Elephant in the Room

LP: Mommy, nipples are the same thing as boobies. When you have a baby in your belly, your boobies get milk.

Me: You don't get babies in your belly until after you get married.

LP: How does G-d know when you are married so you get a baby in your belly? Does it have something to do with when a mommy and a daddy smoosh together...

Me, yelling out the door: Honey! We're ready for you!

Later on the Hoos admonished me for putting the thought of smooshing into her head. Never mind that I did it SEVEN MONTHS AGO. Under extreme duress.

Seriously, why do I always get stuck having these conversations. And holding them for their flu shots (that will be this Saturday) or taking them to the dentist. Although, admittedly, taking LP to the dentist is a pleasure. We went this morning and she rocked it. No complaints, no noises, nothing. And at least she can't ask me any questions with the hygienist's hands in her mouth.

Party On, Wayne!

This weekend AK had her first birthday party.

Well, not HER first birthday party. She is two and all.

What I mean is, she got invited to celebrate someone else's birthday for the first time. Well, that's not exactly right either. She has been to other parties, but mostly as LP's little sister, not as a friend of the birthday boy or girl. And to confuse things even more, she was invited to TWO parties - one Saturday and one Sunday.

Being a glutton for punishment, I RSVP'd in the affirmative for both.

I have a hard time believing that my baby is big enough to have friends having "real" birthday parties. While it is true that she is on the young end of her class - having just turned two while a bunch of the kids are turning three and transitioning to the next room - she still does her best to keep up. And she for sure knows from parties. On Saturday as soon as she finished her slice of pizza she called out, "CAKE! I WANT CAKE!" Making mama proud.

Sunday we were a bit rushed getting to the second party. The original plan was that the Hoos would chill with LP at home or elsewhere while I took AK. Instead, as it turned out, the Hoos and LP drove AK and me to the party. And, when I went to take AK out of the car, LP unbuckled herself from her booster and dashed out of the car announcing, "I want to come to the party too!"

Oy.

I told her she could stand on the side and watch with me. That worked, right?

Fortunately, the hosting family was very gracious and encouraged LP to participate - and eat pizza and cake. We drew the line at letting her take a goodie bag.

I see this being an ongoing challenge. It was one thing when I dragged one year old AK to LP's friends' parties. She didn't eat much, she couldn't participate and she certainly did not need a goodie bag. Plus, LP's friends' parents are my friends, so I don't mind imposing on them (thanks ladies!).

Should be interesting as AK gets invited to more parties. I am still exhausted from the weekend and can't think about it anymore. Just makes me want to take a nap.

Sleep Furlough

Many, many months ago I thought I had moved on from frequent, infrequent sleep. That is, nights punctuated by crying babies and whiny toddlers.

Alas, I was wrong.

First, LP took FOREVER to go to bed. She kept crying out, "Mommyyyyyy. I want companyyyy." I offered to find her a cuddly friend, or give her my pillow, but none of those options was sufficient to suppress the whining. At 9:45 she gave in and fell asleep.

At 2am, AK apparently decided that she was done resting for the night. TWO A.M.

Between two and four the Hoos and I had a grand old time.

I begged.
I shusshed.
I cajoled.
I almost cried.
I tried ambesol.
I tried giving her a sippy cup of water.
I changed her sheets and clothes after she decided to douse both with said water.

I ultimately put the pillow over my head.

The Hoos gave her tylenol and laid on the floor next to the crib until she fell asleep.

This morning is gray. And rainy. Really rainy. And boy does that ever reflect my mood.
Good thing it is Friday.

Busy Bees

Things continue on.

We won't talk about AK's nose or LP's foot.

We can talk about LP's swimming lessons. She isn't learning to swim per say, but she is learning about water safety and being comfortable in the water. The other day she told me "Three whistles mean an em-ur-gency."

AK's toilet training is also not perfect - she will use the toilet at school like a champ, but home, not so much. This morning she did look at me and say, clear as day, "Mommy, I want to wear undies too." Looking forward to not needing to buy diapers in the long-run; in the short-run, not looking forward to carrying around extra changes of clothes.

