Sometimes it doesn't take much to make someone happy. A casual smile as a stranger walks by, telling someone they look nice today, or just sharing your french fries. When I was in elementary school, our guidance counselor was the master of the little kindness.
I don't remember her name, but I do remember what she looked like. She was a plump, tall African American lady who had so much love, she made sure every student from kindergarten to fifth grade felt it.
I don't remember what you would do to get sent to her, but you never, ever, felt like you had gotten in trouble or there was anything other than something special happening. She would talk to you very kindly about whatever it was that got you there in the first place. Sometimes it was important things that she knew how to best address with a child, sometimes maybe you were just having a sad day and she was the person who could make you feel better when your teacher had twenty-eight other students to take care of.
You would go into her office and have your chat. And when you were done, she took out a plain roll of masking tape and she would wrap a loop around your finger. She would tell you that she loved you and every time you looked at that piece of tape you would remember how much she loved you.
A piece of tape. That's all it was. But if you had a taped finger you would show it to your friends, touch it and remember all day long how special you were. Then you tried to make the tape last for as long as you could, through baths and sleeping until it fell off.
Her name is so close, and yet I can't remember it. But I won't ever forget her.
The Big Boy Update: oooce, oooce, oooce. Uncle Jonathan brought over spicy chicken McBites tonight. My son wanted one. And he got one. He ate it and then turned towards the closed door to the room saying "oooce, oooce, oooce" and trying to get the door open. He was trying to go to the refrigerator and was asking for juice. He was also hanging his tongue out to try and cool his mouth. Uncle Jonathan shared some of his coke with him, which with the carbonation was another interesting experience. After his mouth cooled off some, he went back to playing but kept his tongue hanging out for a while until all the hot was vanquished.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Pulling up? She can pull up on her knees now and hold on to things. But she still can't crawl. She spends lots of time frustrated while standing on her head and feet and does a sort of Spiro-graph pattern of sitting, trying to crawl, sitting, trying to crawl, etc. in a nice rotational pattern. It is amusing.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Sandwich Bags and Orange
There are things in life I just hate. Hated. Used to hate. Aren't so bad. Hmm, maybe I've changed my mind.
When I was young, I hated the colors orange and brown. I grew up in the seventies. Orange and brown were the number one and two colors swirly polyester pants came in. They didn't look good to me and they certainly didn't feel good.
Then, at some point in my twenties, orange started to look mighty good. I had a soft, comfortable t-shirt that was pumpkin orange that was my favorite. I got some great slacks in brown. They looked good on me and they went with lots of things. Suddenly orange and brown was in. It's stayed in in my mind and they're two colors I gravitate towards.
But sandwich baggies? I hate "sandwich baggies" as my mother called them when I was growing up. The kind of bags that don't have a zipper close, but are made from the most flimsy plastic and you have to fold them over to close or lock or whatever it is they're suppose to do to function as designed.
Suddenly, just like the orange, I like sandwich bags. It must be the babies. There seem to be all sorts of things I need a sandwich bag for. Things that just don't work as well with a zip-lock bag. Half a banana, a partially eaten yogurt that needs to be covered, the few remaining grapes.
Are sandwich bags age-rated? "You must have children to have a need for these bags." I understand how great they are now. I no longer scoff at the whimpy "sandwich baggies" because I know their worth.
The Big Boy Update: Gator Pops. During the break at the pool the other day I had to come up with something to occupy him because explaining that we couldn't get into the water for ten minutes wasn't getting through. They have Popsicles called Gator Pops. It's a plastic sheath that you snap in half and have two sides to enjoy or share with a friend. I gave him one side. He started chewing on the plastic and orange ice came out. He liked it. He wanted both halves at once. He had a marvelous time chewing and eating the ice. He sometimes ate it upside down and orange sugar water got all over him. But we're at the pool, so that was easily remedied when break was over and we could get back in the water.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Terrified girl. My husband would throw my son in the air and count ONE... TWO... THEE! and throw him on three, bouncing him the first two times. He has always loved it, laughing as three approaches. My daughter is terrified. He never makes it past two because she looks so stricken knowing what's coming up. He can demonstrate, "Terrified Baby" by just going to two.
When I was young, I hated the colors orange and brown. I grew up in the seventies. Orange and brown were the number one and two colors swirly polyester pants came in. They didn't look good to me and they certainly didn't feel good.
Then, at some point in my twenties, orange started to look mighty good. I had a soft, comfortable t-shirt that was pumpkin orange that was my favorite. I got some great slacks in brown. They looked good on me and they went with lots of things. Suddenly orange and brown was in. It's stayed in in my mind and they're two colors I gravitate towards.
But sandwich baggies? I hate "sandwich baggies" as my mother called them when I was growing up. The kind of bags that don't have a zipper close, but are made from the most flimsy plastic and you have to fold them over to close or lock or whatever it is they're suppose to do to function as designed.
Suddenly, just like the orange, I like sandwich bags. It must be the babies. There seem to be all sorts of things I need a sandwich bag for. Things that just don't work as well with a zip-lock bag. Half a banana, a partially eaten yogurt that needs to be covered, the few remaining grapes.
Are sandwich bags age-rated? "You must have children to have a need for these bags." I understand how great they are now. I no longer scoff at the whimpy "sandwich baggies" because I know their worth.
The Big Boy Update: Gator Pops. During the break at the pool the other day I had to come up with something to occupy him because explaining that we couldn't get into the water for ten minutes wasn't getting through. They have Popsicles called Gator Pops. It's a plastic sheath that you snap in half and have two sides to enjoy or share with a friend. I gave him one side. He started chewing on the plastic and orange ice came out. He liked it. He wanted both halves at once. He had a marvelous time chewing and eating the ice. He sometimes ate it upside down and orange sugar water got all over him. But we're at the pool, so that was easily remedied when break was over and we could get back in the water.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Terrified girl. My husband would throw my son in the air and count ONE... TWO... THEE! and throw him on three, bouncing him the first two times. He has always loved it, laughing as three approaches. My daughter is terrified. He never makes it past two because she looks so stricken knowing what's coming up. He can demonstrate, "Terrified Baby" by just going to two.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The Bike The Arm and The Ow
I borrowed my husband's bike yesterday to go to the drugstore and get a prescription. He has a new bike that's nice and rides very smoothly. I wanted to try out biking some before considering getting a bike for myself. Right now I'm doing running, walking and a smattering of swimming and aerobics (thanks to my sister-in-law for introducing me to Zumba.)
Before I rode off, my husband made me wear his helmet. As I got out on the main street from our neighborhood, I was very glad he did. Cars go by, zoom. All was going well for about a mile. That's when I realized the way to the drug store was a long way up a fairly steep hill.
My car has never complained about the hill or the general uphill-ness in the direction of the drug store, so I hadn't really thought about it before. When I was pedaling and puffing in the lowest gear and I couldn't see the end of the hill around the curve I gained a whole new perspective on the steepness of the road and I was glad I'd never decided to run in this direction.
I made it to the store, stood in line in my little safety helmet and got the prescription and then made it home in a flash because downhill is so much faster than uphill.
But about my arm. Remember that little fall I had while running a few weeks ago? I knew I'd strained my elbow in some way because it caught the brunt of my weight when I went down, but I didn't think it was really hurt. That little elbow "owie" has turned into the bitten tongue of injuries since then.
It's like when you bite your tongue and it bleeds and swells and swearing ensues. Just about the time you forget about it you go and eat something chewy and whammo, chomp, it's bleeding again and you're swearing once more. That's how this elbow has been.
Stumbling in flip flops carrying a tiny baby required me to catch myself with the bad arm. Trying to stand up while holding a kicking baby intent on not being picked up and I had to stabilize myself with the bad arm again. At this rate, it's going to take longer than anticipated to heal.
That was the only bad thing about the bike ride; my elbow complained all the way up the big hill. The upside is that two ibuprofen fix the problem completely for a few hours so I'm confident it's nothing serious.
The Big Boy Update: Playground fun alone. We met a good friend for lunch at Chick Fil A who brought her five-year-old son, Gavin, with her. My son loved playing in the playground with Gavin. We left him largely unsupervised because Gavin, at five, was very good at playing with him and we knew if anything happened, we'd be told immediately. I'd look over and he'd be on the second level in the slide about to slide down or he was driving the little race car or he was just rolling around on the floor laughing and playing with Gavin. It was fun seeing him interact with other children and having fun without needing an adult.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Feeding the dog for the first time. She is not only feeding herself at each meal now, she's discovered the furry dog is interested in what she's grasping so tightly. She doesn't quite get that she can hand it to the dog yet and the dog knows better than to snatch it out of her hand, but eventually she drops it or gets it close enough to the dog for it to look like an invitation and it gets eagerly eaten. This strikes my daughter as hilarious and it was so cute I intentionally gave her extra cookies so she could experience interacting with the dog. Bad mama, I know. But so cute.
Before I rode off, my husband made me wear his helmet. As I got out on the main street from our neighborhood, I was very glad he did. Cars go by, zoom. All was going well for about a mile. That's when I realized the way to the drug store was a long way up a fairly steep hill.
My car has never complained about the hill or the general uphill-ness in the direction of the drug store, so I hadn't really thought about it before. When I was pedaling and puffing in the lowest gear and I couldn't see the end of the hill around the curve I gained a whole new perspective on the steepness of the road and I was glad I'd never decided to run in this direction.
I made it to the store, stood in line in my little safety helmet and got the prescription and then made it home in a flash because downhill is so much faster than uphill.
But about my arm. Remember that little fall I had while running a few weeks ago? I knew I'd strained my elbow in some way because it caught the brunt of my weight when I went down, but I didn't think it was really hurt. That little elbow "owie" has turned into the bitten tongue of injuries since then.
It's like when you bite your tongue and it bleeds and swells and swearing ensues. Just about the time you forget about it you go and eat something chewy and whammo, chomp, it's bleeding again and you're swearing once more. That's how this elbow has been.
Stumbling in flip flops carrying a tiny baby required me to catch myself with the bad arm. Trying to stand up while holding a kicking baby intent on not being picked up and I had to stabilize myself with the bad arm again. At this rate, it's going to take longer than anticipated to heal.
That was the only bad thing about the bike ride; my elbow complained all the way up the big hill. The upside is that two ibuprofen fix the problem completely for a few hours so I'm confident it's nothing serious.
The Big Boy Update: Playground fun alone. We met a good friend for lunch at Chick Fil A who brought her five-year-old son, Gavin, with her. My son loved playing in the playground with Gavin. We left him largely unsupervised because Gavin, at five, was very good at playing with him and we knew if anything happened, we'd be told immediately. I'd look over and he'd be on the second level in the slide about to slide down or he was driving the little race car or he was just rolling around on the floor laughing and playing with Gavin. It was fun seeing him interact with other children and having fun without needing an adult.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Feeding the dog for the first time. She is not only feeding herself at each meal now, she's discovered the furry dog is interested in what she's grasping so tightly. She doesn't quite get that she can hand it to the dog yet and the dog knows better than to snatch it out of her hand, but eventually she drops it or gets it close enough to the dog for it to look like an invitation and it gets eagerly eaten. This strikes my daughter as hilarious and it was so cute I intentionally gave her extra cookies so she could experience interacting with the dog. Bad mama, I know. But so cute.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The Skinny Stigma
I forgot what it was like to be thin. I was thin for almost all of my life, because that's what my metabolism dictated. I put up with comments about, "eating like a bird." or hints that I could have an eating disorder because it was all I had ever known. Now, I've experienced life well-fed.
When you're not skinny, and I don't mean overweight, just not skinny, people don't seem to notice your weight at all. You're not too fat, because if you were I suppose that would be a taboo subject too. But for some reason, it's okay to make comments about a thin person's weight.
Over the past month since I've reached my weight-loss goal, I have had many many complimentary comments. I've had the wonderful support of my family and friends along the way as well. It's the people I don't know well, the friends of friends I'm just meeting who seem to feel it's okay to make a back-handed comment about my weight. It makes me defensive and want to say, "yes, it was hard to lose weight and get in shape, but I don't see why that's a cause for snide comments."
I try to be positive about what I went through and how much better I feel because of the weight I've lost and the exercise I've been doing, and I think I'm getting tired of feeling like I have to justify anything. Weight is personal (unless you write about it constantly in a blog I suppose) and isn't really anyone's business.
So where am I going with this? I had forgotten how I had dealt with comments all my life about being thin. It's not unlike the "comfy chair" syndrome where chairs are comfortable when you have more personal cushion to buffer you. That is until you don't have that cushion anymore. I don't like being defensive, and I usually react with too much information. So I'm going to try and just let the comments go and focus on me and not what other people think about me.
The Big Boy Update: Didn't want to say goodbye. Vacation was so much fun. He was sad to leave his aunt, uncle, niece and nephew. He ended the trip seeing Kyle play a basketball game. He loves, you may well know, basketball.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Sound sleeper. Not a sound out of her as we drove to New Jersey and back a week later. She slept well through the night in her car seat both ways. Soon, she'll grow out of her first car seat and she'll get into a more upright one like her brother. Bur for now, she still fits in the tiny, removable one.
When you're not skinny, and I don't mean overweight, just not skinny, people don't seem to notice your weight at all. You're not too fat, because if you were I suppose that would be a taboo subject too. But for some reason, it's okay to make comments about a thin person's weight.
Over the past month since I've reached my weight-loss goal, I have had many many complimentary comments. I've had the wonderful support of my family and friends along the way as well. It's the people I don't know well, the friends of friends I'm just meeting who seem to feel it's okay to make a back-handed comment about my weight. It makes me defensive and want to say, "yes, it was hard to lose weight and get in shape, but I don't see why that's a cause for snide comments."
I try to be positive about what I went through and how much better I feel because of the weight I've lost and the exercise I've been doing, and I think I'm getting tired of feeling like I have to justify anything. Weight is personal (unless you write about it constantly in a blog I suppose) and isn't really anyone's business.
So where am I going with this? I had forgotten how I had dealt with comments all my life about being thin. It's not unlike the "comfy chair" syndrome where chairs are comfortable when you have more personal cushion to buffer you. That is until you don't have that cushion anymore. I don't like being defensive, and I usually react with too much information. So I'm going to try and just let the comments go and focus on me and not what other people think about me.
The Big Boy Update: Didn't want to say goodbye. Vacation was so much fun. He was sad to leave his aunt, uncle, niece and nephew. He ended the trip seeing Kyle play a basketball game. He loves, you may well know, basketball.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Sound sleeper. Not a sound out of her as we drove to New Jersey and back a week later. She slept well through the night in her car seat both ways. Soon, she'll grow out of her first car seat and she'll get into a more upright one like her brother. Bur for now, she still fits in the tiny, removable one.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Foods I'll Never See Again?
This recent diet has helped me be more aware of just how many calories there are in so many foods. It's staggering how a single meal can eat up the calories your body needs for the whole day.
