August 2005

 

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

It just goes to show that no matter how much you discourage a behavior, a kid will figure it out with or without your help.

Lauren is crawling and she is bound and determined to brain herself on our entertainment center. She's already pulled down all of the magazines and she ate a corner off of one of them before I could stop her.

No, really, this is good. I'm as pleased as punch that she figured out "the crawl" right before our 10 day trek across the country. I couldn't be happier that she will now be crawling around on all of the hotel floors between here and central Illinois. Mmmmmmmm Can you bathe a baby in sanitizer? I may give it a go

I also suspect a tooth may be the cause to the constant nursing and the 4 am wake up that I got today.  Not fun. She chattered the whole time I was getting my hair cut today. I finally gave up trying to chat with the stylist & let Lauren blabber & drool all over me instead.

 

We are leaving tomorrow for the Wright Family Vacation. I’ll be sure to update the journal when we get back. Should be fun!

 

August 3, 2005

We went to Tallahassee today and got to meet Baby Bridget Shoemaker. She is a beauty!

 

August 4, 2005

We drove to Newnan GA from Tallahassee. We checked into the hotel and went to the Boston’s new house. They have quite a project with the renovation of such a large old place (1930’s house) but I’m sure it will be beautiful when they are done. The city of Newnan has a charming downtown area that is within walking distance from the Boston’s house. I put Lauren in the sling and Katherine and Taitum rode in the double stroller while Bella rode in the sling on Cyndi. We had a nice dinner at the Irish pub but since there were 4 girls and only 3 of us, each of the adults took turns taking the girls outside. Katherine and Taitum were playing “red light green light” and got all tangled up. Katherine ended up with a skinned knee but after a few tears, she was fine. So far, the only downside of this trip is my brilliant packing plan. I was under the impression that all Hampton Inns had laundry’s. Not sure where I got that idea but it was sure in my head when I packed 3 outfits per person in our family. OK, not really, Lauren has 6 outfits but honestly that’s just smart. What is not smart is my not double checking on the laundry facilities. I ended up hand washing our outfits in the tub at the hotel so that we would have something clean to wear the next day. Let’s just say it was a damp day. Sigh

 

Katherine’s mispronunciations are so funny sometimes. I got some silly putty for her to play with in the car and she’s had a good time making pretend mud with it, for her animals to play in. She calls it her “pitty pat” though which just kills me.

 

Her sense of humor is in full force now too. She messes up the words to pat a cake and thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. Her version is “pat a cake pat a cake bakers man. Bake me a potato as fast as you can. Roll it and pat it and mark it with a K. Put it in the bathroom for Katherine and mommy!”. Silly girl! I’d chosen a bedtime story for her before our trip called “are we there yet?”. It’s about two brothers who are on a long car trip and they are basically nuts most of the way until dad has had enough and pulls over to nap. K loves that story and thinks it’s hysterical and almost every day of our trip we had at least one round of

K: “mom, are we there yet?”

Me: “No Harry!”

K: “Hey! I’m not Harry, I’m Daffrin”

Everyone in the car: “Ahahahaha”

 

 

August 5, 2005

Today we drove from Newnan Georgia, through the mountains to Nashville. We visited with Donny & his two children, Mitchell and Taylor, on our way out of Atlanta. K loved their new puppy and she had a really difficult time deciding between the stairs or the puppy as an appropriate play thing. She settled on dividing her time between the two. Then we went to rock city. The fairy tale stuff was weird but the rest of it was pretty cool. The swingy bridge was pretty scary since I had Lauren in the sling & some ding-a-ling behind us thought that bouncing the bridge was a good idea. My sense of mortality and my children’s safety were on high alert way up there spanning a rocky chasm on a bouncy bridge.

K wanted to be carried in the sling for much of the way though due to an on coming cold so I was pretty beat after we were done. After rock city we went to the playground on Lookout Mountain for a bit. It appears that K has a thing for dogs and she made another doggy pal at the park. We then headed to Nashville where we had pizza at Uncle Paul’s house and after dinner we walked around his neighborhood where the lightning bugs were out in full force. K caught her first lightning bug! We then checked into the hotel and since K took such a late nap, she and dad went swimming while L and I took care of the laundry…yes, at the hotel. I got smart and found a booklet at the Newnan Hampton listing all of the facilities and their amenities. I found that the Hampton that we were to stay in tonight did not have laundry facilities but that the one closest to Paul’s house did…SOLD!

 

 

August 6, 2005

We woke up early and drove to Carbondale IL for Woody’s aunt Bonna’s surprise graduation party. I had the opportunity to meet many of Woody’s family members whom I’d only heard about. There were a lot of kids there and Katherine had fun playing in the tree house with Noah and watching the boys climb trees. She also got to hear banjo & fiddle music being played live. She really  enjoyed petting the friendly dog. How long do you think I can get away with not owning a dog?

 

August 7, 2005

We made it to Myrna & Carl’s house out on the farm. Katherine rode on the tractor with Carl to get the mail, she got to pet the horses (while I stood in the background having heart attacks about the electric fence), she fed the horses, she got to ride on chocolate the Donkey’s back (ßHIGHLIGHT OF THE ENTIRE VACATION AS FAR AS SHE’S CONCEREND), and chase lightning bugs. We also looked at the soybeans growing in the field behind nana & papa’s house. In between all of that she also chased down the cat numerous times and played with the dog for a bit. She had a blast!  When asked what she rode her reply, “a camel”. After we told her that it was a donkey she agreed but still called it a camel later. Goofy girl.

 

August 8, 2005

We went to a neighbor’s farm and picked some corn & other veggies. We also got to see how broccoli looks in its natural form. Katherine helped pick some veggies but she was much more interested in the neighbor’s cat. She also thought the swallows that were flying in & out of the barn were pretty cool.

After that, papa Carl had a big surprise for her. We showed up at his work and she got to see what he does. She got to sit in a giant tractor and she went for a ride on the smaller one. He also took her for a spin in the semi.

We got back to the house & shucked some corn for dinner. It was delish!

Both girls got a bath in the wash room sink and then off to bed. I have to say that for being off of their schedules so much, both girls are doing pretty well! Hooray!

