Three and a half

So you're Three and a Half.  I can't believe it.  Who said you could grow up?

* You're obsessed with "Uptown Funk" video by Bruno Mars.  You also like "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony and you sing "Baby, I'm Market", instead of worth it.  It's very cute.

*  Lately, you've been a bad eater.  No grapes or watermelon which were previously your favorite.  It seems like all you want is juice, milk, and "treats".

* We have a boy that uses the potty!  Three weeks ago, I put you in underwear and you've had one accident.  The BM's aren't going that well, but you've had some constipation problems.  I've been giving you a little Miralax.  Just like your sister.

* You've been a bit naughty lately.  Lots of jumping, crying, whining.

* You haven't been napping on weekends consistently.

* You can easily walk a mile and a half.

*No haircut yet, but maybe soon?  There is one long piece in back but still not much in front.

* When I pick you up, you still run out and am excited to meet me.

*You love picking up your sister at after school care.  I think you want to join in too.

* "Mama, Daddy, will you lie with me"?  Every night.  It takes you a long time to get to sleep.

* You love showers and baths.

* Wrestling with Daddy is the best.

* You like to turn sommersaults in my lap when I sit on the couch.

* You are very interested in technology.  More than anything else.

* You know all your letters, shapes, colors, animals, etc, etc.  And you've know them for a long time.

Halloween

Sometimes will all the events going on before Halloween, actual trick o' treating can be a bit anti climatic.  The past two years, the weather has been crummy.  Cold, rainy, awful.  This year was no exception.   Benny had taken a late nap and I had to wake him up at 5:45 to start.  He wasn't feeling it.  At some points, he sat in the little pushcar and refused to walk up to the doors.  Victoria brought his candy back to him.  After 40 min, I left him giving out candy with P and V and I joined up with a classmate to do a few homes.  After an hour, she was done.   It was a far cry from my childhood when my dad took us out across the entire city and we we would come home with pillowcases of treats.  I'm not even kidding.

Benny has a really cute pirate costume, I have some pictures on my Facebook.  But I had him wear the warmer costume (also for cuteness sake).


Here is V and Benny at the same age wearing the same costume.

Victoria added the mask.   Trick o' Treating in Michigan involves winter coats!

Seven!

Victoria turned seven back in August.  We had a backyard water/squirt gun/mini-pools party.  P got her a lovely cake with Barbie and horse on it.  She is growing up very quickly.

* At the end of last year reading clicked with her it.  Now she is trying to read chapter books and is so proud of herself.  She's doing a great job.  We're very proud of her too.  She really enjoys the Stink series of books.
*Two people have told me they think she is very smart.  I've tried to expect more out of her academically and she has rose easily to the challenge.  Her writing is neater, but she does not have a proper pencil grip (either do I) and sometimes still makes letters and numbers backwards.
* She is obsessed with watching Taylor Swift videos on the Ipad.  This has morphed into Katy Perry, etc.  Some are a little bit too adult, so I"m trying to monitor it carefully.  "Mama, how do you spell Blank Space"? 
* Her behavior is better since school started.  She tends to fly off the handle over food and snacks in the evenings and when her medicine wears off.
*She really likes school and her teacher.  She likes knowing people and not being the youngest anymore.
*Her eating issues can be exasperating.  I try to get a banana into her everyday, it has to be pristine (no marks, bruises or strings) and she will eat it.  She now doesn't like salami (one of the things I could get her to eat) and refuses to eat hot lunch at all this year.  This is more work for me, but she eats so little at school (meds contributing), then why pay $2.75 for her to throw it away? 
* She informs me of the speed limit signs when we are driving.  I always tell her "thanks".
* I am trying to find more chores for her to do.  She folds towels and puts away silverware from the dishwasher. 
* She received roller blades for her birthday and is trying very hard to stand up alone.
* She has been getting along well with her brother lately.
* She never forgets anything I say or promise to do.
*She likes to snuggle in the chair and watch TV in the evenings, or lay in bed with a parent and snuggle until she falls asleep.
* This year she is taking three dance classes - Jazz, tap, hip hop.  I had to convince her to try hip hop and now she is a big fan of the music.

