Make it a double, straight up

Don't you just hate it when you make a decision in parenting that turns out to be a huge mistake?! And don't you really hate it when you want to blog about it but you can't get into your freaking blog and the webmaster wants you to send him/her an email telling him/her what YOU did to cause the error. Um,hello, all I did was click on "New Post" - otherwise, I didn't do a blasted thing! Why is it always the end user's fault? Granted there are a ton of loose nuts on keyboards these days, but I'm not one of them!

Okay, that bunny trail rant is over. Back to my regularly scheduled blog...

I'll type this up in Notepad and then copy and paste it once the blogger decides to let me back in. I've already rehashed this twice and the blogger has lost it both times - I have half a mind not to share it with you just because of that! Oops, I'm ranting again.

ANYWAY (sound like F.R. there), two weeks ago I allowed Elizabeth, my 22 1/2-month-old, nap on my bed. She slept for four hours and I wasn't about to look that gift horse in the mouth! I'll take it!! For the rest of the week she asked to nap on my bed and to fall asleep for the night in my bed. She never freaked when I moved her provided she was already asleep! Well, her daddy wasn't here at night and her baby sister wanted to be fed - so I allowed her to fall asleep for the night on my bed. Then when Brad was here one night, he didn't like that idea so I had to put her to bed in HER room. Yikes! I knew it wasn't going to go over well with Elizabeth - and I was right. The first night, she cried...no, she *screamed* for two hours. The next night, it was four hours. Yes, you read that correctly - four hours. Then it dropped dramatically to thirty minutes. Then it was 15 minutes - ah, we can live with that! Until she woke up 45 minutes later and absolutely freaked out. She was beating her head against the walls, the door and the furniture (you should see the bruises - they're horrible). It was a nightmare for all of us.

A friend of mine suggested I try rocking her to sleep. So, the night after the head banging, I did just that. She was still crying for my bed. Finally, in an act of despiration, I asked her if she wanted to nurse. She said,"Yes, Mama!" so I cradled her as if I were going to nurse her. She snuggled into my chest (not nursing) and went to sleep. Did she just need to be "the baby" for a little while instead of "the big sister"? I don't know, but it worked! When I moved her to her bed, she woke and started crying. I knelt by her bed and held her - "shushing" in her ear. She drifted off to sleep again. That always worked to calm her when she was a baby and it still works - I was taken back to a night she was four months old and I ended up outside with her doing that very thing - holding her tight and "shushing" in her ear.

On Thanksgiving night, she was to have spent the night with my mom. She was overly tired from not having a nap and I ended up bringing her home. That night, she didn't cry for my bed - she cried because she wanted her cousins! The next night, she went happily to bed after four bedtime stories (mommy was stalling, not her!)!!! Are we back in our routine?! We did have one relapse over the weekend, but nothing of the headbanging proportions. Hopefully we're through the hardest part.

Another friend of mine said, "Ah, parenting! Pass the Tylenol." I say, "Ah, parenting! Pass the hard liquor." And make mine a double, straight up.

So, I hit the all-time low as a mom

Elizabeth was asking to go to bed tonight when we were at the J's house. So, I packed her and Nin into the car and I headed home, knowing it would be at least 10:30 before I saw Brad. E fell asleep in the car on the way home - so did Nin. Great, we'll get home and I'll put them to bed and I'll have a couple of hours to work around the house. What planet did I just come from?!

E woke up as soon as I opened the car door - asking for a cracker and tea. Katherine woke up and wanted to nurse. Okay, fine. Then Brad gets home. Everyone is still awake. Manage to finally get Katherine to sleep at MIDNIGHT. Elizabeth is STILL awake. She's also going back and forth -- from our bed to the den. Wanting to be with Dada (who was asleep and not at all amused by the kisses he was being bestowed) yet wanting to watch the Wiggles. Finally, at 12:15 I'd had it. I gave her a small, small dose of Benadryl. Fifteen minutes later, she was asleep. Better living through chemistry.

Egg Pie

I took Katherine for her six-month well-baby visit yesterday. Since our pediatrician was unavailable for the entire month (he is semi-retired), we saw one of his partners. Katherine is 26" long (75th %tile) and 14 pounds one-half ounce (around the 15th %tile). She's always been a little lean, but her weight gain has really decreased over the past two months. The ped wasn't worried, though, and said most babies slow down either between 4 and 6 months or 6 and 9 months. Okay, if he's not concerned, I won't be either. Nin can sit with support...kind of (she'd rather lean all the way forward and suck her toes), but she's no where near ready to sit on her own. And, while she is teething - we have a couple of tooth buds - no snags have busted through the gums yet. And while I know each child has their own timetable, I can't help but remember that Elizabeth cut her first tooth six days before she was six months old, her second tooth three days later and she started sitting alone two days after she was six months old. I keep reminding myself that Nin being a little slower is a good thing because it means she probably won't be crawling at Christmas and my tree, gifts and bows will have one less set of hands attacking them!

