Sunday, October 29, 2006

10 Month Tricks

I can't help myself... Brace yourself for a few pictures! Here is my darling son practicing his proud new skills of pulling up on everything. Comes in handy for getting into Big Sister's stuff! ...And to say he is proud of himself is majorly understating it!














Here is the little darling demonstrating how he loves to attach to random objects that capture his affection and then drag them around the house.










And here is Son thoroughly enamored with his new Halloween maracas. He's been attached since the first moment he laid eyes on them. The exersaucer isn't much good for sitting in anymore since Son is MUCH too busy to stay in one place these days. But it does serve as a fun place to climb in and out of.



And Daughter is quite amused with her "googly eye" Halloween glasses.


Friday, October 27, 2006

Poking Holes

Following a previous discussion about what daycares are and the fact that some Mommies and Daddies both work all day while their kids go to daycare:

Daughter: "Why do you get to stay home with us most days, Mommy?"

Me: "Because Daddy makes enough money so that Mommy doesn't have to work all the time. Isn't that nice?"

Daughter: (Pausing to ponder a minute) "But that means Daddy has to work all the time."

...uh, yeah...well...I didn't say it was a PERFECT plan...

Thursday, October 26, 2006

100 Things About Me

  1. What can I say…I haven’t had a lot to blog about lately
  2. Which is unusual, because usually I have so much to blog about that I can’t find the time to blog it all
  3. The reason I can’t find the time is because I’m so busy chasing my 10 month old son and my 3 year old daughter
  4. My kiddos are the cutest kiddos on the planet (except yours, of course)
  5. But there are times I want to set my “cutest kiddos” on the curb with a “free to good home” sign
  6. Fortunately those moments are fleeting, and I bring them back inside before someone takes me up on it
  7. I love being a 75% SAHM
  8. I also love being a 25% professional mental health therapist
  9. Sometimes it’s hard to love my career and love being a SAHM at the same time
  10. I can’t believe people PAY ME to listen to their problems (you probably can’t believe it either)
  11. I have taught college courses as an adjunct professor
  12. I decided to let go of that position when my son’s birth was near
  13. I really miss teaching college
  14. I once used the word “ass” in front of my college class
  15. Since it was a Christian college, I had one student who accused me of cussing
  16. I don’t consider “ass” a cuss word. Fortunately, neither did the chair of my department
  17. I continue to be asked to come back and teach in spite of the “ass” incident
  18. The two best places I've lived are in the wilderness of Northern Idaho at the Canada border and near the Oregon coastline
  19. I don’t care much for the scenery of the Midwest, but the houses cost a lot less
  20. I have a bachelor’s degree in classical piano
  21. I rarely find time to play the piano much anymore (see number 3)
  22. I also have a bachelor’s degree in creative writing
  23. The only writing I find time to do is on this blog (see number 3)
  24. I also have a master’s degree in clinical psychology
  25. I was granted the award of “Outstanding Graduate Student” for the year 2002 by my college
  26. I didn’t know the award existed until I was granted it
  27. I was also granted the award of “Outstanding Psychology Graduate Student” for the year 2002 by my region’s Psychological Association
  28. I didn’t know that award existed either
  29. I didn’t study psychology in undergraduate school
  30. Not a single class—not even general psychology
  31. I had a cat that lived to be 19 ½ years old
  32. He was getting really sick from cancer, and I had to put him to sleep
  33. His name was Frederick
  34. I really miss him
  35. I’m really independent and relatively antisocial
  36. That’s why I don’t have many friends
  37. And why I don’t really care
  38. I watch Lifetime movies when I run on the treadmill
  39. It’s really irritating
  40. I can't stand it when I get sucked into one and have to miss the ending
  41. I don’t have enough time to watch a movie all the way to the end (see number 3)
  42. I have a kind and tolerant husband that will record the end of really stupid Lifetime movies for me to watch later
  43. The only network television show I ever watch is ER
  44. I don’t have time to watch television (see number 3)
  45. I hate hot weather
  46. I hated hot weather even more when I was pregnant (both times)
  47. I gained 48 pounds with my first pregnancy
  48. I lost it all
  49. It took a year and a half
  50. Two weeks later I discovered I was pregnant again
  51. We hadn’t exactly planned to get pregnant again just yet
  52. I gained 50 pounds with my second pregnancy
  53. I gave birth to my second child 10 months ago
  54. I had lost 35 pounds last time I checked
  55. I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism
  56. That explains why I can’t seem to lose the last 15 pounds
  57. I’m not giving up
  58. I started running again
  59. And lifting weights
  60. I fear being fat
  61. I ordered my husband to hide the scale because I obsess about things
  62. One time I obsessed about the Duggar family after seeing them on The Lifetime Channel
  63. It was all I talked about for several days
  64. I couldn’t let it go until I knew WHY they have 16 children
  65. I could never have 16 children
  66. Two children is just right for me
  67. My body doesn’t know how to give birth
  68. That’s why I had to tolerate two c-sections
  69. My two c-sections were the freakiest things I’ve experienced so far
  70. I thought I wanted two girls
  71. I don’t know what I was thinking
  72. My husband and I accidentally met in an internet chat room
  73. Three months later we met face to face
  74. Six weeks later he asked me to marry him
  75. I said, “Yes”
  76. Three and a half months later we got married
  77. Some people thought we were crazy
  78. Our 10 year anniversary is February 2007
  79. Apparently we made a good decision to marry each other
  80. But I still I wouldn’t recommend for others to do what we did
  81. It really was a little crazy
  82. But I know a good man when I meet one
  83. I had met a lot of bad ones before
  84. I moved 6 times between 1994 and 1997, including one cross country move
  85. Frederick came with me every time
  86. I also changed jobs 6 times between those same years
  87. I was really tired after that
  88. I don’t have any addictions
  89. Except chocolate
  90. I also love popcorn
  91. I used to be addicted to Diet Coke
  92. I gave up soda pop of all types 6 months ago
  93. I don’t miss it
  94. I also gave up sugar
  95. I missed it at first
  96. I don’t anymore
  97. My favorite color is red
  98. If I could go anywhere in the world it would be Alaska
  99. I would live there in a log cabin on a mountainside where the moose and bears run wild
  100. That’s the only thing I would change about my life

