flyer, but between the two of us we could handle it.
When Amanda was born the dynamics changed. It just wasn't that easy anymore. In fact, it was stressful and hard. When we travel the minimum we have to bring is one suitcase, two bags containing boosters seats and the car seat bag. That's the minimum, but we rarely get away with just the minimum. Andy is still good on the plane, but still wants your attention, Sarah has gotten better, but still wants you attention, and Amanda wants your attention the entire time. Security has gotten progressively harder with all the crazies trying to blow up planes, so now we have to remove five pairs of shoes and jackets and everything else, can't have any liquid or gel or diaper cream or blah, blah, blah. On top of that, and this is not usually a deciding factor but still a factor, is that the kids are older and now on sports teams and have commitments to their teams which we are totally ignoring when we take them away. Again, we do it anyway, but there is a small tinge of guilt every time we do.
The biggest kicker of all, is that a lot of hotels will not let you book a room with more than four people in it. Yes, Amanda counts as a person. We've been trying to book various trips using miles lately, and every time we are stopped because they don't let you book a room for five with miles. I don't know why, I don't get it, but the size of our family is starting to cause trouble. Charlie warned me this would happen when I wanted one more, but I didn't care. I still don't, it's just annoying. We will find hotels that will accept us, it's just a little more work and will probably cost a little more. I'm sure there are families with 5+ that have had very nice vacations. They don't all just stay at home and sulk.
The point of all this is to say that we were supposed to go to Miami this past weekend. Charlie's brother and nephew were going to be visiting his mom and we thought it would be a great time to see all of them. The kids were so excited. But our flight got delayed on Friday night and then when we did the math we realized that we wouldn't get to her house until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. and we were leaving on Sunday. That gave us one day with crazy, tired children. Unfortunately we had to make the decision to stay home. It just wasn't going to work.
The kids were so disappointed, we were disappointed and I'm sure our family and friends in Miami were too. We will go back in a few months when we can go longer than a day, but we were all excited to go now. What it really comes down to is no matter how much we want to be able to do what we used to, such as jump on a plane for a quick weekend, it's just not as easy anymore. Our lives and our family have changed and we're not the carefree singles we once used to be. Not that it's bad, just different. Not that we would change it, we just need to accept it.
In a few years, when we aren't dealing with potty training and diapers and everybody can sit and entertain themselves for more than five minutes, I'm sure we'll start traveling more frequently. For now we just need to accept who we are, big family and all, and enjoy this time. We may not have gotten to go out of town this weekend, but I was able to get a last minute babysitter and spend some much needed quality time with my husband, which turned a bad situation into something good.
When Amanda was born the dynamics changed. It just wasn't that easy anymore. In fact, it was stressful and hard. When we travel the minimum we have to bring is one suitcase, two bags containing boosters seats and the car seat bag. That's the minimum, but we rarely get away with just the minimum. Andy is still good on the plane, but still wants your attention, Sarah has gotten better, but still wants you attention, and Amanda wants your attention the entire time. Security has gotten progressively harder with all the crazies trying to blow up planes, so now we have to remove five pairs of shoes and jackets and everything else, can't have any liquid or gel or diaper cream or blah, blah, blah. On top of that, and this is not usually a deciding factor but still a factor, is that the kids are older and now on sports teams and have commitments to their teams which we are totally ignoring when we take them away. Again, we do it anyway, but there is a small tinge of guilt every time we do.
The biggest kicker of all, is that a lot of hotels will not let you book a room with more than four people in it. Yes, Amanda counts as a person. We've been trying to book various trips using miles lately, and every time we are stopped because they don't let you book a room for five with miles. I don't know why, I don't get it, but the size of our family is starting to cause trouble. Charlie warned me this would happen when I wanted one more, but I didn't care. I still don't, it's just annoying. We will find hotels that will accept us, it's just a little more work and will probably cost a little more. I'm sure there are families with 5+ that have had very nice vacations. They don't all just stay at home and sulk.
The point of all this is to say that we were supposed to go to Miami this past weekend. Charlie's brother and nephew were going to be visiting his mom and we thought it would be a great time to see all of them. The kids were so excited. But our flight got delayed on Friday night and then when we did the math we realized that we wouldn't get to her house until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. and we were leaving on Sunday. That gave us one day with crazy, tired children. Unfortunately we had to make the decision to stay home. It just wasn't going to work.
The kids were so disappointed, we were disappointed and I'm sure our family and friends in Miami were too. We will go back in a few months when we can go longer than a day, but we were all excited to go now. What it really comes down to is no matter how much we want to be able to do what we used to, such as jump on a plane for a quick weekend, it's just not as easy anymore. Our lives and our family have changed and we're not the carefree singles we once used to be. Not that it's bad, just different. Not that we would change it, we just need to accept it.
