book 6

Earlier this week I finished the novel Everything by Kevin Canty.  The story revolves mainly around two people, RL and June, friends who are grieving the loss of Taylor, June’s husband and RL’s best friend.  It takes place in Montana and the scenery is gorgeous in its descriptions.  This book was kind of “meh.”  It definitely rambles all over the place. And, Canty doesn’t use quotation marks to set off speech, a practice which drives me totally bonkers.  There are only a few books I’ve started and not completed (coughDombey&Soncough), but that’s exactly what led me not to finish Cold Mountain.  I really enjoyed the movie and had heard that the book was just phenomenal.  I couldn’t get past the first few chapters due to the lack of quotation marks.  I know, it’s a style choice, but BLEH.

Henry had a random stomach virus which woke us up at 2:30am Tuesday.  That was fun.  Fortunately he kept that gift to himself.  He had no school Monday from the holiday, and has no school tomorrow for teacher in-service, so he only went 2 days this week.  It was the easiest green week he ever had.  Tonight at dinner he stated (with great force) “I need a DRINK!”  Son, after that night of sick, you don’t even know how many times I thought that in my own head.

Now Maria’s got a nice head cold.  I wrote on FB earlier today about how I defied the AAP’s restrictions on giving cold/cough medicines to children under age 6.  I think the claim that they are not effective is doubtful, considering she went from completely lethargic, feverish, and mopey with no appetite back to nearly her normal self within an hour of getting 1/2 tsp of Robitussin and 1 tsp of ibuprofen.  See, parents can be trusted use their judgment and to give their children an appropriate dose.  No need to take the products off the shelves in hysteria, AAP.

xviii

This is one of those afternoons when the thought of adding any more children into this home makes me want to crawl into my bed and put my head under the pillow.  And so I have Henry at the table with his homework and Maria in her room with a book, (neither of these things was achieved without much wailing and gnashing of teeth) and here I sit to post.  Before I began, I decided it was time to listen to Peter, Paul, & Mary’s A Holiday Celebration album.  And then that makes me wish my sister was here to sing along, loudly, and in harmony.  Henry may have gotten a green day at school, but he surely has earned at least a yellow here at home this afternoon.  I probably have earned a red.  When is the principal coming to take me out of this class?  :)

fourteenth

At 7:30 this morning I nudged Timon and said "It's your turn with the children." And so it was... I woke back up at 8:30 and enjoyed visits from both of our squirrely bananas really loud lively offspring, then finished a book (I think I may have been the first person to check out, it's so new looking), and generally laid around until 10:00 or so. Henry had been hanging around with me, but Maria was so quiet that I assumed Timon had put her in her crib for a short nap. I came out to the living room and she'd fallen asleep on a towel on the floor! Naturally she stirred before I could get a picture. However, the floor-to-crib transfer was successful and she enjoyed another 45 minutes of rest. It was so cute to see her laying there.

legos and sitting up

Well... hello.

I haven't posted as often because I seem to have my hands busier these days. Maria is a peach of a kid and we are enjoying her SO much. She is very smiley and has begun to laugh, and it's the most awesome sound. Then she fusses and it's not the most awesome sound. Henry switches from usually being the most wonderful and happy child to occasionally being a whiny, emotional wreck. I can't believe how many times Timon and I have spoken the words "Santa's watching!" in the past few weeks. It's terrible. Bad parents.

With Maria being much more active, it's been hard to maintain nursing during the day, especially while I'm at work. I still breastfeed her first thing in the morning and last thing before bed, but she gets bottles during the day. We only have a few bags of freezer milk left, and then we'll move on to formula. I alternate between feeling tremendous guilt over stopping when I COULD continue and being incredibly pleased with the months she's had receiving breastmilk and relishing the freedom and extra time I have. I'm sure there are those out there who'd call me selfish for stopping, and believe me, I've been through all of that in my head. I agonized for some time, and have come to feel peace about it all.

Enjoy this video of Maria attempting to sit up, and Henry making a dog out of Legos. Sorry it's so dark. We were enjoying the ambience of the tree when Maria started performing, and forgot to turn on another light. You'll get the idea.

technically, he IS a preteen

"Mommy, I'm mad at you." -Henry, 7:22a.m. today




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Everybody go say felicidades to LadyB on the birth of her (presumably, no pictures yet) gorgeous baby boy, Oliver! He was born yesterday and joins big sister Avery, my future daughter-in-law. Happy day!

26 until 30

Before we head out to the zoo in a few minutes, I have to share with you one of the most embarrassing evidence of terrible parenting funniest things that's happened around here in quite some time - yesterday was our night to go feed the hungry at a local shelter/kitchen, and I had to go pick up one of the youth beforehand. I was heading to the car with Henry when I realized I wasn't wearing my red FTH shirt. I told Henry to stay in the front yard, not to go anywhere. When I came back out of the house, I was greeted with a flying stream of pee and a child naked from the waist down. He had to go potty, he said. Never mind the semi-busy city street and parking lot with parents picking up their children from church preschool right behind him. Nice!