 

August 9, 2005

We drove into Bloomington to see Grandpa Henry and Grandma Jane. We all went to a new sprinkler park that they’d just opened and we played in the water for awhile. It was really hot though and I was fine with going back to Jane’s when K was done playing. Katherine did stick to her cautiousness today. There were a TON of kids at the sprinkler park and she just avoided them and went to play on the toys that everyone else was avoiding. We had dinner at Jane’s then headed back to the farm.

 

August 10, 2005

Drove from the farm to Cincinnati today. On the way we stopped at the Indianapolis children’s museum and met up with Colin and Colleen.  It was great seeing Colleen after so many years and Colin was fun as usual. Katherine however was a beast! She had not taken a nap and so we left the museum after only about an hour. I wanted to stay and see more but she just had a total meltdown and Woody carried her crying and screaming out of the building. That was a bummer. We made it to the Laupp’s house by dinnertime and they cooked us up a yummy meal. Katherine played with their cats and Anthony’s dog for awhile and both girls played with the pile of toys that  Brian and Becky have on hand to entertain the youth who stop in at their place. We had a wonderful visit with all of the Laupps.

 

August 11, 2005

Left the Laupps in Cinci after breaking a vase (whoops! Bad husband!) and drove to Nashville….well sorta. This is the kind of day that the words “flexible vacation plans” were made for.  To put it shortly, our GPS failed us. The plan was to drive from Cinci to Knoxville. I had the bright idea that we should stop in Kingston and get a picture of K with her great grandfather’s stacks in the background. We put “Kingston” into the GPS and headed off mindlessly following the GPS, with no questions asked.

 

The girls started to get grumpy and Woody saw a sign for Horse cave in Kentucky so we pulled off. If we knew what was good for us we would have just nursed the baby, changed diapers and kept on going but nope, we went for Horse cave like the adventurous, flexible, family of suckers that we are.

 

I should have known something was up when we pulled up to “horse cave”. The “cave museum” was a storefront in a run down looking downtown area. We went in and bought tickets. Ok, well, we weren’t’ the only suckers. There were 3 other women waiting for the tour. The tour guide shows up and we start down into the cave, stopping every few yards to get lectured on ground water pollution and what we can do to save caves. Then on our way into the cave itself, the guide tells us that this particular cave used to be the towns sewer system. Uh, excuse me? You didn’t just tell me that did you? You are taking us down a million wet wooden stairs into an old sewer? Between Lauren babbling the whole time and K trying to run away down into the mouth of the sewer,,,uh..cave I was pretty sure that that is exactly what I heard. We kept going for a bit but finally Woody asked if I wanted to turn back. Yesirre Bob I Sure Do! SO up a billion stairs with Lauren in the sling I go. Note to self…work out more. I was dying at the end. So how much did we spend on that little trip? I don’t know and frankly, I don’t really want to know either.

 

So we hop back into the car, sweaty and still out of breath, and we continue to Knoxville…or so we think.

 

We start to see signs for Nashville and I start thinking…this just doesn’t seem right. However, being the geography whiz that I am, I didn’t really know. So we get just outside of Nashville and I call my mom to get an idea of what interstate Knoxville is off of. After speaking with my mom I’m positive that we missed a turn somewhere but Ginger (our gps lady) is leading us to our destination…even though it’s still the wrong destination.

 

Woody gets on the phone with Hampton reservations and the decision is made to stay in Nashville for the night. Paul is working overtime so we miss him. We walk around the Green Hills mall and eat dinner then we go to bed.

 

August 12, 2005

We drove from Nashville to Atlanta & met with Bella, Taitum and Cyndi again at the Atlanta zoo. We enjoyed spending time with Bella on her 2^nd birthday. Cyndi made some cute little gift bags for both girls and the toys she put in them kept the girls occupied in the car for most of the ride home.

Katherine was such a good girl that she really really reaped the benefits. She not only got to go to the zoo, which she would have forfeited if she’d been a monster like the previous day, but she also got to get ice cream and go swimming.

 

August 13, 2005

 

We are home after our whirlwind tour of the country. We had a great time and the girls could not have been better behaved for the most part. We had a few meltdowns but all in all, for the amount of time they were confined to their car seats, they were awesome. So awesome in fact that we may actually take another road trip next year.

 

 

August 26, 2005

Took Katherine to her first Soccer practice this evening. She looks totally cute in her too big soccer gear. I wasn’t able to find cleats for her though. Not for lack of trying however. I drove over an hour today to go to the sports stores, Wal Mart and Target. I am beginning to think that they don’t make toddler sized cleats.

 

She is playing for the Cheetahs or as Megan, her teammate called them, “the Cheetos!”. Kids are so funny. They didn’t actually get to practice since we had a soaking rain from hurricane Katrina but we got all of the paper work filled out and got to scope out the competition. J

 

August 29, 2005

Lauren has started to pull herself up and stand while holding onto furniture. She can go ahead and slow down on the growing up thing. It’s just happening too quickly.

Speaking of slowing down. What’s up with Katherine being almost three?!? That’s just crazy! Just yesterday I was cuddling up with her, hugging and kissing her and she was too little to resist. Now I have to wait until she’s sick or totally exhausted to get that kind of a response.

 

August 30, 2005

Katherine had her second swimming lesson today and then we had our first Soccer practice. K’s team has 6 little kids between 3 and 4 years old on it. Woody is coaching and it was a good time. They all did drills and exercises and ran around. It was really hot outside but it was fun.

 

Thursday, July 21, 2005

 

I’ve not written much this month so I’ll try to catch up a bit today.

 

We went to Tallahassee for the King family reunion and GiGi’s (Pearl’s) 85^th birthday. We had a great time visiting with the family and all of the new additions. Katherine and Lauren were very well behaved and enjoyed the trip. Katherine made some sand cakes and did some swimming and we went on two jungle boat cruises. She and Woody also went on a canoe trip up the river and saw some alligators, turtles, birds and manatees. Hurricane Dennis hit us a bit on Sunday afternoon but it wasn’t too bad. It was just a bit of an inconvenience due to loss of electricity for awhile.

 

Lauren has found her voice and boy does she love using it. She is chattering up a storm. We were trying to watch a movie last night and just gave up since she would not stop jabbering. She is up on her knees now and rocking back and forth. She wants to crawl so badly. She had her 6 month appointment last Friday and here are her stats.

