27 Months

Weebles,

Twenty Seven months isn't really any sort of milestone but you are growing and learning so much every day that I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with it all.

Thank you so much for being such a wonderful big sister. You are always looking out for your baby brother and it is very sweet. If I look tired or stressed out you say "You otay mama?" and pat my back. You also use please, thank you, and I'm sorry at all the appropriate times.

You love to run and jump. I think your gross motor skills are pretty much all taken care of at this point. We've been trying to teach you letters and numbers but you are totally uninterested, and that's okay.

The potty thing? Is pretty amazing. I never considered that my child would just up decide to use the bathroom on her own without any coaching. Impressive. I finally took your diapers off the changing table. It looks so funny to just have one basket of diapers up there. If you want to teach your brother your mad skills I'd be fine with that...

Things aren't all rainbows and unicorns of course. Some days we go through an hour or two where you are constantly in time out. Other days you aren't at all. It is pretty clearly a factor of what kind of mood both you and I are in. I try so hard not to let my exhaustion from a rough night show in my parenting the following day but find it nearly impossible.

Now that your brother is a little older we've decided to try to split you up for some one on one time more often. The two of us went to the mall this week and it was really nice. Just strolling around hand in hand watching the Christmas decorations go up.

You've gotten into the question asking phase. I didn't think that would get on my nerves. But you ask the same question thirty times in a row and admittedly my patience wears thin on that. :) I assume answering the question the same way every time is the way to go, maybe you are testing to see if it will change? But it is awful tempting the tenth time you ask me what a Christmas tree is to tell you it is a car to see if you will call me on it.

You are upstairs sleeping in your big girl bed. You wake up in the morning and tell me you have to potty. You have definite thoughts on what you want for breakfast and you tell your daddy "be careful, i wuv you" when he leaves for work. You even have your first pair of light up shoes. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact you are growing up so fast. But, I am so proud of you. Sleep tight little girl.

Love,
Mama

Mama's Christmas Wish List

* Stanley Steemer every month for the entire year.

* Eight solid hours of sleep every night for a week. Repeat every three months. I could rule the world with that kind of sleep.

* Total and complete silence for five minutes a day. No white noise, no baby monitors, no WonderPets and most definitely no whining.

* A drive through fast food place with all healthy food. Bonus points if it tastes good.

* Crib sheets that actually fit and don't require superhuman strength to get on the mattress.

* Sheets for my bed that stay on and don't constantly come off at the corners. WTH? My sheets are too big, my kids' are too small. Conspiracy to drive me crazy?

* Clothes that are both stylish and comfortable at the same time.

* Something that goes around and constantly puts toys away, Roomba style

* In the event that some of the things on my list are hard to find, I will settle for a live in nanny/housekeeper/chef/masseuse/hairstylist. Can I get a WOOT for daily blowouts?

Bathroom adventures

There are a whole lot of times I find myself thinking "huh, didn't really see THAT challenge coming." Although admittedly this one had crossed my mind in recent weeks, still it gave me pause when it actually happened.

I needed to pick up a few things at the grocery store. I have a newly un-diapered 2 year old daughter. I don't really like potty trained because I didn't train her. I bought the potty about a year ago and put it where she could check it out. She decided to run with it about a month ago and she hasn't looked back. Anyway, so I was out and about with both kids. I had the big monster cart with the little car section for the two of them to ride in and we were clunking clumsily down the aisles because that thing is a total beast to steer. We were somewhere in the middle of the baking aisle when I heard the dreaded words.

"Mommy I go potty"

Pause. Pause. Pause. What should I say here? Ummm... okay sweetie hold on a minute. Mind racing I try to distract her by pointing out things on the shelves.

"Mommmm -eeee I GO potty!"

Alrighty so we're doing this are we? Super. So I maneuver the gigantic cart through the store to the restrooms. Take her out and let her run around while I unsnap her brother. Still totally unsure how this is going to play out we head into the ladies' room.

I have noticed in a few public restrooms lately a little fold down seat presumably for just such an occasion but there wasn't one of those handy. I contemplated my options. My little Peanut can cruise but can't yet stand on his own. So strap him on the changing table? Yeah, notsomuch. My boy isn't really one of those "quiet, lie still" types and nothing short of a five point harness keeps him in one place. So I squatted down, sat him on my knee and yanked my daughter's pants down with the other hand. I managed to hold him on my knee with one arm while propping her up on the seat with the other. We were all waaay too close to a public bathroom toilet for my liking, but it was the best I could come up with. Luckily I had the foresight to move us all as far away as possible to avoid the startling that would likely come from the autoflushing toilet as I pulled her pants back up.

Another challenge met!

Wordless Wednesday - Sisi & Granddaddy Edition

Let's have a little talk about tweetle beetles..

Bonus points for naming that reference.

I would seriously like to nutpunch whoever came up with Daylight Savings Time. Seriously? Who prefers their daylight first thing in the morning anyway? Only bad things come from this scenario.

A.) My children will never come to terms with the fact that time magically shifted an hour. And by the time they finally do come around damn if it won't be time to do it again. Oh ha! That time thing that we've been struggling with for months? Nevermind.. just kidding. Fack.

B.) When the sun stays down longer in the morning, children *might* actually sleep a little later.

C.) Now that it is dark as all hell early in the day there is no opportunity to get outside with the kids post nap/snack and wear them out get exercise before dinner.

