A couple of pictures

Mom says I have to put something on my blog… heheh. I’m too busy to keep this one updated very well. I’ve been blessed with lots of business and just sorta keeping my head above water. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures:

Jack fell asleep sitting up while he was sick last week:

Mom took this picture while they were out walking in Texas on one of the few nice days we had. (Of course, Laura went last week and they had 70 degree weather the whole time.) Note the green in the grass behind him, even in January!

Lessons learned

I learned two things coming home from Texas Tuesday:

1. Always pack your carry ons as if you’re going to get stuck in transit. We got stuck in Memphis for 6 hours, and were contemplating the possibility that we might have to spend the night there. Fortunately I had packed plenty of diapers, but stupidly, I did not pack the charger for the DVD player.

2. Always make sure there is a barf bag readily available. Even if you’ve never thrown up in a plane before and don’t get motion sickness, just make sure there is one nearby in case you (or the person next to you) should need it. Though I get a touch of motion sickness once in a blue moon on planes, I’ve never needed a bag, but I guess the combination of the pregnancy and the windy landing that had to be attempted twice before we made it down got me. As we were heading towards the gate, I started searching frantically for a bag, with none to be found. Fortunately Mark found one in the seat behind us, otherwise it would have been a BIG, HUGE, YUCKY MESS.

We had a wonderful visit with everyone down in Texas, and even saw some 70 degree days, which was nice. It was good to get home and back into a bit of a routine though. Jack was difficult to manage and woke up most nights during the night a couple of times calling for Mommy, which he hasn’t done since he was 6 months old.

There were some beautiful birds that visited the patio every day called Green Jays. We had a hard time getting a good picture of them:

Here’s a better picture from a web site- aren’t they purty?

Jack @ 30 Months

At 2.5 years old, Jack is desperately seeking to have some control over his life. Pretty standard behavior for his age I assume, and I need to be doing a better job at offering him a couple of choices when I can instead of just issuing commands all the time. We’re in Texas right now, visiting family, and when we told him we were going to Texas on an airplane, we thought he would be really excited to get to ride in one. When he said he didn’t want to go up in the air, we just took it as his standard negative response, trying to assert some control and really thought the plane ride would be fine. Wrong. He was fine sitting in the airplane, and fine when the plane was moving on the ground, but when it took off, Jack went nuts. “I want to go DOOOOWN!” Screaming, kicking and flailing ensued. Mark used to be a flight attendant years ago, and he said he had never seen a kid flip out that badly. After trying to comfort him by rocking him in my seat, and giving him the jellybeans I had brought along for an emergency, and turning on the DVD player, I finally had to take him back to the lavatory. He was fine in the lavatory. He played with the water, and kept trying to push the Flush button, but when I tried to take him back out, he flipped out again. So…. we spent at least an hour and half in there. I am now very familiar with all the accoutrements in an airplane lavatory. FINALLY, he fell asleep and I was able to take him back out and even get him in his seat- he didn’t wake up until we were at the gate.

We changed planes in Dallas, and we even talked briefly about renting a car to drive the San Antonio area, but decided we had to just bite the bullet. By putting on a big song and dance to distract him with everything we had brought along, and by keeping the shade down, I was able to keep his mind off the fact that we were in the air the second time for the short flight, and we praised the Lord that we didn’t have a repeat of the first flight. Unfortunately, Jack reacts the wrong way to Benedryl, or we would be seriously drugging him up for the flights home. Mark suggested a fifth of whiskey, but I have a feeling Jack would be a mean drunk.

I have worked hard not to end up with habits like rocking Jack to sleep for example, but this month he has realized that he likes to be “petted” before he goes to sleep. He lays down and snuggles up with his cloth diaper “night-night” and his bear and says “Mommy, pet me?” in the most plaintive little voice that I don’t mind if we are in a new bedtime habit. I rub his tummy and stroke his hair a little while before leaving the room and am glad he wants a little “mommy love” before going to sleep.

