I'm so proud of my little Audrey. She knows how to use a potty!! She has gone 6-8 times over the past week, and although the first time she was quite concerned with what had just happened, she's pretty proud of herself now. She even pooped once, which was hilarious because she stood up immediately, with her little eyebrows all furrowed, shouting and pointing at the potty angrily!! I don't know if it was a freakout over what she had just done or concern with the appearance of something so different-looking in her potty (probably the former) but she was really, really mad! I, on the other hand, was flipping out with excitement. She wanted to dump it out right away and so I did, and right about then, Megan wandered by to see what all the whooping and hollering was about. I told her, "Look at what Audrey did! isn't it great?!" And she said "...yeah. it's poop." and reached for the handle to flush. So funny! I'm not going to do anything more than let her sit on the potty when she's interested, though, because I don't think she has the language to really take this on full-time. When she really fights me when it's time to get back in a diaper, we might flip the switch, but for now we'll just practice for entertainment.
We were in Rockford last weekend, with Jenny and her girls, which is why Megan happened to be nearby for Audrey's hilarious potty success. Jenny took her older two with her to a Mom'n'Me weekend at Camp Tanglefoot in Clear Lake, and then sent Julie to camp by herself on Tuesday for a 4-night stay (Lucky her!!!!). Jenny had so much fun, and I'd imagine after the stressful spring and summer she's had, it probably did feel really good to be back at "home" at camp. In the meantime, we spent Sunday - Tuesday in Rockford, with my poor Dad outnumbered by all the ladies! We had some beautiful weather, and with no agenda, we had a really nice time just hanging out and enjoying each other. Last fall, my parents started adding on a sunroom to the west side of their house, and it's almost done now. The room has a 9-ft ceiling and 9 windows!! It's beautiful, and blends in really nicely with the house on the exterior. It just needs carpet and trim and then they can move in furniture, but even in its unfinished state it was so great to have the extra room in the house. It has a complete basement underneath it, so it expanded the playroom downstairs, too. They're both excited about it, but ready to be done working on the house. They did so much work on the place that burned that I think they are both still leery of getting emotionally involved in a home improvement project, but really, can you blame them? Anyway, I was glad to come home with the girls because I didn't see much of Emily at all while we were there, except when she had trouble sleeping. She is so independent, and so in her element with her cousins. I was surprised, a little, since we hadn't been to Rockford in several months, but both girls took one look around and made themselves at home. It was so good to be home!
Tonight was a tough one, since the girls were still exhausted from the trip to Grandma's house and had to go to daycare today. I had a training class Wed/Thurs this week (which is turning out to be worthless - grr!!), so I am dreading tomorrow morning's dropoff. Poor Audrey is really not going to like two days in a row! But, I'm hoping to make a switch to a new daycare here in a few weeks, and I think that will help. My brother and sister-in-law has given glowing recommendations of the place that they take Milo, so I called the lady just to get some more info. She chatted with me for nearly an hour, and she sounds really wonderful! We're going to go over for a playdate some morning, just to try it out, and then probably pull the switch in August. I hope it'll be a good transition, especially since Milo will be there - and my girls LOVE Milo! So, fingers crossed on that one. I remember that when I'd drop Emily off at Ms. Amanda's, I'd get her to the door and she'd take off running, sometimes forgetting to give me a hug because she was so ready to play. At this daycare, there's a little apprehension from both girls at dropoff, although they're good sports. But we can do better, so I sure hope this is it!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
So far, so good!
Day 2 of using the cloth inserts in plastic covers - going great! Audrey doesn't seem to mind (I had hoped that she'd find it uncomfortable enough that she'd want to go potty instead, but there's plenty of time for that to set in). I made a little chart to see how much it costs vs. disposables, and for the number of disposables we were using each day, the service is really more expensive. But like I said, if I can pay money to make potty training better, it'll be worth it! and I'm not washing those yucky things - blech!!
