I think Charlotte has almost potty trained her Laugh and Learn Puppy. At least somebody is taking to the potty chair well! 
According to Charlotte Grandpa Larry totally looks like Santa Claus. She pointed to a lollipop box and said clear as day ‘Bampa?’ Maybe this gives us hope to go see Santa?
Congrats to those who posted 30 times in 30 days! It helped me post more regularly, but I don’t think I’ll continue blogging every day. I have too many things going on!
Today we un-decorated the Christmas tree! I bought some plastic ball ornaments and then per Elsha’s suggestion bought some fabric and stuffed ornaments. I put them on the tree and they took them off. The ornaments bounce on the floor just like balls so they thought it was hysterical. Chris said he is just going to hang a bag and collect the ornaments they remove throughout the day. Then I can re-decorate at night after they go to bed. This could be a very long month before Christmas!
This morning we went to a free trial class at the nearby family owned, Little Gym. It’s pricey so we aren’t sure we’ll join, but glad we did an intro class. It was 45 min long, right before nap and they had a BLAST! The class they’re in is called ‘Little Beasts’ and the kids range in age 19 months to 2.5 yrs.
We started with introductions and the balance beam. Neither of the kids were sure about it, and Charlotte was the only one to finish walking across the beam. Then we had warm up where we first walked in a circle and went over the beam, then just ran around in a circle. By now Charlotte was really into because we were singing the alphabet song too. Cooper decided running around in a circle was boring and went off to explore, mostly to figure out how many doors he could open and to locate all the electrical sockets in the room. Chris had to keep bringing him back to the group.
After warm up we had free time on all the equipment before we did the ‘airplane runway’ where they jump down a bouncy runway. They both loved exploring on all the equipment and when it came time to jump, Charlotte was afraid of the sound (the machine constantly blew air into the bouncy runway), but Cooper couldn’t get enough. He would run as fast as he could down the runway, jump off and run to get in line again. I had a hard time making him wait his turn. When the teacher deflated the runway all the boys (including Cooper) climbed on top and helped get the air out, while all the girls stayed away.
After the runway we had the sideways step on the balance beam. Cooper did it for about 3 steps, but wanted to run and explore some more and Charlotte wanted to do the sideways walk over and over. Then came time for somersaults down the ramp and only Charlotte had the patience to do it. She thought it was silly and laughed, but once was enough for her. Cooper meanwhile wanted to swing from all the bars. The kid has giant hands and is super strong so he could swing for awhile and even lift his legs to his chest. I couldn’t believe how strong he was. He would let go without a thought in the world, fall on his back and get up wanting more.
Then the next exercise was walking sideways across the lower bar of the parallel bars while holding on to the higher bar. Cooper did this for a step or two, but wasn’t really coordinated enough to understand how to do it. Charlotte got scared and wouldn’t stay up, so we quickly got her down. Then it was ball time. Charlotte and Cooper kept kicking and throwing their balls and then with all of the other kids, parents, and balls they got frustrated quickly. Charlotte and another little boy collided and his mouth hit her head. They were both okay, but Charlotte was done with ball time.
The last part of the class was teeny, tiny bubbles! Thousands and thousands of them. Both of them LOVED this and after Cooper smooshed as many bubbles on the floor with his thumb as he could, they both ran over to the little gymnast bar to do some more swinging and flipping. They willingly left when class was over (Chris and I were even tired!), downed their snack and water in the car, and went down easily and quickly for nap. They slept for 2.5 hours and were little angels all afternoon. I wish every day could be like today.
We definitely need to enroll them in some kind of weekly gym session after seeing how much fun they had (and we had), but I think this one is way too pricey. It’s nearly $20 per class, per kid and class is only once a week. I think we can find something a little less expensive. Plus some of the other gyms offer parents’ night out and mother’s (in our case father’s) day out as well for a reasonable babysitting fee. Chris and I could really use something like this, so we’ll probably go to a few other free trial classes and pick the one we like.