Elizabeth has discovered the joy of a Bandaid (or "bink-tink" as she calls it). She managed to mangle a knuckle last weekend while "helping" her daddy and a neighbor cut up a fallen wild cherry tree. Neosporin and a Dora Bandaid to the rescue. Now, not a day goes by that she doesn't point to the injured area, tell me she has a boo-boo and ask for a bink-tink.

We had quiche for dinner last night. I call it "Egg Pie". I remember having dinner with my sister, her husband and my oldest nephew one night, when I walked into the kitchen he said, "NeNe, we're having EGG PIE for dinner!!" He was so excited. Hey, works for me! And what a great way to get kids to eat it - I mean, who doesn't want PIE for dinner?! When I was making it, I told E, "We're going to have Egg Pie for dinner, okay?" She was excited and stood at the chopping block watching me -- just as my nephew had done with my sister all those years ago in the same kitchen (we bought my sister and BIL's house a little over four years ago). When I pulled the quiche from the oven, her face lit up and she said, "Ooooh! Pie, Mama!" She couldn't wait to eat it - and she had a full piece. She ate as much as I did!!

This week, we are going to start attending story time at the library. We're going on Friday this week and will go on Tuesdays beginning next week. I'm looking forward to it. We had planned to start a couple of weeks ago; however, Elizabeth has slept late the past two Fridays. So, I guess I should say we'll go this Friday provided E doesn't sleep too late (which makes mom sleep late, too!). Yeah, I'm a slug. I don't get up until my kids do; but, most nights I'm up until one or two in the morning - does that make up for it?

We don't *do* bottles

I just have to laugh. Tonight, Brad was holding Katherine and he wasn't wearing a shirt. She was facing him, reclined on his legs. She was staring intently at one of his nipples and reaching for it, grinning. He laughed and called me to watch (man, has he relaxed! That never would've happened with Elizabeth). As I stood beside them, I saw it coming and I know it well - intent gaze, hands out, straining forward, mouth open - it's the "Latch-On Look" and she was headed for Dada's nipple. Hey, it's the right color, it's the right shape, it's a little on the small side but worth a try, right? As she did tummy crunches to get into a sitting position and leaned toward him, he gets a horrified look on his face and says, "Oh no! Come get her!!" Shoot, I was hoping she'd manage to get latched onto him before he realized what had happened.

And while Dad has relaxed about breastfeeding, I've turned into this breastfeeding crazy woman. I've found that if I'm nursing in public, in my mind I'm practically daring someone to say something to me. I nurse very discreetly but still, I'm just waiting for the opportunity to spout off my "Well, Jesus was breastfed" comeback. I'm dying to get the "I make milk. What's your super power?" t-shirt from granolathreads.com. Then there was the day at Holiday House - it's a big event for the Junior League of Little Rock (insert your favorite junior league joke here...if you don't know any email me and I'll tell you a couple of mine). I knew I would be able to get Katherine's charm bracelet and first charm there. As I'm perusing the charms, the woman asks what I'm looking for and I tell her that it is for my baby's first Christmas and we'll add a charm to it every year. "Well, we have this cup." It says "baby" on it - no. "How about one of these baby carriages?" Mmm, maybe, what else do you have? "Well, there are several bottles to choose from." That flew all over me and in my 'idiot son' tone of voice I said, "We don't do bottles. She's exclusively breastfed. Got any boob charms?" Which prompted a "Regina!" from my mother and the sales person immediately started looking for another customer to help. I don't know where inside me that chick was hiding - but all of a sudden, I'm the militant breastfeeding mommy - and darn proud of it! And, yes, my child has had six bottles that I can think of in her six months of life, but they've all held Mommy's Milk; but for all intents and purposes, we don't do bottles.

Speak any English?! (my fave line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off)

Saturday night Elizabeth and I walked into her bedroom at bedtime and she pointed to her Bible story book that was on the footstool by the glider. "Bie-buh," then folded her hands, bowed her head and said, "Aaah-men!" Then, she applauded. I mean, doesn't everyone end their prayers with applause?! (I promise, we're not charismatic). She was so serious, it cracked me up!