Nighttime

P has been gone a lot this month.  Usually he reads with Victoria for 15 min and snuggles until she falls asleep.   Lately, I have had to go in and settle Benny down.  He wants to have these long conversations and play "the favorites games" that I made up.   This recording is from the other night - it's well after 9:30 and he wants to talk.   By the way his favorite shape is a "Dodecahedron" that he saw on Team Umizoomi.

 

Friday Night Leftovers

*This is the second week of school and V has not brought home any homework yet.  Strange.  The teacher last year had a lot of homework.  We are reading at least 15 min a night.  I really need to hit the Math and penmanship though. 

*The weeks become busier.  Wednesdays we usually have counseling for V’s ADHD in a nearby town.   Thursdays the kids are taking dance (Benny too!).  V is taking Jazz, Tap, and Hip Hop and Benny is taking creative dance.  That means we are at the dance studio from 5:30-7:15.   By Friday my kids (AND I) are exhausted.    We aren’t signed up for religious ed on Monday’s because frankly, I don’t think the kids can do any more during the week.  We’re all tired.  

*I have been trying to take off a Friday and go visit my mother for a long weekend.  There is either something at work I cannot miss OR someone else already has the day off.   My mom is spreading the guilt on thick.

*P is gone pretty much the entire month of September.  Which is my favorite month.  We’re managing but both drop off and pick up plus bedtimes will do me in soon. 

Fall Fest

This kids loved Fall Fest.  The lines to buy tickets for rides was too long, so we did other stuff and had a great time.  Victoria was Elsa and Benny actually wanted to participate. 

August Recap

August was, well something else.  When the calendar hit September 1st, I cheered.  For real.

It was a bit of a trying month.  The first weekend Victoria became ill.  That Thursday night (she was at a waterpark for camp all day) she fell asleep on the couch early and wouldn't eat.  I thought it was exhaustion.  When I picked her up from camp on Friday they told me she didn't eat.  When we got home she lay on a beanbag the rest of the evening.  I forced her to drink and she wouldn't eat.  Saturday she seemed better and she went to swim lessons but the couch was her best friend and she napped off and on.  Then I realized she had a fever close to 102F.  So off to Urgent Care.  They thought it may have been Strep, but the rapid strep test was negative, so they sent us home with a script for antibiotics to take only if she became worse.  Her throat didn't look like strep either so they thought maybe Coronavirus?  Sunday was more of the same with a little improvement, she would drink but not eat.  After dinner Sunday after more Motrim, she would perk up for a while.  Sunday night at around 10:00 I received a call from Urgent Care that her throat culture was positive for Group A strep and that it was good she was on antibiotics.  Uh no, she wasn't.  Tomorrow she wanted to go to camp because they had a carnival.  So, we went to Rite Aid first thing and filled the script and I let her go to camp for a little while.  I ended up at work late.

The following weekend, Benny went down.  Fevers of 102, lethargy, being on the couch.  I took him to his regular doctor and they did a rapid strep test.  Negative.  I managed to work two half days from home at least.  His culture came back negative too.  When we went to the doctor that Monday they also noticed he had pinkeye.   So drops for that, a most likely a virus.  They thought Victoria's Strep A was only a colonization, and that wasn't the cause of the symptoms.   

Wednesday P went down.  Fever of 101 F, Severe sore throat, lethargy, body aches.  He was down for three days.  (The stress was building).  ARE YOU STILL FOLLOWING THIS LOUSY MONTH?   