A Productive Day

After several months of complete lethargy and lack of motivation, I have finally had a productive day. I wrote 3 blog posts (counting this one), cleaned and organized Jack’s room and even took a walk. Never mind the fact that my house is a complete wreck and I haven’t had an answer for Mark’s daily “what’s for dinner?” question in weeks. Here’s the culprit:

I’m at 12.5 weeks and have had a decent pregnancy so far, though definitely more difficult than the first one. I never threw up while pregnant with Jack, but I’ve been regularly sick with this one, and I know I’m more tired. That probably has something to do with the difference between sitting at a desk all day vs. chasing kids around. Anyway, I’m grateful, because I know many people feel much worse than I have and the second trimester is just around the corner, and maybe I’ll post here more often…. hopefully.

Merry Christmas!

Jack @ 29 Months

This month has just flown by- it seems like I was just taking Jack’s 28 month picture. We have definitely seen some improvement in him this month with regards to the tantrum throwing. He used to throw about 1 a day and now I can’t even remember the last big tantrum he threw. It’s more fun to talk to him all the time. He is rarely quiet, and goes about narrating his life- everything he thinks, feels and sees comes out of his mouth. Much of his communication is negative right now, as he is obviously getting tired of being told what to do all the time and wants to have a say in things.

Thanks to Mark, Jack has discovered that he loves sour candy and Mark gives him a couple pieces each night. Jack walks around the apartment saying “I got candy, I got candy”, and he hoards the last piece, sometimes for up to an hour, not wanting it to be gone.

He also has a new love for Ernie from Sesame Street. He especially likes to watch Bert & Ernie videos on YouTube. Check out this one - it even made me and Mark laugh.

We’ve told him he’s going to be a big brother, and that we’re going to have a new baby to play with next year. When we ask him where the baby is, he points to my tummy and says “right there.” One morning, he laid down on his back after saying that, and pointed to his tummy, saying “I’ve got a baby too!” I’ve discovered that being pregnant with the second one is much harder… it’s much easier to go to work and sit at a desk all day than to chase kids around all day. When I was pregnant with Jack, I was working during the day and then going to downtown Chicago to perform an opera every other night or so, but somehow I’m much more tired with this one. Jack is pretty good about letting me lay down on the futon in his room and he plays on his own. He used to demand “Mommy get up!” when I would do that, but maybe now he sees that would be futile.

Test your geography knowledge

I’ve spent far too much time playing this game today, but I can definitely say my general geography knowledge is improving.  I’m still making stabs in the dark when they ask about a capital in Africa, though.  Go ahead - take the Traveler’s IQ Challenge.  Tell me how you do.

Kicky

Here’s another one: Jack and Emily doing the Charleston!  These crack me up!

Groovy

I keep trying to embed this video in the blog, but it’s goofing things up in Firefox, so instead click here to check out Jack and Emily grooving to some disco music.

Jack @ 28 Months

The older Jack gets, the funnier he is. He’s speaking in full sentences, and you never quite know what’s going to pop out of his mouth. We were riding in the car with Emily last week, and Emily was unhappy about being in the car seat and let out a scream. Jack, mimicking what I tell him so often, said “No screaming Emily! I pank you!” While hanging onto one of his “night-night” cloth diapers, I asked him, “You like your night-night, huh?”, and he said “Oh yes, I love my night-night!” I don’t know where he picked up the thing with putting an “oh” in front of his “yes”, but it’s so cute.

We had our first run-in with an intestinal virus over the weekend, and it was MISERABLE. Jack was really a trooper and handled it really well, but I was certainly glad much of the sick time was over the weekend so that Mark could help with the endless mess clean-up. We must have done 20 loads of laundry. Being the mean Mommy that I am, I had to take a picture of him when he was feeling his worst.

Mouse 2001 - 2007

We had to say goodbye to a very sweet kitty on Monday. Mouse’s kidneys failed him for some reason- no way to know why. He was the most loving little kitty, and we’ll miss him. Here’s one of my favorite pictures of him from when he was a kitten. He’d just had a bath and looks like quite a waif.