I never shop on black Friday. There isn’t a deal good enough to make me put up with the holiday frenzy in the retail world. I scout online stores to see if there’s anything really good, but most of the sales aren’t better than you can do at other times of the year. Except maybe Amazon…they usually have a few items at a great price. I didn’t buy anything this year because I wasn’t in the mood and because I have 2 toddlers that require constant supervision so I don’t have a chance to spend hours on the computer while they’re awake.
Instead I stayed home with the kids, made pumpkin pancakes, painted some pretty pictures (and the wall, sliding glass door, and blinds thanks to Cooper), enjoyed leftovers for lunch with a good friend I haven’t seen in awhile, and then played at the park. A really great day and really relaxing.
I was going to put up the tree, but we have to first take apart the high chairs and scrub them so we can sell one on Craigslist and then move some other things around to make room for it. Plus I really need to go through the garage to set aside a donation pile, but this is hard to do with the kids. They get into everything! I can’t get to the Christmas stuff without moving several donation items in the garage so I might as well do it all at once.
I’m also trying to decide if I really want to put the tree together like I normally do with all my snowmen ornaments, or go buy some cheap non-breakable ornaments and let the kids decorate the bottom half while I decorate the top half. I have fond memories of my parents letting us do this, and I think if I decorated it the kids would probably just un-decorate it. I’m kind of looking forward to the ‘we have kids now’ Christmas tree.
On a side note, I am really feeling sore and tired from this workout…it’s so tough!! Instead of yoga this week (which I can’t do because of all the ab stretching and torso twisting) I swapped in the Cardio X workout instead of my prenatal pilates (I forgot the exercise ball is in Cooper’s closet and I never remember to pull it out). I’m so glad I did because I loved that workout. It’s a little yoga (the moves I can safely do) and then bits and pieces of the other workouts. It was fun but hard. One more workout this week then I have a rest day on Sunday. I better get good results after 90 days of this or I’m going to be really upset…this is so tough!
I read a story about a woman whose 15 month old son recently died. His name was Christopher. On Thursday late afternoon he was running a fever of 103°F so she called her pediatrician. They had her give him some Motrin and watch his fever and to bring him in the following day. His fever dropped and after taking him in the following morning they sent her home and told her not to worry since he was still playing fine and had no congestion or runny nose. Friday he was running and playing but on Saturday is fever spiked to 106°. Doctor said to get his fever down since it isn’t dangerous until 107°, so they bathed him and cooled him down. His fever dropped and he was eating and playing fine all day, but by 5 pm on Saturday he wasn’t feeling well. He threw up and had a little diarrhea. She stayed up all night watching him and when he had another dirty diaper and when she tried to change him he was unresponsive. They took him to the ER. His brain began swelling. The doctors couldn’t stabilize his blood pressure or his temperature and were unable to complete the surgery to cut open his head to relieve pressure on his brain. There were a lot of tests done in 30 min but couldn’t find anything. H1N1 was negative. Her son, Christopher died in her arms only a few hours after he was healthy and running and playing.
It could happen to anyone. It could happen that fast. No warning, no explanation. So today, today I am thankful.
I am thankful when Cooper takes his entire plate of turkey dinner I just spent 5 hours cooking and dumps it upside down on the floor. I am thankful because he is alive.
I am thankful when Charlotte keeps taking off her diaper only 30 sec after I put it back on and proceeds to pee on the floor next to the potty chair. I am thankful because she is alive.
I am thankful when Cooper moves the living room chair for the 10th time I’ve told him not to, climbs up on the TV cabinet after I told him to get down, and throws a fit when he doesn’t get his way. I am thankful because he is alive.
I am thankful that Charlotte is a great artist who takes any writing utensil she can find to her own body, that she wants to play open/close/open/close 100 times with the toy tool belt buckle, and that no other children are allowed to swing in ‘her’ swing at the park or else a meltdown ensues. I am thankful because she is alive.
All the times I get frustrated or feel tired seem completely trivial because my children are alive and that woman’s baby boy Christopher only lived to see 15 months. She is mourning the death of her child and it brings me to tears. I am so thankful that I was able to celebrate another Thanksgiving with my own beautiful children.
I think I found the cutest toys ever! I just bought several of these wooden animals for $3.50 a piece on Mama Bargains a few days ago. They arrived today and they are so adorable! Now I want to own all of them for the kids (especially Cooper because he LOVES animals)! 