Height: 26 ¾ “ (90%)

Weight: 15 lb 2oz (25-50%)

Head: 42 ½ cm (50%)

She also got three shots and only cried for a bit.

 

Katherine has been a little sweetheart lately. Being off of her routine has caused a bit of a problem with bedtime but we are working on it. She’s suddenly discovered a fear of monsters in her bedroom. I’ve been spraying Lysol and explaining to her that not only do monsters not like that smell, they also know that Katherine is way too sweet. They’d get a tummy ache if they come near her. J She seemed to accept that.

 

July 27, 2005

 

OK. Why didn’t anyone tell me how much you will question yourself when you are a parent? I have an ongoing dialogue in my head 24/7. It’s driving me nuts!

 

Katherine has been acting different. Not naughtier, not bossier, not more spastic, not even bratty…just different. She’s not her normal super-happy bouncing off the walls, enthusiastic, affectionate little girl that I’m used to. It’s pretty subtle and I was second guessing weather or not something was even different or if it was just me over-analyzing things as I’m so apt to do. I made a point to spend some extra cuddle time with her thinking that perhaps a little Lauren jealousy has crept in. Nothing changed.

 

Today I posted this to the parenting club message board.  “Katherine is acting strange. Not bad, just not her usual chipper self. But it's really hard to get an almost 3 year old to tell you what's bothering her. I suspect she's finally getting jealous of Lauren but when she's asked what's wrong; her answer is always something like "i don't have a lollipop" or "I am not blowing bubbles right now". Crazy kids! :-) I hate to see her sad but I don't know how to fix it for her. Any ideas on how to get her to talk to me?” I got a good suggestion to do a puppet show with her and see what she says.

 

When I went to pick her up from daycare, I mentioned to Candice that I thought she was acting weird with the hopes that Candice would either tell me I was nuts or that she would have a brilliant suggestion or possibly a phone number to the nearest toddler mental health professional. Instead she said Dale (her husband) and mentioned she was acting “off” too & that she’d noticed it also. Well, at least I know it’s not all in my head right?

 

In the car on the way home I tried playing amateur psychiatrist by asking her what mommy, daddy and Lauren did to make her happy (hugging her, kissing her, giving her treats etc.) and sad (giving her time outs). She’s not giving me any leads.

 

So after her bath tonight I made coffee filter versions of the members of our family and stuck them to straws. Oh yeah….the creativity was flowin’ in the kitchen tonight! They were oh-so-lovely.

 

When I was tucking her in we played with the puppets. Mommy puppet asked Katherine puppet if she was happy or sad….she said happy. Then we went on to talk about how much we all love each other. Ok, so that didn’t work at all! I guess I’ll just see what happens over the next few days.

 

The thing is, if she’s jealous of Lauren or of the time we spend with her, she sure doesn’t take it out on Lauren. She’s sweet as pie to her and she begs me to bring Lauren in to “show her to my friends” at daycare every day. She also has nothing but nice things to say about her.

 

Hmmmmm. I’m stumped. I thought I had at least a few more years before I had to deal with a non-communicative, sullen, moody person.

 

As for Lauren, I suspect a growth spurt would be to blame for the near-constant nursing and the large amounts of cereal and sweet potatoes she’s been eating over the last couple of days.  She’s a chow hound! She’s also been sleeping a lot but when she’s not sleeping she’s up on all fours rocking back and forth. She’s been reaching with her hands in a crawling motion…she really wants to move.

 

I was lying in bed on Sunday morning just chattering with her. The Duh-Duh-Duh type of baby chatter that is so sweet. Then she said “Da-Da”. I know she didn’t mean too but it was worthy of the journal none the less.

 

Final note for tonight before I pick up the screaming baby. Katherine has a taste for baby food. Every night at dinner time when I’m feeding Lauren, Katherine always says “she’s finished” or “Lauren doesn’t like that”. When Lauren is actually finished with her meal, I give it to K who scarfs it down. So now, Katherine’s main source of nutrition at home is carnation instant breakfast, cookies from Super Target, noodles with butter and cheese and baby food. Thank god she eats at daycare. Note to self: remind her of this when she is the littlest kid in her class and complaining to me. ;-)

 

Thursday, July 28, 2005

As Woody & I sat and watched, Lauren went from lying down on her tummy to sitting up. Then she crawled. Not a very stylish crawl but a crawl none the less. She lurched forward a couple of times using both her legs & arms. It wasn’t pretty to watch since I kept waiting for the face plant, but it was awesome. Things are gonna be changing round these parts.

 

Friday, July 29, 2005

I was tucking Katherine into bed last night and I gave her a big hug and then I looked at her and said "do you know how much I love you bunny?". Her reply "TOO MUCH!" was said with a big grin & followed by a kiss & hug from her.

That is the perfect answer.

 

June 3, 2005

 

It’s been crazy around here. Our sitter’s kids were sick all this week so I’ve had K and Lauren home all day every day. Luckily, Kristin came to help out a few days and they even took Katherine bowling today. Katherine has been really great this week. We spent some time making crafts and just playing around. It’s fascinating to play with her and let her lead the way. Interesting way to figure out what is going on in her brain.

Lauren is sitting up with support now. She can tripod herself (hold herself in a sitting position with her arms) but as soon as she grabs for something, she smashes her face. She’s getting very strong. She also has a funny, grunty – squeaky laugh. I thought it was pretty funny but then I was watching some of K’s old videos and we have one of her at exactly this age making the same silly giggles.

 

June 5, 2005

Took some naked baby pics of Lauren this evening out on the porch after her batch. I was trying to get a good picture of the Mongolian spot on her rear but it doesn’t really show up in the pictures.

 

She’s really strong. I bet Woody that she will be sitting unsupported within 2 weeks and crawling in 4. She keeps putting her bum up in the air and then she will drop it and do a full push up. If she managed to do them both at the same time, she’d be crawling. We need to get on baby proofing ASAP!