(I suppose I should admit that occasionally when we are in our fenced in back yard, we allow Henry to pee in a corner if he's been in the pool and is all wet and it would be inconvenient to go back into the house. I guess we reap what we sow.)

oh. my. stars.

Come on - this picture's funny, right? Does this not define childhood? He's wearing his winter dinosaur hat, with his superhero cape, holding his Santa pencil. In March. (That's when this photo was taken.) And watching cartoons. Don't talk to him. He's busy.

***** Lately when we ask Henry questions, or encourage him to talk on the phone, his answer is that "I busy, Mommy." WELL. Sorry for bothering you, kiddo. The nerve.

ALSO: If you haven't heard TobyMac's new song "One World" from his Portable Sounds album, you're really missing out. I can't stop hitting play on the ole' iTunes. It's totally worth the $0.99.

the effects of daylight savings (or, a glimpse into the year 2018)

Scene: At 8:15 a.m., a mother has to wake up her 2 3/4 year old son to get him dressed and fed before preschool. This is the first time this has ever happened.

Mother: (from another room) Come on Henry, it's time to get out of bed! (long pause) Henry!

Child: In a minute, Mommy! In a minute!

The End

bad mommy

So I brought Henry to Dr. Lisa today for his 30 month check-up. He'd had a cold with a bad cough all this week, so it was nice to get him checked out without having to pay a separate co-pay. He had the normal assessments- he weighs 30 lbs and is 36" tall, both on the 50% percentile. But then Dr. Lisa listened to his lungs and felt his glands.

Dr Lisa: "Oh, his glands are quite swollen."
Me: "Really?"
Dr. Lisa: (as she's listening to his chest) "And he's really wheezy, too."
Me: "Oh, really?"

I can understand me missing the swollen glands. But how does a good mommy miss the fact that her kid is wheezing?!? And now he needs the breathing treatments we had to torture him with last Christmas.

There goes the Mother of the Year 2006 award.

this too shall pass (*sigh*)

Every morning, Henry wakes up and comes in our room and stands by my side of the bed with his stuffed animal (we call it "Friend"). Depending on the hour, I'll either lead him back to his bed (before 7), or pick him up to lay in the bed with us (after 7). Sometimes, he wants to cuddle and doze with us, which is the BEST. Other times, he lays there, but with kicky legs and lots to say. I usually end up getting up with him to do something else at that point. But it's SO nice when he wants to snuggle.

I know this will end someday, so I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. There's been all sorts of phases he's gone through in his short little life - like when he wouldn't go to sleep at all unless he was swaddled good and tight (now he kicks off the covers, even when it's cold), or later, when he used to hold a cheerio in his right hand while he ate the rest with his left hand - like he wanted to make sure to have a spare (now we're lucky if he eats at all - he's gotten picky all of the sudden).

I have only two regrets in my life so far: 1. I am not proficient at the piano because I wasted about 10 years of lessons, and 2. I haven't kept a meticulous journal of everything Henry has done since being conceived. Because these are the things we'll be able to tell his future wife, and then our grandchildren when they come to visit. I wish my memory was better.

sad sad sad

I'm one of those sad, sad people who often promise things and either take forever to deliver, or don't deliver at all. It's my greatest shame. For example, I often buy the birthday cards, but forget or put off sending them until it's too late. Or also, this blog: I've promised regular Chad A/T updates, and Henry's birthday party pictures. Now, there's absolutely NOTHING stopping me from a Chad update, so here goes: He's fine, he's back in Damascus, VA for a few days respite, hanging out with a bunch of other smelly people during the annual "Trail Days" event. He's made it all the way to Harper's Ferry, WV, almost 1/2 way done! It's pretty amazing, really, to get a phone call from him. I am always left happier after I hear his voice- more assured that he hasn't been mauled by a mountain lion (even though he IS a kind warrior - a special little joke for you, Chad). Now, about the birthday party pictures: well, this takes a bit more effort. For the most part I take pictures the old fashioned way... on tintypes... no really I get prints in my hand, not digital. That means I either have to pay an extra $5 a roll to get a picture CD, or I can scan them in at work, then crop them (trust me, if you knew what was in the background of our latest adorable pictures of Henry taken at Fort DeSoto on Mother's Day, you'd be thanking whoever developed PhotoShop), and finally upload them to my blog for you all to see. So, other than laziness, there's really nothing stopping me from doing that. I didn't say it was a GOOD reason! So please, accept my apology for all the times I've failed to follow through in the past, and I'm going to try to do better. Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow.