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.

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.

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. ;-)

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.

Three

My charming, intelligent, strong-willed, independent, sweet, caring, nurturing, independent, stubborn, smart, happy and independent daughter is three years old today. Despite being totally stressed out by this whole snow situation going on (don't get me started), I'm thrilled and proud to be her mom today. Even when she's refusing to nap, asking to have cupcakes for breakfast and requesting her 1,498th viewing of Wall-E, I'm happy to be her mommy. (Or mama, depending on her mood.)

3 years ago at this time I was trying to get the hang of breastfeeding, watching daddy change her diapers, watching her sleep in her incubator and praying for her temperature to go up so she could stop sleeping in there, and waiting for the grandparents to make their first visit.

As I was going to sleep last night I was remembering 3 years ago when it just seemed like a normal Thursday night, until I got up at 2:45am to go to the bathroom...and life would never be the same again. I remember as we were leaving the house thinking that the next time I would be home we'd have a baby.

I don't feel like I can adequately capture what the last three years has meant or all of Heather's wonderful expressions, quirks and traits. I think that is why I write so many random bits here, to try to fill in the whole picture with bits and pieces. I only wish that more people could get to know such a special girl as well as I do.

Here's to another year in the world of Heather!

It's Friday? Whooosh.....

Whoosh is the sound that the weeks keep making as they fly past quicker than I can imagine. Busy at work, trying to get caught up/stay caught up at home, watching my kids grow up every minute and occasionally having a few moments to just be "Amy" - not mother or architect or wife.

After my last LONG post about Heather and her pacifier, the plan was to quickly follow up with a post about Todd and how he has been changing. whoosh...

He's 9 months old.

You read that right. NINE months. I told a few friends at lunch today and they were shocked. And they haven't even lived it. :-)

So let's see.
- Last night I saw him clap for the first time. This was immediately after he was laughing out loud at his sister jumping up and down around him. Adorable.

- There is no question about his ability to sit up on his own, although he would prefer to stand at every and any opportunity. You can stand him up next to a toy and he's happy to hang on. Or he's happy to stand while holding onto your hands. The last couple of times I suggested the exersaucer or the jumperoo, he was NOT amused.

- He now seems to enjoy eating, is purposefully putting food in his mouth and working hard to chew and swallow. A couple of weeks ago, lots of things were being put in his mouth and then he'd let them fall out. Or he would be just as happy to play with his food with his hands as he was to put it in his mouth. He's also had an unfinished 3rd bottle at daycare for the first time this week - so his solid food intake is definitely on the rise.

- As a follow on to his eating, it is really nice to have someone eating my cooking again and not just the fruit. He really seemed to enjoy the chicken & noodles with mashed potatoes that his sister wouldn't touch.

- He's not crawling (fine!), but he's no longer hesitant about going from sitting to a crawling position. Especially if something that he wants is further away than his arm's reach. But he can't get back to a sitting position by himself either, although I'm guessing that it is just a matter of time.

- Just the fact that he's rolling more than he ever has before makes it clear that he is more interested in mobility than he ever has been before. If he's like his sister, he'll practice these new moves and skills for a long time before he tries to walk. But I don't think we know the full extent of his personality yet, so we shall see. :-)

- A new favorite game is letting Daddy and Heather build towers of blocks, and then Todd knocks them over. This used to be one of Heather's favorite games, and 3-4 blocks is a sufficient number for knocking over. So it is a short and repetitive game! Since I refuse to cook dinner on my birthday, I hope to get in on this action this weekend, too.

The pacifier is gone...and a ramble about making changes.

Yes, you read that right. Heather's pacifier is GONE! It's gone for good and its never coming back! We would have a party to celebrate, except that her birthday is next week and two parties in two weeks might be a bit much. We don't want her expecting another one when she potty trains. :-)

I think the majority of my readers know me personally, but there might be a few lurkers out there...and really even for those of you who know me I think there is value in documenting what has gone on and my thoughts about it. Besides, this blog is the closest thing we have to a baby book for either child, so if I'm not going to go into gritty details occasionally then what is the point, right?

Let's go back to the beginning. I still remember viscerally how miserable I was at Heather's 1 week appointment. I'm pretty sure she would have nursed 24-7 if I would have let her. The relief that came when the pediatrician gave a thumbs up to offering her a pacifier swept over my whole body and made me a happy mommy again.

