Does it make me a bad mom if...

I have my daughter put under anesthesia for the first time in her life AND buy her a pre-made birthday cake all in the same day? IA is definitely getting the shaft!

The gift that keeps on giving

So say it's your first birthday....what would you like? A colorful book? A musical toy with lots of buttons? A trip to the park? Some cake? Well, if you're IA, you're getting a fantastic trip to the hospital for ear tube surgery. Awesome! Granted, it's actually a pretty amazing gift, in so much as she is going to be able to hear without feeling like she's underwater and will be incredibly more comfortable than she is now. But it's not actually the way I envisioned spending my baby's first b-day. I must say the guilt I had when scheduling it for THAT day, man, pretty darn big. Unfortunately it was the only day available before we move and this can not wait. She is miserable, I am miserable, we all need her to feel well. I WANT her to feel well. So for now she's got her appointment and the only thing that is really freaking me out is the anesthesia. I'm going to try not to think too much about it (but it really does scares the crap out of me!) and focus on the positive. And one thing I can promise...once the surgery is over, a big fat cake will be waiting for her at home!

Daycare vent

Recently I've become pretty agitated with our daycare. As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of daycare, my kids have both gotten so much out of it and we've meet some wonderful teachers along the way. I know it's not perfect, and I know that I willingly CHOOSE to put my children in this environment, but I at least want to feel like a consistent effort is being made...and I'm not getting that so much these days.

IA just transitioned in to a room where some of her teachers seem to be putting in the hours vs. really caring about what happens to the kids. They are incredibly passive and sometimes I feel, when we are in conversation, that I am talking right through them. I get it. It's a job. But as a parent when you encounter this laissez faire attitude it's definitely frustrating. IA has come home with more diaper rashes than I care to count (we just recently battled a SEVERE one that I hope to never see the likes of again). Even when I ask them to take a bit of extra care and maybe change her more times than normal...it doesn't seem to happen. I'm not a demanding parent and when I make requests they are not trivial to me. So I say, step it up people!

WA's daycare experience is one hot mess at the moment. He's having some issues in the classroom and I was led to believe, by the main teacher, that they were severe and that he was one of a few, if not the only, child exhibiting these particular behaviors. I come to find out, from other teachers and parents, that while WA is being more rowdy than perhaps a typical 3 year old, that other boys in the class are doing the exact same thing! I am all for correcting this behavior, but I don't think merely politely speaking to a child is always the best way to enforce discipline. Sometimes there needs to be more dramatic consequences..no gym, no books, no playground, etc. I am frustrated that they worked me up in to a tizzy thinking I had a really big problem on my hands. It had me questioning if I was parenting WA the right way at the moment! To be put in a situation that causes you to doubt what you are doing really sucks. Especially when it may not be merited. I am all for correcting the behavior that WA is exhibiting, trust me. I just don't want to be made to feel like I have a juvenile delinquent on my hands! I spoke to my brother the other day and he was extremely reassuring, not only in my parenting skills, but also that ALL 3 year olds go through phases and exhibit "bad" behavior in some way or another. Turns out WA's cousin showed some of the very same stubbornness and acting out that WA does. So now I feel much more confident that we are in a phase that needs consistent guidance (that we have been providing all along). He's a good kid and no one will ever make me feel otherwise again.

So daycare...not on the top of my favorites list this month. Hopefully given time and communication (and some deep breaths on my side) things will get better.

End of rant:).

Pure gold

WA and my hubby spent last week in Ohio. WA was with his grandparents, while the hubby did some work stuff in Columbus. IA and I stayed home. It was a long (and very quiet) week. I am grateful that I didn't have to handle two kids on my own (thank you in-laws!), but I certainly did miss my boys something fierce. WA and the hubby came home late Sunday night. IA was well in to her slumber, as was I to be honest, so the hubby put WA to bed which means that we didn't see him until the next morning. IA and I got up bright and early...as always...and, since he was so tired, it was a while before WA arose. When he did, he called to me from the top of the stairs and greeted me with a big smile and a "Mama!". Check plus kid. He then came downstairs and the moment his sister saw him she BOOKED it across the room, pulled herself up on to WA and gave him a big hug. Ok, that was cute, but what really killed me was WA proceeded to sit down, open his arms and give his sister a huge bear hug back. IA thought this was awesome and began to squeal with glee. Pure parenting gold folks. Pure gold.

She walks!

