14 October 2014

It's been 6 months since I did a Day in the Life.  I photographed the summer edition, but I was on vacation and just didn't have it in me to write it up.  So when Navigating the Mothership made a call, I couldn't let this one pass.  Furthermore, this is supposed to be a Week in the Life, which I'm at least going to attempt.  Though today was so involved, we'll see if I really have that in me.  When the hubs set to work the next 5 days straight, I'm not sure what the week will hold.

Today is October 14, 2015.  MJ is 5, Greta is 2 and Teddy is 9 months.  Because he still wakes so much at night, I started my day the evening before.

11:00 p.m.  In bed.  So nice to cuddle next to husband, one of the great things about winters  and our feather bed.  I love when he's home in the evening and we get to talk at bed time.  For some reason, it is the time that we often (lovingly) mock our children while recapping the day. He goes to bed and I play a mindless game on my iPhone for 15 minutes to turn my mind off. Can't decide if this is a bad habit or a good habit 

11:20 p.m. Night night!

3:00 a.m. Teddy wakes up and cries for a bit; it sounds like he might fall back asleep.  I wait to see if he will but he gets quite upset and so I decide to go in and give him a bottle. He downs about 4 ounces and I question whether I needed to go in to begin with. When I put him down he cries for a little bit and then goes to sleep.

6:00 a.m. Teddy starts crying, likely awake for the day.   All in all, not a bad night for him.  Hubs said last night he would be the one to get up with the kids this morning.  He seems to not be a fan of that idea this morning.  Begrudgingly, he does get up with Teddy and I pop in some ear plugs.

My messy kitchen with the terrible colors.  Hate starting the day looking at a mess.

7:00 a.m. Hubs is backand it is now my turn to get up.   I'm a bit grumpy, because I thought he meant he'd get up and stay up with them, and because I was deep asleep.  The time after I put in ear plugs, when I know he is on duty, is always the best sleep I get.  Otherwise I sleep pretty lightly and every little noise wakes me up.  I go downstairs, where  Greta and Teddy are eating Cheerios, and give Teddy a bottle.   I make coffee and think about how when I can yet again use my French press in the morning I will have returned to a state of low commotion 

G thinks the flash is hilarious and asks for me to do it several times.  Weird.  See also: Go dog go!

Somebody wants to be part of the book reading action.  A first for him. 

Look Mom!  I can write a day in the life post too!

Trying to figure out what's so great about chewing on things.

G spots an older lady in the paper and is CONVINCED it is Nana.  She refuses to put it down.

There's a fish in this book.  Thus, her rendition of fish face.

Our fish face selfie.  You saw it here first, folks.

7:20 a.m.  Sit down to read "Go dog go!" I've had dreams about this book lately, I've been reading it to Greta so much.  Teddy pukes all over my arm and the couch pillow, so I have to interrupt the sotry to try to clean up the mess.  I sit back down to finish the book. Teddy actually listens for one of the first times I can remember. He gets super squirmy and I pause to finish giving him the bottle.  Greta takes over flipping pages, and I discover that she really doesn't care when I flip five pages at a time.  I've been known to do such things, when I'm tired and don't feel like reading the book for the 7th time om the day.  Teddy starts chewing on my flip-flops and my knee and I talk Greta into getting him some toys so he stops. Greta steals my phone and starts using the auto dictation, as I've been doing while recording my day.  And she pretends take pictures.   Now that I'm awake and have my coffee, I find these guys to be a riot in the morning. Perhaps I should start setting the coffee pot the night before.

7:40 a.m. I stopped to change G's diaper, because it smells and apparently is the same diaper from last night.  I often change her on the floor, so that I don't have to drag everyone upstairs, but that requires fending Teddy off from crawling in the messy diaper.  While I'm changing her, Teddy grabshold of my coffee cup and tries to chew on the side of it; I grab it just in time.  This boy is teething on everything this morning.   Greta decides she wants to go try to poop on the potty. And it's almost time to wake up MJ. I set up G on the potty with some books, and instruct her not to get off if she poops, but to yell at the top of her lungs for me.  The moment I start walking upstairs she starts yelling "MOMMMMM!!".   I should not be surprised by this.  I continue to go back-and-forth between upstairs and downstairs.  While I'm getting Teddy dressed she yells insistently.  I go down to check on her and she has peed on the potty.  She's so proud!  I think this girl could be potty trained if I had the wherewithal to commit to it; she'll sit on the potty for long periods of time if she thinks she has to go, and she really wants to succed.

8:00 a.m. Deep in the chaos of getting everybody dressed. Teddy is trying to crawl away will I dress him; G tries to dress herself but doesn't know how and keeps putting on pants without a diaper.  MJ is furious when I tell her a T-shirt with tights is not appropriate.  While getting dressed, MJ says "Nothing is the same without nana here, we're back to real life".  I couldn't agree more.  Nana left yesterday and the chaos is intense today.  I finally squeeze into the bathroom, wet my hair and put on make up.  Meanwhile, MJ sets off the alarm downstairs when she goes outside to get her boots.  She starts crying, but it is a good lesson about not going outside if we don't know about it.

It was apparently epically cruel to wake her up with a flash.

nuff said.

