We Have Crawling

Today Matthew officially crawled. It was tummy up, full on crawling. Hurray for Matthew. Daddy was so busy getting it on video that he didn't take a photo. We'll get one tomorrow.

The Crabby Beast

I came home from work today at about 4:00, my usual time. Sometimes I get the mail. Sometimes I don't. Well, today I decided I wanted to see what the good ole' U.S. Postal Service brought to us. As I walked to the door I could hear Natalie . . .crying. I opened the door and went in only to hear her crying, "Put it back." Then Ryan yelled down, "She wants to get the mail. Put it back." So, I put the mail back in the mailbox and went back in the house like I just got home. Ryan ithen nformed me that Natalie woke up crabby from her nap. I am pretty good at soothing the savage crabby beast so I was able to calm her down. We got the mail and then I got her a snack of applesauce. Natalie ate the applesauce and suddenly was feeling much happier. "Mommy," she said, "I am not disagreeable anymore."

Orange for Grant

Okay, so we've been doing a lot of talking about Grant because, after all, we were supposed to get together. (I still feel awful.) Anyway, Nat and I were talking and said, "We need an orange hat for Grant." I asked her is orange Grant's color. "Yes," she said. So there you have it, Grant. You are now in Natalie's good graces and she has given you orange. I think it might have something to do with the fact that the last time we saw Grant he was wearing his orange bathing suit and eating an orange popsicle! Grant, you like orange!

Who Says You Can't Learn Anything from Television?

We were outside playing today and Natalie said, "Be careful of the yeti." Yeti?!

"What's a yeti?" I asked her.

"A yeti is a yeti," she replied.

"Where did you learn that word?"

"From the t.v. on the Backyardigans," she answered matter of factly.

Her daycare teacher's last day was Friday. She's going to college. Ask Natalie about college and who goes there. She'll tell you that college is a big school. Big kids go there to learn things like art and music and history and about the sky and stars. You can live there and that's where Steve went. Who's Steve, you ask? Don't you watch Blue's Clue's? Steve was Blue's owner, but now he's at college just like Ms. Angelyn.

Earlier this evening we were cleaning up downstairs and she said something else that surprised me. I asked her where she learned that word and, you guessed it, t.v. That's what gave me the idea for this post, but now I can't remember what she said! Oh well, I can go back an edit it in if I remember.

She is a funny one.

What a Flake!

I suck! This weekend we had plans to go out with Scott, Melanie, and Grant. We were going to meet them at a children's museum and they were bringing lunch. I was really looking forward to it and it had been on the calendar for over a month. Melanie and I had been emailing back and forth fine tuning the details. Her last email even stated in the regarding box, "Dont' forget about Saturday." Well, I didn't forget. I just somehow had it in my head that we were going on Sunday.

So, this morning I took Natalie and Matthew to Target and the party store. We had a great time shopping and even bought some picnic items to bring - on Sunday! My phone rang at about one o'clock, but I couldn't answer because I was checking out at Target. I played the message and it was Ryan. Then at the party store my phone rang again, being on my way home and thinking it was just Ryan, I didn't answer it. I looked at the number when I got in the car and sort of recognized it, but couldn't place it. There wasn't a message so I thought, Oh well.

We got home. I put Matthew to sleep and while I was in the house, Ryan's cell phone rang. I looked at the number and it was the same number that was on my phone earlier. Suddenly, panic hit me. I ran outside to tell Ryan (he was replacing the water heater) that I think I got the dates mixed up for our weekend. He said, "Yeah, I thought the calendar said Saturday!" "Well, then why didn't you say something days ago when I kept saying Sunday . . .Sunday . . . Sunday?!" Sorry, that was my attempt to make it Ryan's fault.

In reality it was totally my fault. I have no idea what happened. The calendar says the 29th. The email says Saturday. My brain didn't get it and I am such a loser! I've never done anything like that before. I mean to not even call! Some friend I am.

I really am not a big flake and we really wanted to go. The next time you invite me anywhere, remind me and remind me and even confirm again. This sleep deprivation thing is not working out so well.

Am I the Only One?

