Relaxing Doesn't Make Babies

Overload

May 4, 2013 — 12:50 am

Man I suck at this lately. I’ve been spending all my “free” time editing photos – and a lot of that is done one-handed because Ember is not feeling so great and does NOT want me to put her down at night. Typing? Like actual sentences and thoughts? Ha! I get halfway through a sentence and Kate is wanting my attention or Ember starts crying or someone wakes up or someone dumps yogurt all over the floor. As it is I am actually typing… at midnight. This is my time, and I ought to be sleeping.  And my mouse isn’t even working right. Sigh.

I need to edit the format of this blog so I can post photos more easily. But when do I get time to do that…?

First a recap, then some photos. Deal? Lots of photos.

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First big news: Kate is potty-trained!! I say this in hushed tones, looking around furtively. When do you actually consider your child potty trained, after how many days of no accidents? Because it’s been like… 5 days. All panties, no accidents, all using the potty. (*Except nights, but that’s different.) We were doing a on-again-off-again thing with the panties, she was having accidents, and then she just refused to poop. She didn’t want to go on the potty and clearly she was getting upset about using the diaper. I consoled and sat with her and encouraged her and finally said she could have a chocolate. Well. That changed everything! Now every day she says, “Kate go poop on potty, get a chocolate!” and runs right in there. Multiple times a day. And yes she gets her little m&m. She walks around holding it in the palm of her hand like it’s magic.

After a few days of doing well in the house I started venturing out, and that was scary to me. I ended up bringing her little potty in the back of my SUV just in case, since I know she’ll use it. It doesn’t really seem to be an issue because this kid goes pee like three times a day… maybe. I find myself thinking things like “It’s been like 5 hours, maybe I should suggest that she go potty.” Yesterday we were at the mall and she used a public toilet.

It really was like friends say it was for them… she was saying “No!” all the time to the potty, or sitting on it and fooling around not doing anything, or wanting to play with the toilet paper instead. And then she just… got it.

This is awesome. Although now I still find myself having to repeatedly ask her to put her panties back on, and no you don’t need to take off your shirt to go pee.

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Second thing: We think Ember is saying “Mama.” Babies being what they are it doesn’t sound quite obvious that she’s calling my name, but what she does do is when she wants me, especially if I’m out of sight or she’d held back from getting to me, she cries, “Wahhhhhh Mamamamamama!” We blinked the first time we really noticed it tonight, usually she just makes various babbling sounds when she wants me, but tonight every single time it was “Mamamama.” So we’ll have to see if she continues saying the same thing or if that was a coincidence! I’m fairly tickled, though. Kate’s first word was “Kitty!” I feel all special. :)

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Photos!

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Birthday Party!

May 21, 2013 — 11:19 pm

Gosh. My head hurts.

I’ve been taking photos rather than writing. My bad. But it takes all my free time in the evenings to edit my pics. I’ve recently decided to start using Flickr again. So if I have no words at least I have that! Here’s my photostream. I’m only posting the best ones, not flooding it all. We’ll see. I’ve really been practicing and improving (I think). It’s fun… and frustrating.

Then of course there was birthday party planning. The girls’ joint party was on Sunday! We had 9 kids and 17 adults, which would not have been nearly as big a deal if it had been an outdoor bbq as planned. Unfortunately it decided to rain and then thunder and storm that day and we all ended up inside our very small house. I had decorations and posters to put up, tables and chairs, food… and a very messy house. I mean, I had cleaned the bathroom and kitchen a presentable amount, but the house was in no way, shape or form ready to have people milling about in all corners. 3 hours before the party was to start was when I realized everything would have to move inside and flipped my shit just a little bit. (Den will say it was more than a little bit. Ignore him. He definitely does not have any text messages to prove otherwise. Nope.) We hastily stuffed all the clutter into our bedroom – which was exceedingly scary when you see it all in one mountainous pile like that – vacuumed, moved furniture, tossed the cats into the basement. But it DID turn out well and I guess that’s all that really matters. I did have a headache, though.