Then, that Friday, I woke up with pinkeye.  Victoria had pinkeye once six years ago and gave it to me two days later.  Drops cleared it up pretty quickly.   I used Benny's drops Friday and Saturday.  My eye felt really achy and was almost swollen shut.  It was red, but not goopy like regular pinkeye.   That Saturday night, P and I had a date night.  We went out for Korean food and then went and saw the Vacation movie.  I laughed so hard.  When I got home that evening, I realized my eye looked worse.   Our super awesome Urgent Care is open until 10:00.  I got there by 9:00 and didn't have to wait.  The doctor was right away concerned.  He questioned that a foreign body was in my eye?  I told him no, so he dilated it.   He then started me on Clindamycin and told me to take it stat.  He said it was periorbital cellulitis and the threshold to admit me for IV antibiotics was very low.  He also asked me to come to the main ER the next afternoon where he was working for a follow up.  HOW REASSURING!   I went over to the only 24 Hr Pharmacy open at this point - CVS and their computers were down for the foreseeable future!   By this time it around 11:00 pm.  I had to drive up to the nearest 24 pharmacy - a 30 min drive where I waited for my antibiotics for another 60 min, then a 35 min drive home. 

The next day my eye hadn't worsened, but hadn't improved.  The MD was kind enough to call and remind me to come in after 3:00.   I drove over to the ER (30 min) and wow.... that is a post for another time.  That place... crazy.    After an hour wait (I'm NOT complaining) I saw the PA, who thought I was ok to stay outpatient.  YAY!  (I packed a bag just in case).  

My eye took a LONG time to improve.  Probably another 5 days before I saw significant improvement.  The wonders of modern medicine.  I'm appreciative.

We were schedule to go to Niagara Falls that weekend.  We did go.  That night, the last day of August -  P got food poisoning.

So glad to move on with that month!

Friday Night Leftovers

* We went my hometown last weekend.  It was strange to see so many people downtown.  Usually there is nothing going on but there is a new restaurant with outdoor seating, a new ice cream shop, and a new hotel going up.  So it was kind of nice to see.  My mom complained that "everyone always wants to sit outside".  Yes, count me in. I"m in a office all day, so I find eating outdoors to be delightful. 

* My mom also complained about the crowds.  It's a town of 10,000 people year round.  I'm afraid she is crossing over into old lady-dom.  She didn't want to run the air conditioner.  She didn't/couldn't walk very far.  She repeated stories that I told her to me like she had heard them somewhere else.  Her fridge was stuffed with food.  Tons of food.  This is a bit worrying and I'm keeping an eye on it closely.

*  My baby girl turns seven on Monday.  I don't even know how that happened.  Where did ages 3-7 go?

* Camp only has three weeks left.  They did a field trip to a waterpark yesterday and she was wiped out when she came home.  She wouldn't eat dinner and we got her to drink fluids.  She was asleep by 8:00 pm.  I am wondering if she has her father's tolerance to long stretches of sun.

Helper

We were in my hometown this weekend and someone insisted on helping daddy with the bike pump.  V is hiding in the porch with my mom because she saw a bee.

Friday Night Leftovers

Where did the summer go?  Every weekend is booked solid.  So many weekend trips we would like to do, yet run out of time.

Speaking of trips, P is going to London for a week in September on a work trip.  The plan was for me to come along.  The flights are a staggering $1800 and that is before we pay a nanny. It just seems like a crazy amount of $ to spend to go to a place that I know well.   I was looking forward to going to the UK, it's been 12 years.  We can go for an awesome long couple's weekend instead!

We found this small Korean restaurant about 15 minutes drive from our house.  It's very basic, and has a small menu, but the food is really good.  I've been craving it all well.  Their BiBimBab is different than what I've had other places, but I still enjoy it.  

Benn trying to move out baby and toddler toys from the house.  My kiddos are growing up!  Let me know if you want any.

Talker

Daddy took me to soccer in his car.  I kicked the ball.  I ran really fast.  I love soccer.  *Soccer is pronounced SOCK KA.

