Friday, October 29, 2010

Show me the Mommy

LauraC is up to it again- motivating us all in new ways. She has been encouraging us to post pictures of ourselves on our blogs! Typical of most parenting blogs, many of us hide in the wings and rarely post pics of our beautiful, fabulous, selves on our blogs. But we count! Right!? And one day our kids will love to look at pics of us when we were 'young'.

Below is a pic that Beth of Working it Out took of me last April. I like it because I make this face a lot. I also like it because I am watching Wyeth play which nearly always makes me smile.

So this is me!


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

TRASH

My son is a trash talker.

Well, not really.

He just LOVES loves TRASH! He loves putting things in the trash. He loves pointing out ALL of the trash cans on the street.

He loves looking into trash cans.

And he loves, love, loves the trash truck.

Today Sam, Seren and I went to get up a sleepy Wyeth. He had slept in after a long night of coughing. (Love the asthma). He was standing in his crib looking out the window near his crib (which he only now can reach). And adamently noting that it was trash day today! TRASH!

Sam called me later this morning to tell me that Wyeth had a 'brush with fame'. The trash guys on our street have noticed our son's obsession with them and thier truck. Wyeth, Sam and Seren frequently sit on our patio to watch the collection of garbage.

This week they honked not once but twice and waved! Sam said Wyeth couldn't quite get over himself; he was SO excited.

When Sam told me this story over the phone, Wyeth then insisted on telling ME the story. It was the first "real conversation" we have had!! Complete with "Hi Mama. Trash! Trash! Hmm. Hmm. Bye bye".

Hysterical! (You kinda had to be there). Regardless, trash day is a very big day around our house.

I love the simple things.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Moments of Today I won't remember tomorrow

There has been a lot going on here behind the scenes the last month. Nothing major. But it isn't feeling minor either. All of that is for another day.

Today I wanted to list some moments- just moments- that made today 'today' and made it different from the days I've had and the days I'll have in the future.

* Wyeth requested Dada when I picked him out of his bed (Dada usually gets him up)but then snuggled in.
* The kids served me lots and lots of HOT tea all day today courtesy of Disney princess tea set. (Wyeth emphasizes the pretend HOT tea).
* Wyeth and Seren have runny noses. Which I don't find gross anymore. Just a fact of life.
* Wyeth refused to put on his sweatshirt today. Refused. We see a lot of this refusal behavior recently. We try to give him choices. "Where do you want your diaper changed? Hhere? Or over there?" Same goes for everything: which sweatshirt? With a choice, he manaages just fine. Can't blame him.
* Dad got his flu shot today so I was with the kids in the morning.
* The kids watched Dinosour Train (CHOO CHOO!) while I was in the shower. I found them snuggling under the covers of our bed. Eating crackers. I expect crumbs in our bed tonight. Lots of them.
* Seren is still scared of dogs. Any sized.
* We went for a family walk at a park for a short while and passed a local flea market. Someone asked me how much I was sellin Wyeth for. Ha! He is priceless!
* Seren and Wyeth were really quiet heading to the soccer game on a glorious fall day.
* I love glorious fall days in New England.
* Seren seriously is NOT into soccer. The coach kept asking her to 'keep her eye on the ball'. My dad and I decided that we would not be getting a full ride soccer scholarship.
* It was great to have my parents at the soccer game today
* Wyeth peed on the floor right before bath. Again.
* Wyeth spilled the cat water. In our attempts to clean up the water, he slipped on the wet tile! Crying and cursing ensued.
* Seren spent much of the evening coloring a Halloween mask- completely focused on the task and coloring all by herself. It looks great!
* Seren barely fits on my lap recently during story time. When did that happen?
* Seren can still talk herself silly.
* Wyeth prefers to grunt but that is beginning to change too!
* Webby, the stuffed turtle, selected the stories for tonight and sat on Wyeth's lap as Wyeth sat on my lap to listen to the selection
* Both kids helped me rake up leaves. A woman drove by in her mini van and gave me a knowing laugh about how much 'help' I was getting. To their credit, they each had a rake.
* Wyeth had 6 bowls of cereal this morning and two grapes for dinner. (Not exaggerating).
* We said goodbye to the bottles about two weeks ago and I still miss them. I can't bring myself to put them away forever.
* Wyeth giggled hysterically as I tried to sing him to sleep. I joined in. What a lovebug. He continues to say 'bye bye' everynight.
* Seren wanted to push Wyeth down the street on her scooter. She was very gentle with him and very caring. We still decided that wasn't so smart.
* Seren's hand is still pretty small in mine.
* Seren walked right into the car mirror today and was shocked as if to say 'when did that get there?'
* Wyeth had a fit and fell in it when I tried to change the sheet on his crib. He cried so much he pulled the new sheet off the bed.
* Seren and Wyeth both joined me outside this morning; I raked while they played in the sandbox together.
* Seren had a fit and fell in it over the fact that she didn't get up from her nap at the agreed upon 3:20 but got out of bed at 3:26 which she INSISTED was BEFORE 3:20. Major major tears over that


It is all so good. It is all so rich. I had a rough week at work this week. I needed to work on crackers and pretend tea. I am working on slowing down and doing less. We are all work in progress, right!?

I hope to return to blog land soon. I'm just giving myself a little bit of grace.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Star Gazing

We have those glow in the dark stars on Seren's ceiling. The ones that you stick to the ceiling with tape. The ones that inevitably fall down at some point.

Those.

But Wyeth and I have started to star gaze at night.

We turn off the lights and he insists that all four of us lay down.

In the dark.

On the floor.

And look at the stars.

LOVE!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Four year old "Crisis"

One night last week at around 10:30 pm before I went to bed Seren woke up SCREAMING! She was crying and coughing and just beside herself.

I ran up to her room to comfort her and ask her what was wrong.

"Mom! I can't remember how to blow my nose and there are a ton of boogers up there!"

She was surrounded by tissues and was just beside herself with snot and tears.

She couldn't "remember" how to blow her nose!?

LOL

Four year olds continue to amaze me.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Last weekend

We had another first last weekend!

Nope, nothing too out of the ordinary. Wyeth didn't start speaking in Spanish or anything.

But my mom and dad watched the kids overnight so that Sam and I could go out on a double date with another couple.

It had been over 4 years.

OVER four years since we'd hung out with another couple sans children.

And we had a blast! It was so fun getting to know another couple. Very fun night!

Curse of Motherhood

I am one of the moms of the world who craves alone time. I crave it. I never get it. Few moms do. I miss reading. Writing. Thinking. Hell, I miss sitting.

But with two little kiddos who are excited to learn everything about the world, my job is to help them learn, play and be creative.

So sitting, reflecting, and being introspective just doesn't happen.

And either does slowly eating a meal.

This week I had a short business trip to Chicago. I was giddy at the prospect of a glass of wine with dinner, tasting my dinner, not having tears at dinner and sleeping in a HUGE king sized bed.

I was just giddy.

But ya know what? It was nothing like that!

I felt lonely! Learning to be alone again and enjoying it is a skill that I need to reaquire! I don't really need to practice that often.

And the trip was stressful! When the vast majority of your life is one large routine, everything from which pant leg your daughter puts into her pants first, to the order that you turn off the lights at night, when you suddenly are dramatically out of the routine, it was HARD. I couldn't sleep. I was stressed about the upcoming interviews for work.

And even though I could sleep in until 7am or later, my body woke up at 5:40!

Damn it!

:)

The curse of motherhood.

(But I love it!)