A bigger pool

Last Tuesday, I took both kids to the local pool to get them wet. It was an ok time. It was a challenging time logistically. But I did it and they had fun.

This week, we stepped it up a notch and visited my friends' pool. It was awesome! Seren totally got into it and enjoyed 'swimming' and learning how to kick on the kick board. My good friend Nancy K was visiting from California which was a blast in it of itself- SO good to have good 'girl' time with someone so meaningful to me!

Wyeth also loved the water but I have to buy swim diapers because I forgot about the whole, 'my child weighs 16 pounds and his wet diaper weighs another 10 pds' thing. It was a gorgeous day outside and I really just enjoyed being PRESENT.

I've also decided while I'd like to be completely ok with my new 'shape', I am not quite there yet. I want to say, "Yeah look at me. I'm a mom. My body created two gorgeous kids and I'm ok with the damage." But I'm am not 'there' yet. I will be buying a one piece bathing suit as soon as I can. But that's just an aside.

We had a great time!






Wyeth continues to not have much of a schedule. I guess there are loose guidelines but mostly due to having an older sibling, he has to 'go with it' more than Seren did at this age. I think we 'pay' for that.

Sometimes he sleeps the night for an entire week. Othertimes he is up chatting. I want to move the kiddo out of our room because I think he senses we are there and then feels it is ok to chat! The other problem is he has pulled down the breathable 'bumper' on his crib and waits for us to see him. He is playing peekaboo with it. It is hard to ignore that! It is a catch 22- if we move him into his sister's room, will all hell break loose with BOTH of them being up? Or will it be just fine. We keep 'waiting' for him to sleep through the night consistently but something tells me we will be waiting for quite some time. We may just have to bite the bullet!

Our House

The year Seren was born was insane. I have blogged about this before but still can't get over it. Premature birth, a few days in the NICU, finishing up my course work, moving from Madison to PA, finding an apartment, defending my MA back in WI, starting a new job and then moving to our home.

Our home caused me 'buyers' remorse' for about a year and a half. At least. We bought too quickly in some ways and had a horrible realtor. Maybe everyone feels that the purchase of thier first home has a steep learning curve. I don't know. I bring this up because Wyeth is the exact age now that Seren was when we bought our first home.

The day we bought the house, my parents were so excited. And my poor, emotional Dad couldn't properly take a picture of us by the 'for sale' sign (we didn't have a sold sign) because he was holding back tears of joy.

Has time really passed that quickly? Seren was seven and a half months- the same age as Wyeth. What will the next 2.5 years bring us?



I should do a 'before and after' post of our home. We spent a lot of time early on fixing it up but have run out of energy as of recent. We feel a renewed sense of urgency to get things done- we shall see.

"Swimming"

Seren has been in the bay and she has swum in the ocean. She has not spent any time at all in an actual pool. Isn't that lame!? She is 3! But we don't have a local pool.

Despite me feeling sick all of Monday, when Tuesday came, it was "Mommy's day" and I wanted to get her in a pool!

So we found a local, public pool. It was a logistical challenge to hold Wyeth, encourage Seren to get wet, nurse in a bathing suit (hmm!?) and get the team to be happy. We didn't last long at the pool. But we had fun!

Seren, as usual, was a riot.

She kept saying, "I'm swimming! I'm swimming!!" (She wasn't swimming, she was dipping in but I gave her accolades anyway!)

And then she got out and announced, "I want to be wrapped in a warm towel!" (Because she just saw a little boy get out and his mom said the exact same thing to him. Apparently, being wrapped in a warm towel is part of swimming!)

Next time, I'm bringing a stroller, a blanket for Wyeth to play on and I'll wear my own suit! But it was a good effort to get us swimming!


Check out my swimmer! (And note how 'deep' the pool was!)



