There's only two parts to Christmas this year, which makes me a little sad, but I guess it's nice to be moving on, now.
We were in Barnum for two nights this past weekend, and had a really nice quiet time. The girls handled their visit with Patrick really well (possibly better than I did), and he was so happy to see them. Trav said that after we left, he was definitely less chipper. Emily found a tea party set in the toys that they have available, and she had a great time actually playing, not just sitting and talking and sucking her thumb (sigh). I asked her to sing with me so he could hear her sing, and she did such a great job. Audrey was a little more of a stinker, but still, she is such an agreeable little thing that it was hardly objectionable. On our way in, another person in our visiting group noticed our girls and made a point to tell us that her daughter wouldn't put grandchildren on the visitation list so their uncle could see them. It was just what I needed to hear. It validated my hesitation and apprehension about continuing to do these visits, without me having to raise an unnecessary stink about it, since it really is all right, just an overall sucky situation. For example, Emily was really upset that Grandma was going back in to visit the following morning. What are you going to do: leave your granddaughter in tears, or not visit your son on Christmas? The ripple effect of prison is really awful.
Other than that, it was very quiet and relaxing and delicious and fun. Trav and his youngest brother stayed up super late on Christmas, leaving a bottle of Templeton Rye empty on the counter for our amusement in the morning. They sure have a good time together. They went out in the snow with Emily one afternoon, and were soon distracted by pelting each other with snowbricks. Since it was too cold to make snowballs they just threw whatever they could find, like a couple of 10-year-olds. Emily was impressed, you might say.
Today has been hard, getting back to normal. Travis was impressed yesterday by how much there was to put away after being gone from home a few days, but I had to put it all away the previous week while he was at work and he had no idea what I had done while he was gone. So today Trav went to work and we had a "normal" Monday, plus whining/screaming/protesting out of both girls nearly continuously. There was probably about half an hour where they were playing pretty nicely together, and another 2 hours where Audrey was napping, but the rest of the time was really tough. It didn't help that I was feeling grouchy overall. We'll get back into it, but days like today make the silence of bedtime especially sweet.
Audrey's getting a lot closer to walking. She has been pulling herself up to standing using nearly everything, but tonight I watched her stand up without using any help at all. She looked at me with the funniest expression, like, "Didja see that?? whoa!!" It was really impressive - I mean, can you stand up from squatting, no hands? So, she'll take some steps soon here. In the meantime, I'm loving the crawling, cuz she's got such character about the way she moves.
Emily is really, really good at naming letter sounds now. She sings her ABC's really nicely now, which I'm sure she could have done months ago if I had worked with her, but they do it at her daycare a lot. I'm pretty relaxed on stuff like that, because she'll learn it quickly enough once it's presented to her. She's got two more years of preschool ahead of her so I think the pressure is off at home! She likes to ask me what letter words start with and then guess the answer herself, and although she is really confused by "C" and "S" words and sometimes tripped up by "H"s, she's got the rest down really well. It's a nice game to play while we're shopping or in the car or whatever. My favorite exchange:
E: "Mom, what's Panessa start with?" me: "Vanessa? Vvvvv..." "V! V for Panessa. What's Panelle start with?" (that's Vanessa's mom) "Lynelle? Lllllll..." "L! L for Panelle..." at which point she got really thoughtful and probably realized she might not have that name right. I'm going to miss it when all those little 'isms go away. There are only a few left and although I don't reinforce them, I never correct them, and I do my best to stifle snickers until later because I don't want her to feel laughed at. She's really delightful company, when she's not wigging out about something! I know it's typical 3-year-old stuff, but I actually miss the sweet girl when the demons come out! :)
And one more Emily story that I love: When I was going in early to work last week, I was getting Emily out of bed, snuggling up a bit, and I told her that I was leaving and that Dad would take her to daycare. She protested, and I told her I'd pick her up, and it'd be fine, and she looked up at me so earnestly and said, "but I, but I, but I, I love you!" I love you too, sweetie.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Christmas part 1
We had Johannsen Christmas up in Rockford this weekend, and it was really wonderful. Jenny's and my families were there for Saturday, and Kerri and Dan came that evening after her family's Christmas in Protivin that day. Then on Sunday, my aunt and uncle, cousin w/hubby, and my grandparents all came up from Ames for the afternoon. It was a houseful! We had a great time. I'm not sure I can even describe what a great time it was, but I'll try.
My dad has spent this past year finishing the basement. The carpet was laid on Tuesday of last week, which was just in time because we needed the space! Jenny's family slept downstairs where the ping-pong table used to be (for those of you readers who were at my house when we were young). The area by the chalkboard with the sloping floor drain where we washed fossils out of our hair in high school (don't ask) has been filled in with concrete and leveled so it could be carpeted. The girls had a fantastic time playing down there, with room to romp and squeal and do somersaults and dance. My dad installed a TON of lights in the ceiling, and the walls are drywalled and painted a nice light color, so it's very, very pleasant down there. Hard to believe I used to roller skate down there!! He's very proud of the work, too, as he should be. He'll probably spend a good portion of the next year working on it still, though, because the playroom is still unfinished and they're adding another room to the west of that. The added space is much appreciated, though, when we have that many people there.
We also played outside. there's probably at least 15" of snow there, which means ginormous snow piles to play on. It was so cold that the snow was too powdery for construction, but the girls in their sleds were easy to pull around on the driveway, so they very much enjoyed that. We climbed on big round straw bales, played with superfriendly kittens, and talked to the cows. It was so very still there, and the sky was an arctic blue. Beautiful, peaceful, just awesome. And the only thing breaking the silence was little girl laughter! It doesn't get any better.
Of course, I left my camera card in my computer at home, so I have no pictures. Classic move! But other people were taking pictures, and I'll get them someday. It was a really wonderful, special weekend. It was honestly hard to leave. We opened Christmas presents and ate a ton of great food, and laughed the whole weekend long. We even sang for my grandmother, who was possibly the most enraptured and appreciative audience I have ever performed for. She was so thrilled to have all of us singing together at my mom's piano, she was actually in tears. It's so nice to be someplace where all the things about myself that I normally try to downplay, that others may think stand out as abnormal or unusual about me, just blend in and are appreciated and are normal!
I love home.
Tonight, we took some treats over to Emily's old sitter, and it was such a nice homecoming for her. She was so excited to be there, I thought she'd wiggle herself out of her carseat as we were entering her neighborhood! Audrey didn't remember the place, of course, but Emily made herself right at home. Emma and Brady were happy to see her, too, and it was nice to catch up with Amanda and hear how things have been for her. To go back to the "feeling dumped" analogy, I kind of wondered if this might be the kind of thing where you can't be friends afterwards without one party not respecting the boundaries (that would be Emily, in this case, who decided she'd go upstairs and stay for the evening) but I think you can't go wrong maintaining relationships with interesting people. Life is too short, and most people are too dull! I didn't say that, shhhhh... Anyway, it was a nice evening and fun to give Emily such a thrill. Now, just wait until she sees what Santa has planned! We've asked him to come on Christmas Eve Eve, and then we head up to Barnum for the actual holiday. It'll be less crowded and less active there, which is probably just what we need after last weekend. But I wouldn't've traded it for anything in the world.
And, I did get Emily's singing posted, this time at YouTube. Enjoy!
Golden Slumbers, pt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t53vlHuEZbw
Golden Slumbers, pt 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLODc-GrZA0
Twinkle, Twinkle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOJce8Hgja4
My dad has spent this past year finishing the basement. The carpet was laid on Tuesday of last week, which was just in time because we needed the space! Jenny's family slept downstairs where the ping-pong table used to be (for those of you readers who were at my house when we were young). The area by the chalkboard with the sloping floor drain where we washed fossils out of our hair in high school (don't ask) has been filled in with concrete and leveled so it could be carpeted. The girls had a fantastic time playing down there, with room to romp and squeal and do somersaults and dance. My dad installed a TON of lights in the ceiling, and the walls are drywalled and painted a nice light color, so it's very, very pleasant down there. Hard to believe I used to roller skate down there!! He's very proud of the work, too, as he should be. He'll probably spend a good portion of the next year working on it still, though, because the playroom is still unfinished and they're adding another room to the west of that. The added space is much appreciated, though, when we have that many people there.
We also played outside. there's probably at least 15" of snow there, which means ginormous snow piles to play on. It was so cold that the snow was too powdery for construction, but the girls in their sleds were easy to pull around on the driveway, so they very much enjoyed that. We climbed on big round straw bales, played with superfriendly kittens, and talked to the cows. It was so very still there, and the sky was an arctic blue. Beautiful, peaceful, just awesome. And the only thing breaking the silence was little girl laughter! It doesn't get any better.
Of course, I left my camera card in my computer at home, so I have no pictures. Classic move! But other people were taking pictures, and I'll get them someday. It was a really wonderful, special weekend. It was honestly hard to leave. We opened Christmas presents and ate a ton of great food, and laughed the whole weekend long. We even sang for my grandmother, who was possibly the most enraptured and appreciative audience I have ever performed for. She was so thrilled to have all of us singing together at my mom's piano, she was actually in tears. It's so nice to be someplace where all the things about myself that I normally try to downplay, that others may think stand out as abnormal or unusual about me, just blend in and are appreciated and are normal!
I love home.
Tonight, we took some treats over to Emily's old sitter, and it was such a nice homecoming for her. She was so excited to be there, I thought she'd wiggle herself out of her carseat as we were entering her neighborhood! Audrey didn't remember the place, of course, but Emily made herself right at home. Emma and Brady were happy to see her, too, and it was nice to catch up with Amanda and hear how things have been for her. To go back to the "feeling dumped" analogy, I kind of wondered if this might be the kind of thing where you can't be friends afterwards without one party not respecting the boundaries (that would be Emily, in this case, who decided she'd go upstairs and stay for the evening) but I think you can't go wrong maintaining relationships with interesting people. Life is too short, and most people are too dull! I didn't say that, shhhhh... Anyway, it was a nice evening and fun to give Emily such a thrill. Now, just wait until she sees what Santa has planned! We've asked him to come on Christmas Eve Eve, and then we head up to Barnum for the actual holiday. It'll be less crowded and less active there, which is probably just what we need after last weekend. But I wouldn't've traded it for anything in the world.
And, I did get Emily's singing posted, this time at YouTube. Enjoy!
Golden Slumbers, pt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t53vlHuEZbw
Golden Slumbers, pt 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLODc-GrZA0
Twinkle, Twinkle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOJce8Hgja4
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Laugh a minute
Emily has had a ton of funny things to say lately. We we were making chocolates this afternoon, and she saw the bowl of melted chocolate and asked me, "Mom, do you dream in chocolate?" We watched some TV this morning while Audrey snoozed in my arms, so she apparently picked up on that line from a chocolate commercial. Isn't that great?
She has fallen in love with the book Amelia Bedelia, and at one point Amelia says "Yes, that will do nicely." Emily has been parroting that all the time. It's great to hear her talking like a book, and not so much like other kids at daycare. Also during the chocolate-making, she was telling me about her friend Avery at daycare. "Yeah, she's my BEST friend."
Audrey and I were playing the piano together the other day, and she really enjoyed it when she got ahold of one of my fingers so she could get me to play one note at a time. So today when we sat down, she was all excited, trying to get ahold of my hand just the same way, and when she did, she happily smashed my hand around, playing one note at a time. It's hard to write in words, but you know what I mean. She really enjoys hearing single notes at a time, much more than Emily did, and I wonder if she's got more of an ear for melody, although from the singing that Emily and I did together today it'd be hard to imagine. Emily sang "Golden Slumbers" and "Twinkle, Twinkle" with me today while I recorded it, and they are the absolutely most adorable videos you'll ever see (if I can get them posted.)
At lunch today, when Emily finally showed up at the lunch table, I told her I was glad to see her. Travis said, "I am, too." Emily said, "I'm three." It took me a minute to realize why she said it, and then it was pretty funny.
I asked Emily to tell me a story the other day, when I was too tired to read her any more books and laid down on the couch with her, and she yammered and chatted while I laid there with my eyes closed. It was a nice break for me, and she was happy to just keep telling me some nonsensical story.
We've had a great weekend, and I'm finally starting to get excited for Christmas. :)
She has fallen in love with the book Amelia Bedelia, and at one point Amelia says "Yes, that will do nicely." Emily has been parroting that all the time. It's great to hear her talking like a book, and not so much like other kids at daycare. Also during the chocolate-making, she was telling me about her friend Avery at daycare. "Yeah, she's my BEST friend."
Audrey and I were playing the piano together the other day, and she really enjoyed it when she got ahold of one of my fingers so she could get me to play one note at a time. So today when we sat down, she was all excited, trying to get ahold of my hand just the same way, and when she did, she happily smashed my hand around, playing one note at a time. It's hard to write in words, but you know what I mean. She really enjoys hearing single notes at a time, much more than Emily did, and I wonder if she's got more of an ear for melody, although from the singing that Emily and I did together today it'd be hard to imagine. Emily sang "Golden Slumbers" and "Twinkle, Twinkle" with me today while I recorded it, and they are the absolutely most adorable videos you'll ever see (if I can get them posted.)
At lunch today, when Emily finally showed up at the lunch table, I told her I was glad to see her. Travis said, "I am, too." Emily said, "I'm three." It took me a minute to realize why she said it, and then it was pretty funny.
I asked Emily to tell me a story the other day, when I was too tired to read her any more books and laid down on the couch with her, and she yammered and chatted while I laid there with my eyes closed. It was a nice break for me, and she was happy to just keep telling me some nonsensical story.
We've had a great weekend, and I'm finally starting to get excited for Christmas. :)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Going Underground!
Hi! Is it quieter in here, or is it just me? :) So glad you want to continue to hear my ramblings. I am also pleased to find out that a few of my readers have been keeping up with me and yet still want to have families of their own someday! I must be doing an okay job of putting a positive spin on things... and when I fail to do so, at least I'm being honest!!
Today was a great day with the girls. Mondays tend to be hard because we're tired from the weekend, but today was great. I got up early and did some stretching/weights for about 20 minutes, and while Trav was in the shower I got to snuggle with Emily in my bed. She whispered to me, "Mom, we're going to have another great day AGAIN!" Isn't that a great way to start the day??? We went to the chiropractor, and then Audrey snoozed on my lap when we got home, which is unusual these days so that was a real treat. Emily watched Clifford, and then we did laundry. The girls played nicely together all day, and they were so silly at times that there were lots of giggle-out-loud moments. They ate every scrap of their healthy lunch of leftovers (no battles or whining), and we ended up all taking naps this afternoon. Then we went to the library, where they were giggley and happy, and we had tacos for supper. It was a great day. I'll take this day, any day!
Last Monday, however, was a different story. I have a hard time telling Audrey's "I'm tired" and "I need to poop" signals apart, since they both involve general fussiness and wanting to gnaw on her blanket. I misjudged, grossly, and when I checked on her after laying her down that afternoon, I found her happily cooing in her crib with poop EVERYWHERE. I'm not exaggerating at all - I threw away the crib sheet, and had to disinfect in between every crib slat. Audrey got a bath because she had it in her hair, even. Then I had to disinfect the bathtub! It took me an hour, during which time Emily peppered me with "Why's" throughout. I don't know why she wasn't catching on that the answer was always, "Because there's poop on it!" Then, I learned the hard way to not ever wash all of Audrey's blankets at the same time because she requires one specific kind to chew on in order to get to sleep. She wigged out for 45 minutes until she decided that a fuzzy changing table cover was close enough substitute for her to pass out with. It was insane, and I was so helpless. After she woke up, we went to Target and I bought two more of the exact same blanket, so we have 4 now. Crazy.
Audrey is really into standing now, but only with support. She likes to grab onto my pant legs and stand holding onto me, which is fun to see when she smiles up at me but not as fun when I'd like to move somewhere but can't because she's clinging to me and will fall over if I leave. She's very, very attached to me! Her faces crack me up, though; her expression today after putting a few peas into her mouth by herself was so self-satisfied that I couldn't help but laugh. It was like she was so happy to be eating that she just couldn't container herself! (Yum, yum, yum! there!) She's been attacking my head the past few days because I had some pretty clips in my hair one day, and she wanted to play with them. When she remembers them, she brutally claws at my head in search of them. The COOLEST thing was when she was sitting in her rocking chair and I was taking pictures of her, and she turned her head when I changed the camera perspective. I recognized it instantly and told her I knew what she was doing, and she smiled back because of course she understands what I'm saying! SO cool! So I'd turn the camera one way, then rotate 90° and she'd turn her little head just right. Adorable. What a cool kid. Then a few days later she managed to stand up in the same rocking chair and tip it over backwards, smacking her head on the floor and leaving a nice bruise (check it out - it'll be on our Christmas card!). I saw it coming and almost almost got there in time, which was a really awful feeling to just not quite get there. All those years of practice digging volleyballs, and when it really counted I was wearing slippery socks. Gah!