This year, unlike the previous two years, I actually picked a theme: the Lorax! I made tissue paper truffula trees, a life-size paper Lorax, and everything was pink, orange and yellow. I think it was pretty fabulous. Kate seemed quite thrilled, which of course is supposed to be the point. (It’s not really… not when they are 1 and 3. You know it’s for me!)

One of the more brilliant ideas was using a small, cheap kids pool as a ball pit. I did a very small one on Kate’s first birthday party (outside!) which went over well with the little ones, and now that the kids are all bigger I got a bigger pool. It thankfully fit into Kate’s bedroom. We didn’t have a lot of balls, not even enough to cover the bottom of the pool, but you know what? They didn’t care. That thing was like a kid bug zapper… drew them all right in there! I did have some regrets that most of Kate’s friends are boys, also that those boys have really good throwing arms. Balls were whizzing all over the room and I and the other parents may have ducked out to avoid getting injured. There was also a lot of screaming – happy over-excited screaming – mostly from my daughter, apparently. She recently picked that nifty trick up and yikes. I’m glad she only does that on special occasions. The others were all in on it too, so it was full on cacophony in my house.

The menfolk all escaped outside to grill the burgers in the drizzle. They said it was much quieter out there.

We had burgers and hot dogs, pasta salad and fruit salad. And potato salad, but I kind of forgot to put that out until the end. There was also mint mousse cake, which, yes, is as good as it sounds. There was none left over. Note to self: order larger cake.

Kate was SO EXCITED to have a party. There are a lot of books and TV shows about birthday parties so she’s pretty familiar with the concept…. first thing she said was “My fwends come to my party!” and the second was “I have some cake!” I told her 4 days before, which seems like a large gamble as she’s just starting to understand the concept of time and “later.” We did the “four sleeps!” thing and that really worked well for her. Of course she tried to game the system by pretending to take a nap on the couch and then would sit up and say, “I did it!! Four sleeps! I did it! My party!” Haha kid, it doesn’t work like that. But she didn’t get upset and she was very happy about bedtime and waking up in the morning each day when we would announce “Now only three sleeps!” She was thrilled to see the decorations taking shape (though she was not all too helpful as I was trying to make them), so excited to see balloons when they showed up, and she was pretty much giddy when her “fwends” arrived. And thus all the screaming – that was just too much excitement to keep bundled up inside. :) She was fabulous. A little distractable and hyper, but polite and sweet. She proudly handed out the gift bags as people left.

Ember was okay with the commotion, she actually crawled into Kate’s room to watch the big kids for a while until I removed her for her own safety. Then she just played on the floor with the couple other quiet kids. She hung out with the grandmas and uncles. But then she cried for me and wouldn’t let me put her down. Too late, too tired, too much for her. I tried putting her in her highchair for cake and she just put her arms up and cried. Awwww. I feel a little bad that her first birthday party really wasn’t much about her, but I think if you’d ask her she’d say that was perfectly okay with her! She had no idea what was going on. Her actual birthday isn’t for two more weeks and she’ll get a birthday cupcake then. :)

The girls got fabulous gifts! I am always just so relieved when people don’t go too overboard. Lots of clothes, which is absolutely fantastic because neither of them have much that fits. Some art stuff for Kate, which she loves and will absolutely use. Some books, a few toys. A splash pool and water sprayer, which today was fan-tas-tic (it was so hot out!). It still felt overwhelming to open all those gifts, but Kate was all into it this year. Surprisingly she understood that some were Ember’s and she would hand Ember things, “Emmer, this is YOURS!” One of Kate’s favorite “gifts” is the balloons, she’s still playing with them days later – they are lasting a long time but she will be sad when they are gone.

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FB April

May 29, 2013 — 10:59 pm

A little late, but here’s my copy and paste of kid-related FB statuses in April. The theme of this month is Kate no longer napping regularly and Ember gets sick (again). I haven’t really slept well since. (Did I before? I forget.)