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Demons OUT!

I’ve really never been much for wild parties…at least not since I was 19 and living in the dorms at college. Now that I'm in my thirties I tend to like things to be calm, in control, and predictable. Just typing those words...calm...in control...predictible...is like a salve to my jagged soul and I find myself pausing to meditate on them.

However, current reality is nothing like that. The current norm at our house is the appearance that we’ve had some kind of wild party that lasted for days. Only instead of empty beer cans and pizza crusts littering the floor we’ve got half-empty sippy cups and Cheerios everywhere--along with laundry that is lucky to have made it all the way to the washing machine but has never quite made it back into the dresser drawers and closets. Who knows which mound is clean or dirty anymore. There’s a sink overflowing with dirty dishes. I still can’t figure out how feeding two young children a single meal always results in two dozen small dirty bowls and half a dozen dirty eating utensils. And I think we could feed all the starving children on the planet with the crumbs and food pieces that lay to rest on the floor all around the kitchen table (Dear Son is learning how to “self-feed,” if you want to call it that).

Furthermore, Son is getting quite proficient at finding all the drawers and cupboard doors, and they ALL have to be open and any contents inside must be pulled out and explored…and then left at random while he goes off to take apart and explore the next thing. Simultaneously, Daughter is in this interesting phase where she likes to tuck her dollies and stuffed animals into any type of container she can find that resembles a bed and cover them up with clean dishrags and dish towels that had actually succeeded in making their way back to the drawer in the kitchen before she pulled them out again. She actually does have REAL baby blankets and a toy cradle for her babies, so I think she does this just to add to my insanity. There's an endless foray of random misplaced objects throughout the house in general, such as the spoon I found upstairs in the pocket of the rocking chair in Son’s room last night and the socks that Daughter doesn't want to keep on her feet so she leaves them on the couch, in the middle of the kitchen floor, and under the furniture.