MJ likes to make our bed.  I can't say I discourage it.  G is inhibiting this from happen.  

Trying to corral them.  It's an exercise in futility.

Teddy threw this rug in the shower.  I bet you can guess what happened when I took a shower five hours later.

8:15 a.m. The final push to get out the door is truly difficult today. I think because Nana left yesterday and we're not used to it yet.  G ends up wearing MJ's coat; Teddy wears big boy shoes because we can't find his.   We just can't get it together.  We walk MJ to school and she wants to walk into the school by herself.  We stand and talk to Jenny, an aid in MJ's class, who gives us the low down on MJ;s new boyfriend.  Yesterday, Amir walked her from the breakfast line into class.  She has also told us how he likes to watch her dance.  What?  Weird!  Jenny talks about how cute they are, and that they dance together.  How he's struggling in school but this is really helping him.  And how she has the self confidence to say a firm "no!" if she doesn't like something.  I had previously heard that Amir wasn't nice, prior to MJ deciding she really likes him, so I'm not sure what changed for her.  I'm more than a little concerned that she is already drawn to the trouble makers.

Ready for school.

Apparently this is my "no one is listening to me" face

Hubs about to join us on our walk.  Travel mugs are at a premium in our house.

I love going for walks in our neighborhood at all times of year, but especially right now.

Hubs, looking pensive.  

My third little dare devil

If you look very closely, you will see that there is a squirrel in the stroller.  Trying to get G's apple, I imagine.  She was not going to have that.

G is very concerned about making sure Teddy doesn't try to climb up on the horse.  I think because she is bucking wildly and doesn't want to hurt him, but I can't be sure.

8:30 a.m Back home and trying to get ready to go for a walk.  I cancel my reservation at the gym because hubs has decided to join us.  G completely undresses and we have to completely redress her.  We get everyone in the stroller and I forget my camera.  I go back to get it and it's not until we started walking I realize I've also forgot my phone.  We run into a neighbor and discuss siding for our house.   We walked to the Holly tot lot (where I think we went the last time I did a day in the life).  There's one other mom there with her two year old son; it turns out I recognize her from MJ's school.  We play for a bit but G gets tired and wants to go home.  She throws a tantrum when we ask her to put on her coat.  I put both of them in the stroller and give them each an apple.  

Guess who the coldest one in this picture was?  Guess who then threw a tantrum because she was cold?  Ugh.  She's so two.

My first 7 years living her I saw no chipmunks.  I've seen about 5 this fall.  Amazing.

We all walk to a nearby bakery, where I get some treats and drop Hubs off at the restaurant across the street.  He desperately wants to have a sit down breakfast, but I'm not game and would rather just take them home.  Teddy falls asleep in the stroller on the way back.  

10:00 a.m.  Arrive back home.  I drag the stroller up the stairs into the house with Teddy asleep, and fight Greta to come in the house.   G gets a snack of cheese and bananas, while Teddy miraculously stays asleep and I pick up a bit.  G practices drawing in a book of letters, but it is still far beyond her.

Fast asleep, despite being bounced up the stairs.  

My lefty.  Trying to teach her something about writing, which was really just scribbling.  

10:40 a.m. Teddy wakes up.  I try to vacuum, but Teddy keeps unplugging it and I don't accomplish much.  Hubs gets home from his breakfast and I start getting ready to go pick up MJ.

Look at that amazing sweater!  Thanks Baba!

10:50 a.m. Head out to get MJ.  Both littles are unhappy when I leave, and I feel kind of bad for leaving them in such a state.  Prob just in need of lunch, Teddy didn't eat much for breakfast.    I get to MJ's school and the teacher is reading a story.  I forgot to remind MJ about her doctors appt and I'm not sure if she'll come easily, but luckily she does.  We pile in the van; it feels weird to have only one kid.  I give her a granola bar to tide her over, since we usually eat lunch right after I pick her up.  We discuss shots.  And her drop off at school that morning.

This girl never lets me take her picture.  I gotta take what I can get.

Always running away.

The van feels so empty. 

11:10 a.m. Arrive dr office and check in.  MJ is bored with toys in waiting room, most of which are broken.  We don't wait long.  We go and have her weight and height checked.  Then vision and hearing, followed by temp and blood pressure.  The nurse asks a bunch of questions to me, though MJ answers them all herself, incensed that someone else would talk for her.  I can't believe I'm in this same waiting room where I  previously brought her as a screaming infant and crazy toddler.  Now she's sitting here nicely, answering eloquently and entertaining herself while I write.  How can this even be the same child?  She comments on a picture of a dog with a butterfly on its nose.  I remember her staring at the dog when she could just barely say "dog" and getting all excited about it.

Excellent vision!

And hearing!

Yay!  I get a smile!

Excited to be weighed.

Add caption

11:30 a.m.  We wait for the dr.  I read to MJ and she practices reading.  She objects at first, but then realizes she actually enjoys trying.  She's doing pretty well, despite having never seen this book before.  It's the first time I'm confident that it's really sinking in and not just memorizing the readers we have.

