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5 months ago
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Transitions
I've had a pony-tail since high-school, and a beard for a similar ammount of time (outside of the occaisional halloween costume). The last time I cut off my pony-tail it was the begining of a time of transition, anger, and stress for me. This time it should be the opposite - an end of a time of anger and stress, transitioning to a new position at work. I'm at the beginning of my 6-week sabbatical, and I've completely left my old job behind. Nothing but vacation, relaxation, and a job I'm really looking forward to ahead of me.Anyway, it turns out that the pony-tail is long enough for "Locks of Love", so it will be going to a good cause. Here's a teaser shot for you all, and maybe later I'll post a headshot. :) For what it's worth Violet doesn't think it's as bad as she thought it would be.
Cheers,
Slipshod
**From Violet: It should be noted that we did not shave Slipshod's hair all the way down to the skin. I hope I didn't give the impression that's what was happening, because that was never the plan. Slipshod chose 1/2 inch as the length he wanted. It never occurred to me that since he has always worn his hair in a ponytail, we *know* the shape of his head, and his hairline, and that because of those things, with shaved hair he would look very much the same from the front. It's the side and back views that are different, and they're not bad. Pictures will be posted once he has a chance to finish up; he's still going to shave off most of his beard & go down to a goatee.**
Friday, May 25, 2007
Boys.
For years Slipshod has made noise about shaving his head during the summer. During the first 7 of our 8 years living in San Jose, we did not have air conditioning in our house and it got sooooooooo miserably hot. We closed the windows in the morning when it was still cool and opened them again after the sun went down, but there was only so much we could do to actually get our house to cool down. Those were the years when he talked the most about shaving his head.
The first time he mentioned it I thought he was joking. He has, after all, had long hair since before he was out of high school. All his friends who had ponytails have gotten theirs cut off in favor of a more groomed look. Slipshod, however, still has the ponytail, I think more out of laziness than anything else.
I have told him that if he decides to get his hair cut he must give me two weeks' notice so I can get used to the idea. The only frame of reference I have for what that might look like is his senior photo from high school (which was taken at the beginning of the year, you know how they do that, and which apparently bears no resemblance to how he looked at the end of that year). Getting his head shaved is something entirely different. His head is HUGE. I have often told him that with a shaved head I think he would look like Bull from Night Court.
Also important to this somewhat rambling tale is the fact that at EVERY opportunity, Slipshod feels it is his duty to give me crap. About whatever. Anything or nothing - it doesn't matter. He pokes, he prods, he cajoles. All in good fun, of course, but sometimes he pokes me in my insecurities and then just smiles to make me squirm because I'm wondering if he's serious or just giving me shit. Of course, he's always just giving me shit. It definitely is one of the ways in which he can bring me back to reality when I'm getting unrealistic, and it is usually funny. But sometimes he NEVER lets me hear the end of things.
Like the time way back when Toy Story was in theaters. He was having what we called a "geek party" - usually referred to as a LAN party, I believe, where people converge on one house with their computers, hook up to a server, and play usually very gory computer games for extended hours together.
I was doing something up in another town where I used to live. I knew that his party would be going into the wee hours of the morning so I called to ask if he would be too upset if I went to see Toy Story in the theater with friends, but without him. He encouraged me to go do that so he could keep playing games with his friends and I could do something fun with my friends rather than being at home griping about how they were too loud for me to sleep at 3am.
To this day, despite the fact that he encouraged me to go see that movie with friends, he gives me ALL KINDS of crap, in his best hurt-sounding voice, about "that time you went to see Toy Story without me."
Obviously he keeps poking at me about thinks like that because I react. But I told him in the past that I would not shave his head because he would probably never let me hear the end of it. It would be Sampson & Delilah jokes for eternity.
Well, anyway, Slipshod is going to go visit his dad in Mexico soon, and apparently it's rather hot and muggy down there right now. He is once again making noise about shaving his head. Correction - he is once again ASKING ME TO SHAVE HIS HEAD.
I think he's actually serious this time. He is about to have extended leave from work, so what better time to try out a crazy haircut he's always wanted to do? This morning we talked about it. I told him that if he really truly wants me to shave his head he will have to sign a written contract not to give me crap about it. He said, "why?" I said, "yeah, I guess I could just not take your crap." He said, "yes."
So, wish me luck. I do not think he will look good with a shaved head, but shouldn't we all be able to try one or two of our crazy ideas once in a while? I do think the girls will freak out a bit when they see him with only half an inch of hair - especially Sweet Pea. But, she was worried about me after my last haircut too, and she warmed up to me again within an hour. hee hee!
We'll see how it goes. At least him having a shaved head should stop our shower drain from plugging quite so often.
Believe me, I will post pictures of this insanity when it occurs. Should be within the next week.
The first time he mentioned it I thought he was joking. He has, after all, had long hair since before he was out of high school. All his friends who had ponytails have gotten theirs cut off in favor of a more groomed look. Slipshod, however, still has the ponytail, I think more out of laziness than anything else.
I have told him that if he decides to get his hair cut he must give me two weeks' notice so I can get used to the idea. The only frame of reference I have for what that might look like is his senior photo from high school (which was taken at the beginning of the year, you know how they do that, and which apparently bears no resemblance to how he looked at the end of that year). Getting his head shaved is something entirely different. His head is HUGE. I have often told him that with a shaved head I think he would look like Bull from Night Court.
Also important to this somewhat rambling tale is the fact that at EVERY opportunity, Slipshod feels it is his duty to give me crap. About whatever. Anything or nothing - it doesn't matter. He pokes, he prods, he cajoles. All in good fun, of course, but sometimes he pokes me in my insecurities and then just smiles to make me squirm because I'm wondering if he's serious or just giving me shit. Of course, he's always just giving me shit. It definitely is one of the ways in which he can bring me back to reality when I'm getting unrealistic, and it is usually funny. But sometimes he NEVER lets me hear the end of things.
Like the time way back when Toy Story was in theaters. He was having what we called a "geek party" - usually referred to as a LAN party, I believe, where people converge on one house with their computers, hook up to a server, and play usually very gory computer games for extended hours together.
I was doing something up in another town where I used to live. I knew that his party would be going into the wee hours of the morning so I called to ask if he would be too upset if I went to see Toy Story in the theater with friends, but without him. He encouraged me to go do that so he could keep playing games with his friends and I could do something fun with my friends rather than being at home griping about how they were too loud for me to sleep at 3am.
To this day, despite the fact that he encouraged me to go see that movie with friends, he gives me ALL KINDS of crap, in his best hurt-sounding voice, about "that time you went to see Toy Story without me."
Obviously he keeps poking at me about thinks like that because I react. But I told him in the past that I would not shave his head because he would probably never let me hear the end of it. It would be Sampson & Delilah jokes for eternity.
Well, anyway, Slipshod is going to go visit his dad in Mexico soon, and apparently it's rather hot and muggy down there right now. He is once again making noise about shaving his head. Correction - he is once again ASKING ME TO SHAVE HIS HEAD.
I think he's actually serious this time. He is about to have extended leave from work, so what better time to try out a crazy haircut he's always wanted to do? This morning we talked about it. I told him that if he really truly wants me to shave his head he will have to sign a written contract not to give me crap about it. He said, "why?" I said, "yeah, I guess I could just not take your crap." He said, "yes."
So, wish me luck. I do not think he will look good with a shaved head, but shouldn't we all be able to try one or two of our crazy ideas once in a while? I do think the girls will freak out a bit when they see him with only half an inch of hair - especially Sweet Pea. But, she was worried about me after my last haircut too, and she warmed up to me again within an hour. hee hee!