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April 30
Kate was playing with her animals in her farm. Ember crawls over and Kate starts crying. I look over and Ember is slamming the wagon and animals around on the floor, laughing, while Ember sits to the side, sobbing hysterically as if her entire village just got squashed by Godzilla. Which, in a way, I guess it did.

April 30
“Kate go poopies on the potty and get a CHOCOLATE!” At least she’s figured out the important part.

April 30
Ember likes to crawl over and stand up holding on to Kate’s little table. This morning she did it while Kate was eating cereal at the table and, as per usual she grabbed her food away from Ember and held it up above her head. Except it was cereal, not a cheese stick or something…. and it dumped all over Kate’s head. Much sobbing ensued…

April 29
Den said Kate is attempting to be devious…. but failing.
“Hey daddy! Go over dere and watch Strawberry Shortcake!! Go OVER DERE!”
“Kate, you are not getting up on that chair, and no I do not want to watch Strawberry Shortcake!”

April 28
Two children asleep… In my vehicle… In the driveway. I get to sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine in peace and quiet!

April 27
Ember starts crawling across the room whimpering, heading straight for me. “Eh ah ah ah wah!” Suddenly she notices the bathroom door is open. Detour, detour, happily charging down the hall with a shriek of excitement.

April 27
My gosh someone is wicked cranky today. Unfortunately so is the toddler.

April 26
My kids are attempting to kill me by refusing to let me sleep at night.

April 25
Brought out her tricycle for the first time this year and she was able to pedal on her own!

April 25
Ember is now travelling by holding on to furniture and lets go to stand for a few balanced moments. Getting closer…

April 24
Apparently there is a windows advanced power setting for what function you want the power button to play: power on/off, hibernate, sleep, nothing. Ah ha!! Mama: 1, baby: 0. I wonder how long it will take for the fun to wear off now that the button doesn’t do anything!

April 24
One person in this house really needs a nap. Unfortunately it is not either of the children.

April 23
“Mama, get me my puppy now!” Yeah um… how about no. Try again.

April 23
So proud of Ember! I left her at the child care at the YMCA so I could take an exercise class (with Kate, of course), expecting her to be Very Unhappy. (She’s going through a clingy want-mama phase.) But after I sat with her for 10 minutes before leaving she ended up crawling around playing for the hour I was gone! Whew.

April 23
I said to Ember, “Hello my darling!”
Kate: “No Mama, that’s Ember! That’s your Ember! Not your Darling!”

April 21
Kate wakes up crying and I go in there to give hugs and calm her down. I ask her if she had a dream and she cries, “No, I hurt! Merlin scratched me!” Awwww. That’s the first time she’s ever described a dream. :(

April 21
Oh, and tonight after we put Kate to bed I was changing Ember into PJs and I suddenly looked at Den and said, “Shit. I think I forgot to put a diaper on Kate.” We went in there and no diaper. And she had already peed in her bed. -.- Mama fail.

April 20
Today Ember demonstrated that she knows how to climb stairs, and she knows how to get off Kate’s trampoline feet-first. Huh.

April 20
Toddlerese: “He drapes on me!”
Den: “He’s draped on you? What the heck? Where did you pick that up?”

April 19
This morning I woke up to a soaking wet baby in my bed – always love that! Stripped her down naked and moved to the other side of the bed to nurse her. She managed to fall asleep sitting up, folded over almost in half with her upper body on my belly, completely naked. And there she slept. If only I had a camera within reach!

April 17
She sees daddy with ice cream and hightails it over there.

April 17
Kate, I love you, but you are lucky it is not acceptable to use duct tape on small children while younger siblings are sleeping.