11:50 a.m. Doc comes in.  Asks her all sorts of questions, MJ keeps rubbing her eyes, clearly exhausted.  Discusses shots, gives MJ the choice of nasal or shot for flu.  MJ asks her lots of questions about the shots, what they do and why she needs them.  She chooses shot, even though the doc tries to talk her into the mist.  I'm proud of her eloquence, politeness, inquisitiveness, and perseverance in having her questions answered.  The doc discusses inappropriate touching, which is a nice thing to hear her say.  She discusses her tiny stature (6th percentile for height, 13th percentile BMI)..  We discuss that she prob would have been ready for kindergarten but it's fine she's in prek.  Given go dog go style book; I can't escape!

12:30 p.m.  Shots!  She's very brave but does cry.  Says she wishes she got the flu mist.  She asks for a Drive Through, which I think is funny, and I agree to stop.  It's something we never do so I guess it's a treat for her.  We call dad to ask for requests.  

12:40  p.m. Long line at McDonald's.  Thankuflly MJ chooses quickly when it's our turn.  She's incredibly excited about her Happy Meal.  Ha!

12:55 p.m.  Arrive home.  We have an interesting conversation in the car, about how Nana is afraid of the water because she's afraid of drowning, which MJ says is the funniest thing she ever heard.  Then we discuss how MJ would rather play T-ball than soccer next summer, because she doesn't want to have to wear the same thing as everyone else, which I tell her is the funniest thing I've ever heard, because T-Ball has uniforms too.  She says she only wants to be on a team where everyone can wear whatever they want.

The love of McDonalds apparently comes naturally.

 When we walk in the house I hear Teddy crying upstairs, immediately assume it's because hubs put him to bed too early. I go upstairs give him a bottle and bring him back downstairs.  The girls and I sit down to eat lunch, husband runs upstairs to join a work teleconference.  Greta makes a lunch of apple slices and chocolate milk, but MJ eats pretty much everything.  I have a salad, which is a questionable decision because it has Dorito chips in it.

1:20 p.m.. Time to put G down for a nap.  I run into husband coming down the stairs because he couldn't get into the teleconference. He offers to put G down for a nap, so I go back downstairs and talk to MJ.  Teddy is crawling all over the place.   MJ goes to bed five or 10 minutes later.  I try to pick up and pay some bills.  Teddy is fascinated by the chains hanging from the cuckoo clock and also sees me use the shredder and immediately wants to try. But he's pretty content with an apple that he finds in the stroller and gnaws on that for a while.  Hubs runs to work for a bit.

Ugh.  The mess is deep today.

He found the corner we hide things we don't want the kids to get into.  

2:00 p.m. I lay Teddy down. I check on the girls (who are both asleep) then hop in the shower. I wouldn't normally take a shower, (I just had one last night), but we have family pictures later and my hair is looking pretty wonky.  I come downstairs and sit down for a while. I've had to train myself to do this during naps, because sometimes I don't know when the next break will be and there's always plenty to do. I look at recipes and think about dinner when I rest.  Decide on quiche. Look at Facebook and laugh to myself about people my age still posting their GPA from college online. Pretty sure that mocking this makes me a bad person.  (But seriously, isn't this just the new age equivalent of waving your report card around?  It was tacky then and it's tacky now.)  Hubs comes home and lays down for a nap.

And one more!  A 4th nap!

The triple nap is a beautiful thing.  

2:50 p.m. Teddy starts squawking.  I give him the rest of his bottle.  He starts to fall asleep on my chest, but then Vito wanders in and T wakes up.  I throw a shoe at Vito to get him to leave; I feel bad about this but it's the quietest way I can get him to leave.  It's not use, though, because now T is quite awake and I rock him vigorously to try to get him to fall asleep again.  Finally lay him back down at 3:10.

I go downstairs to make a quiche, adding about four times the veggies called for, and not sure if it will turn out.  MJ wakes up about 3:30.  I get ready to go, put on makeup, change my clothes, fingers crossed that Teddy won't puke on me.  I wake up hubs from his nap.  He wakes up G.  Hubs takes shower, I get annoyed that he is not helping get anyone ready.   Everyone changes, chaos, etc., bottle for Teddy.   Greta is furious about having to change clothes and I basically end up wrestling her.  I know I am supposed to seek her cooperation but I sometimes just don't have it in me.   I take the quiche out of the oven, stick it outside with a plate on top (hopefully squirrel proof) so it stays a bit cooler.   In the car by 4:30 p.m.  Hubs brings Vito along, and I request some pictures without him because he is always trying to dash off and never looks at the camera.  Everyone thinks I'm horrible. because he's part of the family, etc.  I don't tell them about the shoe; maybe I am horrible.

Not bad for a mad dash into the oven.

4:45 p.m. Arrive at the session.  Haven't met this photographer before, but she's cheap and I try to do these every year.  The kids don't have long sessions in them, so the mini sessions are perfect.  It's only supposed to be 20 minutes but she goes to 45 minutes!  I think she thought she was doing us a favor, but it was torture to try to get the kids to cooperate.  G kept running off, MJ kept screwing around, Teddy just wanted to crawl away.  True to form, Vito kept leaving the frame so we removed him.  If we got more than 2 good shots I'll be amazed.  I popped cheerios in Teddy's mouth to get 5 seconds of good behavior out of him.  I bribed, I cajoled.  I tickled.  I actually wondered if perhaps I should be a photographer of kids, because I think I did a heck of a lot better than the photographer did.  Eventually, I sang Happy Birthday, and they all set there happily, though they tried to sing along so their mouths are probably open.  

