Back to Dance Night

The night that Alyssa has been impatiently waiting for for weeks finally came!

Our little mommy

It seems like ever since Joel was born I've gotten comments on what a great little "mommy" Alyssa is. And she is. She's the sweetest big sister I've ever seen ~ oh she has her moments where she loves to terrorize him, but overall she's awesome. She's comforting, she always wants to make sure he gets the same things as every one else, that he's taken care of, etc.

She's getting to that age where its fairly common for her to start taking about imaginary friends (or in the case of another little girl in her preschool class imaginary siblings). Sophie has her best friend "Alyia" that comes over to play when Alyssa can't come over. And I never really thought about it until yesterday, but Alyssa always talks about her kids. Its "my girls" this and "my boys" that. They don't always have names (or if they do all the girls/boys have just one name), but its kind of funny that she refers to them in kind of a mothering manner.

I see you, Mommy!

Otherwise known as "outsmarted by an almost 19 month old".

Yesterday Joel ran a fever on and off, which I'm betting is due to teething. Last night he was really restless, so I was up a couple times with him rocking and cuddling. I started thinking after I had gone back to bed that maybe the reason he would starting crying/wake up when I put him down was because he was cold (I put him to bed in just a diaper and pair of shorts because his fever was high-ish when we went to bed), so after getting up with Alyssa, I decided to sneak in and toss a blanket over him. BOOM! Insert awake Joel. So, in my up since 1AM brilliance, I decided to dive to the side of the crib so he wouldn't notice me and then once he went back to sleep I could safely leave the room. Yeah, right. The side of the crib that you can't really get to because there's a TV tray in the way. It worked for awhile ... I kept checking on him and he was just staring intently at the door because of course I left it open when I came in to do the covering. He started moving around a bit, so I "dove" back into my non-so-great hiding spot, crouched down next to the TV tray, hoping that he was just going to give up and go back to sleep. After a couple minutes of silence I tentatively lifted my head to peek into his crib and there right next to me was a little blonde head, peering over the side, grinning from ear to ear because his silly mommy was attempting to play hide and seek at 2 in the morning. Busted. Oy.

That damn dog

At least 3 evenings in the past week I've been sitting at my computer finishing up odds and ends as Adam is doing his part of the bedtime routine with Alyssa and doggy fart comes wafting into the room. Lexi is always laying at the bottom of the stairs, so its not like she's close to me - I can't even see her, but I smell her. Its like the gas shoots out of her butt and makes a bee line around the corner and across the room to me. And the smell just keeps going and going and going. Its not a passing thing.

Remind me again why we don't send her to the glue and/or sausage factory ...

Let them eat ice cream

Last night I was a bit "miffed" at Adam because he had polished off the last of the ice cream. But trying to look for the silver lining, I decided to eat some of my "strawberry daquiri sorbet" instead ~ because of course sorbet is healthier than ice cream, right? Its God's way of intervening and guiding me towards the healthier alternative. Right?

WRONG!

Yes, the sorbet is fat free, but its still 3 weight watchers points per 1/2 cup serving. The EXACT same as a 1/2 cup serving of vanilla ice cream. So why the heck am I wasting my 3 points on that healthy "crap" when I *could* be eating the good crap?! Unfair. And now my so called "healthy" treat is tainted and doesn't make me feel so good about eating it anymore.

TGIBLD!

Thank Goodness its B's Last Day!

Today is the last day for one of my daycare kids. I have to confess, I am not sorry at all that he's leaving. I can't think of anything he had to "offer" my daycare ... unless it was more stress and gray hairs for me. I will miss his mom; she was a really sweet person and I do hope that maybe we can get the kids together from time to time. But as for "B" ... he caused so much stress and frustration on my part, he antagonized Joel, he was rough with toys, kids, Lexi, etc. Not a good "vibe" to have in the house.

There went my streak ...

I was motivated by my friend Christy's challenge to blog every day, so I was trying *REALLY* hard to post something every day. But then our house was invaded by a visitor from the East and everything fell apart. ;) Just kidding, Paula!

My wonderful friend Paula arrived Friday morning to spend a long weekend with us. I loved having her here, getting to spend time with her and having the kids spend time with her. We had a great weekend of all things girly ~ a trip to the zoo, shopping, pedicures, more shopping, chick flicks, ice cream, more shopping, lots of great food, laughs, and a little bit more shopping.

Today my mom came to town and we took Joel to get his 18 month pictures taken. We also did some fall shopping for the kids. I think they are pretty well set, although Alyssa doesn't have a whole lot of skirts/dresses. Not very practical for preschool, but if the "fancy" trend continues, I may have to go out and add a few more pieces to her wardrobe. I'm anxiously awaiting cooler weather now.

Overheard at daycare

I told Adam one time that I wanted to do an "overheard at daycare" blog after reading some of the "overheard in the office/new york/high school/at the beach" blogs. I don't know if I would really have enough stories to entertain people, but here's an "overheard" from today.