April 17
We went to tour the preschool today and I told Kate we were going to see her new school. As I pulled into the parking lot she said, “YAY!! My new school!!” She was disappointed when she learned she wasn’t actually getting dropped off today. I’m thinking she is not going to have any trouble come September. ;)

April 15
For a minute there I thought I’d successfully transferred both sleeping children to their beds. But when I picked up the phone to make a call I heard Kate running around in her room and then she opened up her door and was noisy. Which woke Ember up. So much for a phone call. Grrrr.

April 15
Just this week Ember has started doing three different things: pointing, stretching her arms to help me get shirts on her, and (finally!) rolling over!

April 14
We went to watch Den play some baseball today. Kate clapped every time he swung the bat (even if he missed the ball). She clapped when he ran. She clapped when he got to home plate and scored a run. As he came in off the field she ran towards him shouting, “Yay Daddy!! I so proud of you!!!” Died laughing.

April 14
So since that one week when Kate figured out she can let herself out of her room she doesn’t do it anymore. I never put on the doorknob covers. She just woke up from her nap and I hear her saying, “Daddy? It’s wake-up time!” And now she’s singing songs in bed. She’ll stay there until I go get her.

April 13
Error in planning: new computer tower has a large lit-up-blue power button on the front. Guess who thinks that is really awesome. -.-

April 12
She won’t let me put her in bed. :/ [pic of Ember asleep on my shoulder]

April 12
I hear Kate say in a mildly alarmed voice, “Mama! Mama!” I roll my eyes slightly as I turn to her and say, “What Kate?” She points at Ember the same time as I see her: standing next to Kate’s table, dumping out an entire container of pureed sweet potato all over the table and squishing it around with her hand. Gaahhhh. Just had a bath, too.

April 12
Wake up this morning to the sound of Kate saying “Help!” I go in her room to find her sitting on her bed with her footie pajamas mostly off, but stuck around her ankles, and she’s trying to nurse her baby doll.

April 11
You know you’re nearing the end of your rope when you look over and think, “What the hell is Kate watching?? Oh who cares, she’s sitting down and quiet.”

April 11
I just love it when my baby refuses to sleep even though she’s really really tired and crying…. said no mother ever.

April 11
Ember has discovered power cables. Whee. I am so excited. (<-- sarcasm) April 10 Goodness Ember was cranky today... so unusual for her! April 9 Teething: the thing you think it has to be every time your baby is screeching and seems to be in pain, even though you have never seen any hint of a tooth. April 8 Ember woke up but is still so tired. We watched tv together and now she's hanging out on my lap smiling at me, making soft little babbles, and leaning her forehead on my shoulder. She is just so sweet! Love this kid. So lucky to have her. April 7 Spent a good chunk of time today looking for the third piece of "treats" (pretend food). Could not find it anywhere, gave up. Kate just walked up to me with it. I'm all, "Where did you find that Kate?!" and she stares blankly at me and says, "Dunno!" Damnit, I want to know where it was!! April 7 The girls are pulling the table back and forth. Kate keeps saying "My table! My table!" and Ember is just giggling. April 7 Until you have dealt with toddler meltdowns and overtired/possibly teething baby crankiness all day you can't truly appreciate how much fun it is to go grocery shopping alone. I danced down every aisle. April 7 Kate insisted I lay down on the floor - really not comfortable. And she kept saying "real trees." I couldn't figure out what the heck she was doing, pretending to be trees? Until it clicked and I realized she was acting out a scene from the Lorax. When I finally did lay down next to her she got up and said "Mama flip me!" and then jabbed her finger at me and said, "You're Audrey!" April 6 2 days late, but Ember is 10 months old! And still no teeth, hehe. She loves speed-crawling, following Mama around, pulling to stand on everything, throwing toys, and putting small objects in her mouth. Dislikes include getting her nose wiped and not having mama's boobs available when she is tired. (Now that I think about it, she doesn't have many dislikes!) Oh, and she still won't roll over... If she falls onto her back she's stuck like a turtle until I flip her over. Weird kid. April 4 Took the girls to the store. On the 5 minute trip back home one of the two fell asleep... But not the one I was expecting. At least she transferred to bed so I get to watch the TV! April 4 Nothing like falling asleep on the couch and waking up to discover she found the markers. April 3 "A bigger dot!" I guess she likes that book! [pic of a scribbled circle] April 3 Being a parent to a nearly-three-year-old is akin to being a cheering section/motivational speaker for a sloth. Seriously, it shouldn't take 10 minutes and several attempts to pick up 15 beans off the floor. April 3 Vacuuming accident today... Kate sucked up one of her bead necklaces. She is very distraught. I tried to rescue it from the vacuum bag but apparently going through the hose broke all the beads apart. :/ April 3 Kate has not been listening to me lately and I have to repeat a "NO, don't touch that!" a couple times with emphasis. Well when it sinks in she's started getting upset, running into her room, and slamming the door to cry on her bed. Seriously people... she's not even 3. April 1 We are moving into that stage of nursing an older baby where she fidgets, grabs my hair, smacks my chest, pinches my back (!!) and then when she is done tries grabbing my nipple with her iron fists. Wheee! April 1 I gave Kate a bunch of stickers to decorate the [plastic] eggs. She has a bucket full of undecorated eggs and one egg with every single sticker on it. April 1 It is 9:45 and I need a nap. Too bad the kids don't agree.