What a thrill! This past Saturday I witnessed IA taking her first steps. It all took place spontaneously after lunch, when she was holding on to a cabinet in our dining room and took 2.5 steps from it to me. My aunt, GAP, was visiting and was there to see it (Since my Mom can't be here to see it, I'm really happy that her sister was able to. That's pretty meaningful.). My poor husband was out of town and missed the whole thing. I think there's a bit of cosmic retribution at play since I was on a business trip in New Orleans when WA took his first steps. I know how much it sucks to get that kind of news over the phone, so I felt a bit bad for him. However, it will be awesome for him to come home after a few days and see what progress she's made. If my memory serves me, and it often doesn't, WA walked just after his first birthday. IA walked just shy of her 11mo birthday. I guess it's true what they say about younger children, they really do want to keep up with the big kids. My moderately peaceful days with a crawler are coming to an end and I couldn't be prouder of my beautiful little walker. Go IA go!

IA update

IA has been growing leaps and bounds. She is just shy of 11 months and is solidly in 18-24 month clothing. Whenever we are out and people ask how old she is, they always give her a second look; to which I have to respond "Yes, she's big for her age.". I'm not worried about her size, in fact I suspect it's going to come in very handy in about 15 years when she goes to her first concert. Besides inheriting my height, I think she's also got a bit of my Italian genes, because she is heavily bias toward carbohydrates. Loves breads, pastas, cheerios...not so much a fan of avocado, bananas or veggies. Hopefully that will change with time.

She also added a couple of new words to her repertoire. She says "uh-oh" whenever she drops something, and it's by far her most intelligible word. She says "mama", usually when she's crawling toward me in a fury and also "dada", mostly when my hubby is making funny faces and she is lunging for his glasses. She is also cruising around entire rooms by shifting from couch to chair to her brother's head to the coffee table and back again. I'm not sure I can predict when she'll walk at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was within the next month or so.

All in all she's a great baby and definitely is developing a distinct personality. She's much, much more fiery than her brother but is also very serious and reserved (where do you think she gets that from?!? :)). She is starting to develop a real love affair with books, much to my great delight. She has taken to happily sitting on the ground surrounded by books just flipping through them. No need for external stimuli, she's all about the pages.

As I reflect on her recent development, I can tell you one thing without question...this kid, like her brother, has me hook line and sinker. I can't wait to watch her journey.

Ear Infections

Knock wood. We are a family that has, for the most part, been able to avoid the nastiness of chronic ear infections. WA has had less than a handful to date and last week IA got her first (known)at 10 mos. She hasn't been sleeping or eating well and after only a few days of this and I already want to cry "Mercy!". One thing is for sure, I am sending a massive amount of sympathy out to my ladies friends who have had it a gazillion times worse.

Oh, and I love whoever it is that invented antibiotics.

Just when you think you have it together...

you have a morning like I had. I woke up at 5:55am to the sounds of IA peeps coming through the monitor. Begrudingly I got out of bed and went to feed her a bottle. I tried for a bit to get her to go back to sleep, but when that didn't work I finally decided to start the day at 6:30. IA and I played for the next 45 minutes until WA came trodding downstairs. All went fairly well through breakfast, showers and shuttling out the door. I got to daycare, dropped both kids off with minimal hassle and then proceeded to head to an appointment before work. At that point I was feeling pretty please with myself for such a smooth start to the day...that is until I got a call from IA's teacher. My first reaction, when I looked at caller ID, was 'CRAP! one of the kids is sick'. That's usually my first reaction anytime daycare calls. Since we have no family in the area I'm usually the one stuck watching the sick child, which means juggling my schedule and returning emails during naps and/or videos. Kinda not fun. But today, luckily, the call wasn't about a sick kid. Instead it was a call to inform me that I sent my little girl to school WITH NO FOOD! Oy. IA's teacher, while clearly irritated, graciously agreed to fend IA off for a little while longer so that I could finish my appointment and run to the store. So here I am running around like a mad woman trying to get bottles, formula, etc and hussel back to daycare and drop everything off before turning around and heading back home to start work. Needless to say it wasn't the most relaxing part of my day...or at least I hope not. I still have half of it go! Now I'm tense and agitated, but at least my baby has a full belly. I'm hoping I'm not the only mom out there that has sent a kid in without food, because it certainly makes me feel like I'm less than on top of it (and kind of like a bad mom too).

Quick update

Here are three things that aren't really related, but are noteworthy...
1) IA has a total of 4 teeth! Her upper two are now fully visible. She also stood for 6 seconds (the M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i kind) all by herself this weekend.
2) Tonight WA went over to his bookshelf and picked out a book, by name, that we had only read once about a week ago. The fact that he remembered the complex title kind of threw me. I guess this shouldn't be so surprising, but it kinda was. He has got a gazillion books and apparently a good memory.
3) My posts might be a little sparse over the next week or so, but hang in there, I'll be back.

I'll leave you with a shot of WA and I from this past weekend taken at the Museum of Natural History. It was a completely overwhelming trip, but well worth it.



Peace.

"Bye-Bye"

I am so amazed by IA right now.