For example, let's take the Mayo Clinic's Daily Caloric Calculator and figure out how many calories someone would need in a day. I'm an over 40 female. The larger I am weight-wise, the more calories my body needs per day to keep me alive. Let's say I'm lightly active and I weigh 200 pounds. I only need 1800 calories each day to keep my current weight and activity level steady.
1800 calories is not that much when you look at today's menu items. There are burritos at my favorite Mexican restaurant that have more than that in a single burrito. The Cheesecake factory's Shepard's Pie, which I love, has almost 1700 calories which doesn't leave room for cheesecake, or even another meal that day.
I'm not 200 pounds, but I am fairly active so I rate in at 1800 calories on the Mayo Clinic site as well. I have less weight to maintain, but I burn more calories through exercise and therefore need more fuel.
I go to the grocery store, look at menus at restaurants and wonder how we're not all 250 pounds. Knowing what is a reasonable amount I can eat each day, I look at that slice of cheesecake and think, "Do I want that to be half of the food I eat today?" I'm up for splitting a slice of cheesecake. I had ice cream last night. But I do think sometimes there are foods I may never love the same way again if I want to feel healthy and not creep into being overweight.
The Big Boy Update: Less trouble, more trouble. He's gotten to a good age where he can move around, but he's not in constant danger of hurting himself. He can do stairs, both down and up now. And he's interested in toys more than random things like glass plates and fire pokers. So you can relax a little from the constant, "what's he into now?" level of vigilance to, "where did he wander off to?" But he will get into trouble, like when he tried, mightily, to get the laptop plug (think small round end) into the grounding socket in an outlet. So yeah, danger, intermixed with a chance to sit down from time to time.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Trauma victim. At lunch today we were at a windy seafood restaurant on the bay. My son had a chicken finger and a few fries on his plate with lots of catsup for dipping. I looked over at the lightweight styrofoam plate his food was on and thought, "this could be trouble." About that time a strong gust caught the flimsy plate and flung it straight into my daughter's face. Call me a bad mother, but I burst out laughing. Her face was covered, pretty as you please, in the most thorough and artistic smattering of catsup you can imagine. She wasn't upset so much as she was stunned. I almost told my husband to not wipe it off before I got a picture, but sense prevailed as he wanted to make sure there wasn't catsup in her eye. She never cried, she just looked confused at what had happened to stop her from enjoying the two french fries she was happily gumming. Which brings up a milestone I almost forgot. She understands how to feed herself now. Yesterday I gave her childrens cracker wheels and arrowroot cookies. She figured out it was her responsibility to put the food in her hand into her mouth. She had an exciting day feeding herself. I think some of it even got into her stomach.
For example, let's take the Mayo Clinic's Daily Caloric Calculator and figure out how many calories someone would need in a day. I'm an over 40 female. The larger I am weight-wise, the more calories my body needs per day to keep me alive. Let's say I'm lightly active and I weigh 200 pounds. I only need 1800 calories each day to keep my current weight and activity level steady.
1800 calories is not that much when you look at today's menu items. There are burritos at my favorite Mexican restaurant that have more than that in a single burrito. The Cheesecake factory's Shepard's Pie, which I love, has almost 1700 calories which doesn't leave room for cheesecake, or even another meal that day.
I'm not 200 pounds, but I am fairly active so I rate in at 1800 calories on the Mayo Clinic site as well. I have less weight to maintain, but I burn more calories through exercise and therefore need more fuel.
I go to the grocery store, look at menus at restaurants and wonder how we're not all 250 pounds. Knowing what is a reasonable amount I can eat each day, I look at that slice of cheesecake and think, "Do I want that to be half of the food I eat today?" I'm up for splitting a slice of cheesecake. I had ice cream last night. But I do think sometimes there are foods I may never love the same way again if I want to feel healthy and not creep into being overweight.
The Big Boy Update: Less trouble, more trouble. He's gotten to a good age where he can move around, but he's not in constant danger of hurting himself. He can do stairs, both down and up now. And he's interested in toys more than random things like glass plates and fire pokers. So you can relax a little from the constant, "what's he into now?" level of vigilance to, "where did he wander off to?" But he will get into trouble, like when he tried, mightily, to get the laptop plug (think small round end) into the grounding socket in an outlet. So yeah, danger, intermixed with a chance to sit down from time to time.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Trauma victim. At lunch today we were at a windy seafood restaurant on the bay. My son had a chicken finger and a few fries on his plate with lots of catsup for dipping. I looked over at the lightweight styrofoam plate his food was on and thought, "this could be trouble." About that time a strong gust caught the flimsy plate and flung it straight into my daughter's face. Call me a bad mother, but I burst out laughing. Her face was covered, pretty as you please, in the most thorough and artistic smattering of catsup you can imagine. She wasn't upset so much as she was stunned. I almost told my husband to not wipe it off before I got a picture, but sense prevailed as he wanted to make sure there wasn't catsup in her eye. She never cried, she just looked confused at what had happened to stop her from enjoying the two french fries she was happily gumming. Which brings up a milestone I almost forgot. She understands how to feed herself now. Yesterday I gave her childrens cracker wheels and arrowroot cookies. She figured out it was her responsibility to put the food in her hand into her mouth. She had an exciting day feeding herself. I think some of it even got into her stomach.
Monday, June 25, 2012
The Potty Voice
We all talk to certain things in our life in a different voice than other things. Maybe you have a special, encouraging voice you use towards your plants when watering the garden. Maybe it's a high-pitched tone you use when calling the dogs to dinner. Maybe it's the, "oochie coochie coo" voice you use when you talk to a baby. But be sure, it's not a voice you'd use when talking to a police officer or your mother or the bank teller.
Different voices seem to serve a purpose. The stern, "NO!" voice stops my son from pulling out the crystal bowl from the cabinet I didn't know he could open and the upper-register voice I use for my dog seems quicker and requires less syllables and no one is ever confused that I'm calling them over to lick up whatever food my son dropped on the floor this time.
I realized today that I have a special "Potty Voice." The potty is exciting (or so we're trying to convince the babies) so it should have a happy, melodic voice to go with it, right? It's certainly working with my daughter, who has decided that potty time is fun time and continues to make regular productions and deposits.
My son, not so much. He's excited about the potty but I don't think it has a thing to do with my voice though. It's happy run around naked, say "no no no" and pick another book time for him. I'll keep on with the sing-song voice and hope he gets the message sooner or later.
The Big Boy Update: Why is there brown on your sock? This morning when he was standing up in his crib I noticed there was some brown markings on his sock. What in the world...OH NO! Yes, he had an itch down the back of his diaper and he had made a "yucky" and then he had to clean his hand on something. "Daddy, I need your help NOW." The person least upset about the dirty bed, clothes, and baby was, of course, the baby himself.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Hungry day. She was so hungry yesterday. She ate a full bottle for breakfast and then, for the first time ever, had solids to top her off. For lunch, she ate three solids, a new record for her. This morning she's a bit cranky still. I may try more food to see if that helps. In possibly related news, she is looking bigger every day.
Different voices seem to serve a purpose. The stern, "NO!" voice stops my son from pulling out the crystal bowl from the cabinet I didn't know he could open and the upper-register voice I use for my dog seems quicker and requires less syllables and no one is ever confused that I'm calling them over to lick up whatever food my son dropped on the floor this time.
I realized today that I have a special "Potty Voice." The potty is exciting (or so we're trying to convince the babies) so it should have a happy, melodic voice to go with it, right? It's certainly working with my daughter, who has decided that potty time is fun time and continues to make regular productions and deposits.
My son, not so much. He's excited about the potty but I don't think it has a thing to do with my voice though. It's happy run around naked, say "no no no" and pick another book time for him. I'll keep on with the sing-song voice and hope he gets the message sooner or later.
The Big Boy Update: Why is there brown on your sock? This morning when he was standing up in his crib I noticed there was some brown markings on his sock. What in the world...OH NO! Yes, he had an itch down the back of his diaper and he had made a "yucky" and then he had to clean his hand on something. "Daddy, I need your help NOW." The person least upset about the dirty bed, clothes, and baby was, of course, the baby himself.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Hungry day. She was so hungry yesterday. She ate a full bottle for breakfast and then, for the first time ever, had solids to top her off. For lunch, she ate three solids, a new record for her. This morning she's a bit cranky still. I may try more food to see if that helps. In possibly related news, she is looking bigger every day.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Buns or Runs?
It's vacation. It's a time to relax, have fun and enjoy being with your family. Yesterday was my niece's recital. She has danced for much of her life and this was her big annual recital. She was in eleven numbers, and had thirteen outfit changes, three in one number even. She was marvelous, the show was entertaining from the teenie tiny little girl dancers to the very skilled seniors in their last year of dance before they head to college.
My son and daughter loved it. Which is surprising because we were asking them to be still in an auditorium for over three hours. They made it through the show and we all headed home for celebration dinner of pizza, cake and brownies.
I had pizza, lots of pizza. Then I had chocolate orange cake made by my brother-in-law's mother that was very good. And then I had brownies. Two types of brownies. It was a good day for food.
This morning I woke up, looked at the time, and I thought it was a great day to go get Mrs. Brizzle's Buns for everyone. If you know Cinnabon, you can imagine these buns. Covvered in cinnamon, butter and buttercreme icing. SO good.
Then I thought, "buns are good, but the question is, do I need them?" I had a little internal argument of the merits of buns versus going on a run, a run I had been putting off. Blast and bother. I'd better go running.
While running, I started to make a plan of my route around the island. If I timed it right, I could run far enough to merit the bun. I could also end my run at the store and bring home buns for everyone. Then something happened. I lost my appetite.
It's a known phenomenon, exercise reduces appetite. In this case, I was less interested in the cinnamon buns nicknamed, "The Best Buns on the Beach" as I jogged on. And then it was time to get back home because my husband was left with two babies who were most likely awake now and complaining about the lack of breakfast service.
So run won over bun this morning. Tomorrow, I may not be so successful.
The Big Boy Update: Clap clap! At the recital he picked up on the clapping of the audience. When a number was over, he'd see and hear everyone clapping and he'd grin and join right in. He also went crazy trying to dance along in his baby dancing ways in the aisle. When I took him out to run around for a while, he got very angry because he wanted to go back and watch more of the show.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Tiny Dancer. She was not only interested in the dancing, she wanted to join in. When you put her on your lap, she would stand up and jump up and down on your legs, as though she wanted to get in on the dancing.
My son and daughter loved it. Which is surprising because we were asking them to be still in an auditorium for over three hours. They made it through the show and we all headed home for celebration dinner of pizza, cake and brownies.
I had pizza, lots of pizza. Then I had chocolate orange cake made by my brother-in-law's mother that was very good. And then I had brownies. Two types of brownies. It was a good day for food.
This morning I woke up, looked at the time, and I thought it was a great day to go get Mrs. Brizzle's Buns for everyone. If you know Cinnabon, you can imagine these buns. Covvered in cinnamon, butter and buttercreme icing. SO good.
Then I thought, "buns are good, but the question is, do I need them?" I had a little internal argument of the merits of buns versus going on a run, a run I had been putting off. Blast and bother. I'd better go running.
While running, I started to make a plan of my route around the island. If I timed it right, I could run far enough to merit the bun. I could also end my run at the store and bring home buns for everyone. Then something happened. I lost my appetite.
It's a known phenomenon, exercise reduces appetite. In this case, I was less interested in the cinnamon buns nicknamed, "The Best Buns on the Beach" as I jogged on. And then it was time to get back home because my husband was left with two babies who were most likely awake now and complaining about the lack of breakfast service.
So run won over bun this morning. Tomorrow, I may not be so successful.
The Big Boy Update: Clap clap! At the recital he picked up on the clapping of the audience. When a number was over, he'd see and hear everyone clapping and he'd grin and join right in. He also went crazy trying to dance along in his baby dancing ways in the aisle. When I took him out to run around for a while, he got very angry because he wanted to go back and watch more of the show.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Tiny Dancer. She was not only interested in the dancing, she wanted to join in. When you put her on your lap, she would stand up and jump up and down on your legs, as though she wanted to get in on the dancing.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Please Stand Up
Please stand up straight. My posture is atrocious. It wasn't like this several years ago, and it got to this state for several reasons, namely the babies, but there's no excuse for it now.
When you're pregnant, you have a large mass in the front of you that you need to counter-balance. The easiest way to do this is to arch and lean slightly backwards. It puts your center of gravity back on the center line and your newly gained pounds are more manageable and you're less-prone to falling or stumbling.
Once you have the baby, the way it feels safest to carry it is by holding the little squirming bundle tight to your chest. Arching your back when you're holding a child going up and down stairs, or to be prepared for when a toddler lunges forwards to escape your arms is also a good tool for balance and general stability.
But I find myself with my back arched all the time. If I wanted it to appear that I have a more flat stomach after all this weight loss, sticking it out all the time would be the wrong choice. I've noticed more and more lately that the arched back position is a posture I'm standing in for no good reason.
So I'm on a stand up straight campaign. My back is the designated beneficiary.
The Big Boy Update: Cock? Okay, I have hesitations about writing on this topic, because I try to keep it clean here. But in this case, we've all noticed it. My son says, "cock" all the time. He says it very clearly too. We're assuming, of course, that he's talking about the male rooster, but no one knows. No one has used this word around him. We don't know what he's trying to say, because he says it in all sorts of situations. We didn't even want to point it out until it became so prevalant—and funny—that everyone just couldn't help laughing. Is he saying, "what" or "that" or some noun we can't understand? Hopefully he will gain a better level of enunciation soon so we can reinforce the proper pronuncation.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Bonk! We went jet skiing yesterday and my niece, Nicole, wanted to sit for both children at the same time. Need I mention she is brave? When we left, both were asleep but the dog snuck into the room and woke them up. She had both out, and my daughter got into a position where she fell backwards and hit her head on the hearth. If you've ever heard this before, it's always a much louder sound than a little tiny head should make. She started crying. My son, trouble maker that he is, started crying too. She was very worried that the baby was hurt. But she did just the right thing. She called her grandmother who had her asses the damage (nothing visible) and then put some ice on the back of her head. When we got home everyone was happy again, but it was a scary time for Nicole for a bit. I am proud of her for not panicing. She is going to be a great baby sitter.
When you're pregnant, you have a large mass in the front of you that you need to counter-balance. The easiest way to do this is to arch and lean slightly backwards. It puts your center of gravity back on the center line and your newly gained pounds are more manageable and you're less-prone to falling or stumbling.
Once you have the baby, the way it feels safest to carry it is by holding the little squirming bundle tight to your chest. Arching your back when you're holding a child going up and down stairs, or to be prepared for when a toddler lunges forwards to escape your arms is also a good tool for balance and general stability.
But I find myself with my back arched all the time. If I wanted it to appear that I have a more flat stomach after all this weight loss, sticking it out all the time would be the wrong choice. I've noticed more and more lately that the arched back position is a posture I'm standing in for no good reason.