Have you seen this fun website? It creates Polaroid like photos from your digital photos. Once you download it then you just drag and drop a picture. You can even shake your mouse to help your photo develop faster. Cute!
Charlotte had her speech therapy today. It was a little more structured since she is comfortable with the therapist now. We really tried to get her to work on ‘muh’, ‘puh’, and ‘buh’. We are also working on getting her to verbalize the consonant-vowel sound when she signs for something. So instead of just accepting the sign for more when she wants more of something, we also ask her to say ‘muh’. We don’t withhold anything until she does it, but we do ask for it and give her a chance to say it. If she does we give her lots of praise and if she doesn’t, we just say the sound when we give her what she needs.
We are also working on lip closure, which is basically what it sounds like—getting her to close her lips when she makes certain sounds or does certain actions. We ask for closed mouth kisses and we practice lip closure using a recorder/flute. The therapist also noted that Charlotte seems to redirect herself when something is too hard, or when she can’t or doesn’t want to do something. So if she doesn’t want to say ‘muh’, she will usually kiss or hug us, or start a new activity. Sometimes she will put her hands on her head and sigh in frustration. Now that the therapist pointed it out, it’s painful to watch her struggle so much with her words. The therapist said to keep trying to redirect her to the activity we want her to participate in and then give her lots of praise when she does what we ask. Part of me just wants to give her what I know she needs/wants without making her put the effort in, but I know it’s best if we keep being consistent.
I left after about 15 minutes so that Charlotte could have one on one attention without Cooper being in the way. Cooper and I went to Ikea to look for a play kitchen (their big Christmas gift from us). That is a really great store to let toddlers run and play in the kid section. He loved all the beds, drawers, chairs, toys, and kid-sized everything. We found the toy kitchen and Cooper LOVED it. Although he was really frustrated that the water wasn’t coming out of the faucet when he turned it on. Apparently he doesn’t use his imagination quite yet.
We really want a wooden kitchen instead of plastic because we think it looks better, but there aren’t very many on the market. The one at Ikea was super cute, but I’m not sure it’s wide enough for both of them to play with. The one at Target is the same size—too small. I guess it will be a real test of learning to share. I’m thinking about ordering this one on Amazon because it also comes with a fridge and you can’t beat free shipping!
Oh and I found my first gray hair today. I kind of like it actually. I think I’ve earned it. Of course I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t get any more for awhile.
Okay off to start preparing for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! Yum, can’t wait!
I’m very tired so this post probably won’t make much sense at all. Sorry for that.
Oh my goodness, the second week of P90X is TOUGH! I’m so sore from last week and just as I think I might be recovering I have to work out. Mentally it’s getting tougher to stick with, but I’m determined to finish it. I think it helps that Chris and I are doing it together, so I would feel bad if he did the workout in the morning and then I skipped my workout. He says he would feel bad if he didn’t do his workout but then I did mine in the evening.
I forgot to post the picture with Cooper helping to make dinner a couple nights ago.
Never mind, these are my veggies, all mine!
Please give the veggies to mommy.
We are debating if we should do Santa this year or not. We’re not really into torturing them if they are scared of him. Work is having a luncheon near Christmas with Santa visiting so we’ll probably just do that. Beats the lines and overpriced photos anyhow!
If you are dare to step out for Black Friday, this website might help you figure out which stores to go to. We probably won’t go out, but we might find some good deals online (we bought our DSLR on Amazon for 50% off last year).
The booster seats from Grandpa Walter arrived today! Can you tell they were happy to see them? We were too since it made dinner time so much easier!! They couldn't get down easily and it helped them be the right height to eat. Thank you so much!!
Charlotte had her second session with the speech therapist today. The therapist worked on a couple of things with her, but mostly it was play time again to get Charlotte to warm up to her. I think Charlotte definitely likes her therapist because after 10 minutes she was hugging and kissing her. Today we worked on using signs to communicate – help, open, please, thank you (she already knows those signs, it was just reinforcing them and making her use them during the activities). We also worked on cleaning up one item before moving on to another activity (we need to be more consistent with this). Cooper of course had to join in as well by dumping everything out and making a mess!