Am I the only one who . . .
-thinks that their babies are the cutest and most beautiful in all the world?
-sleeps, eats, and breathes their every move?
-dreams of sleep and wakes up wondering if she'll be able to nap later in the day?
-thinks of a nap as a treat?
-doesn't feel like doing one bit of housework?
-wants to eat a big tub of ice cream for dinner?
-averages one movie a year?
-who sings along to REO Speedwagon? Chicago? Air Supply? Journey? Cydni Lauper?
oh the list goes on
-who married their first love?
-got married at Disneyland?
-who wishes childbirth and labor were a little less painful?
-who would give up her job in a heartbeat to stay home with her children?
-who enjoys a good trip to Target, the bookstore, and now added to the list, the party store?
-who would wipe their child's nose with their shirt?
-who would stay up all night holding and comforting a sick baby or child while laying on a bed with no sheets because of what the sick baby did earlier?
-who drives all the to work singing along to a kid's cd and not even realizing it?
-who hates sending her children to daycare?
-who would crawl through snakes, spiders, and anything else equally terrifying or dangerous
to get to her children?
-who thinks laying on the couch by myself and watching Grey's Anatomy, Lost, or Invasion
is a wonderul way to spend the night?
-who cannot stand to hear her children cry?

I doubt it.

Nighty Night

So Natalie is in our bed again for the third time this week. Sometimes it's just easier. I didn't have to read a half dozen books or act out several stories with small animals, toy animals that is. I didn't have to do any rocking or singing. I just had to lay down with her and cuddle. She was out faster than . . .well, pretty fast.

She's been telling me that her big, brown bed is too big. Look at the picture under My Sleeping Babies. It's a toddler bed. It's small. She's just using any excuse she can find to sleep in Mommy's really BIG bed. And you know what? I don't mind one bit.

Ever since our first night together in the hospital when she screamed, yes screamed, all night long and the nurse put her right next to me, she's been a cosleeper. I swear I saw her wiggle and snuggle to get to that comfortable cuddle spot tucked into Mommy's side. After that, the only place she wanted to be was by my side. She slept right up against me for months. I learned to sleep without moving on very little bed and I can still do it.

I finally got Natalie to sleep in her crib at about sixteen months. She'd go down fairly well but come one o'clock. she'd be up. With me being so tired, I'd just bring her to our room. She'd snuggle right in and I'd get my sleep. Then, at about twenty two months she started to sleep all night. Hurray. We were happy.

She even did well with her toddler bed. Oh sure, she'd get up and down oodles of times, or I'd find her on the floor asleep. But she was liking it.

Matthew, on the other hand, is totally happy in his crib. Oh, I tried to get him to sleep with us when he was a newborn. I wanted my sleep! But he would have to part of it. Being in our bed meant wiggle, wiggle, wiggle and play, play, play to Matthew. He went right into his crib with no trouble and he's a good sleeper. He finds other ways to be close to Mommy, usually just being in my arms. He wants to be everywhere I am, which would be great if I were a kangaroo!

I think Nat's just going through a phase right now. I remember our old neighbors across the street telling me that their daughter would end up in their bed every night at around the age three our four. All the while I was thinking, I've adjusted so well to my one foot of bed that I can probably go a few more years.

In reality, I really don't mind. I was looking at little Nat the other day as she was playing and realized that she is getting so big and so grown up. Pretty soon she won't want to cuddle in Mommy's bed or have me "hold her on the couch." I'm going to miss that so I am going to enjoy every minute now, while I can.

Photo - March 2004 -about seven months

P U

I know little boys emit an odor called the "boy smell," but do babies do that too? Lately Matthew has been pretty stinky.

Last Thursday I took Natalie to story time at our local bookstore and asked Daddy to give Matthew his bath, something he's never done before. Daddy doesn't like to bath the babies until he's pretty sure they are not going to slip out of his grasp. So, it came as no surprise when later that evening he asked, "Was I supposed to wash his hair," and the next morning I had one stinky baby. Yes, even his own Mommy thought he was pretty offensive. So, I gave him a bath - at 6:30 in the morning, all the time thinking, "That Daddy!"

