The Stats

Seren turned four of May 4th and went to the doctors appt a few weeks later.

She is 37.8 lbs (50%)
and 44.5 inches tall (75%)

Tall and skinny!

Wyeth went for his 18 month appointment in early June too.

He is 25.2 lbs (25-50%)
and 33 inches tall (90%)

Tall and skinny!

Additional doctor stuff for Wyeth:
We were worried that he has a food allergy to strawberries and blueberries. We took him to the allergist yesterday, and he is allergy free. Not even cat allergies (which I have). So that is great! But he has bad eczema and certain foods give him major skin irritation. Like when he eats strawberries and other fruits. So we are to minimize how much fruit he smears on his face and body (yeah right) and give him nightly 'soaks' in a bath followed up by major amounts of moisturizer. HE loves the cream. He loved giggling and spreading it all over his tummy last night. So all that is good.

Wyeth also has asthma. Or whatever they call "childhood asthma". We have to treat it the way we treat Seren's. Flovent puffers twice a day and nebulizer treatments. We'll start September 1st for both kids and will work with these medications, tweaking as needed through April. That is the plan!

We also were told his 8-10 words were 'normal for boys'. So far the list includes:
Momma
Dadda
Ouch
Uh-oh
Up
baa-baa (for sheep)
No
Cracker
Tractor (this is new)

He'll say other random words but not use them consistently. But we aren't too worried. I felt better after we went to the pediatrician. He is all good!

What a blessing!

Nothing like a clean bill on BOTH kids. Now I just have to get over the fact that he is 18 MONTHS and Seren is FOUR YEARS.

Kiss Chart

Since Seren turned four, we have had a heck of a time parenting Seren. It is all 'normal' stuff; not listening, pushing limits, stretching the truth, etc. But it has been hard. Combine that with the no-nap and I have been pretty 'down' on the parenting front! Whew. It has been a long 6 weeks. With many time outs. And much crying on her part.

I hate that. I hate when kids are sad. And when we have to punish. But that is the way it is. Short term pain, long term gain. At least I hope.

And while she has quiet time, she doesn't nap. But at least she has some down time. With her books. Sometimes she does sleep for a little while. So we are still transitioning but it IS getting easier.

The funny thing now is that putting her down for sleep takes about 35 seconds. (After you read three books and sing). Most of the time she falls asleep while I'm still singing. She is conscious of this. She even told me, "Mom. I'm just gonna fall asleep as soon as you start singing so I'm just going to say good night now."

Once she is out, she is out. It is such a joy to watch her asleep. The last time I watched her sleep on a daily basis was when she was 6 months old. So it is a treat for me to lay next to her my still little one and just watch her sleep. I then quietly slip out.

Today she said to me, "Ya know what? You don't do the kisses anymore."

The kisses is the part of the routine when after I read, and sing, I blow X amount of kisses to her as I leave the room. I always ask her how many she wants. And the answer 100% of the time is "Seven". Seven kisses.

But now that she just passes out, I don't blow her 7 kisses.

So she grabbed a piece of paper and started a chart of sorts. On Monday, I am to blow her 2 kisses, Tuesday, 3, etc. She said she is going to point to the 'list' before I start singing. That way, I'll still blow her kisses but she won't have to be awake to tell me.

:)

That little mind is always working. So despite the tantrums, the lies, the YELLING about hair brushing, the standing in the bathtub, the jumping off the counch, the yelling about things that are OUT of order, the need to be FIRST, etc. she still is s sweetbug. And I'm trying to create more one on one time with her so that side of her can come out too. She needs that alone time with each parent. Just to snuggle and focus on her. This morning she gently brushed Wyeth's hair out of his eyes and read him a story while he fininshed breakfast.

She still does all of these things. But I feel somedays like she is a horse that we are trying to train. And that just SUCKS the joy right out. The lack of nap is the hardest transition we've had in her four short years.

So it is really nice to have a kiss chart to refer to. Becauses kisses from Mommy? They still matter.

It is summer!

Sprinkler fun!



(After she was out there for a while, the too-cool teen agers across the street were watching her. She asked them if they wanted to come in. Much to my surprise, they started taking off thier shoes, taking thier I-phones out of thier pockets and joined the 4 year old and the 18 month old. AWESOME!)


Wyeth got a haircut for the summer.

Second Kid

Every few days I fall into the "man, the second kid is getting jipped" camp. The second kid is a completely different beast than the first kid. The first kid, you sweat it ALL out. The second kid? Not so much. I went with the flow. The first kid, you READ a ton, the second kid? Not so much. The first kid, I have notebooks of her 'firsts'. And while I have been VERY good about doing this with Wyeth, I'm not as devoted to capturing it all.

