Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
Another “big news” week around here! As of last Saturday night (6 nights ago), Colin has not nursed at bedtime! This was a decision that was jointly Chris’ and mine, and only minimally Colin’s. But he has done remarkably well! When we tried this with Delaney so long ago, it didn’t go so well the first time, and even the second time, so we nixed the idea until she was more “OK” with it. But with Colin, it wasn’t that big of a deal! Chris handled the first night, then I handled the next few nights. He still mentions it at bedtime, but hasn’t cried or begged or screamed or fought…you get the idea; he just says “rock me, mommy” and then “pat me, mommy” and he’s fine!
I guess this is the beginning of the end! He is still nursing twice in the very early morning hours (before the sun comes up) and is nursing down for his nap. He is cutting a second molar, so he hasn’t been as keen on nursing for the past week or so. We just took advantage of this excellent opportunity.
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Yesterday during her rest time, Delaney packed. She drug her pink polka-dotted suitcase out of her closet, unzipped it, and loaded it up with about five dresses (judging by the number of hangers I found on the floor) and an equal number of pairs of shoes. I’m not sure what else she packed, but she was ready to go. When her rest time was over, her suitcase was upright, zipped up and sitting by her door (and overflowing with shoes).
This conversation followed:
Me: Did you pack?
Delaney: Yes, I’m ready to go!
Me: Where are you going?
Delaney: To Gumpa’s house. I packed to go to Gumpa’s tomorrow.
We aren’t planning to go to Gumpa’s tomorrow; in fact, we didn’t have any trip to Gumpa’s planned.
Me: We’re going to Gumpa’s?
Delaney: Or to Poppy’s house. I am ready to go to Poppy’s house next week.
Needless to say, she wouldn’t let us unpack, so her suitcase is still upright, still zipped up, and still sitting by her door, ready for our next trip. I didn’t think the desire to run away started so soon!
Monday, August 4th, 2008
Delaney was enrolled in swimming lessons last week and again this week at a popular indoor pool. She’s been doing pretty well! This is her first foray into swimming lessons, and I think that she will “graduate” to the next class at the end of this week. She loves to put her head under water, loves to jump in, and is finally getting comfortable on her back with her teacher.
Unfortunately, she has swimmer’s ear. She told me at bedtime on Friday night (because nothing good ever happens until Friday) that her ear really really hurt. I suspected swimmer’s ear, so I started using an alcohol/vinegar rinse to dry it out. She was still complaining on Saturday, so I dug out our garlic oil drops and started using them. She still says her ear hurts, but it seems to be better. Chris and I found some ear plugs to use at swimming lessons (because I paid for two weeks of swimming lessons, and she will finish them!). We’ll see how this week goes… If she has a rough time today or starts complaining more this evening, I guess we’ll take her into the doc. Darn - I wanted to go the whole summer without going in! We’ve been so healthy!
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Friday, July 25th, 2008
Colin isn’t so into the “why;” Delaney was into the “WHY?” That should be good new, right? Not so much - Colin is into the new “why”: “What’s that?” and “Where’s ______?”
So now our conversations go like this:
Colin: pointing to a rock What’s that?
Me: What?
Colin: That!
Me: A rock.
Colin: Oh.
Colin: pointing to a dog What’s that?
Me: Where?
Colin: THAT!
Me: A dog.
Colin: Oh.
Colin pensively Where’s Gumpa?
Me: At his house eating lunch.
Colin: Where’s Dan-Dan [Gran Jan]
Me: At her house with Gumpa eating lunch
Colin: Oh. Where’s Laney?
Me: Sleeping.
Colin: Sleeping?
Me: Yes.
Colin: Oh. Where’s Gumpa?
Me: At his house eating lunch.
Colin: Where’s Dan-Dan?
Me: At her house with Gumpa eating lunch
Colin: Oh. What’s that?
Me: What?
Colin: That! pointing into space, or perhaps at some random air molecule
Me: Where?
Colin: THAT!
Me: thinking fast Air.
Colin: Oh.