Nana is here!

May 31, 2013 — 11:23 pm

My mom is visiting. For the first week Kate’s attitude was, “YAY someone to pay attention to me all the time! Let me show Nana all my things!” The second week she started insisting, “NO, Mama do it!” This is the third week. She is a full on hot mess. Every time Nana tries to do something for her she melts down crying and screeching. So I end up doing everything like normal, while silently apologizing to my mom and hoping that she understands that it’s nothing personal. Kate is also waking up at 6am most days (2 hours earlier than usual) because she rouses a little bit, notices some sunlight, and then announces “Mama! The sun is up! It is time to get up!” The 2 hours less sleep is not improving her mood whatsoever.

Joining in on the chaos is Ember, who not only decided to take her first steps (yay developmental milestones!) but also to finally cut her first two teeth. She is unhappy and cries every time I put her down. Thankfully she can be distracted with toys and TV – at least until she sees me, then she melts down crawling after me crying “mamamama!”

Needless to say, my hopes of getting lots of things accomplished and spending time by myself has not worked out according to plan. We did go out on a dinner date without the children, but Ember was miserable while I was gone. She’s just hurting and wants her Mama. :(

We went to Ikea today, which is a long drive but worth it if I need some furniture. Kate is 1″ too short for the child drop off room – gah. Sometimes it sucks having a short child! (Why do they have a height requirement and not age? I am assuming because you can quickly assess height.) She wanted to ride in the cart, no she wanted to walk, no she wanted to hold the cart, no she wanted to PUSH the cart (into a display or two). She found some toys to play with and then suddenly became deaf when I said it was time to go. And when I crouch down and get her to look at me so she understands what I’m saying she pulls against my arm and does that crazy lunatic laugh that tells me it’s going to be a very long day.

We got all the way through the store without too much issue (other than the above), got what I needed, put it all in the truck and went to get food. And what’s when I noticed that Ember was missing a shoe. Brand new shoes, of course.

Ordered the chicken strips and fries for Kate and I. I should not have ordered her the kids meal – she ate all her fries and only half the chicken.

I think right now I’m parenting “good enough” – as in, “Kate ate some of the chicken, that’s good enough,” or, “Mom distracted Ember with the TV so I could clean out my bedroom, that’s good enough.”

On the good side of things Ember is at least sleeping better! The first week my mom was here Ember was not sleeping at all – waking ever hour all night, sleeping fitfully, crying and fighting me. I took her to the doctor and sure enough she had a ear infection. She just finished the antibiotics and the change was within days of starting it. It’s amazing how you can end up down that rabbit hole and not realize how far out of whack things are until they are back to normal!