So I'm on a stand up straight campaign. My back is the designated beneficiary.
The Big Boy Update: Cock? Okay, I have hesitations about writing on this topic, because I try to keep it clean here. But in this case, we've all noticed it. My son says, "cock" all the time. He says it very clearly too. We're assuming, of course, that he's talking about the male rooster, but no one knows. No one has used this word around him. We don't know what he's trying to say, because he says it in all sorts of situations. We didn't even want to point it out until it became so prevalant—and funny—that everyone just couldn't help laughing. Is he saying, "what" or "that" or some noun we can't understand? Hopefully he will gain a better level of enunciation soon so we can reinforce the proper pronuncation.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Bonk! We went jet skiing yesterday and my niece, Nicole, wanted to sit for both children at the same time. Need I mention she is brave? When we left, both were asleep but the dog snuck into the room and woke them up. She had both out, and my daughter got into a position where she fell backwards and hit her head on the hearth. If you've ever heard this before, it's always a much louder sound than a little tiny head should make. She started crying. My son, trouble maker that he is, started crying too. She was very worried that the baby was hurt. But she did just the right thing. She called her grandmother who had her asses the damage (nothing visible) and then put some ice on the back of her head. When we got home everyone was happy again, but it was a scary time for Nicole for a bit. I am proud of her for not panicing. She is going to be a great baby sitter.
Friday, June 22, 2012
The Corn Cob Confusion
While I was at my girls weekend, my husband and the children went to see his parents. They all had a great time and he came back with good stories of how each child did new or different things while they were gone.
The best story by far was about the corn cob my son ate. While they were getting ready for dinner, my mother-in-law got my son a half cob of corn. She put one of those sticker/holders in one end for him so he could hold on to it while he tried to eat the slippery corn.
He was working on the cob just fine. He was holding on to the handle, and trying to eat the other end of the cob. Because he was eating at the end, he wasn't meeting with much success.
The rest of the family got their plates and sat down. The adults had two stickers on their cobs, and when they picked up their corn, they ate it sideways, not up and down. He watched everyone, he had his cob in the air, and he turned it 90 degrees and started eating it from the side.
Then they got him a second sticker and he was able to hold on to both sides at the same time. He loved the corn, he ate and ate on his cob until he had gotten most of the kernels off. The age of imitation is a fun age.
The Big Boy Update: Jump jump. My nephew, Kyle, was preparing to go to a basketball game and did some jumping in the living room. My son, who is a little too young to jump, but love to immitate, followed him around and tried to jump. He got the motions down, but he didn't quite make it off the ground. He likes my nephew a lot. He brings him balls from the pool table, random video game controllers and remotes. He also likes drinking his Capri Sun drink. They're a little pouch you stick a straw into the side. In the past with anything in the class of juice box drinks, he'd just squeeze it and liquid would come pouring out. He not only drank the capri sun, he had fun pulling out and putting in the little tiny straw into the little tiny hole. When it comes to putting small things into small holes, he has great skill.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: So close to crawl. Still. But just not there. She has so much energy, she can get from sit to crawl position and back with ease. She just can't get moving forward. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't move her arms forward, or if she's spending too much tim on her feet with her butt high in the air. Kneese off the ground make it more challenging to crawl I'm sure.
The best story by far was about the corn cob my son ate. While they were getting ready for dinner, my mother-in-law got my son a half cob of corn. She put one of those sticker/holders in one end for him so he could hold on to it while he tried to eat the slippery corn.
He was working on the cob just fine. He was holding on to the handle, and trying to eat the other end of the cob. Because he was eating at the end, he wasn't meeting with much success.
The rest of the family got their plates and sat down. The adults had two stickers on their cobs, and when they picked up their corn, they ate it sideways, not up and down. He watched everyone, he had his cob in the air, and he turned it 90 degrees and started eating it from the side.
Then they got him a second sticker and he was able to hold on to both sides at the same time. He loved the corn, he ate and ate on his cob until he had gotten most of the kernels off. The age of imitation is a fun age.
The Big Boy Update: Jump jump. My nephew, Kyle, was preparing to go to a basketball game and did some jumping in the living room. My son, who is a little too young to jump, but love to immitate, followed him around and tried to jump. He got the motions down, but he didn't quite make it off the ground. He likes my nephew a lot. He brings him balls from the pool table, random video game controllers and remotes. He also likes drinking his Capri Sun drink. They're a little pouch you stick a straw into the side. In the past with anything in the class of juice box drinks, he'd just squeeze it and liquid would come pouring out. He not only drank the capri sun, he had fun pulling out and putting in the little tiny straw into the little tiny hole. When it comes to putting small things into small holes, he has great skill.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: So close to crawl. Still. But just not there. She has so much energy, she can get from sit to crawl position and back with ease. She just can't get moving forward. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't move her arms forward, or if she's spending too much tim on her feet with her butt high in the air. Kneese off the ground make it more challenging to crawl I'm sure.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Very Friendly Jet Ski
I've been going up to New Jersey at the shore to visit my brother and sister-in-law's family for five years now. I look forward to the visit each summer. I enjoy being at the beach, but I enjoy being there with family the most I think. There is food, fun, boating, jet skiing, beaching and if my niece and I can manage it, lots of ice cream and frozen treat eating.
They are avid jet skiiers. Their house is on a lagoon and their back yard has a large dock with a boat and up to five jet skis. Much as I might want to ride one, it's never happened before for various reasons Initially I was recovering from spine surgery and shouldn't have been on anything. Then there were the pregnancies and I probably shouldn't have been on a rocky, bumpy, very fast, throw you off if you're not paying attention vehicle.
But this year was my year. Not pregnant, back in shape, but wait, I didn't have a boat license. The evening before we left I realized I needed to get my boat license or I was going to miss another year. Fortunately, the test is online. Unfortunately, the certification process is long and requires you to complete countless pages of reading, watch scores of videos and do it all in no less than the time they have decided you need to take in order to absorbe the material. In short, maybe five hours?
I got up at 6:30 the next morning and studied until 9:00 and still wasn't close to done. My husband helped with the children during the afternoon so I could finish. I did finish and I did take the test and I passed. So now I can legally drive a jet ski.
Yesterday we went out on three jet skis. They put me on their oldest one which seats three people. It's easy to drive, and yet still has the power to get up and go places quickly. It was indeed easy to drive. I named it, "The Very Friendly Jet Ski."
If I'm good and we get some more time, they're going to let me try one of their more zippy jet skis in the trails so I can get accustomed to quick turns and then, if I'm really lucky (or if they're foolish,) they may let me try a stand-up jet ski.
The Big Boy Update: So not tired. He had a long nap yesterday afternoon and last night, he did not want to go to sleep. We walked him to the ice ceam stand and walked him home. Still not tired. He eventually went to sleep, but it was way past bedtime. And now I hear, from the cries in the next room, that he's ready for breakfast.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Kick kick kick. Yesterday we got some floats for the babies that are inner tubes with netting through the center with leg holes. You can stick a baby in these and they can't fall out or go anywhere. She loved hers. She's been in one before, but five months versus seven months is a big difference in maturity. Yesterday she had the best time kicking and kicking and grinning and trying to go places.
They are avid jet skiiers. Their house is on a lagoon and their back yard has a large dock with a boat and up to five jet skis. Much as I might want to ride one, it's never happened before for various reasons Initially I was recovering from spine surgery and shouldn't have been on anything. Then there were the pregnancies and I probably shouldn't have been on a rocky, bumpy, very fast, throw you off if you're not paying attention vehicle.
But this year was my year. Not pregnant, back in shape, but wait, I didn't have a boat license. The evening before we left I realized I needed to get my boat license or I was going to miss another year. Fortunately, the test is online. Unfortunately, the certification process is long and requires you to complete countless pages of reading, watch scores of videos and do it all in no less than the time they have decided you need to take in order to absorbe the material. In short, maybe five hours?
I got up at 6:30 the next morning and studied until 9:00 and still wasn't close to done. My husband helped with the children during the afternoon so I could finish. I did finish and I did take the test and I passed. So now I can legally drive a jet ski.
Yesterday we went out on three jet skis. They put me on their oldest one which seats three people. It's easy to drive, and yet still has the power to get up and go places quickly. It was indeed easy to drive. I named it, "The Very Friendly Jet Ski."
If I'm good and we get some more time, they're going to let me try one of their more zippy jet skis in the trails so I can get accustomed to quick turns and then, if I'm really lucky (or if they're foolish,) they may let me try a stand-up jet ski.
The Big Boy Update: So not tired. He had a long nap yesterday afternoon and last night, he did not want to go to sleep. We walked him to the ice ceam stand and walked him home. Still not tired. He eventually went to sleep, but it was way past bedtime. And now I hear, from the cries in the next room, that he's ready for breakfast.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Kick kick kick. Yesterday we got some floats for the babies that are inner tubes with netting through the center with leg holes. You can stick a baby in these and they can't fall out or go anywhere. She loved hers. She's been in one before, but five months versus seven months is a big difference in maturity. Yesterday she had the best time kicking and kicking and grinning and trying to go places.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
More Coveage More Scandal
I recently got some new swim wear because I'd lost weight and the last two years of pregnancy bathing suits didn't fit on the bottom and certainly didn't fit on the top. Today I experienced something I didn't expect with one of the new ensembles I got.
The suit is two-piece. It's orange (you know my penchant for orange) for both the top and bottoms. Nice style, but boring on the whole. So I got a pair of crazy color shorts to wear over the bottoms for travel to and from the pool or beach. The bottoms are the same material as a bathing suit. They're intended for the water. They can even be worn as a bathing suit bottom. I was planning on wearing them over the suit bottom as the "fun factor" for the suit.
I was getting ready to head out and my husband made a comment about how the bottoms looked. It was a complimentary comment, but it made me go look in the mirror to see what he was talking about.
So I looked in the mirror... wait one minute! These shorts look, well, obscene. They show just enough butt so that you think your pants are too short. The Daisy Duke's factor if you will.
I had on the orange bottoms under the shorts. You can't see the orange bottoms under the shorts because the shorts cover more area. So I took off the shorts. Normal bathing suit bottom. Everything looked non-scandalous. There was good and adequate coverage from the suit bottom.
Shorts back on and the optical illusion was back. More skin covered up, and yet the shorts didn't make you feel that way. I went to the pool anyway and I had the strangest feeling I should take the shorts off quickly so I could become, "more decent."
The Big Boy Update: Bupphhh/ I think he's saying the word, "diaper." but doesn't know how to pronounce it. He said it multiple times this morning, including when he grabbed a diaper from the drawer, when he pointed and patted at his dirty diaper and when I asked him later if he could say "diaper." Potty training still not meeting with much success, but he has seemed to take an interest in the diapers at least.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Food dance. After two days of being very hungry, she didn't have much interest in either supper last night or breakfast this morning. She lies on your lap, smiles at you and then does a kick dance while you try to get her to eat. She coordinates the kicking with looking left and right, making it nigh impossible to keep the bottle in her mouth. So she went to bed without supper last night, but she slept through the night. This morning an hour after eating a lackluster breakfast, she did manage to finish the bottle.
The suit is two-piece. It's orange (you know my penchant for orange) for both the top and bottoms. Nice style, but boring on the whole. So I got a pair of crazy color shorts to wear over the bottoms for travel to and from the pool or beach. The bottoms are the same material as a bathing suit. They're intended for the water. They can even be worn as a bathing suit bottom. I was planning on wearing them over the suit bottom as the "fun factor" for the suit.
I was getting ready to head out and my husband made a comment about how the bottoms looked. It was a complimentary comment, but it made me go look in the mirror to see what he was talking about.
So I looked in the mirror... wait one minute! These shorts look, well, obscene. They show just enough butt so that you think your pants are too short. The Daisy Duke's factor if you will.
I had on the orange bottoms under the shorts. You can't see the orange bottoms under the shorts because the shorts cover more area. So I took off the shorts. Normal bathing suit bottom. Everything looked non-scandalous. There was good and adequate coverage from the suit bottom.
Shorts back on and the optical illusion was back. More skin covered up, and yet the shorts didn't make you feel that way. I went to the pool anyway and I had the strangest feeling I should take the shorts off quickly so I could become, "more decent."
The Big Boy Update: Bupphhh/ I think he's saying the word, "diaper." but doesn't know how to pronounce it. He said it multiple times this morning, including when he grabbed a diaper from the drawer, when he pointed and patted at his dirty diaper and when I asked him later if he could say "diaper." Potty training still not meeting with much success, but he has seemed to take an interest in the diapers at least.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Food dance. After two days of being very hungry, she didn't have much interest in either supper last night or breakfast this morning. She lies on your lap, smiles at you and then does a kick dance while you try to get her to eat. She coordinates the kicking with looking left and right, making it nigh impossible to keep the bottle in her mouth. So she went to bed without supper last night, but she slept through the night. This morning an hour after eating a lackluster breakfast, she did manage to finish the bottle.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Bullet Time
Remember when the movie, "The Matrix" came out and they had the super slow shots with Keanu Reeves bending backwards to avoid the bullets? The technology was new and exciting and was dubbed, "bullet time."
The other day I was out jogging. I'd gone farther than I'd ever run before and I was on the very last hill with my stopping point in sight. The last little bit is covered in some slippery gravel and I suddenly lost my footing and started to fall.
The "started to fall" part is where I found myself unexpectedly in "bullet time." In slow motion I saw myself going down. I told my arms this was the point where they should extend so they could catch me as I went down, but my arms were having none of it.
Remember when you'd get in a spinning chair as a child and spin around and around and then get out and try to walk straight? You know what you wanted your legs to do, but you were just going to have to wait a minute, thank you very much, we legs are busy being disoriented right now.
That's what was going on with my arms. For almost an hour, they'd been moving back and forth in time with my running. They knew how to do that just fine. What they weren't prepared for was to have immediate, alternate orders handed to them. They were currently very tired and trying to keep up with the legs. So down I fell.
I was able to pull myself together enough to do a little roll and for the sake of the car that was passing me. I bounded up and, "looked like I meant to do that" before I started walking. Two little bruises and lots of grime on my back and arms is all that came of the fall physically. But the strange mental image of my arms completely ignoring me is going to stick with me for some time.
The Big Boy Update: Wave dashing. We're in New Jersey at our family's home on the shore. My son has been to the beach severa times, but each time is a new experience as he gets older and more aware of what's happening. Today, he was very excited about the waves. He would run into them gleefully and then run back and re-evaluate the situation. Waves for him are only six inches high, but they pack a lot of wave fun into six inches when you're his age.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Sand, sand, everywhere. While her brother was adventuring in the waves, she was sitting in the sand, kicking her legs around, getting sand into and on every single part of her body. She ate some, but was more interested in scooping, and moving it around. After an extensive shower with mama to get the sand out, I still missed what she got in her nose. Sun and sand have made her tired and extra-nappy since we've gotten back to the house.