Last month I discovered a community farm on my way to work and we have been making a weekly sojourn. The girls love Ambler Farm. There isn't much there but a few animals and open fields (and a farm stand) but they just enjoy the open space. I love that my babies don't need THINGS to be entertained. They only request a pint of tomatoes from the farm stand to munch on and the freedom to run around. It is great.

We also got a weekend visit from some cousins - both real and pretend.

My actual cousin was passing through CT and stopped by with his wife and two daughters. The girls had a great time dressing up, playing games and being generally silly. My girls liked hugging the baby; the baby probably like it less.

The mail delivered "Flat Julie," the paper iteration of one of my nieces from California. LP and AK loved the idea and couldn't wait to take Flat Julie to Stew's to show her the highlights. A good times was had by all.

I know, not my best ever blog post, but at least you got some pictures!

In a Flash

Hard to believe how quickly the year has flown by! The Jewish holidays have come and (almost) gone. While the last 12 months have been full of excitement, intrigue, and craziness, it seems that the past few weeks have really upped the ante. In addition to my professional life changes, some other mind-blowing occurrences:

1. LP moved into the pre-K room at day care. While I won't miss the tuition, I am finding it hard to believe that it has already been FOUR YEARS since I dropped her off in the Firefly room for the first time.


2. On Friday at pick-up, AK's daily sheet shared that she peed on the toilet all day! And her teacher requested I bring in undies!!! My baby?! Toilet-trained?!


3. I turned 34. THIRTY-FOUR. And discovered that I am older than more than half of the people in my 10 person office.


4. The Hoos and I celebrated out eight-year wedding anniversary. Columbus Day weekend will mark 15 years together. Again, impossible to imagine that I lead the established life of a grown-up.

Now that I am working full-time I feel like I don't even have time to breathe. Life is flying by at a faster pace everyday. Good thing I still ahve my lovelies to remind me to stop and smell the roses.

The Root of the Problem

Previously, I left the house before the Hoos and the girls got out of bed. And every day at 9 I would get a call from the Hoos, "Sigh...I am just leaving day care now." I felt so bad that he was so late getting into work. Especially because I knew that would mean he wouldn't head home until at least 6:30.

Once I had the opportunity to help get everyone up in the morning, I decided I was going to be proactive to keep everyone on schedule.

I get up first - at 6:40 - and get showered and dressed. I encourage the Hoos to get in the shower by 7:15 and wake up the girls at the same time. I get the girls up, dressed, and fed. Sometimes all of this is done before the Hoos even emerges from the bathroom.

Around 7:50 I leave the house to start my 15 minute, backroads-only, commute. The Hoos drops the girls off sometime thereafter - usually around 8:45 (I think).

Are you starting to see a clear picture emerging?

This morning was the worst. The Hoos had an 8:30 meeting and asked that I drop the girls off. Just about everything was the same as above. Which is to say, the Hoos was totally, and completely NOT HELPFUL. Not only did I do all the cajoling out of bed, dressing, feeding, tush wiping (AK pooped on the toilet - YAY!!) and shoe- (and shoo-) ing, but I also had to do drop off. To be fair (although not equal) the Hoos did help AK brush her teeth.

We all left the house at the same time at 8:15. I had to have teachers pry my children off of me. Do I feel bad about that part? No? Do I feel bad that I am the one getting up early and doing most of the legwork? Yes.

The Spin Cycle

I know, I know...I haven't been around in a while.

It isn't that I don't think about you.

AK's nose still isn't healed. It was almost healed and than she had at it and had a new bloody scab this morning. It has become her habit to scratch at it when she falls asleep. It continues to frustrate me to no end. The liquid bandage is our first line of defense, but she scratches it off and keeps going.

LP has started swimming lessons. She loves it. She was already good at putting her head in the water and blowing bubbles and hopefully soon she will jump in without holding on to the instructor's hands. Poor AK has to sit on the bleachers and watch when all she really wants to do is jump in. Fortunately 1.my friend Di has an iPhone that she lets AK play with and 2. AK likes to shower in the locker room with LP after swimming, so at least she has something to look forward to.

My job continues to be really busy, although, I am starting to feel like I am getting into a groove. I am launching a program next week that I am super-psyched about and feel like I am gaining some traction within the organization. I am still not used to being in a leadership role and need to figure out how to better balance invitations to make office and client visits and attend events with my desire to go home and hang with my babies. Oh, and the Hoos' job has been crazy too.

