My dog has been having trouble lately. She makes this noise that sounds like she's not breathing well. It happens every so often and I didn't think much of it until recently. It was happening so much while we were on vacation that Uncle Jonathan told me it was happening so often while he house sat for us that maybe I should consider getting her checked out.
We got home and I forgot about it until two nights ago and then again last night when she woke us up with this wheezing snorting sound. I took a mental note to call the vet in the morning.
When I got on the phone with the technician she told me, "I think I know what's going on. She's doing a reverse sneeze." A what? She explained it was something dogs did and they were getting quite a lot of calls daily about the same thing because with the high pollen activity right now, dogs as well as people are having itchy noses.
I told her thanks for the advice and we'd all be glad when pollen season was over. I'm just glad I don't reverse sneeze. Forward sneezing is enough for me, thank you.
The Big Boy Update: My son has been going to visit his class for next year this week at school. I found out he, "counted to five" on the first day. That doesn't sound very exciting, but knowing how Montessori schools go, it was probably quote an interesting lesson. Today on his second day, he told me he worked with the bead counters again and that they were fun.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: The poo poo grass. My son has been practicing peeing while standing up. He's been doing this in the "wee wee bushes" lately. My daughter wants to do the same. This afternoon she said she needed to go potty and I decided I'd show her how girls squatted down to go pee pee in the bushes. She didn't need to go pee pee...
Fitness Update: Twelve miles on the bikes taking the kids to school today. They enjoyed the ride through the park, across the museum grounds and over the highway on the pedestrian bridge to school.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Kids Say So Many Things
My children are at an age where they say things that are so charming you can't help but laugh at them. Fortunately, they're not overly upset that you're laughing, because they know you've liked what they just said.
The Big Boy Update:
I told him he'd be visiting another classroom today that he'll be attending next year. In order to get him excited about the visit, I told him he would see Arden, one of his friends, when he got there. He looked at me and said, "Arden is a tricky girl."
It was time to go to school. He didn't want to get his shoes on. He had gotten into the toy closet and found the tool belt and tools. He held his hand out at me, walked away with the tools and said, "I need to get to work."
My son asked for another piece of pita bread before dinner tonight. My husband told him something and all I heard in reply from my son was, "it's poison ivy." What? My husband told me he had warned my son about poison ivy down the hill in the back yard earlier in the day and my son had mad an association with bad things and poison ivy, including pita bread apparently.
Scratching. My son is itchy a lot. He knows he's not suppose to scratch and he's got newer and more creative ways to tell us what he's doing is most definitely not scratching, all while he's scratching the skin off his legs or arms. Today's responses included: "I'm just rubbing", "no, no, it doesn't itch" and "I'm just putting my fingernails out."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles:
She told me the potty at gymnastics was like the potty we have at home. I asked her how many pottys we had at home and she started counting. She was counting using her fingers and ticking off the numbers. She was very intent on counting the pottys and using her fingers to do so. She got it all wrong, but she was going through the process just like she had it all right.
Hairbrush. My daughter will ask for the hairbrush, but by now I know that means she wants to brush her teeth. I've explained this to her several times, but she doesn't seem to care.
Seven pair of pants. Some days are good days with the toileting and some are bad. The other day, for no apparent reason, she went through seven pair of pants and underpants in a four-hour period. She would even get up and say she had to go to the potty and then wet her pants on the way. After seven pair of pants, I put her in a pull-up. She dislikes a pullup. She was better the next day.
My mother was with my daughter on their deck the other afternoon. Gramps came around the corner with a wheel barrow laden with heavy bricks. My daughter casually looked over the edge and told him, "get to work, Gramps."
Fitness Update: Gym early in the morning and then a half-hour at the fitness room doing some exercises to strengthen the weak arm I've been dealing with for the past year-and-a-half.
The Big Boy Update:
I told him he'd be visiting another classroom today that he'll be attending next year. In order to get him excited about the visit, I told him he would see Arden, one of his friends, when he got there. He looked at me and said, "Arden is a tricky girl."
It was time to go to school. He didn't want to get his shoes on. He had gotten into the toy closet and found the tool belt and tools. He held his hand out at me, walked away with the tools and said, "I need to get to work."
My son asked for another piece of pita bread before dinner tonight. My husband told him something and all I heard in reply from my son was, "it's poison ivy." What? My husband told me he had warned my son about poison ivy down the hill in the back yard earlier in the day and my son had mad an association with bad things and poison ivy, including pita bread apparently.