Emily had a very academic day yesterday. You never know when the mood is going to strike her to decide to sit and learn to draw numbers, or spell off letters of words, or sit and studiously put together puzzles, but yesterday she did all that. She has been reading off the letters that spell the colors on the crayon puzzle pieces, and is quite proud of herself. I am guessing that her teachers say "be quiet, okay?" a lot, because she will tell us that whether we're quiet or not, as a preface that she's going to read her letters. I'm so proud of her! And of course, Audrey mimics her: she picks up the puzzle pieces and points to them repeatedly, "unn... unn... unn... Ahh! Ahhh!!!" She's also crazy about buckle pig, and I haven't yet tired of unbuckling them for her, but we're getting there! Not much for words out of Audrey still, but it's not like she isn't communicating with gestures and meaningful squeals. She likes making animal sounds for kitties, dogs, fish, and birds, and I swear I heard her say "I did it!" after she helped me turn off a lightswitch. When I noticed, she clammed up and wouldn't say anything else at all. Stinker. She's going to let full sentences loose if we pretend not to notice. :) The singing continues, out of both girls, and it's so lovely. They were singing ABC's together in the shopping cart at Target the other day, and I just let them go on at the tops of their lungs. I figure there's no way anybody else could hear that and not think it was just absolutely lovely. Or maybe I'm biased!
Emily had a haircut the other night, so it's just above her shoulders now. It's a little too short for a good pony tail, but I don't plan to cut it for another 6-9 months so I think it's good. It looks kind of 1940's, somehow, the way it curls under her chin - very cute! Apparently she had her chin tilted way up while I was cutting the back, because it's unintentionally layered and too short back there. Oops. So it's not a professional job, by any means, but it's really just that she wouldn't sit still! I'd get her looking in the mirror, holding very still, and as soon as she heard the sound of her hairs getting cut, she'd turn her head to look at it. Gah!!! This wasn't an experience that I wanted to be full of me scolding her (I guess, what is, really??) but with every cut I ended up snapping at her to HOLD STILL! Wow.
Trav came home from work early yesterday to go for a bike ride, and it was the perfect day for it - warm but not super hot, sunny but with some clouds, perfect humidity, no wind - so he did 30 miles, two hours. This morning was supposed to be my turn, but Trav wanted to hit a bike sale in Beaverdale before I went, so I made breakfast for the girls. He was home right away, so I checked the radar and it looked like a huge storm was aiming to hit in about 30 minutes, so I decided not to go. Well, the storm is moving really super slowly and fading out, so I could have gone after all!! I'm really annoyed!!! On days when I get home from work, I have to hop on things immediately and get supper going, and watch kids so Trav can mow or go for a run or relax and check fb or have a bathroom break, but when he gets home from work, I have to ... watch the kids and get supper going so he can do all those same things!! After supper, I have to keep the kids so he can load the dishwasher (why can't they keep their hands off yucky dishes?), so we end up going for walks or playing in the yard, but it's not like I can bike or play the piano or have a complete thought to myself. I didn't realize how much it annoyed me until my biking didn't work out this morning. Next week, I'll instigate some changes around here. My workload is pretty light at work these days - maybe I'll just take off early and bike those afternoons instead. I've got the vacation, and that's what Trav did yesterday, so why not? Otherwise, I don't see any way I'll get myself in shape enough to do even a day or two of Ragbrai, which looks like it might work out this year! Fingers crossed!! This is the first year since 2006 that I won't be pregnant or nursing during Ragbrai, so we'll see if I remember how to be fun after all.
We're really having a great summer. I biked to Ashby park yesterday with the girls in the trailer. Emily complained the whole time about being hungry (Would you just eat your damn breakfast OR your snack so I don't have to listen to you whine all morning??), we finally ate our picnic lunch and she relaxed... to the point where she had to poop but then she wouldn't use the public restrooms there. *sigh!* so we came home, and again, neither of them got more than their ankles wet. I didn't have a swim diaper for Audrey because one of the girls had taken it out of the bag while I was getting the lunch packed, so it's just as well that they're not really into the water thing. At least they enjoy the playground equipment there, and, like I said it was a beautiful day. And I enjoyed the exercise, too. I wonder how many equivalent miles I biked, doing 4 miles with ~75 lbs behind me? Ashby Park is at the top of a wicked hill, so that's gotta count for something.
