Tidbits

We went to Cici's Pizza last night for a buffet dinner. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Cici's dining experience, it can only be explained as an affront to Italian epicureans everywhere. The girls loved it. Claire ate approximately 4 pieces of pizza (four!), plus a brownie. Her favorite was the macaroni and cheese pizza. You should have seen the look on her face when she figured out she could have two of her favorite meals put together into one entree. Kate also made several trips to the endless buffet. Not bad considering I didn't have to pay for either of them (children 3 and under ate for free). The girl behind the register might have raised an eyebrow when I told her the children were under 4 years old. Kate's 43" might have something to do with that.

Luke laughed today. Is there anything better than baby giggles? Love.

He is also arching his back so that he almost rolls over to his belly. This I do not love. He needs to stay immobile longer! He almost worked his way out of the bouncy chair the other day, and he is not in the same position when I get him up from his naps. Time to use the seat belt functions on all baby contraptions now. Damn.

Claire has had a cold for the past week that has made her voice hoarse. She sounds like she's been smoking a pack a day since she was born. It's so sad, but so cute.

Kate has told me several times over the past few days that she has "beautiful blonde hair", which she "loves". Vanity starts early in this household.

Also, she told me today that she needs to "follow her heart". I had to ask her to repeat herself, as I wasn't sure I had heard her correctly. She looked at me in all seriousness and said, "like in Cinderella, Mom." Perhaps it's time to lay off the Disney fairytales.

Oh, Dear. And: what's new here

It's 3pm. I put Kate to bed at 1:35. I know that it's outside of my window of nap heaven, but I was late picking her up from daycare, and late getting her back for precious nap time. Claire started rubbing her eyes at about 1:50, so I put her down, too. They are still awake. Still! Awake!

I just went in and told Kate to lie down and go to sleep. Claire looked up with expectant eyes. I picked her up (she had backed herself into the corner and was stuck) and she started smiling at her sister. I couldn't tell if it was a "Ha! Mom picked me up and not you!" smile, or a "You are so funny, big sister!" smile. I leaned Claire in real close to Kate for a kiss, and they both started giggling. Cute, oooglie, girlie, baby giggles. So Cute. Love.

As for what's new:

Kate is going through a growth spurt. Is this normal for 2-year-olds? She is eating like crazy. I don't know if it's because we switched her from whole milk to 1%, but she is eating like a big kid. We're talking a whole hot dog, 3/4 of a cup of peas, a whole sippy of milk, some cheese and some chicken. At one sitting! Whereas she used to just eat a quarter of a sandwich for lunch, she'll now eat a half a sandwich, a cup of fruit and some milk, and still seem to be hungry. Some of you might think I'm making up the part about the peas. I am not. How did I do this? It's a bit of a game: I pour peas from the spoon in the big bowl directly onto her little spoon and she shovels them into her mouth, all the while asking for more. Big spoon to little spoon to mouth. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. She ate half of Tim's portion (in addition to her own) the other night.

She is also talking up a storm. Hurricane force! Here is a mini translation guide:

• Ohhhh-tay, Mommy! = Okay, Mommy! (that was easy, huh?)
• Beee = big
• No sugs! = No slugs!
• Wheh yu goin Mommy? = Where are you going, Mother?
• How 'bout... = How about....(usually followed by "playdoh", "too-tee" [cookie], or "outtide" [outside])

As for Claire, she has gotten 4 teeth in 2 weeks (2 on top and 2 on bottom). She is still in swimming lessons, but will finish on Thursday because her instructor is going on vacation. She is almost able to flip herself over a good portion of the time when on her belly, but not quite.

She is also keeping some solid food down. Imagine my distress on Saturday when she bit into a grape and swallowed half of it without chewing it first! We were at a party and I had forgotten her mesh bag, and thought I would share some grape with her anyway. I thought she would suck the juice out of it, not bite into it! Of course this was silly thinking on my part. But. She kept it down, along with the baby food carrots I fed her the day before.

So today I gave her some teeny chunks of banana. No vomiting. Of course, this brings up (pun not intended) my current dilemma. I sort of don't want to feed her solid food yet. And it's totally for selfish reasons:

1. I weigh 7 pounds less than I did when I got pregnant with Kate. This is not because I've been good about eating right or exercising like an aerobics instructor. This is all Claire, baby. And I love eating my peppermint patties and chocolate cake. Not to mention Swistle's brownies.
2. Stinky poo. I used to sing 'Smelly Cat' to Kate ('Smelly Kate' in my version) after we started her on solids.
3. Umm, I guess those are my biggest reasons. But she seems to want real people food so bad that I am starting to give in and give it to her. Stinky poo and all.

Ahhh! 3:15 and it is silent! Yesssss.