She also ate some baby oatmeal tonight. She loved it…so did K. J

 

June 8, 2005

 

Not a very good start to the day. I was awakened at 6am by crying coming from the living room. I stumbled out of bed to find Katherine in a sobbing, wailing heap on the floor. I asked what the problem was, trying to hide my annoyance at being woken up so rudely. She was distressed that she couldn’t get her blankie to cover her. What I thought was “You’ve done it a million times before”. What I said was “ok honey, do you want to come to bed and lie down with Lauren and I?”. She was happy and jumped in my arms. I felt all warm inside and…wait a cotton pickin’ minute! Wet outside?!? Yep, she had peed so much in her pull up that it was dripping all down my side and there was even a little puddle on the floor where she’d been sitting. Grrrreat!  I changed her pull up and vowed to never give her any more apple juice after 7pm. Hahahaha! I crack myself up. That will so not happen ever.

 

While changing her diaper and trying to swallow my frustration at the issues that had started my morning so poorly, I explained that she would need to be very quiet in our bed because Lauren was sleeping. She said “ok mom” and climbed into the bed next to Lauren. Picture of bliss? NOT! She tries so hard to be nice to her sister but the thing that she doesn’t understand is she should just leave Lauren alone when she’s asleep. Katherine patted Lauren’s head & gave her a hug & a kiss and then, viola! Lauren was awake with the rest of us. I did not scold Katherine because she was trying to be sweet, and she was being sweet.

 

I turned on Winnie the Pooh for Katherine to watch and commenced getting ready for the day. I usually get up at 6:30 and run around packing my gym bag, packing Lauren’s bag for the daycare at the gym, getting K’s apple juice, eating something, drinking scads of coffee, packing K’s bag for daycare, showering and getting dressed, making sure I have what I need for any morning errands, picking out clothes for the girls and checking my calendar for my tasks that day. When the kids are up, it really sets that plan on it’s ear. I don’t like it at all when my morning ritual is messed up. It gets to me.

 

Katherine’s watching Winnie the Pooh, eating cereal and drinking apple juice and Lauren is playing in the crib. OK, I’ll try to get my stuff done. 10 minutes of activity and K comes in to tell me that she peed on her backpack. Nice, she’s gone and wet her pull up so much that it’s leaking again. What did this child drink last night? The entire flipping bathtub? I cart her off again to change her pull up. We get in her room and I whip the pull up off and out comes poop! The little stinker said nothing about poop. We are having some issues with potty training and I’m trying to keep it positive so I said. “Katherine, why didn’t you go pee-pee and poop in the potty?”. “I don’t know”. So I said, “Ok, here is a rule for today, you can watch any movie you want tonight but only if you don’t have any more accidents”. It’s like she thinks the entire house is her own personal diaper. The anger is boiling up at this point and I seriously want to just rant a bit but I control myself and with a little swat on the butt and a kiss, I send her off to play so I can finish getting ready.

 

While she’s playing, I call Woody for a reality check. I have been stuck in the “house of madness” for two hours with Lauren and the formerly-wonderful-child named Katherine. He talks me out of pinching her tiny little head off and gets on the phone with her and explains that she needs to be a good girl for Mommy. What he doesn’t say is “you mother is controlling herself right now but it’s she’s only got a tenuous grasp on her sanity right now. Just get out of the way if she takes off running through the neighborhood singing the theme song to any one of your silly little cartoons at the top of her lungs”. I’m happy he doesn’t share that part with her. She says OK.

 

It’s almost time to go and I asked Katherine to come over so I can dress her. She says no. I said “you can come over and get dressed now or you can go to Candice’s in just a pull up”. She melts in a heap on the floor, fake crying. I say “last chance” and give her the choices again. She’s still in a pile. “OK, lets go get in the car!” I say, the same way I do on any other morning. Instead of doing what she normally does (follow the instruction) she throws a block (no throwing! I say), and sits on the sit and spin cackling “I’m a nekkid baby!”. It’s all fun and games until she falls off of the sit and spin and onto one of the 300 blocks that she’d dumped out in the middle of the living room floor 20 minutes ago. She starts screaming “I’ve got a boo boo”. I get boo boo bunny out of the freezer and put it on her little scrape. I’m totally steamed by now but again; I swallow the vileness that is surging up, wanting to spew out ugliness at a rapid rate. Instead I kiss her boo boo and give her a big hug. Then I talk to her a bit about making big messes and what sometimes happens when we throw blocks all over the house.

 

At this point, Lauren is also not very happy having gotten little attention all morning since her sister was hogging me so she’s crying in her car seat.

 

I finally get Katherine in the car and we are halfway to Candice’s (Sweet salvation) before she suddenly realizes she’s naked. “I don’t want to go to Candice’s naked mommy” whining…crying. UGH! I give her the “choices” talk and explain that she made the choice to not get dressed. I call Candice to warn her of the impending stripper. I wonder about my adeptness as a parent and I also wonder if a) I’m going to scar her forever by doing this or b) she will enjoy being naked so much that she will never put on a stitch of clothing before leaving the house again. I have a sudden vision of a 16 year old Katherine who is greeted, nude, at the doors to the high school by lots of boys…. and some policemen. I don’t like the vision at all & I shake my head to clear it from my addle-pated brain Candice assures me that it’s ok to bring her naked.

 

I finally drop her off, tossing a jaunty “good luck with her today!” over my shoulder to Candice. As I’m heading to the gym, I can feel the tension in my shoulders. I’m not a happy camper. I’m almost on the verge of tears but proud of myself for not losing it with her this morning. She drives me to distraction but I know it’s mainly that we aren’t communicating well right now. I hate to see her sadness when she knows she’s made me angry or disappointed.

 

I get on the treadmill and go for 30 minutes. I feel better now. Hopefully this evening will go better for us.

 

June 9, 2005

 

I was driving Katherine to daycare this morning and during our conversation I said that I was going to work after I dropped her off. She said "At the circus mommy?". 

 

I said "Katherine, what does mommy do after you go to Miss Candice's?"

K: "you go to the gym"

Me: "yep, that's right. I go to the gym to exercise. Then what do I do for work...for my job?"

K: "you go to the circus"

 

What the heck does she think I do for a living? I WISH I went to the circus every day

 

June 12, 2005

 

We went to a pool party for one of Woody’s ex-co-workers 1 year old. Katherine, who never before showed any interest what-so-ever of getting in a pool pestered us until we finally decided that she could get in with her panties and tee shirt as long as she stayed on a step next to us.

 

Then she talked about the pool and swimming the entire, long, ride home.

 

June 12, 2005

 

Lauren is sitting up unassisted for minutes at a time before tumbling over.

