On the Boardwalk

20072009

Me and my girls on the Gray's Beach Boardwalk, Yarmouthport, MA.

Picked Me a Good One

The thing about being a parent is that once you become one, there is no going back. There are times when being a mom is the best thing in the world (e.g., when your little munchkins decide that the best way to pass 10 minutes is by kissing and cuddling with you). There are also minutes (e.g., a tantrum), hours (e.g., enduring the screaming while you are waiting for nap time to kick in), even entire days (no description needed) that I would prefer not to be the parent.

Fortunately, more times than not, there is no place and no one else I would rather be. As I type this I am sitting on the deck of the house we are renting in Cape Cod as the Hoos is teaching LP how to swim. She is wearing a life vest and learning how to float on her back and kick. She actually just said to the Hoos, "Thank you for showing me how to do that!"

The week has been full of fun and new developments (AK is a full time walker now!). We are having a wonderful time doing some new things (Coonamesset Farm for pick your own black raspberries, visiting animals and relaxing on the back deck; Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich), some old things (beach; lots of lake; walking in Chatham; the Gray's Beach boardwalk), and had a great time all the while.

Earlier today I asked LP to describe some of her favorite parts of vacation and she immediately responded, "Fishing in the yellow boat with my daddy." Doesn't get better than that.

And, in the two minutes since initially posting this, LP and the Hoos have caught little tiny baby bass and a poliwog. And LP has eagerly held out her hands to hold both!

Lessons Learned

The last few days have had some eye-opening moments:

1. Don't be the last person to enter the room at a dinner party. Last night I went to a celebratory dinner for work. As I finished a conversation with a colleague at the cocktail hour, everyone was been shepherded in to the dining room. By the time I went to grab a seat, my options were limited and I ended up sitting at the "head" table. The one with all of the important people. And I was actually seated in between the two most important people - the leaders of the company acquiring my firm. They were lovely, but it was bizarre. I was the most junior person in the room. And while I can hold my own, I am not the sort of person that would purposely choose this seat for political reasons. Hopefully I won't see a pink slip today based on my performance
2. The period from day care to bed is very busy. This was actually a lesson for the Hoos. Since I had the aforementioned event for work, he was on his own with the girls last night - day care pick up, after-school playground, dinner, baths and bed. When I called around 10:15 to let him know I was on my way home, one of the first things he said was, "I appreciate you. I haven't stopped all night. I am now cleaning up. I have no idea how you are done with all this, plus making us dinner by 9." Ah, that felt good.
3. Free samples can often exceed expectations. Since I got home late, I needed an extra kick this morning, so I stopped by McDonald's for a sweet tea. As I pulled around to the drive through I noticed signs that said "Free Sample of McMocha 7am-10am". I was expecting a shot glass sized sample. This was so much better! My free mini-iced mocha was adorable and complete with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Highly recommended.
4. Bathing suit shopping sucks less when you actually find a suit that fits. Yay! I got a new bathing suit for vacation next week. And, amazingly, I don't look lumpy, bumpy, old, or chubby. Not that it matters, since once I am on the beach with my kids I am focused more on them than what I look like, but it will still be nice to at least feel comfortable and somewhat attractive. There still won't be pictures.

Round and Round

How is it exactly that Mother Nature times things so that the only time there is a torrential downpour is when I have to be outside? As in getting from my office to the car, from my car to day care, from day care (with both girls!) to the car, from the car to the pediatrician's office.

Yes, if you read that closely, last night included a visit to the pediatrician. As I suspected AK's double ear infection did not clear up. We are trying a different antibiotic and hoping for the best. Poor little munchkin.

LP, on the other hand, LOVED the pediatrician's office. At one point I was trying to distract AK while we waited for the PA and took her out of the exam room to look out the windows at the sun (which came out shortly after we got into the building, natch). LP followed behind and insisted on closing the door to our room, "to keep people out." Of course, this meant that she didn't know which room was ours, so when she got bored with roaming the halls she attempted to get back into our room. Opening the wrong door.

She quickly closed it and I chastised her, "LP, you can't just go opening random doors."

"Mommy, how do you know that is Random's room? Who is Random?"

Anywhere But Here

As featured in my previous post, we had a great weekend.

• Friday in the yard was a worthwhile endeavor;
• Saturday with friends was a great way to pass the day;
• Sunday at the Yankee game with my dad was great (highly recommend taking MetroNorth to and from the game if you are from Westchester or Fairfield);
• Monday afternoon at the beach with the girls was a bit hectic, but nevertheless a good time.
• Monday night because the girls took baths as soon as we returned from the beach, we still had plenty of time for a family walk after dinner! Great way to wrap up the "weekend"

Today I am back in the office. And crazy busy.

My company is in the process of being acquired by another firm. My future is up in the air, but, because I work in communications, my job is to placate the masses of technical staff and reassure them that things will work out and answers will be forthcoming. Very frustrating for people to think that you have answers and are holding back, when, really, no one has answers and, in reality, as corporate staff, my job and the job of my co-workers are the ones most likely to be viewed as redundant.

I will have conversations with lots of interesting people, but doubtful that any will top this one with LP from the other night.

"Mommy, do deers drink milk? From their mommy's bellies when they are babies? Like when I went to the fish store [pet store] with daddy and the mommy titmouse [gerbil] was feeding the baby titmouses? And cleaning their tushies? Not like you clean my tushie! You don't lick my butt! You don't lick AK's butt! You don't lick Daddy's butt! You don't like your own butt!"

SUMMERTIME!

Yay! Summer finally seems to be here! My two little munchkins are thriving in the sunshine, and we are having lots of fun playing around town. Today included berry picking, rocket shooting and some outside eating with friends. Tomorrow the Hoos and the girls will make due with out me as I make my first trip to the new Yankee Stadium with my dad.

Here are some recent photos of our doings - just try to keep up with us!

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.