Thursday, July 10, 2008

The things we get excited about...

Isaac is potty training! In case you hadn't heard. Not so much training though really as him deciding that it's worth the trouble to use the potty. Since he's known how for a while I think. I knew my laziness instinct to wait would pay off!
So that's my parenting advice for today. If you have a strong-willed child, you may as well just wait for potty training to be his idea. Unless you love losing power struggles. And unless your definition of potty training means training yourself to clean pee off of everything BUT the potty. It's a lot less work. Except for emptying man-size poops out of the little potty into the big one...
Sigh... he's getting so grown-up. The only things left that he doesn't say quite right are hangaburgers (hamburgers), pecks (beaks, as in, Do those seagulls have crackers in their pecks?), and cries (he get's very upset when I wipe the "cries" off of his cheeks while he's having a tantrum). I really hope he doesn't figure those out too soon.
Gracie is talking up a storm now too. Some of her favorite words are NO! and MINE! She's completely spoiled rotten. Yesterday we tried AS HARD AS WE COULD not to laugh while her Daddy was speaking sternly to her. We really really wanted to be serious and make sure that she knew what she was doing was unacceptable. It didn't work. Her face... she brings new meaning to the phrase "too cute for your own good".
We got her sleeping well for about a week and a half and now she's got a bunch of teeth coming in and stays up half the night. This is both of them "waking up slow" as we say in our house. For me that involves a couple of giant cups of coffee but the sugar in a sippy cup of juice does plenty for them.

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Secret to my... uh, Insanity?

These pictures are a bit old (March probably?) but I've been wanting to share them. They were all taken on the same day. See if you notice a theme.

This one is a little bit hard to make out but look carefully at each of the items. This is the result of one of Isaac's passions... painting! Luckily this was with washable paint because he's even more enthusiastic about totally permanent craft paint!




This one is Grace and, I think, Bisquick. Not as bad as the time she dumped an entire bag of powdered sugar on the living room carpet though...



This is Isaac. He is standing behind the electric heater in our living room driving his toy engines through... any guesses?... baking soda!!! A whole box. Look at the heater and at the floor. Yikes!




Yeah, I need to get the lock fixed on the cupboard with all the baking supplies. Although they haven't been getting into it as much since we've been able to get outside.
So, that's my tip of the day I guess:
If the children aren't in the house, then they can't mess it up!

That's also the only way I know to keep the end of the day tidy-up to under 3 hours! And you wondered why I don't keep up with my blog...

If anyone has any ideas that are more helpful than mine, I'd love to hear them! :)

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Crime and Punishment

I was sitting at the computer, also known as the time-suck machine, doing something very pointless important. Isaac was sitting behind me at the table eating a sandwich and Grace, well who ever really knows what Grace is doing?
Suddenly, "Ouch!" said Isaac. Loudly.
"What's wrong?" I asked, distractedly.
"Ouch!"
"What's the matter?!" I was starting to be mildly concerned.
"OUCH!!!"
"WHAT IS THE MATTER?" I said, raising my voice and finally turning around.
There was Isaac, still at the table and there was Grace, standing beside him and trying to steal his sandwich.
"That hurt my feelings," he said, referring to the attempted theft.

That kid cracks me up!

On another note, Gracie will be 15 months tomorrow. Sigh. My big big girl. She's saying a bunch of words now including her latest, "baby". I remember, distinctly, the first time Isaac said "baby". Which is funny 'cuz I don't remember much these days. I think it's just one of those words that sounds ultra-cute in the teeny-tiny voice of a one-year old. Grace also sings "baby, baby, baby, baby" to the tune (sorta) of the "Baby Signing Time" theme song which just melts my heart.
And guess what else 15 months old means? According to Dr. Dobson, it is the earliest you can begin discipline.
I've been waiting for this.... ;)