And for the most part, we're just hanging out, enjoying lazy days. Travis has a landscaping project in mind for the house, but he's doing it in the style that he really prefers to approach things - lots of forethought, a little bit at a time. Fortunately, this is a project that really goes well with that approach! The girls and I are enjoying our unscheduled days, but it kind of makes me nervous, in a way, that I'm not making the most of them! How do you make the most of days off? It seems like a Catch-22 to me. :)
** Update** I got my first 15 miles in on the year by going immediately after lunch. It was a great day for a ride - no wind, all clouds, good temp, and nobody out on the trails! Trav is such a sweetie. I told him how disappointed I was that I made the wrong call on biking this morning, and he practically kicked me out the door after lunch, even bagging up my license and phone for me. So, it's no big deal - if I want to change something, we just work it out and change it. Everyone should be jealous of me. :)
Emily had a very academic day yesterday. You never know when the mood is going to strike her to decide to sit and learn to draw numbers, or spell off letters of words, or sit and studiously put together puzzles, but yesterday she did all that. She has been reading off the letters that spell the colors on the crayon puzzle pieces, and is quite proud of herself. I am guessing that her teachers say "be quiet, okay?" a lot, because she will tell us that whether we're quiet or not, as a preface that she's going to read her letters. I'm so proud of her! And of course, Audrey mimics her: she picks up the puzzle pieces and points to them repeatedly, "unn... unn... unn... Ahh! Ahhh!!!" She's also crazy about buckle pig, and I haven't yet tired of unbuckling them for her, but we're getting there! Not much for words out of Audrey still, but it's not like she isn't communicating with gestures and meaningful squeals. She likes making animal sounds for kitties, dogs, fish, and birds, and I swear I heard her say "I did it!" after she helped me turn off a lightswitch. When I noticed, she clammed up and wouldn't say anything else at all. Stinker. She's going to let full sentences loose if we pretend not to notice. :) The singing continues, out of both girls, and it's so lovely. They were singing ABC's together in the shopping cart at Target the other day, and I just let them go on at the tops of their lungs. I figure there's no way anybody else could hear that and not think it was just absolutely lovely. Or maybe I'm biased!
Emily had a haircut the other night, so it's just above her shoulders now. It's a little too short for a good pony tail, but I don't plan to cut it for another 6-9 months so I think it's good. It looks kind of 1940's, somehow, the way it curls under her chin - very cute! Apparently she had her chin tilted way up while I was cutting the back, because it's unintentionally layered and too short back there. Oops. So it's not a professional job, by any means, but it's really just that she wouldn't sit still! I'd get her looking in the mirror, holding very still, and as soon as she heard the sound of her hairs getting cut, she'd turn her head to look at it. Gah!!! This wasn't an experience that I wanted to be full of me scolding her (I guess, what is, really??) but with every cut I ended up snapping at her to HOLD STILL! Wow.
Trav came home from work early yesterday to go for a bike ride, and it was the perfect day for it - warm but not super hot, sunny but with some clouds, perfect humidity, no wind - so he did 30 miles, two hours. This morning was supposed to be my turn, but Trav wanted to hit a bike sale in Beaverdale before I went, so I made breakfast for the girls. He was home right away, so I checked the radar and it looked like a huge storm was aiming to hit in about 30 minutes, so I decided not to go. Well, the storm is moving really super slowly and fading out, so I could have gone after all!! I'm really annoyed!!! On days when I get home from work, I have to hop on things immediately and get supper going, and watch kids so Trav can mow or go for a run or relax and check fb or have a bathroom break, but when he gets home from work, I have to ... watch the kids and get supper going so he can do all those same things!! After supper, I have to keep the kids so he can load the dishwasher (why can't they keep their hands off yucky dishes?), so we end up going for walks or playing in the yard, but it's not like I can bike or play the piano or have a complete thought to myself. I didn't realize how much it annoyed me until my biking didn't work out this morning. Next week, I'll instigate some changes around here. My workload is pretty light at work these days - maybe I'll just take off early and bike those afternoons instead. I've got the vacation, and that's what Trav did yesterday, so why not? Otherwise, I don't see any way I'll get myself in shape enough to do even a day or two of Ragbrai, which looks like it might work out this year! Fingers crossed!! This is the first year since 2006 that I won't be pregnant or nursing during Ragbrai, so we'll see if I remember how to be fun after all.