We'll see how it goes. At least him having a shaved head should stop our shower drain from plugging quite so often.
Believe me, I will post pictures of this insanity when it occurs. Should be within the next week.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Happy Birthday To Meeeeeee!
Hey, it's my blog, whaddaya gonna do. Ha ha! I've always enjoyed my birthday and am not shy about letting people know it's today. Grin.
Sorry it's been so incredibly boring here lately - after a very very long lull, we have been super busy! Out of the house for kids' birthday parties and visits to the twins I asked you all to send good vibes to - by the way, thanks for all you did, they have both been home for 5 weeks now, I think, and are growing well and looking great.
Monday we took our cats to the vet for a long overdue checkup and they got SO MANY SHOTS. They were really sore for almost two days. They're all better now, though, and back to their kittenish ways. We are probably going to start letting them outside in a month (after they get their lieukemia booster & we wait two more weeks) because they keep squirting out past our feet when we open the doors anyway. I am scared of them getting squished by cars, but as the vet said, if they're trying that hard to get outside, there is a quality of life issue to consider.
Today my parents are bringing lunch over and hanging out with me and the girls for the afternoon in celebration of my birthday. Retirement is a wonderful thing.
The week before last Sweet Pea decided she was ready to move out of our bed. She has been sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor in our room since then. I got her some cute kitty cat sheets for the twin mattress to make the transition a little more fun. She is falling out of bed now and then and besides that I haven't found a bed frame that's not way too expensive, so for now it's just a mattress on the floor. That mattress is half of our guest bed anyway, so we'll figure out the details later. Looks like she's going to stick with this, so we'll need to buy her her own mattress now. She tells me that she wants to sleep with us "always and forever," though, even when she's in college. I have to laugh. Sometimes it seems like she'll never be in her own room, but when I really think about it I will probably be the one having a hard time when she does make that transition. I really love having both girls in our room.
The Bug can stand on her own without holding onto anything, although when she realizes she's doing that, she grabs onto whatever is closest to her.
We have spent a good part of the past few days with our friends across the street and are REALLY enjoying their company, even though the little boy pushes Sweet Pea off whatever little vehicle she chooses to ride when we're outside (well, he tries, anyway). Yesterday they walked to the grocery store with us - we had a big stroller parade, ha ha - and afterward I treated us all to smoothies and the kids played in the little fountain area of the shopping center before we came home. There has been another neighbor family out with their two boys this week, too, and it's fun to have all the kids playing together. Sweet Pea is loving this. And so am I!
Sorry it's been so incredibly boring here lately - after a very very long lull, we have been super busy! Out of the house for kids' birthday parties and visits to the twins I asked you all to send good vibes to - by the way, thanks for all you did, they have both been home for 5 weeks now, I think, and are growing well and looking great.
Monday we took our cats to the vet for a long overdue checkup and they got SO MANY SHOTS. They were really sore for almost two days. They're all better now, though, and back to their kittenish ways. We are probably going to start letting them outside in a month (after they get their lieukemia booster & we wait two more weeks) because they keep squirting out past our feet when we open the doors anyway. I am scared of them getting squished by cars, but as the vet said, if they're trying that hard to get outside, there is a quality of life issue to consider.
Today my parents are bringing lunch over and hanging out with me and the girls for the afternoon in celebration of my birthday. Retirement is a wonderful thing.
The week before last Sweet Pea decided she was ready to move out of our bed. She has been sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor in our room since then. I got her some cute kitty cat sheets for the twin mattress to make the transition a little more fun. She is falling out of bed now and then and besides that I haven't found a bed frame that's not way too expensive, so for now it's just a mattress on the floor. That mattress is half of our guest bed anyway, so we'll figure out the details later. Looks like she's going to stick with this, so we'll need to buy her her own mattress now. She tells me that she wants to sleep with us "always and forever," though, even when she's in college. I have to laugh. Sometimes it seems like she'll never be in her own room, but when I really think about it I will probably be the one having a hard time when she does make that transition. I really love having both girls in our room.
The Bug can stand on her own without holding onto anything, although when she realizes she's doing that, she grabs onto whatever is closest to her.
We have spent a good part of the past few days with our friends across the street and are REALLY enjoying their company, even though the little boy pushes Sweet Pea off whatever little vehicle she chooses to ride when we're outside (well, he tries, anyway). Yesterday they walked to the grocery store with us - we had a big stroller parade, ha ha - and afterward I treated us all to smoothies and the kids played in the little fountain area of the shopping center before we came home. There has been another neighbor family out with their two boys this week, too, and it's fun to have all the kids playing together. Sweet Pea is loving this. And so am I!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Pix to Compare
We've always thought our girls looked alike, but it's been hard to compare them very closely because they move so quickly! ha ha And we couldn't find any baby pictures of Sweet Pea that were similar enough to a pose that The Bug makes. But when he was looking through our photos to print some for his grandmother for Mother's Day, Slipshod found this shot of Sweet Pea (from 2004) in the blue sweatshirt, hugging a big stuffed bear, and used it and the following picture of The Bug, which you have already seen, to make a wonderful Mother's Day card for me. Tell me what you think - do you think people will be able to tell that they're sisters? :o)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Blurt
Before I begin (okay, I'm editing after adding the pictures)... I have no idea how I managed to underline all my text, and I can't figure out how to undo it. So, happy reading... heh.I have no formal thought process going on here that might lead to a coherent post. Just feel like putting down some stuff that's been going on.
I hope you moms had a great Mother's Day. I had a really really nice one. Slipshod took Sweet Pea out for half of Saturday (to get my gift, I later learned). During the time they were gone I could not BELIEVE how much I was able to get done. I don't know why I ever thought it was difficult to have one baby - I was here with The Bug and it was so easy to actually accomplish something. (Of course, my MIL points out that it depends on the baby.) While she napped I washed the dishes and farted around on the computer. I was just getting ready to eat lunch when she woke up but she was happy to nurse while I ate. Then I fed her her solid food lunch, cleaned her up, changed her diaper and clothes, and then popped her in the backpack carrier while I vacuumed the house, upstairs and down. We followed that up with a walk outside, around the circle and to the nearby park, then home via Jamba Juice. Sweet Pea and Slipshod were still out so I took the time to take all the toys off the Exersaucer, wipe them off, wipe off the Exersaucer, and put it away. The Bug hasn't wanted to be in it since she got really good at crawling, and although Sweet Pea thinks it's fun to get into the Exersaucer, she's of course WAY too big for it, and we had started using it to just put stuff on when we walked in and out of the kitchen. So, now that's put away, we have a big clear space where it used to be - it's fantastic to have more walking room - and our friends with the twins will be inheriting the Exersaucer. Yay! I can't remember what The Bug and I did after that, but it was truly amazing how much I was able to accomplish in half a day with only one kid to care for.
Sunday was nice - we went to the retirement community where Slipshod's maternal grandmother lives and had lunch with her, Slipshod's mom & her hubby, and his sister, her hubby, and her two teenagers. We then spent a couple hours outside in the courtyard, where The Bug oohed and ahhed over the flowers, took a nap, and Sweet Pea got her dress all wet cleaning the dead/dropped flowers out of the fountain with her hands. We didn't mean to stay so long but it was a nice day. Slipshod had taken Sweet Pea to the shop owned by the guy who made our wedding rings, and they chose a really pretty necklace for me - a white gold circle with a Celtic knot pattern on it, and a sapphire in the middle, on a white gold chain. It is so pretty and I just love it - I'm wearing it every day. I must say, this was actually the best Mother's Day I have ever had. In the past there has not been much in the way of acknowlegement by Slipshod - usually some flowers from the guy on the street, or from the grocery store. While I acknowledge that Mother's Day is a moneymaking scheme thought up by Hallmark, it is still nice to be treated especially well one day per year. Slipshod even did the dishes while I put the kids to bed for once, so that for the first time in - um, ever, I think, I was able to come downstairs after the girls were in bed and actually sit and relax for a while before going to bed, instead of going through the usual ritual of put girls to bed, wash all the dishes, sweep the floor, pick up toys, etc. before I can sit down and relax. So, it was a good weekend.
Yesterday, however, Slipshod, who had sprouted a personality for the weekend, was right back into his work-induced stress funk. He couldn't stop pulling on his beard and staring into space long enough to talk to me or listen to Sweet Pea telling him things, there was no smiling, etc. etc. I sure hope this clears up soon 'cause I'm SO done with it.
Now, of course, we're back to life as usual, and unfortunately The Bug is sleeping like - well, like shit. She wakes up every half hour or hour at night (for the past two nights) and yesterday she didn't nap until 4pm. Today she could not stay asleep at her usual post-breakfast naptime either, so she's playing. She's not eating a whole lot at mealtimes but is nursing more than usual. Her gums are getting a bit lumpier so I think we may FINALLY see some new teeth in the next month or so. She was going gangbusters at first with the teething - cut 2 per month from December though February - and then she just stopped. I keep telling her that I expect the next bunch to be four or six teeth, and I am totally serious. I have put up with enough lost sleep and madness from her not taking a nap. She should be DONE teething by now for all the sleep problems she's had. God, I can't WAIT until she's done teething and I can sleep again.
As for the cold we had - I think that it is finally almost completely gone. The stuffy noses stayed around so long in the girls that I started to think that we were looking at allergies, but now things truly seem to be clearing up. It's about time - The Bug started with this thing three weeks ago yesterday.
Well, back to the madness. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
A Story from the Mind of a Three-Year-Old
As dictated to Mommy by Sweet Pea on May 2, 2007
while we sat together, talked, and drew the picture above
(with parenthetical comments by Mommy)
(For the record, despite the fact that the way she draws kitties produces completely adorable results, Sweet Pea insisted that I draw all the kitties on the bridge in the picture. She drew everything else.)
*Ahem.*
"One sunny day the kitties were climbing onto the bridge over the sea. They just loved the sun shining on their tails. They wanted to go in the sea but a sea kitty cat creature popped up. Then the kitties goed (went) riding their kitty cat trikes and climbing the bridge and met their kitty cat friends. Then they saw a cup bird (??? I have no idea) and then there was a big splash on the big bridge. Then there was a kitty and a cup bird and they were all mixed up together. The kitty cat smashed a leaf with its kitty cat smasher (?).
Then the kitties were at home going "meow, meow" and looking out the window. They went outside and played baseball with their kitty cat friends on a sunny, grassy day. Then they went inside because it started raining.
Now the kitties jumped over the fence and grabbed a branch and smashed it with their kitty cat smasher."
The End.
In Support of Maggie
Okay, yet again public breastfeeding is in the news - well, blogs, anyway, this time in the person of Maggie Gyllenhaal. Once again the Queen of Spain is POed, and today her exasperated call for support involves blogging your boobs. Karl, joining the cause with, I believe, true support as well as a thinly disguised lust for pictures of women's breasts, has posted a picture of his man boobs. Go Karl.
I nurse wherever I am so it doesn't bother me to post a couple nursing shots, and I believe these with a baby attached speak more to the cause than both of them alone would anyway (no offense Erin, I know you're not nursing anymore but you DID, a LOT, and yours are the receptacles from which your babies gained their nourishment so yeah, why don't I just shut up now because I don't even know what I'm trying to say). So sorry, Karl, no full frontal.
I nurse wherever I am so it doesn't bother me to post a couple nursing shots, and I believe these with a baby attached speak more to the cause than both of them alone would anyway (no offense Erin, I know you're not nursing anymore but you DID, a LOT, and yours are the receptacles from which your babies gained their nourishment so yeah, why don't I just shut up now because I don't even know what I'm trying to say). So sorry, Karl, no full frontal.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Bleh.
It's so pretty outside - summer weather - and the girls and I are sick. Colds. The Bug and I have actually had this since last Monday. I thought we were both pretty close to being over it, but suddenly we're both worse today. She is a LOT worse. And now Sweet Pea has it. She woke up in the middle of the night Saturday night with a sore throat and since then has also gotten a stuffy nose and post nasal drip. Joy.
Of course we can still do our usual thing at home, but we haven't played with the family across the street for over a week and we miss them! We can't go over, though - they have a newborn, and even if they didn't it wouldn't be nice to go over there with the girls snotty nosed and sneezing.
Oh well. It was a partylicious weekend for Dad. We had a lot of fun but it was also supremely disruptive to our routine. I always go on about not having a schedule, but when we have weekends like that, it seems like we really do, because we get so screwed up by late dinner reservations and stuff like that. Today we are laying low and would be even if we weren't sick. Today I just want to lay around, eat, play, and not be reponsible for anything other than the usual safety of my children.
Of course we can still do our usual thing at home, but we haven't played with the family across the street for over a week and we miss them! We can't go over, though - they have a newborn, and even if they didn't it wouldn't be nice to go over there with the girls snotty nosed and sneezing.
Oh well. It was a partylicious weekend for Dad. We had a lot of fun but it was also supremely disruptive to our routine. I always go on about not having a schedule, but when we have weekends like that, it seems like we really do, because we get so screwed up by late dinner reservations and stuff like that. Today we are laying low and would be even if we weren't sick. Today I just want to lay around, eat, play, and not be reponsible for anything other than the usual safety of my children.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
The Youngest Octogenarian I Know
Today my dad turns 80. EIGHTY. My DAD, not my grandpa. My DAD. EIGHTY. 80.
And suddenly, 80 doesn't seem so old anymore.
Dad was born in Bozeman Montana in 1927, the only child of German immigrants Karolina and Johann. He grew up in Montana and lived through the Great Depression. He says that Bozeman did rather well during the Great Depression because the residents were willing to barter goods and services, so in return for meat from his father's butcher shop, other residents gave eggs, milk, flour, etc.
When Dad was 13 his father spent some time in Washington state starting to set up a joint shop with another man. They were doing the work on the building themselves. At Easter time my father and grandmother went to join my grandfather in Washington, and when they arrived they were told that he had fallen off a ladder and died.
My grandmother lived into my dad's early 30s, I believe, and after he finished school he bought her a smaller house in Bozeman. He was drafted into the Navy during the last year of World War II. Yes, WWII. Not Korea or Viet Nam. WWII. My dad, not my grandpa.
After my grandmother died Dad moved to California, where he met my mother, who was a young new teacher. They met while they were both members of the church choir. He was 35 when they married and 36 when my oldest sister was born (44 by the time I showed up). After my siblings and I were born my dad was transferred (he worked for the US gummint his entire career) to West Virginia, where we lived until I was in high school. The entire 12 years we lived there, no matter how many wonderful friends we made, Dad always talked about coming back to California and kept his contacts here. Eventually his work putting in for transfers, etc. paid off.
In 1993, after my college graduation (I'm the youngest so it was the last), Dad retired. Since then he mostly enjoys working around his and Mom's 5 acres, making sure his two small orchards of fruit trees are healthy and happy. He really really enjoys having his kids around as well, so we'll be having a family dinner for him this weekend and my brother is even coming out from across the country! That will be fun.
