Who Are You?

I had an enlightening discussion on the playground today with several other moms. We were talking about what we preferred to be called by our children's friends. This stemmed from LP calling another mom by her first name.

Several of the other moms stated their preference for being Mrs. So-and-so. It makes sense, since growing up my friend's parents were Mrs. Baker, Mr. Van and so on. In fact, I still do call them by these more formal names when I run into them. It just never occurred to me that I could or should command respect.

I am certainly on board with respecting other people's wishes when it comes to how they want to be known on the playground. I will admit it is endearing when she calls one dad, "Jer," his nickname, and when she goes into long explanations about which parent belongs to which kid and how she is married to this dad or that dad. That being said, I certainly plan on directing LP to call other parents Mr. or Mrs. Whatever until instructed otherwise. Just be a little patient with me while I get used to it.

And, please, feel free to call me Amy.

A Mile a Minute

Fortunately, the blog title DOES NOT have to do with how fast AK is walking - yet. But last night she was pulling herself into a standing position from the middle of the floor, taking a few steps, falling down and pulling herself back up again. It is only a matter of time before crawling becomes totally passé.

In addition to the walking, yesterday AK learned how to turn on the faucets in the bath tub. Which is a fun challenge when you are bathing two adorable little girls at once. I am like a defensive lineman, trying to keep two slippery little girls from injuring each other, getting burned, and drenching my entire bathroom (AK's new bath time fun includes scooping water up in her hands and tossing it out of the tub - her hands are small, but she is fast!).

At the playground AK has also started climbing the stairs by herself, crawling over to the slide, righting herself and attempting to go down feet first without assistance. I am constantly climbing up and down the steps, riding the slide and moving as fast as I can to make sure she doesn't jump out of an opening, fall down an opening, bang the back of her head on the slide, whack her face into the railing, get stepped on by any of the other rugrats enjoying the playground, or get smothered by LP who tries to catch her at the bottom of the slide.

Who needs to go to the gym?

These Feet Were Made for Walking

My little AK is on the move!

My back is sore from holding her little hands the entire weekend so she could take in the world from an upright position. She only opted to crawl if she really wanted to get somewhere fast. In addition to exploring with Mommy hovering above holding her hands, we spent a lot of time having her walk between us as we stood a few feet a part - taking maybe four or five steps at a time before lunging at whoever she was walking toward.

Then, last night as we stood in the kitchen, I decided to take it a bit further. I would set her up facing me and then as she walked I would move backward. She practically walked across the entire kitchen! She then walked about 12-15 steps on her own between us before becoming unsure of herself and dropping back into a crawl position.

She was so proud of herself, laughing and clapping. LP was also really impressed, hugging her little sister and saying, "I can't believe she is doing so great!"

Of course every time we tried to videotape she would fall down, but she is really getting it! And she wore herself out - getting cranky a half hour earlier than usual and insisting on bath and bed before 8pm. Not that I am complaining, because she wore me out too!

A Simpler Way of Life

We spent the weekend in bucolic Geneseo, NY celebrating my youngest cousin's graduation from high school. It was really nice to have a few days off and we enjoyed spending time at the bed and breakfast and spa owned by my aunt and uncle.

It was our first road trip of any significant length with both girls. The time away was worth the six hour drive in each direction. The girls actually behaved wonderfully during the drive, although they didn't nap at the same time. Figures, right? LP was so excited to get to Uncle Barry's house that she started crying on the way up when we stopped for lunch, "I don't want lunch, I want to go to Uncle Barry's! I want to eat at Uncle Barry's!"

We stayed in a large room at the "inn" with AK in a pack-n-play and LP supposedly sleeping on a futon on the floor. Unfortunately, the only way we could get LP to go to sleep was to let her lay in the king-sized bed with us until she passed out. At one point as I attempted to get her to sleep in the bed next to me, I turned away so she wouldn't be breathing in my face and she just snuggled closer to me and said, "It's okay sweet pea. LP is here." Okay, that part wasn't so bad.

As we drove home yesterday, the Hoos and I considered what our lives would be like if we lived in a small town instead of a suburban city. My cousin is a great kid, really polite and amazingly sweet to his entire family and baby cousins even in front of his friends. We aren't sure if he is always like that, but I would like to think so. The pace of life in Geneseo is certainly different. If only we could find a small town, with jobs that we loved and only required us to work 9-5, and fabulous homes that we could afford.

Oh well.

When we asked LP what her favorite part of the trip was, we thought for sure she would talk about all of the animals that we saw (a doe and two fawns, a tree frog, chipmunks...). Instead she said, "Grandma and Papa and Uncle Barry." At least she knows what the important things are in life.

No Talking!