Usually I can handle all of this with minimal exasperation. However, I’m having hormone problems. Really, I am. Apparently my thyroid gland has decided it doesn’t want to work as hard after assisting my body with the process of birthing two live beings into this world. This means, among lots of other problematic symptoms, that I am fat and irritable, my hair is frizzy and falling out, and I’m tired all the time. Since my metabolism is malfunctioning, the 60 minutes of running 4-5 times per week and 30 minutes of strength training 3 times per week and following the advice of my nutritionist to the letter only helps minimally. I ordered Husband to put the scale somewhere where I will never find it before I lose my mind and commit harry carry. Yes, I have lost 35 pounds since Son’s birth, but I managed to gain 50 pounds during the pregnancy, and I am still at least 15 pounds too fat to fit in my clothes and apparently still at least 15 pounds too fat for my wedding ring to fit (swollen fingers are another hypothyroid symptom). I summarize this paragraph by stating that I am simply not at my best these days and it doesn’t seem to matter how hard I work to make it better, it’s all for naught.

Because I am not at my best these days, Dear Son’s teething trauma is especially stressful. My typical easy going little boy has taken to banging his face into the floor and engaging in screaming fits as if he’s demon possessed. Hours and days and weeks of this (combined with the hormone fatalities) has left me with my own personality alterations. I’ve been holding daily exorcisms for us both. So far the demons are just laughing at me.

Juggling my career responsibilities in addition to hosting these wild parties is an interesting experience, too. It’s not unusual for me to need to have telephone conversations or teleconferences with other professionals from my home. This is tough to do with Son’s crazy fits, and lately I’ve had to explain that I’ve invited some demons over for a wild party so please just ignore all the noise in the background.

In the midst of all this we have managed to have a couple recent outings…to the zoo a couple weeks ago and to a fall festival last weekend. Here is a picture of Daughter after getting her face painted like a kitty and a picture of her in the inflatable jumping house (her favorite activity).















...And a picture of Daughter and Grandpa H at the zoo...



...And just for cute value, a couple pictures of Dear Son pushing down his crib bumper to see what he was missing during his nap...


Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Learning Some "F-Words"

I've been working with Daughter on an alphabet and phonics activity that consists of designating a page of construction paper for each alphabet letter and then cutting and pasting pictures out of magazines that start with the given letter. Then they are put into plastic sleeves and into a three-ring binder. We completed several letters one day before I left for work and Husband managed the kids for the evening. The next day, while Daughter was sitting at the table waiting for her lunch, she casually stated, "I learned some F-words with Daddy yesterday." Husband is not one to swear, so I paused on that for a moment before I remembered that Daughter and I had ended with the letter "E" the previous afternoon. I didn't know Husband worked on the letter "F" with her after I went to work. *Whew!*

Friday, October 06, 2006

It's a Boy Thing!

I definitely have a boy on my hands. At not quite 10 months old, my wee-est one is boy, boy, BOY! I really hate to stereotype on any issue, but I just can't deny this one. Dear Son gravitates to any toy or object he finds that resembles a "tool" of some sort. This includes sliverware, pens, a xylophone mallet, the remote control, screwdrivers, any kitchen utensil, etc. He wraps his pudgy little fist around the object of his affection and GI Joes himself about the house clutching his prized possession. He finds any opportunity to bang said object on cupboards, pots and pans, the floor, his sister, his head. He also loves any type of sports ball second only to "tools." He plays catch with himself by dropping them on the floor, letting them roll, and then scooting to retrieve them. Dear Son is also attracted to anything with a mechanical function. Remote controls, computers, even things as simple as drawer pulls, cupboard doors, buttons, knobs, switches, levers. If he can manipulate it to perform some sort of function, he will repeat it over and over and over and over again as he disappears for an extended period of time into the trance of some sort of pre-testosterone nirvana.

...and fearless. This kid is fearless. He will scoot his way about the house without regard as to where his Mommy or Daddy are. He will turn to look over his shoulder and offer a grin as he heads out a doorway and off into the sunset. He pulls himself up on the side of the bathtub (yikes!), tries to look into the toilets, pulls large electic appliances out of the kitchen cupboards, takes off up the stairs....Childproofing our house is taking on a whole new meaning and dimension than it ever did with Daughter.

And so I will go against the grain of my usual and customary practices to confront something I just can't deny: What we currently have on our hands is MOST DEFINITELY a boy thing!