The therapist asked us a lot of questions about behavior and how Charlotte communicates. She asked if she tries to show us what she needs (she doesn’t) and if she attempts to say any words to get our attention like mama/dada (she used to but has quit). She was a little concerned that she has quit saying certain consonants and isn’t sure if it’s a regression or just a ‘silent period’.
The therapist also let us know that we were only supposed to get 1 hour of therapy, but since they’ve set us up with two we won’t change it. She also asked if we preferred in home or if we were okay with going to the center. We told her that we only wanted in home because we were told that therapy at the center couldn’t be longer than 30 min and a trip 4 days a week wasn’t feasible. She said therapy could definitely be 1 hour at the center, so next week we will probably do at least one day at the center and possibly both days. The therapist thinks Charlotte may learn faster at the center since there a lot of other kids and a variety of skill levels, a lot more interactive toys/games than what the therapist can bring to the house, and she will also be away from Cooper which she might be using as a security. I think it will be good for her to go the center.
Our homework is to work on having her get our attention without whining when she needs something (pointing, saying mama/dada, taking us over to show us, etc), work on the sounds ‘buh’, ‘puh’, and ‘muh’ and vowels, reinforce more signs, and be consistent with everything we do. I can say that Charlotte has already started using the sign for ‘open’ regularly (she learned it last week) and today she said ‘mamamamama’ and ‘beep, beep’ both of which we practiced during therapy, but didn’t say during therapy. I’m very excited to see even these baby steps it such a short time!
And here is how our day ended, cuddles on the couch being silly taking pictures of ourselves. They love the camera and love when I take pictures like this and then let them look at the view finder. (I know my eyes look like they have a red-eye issue, but I promise you it’s just the color of my eyes…they have sort of an orangey-brown color around the pupil and if I try to fix them in Photoshop it turns my eyes gray.)
One of my coworkers kindly offered to babysit for us today. We left right after Cooper woke up (he woke a little early) and went out to lunch. We had great sushi and then went to the movies. Going to the movies used to be one of our favorite kind of dates, so it was a great afternoon.
We saw The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. It was a fantastic movie and I highly recommend seeing it! It is a perfect movie to celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month, since it is about a couple who basically foster-adopt a near 18 yr old boy. He now plays in the NFL. Really great story—very inspirational!
We came home to two very happy toddlers and my coworker said they were really good. I love having time away from the kids for just Chris and I and I wish we could have more of those times. In time I suppose….
Something gross: we had to disinfect the tub and bath toys because I didn’t catch Cooper it time to put him on the toilet while he pooped. I’m so glad my husband volunteered for clean up! How very nice of him.
We spent the afternoon at the really pretty park today. I love going there because it feels like we have our own private park. Hardly anyone goes to this park, but it has a great view and the it’s perfect size for the kids. The kids are getting so big and are able to safely climb all over the place.
Going down the hill on his butt
Results in:
This visit was all about the dirt 
Scout showed the kids how to go up and down the hill 
Here are some sites that I check daily (or several times a day) for great bargains on mommy/baby gear. You can find really great gifts for other mommy friends as well!
Etsy – This is a site of handmade products. There are some really awful things on there, but also some really great things. I’ve bought the kids cute gifts, items to decorate the house, pretty jewelry, my nursing cover and several other items. Definitely check it out!
Baby Cheapskate – This website collects all the sales and coupons going on at various stores. It’s a great way to know who is having a sale now or one coming up.
Baby Earth GaGa Deals – This website has lots of cool items on it, but my favorite part of the site is the GaGa Deals. It puts up a new item every 30-60 min and the price counts down until the product is sold out. Basically you decide what price you are willing to pay for it.
Baby Steals – This website usually has cute clothing or convenient items like sleep sacks at a large discount.
Green Baby Bargains – This site is newer so it doesn’t have as many cool products, but every once in awhile something catches my eye.
Mama Bargains – This is also one of my favorites. There are really great deals on really great stuff. Everything from clothing for mom and baby, to toys, to purses, to diaper bags. Definitely worth stalking!