Running Update: With this running thing taking up a lot of my time both mentally and during the day, I may add a bit down here as a quick update. Like two days ago I ran five miles, I rested yesterday and today I was able to run six miles still maintaining the relative pace. Although, running on flat streets at the beach isn't quite the same comparison. Tomorrow I go do Zumba for an hour with my sister-in-law. I ran for over an hour today, but doimg different exercises can be quite challenging to muscles not accustomed to working in that way. We'll see if I make it through the hour.
The other day I was out jogging. I'd gone farther than I'd ever run before and I was on the very last hill with my stopping point in sight. The last little bit is covered in some slippery gravel and I suddenly lost my footing and started to fall.
The "started to fall" part is where I found myself unexpectedly in "bullet time." In slow motion I saw myself going down. I told my arms this was the point where they should extend so they could catch me as I went down, but my arms were having none of it.
Remember when you'd get in a spinning chair as a child and spin around and around and then get out and try to walk straight? You know what you wanted your legs to do, but you were just going to have to wait a minute, thank you very much, we legs are busy being disoriented right now.
That's what was going on with my arms. For almost an hour, they'd been moving back and forth in time with my running. They knew how to do that just fine. What they weren't prepared for was to have immediate, alternate orders handed to them. They were currently very tired and trying to keep up with the legs. So down I fell.
I was able to pull myself together enough to do a little roll and for the sake of the car that was passing me. I bounded up and, "looked like I meant to do that" before I started walking. Two little bruises and lots of grime on my back and arms is all that came of the fall physically. But the strange mental image of my arms completely ignoring me is going to stick with me for some time.
The Big Boy Update: Wave dashing. We're in New Jersey at our family's home on the shore. My son has been to the beach severa times, but each time is a new experience as he gets older and more aware of what's happening. Today, he was very excited about the waves. He would run into them gleefully and then run back and re-evaluate the situation. Waves for him are only six inches high, but they pack a lot of wave fun into six inches when you're his age.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Sand, sand, everywhere. While her brother was adventuring in the waves, she was sitting in the sand, kicking her legs around, getting sand into and on every single part of her body. She ate some, but was more interested in scooping, and moving it around. After an extensive shower with mama to get the sand out, I still missed what she got in her nose. Sun and sand have made her tired and extra-nappy since we've gotten back to the house.
Running Update: With this running thing taking up a lot of my time both mentally and during the day, I may add a bit down here as a quick update. Like two days ago I ran five miles, I rested yesterday and today I was able to run six miles still maintaining the relative pace. Although, running on flat streets at the beach isn't quite the same comparison. Tomorrow I go do Zumba for an hour with my sister-in-law. I ran for over an hour today, but doimg different exercises can be quite challenging to muscles not accustomed to working in that way. We'll see if I make it through the hour.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Calling in Reinforcements
Packing isn't that difficult. I can pack for myself and the children fairly easily. If I have the chance to pack. Two babies take up a lot of the minutes in an hour. I was thinking yesterday afternoon that if I only had two hours with my husband, uninterrupted, we could get all the packing knocked out easily.
It's packing not only of the bags and things, but it's getting it all in the vehicle in the best order, which can mean waiting to pack lots of things until some of the final things aren't needed, which can be just before you leave. So we need the high chair to feed the children, but we need to pack the high chair at the bottom-half of the stack.
We want to get underway as soon as we get the children ready for bed, say eight or nine o'clock, but how can we maximize our time today for packing if we're chasing children? So I called Dusty.
She's coming over for two hours this morning. She's going to whisk the children away upstairs while my husband and I get as much done as we can during the time. I have a feeling we'll get just about everything done because we can focus and don't have distractions.
The Big Boy Update: Still loves his shoes. He likes his socks, he likes putting shoes on. Other people's shoes. Girls shoes. Pink girls shoes. At the pool, I sometimes think he's more interested in shoes than the pool.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Milk or food? She likes her milk in the morning. But she loves solids. Sometimes she doesn't even eat milk for the middle of the day meals because she's gotten so full from solids. And I never have a problem stuffing her full of food versus milk. She's starting to eat the little puffs that she has to move around in her mouth and figure out how to swallow. She likes to grab at the puffs, get a whole handful of them and wave her hands around while you put more of them in her mouth.
It's packing not only of the bags and things, but it's getting it all in the vehicle in the best order, which can mean waiting to pack lots of things until some of the final things aren't needed, which can be just before you leave. So we need the high chair to feed the children, but we need to pack the high chair at the bottom-half of the stack.
We want to get underway as soon as we get the children ready for bed, say eight or nine o'clock, but how can we maximize our time today for packing if we're chasing children? So I called Dusty.
She's coming over for two hours this morning. She's going to whisk the children away upstairs while my husband and I get as much done as we can during the time. I have a feeling we'll get just about everything done because we can focus and don't have distractions.
The Big Boy Update: Still loves his shoes. He likes his socks, he likes putting shoes on. Other people's shoes. Girls shoes. Pink girls shoes. At the pool, I sometimes think he's more interested in shoes than the pool.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Milk or food? She likes her milk in the morning. But she loves solids. Sometimes she doesn't even eat milk for the middle of the day meals because she's gotten so full from solids. And I never have a problem stuffing her full of food versus milk. She's starting to eat the little puffs that she has to move around in her mouth and figure out how to swallow. She likes to grab at the puffs, get a whole handful of them and wave her hands around while you put more of them in her mouth.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
And Now I Think I Shall Cry...
I've been having a really good time running. Quick, someone pinch me because never in my life did I think I would say that. It is true though. For example, I go out to run today and I'm thinking I might only run a little because I still have this head cold I got from my children who got it from who knows where. But I keep going and I make my running goal, and I'm glad I went out, because I feel better having run than I did the rest of the day. That's how running has become fun.
I've been doing my running in the park across the street. Every time I go out, I run a little further before I turn around. The first half of the run is more uphill than downhill, so if I can just make it to my distance goal, I believe can make it back without stopping running. We all know it's a mental thing. But even if it is, it's a mental thing that works.
I believe that just because I've made it half-way and turned around, that I can suddenly go that entire distance again, even though I'm already tired. And my brain believes me. Go figure.
The other day, I ran four miles. Two days ago I added a little distance and made it to 4.25 miles. That was in part because my audio book got to this great part where the lady is finally saved from the jaws of death-type situation and there's a tearful reunion. So I had to keep running for a while longer to hear how it all turned out.
Today, I decided I was going to try for five miles. That's an 8K run. Well, for me it's an 8K jog as I'm not pushing for speed as much as distance. I kept waiting for the nice lady's voice to come out of my phone telling me, "Five miles in x minutes and x seconds with a lap time of x." But no go.
I got back to the entrance of the park, I ran past it down the hill for a ways until I got to a turnaround to exit the park at a different spot. My phone lists my current distance, but I can't see it because it's in a belt zippered pouch. So I just had to keep running until the lady spoke to me.
I ran through the tall grass while cars passed me on the street outside out neighborhood and still nothing. I ran into my neighborhood and now I had to run away from my house because I wasn't to five miles yet. But blast it, I wasn't stopping running. And then I had to be rude to a neighbor. She's really nice and I would have normally stopped to say hello, but I breathlessly said, "Hi! I can't stop until I hit my running goal," and I kept running.
Finally, the audio book sound dimmed and I heard, "Five miles in..." Hooray. I was so happy I almost cried. There's something nice about making a goal you set for yourself. A goal that you have to work for that's also hard. But no time for crying, there are children at home that take care of that for me. And when I walked in the door, so there were.
The Big Boy Update: Blowing his nose. With this head cold we've got going on, I've been trying to teach him that blowing out is better than trying to sniff the drainage back in. He got it today. He blew in a tissue several times. Maybe it helped that I was blowing into a tissue all day too.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Moving around and yet not crawling. She sits up, wants something in front of her, goes down into a crawl position, works very hard to get to the item (which works very well if that requires moving backwards instead of forwards.) Then she gets back into a sitting position. She can move around even rotating. It seems like she's just about to take off, only she just can't figure out she needs to lift and place her arms to move.
I've been doing my running in the park across the street. Every time I go out, I run a little further before I turn around. The first half of the run is more uphill than downhill, so if I can just make it to my distance goal, I believe can make it back without stopping running. We all know it's a mental thing. But even if it is, it's a mental thing that works.
I believe that just because I've made it half-way and turned around, that I can suddenly go that entire distance again, even though I'm already tired. And my brain believes me. Go figure.
The other day, I ran four miles. Two days ago I added a little distance and made it to 4.25 miles. That was in part because my audio book got to this great part where the lady is finally saved from the jaws of death-type situation and there's a tearful reunion. So I had to keep running for a while longer to hear how it all turned out.
Today, I decided I was going to try for five miles. That's an 8K run. Well, for me it's an 8K jog as I'm not pushing for speed as much as distance. I kept waiting for the nice lady's voice to come out of my phone telling me, "Five miles in x minutes and x seconds with a lap time of x." But no go.
I got back to the entrance of the park, I ran past it down the hill for a ways until I got to a turnaround to exit the park at a different spot. My phone lists my current distance, but I can't see it because it's in a belt zippered pouch. So I just had to keep running until the lady spoke to me.
I ran through the tall grass while cars passed me on the street outside out neighborhood and still nothing. I ran into my neighborhood and now I had to run away from my house because I wasn't to five miles yet. But blast it, I wasn't stopping running. And then I had to be rude to a neighbor. She's really nice and I would have normally stopped to say hello, but I breathlessly said, "Hi! I can't stop until I hit my running goal," and I kept running.
Finally, the audio book sound dimmed and I heard, "Five miles in..." Hooray. I was so happy I almost cried. There's something nice about making a goal you set for yourself. A goal that you have to work for that's also hard. But no time for crying, there are children at home that take care of that for me. And when I walked in the door, so there were.
The Big Boy Update: Blowing his nose. With this head cold we've got going on, I've been trying to teach him that blowing out is better than trying to sniff the drainage back in. He got it today. He blew in a tissue several times. Maybe it helped that I was blowing into a tissue all day too.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Moving around and yet not crawling. She sits up, wants something in front of her, goes down into a crawl position, works very hard to get to the item (which works very well if that requires moving backwards instead of forwards.) Then she gets back into a sitting position. She can move around even rotating. It seems like she's just about to take off, only she just can't figure out she needs to lift and place her arms to move.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
No, I'm Sorry, There Isn't Time...
Babies are busy. They keep you busy. I've written about, "Wedge Work" which is what I feel like I'm doing most of the day as I run back and forth between two children. But there is another phrase that I hear in my mind again and again as I think about what I want to get done during the day, or more commonly, what I didn't get done during the day.
I've been a fan of Monty Python since I was very young. Many years ago I purchased a collection of CDs that contained a large portion of their original shows. I've gone to sleep countless nights listening to the CDs from the shows or movies over the years.
In the Election Special skit, John Cleese is a news caster reporting the results of an election. Multiple times he says the line, "No, I'm sorry, there isn't time." in response to another reporter. That's how I feel about my days most days.
It's not that I can't get all the things done that need to get done. Those get done. It's finding time to go get the running shoes I need or being able to get the car cleaned because the wheels have gone pure black from brake dust or getting my hair cut. Scheduling blocks of time with a toddler and an infant tends to make you pick and choose because the day really isn't yours anymore.
And that's okay. I wedge in things where I can when people are foolish enough to offer to help with the children. It's what I wanted: a busy, happy life with two children and a busy, happy husband. The children will be off to college soon enough. I'll save up my errands for then.
If you're interested in the skit, there are versions of it on YouTube with video, which is from a different version than the one I used to listen to. Here's a link to the audio track of the one I remember: Monty Python's Election Special
The Big Boy Update: Little biter. Twice today he's bitten his sister, with no provocation, and left marks. I'm not sure what the cause is as it doesn't seem to be related to jealousy specifically. It could be excitement in general. It's got to stop though.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Happy day. She's been in a happy mood all day, despite being bitten twice. She had her first time in the little wading pool where she sat up and played with toys by herself. She likes the water, she seemed to like the pool even more.
I've been a fan of Monty Python since I was very young. Many years ago I purchased a collection of CDs that contained a large portion of their original shows. I've gone to sleep countless nights listening to the CDs from the shows or movies over the years.
In the Election Special skit, John Cleese is a news caster reporting the results of an election. Multiple times he says the line, "No, I'm sorry, there isn't time." in response to another reporter. That's how I feel about my days most days.
It's not that I can't get all the things done that need to get done. Those get done. It's finding time to go get the running shoes I need or being able to get the car cleaned because the wheels have gone pure black from brake dust or getting my hair cut. Scheduling blocks of time with a toddler and an infant tends to make you pick and choose because the day really isn't yours anymore.
And that's okay. I wedge in things where I can when people are foolish enough to offer to help with the children. It's what I wanted: a busy, happy life with two children and a busy, happy husband. The children will be off to college soon enough. I'll save up my errands for then.
If you're interested in the skit, there are versions of it on YouTube with video, which is from a different version than the one I used to listen to. Here's a link to the audio track of the one I remember: Monty Python's Election Special
The Big Boy Update: Little biter. Twice today he's bitten his sister, with no provocation, and left marks. I'm not sure what the cause is as it doesn't seem to be related to jealousy specifically. It could be excitement in general. It's got to stop though.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Happy day. She's been in a happy mood all day, despite being bitten twice. She had her first time in the little wading pool where she sat up and played with toys by herself. She likes the water, she seemed to like the pool even more.
Exercise Motivation Evaluation
Why do people exercise? Why do I exercise? It's something I've been thinking about lately.
I've written about, "Pound Penance" or working off calories because I ate more than I wanted to eat in a particular day. Pound penance can be a good motivator. You can't burn thousands of calories, but you can work off some if you've overeaten. You can also be motivated away from eating something because you'll feel obligated to exercise later as a result.
Motivation to work off calories consumed can be both a good and a bad motivation. It's a good thing if it drives you to exercise. It's a bad thing if taken too far, taken to the point where you must exercise because you're worried you might have eaten a little bit more than you ideally should have. It's a balance, but it can be a good thing.
You can also exercise to lose weight. Fourteen burgers of exercise later, I can say weight-loss isn't my main motivation for exercise, but it did factor into the overall weight-loss plan I had. And it has helped.
What about feeling good? It is a nice feeling to know you set out to accomplish something. That you're working towards a goal and you're making progress towards that goal. It also helps you to feel better physically and mentally after completing a workout. My friend said to me, "I can put up with an incredible amount of crap at work if I've gotten exercise that day." And it's true.
I think I run the balance across all three. It's important to keep a healthy outlook on diet and exercise. I am working hard at both and I'm endeavoring to make sure I keep my mental attitudes just as healthy as my physical self. Thinking about that and writing about it here are part of that process.