 

June 13, 2005

 

Lauren tried bananas for the first time last night. I don’t think she liked them very much. She was also up every hour last night with gas pains. She loves the oatmeal and will eat a lot of that. I think we will stick with that for a week or so then try the bananas again…when I can sleep in.

 

 

 

June 15, 2005

 

We enrolled K in a swim school and she had her first lesson today. They are private lessons & she did great! Miss Nicole really has a way with children. Katherine put her head in the water and she blew bubbles. Just 4 days ago she was afraid to put her face in the water or get her hair wet. I watched the class and was very pleased.

K was so proud of herself! She will have 3 classes a week for 4 weeks. By the time we go to Tallahassee, she should have the basic moves down which will allow me to relax a bit when we are around the water.

 

June 19, 2005

 

Who needs hands to hold herself up while sitting? Not Lauren! She’s a sturdy sitter who can sit & play as long as she wants.

 

She does this weird rocking/bouncing thing when she’s sitting though. Kind of like she’s got a good beat in her head. She also has the doorway jumper down. She would bounce for hours in that thing if we let her. I’ve noticed that she is way more oral than Katherine ever was. She mouths EVERYTHING.

 

June 27, 2005

 

Lauren has been eating more. She seems to prefer the plain cereals but she has had butternut squash & she seems to like it most days. Apples, not so much.

 

She has started really blowing raspberries and had Woody and I giggling during K’s swim lesson on Friday. She is also pushing her entire chest off of the floor. She can heft herself up all the way to her belly button & if she could figure out how to put her knees under her, she’d be crawling. I’m ok with her taking her time learning that skill. More time to child proof.  I was right on with my 2 week guess on sitting but luckily I was off on my crawling prediction. Whew!

 

Katherine is doing wonderfully with her swimming lessons. She will willingly (most days) swim to the wall and climb up. She still isn’t really keen on getting her head wet or floating on her back but we will continue to practice and give her lots of encouragement. She had gotten really fussy during two of her lessons last week and on the way to class one day we had a discussion about bravery. She turned on the charm and did awesome! The instructor came up to me after class and said that Katherine was “the cutest” and that when she’d been floating on her back, she sat up and said “the pool was singing twinkle twinkle little star to me”.

 

We took her to the park last weekend and Woody taught her how to pump her legs on the “big girl swings”. She got going a bit & was quite pleased with herself.

 

June 27, 2005

 

I was reading some entries from February 03, when Katherine was Lauren’s age. I ran across a paragraph where I was mentioning that Katherine dropped from the 50^th percentile in weight at 4 mos to the 3^rd at 6 months. I thought, “well, I’ll be next to the pediatricians office this afternoon anyway so I’ll take Lauren in for a weight check”. She weighs 15 lbs which means that she’s also dropped but not quite as drastically. She’s gone from 50^th to 10-25^th percentile for weight. Great…I’ll try not to worry. She seems to have a better attitude towards food than K ever did. Lauren actually chases the spoon. I rarely have to coax her to eat.

 

I introduced carrots to Lauren tonight. She liked them and ate about a tablespoon mixed into her rice cereal but then she barfed, Technicolor orange, all over her crib after I got her out of the bath. Could be the carrots or it could be the slight cold she has…could also be teething or the fact that she barfs almost every single time she takes a bath. Hmmmmmmm

 

Katherine is…well, she’s almost 3. Potty training is going great, no accidents in over a week. She’s even dry in the mornings but I’m hesitant to do away with the night-time pull ups. Eating is touch and go. As a parent (and food connoisseur), you read about picky toddlers and their erratic eating habits but they are hard to comprehend until you are living the drama. For 3 nights in a row, Katherine refused to eat any dinner. We were all stressed out and dinner time was rather unpleasant. Tonight she ate a TON though. Hopefully the positive reinforcement we gave her tonight will help to continue the trend. Candice says she eats well for breakfast & lunch so I suppose she won’t actually starve but it’s still frustrating. I’ve cut out any snacks that aren’t nutritious until after she’s eaten dinner and we are going to start limiting her apple juice intake as well. I’ve also started giving her carnation instant breakfast in the mornings before Candice’s. She thinks it’s chocolate milk & guzzles it down. She only has 2 more swimming lessons before they end. She’s doing really well! Now she will go underwater to get weighted rings, float on her back (assisted), blow bubbles, swim to the wall & turn around & catch the wall if she falls in. She got a “great bubble blower” ribbon and we hung it on her door next to the life sized paper Katherine that she made at daycare. Finally, she’s really doing well with her letters. She knows most of the sounds and will point them out and say “K says K”. She also has gotten really good at tracing letters. Today in the car she said “I start with K. What do you start with mommy?” Then she went on to ask about Daddy and Lauren.

At her swim lesson today I realized that maybe Katherine will be a commentator when she grows up. She literally narrated every single move of every person in the pool. It was crazy. I did not realize how much she was talking until her lesson started and it was quiet. Wow that girl can chatter!

 

 

May 10, 2005

 

Lauren had her 4 month appointment today. Here are her stats

Height: 26.25 inches (over the 95^th percentile)

Weight: 13 lbs 9 oz (50%)

Head Circumference: 41cm (50-75%)

So she’s a tall one.

She also got 4 shots and only cried for a second until I picked her up.

 

Just for comparison sake;

I don't have Katherine's measurements for 4 mos but K's 6 month stats were:

13 lbs 9 oz & 25.75"  :huh:

 

May 16, 2005

 

We started Lauren on solids on the 15^th. She’s got good head control and was reaching for our food while we were eating. Top that off with the look of lust in her eyes as they followed our food laden forks to our mouths and I figured we’d give it a go. She only had a few bites on Sunday but tonight she went to town on the rice cereal and had almost 2 tablespoons!

 

I took Katherine to the dance class place to find out about class availability. She was sitting there playing with the stuffed buffalo that her dad brought her from his trip to Buffalo and she was being very sweet. A prim older lady was watching her and commented about what a sweet girl she was. My pride was quickly replaced by a bit of embarrassment when K said, rather loudly, “mom, I just farted two times!” like it was a big accomplishment. I tried to explain to her that fart talk was for home only so then she starts a fart song. Silly kid.

 

May 17, 2005

I’m working in the office today and Lauren just woke up from her nap in the bassinet that is sitting next to my desk. I went to pick her up and when I came into her line of sight, I got the full body smile. That wiggly, reaching, giant grin, bright-eyed smile that just makes me melt. I’m so lucky.