My Coworker

We had a massive storm here which resulted in the daycare being closed due to a power outage.  I had a massive deadline, so I had no choice to work from home in the morning.  This guy was a complete angel.  He watched Peppa Pig on the Ipad, had a snack and played with Play-Doh.  He did seem pretty relieved when daycare opened in the afternoon and I was able to drop him off.  But I enjoyed him so much.

Dance

It's no secret I really wanted to take dance when I was a child.  I wasn't particularly athletic and I think I could have actually participated, instead of warming the bench in most sports I played.  We had one small (expensive) dance studio which my parents considered for the elite (they definitely suffered from an inferiority complex) and really didn't have the money.  I hoped victoria would like dance, and so far she seems to.  (By the way-  it is the cheaper eat activity we do, by far).  I get the shoes secondhand and we go to a non flashy dance studio.  

Last year she took ballet and jazz.  This year is tap and jazz.  She had a dress rehearsal yesterday.  The theme is Disney so it is pretty cute.  

So am I upset with my parents?  Yes.  They let their insecurities get in the way of something their child wanted to do.

Friday night leftovers

Things are so busy here.  We are booked solid (several activities a weekend) until 2nd week in July and then the rest of July.

Do you have a FitBit?  Want to be friends?  My all time high for a day is 18,500ish.  This time of year I'm over 11,000 a day.  I like it and find it motivating.

I planted a garden over Labor Day weekend.  A small one.  Three kinds of tomatoes, two kinds of cucumber and peppers.  I tried to pick things that wouldn't be eaten since I have no fence.  

When I was a kid we had a huge garden. Tomatoes, sweet snap peas, a few squash and potatoes, and a ton of beans.  We also had a transparent Apple tree.  I really miss that tree.  

Bike rider

V has never cared for riding her bike.  When I was a kid you couldn't get us off bikes.  Last fall she tipped over while turning a corner and we just couldn't get her back on it.  

My sister came at Christmas and it was warm enough to ride.  She got her riding again.   She has been riding while we walk and it's very nice.  We were becoming a bit embarrassed by her training wheels when much smaller kids were riding.

P took off her pedals and made her got around the neighborhood by foot power. She kept falling.  He kept at it and after three days, success!  She only rides 1/2 block before she has this dramatic "fall", but  very impressed.   We need to get a bike for Benny too and take off the pedals.

THREE! THREE!

THREE!

THREE YEARS OLD!

I still consider you my baby, yet you are very much a little boy.  Your chubby cheeks remain, one of your last remnants of toddlerhood.  That and diapers.  You will sit on the potty now, but seldom produce anything.  Also you still want a sippy cup.  You will drink out of juice boxes with the thin straw, but you won’t drink out of a thicker straw.

Your favorite TV show:  Peppa Pig, Max & Ruby

Food:  watermelon, chicken nuggets, milk, juice boxes

Toys:  puzzles, color wonder coloring books, Fisher Price Jungle Safari  (oddly , you are not interested in cars)

Activities:  Gymnastics, swimming (this is new!), playgrounds, IPad, counting the owls on a poster in Victoria’s school, picking up Victoria from school

Places:  playgrounds, Victoria’s school, swimming

People:  mom, Victoria, daddy, Grandma nancy, Miss Debbie

Book:  No Biting by Karen Katz

You give the best BEST hugs and kisses

You’re still excited when I pick you up every day, running and hugging me

You like to mimic us when we are disciplining Victoria (you go to your room!  Stop it!)

You are sleeping in your big boy bed!!!

Your hair is so blonde and the ends are starting to curl and be all crazy.  You still have never had a haircut.

You like to laugh and turn somersaults and be silly.

When we drive by a school or playground you get so excited – “Mama, mama, a playground!”

You call the swim lessons place – “Aqua Tots SQUIM school”.  When you are finished swimming, “Mama, I went swimming!”.