In a few years, when we aren't dealing with potty training and diapers and everybody can sit and entertain themselves for more than five minutes, I'm sure we'll start traveling more frequently. For now we just need to accept who we are, big family and all, and enjoy this time. We may not have gotten to go out of town this weekend, but I was able to get a last minute babysitter and spend some much needed quality time with my husband, which turned a bad situation into something good.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Kid Quote of the Day
Andy: Did Daddy get a chance to change our seat assignments?
Me: Not that I know of.
Andy (screaming at the top of his lungs): WHAT?!? YOU MEAN I HAVE TO SIT NEXT TO YOU THE ENTIRE FLIGHT?
Wow. If he had just said GET instead of HAVE and had a smile on his face it may have ended this shitty week on a positive note. Instead it just continues down the same path.
Me: Not that I know of.
Andy (screaming at the top of his lungs): WHAT?!? YOU MEAN I HAVE TO SIT NEXT TO YOU THE ENTIRE FLIGHT?
Wow. If he had just said GET instead of HAVE and had a smile on his face it may have ended this shitty week on a positive note. Instead it just continues down the same path.
Picture of the Day
Every once in awhile all three of them play so nicely together. Hopefully a sign of times to come. This session was courtesy of the Littlest Pet Shop.
Silence
We bought our minivan when Andy was 10 months old. That whole process is a story in itself, but I don't want to rehash that now. When we bought that car there were only two features that I really wanted. The six CD changer, so I could switch easily between my music and Andy's music, and leather seats. We knew we were going to have more kids, and we would run that minivan to the ground, so I wanted seat covers that were going to last and hold up to anything. I am thankful almost everyday that we made that decision, because those leather seats are the only thing that keep that car from looking like a garbage dump.
When you buy a car, all the extras come in packages. If you want the leather seats then you also have to get all these other things that you didn't necessarily want, like the DVD player. We saw no need for a DVD player. Our kid could look out the window just like we did, he didn't need constant entertaining. However, if we wanted the leather seats we had to get the DVD player.
We didn't even use it at first. After awhile we would put in an occasional Sesame Street DVD if we were on a long drive, but it wasn't very often. Of course, after awhile, it was on all the time. We credit Andy learning to read at such an early age from the Leap Frog videos he watching in the car, so it wasn't all bad.
Andy was happy, he got to watch tv. However, once Sarah was about 18 months old we were a little more careful about what he watched. We didn't want him watching anything that would scare her like some of his creepy Scooby-Doo shows. As Sarah got older we went through the "you pick one, then he picks one" form of taking turns, but it got progressively more difficult to even do that. We would start to watch something Andy picked but then he would get out of the car to go to school all day. Sarah was with me and wanted to watch something else. If we forgot to put Andy's movie back in the car when we picked him up from school there was lots and lots of fighting.
About six months ago I just stopped letting the kids watch the DVD player. I couldn't stand the arguing anymore. I hate all the yelling they do anyway, but when they do it in a small, cramped space it drives me batty. Every couple of weeks or so they would ask if they could watch a movie, but I always told them no. As far as I was concerned it wasn't going to be used again.
Then one day Charlie was in the car with Amanda. He put in an Elmo DVD and she, of course, loved it. Sarah is also now on the Sesame Street bandwagon, so she wants to watch them too. Andy is just so excited to be able to watch tv in the car that he doesn't complain. He knows better. Plus, he watches tv like I do. Once it's on, it doesn't matter what the show is, it sucks him in and he can focus on nothing else. It's not a trait I am proud of, but impressive nonetheless.
The best benefit of all from Elmo invading the minivan? Complete and utter silence when we are in the car. Well, except for Amanda screaming "ELMO" whenever Elmo comes in the picture. But otherwise, not a peep. No fighting or whining or antagonizing or yelling at each other or me. Just three happy kids and one calm Mommy bopping down the road to the tune of "Elmo's World". Ahhhh!
When you buy a car, all the extras come in packages. If you want the leather seats then you also have to get all these other things that you didn't necessarily want, like the DVD player. We saw no need for a DVD player. Our kid could look out the window just like we did, he didn't need constant entertaining. However, if we wanted the leather seats we had to get the DVD player.
We didn't even use it at first. After awhile we would put in an occasional Sesame Street DVD if we were on a long drive, but it wasn't very often. Of course, after awhile, it was on all the time. We credit Andy learning to read at such an early age from the Leap Frog videos he watching in the car, so it wasn't all bad.
Andy was happy, he got to watch tv. However, once Sarah was about 18 months old we were a little more careful about what he watched. We didn't want him watching anything that would scare her like some of his creepy Scooby-Doo shows. As Sarah got older we went through the "you pick one, then he picks one" form of taking turns, but it got progressively more difficult to even do that. We would start to watch something Andy picked but then he would get out of the car to go to school all day. Sarah was with me and wanted to watch something else. If we forgot to put Andy's movie back in the car when we picked him up from school there was lots and lots of fighting.