This pretty much sums up our photo shoot.

Some handsome dudes.

Didn't intend to take such an artsy fartsy selfie.  

Wishing I had my good camera.

When it's done, we let the kids run around a bit, then pile in the van and head home.

5:45 p.m. We get home.  Hubs takes MJ and my step-Dads laptop to the UPS store; he forgot it here and we need to send it off.  I pile Teddy and Greta inside to get some food in them before they have to go to sleep.  Teddy loves the quiche (broccoli, turkey, peppers, onions, cheddar). After some quiche and pear the littles are done.  I take recycling out.  Greta gets put in timeout for screaming (the high-pitched, I'm-just-doing-this-to-piss-you-off scream).   MJ and Dad come home, and MJ eats.  The girl takes forever to eat!  She brought lollipops home for her and her sister, and Teddy gets a hold of one that fell on the floor.  He's pretty ecstatic about his discovery, but it doesn't take long for G to snatch it away.

6:45 p.m. Dad is on the phone.  G is a crying mess, and Teddy needs to go to bed.  I bring Teddy upstairs to change into jammies.  I give him a bottle and he gets squirmy so I lay him down.  I think he'll settle, but he doesn't (could it be because Dad and the girls are playing with the Nerf Gun downstairs?)  He finally does and I sit upstairs, in the quiet, for a bit before I head back downstairs.  I try to clean the dining room and the kitchen.  It's better than when the day started but not as good as I hoped for.  But I'm tired.  Very tired.  I finish the essentials (dishes, anything gross), corral the girls into helping me pick up a bit, then hand them the iPad to watch some Sesame Street.

Tucking baby into the kitchen drawer, giving her a bottle of juice.  Must have learned that from me.

7:45 p.m. I finish a little more in the kitchen, then grab a beer and head to the family room (third floor) to watch some Modern Family while I write.  Hubs is in charge of putting Greta down, and at 9:00 I wander down to read to MJ and put her to bed.  I love this girl so much.  We've been getting along so much better, and she's becoming such a person.  Such a nice, inquisitive, hard working person.  I am more hopeful about our relationship than I have been in a long time.  I talk about how proud I was of her at the doctor, because of how much she stood up for herself but how nicely she did it, and how bravely she took the shots.  I tuck her in then finish this post.

(I don't finish until 10:30!  Will need to tone it down in the future or I'll never get through a week...)

Uterine Birthday, on time!

This is the first time I've managed to get this photographed and posted on the actual day.  Which would be a prouder achievement if I hadn't skipped the 8-month-post.  Sorry Teddy, but you should really sleep better if you expect Mama to live up to these absurd things she feels obligated to do.

I decided to post some pics from the last few months that haven't appeared on Instagram yet.  The first several are from our trip to Oregon, as well as a picture of all the cousins together.  The next few are from our trip to Lake Itasca in August, and Teddy's dunk in the headwaters of the Mississippi.  I sucked at taking pictures for the rest of August and September, apparently, because I only have one good (high-res) one of Baba's trip out, none of the fair, and none of our other shenanigans.  Will have to bust out the DSLR for these last few days of nice weather.

These last two months have been fun, to be sure.  Mr. T is becoming a real person.  A crawling, precocious, smiling little guy.  He fits right into this crazy family.  He eats everything we eat, for the most part, just cut into smaller pieces.  He basically refuses to let me feed him, which works out well since I don't really have time to anyway.  He seems to be a pickier eater than the girls were at this age, but he is slowly coming around to a few things he didn't like, such as tomatoes and eggs.  I know, both of those aren't recommended for kids this age, but whatevs.  He tolerates everything, so we roll with it.

The biggest issue has been sleep.  This guy just really sucks at sleep.  When we were in Oregon and for a short time thereafter he was waking up several times a night, only eating a little bit each time.  He struggled to put himself to sleep.  Part of the problem is that he had learned to stand but wasn't good at sitting back down, so he'd stand in his crib and be stuck there.  Shortly before our trip to Itasca, when hubs was working a stretch of nights, I pseudo sleep-trained him.  Except it didn't really work, because he's really darn stubborn.  After a week of attempts, I have basically given up hope of sleep training him.  After that week, he did do a bit better, only waking up once or twice a night for a while.  Now, a month and a half later, he still does kind of okay on some nights.  Maybe sleeping until 3 am or so.  But he's often up again at 5, and him or someone else is up for the day at 6 am.  Now that MJ is up until 9 pm on some nights, it makes for a tired mom.  Even if I went straight to bed when she does, I wouldn't get 8 hours.  But in reality, I need some kid free time at the end of the night for my own sanity.  So I often stay up until 11 or so, and I am just so tired.  And often, he sleeps much worse than that.  He's had a few colds or viruses these past few weeks, which just wears me out.  When he wakes up at night, he's really darn thirsty, so I don't have it in me to sleep train him again. He'll suck down 6 ounces and go right back to sleep.  I think our only hope is to teach him to use a sippy cup so he can drink some water at night.  But that will be months away.... so for now we struggle.  The only saving grace I have right now, is that I now consistently get all the kids to sleep, even MJ, in the afternoon, so I can take a nap too.  It puts me in such a better mood for that tough stretch from post-nap through dinner to bed time.