Kids Woot – If you’ve heard of Woot, then you may have heard of Kids Woot. Great discount on very cool items.
Any websites you stalk that I should know about?
I went out to the field today and it was so nice to be out in the fresh air. The boat ride was great it was a nice 20 min of relaxation watching the birds on the water enjoying the day. And now I’m on vacation (even though I have about 4 hours of work to do over a couple days next week). I’m looking forward to relaxing before the holiday.
Charlotte had her first day of speech therapy today. Chris said the therapist just played with both of the kids for an hour. She said it would be that way for a couple weeks until Charlotte felt comfortable enough to go to a separate room with her. She has therapy next Monday and next Wednesday, then every Wednesday and Thursday after that. Each session is an hour. We’re very happy we are able to get her help and even more excited and the possibility of her progressing quickly. It breaks our hearts to see her so frustrated not being able to say much, especially because she understands so much.
I wasn’t able to do yoga tonight. There is way too much ab stretching and twisting, and since my abs still aren’t 100% (see here for why), I have to be patient and be very careful so I don’t hurt myself. I’ve seen some progress and now I have about a 2 finger gap instead of a 3 finger gap. Tonight I did the Stretch workout, and although it was great stretching, it wasn’t much of a workout. I plan to use my prenatal yoga and Pilates videos to work on my core, balance, and flexibility while still protecting my abs. I have to modify the ab workout for P90X, but only slightly since I can’t do any upper ab work, only lower abs. I’m hoping I can get to a 1 or 1.5 finger separation.
Okay, I’m off to spend time with Chris. We spend Thursday and Sunday evenings together watching movies or tv, playing games, or talking. Sort of like mini-date nights.
I feel quiet today. I just don’t have a lot to say, so I’m probably going to ramble a bit. I’m sore, really sore, but I finished day 3. Yoga tomorrow. I’m hungry, like needing to get up at 1 am and eat a bowl of cereal kind of hungry. Between Cooper’s constant nursing in the last week (what’s with the separation anxiety??) and starting P90X, I feel like I’m burning about 1000 calories a day!!
To answer/address comments on this post: We use sign language and Charlotte does pretty well with it. Although she is still impatient and will refuse to make the sign or if we take longer than a second to figure out what she needs she goes into melt down mode. I have absolutely no idea where she might get her impatience from. ::says sarcastically as I look at myself in the mirror:: Cooper either doesn’t get signs or has no use for them. He is incredibly talented at communicating his needs with his little caveman grunts and almost words. He is also really patient until we figure out what he needs. He throws tantrums though if he doesn’t get his way.
Duct tape worked wonders in keeping the diapers on, but a big part of me is saying that it doesn’t feel right to make them keep a diaper on if they no longer want to wear one. I mean isn’t the whole point to get them out of diapers and here I am duct taping them in one? Just seems counter-intuitive. I guess we’ll probably have to go with naked potty training.
We’ve been doing the cups twice a day. Once during afternoon snack and once during dinner. We fill it 1/4 full and do water during snack and milk during dinner. They seem to want to play in the water more than the milk, so maybe when it’s a ‘real’ drink they are less likely to play with it. Now their new thing is they don’t want baby utensils, bowls, or plates. They want the real thing. Would be great except all of our plates/bowls are glass and when they get mad or are done, they throw them off their tray or the table. Of course we do timeout, but with two of them we potentially could end up with broken shards all over and nothing but timeout during the meal. Instead we are working on catching them before they throw it and showing them the correct behavior and then giving them TONS of praise. This seems to work pretty well.
I think the reality is that it always takes me longer to transition to these changes than it takes them. Feels like I’m playing catch up or being caught off guard with the constant changes. It is pretty amazing to watch them change so quickly.
One more day and then I’m off for a week and half. Not doing anything special, just convenient to take time off with the holiday. We still don’t know what we’re doing for Thanksgiving. It’s times like this that I wish we had family or close friends nearby to have a big get together with. I’ll probably cook dinner just for us, although I always feel like it’s a lot of work for just the four of us.