I am starting to really enjoy my blackberry. I have always been addicted to email and this plays into my habit. I do still know when to put it down and have to hide my typing on it more from the Hoos than from the girls.

And, finally, I had a really nice 34th birthday. Can't quite believe I am 34. It sounds like a real age - a grown up age - and that throws me.

Otherwise, life is good, busy and flying by. Hopefully I will have more time to blog, but I hate to tell you not to count on it...

Little Nugget

Last night as I was putting AK to bed, the oven started beeping - the brownies were done.

I put her in her crib, promising to return after taking care of business in the kitchen.

When I got back she looked at me sweetly, "Mommy, I'm picking my nose."

Lovely.

What she meant was, "Mommy, I am picking the scab on my nose that you have been yelling at me not to touch for a month."

I asked if she wanted to put a Band-Aid on it. "No!"

I tried a new tack, "Okay, how about Mommy puts a Band-Aid on your nose and you put a Band-Aid on Mommy's nose?"

She was all in. And the Band-Aid stayed on my nose for about a minute. Which was 15 seconds longer than it was on her nose.

And she went back to taunting me by picking at the scab. No matter how I tried to distract her, cajole her, forcibly restrain her...nothing worked.

Exasperated, I yelled out, "AK! If you don't stop I am going to leave!"

The response?

"Mommy, leave. Leave, Mommy."

And I left.

This morning the Hoos busted out the liquid bandage. Lord, I hope it works.

Good Vibrations

Life is good. Work is busy. LP is back on her feet, AK continues to be a devilish imp.

Some silly stuff:

• LP calls AK "bella." As in "Do you need help with that, bella?" The Hoos thought she was saying brother, but apparently someone she has encountered uses Italian for beautiful as a term of endearment. Very sweet.
• AK is a pincher. My cute little monkey likes to squeeze. And it hurts. And LP is often the target of her pinches. And she won't defend herself, instead she just cries out and takes it. We are working on teaching her some self-defense techniques.
• LP likes the cold side of the pillow. She told me so this morning. I think this might come from her Papa. Then again, who doesn't like the cold side of the pillow?
• We are going to Disneyworld! In the Spring. Which is a long time away. Not that the girls care. LP has already come up with her plan, "I am going to wake up in the morning and go outside in my pajamas and see if Ariel has feet." AK likes to March in place and tell people "Mickey Mouse." She is confusing the month of March with the verb of march. Adorable.
• AK has had a month long scratch on the bridge of her nose. Just when we think it is healing she scratches the scab off again. We are lucky it hasn't gotten infected and try to put bandages on it while she sleeps since I think that is when she most often plucks at it. She refuses to wear a band-aid during the day but at least let's me put Neosporin on it. Ideas?
• I got myself a BlackBerry. Still only have a limited idea of how to use it, but I think I like the concept. My plan is to not learn how to use it so I don't become addicted. So far this seems to be working.

It's All a Blur

Here I am!

While I know most of you didn't actively miss me, I would like to think you were at least curious as to my whereabouts.

I haven't really been much of anywhere. Home, work, New Jersey, tomorrow is Rhode Island...

I am learning that as under-utilized as I thought I was at my previous job, I should multiply it by 10. Nowadays, I am pretty much working from 8:15 until 5:15, without time - or more importantly INTEREST - in surfing the web and fooling around.

I am really enjoying the fact that I get to see the girls every morning. AK has taken to waking up right around the time my alarm goes off and joining me in the shower. While I would prefer to shower alone (especially when she points at my nether-regions and asks if I am pooping), it is nice to see her smiling face. I am pretty sure both AK and LP look at "mommy in the morning time" as off-setting "less mommy in the afternoon."

We are kind of, sort of starting to settle into a routine, except that I had to go to NJ for the day on Tuesday and my meeting ran about and hour and a half long and I had to call the Hoos to pick up the girls since I would be cutting it close. So, if you exclude that - and the fact that I am taking a painfully early 7am train to Providence, RI in the morning and worked out sending the girls to my parents for two nights - then we have a routine (she says tongue in cheek).

Next week is a really short week, bordered by Labor Day on Monday and Rosh Hashana on Thursday and Friday. I think a short week is just what the doctor ordered...