Parties

I am so overwhelmed, I can barely write. Last Wednesday my playgroup gals threw a little party for me and my friend Taira (who is also moving next week), and today our friends threw a going away open house party for us. I don't even know what to say. My heart is so full of emotion I think it might explode. I had to excuse myself a few times today because I thought I was going to cry. I'm good at using frivolous excuses, such as "Caitlin is going to be killed by the swings" just to get away so I won't start weeping! (Okay, that's a valid excuse, but an excuse none-the-less). I am excited about our move, but the process is daunting. Packing while being a mommy of young kids is much harder than packing while single, even when you work full time! I'm sure that many out there agree with me! My time really isn't mine anymore. I took a few pictures today, but have no idea when they'll get online (Brian packed the computer yesterday). I don't know how I will cope without my extended support network of friends, especially those in the same stage of life as me. But just so you know, dear friends, I will miss each and every one of you. I wanted to say that here, since I forget to say things like that in life.

ikea

Monday morning was going by at a slow and cranky pace. In order to not become the mother-I-don't-want-to-be, I loaded the kids up in the car and headed off to Ikea. No one gives me any lip at Ikea. They just play. The two favored areas are the ball basket and the slide. Afterwards we eat, get our purchases, and go home. Always hoping that one falls asleep in the car on the way home. Everyone is happy, and I remain the sane mother-that-I-want-to-be.

Caitlin's Stats at 15 Months

Took Caitlin in for her 15 month appointment today. She's never really happy about going to the doctor's office. It will be nice when I can promise her something, like a lollipop, and get her in a good mood. I can't remember when that started working for Brandon, but I think it was around age 2. I just remember being completely amazed at the wondrous behavioural powers of the lollipop. I keep the in my bag at all times now, but use them rarely.

Here are Caitlin's latest stats:
height: 31 1/2 inches tall (85th percentile)
weight: 22 pounds, 12 ounces (50th percentile)

Brandon's stats at the same age:
height: 32 inches tall (75th percentile)
weight: 22 pounds, 4 ounces (18th percentile)

The charts must be different for girls and boys. I'm not getting flack for her weight, and she consistantly weighs only up to 8 ounces more at the same age (except for Brandon at 9 months, when he was a whopping 17.5 pounds and in the 5th percentile!). Dr. Auh thinks Caitlin will be a tall girl.

Caitlin walks, says a few words, eats with a spoon and fork (when we let her), stacks blocks, and is now amazingly good at climbing up on a slide, sitting down on her bottom and sliding down. 10 days ago she still thought she could climb to the top of the slide and walk down - resulting in a lot of tears and a lot of sand ingestion. She does a few things in sign language, like "all done" and "milk", and points and grunts when she wants anything else. If the diaper bag is on the floor, she'll go through it and bring you any treats she finds. She knows that Cheerios and crackers live in the diaper bag. She also throws all the diapers around the house, which is another story. The other day she balanced on a scooter at the park while a lady pushed her around on it. She doesn't talk much, but she understands everything. Just because she doesn't talk much doesn't mean she's quiet. I'm still getting use to everyone staring at us in the store because of Caitlin's loud singing! Caitlin has a slight ear infection, and is now on amoxicillin. This explains the general crankiness and gunky eyes she's had. I thought it was just allergies. Now we know that Benedryl doesn't do much for ear infections, but improves her overall sleep!

Today I met Jalyn

Today I met Jalyn. She's cute, she's sweet, we hit it off immediately. She's a girl of few words. At first she didn't know what to say to me. Being that she's never met me before, I wasn't too surprised. However, after a while we were acting like old buds. When I got to the park, she ran over to greet me like she'd know me forever! I grabbed her up in a big hug and tossed her up in the air. There were lots of giggles. She acted a lot like family, actually. She likes to be tossed in the air and thrown around! Jalyn's 22 months old. She's a pale redhead, and matches my two kids. She thinks I'm cool. I think she's cool, too. Then it hit me - why are all the people who think I'm cool under 4 years old? Hmmm..... maybe I need to rethink my friends "issues". Maybe it's me.....Maybe I'm trying to hard to be fun and likeable, and that's why I don't connect with a lot of people. Maybe I just need to hang with the under 4 crowd. Can't get into too much trouble doing milk shots, snacking on dino shaped Ritz, and discussing the subtle, but complex issues of Bob the Builder. I'm all for afternoon naps. Something to think about....

bored kids

Caitlin whines in stores. That's just what she does. It drives me insane, and I am really hoping that I will get use to it someday. However, since I've never gotten use to Brandon's whining I'm not holding my breath on Caitlin's. So today we are at Trader Joe's doing our "scaled down because we are moving in 3 weeks" shopping (it involves getting enough wine, cheese, and a few other not-so-important items to last a week or so). Caitlin is whining. I am asking her to shush. Some lady has the audacity to tell me that my daughter is bored. Bored, and, oh, "under stimulated" in the shopping cart. Exactly what am I suppose to do to "stimulate" a 15 month-old in a shopping cart when all she really wants to do is get down and run around? Invest more money in a gimicky cart cover that she'll never take to? Seriously, if one more person tells me that my kids are bored I'm going to hit her. Neither one of my kids likes grocery shopping. Since I don't own a gun or have the desire to go kill my own food, I guess we are just going to have to be bored and do our hunting and gathering in the frozen foods section. Why do random women feel the need to constantly give me advice in the store? Do I really come off as that bad of a mother? I'd like to string them up by their toenails, but the authorities are unforgiving about stuff like that. My kids are smart - a little too smart. No, I can't keep up with them. Get over it! It's a grocery store! My husband tells me to give the quick, squinty-eyed sarcastic smile. Since it's a lot nicer than what I want to do, I'll have to start.