The girl continued to have a HUGE need to suck as a baby and then a strong need for the pacifier to get through teething and also as a lovey. It helped her calm down after every tantrum and often after an injury, too. Probably her best time to ditch it developmentally was this time last year, but we didn't want to risk screwing up her sleep right before having a baby or have her tie the pacifier loss to the baby.

I swear there were a few times over the past 4-6 months that I thought we were NEVER going to get rid of the thing. Even though she was barely using it outside of her bed or the house, we still couldn't make it go away. By Christmas we only had two left (I gradually removed the ones that weren't her favorite ones and a favorite one broke), and we only took one with us to visit family. That one broke right before we left and the paci-free trip was the most miserable 5 hours I've ever spent in a car.

BUT, the past week or two, she seems to be coming out of the 2 1/2 year developmental spurt. I don't know if you've read about this, but I've heard it described as "6 months on, 6 months off". Basically for 6 months they are calmer, more easy going and more even-tempered. And then the next 6 months they are moodier and more prone to tantrums, acting out and testing boundaries. Normally 12-18 mos, 2-2 1/2, and 3-3 1/2 are the "calm" periods and 18-24 mos, 2 1/2-3 and 3 1/2-4 are the "testing" periods. The first few weeks or months of each phase being the worst of it.

So we're one week from her birthday and the calmness seems to have arrived. She is SO pleasant and being more helpful than she has been. When she gets upset it doesn't last as long, she's less prone to bursts of crying, she's testing less and she's more likely to ask nicely without being prompted. (Yesterday was the best Sunday we've had in months!) I'm not trying to imply that she's been a constant terror for the past 6 months. As 2 year olds go, we've definitely got a good one. Especially when it comes to public behavior and general listening. But even the best kids have difficult periods. And there has been many a night the past few months that I was relieved to get her to bed so we could all get a break from each other or frustrated that she seemed to be crying more often than her baby brother...

Back to the pacifier - Thursday night at bedtime we couldn't find it. We looked in all of the usual places and it wasn't anywhere. Bedtime was a little rough and whiny, but nothing compared to when she was without it at Christmastime. And she only woke once overnight! Friday night at bedtime she looked for it briefly and didn't whine for it until my final "check-in" when she was stalling, and she only woke up once overnight.

Saturday night and Sunday night she didn't even ask for it at bedtime, she slept through the night and she only mentioned it once during the day yesterday! We officially have a toddler who is pacifier-free! And Todd doesn't seem to be very dependent on his, so I'm hoping sometime in 2010 we'll be a paci-free house. Yay!

I guess I just wanted to talk about the benefits about making changes during "calm" developmental windows to make them easier on us and our kids. Yes, we are the parents and we could have taken Heather's pacifier away whenever it suited us. (And trust me, we've tested the water on sleeping without the pacifier every few weeks for the past few months.) But by waiting until she was in a good developmental window for change, we made the change less traumatic on her and on us. (FWIW, she moved to a big girl bed a month ago with no problem...so I'm really talking about changes that are a big deal for the child, not just any and every change.)

As parents, we always seem to be second-guessing ourselves about whether we're being too harsh or too lenient. We don't want to be holding fast to rules just so that we can "win", but it is important to set boundaries to prevent the child from running the show and to give them the comfort of knowing that you are in charge. (As independent as they might be, toddlers do actually want us to be in charge and set boundaries...no matter how independent they may act.) Like everything else in parenting, it is a big balancing act, one that we are constantly fine tuning and adjusting. So I suppose I wanted to document a time when I feel like we got one "right". We seemed to strike a good balance between setting gentle boundaries and waiting for the right developmental window for the big change. There were certainly some rough and frustrating moments along the way...but I don't think I've come away from this experience with any big regrets.

And I'm hopeful that this period of calm with bring a Heather who is truly ready to be a big girl and choose to use the potty. :-) She's in a big girl bed, has ditched the booster seat, is drinking from a regular cup at the table and is mostly eating with utensils instead of her fingers. It's just a matter of time....right?

