The potties I ordered have been delivered. They were very excited to open the box and AE kept saying “potty” over and over. I don’t think they’re anywhere close to being ready yet. But I want to have them when they are.
We’ll start with a quick sit on the potty before their bath, as that’s the. one time I been able to identify that it’s likely they will be ready to go. We’ll see what happens.
I got this new app (Timehop) that pulls photos from previous years. I am really enjoying being reminded of the past. Look at those scrawny 21 week fetuses and chunky 9 month olds!
The kids have gotten really into Sesame Street (I know, they shouldn’t be watching television at all until they’re 2). So when I saw that Sesame Street Live would be in the area, I got us tickets (which are NOT cheap, by the way).
I made sure my dad was willing and able to go with (I am not totally crazy). To start with it was a long drive with stop and go traffic at the end (cue AL meltdown). Then we didn’t really know where we were going and we cutting the timing pretty close (found our seat 10 minutes prior to the start. I still struggle with my old desire to be early and my new knowledge of on time is ideal. Surprisingly AL enjoyed it the most. My dad bought them their first popcorn (I know, it’s a choking hazard before age 4) and he sat on his lap and happily munched one piece of popcorn at a time through the whole first half. AE would feed me popcorn, but wouldn’t eat it herself. She would not sit on my lap, but thankfully the seats I chose were the front row of our section and had a nice solid banister in front of us, so she could stand there and still see the stage.
Then came intermission. Seeing how AE struggled to stay in our seat area, I knew we had to get out and walk around. I had brought the leashes. I had dad take AE and I took AL (my dad has little patience for his whining). Little did I know that I probably made the wrong call there. By the time the show started my dad was grouchy (he didn’t appreciate that AE wanted to do her own thing) and she didn’t want to have anything to do with being confined again. And then when I took away AL’s light up toy from her so he could use it (she had her own), she had a meltdown and we finished the show at the back of the theater. Then we had to get to the car (in a roasting hot parking garage) and work our way through terrible traffic to get back on the freeway.
As we were leaving though, I saw all these single toddlers with a parent or even two. They were able to walk around and be safety monitored. I have a hard time when I see parents and toddlers enjoying things in a way that I cannot because I am one parent with two toddlers. Had my mom been there it likely would have been a different situation as she is the queen of patience (now. I hope that I gain that by the time I am a grandma too). I try hard not to think of all the things we miss because of this. And at times I am even able to remember how lucky I am to be able to be home with them as their primary day-time caregiver. I know many moms would relish that.
I actually managed to catch them both sitting long enough to get a picture. Our delightful sitter gave us these hand me down chairs that the kids enjoy a quick sit in.
Actually, it’s more accurate to say evenings like tonight…
… make me wish I wasn’t a single mother (or that my mom loved closer or that my dad was more/different help). How happily I would have ducked and ran, handing over the reins to someone else even if for 15 minutes, just to get away.
It’s a long story that I don’t really have time to explain, but it entailed AE screaming for pretty much two and a half hours. So, no dinner out to celebrate Father’s Day for grandpa. I have no idea how I will survive 16+ years of those meltdowns. Nothing works to calm her down (and once she does manage to calm down, all it takes is one thing going awry to start her back up).
AL and AE turned 21 months old yesterday.
She refused to smile, but this a pretty cute expression
Big smiles!
After their first experience playing in the sprinkler, AE did a faceplant on the concrete patio. This is what her poor face looked like this morning.
Concrete faceplant ouchies
Found out today that our current sitter cannot commit to all of the hours I need in the fall. Thankfully our previous sitter can. And hopefully she can still handle them both.
I am not sure why I haven’t felt the need to blog. I think prior to the end of the spring semester, I was just too overwhelmed with work to want to spend more time online. And then I got so behind (I haven’t been reading or posting), that became the source of my lack of inspiration to get on. But without any blogging, I have only facebook for keeping updates on my amazing kids. So I am going to write about what has been going on very recently. It is my intention to post a photo post soon (I am in the process of backing up my photos onto my computer and hope to pick out the highlights soon (there are so many pictures to copy, that it won’t be in this post.
And then I am going to make more of an effort to blog bits and pieces and photos to have it documented. I think feeling like my private space was no longer mine has spoiled blogging a bit for me. 😦
AE is becoming a more and more understandable chatterbox. The girl talks non-stop and when you can understand her, what she is saying is pretty amazing. I couldn’t even begin to list her words. Some notable quirks or things she says though:
I was starting to worry about AL’s limited vocabulary as he now has more signs than words he uses regularly. But then he went and blurted two full sentences. I think AE may talk enough for both of them.