Man tests breast pump and lives to tell about it

Via Parent Hacks, I came to the DaddyLabs blog, where there are some really funny videos from Daddy Brad and Daddy Clay.  Check out the one where they test a breast pump, and also, the episode where they vividly describe how to deal with poop in the tub.

Stinkin’ Good Pumpkin Cookies

I have a new favorite cookie recipe. Normally, I am a chunky double chocolate chip cookie kind of girl, but this recipe I tried out Sunday is easily the best cookie recipe ever. It’s the perfect light and fluffy, cakey cookie with a yummy caramel icing. I found it on allrecipes.com:

INGREDIENTS
2 cups shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin (I used pumpkin pie filling, and I think that made them even better because of all the spices in it)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter
8 tablespoons milk
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Cream shortening, white sugar and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well. Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Drop from spoon to cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. To Make Frosting: Cook butter, milk, and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool and add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Spread over warm cookies.

Jack @ 27 Months

Looks like he’s enjoying that popsicle huh? He didn’t want it at first, because it was cold, but then I told him it was chocolate, and that sold him on the idea. “Shockit????!!!”

Jack’s imagination has taken a leap forward this month. He makes up scenarios with toys, and I even caught him checking the multiple rubber duckies he has one night in the bath, to see if they needed diapers. He was picking them up one by one, turning them over to look at their nether region, and saying, “Need diaper? … nope!” We’ve shown him a couple of Bugs Bunny cartoons, but have realized maybe he’s a little young for them. He has the funniest reaction to the various “injuries” sustained by the characters, and let’s out a little “uh?!” of concern each time. He gets really worried for them.

He’s started singing… sort of. Sometimes he’ll join in with a sing-songy voice with whatever you’re singing. I was singing “Give Me Jesus” before putting him to bed a couple of weeks ago, and he laid there in the crib, singing “give me jeeeesus, give me jeeeeeeesus” over and over. We’ve been playing on the piano, hitting notes and singing “LA!” just to see if he can match pitch yet. I’m curious about how the ability to sing develops…

We have been praying with him before bed, and the other day I put him in the car and started to buckle him in, and he squnched his eyes shut and said “Dear Fadder…” and some mumbo-jumbo in the middle, and then “Amen”, and opened his eyes and said “go night-night?” Maybe he was concerned about my driving and was saying a prayer for safety? He’s big on landmarks as we’re driving and loves to point out Wendy’s, Mal-Mart, Cor-Crama (Cord Camera), Ha-Lobby (Hobby Lobby), etc.

Our most exciting happening was the first use of the potty this month! It’s just a novelty at this point, of course, but it’s been nice to see him show some interest in it.

The picture below is Mark introducing Jack to PopRocks- Jack got the funniest look on his face when they started popping on his tongue!

This month has been more challenging than ever with him. He is such a screamer, and can throw a whopper of a tantrum. My little MP3 player has kept me relatively sane, but there have been days when I’m on the computer, checking out day care costs! The only thing I haven’t tried in order to reduce the screaming is washing his mouth out with soap. I’ve tried everything else, and nothing works. So, I just put him in his room and let him scream to his heart’s content. He gets awfully mad when I put him in there, but for some reason he doesn’t try to get out. He just lays there in a pathetic puddle on the floor, screaming with every fiber of his being. He’s a sweet boy though, and perfectly normal for a 2 year old.

Time to order Christmas Cards

We’re hitting mid-October here, just about time for the Christmas decorations to start going up in the stores. If you’re interested in possibly sending some personalized Christmas cards out this year, you need to check out CardMyChristmas. It’s a new site, part-owned by a new friend of mine, Elizabeth, and she does beautiful work. Check it out!

You might also be interested in reading Elizabeth’s blog, MommyZabs. Zabs (rhymes with labs) is her nickname, and she’s been blogging a LONG time - definitely one to add to your feed reader!