Friday Night Leftovers - May Day Edition

* I blogged once in April.  Good job JEN.
* P was gone on a guy vacation this week.  It was tough week - makeup swim lessons on Monday night, Tuesday - shopping an dishes, Wednesday - MD apts, Thursday - dance pics.  Just too much.  I'm exhausted.  Completed. 
*There are 6 loads of laundry to put away and probably another 7 to do.  I am trying to hire someone to do my laundry.  How do you find someone trustworthy to come into your home?  It's more difficult then what you may think. 
* Benny still is not interested in using the potty or giving up his sippy cup at home.  He's going to be 3 soon, let's get with it kid.
* I'm just tired.  Plain worn out from home & work.  I need a mommy break.
* Still watching my food intake and recording with MyFitnessPal.  I'm hungry. 
* Been getting in 11-13,000 steps daily.  Proud of that.

Funny

We were playing down the street and a four year old little boy was saying he wanted a dog.  

Boy:  I want to get a dog. 

Benny: I like hot dogs!!  I want a hot dog!

Togetherness

Victoria is doing Raz kids ( a great reading program) on the IPad. Benny is boycotting a nap.  Both a squeezed into my lap.

Friday Night Leftovers

Today is the first day of SPRING!  It is gray and 41 F right now.  It is supposed to reach 54 F, but not until this evening.  Monday is only going to be 39 F.   I guess I can wash the snow pants and boots and but them away, right?

I have been working my way through L.A. Law.  What a great show!  I watched it more than (gulp) 20 years ago.  It's very 1980's, complete with big hair, shoulder pads, and ringing phones.  Harry Hamlin was hoottt! 

I don't know if I've written about it, but V still is waking us up early and telling us she is afraid of the dark.  Despite nightlights and the fact that we are mere feet away.  I can't take anymore of it.  We've tried bribery, threats, talks, etc.  Nothing is working.  We even told her she could see the new Cinderella movie if she stayed in bed.  No, not working.  We won't let her get in our bed, but it still is not working.  Benny is also up sometimes and now is free to roam around.  At least if we put up the baby gate at the top of stairs, keep it dark, he will get the message and put himself back to bed. 

My family is driving me crazy.  So much drama.  You think living a four hour drive away would help them to leave me out of it!  I have so much to deal with here right now.  I'm crazy busy, but that doesn't stop them.

P made me a gluten free fish fry about three weeks ago.  I can't stop thinking about it; it was amazing.  Food in general I think about all day long. 

Me

A post about me.  Today is a big day for me.  I have now lost 80 lbs since 1999.  I am not brave enough to post a before picture. 

Lost tooth

Guess who lost her 1st tooth!  Did you know the going rate for the tooth fairy is $4?  She received $5 in an envelope with a note I wrote in flowery handwriting.  It was so exciting for her!  Last week we went to the dentist and he took a panoramic x-Ray which showed Victoria inherited her dad's teeth!  No genetic mutation teeth.  Thrilled about this!

Grouchy

Paul usually gets the kids ready in the morning and drops them off so I can get to work.  If I had to do this and pick up too, I think the stress would do me in.  Benny has been such a fussy, Groucho in the mornings.  Crying, whining, tantrums.  I listen to it as I am packing up to leave.  After some milk and Max and Ruby, he is always better.  He can be smiley.

100 days of school

I downloaded blogger for my phone! Maybe I will be able to post more?  Apparently 100 day collections are very popular projects in early elementary school, a way to celebrate 100 days of school.  We were assigned to find 100 objects around our house and display them in a unique and creative way.  They also needed to be countable by 10's.  We had no shortage of pennies, so this is what we decided on.  I made V do all the counting and lettering.  I did help with gluing.  Unfortunately when thr poster board bent, pennies would fall off.  I fixed his by adding clear packing tape across the pizza part.

Store cuteness

It’s been crazy snowy around here – thus no school for two days. Monday our daycare also was closed for the first time in 18 years. Today it was open, so P dropped Benny off on his way to work. I worked at home with V for the morning, then we switched and I went in for the afternoon. We were out of fruit and vegetables, so I picked up Benny after daycare and just he and I went to the store. I love one on one time with each child so much. He was delightful. He wanted to ride in the cart. He loved the free samples. “Hmmm, dEE licious”. “What’s that?” was uttered approximately 30 times. I dropped something on the floor – “uh-oh, spaghetti-o’s”. “Mama, buy that!”. “pizza mama, pizza!” I’ll treasure this age always. It’s the best.

