Thursday, March 25, 2010

Something...

A short, random post is better than nothing...right?


I just logged into Google Reader for the first time in a week and have almost 850 unread items. I've been skimming my personal and work email so lightly that I have hundreds of messages that I haven't even opened because I know I will delete them and they are adding up fast. The only reason I'm keeping up on facebook and have even looked at my personal email is because I can access them on my phone. Work, home, the kids...life is just busy right now. I can't pinpoint just one thing. But I think part of it is a desire to take advantage of the lovely weather we've been having combined with a serious of short term deadlines at work.

I'm not complaining. It would be nice to be a little less behind on the housework and be a little more rested, but I'm just doing the best I can to keep up and take care of myself. And with a little grandparent assistance this weekend I hope to come out a little closer to "caught up" on Monday.

Random kid facts:

- Todd is getting all four top, middle teeth at once. The two middle ones are a little further through, but all four of them are marching down together. He gotten as cranky or as restless as Heather used to, but there was some more night-waking.

- Todd's sleep is better but still not consistent. It is so sporadic that I never know if it will be a wake 1 time or a wake 4-5 times night. But I'm thrilled that he generally starts the night in his own bed and as long as we don't royally screw up his schedule with out of the house activities, he'll nap there on the weekends, too. In the past week he had a 6 hour stretch one night and woke every 2-3 hours the next.

- Heather's current movie obsession is Toy Story. She would literally watch the whole thing every day if we would let her. The nice weather has distracted from the obsession a little bit, or at least kept us busy enough that there just isn't time for TV in the evenings, but I'm not sure when the last day passed that she didn't ask for something from one of the DVDs. We've basically decided that Toy Story 3 will be her first movie at the theater. I can't wait!

- Todd is crawling, pulling up and very close to cruising. I think he's been amenable to being in the exersaucer once in the last two weeks. If I need to cook, a better strategy is to put him in his high chair with snacks. It keeps him happy and he's eating enough that a snack before dinner won't ruin his appetite.

- Some nights he has eaten as much at dinner as I have. And he is only drinking his third bottle at daycare once a week. Now if only he would learn to drink from a cup and I would have some hope that I can stop pumping in a month.

- Most of the time lately Heather has been pretty delightful. She can be so happy, so helpful, so independent, so cooperative...and then with no warning she becomes a stubborn crying child who Will. Not. do whatever it is that you are nicely asking her to do and that we've done a million times before. I think these tantrums are harder because they are so sudden and unexpected and so vigorous.

- Her only other frustrating behavior is her propensity for grabbing things (especially toys) out of Todd's hands. Her toys, his toys, shared toys, etc. And she's showing a fondness for things that are "his". Honestly, I'm not really sure how to set the boundaries for what is shared (should be most things) and what is Heather's or Todd's. There are a few clear items (Heather's favorite blanket)...but otherwise it is slightly tricky territory and I have a feeling it won't really be solved until Todd is old enough to walk up to Heather and take things back. Fun times ahead!

- We went to the Science Center a few weeks ago and had a really nice time. I am pretty sure that Heather would have been happy to stay until they closed at 7pm. As we were leaving she told me she "is sad that it is time to leave now." She was clearly tired, but overall very well behaved and listened well. She enjoyed the robots, the trains, the water play area and the science exploration area.

- Heather is officially done with naps on the weekend. Despite how tired she was when we got home from the science center, she wouldn't even nap that day. She's still doing some napping at daycare, but weekend napping is a no-go. I'm much more at peace with it than I expected to be. Some days it becomes "movie time" for her obsession as noted above, and in general even if she's just playing I can get some things done, knit, do dishes, fold laundry, etc. We manage to have some quiet-ish time, and since it no longer results in a bedtime meltdown at 7pm I can live with it. I'm a little sad in a selfish way that we'll never have a period when both kids are taking an afternoon nap, but since Todd doesn't seem to be ready for one nap a day yet, that period was going to be short anyway. And at least now we can try to plan around his two naps instead of 3 different naps for 2 kids.

- It actually seems like there is much more to tell you, but my head is blank and my food break is over.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Favorite Foto #2

Well, if nothing else, Annie is getting me to post a little more often.

When she posted the theme for the week (sunshine), this was the first picture I thought of. It has always been a favorite. Not only because of the way Heather and I are outlined by the sunlight but also because it is from my first Mother's Day weekend.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Participating

Since I've been a very sporadic blogger lately, I'm taking the inspiration that Annie is providing and participating in her favorite foto friday challenge. Today's theme is "you" and I admit that this one is a little hard. I'm generally pretty critical of photos of myself, I tend to favor the ones from when I weighed a little less and most of the ones I truly like are of me with a kid where the shot really isn't of me. There is one from 8 or 9 years ago in Austin that I like, but it isn't on flickr and most of the others in which I like my expression, my clothes or hair annoys me. Did I mention that I'm too critical? :-)

But, I managed to find one that I like, that doesn't have the kids and that is not a vanity shot from the period when I was at my lowest weight.

I believe this was on a "sunset cruise". I know it was during our honeymoon in Grand Cayman. And no, I don't remember what I was drinking, but I'm sure it was brightly colored and overly sweet. ;-)

Monday, March 01, 2010

It's never...


...too snowy to go to the playground. The snow pants, mittens and bulky coat provided double duty as extra padding during the inevitable slips and falls on the snow-covered climber.

More updates to come whenever work stops kicking my butt.