One other quick note, which is that Greta has been making strides towards being a better sister.  She usually goes out of her way to make sure he is taken care of, with a toy and whatever else she thinks he needs.  If he crawls towards stairs she freaks out and tries to help.  If he chews on something she doesn't think he should be she instantly takes it away.  Although sometimes misguided, she is often thinking of his well being.  I wonder if part of it is that MJ has started school, so there are times when I drop them off at the gym and it is just the two of them.  I have tried to encourage her stepping into the big sister roll, looking out for her bro, and she finally seems to be getting it.  There is less pushing him down, or purposely hurting him (still plenty of accidents... such as when she pushed him down the stairs last week.... ugh...)  So I once again have some hope that they will be close.  Tonight she fed him cheddar bunnies; wouldn't have been my first choice, but the giggling suggested to me it was truly a bonding moment.

In some ways, this past month I feel that I've started to get things together.  I've managed to consistently cook dinner, which is a huge achievement in the craziness of our house.  Teddy entertains himself most of the time, and if I have him in a baby-proofed area I can get some things done.   I've become more sane.  I feel like these past two months I've finally been waking from a dream, because this year has been a blur in many ways.  I'm glad I have pictures.  Many, many pictures.  I remember most things, but if I try to focus in on anything that happened I can't, really.  I'm so glad he's part of our family.  I desperately try to not wish away these sweet baby-filled days, because I love this age.  He smiles at everything, giggles readily, doesn't throw tantrums and is happy doing just about anything, as long as he can squirm.  He's affectionate, crawling up to me when he wants to be picked up or nuzzled.  He blows little baby kisses on my cheek.  It's such a sweet, sweet time.  It's just that the stress of watching a newly mobile baby is constant, and when he goes to bed at 6 pm, I can take a deep breath and enjoy a more relaxed evening with the big kids.  I want him to stay a baby forever, because I'll never get to do this again, and he's so stinking cute.  But also, I want him to grow up so that I can enjoy some calm and reclaim part of my brain, the part that is constantly trying to safeguard the toddler and baby.

I can't believe he's only 9 months.  Seems like he's been here forever.  When I think of how much G has changed since she was 9 months old, I wonder what trajectory he will take.  Given that he is crawling like a mad man, and has been for months, and that he looks ready to start walking, I think it will be a crazy one.  Forging his own path.

Greta, 2 years

2 years old.  What a little firecracker.

Looking back to my thoughts one year ago, I barely knew her at all.  I thought she was mellow.  And calm.  And sweet.  I would now use the words busy, devious and silly.  The girl is smart.  I'm not one to use that word loosely, but she is smart.  She is doing puzzles that her sister didn't do until she was almost 3.  She will sit down and work on something until she figures it out.  Currently, she's obsessed with buckling buckles.  Any unbuckled buckle is an invitation; she pauses to buckle every car seat after everyone gets out (sort of annoying), every high chair and even the buckles on the ergo and backpack.

I see her little mechanical brain at work as she obsesses over Legos.  Every night after we tuck the girls into their bunk bed, Greta drags piles of Legos into her bed and builds things.  She inevitably falls asleep on a heap of them, and wakes up with indentations in her extremities.  But if I dare to take the Legos away she loses her mind, so we let it go.  Watching her mechanical mind at work is fascinating, and I will be very surprised if she doesn't end up somewhere in science, engineering, or the like.

I really need to document some of her shenanigans in these past couple months.

A month ago, our babysitter was watching all the kids.  She put Teddy to bed while Greta and MJ were downstairs in the kitchen (which I also do, so not at all out of line).  Greta dragged the step stool over to the touch pad for our alarm system.  She pressed the "Fire" panic button.  Our babysitter immediately called me for the code and I thought we turned it off in time.  Apparently not, since 5 minutes later a fire engine showed up in front of our house.  To make matters worse, my husband does training for the fire department.  When they came in the house, they saw a Saint Paul Fire Fighters calendar on the wall and asked whose house it was....

Last week, after a very long day with the kids, I plopped myself down on the couch.   I was spent.  MJ was upstairs.  Greta and Teddy were in the kitchen.  I could hear them and sort of see them; I thought Greta was feeding Teddy Puffs.  I don't normally allow her to do this, but I was so exhausted I let her get away with it.  After a few minutes, I got up to check on them.  On the counter was a formerly full pack of Orbitz chewing gum, and on the floor was Teddy spitting out little pieces of gum.  Oy.  She apparently gave him about half a pack, but it seems he spit all or most of it out.