Thank God for Daddy!

Today has been a rough day. You'd think it would have turned out wonderfully, as we didn't have anything to do today. I could wake up with the kids, get their day started out in a leisurely fashion, and just go from there. However, today I woke up the The Whiny Monster Who Has Taken Over Brandon's Body (aka TWMWHTOBB). TWMWHTOBB has done such a good job with the take-over that I really can't see any remnants of Brandon at all.

I was greeted at 7:15 this morning by TWMWHTOBB, whining that he wanted some cuddle time. He snuggled with me in bed (so cute), and we cuddled under the covers. At one point I thought that he had gone back to sleep. No such luck. Brandon can lay very still for long periods of time, making you think that he is sleeping when, in fact, he is not. After a while he said, "Don't you think it's time we got up and got me some milk?" If my answer is anything other than "yes" there is a flood of tears. TWMWHTOBB followed me into the kitchen, whined that he couldn't open the microwave to warm the milk, whined about pushing the start button, and whined that it was taking too long (I guess he hasn't gotten use to the 38 second warm-up after all). He whined as he drank his milk. He whined as I fast forwarded through the traffic reports on the news. He whined that Caitlin woke up and was whining. He whined at the park that I had forgotten his shovel. In fact, TWMWHTOBB has just been whining all day!!!! It's days like these that I start to wonder how I am going to raise these kids for the next 18 plus years when I can't even get through the next 18 minutes! My prayers all morning have been something to the effect of "Dear God, please make him stop whining." Or "Dear God, please don't let me kill him." And, "Dear God, please get me through the next few minutes." The loudness of my voice has gone a level or two higher, and I'm using the tone I reserve for use when I want a dog to sit down. I usually save this tone for special times, but not today. I think it has been the only tone I've used (maybe not, but my short term memory has blocked out chunks of this morning already). Both children are currently napping, and I thank God for that! The house is a train wreck, but at least it's a quiet one.

All this brings me to the title of this blog post - "Thank God for Daddy!" I have Bunco tonight! I get to leave the house....alone....and be with only adults for the evening. Thank God! If I didn't know that option was available, I might have already lost it with The Whiny Monster Who Has Taken Over Brandon's Body. I hope that the presence of Daddy, combined with the absence of Mommy, will calm Brandon down, make TWMWHTOBB go away, and create a pleasant evening for all. Let's pray for that, shall we?

Maybe She Shouldn't Have Short Hair

I'd like to blame the hardhat that she's holding for the lovely hairdo, but I can't. Caitlin has always slept well, and sometimes very hard. Like any kid, she sometimes sleeps under her blanky, resulting in a sweaty, messy mop of hair. Most 14 month olds don't have this much hair to begin with. Eventually, though, all parents of girls will have to deal with this kind of hairdo. Brian wakes up with hair that looks like this, but I don't. Let's hope that that it doesn't get worse as her hair gets longer!

HAPPY EASTER!

Hope you all had a fun Easter. Ours was filled with merriment!

The Horrors of Boating

Dear Diary --
once, when I was about 3 1/2, my mother subjected me to the most horrible or all horribles -- a boat ride! Unbeknownst to me, boating is a fine tradition on my mom's side of the family. Grandpa and Grandma actually took their children on boat rides in infancy! I cannot believe it! And, on top of it all, Grandma had the nerve to tell me that my mother liked it! She couldn't have ... she was only 6 months old on her first boat ride! Mom tells me that she likes the water, and that she use to water ski (and was pretty darn good). Yeah, right. The woman can't even get a good tan... you expect me to believe that she spent a good chunk of her childhood in the water? Dream on! Mom said things changed after getting married and having us kids (go ahead and blame it all on me and Caitlin... Go ahead....we're use to it). I am still shaking with grief and disbelief that I was subjected to all of this at such a tender age. What were they thinking? No wonder I can hardly stand to take a bath! Oddly, my mom tells me that although I screamed and cried during the entire affair, I couldn't stop talking about it after we were finished. She said that I kept saying how fun it was, and how I really liked it. (???) She is soo weird! Anyway, I found these pictures of us on one such boat ride. They are a little agonizing for me, but I take some comfort in knowing that you will see my point after viewing them.

Love, Brandon


Mom and me on the docks before the boat ride. As you can see, I am *not* happy about this.




I am trying to be happy, but it's hard

Grandma and Caitlin (I cannot figure out why she isn't shrieking! Does she actually *like* being on a boat?)

Grandpa and Caitlin


Caitlin trying out her sea legs


Thank you, God! I am finally off the boat!!


My Favorite Part.... Leaving!!!!


(If you want to see a few more pictures of our boat ride, go to our Picasaweb site.

Comparisons, Yet Again (14 & 15 months)

I find it funny when I take what turns out to be the same picture of each child at different times. Sometimes it's on purpose, but often times it not. Below are pictures of Brandon and Caitlin playing in the bike racks at the Community Center. Brandon is 15 1/2 months old, and Caitlin is 14 1/2 months old.

The Packing List

I find it very very sad that I now have to have a list of things to pack when we travel. It's on the computer, so I can quickly print it out before I leave. Otherwise, I'd probably end up forgetting my underwear. No one wants that. Especially me.