******************************************************

For the curious, the big developmental spurts (aka 'bad periods' for change) are 3-5.5 mos, 8-11 mos, 18-24 mos, 30-36 mos and 42-48 mos. My primary references for this developmental stuff are these two blogs, and both sites list reading reference material and have good search engines. I know there are people out there who think these spurts are just excuses and there is always something happening with your kids. But I've read enough parenting boards to see that the majority of sleep/behavioral problem posts cluster at the beginning of these spurts. Sure, there are growth spurts, teething, illness and other factors...but there is no doubt in my mind that these developmental spurts are real. They are more obvious in some kids than others...but they are real.

http://www.isabelagranic.com/bed-timing/

http://www.askmoxie.org/

Sleep V2.0

I was looking back at old posts to get Heather's past weight statistics and I ran across this post. Ha!

How things change. This time, we're making relatively rare efforts to put Todd to sleep in his crib and just "getting through" all the waking up and overnight nursing sessions. It's probably a combination of feeling like he can't possibly sleep with us forever, knowing that he's doing more reverse cycling than she ever did, and being so much more tired that I can't even fathom having to get out of bed multiple times a night. And I'm sure if you would have told me back then that it would be possible to function at work on less sleep I would have thought you were crazy...but you can push your body to do a lot of things.

I think we're in one of those "not ideal but not so awful that we're trying to change things" stages of baby sleep. Todd's also lucky that I'm even more laid back then I was the first time around. :-)

Nap schedule, what nap schedule?

Kid stuff

Before we get to the "new year" post or try to wrap up our holidays, I want to document some facts about the kids right now. Some random and some more milestone oriented.

1 - No matter how many times we tell Heather they are called 'Smurfs', she says 'snurfs'. :-)

2 - I know that some kids have things they pretend a lot. Some kids turn every thing into a train. Some kids turn everything into a truck. Some kids are all about their kitchens. Heather likes all these things, but I've noticed lately that the focus of her pretending is on family. If she's got two dragons, one is the mother and one is the baby. The mother takes the baby to the doctor for a check-up. Her baby dolls get fed and get their diapers changed. Her penguin gets fed in his high chair. Even her food is prone to becoming the mommy, daddy and baby apple slices, noodles, french fries, etc. I suppose if imitation is the highest form of flattery, then R and I should be extremely flattered.

3 - Todd still sleeps better on us or between us than anywhere else. And we're too tired to force him into his crib. He doesn't hate his crib and near the end of our vacation he took a 55 minute nap in there...so we will continue trying to help him sleep in there. But I don't find it worth it to spend 2 hours trying to get him to sleep in there when one of us is usually happy to have a good excuse to spend that time on the couch watching TV. :-) And I got a pikkolo carrier for Christmas partially with the intention of being able to wear him when we both have too much to do to hold him. He has yet to fall asleep on my back, but he has put his head down a few times.

(Update since I started this on Tuesday: He slept in his crib for 2 1/2 hours at the beginning of the night. There is hope...)

4 - Heather has rejected the booster seat in most circumstances. At home she's now kneeling on a regular chair and drinking from a small, regular cup. She will still (usually) wear a bib, but as she is finally...usually...getting good about using utensils, we may be nearing the end of the bib era as well.

Have I mentioned that she'll be 3 one month from tomorrow? 8-|

5 - Todd continues to be a very easy going little man. I don't even feel like we need to use signs with him because he really only gets upset when he's hungry or tired or wants attention. There is very little random crying and crankiness. His "even keel" personality is very much in contrast to his sister's. It will be interesting to see how this translates in toddlerhood. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking he'll never have a tantrum, but I'm curious if the roller coaster ride won't be quite as extreme. Only time will tell. I'm certainly thankful for a baby that can be put down for a few minutes when dealing with a dramatic Heather outburst.

6 - Todd is also just beginning to show signs of wanting to GO. He's had the ability to roll for months, but he doesn't do it much. He's been able to sit up for a couple of months and likes to be held to stand, but as long as he has a toy or a person nearby for entertainment, he hasn't been acting like he longs to explore they way that Heather did. But the past few days he has starting rolling and stretching for things. He can now lean all the way over and stretch to reach something from a sitting position, *and* get himself up in a sitting position again. At the end of december, that maneuver left him on his belly with one or both feet awkwardly folded under his belly. I'm not sure that crawling is upon is, but I think that once he decides to do it he'll just go.