My other swimmer is holding his own too! I love the double baths! This has been going on for about a month and just love how great they both do in there. And so much easier! Just wish I had a good photo- hard to manage both bathers AND a camera. :)

Wyeth at 7 months

Dear Wyeth,
You have a way with the ladies, that's for sure. I could just eat you up, you are so cute with your big smile and confident ways.

We feel that the months are going by too quickly. Days quickly become weeks and then months and soon, years. It is too much, too quickly.

You are enjoying learning how to push up and scoot around a bit. Well, you really just pivot on your belly. You are a big fan of pears and peaches but get bored of applesauce. And you have opinions on which toys are the best. So far "playing" just means eating everything in sight. And paper is the tastiest! You are developing your own personality and really enjoy chatting with your sister. Seren is by far your favorite play "toy" in that she makes you smile and laugh big laughs. Seren loves to make you smile. On the other hand, she also gets tired of playing your way sometimes and shoves you over when we aren't looking. Sorry about that, my little man!

But Wyeth, inspite of your cuteness, we should talk about a schedule. Mom and Dad like schedules. You, however, don't seem to like them. Sometimes you sleep for 30 minutes per nap. Other times 45 minutes. Other times, two and half hours. We can't find any pattern. So, if you could please work on that, that would be awesome! The same goes for sleeping through the night. Sometimes you are down for the count at 7:30, othertimes at 8 and sleep through to 6 am but most times you wake up for a snack. We can't figure out if you are hungry, have a new tooth, or snuffly. It all is very confusing to us. Let us in on your secrets if you have a moment!

We love you to bits, sweet cheeks!

We gave up on holding him

I have said it before but Wyeth is so much more ACTIVE than Seren ever was. He has to kick, flap, push, pull everything. Holding him is quite exhausting! And this is before he knows how to crawl/cruise! Wyeth is all action all of the time!

Combine this personality 'trait' with his need to be held and well...I have about six bruises on my legs which stand in quiet witness to all of the jumping he does.

So last weekend during breakfast, I stuck him in the middle of the dinning room table. And this is where he has been sitting during meals (when he isn't eating). He sits there and is able to chat with us but can still do his flapping/stretching and we can eat. At least for about 5 minutes. And yes, we CLOSELY supervise.

Beach 2009

Yeah! We finally got summer weather! After weeks of overcast and rainy weather, the sun decided to shine!

We made the most of June weekends- what a month! A girls weekend, a wedding in Baltimore, a trip to the Crayola Factory, and we ended it with a day trip to the NJ Shore! What a fantastic month!

Wyeth got his feet wet in the Atlantic Ocean and Seren had a blast just digging and playing. We went as a day trip- it was a long day and we missed nap but man was it good to be OUT. And so I present pictures of our Saturday. These also could be called, "Pictures of very pale people on a beach."

Who needs Meyers Briggs?

As someone who has spent a long time thinking about my "strengths" and "weaknesses" and what I'm good at and what needs work, I always find others' comments on my personality and working style to be fascinating. I love thinking about ways people 'fit' together. And what makes people tick.

I have taken several inventories that focus on working style, personality traits, etc. Turns out you just need to live with a 3 year old.

I was trying to fix a stubborn roll shade. The shade won't stay down. It never did. I think we installed it incorrectly. It is a pain. I was muttering about this and Seren piped up.

"Well, Poppy is a good fixer, he can fix it." (VERY true!)

Then she volunteered, "And Grammy is a good sewer!"

Then she paused. "Mom, what are you good at?"

For a moment, I froze in my tracks. I felt unprepared all of a sudden- as if at a job interview. I started wracking my brain. What am I good at? What do I really contribute? Ahh! Then I got over myself and snapped out of it. "I don't know, what do you think Seren?"

"Mom, I think you are a good sweeper."

"And Dad is a good cooker."

Care to guess which partner does what in our house?

I'm a good sweeper! Wonder how I can use that skill at work! It is a shame that policy analysts don't really need to know how to sweep, otherwise, I'd be climbing that corporate ladder!