We're really having a great summer. I biked to Ashby park yesterday with the girls in the trailer. Emily complained the whole time about being hungry (Would you just eat your damn breakfast OR your snack so I don't have to listen to you whine all morning??), we finally ate our picnic lunch and she relaxed... to the point where she had to poop but then she wouldn't use the public restrooms there. *sigh!* so we came home, and again, neither of them got more than their ankles wet. I didn't have a swim diaper for Audrey because one of the girls had taken it out of the bag while I was getting the lunch packed, so it's just as well that they're not really into the water thing. At least they enjoy the playground equipment there, and, like I said it was a beautiful day. And I enjoyed the exercise, too. I wonder how many equivalent miles I biked, doing 4 miles with ~75 lbs behind me? Ashby Park is at the top of a wicked hill, so that's gotta count for something.
And for the most part, we're just hanging out, enjoying lazy days. Travis has a landscaping project in mind for the house, but he's doing it in the style that he really prefers to approach things - lots of forethought, a little bit at a time. Fortunately, this is a project that really goes well with that approach! The girls and I are enjoying our unscheduled days, but it kind of makes me nervous, in a way, that I'm not making the most of them! How do you make the most of days off? It seems like a Catch-22 to me. :)
** Update** I got my first 15 miles in on the year by going immediately after lunch. It was a great day for a ride - no wind, all clouds, good temp, and nobody out on the trails! Trav is such a sweetie. I told him how disappointed I was that I made the wrong call on biking this morning, and he practically kicked me out the door after lunch, even bagging up my license and phone for me. So, it's no big deal - if I want to change something, we just work it out and change it. Everyone should be jealous of me. :)
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Poopiest entry ever
So if you're not interested in reading about managing my daughter's bodily outputs, just skip the first part of this entry. I figured a warning upfront is only fair!
We took Audrey to the doctor last Wednesday because she had started another round of slimy horrendous blowouts. I just couldn't take any more!! The doctor poked around her tummy, agreed that things were pretty squishy in there, and sent us home with a kit to collect a stool sample. After naptime, we had the good we needed for the sample, so I took the dirty diaper to the kitchen counter to put what was needed into the specified containers. I know that in the past I have expressed frustration with Emily's constant questioning, but this time it was pretty funny: "Mom, what are you doing????" Well, "scooping poop into little containers" seemed like an obvious enough answer, but I just told her the doctor wanted to look at it to see if she could figure out why her tummy was giving her troubles, so then it made sense to Emily that we had to drive it back to the doctor's office. As of Friday, the only test results were that everything was normal, and the full results should be in on Monday. Thursday, Audrey's teacher at daycare called me and said she was concerned about the output, which was super nice of her but I have a feeling it was probably based in the same exasperation I had: Ugh, yuck! AGAIN?? This weekend, things have been marginally okay, which makes me fear that we've got a food sensitivity to look for. I was so hoping it could just be a parasite or something that we could fix with a round of medicine. A food sensitivity seems like such a life sentence, you know?
Yesterday, I went to an informational gathering about the diaper service here in Des Moines. I have heard other mothers talk about how they never have blowouts with cloth diapers, and while I still think they haven't put up with the quantity of poo that I have, it's gotta be better. The only part of cloth diapering that I truly object to is dealing with the dirty ones later, so a diaper service is perfect, actually! And really, I've washed so much nasty clothing that I can't imagine this could be any worse. Cloth diapering, even with a service, is the kind of thing that should save money over the long haul, but since Audrey is so old (hee hee, she's so old!) we may end up actually spending more. I've absolved the cost issue in my mind by considering it an investment in potty training. When I was banging my head against the wall trying to potty train Emily, I wished desperately for a solution where I could just pay money to make it go away, and I really believe the cloth diapering will help. Monday, Milo spent the day with us and it was really easy changing and managing his cloth diapers, so I'm feeling pretty good about this. I've bought some diaper covers, and I think I'll start service either this week or next. Cool, huh? :)
Okay, enough poopy talk!! Time for funny stories about my girls!