Confessions of a 30-something drama queen

Okay, okay! I'm fine, really. I know that after that last post most of you are wondering if I am doing okay in the mental department. I'm fabulous, really. It's just hard being a mom of 2 small children sometimes, you know? Anyone? Someone back me up here. Anyway, these things make for good blog stories, and so you have to take some liberties.

Like yesterday, with Claire the Sprinkler. That's a fun story. But I promised Tim the rights to that one, so you'll have to wait.

Kate surprised me last week. We were over at Dana's and she started saying her ABCs. She does this often. But this time, she kept going. I think she made it all the way through V. Since then she has done this several times (including WXYZ nowIknowABCsingwithme), so I know it's not just a fluke. She is also counting past 10, but I'm not certain where past 10. I heard 19 once, but I can't recall if I heard all the numbers between 11 and 18 first.

Claire enjoys a nice amber ale.

Mmmmmmmaa!

This is Claire's first word. I'm counting it, as she says it repeatedly, and I'm certain she is referring to me. She also says 'pppppptttt' a lot, and I'm certain that does not refer to me.

Swim lessons began again Tuesday morning. Kate is finishing up and will probably be done next week, and Claire is in lessons for about 4 weeks, learning how to float on her back and to roll over onto her back. She does not like the lessons much, but is a good sport about them for the most part. I feel just terrible watching her cry and then suck in water, but I know it will be great to have her able to float.

Claire's 6mo well baby check was this morning. The doctor isn't sure what is causing the massive vomiting episodes after she eats solids, so she wants to do an ultrasound on her stomach. Sometimes the opening between the intestine and the stomach becomes too narrow to let solid food pass through. I'll keep you posted on what we find out. For now, her stats:

height: 26.25" (75th percentile)
weight: 17lbs 12oz (75th-90th percentile)

We've been back for several days and the house is a disaster. Dis-as-ter. There is nothing quite like going on vacation for 5 weeks to cause the mess that is my house. I had grand hopes of being totally unpacked, with the floors swept and the bathrooms cleaned by now. Ha. None of those things has happened yet, although I have wonderful delusions that they will come to fruition in the near future. In the meantime:

Unfortunately, my kitchen table is not the only surface that looks like this. Ugh.

Bringin' the heat

It was fun for the first minute. Then: tears.

Hot. It's hot here. Yesterday I walked outside and I thought I was in Arizona. It was 104* and dry. I was fairly certain that it was warmer here than at home, and after a quick call to Dana, I found out that I was right. Whew, triple digits makes for some hot days. I had forgotten how difficult it can be to sleep when it's hot at night and you don't have AC to cool you off. It reminded me a little of my summers visiting my grandparents in Detroit growing up. Lots of tossing and turning and trying to get the fan to blow just right to cool you off.

Mmm, blueberries.

First taste of popsicle.

McLaren got to try blueberries yesterday for the first time. She LOVED them. We put several frozen berries in a mesh bag and she chewed away for about 15 minutes, making a big mess and loving every minute of it.

Then, after dinner, Grandma gave her some popsicle "to cool her down". She loved that, too, until about 5 minutes later when she threw it all up (and then some) all over the living room carpet. No more popsicles for Claire for awhile.

Independent Spice rolls over

McLaren rolled over for the first time today! I know she is 5mo, but she's big, and Kate was the same way: slow to roll over, quick to walk. I'm sort of hoping Claire is not as quick to walk as Kate was. But Claire was on her back this morning, sticking her feet up in the air and rolling from side to side. Side to side, side to side. Then, out of nowhere, she rolled over all the way to her tummy. She was very proud of herself for about a minute, and then she got frustrated when she couldn't roll back over.

Her other favorite things to do lately include pushing away from you when you're holding her (I don't need to hold on to you, Mom), and also letting go of your fingers when she is standing up.

She tried pears the other day, and they did not agree with her, either. I'm not sure if it's fruits and vegetables, or if it's cereal, but I think we're going to pause the whole solid food thing for a few weeks. She is very good-natured through the vomiting incidents, but it's sort of a mess to clean up. ;-)

On another note, it is HOT here. I absolutely did not think that I would say that on this trip. I mean, we live in Tucson, land of triple digits. But it's been in the mid- to upper-90s here since we arrived, and there is no Air Conditioning. Also, there Is Humidity. About 50-60% of it. The kids are doing great through it; it's just me who is whiny. Go figure.

Time to let Claire have a nap. I'll try to post a bit about our journey up here in the next couple of days. Until then, photos of my girls:

A trip to Silverton park.

McLaren and Great-Grandma Irene.

Mayhem

Left alone for approximately 2.4 seconds, Kate sunscreens the patio and her hands.

Hey, y'all!