About six months ago I just stopped letting the kids watch the DVD player. I couldn't stand the arguing anymore. I hate all the yelling they do anyway, but when they do it in a small, cramped space it drives me batty. Every couple of weeks or so they would ask if they could watch a movie, but I always told them no. As far as I was concerned it wasn't going to be used again.
Then one day Charlie was in the car with Amanda. He put in an Elmo DVD and she, of course, loved it. Sarah is also now on the Sesame Street bandwagon, so she wants to watch them too. Andy is just so excited to be able to watch tv in the car that he doesn't complain. He knows better. Plus, he watches tv like I do. Once it's on, it doesn't matter what the show is, it sucks him in and he can focus on nothing else. It's not a trait I am proud of, but impressive nonetheless.
The best benefit of all from Elmo invading the minivan? Complete and utter silence when we are in the car. Well, except for Amanda screaming "ELMO" whenever Elmo comes in the picture. But otherwise, not a peep. No fighting or whining or antagonizing or yelling at each other or me. Just three happy kids and one calm Mommy bopping down the road to the tune of "Elmo's World". Ahhhh!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Picture of the Day
Yes, it's that time of year, bluebonnet season. Notice someone is missing from the picture? Little Miss wasn't too interested in getting her picture taken that day. We have a couple but they aren't too good. At least in this one they look like they actually like each other. Amazing what the promise of ice cream can get you!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Kid Quote of the Day
"Moo."
-Amanda, trying to tell me she wanted some milk. I'm not sure if moo is the best she can do for milk, or if she says that because there is a cow on the milk box. I'm guessing the second one.
-Amanda, trying to tell me she wanted some milk. I'm not sure if moo is the best she can do for milk, or if she says that because there is a cow on the milk box. I'm guessing the second one.
Elmo Bib
As Amanda's obsession with Elmo grows, so do the frustrations. She only wants to eat off of the Elmo plates, of which we have two, and out of the Elmo bowls, there are three of those, and insists on using her Elmo bib. The problem with the Elmo bib is that it doesn't have a pocket so everything she drops, which is still a lot of food, ends up on her pants or dress or skirt which drives me crazy. Luckily, with a little work, we were able to come to a compromise. Now Amanda is happy to eat with a pocket bib as long as she can wear her Elmo bib over it. She looks a little weird with two bibs on, but overall a win-win in one of many battles with a toddler that doesn't have many words.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Picture of the Day
Last week I took the two older kids to see Disney on Ice, Toy Story 3. Simply put, all three of us had a blast. I love doing fun stuff like that with the kids.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Oose
Amanda's tiny vocabulary is slowly getting bigger. Some of them are only words a parent can understand and some are loud and clear. She's even starting to put a couple of words together, but it's usually only "No Mommy" or "Down Mommy". Andy says those don't count as sentences because you need at least four words to make a sentence. He's probably right, that kid knows everything.
The one word she says the most, besides "no", is "oose". It's sounds like loose without the L. We're not exactly sure what it means, but she usually says it when she wants something, often while pointing, so I think it means "this". Whenever she says it we say, "This? Do you want this?" and keep saying it until she nods or says yes. So I think she's just trying to beat us to the punch and say "this". Of course "this" could mean anything, so we have to keep asking her anyway, but at least by saying it she has our attention that she wants something.
In so many ways I wish she could say more and tell us what she wants, but then there's the small part of me that knows what happens next. They start talking incessantly, asking a million questions, telling you what to do and never, ever stop. I'm all for improved communication, just not the rest of it. I've already got two little people telling me what to do, do I really need a third? It might stop her crying, but may lead to my own.
For now, I'll just be happy with "oose".
The one word she says the most, besides "no", is "oose". It's sounds like loose without the L. We're not exactly sure what it means, but she usually says it when she wants something, often while pointing, so I think it means "this". Whenever she says it we say, "This? Do you want this?" and keep saying it until she nods or says yes. So I think she's just trying to beat us to the punch and say "this". Of course "this" could mean anything, so we have to keep asking her anyway, but at least by saying it she has our attention that she wants something.
In so many ways I wish she could say more and tell us what she wants, but then there's the small part of me that knows what happens next. They start talking incessantly, asking a million questions, telling you what to do and never, ever stop. I'm all for improved communication, just not the rest of it. I've already got two little people telling me what to do, do I really need a third? It might stop her crying, but may lead to my own.
For now, I'll just be happy with "oose".
Costume Day
Last week was Crazy Week at Sarah's school. Each day they had to wear something different. Crazy hair day, Pajama Day, you get the idea. Friday was costume day. Sarah was over the moon that she actually got to wear a princess dress to school. She normally wears a uniform. I can't remember the last time she got herself completely dressed for school without any assistance and couldn't wait to get out the door. Hmm, maybe they've got something there...princess school?
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