Emily is pretty brutal with her constant "why's" still, but I'm doing pretty well at staying a step ahead of her on things. Is it parenting, or maniuplation and mind-games? I'm thinking there's not much of a difference! Last night she finally slept through the night after a few weeks of getting up to pee during the night. It's hard to tell her to stay in bed, because I'd rather wipe a bottom than change sheets, but on the other hand, it's obvious that she doesn't have to go that much. She has the funniest things to say. She brought me a skirt from my closet today, and I told her I thought I might wear jeans instead. "But you look so beautiful in this!" Funny to hear my sentences come out of her mouth.
We went to church yesterday, which we don't do often so she thinks it's a marvelous special event. She was excited to hear "all the beautiful music," and very much enjoyed the Christmas tree and going up for the children's sermon. That was fun for us, too, because we hadn't told my grandparents that we were coming, so they found out we were there when they saw Emily come trotting up front! We had lunch with them and then took Mommo to the ISU women's basketball game with us. It was a really nice time, especially since Emily decided that Mommo's lap was the place to snuggle when she got tired. It is such a wonderful feeling to see my girls having memorable times with them.
I'd better turn in before it gets too late. It's sure fun to have these anecdotes to share. I think they've been there all along, but I'm really enjoying these moments now. I love my little family!
Today was a great day with the girls. Mondays tend to be hard because we're tired from the weekend, but today was great. I got up early and did some stretching/weights for about 20 minutes, and while Trav was in the shower I got to snuggle with Emily in my bed. She whispered to me, "Mom, we're going to have another great day AGAIN!" Isn't that a great way to start the day??? We went to the chiropractor, and then Audrey snoozed on my lap when we got home, which is unusual these days so that was a real treat. Emily watched Clifford, and then we did laundry. The girls played nicely together all day, and they were so silly at times that there were lots of giggle-out-loud moments. They ate every scrap of their healthy lunch of leftovers (no battles or whining), and we ended up all taking naps this afternoon. Then we went to the library, where they were giggley and happy, and we had tacos for supper. It was a great day. I'll take this day, any day!
Last Monday, however, was a different story. I have a hard time telling Audrey's "I'm tired" and "I need to poop" signals apart, since they both involve general fussiness and wanting to gnaw on her blanket. I misjudged, grossly, and when I checked on her after laying her down that afternoon, I found her happily cooing in her crib with poop EVERYWHERE. I'm not exaggerating at all - I threw away the crib sheet, and had to disinfect in between every crib slat. Audrey got a bath because she had it in her hair, even. Then I had to disinfect the bathtub! It took me an hour, during which time Emily peppered me with "Why's" throughout. I don't know why she wasn't catching on that the answer was always, "Because there's poop on it!" Then, I learned the hard way to not ever wash all of Audrey's blankets at the same time because she requires one specific kind to chew on in order to get to sleep. She wigged out for 45 minutes until she decided that a fuzzy changing table cover was close enough substitute for her to pass out with. It was insane, and I was so helpless. After she woke up, we went to Target and I bought two more of the exact same blanket, so we have 4 now. Crazy.
Audrey is really into standing now, but only with support. She likes to grab onto my pant legs and stand holding onto me, which is fun to see when she smiles up at me but not as fun when I'd like to move somewhere but can't because she's clinging to me and will fall over if I leave. She's very, very attached to me! Her faces crack me up, though; her expression today after putting a few peas into her mouth by herself was so self-satisfied that I couldn't help but laugh. It was like she was so happy to be eating that she just couldn't container herself! (Yum, yum, yum! there!) She's been attacking my head the past few days because I had some pretty clips in my hair one day, and she wanted to play with them. When she remembers them, she brutally claws at my head in search of them. The COOLEST thing was when she was sitting in her rocking chair and I was taking pictures of her, and she turned her head when I changed the camera perspective. I recognized it instantly and told her I knew what she was doing, and she smiled back because of course she understands what I'm saying! SO cool! So I'd turn the camera one way, then rotate 90° and she'd turn her little head just right. Adorable. What a cool kid. Then a few days later she managed to stand up in the same rocking chair and tip it over backwards, smacking her head on the floor and leaving a nice bruise (check it out - it'll be on our Christmas card!). I saw it coming and almost almost got there in time, which was a really awful feeling to just not quite get there. All those years of practice digging volleyballs, and when it really counted I was wearing slippery socks. Gah!
Emily is pretty brutal with her constant "why's" still, but I'm doing pretty well at staying a step ahead of her on things. Is it parenting, or maniuplation and mind-games? I'm thinking there's not much of a difference! Last night she finally slept through the night after a few weeks of getting up to pee during the night. It's hard to tell her to stay in bed, because I'd rather wipe a bottom than change sheets, but on the other hand, it's obvious that she doesn't have to go that much. She has the funniest things to say. She brought me a skirt from my closet today, and I told her I thought I might wear jeans instead. "But you look so beautiful in this!" Funny to hear my sentences come out of her mouth.
We went to church yesterday, which we don't do often so she thinks it's a marvelous special event. She was excited to hear "all the beautiful music," and very much enjoyed the Christmas tree and going up for the children's sermon. That was fun for us, too, because we hadn't told my grandparents that we were coming, so they found out we were there when they saw Emily come trotting up front! We had lunch with them and then took Mommo to the ISU women's basketball game with us. It was a really nice time, especially since Emily decided that Mommo's lap was the place to snuggle when she got tired. It is such a wonderful feeling to see my girls having memorable times with them.
I'd better turn in before it gets too late. It's sure fun to have these anecdotes to share. I think they've been there all along, but I'm really enjoying these moments now. I love my little family!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
What a great thanksgiving!! We spent a day in Barnum, a day in Rockford, and most of today travelling home. We stopped in Ames to have lunch with my grandparents, too. Despite some difficulty in getting girls to sleep (which is to be expected, I suppose), we had an easy time travelling with the girls, and they were lovely, amazing girls the whole time. It was possibly the most low-key holiday I've ever had, with almost no stress and lots of fantastic food wherever we went. We also got a Christmas tree this afternoon, and Emily was really excited to put her ornaments on it.
A highlight from today: As we were leaving Mommo's house, Audrey was crying because she was overtired, late for her nap. So we got her buckled in, and I was buckling Emily into her carseat. Emily was asking why Audrey was crying (because Emily asks why to absolutely everything these days), so I told her she wanted us to sing to her. Emily and I started singing "Golden Slumbers," and Audrey immediately stopped crying, and stared at us with her big blue eyes still full of tears. Then Mommo joined in, right next to Audrey, and then she stared at her, just taking it all in. It was a wonderful, wonderful moment for me, all of us singing together.
Audrey also figured out how to climb up into her little rocking chair (see picasa). She was SO proud of herself. I took a whole bunch of pictures of her with the camera held vertical (portrait), and then turned it sideways, and she turned her head when I did that! I noticed immediately because my very first memory is of watching my dad take pictures of me, turning the camera and I turned my head so my face would be right in the picture. Audrey did exactly the same thing! I told my mom about it and she thinks I was probably the same age as Audrey, so it's weird to think that she's storing away memories from things that happen, and I may never know what's impacting her long-term... anyway, the pictures are adorable and she totally caught on that I knew why she did that. So we took a bunch more pictures, both directions. What a cutie.
Thanksgiving was also made fun because I learned about friends of mine who will be having kids next spring! Hooray! This will be a fun spring. My cousin and his wife are having a baby in January, my coworker is having twins in February, I get a new niece or nephew in March, and I just learned about a friend who's expecting the end of May (yay!!!). Several other friends are expecting this coming spring and summer, too, so apparently it was a busy fall for some people!! Class of '29 is going to be full of interesting people, if they're anything like their parents!
I've noticed lately that my blog gets more traffic than I expect or can identify based on Feedjit locations, so I will be changing this blog to be password protected after this entry. Please let me know if you'd like the password, and when I do my next posting in a week or two I will email you the info you need. I want to do a better job of staying personally connected with my friends, so this will make me feel a little less like I'm enabling casual stalking. :) If you want to hear what I'm up to, I want to hear from you, too, really! I may not be able to form coherent sentences when I attempt real conversations, and you may not have time to write me a book, but I miss my friends. What's up with you?
A highlight from today: As we were leaving Mommo's house, Audrey was crying because she was overtired, late for her nap. So we got her buckled in, and I was buckling Emily into her carseat. Emily was asking why Audrey was crying (because Emily asks why to absolutely everything these days), so I told her she wanted us to sing to her. Emily and I started singing "Golden Slumbers," and Audrey immediately stopped crying, and stared at us with her big blue eyes still full of tears. Then Mommo joined in, right next to Audrey, and then she stared at her, just taking it all in. It was a wonderful, wonderful moment for me, all of us singing together.
Audrey also figured out how to climb up into her little rocking chair (see picasa). She was SO proud of herself. I took a whole bunch of pictures of her with the camera held vertical (portrait), and then turned it sideways, and she turned her head when I did that! I noticed immediately because my very first memory is of watching my dad take pictures of me, turning the camera and I turned my head so my face would be right in the picture. Audrey did exactly the same thing! I told my mom about it and she thinks I was probably the same age as Audrey, so it's weird to think that she's storing away memories from things that happen, and I may never know what's impacting her long-term... anyway, the pictures are adorable and she totally caught on that I knew why she did that. So we took a bunch more pictures, both directions. What a cutie.
Thanksgiving was also made fun because I learned about friends of mine who will be having kids next spring! Hooray! This will be a fun spring. My cousin and his wife are having a baby in January, my coworker is having twins in February, I get a new niece or nephew in March, and I just learned about a friend who's expecting the end of May (yay!!!). Several other friends are expecting this coming spring and summer, too, so apparently it was a busy fall for some people!! Class of '29 is going to be full of interesting people, if they're anything like their parents!
I've noticed lately that my blog gets more traffic than I expect or can identify based on Feedjit locations, so I will be changing this blog to be password protected after this entry. Please let me know if you'd like the password, and when I do my next posting in a week or two I will email you the info you need. I want to do a better job of staying personally connected with my friends, so this will make me feel a little less like I'm enabling casual stalking. :) If you want to hear what I'm up to, I want to hear from you, too, really! I may not be able to form coherent sentences when I attempt real conversations, and you may not have time to write me a book, but I miss my friends. What's up with you?
Sunday, November 21, 2010
My sweet, sweet Emily
So for some stupid reason I seem to post mainly about accomplishments and frustrations, when I should be sharing amazingly sweet stories like what happened at bedtime tonight.
Emily likes to "hide" a book under her bed during the day, and then have a Surprise Book (or Purrize Book, as she calls it) for her story to go to sleep. Sometimes I sneak one in that she's not expecting, and that's fun, too! Since she's been sick, she's been napping in the afternoons, and then staying up late, and it's not a good system for us. Today, we didn't let her nap, and lucky for us, Sullivan grandparents were here for dinnertime so she was a happy girl on her best wiggliest behavior. But last night, she didn't want to sleep because she wasn't tired yet, and she was mad that I was putting her to bed at 8:30 instead of 10 like the night before. I tried to give her a hug, and she pushed me away, hand to my throat, so I hugged her anyway, kissed her head, told her I loved her, and said goodnight sweetie, and went downstairs. She howled for nearly an hour after that, and my awesome hubby took care of all of it. After a while, she was upset because she did want to give me a hug, but he said that I was downstairs, and if she wanted to hug me, she should do so when I'm tucking her in. In retrospect it seems harsh, but at the time, I was just too tired to deal with it. I had spent the day getting her glasses of water she wouldn't drink, dressing her in clothes she immediately removed, serving her food she wouldn't eat, trying to read her stories that she wouldn't sit still for, and finally putting her in a bed where she wouldn't sleep. And Travis was tired of the howling.
Tonight, she was exhausted, and I read her one book, turned off her light, sang her a song, and offered her a hug. She gave me the biggest, most wonderful hug, and said, (unprovoked), "I sorry I pushed you away. Don't cry, Mom, it'll be all right. You a nice mom." I got all teary anyway. :) I asked Travis what he had told her last night, to make sure he wasn't guilting her or upsetting her into thinking I was mad at her, or anything, and he said he had barely mentioned it. What a sensitive, sweet girl! I will have to be more and more careful what I say when I'm frustrated, because she is digesting every single bit of what she hears, and taking it to heart. Which is insane because i can say other things to her a million times and they just go whizzing right by; complex things like put your shoes away, or take another bite. But yeah, she's a wonderful little girl. I love her!!!!!
Emily likes to "hide" a book under her bed during the day, and then have a Surprise Book (or Purrize Book, as she calls it) for her story to go to sleep. Sometimes I sneak one in that she's not expecting, and that's fun, too! Since she's been sick, she's been napping in the afternoons, and then staying up late, and it's not a good system for us. Today, we didn't let her nap, and lucky for us, Sullivan grandparents were here for dinnertime so she was a happy girl on her best wiggliest behavior. But last night, she didn't want to sleep because she wasn't tired yet, and she was mad that I was putting her to bed at 8:30 instead of 10 like the night before. I tried to give her a hug, and she pushed me away, hand to my throat, so I hugged her anyway, kissed her head, told her I loved her, and said goodnight sweetie, and went downstairs. She howled for nearly an hour after that, and my awesome hubby took care of all of it. After a while, she was upset because she did want to give me a hug, but he said that I was downstairs, and if she wanted to hug me, she should do so when I'm tucking her in. In retrospect it seems harsh, but at the time, I was just too tired to deal with it. I had spent the day getting her glasses of water she wouldn't drink, dressing her in clothes she immediately removed, serving her food she wouldn't eat, trying to read her stories that she wouldn't sit still for, and finally putting her in a bed where she wouldn't sleep. And Travis was tired of the howling.
Tonight, she was exhausted, and I read her one book, turned off her light, sang her a song, and offered her a hug. She gave me the biggest, most wonderful hug, and said, (unprovoked), "I sorry I pushed you away. Don't cry, Mom, it'll be all right. You a nice mom." I got all teary anyway. :) I asked Travis what he had told her last night, to make sure he wasn't guilting her or upsetting her into thinking I was mad at her, or anything, and he said he had barely mentioned it. What a sensitive, sweet girl! I will have to be more and more careful what I say when I'm frustrated, because she is digesting every single bit of what she hears, and taking it to heart. Which is insane because i can say other things to her a million times and they just go whizzing right by; complex things like put your shoes away, or take another bite. But yeah, she's a wonderful little girl. I love her!!!!!
The sickness continues
Back in September, Travis stayed home from work with a fever and chills, then had a lingering cough for almost a month after that. Near the end of that, we both came down with a stomach flu, and then I caught the cough. That's almost done, but earlier this week I caught something else and my head has been congested, my sinuses were on fire. After a chiropractic adjustment and a good night's sleep (that took me 3 nights to achieve, no thanks to my girls), I'm finally on the mend. I think it's gotten into my inner ears, so I'm all woozy and still very weak, but at least I was able to function today. Will I ever feel good again???
Emily has been a handful lately, asking WHY to absolutely everything I say to her, whether it makes sense to ask why or not, and sometimes just flat-out saying No. I usually ignore those and that seems to work well, but the Whys are really grating on me. She's also really getting tired of Audrey being in her space. We have time-outs almost every day for taking toys out of her hand, knocking her over, pulling her legs, or excessive hugging. Yes, I'm that mom that you hear in the grocery store, hollering at her kid to stop hugging her sister. Audrey generally doesn't protest that one much, but I'm suspicious that it's only because Emily goes right for her windpipe and there's not much she could say if she wanted to. And with everyone in our house sick and overtired for one reason or another, I'll admit I haven't handled it as well as I could. But, I'm learning as best I can, and we've made good use of the portable jail and other deterrents to keep the girls happily playing. Emily is just so earnest and clever that I sometimes can't even get her attention to change her actions at all. A new rule in our house, though, is that she cannot ask Why if i say Stop, Let Go, or NO!! Anything else, I'll try to explain if she really wants to know why, but those she has to just do immediately. Gah! so annoying!!
I challenged Emily the other day to stand on one foot, and she really did pretty well for only trying it for her first time. Audrey can pull herself to standing using just about anything now, and I've seen her let go in order to concentrate on whatever treasure she's found, so that's pretty cool. Nice that my girls have some balance even if I'm too dizzy myself!!