One of our biggest struggles with this girl lately has been having her stick her hand in her poopy diapers.  Nearly every time.  It is incredibly gross, and difficult to manage.  How do you stop this behavior?  We tried everything we could think of, and finally resorted to some spanking.  I don't even believe in spanking.  I have never spanked MJ in her life, and yet Greta has been spanked a hand full of times.  When she decided it was super fun to run away from me into the road.  And, now, when she decided it was fun to upset us by sticking her hand in her poop.  It has stopped both behaviors.  We tried positive reinforcement, etc., but this girl is just downright naughty in a way that MJ never was.  She is devious.  She will wait until everyone is distracted, then go and sneak a piece of candy.  Meanwhile, MJ will always ask permission.  In some ways they are such similar children, especially compared to most other kids I know, but sometimes their differences are stark.

She has also gone through a screaming phase.  She will wait until I have a full cart of groceries and then scream at the top of her lungs.  She seems to realize that there's not much I can do.  I can't put her in time out.  I can't just walk out of the store.  I have to just bare it and get out as quickly as possible.  Another behavior I'm at a loss how to deal with.

I should also pause to focus on her good behaviors.  She is sweet to babies she doesn't know, stopping to give them a dropped pacifier or to kiss their toes.  (She's also sweet to her brother, but quickly gets frustrated and does something less than sweet).  She loves dogs, and will watch out the window for them, then let out a squeal when she sees one.  She loves animals in a way her sister never did, always obsessed about bunnies hopping along or kitties passing by.  She is a great eater, and there is very little that she doesn't like (except, I have recently realized, for bananas).  She is gleeful and precocious, and a downright joy to be around.  Although her naughtiness is difficult to parent, it is thoroughly entertaining to see what sort of schemes she comes up with.  She is my best cuddler, and always crawls into bed with me in the morning to cuddle for a while.  Kisses and hugs are abundant, which warms my mama heart.

Her speech is interesting.  She understands just about everything we say.  She loves looking through picture dictionaries and knows many, many words.  Her pronunciation is pretty far off, though, and her attempts to imitate my speech sound nothing like what I have said.  The pediatrician was not concerned, though, feeling that pronunciation comes between two and three, and her understanding of language and attempts to say it are all that matter at this point.  (Also, at her two year appointment, she was up to 60% for height; such a difference from her sisters 7% height).

She adores her sister.  The two of them play together constantly, with relatively little fighting.  They sleep in the same room (and have for the past year) and transitioned to a bunk bed a few months ago (though that was about a three month process that involved lots of nights with G in a pack and play).

We had a little party for this girl on the occasion of her birth.  The first few photos are of that event.  On her actual birthday, I took her to the pediatrician's (shots!) and took her out for ice cream.  I also took her to the train store, and let her run around as much as she wanted.  Happy girl.  She listens a lot better when I get to pay full attention to her.

On top of all this, this now marks 2 years of me being home.  The time has flown.  I only worked for 3 years before staying home full time, and that period of time just dragged.  Every day I questioned my decision.  While staying home is challenging and exhausting, I never wish I was back at work.  I never question whether what I'm doing is worthwhile or the right decision.  The only thing I worry about is whether I'll have a difficult time getting back into the work force some day, but that seems like a minor concern compared to everything else.

This girl.  She is a plotter, a planner.  She is tenacious.  She closes all open doors, buckles all buckles, insists on putting on her own shoes, tries her darnedest to put on her own clothes, and sits for long periods of time on the potty, trying to figure out how to make it work.  But she is also pretty fearless, flinging herself down slides, meeting every stranger and running headlong into every new experience.  When she was born, I worried for her.  Living in the shadow of an older sister with such a big personality would be tough, I thought.  Now, though, I see that she can hold her own. She has wiggled herself into the Greta shaped hole in our family that we didn't even know was there, and we would not be complete without her.

I love you sweet girl.  

Teddy, 7.5 months

I have completely missed the 7 month update.  I am now squarely at 7.5 months, so that's where we'll start (the photos, however, were at his 7 month birthday).

This boy.  Just in the past couple weeks he's really starting to feel like one of the gang.  He started the month in Oregon, came back with me to Minnesota, had a camping trip, a week spent with Dad away, his sister's second birthday, and right after his 7 month mark headed back to Oregon for 10 days.

Whew.  No wonder it feels like time is slipping away,  I don't have any of it to spend thinking about it all. When we were in Oregon, the first time, he met his cousin.  His older cousin, by about 5 months, and she was crawling all over the place.  He decided he had to give it a try, and a week before his 7 month birthday he was officially crawling.  Sometime during our second trip to Oregon he started really crawling, getting himself all over the place and making sure he is always where the action is.  I guess that's when he started to feel like one of the gang.  If the girls are playing some crazy wild game in the other room, he high tails it in there so as to be part of it.  And they love it!

His sleep is... pretty awful.  He wakes up many times a night.  No fewer than twice a night.  Sometimes much more.  We are in the midst of sort of sleep training him.  He has recently started waking up often, not actually wanting anything but not really sure how to put himself to sleep.  So we've let him figure it out, because it simply has to happen.  If he seems particularly upset I offer him a bottle.  But he seems so much more stubborn than Greta was (a bad sign, since G is pretty darn stubborn).  He has not figured it out quickly (by not quickly, I mean we are on our 3rd night and, after 3 hours of sleep he has already been up 3 times).  But he is falling asleep more quickly, so maybe there's an end in sight.  I don't particularly mind giving him a bottle, particularly because it's summer and I don't want him to get dehydrated, and he often wakes up for at least one bottle very thirsty.  But he can't rely on us to put him to sleep, that's something he has to learn.