It's pretty hard to believe that Dad is 80 now, but despite the fact that I do remember when he had black hair and no wrinkles, I am always happy to realize how great his health is. The biggest brush with bad health he has had was a cancer scare (prostate, which is to be expected in men who live this long). The doctors caught it early, did some kind of newfangled procedure that was minimally invasive, it was successful, and he has been in complete remission for the past 7 years.
When I was 14 I went back to Montana with Dad and Mom for one of Dad's big high school reunions. I hung out with one of his classmates' granddaughters who was my age. You would not believe how much better Dad looked than any of the rest of the gang. Most of them had a lot more white hair and wrinkles than he did, but other things too - like oxygen tanks. I think those German genes he's got give him really good health. He is quite active and maybe it's just because he's my dad, but I just don't think of him as being old.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Just Maybe
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday
I don't know why Sweet Pea has started not wanting to have her picture taken - I didn't think that sort of behavior kicked in until teenagerhood. Bummer. We had stopped to get gas and I just thought she looked so cute with a book on her lap, a drink handy, and Rainbow stuffed into her car seat next to her.
The Brookdale lodge has a long and glorious history: It was built in the 1890s and famous folk such as Herbert Hoover and various movie stars used to stay there. Most of the glory has faded, let me tell you. Really, really faded. But it was clean enough (only just), and in a beautiful area off Highway 9 (just outside of Ben Lomond). Pretty much every area off Highway 9 is pretty.
This was the room we stayed in. Slipshod's mom reserved the suite for us so we'd have enough bed space, and also because Slipshod and his sister and brother-in-law and niece and her boyfriend were planning to play Wii games in our lounge area. Slipshod's mom thought the living room/lounge area would be a separate room. As it turned out, it was all just one big room, and since the girls had to go to bed right after dinner and even doing that we kept them up an hour later than usual, they had to play their games in Slipshod's sister's room. It turned out alright, and the big room was nice - gave the girls lots of room to play - but I felt kind of bad having the big room but not being able to let the others use it for the intended purpose. Oh well - we did have family gatherings in the morning, since we had a kitchenette. That meant we had coffee in our room.
This is the dining room, where we ate dinner Friday night. The brook runs right through the restaurant! Pretty cool. We had a long table on the balcony in the middle - where the woman in the white shirt is standing. It was good that we were off by ourselves with a dance floor for the kids to run/craw around on, because service was wildly slow. Took two hours for us to get in and out, and I had to go ask if they remembered that we ordered dessert. Yeesh!
Keep reading - the next two posts are about the weekend as well - mostly pictures.
At the Aquarium
I can't remember the name of these jellies, but they are SO cool looking - their tentacles are shorter and triangular rather than long and spaghetti-like. There were other kinds of jellies with other neato kinds of tentacles, but we got more video than photos.
Saturday at the Aquarium
Sweet Pea could not WAIT to see the jellyfish at the aquarium.
She was not disappointed (click to see these pictures larger - it's worth it!).
The Bug has become such a ham! She now periodically stops nursing to make faces at me. I guess it doesn't help that I make faces back at her. She also started chattering almost nonstop on Friday (to date she has been pretty quiet most of the time, though she definitely has chatty moments). She seems to have the ability to make every sound she will need to speak - they're just not organized into words yet, but she is definitely mimicking sounds. And as I have already posted, she already says a few words.
Oh - for anyone from our SJ play group who is reading this, I want you to know that The Bug LOVES her Baby Bjorn which you all SO kindly gave us before she was born. Every day she crawls over to the front door entryway, pulls the Bjorn out of her car seat (which sits on the tile by the front door) and begs to be taken outside for a walk (and nearly every day we go out). "Bjorn" is even one of her most often used words. She pronounces it "BYA!" yes, she yells it. And points. She points all the time now, at everything. And she knows to point up if she wants to get out of her seat at the table, or car seat, or if she wants to get up into her "BYA!" hee hee! So once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for that! We just love it. :o)
Sweet Pea really really wanted to see the beach, so after we left the aquarium we went down to the beach access in the middle of the shops/restaurant area in Monterey. It was after 6pm and was chilly, but she wanted to make "sand kitties." I am not sure what she was doing pulling up her dress - I don't even remember her doing that. Looks like a modern dance or something to me. But we did end up taking off her tights and sandals. Then she fell and skinned her knee on a rock, and that was pretty much the end of the visit to the beach.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Goings On
Lately we have been having so much fun with our new neighbors across the street. They moved here from Illinois in January, if I remember correctly. They have a very energetic little 3-year-old boy who Sweet Pea loves to play with. He has a kazillion little vehicles that he rides around outside at least twice per day, sometimes three or four times. Which means that we can usually catch them for one play time per day. It has gotten Sweet Pea, the Bug and I out WAY more often than we used to get outside, which is wonderful, and I have a mommy friend to talk to who is right across the street! I am loving that. In our old neighborhood there were plenty of moms and kids, but I didn't speak the right language to be able to hang out with them very effectively.
This is more like what I grew up with - families just getting to know each other because the kids are out playing, unstructured/unplanned play dates, fresh air, impromptu offers of drinks, getting to hold the neighbors' new baby boy, etc. It's really nice. Our neighborhood is in the shape of a small circle and these neighbors live on an outside part of the circle that has the perfect vantage point. You can see the entrance to the neighborhood around one curve and down to where it curves around on the other side as well, so you can stand or sit in their driveway and keep the kids safe with voice control, because once you see a car you have plenty of time to tell them to get out of the road. This allows us to allow Sweet Pea and her little friend to ride their tricycles/tractors/foot-powered plastic cars/pedal cars in the street a lot during the day while there is no traffic in or out of our neighborhood. If we're out when everyone's coming home we keep them a bit closer, but this is pretty ideal.
I have so much more to yack about, but nothing groundbreaking, just the usual. However, I need to go get going now to start getting us packed for our family vacation this weekend. We'll be staying in the Santa Cruz Mountains and going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday. Sweet Pea CANNOT WAIT to see the jellyfish. The big new exhibit is about otters, though, and she's pretty excited about that too. I am so looking forward to seeing her experience such a neato place for the first time.
This is more like what I grew up with - families just getting to know each other because the kids are out playing, unstructured/unplanned play dates, fresh air, impromptu offers of drinks, getting to hold the neighbors' new baby boy, etc. It's really nice. Our neighborhood is in the shape of a small circle and these neighbors live on an outside part of the circle that has the perfect vantage point. You can see the entrance to the neighborhood around one curve and down to where it curves around on the other side as well, so you can stand or sit in their driveway and keep the kids safe with voice control, because once you see a car you have plenty of time to tell them to get out of the road. This allows us to allow Sweet Pea and her little friend to ride their tricycles/tractors/foot-powered plastic cars/pedal cars in the street a lot during the day while there is no traffic in or out of our neighborhood. If we're out when everyone's coming home we keep them a bit closer, but this is pretty ideal.
I have so much more to yack about, but nothing groundbreaking, just the usual. However, I need to go get going now to start getting us packed for our family vacation this weekend. We'll be staying in the Santa Cruz Mountains and going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday. Sweet Pea CANNOT WAIT to see the jellyfish. The big new exhibit is about otters, though, and she's pretty excited about that too. I am so looking forward to seeing her experience such a neato place for the first time.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Monday Confessional
I totally lost my shit this morning. I feel, once again, like a horrible mother. But I also feel completely overwhelmed, which is why I lost my shit.
I am on my knees, at the mercy of halflings (not the JRR Tolkein kind). I'll be the mom with bed head and jammies, laying in the back yard dejectedly at 3pm while the children beat me senseless with whiffle bats.