Hair Cut

V's hair is looking pretty shaggy since it is finally growing out from the great scissors incident of 2014. I took her to a chain haircutting place called "Cookie Cutters". She loves it there. You get to sit in a car of some sort while the stylist cuts your hair. They select a TV program on your personal TV. There are toys and a slide to play on while you wait. The best part is that you get a balloon AND a sucker at the end. I usually don't make an appointment because they enjoy playing there so much, so we don't mind a wait. On our drive over yesterday after work, we pulled in and Benny yelled "hair cut!". "I get my hair cut". Uh no buddy. You really don't have much hair. They played and acted like wild children on the slide. V got set up for her cut, so Benny had to get in a car to "get his hair cut". Thankfully, they are very nice about these things. He ran over for a balloon and a sucker when she was done. He told everyone proudly, "I got my hair cut". When I am old and gray, I will remember how cute this is.


Also - they are kids in there a year old that had something like 5 haircuts by now. Benny is definitely following in his sister's footsteps and running late in hair development.

Someone's got a case of the Mondays....

hahaha. That movie!

But really. Last night it snowed and Paul left my car outside. We have a three car garage (okay, really a two car garage since one side is full of stuff). I was running late this morning (what a surprise!). I always think I am all ready to go and then I realize I need to do things like put the ice pack in V's lunch, put a snack in her backpack, lay out her coat, lay out Benny's coat and shoes, make sure they both have gloves and hats. I did that today and made sure I had my stuff by the door - phone, purse, bag, lunch. Today I had extra stuff - workout clothes, a laptop bag & a bag of kid toys for my coworker. I hit the garage door opener and realized my car wasn't in the garage! GAH! It snowed three inches, so I was going to need to do some snow clearing. NOT HAPPY. I started it and cleared off too much snow, mentally cursing out P and Michigan in general. This took at least 10 minutes. Then I knew that he would have to put out garage at the curb and keep the kids out of the snow and put on boots, etc. So I knew the Christian thing to do was to drag all the garbage to the curb. Which I did. My hands were freezing; even in gloves. I finally left ~ 15 min late and promptly got behind an accident. GAH! It took me an extra 25 min to get to work, then I came in. When I got to my desk, where is my lunch bag and breakfast??? Hmmm. I walked over to the water coolers (I love water coolers, so thankful for this perk) and realized they were all out. Both of them! Okay. So then I walked back out to my car and found I forgot my lunch!! The tears almost started. I keep some things at work, but now I need to buy lunch.

What a MONDAY!

Today I am going to offer up my exasperation/stress to the patron Saint of the Day, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. Also to keep in mind that I am fortunate. To have a job I can be late to and not be fired. To have a car. To have a garage. To have garbage pick up. To have my children go to a great school and daycare. To make it to work safely. It's all about perspective.

Friday Night Leftovers - 1st of Year Edition

*Happy New Year!
*Benny has been difficult lately. Especially upon awakening! Thank goodness Daddy is on morning patrol. He has some molars coming in, which may be the cause.
* Benny likes to stay "No way Jose!". When you ask him to do anything. I try not to laugh.
* Victoria is liking school and seeming happier.
* The holidays this year were tiring. SO much work! (5 loads of dishes a day, 12 loads of company laundry, shopping, cleaning). I think a Christmas cruise with warm weather in next year's plans.
* P bought me a spa day for a Christmas gift. The massage was great! So was the mani/pedi. I have been wanting one for a while, but just no time! I don't "get" facials though, but my skin looked great and the shoulder massage was amazing. Massages = the best.
* We had Vietnamese food when we were in Ohio. I'm in love.... P promised to make Pho on Saturday!