And Audrey is babbling so sweetly now. Her "Mom Mom Mom"s are more purposeful and she tells me stories: "Shzuzzzshuzzshuzzshuzz, dju dju dju dju..." It's funny to think that that's what we sound like to her!
Emily surprised me the other day, on the way to the park, by singing along with me all the way through "Mr. Sun." What a good singer she is!
My neighbor has gotten me interested in the Montessori school in Des Moines. Usually the most common factor to Montessori schools is that they are prohibitively expensive, but this is actually a public school, a part of the Des Moines Public Schools. I sent in Emily's application already, so hopefully the waiting list for 4-year-old preschool in Fall 2012 isn't too long to include her! (I would hope not, but they said they'll accept names as soon as the child turns 1. yikes!) My neighbor has sons in 1st grade and 4YO preschool, and she has spoken so highly of her experiences there, I figured I'd throw my name into the hat. One of the biggest advantages, I think, is that the Montessori philosophy is to play off of the child's inherent love of learning, and not try to mold them all into the same kind of learner. They will put kids into whatever age of learning group they're ready for (Kindergarteners reading with 1st graders if they're ready, etc.), and focus on student-discovery over teaching memorization. I can remember learning about the multiplication table in 4th grade, and studying how the numbers added and looking for patterns and figuring out how multiplication was related to addition, groups of numbers and such; and then I failed the multiplication test because I had been essentially deriving the table instead of just memorizing it. In Montessori, that's good learning; in traditional methods, that's failing. Since both my girls will be on the older end of their classes, I'm excited to think that this might keep them from feeling like they spend their days waiting for other kids. It sounds really arrogant of me to say so, but that's how I felt all the way through elementary and junior high. Spelling tests were just agony, waiting for the next word... and then I'd miss words completely because I was trying to entertain myself while waiting. I read novels under my desk, I practiced fingering for pieces I was learning on piano or violin, I bit my fingernails, and I daydreamed a LOT, all day long. Wouldn't it be great if my girls could learn what they're ready for, when they're excited about it? And I know that it's not fair to assume they'll be like me (or Travis; he's said he felt the same way), but still, isn't that a great way to learn?
This past week of daycare dropoffs and pickups went just fine, with no tears. Emily was a little apprehensive on Tuesday, but she got into it just fine. Travis was gone in Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday, and for some reason I had a really hard time with this trip; lucky for me, he was able to come home on Wed instead of the Thursday that he'd planned on. He switched his flight, and surprised me by showing up with a bottle of wine and a few other treats that we enjoyed after the girls were in bed Friday night. (They weren't asleep; they didn't konk out for good until almost 1 AM. Little stinkers!) Anyway, Emily's class is giong on a field trip in a few weeks to a local gymnastics place, so that's going to be pretty cool! I'm tempted to go along with them, but, if I wanted to do that, why don't I just take her on a day I don't work, right? I thought it was nice that it was scheduled for a day when Emily was there. And Audrey gets lots of 1-on-1 snuggles with one of her afternoon teachers, who is thoroughly smitten with her (but really, who wouldn't be, right? have you seen her big blue eyes??) This place is going to be just fine; not ideal, but since that doesn't exist, this will work.
Emily has been a handful lately, asking WHY to absolutely everything I say to her, whether it makes sense to ask why or not, and sometimes just flat-out saying No. I usually ignore those and that seems to work well, but the Whys are really grating on me. She's also really getting tired of Audrey being in her space. We have time-outs almost every day for taking toys out of her hand, knocking her over, pulling her legs, or excessive hugging. Yes, I'm that mom that you hear in the grocery store, hollering at her kid to stop hugging her sister. Audrey generally doesn't protest that one much, but I'm suspicious that it's only because Emily goes right for her windpipe and there's not much she could say if she wanted to. And with everyone in our house sick and overtired for one reason or another, I'll admit I haven't handled it as well as I could. But, I'm learning as best I can, and we've made good use of the portable jail and other deterrents to keep the girls happily playing. Emily is just so earnest and clever that I sometimes can't even get her attention to change her actions at all. A new rule in our house, though, is that she cannot ask Why if i say Stop, Let Go, or NO!! Anything else, I'll try to explain if she really wants to know why, but those she has to just do immediately. Gah! so annoying!!
I challenged Emily the other day to stand on one foot, and she really did pretty well for only trying it for her first time. Audrey can pull herself to standing using just about anything now, and I've seen her let go in order to concentrate on whatever treasure she's found, so that's pretty cool. Nice that my girls have some balance even if I'm too dizzy myself!!
And Audrey is babbling so sweetly now. Her "Mom Mom Mom"s are more purposeful and she tells me stories: "Shzuzzzshuzzshuzzshuzz, dju dju dju dju..." It's funny to think that that's what we sound like to her!
Emily surprised me the other day, on the way to the park, by singing along with me all the way through "Mr. Sun." What a good singer she is!
My neighbor has gotten me interested in the Montessori school in Des Moines. Usually the most common factor to Montessori schools is that they are prohibitively expensive, but this is actually a public school, a part of the Des Moines Public Schools. I sent in Emily's application already, so hopefully the waiting list for 4-year-old preschool in Fall 2012 isn't too long to include her! (I would hope not, but they said they'll accept names as soon as the child turns 1. yikes!) My neighbor has sons in 1st grade and 4YO preschool, and she has spoken so highly of her experiences there, I figured I'd throw my name into the hat. One of the biggest advantages, I think, is that the Montessori philosophy is to play off of the child's inherent love of learning, and not try to mold them all into the same kind of learner. They will put kids into whatever age of learning group they're ready for (Kindergarteners reading with 1st graders if they're ready, etc.), and focus on student-discovery over teaching memorization. I can remember learning about the multiplication table in 4th grade, and studying how the numbers added and looking for patterns and figuring out how multiplication was related to addition, groups of numbers and such; and then I failed the multiplication test because I had been essentially deriving the table instead of just memorizing it. In Montessori, that's good learning; in traditional methods, that's failing. Since both my girls will be on the older end of their classes, I'm excited to think that this might keep them from feeling like they spend their days waiting for other kids. It sounds really arrogant of me to say so, but that's how I felt all the way through elementary and junior high. Spelling tests were just agony, waiting for the next word... and then I'd miss words completely because I was trying to entertain myself while waiting. I read novels under my desk, I practiced fingering for pieces I was learning on piano or violin, I bit my fingernails, and I daydreamed a LOT, all day long. Wouldn't it be great if my girls could learn what they're ready for, when they're excited about it? And I know that it's not fair to assume they'll be like me (or Travis; he's said he felt the same way), but still, isn't that a great way to learn?
This past week of daycare dropoffs and pickups went just fine, with no tears. Emily was a little apprehensive on Tuesday, but she got into it just fine. Travis was gone in Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday, and for some reason I had a really hard time with this trip; lucky for me, he was able to come home on Wed instead of the Thursday that he'd planned on. He switched his flight, and surprised me by showing up with a bottle of wine and a few other treats that we enjoyed after the girls were in bed Friday night. (They weren't asleep; they didn't konk out for good until almost 1 AM. Little stinkers!) Anyway, Emily's class is giong on a field trip in a few weeks to a local gymnastics place, so that's going to be pretty cool! I'm tempted to go along with them, but, if I wanted to do that, why don't I just take her on a day I don't work, right? I thought it was nice that it was scheduled for a day when Emily was there. And Audrey gets lots of 1-on-1 snuggles with one of her afternoon teachers, who is thoroughly smitten with her (but really, who wouldn't be, right? have you seen her big blue eyes??) This place is going to be just fine; not ideal, but since that doesn't exist, this will work.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Birthday completed
So, we did have a small gathering on Sunday, even though Emily was feeling horrible. Travis's parents and his brother and girlfriend came and braved our sick household, and I'm so glad they did. We had a nice lunch, opened presents, ate Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcakes, and took care of Emily, who snoozed and threw up off and on all day. She felt good enough to sing Happy Birthday to Audrey and help blow out her candle, which was very important to her, so that was really special. Emily is quite the singer, even when she's sick! It was great to hear her little voice singing so earnestly.
And we continued the party yesterday afternoon. My sister and her girls, my parents, and my grandparents came to eat the leftover cupcakes and play with Audrey's new toys. We had dinner together, and it was a nice small celebration. I suppose it was nice to have fewer people at a time, not so overwhelming for Audrey, so that's the silver lining to all this.
Emily woke up Monday morning, singing to Audrey and then bouncing into my room saying, "Audrey's AWAKE! I sleeped well! I don't need to throw up aaaaanymore!" She didn't eat well until Tuesday or so, but she did go to daycare and did just fine. After three weeks at the new daycare, they still are having a hard time being dropped off. When I left them today, they were both in tears. I figured they recovered quickly; I don't get much feedback, though; the limited information I get is filtered because Travis picks them up. The good side of that is that he gets to spend special time with them, and I get to come straight home from work and be greeted with big smiles and hugs when I walk in the door. And, Audrey gets to ride front-facing in his car because there's not enough room for the carseat to be rear-facing, and that's quite the thrill for her.
Trav told me that just before I walked in the door tonight, Audrey was working on standing up. She was crawling, straightened her legs, then threw her hands up in the air, standing up! Then she fell over, of course. But then she was working on standing and walking with a walker toy after supper tonight, and totally loving it. She seems so tall when she gets up and going, and she sure thinks she's hot stuff! We measured her on the wall for her birthday, and she's exactly as tall as Emily was at 1 year. They're growing up so fast!
And we continued the party yesterday afternoon. My sister and her girls, my parents, and my grandparents came to eat the leftover cupcakes and play with Audrey's new toys. We had dinner together, and it was a nice small celebration. I suppose it was nice to have fewer people at a time, not so overwhelming for Audrey, so that's the silver lining to all this.
Emily woke up Monday morning, singing to Audrey and then bouncing into my room saying, "Audrey's AWAKE! I sleeped well! I don't need to throw up aaaaanymore!" She didn't eat well until Tuesday or so, but she did go to daycare and did just fine. After three weeks at the new daycare, they still are having a hard time being dropped off. When I left them today, they were both in tears. I figured they recovered quickly; I don't get much feedback, though; the limited information I get is filtered because Travis picks them up. The good side of that is that he gets to spend special time with them, and I get to come straight home from work and be greeted with big smiles and hugs when I walk in the door. And, Audrey gets to ride front-facing in his car because there's not enough room for the carseat to be rear-facing, and that's quite the thrill for her.
Trav told me that just before I walked in the door tonight, Audrey was working on standing up. She was crawling, straightened her legs, then threw her hands up in the air, standing up! Then she fell over, of course. But then she was working on standing and walking with a walker toy after supper tonight, and totally loving it. She seems so tall when she gets up and going, and she sure thinks she's hot stuff! We measured her on the wall for her birthday, and she's exactly as tall as Emily was at 1 year. They're growing up so fast!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Nevermind
So, Audrey is 1, but we won't be having a birthday party because Emily has spent the day throwing up. I feel so bad for her, because she was so excited about everybody coming to celebrate for her little sister. But, she probably has the same bug that Travis and I both had earlier this week, and it is NOT FUN. Fortunately, her stomach is rejecting things straight-off so I don't think she'll have problems at the other end like Trav and I did, but it was not a fun way to wake up this morning, at 5 AM.
We wasted a perfectly good Saturday afternoon on a stupid football game when we could've been celebrating Audrey's birthday. I have a cake ready, I have presents ready, I have decorations, I have party clothes for the birthday girl, but I COULDN'T GET ANYBODY INTERESTED at the time that it was relevant so there is no party. Audrey misses out, Emily misses out, and I MISS OUT. Goddammit, the first birthday is really more about moms anyway. Hallelujah, I made it through the first year, up all night, carrying her everywhere, worrying about every little thing, and now she's not a baby anymore and we made it!! Yay.
So, we'll see how we make the most of this day. I'm obviously annoyed, and I just wanted to make this announcement:
I AM NEVER SCHEDULING ANYTHING IN MY LIFE AROUND ANY KIND OF FOOTBALL GAME EVER AGAIN.
It wasn't worth it for my senior recital and it wasn't worth it for Audrey's birthday and, you know, it's just not worth it for me to ever say that I'll allow something for someone else because I'll get it back later. How stupid am I that I keep expecting that to happen???
So If you never see me at a tailgate, that is not my problem. If you want to see me, come see me! call me! email me! don't expect me to change my plans and my life so i can shout over loud music in the cold or heat or sun or rain or whatever stupid weather they've decided to be out in. I will never again disregard what's best for my kids' schedule, or pretend to care about a bad football team who plays well once in a while. I care just enough to maybe watch them on TV or check the score later if it happens to be convenient, and say "yay" or "rats" - that's it! And if you aren't okay with that, well, you can re-evaluate your own priorities or make an effort to see me. Enough.
We wasted a perfectly good Saturday afternoon on a stupid football game when we could've been celebrating Audrey's birthday. I have a cake ready, I have presents ready, I have decorations, I have party clothes for the birthday girl, but I COULDN'T GET ANYBODY INTERESTED at the time that it was relevant so there is no party. Audrey misses out, Emily misses out, and I MISS OUT. Goddammit, the first birthday is really more about moms anyway. Hallelujah, I made it through the first year, up all night, carrying her everywhere, worrying about every little thing, and now she's not a baby anymore and we made it!! Yay.
So, we'll see how we make the most of this day. I'm obviously annoyed, and I just wanted to make this announcement:
I AM NEVER SCHEDULING ANYTHING IN MY LIFE AROUND ANY KIND OF FOOTBALL GAME EVER AGAIN.
It wasn't worth it for my senior recital and it wasn't worth it for Audrey's birthday and, you know, it's just not worth it for me to ever say that I'll allow something for someone else because I'll get it back later. How stupid am I that I keep expecting that to happen???
So If you never see me at a tailgate, that is not my problem. If you want to see me, come see me! call me! email me! don't expect me to change my plans and my life so i can shout over loud music in the cold or heat or sun or rain or whatever stupid weather they've decided to be out in. I will never again disregard what's best for my kids' schedule, or pretend to care about a bad football team who plays well once in a while. I care just enough to maybe watch them on TV or check the score later if it happens to be convenient, and say "yay" or "rats" - that's it! And if you aren't okay with that, well, you can re-evaluate your own priorities or make an effort to see me. Enough.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Audrey is 1
Today is Audrey's birthday, and we are celebrating with extended family tomorrow. today, we had a nice morning together and then Travis went up to Ames to get his heart broken by the ISU football team. They could've been blown out by the #7 team in the nation, and instead went into overtime and lost by 1 point on a trick play. i could've punched him in the gut and saved him the trouble, but he loves this, for some reason.
Speaking of football, I have a fun story about the first time that Emily watched it on TV. She watched for a little while, asked a few questions, and we told her simple things about how there are two teams wearing different colors, and they're trying to move the ball back and forth down the field. After a while, and a few commercial breaks, I was shouting at a guy to "Go go go!!" And Emily concluded, basically, that because the guy was not going, and Mom told him to, that now he had to go to time out. Isn't that great??
But, I'll post more later. Audrey has a birthday diaper for me to change - yikes!
Speaking of football, I have a fun story about the first time that Emily watched it on TV. She watched for a little while, asked a few questions, and we told her simple things about how there are two teams wearing different colors, and they're trying to move the ball back and forth down the field. After a while, and a few commercial breaks, I was shouting at a guy to "Go go go!!" And Emily concluded, basically, that because the guy was not going, and Mom told him to, that now he had to go to time out. Isn't that great??
But, I'll post more later. Audrey has a birthday diaper for me to change - yikes!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween
We had a pretty nice Halloween here. Emily was a butterfly (same costume she's worn all summer) and Audrey was a tiger (same costume Emily wore at that age), and I was a "Mommy tiger, (same costume I wore for Halloween in 8th grade!). We went trick-or-treating at my workplace on Friday afternoon, and Emily got a big kick out of that, wandering around the maze of cubicles to find pumpkins posted at people's desks to indicate they had candy to give away. And wow, my co-workers give out GOOD candy, too! On Saturday, we went trick-or-treating to two of our neighbors during the local beggar's night, but no other houses near us had lights on, so we just ate supper and went over to Dan's house for the Halloween party. It was really fun over there. I took Audrey home at bedtime, but Emily stayed out late playing with her friends, and she came home with Travis at about 9:15.