Contributing to our problem is that he also learned to pull himself up while in Oregon.  So we came back and immediately had to drop the crib after seeing him hang over the side of it.  He is certainly interested in learning to walk, and if I had to bet I'd say he'll figure it out within 2.5 months.  But these babies, they like to surprise!  (On a side note, he actually did fall out of his crib two weeks ago... because his eldest sister decided she wanted him to stand while in his crib.  Ugh.  He landed on his head, and was totally not acting like himself.  I called Aaron to tell him I was going to bring Teddy to the ER, so he pulled himself out of a meeting and came home.  Of course, as soon as Dad walked in the door he smiled and started acting normal again.  Very scary.  This was also the day I feel in love with our babysitter all over again; she walked in while this was happening, and looked at Greta with a hand covered in poop.  She picked her up and changed her, completely unfazed.  )

He already feeds himself pretty well.  His pincer grip isn't great, but he hated having me feed him, and I didn't have the time to sit there and try to coax it in, so he started practicing picking up food on his own.  He paws at it, or slides it over to the edge of his try and sucks it off the side.  It's not elegant, but he gets it in there.  And he likes just about everything.  I haven't been as aggressive with veggies as I was with the girls, but I've also jumped into real food more quickly, haven't been particularly careful with the 3 day wait after new foods, and have just basically gone with the flow.  If it's healthy and seems easy for him to eat I give it to him.  So he's already had eggs, cheese, meat, tomatoes, berries (loved Oregon blackberries!), wheat, and many other things, all with no issues.  I feel so lucky that we haven't had to deal with allergies, I'm sure it's made me less cautious.

So that's our little boy.  He lights up every time he sees me, especially when he first sees me in the morning.  He's just full of glee, all the time.  The world is an amazing place, part of the reason I love this age so much.  He is determined to figure out why he's not allowed to get into Vito's dog food, and determined to get his hands on Vito.  And determined to figure out how to crawl up stairs.  He loves swinging with his sister G (who also loves pushing him).  He still loves taking naps on me, in the Ergo.  He never stays asleep in his car seat (never has, first kid for whom that's true!)  He's getting some blonde fuzz on his noggin but is otherwise bald.  He loves blowing raspberries on my tummy in the morning when it's just the two of us, before the girls have woken up.  He's pretty chatty, with a wide variety of sounds.

I love that he's becoming part of the team.  Greta has been much kinder to him these last two weeks (which I can't say for the month prior to that), and the two of them actually play together.  She brings him toys, but she also sits on him, and he loves both of these.  It's hard to teach her not to sit on him when he laughs hysterically about it.  This guy.  I think he's going to be another precocious one.  I think about where G was a year ago, and I could have never predicted where she'd be now.  Similarly, I can't even imagine what his little personality will be like, other than to say he'll probably be happy and precocious, much like his sisters.

Little man, thanks for joining us.  You make our family complete.  I can finally take a deep breath and start to enjoy how wonderful you are.

Crazy kids.

It is a point of fascination to me that the parents who have the most to say have the least time to say it.  I seemed to have a lot to say, and a lot of advice to offer, when I had a wee 3-month-old.  I am embarrassed to look back at those posts.  Truly, I knew so very little.

And the more I have to say, with real meaning and content, the less time I have to say it.

I haven't had time to say how I lost Greta at the playground the other day.  Only for about 2 minutes, but goodness, that girl can run, and I know how far she can get in 2 minutes time.  I found her happily kissing a baby she had just met.

Which she is wont to do.  Kiss babies she has just met.  She is the sweetest, gentlest little girl with other people's babies and other people's dogs.  Not, so much, with her own dog and her own baby.  Though she is obsessed with always making sure Teddy has a toy (even if it may be a terrible choking hazard) and feeding the dog, so at least she's interested in their well being.

I haven't had time to discuss watching MJ flirt with a boy at the same playground.  How she stuck her hip out and perched her hand there, taunting "You want someone to kill?  Bet you can't kill me!"  (Which sounds weird, but the boys were apparently playing a shooting game and that was her way of working herself in).  One boy, in particular, chased her all over.  And then she stole his sword (I kid you not) and he wrestled her to get it back.  It was so awkward and so terrifying of things to come that I had to remove myself to the other side of the playground so I didn't lose my mind.  I'm sure she didn't know she was flirting, but that's exactly what it was and she wouldn't have talked to another girl that way.

MJ has become obsessed with history.  "Real stories that really happened".  We've read about Harriet Tubman and Harry Houdini and Jumbo the Elephant and Annie Oakley.  She wants to be a pioneer for Halloween.  It is the first academic interest I've seen blossom in her and it's wonderful.  I constantly have to remind myself not to push her, because any time I do she rebels and gives up.  If I let it come to her in her own time she is usually quite determined to figure it out.  Which is why our attempts at reading so far have not been very fruitful, because I push her and it makes her hate it.  I remember feeling the same as a little girl, when I was pushed to ride my bike or swim.  I still feel antagonism towards those activities, and I don't want to curse her with the same feelings.  So I try to be patient, and encourage these passions when they arise.  Sometimes I do better than other times.