Other news:
We finally got rid of the bottles. They refused any milk in cups, so I was worried about what would happen. They won’t drink as much milk as I would like, but they will drink some each day (it is now offered at all meals and water is in their cups throughout the day). The aren’t drinking as much as I would like period, but it’s a work in progress.
I have tried the harnesses a couple of times, with only limited success. But I will need them for the airport later this summer. They are safe in them (cannot get away from me), but are not necessarily happy (and at times REALLY unhappy) in them.
They sleep amazingly well. They are going to bed later (partly because they are napping later). But they sleep late enough that I am almost human in the mornings (there is some couch lazing required in the mornings so that I can make it through the whole day though). They take an 1 1/2 nap each afternoon. I usually eat and recoup during that time. AL has been waking up from his naps really sad recently, so I don’t want to nap and be only half awake to deal with that.
I almost took on a really heavy work load this summer (wouldn’t have been much worse than the last half of the spring semester though). But it ended being more than I was allowed to accept, so it ended up being reasonable (but heavy). As long as I don’t end up disqualify the kids from the insurance, the extra income will be nice. I have paid off all the credit cards and have a nice enough balance that I am not worried about getting more classes in the fall.
We are going to see my mom and stepdad for three weeks from the end of August to right before the fall semester begins. I should be able to take some of that time off from work (I will have to get final grades in for the summer classes and get ready for my fall classes to start, but in between I hope to be able to not worry about it).
Well, this ended up being much longer than expected. So I am going to wrap it up for now. I think I may go back to trying to post a little picture/anecdote post each day, which I probably won’t end up password protecting. We’ll see… And I hope to get caught up on everyone else’s blogs at some point too. But considering my third class starts next week, I am not sure how successful that will be.
I had a hard time understanding why moms tend to get so sentimental about their children’s development. But that was when they seemed to focus on one thing at a time and new milestones were easy to focus on and/or document (or were just such a relief). Now that they are learning new things and showing them off in adorable ways all day long, I know I won’t be able to remember it all. And that makes me a little bit sad. I now get it.
Here is a relatively quick summary of what I see in them right now.
AE is spitting out new words like a little language machine. We can’t wait to understand the stream that is almost constantly coming out of her mouth (sorry future teachers, you’re not gonna gonna be able to shut that girl up). She can sing the beginning of the alphabet song and count to 5 (when you start with one). I have no idea how many words she has. She learns new ones each day (today the one that stands out was socks). She is a major mimic, but will often change what she says to be grammatically correct (turn “you” into “I,” etc.).
She almost always says thank you, even when she’s the one giving you something. She is in love with babies (dolls), stuffed animals, and generally anything huggable or kissable. She loves puzzles (mostly taking the pieces out) and the dinosaur magnets I recently put on the dishwasher. She likes to drive toy cars and toss or kick balls too. She enjoys squeezing into tight spaces.
She is still my meat eater and will usually try new foods and accept most of them. She has turned into quite the snuggler and is very competitive when it comes to attention. She gives loud kisses freely. She like to climb and swing and explore. She is fearless, even willing to charge into the surf (we recently had our first trip to the beach) and she loved the pool. Her catch phrases are “thank you” and “oh baby.”
AL is also growing his language (and very willing to use his words and signs – whereas AE communicates when she wants to and ONLY when she wants to). He is constantly trying to figure out things. He can close doors (and open my bedroom door, which he thankfully seems to have forgotten). He is fascinated with buckles and it can be a struggle to get him to let me buckle his car seat.
He loves to climb and will use that desire and skill set when and where he shouldn’t. He is very skilled with the fork (he can spear a cheerio without breaking it) and will eat just about fruit you offer him. He is less likely to put stuff that doesn’t belong in his mouth. He is a bit more selective with his kisses and hugs. He loves run-by snuggles.
He already has stinky feet and gets sweaty easily. He was not that big of a fan of the pool and finally found something to be afraid of – the waves at the beach. His favorite playtime activity is talking on the pretend phone (and just about anything can be a pretend phone). He will play with toy cars and balls. He is skilled at putting the puzzle pieces back in the puzzle. His catch phrases are “uh oh” and “ah dun” (all done).
These two are amazing. When I look at them, they are the most gorgeous kids ever (biased, I know). The do and say the most delightful things (like AE cheering AL up by patting his hand and telling him over and over and over, “happy baby” and AL responding to the conclusion of his blood draw through his tears with “ah dun” and the sign for all done). They never cease to amaze me with what they understand and want to do. And each day I wonder how in the heck I managed to create these wonderful human beings. (Can you tell my mom gave me enough respite that was able to recharge the mom battery?)
SMC and Her Duo 