So, for all this fun, the girls have really made us pay. Or me, really, since Travis was gone for most of the week. He left Sunday morning to go to Florida for work, and came back super-late Wednesday night. I had to work Thursday, and he was at work on Friday, so he was gone essentially the entire week. To add to it, I decided to start the girls at the new daycare on Tuesday, so they were super-stressed out. It wasn't a great start; the first day I picked them up, they were huddled together in tears in the infant room. The teachers all told me that Emily had really had a great day up until about half an hour before I got there, and that Audrey would fit in better in the 1-year-olds room. So, on Thursday Audrey was in with the 1-year-olds and I picked them up earlier, and they were still both super-stressed and tearful. It was SO hard. But, long-term, I think it's the right thing to do. I just would like to really feel good about it, and I don't yet.
Since Travis was gone, I went up to my parents' place on Sunday and Monday, and it was extra-special because my grandma was visiting from Holstein. She's turns 92 in a couple of weeks and is in a nursing home, but my parents were able to care for her during her visit that was nearly a week long (when combined with a few days at my aunt's house). She stayed up late one night telling us about what running a farm was like when she was growing up and when she was first married; what they did during the day, what they ate, what they grew and sold, when they got running water and electricity and a TV (they actually had the TV before they even had just a water supply to the kitchen; they finally got full running water in the early 1960's). It was really nice, because she seemed to perk up and seem more young again. I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the little girls running around (my sister and her girls were there, too), and she doesn't see very well so I think she probably never knew whether it was me or my sister around, but it was really a lot of fun.
And then I came home, where it hit me how overwhelming the trip had been, and that I still had to face the rest of the week alone. Friday was such a letdown for us, that it was really overall a horrible day. I couldn't keep Emily from assaulting Audrey, taking toys, tackle/hugging, pushing her over, etc. I couldn't cheer Emily up - we tried going to the library, dancing in our living room, eating her favorite lunch, snuggling and reading books, and she still just whined at me. I knew she was tired, and tried to get her to lay down for a nap, but instead she screamed and woke up Audrey. I left her in her room while I dealt with an unhappy Audrey, and apparently during that time Emily decided to raid her underwear drawer. When I was helping her get into her costume (hours later), I realized that she had put on 3 additional pairs of underwear, then put her pants back on. I am so glad she did, because I laughed and laughed and laughed, and it was about the only time the entire day that I felt good at all.
Saturday I had some emotional hangover left from the horrible day before, but we set out to go up to Ames for ISU homecoming. Both girls did a great job at the tailgate, which, I'm sorry, but I don't understand why our tailgate has to have BLARING MUSIC the entire time! Why? Nobody else does! Nobody is dancing! Nobody is paying any attention at all except to try to stand so that it doesn't hurt their ears! Everybody has to shout... it's very stupid and I don't need another obstacle to my feeble attempts at being social and having casual conversations. Anyway, Trav went to the football game, the girls and I went to my sister's house, and it was a very nice day.
Today, we "dug out" of the mess we'd created all week. It was starting to look like those houses you see on the TV shows about hoarders - it was bad. I did 5 loads of laundry, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, and put away all the odds and ends from the week. Travis swept, ran the dishwasher, and spent nearly an hour getting the girls' toys organized and put in places where they'd be fun to play with again. Then in the afternoon, Travis went shopping with Emily and bought a bench for the hallway (YAY!) while I put puffy paint on the bottom of all of Emily's socks so they're easier to sort in the laundry and make them not so slippery on our floors (I did mine, too). It feels good to have gotten things accomplished. I needed that; I am a much better mother when I am not so overwhelmed.
As for the girls - Audrey is now interested in pulling herself up on things! She crawls up onto the fireplace mantle and is just so pleased with herself. She'll stand at the coffee table and she looks so tall! I'm sure she could manage to get up the stairs, but I tend to just keep her away from there. I've bought a portable jail, as Travis likes to call it, which I will use on days like Friday (I'm sure they'll happen again) to keep the girls from killing each other. And maybe it'll help keep Audrey off the stairs for a while. The girls and I have had a great time playing in the leaves lately, so we were sad to see Travis get them all cleaned up out of our backyard this afternoon; Emily was consoled by the thought there will probably be snow soon. We're all getting excited about Audrey's birthday next weekend, although I'll need to go splurge on some toys and plan a lunch for everybody. I much prefer the thought of that to what we did last week, though. I am definitely, definitely ready to be done with October.
So, for all this fun, the girls have really made us pay. Or me, really, since Travis was gone for most of the week. He left Sunday morning to go to Florida for work, and came back super-late Wednesday night. I had to work Thursday, and he was at work on Friday, so he was gone essentially the entire week. To add to it, I decided to start the girls at the new daycare on Tuesday, so they were super-stressed out. It wasn't a great start; the first day I picked them up, they were huddled together in tears in the infant room. The teachers all told me that Emily had really had a great day up until about half an hour before I got there, and that Audrey would fit in better in the 1-year-olds room. So, on Thursday Audrey was in with the 1-year-olds and I picked them up earlier, and they were still both super-stressed and tearful. It was SO hard. But, long-term, I think it's the right thing to do. I just would like to really feel good about it, and I don't yet.
Since Travis was gone, I went up to my parents' place on Sunday and Monday, and it was extra-special because my grandma was visiting from Holstein. She's turns 92 in a couple of weeks and is in a nursing home, but my parents were able to care for her during her visit that was nearly a week long (when combined with a few days at my aunt's house). She stayed up late one night telling us about what running a farm was like when she was growing up and when she was first married; what they did during the day, what they ate, what they grew and sold, when they got running water and electricity and a TV (they actually had the TV before they even had just a water supply to the kitchen; they finally got full running water in the early 1960's). It was really nice, because she seemed to perk up and seem more young again. I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the little girls running around (my sister and her girls were there, too), and she doesn't see very well so I think she probably never knew whether it was me or my sister around, but it was really a lot of fun.
And then I came home, where it hit me how overwhelming the trip had been, and that I still had to face the rest of the week alone. Friday was such a letdown for us, that it was really overall a horrible day. I couldn't keep Emily from assaulting Audrey, taking toys, tackle/hugging, pushing her over, etc. I couldn't cheer Emily up - we tried going to the library, dancing in our living room, eating her favorite lunch, snuggling and reading books, and she still just whined at me. I knew she was tired, and tried to get her to lay down for a nap, but instead she screamed and woke up Audrey. I left her in her room while I dealt with an unhappy Audrey, and apparently during that time Emily decided to raid her underwear drawer. When I was helping her get into her costume (hours later), I realized that she had put on 3 additional pairs of underwear, then put her pants back on. I am so glad she did, because I laughed and laughed and laughed, and it was about the only time the entire day that I felt good at all.
Saturday I had some emotional hangover left from the horrible day before, but we set out to go up to Ames for ISU homecoming. Both girls did a great job at the tailgate, which, I'm sorry, but I don't understand why our tailgate has to have BLARING MUSIC the entire time! Why? Nobody else does! Nobody is dancing! Nobody is paying any attention at all except to try to stand so that it doesn't hurt their ears! Everybody has to shout... it's very stupid and I don't need another obstacle to my feeble attempts at being social and having casual conversations. Anyway, Trav went to the football game, the girls and I went to my sister's house, and it was a very nice day.
Today, we "dug out" of the mess we'd created all week. It was starting to look like those houses you see on the TV shows about hoarders - it was bad. I did 5 loads of laundry, vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, and put away all the odds and ends from the week. Travis swept, ran the dishwasher, and spent nearly an hour getting the girls' toys organized and put in places where they'd be fun to play with again. Then in the afternoon, Travis went shopping with Emily and bought a bench for the hallway (YAY!) while I put puffy paint on the bottom of all of Emily's socks so they're easier to sort in the laundry and make them not so slippery on our floors (I did mine, too). It feels good to have gotten things accomplished. I needed that; I am a much better mother when I am not so overwhelmed.
As for the girls - Audrey is now interested in pulling herself up on things! She crawls up onto the fireplace mantle and is just so pleased with herself. She'll stand at the coffee table and she looks so tall! I'm sure she could manage to get up the stairs, but I tend to just keep her away from there. I've bought a portable jail, as Travis likes to call it, which I will use on days like Friday (I'm sure they'll happen again) to keep the girls from killing each other. And maybe it'll help keep Audrey off the stairs for a while. The girls and I have had a great time playing in the leaves lately, so we were sad to see Travis get them all cleaned up out of our backyard this afternoon; Emily was consoled by the thought there will probably be snow soon. We're all getting excited about Audrey's birthday next weekend, although I'll need to go splurge on some toys and plan a lunch for everybody. I much prefer the thought of that to what we did last week, though. I am definitely, definitely ready to be done with October.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Party time
This weekend was the big Trip to Kansas City that we've had our sights on for months. When we got the invitation to Felix's wedding, Travis said that we're GOING and we're NOT TAKING THE KIDS. So we did! I had been fantasizing about this weekend, especially last spring when I was so thoroughly exhausted, wondering what it would be like to be undisturbed for a whole night's sleep, but it didn't exactly go like that. We partied it up at the reception, made tremendous fools of ourselves (says me; Trav said we were totally fine), and I crashed at 12:30. Travis went out to the Power and Light district in KC for more festivities, and came in two hours later. Then he woke me again at 5:30 with a coughing fit, and I woke up at 6:30 cuz that's when it's time to get up. I did sleep until 8:30, though, so that was pretty nice. I did have quite a bit of coffee that morning!
The wedding was in this tiny town NW of Missouri, set in the hills with a crazy little old-fashioned main street, with almost european-feeling shops and pubs along it. There was a beautiful little park, and they were having a street organ festival, with the hand-crank kind all along the streets, and a few big trucks full of them at intersections. I can't even describe how bizarre they all sounded together! The church was at the top of a hill, overlooking the town with all the yellow and orange trees, the bright blue sky, it was SO pretty. The singer they had for the wedding was incredible. She sang Schubert's Ave Maria and it was absolutely gorgeous, like, relax and let the music wash over you in this beautiful setting, because you know you won't need to cringe or anything, just lovely. The reception was downtown KC in a trendy location, with incredible food and an open bar. There were people from all over the world at the reception - mostly German, like the groom, but he's got quite a few friends from around the world, and they were all friendly and interesting, with excellent English and ready to party. And then Sunday, I met one of my dearest friends for brunch before we skipped town! It was really, really a fantastic time.
I have to keep reminding myself of how great my weekend was because today has been such a letdown. I'm thoroughly exhausted, but so are the girls, so they mostly wanted to scream at each other today. We did some errands this morning, but I think I jumped the gun putting Audrey down for her afternoon snooze so she wasn't tired yet, and then didn't end up napping until 5:30. In addition to unpacking, sorting laundry, cleaning floors and washing high-chair trays, there was Play-Doh mashed into the carpet on the porch (Emily spent literally HOURS playing out there with Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan over the weekend, so it was probably a good investment of time). So with all the emotional let-down and the catchup work to do, I've been pretty grouchy today. It was worth it, I know, but wouldn't it be great if I could do all the catchup stuff before I left, so the mood swing went "extra-sucky to great to normal", instead of "great to extra-sucky to normal, if you work hard enough"? AND, my new shoes gave me some wicked blisters, and even with bandaids on my heels they cracked open, so I have a nice little limp today.
The girls had a really great time and did just fine without us, even though they somehow knew to get up and cause some trouble Saturday night at about 3 AM. Audrey missed me at bedtime and wanted nothing to do with the bottle, but she still went to sleep no problem. They were both kinda funny when I got home. Audrey just stared at me blankly and suspiciously, but then finally snuggled up and was happy to be with me. Emily was excited to see me, but not so excited that she stopped what she was doing with Grandma. You'd think that somebody (like me) who doesn't leave her kids that often would be that way because she's worried about the welfare of the kids, micromanagement style, but that wasn't really it. It's just that I'm too lazy to do all the extra work that comes with it!
The wedding was in this tiny town NW of Missouri, set in the hills with a crazy little old-fashioned main street, with almost european-feeling shops and pubs along it. There was a beautiful little park, and they were having a street organ festival, with the hand-crank kind all along the streets, and a few big trucks full of them at intersections. I can't even describe how bizarre they all sounded together! The church was at the top of a hill, overlooking the town with all the yellow and orange trees, the bright blue sky, it was SO pretty. The singer they had for the wedding was incredible. She sang Schubert's Ave Maria and it was absolutely gorgeous, like, relax and let the music wash over you in this beautiful setting, because you know you won't need to cringe or anything, just lovely. The reception was downtown KC in a trendy location, with incredible food and an open bar. There were people from all over the world at the reception - mostly German, like the groom, but he's got quite a few friends from around the world, and they were all friendly and interesting, with excellent English and ready to party. And then Sunday, I met one of my dearest friends for brunch before we skipped town! It was really, really a fantastic time.
I have to keep reminding myself of how great my weekend was because today has been such a letdown. I'm thoroughly exhausted, but so are the girls, so they mostly wanted to scream at each other today. We did some errands this morning, but I think I jumped the gun putting Audrey down for her afternoon snooze so she wasn't tired yet, and then didn't end up napping until 5:30. In addition to unpacking, sorting laundry, cleaning floors and washing high-chair trays, there was Play-Doh mashed into the carpet on the porch (Emily spent literally HOURS playing out there with Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan over the weekend, so it was probably a good investment of time). So with all the emotional let-down and the catchup work to do, I've been pretty grouchy today. It was worth it, I know, but wouldn't it be great if I could do all the catchup stuff before I left, so the mood swing went "extra-sucky to great to normal", instead of "great to extra-sucky to normal, if you work hard enough"? AND, my new shoes gave me some wicked blisters, and even with bandaids on my heels they cracked open, so I have a nice little limp today.
The girls had a really great time and did just fine without us, even though they somehow knew to get up and cause some trouble Saturday night at about 3 AM. Audrey missed me at bedtime and wanted nothing to do with the bottle, but she still went to sleep no problem. They were both kinda funny when I got home. Audrey just stared at me blankly and suspiciously, but then finally snuggled up and was happy to be with me. Emily was excited to see me, but not so excited that she stopped what she was doing with Grandma. You'd think that somebody (like me) who doesn't leave her kids that often would be that way because she's worried about the welfare of the kids, micromanagement style, but that wasn't really it. It's just that I'm too lazy to do all the extra work that comes with it!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Birthday fun
Emily is 3!
The birthday was very, very fun. Saturday, we met my sister's family and my parents and my grandparents and Travis's parents in Boone to take a ride on the scenic railway - Emily's first train ride. She had a fantastic time, although I think most of it was that she had all her grandparents and cousins to be with, and the train ride was a secondary thrill. We ate dinner in Boone that night, and drove our two sleeping girls back home, listening to the Cyclones LOSE miserably over the radio. It's sure easier not caring about college football. You might call me a fairweather fan, except I don't care that much when they win, either. I was more concerned at the time about how to construct a butterfly birthday cake, which turned out pretty well. I don't have a picture of it because of course the camera battery needed recharging right in the middle of things, but there were 3 other very active picture-takers that day so I'm sure I didn't miss much.
Sunday, the real party started, when the whole crew from the day before came to our house to celebrate Emily's birthday. Emily had a bath in the morning, and then picked out a brand new dress to wear. Travis caught a video of her singing happy birthday to herself, shortly before everybody arrived. Then once people got here, she was a little bit overwhelmed by all the people and the tremendous task of opening all her presents, but she made it through. She was frustrated for a few minutes, though, even shouting, "I don't WANT to open presents!!" But I guess that means she was really liking the ones she had gotten so far. She received such great presents, really. She got a beautiful doll from Grandma S., complete with home-sewn outfits and diapers; from her cousins, she got a camping chair that looks like a hippo on the back; she got a teaset from uncle mark, and a car magna-doodle from mommo and poppo. There were books, games, a shirt that changes color in the sunlight, and even a toy trumpet. It's only been 24 hours and I think she's played with nearly everything (except the games, I think, which she'll grow in to in no time, I'm sure.) What a lucky girl.
And what a beautiful day it was! We got some gorgeous pictures of the girls out in the yard in their matching butterfly dresses - so pretty. One of my favorite memories of the day was seeing Emily sitting in her new chair, rocking her new baby, singing the prettiest songs to her, while Mommo and Poppo sat just behind her, listening and smiling. I don't know when my girls will realize it, but their entire extended family is so awesome. We are so lucky!!
In other news, we are starting a new daycare two weeks from now. I'm tired of Audrey smelling like cat and being attacked by the other girls there, and by Emily watching so much TV that she sings the Barney song all the time, and now knows who all kinds of kids' characters are. (Going through the toy section in Target was interesting, seeing who all she recognizes from TV). There's nothing wrong with recognizing them, except that it means she's been watching too much TV, in my opinion. So, we're going to a center that has a preschool program for Emily (she'll be in with the 3-year-olds, *phew!*), and Audrey will be in the 1-year-old room starting in January, which I am less certain about but will probably be better than what we've got now. I can't believe I put this change on myself with everything else going on in October, but it'll be better for us in the long run, I'm sure.