Then there is the language issues. We talked to Seren ALL OF THE TIME. Which may have backfired on us as she now talks to us ALL OF THE TIME. :) And we talk to Wyeth too but sometimes Seren just exhausts us that when I'm alone with just him, I like to hear some silence. Just for a minute or two. I comfort myself in that SEREN talks to Wyeth. So that is good...and he just LOVES her attention.

But...

He isn't saying much at all. Seren could say a ton of stuff at 18 months. And I know that research says that boys develop language later than girls. But really? We made a list of words he says for the well visit today at the pediatrician. There were a total of like 10 words on it! (including baa-baa for the sound a sheep makes).

I remember than Seren's language really exploded at 19 months. But what if Wyeth isn't really talking because we aren't TEACHING him the way we taught Seren? What if some of these perceived delays are our fault?

Good grief. We'll just wait and see what happens and count our lucky stars that otherwise is doing ok. He has comprehensive language skills...or whatever the term is. If you say, "Wyeth, please put this in the trashcan." He will go pick it up and run off to the trashcan, pick up the lid and dunk it.

And at least he has one word down pat. And we hear this ALL OF THE TIME.

NO!!!
NO!
NOOOOO!!!
NNNNNNOOOOOO!

He even has a 'no' which means yes. It is said less emphatically! When visiting with another 18 month old who actually says YES, I worked on that a lot. I sometimes get a head nod while he says 'no'. :)

Better than Average Weekend

We had a good weekend this weekend. Some friends from college visited! They only live 30 minutes away and we both stood up in each others wedding. But with four kids between us, 30 minutes away seems REALLY far sometimes. My friend is one of the kindest souls you'll meet. She is so generous with her time, her energy and her love. And her husband is also very genuine. They arrived on Saturday after both families had big days. We got up and split. Sam and Seren did groceries, I took my big guy to get his hair cut. Wy guy and I did some more errands and then I took the kids to the pool while Daddy weeded. Our friends arrived around 3 and we all hung out until 7:30. We had a simple but delicious meal and just enjoyed each other. I really, really needed that time with a family that we already KNOW. And know well. It was a great visit!

The great day was topped off by wine, cookies and a movie date night with my hubby. Yeah Netflix!

Sunday it poured and was MUGGY! But we went to a car show and then a huge street fair. It was a lot of fun. I love street fairs where there are fun kid things to do. After "naps", I took the kids to the park. Then it was dinner, bath and bed. They both were sound asleep by 8.

Every weekend I'm left with the following thoughts. Every single weekend. And these thoughts are so divergent that often I just can't reconcile them.

* Wow! I love my family!

* Wow! I am exhausted. I need more sleep. I should take better care of my body. My skin. My weight. I should focus on what I eat so I have more energy.

* Wow! I could use a break. Parenting is all encompassing. Draining. And demanding as hell. I need a weekend with Sam. Alone. A LOOONG weekend. Away from chores. Away from the kids. Away from RESPONSIBILITY!

* Wow! Am I blessed! Blessed by my family. Blessed by my friends. I don't want to leave my family to go into the office on Monday! No way! I want to spend every moment with them. They are my everything.

See? So, depending when you ask me how my weekend is, my answer will vary!

How was your weekend? Which part? :)

Spring Sing!

Tomorrow is the end of the year "Spring Sing" at school. Seren and her class have been practicing for weeks! If not months for this event! They have been very secretive about what the songs are. We can't wait!

My parents will be joining us in the fun celebration. I wonder if Seren will actually sing or not. The teacher reminded us in a letter that EVERYONE sings in the classroom but that being on stage is scary.

Seren told me that "I am going to keep my eyes on Ms. Robin. And not wave at you."

Right.

So they have been prepped.

I am SO sad to see the end of the school year go. Preschool has been AMAZING for Seren. She has just loved it. She has been so enthusiastic! We have loved, loved, loved the year.

The teacher has been so kind and warm. She even sent home an individual photo album for each kid full of over 50 pictures of the kids doing different activities. Seren has loved school and the album is photographic evidence.

Sniff. Another transition.

We look forward to the Spring Sing!!

New Math

Here is a new math problem set I learned today:

If Seren = sleep then Seren=happy.
If Seren= happy, then Mom=happy
If Seren= happy, then Wyeth = VERY happy.

Sleep begets happy Parents.

Sleep begets happy brother.