I took AK to the pediatrician today. She has been congested for a while and it finally manifested in a cough and gunky eyes. As expected, double ear infection. Sweetness.

However, this was not the high point of our trip to the doctor.

Rather, it was when the person checking me in informed me that I had a $47 balance on our account from our last visit. The last visit were combined well child visits for the girls. Turns out the balance was for an assessment of LP.

I found this odd, since they didn't draw any blood from LP, she didn't receive any shots, and we had established that the hearing and vision tests were included as part of the visit.

Turns out LP had both a lead and TB assessment. When I inquired what this consisted of, I was told it was my conversation with the nurse on if the girls had been exposed to lead or TB since their last visit.

I was incredulous. I talk to Theresa, the head nurse for the girls' pediatrician every time I encounter her. I had no idea I as charged for the privilege. She is lovely (as attested to in this previous post) but not that nice.

I mean what kind of service could she provide that costs $50 for a minute?

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Yesterday was supposed to be "Summer Fun Day" for LP's class. We were requested to send in a bathing suit and towel for water play as well as a lunch that did not requiring heating since they would be eating outside.

From what I can ascertain they did have "Summer Fun Day" but I am not sure what it entailed since the weather was less than ideal. I know that they did not end up having water play.

I also know that when I picked LP up yesterday she was only wearing her bathing suit and Minnie Mouse Crocs. Since the "Summer Fun" activities were supposed to occur in the morning, I do not know if LP wore her bathing suit all day, or just put it on special for me.

I also know that as soon as she saw me she started taking it off. She pulled the top on and then told me that, "Not everyone wants to see my boobies," and ran to get her clothes to change back into.

I am in so much trouble.

Inverse

The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke.

The second time it happened, I was really glad I was done nursing.

By the 15th time, it became clear, AK needed to be transitioned off the bottle.

Baby girl sucks so hard, or so much, or whatever, that she creates a vacuum in the bottle and the nipple INVERTS. It actually goes from pointing up to pointing down, into the bottle. And sometimes the vacuum creates so much suction that the nipple actually pops out - inside out - into the bottle.

This never happened with LP. It happens almost every night with AK. And she gets pissed at me when I take the bottle away to fix the problem.

Yesterday we started weaning her from the bottle.

Whip It!

Last night I was on my own with my two lovely ladies. I had prepped dinner while AK napped, so there wasn't too much for me to do except play with my babies and answer random work-related phone calls and emails.

As LP occupied herself doing playdough at the kitchen table, AK was getting into a tizzy. She REALLY wanted to do playdough too. I wanted her to experience the texture and the fun that can be molding clay, but unfortunately, baby girl can't get it out of her head that playdough is not food. You would think that the neon colors would turn her off; if not the salty flavor should be a dead give-away. But, alas, she would not be deterred and would not stop trying to eat it.

So, as an alternative, I grabbed a can of whip cream and we did textural play. I may not be a good mother, but I am an awesome mommy.

AK played with it for five seconds - longer than she would play with the playdough! - before noticing that her big sister was shoveling the stuff into her mouth as fast as her little hands would go. The light bulb went on, and a new favorite activity was born.

Not pictures from yesterday, but LP from this weekend and AK from a day at a friend's pool in April - when the weather was more summer-like than it is now!

Charlie's Angel in Training (Wheels)

When Going Out of Your Way Feels Good

Since the Hoos and I first lived together in Virginia, I have made it my business to know the location of the nearest homeless shelter. Not because I wanted to make sure he had a place to go should it come to that, but because I prefer to pass my lightly used clothing, housewares and other items directly on to those that will use them instead of donating them to an organization that sells them (like Goodwill).

For zoning and NIMBY reasons, homeless shelters are not typically located in the best areas. In fact, here in Norwalk there is currently a zoning fight about allowing our local shelter to expand. However, I have driven to shelters in more than five cities over the past 10 years and I must say that the people that utilize them have always been very kind and appreciative. Whether I go alone or with one of my children, people are always willing to help me carry items out of my car and I always feel safe.

Going to these shelters reminds me that I need to be more appreciative of and thankful for all of the blessings and good fortunes in my life. With this recent financial crisis, a lot of news articles have talked about how people who never thought they would have to accept public assistance have had to reach out their hands for help.

So, the next time you clean out your closets or basement, consider doing some research and locating your local homeless shelter. Going the extra mile is worth the trip.

And, so it isn't too serious of a post, a little story about AK.

While typing this post, AK was eating her lunch. She ate all of her food and had just started sucking on her bottle when she fell asleep. When I went over to release her from the high chair and put her down for a nap, I must have shocked her awake, because she threw the bottle clear across the room. She has quite an arm!