I might be certifiably crazy. I started P90X. Go here if you don’t know what it is. Why, you ask? Because I want these kind of results in 90 days (1/60/90 days):
I got bored with the 30 Day Shred (go here if you don’t know what that is) and I’m on day 2 of P90X. So far I love it, even though it’s tough. Depending on how confident I feel at day 90, I may or may not post pictures of myself on this blog.
I don’t think I ever blogged about the Women’s Conference I went to. Every year in southern California (and in other major cities across the nation) the governor’s wife plans a conference covering topics on women and families. My company does a random drawing for the women to attend for free, which means I go every 2 years or so.
I really enjoy this conference and I highly suggest you look to see if your city hosts one. I feel so inspired after attending. A few things that I really got out of it:
Geena Davis did research on the ratio of female to male characters in shows that target ages 11 and younger. What she found is that 3 out of every 4 characters are male and of the characters who are female, they are in a subservient/non-important roles, very traditional roles (wife, mother, teacher, nurse) and/or scantily clad/sexualized. She said you probably won’t be able to find shows that do anything other than this, so no point in limiting anything for you children, but that it is a good idea to have dialogue with your kids (i.e. Why do you think they made that character a boy?). She is working on changing the industry from within, starting with the content creators – the writers, producers and animators. She said they had no idea they were even doing it—goes to show you that this has probably been done for many, many years and is in many of our subconscious as normal.
I did a quick survey of the shows we have the kids watch and she’s right. Handy Manny is the closest it comes since the Mayor Rosa is female, Kelly a business owner is female, the mail person is female, and the recycle person is female. On the flip side, out of the 8 tools, only 2 are female. Manny is the main character and is male, and there is never any talk of his mother or grandmother, only his grandfather.
It’s a similar story for Blues Clues, Miss Sunny Patch Friends, and Imagination Movers. I was so surprised, but glad I know now. What about the shows your kids watch?
The other topic that was particularly moving was given by the speaker, Somaly Mam. She is a survivor of childhood prostitution/sex trafficking. She has gone on to raise money to help save other women and children from sex-trafficking. This such a horrific subject that I tear up just thinking about it. I have no idea how someone survives something so awful, but even more amazing to turn around and make it such a positive story. I have already donated money, and it would be wonderful if others would too.
There were several other things I enjoyed about the conference, the free food, the free manicures, the free make-up, the business advice, the speakers, the company of 14,000 women, but mostly I loved seeing big Barbie (not sure how this is a positive image for young girls due to the whole controversy of her unnatural proportions, but she still brings back fond childhood memories for me):
I’m struggling dealing with this in-between stage with the kids. They throw tantrums because they are done with high chairs, but they won’t stay sitting in the big chairs for meal times. They want to drink out of regular cups, but they don’t quite have the hang of it and spill the entire cup over and over. They won’t wear diapers, but they won’t wear underwear or go on the potty either (and we have to put Charlotte in the boys Handy Manny underwear because she hates the princess ones). They have a lot to say, but don’t have the words to say it, so instead throw tons of tantrums. It’s just stage, right? Please tell me it will pass soon.
And because these super cute pictures help remind me why it’s all worth it…
Cooper’s newest favorite thing is to pretend to go to bed in our bed. He climbs up, lays down and covers up and then wants one of us to lay next to him.
We have a video monitor for Cooper and it’s always interesting to see what kind of sleeping arrangements he gets into. This is him sleeping across the short side of the crib with his legs propped up on the bars.
And since Scout is largely ignored on this blog since the kids have come along (squinting for the camera):
The kids haven’t been going down easily for their naps or sleeping for very long. We can’t tell if it’s just a phase or if they need things changed up. So this morning I took them to the park to burn some energy. They both love going and yell ‘Paw, Paw’ all the way there. Scout also loves going so we brought her along.
It was a little chilly in the shade so I put their jackets on, but promptly took them off when we go to the park because the sun was out and it got warm. Of course they wanted to swing first so I played the game of letting their legs ‘kick’ me and spin me around. They think it’s so funny.
After the swings they wanted to go slide, but I didn’t realize the slide was wet. Cooper went down and then freaked out that his crotch and legs were wet. He went over to the stroller and feverishly attempted to pat himself dry with the jackets. So cute. (Charlotte didn’t mind that it was wet.)