So, it was a normal morning - get up, eat breakfast, take The Bug upstairs for a diaper change, nurse her, take her up for a nap, note her perky awake eyes and smile, take her back downstairs, play with kids for a while, change her diaper again, take her back downstairs and try again.
Sweet Pea always goes upstairs with us for the diaper changes. She usually dresses a stuffed animal or "reads" a book while she waits, unless she prefers to spend the time running around saying, "Mommy, look how fast I can run!" Today was a reading day. She didn't start until I was ready to go back downstairs, though, and had just started leafing through a pretty long book.
When I was finished with the diaper change I told her I was going downstairs to nurse The Bug again. She said, "no, Mommy. Wait until I finish reading my book."
"No," I told her. "You can stay and read if you want, or bring the book downstairs and I will read it to you. But I am going down right now."
Off I went, singing to The Bug on the way down the stairs. When she heard my voice getting further away, Sweet Pea started calling, "Mama! Come back up here! I'm still reading! Wait until I finish my book!"
"No," I told her, "I told you I was coming down - I have things to do. You come downstairs if you want to be together."
There was a lot more of that, and eventually she turned into a screaming, sobbing pile at the top of the stairs.
"Mama, come back up! Mama, come back and then I'll come down!" and so on.
I turned up the TV but of course the screaming from upstairs and the loud TV did nothing to keep The Bug nursing, much less get her to calm down enough to nap. I turned off the TV. I called up to Sweet Pea and told her to come down. The same sort of bossy demands returned. I told her "no" yet again, and encouraged her to come down. I told her this was not such a big deal that she needed to have a fit. I reminded her that I am her mother and as such am in charge and that she cannot order me around. Not exactly in those words.
I tured the TV back on and tried to just drown out the noise. There was nothing to watch except a PBS thing called "Keeping Kids Healthy" that was all about Whooping Cough and scared the crap out of me. I turned the TV off again.
I couldn't hand the screaming anymore. The pointless tantrum. I totally, completely lost my shit.
"GO TAKE A NAP!" I screamed.
"I don't want to take a nap," Sweet Pea protested.
"GO. INTO. A. BEDROOM. AND. CLOSE. THE. DOOR. NOW. I CAN'T HANDLE ALL THE NOISE YOU'RE MAKING."
"No, Mama!"
"THEN SHUT UP!"
Sweet Pea tried hard to stop making noise. The Bug looked at me with a scared, unsure look on her face. She started to cry. Sweet Pea came back downstairs. Her eyes were pink and hugely swollen from all the pointless crying. Her hair was flat. She looked like she'd been crying for hours longer than she had. She draped herself across my lap, played with my hair and laid her head on my chest.
I explained to her quietly how I got to the point of screaming like that, so that I scared her. And her sister. And myself. She quickly returned to her playful self and handed The Bug the ribbon for the huge goldfish balloon we have in the family room, and they giggled and played with the balloon. I kept talking to her about what had been happening for the past half hour or so and she didn't say much. I finally sat her down, made sure she was listening to me and we made an agreement to try not to do that anymore. She will try not to throw pointless tantrums, and I will try not to scream my head off.
I hope it works.
I am on my knees, at the mercy of halflings (not the JRR Tolkein kind). I'll be the mom with bed head and jammies, laying in the back yard dejectedly at 3pm while the children beat me senseless with whiffle bats.
So, it was a normal morning - get up, eat breakfast, take The Bug upstairs for a diaper change, nurse her, take her up for a nap, note her perky awake eyes and smile, take her back downstairs, play with kids for a while, change her diaper again, take her back downstairs and try again.
Sweet Pea always goes upstairs with us for the diaper changes. She usually dresses a stuffed animal or "reads" a book while she waits, unless she prefers to spend the time running around saying, "Mommy, look how fast I can run!" Today was a reading day. She didn't start until I was ready to go back downstairs, though, and had just started leafing through a pretty long book.
When I was finished with the diaper change I told her I was going downstairs to nurse The Bug again. She said, "no, Mommy. Wait until I finish reading my book."
"No," I told her. "You can stay and read if you want, or bring the book downstairs and I will read it to you. But I am going down right now."
Off I went, singing to The Bug on the way down the stairs. When she heard my voice getting further away, Sweet Pea started calling, "Mama! Come back up here! I'm still reading! Wait until I finish my book!"
"No," I told her, "I told you I was coming down - I have things to do. You come downstairs if you want to be together."
There was a lot more of that, and eventually she turned into a screaming, sobbing pile at the top of the stairs.
"Mama, come back up! Mama, come back and then I'll come down!" and so on.
I turned up the TV but of course the screaming from upstairs and the loud TV did nothing to keep The Bug nursing, much less get her to calm down enough to nap. I turned off the TV. I called up to Sweet Pea and told her to come down. The same sort of bossy demands returned. I told her "no" yet again, and encouraged her to come down. I told her this was not such a big deal that she needed to have a fit. I reminded her that I am her mother and as such am in charge and that she cannot order me around. Not exactly in those words.
I tured the TV back on and tried to just drown out the noise. There was nothing to watch except a PBS thing called "Keeping Kids Healthy" that was all about Whooping Cough and scared the crap out of me. I turned the TV off again.
I couldn't hand the screaming anymore. The pointless tantrum. I totally, completely lost my shit.
"GO TAKE A NAP!" I screamed.
"I don't want to take a nap," Sweet Pea protested.
"GO. INTO. A. BEDROOM. AND. CLOSE. THE. DOOR. NOW. I CAN'T HANDLE ALL THE NOISE YOU'RE MAKING."
"No, Mama!"
"THEN SHUT UP!"
Sweet Pea tried hard to stop making noise. The Bug looked at me with a scared, unsure look on her face. She started to cry. Sweet Pea came back downstairs. Her eyes were pink and hugely swollen from all the pointless crying. Her hair was flat. She looked like she'd been crying for hours longer than she had. She draped herself across my lap, played with my hair and laid her head on my chest.
I explained to her quietly how I got to the point of screaming like that, so that I scared her. And her sister. And myself. She quickly returned to her playful self and handed The Bug the ribbon for the huge goldfish balloon we have in the family room, and they giggled and played with the balloon. I kept talking to her about what had been happening for the past half hour or so and she didn't say much. I finally sat her down, made sure she was listening to me and we made an agreement to try not to do that anymore. She will try not to throw pointless tantrums, and I will try not to scream my head off.
I hope it works.
Oops
I am so not with it. I didn't realize yesterday was Earth Day until two people mentioned it to me. I felt it was sort of a big deal because even though I teach Sweet Pea by my actions that it's good to recycle, turn off the water while soaping up her hands and brushing her teeth, and otherwise do good things for the environment, I thought it would be another good thing to use the community awareness to focus on those things for a day.
However...
What kind of diapers was The Bug wearing? Disposable. I couldn't use her usual cotton diapers because we didn't have any clean diaper covers, and our clothes washer broke on Friday. Yeah, right when I got in to a rhythm with the laundry. Slipshod spent the weekend doing some online research, lots of measuring, and he went out and bought one yesterday at a local store. It will be delivered tomorrow.
Anyway, once I did realize that it was Earth Day, I pulled out a little children's activity book I had bought before Sweet Pea was even born, called "Every Day is Earth Day!" We pulled an egg carton out of the recycling and painted it and started to make it into a kitty bus. Pictures to come, when we finish the project.
Later in the day yesterday I took the girls out for a walk to the store. Sweet Pea got to ride in the stroller (yes, it's very close and she could totally walk, but she likes to ride and it makes me feel better when she does - we have to walk along a main road to get there), and The Bug in the Bjorn. Both where they like to be when we walk to the store. We were there far too long but they both did very well. I couldn't buy everything on my list because whatever I bought had to fit into the basket under the stroller. So, no cat food. But Slipshod can pick the other items up tonight.