The Big Boy Update: With The Big Kids. He wants to hang out with the big kids at movie night now. He wants to hang out, run around and be so excited no one is going to get to watch a movie, but he is still super-excited to be part of the kids and not the babies. Tonight, he was so happy that he got all three of the other kids away from the movie and up in the bonus room playing with collapsible swords and blocks with him.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: French Fry. She has been getting better at finding her mouth. At some point babies figure out how to put things in their mouth and after that point, everything goes in their mouth. For months on end. She's just been able to get the pacifier back in when it falls out, including rotational issues within the past two days. Tonight, I gave her a french fry to hold and squish while we ate dinner. We looked down and it was in her mouth and she was chewing it. I gave her a second fry at a strange angle for her hand. She rearranged it and got it in her mouth. Chewed, swapped hands, put it back in her mouth and chewed again (with her two bitty teeth.) Time to start watching what's in range of her hands starting now.
I've written about, "Pound Penance" or working off calories because I ate more than I wanted to eat in a particular day. Pound penance can be a good motivator. You can't burn thousands of calories, but you can work off some if you've overeaten. You can also be motivated away from eating something because you'll feel obligated to exercise later as a result.
Motivation to work off calories consumed can be both a good and a bad motivation. It's a good thing if it drives you to exercise. It's a bad thing if taken too far, taken to the point where you must exercise because you're worried you might have eaten a little bit more than you ideally should have. It's a balance, but it can be a good thing.
You can also exercise to lose weight. Fourteen burgers of exercise later, I can say weight-loss isn't my main motivation for exercise, but it did factor into the overall weight-loss plan I had. And it has helped.
What about feeling good? It is a nice feeling to know you set out to accomplish something. That you're working towards a goal and you're making progress towards that goal. It also helps you to feel better physically and mentally after completing a workout. My friend said to me, "I can put up with an incredible amount of crap at work if I've gotten exercise that day." And it's true.
I think I run the balance across all three. It's important to keep a healthy outlook on diet and exercise. I am working hard at both and I'm endeavoring to make sure I keep my mental attitudes just as healthy as my physical self. Thinking about that and writing about it here are part of that process.
The Big Boy Update: With The Big Kids. He wants to hang out with the big kids at movie night now. He wants to hang out, run around and be so excited no one is going to get to watch a movie, but he is still super-excited to be part of the kids and not the babies. Tonight, he was so happy that he got all three of the other kids away from the movie and up in the bonus room playing with collapsible swords and blocks with him.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: French Fry. She has been getting better at finding her mouth. At some point babies figure out how to put things in their mouth and after that point, everything goes in their mouth. For months on end. She's just been able to get the pacifier back in when it falls out, including rotational issues within the past two days. Tonight, I gave her a french fry to hold and squish while we ate dinner. We looked down and it was in her mouth and she was chewing it. I gave her a second fry at a strange angle for her hand. She rearranged it and got it in her mouth. Chewed, swapped hands, put it back in her mouth and chewed again (with her two bitty teeth.) Time to start watching what's in range of her hands starting now.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Kodak Pulse
My sister-in-law talked about great presents in her blog yesterday. I agree with her that it's hard to find a good gift for many people because those people are either hard to shop for, or just buy whatever they want and need for themselves. I'm pretty sure I'm one of those people myself as I usually get something if I need it.
The best present I've seen in a long time is the Kodak Pulse picture frame. I was visiting my old college President a while back. His wife showed us a digital picture frame from her children. Now I've seen digital picture frames before, and they're a great way to show a lot of pictures. But what made this one great was that it had an email address. Yes, you can email pictures directly to the frame!
The technology timing of this is perfect. I have a smart-phone with a decent camera. The phone is in my pocket all the time so I have a better chance of catching something cute or silly as it's happening. And then I can send that picture, right then, to the frame and when the frame owners come home, or walk by the frame next, it will show a little icon that says, "Oh hi, you have new pictures to see."
This year so far, I've sent over 130 pictures to the frames. It's a fun little mission to keep the frames relevant and exciting. We have also been the recipient of a frame from our sister's in San Francisco, Adrienne and Brenda, and we love getting pictures from them too.
It's truly a gift that keeps giving. I have told our friend how glad I am that she showed me the frame because it's been such a fun part of our lives.
The Big Boy Update: Safety Lids. I have seen them in action. Being safe. Preventing my son from drinking an entire bottle of liquid Advil. He found the medicine drawer yesterday. He figured out which bottle had the orange liquid he liked that he got from time to time. He found the dispenser syringe. He took them both into his closet, sat on the floor and tried to open the lid. When that didn't work he just pointed the tip of the syringe at the lid and then tasted it to see if there was any medicine in it. It was adorable to watch, but only so because I knew he was safe with the safety lid. Now that that's over, time to find a new drawer for the medicines.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: That pesky arm. It is morning and I'm in the basement. I've turned off the monitor because she is screaming and she's mad. She doesn't get up for another hour. We're in the middle of her rolling over anger time. She can get up on her hands and knees. She even regularly does this downward dog, hands and feet thing because she hasn't figured out how to crawl forward yet. But she can't figure out how to go from her stomach to her back without getting one arm stuck behind her back. So she gets mad. And we go up and flip her over and give her a pacifier and a toy. And then she does it again. This morning, she's going to yell it out, or figure it out.
The best present I've seen in a long time is the Kodak Pulse picture frame. I was visiting my old college President a while back. His wife showed us a digital picture frame from her children. Now I've seen digital picture frames before, and they're a great way to show a lot of pictures. But what made this one great was that it had an email address. Yes, you can email pictures directly to the frame!
The technology timing of this is perfect. I have a smart-phone with a decent camera. The phone is in my pocket all the time so I have a better chance of catching something cute or silly as it's happening. And then I can send that picture, right then, to the frame and when the frame owners come home, or walk by the frame next, it will show a little icon that says, "Oh hi, you have new pictures to see."
This year so far, I've sent over 130 pictures to the frames. It's a fun little mission to keep the frames relevant and exciting. We have also been the recipient of a frame from our sister's in San Francisco, Adrienne and Brenda, and we love getting pictures from them too.
It's truly a gift that keeps giving. I have told our friend how glad I am that she showed me the frame because it's been such a fun part of our lives.
The Big Boy Update: Safety Lids. I have seen them in action. Being safe. Preventing my son from drinking an entire bottle of liquid Advil. He found the medicine drawer yesterday. He figured out which bottle had the orange liquid he liked that he got from time to time. He found the dispenser syringe. He took them both into his closet, sat on the floor and tried to open the lid. When that didn't work he just pointed the tip of the syringe at the lid and then tasted it to see if there was any medicine in it. It was adorable to watch, but only so because I knew he was safe with the safety lid. Now that that's over, time to find a new drawer for the medicines.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: That pesky arm. It is morning and I'm in the basement. I've turned off the monitor because she is screaming and she's mad. She doesn't get up for another hour. We're in the middle of her rolling over anger time. She can get up on her hands and knees. She even regularly does this downward dog, hands and feet thing because she hasn't figured out how to crawl forward yet. But she can't figure out how to go from her stomach to her back without getting one arm stuck behind her back. So she gets mad. And we go up and flip her over and give her a pacifier and a toy. And then she does it again. This morning, she's going to yell it out, or figure it out.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
The Pack
I love to pack light. I hate traveling with large luggage, loads of things I may need, but only in certain circumstances. I find it a challenge to pack only what I'll need and no more. This past weekend I took a small canvas bag for a three-day weekend trip. It contained my clothes, toiletries, chargers, shoes and anything else I would need.
I've seen parents for decades go places with children and have so much "stuff" that the sheer volume of things and items they have to deal with takes them longer to do or go anywhere. I said I would never be that kind of parent.
It is still true. But it is not practical. You can't pack light when you have a toddler and an infant. They have needs that aren't met by standard adult-people stuff. They need their baby stuff.
I've been compiling a list of things to pack for our upcoming EKKN trip. EKKN is our nickname for my brother and sister-in-law and their two children; Eric, Kelly, Kyle and Nicole (EKKN.) They live in New Jersey and we look forward to our summer's week vacation at their shore home for months in advance.
But back to the list. This is the long, daunting, will take days to prepare and pack, feels like we're moving it's so much, I was hoping would be shorter but just isn't list:
Travel
- Double stroller
- Umbrella stroller
- Two car seats (boy and girl)
Changing
- Diapers (Regular, sleep, swim)
- Wipes
- Cloths
- Changing pad & spare cover
Clothing
- Bibs for drooling teething baby girl
- Sleepers for nighttime
- Bathing suits (Two each)
- Daytime clothes for the girl
- Daytime clothes for the boy
- Boy shoes, two pair and socks
- Girl Socks
Bathroom
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste for the boy
- Tylenol for the baby with dispenser
- Benadryl for both children with dispensers
- Hydrocortisone Cream for nighttime
- Hydrocortisone Cream for hands
- Yeast Cream (in case they get a yeast rash)
- Aveno lotion for dry skin
- Water Babies sunscreen
- Adult Spray sunscreen
- Shampoo
Food
- Milk sippie cup, Juice Sippie cup
- Four bottles, one cap
- Formula new box
- Stage two baby food for the girl
- Six baby spoons, two baby forks
- Plastic food bibs (four)
- High chair
Other
- Baby Monitor
- Big Crib (for the boy)
- Pack-n-Play crib (for the girl)
- Crib Blankets (2 Boy, 1 Girl)
- Crib Bumpers for two beds
- Sheets (2) for each bed
- Mattresses (2) for each bed
- Potty
- Scoot-a-bout (exer-saucer)
- Bouncy Seat for the girl
- Bumbo seat to feed the baby
- Toys (just a few) for each child
- Photo books (pictures of family members my son is practicing saying)
It's a lot of junk. It's a lot of baby junk that we use every day. It's no wonder there are so many mini-vans on the road.
The Big Boy Update: Biter. He is starting to get into the biting stage. When he get's so excited (or so mad) that he doesn't know what to do, it sometimes comes out in aggressive ways. He likes to try and eat his sister. That's a common phrase you'd hear if you lived in our house, "Don't eat your sister."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Runny nose. They both have runny noses from this cold/funk we all have. She looks so sweet sitting and playing with toys and then I notice there's clear drainage running down her face. I hope she feels better soon.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
6K?...!!!
I've been working on my running with the "Couch to 5K" training program I started several months ago. It's been a lot of fun, and surprisingly, I've been able to do it. I was so out of shape, no, correction, I was never really in shape. Multiple spine surgeries, heavy medication, spending a year on the couch, two pregnancies back-to-back, and my level of overall fitness has been somewhere between negative twelve to twenty.
I've been continually surprised how the body can respond to demands for exercise if you build up appropriately over time. I've been running alone much of the time because of time-constraints. Two babies tend to make for a busy time. I've pushed myself further and longer than the main running group has been doing. But tomorrow is the last day of the training program I started with them. We're not running 5K yet, nor are we running without minute walking breaks in the middle of the run. But we are close enough that we "can do it" when the time for a real 5K comes.
So, running a full 5K without breaks has been a mentally daunting task. My neighbor who runs said if I could run the distance of 5K, I could run the 5K and even longer. My running partner who got me started on this whole endeavor said much the same thing. I did not share their confidence in my abilities.
Yesterday I decided to change up the format of my running tracker app. Instead of having it mark when I got to walk for a minute, I just let it keep track of how far I'd gone, letting me know when I've reached each kilometer in distance. I also decided to go across the street and run in the large park we're so fortunate to live near.
I started running and made it to two kilometers without stopping fairly easily. I'd done that before. When I made it to three kilometers I had run the longest distance at any one go without waking yet. And I could keep going. I turned around because I was over half-way to five kilometers.
This is where I surprised myself. There is an overall uphill tendency going out on the trail. It's also, "less than half-way" so it's both physically and mentally more challenging.
I kept running. Four kilometers. "Hey, maybe I can make the 5K?!?" Five kilometers. Woah. That was unexpected. Now I'm thinking about how I just signed up for a, "4 on the 4th" race that's four miles in just a few weeks. Six kilometers is close to four miles, right? Keep running, you can do it. And I did. I made it to six kilometers from start to finish with no walking. I almost broke into tears I was so, well, I don't even know what emotion it was. The, "I did it!" emotion maybe? Talk about sweaty.
I have my second eye surgery one week before the race on the fourth of July. Although I won't be racing no matter what. I'll be jogging at best. Or I'll be walking it if I'm not cleared to run after the surgery. But I know I can make the distance after yesterday's run. That's more than enough of an accomplishment for a Tuesday for me.
The Big Boy Update: Lack of Pacification Device. He's having his pacifiers removed one by one. He's not that thrilled with us, but he's also not that angry. Random pacifiers have been put away. The one attached to his car seat is gone and he only gets handed one at bedtime. Naps involve some time for loud complaints until he falls asleep, but he does go to sleep and so far, no fingers or thumbs in his mouth. Next task, training pants.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She is HUNGRY. Boy oh boy, when she runs into the wall of hunger, the sounds that come out of her mouth. Anger, fury, disbelief. Where is the foods, mama? I mention this because I'm going to have to wrap this up stat, or she's going to figure out how to use the telephone to call someone who will feed her if I don't get a move on.
I've been continually surprised how the body can respond to demands for exercise if you build up appropriately over time. I've been running alone much of the time because of time-constraints. Two babies tend to make for a busy time. I've pushed myself further and longer than the main running group has been doing. But tomorrow is the last day of the training program I started with them. We're not running 5K yet, nor are we running without minute walking breaks in the middle of the run. But we are close enough that we "can do it" when the time for a real 5K comes.
So, running a full 5K without breaks has been a mentally daunting task. My neighbor who runs said if I could run the distance of 5K, I could run the 5K and even longer. My running partner who got me started on this whole endeavor said much the same thing. I did not share their confidence in my abilities.
Yesterday I decided to change up the format of my running tracker app. Instead of having it mark when I got to walk for a minute, I just let it keep track of how far I'd gone, letting me know when I've reached each kilometer in distance. I also decided to go across the street and run in the large park we're so fortunate to live near.
I started running and made it to two kilometers without stopping fairly easily. I'd done that before. When I made it to three kilometers I had run the longest distance at any one go without waking yet. And I could keep going. I turned around because I was over half-way to five kilometers.
This is where I surprised myself. There is an overall uphill tendency going out on the trail. It's also, "less than half-way" so it's both physically and mentally more challenging.
I kept running. Four kilometers. "Hey, maybe I can make the 5K?!?" Five kilometers. Woah. That was unexpected. Now I'm thinking about how I just signed up for a, "4 on the 4th" race that's four miles in just a few weeks. Six kilometers is close to four miles, right? Keep running, you can do it. And I did. I made it to six kilometers from start to finish with no walking. I almost broke into tears I was so, well, I don't even know what emotion it was. The, "I did it!" emotion maybe? Talk about sweaty.