Thursday, February 28, 2008

For Safety's sake

The gate by the stairs fell down yesterday and I, inexplicably, didn't put it back up right away. Then I sat down for 2.2 seconds to help Isaac with something and when I looked up I noticed that Gracie was gone. Of course I knew right away where she was. But I couldn't see her from where I was standing so I immediately thought that she must be up near the top, where the stairs turn the corner and are really really steep. The part where she always slips when I let her crawl up ahead of me (with my hands on her the whole time of course). So I sprinted for the stairs, all the while in the midst of a heart-attack. Before I could reach the top though, I heard a sound over the baby monitor. It was Gracie, playing happily in our bedroom (yes we still share). When she saw me, she gave me such a proud (and also impish) smile. I'm glad she was so happy because there goes another year off of my life!
Isaac, apparently, is trying to make up for the years he's shaved off of my life expectancy. I had taken out a bottle of cleaner and left it on the dining room table for later use. But Isaac spotted it and said to me, "Those are chemicals Mama. I don't want you to touch them."
Now that's advice that I don't mind taking!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Lights, camera, action, Wiggles!

Isaac's dear Nana got him a "Wiggles" dvd. I'm not sure that we needed to have the "Wiggles" in our lives. It was good strategy on Nana's part though, if she's wanting to spend more time with the kids. I mean, Hubby is going to need lots of help with them when the dvd drives me to the funny farm.
Ok, so having Wiggles songs stuck in my head 24/7 is annoying (Literally they are going through my head even while I'm sleeping. You know, for all of 20 minutes.) but they may actually be a good thing for Isaac. He is just so self-concious about dancing. Well, he actually doesn't really dance but he gets embarassed even when other people do (and not just his dorky parents). So that's why she got him the dvd. And yesterday he actually watched me dance along with the dvd and didn't even glower at me. And this morning I caught him nodding his head to the music for a few seconds. I'd call that progress. Worth my sanity anyway. Since I didn't have much left to begin with.
Speaking of progress, Gracie actually took a step all by herself yesterday! Go Gracie! There's good news about her sleep too! Well, not really good news... her sleep is as horrible as ever, but at least I've found someone new to blame. Early this morning, during her 648th(ish) waking, when she wouldn't go back to sleep, I finally turned toward her and peeled open my eyelids to find... the cat. She was licking Gracie or doing something equally entertaining. So I kicked the cat out of bed and I didn't even have to nurse Grace again to get her to go back to sleep. Which is good because I draw the line at 648 times per night. Usually. Unless I'm desperate.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Gracie Day!

I am aware that I don't talk about Gracie very often. That's mostly because she doesn't say anything funny yet and I know it's not very interesting to read about how cute someone looks. But I did want to have a "Gracie Day" today so I've decided to just show you how cute my baby is these days.







Alright, I can't resist just a little bit of bragging. She can draw! And since she is my very neglected independent second child, she taught herself, using Isaac's crayons, in between crayon-eating sessions. She is also quite good with a spoon. Mostly because she would rather die than let someone feed her. She doesn't actually eat much but her aim is really good! Especially when she aims at the floor... or me. Last but not least, boy can she climb stairs! I think that that little talent of hers my end up accounting for my first gray hairs.
Anyway, have a great Gracie Day!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Inside the Mind of a 2-year-old (or me)

"Mama," said Isaac as I searched for a computer game for him to play. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I don't know," I said. "What are you thinking?"
"Sesame Street!"
Right. Of course.

Funny how the mind of a small child works. I mean, I used to make fun of Lunchables. You know, those prepackaged trays of cheese and crackers and (kinda gross) lunchmeat. Who in their right mind would pay all that money for something that they probably have at home already? Then last night I needed a really quick dinner idea that Isaac would actually eat and suddenly I had this idea to get him a Lunchable. Not only did he eat some of it but he was really excited. He kept talking about it. Who knew?
So anyway, to the inventor of Lunchables, I'm sorry I doubted you. You truly are a genius.
Come to think of it, I guess that's just marketing for you. That works on me too. I bought the shampoo that I'm currently using for no other reason than that the bottle is pink. And I do enjoy using it.
Sure, it makes my hair fall out but I do like looking at that pink bottle!
Just kidding. It doesn't make my hair fall out.
That could be stress right?





ps. Don't get worried my dear ones who are reading this. My hair isn't actually falling out. Just a joke!
Happy Monday!