Craziness. Insanity. Frenzy. Hysteria. These words describe my last 2 days. I still am not packed. Well, I am packed. But I am the only one who is packed. All of Kate's clothes are on my bed, some of Claire's clothes lie next to them; their suitcase lies at the foot of my bed, empty. There are toiletries on the guest bed, along with some (I now notice as I look over) of my clothes that I failed to pack in my suitcase. The kitchen is a disaster with dinner dishes scattered over the counters and table, and I believe there is still a load of laundry in the dryer. Instead of doing what I ought to be doing, I am sitting at the computer blogging and drinking a glass of cold Sauvingnon Blanc from New Zealand. I am trying not to think about all that I need to do tonight and tomorrow morning.

I am trying to think of all the things that have been going on for the past few days to make life so crazy. Well, besides the fact that I'm trying to pack for 3 of us for a month, for weather that will be strikingly different than what we are used to. We are going to Oregon. Yes, it is almost July, but it won't be 110* there (thank GOD), and we might well freeze at night. Really. It gets quite cold at night in Oregon, even in the summer. Add to that the fact that very few people there have air conditioners so you cool off your house by opening all the doors and windows in the morning when it's 50* outside so that by the time it's 90* that afternoon, it's still bearable in your home. But, I digress.

Where was I. Ah, yes. Mayhem. Claire has pink-eye. Still. I took her back to the doctor yesterday because the erythromycin wasn't doing the trick. Turns out she has a staph infection (not MRSA) and the strain is resistant to that ointment. Now she's on tobramycin drops, and I think she is getting better. But her eye is still red and slightly puffy. I might have to take her back in tomorrow before we leave if it doesn't look better. Yahoo. On a separate note, the pediatrician called me today to see how Claire was doing. I almost dropped the phone I was so surprised. I love off-base medical.

Before I forget, McLaren's stats for 5mo:
16 lbs 13 oz
25.5"

Kate is supposed to finish her swimming lessons this week, but she's not ready. Tracie says she needs another few days. Of course, we are leaving tomorrow, so those lessons will take place next month, (hopefully) right before Claire's morning lessons. Tracie wants me to get in the water with Kate tomorrow to see how Kate does with me. Also, my babysitter is in Mexico so I will have to take Claire to the lesson (it's only about 97* at 10am) and try to keep her happy (and cool) while I swim with Kate.

We got a new car seat for Kate. My main requirements were that the seat be super comfortable (her little butt is going to be in it for 4 days straight), and that it converts to booster seat. The best one I found was the Safety First Intera. I am currently having second thoughts about this seat. Not good, considering when cleaning up for book club the other night, I threw the box away. So. We put (read: Tim put) the seat in his car, as we are driving it to Oregon (tomorrow). I have an Outback, he has an Acura sedan. My car: sits high. His car: sits lower. As I drove Kate to and from her swim lesson this morning, I noticed that I could barely see her in the back seat behind me. I can't tell if this is just the fact that his seats are lower or what. I had to strain my head to see the top of hers. I also noticed that she can barely see out the window. This could make for painful driving up I5. Also, the seat belt on the car seat. I am not pleased with it. It seems really short. Like when you release the shoulder straps to get your kid unbuckled: there is hardly any slack. And likewise, when you go to tighten her shoulder straps, there is only about 3-4 inches of strap to pull. Not much leverage. The buckle part also bothers me. It's the same one that the Eddie Bauer and Cosco seats use, and is not the same one that I am used to (we have all Graco right now). It seems like it sits really low to the seat, so it hits her chubby little thighs, and I am pretty sure she is not a big fan of it right now. And, since I threw the box away, and since we are leaving tomorrow, it seems that we will learn to deal with these problems because I don't see that we have much of a choice. There is the booster part of the seat that we could add back into the car to put her seat up higher, but that will put her feet right behind the driver's shoulders and I have a feeling that she'll have fun kicking the driver the whole 22 hours we are driving.

And then there's McLaren's new car seat. It's Kate's old one turned around so it is rear-facing. And it doesn't leave much room for the front passenger. After Tim installed it the other night he informed me that he'll be driving the whole way. I really hope it's not that bad, but I fear that it is.

Let's not even discuss the fact that Tim went in at 8am this morning and is flying tonight so he won't be home until at least 10:30...and then there is a change of command at 0800 tomorrow.

I'll leave out the rest of the craziness of the past 2 days and let you get back to whatever it was that you were doing before you clicked on over here. I am taking all my camera hook-ups, so I hope to post photos on the blog, along with stories of course, once we arrive. Until then, happy 4th of July!