*****
I was seriously about to offer Seren up on Ebay after this past weekend. (Kidding!)BUT she finally slept at Heather's house (THANK YOU, HEATHER!). And my god, she was a new child tonight. And EVERYONE was happy. Like serious GIGGLING happy. Like I found myself SMILING happy. Like Wyeth was laughing WITH his sister. Like Dad was taking a walk with his family happy.

I know it won't last. But it gave me the encouragement I needed. We ARE happy family, we are just having some 'moments' with this transition.

I have talked to Seren a lot about how she feels abuot this missed rest. She mentioned today, at 6:10am in the midst of her first meltdown of the day, that she feels sad. When she was laughing today, I asked her again how she felt, "I feel great!" Later I asked her why she could sleep at Heather's. At first she didn't answer the question. "Well, I think I should go there every day to sleep." (She doesn't visit Heather every day).

Then she added, "It is like I have nothing to do in there so I might as well sleep. In my room? There is too much to do. Too many books to read. My babies need me. At Heather's? I just sleep there. So I think that's it, mom."

Hmm...insight?

It is true that we have let her read, play with stickers, etc. etc to just get her to rest and chill. But maybe she is saying to us that it is too distracting.

Anyway...I like my new math equation. :)

Rock Climbing

Our kids are different kids. No duh. But one of the major differences between Seren and Wyeth is Wyeth's physical abilities.

Wyeth loves to climb. Just loves it. And is so sure of himself.

Here is some evidence of what I mean.

This park is close to our home. Seren JUST learned to climb this rock without us holding her. Maybe 4 months ago. Even today she'll yell out, "Watch me you guys! I could fall!"

Wyeth? Not so much.

Wyeth at the bottom of the rock structure:



Near the summit...with absolutely no help from us. Pic also includes nervous Dad close by:


He turned 18 months last week. 18 months! (I'll blog about that later!)

No Title but At least something new in Google Reader

I have left the 'Nap Hell' post up for too long without posting to update. And it is such a negative post!

We have had a long month. Seren's lack of nap, while it seems silly to be frustrated over, has really made for some LONG, sad nights. She is just miserable. And as a result, I am miserable and feel like I'm failing. Which I'm not. Just another transition.

All of your comments were so helpful. Thank you. I do feel like we are still very much in the thick of it but that it will resolve in another 2-3 months. At least I hope so.

A low point came this past week when I was reprimanding her for intentionally pouring water all over the bathroom. The word 'NO" was used many times by me. Her response made me livid.

"Mommy! You are not using nice words! You are NOT being nice to me! You should go back to Oklahoma where you were!"

(I was in Oklahoma City and Providence, RI on business during the month of May).

Her attitude! Her words! My exhaustion with this whole thing! I lost my shit and told her to stop being disrespectful. I ordered her out of the bath and told her she was to clean up the entire bathroom.

Once we both calmed down, I apologized for yelling. And she was sincere in her apology (which isn't always the case). Then her sweet shoulders slumped and she said to me, "I guess I need to go clean up the bathroom now."

And she did. (To the extent a four year old can 'clean' anything).

Pretty much every night for the past three weeks has involved some screaming fit on her part, some explosion on my part and some tension between all of us. Meanwhile sweet Wyeth is getting ignored/lost in the whole thing!

UGH.

Right. I was to be positive. Right.

Last week was also Olympic Day at school! They had a BLAST! It was like field day and everyone got REALLY into it. Sam attended this event. She told me ALL about it! My favorite quote was, "I got to do the ball bumper with Richie!" (The ball bumper!?)
The pictures are awesome. Each kid got a medal! She was part of the red team. Is it me or does she look really TALL with the other kids? (She is also older...)








She is also thrilled by the pool. This year we joined a local pool. We bit the bullet and shelled out the cash. So far, with one day down, it is money well spent. She spent all of Sunday running back and forth from the pool to me saying, "I am having SOO much fun!" or "MOM! I"M SO EXCITED!"




That made my weekend.

Last weekend, memorial day weekend, was full of fun picnics with friends, dinners with neighbors, good wine, a hike to celebrate 10 years of dating and marriage, good chatting, parades, hot weather, play on the playground and a dip in the pool with chores, naps and exhaustion thrown in for good measure.

Check out our efforts to be patriotic. Love Wyeth's shoes! Love 'em! If you are going to be preppy, ya just gotta go all the way.









Work has also been challenging lately.

So between Seren's no nap, her birthday, her birthday party, a renewed commitment on my part to be in shape, work making me anxious and the end of the school year, it is no wonder I'm limping through the end of May...holding on to the promise of a new month in June.

June! How are we in June!? I hope to catch up on blogs very shortly!!