"Last time, when I was playing football, I saw a wasp. And that wasp ATE me on the arm. I was just looking at it and it ate me. And then it ate me on the other arm. And I didn't get the football! And then I died. Forever. "

The Blame Game

Yesterday morning Alyssa asked me if she could have a fruit snack. When I told her that she needed to wait until snacktime, she screamed "NO!" and hit me. So I told her that because she argued with and hit me she wouldn't get any snacks at all yesterday. About 10 minutes later she asked for a fruit snack again and when I reminded her that she argued with and hit me so she lost fruit snacks for the day she tried to convince me that it was Joel who hit me. I don't think so, kid.

Then this morning I heard some suspicious "scribbling" sounds coming from the closed laundry room. Upon investigation I found Alyssa looking wide-eyed with a purple crayon in her hand and purple graffiti on the back of the door. First thing out of her mouth was "Joel did it!". Riiight. So she had a time out and then she and I talked about how she's Joel's big sister and she has to think about what she's doing because he learns from her. And now she's trying to scrub off the crayon from the back of the door as the rest of her "punishment". Although I think she's rather enjoying using the sponge and "spray-y stuff", so I'm not sure how great of a punishment it is.

That which does not kill you ...

makes you stronger.

I went to my dreaded 10 year high school reunion this evening, and seeing as I'm blogging about it, you can see that it did not kill me. I'm not sure if I'm stronger, but I did have a really good time. I'm glad Eric and Hope guilted me into going. And I'm glad Adam went with me and had a somewhat enjoyable time ... what's more enjoyable that watching (mom, don't read this) your wife having too many drinks?!

I can't really explain why I was dreading this evening so much, but there was a part of me that felt like I would be 10 years older Christi in a room with my stilll 18 year old classmates and that I would stick out like a sore thumb. I was right on some level, probably 65 percent of the people there were still in the "let's chug beer and talk about how we kicked some _______ (insert other 3A school here) ass! Yeah!" type. But I really enjoyed spending time with the people that we spent time with. Most were people that I had at one time been pretty close to in high school and for some reason or another had drifted from during our years inschool. It was really nice to see that we had left that past behind and evolved into somewhat mature adults (I still stole Heidi's drink when she wasn't looking) that could enjoy each other's company while talking about kids, jobs, and of course the incredible device known as the Wii!

I get happy when ...

1. Joel sleeps until almost 10 allowing me to do important stuff like:
a. Give Alyssa my undivided attention so that she doesn't cry (tear free since 8:03!!! ... what's the remind you of, Boomer?)
b. Load dishwasher, sweep and mop breakfast nook, and declutter kitchen counters slightly.
c. Chat it up with my girl Angie for our daily "check in".

2. Alyssa and I cleaned her room with minimal fuss from her and minimal help from me. She probably did at least 75% of it on her own. Its amazing what the promise of chips for lunch and "winning" monies (she earned 23 cents for cleaning her room) can do to motivate that child.

3. I feel like I've accomplished something. See items 1 and 2.

4. There's the promise of 2 children napping at the same time today ... miracles happen, people, miracles happen.

5 MOST IMPORTANT! See sidebar for countdown ... Paula will be here in less than a week! One week from now I'll be touring the zoo with Paula and the kids; I can't wait!!!

I get crabby when ...

Okay, a lot of things make me crabby, but I'm having a crabby day, so I'm hoping that by identifying the things that are making me crabby today I will get said crabbiness out of me so that we have a somewhat pleasant day. Because Alyssa has burst into tears 3 times already this morning and its only 8AM. And I can't take much more of her emotional-ness in my current crabby state.

1. Children that wake up early. Thus waking me up early. And because she got up waaay early and didn't go back to sleep, becoming beside herself over the simplest things and crying/whining.
2. Children that go into their closet and take all their clothes off the hangers, then pile the hangers up in the middle of the room, but hide the clothes so that mommy won't suspect anything. Because I wouldn't notice that the normally full closet is empty. And then insert crying when I tell her that the first thing we're going to do today is clean up her room. Because she didn't do it, Joel did it. She means, Sophie did it. (Sophie did it once I pointed out to her that I didn't think that Joel could climb up and pull all the hangers down; but maybe I shouldn't underestimate him).
3. Kitchens where you can't see the counters. I cleaned the kitchen 3 times yesterday; I don't understand how it gets so trashed so quickly, but I hate, hate, hate looking at it. And I hate, hate, hate feeling like I do nothing but clean the kitchen all day.

Well, my favorite child Joel* will probably wake up soon, so I should go get the dishwasher loaded before I have to add "children who climb on/in and try to unload dishwasher while I'm loading it" to a thing that makes me crabby.

* disclaimer, Joel is only my favorite child because he's still sleeping and that DEFINITELY doesn't make me crabby. Things may change once he wakes up. ;)

I love school supplies!

I'm sure there will be a day that I dread buying school supplies because it means my babies are growing up and going out in the world to fend for themselves, but for now I LOVE it. To me it means cheap crayons, glue, and paper, which we can never seem to have enough of around here (because Alyssa doesn't understand that "less is more" and Joel likes to just destroy/rip/break things).