 

May 30, 2005

I have hardly written at all this month. It’s just been crazy around here!

 

Katherine is calling farts “butt flappers” now. That’s pretty funny stuff. She’s doing really well with the potty training and the accidents are getting less frequent.

 

 Woody started a new schedule working 6:30 am to 6:30 pm which means I’ve got both girls in the mornings and for a couple of hours in the evenings. Lucky for me, Lauren is so easy going. Whew!

 

Speaking of Lauren, she’s getting really tall. She’s in 9-12 month clothes. Anything smaller pulls! She’s going to be sharing K’s current wardrobe in no time. She’s also really enjoying the doorway jumper and she’s got strong legs just like her sister. We will put her in there and turn on the music and K will dance while Lauren bounces. The bouncing intensifies when Lauren sees K. She adores her sister. She is getting better with eating and is actually swallowing about 2T of rice cereal at a sitting now. I will start introducing the other grains soon and then the real fun starts with the fruits and veggies. Oh the laundry I will do. Wahoo! Wait, was that a Dr. Suess book?

 

I’ve been staying really busy with work. I’ve accepted a smallish project with a couple of other states and will be starting that in June. That should get a couple of extra hours in for me.

 

We are trying to decide if we want to enclose the back porch. Still haven’t made the final decision to do it but we’ve had people over constantly giving us estimates. I’ve also had the handyman over to help us with some minor upgrades and hurricane prep and I have an appointment with a landscaper next week. Owning a home is hard work. I seriously have no idea how someone who works outside of the home manages.

 

 

April 3, 2005

Mom and Carol-Ann came for a visit. Carol has decided that Lauren is now “Lady Lauren”. She says she’s very serene and calm yet alert so she seems like such a regal lady. Bwahahahaha! A regal lady who blows up a couple of outfits a day with poop explosions!

 

April 4, 2005

Good lord I feel like a crappy parent. Things have just not been going our way lately. Much as we try, things get all screwy. Lets just take a look at the last two days shall we? Yesterday, I woke up feeling a cold coming on. Figured I’d take the girls and run some errands so Woody could have the house to himself for a bit (something that rarely happens & the poor guy has been itching for a break lately). I was getting ready to go, list in hand, when he said he wanted to come along and do a “family thing”…whatever buddy, it’s your free time you are sacrificing. So we all pile in the van and go off to run errands. Errands, a word Katherine has never heard and repeats approximately 1000 times while we are in the car. We drop off the mail at the post office-“mommy, are we doing errands next?”, “honey that was one of our errands, an errand is a task that we can cross off of our list. See daddy crossing ‘drop off letters’ off of the list?” Next, the salvation army truck to drop off some clothes that didn’t sell at the yard sale…”mommy are we doing an errand?” then to the gas station “was that an errand mommy?”. So to save us from certain madness, we decided that K needed to go to either the museum or the park in an attempt to make her forget the word ‘errand’. She chooses the museum. I realize that although we are only about 10 minutes from the museum, that I don’t have the stroller in the van so we drive the extra 15 minutes home to get it, all the while, talking up the museum. We’d whipped K into a frenzy about the museum and by the time we get there, she’s all excited and has completely forgotten about errands.

I pull her out of her car seat and ewwwww! Wet arms. Her diaper had leaked through her clothes and since this NEVER happens, I have no change of clothes for her. While Woody is changing her diaper, we discuss fashioning a skirt for her from two cloth diapers that we keep handy to wipe up Lauren puke. We finally break it to K that we can’t go to the museum. She’s sad. So sad that she cries…a lot and wakes up Lauren, who until now had been sitting in her carseat for an hour blissfully sleeping, but she has  decided that she was awakened rudely and will not tolerate her carseat for another second. ARGH!!

We go home and the remainder of my errands goes un-errand-ed.

 

K was so very upset about the museum that we decided Woody would take half a day off today (Monday) and we’d pick her up early from daycare and go. We told her and she was excited about the prospect of seeing the dinosaur. I even noted to myself to not let her chug two sippy cups full of apple juice on the way. So Woody gets home at 1 but his cold has gotten to him so he needs a nap. We leave at 3 to pick K up and we get to the museum at 5 pm. Of course it’s closed. Did we even think that this was a possibility? Nope! So we pile K in the car again, very upset, and she drowns her sorrows in a sticky glop of dippin dots. I feel awful. We call the zoo to see if they are open. Nope. We consider Bush Gardens for a second but that would cost approximately a billion dollars so we decide against even mentioning that as a possibility.  We promise Katherine that we will take her to the museum this weekend and we take a long walk around the neighborhood after dinner. I still feel awful.

 

April 20, 2005

Things are going well. Woody hired a sitter last Saturday and I got the morning off. I went shopping and got a nice dress for Carol-Ann’s wedding. It was weird (but wonderful!) to get out of the house without toting a kid around with me. I am trying to talk myself into taking the girls to Tallahassee for a weekend by myself so Woody can have some time off too. There will be plenty of help when I get there but my only worries are the car ride and the hotel at night. It would probably be ok but I’m still a bit nervous. Katherine seems to have the ability to tell when I will not or can not tolerate her acting up and she’s able to control herself for the most part.

 

Here are some things that have been going on recently since I’ve not written much this month. Katherine went potty at Mrs. Candice’s and she went poop at home. She wore panties for 4 hours last night and stayed dry through a trip to the park and used the potty twice during that time. She’s very excited about the promised trip to Sea World when she’s trained but she is a bit confused about it. She says “now we can go to Sea World” every time she uses the potty and I have to reiterate that we will go to Sea World when she doesn’t wear diapers during the day anymore at all.

 

Lauren is rolling all over and giving us big ol’ belly laughs now. She’s starting to grasp things and put them in her mouth and she loves watching her sister. She’s also grabbing her toes. Her hair is filling in and she’s still a pretty laid back kid.

 

I decided to paint my nails this week in an attempt to get them to grow. Katherine was intrigued so I painted hers this morning. She’s such a priss and was so proud of her fingernails! It was really fun seeing her excitement.

