On Sunday night I told Rachel we had to go to bed early because she had school in the morning. She was adamant that she did not. "Trust me Rachel, you have school tomorrow!" I told her, very sure of myself. At dinner we even looked at her calendar to find out if she had P.E. I glanced at the day and told her that Monday was in fact a P.E. day. Shelby put her on the bus the next morning and on we all went with our day. A little before 8am the office called to inform me that Rachel did not in fact have school that day, and I needed to come pick her up. Rachel is on an A/B schedule where she has school M-W-F one week and T-Th the next week. She goes on A day, but I sent her on a B day. She said she knew as soon as she got on the bus and saw a Kindergartner she did not recognize. I knew it was a matter of time before I got mixed up.
Uncle Cody took Lilly to a birthday party last night for Annalise. This is the daughter of a friend of Cody's that Lilly likes very much. She came home with the symptoms of someone on crack! As soon as she walked in the door she started talking a million miles a minute. She gave us roughly the following information. (Enter Lilly) "Hehehehehehehe, heheheheh...they have a snake but I didn't get to hold it (insert excited jumping and crazy eyes). It was a big snake. My favorite part was opening presents. Hehehehehe! (Pause) I just licked my skin!" Nuts right? They say sugar has no effect on the energy levels of children. You be the judge.
We started casually potty training Carson. I say casually because that is all I have energy/desire for. So far, potty training is my least favorite part of parenting. Yesterday he peed in the toilet once, in his pants once, and during the second half of the day in his diaper exclusively. He hates having wet pants, which is good. But beyond that, he is just not that interested. I caught myself yelling at him to sit and go potty, which is not good for either of us, so I am backing off. This approach worked great with Lilly. We tried to train her for a couple of days and then gave it up. A couple of days later she decided on her own that she wanted to go potty in the toilet. We pushed Rachel and it was a nightmare.
So Emilia is rolling all the time now as a mode of transportation. She still hates to be on her stomach, but with some thought and care she can roll onto her back. She talks like crazy these days, and of course her favorite thing to say is "dadadada" which I think is completely unfair. Considering I carried her, gave birth to her, and now spend my days responding to her every need, her first word-like sounds should rightfully be "mama".
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Birthday Week
As I have mentioned before, birthdays are a big deal at our house. We do not have birthdays, we have birthday weeks. This week has been full of celebrating for Carson and I, since our birthdays are only a day apart. My birthday was fabulous. I got to hang out with my favorite person in the whole world (shout out to Shelby) all day while we did whatever struck my fancy at any given time.Then in the evening my little family took me out for pizza. I got spoiled!
Carson was not totally clear on the whole birthday thing at first, but by the end of the day he got it. My neighbor Amber made us both breakfast, after which he got to play for a couple of hours with Ella and Cora and his friend Ian. I took him to Wal-Mart to spend some birthday money from his grandma and from Papa. Then we hit McDonald's for a whole Happy Meal (as opposed to the 1 cheeseburger I usually get each of my kids and the water I make them share) AND an ice cream cone. I almost never do one-on-one dates with Carson, and at first he was very confused. When we got in the car he got a little panicked and said "Mom! Lilly!" I told him Lilly was playing at a friend's house. A minute later he said "Mom! Baby!" I told him we weren't bringing Emmy. It was just going to be him and me today, that we were going on a date. I think it took him a minute to decide if he thought this was a good idea. In the end he and I had a great time together. He wanted to buy a train because that is his obsession right now but Wal-mart did not have them. He settled for a Toy Story car and a helicopter, along with a pack of Extra Wintergreen gum. I tried to get him to buy some kid gum instead, but he was adamant. Spending time with just him was delightful! For dinner he chose pancakes. While I was making them he watched a movie. When dinner was ready the movie was not over yet, so he insisted on eating downstairs. This upsets everything that I believe about family dinners and birthday dinners. I think we should eat as a family, but it wasn't my birthday. So, we all ate our pancakes upstairs while he ate his in front of the TV. He is still young enough that we do all of our birthday shopping at the dollar store. He got a ball and bat, a sand bucket filled with candy, a coloring book, pez dispensers, and a mini chalk and eraser set. He was a very happy boy. One more note about his birthday. He insists that he is still only two.