Scratching. My son is itchy a lot. He knows he's not suppose to scratch and he's got newer and more creative ways to tell us what he's doing is most definitely not scratching, all while he's scratching the skin off his legs or arms. Today's responses included: "I'm just rubbing", "no, no, it doesn't itch" and "I'm just putting my fingernails out."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles:
She told me the potty at gymnastics was like the potty we have at home. I asked her how many pottys we had at home and she started counting. She was counting using her fingers and ticking off the numbers. She was very intent on counting the pottys and using her fingers to do so. She got it all wrong, but she was going through the process just like she had it all right.
Hairbrush. My daughter will ask for the hairbrush, but by now I know that means she wants to brush her teeth. I've explained this to her several times, but she doesn't seem to care.
Seven pair of pants. Some days are good days with the toileting and some are bad. The other day, for no apparent reason, she went through seven pair of pants and underpants in a four-hour period. She would even get up and say she had to go to the potty and then wet her pants on the way. After seven pair of pants, I put her in a pull-up. She dislikes a pullup. She was better the next day.
My mother was with my daughter on their deck the other afternoon. Gramps came around the corner with a wheel barrow laden with heavy bricks. My daughter casually looked over the edge and told him, "get to work, Gramps."
Fitness Update: Gym early in the morning and then a half-hour at the fitness room doing some exercises to strengthen the weak arm I've been dealing with for the past year-and-a-half.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Taking Their Shirts Off
Pants are easy, if you're a toddler. You just grab them on both sides and pull down with all your might. Even completely soggy, urine-soaked or soiled pants can be shimmied off little damp legs. Trust me, it is so.
Shirts however, are a whole different animal. there are four openings instead of three and the two that are the arm parts need to be addressed in a certain direction. For instance, both of my children were great at doing, "Jane of the Jungle" as I liked to call it, for a while. They knew they needed to get the arm out, but they sent the arm up, through the neck hole, instead of down through the torso hole. Once you start going in that direction it gets tighter and tighter as you try to get your entire body out through the neck opening. Usually, complaints of, "I need help" are soon to follow.
I've been trying to give my children lessons on holding the sleeve with one hand and pulling the arm out and down. I don't know if it's easier with long shirts or short-sleeved shirts, but now that spring has arrived, we are starting to see more success in the shirt-removal arena.
A child who can get all their clothes off by themselves--when they want to--is a happy child.
The Big Boy Update: My son tried mightily to get his head and both arms through the neck opening in his shirts enough times that I would see it coming and say, "arms go down" in the hopes of helping prevent another stuck shirt situation. He's got it now...for the most part.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She got the shirt removal steps faster than her brother. However, she was much cuter as "Jane of the Jungle" than he managed to be.
Shirts however, are a whole different animal. there are four openings instead of three and the two that are the arm parts need to be addressed in a certain direction. For instance, both of my children were great at doing, "Jane of the Jungle" as I liked to call it, for a while. They knew they needed to get the arm out, but they sent the arm up, through the neck hole, instead of down through the torso hole. Once you start going in that direction it gets tighter and tighter as you try to get your entire body out through the neck opening. Usually, complaints of, "I need help" are soon to follow.
I've been trying to give my children lessons on holding the sleeve with one hand and pulling the arm out and down. I don't know if it's easier with long shirts or short-sleeved shirts, but now that spring has arrived, we are starting to see more success in the shirt-removal arena.
A child who can get all their clothes off by themselves--when they want to--is a happy child.
The Big Boy Update: My son tried mightily to get his head and both arms through the neck opening in his shirts enough times that I would see it coming and say, "arms go down" in the hopes of helping prevent another stuck shirt situation. He's got it now...for the most part.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She got the shirt removal steps faster than her brother. However, she was much cuter as "Jane of the Jungle" than he managed to be.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Child-proof Doors
They're not. They're designed to keep your small child from opening them, but a motivated toddler is a successful toddler. The door locks we have are from my cousin. They work by taking two large plastic halves that snap together over the door knob. They rattle around on the door knob and the only way you can get out is to put pressure with your thumb and opposing finger in two soft spots so that you can grip and then turn the knob.
It's tricky for an adult to do at first. Children don't have the fine motor skills or the strength to do it, so you can feel safe in knowing they're kept out or in, just as you'd like them to be. Only wait, did you say it was two halves you snapped together? Enter the design fault, because all you need to figure out to best these so-called-safety knobs is the ability to unsnap them. And that's just what my son did.
But not to worry. There is such a thing as white duct tape that will go right over those white little tabs and you can gain several months of time with this trick. But now my daughter, small in hands and tiny in size, has discovered how to open the door, just as an adult would, with some sort of finger manipulation.
I haven't seen it in action, but it's happened enough times that I know she can do it if she sets her mind to it. At least we can still keep her brother locked in, because he hasn't bothered to pay attention when she's been busy escaping.