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Delaney has a special relationship with her “babies.” She loves them. Seriously…LOVES them. I have never seen a child so obsessed with her babies. She keeps them on a good schedule, putting them to sleep in the oddest, yet protected, places. And she’s a total lactivist (but I suppose the fact that we have NO bottles in this house hinders a formula-fed child); she nurses them regularly. Her two favorite dolls are Tika (the current favorite) and Neema. They are both wretched, plastic-headed dolls. We tried to help her fall in love with a cloth, Waldorf-style doll, but my mother-in-law beat us to the punch, offering her a plastic-headed doll instead. It was love at first sight.
She talks about them, too. I don’t know how normal this is… She’ll say, “When Tika grows up and gets real, she will ____[insert something silly here]_________.” She talks about them “getting real” often. She will say, “Tika told me____” or “Neema needs that” a lot - they do come up quite a bit in conversation. Um…is this normal?
Ironically, Colin could care less. Delaney wants to play with dolls ALL THE TIME and Colin will sometimes go along with it, but not necessarily on her terms. Throwing dolls down the stairs or seeing how fast they will fall remain on the top ten list of favorite Colin activities. She has been sharing Neema with Colin; he’ll play with her a bit, mostly just holding her while Ms. Bossy gives him this instruction and that instruction, and rarely actually heeding her instructions.
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
I haven’t wanted to post about it because I don’t want to jinx anything.
Colin is falling asleep in his bed, laying down, not in our arms consistently every night. I was imaging rocking this child to sleep until he was 5, but he’s managed to start going to sleep on his own with no intervention.
Our new routine: I nurse him for a few minutes in his bed; he has a drink of water; he lays down and gets his covers; and with some patting and back-rubbing from me, he goes to sleep! It’s wonderful!! I sit on the end of his bed with a hand on him. Sometimes he asks for “circles” (a back rub) and sometimes he says, “pat me, mommy” so I give him some pats. I just sit on the end of his bed and read a book, and within about 10 or 15 minutes, he’s asleep! (Imagine, 15 minutes of uninterrupted reading time…) Chris and I have been alternating, and while he’s a little less enthused about Daddy sitting there (Daddy always rocks him, so he expects Daddy to rock him), he has just allowed Daddy to rub his back until sleepy.
This is HUGE in our house! I am so proud of him!! In a few weeks, we might try sitting across the room, then maybe at the door, then maybe, just maybe, he’ll actually lay down in his bed ALONE and fall asleep! But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. I’m thrilled with this HUGE step for now.
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
Colin is a bit of a hockey fan…just a bit!
He wants to skate
He finds hockey sticks and hockey balls everywhere.
Where and why he found this obsession is beyond me! We did take him to one Carolina Hurricanes game during regular season, but the obsession happened all on it’s own.
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Sunday, July 13th, 2008
Today I seemed overwhelmingly busy. But I can’t think of anything that I actually finished today.
My uncle passed away on Friday, so we (the whole family) are heading to Virginia tomorrow for the events. Today I spent the morning cooking several dishes to take to my aunt. I made her her own stash of frozen dinners for the weeks following - after the dinner invitations cease and life returns to “normal.”
Here are some recent photos of the children. Last week Colin burnt his hand pretty badly; he reached up and grabbed the charcoal lighter for the grill a few minutes after Chris had taken it off of the grill. He spent about a week with his hand bandaged up, making it look a lot worse than it was. The dead skin has started peeling off, and he is again obsessed with the “bobo” on his hand.
A few futile attemps at trying to get both children to look at the camera at the same time. Hu-hu…
Last weekend we went to Chris’ family reunion, a bi-annual event. It was a wonderful gathering of up to five generations of his family. We had fun visiting with Aunt Katy and Uncle Carl (or Uncle Katy and Aunt Carl as they are referred to in our house) (oh, and that’s AUNT, not ANT Katy/Carl), playing with Gumpa and GranJan, and playing in the church cemetery.
Then on last Sunday, we celebrated Gremmie’s birthday at a fancy brunch restaurant. It was great fun - please sent the sarcasm! The children acted like children SHOULDN’T act in a fancy brunch restaurant. But they did let me snap a couple of mediocre photos at the event.
