2 years ago

I last heard my Mom's voice. I miss it. It's so bizarre to think she's been gone 2 years, but that's the reality. I remain grateful for all the time we had together (especially the last 7 bonus years) and that she met my daughter. Time does heal, but there are losses that will always remain. Yeah, it blows.  

Holiday trimmings

The tree is up. The outisde lights are hung. Stockings secured on the mantel. Xmas 2010 is on.

Top that kid!

"Mommy you're a turtle!", "You're an elephant" I responded. "You're a cow", "You're an platypus"....you get the idea. This is one of WA's current favorite car games. The other day, as we were returning from the local childrens museum, he and I engaged in this back and forth. After moving through 10 animals, WA said "Mommy, you're a pig" (at which my husband snickered. check minus.). I turned around and said "Oh yeah? Well you're a chinchilla!". He stopped, looked puzzled and said "hmmph". That's right, victory  was mine!:)

IA's 24 mo stats

My baby girl at 24 months...

97% height

95% weight

50% head

Those Bastasini genes are holding steady!

Sleep already

Is anyone else's kid fighting daylights savings time like there's no tomorrow? 4:45, 5:15, 5:30. Our last three mornings. At this rate we'll be back to normal wake up time by Thanksgiving.

You know what sucks?

Being kicked when you're down. Does one really need to be made to feel worse about a situation that already makes them feel bad?

That someone, as you may have guessed, is me. And the "person" making me feel badly is daycare. We have had a very hard time with WA in daycare and with the help of his new teacher it appears (knock wood) that he is making strides. Throughout the process, however, the director has made me feel like a failing parent. Not exactly what I needed. Hey lady, I KNOW my son is struggling. He's my son! I just didn't appreciate the way they handled the situation on many levels. But, I was willing to take it in order to maintain some consistency for WA and I like his current teacher. But still, many times I felt like saying "Bite me Ms. T" (T is the school director).

Now, I'm just fumming. Today they informed me that IA is an additional problem. She just got over a 1-2 month biting spree (during which they threatened to withdraw her). Her behavior was completely appropriate developmentally, in my opinion. Sucks to go through, for sure..both as the parent of the biter and the parents of those bitten. But shouldn't they be able to handle this without making it a situation so dire as to cause withdrawal? Again, I sucked it up knowing IA would eventually stop (that is if she didn't get kicked out first!). But now they are monitoring her because she "is overly active, gets in to things alot and doesn't listen". Uh, isn't that the defintion of the terrible twos??? I understand the frustration of having a kid that acts up, but I resent being made to feel like a bad parent. And I'm almost to the point of leaving that school behind. You're childcare providers, act like it.

Halloween

Hi friends and family...I know its been a while. There's lots to report, but little time to do so these days!

One of my favorite holidays (third behind Cinco de Mayo and Christmas) just passed. Halloween was AWESOME this year. Our new neighbors and neighborhood helped make this the best Halloween yet (with the possible exception of the Halloween I met the hubby). We went through 5 bags of extra large candy and probably had close to 200 kids walk our path to chocolate goodness. There were some adorable costumes (with the exception of a fat kid dressed as a fat kid. Depricating or stupid? I couldn't decide.) The hubby and I alternated between taking the kids around the square to trick or treat and passing out candy. Since there are so many kids out, folks end up sitting outside rather than opening the door every 3.5 seconds. One guy even pimped it out by setting up a firepit to keep warm. IA and WA had a blast! IA dressed up as a pumpkin..cute little redhead in a large orange ball. WA was an astronaut. We bundled them up, because it was chilly, but I'm sure the adrenaline alone kept them warm. Many of the houses in our neighborhood were decorated with flair adding to the experience. We did our best, considering we had limited decorations in CT.

Last night the hubby asked when we planned on taking down the Halloween decorations to put up the Thanksgiving ones. I looked at him, like he was crazy, and told him that Thanksgiving is the breath between Halloween and Christmas! We do, however, need to get our Christmas decoration strategy worked out. I may have to get my cousin to make one of her famous 3D models with accompanying color coded organization binders. I kid you not:).