While at the store we spent quite a while in the hair aisle, me looking for barrettes that will actually hold Sweet Pea's hair, while Sweet Pea reached and begged for all the cute, bright hair brushes and combs. I hope I managed to get some things that will work with her hair. For barrettes we've just been using the totally cheapo plastic ones that are made in the shape of flowers, bows, and animals. Sweet Pea picked them out last summer. But now it takes FOUR of those, two on each side, to keep her hair out of her face.
Besides the metal barrettes I bought for her, I also got us both some stretchy headbands. We'll see how they work. Sweet Pea likes hers (the blue one, of course), but it keeps sliding out of her hair - down the back. Argh. That probably means that mine will do the same. What I really need is a haircut anyway.
And speaking of hair, both of my girls are so attached to my hair. Sweet Pea used to play with it while she was nursing, and still likes to touch my hair while she's falling asleep at night, and when she is sad or hurt or scared. Now the Bug plays with my hair while she nurses, and sometimes if she doesn't fall asleep nuring or if she wakes up in the middle of the night and doesn't need to nurse, she seems to have to touch my hair to get back to sleep. Their need to touch my hair is sweet, touching, endearing... and sometimes a bit much.
For the most part I love that touching my hair can calm them down so effectively, but Sweet Pea moved out of our bed on her own recently - we put a twin mattress in our bedroom (she didn't want to be out of the room, but thought it might be nice to have her own space in her own bed). The first and only night she slept there was fine - as per usual, since she doesn't nap anymore, she fell asleep before The Bug did. She did move back up into our bed around 5am, but would have stayed in her own bed if I had agreed to snuggle there with her. I think it might have taken if she had not fallen asleep and taken a nap the next day. She just fell asleep on teh couch in the afternoon because she was still getting over a cold, if I remember correctly. Now she talks about sleeping in her own bed, but doesn't do it. She says that it's because she likes to play with my hair while she falls to sleep. I asked her if getting something that had my hair on it would make the difference, and she said "yes" but then decided the next day that that wouldn't do it.
A while back I searched for some kind of hair lovey and found this. The idea is good, but the reality of it is somehow very creepy. I just went there and looked again and realized why it is so creepy to me. It reminded me of a voodoo doll. Still, I sometimes consider cutting my hair and getting one made for each of the girls. I wonder if it would change anything about bedtime and/or night wakings (for The Bug - Sweet Pea almost never wakes up at night anymore and it's been that way for over a year, hallelujiah). Would they figure out later in life that they had little voodoo dolls of me and use them against me? ha ha!
However...
What kind of diapers was The Bug wearing? Disposable. I couldn't use her usual cotton diapers because we didn't have any clean diaper covers, and our clothes washer broke on Friday. Yeah, right when I got in to a rhythm with the laundry. Slipshod spent the weekend doing some online research, lots of measuring, and he went out and bought one yesterday at a local store. It will be delivered tomorrow.
Anyway, once I did realize that it was Earth Day, I pulled out a little children's activity book I had bought before Sweet Pea was even born, called "Every Day is Earth Day!" We pulled an egg carton out of the recycling and painted it and started to make it into a kitty bus. Pictures to come, when we finish the project.
Later in the day yesterday I took the girls out for a walk to the store. Sweet Pea got to ride in the stroller (yes, it's very close and she could totally walk, but she likes to ride and it makes me feel better when she does - we have to walk along a main road to get there), and The Bug in the Bjorn. Both where they like to be when we walk to the store. We were there far too long but they both did very well. I couldn't buy everything on my list because whatever I bought had to fit into the basket under the stroller. So, no cat food. But Slipshod can pick the other items up tonight.
While at the store we spent quite a while in the hair aisle, me looking for barrettes that will actually hold Sweet Pea's hair, while Sweet Pea reached and begged for all the cute, bright hair brushes and combs. I hope I managed to get some things that will work with her hair. For barrettes we've just been using the totally cheapo plastic ones that are made in the shape of flowers, bows, and animals. Sweet Pea picked them out last summer. But now it takes FOUR of those, two on each side, to keep her hair out of her face.
Besides the metal barrettes I bought for her, I also got us both some stretchy headbands. We'll see how they work. Sweet Pea likes hers (the blue one, of course), but it keeps sliding out of her hair - down the back. Argh. That probably means that mine will do the same. What I really need is a haircut anyway.
And speaking of hair, both of my girls are so attached to my hair. Sweet Pea used to play with it while she was nursing, and still likes to touch my hair while she's falling asleep at night, and when she is sad or hurt or scared. Now the Bug plays with my hair while she nurses, and sometimes if she doesn't fall asleep nuring or if she wakes up in the middle of the night and doesn't need to nurse, she seems to have to touch my hair to get back to sleep. Their need to touch my hair is sweet, touching, endearing... and sometimes a bit much.
For the most part I love that touching my hair can calm them down so effectively, but Sweet Pea moved out of our bed on her own recently - we put a twin mattress in our bedroom (she didn't want to be out of the room, but thought it might be nice to have her own space in her own bed). The first and only night she slept there was fine - as per usual, since she doesn't nap anymore, she fell asleep before The Bug did. She did move back up into our bed around 5am, but would have stayed in her own bed if I had agreed to snuggle there with her. I think it might have taken if she had not fallen asleep and taken a nap the next day. She just fell asleep on teh couch in the afternoon because she was still getting over a cold, if I remember correctly. Now she talks about sleeping in her own bed, but doesn't do it. She says that it's because she likes to play with my hair while she falls to sleep. I asked her if getting something that had my hair on it would make the difference, and she said "yes" but then decided the next day that that wouldn't do it.
A while back I searched for some kind of hair lovey and found this. The idea is good, but the reality of it is somehow very creepy. I just went there and looked again and realized why it is so creepy to me. It reminded me of a voodoo doll. Still, I sometimes consider cutting my hair and getting one made for each of the girls. I wonder if it would change anything about bedtime and/or night wakings (for The Bug - Sweet Pea almost never wakes up at night anymore and it's been that way for over a year, hallelujiah). Would they figure out later in life that they had little voodoo dolls of me and use them against me? ha ha!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Strange Reaction
A week ago last Monday Slipshod called me from work and told me that a former co-worker & casual friend (by which I mean they didn't actually hang out during off hours, but talked a lot at work) had died over the weekend. I was flabbergasted. I didn't know the guy personally, but had met him, but what really hit me was that he was a great love of a friend of mine & Slipshod's, and I knew it would have hit her incredibly hard in the gut - which Slipshod confirmed. I think he may have been the one who told her (they worked together at the last company, and do again now).
M's death was a tragedy - he was young and healthy and in fact was out doing something he loved when he died in a rather freak-accident type of way (involving motorcycle racing on the track, but he wasn't on the track). For the rest of the day, probably week, after Slipshod told me, I kept having those thoughts you hate to have - where you allow the true reality to come to the forefront, and you think about how anybody could die at any time. You know, the kind of thoughts that can make you crazy if you start thinking about them and your family in the same sentence, as it were.
In an attempt to control my reality, I started folding laundry. I folded until everything was done, and put it all away. I washed three more loads, then folded them and put them away. Since that day I have done one or two loads of laundry every day, folded it while the girls are playing in their room, and that's it - long-term laundry problem solved. Over the course of the rest of the week I caught up with the dishes and even cleared off my worst "hot spot" for clutter in the kitchen. The leaning piles of paper on my Computer Desk of Doom have been sorted into bags and boxes. This weekend Slipshod and I WILL go through them.