So, next weekend is my first night away from my girls! I'm sure it'll go fine, but I'm still a little nervous. I haven't had my brain all to myself in so long, I'm sure I'll do/say stupid things until I get used to it.
The birthday was very, very fun. Saturday, we met my sister's family and my parents and my grandparents and Travis's parents in Boone to take a ride on the scenic railway - Emily's first train ride. She had a fantastic time, although I think most of it was that she had all her grandparents and cousins to be with, and the train ride was a secondary thrill. We ate dinner in Boone that night, and drove our two sleeping girls back home, listening to the Cyclones LOSE miserably over the radio. It's sure easier not caring about college football. You might call me a fairweather fan, except I don't care that much when they win, either. I was more concerned at the time about how to construct a butterfly birthday cake, which turned out pretty well. I don't have a picture of it because of course the camera battery needed recharging right in the middle of things, but there were 3 other very active picture-takers that day so I'm sure I didn't miss much.
Sunday, the real party started, when the whole crew from the day before came to our house to celebrate Emily's birthday. Emily had a bath in the morning, and then picked out a brand new dress to wear. Travis caught a video of her singing happy birthday to herself, shortly before everybody arrived. Then once people got here, she was a little bit overwhelmed by all the people and the tremendous task of opening all her presents, but she made it through. She was frustrated for a few minutes, though, even shouting, "I don't WANT to open presents!!" But I guess that means she was really liking the ones she had gotten so far. She received such great presents, really. She got a beautiful doll from Grandma S., complete with home-sewn outfits and diapers; from her cousins, she got a camping chair that looks like a hippo on the back; she got a teaset from uncle mark, and a car magna-doodle from mommo and poppo. There were books, games, a shirt that changes color in the sunlight, and even a toy trumpet. It's only been 24 hours and I think she's played with nearly everything (except the games, I think, which she'll grow in to in no time, I'm sure.) What a lucky girl.
And what a beautiful day it was! We got some gorgeous pictures of the girls out in the yard in their matching butterfly dresses - so pretty. One of my favorite memories of the day was seeing Emily sitting in her new chair, rocking her new baby, singing the prettiest songs to her, while Mommo and Poppo sat just behind her, listening and smiling. I don't know when my girls will realize it, but their entire extended family is so awesome. We are so lucky!!
In other news, we are starting a new daycare two weeks from now. I'm tired of Audrey smelling like cat and being attacked by the other girls there, and by Emily watching so much TV that she sings the Barney song all the time, and now knows who all kinds of kids' characters are. (Going through the toy section in Target was interesting, seeing who all she recognizes from TV). There's nothing wrong with recognizing them, except that it means she's been watching too much TV, in my opinion. So, we're going to a center that has a preschool program for Emily (she'll be in with the 3-year-olds, *phew!*), and Audrey will be in the 1-year-old room starting in January, which I am less certain about but will probably be better than what we've got now. I can't believe I put this change on myself with everything else going on in October, but it'll be better for us in the long run, I'm sure.
So, next weekend is my first night away from my girls! I'm sure it'll go fine, but I'm still a little nervous. I haven't had my brain all to myself in so long, I'm sure I'll do/say stupid things until I get used to it.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Go Audrey! Go Cyclones!
Audrey's really crawling now. She's on the move, and she's so much happier. Emily is a little annoyed, but we're handling that just fine.
We've had a crazy weekend, and thankfully we still have Sunday left to enjoy! Friday we spent the day in Ames because my sister won a free lunch for 20 people from the Ames Visitor and Convention Bureau. We ate pizza outside on a beautiful day on the patio north of Stephen's auditorium, and they even sent a limo to pick us up from Jenny's house! The girls and I followed in the van, cuz I was leery of Audrey traveling without a carseat, although it was Emily's choice to ride with me. The best part for Emily - Cy was there! She was really scared at first, but we ran around with Cy while she held my hand, and then finally gave him a high five right before we left. She was surprised that his hands were scratchy. :)
That was good warm-up for last night, when we went to the football game, where she saw Cy again! Members of the Little Clone Club got to go out onto the field to see the team run out before the game, and she got to be up close to the band. She LOVED it, although once the game started she was less happy to be there. I got lots of cute pictures of her and Travis together, while Audrey and I stayed in the stands. Audrey didn't last two plays into the actual game - too loud, too many people - but she did enjoy riding in the backpack carrier, and she squeaked and kicked and cooed all the way back to Mommo and Poppo's house. We ate supper there, and Travis and Emily came back after halftime. It was a really nice outing, even if the tailgating experience was rough beforehand. Travis tried to drop off me and the girls at a place close to the tailgate, but it turned out to not be close at all. I was carrying both girls for most of a mile-long hike - 25 lbs on my back, 35 in my arms in front. Then once I got there, the music was incredibly loud, and I kept losing track of Emily, and when I did find people that I wanted to talk to, I was so frazzled that I didn't know what to say. If I ever do get to have a conversation with somebody, it's a max of 15 seconds before somebody else needs me and I have to tend to someone else. So that was a personal frustration, but as a family it was a really nice outing.
Really, there were other kids at the football game at the tailgate, of all ages, just having a nice time enjoying it all. My kids don't handle it well, and I know that and I'm totally fine with that. So why am I expected to keep dragging them into places that I know won't work well?? Yes, other kids are fine with it, but mine are not. So what?? Can anyone just believe me that I really do know my kids that well? Besides, I prefer my kids the way they are - why should I try to make them act more like other people's?? Just my little rant there. I feel better with that off my chest!
Friday night, after the exciting day in Ames, we went on a hayride at my co-worker's house south of Norwalk (a good 45 min drive!). There was a bonfire and kitties and lots of other kids, and it was a beautiful warm evening with hot dogs and marshmallows for roasting. It was really, really nice. I had the same social anxieties / frustrations as usual, but it was still really fun and worth the drive. We know some really nice people!
This morning, Travis found Emily washing off Audrey's high chair tray in the bathroom sink. It was really cute - she had the bar of Dial and was waving it over the tray as the water ran over it. She turned to me and said, "now it's ALLL clean!" What a helper! We had a rough go of things for a while, because she had told me she wasn't going to go potty anymore, that she was done with that. She held it in for so long that... you can imagine what had been happening. Days we dealt with that, until Megan came to play, and Emily decided she could go, "just like Megan." I guess the days of me being able to fix things for her are over (that went fast!!). If it's up to Emily, she's gonna have to work it out herself, I guess, and my help really doesn't go that far.
Audrey is proving to be a champion eater! At this age, Emily had already developed her aversion to anything green and/or vegetable, but Audrey will eat zucchini, mushrooms, green peppers, and beans of any kind. She loves squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes, and she just about freaked out in anticipation last night when she saw me cutting up a peach for her. She loves pears, plums, apples, bread, yogurt, noodles, and even ratatouille! She hasn't been much of a fan of meat, but either she'll figure that out or I'll just have a healthy eater on my hands. That's such a relief - even if she does think her hair is a napkin!
We've had a crazy weekend, and thankfully we still have Sunday left to enjoy! Friday we spent the day in Ames because my sister won a free lunch for 20 people from the Ames Visitor and Convention Bureau. We ate pizza outside on a beautiful day on the patio north of Stephen's auditorium, and they even sent a limo to pick us up from Jenny's house! The girls and I followed in the van, cuz I was leery of Audrey traveling without a carseat, although it was Emily's choice to ride with me. The best part for Emily - Cy was there! She was really scared at first, but we ran around with Cy while she held my hand, and then finally gave him a high five right before we left. She was surprised that his hands were scratchy. :)
That was good warm-up for last night, when we went to the football game, where she saw Cy again! Members of the Little Clone Club got to go out onto the field to see the team run out before the game, and she got to be up close to the band. She LOVED it, although once the game started she was less happy to be there. I got lots of cute pictures of her and Travis together, while Audrey and I stayed in the stands. Audrey didn't last two plays into the actual game - too loud, too many people - but she did enjoy riding in the backpack carrier, and she squeaked and kicked and cooed all the way back to Mommo and Poppo's house. We ate supper there, and Travis and Emily came back after halftime. It was a really nice outing, even if the tailgating experience was rough beforehand. Travis tried to drop off me and the girls at a place close to the tailgate, but it turned out to not be close at all. I was carrying both girls for most of a mile-long hike - 25 lbs on my back, 35 in my arms in front. Then once I got there, the music was incredibly loud, and I kept losing track of Emily, and when I did find people that I wanted to talk to, I was so frazzled that I didn't know what to say. If I ever do get to have a conversation with somebody, it's a max of 15 seconds before somebody else needs me and I have to tend to someone else. So that was a personal frustration, but as a family it was a really nice outing.
Really, there were other kids at the football game at the tailgate, of all ages, just having a nice time enjoying it all. My kids don't handle it well, and I know that and I'm totally fine with that. So why am I expected to keep dragging them into places that I know won't work well?? Yes, other kids are fine with it, but mine are not. So what?? Can anyone just believe me that I really do know my kids that well? Besides, I prefer my kids the way they are - why should I try to make them act more like other people's?? Just my little rant there. I feel better with that off my chest!
Friday night, after the exciting day in Ames, we went on a hayride at my co-worker's house south of Norwalk (a good 45 min drive!). There was a bonfire and kitties and lots of other kids, and it was a beautiful warm evening with hot dogs and marshmallows for roasting. It was really, really nice. I had the same social anxieties / frustrations as usual, but it was still really fun and worth the drive. We know some really nice people!
This morning, Travis found Emily washing off Audrey's high chair tray in the bathroom sink. It was really cute - she had the bar of Dial and was waving it over the tray as the water ran over it. She turned to me and said, "now it's ALLL clean!" What a helper! We had a rough go of things for a while, because she had told me she wasn't going to go potty anymore, that she was done with that. She held it in for so long that... you can imagine what had been happening. Days we dealt with that, until Megan came to play, and Emily decided she could go, "just like Megan." I guess the days of me being able to fix things for her are over (that went fast!!). If it's up to Emily, she's gonna have to work it out herself, I guess, and my help really doesn't go that far.
Audrey is proving to be a champion eater! At this age, Emily had already developed her aversion to anything green and/or vegetable, but Audrey will eat zucchini, mushrooms, green peppers, and beans of any kind. She loves squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes, and she just about freaked out in anticipation last night when she saw me cutting up a peach for her. She loves pears, plums, apples, bread, yogurt, noodles, and even ratatouille! She hasn't been much of a fan of meat, but either she'll figure that out or I'll just have a healthy eater on my hands. That's such a relief - even if she does think her hair is a napkin!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Almost crawling...
Audrey is finally, finally creeping forward. Several times tonight, I saw each knee scootch forward before she collapsed and lunched for what she wanted. She's such a long baby that she really has everything she wants within her reach. It's a very long reach! I think we'll be having a lot of fun with her by this weekend. Can't wait! I sure get tired of her howling helplessly on the floor. Now she can come right up to me and howl in my ear! :)
We had a really nice weekend at home. I cooked like crazy, and processed all the tomatoes my parents brought me from their garden, making homemade salsa, and homemade ratatouille. Then I made chorizo and egg burritos for supper with fried potatoes - soooo good. On Sunday I roasted a bunch of chicken breasts and used some in chicken tortilla soup, and made apple pies in my new ramekins. Today I didn't much feel like making anything for supper, so it was nice to have a fridge full of leftovers.
I actually went to work today, to attend a training class. I think it has been a good class, but I had to reschedule my week and tomorrow I get to spend another 9 hours in the same room. I don't know how working moms can drop their kids off every day. It'll kill me to say goodbye to them again so soon! I need a day in between to get good and tired of them, whereas Friday I'll be ready to give them away, I'm sure! At least everybody is feeling healthy again. Audrey's getting pretty good at taking her medicine finally, now that she's dribbled pink syrup all over a week's wardrobe.
My coworker told me today that she is expecting twins in March! Wow! She says that twins run in her family, so she wasn't totally surprised, but she's pretty overwhelmed. She and her husband had been debating on whether to have a family of 2 or 3 kids, but since they already have one, this makes that decision for them! She said she really just didn't want to be pregnant 3 times, so it's a win-win. I just hope we've got another person added to our group before she starts her leave!!
We had a really nice weekend at home. I cooked like crazy, and processed all the tomatoes my parents brought me from their garden, making homemade salsa, and homemade ratatouille. Then I made chorizo and egg burritos for supper with fried potatoes - soooo good. On Sunday I roasted a bunch of chicken breasts and used some in chicken tortilla soup, and made apple pies in my new ramekins. Today I didn't much feel like making anything for supper, so it was nice to have a fridge full of leftovers.
I actually went to work today, to attend a training class. I think it has been a good class, but I had to reschedule my week and tomorrow I get to spend another 9 hours in the same room. I don't know how working moms can drop their kids off every day. It'll kill me to say goodbye to them again so soon! I need a day in between to get good and tired of them, whereas Friday I'll be ready to give them away, I'm sure! At least everybody is feeling healthy again. Audrey's getting pretty good at taking her medicine finally, now that she's dribbled pink syrup all over a week's wardrobe.
My coworker told me today that she is expecting twins in March! Wow! She says that twins run in her family, so she wasn't totally surprised, but she's pretty overwhelmed. She and her husband had been debating on whether to have a family of 2 or 3 kids, but since they already have one, this makes that decision for them! She said she really just didn't want to be pregnant 3 times, so it's a win-win. I just hope we've got another person added to our group before she starts her leave!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Much better
I didn't get much sleep last night, because I was up late talking to Travis about the things in my previous post. Apparently, airing all that out made me feel a lot better because today was a much better day, even though I spent the majority of the day with a crying Audrey on my lap. Her ear infection got worse last night instead of better, so I stayed home with her today. Emily went to daycare for the morning, so I had a nice morning snuggling my baby, which I hadn't realized was so much rarer than when Emily was that small!! I picked her up after lunch, and Audrey slept most of the afternoon, Emily and I snuggled and dozed together, and we spent the rest of the day happy.
Emily made a "bed" for me tonight - blankets and a pillow on the couch. I was rocking Audrey at the time, though, so Emily tucked her dad in. She was soooo sweet. She got him a blanket "case you get cold," turned on the fan "case you get hot," then gave him a big smooch on his forehead. Then she went over and picked out two books, and brought them over to the edge of the couch and read to him. And I got to sit back and just watch, because Audrey was asleep in my lap by then. It was a wonderful moment.
See? I had my wig-out moment, and now I'm back in the game. I love, love, love my family.
Emily made a "bed" for me tonight - blankets and a pillow on the couch. I was rocking Audrey at the time, though, so Emily tucked her dad in. She was soooo sweet. She got him a blanket "case you get cold," turned on the fan "case you get hot," then gave him a big smooch on his forehead. Then she went over and picked out two books, and brought them over to the edge of the couch and read to him. And I got to sit back and just watch, because Audrey was asleep in my lap by then. It was a wonderful moment.
See? I had my wig-out moment, and now I'm back in the game. I love, love, love my family.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Rough week
I've had a tough week. I think everyone else has been a normal up and down, but I seem to have taken all the downs and really sunk with them. Audrey had a sniffley nose last week, which turned into a really nasty cold for me, and then just today her ears filled up and she spent the day with a fever. She was so agreeable that I figured I'd wait and see if she could sleep through it and feel better, but after her nap she was really tugging at her ears so I took her to the doctor. Only her second ear infection of her life, but I sure wish I'd taken her in first thing in the morning, because going during after-work traffic was super sucky. There's an otoscope on its way from Amazon right now - enough of this guessing!
Neither girl has slept well this week, which means I haven't either. Emily has been waking about 5 AM complaining that it's dark, but I think she actually is waking because she's cold, and then is confused by the darkness. Try to get her to wear pants for pj's, though, and what a battle you'll get. Travis tried to take her back to bed on Saturday morning, but she wanted to be in bed with us (which is weird because we never do that) so she howled at the top of her lungs for a few minutes, which meant Audrey woke up and wanted to eat. So, that was a long day. No nap that day due to the excitement of the football game (every other kid at the party napped, but even though I took Emily home to be in her bed, she wouldn't nap. I guess she's done napping - fine, let's just get the new schedule figured out). I am starting to feel angry-tired, like I was a few months ago, because I am constantly sneezing and coughing, and my head aches and my back aches from carrying a cranky baby... poor me! Even Travis woke me up last night because I was breathing loudly (can't let me get any deep sleep) and he wanted to make sure that I was on my side away from him, and I was, but the way he touched me felt like Emily reaching for me, so I woke up to see if everything was okay. It was. It was just a team effort that the entire family is in on, to keep me sleep-deprived.