Their recent interest is running all over the park instead of actually playing at the playground, so I let them run wild. Cooper ran all the way across the big grassy area (it’s about the size of a football field) and luckily I caught him just before he was about to pick up some dog poop (I hate when people don’t pick up after their dogs!). Charlotte just wanted to walk up and down the sidewalk.
Then a couple other dogs showed up and Scout went crazy. We usually keep her on a long 20 foot leash because she’ll wander off and not listen when she picks up an interesting scent (all beagle). Well she got to running and playing and it became dangerous with the kids and other adults, so I let her off leash.
Oh my! Charlotte LOVED chasing the dogs chasing each other. Cooper thought it was fun for 0.2 seconds and promptly ran off to throw trash, dirt, and leaves into the metal grate. He then went to every tree and tried to climb up, feet and everything. Can we say, all boy? Charlotte did great helping me corral Scout and then we went home just in time for them to throw pre-nap tantrums. At least they slept well!
I tried to take a nap on the couch this afternoon, which didn’t work very well with two toddlers. I had Charlotte pulling my hair and hitting me on the head to play the fake sleeping game. I had Cooper standing on me and jumping, poking my eyes, and pulling at my shirt to nurse. They both kept giving me slobbery kisses, which I didn’t mind that part at all. After a restless hour, I got up and they enjoyed having an awake mommy.
Last night was tough because Charlotte is teething her 2 yr old molars and woke up at 2 am in pain. This in turn woke Cooper up. Chris went to Charlotte and I went to Cooper. I got done first and just as I laid back down, Charlotte let out another wail and woke Cooper up again. After I was done with Cooper for the second time I tried to fall back asleep, but Chris was sounding more and more frustrated because Charlotte wasn’t going back down and he didn’t want to wake Cooper back up. At 3 am, I told Chris to go back to bed and I finished putting Charlotte down. The trick? Tell her I’m going night-night and I would see her later, instead of telling her she needed to go night-night. She waved to me, blew me a kiss and I closed the door…silence!
The middle of the night disturbance caused two very tired toddlers today. I slept in a bit and Chris got up with them (we switch off weekend days). Then Chris left to have his day out and guitar lesson, but Cooper decided he didn’t want to nap. This meant a very rough afternoon.
They both cried all afternoon when we were home, so we took them out for ice cream at McDonald’s so they could enjoy PlayPlace. They loved crawling all around, although we had to help them. They were so busy playing that they only ate 2 bites of their ice cream. Needless to say they were pooped super early and were in bed by 6:15.
Che’s recent post about Christmas lists, the Christmas list for Cooper and Charlotte that I created, and the recent Target sales ad reminded me to post about how marketers attempt to limit items to just girl or just boy. The boy stuff is typical: cars, guns/swords, tools. The girl stuff is also typical: dolls, princess, cooking and cleaning toys, and everything is in pink, pink, pink! Because it can’t be for a girl unless it’s pink.
You know what? Cooper’s favorite color is pink, Charlotte’s favorite color is blue. Cooper loves to carry around his purse on his shoulder, give his baby hugs and kisses and push her around in a stroller, while Charlotte loves to play with her tools. They both have an interest in cars, cooking toys, and they LOVE to sweep and vacuum. Maybe they do this because in our family the stereotypical gender roles are swapped.
I have to be honest though, before having children I had always envisioned my daughter playing with Barbie's and my son playing with trucks. When I was pregnant, I realized that I also wanted my son to learn how to play with dolls, because after all I want him to be a good daddy one day. When I ended up with one girl and one boy so close in age, all of my preconceived notions of what a girl should play with and what a boy should play with went out the window. I’m not sure I would have ever bought Cooper a doll stroller, and I don’t know if I would have bought Charlotte tools if I only had one or the other. By having both, it’s reminded me that they should play with all kinds of toys and that there aren’t ‘boy toys’ and ‘girl toys’!
I say for all those who have girls, think about buying something for them that is traditionally a boy toy and for those who have boys, buy something in pink that is traditionally a girl toy. They don’t care and they are too young to be stereotyped as one gender or another!