7 - The switch to the big girl bed has gone pretty well for Heather. Bedtime and staying asleep isn't any more difficult than it was before the switch. We're still dealing with some stalling and sporadic wakings...but then some nights things go pretty smoothly and she doesn't wake at all, so I think it is more of a developmental and residual holiday issue than anything.

8 - It's not really clear how much he's eating, but Todd seems to enjoy putting food in his mouth and playing with the food on his tray. It sounds like he might be eating off a spoon for his daycare teachers, so I suppose we should try that again if we ever want applesauce and yogurt to be viable options that don't require a wardrobe change. He's growing fine and I'm getting to eat my meals while they are hot, so I'm not worried. ;-) You know, with you second kid, you don't worry so much!

9 - We've had some nice snow so far this winter. One December day involved all four of us in the backyard. Although the hand-me-down snowsuit we got for Todd is really too small, so I'm not sure if we'll try to get him something else or just leave the snow diving to Heather. Yet again, I realize that I should have a pair of snow pants. Must get them before next winter.

10 - We're beginning to make plans for both birthday parties. Heather is entering that age where we start to talk about inviting friends from daycare. And Todd's birthday is in that late part of spring where we have to decide if we're willing to take the risk of having an outdoor party.

If I wasn't so tired, I could probably think of some more...but this will have to do for today. Have a nice weekend!

Just too busy

I'm sorry, dear readers, for not being more attentive to you lately. I'm not going to give you a long song and dance about my lack of posts recently. Let me just say this - from 6pm Thursday until 7am Monday this past weekend, I did not touch my knitting once. Does that help you understand my world right now?

Life consists of trying to do a decent job at work, trying to maintain a sanitary home, feeding my family, and creating a happy holiday (especially for Heather since she's old enough to "get it").

So I've gone above and beyond my usual holiday preparations in that Heather and I have baked some cookies this year. But in other ways I am just barely getting by (there is clean laundry, but most of it is sitting in baskets getting more wrinkly by the day).

Other than the sleep department, things actually haven't been bad, just busy and tiring. There was a moment last night when I was making dinner, entertaining Heather by making cookie dough and trying to tend to Todd in the high chair that my life felt just a tad ridiculous...but that is really just because R was running a quick errand and his return made things feel semi-normal again. I have high praise for single parents, especially as this extra-busy time of year.

I'm hopeful for a little knitting/picture/blog/ravelry/me time during the holiday break. But that will be determined by how Heather responds to getting a big girl bed for Christmas and if Todd agrees to nap in his crib anytime soon.

I'll ask again this weekend...

For the past few weeks we've started to talk about Christmas with Heather. The tree is up (no ornaments yet) and we've mentioned Santa a few times. Each time his name comes up, Heather tells us that she doesn't want to sit on his lap. Um, ok. I have trouble believing that she remembers doing so last year (we have the obligatory crying on santa's lap picture), but we certainly aren't going to force her. The current plan is to go visit this weekend, but we have no illusion that she'll talk to him. Fine.

So last night at dinner I asked her what she would like Santa to get her for Christmas.

Her response (while shoveling macaroni and cheese into her mouth) was "Mac'n Cheese".

I asked her what Santa should bring Todd.

"Mac'nCheese because he'll be able to eat it when he gets bigger".

I guess we could have saved ourselves a lot of money on presents if we would have asked sooner...

Tidbits

For those who are concerned, we basically seem to be healthy again. There are still some nose wipes and limited coughs, but no worse than before we were hit with this plague. The worrisome thing is that we're still busy and not getting enough sleep, so it feels like we could be hit again at any time. Trying to get as much sleep as we can and wash our hands a lot...

I'm up because Todd wouldn't let me put him down all evening, no matter how passed out he appeared to be in my arms, and I had a few things I had to finish once R took him off my hands. I felt the edge of his first tooth and gave him some tylenol...so hopefully this clingy phase has an explanation and will be over soon.

And, in the embarrassing column, R and I might have to come up with something more encoded than just spelling. No, Heather hasn't learned to spell the words we spell to each other, but she's becoming better at repeating the spellings. R spelled a more adult word at dinner and she spelled it right back even though she didn't know what she was spelling. It's a good thing I didn't have anything in my mouth at that moment, because I couldn't stop laughing for about five minutes.