OK, that was a bonus blog about Carson. Here is one for the books. We ate lunch with the Lackeys at Carl's Jr. last week. The reason we went to this particular restaurant is because they have a toddler-friendly play area. Carson easily maneuvered his way up to the top of the jungle gym. And there he stayed for the entirety of our outing. He was too scared to come down, and I was too big to go up and get him. I sent Rachel up at one point to help him, but this was not what he wanted. It was getting close to time to go and I told Rachel if she could get him to come down with her, I would give her a surprise. She tried to talk him into letting her help, then she tried to bribe him. Finally, after she had exhausted all of her other options, she picked him up and carried him kicking and screaming to the slide and pushed him down. He was devastated, Rachel was proud, and the rest of us adults had a good laugh about it. At the McDonald's play area yesterday Carson stayed on level ground.
Lilly is so sweet. After pancakes last night Rachel was sticky and wanted to wash her hands but could not reach the sink. Lilly said "Oh, Rachel! Teamwork!" Then she got down on all fours and let Rachel stand on her back while she washed her hands. Lilly is always finding some way to help. She changed Emilia's diaper yesterday for me. She did a great job except that she put it on backwards. It occurred to me the other day that I expect a lot from Lilly because she has always acted so grown-up. She started talking so early and so well that I think I forgot she was still just a little kid. I am lucky to have her on my side. I love Lilly's fashion sense. She almost always wears a skirt, usually over her pants. On Monday she wore a dress with a fluffy skirt underneath, and two cardigans over her dress, along with her pink princess boots (which make the outfit of course).
If Rachel gets out of bed one more time because she thinks she heard a tornado, I may have to do something drastic. Every time she hears a plane or a jet overhead she stops whatever she is doing and listens. Once the sound is gone she says "Oh. Ha ha. I thought that was a tornado." She told me last night that she never wants to live anywhere where there are tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or bad guys. She lucked out on five out of the six. She also needs frequent reassurance that neither Grandma or Grandpa lives in a place where any of these things exist.
Emilia is officially rolling over now. She is at that stage where she cannot figure how to roll back over yet, so she gets really mad, which I actually think is cute. I get a kick out of feeding her Cheerios for the same reason. She can see them, and wants to put them in her mouth but her hand-eye coordination is not quite good enough. She spends most of her time yelling at the Cheerios. I love her love her love her love her!
Carson was not totally clear on the whole birthday thing at first, but by the end of the day he got it. My neighbor Amber made us both breakfast, after which he got to play for a couple of hours with Ella and Cora and his friend Ian. I took him to Wal-Mart to spend some birthday money from his grandma and from Papa. Then we hit McDonald's for a whole Happy Meal (as opposed to the 1 cheeseburger I usually get each of my kids and the water I make them share) AND an ice cream cone. I almost never do one-on-one dates with Carson, and at first he was very confused. When we got in the car he got a little panicked and said "Mom! Lilly!" I told him Lilly was playing at a friend's house. A minute later he said "Mom! Baby!" I told him we weren't bringing Emmy. It was just going to be him and me today, that we were going on a date. I think it took him a minute to decide if he thought this was a good idea. In the end he and I had a great time together. He wanted to buy a train because that is his obsession right now but Wal-mart did not have them. He settled for a Toy Story car and a helicopter, along with a pack of Extra Wintergreen gum. I tried to get him to buy some kid gum instead, but he was adamant. Spending time with just him was delightful! For dinner he chose pancakes. While I was making them he watched a movie. When dinner was ready the movie was not over yet, so he insisted on eating downstairs. This upsets everything that I believe about family dinners and birthday dinners. I think we should eat as a family, but it wasn't my birthday. So, we all ate our pancakes upstairs while he ate his in front of the TV. He is still young enough that we do all of our birthday shopping at the dollar store. He got a ball and bat, a sand bucket filled with candy, a coloring book, pez dispensers, and a mini chalk and eraser set. He was a very happy boy. One more note about his birthday. He insists that he is still only two.
OK, that was a bonus blog about Carson. Here is one for the books. We ate lunch with the Lackeys at Carl's Jr. last week. The reason we went to this particular restaurant is because they have a toddler-friendly play area. Carson easily maneuvered his way up to the top of the jungle gym. And there he stayed for the entirety of our outing. He was too scared to come down, and I was too big to go up and get him. I sent Rachel up at one point to help him, but this was not what he wanted. It was getting close to time to go and I told Rachel if she could get him to come down with her, I would give her a surprise. She tried to talk him into letting her help, then she tried to bribe him. Finally, after she had exhausted all of her other options, she picked him up and carried him kicking and screaming to the slide and pushed him down. He was devastated, Rachel was proud, and the rest of us adults had a good laugh about it. At the McDonald's play area yesterday Carson stayed on level ground.