Sunday morning I awaken to a silly giggle from the foot of my bed and "Mama! Poo-puh!" Oh, no...have you poo-pooed? "Noooo. Poo-puh, Mama!" I can't figure out why she's saying something that's not quite poo-poo, but sounds like it...what is she saying? "Deh-doh, Mama!" Deh-doh? What the heck is deh-doh?! "Poo-puh deh-doh, Mama!" HUH?! Do you speak any English?! Then here comes Daddy - since he's spent the past hour with her I'm hoping he'll be able to translate.

"Did you tell Mommy what you had for breakfast?" he asked as he walked into the room.
"Uh-uh," she nodded, "poo-puh deh-doh!" and she giggled.

It finally dawned on me...PURPLE JELL-O! LOL My daughter convinced her daddy that she needed to have grape Jell-O for breakfast. Good grief!!!

I guess I can add purple and Jell-O to the vocabulary list. We're now up to 94 words that I've been able to document and I'm sure I've forgotten some. Amazing how things like counting the number of unique words in a child's vocabulary becomes important. I promise, my conversations with friends do not consist of "We learned another new word and we're up to X number today!"

Should I just shave my head?

I figure shaving my head will keep me from pulling all my hair out from frustration. Trying to run errands with a 22-month-old and a 6-month-old is a frigging Broadway production. It's not all the stuff, because I don't take much with me when I go out. It's the getting out of and into the car that is the thing that causes me to just lose it - I'm normally a fairly sane woman (shut up!).

Mr. Fix-It (I love him, but good grief, is my husband ever a "Martian") was trying to "help" me by telling me how I needed to do everything. Listen to me, daggone it! I already know how to do it, I'm just telling you what freaks me out. Just say you hear me and you understand and then SHUT UP! I know someone whose two-year-old was hit and killed in a church parking lot. A good friend of my sister's (an adult man) was recently hit by a 17-year-old who, reports say, was driving entirely too fast for the area -- and it is solely by the grace of God that Jay's 4-year-old wasn't the one who was hit. It would've killed the little one if it had been him. The thought that my toddler could jerk away from me and run in front of a car obviously scares the living daylights out of me. It's become an obsessive thought, more so over the past week since Jay's accident - and since I've been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as OCD - it doesn't take much for something to become obsessive for me. (Okay, so I now officially take back the "I'm normally a fairly sane woman" comment...now will you shut up?!)

Now, my nursling has finally nursed herself to sleep, big sister is in her bed asleep and Dad just got out of the shower and hit the bed. Since he and I went on a date tonight, I think I'll close this blog entry and join him ;-)

More vocab words

Popcorn, which is another I forgot to put on the "big list" below. New words so far this week (yeah, it's only Tuesday and we have three new words) out, help and balloon. It amazes me how children at this age learn new words almost every day.

The Backyardigans is a new show on Nick Jr. and Mommy loves it! Elizabeth likes it, though not as much as Dora (she doesn't like anything as much as Dora). However, I love it. It's cute, the music is great and the songs are catchy. I find myself with an "ear worm" every day - though I've not found it to be annoying like...oh...the Pepto-Bismol jingle ("Nausea, heartburn, indegestion, upset stomach, diarrhea, hey Pepto Bismol" -- arrrrrrgh!)

I've eaten all the chocolate E got for Halloween. Man, I need that Winsor Pilates Ab Sculpting DVD I just bought!

Sugar high

We went trick-or-treating last night. Elizabeth was a ladybug - and a very cute one at that. She had a wonderful time with her cousins and wouldn't let Drew too far out of her sight, which was a good thing since it pretty much required him to stay with us! She was a big hit at each house and everyone made a big to-do over her. Katherine started the evening as Humpty Dumpty, but she hated being in the costume; so, we put jeans and a cute Halloween bib on her. She was in a great mood and loved seeing all the people. And, despite the sugar high, Elizabeth was asking to go home and go to bed by the end of the night!

New words in E's vocabulary: Ellie (the friend of a friend and she pronounces it Ernie); keys; Chester (my aunt's dog) has been one of her words since the day Brad and I had stomach bug and Bippie came to rescue Elizabeth from non-functioning parents; bye-bye has been in her vocabulary for some time but I forgot it in "the big list" below; and banana...how did I forget banana?! She says "munna". It started out as "mamunga" but has morphed into "munna." And, she started saying "bag" last night -- referring to her trick-or-treat bag.

We're going to try to start going to toddler story time at one of the local libraries either this week or next. I'm looking forward to it, though I'm anxious to see if my daughter can spend 20 minutes listening to stories or if she's going to absolutely flip out. I think she'll do pretty well because she loves when we have storytime at home. I'll keep you posted and I'm sure you'll wait with baited breath.