Emily was SO excited for the opening of Ashby Park on Monday, which happened to be hot and sunny, perfect for going to a wading pool. We counted down the days all weekend, and that morning we got swimsuits and sunblock and the stroller and a snack, and set off for the park. The unfortunate thing about it being a perfect day for the pool was that everyone else thought so, too. There were a ton of people there, and you know, much like her mother and her aunt, Emily does not like people!! She spent about 5 minutes thinking about going in the water, and then told me she was all done. Audrey generally doesn't like changing clothes, so she didn't even get her suit on. The park opened at 10, and we were home at 10:20. I guess it's just as well that I forgot towels, because neither kid got a drop on them!! Wednesday we went back, where I met a friend and her three kids. Her two boys got drenched immediately, tearing around the park like they owned the place, and her baby girl sat in the grass and pleasantly ate her snack. My girls ended the time in the park by howling Mom Mom Mama Mama incessantly until we left. At least Emily got in the water that time, but 5 minutes later I turned around and she was back at the stroller, competely naked, putting her clothes back in. Audrey waded gingerly until she happened to fall down, and she got soaked and was totally done. In addition to all the people, I think they don't like the noise of the water splashing from the fountains, and the constant noise them edgy. So, apparently our relationship with Ashby Park this year is love-hate!
We had a great time over at a friend's house last night, but we didn't get the girls in bed until 9:30. Audrey was up at 6!! She's having a morning nap today, which is great for her but doesn't help Travis, who is pretty zombied from getting up with her. And Emily could use a nap too, but I think we'll just try to make the most of a cranky day with her. I love summer days, but I wouldn't mind if summer mornings were not quite so sunshiney and bright at 5:30 AM. Maybe we'll try out our "new" (craigslist) Burley today and see how the girls like biking!
We took Audrey to the doctor last Wednesday because she had started another round of slimy horrendous blowouts. I just couldn't take any more!! The doctor poked around her tummy, agreed that things were pretty squishy in there, and sent us home with a kit to collect a stool sample. After naptime, we had the good we needed for the sample, so I took the dirty diaper to the kitchen counter to put what was needed into the specified containers. I know that in the past I have expressed frustration with Emily's constant questioning, but this time it was pretty funny: "Mom, what are you doing????" Well, "scooping poop into little containers" seemed like an obvious enough answer, but I just told her the doctor wanted to look at it to see if she could figure out why her tummy was giving her troubles, so then it made sense to Emily that we had to drive it back to the doctor's office. As of Friday, the only test results were that everything was normal, and the full results should be in on Monday. Thursday, Audrey's teacher at daycare called me and said she was concerned about the output, which was super nice of her but I have a feeling it was probably based in the same exasperation I had: Ugh, yuck! AGAIN?? This weekend, things have been marginally okay, which makes me fear that we've got a food sensitivity to look for. I was so hoping it could just be a parasite or something that we could fix with a round of medicine. A food sensitivity seems like such a life sentence, you know?
Yesterday, I went to an informational gathering about the diaper service here in Des Moines. I have heard other mothers talk about how they never have blowouts with cloth diapers, and while I still think they haven't put up with the quantity of poo that I have, it's gotta be better. The only part of cloth diapering that I truly object to is dealing with the dirty ones later, so a diaper service is perfect, actually! And really, I've washed so much nasty clothing that I can't imagine this could be any worse. Cloth diapering, even with a service, is the kind of thing that should save money over the long haul, but since Audrey is so old (hee hee, she's so old!) we may end up actually spending more. I've absolved the cost issue in my mind by considering it an investment in potty training. When I was banging my head against the wall trying to potty train Emily, I wished desperately for a solution where I could just pay money to make it go away, and I really believe the cloth diapering will help. Monday, Milo spent the day with us and it was really easy changing and managing his cloth diapers, so I'm feeling pretty good about this. I've bought some diaper covers, and I think I'll start service either this week or next. Cool, huh? :)
Okay, enough poopy talk!! Time for funny stories about my girls!