Greta, however, will sit and work at a puzzle until she figures it out.  I remember sitting down with the same puzzle with MJ at 2 1/2 and her struggling and getting so angry.  G is definitely the more patient of the two.  She is also fascinated by building things, legos and and shapes that fit together.  But her language is slower to develop, as well.  I am so curious to see how these little differences will shape them into different people.  

Greta, already grabbing things from me and saying "NO, I DO IT".  Insisting on dressing herself, which she is not at all capable of doing yet.  Today she spent ten minutes walking around with both legs through one short hole, simply because she wouldn't allow us to help her fix it.  

And then there's Teddy.  The baby.  He is off in the corner, quietly teaching himself to crawl.  And, really, he's basically done it.  He's slow, but he moves where he wants to and gets his hands on all sorts of things.  In some ways he's being forced to grow up a little quicker than the others at this age.  He's six months now, so he's starting to eat solids.  But I don't really have time to sit and feed him purees so I am basically giving him things to feed himself.  Baby led weaning, out of necessity rather than out of choice.  

Our house.  It is a crazy, crazy place.  Walking in the door if I've been away from them is like crossing a threshold from the calm, sane place the world generally is, to a screaming, hairpulling, wrestling whirlwind of little children.  I like to take them into the world, because I get to step back (sometimes) and see them for the cute that they really are.  We took them to a "Music in the Park" event last week, and it is always so enjoyable to see the smiles they bring to strangers faces.  Greta stomping her one foot while twirling, completely out of time to the music.  MJ prancing around, pretending she's a ballerina.  Teddy grinning, toothless, at everyone who walks by.  

It is a privilege to spend my days with them, when I can remember to let the little things go.  Like the 3rd spilled cup of milk, or 2nd time G has stuck her hand in her poopy diaper, or the 5th time MJ has burst into tears because I've told her no more sweets.  I always said I wanted a house full of chaos, and it turns out that is exactly what we have achieved.

Half a year

Goodness.  It seems that if I didn't do these monthly posts I might just never post.

It was a really, really good month with this little guy.  This month he gave us a few sleep-through-the-nights, including last night (3 days past the 6 month mark).  So really, once that's taken care of, what else is there? He puts himself to sleep on a regular basis.  When he wakes up in the morning, MJ will often crawl in his crib and play with him for a while. The sounds of them giggling warm my heart (and allow me a little more sleep).

He now rolls both ways on a regular basis.  In the past week, he has started to get up on all fours and rock back and forth, as though he's trying to figure out how to move his leg and crawl.  He has started to get places; not very fast or very far, but places.  Also in the past week or two, he is sitting pretty well.  Still needs a pillow around him because he falls over on occasion, but it never bothers him or frustrates him.  Instead, once he finds himself laying on the floor he seems to see that as his opportunity to practice crawling.

This past weekend, I got to spend more solo time with my baby than I have ever before had.  My Grandmother passed away, so Teddy and I went back to Oregon for the funeral.  Although it was a sad occasion, it was wonderful to spend some one-on-one time with my little man.  And it was freaking easy!  How did I ever think babies are hard?  (Though, to be fair, he's not crawling yet, which makes a huge difference).

I remember. when MJ was this age, getting tons of comments on how cute she was and what a sweet baby she was.  I haven't gotten that with either Greta or Teddy, and last weekend showed me why.  Because I'm always wrangling other kids, too, and no one wants to interfere with that!  Teddy got boat loads of comments this weekend, because he was the only baby in my arms!  Furthermore, we got to play with cousin Kessa, 5 months older than Teddy, which was absurdly adorable.

Although I love my girls and missed them, it was a bit hard to come home.  After the ease and relaxation of dealing with just one immobile baby, it was tough to transition back to craziness.  The first day back was really hard, but after a few days I got back in the groove.

But back to Teddy boy.  This is such a sweet, wonderful age, and I love soaking up the chunky thighs and full-body guffaws.  This boy has been practicing taking steps since about 4 months, and is dead set on learning to crawl, so I know it will be craziness soon enough.  Sooner, I suspect, than either of the girls.

Greta continues to be a threat to him.   Although I had previously thought we were past the abuse-of-brother stage, we seem to be back in it this past month.  She will just walk up and slap him out of the blue, or grab his face as hard as she can.  It is always worst when she is tired or frustrated, but there's no guarantee she won't do it at other times.  I'm truly stumped how to make this better.  I keep hoping time will do the trick, but every time he gets hurt I feel just awful that I haven't figured out how to make it stop.

He continues to chew on anything he can get in his mouth and soaks his clothing in drool.  Lots of teething happening, though who knows when we'll actually see a tooth.

I love this little guy fully and completely, and often feel bad that he gets so much less Mama time than his sister's had.  Then I see them coo and fuss over him, tickle him and do silly things to get him to laugh, and I realize that whatever he lacks in Mama time he makes up for in sister time.  He has been born into a crazy house full of life and love, I guess what could be better than that?

Mama

Teddy the acrobat