Well, low and behold, I went in to get my crying punkin about thirty minutes ago and boy did he stink - again! He was clean going down tonight. I gave him his bath and I washed him pretty well, including his hair. When I picked him up he was a sweaty, stinky, musky, smells like feet kinda guy. Yes, he did wake up sweaty and I know with sweat comes stink, but we're running the air nonstop. P U, is all I can say and I can either bath him bright and early or let it fester until I get home. I guess it will depend on how bad it is in the morning and how late am I running.

So, I guess little boys do have a certain type of odor. I don't remember Natalie getting that stinky. But that's okay, I still love my sweet little punkin, stinky and all!

It Seemed like a Good Idea

I took Natalie with me today to the teacher store - a new one (at least to her). She always loves to go to stores like that because of all the color. She enjoyed looking at the stickers and picking a pack, coming across a cardboard cutout of a butterfly for her room, and randomly putting things in my cart. "We need a cart, Mommy," were pretty much the first words out of her mouth.

I got the things I needed: some chart paper, stickers, a bingo game and just let her walk around to look at the different items. She came across some lacing beads. She wanted them. I thought they'd probably be good for her hand eye coordination so I said okay and picked up some string too. Then we decided to go look at the books. She picked out a purple, of course, beanbag to sit in and I read her Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This brand of early reader was only $2.50 so I decided to get her a few different favorite fairy tales. As I was putting them in the cart, I noticed a small tub of buttons.

Natalie?

Yes, she added the tub to our cart. Did she hope that I wouldn't notice them? She gets the idea of "paying for it," so eventually I would have discovered the buttons, right? Ah, not her problem. I told her that were not buying all these things and that she had to pick one. She picked the buttons. Buttons?! What on earth would she want buttons for? The lacing beads were much more versatile and looked like they'd provide hours of fun, not to mention the lovely jewelry creations one could create.

As it turned out, she had big plans for the buttons. She decided that she wanted to make a fisherman bear from the Noggin show Little Bear. She had seen Mother Bear and Little Bear do this in a previous episode and the buttons reminded her of it.

I thought, wow, my little girl is very creative - buy buttons to create a small bear doll. Now, how could we do it. I don't sew. I thought maybe felt. Well, knowing Natalie, what kind of felt would she want? Purple of course. There was no purple. I convinced her to go to Walmart. I knew they had felt there and probably in many colors for a fraction of the price. I was right. We got four sheets of two different purples.

We brought the buttons home and of course they had to be opened up right away to show Daddy. Yes, Daddy liked them. We put them away. I left the room and came back - buttons all over the floor. Okay, we picked them up as Matthew finally spotted them and started to make a dash toward the hundred or so small, choking hazards. I left the room to get Matthew's dinner ready. Natalie brought them to the family room and dumped them out. Yeah. We picked them up again as Matthew made another dash for the button booty. Daddy brought home a new watch which came in lovely (to a three year old) plastic box, perfect for storing buttons. You guessed it, they ended up all over the floor again.

So, you see, I really though buying the buttons was a good idea. My creative little girl wanted to use them to make something. What a great idea. Yes, we can make fisherman bear (remember, I don't sew!)

Daddy hid the buttons. Natalie was distracted and hasn't asked for them since. The time will come, thought, I'm sure of it. She'll want her buttons to make fisherman bear or do some type of art.

Now how are we going to make that fisherman bear? I think we'll ask Grandma.

Oh, and I forgot to put the lacing string back. What on earth am I going to do with that?

Feed Me Please

So I went to visit Matthew at daycare on Wednesday during my lunch 45 minutes. I try to visit him once a week. I usually don't peek in on Nat because it's too hard on her to watch me leave. Anyway, I get there and I hear him screaming from outside the room. Now, Matthew is not a screamer to begin with. He is such a good baby and rarely complains unless something is wrong. There were three babies in the room, including Matthew. There was a baby happily eating in the high chair (by himself). There was a baby (my friend's baby) sitting in the glider with one of the "older" and "scarier" teachers. Ms. A. She was filling in for our own infant teacher who was on lunch break. My sweet baby was sitting in the boppy with a toy crying - not whimpering - crying, sobbing, and very upset. Of course I rush right over to him to comfort him. The lady says, "Oh, he's having a hard time sleeping. Is he not used to noise?" "Duh, lady, our house is pretty calm." I asked if he had lunch and she insisted that everyone (all three) had eaten already. Good, I am thinking, because Matthew usually eats lunch about 11:30. I asked her to check when he had his last bottle thinking if he has another, he might be content enough to drift off into sleep. Well, that is when my blood began to boil.