Emily was SO excited for the opening of Ashby Park on Monday, which happened to be hot and sunny, perfect for going to a wading pool. We counted down the days all weekend, and that morning we got swimsuits and sunblock and the stroller and a snack, and set off for the park. The unfortunate thing about it being a perfect day for the pool was that everyone else thought so, too. There were a ton of people there, and you know, much like her mother and her aunt, Emily does not like people!! She spent about 5 minutes thinking about going in the water, and then told me she was all done. Audrey generally doesn't like changing clothes, so she didn't even get her suit on. The park opened at 10, and we were home at 10:20. I guess it's just as well that I forgot towels, because neither kid got a drop on them!! Wednesday we went back, where I met a friend and her three kids. Her two boys got drenched immediately, tearing around the park like they owned the place, and her baby girl sat in the grass and pleasantly ate her snack. My girls ended the time in the park by howling Mom Mom Mama Mama incessantly until we left. At least Emily got in the water that time, but 5 minutes later I turned around and she was back at the stroller, competely naked, putting her clothes back in. Audrey waded gingerly until she happened to fall down, and she got soaked and was totally done. In addition to all the people, I think they don't like the noise of the water splashing from the fountains, and the constant noise them edgy. So, apparently our relationship with Ashby Park this year is love-hate!
We had a great time over at a friend's house last night, but we didn't get the girls in bed until 9:30. Audrey was up at 6!! She's having a morning nap today, which is great for her but doesn't help Travis, who is pretty zombied from getting up with her. And Emily could use a nap too, but I think we'll just try to make the most of a cranky day with her. I love summer days, but I wouldn't mind if summer mornings were not quite so sunshiney and bright at 5:30 AM. Maybe we'll try out our "new" (craigslist) Burley today and see how the girls like biking!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Part-er time than usual!
As of today, I am back at pre-crazy work levels, and only 20 hours per week. Phew! What a long haul that was! I sure got a lot of actual work done for my job, though, and I've received a lot of nice praise from my boss for it, both during my mid-year review and at other times when he just drops by to tell me how great I'm doing. He says he continues to be impressed with both quality and quantity of my work, and that I showed "exceptional leadership" for our group during my coworker's maternity leave, which I thought was odd coming from the person who was supposed to be the leader of our group, but it's still pretty great, right?? I'm not really sure what to do with that much positive feedback! Travis tells me I should pick one of those opportunities to turn it around and ask when I'll be getting promoted, then, but of course I'm going to play that more carefully. My boss did tell me that if I wanted to work full-time, he would be very adamant that they place me in a senior engineer position. I'm pretty sure he'd say the same thing for the other part-time person in our department, so, if she and I are essentially splitting one job, and we're both doing senior-level work, then why are they not paying us that way?? I floated that idea past her yesterday (her first day back from maternity leave), and I'm guessing it won't be long before we're conniving to make this a reality. Because, really! My life these days, working part-time and having great at-home days with my kids, is definitely something to savor!
I absolutely love summer. Emily wore a swimsuit most of today, and Audrey had on a blue dress with fishies on it (they say "*smack*, *smack*"), and they looked so comfortable and beautiful. Sandals are so easy to get on, and no coats, and it just makes everything so much easier when trying to leave the house. They run around the backyard in our little utopia out there (the sandbox is done! yay!), and it's fenced-in and super safe, and just awesome. Ashby Park opens next week, and then I'm sure we'll be spending quite a bit of time there, too.
My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary last weekend by coming to Des Moines to hang out with their kids' families. It was such an awesome weekend! We went to the science center, the farmer's market, the sculpture garden and the pedestrian bridges. We spent downtime at my house and Dan's house, just hanging out and enjoying each other, and enjoyed a dinner out downtown with more family and friends. Emily's 3 older cousins slept with her in her room, so she had her sleepover night that she was so excited about, and they had a fantastic time together. It was a great reason to celebrate, and a great way to do it. And because of the holiday, we actually had a day off after the weekend to recover - perfect!
Audrey is finally through her two week tummy illness. This morning, there was finally something flushable in her diaper, and I just about jumped for joy (yes, I was that excited about poop). She had been having 3-4 horrendous, soupy disasters daily that would get on her crib sheets, blankets, clothes, EVERYWHERE, and the amount of laundry I did was just phenomenal. finally, we resolved to take her to the doctor on Monday morning, and she actually woke up clean that day. Emily was suffering from it a little bit, too, so I hope that we made the right call in letting them work through things without a doctor's help. It seems that doctors are quite unsympathetic to the plight of a parent who is concerned about the consistency of her kid's poo. If she had acted sick at all we would've taken her in, but she was totally happy and normal - just very, very stinky.
The more expressive Audrey gets, though, the more she cracks me up. She's SO funny! Tonight I laid her in her crib with one of her (five) blankets, and kissed her forehead and said goodnight, and she gestured and cooed over towards her changing table, where a bunch of laundry was piled up. I asked her if she wanted another blanket, since she prefers to have two or three, and she smiled and nodded. So I went downstairs and found another of her favorites, and when I gave it to her, she giggled and snuggled it and rolled over, went to sleep. She's just so tickled that she can communicate now! I suppose I should've done more signing with her, because it is so satisfying for her, but she'll get the verbal stuff down soon enough. She tells me when she wants to get dressed (or doesn't!!) and when she wants a turn sitting on the potty (all show, no go - no biggie!). And she knows that a good loud squeal will tell me that she's trying to fend off an older sister who is either being inconsiderate or overly helpful. I wish those two scenarios weren't so similar - Emily really genuinely wants to help sometimes, and really sometimes just wants what she wants at other times. If I could reward the former and redirect the latter, it'd be great, but it's hard to keep it all "fair" based on the squalling that alerts me of the situation.
Anyway, that's what's been up here lately. My girls sing, play, and look beautiful, and I love it. :) Oh yeah - Travis finally turned 30, which is the end of the two most awkward weeks of the year where I'm two years older than him. It's hard on my fragile ego ;)
I absolutely love summer. Emily wore a swimsuit most of today, and Audrey had on a blue dress with fishies on it (they say "*smack*, *smack*"), and they looked so comfortable and beautiful. Sandals are so easy to get on, and no coats, and it just makes everything so much easier when trying to leave the house. They run around the backyard in our little utopia out there (the sandbox is done! yay!), and it's fenced-in and super safe, and just awesome. Ashby Park opens next week, and then I'm sure we'll be spending quite a bit of time there, too.
My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary last weekend by coming to Des Moines to hang out with their kids' families. It was such an awesome weekend! We went to the science center, the farmer's market, the sculpture garden and the pedestrian bridges. We spent downtime at my house and Dan's house, just hanging out and enjoying each other, and enjoyed a dinner out downtown with more family and friends. Emily's 3 older cousins slept with her in her room, so she had her sleepover night that she was so excited about, and they had a fantastic time together. It was a great reason to celebrate, and a great way to do it. And because of the holiday, we actually had a day off after the weekend to recover - perfect!
Audrey is finally through her two week tummy illness. This morning, there was finally something flushable in her diaper, and I just about jumped for joy (yes, I was that excited about poop). She had been having 3-4 horrendous, soupy disasters daily that would get on her crib sheets, blankets, clothes, EVERYWHERE, and the amount of laundry I did was just phenomenal. finally, we resolved to take her to the doctor on Monday morning, and she actually woke up clean that day. Emily was suffering from it a little bit, too, so I hope that we made the right call in letting them work through things without a doctor's help. It seems that doctors are quite unsympathetic to the plight of a parent who is concerned about the consistency of her kid's poo. If she had acted sick at all we would've taken her in, but she was totally happy and normal - just very, very stinky.
The more expressive Audrey gets, though, the more she cracks me up. She's SO funny! Tonight I laid her in her crib with one of her (five) blankets, and kissed her forehead and said goodnight, and she gestured and cooed over towards her changing table, where a bunch of laundry was piled up. I asked her if she wanted another blanket, since she prefers to have two or three, and she smiled and nodded. So I went downstairs and found another of her favorites, and when I gave it to her, she giggled and snuggled it and rolled over, went to sleep. She's just so tickled that she can communicate now! I suppose I should've done more signing with her, because it is so satisfying for her, but she'll get the verbal stuff down soon enough. She tells me when she wants to get dressed (or doesn't!!) and when she wants a turn sitting on the potty (all show, no go - no biggie!). And she knows that a good loud squeal will tell me that she's trying to fend off an older sister who is either being inconsiderate or overly helpful. I wish those two scenarios weren't so similar - Emily really genuinely wants to help sometimes, and really sometimes just wants what she wants at other times. If I could reward the former and redirect the latter, it'd be great, but it's hard to keep it all "fair" based on the squalling that alerts me of the situation.
Anyway, that's what's been up here lately. My girls sing, play, and look beautiful, and I love it. :) Oh yeah - Travis finally turned 30, which is the end of the two most awkward weeks of the year where I'm two years older than him. It's hard on my fragile ego ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)