Lilly is so sweet. After pancakes last night Rachel was sticky and wanted to wash her hands but could not reach the sink. Lilly said "Oh, Rachel! Teamwork!" Then she got down on all fours and let Rachel stand on her back while she washed her hands. Lilly is always finding some way to help. She changed Emilia's diaper yesterday for me. She did a great job except that she put it on backwards. It occurred to me the other day that I expect a lot from Lilly because she has always acted so grown-up. She started talking so early and so well that I think I forgot she was still just a little kid. I am lucky to have her on my side. I love Lilly's fashion sense. She almost always wears a skirt, usually over her pants. On Monday she wore a dress with a fluffy skirt underneath, and two cardigans over her dress, along with her pink princess boots (which make the outfit of course).
If Rachel gets out of bed one more time because she thinks she heard a tornado, I may have to do something drastic. Every time she hears a plane or a jet overhead she stops whatever she is doing and listens. Once the sound is gone she says "Oh. Ha ha. I thought that was a tornado." She told me last night that she never wants to live anywhere where there are tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or bad guys. She lucked out on five out of the six. She also needs frequent reassurance that neither Grandma or Grandpa lives in a place where any of these things exist.
Emilia is officially rolling over now. She is at that stage where she cannot figure how to roll back over yet, so she gets really mad, which I actually think is cute. I get a kick out of feeding her Cheerios for the same reason. She can see them, and wants to put them in her mouth but her hand-eye coordination is not quite good enough. She spends most of her time yelling at the Cheerios. I love her love her love her love her!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Ancient Times
Rachel had her 50th day of school last week. In honor of the event the kids were supposed to dress in 50's fashion. Of course me being who I am, I completely spaced it until that morning. Rachel was already dressed and I was doing her hair when I finally remembered. On short notice the best we could do was a pair of blue jeans rolled up, a white t-shirt, and a scarf for her hair. As I was putting the finishing touches on her outfit, I explained to her that Nonna was born in the 50's and this is how they dressed back then. She looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "Mom, did Nonna dress like this in ancient times?"
I don't buy a lot of snacks to have around the house. There are two reasons for this. The first is, I am cheap with a capital C. I don't like spending money, and this family of mine is hard enough to feed on a budget. The second reason is health related. It is hard to find portable, easy snacks that my kids will actually eat that don't contain a bunch of junk. This lack of snack food is taking its toll on all of us. Trying to come up with something besides sandwiches for my kids to eat when hungry is tricky. And my poor neighbor tells me the first thing my kids do when they come over to play is ask for snacks (apparently because they are so deprived of fun food to eat here). Last payday I finally broke down and bought a giant box of granola bars. They have been a huge hit with everyone, even Shelby. To illustrate how rarely we buy this sort of thing, nobody is sure what to call them. Lilly started with "gorilla bars" and after some correcting changed it to "gorolla bars". Carson just calls them "baarrs" and Rachel refers to them as "one of those bar things". They all start asking for them pretty much right after breakfast.
Emilia had her 6-month checkup which was once again very boring. I always get so nervous when he goes to listen to her heart. But he tells me she sounds perfect. She weighs 14lbs almost exactly and is 25 inches long. This puts her in the 10th percentile, which Dr. Hanks says is right considering mine and Shelby's size. Dr. Hanks is only about 5'2'' so I don't think he is super caught up in size, as long as she is growing. As far as the rest of her life, Emilia is starting to complain a little more when she wants something. She has learned that whole crying equals attention connection. She is still sweet as can be, but a little more bossy and demanding.
Speaking of manipulating the situation, Carson has a new thing. If he is asked to do something he does not want to do, he just tells me "I'm scared." He uses this technique for nap time, clean up time, get dressed time, and "go downstairs and watch cartoons because mom needs a break" time. It is really starting to lose its effectiveness. On the subject of Carson. He loves me. Every so often he brings me a Barbie and says it's "Mommy". Makes me feel so good! I must get fifty hugs and kisses from that boy every day. I know it is a phase, but I am enjoying every last second!
Lilly is a passionate little girl. She feels things very strongly and because of this, she can lash out if she thinks she is being wronged. This lashing out has been somewhat violent lately, which is so out of character for my sweet, ultra-loving little girl. We discussed it very rationally the other day. Since she loves animals, I tried to explain to her that all moms feel like their kids are their little kittens, and when someone is mean to their kittens it hurts the moms' feelings. It sunk in I think, and so we made a plan. If someone does something Lilly does not like, she closes her eyes, counts to five, and asks the person to stop doing said thing. If that does not work, she can come and tell me or another grown up. Watching her put this into practice is so cute!