Emily really doesn't enjoy her days at the new daycare. She still talks lovingly about Ms. Amanda's as though she's sure she'll go back there at some point - this other place is just getting in the way of that. She says she's bored there, which I believe. She's bored at home and we do lots! We tried to go to the Spanish language school today, but apparently the person who was in charge of that decided not to do it this year, and didn't take down the posted 2010-2011 class schedule from the website. In searching for an alternative, I found a childcare center in Waukee that includes yoga and Spanish in with its regular preschool program for older kids, and starts signing with infants as soon as they're ready. I called - they don't take part timers. Gah! Do I keep my kids home and bored with me, or send them away to be enriched by other "random" people? I don't think I can win here - I don't get to be the recipient of their shining, best selves either way.
The most frustrating thing is the verbal instruction. I know Emily can do what I ask her to do - she just chooses to make it difficult for me. I can ask her to do something (go wash your hands, stop chewing on that, let go of your sister, etc.) and she'll continue to do whatever she's doing until I get up, go over and start to force the issue, and then she jumps to do whatever I said just before I get to her. She heard me, she understood and she knew, but she just wanted to make me MAKE her do it. Why?? Can't she just believe me that I need her to do what I asked her? Can't she just trust me that I'm trying to keep her safe and healthy?? especially when my hands are full of screaming baby, or I'm trying to sit down to eat something or (god forbid) I snuck away to the bathroom for a second. You would think she would jump when I should "STOP" at her suddenly, just out of instinct from being shouted at suddenly, but no, she just keeps at it until I actually grab her hands away. I know she's just "testing" and just seeing where boundaries are, but can't she just believe me when I tell her? Or when I remind her of what happened the last time she tested that same boundary? Must everything go in her mouth? I swear, she cries more than Audrey does and chews on more things that Audrey does. But, only for me. For everyone else, she is mature and talkative and charming and all that. I am told she does this just for me because she feels safe around me. I don't know why - all of this, combined with my overtired state, makes me into such a lunatic that you'd think she'd be scared of me.
Audrey's still not crawling. I am really not concerned by this at all - she's doing great things and she's obviously a happy, intelligent, wonderful baby, and Emily was kind of the same way with mobility and she's clearly just fine developmentally. I'm fully aware that my daily life is much easier without having to chase a crawler around. But I CAN NOT WAIT for her to walk, just so I can quit having to explain or make excuses for her lack of mobility to everyone, from close friends to acquaintances to complete strangers. Nobody (or almost nobody) asks me how her fine motor skills are progressing, or if it seems like she's understanding language around her yet, or how she interacts with her toys or her sister, you know, all the ways she's really amazing and I could brag about. Nope - it's "Is she walking yet?" and then "Did you know her hair is kind of red?" Really? No kidding! I can't believe I didn't notice that, considering I'm her mother and I stare at her for hours each day!
Wow, I really hate people, I guess. I do love my girls, though. I really should be using this blog to do the opposite kind of filtering that this post is - all the great stuff without the relatively small amount of crappy stuff. But, like I said, I'm incredibly tired, and I can't seem to fall asleep before 10:00 and I've been wakened repeatedly every night this past week, and I'm sick. this morning I was still in bed at 7:00 and it felt like I'd slept til noon. If I could get some rest, I could be a not-crazy mom. If I could eat a few bites of dinner without having to get up to get ketchup, napkins, the OTHER spoon, more applesauce because I refuse to eat the healthy food that you cooked from scratch, more milk -- no I wanted juice! waaaah! i want juice!!! waaaaaah! meltdown. 20 minutes of screaming. Augh! Leave me alone for just a second. Quit needing me for just a moment and I will be your healthy role model. Don't insist on being carried, don't test every command from me, don't demand my attention constantly, don't suck me dry every instant of every day and I can provide more for you, I promise. I don't know how else to reserve anything for me except to go to work, to send the kids to a less-then-great daycare so I can go to a job that I could take or leave... if leaving didn't mean I'd be trampled by the overwhelming task of mothering 24/7.
How can they be so big and so little at the same time?
Neither girl has slept well this week, which means I haven't either. Emily has been waking about 5 AM complaining that it's dark, but I think she actually is waking because she's cold, and then is confused by the darkness. Try to get her to wear pants for pj's, though, and what a battle you'll get. Travis tried to take her back to bed on Saturday morning, but she wanted to be in bed with us (which is weird because we never do that) so she howled at the top of her lungs for a few minutes, which meant Audrey woke up and wanted to eat. So, that was a long day. No nap that day due to the excitement of the football game (every other kid at the party napped, but even though I took Emily home to be in her bed, she wouldn't nap. I guess she's done napping - fine, let's just get the new schedule figured out). I am starting to feel angry-tired, like I was a few months ago, because I am constantly sneezing and coughing, and my head aches and my back aches from carrying a cranky baby... poor me! Even Travis woke me up last night because I was breathing loudly (can't let me get any deep sleep) and he wanted to make sure that I was on my side away from him, and I was, but the way he touched me felt like Emily reaching for me, so I woke up to see if everything was okay. It was. It was just a team effort that the entire family is in on, to keep me sleep-deprived.
Emily really doesn't enjoy her days at the new daycare. She still talks lovingly about Ms. Amanda's as though she's sure she'll go back there at some point - this other place is just getting in the way of that. She says she's bored there, which I believe. She's bored at home and we do lots! We tried to go to the Spanish language school today, but apparently the person who was in charge of that decided not to do it this year, and didn't take down the posted 2010-2011 class schedule from the website. In searching for an alternative, I found a childcare center in Waukee that includes yoga and Spanish in with its regular preschool program for older kids, and starts signing with infants as soon as they're ready. I called - they don't take part timers. Gah! Do I keep my kids home and bored with me, or send them away to be enriched by other "random" people? I don't think I can win here - I don't get to be the recipient of their shining, best selves either way.
The most frustrating thing is the verbal instruction. I know Emily can do what I ask her to do - she just chooses to make it difficult for me. I can ask her to do something (go wash your hands, stop chewing on that, let go of your sister, etc.) and she'll continue to do whatever she's doing until I get up, go over and start to force the issue, and then she jumps to do whatever I said just before I get to her. She heard me, she understood and she knew, but she just wanted to make me MAKE her do it. Why?? Can't she just believe me that I need her to do what I asked her? Can't she just trust me that I'm trying to keep her safe and healthy?? especially when my hands are full of screaming baby, or I'm trying to sit down to eat something or (god forbid) I snuck away to the bathroom for a second. You would think she would jump when I should "STOP" at her suddenly, just out of instinct from being shouted at suddenly, but no, she just keeps at it until I actually grab her hands away. I know she's just "testing" and just seeing where boundaries are, but can't she just believe me when I tell her? Or when I remind her of what happened the last time she tested that same boundary? Must everything go in her mouth? I swear, she cries more than Audrey does and chews on more things that Audrey does. But, only for me. For everyone else, she is mature and talkative and charming and all that. I am told she does this just for me because she feels safe around me. I don't know why - all of this, combined with my overtired state, makes me into such a lunatic that you'd think she'd be scared of me.
Audrey's still not crawling. I am really not concerned by this at all - she's doing great things and she's obviously a happy, intelligent, wonderful baby, and Emily was kind of the same way with mobility and she's clearly just fine developmentally. I'm fully aware that my daily life is much easier without having to chase a crawler around. But I CAN NOT WAIT for her to walk, just so I can quit having to explain or make excuses for her lack of mobility to everyone, from close friends to acquaintances to complete strangers. Nobody (or almost nobody) asks me how her fine motor skills are progressing, or if it seems like she's understanding language around her yet, or how she interacts with her toys or her sister, you know, all the ways she's really amazing and I could brag about. Nope - it's "Is she walking yet?" and then "Did you know her hair is kind of red?" Really? No kidding! I can't believe I didn't notice that, considering I'm her mother and I stare at her for hours each day!
Wow, I really hate people, I guess. I do love my girls, though. I really should be using this blog to do the opposite kind of filtering that this post is - all the great stuff without the relatively small amount of crappy stuff. But, like I said, I'm incredibly tired, and I can't seem to fall asleep before 10:00 and I've been wakened repeatedly every night this past week, and I'm sick. this morning I was still in bed at 7:00 and it felt like I'd slept til noon. If I could get some rest, I could be a not-crazy mom. If I could eat a few bites of dinner without having to get up to get ketchup, napkins, the OTHER spoon, more applesauce because I refuse to eat the healthy food that you cooked from scratch, more milk -- no I wanted juice! waaaah! i want juice!!! waaaaaah! meltdown. 20 minutes of screaming. Augh! Leave me alone for just a second. Quit needing me for just a moment and I will be your healthy role model. Don't insist on being carried, don't test every command from me, don't demand my attention constantly, don't suck me dry every instant of every day and I can provide more for you, I promise. I don't know how else to reserve anything for me except to go to work, to send the kids to a less-then-great daycare so I can go to a job that I could take or leave... if leaving didn't mean I'd be trampled by the overwhelming task of mothering 24/7.
How can they be so big and so little at the same time?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Incommunicado, with trumpets
It's been a weird weekend. Saturday, I discovered that my phone had been chewed on one too many times, and the moisture in the headset port makes it think the headset is plugged in. I can't be heard or hear the other end, so it's pretty much only good for texting, which I never do anyway. Then, on Sunday, I went to log into my email, to discover that someone had hacked in and sent out some stupid email to all my contacts. I was able to get that figured out, but I'm still working on the phone. I really didn't want to have to buy a new one, but I suppose I'll have to. It's also incentive to finally get a land line. It's really not safe to not have one, considering how easy it would be to have my cell phone end up in the potty or something, and I don't want to be alone with the girls without any phone. So, good times there.
We had a busy week, and we spent Saturday catching up. The girls hadn't slept well all week, and we finally were all rested and happy on Sunday. We had thought about going up to Barnum for the weekend, and maybe doing some biking, go over to Holstein to see my Grandma, visit Patrick, and just relax a bit. But I couldn't get my butt in gear to get things packed or planned or anything on Saturday. I was just absolutely wiped out. Sunday I felt better, but by then it really only made sense for Travis to go visit Pat with his parents, so he drove up and back in the same day while the girls and I just played at home. Today we were much more productive, just getting things done around the house. It's nice to feel a little bit caught up.
Audrey is so very close to crawling. Tonight, I was moving her legs as she was moving her hands forward, and she thought it was hilarious. She's pretty mobile even without it, especially since she can back into a sitting position from her tummy. That helps a TON - she's so much happier being able to do that. We're down to nursing 3 times a day now, so I was pretty happy to say goodbye to nursing bras. She's picked up a bit of a cold, probably from daycare last week, and trying to get a kleenex up to her nose is a real battle, but it's only been a day so I still think it's cute. She's so very expressive, and so beautiful.
Travis took Emily to the ISU football season opener Thursday night, just the two of them. They were both so excited, it was really cute. They both had a great time, and made plans to go to the game where the Little Clone Club members get to go out on the field before the game. And of course, there was the marching band, which Emily LOVED. She was so smitten with it that she wanted to get out my trumpet last night. I handed her a mouthpiece and showed her how to buzz, and she totally got it, right away! She was too shy at first to try it with the trumpet, but when she did, she loved it! Travis got a video, which I'll try to post sometime. We played it again this afternoon, and it sounded only slightly less like a vuvuzela than her first try.
I don't think Emily has been napping at Janet's, so I'm going to ask Janet to check on her after 20 minutes and let her stay awake if she's not sleeping. I feel so bad for my little girl, staying awake in someone else's house for an hour and a half, all by herself!! She's so little, and all alone... :( I guess this daycare is okay overall, but I'm feeling more like it's a temporary thing until I'm ready to leave this job. I don't know exactly what I'm waiting for... it's hard to describe, but the current situation is seeming less and less appealing, and my girls are seeming more and more so. I'll know the final straw when I see it, right?
Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out the the Spanish language classes. I haven't gotten any more info, which is frustrating, but I really hope it works out. It seems like she's going to need another dimension to stretch her incredible mind, especially if she's going to be one of the oldest in her class once she starts school. She's already started counting around the house: uno, tres, quatro, cinco, space. :)
We had a busy week, and we spent Saturday catching up. The girls hadn't slept well all week, and we finally were all rested and happy on Sunday. We had thought about going up to Barnum for the weekend, and maybe doing some biking, go over to Holstein to see my Grandma, visit Patrick, and just relax a bit. But I couldn't get my butt in gear to get things packed or planned or anything on Saturday. I was just absolutely wiped out. Sunday I felt better, but by then it really only made sense for Travis to go visit Pat with his parents, so he drove up and back in the same day while the girls and I just played at home. Today we were much more productive, just getting things done around the house. It's nice to feel a little bit caught up.
Audrey is so very close to crawling. Tonight, I was moving her legs as she was moving her hands forward, and she thought it was hilarious. She's pretty mobile even without it, especially since she can back into a sitting position from her tummy. That helps a TON - she's so much happier being able to do that. We're down to nursing 3 times a day now, so I was pretty happy to say goodbye to nursing bras. She's picked up a bit of a cold, probably from daycare last week, and trying to get a kleenex up to her nose is a real battle, but it's only been a day so I still think it's cute. She's so very expressive, and so beautiful.
Travis took Emily to the ISU football season opener Thursday night, just the two of them. They were both so excited, it was really cute. They both had a great time, and made plans to go to the game where the Little Clone Club members get to go out on the field before the game. And of course, there was the marching band, which Emily LOVED. She was so smitten with it that she wanted to get out my trumpet last night. I handed her a mouthpiece and showed her how to buzz, and she totally got it, right away! She was too shy at first to try it with the trumpet, but when she did, she loved it! Travis got a video, which I'll try to post sometime. We played it again this afternoon, and it sounded only slightly less like a vuvuzela than her first try.
I don't think Emily has been napping at Janet's, so I'm going to ask Janet to check on her after 20 minutes and let her stay awake if she's not sleeping. I feel so bad for my little girl, staying awake in someone else's house for an hour and a half, all by herself!! She's so little, and all alone... :( I guess this daycare is okay overall, but I'm feeling more like it's a temporary thing until I'm ready to leave this job. I don't know exactly what I'm waiting for... it's hard to describe, but the current situation is seeming less and less appealing, and my girls are seeming more and more so. I'll know the final straw when I see it, right?
Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out the the Spanish language classes. I haven't gotten any more info, which is frustrating, but I really hope it works out. It seems like she's going to need another dimension to stretch her incredible mind, especially if she's going to be one of the oldest in her class once she starts school. She's already started counting around the house: uno, tres, quatro, cinco, space. :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
"That" mom
That's right, I'm "that" mom. I'm sorry, I really didn't think I was going to be, but I am so incredibly proud of Emily's crafting skills that I'm posting pictures of what she can do. I've been drawing animal faces and she cuts them out:
Then I sketched out some headless, tailless bunnies for her to paste her cut-outs to. She found some stickers and got carried away with them, too:
That's all her cutting!! She was pretty proud of herself, too, and quite silly, of course.
Emily was singing with me at the piano this morning. She and I sang Brahms' Lullaby together, and it was really quite nice, and then she requested Mary Had a Little Lamb. Of course, I didn't have sheet music for that, so I did my best, but her singing was SO pretty! I loved it. Highlight of my day/week/whatever. Awesome.
Audrey was quite expressive at dinner tonight. She's been doing great at feeding herself bits of things, particularly pears, peaches, and plums. But tonight she didn't like the cooked carrots and bread that I'd put on her tray, or the babyfood I'd processed for her, and she howled at me until I found something she found tolerable. It was ridiculous. But it's still fun to see her coming into her own person. When she does like what she's gotten, she twirls her feet around and her hands, and sings. She can rock on her hands and knees now, but still isn't brave enough to move her hands or knees to get going crawling. She sure wants to, though, and I'm hoping she figures it out soon because her random flopping tends to get her into trouble.