This tragedy spurred me into a strange kind of action and now I seem to suddenly have a handle on things around here (well, a start, anyway). I wonder if it will last. It's strange - after all this time of failing miserably at balancing things around house and home I have suddenly figured out how to keep up. It seems like this stuff is working itself out while I'm not really looking at it or thinking about it. Apparently I'm working on the "lost" principle - you know, like when you're looking for something and you can only find it when you stop looking and start doing something else.
Now I'm just trying to get a little done here, and a little there, instead of getting totally overwhelmed by the whole house, like I usually do. Apparently my mind just needed to go somewhere else so I couldn't overthink and psych myself out about all the stuff I'm trying to accomplish every day. Sad that a sudden death was what it took, but I suppose you could say I'm putting my feelings to good use...
Ultimately I am still letting those thoughts of, "anybody could go at any time" stick around, but less in the "omigod, I'm not taking the kids out of the house because they could die" kind of way, and more in the "I need to get things under control and have some sort of written system so that if I go suddenly, my family will be able to carry on with some kind of routine the girls are used to" kind of way.
M's death was a tragedy - he was young and healthy and in fact was out doing something he loved when he died in a rather freak-accident type of way (involving motorcycle racing on the track, but he wasn't on the track). For the rest of the day, probably week, after Slipshod told me, I kept having those thoughts you hate to have - where you allow the true reality to come to the forefront, and you think about how anybody could die at any time. You know, the kind of thoughts that can make you crazy if you start thinking about them and your family in the same sentence, as it were.
In an attempt to control my reality, I started folding laundry. I folded until everything was done, and put it all away. I washed three more loads, then folded them and put them away. Since that day I have done one or two loads of laundry every day, folded it while the girls are playing in their room, and that's it - long-term laundry problem solved. Over the course of the rest of the week I caught up with the dishes and even cleared off my worst "hot spot" for clutter in the kitchen. The leaning piles of paper on my Computer Desk of Doom have been sorted into bags and boxes. This weekend Slipshod and I WILL go through them.
This tragedy spurred me into a strange kind of action and now I seem to suddenly have a handle on things around here (well, a start, anyway). I wonder if it will last. It's strange - after all this time of failing miserably at balancing things around house and home I have suddenly figured out how to keep up. It seems like this stuff is working itself out while I'm not really looking at it or thinking about it. Apparently I'm working on the "lost" principle - you know, like when you're looking for something and you can only find it when you stop looking and start doing something else.
Now I'm just trying to get a little done here, and a little there, instead of getting totally overwhelmed by the whole house, like I usually do. Apparently my mind just needed to go somewhere else so I couldn't overthink and psych myself out about all the stuff I'm trying to accomplish every day. Sad that a sudden death was what it took, but I suppose you could say I'm putting my feelings to good use...
Ultimately I am still letting those thoughts of, "anybody could go at any time" stick around, but less in the "omigod, I'm not taking the kids out of the house because they could die" kind of way, and more in the "I need to get things under control and have some sort of written system so that if I go suddenly, my family will be able to carry on with some kind of routine the girls are used to" kind of way.
A Day in the Neighborhood
Yesterday it was so gorgeous outside - I thought the clouds behind the stained glass in the girls' room made the butterflies look particularly beautiful. Slipshod's mom does stained glass for fun and made the butterfly mobile (or whatever you would call it...). She also made a beautiful lampshade for Sweet Pea when she was born, and is working on The Bug's lampshade. I just love the colors. For the best effect, click on the picture so you can see it bigger.
In the morning yesterday I took the girls outside for a walk - The Bug in the bjorn, and Sweet Pea on her tricycle. We waved to a neighbor who was home for just a few minutes getting something out of his garage, and he said, "I've got something for you two" to the girls, and gave them Serta stuffed sheep! ha ha! They're so cute. Sweet Pea's is a #44 and The Bug's says 1/2 on the side, and is about half the size of Sweet Pea's. He also gave us another 44 for Grandma, because when he gave the sheep to the girls I said, "omigosh, my mother-in-law is going to LOVE these." ha ha! AND, he gave us a Serta night light! I said, "so, I imagine this is what you do?" He said, "yeah, I'm the regional manager for Serta for this area." What a nice guy, eh? ha ha!
In the afternoon the girls and I went out to get some children's toothpaste that the local health food store had ordered for me, and then to the new Trader Joe's in town, which is only about 5 minutes away. YAY! We had a good time.
The Bug has been crawling up the stairs every chance she gets lately (which means, every time she needs a diaper change, and at bedtime), and as a result has been sleeping better! Rock on!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Google and ye Shall Receive
When Sweet Pea was a baby, and really until The Bug was born, sometimes even thereafter, I would cut her fingernails and toenails while she was taking a nap. It was just easier that way, because when she was awake she was afraid I might cut her with the clippers (which I have never done), or she just didn't want to sit still.
After The Bug was born it was not guaranteed that both girls would nap at the same time, and even if they did when her nails needed to be trimmed, I would not necessarily remember. I would cut my nails in front of her, explaining to her what I was doing and then tell her that after mine were trimmed I would cut hers. Sometimes that worked. She usually doesn't mind too much when I cut her toe nails. But it's hit or miss with the fingernails. Sometimes she doesn't care, gives me her hands and sits still. Most often, though, she will yank her hand away as soon as I hold it, once she realizes what I'm going to do (I often try this while she is watching a show on TV, because she is sometimes distracted enough by the TV not to care too much about me trimming her nails).
A friend gave me a good idea - she said that she tells her daughter, who is just a few months older than Sweet Pea, that when she gets her fingernails cut, she can have fingernail polish on them. Same goes for the toes. I was raised to think that stuff like fingernail polish was somewhat whorish, so even though I got over that for myself by high school, it was initially a little weird to actually entertain the notion of putting fingernail polish on Sweet Pea's toes. I mean, come one, she's only three.
HOWEVER, it works. And really, what is "toenail polish," as she calls it, going to hurt?
When I told her we could do the polish she wanted it on her fingernails but I told her that she still stuck her hands into her mouth too often for me to be comfortable with that. It's possible that the nasty chemicals in fingernail polish are inert once it's dry, but I don't know that for sure. So we agreed that when I cut her nails, whether on her hands or feet, she could have toenail polish.
I have put regular old fingernail polish on her toenails, but was still pretty uncomfortable putting that kind of nasty stuff on my child. I searched online to find an alternative. I used search terms that I thought might actually make my computer sprout a huge mouth and laugh me out of the room. I typed in, "non-toxic fingernail polish." You know what? Google brought up this.
We ordered today - Mahalo for Sweet Pea (her favorite color is light blue), and Plasma and Tickle Me for me. Oh, and clear, and some remover. I've never paid more than $1.50 or so for a bottle of fingernail polish before in my life, so the prices here are pretty scary, but you know what? Non-toxic on my girls (and me!) is TOTALLY worth it. (My mother-in-law, who gets her nails done every two weeks, also told me that quality polish costs a lot more than drugstore polish - I had no idea!) Besides being non-toxic, there are also claims that this stuff is actually beneficial to your nails, instead of stripping them like all the other nail polishes and removers on the market. If anyone is interested I'll report back about these products once we use them.
I really didn't think I would find what I was looking for, so since I did, I thought I'd put it out there in case anyone else is looking for something similar - or looking for ideas to help with cutting their kids' fingernails!