Today, for the first time, she said a word. Granted her pronunciation was appropriately garbled for a 10 months old, but it was clearly an attempt at saying "bye-bye". The cadence and intonation were there, as was the hand wave. It was so exciting to see, but also really unexpected. I guess this was technically her first word? WA's first was "doggie" and unfortunately I can't really remember when that happened. She is also 'cruising'...walking along furniture unassisted. She will stand with only one hand used for balance, imitating a kind of human bobblehead. It literally was only a week or two ago that she was mastering the art of crawling! I keep thinking of IA as an infant, perhaps subconsciously wanting her to stay that way for as long as possible, so this all feels like it shouldn't be happening yet. My baby is growing up and I'm not sure I'm ready.

Delicious tofu

My husband hates the stuff. I'm a big fan. Judging from these pics I think WA is in my camp and IA is in her dad's.


WA vs. Tofu 04/07 (9mos)



IA vs. Tofu 08/09 (9mos)

Fly, fly, fly

How is time flying SO fast? I feel like it took FOR-EVER for WA to hit the 10 month mark and here we are on the verge of this milestone with IA. 10 months. Really? Where did they go? I know people say it all the time, but damn, time is flying! Don't you remember when life was measured in days and months? Now it's measured in years and decades. Uff.

I got to thinking about this whole thing as I opened a package of size 4 diapers. Nope, these aren't for WA, they are for IA. 10 months, size 4. It took WA a whole 2 years before he hit size 4s. In fact, the package I opened was an abandoned one left over from the end of WA potty training. So if IA is only 10 mos and is already a size 4, that leaves about 1.5 years more of diapers and not too many additional sizes to move up to. At this rate does it mean that IA and the potty will be getting acquainted sooner than I expect? I guess that wouldn't be so bad...

Compare and Contrast

My loves...

WA at 9.5 months



IA at 9.5 months

Second kid gets gipped (part 1)

As a second child myself, I've decided to start documenting the ways in which I see my own numero dos get the short end of the stick. It's not at all intentional and now I'm starting to understand that it's just inevitable. Second kids get many, many benefits that first children don't (ex: attention from a loving older sib, great hand me downs...though this will soon turn in to a negative...and mellower parents) but they also kind of get the shaft too. Here's how it's playing out for IA (as compared to WA at her age).

Sleep: yeah, sleep. Or maybe I should say lack of it. IA is our on-the-go kid. She conforms to WA's schedule and is on the move most weekends. Naps are often in the car and sometimes she gets a special wake up call, in the form of her brother busting through the door.

Books: This is the one I feel worst about. WA is such a lover of books and I think it comes, in part, from his lifelong immersion. IA gets none of that. I'm lucky if I can sneak in a book or two on the weekend and POSSIBLY once or twice before school during the week. I hate this about our schedules. I'm hoping that as she gets a bit older and her bedtime gets a bit later, that books will incorporate themselves in to the routine on a regular basis.

Playing: Not only is quite playtime with IA a rarity, but when she does play it's often at the side of her 3 year old brother. This co-ed play includes toy stealing, full body tackles and rambunctious tomfoolery. I hope she's learning something somewhere in all of that!

T.V.: WA didn't watch television until he was 18 mos old. We made a conscious effort to make this so, figuring that play time (and books, see above) were the better way to go. Poor IA gets exposed on a regular basis. Not that we plop her in front of the T.V. on purpose, but we often find it necessary to have both kids in the same place at the same time. She gets distracted by it when WA is watching his shows (Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies and Word World being two of his current favorites. Peep and the Big Wide World being his all time favorite). And since we often need them in the same place at the same time, IA has a relationship with television that WA never had. I guess one positive thing is that she loves to dance when my husband has on Palladium (a channel that plays all these great live rock concerts). Apparently today she was busting a move to a DMB show. That's my girl!

Here's my theory...this second child syndrome weighs on me much more than it does her...at least for now. So I'm gonna keep trying my best and hope she doesn't hate me in 15 years:).

Hello, WNBA?

Apparently I birthed your future super star.

IA went to the doctor today and here are her stats...

97% Height
90% Weight

At 9 months, she is the average height of a 15 month old. Clearly she gets her build from the Slovak side of the family! Tall, chunky and adorable:).

What a difference a weekend makes

Our couch is no longer just a couch. It's Mt. McKinley. Or so thinks IA. She has gone from a baby who had her hybrid crawl* down pat to a baby who is obsessed with pulling herself up on to everything. On Friday, when she came home from daycare, the highlight of her repertoire was crawling over to me and tugging on the bottom of my pants until I reached down to offer her an arm which she could use for leverage. Fast forward to Sunday and she was hybrid crawling to any stable structure...the couch, a dresser, the dining room table, her crib, her big brother's head...and pulling herself up all on her own. You can tell she loves the new vantage point and also relishes a clear sense of accomplishment. Baby gates are going up this week, can't say I've missed them.