I am thinking I will sign Emily up for Spanish classes. I found a program in Johnston that looks like it'd be fun for her, although I still need to do more investigating on it. I haven't seen a reply from the email I sent asking for more info, so I guess I'll call tomorrow. It could be something fun to get Emily going in another direction before she qualifies for preschool. It's tough to keep her entertained sometimes... and therefore sometimes infuriating at how mature and capable she can be versus how much she likes to just scream when she's unhappy. It's totally in line with a 2-year-old to do that, but I sometimes wish she had chosen a different 2-year-old behavior to hang on to until she turns 3. Then again, most mornings she greets me with a huge smile and tells me that she had sweet dreams.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Keeping up with this and that
This weekend, the girls got to see all their grandparents, and lots of friends. My parents were here on Friday, and Saturday we went to Barnum. Apparently, two nights of being put to bed by Grandma (first my mom, then Trav's) was enough to throw off her ability to put herself to sleep. I didn't think that was too much spoiling, but the past two nights she's had a rough time. Or maybe she's overtired? She's sure not under-tired!! We've all been run ragged by the weekend, and we all slept well last night. I'm hoping another good night tonight will help me get my feet back under me again. And then tomorrow, off to work.
Once again, my work schedule has changed, this time to working Tuesdays and Thursdays, still 10-hour days. I'm getting more frustrated by things at work. You know how the biggest complaint of stay-at-home-moms is that their work is not appreciated by those who benefit? I feel MUCH more appreciated at home than I do at work, which really tells you something. Half of the things I do are necessary as a part of my job responsibilities but are never viewed by anybody else (worthless by definition), another 25% are necessary and should be viewed by anybody else (worthless by other people's inadequacy), and the other 25% is something that I think is necessary but the few people who think it's worthwhile can't reward me for it. I'm suspicious that someone is planning to take some of this latter category and present it as his own work at a conference coming up in a few weeks, but I have yet to confirm that. It's pretty discouraging. It would all seem more tolerable if I were truly happy with my daycare, instead of just okay with it.
I went to the garage sale for the end of Amanda's daycare, and I picked up lots of good stuff. Not just toys - several curriculum books and a book of songplay ideas, a plastic kiddie pool, and a really awesome wall calendar. I got a couple of things for Baby Johannsen, and, okay, some toys too! Emily was so happy to see Emma and Brady, and they were so sweet to her. I know there are some nice kids who could be good friends for Emily at Janet's, but it's so sad to say goodbye to such a good situation.
Audrey is on the verge of crawling, finally able to get her little bottom up in the air and rock a little. She mostly goes backwards, though, and I had to rescue her three times today after getting her legs stuck under the coffee table or couch. Her 9-month pictures last week went really well, and we got some good pictures. She's getting to be pretty persnickety about things, like she really has a preference for one thing or another. And she's getting more and more expressive, which is absolutely beautiful. She's really enjoyed the "new" pool, which is pretty funny considering she always hated it at Amanda's!
We went to the state fair last week, and our whole family had a great time. Emily really enjoyed the experience, even though she's still afraid of cows. She saw tractors, ate a bunch of junk food, and went down the giant slide twice! I'm wishing I could think of some of the charming things she's been saying lately. She's so mature; it's funny to see in such a little person. She's very polite, saying "thank you" easily, like it's just what she does. My mom was marveling at the things she does like her preschoolers would do, like cutting out shapes with scissors, drawing closed shapes, copying letters, and standing on one foot. It was kind of neat to realize just how amazing that all is ... and then to realize that she's not even 3 yet and it's totally normal for her to be loopy and incapable of rationally communicating with me when she's tired, or for whatever reason she chooses.
It's bedtime here. I'll try to blog sometime when I'm in more of a glowing mood, because there are tons of great things to report about my kids but I'm a bit beaten down by the day to relay them all. Look at the updated pictures - they're beautiful!
Once again, my work schedule has changed, this time to working Tuesdays and Thursdays, still 10-hour days. I'm getting more frustrated by things at work. You know how the biggest complaint of stay-at-home-moms is that their work is not appreciated by those who benefit? I feel MUCH more appreciated at home than I do at work, which really tells you something. Half of the things I do are necessary as a part of my job responsibilities but are never viewed by anybody else (worthless by definition), another 25% are necessary and should be viewed by anybody else (worthless by other people's inadequacy), and the other 25% is something that I think is necessary but the few people who think it's worthwhile can't reward me for it. I'm suspicious that someone is planning to take some of this latter category and present it as his own work at a conference coming up in a few weeks, but I have yet to confirm that. It's pretty discouraging. It would all seem more tolerable if I were truly happy with my daycare, instead of just okay with it.
I went to the garage sale for the end of Amanda's daycare, and I picked up lots of good stuff. Not just toys - several curriculum books and a book of songplay ideas, a plastic kiddie pool, and a really awesome wall calendar. I got a couple of things for Baby Johannsen, and, okay, some toys too! Emily was so happy to see Emma and Brady, and they were so sweet to her. I know there are some nice kids who could be good friends for Emily at Janet's, but it's so sad to say goodbye to such a good situation.
Audrey is on the verge of crawling, finally able to get her little bottom up in the air and rock a little. She mostly goes backwards, though, and I had to rescue her three times today after getting her legs stuck under the coffee table or couch. Her 9-month pictures last week went really well, and we got some good pictures. She's getting to be pretty persnickety about things, like she really has a preference for one thing or another. And she's getting more and more expressive, which is absolutely beautiful. She's really enjoyed the "new" pool, which is pretty funny considering she always hated it at Amanda's!
We went to the state fair last week, and our whole family had a great time. Emily really enjoyed the experience, even though she's still afraid of cows. She saw tractors, ate a bunch of junk food, and went down the giant slide twice! I'm wishing I could think of some of the charming things she's been saying lately. She's so mature; it's funny to see in such a little person. She's very polite, saying "thank you" easily, like it's just what she does. My mom was marveling at the things she does like her preschoolers would do, like cutting out shapes with scissors, drawing closed shapes, copying letters, and standing on one foot. It was kind of neat to realize just how amazing that all is ... and then to realize that she's not even 3 yet and it's totally normal for her to be loopy and incapable of rationally communicating with me when she's tired, or for whatever reason she chooses.
It's bedtime here. I'll try to blog sometime when I'm in more of a glowing mood, because there are tons of great things to report about my kids but I'm a bit beaten down by the day to relay them all. Look at the updated pictures - they're beautiful!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Staying afloat
Travis is still out for "dinner" with his new boss, and it's almost 9 PM. It's been a long day without him, so to get out of the house, the girls and I went for a walk tonight in the "dribble" stroller, and boy it's a workout pushing that thing! I came home and found an online calorie calculator, and I basically burned off 3 of the many, many oreos I've had today. I rounded up on the numbers because of how hot it was outside. :) It was still discouraging to see the numbers, but a very fun evening activity. Emily sang the whole way - lovely!
I am sure hoping that one spinach leaf is considered a full serving of vegetables for a toddler, cuz that's all Emily got for veggies today. I'm not doing so well with her healthy eating lately, although she will scarf down a whole peach or pear if you let her... it's not all bad, I guess.
Audrey has mastered clapping, and it is ADORABLE! It also makes it hard to feed her when her hands are flapping in front of her, but it's still fun. Her stats at her 9-month appointment yesterday were impressive: almost 21 lbs (60th percentile), and head size and height (30") both above 95th percentile. She may not look as much like Travis as Emily does, but she seems to have his build! She's still not crawling, although she's wanting to move more and more now. I'm trying to let her work that frustration into some progress instead of just picking her up whenever she howls, but wow, it's a lot of howling. And Emily wants to help her, so she'll go over and lift up her head in an attempt to help her sit up, and then drop it back on the ground when I tell her to stop touching her sister. Gah! Audrey can feed herself pretty well now, though, which is nice. It's so cute to see her use her skinny little fingers, just her thumb and forefinger, to chase around pieces of pear, cheese, or bread. And, I think she's starting to catch on that we're giving her signs for things, associating the signs with the words even if she's not using them back just yet. I am so crazy about this little girl!
We went to Ashby Park today, and Emily showed how she can blow bubbles in the water. She really does great! Even if her nose isn't in the water yet, at least she's not drinking it like she used to. The water was a bit murky today, but I figure if that's the only effect I see from all this rampant flooding, I'll take it. My parents were supposed to come visit today, with Jenny's girls, but couldn't because I-35 was closed at Ames due to high water. Three nights in a row of wicked thunderstorms delivering several inches of rain each night have caused all kinds of problems, even in our neighborhood which is on really high ground. There are streaks of grass in nearly every yard that are pelted down because they've become temporary streams at night. The worst is to the west of our house - a good 3 feet wide all the way through to the street! - and water is just streaming into our sump pit from the rework we had done in the SW corner of the house. But, I'll take it! We have fresh water to drink, a dry basement, and nothing critical has been disrupted, which is more than I can say for a lot of people I know!
I am sure hoping that one spinach leaf is considered a full serving of vegetables for a toddler, cuz that's all Emily got for veggies today. I'm not doing so well with her healthy eating lately, although she will scarf down a whole peach or pear if you let her... it's not all bad, I guess.
Audrey has mastered clapping, and it is ADORABLE! It also makes it hard to feed her when her hands are flapping in front of her, but it's still fun. Her stats at her 9-month appointment yesterday were impressive: almost 21 lbs (60th percentile), and head size and height (30") both above 95th percentile. She may not look as much like Travis as Emily does, but she seems to have his build! She's still not crawling, although she's wanting to move more and more now. I'm trying to let her work that frustration into some progress instead of just picking her up whenever she howls, but wow, it's a lot of howling. And Emily wants to help her, so she'll go over and lift up her head in an attempt to help her sit up, and then drop it back on the ground when I tell her to stop touching her sister. Gah! Audrey can feed herself pretty well now, though, which is nice. It's so cute to see her use her skinny little fingers, just her thumb and forefinger, to chase around pieces of pear, cheese, or bread. And, I think she's starting to catch on that we're giving her signs for things, associating the signs with the words even if she's not using them back just yet. I am so crazy about this little girl!
We went to Ashby Park today, and Emily showed how she can blow bubbles in the water. She really does great! Even if her nose isn't in the water yet, at least she's not drinking it like she used to. The water was a bit murky today, but I figure if that's the only effect I see from all this rampant flooding, I'll take it. My parents were supposed to come visit today, with Jenny's girls, but couldn't because I-35 was closed at Ames due to high water. Three nights in a row of wicked thunderstorms delivering several inches of rain each night have caused all kinds of problems, even in our neighborhood which is on really high ground. There are streaks of grass in nearly every yard that are pelted down because they've become temporary streams at night. The worst is to the west of our house - a good 3 feet wide all the way through to the street! - and water is just streaming into our sump pit from the rework we had done in the SW corner of the house. But, I'll take it! We have fresh water to drink, a dry basement, and nothing critical has been disrupted, which is more than I can say for a lot of people I know!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Applying my "adaptability"
Okay, if I'm so adaptable, how come I'm so displeased with this whole daycare changeover thing? Because it affects my girls, and I'm a real Mama Bear when it comes to that. And no, that's not Mama Grizzly - they're not justifiably protective, they're unjustifiably naive.
They did okay today, though. I went to Janet's last Thursday, and the girls played for about an hour while I was there. I didn't pick up any red flags then, and things today went fine, so it'll be all right. I cried when I dropped the girls off at Amanda's last Friday for their last day, and then again when I picked them up and said goodbye. I'm sure they wondered what the heck was making me so sad, but if they knew, they'd cry too. The hardest part about today was after we got home and Emily saw her swimsuit that had been at Amanda's for her to play outside in. She got REALLY upset and insisted that we take that suit back to Ms. Amanda's so she could go swimmin'. I'm hoping that wearing that suit to Ashby Park on wednesday with her cousins and grandparents will make her feel better about things.
It was really nice that there was only one other kid at Janet's today, a 7-month-old baby, so the girls weren't completely overwhelmed by things. It's in the same neighborhood as Amanda's house, so if they go to the park it's the same park. And I'm working shorter days for a few weeks so they're not faced with 10-hour stretches in a strange place all at once. We'll get it figured out, I think. Staying at home sure is looking like a nicer and nicer option, though.
Of course, this kind of major transition wouldn't be complete without an appliance failure - our stupid dishwasher is flashing a number all the time now, and it's actually the same cost to replace it as it would be to get it fixed, due to the fact that it's on a safety recall anyway for something that could start the house on fire (we haven't been running it overnight or while we're not home since we learned about that!!). So, something else to have to figure out.
Tomorrow is Audrey's 9-mo checkup, and I'm sure they'll say she's growing great and that we shouldn't worry that she's not crawling. She's eating great, has really good fine motor skills, and I'd swear she understands a lot of what we're saying. I've started signing with her a little, and I think that she'll catch on to that pretty quickly here, since she seems to understand the signs even though she doesn't make them back.
And of course, The Haircut! Emily's first! Saturday night, Audrey was exhausted in the bath but Emily had just had a long nap, so we put Audrey to bed and kept Emily up for a while. She was SO excited, but doesn't seem to particularly care how long her hair is anyway so I think the thrill was in the event only. She had a hard time keeping her head still, because she wanted to turn and watch the scissors. I'm also a little worried that my industrious daughter will take scissors to her own hair independently, so I was very careful to tell her it was my job to do it, and with special scissors only. All in all, her hair looks fantastic (just don't look at the uneven ends - I did my best, but like I said, holey wiggly!!!) and it's much easier to brush, dry, and put in pony tails. But she looks so grown-up now!! Where did my little baby go?
All in all, I am tremendously proud of my daughters for handling this whole change as well as they have so far, keeping in mind that the transition will undoubtedly last a few weeks or more. As others we talked to predicted, they're doing better than their parents. Travis and I both have had bouts of "I can't make this better for them!!" We're supposed to be all-powerful and all-knowing, and yet I feel completely powerless (and stupid, but that's kind of an ongoing thing with parenthood, I think!). I suppose this is just the beginning.
They did okay today, though. I went to Janet's last Thursday, and the girls played for about an hour while I was there. I didn't pick up any red flags then, and things today went fine, so it'll be all right. I cried when I dropped the girls off at Amanda's last Friday for their last day, and then again when I picked them up and said goodbye. I'm sure they wondered what the heck was making me so sad, but if they knew, they'd cry too. The hardest part about today was after we got home and Emily saw her swimsuit that had been at Amanda's for her to play outside in. She got REALLY upset and insisted that we take that suit back to Ms. Amanda's so she could go swimmin'. I'm hoping that wearing that suit to Ashby Park on wednesday with her cousins and grandparents will make her feel better about things.
It was really nice that there was only one other kid at Janet's today, a 7-month-old baby, so the girls weren't completely overwhelmed by things. It's in the same neighborhood as Amanda's house, so if they go to the park it's the same park. And I'm working shorter days for a few weeks so they're not faced with 10-hour stretches in a strange place all at once. We'll get it figured out, I think. Staying at home sure is looking like a nicer and nicer option, though.
Of course, this kind of major transition wouldn't be complete without an appliance failure - our stupid dishwasher is flashing a number all the time now, and it's actually the same cost to replace it as it would be to get it fixed, due to the fact that it's on a safety recall anyway for something that could start the house on fire (we haven't been running it overnight or while we're not home since we learned about that!!). So, something else to have to figure out.
Tomorrow is Audrey's 9-mo checkup, and I'm sure they'll say she's growing great and that we shouldn't worry that she's not crawling. She's eating great, has really good fine motor skills, and I'd swear she understands a lot of what we're saying. I've started signing with her a little, and I think that she'll catch on to that pretty quickly here, since she seems to understand the signs even though she doesn't make them back.
And of course, The Haircut! Emily's first! Saturday night, Audrey was exhausted in the bath but Emily had just had a long nap, so we put Audrey to bed and kept Emily up for a while. She was SO excited, but doesn't seem to particularly care how long her hair is anyway so I think the thrill was in the event only. She had a hard time keeping her head still, because she wanted to turn and watch the scissors. I'm also a little worried that my industrious daughter will take scissors to her own hair independently, so I was very careful to tell her it was my job to do it, and with special scissors only. All in all, her hair looks fantastic (just don't look at the uneven ends - I did my best, but like I said, holey wiggly!!!) and it's much easier to brush, dry, and put in pony tails. But she looks so grown-up now!! Where did my little baby go?
All in all, I am tremendously proud of my daughters for handling this whole change as well as they have so far, keeping in mind that the transition will undoubtedly last a few weeks or more. As others we talked to predicted, they're doing better than their parents. Travis and I both have had bouts of "I can't make this better for them!!" We're supposed to be all-powerful and all-knowing, and yet I feel completely powerless (and stupid, but that's kind of an ongoing thing with parenthood, I think!). I suppose this is just the beginning.
Friday, July 30, 2010
RAGBRAI '10
What a wild week it's been.