Hee.

Whew!

There is a draft of a post that I started on 11/9. I promise to come back to that subject matter sometime soon, but for the moment just a quick catch-up from M-family land.

On 11/10, after my pile system triumph I went home not feeling so great. I managed to plow through the regular evening routine and then collapsed in bed as soon as Heather was settled. I stayed home sick Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night R was struck by it and all four of us stayed home Friday. I was still feeling too poorly to take the kids to school and I didn't want to share my germs with all the kids. So, of course, after a day of taking care of Heather, she woke up with it Saturday morning. And just when we thought we were out of the woods, Todd was sent home with a fever Tuesday and Heather went to school but felt not-so-great on Wednesday. (If I could have a do over for Wednesday morning, I would listen to her and give her the medicine she asked for. I continued taking motrin even after my chills were gone for the general achiness, so why didn't I listen?!?!) Thursday was our final family day of being home sick. Heather woke up cranky, but was feeling better after a few extra hours of sleep. Todd was cranky and coughing. And after the mommy-guilt on Wednesday I decided it was better just to take one more day of recovery at home.

Since last Friday we've all been back to our regular schedule, and slowly we are shedding the coughing and crankiness and tiredness of being sick. Being the last to get sick, Todd is the last to get back to normal...but he is generally happy and the worst coughing seems to be in the morning, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that four days of being able to sleep in and nap as needed will get us all back to our healthy selves.

I know that I could use some more sleep. Last night, Todd fell asleep with Rudy around 8:30. I grabbed him when I went up to bed at 10, and he nursed. Then the little stinker opened his eyes and gave me a big smile, and proceeded to play and kick in bed for the next hour. Sigh. It would have been really cute if I wouldn't have been desperate to go.to.sleep.


See? Adorable smile. But more so at 8pm than 11pm.

I guess if he does it again this weekend we can just give him to an available grandparent and go to sleep until he gets hungry...

ETA: For those who are curious, I have no idea what we had. From a little WebMD reading, it sounds more likely that we had some sort of flu than a cold. But our fevers were mostly mild and at least for me the achiness was limited to my head and neck. I suppose I could bug one of our pediatrician friends to suggest a diagnosis, but none of us (so far, *knock on wood*) was sick enough to need to see a doctor. And motrin was all that was administered. So there is a little part of my brain wondering if what we had was a mild flu...and given the earliness of the season, was it h1n1...but I suppose we'll never know for sure.

The pile system

I used to be a pretty organized person. In school and my first few years of work, I was pretty darn organized. My system at work has slipped over the years. I can generally find things, but it takes a little longer and I don't have the same confidence about being able to find things...even though I know that they are probably there. I think it is probably representative of how my brain feels...and I assume that my organizational skills will rebound when I am less sleep deprived and mentally scattered. (I hope.)

Working on multiple projects at once has generally resulted in a system of piles on my desk. There are a few things in binders or folders, but it is mostly piles. And sometimes when I leave for the day they are neat piles. And sometimes they aren't.

We just got a phone call asking questions about a conference call that occurred 2 weeks before Todd was born. There were no meeting minutes because we were closing in on a very tight deadline, but I knew that I would have taken notes.

I managed to find the notes from the conference call in question WHILE we were still on the phone with the client. Woot! Makes me feel like my old organized and dependable self again.

I think I will reward myself with some chocolate from Mr. Vendy to eat while I type up these notes for the client.

Wordless Wednesday

1999

It was a big year for me. Putting together a resume and portfolio. Graduating from college. Getting my first apartment and living alone (well, you know, besides the cat). Getting my first real job. My first relationship that would last for more than a few months. Changing my legal residence to Pennsylvania. My first cell phone. The first time I got snowed out of Buffalo on my way there (Thanksgiving).

Really, the one big thing that could have happened that year and didn't was getting my first car. (Thank you public transportation, for all of the money you saved me!)

All of that makes 2009 a constant stream of "10 years ago" memories. I talked about my 10 year anniversary at work at the beginning of the summer. Now it is time for the other biggie.

10 years ago today was my first "official" date with my wonderful husband. (The unofficial first date happened a week earlier. Long story. :-P )

It's not something we really celebrate and I'm not looking to start. I probably wouldn't even remember what day in October it happened, except that it happens to fall on my BFF's birthday.