So tomorrow and Tuesday will be crap crap crappy. Two funerals in less than a month - an emotional roller coaster. I have a knot in my throat and tears in my eyes at the most inconvenient of times. Up…Down…
Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Well, we’re obviously back from Georgia. I can’t believe I haven’t updated my blog in almost 3 weeks! I am a pathetic blogging slob. I pathetically haven’t even updated my work blog, and I get paid for that one! I spent about a week or so in a total funky haze after Dallin’s funeral. My heart is still aching.
So Independence Day - what a day! We visited with some neighborhood friends. It was a pyro convention, with fireworks from three states. I got hit in the leg with a large bottle rocket. OUCH!! Luckily I wasn’t burned, but it hurt like HELL and I still have the huge bruise to prove it. I couldn’t lay on my side for about 4 days. The bruise is now starting to turn a nice shade of yellow. Lovely.
As of today, Colin has been in underwear all day! Woo hoo!! He still wore training pants at his nap, and if we go out, I will put our Imse Vimse trainers on him - they will hold one pee without running down his leg. But we stuck close to home today, so he wore his “Elmos” most of the day. He had two MINI accidents - seriously, like three drops of pee. He came running to me saying “Elmo wet; Elmo pee pee.” My kid is a genius!
I need to get some new photos up! I need to take a few notes off of my hazy mental blogging clipboard and post some of the hilariously funny things that have been uttered in this house over the past few weeks. These kids are getting more and more espressive every day! That will come…
Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Colin and I are in Winder, Georgia to visit with Dallin’s family and attend his funeral and memorial. We drove down yesterday, leaving at about 8:30 a.m.; the drive took about 7 or so hours with a couple of stops and a long-ish lunch. Traffic was minimal, although we did get stuck in southern NC near Charlotte in a bit of a bottleneck jam.
We arrived yesterday and took a long dip in the hotel pool. It was refreshing! We grabbed a bite to eat across the street before Dallin’s memorial last night. We then wound through Winder, heading about 6 miles in the wrong direction looking for the funeral home. My GPS found four segments of this road with the same name, and I just picked the wrong one. After driving back into town and seeing a bit more of Winder, I found two local police men who gave me directions, and we finally made it to the funeral home. I was frazzled and frustrated and ready to cry when I walked in the door! Colin was a little monster! He was running all over the place and would have nothing to do with hanging out with Heather’s kids. Oh, well…he’s 2.
Andrea looked great! She has such a strong support group - lucky girl! She is a mother with a life outside of motherhood, a fact I am severely jealous of! She takes ballet and recently preformed in a recital, she has some church activities, she plays Bunco with a group of women - this is a life. I want a life!
Anyhow, it was great to see her family. I also saw a friend of Heather’s that I attended middle school with. That was interesting. He’s living in Atlanta now and came up for the memorial last night. I spent some time chatting with Heather and Andrea’s parents and sister Sarina. All the while, Colin ran around like a wild child.
Today is the funeral. I’m not sure if I’ll actually be able to go to the funeral. Heather has arranged for someone to watch Lucas and Jordan during the funeral, but I’m not sure Colin will be keen on staying in an unfamiliar place with people he doesn’t know without me; and I’m certainly not taking him into the church for the service. We’ll see how it goes.
Delaney is staying with my parents - she spent the night at their house while Colin and I are in Georgia and Chris is in the mountains (Chris is on his guided fly fishing trip that I gave him for his birthday). It was hard to leave Delaney yesterday! I’m sure she’s doing fine and she was excited about staying at Gremmie and Poppy’s house. But this is the farthest away from her I’ve ever been and this is the first time she’s been away from home without a parent. My heart is stretching and stretching to absorb all this emotion of the weekend. I’m exhausted!
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Wordless Wednesday
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Last weekend, Gumpa gave Colin his first driving lesson. At least according to Colin:
Colin: Me drive!
Gumpa: hand still on the wheel
Colin: Move your hand!
Colin thoroughly enjoyed navigating the boat through the creek, but he did seem to have the tendancy to turn the wheel drastically to the right. We went in circles a few times. Luckily Gumpa, the second-in-command, was quick enough on the wheel to avoid objects in our path…like 100-foot yachts, docks, and fishing and leisure boats.
Notice the right-hand turn. We did this a lot!
I snapped this photo just as Gumpa was saying, “Colin, don’t you think you should watch where you’re going?”