I have my second eye surgery one week before the race on the fourth of July. Although I won't be racing no matter what. I'll be jogging at best. Or I'll be walking it if I'm not cleared to run after the surgery. But I know I can make the distance after yesterday's run. That's more than enough of an accomplishment for a Tuesday for me.
The Big Boy Update: Lack of Pacification Device. He's having his pacifiers removed one by one. He's not that thrilled with us, but he's also not that angry. Random pacifiers have been put away. The one attached to his car seat is gone and he only gets handed one at bedtime. Naps involve some time for loud complaints until he falls asleep, but he does go to sleep and so far, no fingers or thumbs in his mouth. Next task, training pants.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She is HUNGRY. Boy oh boy, when she runs into the wall of hunger, the sounds that come out of her mouth. Anger, fury, disbelief. Where is the foods, mama? I mention this because I'm going to have to wrap this up stat, or she's going to figure out how to use the telephone to call someone who will feed her if I don't get a move on.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Egg Protein
My son has had bad skin, eczema, since he was five months old. Recently, on two occasions, he had a terrible reaction to food. His face gets red when he eats, his hands look terrible because he eats with his hands a lot, but he's not had an immediate, aggressive histamine reaction that resulted in hives before.
The telling time was when we fed him some meringue. My husband had whipped up the egg whites and added sugar. Two ingredients, delicious, immediate ferocious reaction when we gave my son a little bit on his fingers to taste.
We had no idea. It wasn't until I mentioned it to a friend who's a nurse that we got some insight. Children have undeveloped immune systems. There are four proteins in egg whites that can commonly be interpreted by babies systems as foreign invaders. In general, the reactions aren't life-threatening. But they can play havoc on their skin, and guess what, cause eczema.
Had we just identified one single item that would not only help with the redness he experienced on his hands and face when he ate, but also help these waves of eczema we've been battling? It appears so.
The good news is babies outgrow the reaction when they have a more developed immune system. The other good news is egg is a required flag for food product labels. There are over twenty ingredients that contain egg whites, but the bottom of the list will say in bold "Contains egg, wheat, whey, etc." so it's an easy item to avoid.
Egg is in a lot of things, but not nearly as many as I was worried about. Also, he doesn't have a bad reaction to cooked eggs and small portions in food, so we're avoiding where we can and not worrying too much if he ingests a little. He's fairly good at pushing away a food he doesn't feel comfortable eating, like pudding. What child doesn't like chocolate pudding? My child, because it has egg in it.
The Big Boy Update: Mop. New word of the week. He loves his toy mop. He picks it up, tries to mop his sister's head and says, "mop mop mop" the whole time. Today he has his eighteen-month checkup, with shots, at the doctor. We get to show off his new, less-eczema-encrusted skin and see our favorite doctor after lunch.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: So close to crawling. She has got strength my son didn't have. He didn't get his belly off the ground to crawl at first and just drug himself along. She not only gets up on her hands and knees, but because she can't figure out how to move forward, she gets all the way up on her hands and feet. And she balances pretty well like that. It will be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring with crawling. At this rate, when she figures out what to do to move, she's going to take off.
The telling time was when we fed him some meringue. My husband had whipped up the egg whites and added sugar. Two ingredients, delicious, immediate ferocious reaction when we gave my son a little bit on his fingers to taste.
We had no idea. It wasn't until I mentioned it to a friend who's a nurse that we got some insight. Children have undeveloped immune systems. There are four proteins in egg whites that can commonly be interpreted by babies systems as foreign invaders. In general, the reactions aren't life-threatening. But they can play havoc on their skin, and guess what, cause eczema.
Had we just identified one single item that would not only help with the redness he experienced on his hands and face when he ate, but also help these waves of eczema we've been battling? It appears so.
The good news is babies outgrow the reaction when they have a more developed immune system. The other good news is egg is a required flag for food product labels. There are over twenty ingredients that contain egg whites, but the bottom of the list will say in bold "Contains egg, wheat, whey, etc." so it's an easy item to avoid.
Egg is in a lot of things, but not nearly as many as I was worried about. Also, he doesn't have a bad reaction to cooked eggs and small portions in food, so we're avoiding where we can and not worrying too much if he ingests a little. He's fairly good at pushing away a food he doesn't feel comfortable eating, like pudding. What child doesn't like chocolate pudding? My child, because it has egg in it.
The Big Boy Update: Mop. New word of the week. He loves his toy mop. He picks it up, tries to mop his sister's head and says, "mop mop mop" the whole time. Today he has his eighteen-month checkup, with shots, at the doctor. We get to show off his new, less-eczema-encrusted skin and see our favorite doctor after lunch.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: So close to crawling. She has got strength my son didn't have. He didn't get his belly off the ground to crawl at first and just drug himself along. She not only gets up on her hands and knees, but because she can't figure out how to move forward, she gets all the way up on her hands and feet. And she balances pretty well like that. It will be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring with crawling. At this rate, when she figures out what to do to move, she's going to take off.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Fourteen Burgers
Today is sixteen weeks since the start of our diet. On the weight-management front, I weigh the same at today's weigh-in as I did two weeks ago, so it seems to be going well. It's still a challenge though. Food has a higher value to me than it should. Ideally, you should eat when you're hungry and only eat as much as your body needs.
So, about those fourteen burgers... A friend and I talked about exercise some months ago. Exercise is an excellent thing to do to get in shape, make you feel better both physically and self-image wise and is a good thing to do from an overall health perspective, but it is not going to make you skinny.
With the new phone apps and GPS capabilities, it's very easy to track not only what you've accomplished, but many additional statistical details. A friend suggested an the app Endomono, which has an associated web site, lots of features and nice usability.
I've been tracking any exercise I do for a while now. It gives me an idea how many calories I'm burning and if I've been able to run further today than I was last week. I logged on this weekend to see some overall summary information.
I've been running or walking for a total of over a day, 33 hours, over the past three months. Over the sixty workouts, I've traveled 96 miles. WOW, ninety-six miles? I'm surprised my shoes aren't worn out. I feel more fit, I look more fit. The exercise is definitely working.
I've burned a total of 7840 kcal too. I was impressed. I felt like I'd accomplished something. The next statistic was the most shocking of all though. "Burgers Burned: 14" Wait, what? All that exercising, three months of running, walking, jogging, toning and I could stick the total calories I'd burned on a serving platter at a cook-out for friends? Amazing. Unexpected. Humbling.
The Big Boy Update: Washing Dishes, Playing Harmonica. He had a good time this weekend at Nana and Grandpa's. He ate corn on the cob, rode in the boat, learned to play the harmonica and washed dishes. He was given a harmonica as a gift from Nana and he runs around the house playing it now. Also, he's eighteen months old today. Happy year-and-a-half birthday little guy.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Who's that girl? Three days away and she looks like a different baby. Part of it is the cold or fever funk she got from her brother that has made her face a little puffy. She looks like an older version of herself. And by that I mean more than just three days older. Also, happy seven-month birthday to my little girl as well today.
So, about those fourteen burgers... A friend and I talked about exercise some months ago. Exercise is an excellent thing to do to get in shape, make you feel better both physically and self-image wise and is a good thing to do from an overall health perspective, but it is not going to make you skinny.
With the new phone apps and GPS capabilities, it's very easy to track not only what you've accomplished, but many additional statistical details. A friend suggested an the app Endomono, which has an associated web site, lots of features and nice usability.
I've been tracking any exercise I do for a while now. It gives me an idea how many calories I'm burning and if I've been able to run further today than I was last week. I logged on this weekend to see some overall summary information.
I've been running or walking for a total of over a day, 33 hours, over the past three months. Over the sixty workouts, I've traveled 96 miles. WOW, ninety-six miles? I'm surprised my shoes aren't worn out. I feel more fit, I look more fit. The exercise is definitely working.
I've burned a total of 7840 kcal too. I was impressed. I felt like I'd accomplished something. The next statistic was the most shocking of all though. "Burgers Burned: 14" Wait, what? All that exercising, three months of running, walking, jogging, toning and I could stick the total calories I'd burned on a serving platter at a cook-out for friends? Amazing. Unexpected. Humbling.
The Big Boy Update: Washing Dishes, Playing Harmonica. He had a good time this weekend at Nana and Grandpa's. He ate corn on the cob, rode in the boat, learned to play the harmonica and washed dishes. He was given a harmonica as a gift from Nana and he runs around the house playing it now. Also, he's eighteen months old today. Happy year-and-a-half birthday little guy.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Who's that girl? Three days away and she looks like a different baby. Part of it is the cold or fever funk she got from her brother that has made her face a little puffy. She looks like an older version of herself. And by that I mean more than just three days older. Also, happy seven-month birthday to my little girl as well today.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Well-Stocked
I like to be well-stocked in some things. Like toilet paper. I'm not afraid of running out. There's just a nice feeling knowing you won't have to worry about getting toilet paper, or paper towels, or splenda packets again for a good long while.
It's not with everything. Some things I definitely do not want to be overstocked on. Food items for instance. I like variety in food and I just don't want to make a commitment to eighty packs of oatmeal. What if I stop liking oatmeal?
But if I'm absolutely sure I'm committed to something like the Indian Spice Chai tea I found recently, then I'm likely to order a vat from Amazon so I'll have the comfort in knowing I won't run out anytime soon.
There's a converse to the well-stocked syndrome known as the almost-gone syndrome. When I'm almost out of something, I look forward to finishing it up. I don't like little bits of anything I suppose. There should be enough that there's no worry you'll run out of it soon but not so little that you're almost and yet not out.
It's two sides of the "comfort in stuff" rules we all have. Wheather you're a hoarder or live out of a suitcase, our stuff and how it makes us feel is an inescapable part of life.
The Big Boy Update: Eczema better. After three days using the new, super duper, extra-strength, use sparingly only on the hands cream, his hands have improved. I'm so relieved. From the weekend vacation front, from the pictures my husband has been sending, they've had fun in the boat, in the sand bar at the lake's edge and eating corn-on-the-cob with Nana and Grandpa.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Fever napper. She never naps for long. I have high hopes that once she starts to crawl she'll be more tired and nap for more time per nap. This weekend she got the "fever of unknown origin" my son has had for the last several days and suddenly she's a good napper.
It's not with everything. Some things I definitely do not want to be overstocked on. Food items for instance. I like variety in food and I just don't want to make a commitment to eighty packs of oatmeal. What if I stop liking oatmeal?
But if I'm absolutely sure I'm committed to something like the Indian Spice Chai tea I found recently, then I'm likely to order a vat from Amazon so I'll have the comfort in knowing I won't run out anytime soon.
There's a converse to the well-stocked syndrome known as the almost-gone syndrome. When I'm almost out of something, I look forward to finishing it up. I don't like little bits of anything I suppose. There should be enough that there's no worry you'll run out of it soon but not so little that you're almost and yet not out.
It's two sides of the "comfort in stuff" rules we all have. Wheather you're a hoarder or live out of a suitcase, our stuff and how it makes us feel is an inescapable part of life.
The Big Boy Update: Eczema better. After three days using the new, super duper, extra-strength, use sparingly only on the hands cream, his hands have improved. I'm so relieved. From the weekend vacation front, from the pictures my husband has been sending, they've had fun in the boat, in the sand bar at the lake's edge and eating corn-on-the-cob with Nana and Grandpa.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Fever napper. She never naps for long. I have high hopes that once she starts to crawl she'll be more tired and nap for more time per nap. This weekend she got the "fever of unknown origin" my son has had for the last several days and suddenly she's a good napper.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Immediate Media
Every year when I was a child, my mother would let me know The Wizard of Oz was coming on TV the following week. I would get excited because it was only once a year I got to see The Wizard of Oz.
As I got a little older, we had friends who has HBO. They played movies, and they played them again and again the whole month. You could see a particular movie over and over without waiting a whole year. That was neat.
Then we got VCRs and video rental stores appeared. You could go and get The Wizard of Oz if you wanted and you could watch it that very night. That was posh.
Next came DVD players and the craze of low-priced movies for purchase. Our collection of movies grew and we could go to the cabinet and get The Wizard of Oz and watch it without leaving our home. That was slick.
The other day I was trying to decide what to put on T.V. for my child. I realized I had the DVD of the show in the closet, but I would have to go all the way to the closet, open the case, turn on the DVD player and put in the DVD. I just couldn't be bothered. Dealing with physical media is so last century.
So I pulled up Netflix to see if was available there. Much easier to just push some buttons on the remote versus handling real media. Are we becoming "Immediate Media" snobs? I admit, if there's something I want to watch and I can't just search and stream it, even if I know I have it but would have to go watch it on the TV instead of streaming it on the iPad, I might just pick something else because it's easier.
The Big Boy Update: buh buh buh, da da da, la la la. While we were eating the other night he got done early and started talking loudly at all of us. We started making repeated single sounds like, "ba ba ba" and he would repeat them back (or try to for hard sounds.) He's getting better at sounds and keeps trying to make new ones.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Puffs. After she sat up twice in twenty minutes on Thursday, I decided she was ready for food. She can eat foods with lumps in them easily enough such as peach yogurt, but she really hasn't had any time on things she has to move and swallow that didn't get delivered on a spoon. There are these little "puffs" that are mostly air and taste great. She sat in the Bumbo seat and ate them for close to thirty minutes. She drooled so much she was wetting her diaper from the outside.
As I got a little older, we had friends who has HBO. They played movies, and they played them again and again the whole month. You could see a particular movie over and over without waiting a whole year. That was neat.
Then we got VCRs and video rental stores appeared. You could go and get The Wizard of Oz if you wanted and you could watch it that very night. That was posh.
Next came DVD players and the craze of low-priced movies for purchase. Our collection of movies grew and we could go to the cabinet and get The Wizard of Oz and watch it without leaving our home. That was slick.
The other day I was trying to decide what to put on T.V. for my child. I realized I had the DVD of the show in the closet, but I would have to go all the way to the closet, open the case, turn on the DVD player and put in the DVD. I just couldn't be bothered. Dealing with physical media is so last century.
So I pulled up Netflix to see if was available there. Much easier to just push some buttons on the remote versus handling real media. Are we becoming "Immediate Media" snobs? I admit, if there's something I want to watch and I can't just search and stream it, even if I know I have it but would have to go watch it on the TV instead of streaming it on the iPad, I might just pick something else because it's easier.
The Big Boy Update: buh buh buh, da da da, la la la. While we were eating the other night he got done early and started talking loudly at all of us. We started making repeated single sounds like, "ba ba ba" and he would repeat them back (or try to for hard sounds.) He's getting better at sounds and keeps trying to make new ones.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Puffs. After she sat up twice in twenty minutes on Thursday, I decided she was ready for food. She can eat foods with lumps in them easily enough such as peach yogurt, but she really hasn't had any time on things she has to move and swallow that didn't get delivered on a spoon. There are these little "puffs" that are mostly air and taste great. She sat in the Bumbo seat and ate them for close to thirty minutes. She drooled so much she was wetting her diaper from the outside.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Out of Town
I'm going on a trip tomorrow morning. I'm going on our annual, "girls weekend" where the only man there is my father, who's house we're staying at in the mountains. Not that it matters, my parents leave us alone and we try not to bother them. They have been very kind to offer their mountain house as a weekend retreat for us for three years now.