I Never Thought it Would Happen

Kate hardly cried at all during swim lessons this morning. She started out whimpering a bit, but then gave up on it and just started talking and swimming. I'm still in shock. All weekend she wanted to show off to Grampa and Aunt Jessica in the pool, and I guess now that is carrying over into lessons. We'll see how tomorrow goes. This is week 5, and next week is her last week of lessons. By now she can swim a little on her stomach while looking for the edge of the pool or a step, flip onto her back so she can breathe, and then flip over onto her stomach again so she can propel herself to the side.

So tired after playing with Daddy.

McLaren is dissatisfied with the meals around here. For instance, I just got done feeding her. This meal consisted of milk and then a course of oatmeal and rice mixed together, with some apple juice stirred in for sweetness and flavor. I'm pretty sure more of it ended up on her than in her. She hasn't gotten to the point where she can grab the spoon yet, but she spits the food out and then smears it all over her face with her hands. She is still falling for the whole Mommy's eating the cereal, so you should eat the cereal charade, but I don't think that will last long. It probably didn't help that as I was feeding her the oatmeal, I was enjoying the last piece of All American Chocolate Cake from Costco. I swear that kid can make me feel more guilty than a cat in a birdcage. She just sits there in her big highchair, watching me take bites of chocolate cake, sighing once in awhile for effect. Her big eyes follow the fork, back and forth, plate mouth plate mouth. Where's my cake, Mom?


Not that she's hurting for food, mind you.

Ankle, what ankle?

Kate the Bully

We invited Erika and Reese over tonight for dinner and playtime, and I found out that Kate is a bit of a bully. I think it's because Tim is gone and she is acting out to show her disapproval of his absence, but she was not the nicest kid tonight to her friend Reese. There was some pushing, some grabbing of toys and a lot of hitting. I think Kate is trying to figure out how to 'play' with other kids now (she used to just ignore them and play by herself), and isn't quite sure how it goes. She does know that if someone is playing with one of her toys, she wants to play with it. Right now. Sharing is not yet in her vocabulary. But I suppose that is somewhat normal for toddlers? Please tell me that it is. They did try to make up after dinner, but fell over while hugging and Kate bumped her head pretty good on the tile floor. Now I'm listening to her cough and cry a little while she tries to sleep, and I'm hoping like hell that she's not getting sick. Wait until your Daddy gets home if you really need to get sick! Please, Baby Girl. Please.

McLaren and I got to spend a few quality minutes together while I got her ready for bed. I love changing her out of her clothes because she's ticklish somewhere near her chin, or her neck, or her underarms. I'm not sure where exactly, but when I take her shirt off she giggles and it's so cute. So cute. It makes my day. So after the giggling we just looked at each other, and she grabbed my fingers with her little hands and smiled with her whole face. She has the most beautiful eyes and when she smiles they light up like a sunny day. A while back my sister said that McLaren looks like she's just going to be such a nice person, and she's right. She does look like that.

Firsts

Overheard yesterday at the mall: "Okay, Kate, you get to be WSO."


We went mattress shopping yesterday at the mall with the girls and decided to try something new: we put Kate in the back part of the stroller (the Weapons Systems Officer's position, as Tim refers to it as) and sat McLaren up in the front seat. Why I ever thought I could live without a double stroller, I will never know. Anyway, that is neither here nor there. I think McLaren enjoyed sitting up and having a view of things, although I'm not sure how much she enjoyed having her sister kick the back of her seat incessantly and pull her hair. We ultimately ended up with Kate in the front and McLaren reclined in the back so she could take her nap.



After we got back from the mall, McLaren got to try her first solid food, rice cereal. She didn't care for it very much.

First rice cereal, 4mo.

Then, after a late nap, we packed up and headed to Reese's house for her 2nd birthday.

Megan, Reese & Carly, blowing out the candles.

Mmm, cake.

Right now, Kate is very into hot dogs. She particularly enjoys the 'rib-eye' version, the sausage version and the roast beef version. She knows she likes meat, and now associates all of it with hot dogs.

Oh, and before I forget, I have new stats on the kids (for weight, at least):

Kate (20mo): 29.6 lbs

McLaren (4mo): 15.8 lbs

My babies are chubsy.

Too Busy for More Than Photos

Kate's in swimming lessons, everyday for the next 5 weeks. We're almost done with week one. She is doing a great job, and is already learning to roll over onto her back and float. She hates the lessons, but is becoming a good swimmer.

McLaren will be 4 months this weekend. I can't believe she's already so big. She is rolling from side to side (not rolling over yet - I think she's too chubsy for that to happen for awhile), doesn't care much for tummy time, and is eyeing my oatmeal every morning. We may be trying rice cereal this weekend. She is also teething, I think. She tries to shove her whole hand into her mouth any chance she gets, and likes to bite on the teething rings we have for her. She's also now enjoying her exersaucer, which is a great way for her to be upright and more involved in the family.

Trying to shove the whole skwish into her mouth.