So, to the two most important R's in my life...
Happy ten years and Happy Birthday!

Almost Halloween

Sometimes, I want to be one of those bloggers that has one topic per post. The kind who writes about things in a timely manner and posts with pictures regularly. Maybe someday, but not right now...for now, I hope you are just all happy that I'm posting more than once a month. I know I am!

First of all, Todd is 6 months old today!

Yeah, it went fast for us, too. In fact, I would say that his first 6 months seemed to go by a lot faster than Heather's. The combination of two kids + knowing what we're doing (as much as a parent ever does) + a somewhat easy going baby = whoosh!

How can you resist that face? And it isn't just the face, he has a lot to say, too. He's just starting to use some consonants and he really seems to like playing with the sounds that he can make. Not sure if he wants to be heard along with his chatty sister or if he just likes hearing his own voice.

He's sitting up great with support and starting to sit on his own for longer stretches. He's not usually upset when he topples, but he was not a fan of a face plant he took in the leaves this weekend during picture time. Oops.

Speaking of pictures, we had a session with Seedlings Photography this weekend. I haven't seen the preview yet (trying to be patient, since it has only been two days...), but the weather was gorgeous and the kids looked adorable, so I'm confident we'll have lots of great shots to choose from. And as long as there is at least one family picture where we all have decent expressions I will be happy. Heather was much less interested in sitting for those, especially after some time on the playground.

I realized Sunday morning while sprinting around to straighten up the house that I really hadn't given our wardrobe any thought. Partially because I assumed that we'd have to wear coats and partially because I've been so focused on Heather's costume that it just hadn't crossed my mind. But I think I managed to throw together some good choices, which included handknits for Todd and me.

And before you have a chance to ask me where the pictures of my 2009 sweaters and vest are (sigh), I will distract you with the finished sea horse costume. Worn for approximately 8 minutes. (My fingers are crossed that it stays on longer for future costume opportunities. If it doesn't, I won't be counting the ratio of time that I spent working on it versus the amount of time it spends on her body. I'll always have the pictures, right? Maybe we can get some video and a few more photo angles during trick or treat, too.)

I'm interested to see how trick or treat will go. I have a few neighbors in mind that aren't on our street and a few on our block. It's hard to predict if Heather will think that it is cool or a bit overwhelming. I'm not sure how much to talk it up or just be more matter of fact about it. I suppose we shall see!


Now that the big Halloween project is done, I'm trying to get caught up on life - sleep, laundry, dishes, yadda yadda yadda. I'm also hoping for a big stash dive this weekend and a case of startitis!

For those keeping score, I finished the sea horse costume on Saturday...in the car...on the way to the party. Some things never change.

"scr" evolution

And a note on Heather's evolving speech.

Sunscreen used to be "sun-skeen". Now it is "sun-skween".
Ice cream is now "ice kweem" instead of "ice keem".

Adorable!

Still kicking

Hi.

Yesterday I opened a blogger window on my desktop and left it open all day so that when I thought of something to write I could jot it down. I only managed to think of things to write while I was upstairs pumping and when I returned to my desk whatever I had been thinking of was lost.

I'm not going to use this post to whine or vent or complain. Yes, I'm tired. Yes, I've got a lot on my plate. But I know that it is just the current situation and it will get better and worse and better again. Todd's sleep will improve (it already has a itty bitty bit), I will finish Heather's costume and the other "almost done" projects in my basket, I will (eventually) get caught up on laundry and dishes again, etc, etc.

I am mostly here to remind myself of why I do this. I want to document my life. Sure, it would be great to be the kind of blogger that posts every day and always has pictures and takes pictures of my projects as soon as I finish them...(for the curious, the vest is done and has been worn several times, but hasn't been photographed yet)...but at this moment in my life that isn't me. Maybe I can be that blogger someday, but for right now I want to document what I'm doing, what my kids are doing and how I'm "surviving" as a working mom of two.

I also wish I was walking around with a tape recorder or a very convenient notebook. I hear Heather say something and think "I should post that"...and whoosh, the thought is gone as quickly as it came. I should probably look back at my facebook status updates and see if there are any gems in there that I should share here, too.