The Big Boy Update: A friend in enthusiasm. We have a neighbor who has a daughter and son, both older than my son. My son is very physically energetic. Sometimes his physicality is too much for other children. These two neighbors are all right by it. I talked to their mother today and told her how happy I was that they liked playing with my son in the same, very physical, way. She said they have had the same discussions with both children about how not everyone is as boisterous and physical as they are.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She got the pacifiers. She can open the child-proof doors, thus making them not child-proof. Her older brother can't. She got their pacifiers inside the child-proof closet, up four shelves. I found her in her bed with her pacifier. When I asked her, she showed me she had put her brother's pacifier on his mattress for when he came to bed later. How thoughtful!
It's tricky for an adult to do at first. Children don't have the fine motor skills or the strength to do it, so you can feel safe in knowing they're kept out or in, just as you'd like them to be. Only wait, did you say it was two halves you snapped together? Enter the design fault, because all you need to figure out to best these so-called-safety knobs is the ability to unsnap them. And that's just what my son did.
But not to worry. There is such a thing as white duct tape that will go right over those white little tabs and you can gain several months of time with this trick. But now my daughter, small in hands and tiny in size, has discovered how to open the door, just as an adult would, with some sort of finger manipulation.
I haven't seen it in action, but it's happened enough times that I know she can do it if she sets her mind to it. At least we can still keep her brother locked in, because he hasn't bothered to pay attention when she's been busy escaping.
The Big Boy Update: A friend in enthusiasm. We have a neighbor who has a daughter and son, both older than my son. My son is very physically energetic. Sometimes his physicality is too much for other children. These two neighbors are all right by it. I talked to their mother today and told her how happy I was that they liked playing with my son in the same, very physical, way. She said they have had the same discussions with both children about how not everyone is as boisterous and physical as they are.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She got the pacifiers. She can open the child-proof doors, thus making them not child-proof. Her older brother can't. She got their pacifiers inside the child-proof closet, up four shelves. I found her in her bed with her pacifier. When I asked her, she showed me she had put her brother's pacifier on his mattress for when he came to bed later. How thoughtful!
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Neighbors and Neighborhood
We have a neighborhood full of people. For some time it looked like it was going to be just us and a few houses of neighbors we could wave at across the way. But now, it's a real place, full of real people and real houses and it's wonderful.
We were invited tonight (along with all our neighbors) to a Tres de Mayo party. The hosts had great food, delicious beverages, and the company from the neighborhood was as fun and friendly as it always is.
I'm not sure how we lucked out being in a neighborhood with such unpretentious, social and friendly people, but I am so happy about it. I think I must have said, "this is the best neighborhood" at least twelve times at the party tonight, and every time, people agreed with me.
The Big Boy Update: Gone Fishin'. My son went fishing with our neighbors today. Not much was caught in the realm of fish, but he liked playing with the dogs at the lake and working with the fishing poles. He got to see one fish, but it escaped before he could examine it up close.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to help me unload the dish washer this afternoon. She pulled out one item at a time and labeled it for me. There was, "a spoon for you, mommy" and "a spoon for kids" for her. There were also several, "this is very sharp" knives that she carefully handed to me to put away. She was actually quite a lot of help.
Fitness Update: Ten miles. Great day, nice weather, lots of good conversation.
We were invited tonight (along with all our neighbors) to a Tres de Mayo party. The hosts had great food, delicious beverages, and the company from the neighborhood was as fun and friendly as it always is.
I'm not sure how we lucked out being in a neighborhood with such unpretentious, social and friendly people, but I am so happy about it. I think I must have said, "this is the best neighborhood" at least twelve times at the party tonight, and every time, people agreed with me.
The Big Boy Update: Gone Fishin'. My son went fishing with our neighbors today. Not much was caught in the realm of fish, but he liked playing with the dogs at the lake and working with the fishing poles. He got to see one fish, but it escaped before he could examine it up close.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter wanted to help me unload the dish washer this afternoon. She pulled out one item at a time and labeled it for me. There was, "a spoon for you, mommy" and "a spoon for kids" for her. There were also several, "this is very sharp" knives that she carefully handed to me to put away. She was actually quite a lot of help.
Fitness Update: Ten miles. Great day, nice weather, lots of good conversation.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Toy Tidying Time
Pieces get everywhere. Kids move bits of one toy to another room or play with parts of three things all at once and bring some of, let's say the car set into the kitchen set because those tires might just need a good pan-frying. Organization gets more and more chaotic over time with children's toys, even when they are required to clean up their "work" each and every day.
There's also no better way to get children interested in toys that have been around for a while than mixing up their location or bringing out something they haven't seen in a while. But finding all the pieces, getting everything back where it should go, retiring things that they've out-aged, moving things to new locations and doing all of that while two toddlers undermine every step of your progress by wanting to play with everything you've been working on, means it's a slow process.