"Oh (long and drawn out with a pause), he didn't eat lunch yet."

I nearly tore her head off (metaphorically speaking). The last food he had eaten was at 9:00 and it was already after 12:00! My sweet baby was STARVING. He inhaled his squash in a matter of minutes.

Miss A. wasn't apologetic at all. In fact, she blamed it on the teacher who's break she was covering and said, "Well, I don't really know all their schedules."

So! That's your flipping job. Look in his book. I was livid. When I picked him up I complained to his teacher. I said there is absolutely no way that my baby should have been left crying when there were two happy babies in there. Then I complained to the director. And then Ryan let his teacher know today that if Matthew cries they better damn well figure out what he needs.

You know, it's not like we go down the street to some small, unlicensed home. They both go to a nationwide, mainstream daycare (oh, heck, I'll just say it - Kindercare) for which we pay quite a bit of money for two lousy days a week. Grrr.

And this is nothing compared to what we went through there in April with the bad management and the loss of three great teachers.

Today I called and spoke with the director again, "I just want to make sure my baby is eating today."

"Ha, ha(nervous chuckle) oh, yes, his teacher is in there." And I stopped in at lunch. They will take excellent care of my baby.

I guess if they don't get their act together I'll be calling corporate again.

Would you starve this baby?!

My Sleeping Babies

Daycare Sucks

The little uns have been back at daycare for two days (last week) and they are already sick! Aaargh! Natalie started to get sniffly and sneezy on Saturday, with yesterday being the worst of it. Today Matthew had the runny nose and sneezes. Two days and the germs attacked! Poor little uns. So, yes daycare does suck; if not for the fact of the frequent illnesses, how about poor little Matthew sobbing uncontrollably in the swing when I went in during lunch last week. My poor baby. He was so tired that he went to sleep at 4:30 on Thursday - without even eating dinner. Sigh.

Funny Work Anecdote

We've been studying national and patriotic symbols in social studies, with one of them being the Great Seal. We did all the reading and then I assigned the students a group and one symbol to list facts about.

One of the students asked me, " (insert Mrs. Blank here), is the seal still alive?" He was completely serious. I just smiled and said no.

We reviewed the Great Seal today.

Crawling?

Does this count as crawling? Matthew can get to where he wants to go and fast. He goes through all the crawling motions, alternate hand/arm leg movement. He even brings his knees up. The only thing he doesn't do is lift his tummy (yes, tummy) off the floor. He's a tummy crawler!

Please pardon the diaper. It's HOT here. Besides, we're not modest. You should see how little Miss Nat spends her days, sans clothes!

A Riddle for You

What do trash trucks eat for lunch?

Trash.
-Natalie

Use Caution

Okay, so I was hitting next blog. It takes you to random blogs. I've found some that I enjoy reading: stay at home moms, working moms, daddies proudly reporting on their little tykes. Oh, and I've come across some bizarre ones and some downright icky ones. Just be careful hitting next blog because these pages are not censored and some are not very nice (to put it mildly). I've decided to just stick to the few favorite wholesome ones I've found. I do not want to be shocked again.

Vacation is Over

Well, I am back at work and utterly exhausted. I worked all weekend setting up my class and now have a full week of kids plus Back to School Night on Thursday. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to my restful weekend. We have minimal plans and I'd like to keep it that way.

I am a little concerned about sending the troops back to daycare, affectionately called "school" to minimize the fact that, yes, it is daycare. Actually, Natalie really did like it. Sure, she doesn't want to go back tomorrow, but when she's there she enjoys it. It was a life saver when Matthew was born because it kept her in her routine. But now she's been off for seven weeks and I think it will be hard to go back. They were okay with me putting her in the three year old room. That was something I wanted to do a while ago, but now I think it would be best to keep her in the two's until she transitions with several other little kiddoes. At least the room and her teacher will be familiar to her. Hopefully it will go well for her tomorrow. We laid out her clothes before bedtime. She is wearing her new "school" shirt that cost us $60 as part of their summer fee, which transfers to a pretty expensive blue t shirt with a sun and the school logo on it!

I worry about Matthew too. Since I've been home with him we've developed quite an attachment. Even after working these few days he has seemed to miss me. When I come home he cries for me right away and I can't put him down. It's hard to get much done with a baby on your hip. Today he stretched out his arms to me and kept grabbing my face to "kiss" it. Aw, my sweet little guy. I hope he does well tomorrow. He has a new teacher that he hasn't met. She seems nice and reminds me of our favorite, Jill.

At least Natalie can tell me what goes on there and can speak her mind. If she doesn't want to do something or like something she will tell them. Who's going to be Matthew's voice? I suddenly turn into "really annoying parent" when my children go back to daycare. But that's okay because I pay a lot of money to send them there and my wishes should be met. I know they've had their fill of my complaints since April and rightly so, but it keeps them on their toes!
Take good care of my babies, damn it!

Think happy thoughts for my little punkins going back tot he salt mines.

Child's Intuition

I call it child's intuition. Sleepers who once slept until at least 6:30 and & 7:00 sense that Mommy is going back to work and suddenly start waking up one to two hours earlier or several times during the night. When Natalie was an infant she started to sleep through night at about three months - for a week. Then I went back to work and "pop" she was up at least once during the middle of the night. Did she need extra comfort? I don't know but it lasted until she was almost two!

Matthew hasn't been sleeping through the night, but he has been a much better sleeper than his sister - so I am not complaining (about that at least). However, since I've been back at work (for a whole two days), he's been waking up several times a night and sometimes before 5:00 A.M. Now in the past he's been waking up once or not at all and sleeping until about 6:30. Natalie, on the other hand, had started sleeping until 7:30 ish. She's been up at 5:45 and 6:00 the past two days. And it's not like I've been waking them up. They've been waking me up before my alarm even goes off.

Their little bodies have some sort of sensor Maybe it's a comfort sensor that seems to know that Mommy is leaving them for part of the day (SIGH) and they want to get as much Mommy time as possible. I don't blame them one bit; however, I wish they'd realize that Mommy time would be much richer if only Mommy could sleep through the night and perhaps "sleep in" until 6:00 (7:00 on weekends).

Until then I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. I keep going, utterly exhausted, with a smile on my face, and give them as much time as they need. If it's 4:00 in the morning, so be it. Before long they'll be wanting to sleep the morning away. I always joke that payback will come to them when they teenagers and start sleeping the morning away! I'm going to to get them up with a list of chores that need to be done while I sleep the day away. Hee hee. But until then, I'll just be tired.

Can't Sleep

I go back to work tomorrow and I can't sleep. I am tired, but I just can't sleep. While it's true I don't want to go, I am not feeling anxious. I save my anxiety for the night before the kids come. So why the anti zzz's? Maybe, it's because as soon as I do fall into slumber I know that my vacation is officially over. Very sad. My wonderful days of sleeping in until noon and watching my soaps all day. . . Wait! That's not my life. My WONDERFUL days spent with my little punkins: going to the bookstore for story time and train fun, Target for absolutely no reason, play dates, the park when it's not so bloody hot out, cuddle time on the couch, playing little people and 'I'm gonna get you,' Little Bear, Dora, and Miss Spider's Sunny Patch (my personal favorite). Sigh. I am very sad. I wish I could be a stay at home mom. I LOVE being home. I am not much of a housekeeper but we sure do have fun.

I will at least be thankful that my job affords me frequent time off. It also allows me to be home at a reasonable time. I do like what I do. Working in an office would be awful. And I did get to see Matthew sit up and scoot around. I saw all Natalie's milestones too.

Oh well, gotta pay for that expensive hair. And the online shopping I just did.