I’m unusually tired tonight. I just got up from an evening nap after falling asleep at 7. I’m going right back to bed after this very short post.
It was so wonderful to come home today. The kids were in such great moods and we ran and played and laughed until dinner was done. Then after dinner we spent a solid 20 minutes stacking block towers, knocking them over, and laughing really hard. They also like to let me pretend to sleep so they can wake me. They think it’s hilarious.
The best part of coming home to play with the kids? I go from being tired and stressed from work to completely relaxed and somewhat energized. Obviously all that laughter wore me out!
They insist on eating at the table now. They really don’t like their high chairs. Charlotte’s a little short though. (Chris thought these pictures would be a great way to remind grandma and grandpa that the kids would love to have their booster seats grandpa made for them.)
Every evening they insist on running around without clothes or diapers on (they’re eating dessert – yogurt here). They seem to be taking an interest in potty training, so we’re going with the flow.
Edited to add – I hope my not-so-baby brother has a fantastic 20th birthday today!!
My favorite place to be is either a bookstore or a library. I love the quiet and being surrounded by thousands of books. I went to the library tonight for the first time since college, but for the first time since high school I actually checked out some books.
You see I kind of have a problem. I like books, but even more I like to have them on MY bookshelves. I even keep books that I have no intention of finishing because I didn’t like them or couldn’t get into them (I’m looking at you Vanity Fair and Catch 22). I don’t like giving them back, which means I’m really bad at borrowing books from others and I haven’t dared the library in so long because I used to rack up so many late fees.
Well now that I’m running out of room for books, plus I was spending way too much money on books that I don’t always have time to read (I have at least 6 on my shelf that I need to start, another 4 that I’ve already started, and 2 that I probably won’t get to) I decided I needed to go somewhere other than the bookstore to destress.
So what do I do? Go to the library to get more books of course! I have I mentioned how much I love the library? I love how organized it is, and how logical the call numbers are. I love the silence and the kindness of library patrons. Above all I love the smell. (I think this is the reason I probably could never do an electronic reader…part of the enjoyment of reading for me is the smell and feel of a book.) Our library is beautiful, but huge! I have no idea how many steps I went up and down, but it was a second workout for me (since I was good and worked out before going to the library.)
And did I mention the books are free? As in I pull them off the shelf, get them scanned and walk away with free books. It feels like I’m stealing! I mean I know they aren’t actually free because I do pay taxes. (On that note CA taxes are becoming outrageous. I already pay 9.55% of my yearly income to state taxes, and then I pay a 9.25% sales tax, and now the state wants to take another 1% in state income tax through next June to help with the budget problems. At least the money will be returned when we file our taxes.)
So I walked out with 5 new books tonight and they are all parenting related. I want to scan them and decide which ones I would like to own. I’ll be taking a week off over Thanksgiving, so I’m hoping to have some time to read then. The great thing about our library is the website…I can recheck the books out through the online system so it’s easy to extend the due date and avoid late fees. Perfect for me!
Now I need to figure out how to fit in reading with work, parenting, exercise, TV and internet!
On a completely separate note, we want to say how excited and happy we are for Charlotte’s foster mom, Michelle! She finally got a call for a new little baby girl and she gets to pick her up tomorrow. She’s only about a week old, but cute as a button. Michelle plans to name her McKinley Grace and we hope this is her and Abby’s chance to add another forever child to their family. Michelle is most deserving of being a mom to this little girl!
Cooper had his 18 month old check up today (although he’s closer to 19 months). He’s a little giant! He weighed 29 lb, 8 oz and was 37 inches tall. Compared to Charlotte at the same age he is 6 lbs heavier and nearly 5 inches taller. Really we’re not surprised though. This morning he for breakfast he had: a handful of cheerios, a handful of dried blueberries, a Nutrigrain bar, 2 waffles, and a banana. We’re going to be poor when he’s a teenager because he’s going to eat us out of the house!
He’s on par with all of his milestones. The doctor did ask about Charlotte, even though we were there for Cooper, and we asked about getting an audiological exam to check her hearing. The doctor has to first refer us to an ENT (Ears, Nose, Throat) doctor and then they can refer us to an audiologist. Crazy insurance!