Other than that, it’s just been the normal chaotic routine. Up in the morning, dress, drive to daycare, run errands, work and clean house, pick K up from daycare (this is where the chaos really kicks in), cook dinner, eat, go for a walk or to the park, playtime, clean the kids, before bed snack, feed the fish, story time, bedtime. Think we could fit a bit more in? I doubt it.

 

April 21, 2005

Katherine is growing up! For the last few weeks, we've been mentioning potty training. We've told her that we have panties for her, a trip to sea world when she's not wearing diapers all day for a week, etc. She's had a few successes peeing and one tiny little poop that snuck out when she was reading a story on the potty, but nothing that has really stuck and been routine.

Last night, she peed twice in the potty and she'd gone to bed and came out an hour later saying she had to go. I sat her on the pot and sure enough...tinkles! What I thought was a bedtime avoidance tactic turned out to be the real deal

So this morning, I asked her if she wanted panties or a diaper and she chose panties. I put two extra pairs of shorts and panties in her bag and took her to daycare. Ever the pessimist eh? Of course she's farting the entire way and I’m totally sure she's pooped but nope, she was clean. LOL

I went to pick her up this afternoon and Candice said she was dry all day. NO Accidents! She used the potty all day and just told Candice when she needed to go! I was dumbfounded and very proud. I called DH and he stopped at the store to pick up a balloon for her and pizza for dinner. When he got home, she asked to sit on the potty and she not only peed she pooped too! Every time she goes, she says "I'm ready to go to Sea World now mommy?".

I asked if Woody can take Tuesday off next week and we can  go to Sea World. I'm so PROUD!

 

April 23, 2005

So it’s set. We are goin’ to Sea World on Tuesday Baby!! I love seeing the excitement in Katherine’s eyes when we do something new. She’s just so darn enthusiastic that it rubs off on everyone. We’ve had a couple of accidents but nothing too traumatic.

 

The first day that she was dry all day, she wet a bit during dinner. The next day, no accidents at all. Today I took both of the girls out for donuts and a library trip. We enjoyed our donuts (well, K and I did…Lauren watched us eating and drooled a lot J,)and went to the library. K had an accident almost as soon as we got there. So we packed up and headed home. No big deal and it’s to be expected.

 

She seems to have it down at home and at Candice’s’, it’s when we are out that she tends to forget. I’ve reminded her that there are bathrooms everywhere and that I have her “special seat” in my purse at all times. The special seat is this cool foldable potty seat for a kid that fits in my bag. It’s great! I don’t have to worry about her pure little booty touching the vile filth that is in some public bathrooms.

 

We went on a family trip to Home Depot this afternoon and she said she needed to go. I escorted her to the restroom and got out her “special seat” and she went. I’m hoping that was the breakthrough we were waiting for.

 

Lauren has a pretty wacky sense of humor. I was dressing Katherine in her PJ’s last night after her bath and Woody brought Lauren in to watch. I was tickling Katherine and spanking her butt and Lauren started howling with laughter…but only when I swatted K’s buns. It was quite amusing.

 

April 28, 2005

We took the girls to Sea World two days ago. It was fun but tiring. K really enjoyed feeding the sea lions and watching Shamu & the dolphins. She also did her first really embarrassing thing. We were in the bathroom and she went potty and I took my turn. She exclaims “mommy, you have fur on yours mommy?!”. I almost died. I said yes dear and hurried her out of there before the 20 other people there had time to come out to see the furry lady. LOL It’s not like she has never seen it before. I can’t imagine why she chose that moment to make the exclamation. Little turkey. It was pretty funny but man; I could see where someone without my sense of humor could have been mortified.

 

Her imagination is also blooming. She slept in our room last night because Woody was out of town on business. The baby monitor has two lights on it and she was freaking out when I turned the lights off because it looked like a monster. It kind of did look like a monster and now that she pointed that out, I may keep it facing the other way permanently.

 

March 8, 2005

Today was Lauren’s 2 month appointment. Her stats are:

Height: 24” (90%)

Weight: 11 ½ lb (75%)

Head Circumference: 40cm (75%)

She’s staying right on the curve. She got her vaccinations and did not like that one bit but she calmed right down when I nursed her afterwards. I think the position that they hold her in is what really irritates her…the needles just add to it. She’s healthy as a horse and just perfect according to the ped.

 

March 12, 2005

 

Katherine had a doctors appointment yesterday. She’s weighing in at a whopping 24 lbs fully dressed.

 

Took her to the “bunny bash” at the local park. She sat on the easter bunny’s lap with Lauren and had popcorn, a sno-cone and cotton candy for lunch. Boy was she a sticky, happy mess!

 

 

March 19, 2005

 

Realized that Katherine has stopped saying “mee meeps” for music. She corrected me when I asked her if she wanted mee meeps. That made me kind of sad. She’s leaving her babyhood behind at a rapid rate now.

 

March 22, 2005

 

Lauren’s first real laugh. In response to mommy tickling her. Music to my ears!

 

 

March 23, 2005 6:55pm

I just laid Lauren down on her tummy so I could work a bit. Before I could even look at my computer, she rolled over. I put her back on her tummy and she rolled over the other way. Wow!

 

March 24, 2005

So we have been trying to potty train K or at least get her interested again. Well, she went tonight and we were making a big deal out of it. Then she went up to her dad and said, "Can I have my chocolate and my lollipop now please dad". He gave it to her. Later I told her that I was proud of her but that we don't get treats every time we go potty. Woody said um....I told her she gets two chocolate kisses and a lollipop every time she uses the potty. I looked at him with what was apparently the crazy face, because he backtracked and said, "We can wean it from her after a week or two". What the heck!?!

We will be having a discussion tonight. She's all about routine and I see her asking for kisses and lollipops every time she pees, well into her 20's

I guess she will get them for the next bit, and I'll be reading up on how to correct terrible parenting mistakes after they've been made.

 

March 27, 2005

We had a nice easter. The easter bunny got Katherine some water colors, washable markers and princess panties and also a ton of candy. He got Lauren two rattles and a teether. Katherine had a blast finding eggs this morning.

 

Lauren has been rolling over from belly to back and back to belly for a few days now. She did back to belly the day after belly to back. It’s nuts!

 

 February 1, 2005

Lauren had her 1 month appointment today and she weighs 9lbs 13oz
She's gained 2 lbs since birth! Katherine weighed 9lbs @ her 1 mo

 

February 8, 2005

Lauren had an appointment for her second HepB shot today. Here are her stats now.