Rachel is obsessed with natural disasters. For the last few weeks it has been tornadoes. She can never remember what to call them, but to her blizzards, volcanoes, tomatoes and potatoes are all code words for tornadoes. She asks me constantly if tornadoes will kill people, where they occur, and what exactly they can or cannot destroy. Rachel has made it very clear that she never wants to live or visit a place where tornadoes are a problem. She also needed serious reassurance that nobody she loves lives anywhere near tornado land. Yesterday her big concern shifted to floods and other water-related disasters. Again, for her own information she wanted to know how long a person can stay under water and survive, what to do if you drive into water, what to do if the water floods the streets while you are in your car, and what to do if you are at home during a flood. Also somehow she has decided that the number four is bad luck. She told me yesterday she does not like that number because "I see it everywhere and it freaks me out!" No more watching news for Rachel.
I don't buy a lot of snacks to have around the house. There are two reasons for this. The first is, I am cheap with a capital C. I don't like spending money, and this family of mine is hard enough to feed on a budget. The second reason is health related. It is hard to find portable, easy snacks that my kids will actually eat that don't contain a bunch of junk. This lack of snack food is taking its toll on all of us. Trying to come up with something besides sandwiches for my kids to eat when hungry is tricky. And my poor neighbor tells me the first thing my kids do when they come over to play is ask for snacks (apparently because they are so deprived of fun food to eat here). Last payday I finally broke down and bought a giant box of granola bars. They have been a huge hit with everyone, even Shelby. To illustrate how rarely we buy this sort of thing, nobody is sure what to call them. Lilly started with "gorilla bars" and after some correcting changed it to "gorolla bars". Carson just calls them "baarrs" and Rachel refers to them as "one of those bar things". They all start asking for them pretty much right after breakfast.
Emilia had her 6-month checkup which was once again very boring. I always get so nervous when he goes to listen to her heart. But he tells me she sounds perfect. She weighs 14lbs almost exactly and is 25 inches long. This puts her in the 10th percentile, which Dr. Hanks says is right considering mine and Shelby's size. Dr. Hanks is only about 5'2'' so I don't think he is super caught up in size, as long as she is growing. As far as the rest of her life, Emilia is starting to complain a little more when she wants something. She has learned that whole crying equals attention connection. She is still sweet as can be, but a little more bossy and demanding.
Speaking of manipulating the situation, Carson has a new thing. If he is asked to do something he does not want to do, he just tells me "I'm scared." He uses this technique for nap time, clean up time, get dressed time, and "go downstairs and watch cartoons because mom needs a break" time. It is really starting to lose its effectiveness. On the subject of Carson. He loves me. Every so often he brings me a Barbie and says it's "Mommy". Makes me feel so good! I must get fifty hugs and kisses from that boy every day. I know it is a phase, but I am enjoying every last second!
Lilly is a passionate little girl. She feels things very strongly and because of this, she can lash out if she thinks she is being wronged. This lashing out has been somewhat violent lately, which is so out of character for my sweet, ultra-loving little girl. We discussed it very rationally the other day. Since she loves animals, I tried to explain to her that all moms feel like their kids are their little kittens, and when someone is mean to their kittens it hurts the moms' feelings. It sunk in I think, and so we made a plan. If someone does something Lilly does not like, she closes her eyes, counts to five, and asks the person to stop doing said thing. If that does not work, she can come and tell me or another grown up. Watching her put this into practice is so cute!
Rachel is obsessed with natural disasters. For the last few weeks it has been tornadoes. She can never remember what to call them, but to her blizzards, volcanoes, tomatoes and potatoes are all code words for tornadoes. She asks me constantly if tornadoes will kill people, where they occur, and what exactly they can or cannot destroy. Rachel has made it very clear that she never wants to live or visit a place where tornadoes are a problem. She also needed serious reassurance that nobody she loves lives anywhere near tornado land. Yesterday her big concern shifted to floods and other water-related disasters. Again, for her own information she wanted to know how long a person can stay under water and survive, what to do if you drive into water, what to do if the water floods the streets while you are in your car, and what to do if you are at home during a flood. Also somehow she has decided that the number four is bad luck. She told me yesterday she does not like that number because "I see it everywhere and it freaks me out!" No more watching news for Rachel.
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