I got most of the work done today, with one last area (the basement) to do tomorrow. I love having the toys flipped and changed up, because it always means my children are more easily occupied for longer times for the next week or two.
The Big Boy Update: Book reader. I swapped out the current selection of books with a new selection of choices today. My son took one book out and decided he wanted to "read" it.. He calmly flipped the pages in the big book of collected stories and was quietly happy for the next twenty minutes.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: "Aw, man..." My daughter has started saying this funny saying. It is such a funny little phrase coming from the mouth of a two-year-old, with the perfect intonation and emphasis.
There's also no better way to get children interested in toys that have been around for a while than mixing up their location or bringing out something they haven't seen in a while. But finding all the pieces, getting everything back where it should go, retiring things that they've out-aged, moving things to new locations and doing all of that while two toddlers undermine every step of your progress by wanting to play with everything you've been working on, means it's a slow process.
I got most of the work done today, with one last area (the basement) to do tomorrow. I love having the toys flipped and changed up, because it always means my children are more easily occupied for longer times for the next week or two.
The Big Boy Update: Book reader. I swapped out the current selection of books with a new selection of choices today. My son took one book out and decided he wanted to "read" it.. He calmly flipped the pages in the big book of collected stories and was quietly happy for the next twenty minutes.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: "Aw, man..." My daughter has started saying this funny saying. It is such a funny little phrase coming from the mouth of a two-year-old, with the perfect intonation and emphasis.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Solicitations
I am new to fundraising. It is not something I had any interest in doing. It is something I feared. It is something I am now doing, and I'm not so sure I actually mind it.
I've had two meetings in the last two days in which I asked people to commit to contributing large amounts of money to our school's new building project. A year ago, the thought of approaching people and asking them for large amounts of money made me uncomfortable at best. To put it mildly, I absolutely, positively, did not want to ask people for money, no sir, not me, no way, no how.
It wasn't that I didn't believe in the cause, because I did. It's just that I needed to understand several things:
- I am not asking for myself
- I have no need
- I am not desperate
- I believe in the cause
- I have dignity
Knowing this, I've done something I never thought I would be able to: ask for money with confidence and without guilt.
The Big Boy Update: The Gobbler. My son spent the afternoon with Mimi. When I came to pick him up, he was playing with her stapler remover, that he was calling, "the gobbler". He had a piece of paper and he was making holes in it with glee. There were stories he was telling me about how the gobbler was gobbling up the hole (one of the three hole punch holes) and how that hole was going to taste delicious to the gobbler. I think I could have left him there for another two hours with that one piece of paper and staple remover.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I had lunch today with my ex-husband. We get together about twice each year to see how things are going in each other's lives. Yes, our marriage failed, but it wasn't bitter and we keep in touch. He has a daughter that's six-months younger than mine and I found out today they're expecting a son in six months. He stopped back by the house and came in to say hello. My daughter (who has met him twice before) ran right up to him and hugged him and then had a great time running around and having him chase her. She was about the most charming child I could have ever asked for.
Fitness Update: Bicep workout. I think our trainer heard me when I said I wanted to do pullups. He had us doing all manner of bicep exercises today.
I've had two meetings in the last two days in which I asked people to commit to contributing large amounts of money to our school's new building project. A year ago, the thought of approaching people and asking them for large amounts of money made me uncomfortable at best. To put it mildly, I absolutely, positively, did not want to ask people for money, no sir, not me, no way, no how.
It wasn't that I didn't believe in the cause, because I did. It's just that I needed to understand several things:
- I am not asking for myself
- I have no need
- I am not desperate
- I believe in the cause
- I have dignity
Knowing this, I've done something I never thought I would be able to: ask for money with confidence and without guilt.
The Big Boy Update: The Gobbler. My son spent the afternoon with Mimi. When I came to pick him up, he was playing with her stapler remover, that he was calling, "the gobbler". He had a piece of paper and he was making holes in it with glee. There were stories he was telling me about how the gobbler was gobbling up the hole (one of the three hole punch holes) and how that hole was going to taste delicious to the gobbler. I think I could have left him there for another two hours with that one piece of paper and staple remover.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: I had lunch today with my ex-husband. We get together about twice each year to see how things are going in each other's lives. Yes, our marriage failed, but it wasn't bitter and we keep in touch. He has a daughter that's six-months younger than mine and I found out today they're expecting a son in six months. He stopped back by the house and came in to say hello. My daughter (who has met him twice before) ran right up to him and hugged him and then had a great time running around and having him chase her. She was about the most charming child I could have ever asked for.
Fitness Update: Bicep workout. I think our trainer heard me when I said I wanted to do pullups. He had us doing all manner of bicep exercises today.
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