Girls weekend is always fun because the ladies that go are good friends and they always bring good conversation. The last two years I've been pregnant and haven't been able to drink. That's not been a bad thing as the ladies get pretty funny when they've been drinking. This year their designated driver to, "Take us to get more wine!" may not be eligible. At any rate, it's bound to be a good weekend.
For my 5K training we've got a run around the neighborhood that's going to be challenging. My parents live in the mountains. I fear I'm going to wish I was back in Florida running through the flat neighborhood there. Ashton, my running partner, just completed an 8K the other day and I know she's going to be kicking my butt, ahem, pushing me, to run harder. I dislike hills but they make you a better runner.
So just in case I get lady-distracted, I'm pre-posting tomorrow's post. If I get industrious, I may even write some saved posts for the next two days. You can tell I'm hoping it's going to be a blow-out weekend, right?
The Big Boy Update: No strep or ear infection. We took him to the doctor after his fever wasn't staying down between Tylenol doses. He's not got anything they can tell or easily test for, so we're going to wait it out. Good news on his eczema though. First, she gave us a different hydro-cortisone cream that might work more effectively on some of the problem spots. She also said we shouldn't be concerned about giving him Benadryl to go to sleep. She said scratching the eczema can make it worse. It's a cycle we shouldn't be worried about using medication to help solve. So we've got a different cream for his body and a special cream that's much stronger for his hands, which are terrible. I feel much better knowing we're doing the right thing to help ease his discomfort.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Sitting up?!?? I put her on the floor on her stomach in the bedroom and my husband and I went to see what the excavator was doing on the porch. We came back and she was sitting up. I looked at him and said, "Did you sir her up?" He said he didn't and I knew I didn't so we put her on her stomach again and watched her. She is trying to move forward (I think) and gets her leg pulled up under her and then, the next thing you know, she's sitting up. It's interesting to see how children learn and do things entirely differently.
Girls weekend is always fun because the ladies that go are good friends and they always bring good conversation. The last two years I've been pregnant and haven't been able to drink. That's not been a bad thing as the ladies get pretty funny when they've been drinking. This year their designated driver to, "Take us to get more wine!" may not be eligible. At any rate, it's bound to be a good weekend.
For my 5K training we've got a run around the neighborhood that's going to be challenging. My parents live in the mountains. I fear I'm going to wish I was back in Florida running through the flat neighborhood there. Ashton, my running partner, just completed an 8K the other day and I know she's going to be kicking my butt, ahem, pushing me, to run harder. I dislike hills but they make you a better runner.
So just in case I get lady-distracted, I'm pre-posting tomorrow's post. If I get industrious, I may even write some saved posts for the next two days. You can tell I'm hoping it's going to be a blow-out weekend, right?
The Big Boy Update: No strep or ear infection. We took him to the doctor after his fever wasn't staying down between Tylenol doses. He's not got anything they can tell or easily test for, so we're going to wait it out. Good news on his eczema though. First, she gave us a different hydro-cortisone cream that might work more effectively on some of the problem spots. She also said we shouldn't be concerned about giving him Benadryl to go to sleep. She said scratching the eczema can make it worse. It's a cycle we shouldn't be worried about using medication to help solve. So we've got a different cream for his body and a special cream that's much stronger for his hands, which are terrible. I feel much better knowing we're doing the right thing to help ease his discomfort.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Sitting up?!?? I put her on the floor on her stomach in the bedroom and my husband and I went to see what the excavator was doing on the porch. We came back and she was sitting up. I looked at him and said, "Did you sir her up?" He said he didn't and I knew I didn't so we put her on her stomach again and watched her. She is trying to move forward (I think) and gets her leg pulled up under her and then, the next thing you know, she's sitting up. It's interesting to see how children learn and do things entirely differently.
Um, What Am I Wearing?
This morning after feeding the dog I let her out to do her morning business. Until very recently, we have been the only house on our street and the next house is a good bit further than a street away. We have to, "walk around the block" to see neighbors.
We're excited the lots on both sides of us are being cleared with the prospect of real neighbors in the foreseeable future. The dog is excited stuff is happening. She's excited to run out the front door, run barking straight towards the heavy machinery and the guy with the chainsaw to say, "hi, that's my yard you know."
So out mama follows her, chiding myself for not remembering and leashing her for the trip. I walked over to the workers carrying my coffee and saying hello. I found the dog and was herding her back to the house when I suddenly though, "what am I wearing?!"
There's no reason to look pretty or even have on proper clothes to get the mail when there's no one who can see you. I could have been in my sleeping clothes chatting with these nice guys. It was a brief moment of panic before I remembered I had showered and was dressed for the day. Relief.
The Big Boy Update: Fever. Of unknown cause. Going to the doctor now before a weekend out of town with his grandparents to make sure he's not got something we need to address like an ear infection. He's been unusually calm and sweet and likes to sit on the couch with you until the Tylenol takes effect and then he's run around crazy baby until it wears off.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She's practicing crawling in her bed. I come upstairs in the morning and she's on all fours rocking back and fourth trying to figure out how to move. Oh, and my husband figured out how she turned on the mobile the one time as he saw her in action. With her feet after rotating 180 degrees. Smart girl.
We're excited the lots on both sides of us are being cleared with the prospect of real neighbors in the foreseeable future. The dog is excited stuff is happening. She's excited to run out the front door, run barking straight towards the heavy machinery and the guy with the chainsaw to say, "hi, that's my yard you know."
So out mama follows her, chiding myself for not remembering and leashing her for the trip. I walked over to the workers carrying my coffee and saying hello. I found the dog and was herding her back to the house when I suddenly though, "what am I wearing?!"
There's no reason to look pretty or even have on proper clothes to get the mail when there's no one who can see you. I could have been in my sleeping clothes chatting with these nice guys. It was a brief moment of panic before I remembered I had showered and was dressed for the day. Relief.
The Big Boy Update: Fever. Of unknown cause. Going to the doctor now before a weekend out of town with his grandparents to make sure he's not got something we need to address like an ear infection. He's been unusually calm and sweet and likes to sit on the couch with you until the Tylenol takes effect and then he's run around crazy baby until it wears off.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She's practicing crawling in her bed. I come upstairs in the morning and she's on all fours rocking back and fourth trying to figure out how to move. Oh, and my husband figured out how she turned on the mobile the one time as he saw her in action. With her feet after rotating 180 degrees. Smart girl.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Breakfast On The Porch
I've never had a porch before. We had a deck growing up and we used to eat out on the picnic table for dinner when the weather was nice. My parents still have that same picnic table which is going on forty years old now. When my dad makes something, he makes it well. He put in the deck when I was little more than a baby and he used redwood. It's held up well and the picnic table he made at the same time is still going strong. There's still nothing like having dinner at my parents on that picnic table of memories.
We have a covered porch at our house now. We put a little table out there and I love to feed the children outside. The weather is hot now, but it's not that hot in the morning and the sounds of nature down the little hill in the back of our house towards the creek are just lovely.
Of late, we've had exciting times on each side of us. The two empty lots won't be empty for long as construction has just begun. We have had fun watching trees fall down with the powerful pull and push of an excavator. My son thinks the large machinery is thrilling to watch while he eats his meals.
Lunches are nice out on the porch out of the direct sun and dinners outside make you feel like you're a little closer to nature and are a nice way to spend the evening before, "run around like a crazy baby time" to kill the remaining day's energy before bedtime.
The weather may not be so clement in the coming months of summer, but for now I'm really loving meals on the deck.
The Big Boy Update: New Shoes. His best shoes got retired after I realized they were pulling back his big toe nail. The next sized shoes are a little large and don't stay on well, so I decided to take a more experienced route for purchasing the next pair. The Crocs are great and light and waterproof and he loves them, but I wanted to get something to give him arch support. His feet are very flat which is apparently normal as babies don't develop arches until they're several years old. But better posture in his feet will help with his knees which are a little knocked-kneed now. Or at least that's my completely non-expert opinion and plan. So we went to the experts at Stride Rite and got him some shoes that fit him well, that he can grow into. We got him some adorable ankle socks and he is just the most sportin', stylin' child in his shoes now. He loves them. I'm so glad he likes shoes. Now if only I could get him to like hats...
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Long. Not tall so much, or at least not for the next few months until she's walking, but she's long. Uncle Jonathan pointed out the other day that she was not too much shorter in length than her brother. He said he noticed this when her brother was tackling her on the floor. And she is long. I wonder if it's a different growth track or if she'll be taller than him when they're older?
We have a covered porch at our house now. We put a little table out there and I love to feed the children outside. The weather is hot now, but it's not that hot in the morning and the sounds of nature down the little hill in the back of our house towards the creek are just lovely.
Of late, we've had exciting times on each side of us. The two empty lots won't be empty for long as construction has just begun. We have had fun watching trees fall down with the powerful pull and push of an excavator. My son thinks the large machinery is thrilling to watch while he eats his meals.
Lunches are nice out on the porch out of the direct sun and dinners outside make you feel like you're a little closer to nature and are a nice way to spend the evening before, "run around like a crazy baby time" to kill the remaining day's energy before bedtime.
The weather may not be so clement in the coming months of summer, but for now I'm really loving meals on the deck.
The Big Boy Update: New Shoes. His best shoes got retired after I realized they were pulling back his big toe nail. The next sized shoes are a little large and don't stay on well, so I decided to take a more experienced route for purchasing the next pair. The Crocs are great and light and waterproof and he loves them, but I wanted to get something to give him arch support. His feet are very flat which is apparently normal as babies don't develop arches until they're several years old. But better posture in his feet will help with his knees which are a little knocked-kneed now. Or at least that's my completely non-expert opinion and plan. So we went to the experts at Stride Rite and got him some shoes that fit him well, that he can grow into. We got him some adorable ankle socks and he is just the most sportin', stylin' child in his shoes now. He loves them. I'm so glad he likes shoes. Now if only I could get him to like hats...
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Long. Not tall so much, or at least not for the next few months until she's walking, but she's long. Uncle Jonathan pointed out the other day that she was not too much shorter in length than her brother. He said he noticed this when her brother was tackling her on the floor. And she is long. I wonder if it's a different growth track or if she'll be taller than him when they're older?
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The McDonalds Proximity Perponderance
Call me a bad mommy, but my son loves Happy Meals from McDonald's. Okay, okay, *I* love McDonald's Happy meals. Have you seen the little tiny fry container they have now that looks like a mini version of the red cardboard ones for regular meals? They hold about twelve fries and they're too cute for kids.
So yes, I like my McNuggets and fries and boy, are the little refrigerated apple slices good. I could eat about twelve packages of those alone. Maybe it's because I grew up eating McDonald's and it's a known, well-loved collection of flavors. Maybe it's because a happy meal is perfectly small in calories for a weight-conscious mommy.
And maybe it's because it's convenient and quick. As long as I can figure out which one to go to. From our house we have four that are in close proximity. Depending on where you're going, or where you're coming from it's sometimes a challenge to decide which one to go to. "Should I go to that one because there are less traffic lights or should I go to this one because they have a higher volume and they are sometime faster or should I go to the other one because they never get my order wrong?" Such decisions!
Most commonly, I'll go to the one I've gone to all my life because it's mentally closer than the others. That one is my, "Home McDonald's" I suppose. And there's nothing like sitting out on the porch on a sunny day with your children and enjoying dipping nuggets and fries in happiness.
The Big Boy Update: Milk routines. He's drinking milk well now at most times of the day. We had some battles over not getting milk in a bottle and which sippy cups were "acceptable milk delivery devices" in his mind. Some chocolate milk was added at times to facilitate the transition. We no longer use bottles and he's even stopped trying to steal his sister's bottle. He drinks it for breakfast on occasion and has even fed himself his nighttime milk on the sofa once.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: All Fours. She's not really crawling yet, but she's moving around a lot. She can get up on her hands and knees easily, which is more than her brother did at this age. I think he had bricks in his belly because getting it off the ground took lots of time. She seems more light and agile than he was.
So yes, I like my McNuggets and fries and boy, are the little refrigerated apple slices good. I could eat about twelve packages of those alone. Maybe it's because I grew up eating McDonald's and it's a known, well-loved collection of flavors. Maybe it's because a happy meal is perfectly small in calories for a weight-conscious mommy.
And maybe it's because it's convenient and quick. As long as I can figure out which one to go to. From our house we have four that are in close proximity. Depending on where you're going, or where you're coming from it's sometimes a challenge to decide which one to go to. "Should I go to that one because there are less traffic lights or should I go to this one because they have a higher volume and they are sometime faster or should I go to the other one because they never get my order wrong?" Such decisions!
Most commonly, I'll go to the one I've gone to all my life because it's mentally closer than the others. That one is my, "Home McDonald's" I suppose. And there's nothing like sitting out on the porch on a sunny day with your children and enjoying dipping nuggets and fries in happiness.
The Big Boy Update: Milk routines. He's drinking milk well now at most times of the day. We had some battles over not getting milk in a bottle and which sippy cups were "acceptable milk delivery devices" in his mind. Some chocolate milk was added at times to facilitate the transition. We no longer use bottles and he's even stopped trying to steal his sister's bottle. He drinks it for breakfast on occasion and has even fed himself his nighttime milk on the sofa once.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: All Fours. She's not really crawling yet, but she's moving around a lot. She can get up on her hands and knees easily, which is more than her brother did at this age. I think he had bricks in his belly because getting it off the ground took lots of time. She seems more light and agile than he was.
Monday, June 4, 2012
EEWWWWIIEE! EEWWWWIIEE!
A week or so ago we had a battery that needed replacing in a smoke detector. In the middle of the night suddenly there was a blaring, EWWWWIIEE! EWWWWIIEE! (If anyone knows how to spell the sound that is the
alarming smoke detector, please let me know.)
I know you know the sound though. It's above a reasonable pitch that's comfortable and yet it's not high enough to bother only the dogs. It's impossible to ignore, even if you've taken a hearing aid out to go to bed and not be bothered by, "those noisy young'ens."
The sound wasn't for long. It was long enough for us to bolt out of bed and be thoroughly confused if we were being burgled or burned down. Five seconds and it stopped. Blissful silence and then ten seconds later another brief burst of sound.
Now awake, my husband looked around the house at all the smoke alarms. We have a lot. Far more than any single house merits. But code, you know? There is an alarm system. There are smoke detectors for that system. But by code, you still have to have one in every bedroom. So we have even more. And these alarms are all buddies. When one goes off the others hear the keening sound and join in the party.