This morning I was at Target, so I picked up a few boxes of crayons, some glue sticks, colored pencils, etc. And since Alyssa has never really had a pair of her own scissors, I got her some "starter" scissors. And I couldn't resist the High School Musical folder. :) So for the last almost 30 minutes, the kids have been coloring together with new crayons, then Alyssa is cutting their papers and putting them in her new "holder". Okay, maybe Joel's eating a crayon or two, too. Its got fiber right? ;)

Guess who

is almost 23 pounds, almost 33 inches tall, and 18 months and 1 day old! Its our boy Joel!

Dear Joel,

You are absolutely everything I could have wished for in a little boy. You are a cuddle bug, yet fiercely independent at the same time. I'm so proud of everything that you have accomplished and I love watching you grow more every day. It makes me sad that you're quickly leaving babyhood behind, but each day with you had proven to be more and more amazing, so I try to enjoy and treasure the moments we have together each day and look forward to watching you continue to develop into your own little person.

You are brave. You will climb anything and everything that stands still (and sometimes try to climb Lexi). Your recent conquests have been the swingset and Daddy's ladder. I cannot believe how quickly you have mastered slides and ladders; you definitely are gifted in the climbing area.

You are a lover. We have finally gotten you to the point where you will (most of the time) give sweet, close-mouthed kisses. Although you do save some big sloppy ones for me, and honestly I love them. :) You really love your big sister and are constantly giving her hugs out of the blue. And she thinks that's the best thing ever. Lately when I've been dropping you off in the childcare room at the Y you'll let go of me, cling to Alyssa for a few moments, and then its like you know that you've got your big sister to protect and comfort you, so you're on your way to play. The last time I picked you up you didn't want to leave, which is quite the change from you bursting into tears as soon as I walked back in the room and rushing off to get our red bag so that we could get out of there ASAP!

Your favorite word right now seems to be "see". You use it to point out things that you've done as well as things that excite you and you want to share. You love to put other people's shoes on and you'll clomp around the house saying "see!? see?!" as you point out your accomplishment to anyone who will look.

We struggle with your love of hitting and pulling Alyssa's hair. I keep trying to tell her that you're just jealous of her curls and long hair, but I don't think she's going to buy that much longer. You do seem to love to hit whether with toys or with your hands. Its not always out of frustration or anger (although you do do that often and I can't say I always blame you because you're sister needs to work on her sharing and compromising skills); sometimes I think you just don't understand "nice" touches. It'll come. And you're always ready with kisses and hugs after you hit someone, so that helps.

Another love of yours these days is Lexi. You love to lay on her, climb on her, and give her hugs and kisses. It makes me miss Joey because I think you would really get a kick out of her being close to your own size. You're such a little fire ball of energy, I think you could really give her a run for her money. Of course, maybe that's not such a great thing. Maybe someday we'll talk Daddy into getting a smaller dog again. :)

I love you buddy bear.
Mommy

Note to self

Alyssa is a little too obsessive compulsive and/or panty-losing to be ready for day of the week underwear. It just causes stress.

I think I've mentioned that our girl is currently completely addicted to "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2". So I, being the enabler that I am, bought her HSM panties. But it wasn't until we opened them that I realized that they were day of the week panties. Maybe they'll help her learn the days of the week, I thought.

This afternoon she was running around naked asking for panties and since I didn't know where her Saturday panties were I just handed her Tuesday ones. And here's what went down:

A: What these say on them?
M: T is for Troy and for Tuesday.
A: Tuesday? Today is Tuesday?
M: No, its Saturday, but I don't know where your Saturday panties went, so we'll just pretend those are Saturday ones.
A: My panties say "Saturday and T is for tea parties".

Okay.

Conversation with Alyssa 8-1-08

This may become a weekly installment, so I dated the entry. Here's a conversation that Alyssa and I had on our way to the bank/gym this morning. A couple months ago they broke ground on an elementary school down the street from us; the elementary school where Alyssa (and Joel) will go to school. We started talking about how they were building the school and that's where Alyssa and Sophie would go and eventually Joel would go when he got big like Alyssa, etc. So here's what she had to say today.

"There's my Sool!!" *after some thought* "They need to put a topper on it. And books in it. Books in it, and doors and windows and a teacher and then put the topper on. Right Mommy?".

Exactly.

Weirded out

All I can hear in the house is the sounds of "High School Musical". I'm guessing that my children have finally offed each other. So in honor of that I was just surfing around on facebook. And I was surprised to find that one of my best friends from college is friends with someone I worked with on an RMP film. Doing further investigation I realized that they graduated high school the same year and I'm sure they were probably both involved in the drama department, so I guess it it understandable. But it still seemed really strange to me.

Then I found another friend is "friends" (I added the "" because you can't really tell how close people are just because they are friends on facebook) with someone I went to college with. I think. I don't know that I really knew her, but the name sounds very familiar.

I guess its a small world after all.

Ah, back to the joyous screams and slaps that has been the soundtrack of my day. The children are alive and "well".