This weekend WA also got his teeth cleaned for the very first time by Peepee. My Dad has is own practice in the town where I grew up and it was really fun to see my father work on my son. Two sides of my hereditary coin so to speak. WA is completely head over heals for Peepee (I'm thinking the chocolate ice cream, Oreos and Peepee's Lord of the Flies nature all contribute to this love) and to see WA watch Peepee work, you could tell he was in some kind of awe. I also got my teeth cleaned and WA was the little helper...using the water squirter and suction device to his hearts content...leaving me a little bit soaked in the process. He also got a thrill out of pushing the x-ray button as the hygienist shot pics of my teeth. It was actually really cool to see how fascinated WA was with everything. He really seemed to study it all and soak it up. Perhaps my Dad's hopes and dreams of a second generation dentist skipped my brother and I and now lie with WA.

* a roll/army crawl/legit crawl combo

Crawling update - #5

This is the final update. SHE DID IT!!! Yesterday, after IA came home from daycare, I saw her crawl...officially crawl, not the half-ass army crawl that she mastered over the last couple weeks. My little slow poke did it and I'm one proud mama. Next up? Walking. Whoa boy...

Seattle - Summer '09

IA and I just came back from a week long trip to Seattle. We left the boys back East and headed out for my best friend's baby shower. It was a surprise and we totally pulled it off. Good stuff:). I lived in Seattle for a majority of the 1990's and many of my close friends (including two of my best) are still out there. It was so, so great to see them all and in some cases for IA to meet them for the very first time. We had a blast staying with the C's and I am seriously in love with their little boy MC. MC is the son of one of my oldest and dearest friends, DSC, he is also one day older than WA. MC is pure gold. By far my favorite thing about him is his desire to take off all his cloths and run around in rubber rain boots. I mean, can you beat that?!?

MC and WA are alike in many ways, both are sweethearts and smartypants, but it was really interesting to see how different they are. MC possess a calm and maturity that WA just does not have. An excellent example of this was when MC locked himself in a bathroom whose lock uses an old fashion key. One of those long thin wrought iron ones from the 20s. (Mind you he locked himself in after going to the potty all by himself...yet another difference!) After we initially determined that MC really could not get out, his dad ended up calmly talking him through turning the key, removing it and sliding it under the door. Not only did MC follow directions to a T, but he did not panic. Not one bit. Seriously impressive. WAY more than his parents realize. When I told my hubby this story he said..."Yeah, too much drama in WA's genes for him to react like that". So true. My son would have flipped and the world would have ended... that my friends is all from his daddy:). On the flip side, WA is hands down better at spacial relation. He can put shoes on the right feet and complete a puzzle in lightening speed with no help. Even his teachers comment on how amazing his skills are on that front...again he gets that all from his daddy. I never expected these two kids to be clones, and I understand that development happens at different paces, but it was really interesting to see the differences up close and personal. Kids are just so darn cool.

The C's also have a son GC, who is one month younger than IA. He's a sweetie too and I met him for the first time. I've already picked out the wedding venue and colors...but don't tell them that.


So in the midst of all this excitement it was IA's first time on a plane. I was traveling alone and did not get her a seat of her own. Therefore what I ended up getting myself in to was a squirmy baby on my lap for 5 hours. Let me just say...won't happen again. Luckily I was seated next to a mom and daughter on each leg of the trip, so at least they could sympathize when IA dropped her toy for the 20th time in a row. I also made the very big mistake of wearing a U neck shirt. I think I flashed just about everyone on the plane with the help of IA's tugging hands. All in all she did pretty well considering...I, on the other hand, was a bit worse for the wear.

It was great to travel and have fun. It was also nice to have toddler-free time with IA, I felt like we had a great bonding experience. I so needed that. But I'm also really glad to be home...cause I missed my boys.

Crawling update - #4

Are we there yet? Nope. All signs are pointing towards go...but she's not quite going. She's got the military crawl down and her knees are bright red from getting up on all fours and rocking...but still no "official" crawling.

She did cut her first tooth however! I'll take it:).*

*Bottom right.

Crawling update - #3

I have three reference points when accessing how IA is progressing....1. my memory of what her big brother did (which is shaky at best), 2. what her friends are doing and 3. books. All in all, my reference points seem to be indicating that my ginger kid is gonna take her own darn time reaching her developmental milestones. I can't quite tell if she's just a bit slower than the rest (both with crawling and eating solids) or if she just trying to keep the sweet gig of being carried and hand fed all the time. I suppose you can't really blame her...I'd love for someone to carry and feed me too. I'm really not worried, she'll get there, but I do wonder if this is the beginnings of a personality trait:).