Travis left with Team Petting Zoo on Saturday, on the bus headed to Sioux City. Emily, Audrey, and I left later that afternoon, and went to an evening picnic at a friend's house in Gilbert, then went on to Rockford at bedtime, where we were greeted by my 3 nieces and my mom. The girls were so happy to see each other that it took at least an hour to get them settled down into bed. It probably wasn't the best way to start off a 4-day "vacation" at Grandma's house, being so short on sleep, but it's not like they wouldn't've been exhausted by the end anyway. Every night was late, there were very few naps, and the pace of activity was really, really intense. Those girls are a lot to keep up with! Emily loved it, though, and so did Audrey.
I swear, the girls did EVERYTHING you could think little girls would do at Grandma's house. They biked, swam, painted, colored, played piano, sang, danced, and fed cows. They had tea parties with real food, and with the imaginary food they made in the play kitchen on the porch. They went to the county fair to see all kinds of animals, including an elephant! They played at a park and had a picnic lunch, and they went to the fossil beds to collect fossils. They had frozen treats on the deck every day, and read lots and lots and lots of books with Grandma. They even saw a butterfly come out of its chrysallis and then released it into the flower garden. Then, of course, RAGBRAI came by the house, and there were thousands of bikers riding by, with people stopping into the yard to have free water and bananas provided by the Soil Conservation Service. They played with every kind of building set imaginable: lincoln logs, tinker toys, Zome (i hadn't seen before but is very, very cool!), legos big and small. These combined with the dolls, stuffed animals, and baby toys to form a thin, even layer all over the living room. It felt like some kind of free energy was willing everything to be equidistant from each other and independent from its container, and that this even dispersement was how things were going to be no matter how many times they were picked up (or asked to be picked up). It was incredible. I am utterly exhausted, because throughout all this, I was preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, picking up toys to keep them away from the baby, nursing the baby, keeping things quiet so a baby can nap, spoonfeeding a baby, looking for things (stuffed animals, specific toys or colors of cups or whatever, things for my mom), hauling the inflatables to the air compressor to get them blown up (daily), getting girls dressed and bathed, wiping bottoms, and resolving conflicts left and right. Don't get me wrong, these are all very polite, well-behaved, and truly caring little girls, but they are all very sensitive, and they were short on sleep and therefore quite grouchy at times, not to mention accident-prone. There was a lot of emotion-management that needed to be done, and it's really very draining to take care of all that. I am wiped out.
The bikers are still out on RAGBRAI, which I will admit is making me feel pretty down tonight. I came home yesterday afternoon, and actually went to work today because I discovered last week that I will need to be saving my vacation for the next few weeks. Today was the 3rd to last day that the girls will go to Ms. Amanda's daycare, because she is closing her business in order to go back to teaching. I am devastated, and I'm sure Emily will be too once she realizes just what this all means. I have a couple of good leads on new daycare, but I doubt I will be as thoroughly content with things as I was. Audrey will be fine, but I'm worried about the transition for Emily. Like I said, she's a sensitive little girl!
So, I picked up the girls after work today, and they both screamed at me for the duration of the evening. Emily pooped her pants, which was totally out of character because she's been absolutely great for the past two months, since the last time she was sick, actually. So I gave her a Tums, in case her tummy was stressed, and put her to bed in a pull-up. They had a bath, and were both asleep by 8:15. I'm still decompressing after venting to Travis on the phone for a good 45 minutes, explaining why I'm not looking forward to another full day tomorrow of taking care of kids. It's not that I mind taking care of kids, because obviously we had a good time (and were not bored!) It's that everybody else is partying still. I worked SO hard in order to be able to bike 44 miles of RAGBRAI on Wednesday, and even though I really did enjoy myself, was it worth it? Was it worth getting up at 5:30 (after cleaning a kitchen until 10:30 the night before), driving to clear lake, waiting around for almost 2 hours while everybody else piddled around getting ready, getting sunburned, and dealing with some serious engorgement because I was away from Audrey for a feeding? I suppose it was, but it seemed like a high price to pay for something others are just whimsically enjoying. I know Jenny was battling similar emotions, too, even though she did get 3 full carefree days away (which makes sense, her kids are old enough to be fine with that). It's nice to have company when feeling this way, but still, it just leaves you feeling... owed.
So, I took a TON of pictures. They are ADORABLE!! We had a great time, and I decided to document the fun times and hopefully get books printed so Grandma, Lennon Girls, and Sullivan Girls can all remember what a great time we had together (and hopefully overshadow any of those negatives I mentioned.) My home in Rockford is absolutely the most wonderful home a girl could ever want. In all my self-analysis of my parenting, I guess I really just hope that I provide a home for my girls that they feel that way about!
Travis left with Team Petting Zoo on Saturday, on the bus headed to Sioux City. Emily, Audrey, and I left later that afternoon, and went to an evening picnic at a friend's house in Gilbert, then went on to Rockford at bedtime, where we were greeted by my 3 nieces and my mom. The girls were so happy to see each other that it took at least an hour to get them settled down into bed. It probably wasn't the best way to start off a 4-day "vacation" at Grandma's house, being so short on sleep, but it's not like they wouldn't've been exhausted by the end anyway. Every night was late, there were very few naps, and the pace of activity was really, really intense. Those girls are a lot to keep up with! Emily loved it, though, and so did Audrey.
I swear, the girls did EVERYTHING you could think little girls would do at Grandma's house. They biked, swam, painted, colored, played piano, sang, danced, and fed cows. They had tea parties with real food, and with the imaginary food they made in the play kitchen on the porch. They went to the county fair to see all kinds of animals, including an elephant! They played at a park and had a picnic lunch, and they went to the fossil beds to collect fossils. They had frozen treats on the deck every day, and read lots and lots and lots of books with Grandma. They even saw a butterfly come out of its chrysallis and then released it into the flower garden. Then, of course, RAGBRAI came by the house, and there were thousands of bikers riding by, with people stopping into the yard to have free water and bananas provided by the Soil Conservation Service. They played with every kind of building set imaginable: lincoln logs, tinker toys, Zome (i hadn't seen before but is very, very cool!), legos big and small. These combined with the dolls, stuffed animals, and baby toys to form a thin, even layer all over the living room. It felt like some kind of free energy was willing everything to be equidistant from each other and independent from its container, and that this even dispersement was how things were going to be no matter how many times they were picked up (or asked to be picked up). It was incredible. I am utterly exhausted, because throughout all this, I was preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, picking up toys to keep them away from the baby, nursing the baby, keeping things quiet so a baby can nap, spoonfeeding a baby, looking for things (stuffed animals, specific toys or colors of cups or whatever, things for my mom), hauling the inflatables to the air compressor to get them blown up (daily), getting girls dressed and bathed, wiping bottoms, and resolving conflicts left and right. Don't get me wrong, these are all very polite, well-behaved, and truly caring little girls, but they are all very sensitive, and they were short on sleep and therefore quite grouchy at times, not to mention accident-prone. There was a lot of emotion-management that needed to be done, and it's really very draining to take care of all that. I am wiped out.
The bikers are still out on RAGBRAI, which I will admit is making me feel pretty down tonight. I came home yesterday afternoon, and actually went to work today because I discovered last week that I will need to be saving my vacation for the next few weeks. Today was the 3rd to last day that the girls will go to Ms. Amanda's daycare, because she is closing her business in order to go back to teaching. I am devastated, and I'm sure Emily will be too once she realizes just what this all means. I have a couple of good leads on new daycare, but I doubt I will be as thoroughly content with things as I was. Audrey will be fine, but I'm worried about the transition for Emily. Like I said, she's a sensitive little girl!
So, I picked up the girls after work today, and they both screamed at me for the duration of the evening. Emily pooped her pants, which was totally out of character because she's been absolutely great for the past two months, since the last time she was sick, actually. So I gave her a Tums, in case her tummy was stressed, and put her to bed in a pull-up. They had a bath, and were both asleep by 8:15. I'm still decompressing after venting to Travis on the phone for a good 45 minutes, explaining why I'm not looking forward to another full day tomorrow of taking care of kids. It's not that I mind taking care of kids, because obviously we had a good time (and were not bored!) It's that everybody else is partying still. I worked SO hard in order to be able to bike 44 miles of RAGBRAI on Wednesday, and even though I really did enjoy myself, was it worth it? Was it worth getting up at 5:30 (after cleaning a kitchen until 10:30 the night before), driving to clear lake, waiting around for almost 2 hours while everybody else piddled around getting ready, getting sunburned, and dealing with some serious engorgement because I was away from Audrey for a feeding? I suppose it was, but it seemed like a high price to pay for something others are just whimsically enjoying. I know Jenny was battling similar emotions, too, even though she did get 3 full carefree days away (which makes sense, her kids are old enough to be fine with that). It's nice to have company when feeling this way, but still, it just leaves you feeling... owed.
So, I took a TON of pictures. They are ADORABLE!! We had a great time, and I decided to document the fun times and hopefully get books printed so Grandma, Lennon Girls, and Sullivan Girls can all remember what a great time we had together (and hopefully overshadow any of those negatives I mentioned.) My home in Rockford is absolutely the most wonderful home a girl could ever want. In all my self-analysis of my parenting, I guess I really just hope that I provide a home for my girls that they feel that way about!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Fun stuff
A few fun things about each of my girls:
Audrey found her "room service" button last night. Her mobile over her crib turns on with the touch of a button, and she managed to hit it with her foot. She's done it before, one time in the middle of the night which was interesting, but this time it was 6:30 AM and she was just waiting for her breakfast to arrive. I guess she figured out how to make it come faster! Her mattress has been lowered now, so she'll have to get creative again.
She also got her fifth tooth today, which was a total surprise since it was a top tooth! I was expecting the next arrival to be on the bottom, and to maybe have more trouble with it, but there's been no fussiness or drooling, and also no counterpart on the other side! Doesn't she know how nuts her mother is when it comes to symmetry??
Audrey has also exhitibed quite a bit of stranger anxiety lately, and it's actually worse when I'm around but inaccessable. Dan and Kerri were here the other night, and she was really upset when she was close by but not in my arms, and when they took her and Emily downstairs to play, she was happy as a clam. Weirdo. She gets SO excited when she sees me, or Travis, which feels great! :) She'll squeal and bury her head in my shoulder, then scrinch up her legs and flap her arms so much that it's hard to hold onto her sometimes! And, she babbles "MomMomMomMom..." Love it!
Emily is alternately hilarious and exasperating. Audrey still does her high-pitched squeals from time to time, mostly at dinner, and they are SO painful on ones ears, but Emily thinks it's funny and repeats it. It's really hard to come down hard on her because she knows better but have nothing to say to Audrey cuz she's just a baby and can't know better. So, the other night, I told her if she needed to make that awful noise she should go outside, and I put her on the porch and shut the door behind her. I went back to (finally) finish my dinner, and saw her standing on the deck, screeching as loudly as she could for the neighborhood to enjoy, and after about 5 minutes she came back in, happy as a clam. "I all done making that noise, Mom." Can't argue with those results!
She can draw letters now! It's amazing! At Amanda's, they've been studying one letter each day this summer, and the other day she came home with "P"s that she had drawn!! Tonight at the park we were drawing with sidewalk chalk, and she copied the E that I drew for her on the ground. It had a few more than 3 horizontal lines, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. I am so impressed!!
She talks ALL the time, and her speech has so few imperfections that they really stand out as adorable. When asked if she was being a butterfly, because she was wearing her antennae headband, she said, "No, I just bein' booiful." It's the lack of verb helpers and continual preference for the preposition "to" that crack me up the most, I think. They would be easy enough things for me to correct in her language if I took the time to point them out to her, but she's growing up way too fast as it is! So I just keep yammering, and so does she.
And, such a helper she is! Amanda comments on it often, although there are still plenty of days where she doesn't care to help clean up with everyone (she's two! i'm not worried!). When we were in Rockford, she went downstairs and brought up a package of meat from the freezer for dinner. Nevermind that dinner was already in the oven, and we didn't need the bratwurst that she'd brought up, but it was good to know where that package had come from! We couldn't figure it out until she decided to go again and took Travis with her that time. She was able to lift the lid of the deep freeze, reach in with those long arms of hers, and find a package to bring up. I don't know how or why she thought to do that, but she was determined to bring up hambugger for supper -- twice. What a sweetie! She'll often run to the freezer in our kitchen at home to get a teething toy for Audrey if she hears her fussing, but most of the time the reason Audrey is upset in the first place is because either Emily knocked her over or was hugging her too aggressively or had just ripped a toy out of her hands. "Stop that! oh wait, how sweet..." What on earth am I supposed to teach at that moment?
Travis has been finishing up the last few things that we need to get to round out the insurance claim from when our house was burgled in July '08. There's a two-year window to remember everything and get it replaced, so he's figuring the last few things out. It's weird to think that it's been that long, and I'm still paranoid of being here when someone broke in. I guess there are scary things in life, like jars of violently reacting acid, that you just assume you're done with once it's over. How's that for a philosophical point to end on?
Audrey found her "room service" button last night. Her mobile over her crib turns on with the touch of a button, and she managed to hit it with her foot. She's done it before, one time in the middle of the night which was interesting, but this time it was 6:30 AM and she was just waiting for her breakfast to arrive. I guess she figured out how to make it come faster! Her mattress has been lowered now, so she'll have to get creative again.
She also got her fifth tooth today, which was a total surprise since it was a top tooth! I was expecting the next arrival to be on the bottom, and to maybe have more trouble with it, but there's been no fussiness or drooling, and also no counterpart on the other side! Doesn't she know how nuts her mother is when it comes to symmetry??
Audrey has also exhitibed quite a bit of stranger anxiety lately, and it's actually worse when I'm around but inaccessable. Dan and Kerri were here the other night, and she was really upset when she was close by but not in my arms, and when they took her and Emily downstairs to play, she was happy as a clam. Weirdo. She gets SO excited when she sees me, or Travis, which feels great! :) She'll squeal and bury her head in my shoulder, then scrinch up her legs and flap her arms so much that it's hard to hold onto her sometimes! And, she babbles "MomMomMomMom..." Love it!
Emily is alternately hilarious and exasperating. Audrey still does her high-pitched squeals from time to time, mostly at dinner, and they are SO painful on ones ears, but Emily thinks it's funny and repeats it. It's really hard to come down hard on her because she knows better but have nothing to say to Audrey cuz she's just a baby and can't know better. So, the other night, I told her if she needed to make that awful noise she should go outside, and I put her on the porch and shut the door behind her. I went back to (finally) finish my dinner, and saw her standing on the deck, screeching as loudly as she could for the neighborhood to enjoy, and after about 5 minutes she came back in, happy as a clam. "I all done making that noise, Mom." Can't argue with those results!
She can draw letters now! It's amazing! At Amanda's, they've been studying one letter each day this summer, and the other day she came home with "P"s that she had drawn!! Tonight at the park we were drawing with sidewalk chalk, and she copied the E that I drew for her on the ground. It had a few more than 3 horizontal lines, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. I am so impressed!!
She talks ALL the time, and her speech has so few imperfections that they really stand out as adorable. When asked if she was being a butterfly, because she was wearing her antennae headband, she said, "No, I just bein' booiful." It's the lack of verb helpers and continual preference for the preposition "to" that crack me up the most, I think. They would be easy enough things for me to correct in her language if I took the time to point them out to her, but she's growing up way too fast as it is! So I just keep yammering, and so does she.
And, such a helper she is! Amanda comments on it often, although there are still plenty of days where she doesn't care to help clean up with everyone (she's two! i'm not worried!). When we were in Rockford, she went downstairs and brought up a package of meat from the freezer for dinner. Nevermind that dinner was already in the oven, and we didn't need the bratwurst that she'd brought up, but it was good to know where that package had come from! We couldn't figure it out until she decided to go again and took Travis with her that time. She was able to lift the lid of the deep freeze, reach in with those long arms of hers, and find a package to bring up. I don't know how or why she thought to do that, but she was determined to bring up hambugger for supper -- twice. What a sweetie! She'll often run to the freezer in our kitchen at home to get a teething toy for Audrey if she hears her fussing, but most of the time the reason Audrey is upset in the first place is because either Emily knocked her over or was hugging her too aggressively or had just ripped a toy out of her hands. "Stop that! oh wait, how sweet..." What on earth am I supposed to teach at that moment?
Travis has been finishing up the last few things that we need to get to round out the insurance claim from when our house was burgled in July '08. There's a two-year window to remember everything and get it replaced, so he's figuring the last few things out. It's weird to think that it's been that long, and I'm still paranoid of being here when someone broke in. I guess there are scary things in life, like jars of violently reacting acid, that you just assume you're done with once it's over. How's that for a philosophical point to end on?
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