A few things:
- Todd is Very close to consistently sitting up on his own. He can sit pretty well in his new high chair (I took the leaves out of the table so we're all sitting around a circle instead of allowing half the table to be taken up with clutter) and we'll start offering a little food in a week or two.

- He's also going through some sort of developmental spurt that means he's eating every 3 hours around the clock and not staying asleep in his crib (mostly) even after being dead to the world in our arms. I'm waiting patiently for this to get better.

- Heather is looking and often sounding like a little adult, but she is 2 1/2 and no where NEAR adulthood. Trying to maintain patience with a child who looks like she should be totally rational and capable of following reasonable requests, but really isn't ready to do so 100% of the time is a challenge. Most of the time she is a pleasure and a lot of fun. When she isn't I try to put myself in her shoes and understand what part of our complicated adult world is giving her fits. Giving choices of the things she *can* do instead of telling her what she *can't* do has saved us from a tantrum more times than I can count.

- She asked to be a pink sea horse for Halloween. You can't buy a pink sea horse costume, so I'm making it. It is close to being done. I asked her to try it on Tuesday night and she refused for 30 minutes, claiming that she wants to be a butterfly instead. I'm proceeding with the sea horse costume. She's going to be that or nothing. She's got four chances to dress up...

- Heather is a constant observer of the world around her. She notices when other kids are crying. She notices when other kids are being unsafe. She watches older kids play. She occasionally jumps in without thinking, but is mostly somewhat cautious - feeling confident in her place in a situation before joining in. (Can't IMAGINE where she gets that...)

- Todd watches Heather, listens when we read and is generally a happy guy. He does get upset when he's hungry or overtired. But he is surprisingly happy to hang out while we are nearby. He is in the mouthing, grabbing, chewing stage, so I generally try to keep a toy available to him all the time.

- Heather loves to sing and listen to music. Reading books is a highlight of the day. And she loves being outside, swinging and climbing at the playground. The bike we have is still a little big, but I anticipate that it will be a big hit next spring when she has a little more length and strength.

- With few exceptions, Heather has only had her pacifier on the second floor of our house for the past couple of weeks, primarily in the crib. R suggested that we try for a week to keep it in the crib at all times. It took lots of reminding for a few days and several days after school I distracted her with a drink or a snack, but it seems to be easier now. She still comes out of the crib with it while she's still "waking up", but we leave it in her bed before we go downstairs. I don't think Todd is as dependent on it as Heather was, so maybe we will be a pacifier-free house sooner than I anticipated...

- Many of Heather's statements are "I'm going to do x, okay?". Sometimes this is said as she's already starting to do what she's said, not waiting for confirmation. Sometimes it is a confirmation of her strategy based on previous conversations. And sometimes is a statement about what she's pretending to be doing - what she's making in her kitchen, etc. The "okay" is said in a sweet, how-can-you-possibly-say-no tone of voice. Very similar to the "please" she uses when she's asking for a third serving of applesauce even though she hasn't touched the rest of her dinner.

Before I forget...

I want to write down what I did last night in the hope that I can do it again. It wasn't a whole-family favorite, but I thought it was super yummy and I know it is a healthy side dish. Thanks to Shelly for the inspiration!

Quinoa stuffed peppers

Cook 1 cup quinoa in 1 cup portabella mushroom soup and 1 cup water according to package directions. 2 to 3 minutes before cooking time is up, add in 1/2 can of tomato paste, 1/2 tsp basil, 1 cup shredded jack cheese and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (approximately). Stir together and simmer for 5 minutes.

Clean, and cut the top and bottom off of 4 peppers (I used orange peppers). Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of your casserole dish and spread it around with one of your peppers to coat. Set peppers in casserole and fill with quinoa mixture. Sprinkle the top with more shredded jack cheese and cover the dish with foil.

Bake on 375 for 25(?) minutes. I baked them for 20 minutes. This was not quite enough cooking time. The peppers were cooked and still had a little crispness (I hate soggy peppers), but probably could have used 5 more minutes or so to make them a little easier to cut. Although not everyone has to eat left-handed because they're nursing a baby with their right arm, so 20 minutes might be just fine for your family.

(I briefly thought about taking a picture of the finished peppers as I pulled them out of the oven...but then both kids started whining to eat and any thought of taking a picture was dashed until I sat down to write this post...)