To my dearest son,

When the little hand is on the four and the big hand is on the six, GO BACK TO SLEEP. Sweet Baby Jeebus it is four thirty in the effn morning. Under no circumstances is that a proper time to wake up.

I realize now that bringing you to bed with me for your middle of the night feed the last few weeks has been a poor decision. I suspected something was up when I'd doze off nursing you only to awake what seemed like a couple of hours later to find you still going strong. Mama is not a pacifier. Get your milks on and then be on your way. I just can't wait to see what kind of oversupply issues this is going to cause. Pumping at three AM FTW!


Also that thing where you wave bye bye now? OMG THE CUTENESS.

Love, Mama

Moral of the story: I don't care how damn bright and sunny it is, six AM is still friggin six AM no matter how you look at it and I am still going to be tired and cranky. Give me the sunlight at the end of the day when I might actually get to enjoy it.

10 Months

My little boy. My baby. I can't get away with using that term much longer since you are moving full speed ahead toward toddler-hood. This last month has seemed like an explosion in terms of your personality. All of a sudden toys are interesting to you and you will play with some of them for minutes at the time! You love to drag around the little wooden hammer to the pound a peg set and given the chance you would eat every crayon your sister has.

We had a balloon we picked up somewhere for Halloween and you didn't want to go anywhere without it all day. You'd crawl along with the ribbon in your little fist, the orange balloon bobbing along overhead. Then you'd sit down and yank on the ribbon causing the balloon to bop you in the head repeatedly and you laughed and laughed. I was more sad than both you and your sister when it quit floating overnight. We'll get you more balloons soon, I promise.

You surprise me by being so verbal. Constantly jabbering along. Today you said "Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma" so I'm hoping you'll be getting the hang of saying Mama soon. I sort of assumed you would be a quiet child since you are so close on the heels of your chatty sister but you are determined to have your say as well.

The two of you are still getting along famously. It is so nice to watch you both sit on the floor and share snacks while watching cartoons. She takes good care of you and I hope you'll always get along so well.

You are really into cruising the furniture these days. Going from the coffee table to the couch and chasing the cats around pulling out huge clumps of their fur when you manage to catch up to them. Poor kitties. It will only be a matter of time before you'll be walking on your own and then they'll have to learn to take to higher ground for any peace.

We've been trying to vary your menu so that you can feed yourself more. You still aren't totally excited about the prospect but some foods are starting to stand out as favorites. You LOVE yogurt and will almost always eat that well for me. Spaghetti is another favorite. Everything else is hit or miss.

We've been able to bring you downstairs to our room the last month or so. Since your sister got her new big girl room set up she has been sleeping through the night. We never did figure out how to have both of you in the bed with us without worrying that one might fall off the edge. As you both get older that won't be an issue. You have finally gotten used to sleeping with us. I enjoy waking up to see you sprawled out contentedly beside us snuggling your blankie. That being said could you, for the LOVE OF JESUS, quit waking at five AM? It is really starting to drive me nuts. That is just too damn early. When you are a teenager I swear I am going to wake you every morning at five just to get even.

I can tell that you are going to keep me busy. Every little thing you find on the floor you try to put in your mouth. I have retrieved leaves, wood chips, plastic, rocks, grass and bugs from your little mouth. And you get really ticked off every time I have to do it. As a matter of fact, you get pretty darn upset whenever you don't get your way. If your dad has to go in the kitchen and leaves you on the other side of the baby gate they can probably hear your protests two counties away. If we dare to take something away from you that you want to play with we'd better be ready to hear about it. And you are the most persistent child. When you get your mind on something you will.not.let.it.go. Sometimes I move your sister's milk away from you ten times in the span of five minutes only to have you attack the laptop. Then as I set the milk down to move the laptop you give me a sneaky smile and grab the milk. I am so screwed. You are only 10 months old. What are you going to be pulling over on me when you are two? How about fifteen?

I knew from the very beginning you were always going to keep me on my toes. I love you little man.

Mama

Season of Giving

November 1 officially begins the Christmas season here at the Slawter house. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is that for the past 11 years I have worked for a mail order company and for the six weeks or so before Christmas there is so much work to be done there that there is very little time left over to shop and decorate. So, if I want time to really get things done right I have to start early. The second is that I really adore Christmas and enjoy dragging the holiday out as long as possible. Also, I don't really have anything in the way of Thanksgiving decor... is there really such a thing? So if I want the house spruced up for Thanksgiving I might as well pull out Christmas stuff. Generally the stockings and tree etc don't go up until right at Thanksgiving but otherwise... yeah we'll be decking the halls in the next week or two.

I could write for thousands of words about Christmas... and I likely will since it is NaBloPoMo here on my blog. But my post today is about charity. I saw on the local news website this morning that the Salvation Army is already ramping up the effort to get toys donated for needy children. The demand this year is especially high due to the economy. Lots of families won't have food to eat or gifts to give their small children. This totally breaks my heart and I look forward to finding as many outlets as possible to help these truly needy people have the holiday that all families deserve. However. And this is where I get all soapbox-y and pissed off. There are horrible people out there. Horrible, despicable greedy criminals that take advantage of others' good will. People that are always on the look out for ways to get their hands on more for themselves. So I encourage everybody that reads this blog to find some way this holiday season to help someone that needs it. Even if all you can give is a kind word to someone that is having a bad day. But please PLEASE be cautious to make sure that the donations you do give go to the right places so that they can get to those that need the help the most instead of lining the pockets of those that seem to think they deserve it.