Happy Birthday, America

Now that I have children I find that my holidays really revolve around them. I think of everything in terms of how they will react and see things through their eyes. Well, mostly little Nat. Matthew is still too young to care about things like fireworks. Honestly, I've seen many a firework in my day. (Makes me sound old!) I want them to enjoy all the fun and festivities so my emphasis is planning events with the kiddoes in mind.

We had a surprisingly busy Fourth of July. It started out with our local Fourth of July parade in the morning. Rico, a very pregnant Le Anne, and Nathan went with us. It was really hot but the kids had a good time. Nat loved waving to everyone and Matthew slept through most of it. We left before it was over when Natalie was ready to go. She lasted about fifty minutes - pretty good for sitting in the hot sun. We gladly packed up eager to beat the mad rush at the end of the parade.

Later that day we went over to Dan and Jeneal's house for a bbq, swim, and to watch fireworks. Natalie loved the pool and so did Matthew. Max, their toddler, did not like the fireworks. Too loud! We actually convinced Nat to leave before the big show. Their neighbors were lighting off small fireworks, which was enough for her because they actually went up pretty high. She just wanted to see them "over the houses" and the local neighborhood show fit the bill.

We got home about 9:30 and found our neighbors setting off fireworks in their backyard. Poor Elsa! She was cowering in the garage. We've always watched them from our bedroom before we moved here and had never left Elsa before. But our new house is a little lower and we can't see the fireworks from here. Elsa was all freaked out the rest of the night. Poor baby.

It was a nice day. Everyone (but me!) got to sleep in. At least Matthew slept until 6:45. That is a treat!

Happy Independence Day!

*Our photos weren't great, but here are the kids at the parade in their patriotic attire.

Let it be Over

Oh! Will my hair drama ever end?! Well, I had my hair done today and the good news is . . . I like it. I really do like it. Honey did a great job on the color and cut. She's very good. I will have to overlook the brown coloring on my ears! And, I haven't scrutinized it yet. But, overall, I think I am happy. The bad news. I don't think I can go back there again. It was WAY expensive. Let's just say all that money I saved by doing it myself the last three times. No. No savings anymore. But I like it. I am worth every penny (times a lot).

Sleep, Baby, Sleep

Matthew's latest thing is to wake up before, before the crack of dawn. Yes, I know I wrote before twice. I wanted to emphasize the early part. It was still dark out when the little guy started to fuss. No problem, you say. Feed the little buddy and rock him gently back to sleep. Ah, that would've worked a couple weeks ago. But now he seems to be up and ready to wiggle at 4:30 in the morning. Much too early for a tired mama. Let him cry, you say. Well, for one, I am not the type of parent to let my infant cry. I've done the research. It creates mistrust. He doesn't cry to be defiant. He's not throwing a tantrum. He cries for comfort. He's six months old and I try my best to meet his needs. So, right now he is in his crib happily listening to his mobile. I sit and wait, for fear if I go back to bed, I'll play the up and down game with him. Not a fun one to play at (now) 5:00 A.M.

Yesterday was a tough sleep day for him. He napped for maybe an hour all day. I think his teeth are bothering him. He went down okay. He usuallyd does. And he almost always wakes up happy, talking and playing until he gets bored with it. Once the crying ensues I've got to get to him before he wakes up Sister. If she sees even the hint of "morning" there's no going back to sleep.

Uh oh - mobile stopped. He is not playing with his aquarium. At least he's quiet. I hear a little gurggling followed by some batting at the hand-me-down Fisher Price Aquarium. I want him to understand that Mommy does not play when it's still dark out.

He's fussing a bit, trying so hard to put himself back to sleep. You can do it, Little Buddy! Mommy believes in you!

I'm in Love

Take a look at the two most beautiful faces that brighten my existence. I am absolutely in love. How could I not be?

My first born. Beautiful. Smart. Funny. Sweet. Loving. Kind. Considederate. Silly. Independent. Makes my heart melt. And, well, a typical preschooler!

My second born. Handsome. Happy. Easy going. Cute. Adorable. Active. Wiggle worm. Makes my heart melt.
I love being their mom.

Not the Last Entry in My Hair Saga

Okay, today I made an appointment at a new, local Aveda salon. I am really nervous, but anyone named Honey has to be good at hair, right? Cross your fingers for me!