After The Bug was born it was not guaranteed that both girls would nap at the same time, and even if they did when her nails needed to be trimmed, I would not necessarily remember. I would cut my nails in front of her, explaining to her what I was doing and then tell her that after mine were trimmed I would cut hers. Sometimes that worked. She usually doesn't mind too much when I cut her toe nails. But it's hit or miss with the fingernails. Sometimes she doesn't care, gives me her hands and sits still. Most often, though, she will yank her hand away as soon as I hold it, once she realizes what I'm going to do (I often try this while she is watching a show on TV, because she is sometimes distracted enough by the TV not to care too much about me trimming her nails).
A friend gave me a good idea - she said that she tells her daughter, who is just a few months older than Sweet Pea, that when she gets her fingernails cut, she can have fingernail polish on them. Same goes for the toes. I was raised to think that stuff like fingernail polish was somewhat whorish, so even though I got over that for myself by high school, it was initially a little weird to actually entertain the notion of putting fingernail polish on Sweet Pea's toes. I mean, come one, she's only three.
HOWEVER, it works. And really, what is "toenail polish," as she calls it, going to hurt?
When I told her we could do the polish she wanted it on her fingernails but I told her that she still stuck her hands into her mouth too often for me to be comfortable with that. It's possible that the nasty chemicals in fingernail polish are inert once it's dry, but I don't know that for sure. So we agreed that when I cut her nails, whether on her hands or feet, she could have toenail polish.
I have put regular old fingernail polish on her toenails, but was still pretty uncomfortable putting that kind of nasty stuff on my child. I searched online to find an alternative. I used search terms that I thought might actually make my computer sprout a huge mouth and laugh me out of the room. I typed in, "non-toxic fingernail polish." You know what? Google brought up this.
We ordered today - Mahalo for Sweet Pea (her favorite color is light blue), and Plasma and Tickle Me for me. Oh, and clear, and some remover. I've never paid more than $1.50 or so for a bottle of fingernail polish before in my life, so the prices here are pretty scary, but you know what? Non-toxic on my girls (and me!) is TOTALLY worth it. (My mother-in-law, who gets her nails done every two weeks, also told me that quality polish costs a lot more than drugstore polish - I had no idea!) Besides being non-toxic, there are also claims that this stuff is actually beneficial to your nails, instead of stripping them like all the other nail polishes and removers on the market. If anyone is interested I'll report back about these products once we use them.
I really didn't think I would find what I was looking for, so since I did, I thought I'd put it out there in case anyone else is looking for something similar - or looking for ideas to help with cutting their kids' fingernails!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Latest Developments
In language news, The Bug has started to say, "kitty cat!" She has begun to follow our cats around - crawling quickly after them and then "petting" them, which appears more to the untrained eye to be a baby giving a cat a beating. We're working on the whole notion of "gentle" with her. ha ha! The cats, however, trained by Sweet Pea as kittens, just sit and take it most times. When they've had enough they leave - they haven't smacked The Bug yet. Probably won't. They've never stood up for themselves with Sweet Pea either. Anyway, The Bug is so enamored of the kitties that she talks about them all the time, and she points all the time now, too. She says, in her super cute, chipper, high-pitched little baby voice, "KEE CAH!" Over and over. It's utterly adorable. hee hee!
Oh - and those stairs she was unsure of on Friday? She crawled up nearly all of them on Saturday. And today, ALL the way from downstairs to upstairs (17 stairs), THREE TIMES. She's outta control! ha ha
Monday, April 09, 2007
Easter
The Feel of Wind in Her Hair - The Bug LOVES being outside and will cry to go out. She has had little exposure to fresh grass (since she spends most of her time outdoors in the Baby Bjorn following Sweet Pea, who is usually riding her tricycle, with me), so she didn't even crawl around the yard, she was having so much fun poking at the grass and enjoying the breeze, and giggling while watching her sister run around finding eggs. This is her biggest grin - something relatively new. It always makes me giggle out loud. ha ha!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Looks Like Trouble
Lynda, I think you were right - I should have just kept calling her "Miss Thing." ha ha!
Actually this isn't as bad as it looks. These are her teenage cousin's sunglasses, and what looks like attitude is actually Sweet Pea trying to keep the sunglasses on without using her hands while also trying to peer over the tops of the lenses.
A Look Into Last Weekend
Monday, April 02, 2007
Finally - A Working Weekend
I'm not saying that I want to spend every weekend working - but every once in a while is good. This weekend Slipshod and I made an amusing switch - I broke down most of the mountain of empty cardboard boxes that had gathered in the garage around Christmastime, and I ran the carpet cleaner around the house (in various places that needed to have pee-pee removed from the carpets), while Slipshod washed dishes and made creme brulee. He did do a little more kid watching than usual, too, but on Saturday his mom and her hubby were here to keep them occupied as well.
I am feeling GOOOOOOOOD to have finally done some work that has been nagging at me. Every day I can see what needs to be done, but for one reason or another a whole lot of the jobs are not doable when I'm here alone with the girls. Usually for safety reasons.
Now, gimme some love about this, check it out: I finally dragged the Nordic Track out of the garage and into the house! Okay, I probably really don't deserve kudos for that until I actually start using it - regularly - but I am excited to have it in the house now. That gives me a MUCH bigger chance of getting a workout than having it all dirty and dusty in the garage. And as boring as working out on that thing is, it has helped me get fit and lose a bunch of pounds in the past.
Slipshod is not happy with his creme brulee - it was his first try - but I thought it was great, and he had fun using a torch to brown the sugar on top of it. ha ha! Ever since we got a high definition TV, he has started watching cooking shows, since there is an HD cooking channel. It's definitely rubbing off on him and giving him ideas. We love to watch Alton Brown's show "Good Eats." He is such a hoot! "Ace of Cakes" is also fun to watch, as well as "Dinner Impossible." It's very exciting for me that Slipshod is intrigued enough to try his hand at cooking. He has been thinking of ways to snazz up the usual boring eggs I make for breakfast, and has fun making things he has never tried before.
As for the kids - The Bug is trying to kill me again. I can't wait until the next set of teeth come in. Sweet Pea is doing great, though. Sleeping well, playing with The Bug and teaching her things, etc.
Oh - and The Bug is really getting the signing thing now. She watches intently and tries new signs, and it is so exciting to actually be communicating with her!
I am feeling GOOOOOOOOD to have finally done some work that has been nagging at me. Every day I can see what needs to be done, but for one reason or another a whole lot of the jobs are not doable when I'm here alone with the girls. Usually for safety reasons.
Now, gimme some love about this, check it out: I finally dragged the Nordic Track out of the garage and into the house! Okay, I probably really don't deserve kudos for that until I actually start using it - regularly - but I am excited to have it in the house now. That gives me a MUCH bigger chance of getting a workout than having it all dirty and dusty in the garage. And as boring as working out on that thing is, it has helped me get fit and lose a bunch of pounds in the past.
Slipshod is not happy with his creme brulee - it was his first try - but I thought it was great, and he had fun using a torch to brown the sugar on top of it. ha ha! Ever since we got a high definition TV, he has started watching cooking shows, since there is an HD cooking channel. It's definitely rubbing off on him and giving him ideas. We love to watch Alton Brown's show "Good Eats." He is such a hoot! "Ace of Cakes" is also fun to watch, as well as "Dinner Impossible." It's very exciting for me that Slipshod is intrigued enough to try his hand at cooking. He has been thinking of ways to snazz up the usual boring eggs I make for breakfast, and has fun making things he has never tried before.
As for the kids - The Bug is trying to kill me again. I can't wait until the next set of teeth come in. Sweet Pea is doing great, though. Sleeping well, playing with The Bug and teaching her things, etc.
Oh - and The Bug is really getting the signing thing now. She watches intently and tries new signs, and it is so exciting to actually be communicating with her!
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