So we're confused. There is no fire. The smoke alarms are all wired to the house power so they're not in danger of running out of power. But one is giving a red light like it's unhappy.
There is a battery backup in case the power is out and you catch fire at that point. But if it's the backup battery that had issues, then why didn't it just do the replace battery annoying beep? You know the beep I mean, the beep that starts shortly after you've gone to bed and beeps in long intervals that are about how long it takes you to get to sleep. It only does this when you're out of spare 9V batteries in the house too.
We don't know what the issue was. I slept fitfully for the rest of the night expecting to be rousted out of bed at any moment to console scared babies. Amazingly, they never made a sound through the entire event.
The Big Boy Update: Bubbles! Without a doubt, the word of the day is "bubbles." He knows the word and he's said it from time to time, but when I brought home a great big bubble jar with a large wand did he start chanting it. He saw it on the counter and said it; I tried to hide it but he figured out where it was and said it. He said it the whole time we played with the bubbles. Both whole times. By the end of the day his enunciation was spot on.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Such a good sleeper. She can sleep through anything. Her brother had a tough start of the night last night with gas (or something) that he moaned and wailed through for two hours while we tried to figure out what was going on. Eventually he went to sleep and didn't make a sound until morning. She shares a room with him. The wail/crying was waking me up on the floor below but she slept through the whole thing.
I know you know the sound though. It's above a reasonable pitch that's comfortable and yet it's not high enough to bother only the dogs. It's impossible to ignore, even if you've taken a hearing aid out to go to bed and not be bothered by, "those noisy young'ens."
The sound wasn't for long. It was long enough for us to bolt out of bed and be thoroughly confused if we were being burgled or burned down. Five seconds and it stopped. Blissful silence and then ten seconds later another brief burst of sound.
Now awake, my husband looked around the house at all the smoke alarms. We have a lot. Far more than any single house merits. But code, you know? There is an alarm system. There are smoke detectors for that system. But by code, you still have to have one in every bedroom. So we have even more. And these alarms are all buddies. When one goes off the others hear the keening sound and join in the party.
So we're confused. There is no fire. The smoke alarms are all wired to the house power so they're not in danger of running out of power. But one is giving a red light like it's unhappy.
There is a battery backup in case the power is out and you catch fire at that point. But if it's the backup battery that had issues, then why didn't it just do the replace battery annoying beep? You know the beep I mean, the beep that starts shortly after you've gone to bed and beeps in long intervals that are about how long it takes you to get to sleep. It only does this when you're out of spare 9V batteries in the house too.
We don't know what the issue was. I slept fitfully for the rest of the night expecting to be rousted out of bed at any moment to console scared babies. Amazingly, they never made a sound through the entire event.
The Big Boy Update: Bubbles! Without a doubt, the word of the day is "bubbles." He knows the word and he's said it from time to time, but when I brought home a great big bubble jar with a large wand did he start chanting it. He saw it on the counter and said it; I tried to hide it but he figured out where it was and said it. He said it the whole time we played with the bubbles. Both whole times. By the end of the day his enunciation was spot on.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Such a good sleeper. She can sleep through anything. Her brother had a tough start of the night last night with gas (or something) that he moaned and wailed through for two hours while we tried to figure out what was going on. Eventually he went to sleep and didn't make a sound until morning. She shares a room with him. The wail/crying was waking me up on the floor below but she slept through the whole thing.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
It's Potty Time
This is going to be one of those bodily functions posts. If it's not for you—although I promise I'll tread lightly—move along to the end to find out what the children have been doing today.
So yes, potty. We have one. And we're introducing the babies to it. The toddler is fascinated with it and is interested in taking the removable—let's call it the "catcher"—component out, then putting it back in and then trying to stand in it. I can see we're in for some fun adventures in the months to come.
The seven-month-old is sitting up and she's pretty much excited to interact with you when you're right in front of her. She doesn't seem to care that she's on the "potty" as long as you're there giving her toys to waggle around while you talk to her.
My son is very interested that he gets to be without diapers for a period of time. He's particularly interested that he's got his own little seat he can sit naked on while looking at books. So far, he likes to try out several books and re-sit on the potty each time. From experience, having him run around naked at all makes me nervous, but potty time is going to have to happen sooner or later. He's interested now, and I'm interested in not changing diapers forever, so we're both fairly motivated.
We have a winner though. The seven-month-old has amazed me twice today. Perhaps it's the free air flowing and the missing diaper and the nice little seat with the toys and mamma talking to her, but she saved a wet diaper cycle twice. Tomorrow she may be livid and hate the potty, but today was a good day.
The Big Boy Update: Repeater. He'll try to repeat any word you say to him. He doesn't have the syllables yet to pronounce things, but he'll make a wild guess that may, or may not, be remotely close. Sometimes he does a good job like, "Elmo." From the amount of Elmo-ing happening in this house, I'm surprised Elmo isn't chanted most of the day. He likes to show you how to do things too. He will come get your finger and then try to bring your finger to the thing he wants to show you. Sometimes your finger has to get up off the couch, go around the corner and then be shown how it's meant to do something.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Mmm, mmm, good. Or maybe good. It's hard to tell. When she eats solids and she's hungry she makes this whining, mmm-ing sound the entire time. She loves her solids. She prefers them during the day to milk. You can try to feed her milk and she'll do these crazy tongue routines to keep the bottle away and give you every indication she's not hungry. But bring on the solid foods and she'll eat two full packages. Solids are great for stuffing her just before we go out to dinner. She's sure to be asleep for a good portion of the meal.
So yes, potty. We have one. And we're introducing the babies to it. The toddler is fascinated with it and is interested in taking the removable—let's call it the "catcher"—component out, then putting it back in and then trying to stand in it. I can see we're in for some fun adventures in the months to come.
The seven-month-old is sitting up and she's pretty much excited to interact with you when you're right in front of her. She doesn't seem to care that she's on the "potty" as long as you're there giving her toys to waggle around while you talk to her.
My son is very interested that he gets to be without diapers for a period of time. He's particularly interested that he's got his own little seat he can sit naked on while looking at books. So far, he likes to try out several books and re-sit on the potty each time. From experience, having him run around naked at all makes me nervous, but potty time is going to have to happen sooner or later. He's interested now, and I'm interested in not changing diapers forever, so we're both fairly motivated.
We have a winner though. The seven-month-old has amazed me twice today. Perhaps it's the free air flowing and the missing diaper and the nice little seat with the toys and mamma talking to her, but she saved a wet diaper cycle twice. Tomorrow she may be livid and hate the potty, but today was a good day.
The Big Boy Update: Repeater. He'll try to repeat any word you say to him. He doesn't have the syllables yet to pronounce things, but he'll make a wild guess that may, or may not, be remotely close. Sometimes he does a good job like, "Elmo." From the amount of Elmo-ing happening in this house, I'm surprised Elmo isn't chanted most of the day. He likes to show you how to do things too. He will come get your finger and then try to bring your finger to the thing he wants to show you. Sometimes your finger has to get up off the couch, go around the corner and then be shown how it's meant to do something.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Mmm, mmm, good. Or maybe good. It's hard to tell. When she eats solids and she's hungry she makes this whining, mmm-ing sound the entire time. She loves her solids. She prefers them during the day to milk. You can try to feed her milk and she'll do these crazy tongue routines to keep the bottle away and give you every indication she's not hungry. But bring on the solid foods and she'll eat two full packages. Solids are great for stuffing her just before we go out to dinner. She's sure to be asleep for a good portion of the meal.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Europe Has A Smell
The things I think about when I'm in the tub. I swear, it's like a mental vacation to some strange land where things occur to me. Things that must be written down immediately upon exiting the tub, or they're lost forever, like a dream you're woken from that fades into nothingness.
Where was I? Ah yes, Europe and how it smells. I love Europe. I've been there many times either for work or vacation. I love the food. I love the different ways things are done there. I like the nice, solid windows they have. I like their castles—even if they're cold and musty.
But there's something that makes Europe have a particular smell. If you were to blindfold me, hit me over the head and transport me to Europe and then ask me where I was. I just might know. It's like Manhattan. I love the smell of Manhattan. There is nothing like the taxi ride in from the airport as you go over the bridge and then ride through the city. You can't have the windows up. Your nose will resent you.
Each country in Europe is unique though. Germany has a different smell than England. Both Austria and Switzerland each have their own smells. France has a very French smell—but that's to be expected with the French, I suppose.
There's something underlying that says, "you're in Europe" to me though. Perhaps it's the climate, I can't say. What I can tell you is I miss traveling for work. It's fun being all alone doing international work and getting to go out to dinner or shopping or sightseeing to experience the culture.
Europe does have it's own distinct smell though. It's a good smell. I like Europe.
The Big Boy Update: The days are getting packed with things to report on this end. He is suddenly making the connection between words and things while at the same time being interested in trying to pronounce words. He knows what you're saying, but he won't respond when you want him to with an answer, that is until a few days ago. He is suddenly saying, "daddy" and even knows the picture of daddy on his license is, "daddy." He can point to the moon in a book or in the sky and say, "moon." He learned the word, "belly" tonight and tried to say it several times. He just seems interested in trying to speak individual words of late. He babbles all the time. He'll tell you all about something and you have no idea what he's saying, but it appears there may be real words to follow soon. This may turn into the, "Big Boy Words Of The Day" column soon.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Crawling. She crawled yesterday. She's been wanting to move, but so far she's only slid backwards slowly. Yesterday she wouldn't nap and every time I went upstairs she was almost up on her hands and knees in the crib. So I brought her downstairs and put her on the floor while I worked on the computer. I turned around and she was two feet forward. So I stopped working on the computer and got the camera. Babies don't perform. I must remember this. I got nothing on video. Eventually she did show me what she'd been doing and she was indeed crawling, although she was doing some face dragging in the process. She kept getting mad. Mad and crying. But more mad if I picked her up and stopped her from trying to crawl.
Where was I? Ah yes, Europe and how it smells. I love Europe. I've been there many times either for work or vacation. I love the food. I love the different ways things are done there. I like the nice, solid windows they have. I like their castles—even if they're cold and musty.
But there's something that makes Europe have a particular smell. If you were to blindfold me, hit me over the head and transport me to Europe and then ask me where I was. I just might know. It's like Manhattan. I love the smell of Manhattan. There is nothing like the taxi ride in from the airport as you go over the bridge and then ride through the city. You can't have the windows up. Your nose will resent you.
Each country in Europe is unique though. Germany has a different smell than England. Both Austria and Switzerland each have their own smells. France has a very French smell—but that's to be expected with the French, I suppose.
There's something underlying that says, "you're in Europe" to me though. Perhaps it's the climate, I can't say. What I can tell you is I miss traveling for work. It's fun being all alone doing international work and getting to go out to dinner or shopping or sightseeing to experience the culture.
Europe does have it's own distinct smell though. It's a good smell. I like Europe.
The Big Boy Update: The days are getting packed with things to report on this end. He is suddenly making the connection between words and things while at the same time being interested in trying to pronounce words. He knows what you're saying, but he won't respond when you want him to with an answer, that is until a few days ago. He is suddenly saying, "daddy" and even knows the picture of daddy on his license is, "daddy." He can point to the moon in a book or in the sky and say, "moon." He learned the word, "belly" tonight and tried to say it several times. He just seems interested in trying to speak individual words of late. He babbles all the time. He'll tell you all about something and you have no idea what he's saying, but it appears there may be real words to follow soon. This may turn into the, "Big Boy Words Of The Day" column soon.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Crawling. She crawled yesterday. She's been wanting to move, but so far she's only slid backwards slowly. Yesterday she wouldn't nap and every time I went upstairs she was almost up on her hands and knees in the crib. So I brought her downstairs and put her on the floor while I worked on the computer. I turned around and she was two feet forward. So I stopped working on the computer and got the camera. Babies don't perform. I must remember this. I got nothing on video. Eventually she did show me what she'd been doing and she was indeed crawling, although she was doing some face dragging in the process. She kept getting mad. Mad and crying. But more mad if I picked her up and stopped her from trying to crawl.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Lost Cushion
When I was in high school we'd go to sports events or somewhere out like a picnic. I hated sitting on bleachers. Bleachers are not comfortable. It's just metal and my butt was unhappy. How did people sit through an entire game and not have a seat cushion?
I didn't do a lot of sporting events in the past. I still don't. But I also never liked flat wooden chairs or anything else that looked uncomfortable.
However, over the past several years I completely forgot about uncomfortable seats. As it turns out, when you gain lots of weight, you gain it in your butt. My butt was nice and cushy. So cushy, that I never thought about sitting on anything or how comfortable or uncomfortable it looked.
Back to my ideal weight, my butt is much less cushy. Still, my knees are happy and I have so much more energy that I don't need to sit as much. Maybe I could even play a sport? Okay, maybe not...
The Big Boy Update: Smiles? He smiles all the time. But I came to realize the other day that when he's out, or in a new place, he's looking at what's happening and who is around him and he doesn't smile much. We had lunch with a friend who saw him smile at the end of lunch and remarked about it. It was only then that it occurred to me he wasn't smiling, although he was happy and having a good time. I'm dropping him off to play with her for a few hours this coming Wednesday. I have a feeling he's going to do a lot of smiling once he gets acclimated to her and the location.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Cutting her losses. She has no idea how to cut her losses. She also doesn't know how to let go of something when she's got her little vice grip on it. When she has something, there's a good chance her brother is going to want it. She doesn't mind him having it (I don't think) but she doesn't realize she has to let go to let him have it. She doesn't realize she has to let go all the way to the floor... bonk..."waaaahhhhh".
I didn't do a lot of sporting events in the past. I still don't. But I also never liked flat wooden chairs or anything else that looked uncomfortable.
However, over the past several years I completely forgot about uncomfortable seats. As it turns out, when you gain lots of weight, you gain it in your butt. My butt was nice and cushy. So cushy, that I never thought about sitting on anything or how comfortable or uncomfortable it looked.
Back to my ideal weight, my butt is much less cushy. Still, my knees are happy and I have so much more energy that I don't need to sit as much. Maybe I could even play a sport? Okay, maybe not...
The Big Boy Update: Smiles? He smiles all the time. But I came to realize the other day that when he's out, or in a new place, he's looking at what's happening and who is around him and he doesn't smile much. We had lunch with a friend who saw him smile at the end of lunch and remarked about it. It was only then that it occurred to me he wasn't smiling, although he was happy and having a good time. I'm dropping him off to play with her for a few hours this coming Wednesday. I have a feeling he's going to do a lot of smiling once he gets acclimated to her and the location.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Cutting her losses. She has no idea how to cut her losses. She also doesn't know how to let go of something when she's got her little vice grip on it. When she has something, there's a good chance her brother is going to want it. She doesn't mind him having it (I don't think) but she doesn't realize she has to let go to let him have it. She doesn't realize she has to let go all the way to the floor... bonk..."waaaahhhhh".
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