Head: 38cm (75%)

Length: 23” (97%)

Weight: 10lb 3oz (75-90%)

Wowza! She’s outgrown her newborn-footed outfits because she’s too tall. I’ve unpacked the box of 3-6 month outfits that K used to wear and loaded Lauren’s dresser with them. It’s so funny to see her in Katherine’s old outfits. She’s also already up to the next size in diapers.

 

We had a nice visit with the folks in Tallahassee this weekend. We got to see many of our friends and enjoyed hanging out. Katherine especially enjoyed rolling down the hill at grandma and poppy’s house with Taitum, Bella, Bailey and Kiera.

 

The one snag with our trip was what is now referred to as “the backpack incident”. Lauren started getting fussy during the last hour of our trip. After stopping at two exits in a row to feed her, we decided that maybe she needed a diaper change. We stopped and I hopped out to change her. I pulled the diaper bag from the back and took care of business. However, mommy brain, I forgot to close the back of the van and when we took off, a lady at the gas station started honking her horn. We pulled onto the shoulder, right across the street) and closed the door. I asked Woody if everything was still there and he said he didn’t think anything fell out. We arrived in Tallahassee an hour later and alas, Katherine’s Dora back pack, which contained all of her clothes for the weekend along with her teddy bear, Dumbo video and security blanket. Woody and Brad made the hour and a half round trip back to the exit and thank god, they retrieved the backpack. It has a bit of road rash but everything was secure inside. Whew!

 

Katherine has been going to bed like a big girl lately and she will be rewarded this weekend with a family trip to the zoo or if it’s too cold, to the museum. She’s really been awesome for the most part with everything that’s been going on around her. As long as she has her sleep she’s great. The only time we get into it with her is when she’s not gotten enough rest….then it’s awful. Of course the “no’s” hit pretty fiercely this month but they seem to have peaked last week. There has been a sharp decline in the amount of frustration now that that phase seems to be nearing the end.

 

In the evenings, I’ve started asking Katherine what her favorite part of the day is. So far, answers like “rolling down the hill”, “painting at Miss Candice’s’” and “playing the piano with GiGi” are some of my favorite answers. I plan to try to enter them into this journal so that I can remember what really floats her boat. One day, in the not too distant future, I’m sure her answers will be more like “when Bobby smiled at me”, or “Shut up mom, this is a stupid game”. I’ll be able to look back and remember when she was so innocent and sweet. sigh

 

Lauren is holding her head up but it’s still a pretty big melon and it plops forward after awhile. She’s smiling and cooing at us and is generally just a great, easy baby. We figure it’s our gift for dealing so gracefully with the high-needs baby that was Katherine. We can actually put Lauren down after she falls asleep and she stays asleep! Go figure.

 

Family wise, Woody is keeping busy with work and we are looking for a new car for me. The back door to the van broke and will not latch shut. I wouldn’t mind if it were just me, but I’m not so comfortable driving the girls around in it. Besides it gets crappy mileage and is falling apart slowly anyway. In fact, I took it to get the oil changed last week and the guy looked at me and said “wow, you sure do have a lot of oil leaks in that car”. Hummm really? My garage floor hadn’t noticed. LOL

 

February 14, 2005

Happy Valentines Day. Woody got me a nice frame and he put pictures of the girls in it for me. I also got a gift certificate to the spa for a mani & pedi. That will be nice when I find the time to get there.

K had a party at daycare and she got chocolate and lots of cards. She’s such a chocoholic.

 

February 15, 2005

Lauren is starting to coo and smile a lot more. She’s got a lovely smile.

 

February 16, 2005

Katherine melted my heart today. I had picked her up from daycare and we were chatting like usual in the car. She said “mommy. You are my best friend mommy” and she had the sweetest look on her face. I practically pulled over right there and gave her a hug.

 

Her favorite things for the last few days have been:

Monday: playing outside and riding bikes

Tuesday: painting (I see a trend here)

Today: eating crackers. Graham crackers that they eat for snack. Apparently they got to eat outside today since the weather has been so nice.

 

Lauren rode around in the baby bjorn carrier for most of the day while I cleaned and worked. She’s been really gassy and pukey the last two days. Wonder if I ate something that is bothering her (sure hope it’s not the chocolate. that would stink! LOL) or if it’s all the mucous from her cold. So far she’s been way sicker than K ever was but she’s a better sleeper and she’s growing well so I guess it’s a fair trade.

 

Woody’s joints are still bothering him. He met with a rheumatologist who seems to think it’s either gout or rheumatoid arthritis. We are waiting for the test results and should know something by next week. We are keeping our fingers crossed for gout since that’s manageable with meds. It will be nice if he finally gets a diagnosis. That’s got to be hard to be in such pain yet not know exactly why.

 

February 23, 2005

 

That Katherine is one funny girl. Today in the car, she said “that’s a poppy sign!”. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said it again and I realized that she was referring to the stop signs. Poppy had shown her the stop sign when they took a walk the last time we were at their house. She also says “Poppy is playing the mee-meeps” whenever we play the Harry Connick CD and the jazzy piano songs come on. Maybe she’s some kind of music savant or something…I mean what toddler knows the difference between jazz and classical? She never says that when we listen to classical piano pieces. Weird.

 

The recurring neck problem I’ve had is back. I turned the wrong way two days ago and pow! Pain. So, now Woody and I are both broken. The house is falling into chaos. I have a chiropractic appointment today. It usually takes about 1 day after an adjustment to start feeling better. Hopefully I will be feeling good when Susan comes down for the weekend. Katherine can’t wait to see her grandma and grandma will be surprised to see & hear all of Laurens smiles and coos.

 

Today is hat day at daycare. K was so excited. I took her suitcase of dress up clothes and hats for her to share.

 

I just put Lauren down in her crib awake but sleepy for her nap. We shall see if she falls asleep in there. I really want her to start taking her naps in there.

 

February 28, 2005

 

Katherine had a pretty funny one tonight. She loves taking medicine and she’s had a cough that we’ve been treating for the last few days. Woody asked if she needed medicine tonight and I asked her if she was still feeling sick. With the most serious look on her face she said “Yes I am sick mommy. I’ve had the hiccups all day!”. I had to laugh at that one.